The beginning of Washington National Opera’s production of The Force of Destiny is more like an indie movie than a 19th century opera. A seemingly normal family sits at a table in silence – that’s right, silence. Verdi’s underperformed masterpiece does not open with a bang, but a whisper. The woman next to me shifted […]
Archives for October 2013
Photos: Broadway legend Maurice Hines in master class at Howard
Maurice Hines returns to DC this fall in Maurice Hines is Tappin’ Thru Life. In preparation for the Arena Stage production, Hines reunited with DC’s own Manzari brothers, John and Leo, for an advanced masterclass in jazz and hip-hop dance at Howard University this past Friday. Hines discovered John and Leo (then 17 and 15) […]
Beertown and A Killing Game
I’ve heard a lot of great things about dog&pony dc and the shows they produce. Almost near universal praise from friends and regular theater goers about their unique brand of audience interactive theater. Being the constant skeptic that I am, I approached their newly remounted productions of Beertown and A Killing Game, now running in […]
Jericho
Jack Canfora, whose plays have been winning him a promising reputation, has now offered us Jericho at 59E59 Theaters under the direction of Evan Bergman with whom he’s worked several times. Both have an enviable regional theatre background. Though I didn’t know their work, I noted that they’d assembled a first rate cast for the […]
Sutton Foster at Strathmore
It may not be the first time that two-time Tony Award-winner Sutton Foster has performed in concert in our area, but the crowd at the extraordinary Music Center at Strathmore may have been the largest she’s had yet. Certainly, those who attended her sold out cabaret at the Kennedy Center several years back or her […]
The Sound of Music
Seriously, a musical about nuns and Nazis? The only other musical I know of about Nazis is the fictional Springtime for Hitler. And yet The Sound of Music is a vital part of the American canon, a Rodgers and Hammerstein masterpiece, a story of such iconic wholesomeness that it is practically a fairy tale, showcasing […]
Generous theatre supporter, Pete Miller, adds editor of Beertown Bugle to his credits
Check out the latest run of dog and pony dc’s Beertown, at Round House Silver Spring through Oct. 19th. Read the actor bios in the program. When you do, you will read one that might be a little light on previous acting credits. In fact, there will be none. Making his professional acting debut in […]
The Glass Menagerie
In 1945 we were introduced to Tennessee Williams whose The Glass Menagerie settled in at the Playhouse on Broadway for a run of 563 performances. It brought a new generation of theatre goers to rejoice in the iconic performance of Laurette Taylor, and lifted Williams into the pantheon of great American playwrights.
Torch Song Trilogy receives its final extension
Studio Theatre announced the second, and final extension of its critically acclaimed box office hit Torch Song Trilogy. The production must close Sunday, October 27th, 2013.
Slings and Arrows: Season 2:06 “Birnam Wood”
“Between me and the ape pacing over there, which one of us is actually thinking about THIS PLAY?” – Geoffrey
Shaw’s You Never Can Tell
What a nice surprise to be able to welcome back the lesser known Bernard Shaw play You Never Can Tell. Even its light hearted title suggests that immediately after Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Shaw opted to try something less inflamed. What emerged was clearly an homage (or a satire of) his friend Oscar Wilde’s The Importance […]
Arena Stage featured in An Ideal Theater
Todd London, artistic director of New Dramatists, has compiled a family Bible for the modern American theater. In the letters, speeches, and reflections collected in An Ideal Theater: Founding Visions for a New American Art, American drama’s founding spirits share their visions for 50 theaters from Los Angeles to the Lower East Side. This book […]