What do you imagine when you think of “going to the Opera?” Vast theaters, draped entirely in tacky red velvet? Huge casts with elaborate sets in sprawling shows that go on for hours in a language you studied half-heartedly in high school? Those are typical answers, but UrbanArias, a local opera company devoted to producing […]
Archives for September 2014
Awake and Sing! at Olney Theatre Center
It’s amazing how topical something from the 1930’s feels and fits right here and now when it’s a classic, expertly cast and directed. Awake and Sing! depicts one family’s story, one of the first to chronicle Jewish family scenes without derision or ridicule. The show starts with everyone seated for a family meal, an automatic […]
The Night Fairy at Imagination Stage
Ditch the Disney princesses and all that pink. Fairies, especially night fairies with their dark eyes and shimmering garb of midnight blue, are feistier and more fun. Flory (Tia Shearer, wounded yet strong as the fallen fairy), the heroine of Imagination Stage’s spellbinding The Night Fairy, combines wildness and delicacy in one small, but fierce […]
Costume designer Reggie Ray died today
Today is a sad day for the theatre community. As people get ready to attend the tribute to actress Tana Hicken tonight at Studio Theatre, word is spreading through Facebook that Reggie Ray, beloved costume designer and Professor at Howard University, died peacefully in his sleep this morning.
Lobster Alice from Flying V
“I see the head of Voltaire” Alice says in Kira Obolensky’s Lobster Alice, looking at a painting by Salvador Dalí in a certain way. Things are seldom what they seem in the famous surrealist’s work. The same can be said of Flying V’s awesome production set in a Walt Disney animator’s office.
Uncle Vanya at The Pearl in New York
Chekhov’s play, now at The Pearl Theater for a few more weeks, offers so many unhappy characters, all rusticating in the country (rural Russia, circa 1890) it’s difficult to follow all their through lines as they interact with each other. The estate on which they are presently living is managed by Ivan Petrovich, (Uncle Vanya). […]
Peter’s Alley performs Rabbit Hole
In the William Kennedy novel Ironweed, Francis Phelen drops his infant son while changing his diaper. The boy’s neck snaps and he dies. Toward the conclusion of the first chapter, this passage appears: “Francis found the grave without a search. He stood over it and reconstructed the moment when the child was slipping through his […]
Little Dancer releases its first video
Sit in on the “Meet and Greet” at the NEW 42nd Street Studios as director/choreographer Susan Stroman, the designers and choreographers talk through their concepts for Little Dancer. The new Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty musical opens at the Kennedy Center October 25 and runs through November 30. Tickets are on sale now.
Going to the Kennedy Center? Try these dining spots
The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is the seat of power for entertainment in Washington, D.C. As a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy, the Kennedy Center furthers America’s “contribution to the human spirit” with an all-encompassing performance schedule as well as enrichment programs for emerging and established artists. But it can often […]
Tiny houses host Pinky Swear’s tiny plays
A tiny revolution has been going on for a couple of years in the Northeast DC’s Stronghold neighborhood. A patch of alley space was transformed into a thoughtful, self-contained community of minimal proportions, with three tiny houses. With the help of architects and others, Brian Levy, Lee Pera, Jay Austin reformed the Evarts Street alleyway […]
Stuart Little at Adventure Theatre/MTC
The adorable mouse Stuart Little sails into fun and adventure at Adventure Theatre/MTC. Director Colin Hovde brings out the humor in the award-winning story by believing in the magic of everyday life. Imagination runs wild from the beginning with the actors engaging the audience as part of the story and enticing everyone to accept and […]
The Seven Year Itch at American Century Theater
The Seven Year Itch— that moment when you get bored with your spouse and cheat—is best known as the film that nearly shows Marilyn Monroe’s underpants beneath a billowing white halter dress. But, no such scene exists in the play. And, yes, George Axelrod’s Itch originated on Broadway as a three act comedy in 1952 […]