East of Eden is an American classic, a huge and sprawling novel, stretching from the Civil War to World War I and from California to Connecticut. John Steinbeck — who won the Pulitzer and Nobel prizes — considered it his best work. “I think everything else I have written has been, in a sense, practice […]
Steinbeck’s East of Eden, a passion project for NextStop’s Evan Hoffmann
While John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath have historically been on high school reading lists for decades, one of the Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winner’s more ambitious works, East of Eden, is what the author considered his magnum opus.
Review: The Wedding Singer at NextStop Theatre
Eye rolling and harrumphing over Broadway musical writers being out of ideas feels pretty banal at this stage in the game. It’s no secret that creators of musical theater are relying more than ever on movie and television adaptations (right now, two Disney movies, a Jack Black vehicle, an underwater cartoon series and a heartwarming […]
Review: Legrand musical Amour
Perhaps you have never heard of Amour, the musical with a score by the prolific French composer Michel Legrand. Perhaps it was champagne when the masses wanted beer back in 2002 when it opened on Broadway – or the lure of The Producers and Thoroughly Modern Millie (which won the Tony for Best Musical that year.) Where […]
Casting for Michel Legrand’s Amour, NextStop stages a reunion from its storied past
NextStop Theatre is celebrating its 30th year, a history that took root as the Elden Street Players in 1988, when the newly-formed community theatre took over a Herndon-based warehouse and created an ideal black box space. The company kicks off its season by paying tribute to the Elden Street Players’ 25 years of excellence before the […]
Review: Bad Jews – an entertaining fastball of a comedy
Family members are complicated. They can comfort during tearful times and lunge at the flick of a few cruel words. NextStop Theatre Company’s Bad Jews is a powder keg of familial tension that’s packed into ninety, explosively funny minutes.
NextStop announces its sixth professional season for 2018/2019
NextStop Theatre Company has offered professional theater to Herndon, VA and environs for five years, but for years before that the theater’s venue was home to one of the best community theaters in the DMV, the Elden Street Players. Thus the company has decided to kick off its sixth professional season (and the 30th season […]
A refreshed, updated Godspell at NextStop (review)
Followers of Jesus post Bible verses on Reddit. John the Baptist unplugs the wifi to get everyone’s attention. The surrendering of your cell phone or laptop is the ultimate show of commitment to the message. This is Godspell in 2018.
45 Plays for 45 Presidents at NextStop Theatre (review)
I have the answer to the question you all are dying to ask about NextStop’s new play — “how did it treat Millard Fillmore?” — but before we get to that let’s put this thing into perspective. This is an ensemble cast performing an ensemble-written play, and it is best understood not as a history […]
Assassins at NextStop Theatre (review)
In a time in American history where gun control, collusion, corporate taxes, labor issues, immigration, war, and threats of violence dominate the daily news, Assassins feels chillingly relevant, and fresh. With its rich, moving numbers, it offers no answers; it’s more a testimony that we reached today through the actions of citizens suffering under those […]
Two visions of Sondheim’s Assassins opens as the country recoils from mass shootings
As the country grieves over yet another mass shooting and grapples with the question of what could drive anyone to contemplate such a hideous act, two productions of the Stephen Sondheim/John Weidman’s musical Assassins, which explores that question, are preparing to open in our area.
Ayad Akhtar’s Disgraced at NextStop Theatre (review)
Imagine the worst dinner party you could attend. Not the worst for company (everyone here is erudite and cosmopolitan), nor the worst for purpose (a celebration of achievement), nor the worst for food and drink (scotch, an adorable fennel salad and pork tenderloin in the oven). No, the worst because everyone says things they shouldn’t, […]