The Tony-nominated composing team of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul have been the talk of DC of late, getting oodles of attention for the buzz-worthy Dear Evan Hansen, playing Arena Stage, before heading to New York’s Second Stage theatre next spring. Another of the duo’s shows is heading to our area this month with Keegan’s staging […]
Archives for August 2015
How We Died … and Bones in Whispers kick off Women’s Voices Theater Festival
The Women’s Voices Theater Festival began with two very different plays by two very different playwrights: How We Died of Disease-Related Illness by Miranda Rose Hall and Bones in Whispers by Kathleen Akerley. Both one-acts are directed by Longacre Lea auteur Akerley.
UpClose: Miranda Rose Hall, Women’s Voices Theater Festival
Miranda Rose Hall is a playwright from Baltimore, MD. She has presented work in DC (Kennedy Center Page-to-Stage and Georgetown University), Baltimore (Center Stage), and Anchorage. She is resident playwright with LubDub Theatre in NYC, and an MFA student at the Yale School of Drama. Her play How We Died Of Disease-Related Illness, produced by Longacre Lea, opened […]
The Adventures of Prince Achmed with Tom Teasley (review)
It takes only a few seconds of flickering light to find oneself anticipating the delicate magic of the early film animation of Lotte Reiniger. And then musician Tom Teasley intervenes, launching into his surging, pulsating percussive overture, making this synthesized work of silent-film-cum-live-music come crashing dynamically into the twenty-first century. For a full ninety minutes, […]
Dear Evan Hansen, now at Arena Stage, is heading to New York
In Spring, 2016, another musical first debuted at Arena Stage will open in New York. It was just announced that Dear Evan Hansen will be produced at Second Stage’s Tony Kiser Theatre (305 West 43rd Street). With music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (Dogfight, A Christmas Story), book by Steven Levenson (Showtime’s […]
Variety with spice: this year’s Summer Hummer at Signature
Expect things to get really hot in D.C. on Monday, August 17th, as the Signature Theatre presents the Fourth Annual Summer Hummer, the raunchy and mostly hilarious benefit for theatreWashington’s Taking Care of Our Own, which provides emergency assistance to Washington-area theatre professionals.
Peter Pan in the Threesixty Theatre – fighting, flying, and up close with Capt. Hook
I walked into the tent, and Peter and Wendy were already flying. The Peter Pan in the Threesixty Theatre folks had invited some press types for a backstage tour. I’d been thinking about taking the family (husband Jay and 3 year old twins Ivona and Aksel) anyway, so I jumped at the chance to see […]
Flashes of Brilliance in Solomon and Marion (review)
South Africa and Anacostia Playhouse have one thing in common: they’re both usually sources for exceptional plays. South Africa’s John Kani/Athol Fugard playwriting and devising team made some of the best plays of the 20th century out of the struggle against the Apartheid regime. Anacostia Playhouse knows how to pick good theater; they’ve hosted the […]
Stage Briefs
A roundup of some of this week’s theatrical news and notes from Synetic Theater, Molly Smith, Bohemian Caverns, Source Festival, Studio Theatre and Infinity Theatre.
No Rules closes, Joshua Morgan debuts on Broadway
Joshua Morgan took DC by storm when the (then) Off-Broadway sensation, Hedwig and the Angry Itch, opened at the Warehouse Theater. Morgan, who directed the musical, must have liked what he saw for he added DC as a second location for the Chapel Hills, NC company No Rules Theatre Company.
UpClose: Claudia Barnett, Women’s Voices Theater Festival
Claudia Barnett grew up in the Bronx and lives in the woods of Tennessee. She has served as resident playwright at Stage Left Theatre and Tennessee Repertory Theatre and has developed four scripts with Venus Theatre, where Witches Vanish opens on August 20.
At GALA, Slaves To Society/Esclavos A La Sociedad brings promise of emancipation from racial bias
Emoting that comes direct from the heart can grab you in the heart, even twist your gut. It’s real. You want to reach out and hug the participants in thanks. That’s what I felt, last Friday night, watching the ensemble of 27 young people, 13 to 18 years old, who participated in Paso Nuevo’s six-week […]