– These interviews were conducted before the attack on cast member Frank Britton on Monday night – Jesus, Judas Iscariot and Mother Teresa walk into a bar . . . Actually, a courtroom, in Purgatory, where Judas is on trial to determine his eternal fate. Will he suffer everlasting damnation, or is there another option […]
Archives for May 2014
We Will Rock You – more than a title, it’s a fact, promises Queens musical star
It’s not surprising to say folks were skeptical when British comedian Ben Elton conceived the idea of a rock musical surrounding the hits of Queen back in 2000, but the result was an hilarious, multi-award-winning phenomenon that has played the West End the past dozen years and been a hit in multiple countries worldwide.
Frank Britton hospitalized after attack in Silver Spring
Monday night, May 26th, after the cast party celebrating the opening of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Frank Britton was mugged and severely beaten on his way home. The injuries are serious but not life-threatening (thank God). He spent the night in the emergency room at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, where he is […]
Forbidden Broadway Comes Out Swinging!
It’s been several years since Gerard Alessandrini dusted off his skewering sword with which to parody working actors, writers and other well intentioned theatre folk. Now, in the current Forbidden Broadway Comes Out Swinging! he’s back, and the current crop of creators have been spotted cowering in corners, hoping he won’t notice them, although some […]
Sheldon Harnick: Hidden Treasures, 1949-2013
One storyline in the history of the evolution of what we now know as “a musical” has been the progression of lyric writing from light verse to less rigid but often more potent forms of poetry. Those of us who love the genre feel a great appreciation and respect for the works of W. S. […]
Freud’s Last Session, reviewed
Have we duly noted our collective obsession with the conclusion of things? Freud’s Last Session. Krapp’s Last Tape. The Last Days of Pompeii. The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. The Last Hurrah. The Last Lecture. The Last of the Mohicans. The Last Temptation of Christ. “Let’s get it over!” screams Ham at the end of […]
Steven Royal, big Bat Boy fan, directs the musical at 1st Stage
If there’s one thing that Bat Boy: The Musical director Steven Royal wants to make clear about the latest 1st Stage production is that people shouldn’t be expecting a story similar to Damn Yankees. “The number of people who think this is a story about baseball is scary,” he says. “In fact, a number of […]
Freud’s Last Session
We’re suckers for a good match up: Frazier versus Ali, Lincoln versus Douglas, Celtics versus Lakers . . . C. S. Lewis versus Sigmund Freud? The latter would surprise many of us, who would never think to put the evangelical Christian Lewis in the same room with the fiercely atheistic father of psychoanalysis. (History did […]
Children of Eden in Concert at The Kennedy Center
Sometimes, when I’m struggling to figure out what to say to begin a review, I take stock of the way I felt when I walked into the theatre. After all, what is a review, if not the equation of “expectation ± bias ± experience”? Sometimes you have to look around at the beautiful Eisenhower Theatre, […]
Mike Bartlett’s Cock at Studio Theatre
It’s a relief to be retired from the meat market after seeing Cock, the pugilistic, punch-drunk comedy by British playwright Mike Bartlett about relationships and shifting identities that sears you with snark while ripping your heart out.
Love of the Nightingale is set to close. What’s next for Constellation Theatre?
“It’s similar to a lot of productions that we’ve done.” Allison Arkell Stockman was talking about the current production at Constellation Theatre Company, The Love of the Nightingale. Stockman is Constellation’s Founding Artistic Director and is the director of its current offering.
Next up for NextStop’s second season
Plays by or about Jesus Christ, St. Thomas More, Johannes Gutenberg, Nora Ephron and a talking dog characterize NextStop’s 2014-2015 season, but first, the young Herndon, Virginia company will collaborate with Forum Theatre to present Gidion’s Knot, runner-up for the prestigious Steinberg Award as best new play of 2012.