A week before I departed Arena Stage, some in the community were up in arms about the announced future seasons in our city’s regional houses spurred in part by Peter Marks’ story in the Washington Post titled “In new seasons, D.C. theater companies will present the extremely tried-and-true.” Soon charges of “playing it safe” were coming […]
Archives for April 17, 2012
Wall Street Journal’s Teachout drops in on 1st Stage
Occasionally the great theater critics from the major New York cultural organs – the Times, the New Yorker, the Wall Street Journal – will come to Washington to review important productions playing in our biggest venues: the Kennedy Center, Arena Stage, the Shakespeare Theatre.
The People in the Picture – Original Broadway Cast Recording
Before the Tony race starts up in earnest for this year, lets take a look at one show from last year’s race that nearly got away. The People In The Picture was a klezmer-infused musical of the struggle of Jews in a Yiddish theater troupe to survive in Warsaw during the holocaust. It only ran for […]
Adventure Theatre merges with Musical Theater Center
Adventure Theatre, the Glen Echo-based children’s theater company is getting used to big announcements. It has been nominated for 13 Helen Hayes Awards this year; has developed such new projects as the Harry Connick Jr. musical The Happy Elf and the upcoming children’s version of the musical Big. Last night, Adventure Theatre announced that they have merged […]
Studio 3’s children’s show, Home
Artistic director Caren Hearne was all bubbles and shine as she introduced Studio 3 Theatre for Young Audiences’ production of Lizzie Allen’s Home to a Saturday afternoon crowd at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton. Studio 3, she announced, is the only theater in this country producing the English playwright’s work.
Shakespeare Theatre holds Twitterfest for April 19 Strange Interlude
The April 19 production of the Shakespeare Theatre’s Strange Interlude at Harman Hall will begin with the usual injunctions: turn off your cell phone, your Blackberry, your I-phone, your beeper, your camera, your thermonuclear devices. Then, at the first intermission, you will get a Strange Invitation: turn on your Smart Phone or I-Pad, and tweet […]
Rapunzel
Like Willow Smith, Rapunzel (Felicia Curry) loves her hair. And why shouldn’t she? It is her crowning glory, her plaything, a transportation system, and until Prince Brian (Jonathan Atkinson) comes along, her only friend.
Positions 1956
UrbanArias has not only landed once more in our midst, but opened its second season and first commissioned opera Sunday night to a full house. This world premiere of Positions 1956 with music by Conrad Cummings and lyrics by Michael Korie showcases two mature professionals at the top of their game, completely at ease in […]