In Ari Roth’s Andy and the Shadows, obsessive filmmaker Andy Glickstein doggedly searches for the momentous, globe-spanning history buried beneath his quiet, suburban life. As the complex, time-shifting drama unfolds, it becomes clear that nothing – including family, wedding plans, and even the truth – will stand in Glickstein’s way.
Archives for April 2013
Taffety Punk does Oxygen
Taffety Punk likes to say that its ensemble members belong to a “theatre band,” searching for new ways to fuse music and text onstage. This fun-loving, fidgety company has repeatedly plumbed the reverberating midpoint between song and the spoken word, bringing their rough-and-tumble spirit to Shakespeare’s verse, gritty 21st-century originals, and quite a bit in […]
Coriolanus
Performed with Wallenstein as part of STC’s Hero/Traitor Repertory, Shakespeare’s less-performed Roman tragedy roars to life at the STC. Director David Muse sheaths the tragedy’s notoriously complex text in a muscle-bound character study, and Patrick Page gives a ferocious portrayal of the general-turned-invader as a fanatically uncompromising military man whose only flaw is a refusal […]
Monty Python’s Spamalot
Monty Python’s Spamalot now at The National Theatre for its brief and final visit to DC, is a musical romp through a favorite film that shouldn’t be missed. A delight we’re lucky to have back in town after its visit to The Warner last spring, this production puts a new spin on a classic in more […]
Matilda hits Broadway
You may well have heard that Matilda, the musical based on Roald Dahl’s popular novel, is now on Broadway, following a smashing first year run in London, where it continues to sell out nightly. The advance hype has been tremendous, and I understand it pulled in about $10,000,000 in advance sale even before its first […]
Neville’s Island
A list of the best stage entrances ever would have to include a group of middle-aged men climbing out of a river dripping wet onto a stark, rocky island. It is the perfect preface to Tim Firth’s witty survival farce Neville’s Island now playing at Olney Theatre Center.
Meet Monologue Madness Champion Karina Hilleard and her runner-up Shaina Lynn
The 2013 Monologue Madness competition last Sunday at The Miracle Theatre saw two relative newcomers to the DC scene compete their way through a pack of 32, and elbow out of the running such familiar DC performers as Jjana Valentiner, Katie Culligan, John C. Bailey and Josh Sticklin in the first three rounds. Sticklin was still in […]
In the House, adaptation of Spanish play, comes to FilmfestDC
Movies arriving from overseas are the bread and butter of Filmfest DC, the annual tour of cinematic works Washingtonians would otherwise have little chance to see. The French drama “In the House,” one of the 80-plus features screening over the next ten days, is a prime example of the way this festival tries to stretch […]
Writer/director Luis Caballero on his Roberto Clemente musical about to open at GALA
– Luis Caballero arrives, wearing a wool scarf coiled around his neck. The morning, April 3rd, was unseasonably cold. He is wired with energy for our interview in the chilly, white-walled basement rehearsal room of GALA’s Tivoli Theatre in Columbia Heights. In awe of this multitalented powerhouse from New York City, who has written and […]
Costume designer Murell Horton on dressing two epic plays in rep at STC
Costume designer Murell Horton has a simple philosophy: “Theatre, to me, is really good storytelling if it’s done well. It’s also about coming together to create a world that had not been there before.” Thanks to Horton’s work, when audiences enter the worlds of ancient Rome and 17th Century Germany at the Shakespeare Theatre Company, it’s […]
Smash 2:10 The Birthday Party
“Ivy Lynn! Where are you going? Sit down!” “Ok…sorry…Liza Minnelli…” Let’s talk about “A Love Letter from the Times” for a second. First off…where the hell has THIS show been?
Jimmy Buffett’s Don’t Stop the Carnival
From time to time I like to pull a disc from the back reaches of my theater shelves. I like to spread the word of things the rush of recent releases might obscure. Staying current with new releases can keep you from some of the delights of the past – especially those which had significant […]