Tuesday, temperatures in Washington rose unseasonably high, and that night The Keegan Theatre fairly sizzled with one of the hottest interpretations – and darkest — of the musical Cabaret audiences are likely to see.
Henry V
I brought a pen and notepad to Henry V on Sunday. Rookie mistake. I should have brought my sword and armor to director Robert Richmond’s muscular and immensely entertaining new production at Folger. In the skilled hands of Richmond and his creative team, history not only comes to life — it becomes the gut-punching present.
Ladies Swing the Blues
Ladies Swing the Blues at MetroStage packages the old tales about early jazz and blues greats into a new lyrical presentation. The script is deeply rooted in the oral tradition of telling the story with Thomas W. Jones II as the urban griot having written the book and lyrics with original music by the accomplished […]
Barefoot in the Park
Marriage is difficult, and Barefoot in the Park doesn’t try to make it seem like anything but. Penned by Neil Simon of Biloxi Blues fame, the three-act play follows a newlywed couple that’s just spent six wonderful, loving and lusty days on their honeymoon. The self-identified spontaneous one of the couple, Corie Bratter (Brianna Letourneau), […]
Our Town for our time. We talk with Ford’s director Stephen Rayne
The prospects looked grim during the Boston tryouts for Our Town. Business at the box office was poor, and puzzled Bostonians walked out during the performances. After all, there was no scenery to speak of: some chairs, a section of trellis and a ladder. Wilder’s dialogue seemed to be spun from the everyday conversations of […]
La Clemenza di Tito
Think treachery, deceit and betrayal, revenge and guilt. Think the politics of the 1960s. Washington Secret Service agents in sleek, black suits and button-down collars.
The 2013 Helen Hayes Awards nominations
Last night, the staff of theatreWashington gathered an excitable sample of area theatre artists, arts leaders, and members of the press into the National Theatre’s Helen Hayes Gallery to announce the nominees for the 2013 Helen Hayes Awards. The event marks the 29th season of DC’s annual theatre awards, and the remarkable growth in the […]
Review: 3 by Samuel Beckett by Arcturus Theater Company
For better or for worse, walking from the DC Metro to one’s place of business as the snow falls or the wind blows inevitably forces the brain to digest daily life differently. Winter madness, some refer to it as, but madness has its place, as does solitude, as does memory, as does the bitter cold.
Your invite to stay home and watch the Helen Hayes Awards nominations tonight
This is the night when much of Washington area theatre holds its collective breath, waiting word on who the Helen Hayes judges have nominated for this year’s Helen Hayes Awards.
Caridad Svich takes us inside The House of the Spirits
From her New York City apartment, playwright Caridad Svich graciously agreed to an hour-long phone chat last week, to talk about the GALA’s staging of The House of the Spirits/La casa de los espiritus, based on the best-selling, eponymous novel, by the award-winning Chilean-American author Isabel Allende.
Monologue Madness 2013 – actor registration opens this morning
Wake up! – DC area actors – grab your coffee, then dig out your primo 90 second audition monologue. You know. The God-I’m-great-you-gotta-cast-me one. Because signups for Monologue Madness start at 10 a.m. this morning online, and, if Year 2 was any indication, slots will fill up pretty quickly.
Terri White in Barbara Cook’s Spotlight
Most recently seen at The Kennedy Center in Eric Schaeffer’s lavish production of Stephen Sondheim’s Follies, Terri White has returned to the Washington, DC area, but this time with a single spotlight shining on her.