Fine dining has a principle that can be paraphrased like this: “If your restaurant serves a simple, homestyle meal with only a few elements on the plate, each of those elements has to be perfect to create an elevated experience.” When those simple elements aren’t perfect, they often create a serviceable meal, but not one […]
UpClose with Charlie Pollock in Elmer Gantry
Last week, I had the wonderful opportunity to head down to Signature Theatre to have a chat with Charlie Pollock, who plays the title role in Elmer Gantry, (opening October 7th,) recently on Broadway in Violet and on TV’s The Good Wife. James Gardiner, Publicity and Community Relations Manager for Signature, lead me to a conference room […]
Three Decembers from UrbanArias
What do you imagine when you think of “going to the Opera?” Vast theaters, draped entirely in tacky red velvet? Huge casts with elaborate sets in sprawling shows that go on for hours in a language you studied half-heartedly in high school? Those are typical answers, but UrbanArias, a local opera company devoted to producing […]
Three Sistahs at MetroStage
These are things that break hearts: worn letters to and from a war, recalling memories with loved ones in your newly-sold childhood home, and a triangularly folded flag with a single dog tag, the other buried just today. Three Sistahs, returning to MetroStage from a run in 2007, contains all of these heart-breaking objects and […]
Kimberly Gilbert on Marie Antoinette and the power of Yes
Kimberly Gilbert is starring in David Adjimi’s Marie Antoinette, running through October 12th at Woolly Mammoth Theatre. Alan Katz had a chance to talk with her a few days before opening night. AK: I’m going to start this off the way I start off all of these interviews; who are you and what have you […]
Memphis: the Musical at Toby’s Dinner Theatre
One of the things you have to know about Memphis: the Musical is that the hardest and hardest-working gig on the DC theatre scene has to be an actor/server at Toby’s Dinner Theatre. They hustle for a whole night, starting as waiters for the buffet-style restaurant, taking drink and dessert orders all before they prep […]
Yentl at Theater J
Theater J’s Yentl has quite a bit to compare to, given the expectations set by the immensely popular movie starring (and written and directed and produced by) Barbra Streisand and the long-running Broadway play by Leah Napolin based on the Isaac Bashevis Singer short story. This Yentl has elements of both of these originals, taking […]
theatreWashington’s Summer Hummer 2014 – making things hot for a cool cause
People do crazy things for charity. If you haven’t been living under a social media blackout, you’ve probably seen people dumping buckets of ice water on their heads for a charity fighting ALS. theatreWashington’s Summer Hummer does essentially the opposite thing for their charity Taking Care of Our Own: instead of cooling their donors down […]
Landless’ Sweeney Todd – report from the front lines of final dress
Many people who attend the theater don’t know it, but theater is a race. The finish line is set months in advance and is cheekily called “Opening Night,” even though it is the closing of a long journey. And, just like any race, the moments leading up to the finish line are the some of […]