As an unemployed actor six decades ago, Hal Holbrook starting digging through Mark Twain’s written words in order to fashion a staged interview in which the “father of American literature” (as William Faulkner deemed Twain) would come to life. From the interview, the event evolved into Mark Twain Tonight! in which one author’s distinctive humor […]
Mamma Mia!
I believe that every diet needs the occasional spoonful of Marshmallow Fluff directly out of the jar. I have a fond memory from a few years ago. I’d never seen Mamma Mia! and was about to see the movie for the first time. Now, this was right in the throngs of my musical theatre conservatory training, […]
American Idiot
American Idiot celebrates a year in the life of the early 21st Century American dudebro. Based on the multi-platinum 2004 album by pop-punk 90’s survivors Green Day, Idiot follows the misadventures of a band of three suburban dudes looking to make it in the big city. Quickly, the trio are separated into a triptych of […]
STOMP “will blow you away”
The first time I saw STOMP was back in New York City’s Orpheum’s Theatre in 1995, when people all around Manhattan were buzzing about the unique production that combined percussion-minded “instruments” with an assortment of every-day items to create sound. It was astounding, loud (but in a good way!) and one of the most original […]
STOMP’s Ivan Delaforce: “we make music with everything including the kitchen sink”
If music is a universal language, why not add comedy and the use of household objects to the mix? That is pretty much what Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas did in the early 1990s when they originated STOMP, the live show that combines percussion, movement and improvisation to the delight of audiences around the world. […]
Welcome home, Porgy and Bess and Duke Ellington star Sumayya Ali
“Summertime and the living is easy…” That is, of course, the beginning of “Summertime,” the song which is the most recorded in Broadway history, Sumayya Ali told me. Porgy and Bess, the show it comes from, is stopping at the National Theatre as part of the tour of the recent Tony-winning (Best Revival of a […]
Pre-Broadway tryout of If/Then
As a self-professed musical theatre geek, there are few things that give me greater joy than being able to witness the seeds of a new, completely original musical begin to grow. Local theatregoers have such a chance right now as Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey’s anticipated musical If/Then premieres at Washington, DC’s historic, yet until […]
Backstage with Anthony Rapp of If/Then
Anthony Rapp is ready. On a recent evening, he was at the National Theatre. Along with the rest of the If/Then company, he was rehearsing that show’s finale. He told me about looking out into the audience, empty of patrons, and imagining the seats filled.