Putting together a satirical musical with nods at classic musicals (Annie, Les Miserables), the works of Brecht and Weill (The Threepenny Opera), and even Fringe theatre and launching it in NYC could be considered risky at best. Such a show might not appeal to the general public, and in terms of New York’s Broadway theatre, […]
Archives for May 2017
Toni Morrison’s Jazz at Baltimore Center Stage (review)
The big question in Jazz is—where’s the music? This world premiere adaptation by Nambi E. Kelley of Toni Morrison’s 1992 book isn’t meant to be a song-and-dance show, but still it lacks the musicality and rhythm you associate with jazz and the musical structure used by Morrison when writing the book.
Avant Bard’s King Lear is revelatory, thanks to Rick Foucheux and director Tom Prewitt
Is it possible to learn something new from a 400-year-old play? Yes, if the play is rich in insight and wisdom; if the production is attentive to detail and willing to take risks; and if there is a commitment to excellence by the company. WSC Avant Bard’s King Lear succeeds on all three counts, and […]
Taylor Mac’s HIR, unsettling and unforgettable (review)
One barometer by which you can gauge the impact of a play is by whether it can be interpreted in wildly different ways by different audience members. Woolly Mammoth’s production of Taylor Mac’s darkly absurd HIR, with its microcosmic collapse and reinforcement of the patriarchy within the claustrophobic confine of one suburban home is a brilliant […]
Fine cast equals 5 star Proof at Olney Theatre (review)
Nevertheless, she persisted. Persisted, pushed back depression and doubt and the burden of care to accept her legacy of genius.
Ulysses on Bottles from Mosaic Theater Company (review)
You might be tempted to dismiss Ulysses on Bottles as a niche-appeal “issue play,” but this first opening for Mosaic Theater since receiving the Outstanding Emerging Theater Company Award at last week’s Helen Hayes Awards shows why you would be wrong and why Mosaic will be an all-around heavyweight on the DC theatre scene for years to come.
Noises Off at Everyman, “… delirious depiction of backstage dramatics” (review)
An enterprising Everyman Theatre board member calculated there are 152 laughs in Noises Off. Surely, he jests. There is easily three times that number in Everyman’s gonzo production under the banana-peel direction of artistic director Vincent M. Lancisi.
$900 Ticket Giveaway to see Broadway’s Florence Lacey in Kaleidoscope this weekend
UPDATE: All tickets are gone. The giveaway is closed. Thanks to the generosity of Creative Cauldron, we can award 15 pairs of tickets to the closing weekend of the new musical Kaleidoscope.
Polarbear performs Mouth Open, Story Jump Out (review)
How do you know the difference between a story and a lie? According to British spoken word artist Polarbear (aka Steven Camden), a lie is selfish, but a story is a gift. If that is the case, Polarbear’s engaging autobiographical one man show for children 8 years and older, Mouth Open, Story Jump Out, is […]
Side Effects, a doctor struggles to survive in an unforgiving heath care system (review)
Taffety Punk Theatre Company’s new rep of healthcare plays—Mercy Killers and Side Effects, both written and performed by Michael Milligan – tackle the broken nature of America’s healthcare system—supposedly the greatest in the world. Side Effects focuses on the less-often-considered side of the doctor-patient divide—that of the burned-out physician, equally frustrated and thwarted by a broken system […]
Mercy Killers shows the human toll of a broken healthcare system (review)
“If you want to change something by Tuesday, theater is no good. Journalism is what does that,” playwright Tom Stoppard once said. “But, if you want to just alter the chemistry of the moral matrix, then theater has a longer half-life.” So, it’s a credit to Taffety Punk Theatre Company that their new rep of […]
Jesus Christ Superstar at Signature Theatre (review)
Christ’s last mortal days are a “strange thing, mystifying” in Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1970 Jesus Christ Superstar. But as conceived by director Joe Calarco in Signature Theatre’s new production, they’re a little stranger and more mystifying than they need to be — that despite generally solid performances and an excellent musical team.