All stories by Christopher Henley on BroadwayStars

Friday, December 11, 2020

Community comes together to celebrate Tom Prewitt and his legacy. Everyone welcome. by Christopher Henley

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 …

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:32PM
Friday, June 26, 2020

Review: Fringe favorite Brian Feldman’s #txtshow (on the internet) by Christopher Henley

“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 la…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:03PM
Thursday, March 19, 2020

Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems!, a daily art break for home-bound families by Christopher Henley

“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 audienc…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 02:02PM
Saturday, February 1, 2020

Review: The Simon and Garfunkel Story at the National by Christopher Henley

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 artis…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 04:36PM
Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Review: The Lady from the Village of Falling Flowers by Christopher Henley

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 Tennesse…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 11:18AM
Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Dance review: The Washington Ballet’s Nutcracker by Christopher Henley

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 de…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 01:03PM
Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Review: Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (The Musical!). Perfection and the scene stealers keep coming by Christopher Henley

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 guffa…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:06PM
Friday, November 15, 2019

Richard Clifford: on directing Shaffer’s ‘revenge comedy’ Amadeus and Kenneth Branagh Shakespeare films by Christopher Henley

“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?…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 11:33AM
Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Review: Kid Prince and Pablo, a hi-hop Mark Twain update by Christopher Henley

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 o…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 03:03PM
Friday, June 7, 2019

Review: Hello, Dolly! starring Betty Buckley, a Golden Age musical high by Christopher Henley

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. …

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 02:03PM
Friday, May 17, 2019

Director Vivienne Benesch on Folger’s Love’s Labor’s Lost, a brisk waltz tempo chat by Christopher Henley

“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 it…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:42PM
Friday, March 29, 2019

Author Michael Hollinger on creating the world of Ghost-Writer by Christopher Henley

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 …

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 08:27AM
Thursday, March 21, 2019

Review: Beep Beep! from Arts on the Horizon trucking over to Atlas by Christopher Henley

You’re never too young to be taken to the theatre. And you’re never so young that you shouldn’t expect a lot from the theatre that is aimed toward you. That seems to be the proposition…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 11:06AM
Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Review: The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963 by Christopher Henley

I had a wonderful time at The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963, a Theater for Young Audience’s world premiere Kennedy Center commission, on stage at the Center’s Eisenhower Theater thro…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 09:39AM
Friday, March 1, 2019

We Three Queens of Richard the Third: Robynn Rodriguez, Lizan Mitchell and Sandra Shipley give insights into history’s lesson by Christopher Henley

  I asked three actors, all playing female royalty in Richard the Third at Shakespeare Theatre Company, to talk about what might convince wavering potential audiences to see this production…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:58AM
Friday, February 22, 2019

Separate Rooms is Joe Calarco’s Big Chill. Why he entrusted its debut to a young company by Christopher Henley

“I hope it is funny and sexy — and moving, too.” I had asked playwright Joe Calarco about Separate Rooms, his newest work; in particular, what about it would pique the interest of …

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:56AM
Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Review: She a Gem, Double Dutch lessons at The Kennedy Center by Christopher Henley

Double Dutch equals freedom. A character in She A Gem, on-stage at The Kennedy Center’s Family Theater through Feb. 24th, says that, or something to that effect, early in the hour-long sho…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 11:02AM
Thursday, January 17, 2019

Remembering Carol Channing by Christopher Henley

What I remember most vividly about Carol Channing in Hello, Dolly!, some forty years after I saw her performance, are her eyes, and the surprising vulnerability, even neediness, that they ex…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 09:12AM
Friday, December 21, 2018

Review: The Play That Goes Wrong by Christopher Henley

I don’t care if The Play That Goes Wrong has won prestigious theatre awards named Olivier and Tony. I don’t care how much the ticket costs, and that there is an intermission, and that it…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 03:42PM
Wednesday, December 19, 2018

6 days to learn lines, music and blocking? Check. How Paul Scanlan, popular DC actor, made the leap to the Beautiful: The Carole King Story national t by Christopher Henley

“In mid-August, I did the audition and, the very next day, I got the call from my agent that I had booked it; and then, six days after that, I started rehearsal; and then, six days after t…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 02:12PM
Friday, November 30, 2018

Review: Beautiful: The Carole King Musical by Christopher Henley

The jukebox musical is the red-headed step-child of contemporary theatre. The worst reviews you could ever read in, say, The New York Times will be of jukebox musicals. (Okay; maybe King Kon…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 01:32PM
Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Fancy Nancy’s Splendiferous Christmas review by Christopher Henley

The ever dependable Adventure Theatre MTC has unveiled its Christmas show for this year, Fancy Nancy’s Splendiferous Christmas. Based on a book (part of a series) by Jane O’Connor an…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 02:12PM

Review: An Inspector Calls. Magnificent production by Christopher Henley

I once saw Edward Albee speak on a panel with Robert Wilson. Albee described his disappointment when he re-watched the Werner Herzog film Aguirre, Wrath of God. There was a particular sequen…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 01:06PM
Wednesday, October 31, 2018

In his first play, Parts of a Night, retired actor Rick Foucheux writes about the comedy and drama of life backstage by Christopher Henley

When Rick Foucheux retired from acting, he did so as one of the most popular, award-winning,  one might even say beloved performers in town. Many bemoaned the prospect of no more Foucheux o…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:48PM
Thursday, October 4, 2018

How actor Jeff Wincott manages his busy TV and film career from DC by Christopher Henley

Editor’s note:  Carrie Coon was an unknown Chicago actor before landing the role of Honey, the “pliant and sweetly sozzled soul” in Steppenwolf’s Whose Afraid of Vir…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 11:06AM
Friday, September 7, 2018

Worst mistake made at casting calls and other audition tips from longtime casting director Naomi Robin by Christopher Henley

Last year, I spoke with Naomi Robin (as she was leaving her longtime gig as Casting Director at Theater J) about her time there and about her career more broadly. I also asked her about the …

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:54PM
Monday, August 27, 2018

Neil Simon. A high-brow’s tribute to the last of the red hot comedy playwrights by Christopher Henley

Neil Simon has died. As a playwright, a book-writer of musicals, a gag-writer for the golden age of television, a screenwriter, and a legendary “play doctor” (his ability to fix problems…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 03:54PM
Thursday, August 16, 2018

Chris Henley’s notebook: 7 smashing NYC summer shows and the stars and understudies who earned those Standing O’s by Christopher Henley

School was out. Daddy had some days off. Seemed like a good time to take the kids up to New York City — and then to go back again the following week to see some theatre not suitable for (t…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 02:18PM
Saturday, June 30, 2018

Remembering Elizabeth Kitsos-Kang, who “made people into artists and artists into people” by Christopher Henley

The DC theatre community lost one of its most admired, respected, and beloved members on June 9th. Elizabeth Kitsos-Kang was only 53 years old when she succumbed to cancer. The outpouring of…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 11:36AM
Wednesday, June 20, 2018

DC’s beloved Floyd King, now in the cast of Camelot, talks about an actor’s life by Christopher Henley

“I mean, actors — it’s hard for us to judge whether we’re good in something or not, because we’re probably not a good judge of it. We go by how it feels.  “If you discover somet…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:42AM
Thursday, May 17, 2018

Review: The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant by Christopher Henley

Let’s begin with Fernando Hechavarría, who plays Petra in the Teatro El Público production of The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, which opened last night, the first of a mere two perform…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 02:12PM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards