I was intrigued by Museum 2040, an alternate future immersive production that combines a museum exhibit and a theatricalized dedication ceremony, from the moment I interviewed its playwright Renee Calarco 5 years ago for DC Theatre Scene. After all, I do work full time at a very large museum complex here in DC (yes, the […]
About Alan Katz
Review: The Snowy Day at Adventure Theatre MTC and a dad’s-eye view of TYA shows
The Shark, my desultory 3 year old, was hopping from place to place in Glen Echo Park in anticipation of seeing The Snowy Day and Other Stories, a musical adaptation of one of the most popular books of recent memory. The only thing that was missing, according to her, was snow. “Maybe they’ll have snow […]
Review: Zomo the Rabbit at Imagination Stage
As my toddler stuffed fistfuls of frosting in her mouth, I couldn’t help think of Zomo the Rabbit, the deliciously fun Theater for Young Audiences play that we saw earlier. Not just because she was living up to her nickname The Shark as the red buttercream stained the lower half of her face a blood […]
Review: Squeakers & Mr. Gumdrop, a delightful Shark-approved holiday romp for toddlers
It was a type of morning that many parents of small children are familiar with: a morning full of questions. The Shark (my ever-moving, ever-hunting, and ever-curious almost-3 year old) was delivering lots of “What is that person doing?” and, of course, many versions of “Why?” but the most pressing questions last Saturday morning were […]
Review: The Velveteen Rabbit at Adventure Theatre MTC
The best and worst part of toddlers are their Big Feelings. Just the morning of me writing this piece, my toddler (who we call The Shark) has displayed righteous indignation at not being allowed to untie my shoes, throwing-herself-on-the-floor rage at being asked to go to the potty, and screaming delight at booping my nose. […]
Review: At Constellation, a Little Shop that’s big fun.
There’s a pall of delicious irony lingering over Constellation’s Little Shop of Horrors, the now-classic musical tale of a weirdo named Seymour from Skid Row who finds an extra-terrestrial plant that brings him (and the flower shop where he works) fame but must be fed in blood, now playing at Source on 14th Street NW. […]
Review: The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show at Imagination Stage
You may not recognize the name Eric Carle, but you’ll probably recognize his distinctive collage art. He hand paints sheet after sheet of tissue paper with bold acrylics. He cuts them in simple shapes and carefully layers them to form, most famously, a Very Hungry Caterpillar on the cover of one of the best-selling children’s […]
Review: Elephant and Piggie’s “We are in a Play!” Shark-approved “gooood show”
I’ll admit, I was a bit terrified to attend Elephant and Piggie’s “We are in a Play!” Mostly because my toddler, lovingly called the Shark, had lived up to her animal Patronus and didn’t take a nap. For a 2pm show. I was prepared for a bloodbath, for wailing and gnashing of teeth reserved for […]
Review: Skip the long rehearsals. Taffety Punk actors jump right into the action with Richard III
The best theater reveals moments of high emotion built on the intersection of intense preparation and the chaos of live performance. By that measure, the best theater experience in DC is Taffety Punk’s Bootleg Shakespeare. This year, the Punks took on Richard III, and unequivocally showed their mastery of Shakespeare’s historical masterpiece. Here’s how the […]
Review: Disney’s Aladdin. It’s all about the spectacle and Major Attaway as Genie
“It’s the plot that you knew/ with a small twist or two/ but the changes we made were slight,” croons Major Attaway as the Genie in the finale of Aladdin national tour, now at the Kennedy Center. This not-quite-apology acknowledgment of the awkward tension between the nostalgia that drives a ticket purchase (in this case […]
Review: The Cat in the Hat with puppets at Adventure Theatre MTC
Two or three weeks ago, my daughter was finally patient enough to get all the way through Dr. Seuss’s book, The Cat in the Hat. A feat of patience and wit, to be sure, for someone who is two and a half and has earned the nickname The Shark through her need both to be […]
Reykjavík review. Steve Yockey’s play gets Rorschach’s signature treatment
Truth be told, I’ve never been to Iceland. But I somehow doubt that Steve Yockey and Rorschach Theatre’s horror-strewn and homo-centric vignettes in the rolling world premiere Reykjavík are meant to be faithfully representative of the oddly hot Nordic tourist spot in the middle of the North Atlantic. That said, this magic-filled and darkly comic […]
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