Most of us are uncompromising in our youth, and, buffeted by the winds of time and experience, grow smooth and mellow in our old age. In that sense, John Quincy Adams lived his life backward. As a young man, he was a prodigiously gifted diplomat, serving as ambassador to the Netherlands (at 26!), Prussia, Russia, […]
Archives for March 18, 2019
Review: For Washington National Opera, Faust is in the house
Only one week ago, Washington National Opera gave us a cool, minimalist modern take on a romantic opera (Eugene Onegin); this week the company took us back to an old world, even hedonistic approach to grand opera with its production of Charles Gounod’s Faust. It was in many ways being fed the operatic equivalent of […]
The Seagull review from The Wheel
Was Anton Chekhov touched with the gift of prophecy when he wrote the first of his four major plays, The Seagull? Or, even rarer, with self-awareness? The piece, which begins with a disastrous performance of an avant-garde play, was considered an epic failure upon its debut in Petersburg in 1896. The situation was so dire […]
Rep Stage announces its 2019-2020 season
Two shows about music — one an Outer Critics Circle Best Musical awardee; the other a show about the awfulest music ever — will bookend Rep Stage’s 2019-2020 Season, which will also include a world premiere by a local playwright and a much-acclaimed new play about life after life for recently slaughtered African-American males. The […]