Signature Theatre’s revival of the 1992 musical Jelly’s Last Jam is a rich slurry of jazz, blues and ragtime music, thunderous performances and some of the most extraordinary tap dancing you’re ever likely to see, assembled by choreographer Jared Grimes.
Archives for August 2016
Review: Florence Foster Jenkins. Streep is marvelous, but nearly eclipsed by Simon Helberg and Hugh Grant
The story of Florence Foster Jenkins is true; it’s strange; it brings up a lot of interesting questions about the intersection of money and the arts; and it is now a movie. In fact, it is the latest star vehicle for that most renowned of contemporary movie actors, the one and only Meryl Streep.
The Klunch brings DODO’s acclaimed The Last Class: A Jazzercize Play to DC
Hoping to put you “into a ‘klunch’ (an internet-y little word to describe the state of mind of someone who’s become totally engrossed in something like Facebook, Netflix, or Pokémon Go),” The Klunch is bringing DODO Theatre Collective’s production of The Last Class: A Jazzercize Play to the Trinidad Theater at the Fringe Logan Arts […]
The Lonesome West, a smashing success at Keegan Theatre (review)
Here’s how you know you’re in a Martin McDonagh comedy: Father Welsh (Chris Stezin), Leenane Village’s dipsomaniacal priest, wanders into the fractious home of the Connor brothers to announce “Tom Hallan killed himself” — and the audience bursts out in laughter.
FEAR, Kathleen Akerley’s latest, a heady brew (review)
So, why doesn’t Shakespeare excite anyone anymore? And, what would it take for Shakespeare to garner the same level of hype as Star Wars or Harry Potter? These are the central questions of FEAR: a comedy? about performing Shakespeare, written and directed by Kathleen Akerley and produced by Longacre Lea.
Simon Helberg. Odd man out in Florence Foster Jenkins? Hardly.
One should probably not use the phrase “steals the show” to describe the performance of an actor in a movie featuring Meryl Streep as the leading lady, for such a thing is almost certainly impossible. But if it were possible, Simon Helberg’s turn as Cosme McMoon in Florence Foster Jenkins would serve as the ideal […]
DCTS takes to the Smithsonian stage to intro the new season
Trey Graham will headline as DC Theatre Scene makes its second annual appearance at the Smithsonian Associates’ preview of the upcoming theater year.
Remembering Zelda Fichandler’s Arena Stage
Since the death of Zelda Fichandler on July 29th, there have been numerous tributes to the woman, her accomplishments, and her great and important legacy. All are well-earned and thoroughly deserved. In the pantheon of Washington, D.C. theatre-makers, the zenith position belongs to Zelda.
Welder Wisdom: Playwrights Gwydion Suilebhan and Stephen Spotswood on the first handoff
The concept of The Welders playwrights’ collective is seemingly simple, “Three years. Five plays. Pass it on.” But the effort and dedication that went into its formation is anything but. At their annual summer party The Weld, the six founding members of the company did something tremendous: they gave away their company. A new generation […]
Mike Daisey plays The Trump Card (review)
“He’s very good at what he does.” Despite 100 minutes of blistering and savagely funny assaults on the mogul-turned-pitchman-turned-megalomaniac, monologist Mike Daisey still pays Donald Trump credit in his one-man performance of The Trump Card, now playing at Woolly Mammoth Theatre.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two, the next Hamilton? (script review)
Typically readers of plays are drama students, theatre professionals, and other artistic nerds like myself. J.K. Rowling and friends have clearly shattered that barrier last weekend with publication of the rehearsal script of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child—Parts One and Two.
The Crucible at Glimmerglass Festival
In 1692, Tituba and a gaggle of Puritan girls frolicked by night in the woods outside Salem and allegedly conjured up the devil, an event that embroiled the witnesses and a whole township in a massive, tragic witch-hunt. By night, during this summer of 2016, surrounded by the woods of Cooperstown New York, there has […]