I was surprised at how little I laughed during Oh, Hello on Broadway, a comedy act by Nick Kroll and John Mulaney, who have been called “two of the hottest voices in comedy.” They portray Gil Faizon, a “Tony Award viewing” actor, and George St. Geegland, a failed novelist, who have been roommates for 40 […]
Archives for October 2016
Ruthless! – a poisoned parody of musicals brimming with talent at Creative Cauldron (review)
In the Ruthless! world where little girls break out into song when strangers pay a visit, and show business aspirations are passed down through the genetic code of some wacky dames, hilarity ensues. A sharp, funny and tuneful mash-up of all things show-biz and camp, Ruthless! The Musical is a hoot.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at The Kennedy Center (review)
Unlike most of us lazy mortals, Christopher sees everything. And in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, now playing at the Kennedy Center, we see the world through his unique perspective – brought unforgettably to life with dazzling stage and lighting that is nothing short of virtuosic.
An Iliad from Taffety Punk (review)
How much can a single great performance carry a whole production? That question is put to the test in Taffety Punk’s staging of Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare’s An Iliad, a semi-contemporized take on Homer’s classic tale of the Trojan War featuring a remarkable star turn from Esther Williamson. But frustrating staging and design choices […]
The Kennedy Center reveals plans for major HARMAN gift of audio and light equipment
HARMAN, recently named the official sound partner of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, will be making a generous donation of high-performance audio and lighting equipment as part of an expanded partnership between the two entities. What impact will that have on the sound system of the Opera House, which came under fierce […]
The Encounter Review: a mystical, mesmerizing (mostly head) trip
The eerie true story of National Geographic photographer Loren McIntyre’s encounter with the elusive Mayoruna tribe while lost in the Amazon rainforest is made stranger still in Simon McBurney’s one-man play The Encounter. The tribal “headman” communicated with McIntyre telepathically; McBurney communicates with the audience aurally, through individual headphones at each seat.
FringePOP: Public (review)
“Will film kill off the the theater?” This question, often asked in existential anxiety by theatermakers at an undersold performance, may be the wrong one. That seems to be the message from Capital Fringe’s first ever self-produced program, FringePOP, an acronym for Performance Over Projection. This ambitious project rejects the premise of the opening question […]
Fringe POP Private (review)
It’s delightful that Capital Fringe has its own dedicated, permanent theater spaces these days—because it’s the perfect place to take in an innovative, avant-garde arthouse-style show like POP Private.
A Matter of Perspective from Live Garra Theatre (review)
A Matter of Perspective is a provocative new work that examines racial tensions in the context of jury deliberations. It is a stimulating work with the potential for greater accomplishment, but like much of today’s racial dialogue, gets caught up in preconceptions and animosity that limit its contributions.
Holiday Inn Review: Corbin Bleu as Fred Astaire
It is possible to enjoy Holiday Inn, subtitled “The New Irving Berlin Musical,” although there is little new about it. The Broadway adaptation of the 1942 Crosby/Astaire movie features a hard-working, elegantly costumed cast in one pleasantly diverting musical number after another. But it’ll help to check your sense and sensibility in the coatroom. More […]
Love’s LaBeers Lost from LiveArtDC (review)
If you’re contemplating seeing Love’s LaBEERS Lost, and I hope you are, you might be thinking, “hey, it’s Shakespeare in a bar! We can get a drink and watch a comedy in an intimate venue and have a beer while we do it!”
Mitchell Hébert on the challenge of playing Roy Cohn
“You have to get to a place where you can just get out of your own way to play this guy.” “This guy” is the infamous Roy Cohn, who is the real-life antagonist in Tony Kushner’s epic, two-evening Angels in America, on-stage through October 30th in a collaborative production between Montgomery County’s two largest (and […]