It’s always an awkward situation when leadership of an organization transitions. The smartest model, of course, is for the outgoing leader to separate cleanly and to fade quietly into the past. That’s much better then having someone hanging around, creating an awkward situation as the old seems to want to cling while the new feels […]
About Christopher Henley
Review: Fringe favorite Brian Feldman’s #txtshow (on the internet)
“If the performance sucks, it is 100% your fault, divided by the number of people here.” So the audience was informed toward the end of #txtshow (on the internet), which I experienced last night via Zoom, the suddenly-nearly-ubiquitous platform that allowed me to leap time-zones and be a part of the Colorado premiere (as part […]
Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems!, a daily art break for home-bound families
“You might be isolated, but you’re not alone. You are an art maker. Let’s make some together.” – Mo Willems Willems is the author of some of the most popular books for young audiences of this century. They include Knuffle Bunny, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (that was adapted into a fabulous musical […]
Review: The Simon and Garfunkel Story at the National
There are a few ways to handle the often reviled, increasingly prevalent form we know as the “jukebox musical.” Sometimes (Mama Mia!, as an example), the music catalog of a popular artist or group is incorporated into a concocted plot. Other times (as with Beautiful: The Carole King Musical), the music is part of a […]
Review: The Lady from the Village of Falling Flowers
We few; we happy few. Six performances times sixteen seats comes to fewer than 100 people who will see The Lady from the Village of Falling Flowers, which is a very early one-act by Tennessee Williams that, until recently, had never been produced. Spooky Action Theater is mounting the show away from their usual space […]
Dance review: The Washington Ballet’s Nutcracker
As A Christmas Carol is to the theatre, so is The Nutcracker to the dance. It’s the perennially performed ballet that defines the holiday experience for many families — and provides a dependable revenue stream for many companies. A particular DC tradition these last many years has been Washington Ballet performing a production choreographed by […]
Review: Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (The Musical!). Perfection and the scene stealers keep coming
If you think you hear the gloriously ingenious cackling of delighted children, it may be emanating from the Family Theater at The Kennedy Center. If it is mixed with some lower-pitched guffaws, those may be coming from the same place, emanating from the adults who have accompanied kids to the world premiere musical Don’t Let […]
Richard Clifford: on directing Shaffer’s ‘revenge comedy’ Amadeus and Kenneth Branagh Shakespeare films
“I think that anybody coming in will go, ‘Oh wow: look at those people; look at that time in life; look at that relevancy to now. That man is being so horrible to that other person; why?’ In that way, yes: it reaches everybody.” I had asked Richard Clifford, whose production of Amadeus opened at […]
Review: Kid Prince and Pablo, a Hip Hop Mark Twain update
Mark Twain’s 1881 novel, The Prince and the Pauper, receives an engaging update (with a “digital, Hip Hop-infused twist”) at Kennedy Center’s Family Theater with the world premiere of the Kennedy Center-commissioned Kid Prince and Pablo, running now through November 3rd. The Twain original took readers back in time, imagining a 16th Century situation in […]
Review: Hello, Dolly! starring Betty Buckley, a Golden Age musical high
I expect that, if you’ve found your way to this review, you will love the national tour of the recent Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly!, newly ensconced at Kennedy Center’s Opera House. Look at the old girl now, indeed. Jerry Zaks has directed an almost perfectly realized production, and the cast of the tour is […]
Director Vivienne Benesch on Folger’s Love’s Labor’s Lost, a brisk waltz tempo chat
“What’s wonderful about this play is: it really should appeal to any lover out there.” Vivienne Benesch was speaking with me as her production of Love’s Labor’s Lost was nearing its first performance at Folger Theatre. “I was saying to the cast the other day: I said, ‘I absolutely hope that this is the perfect […]
Author Michael Hollinger on creating the world of Ghost-Writer
Michael Hollinger doesn’t want you to be misled by a thumbnail description of Ghost-Writer, his three-character play about an Edwardian-era writer, his wife, and his secretary, the latter of whom claims to continue to receive dictation from the great man following his death. “I would say that people are often surprised what a passionate experience […]