All stories by John Stoltenberg on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, October 10, 2023

The Brothers Booth share more than blood in new musical ‘Tyrants’ by John Stoltenberg

John Wilkes Booth, the B-list actor and Confederacy fanboy who shot President Lincoln, is merely one of nine hit people featured in Sondheim’s musical Assassins. The limelight-hog would be…

SOURCE: dctheaterarts.org at 04:15PM
Sunday, October 1, 2023

Taffety Punk’s rousing ‘La Salpêtrière’ hears women’s roar by John Stoltenberg

Playwright Kelsey Mesa shrewdly makes hysteria the centerpiece of her satiric dark comedy, and the show's originality and substance make it a must-see. By JOHN STOLTENBERG

SOURCE: dctheaterarts.org at 09:30PM
Monday, September 25, 2023

‘Scorched’ fuses love and war, fable and tragedy, at ExPats Theatre by John Stoltenberg

The storytelling is complex and gripping — a tragedy wrapped in a fable and a memory play set in a war zone. By JOHN STOLTENBERG

SOURCE: dctheaterarts.org at 03:45PM
Thursday, September 21, 2023

Free Theatre Week Kickoff Fest at Arena Stage on Saturday by John Stoltenberg

Join Theatre Washington, over 40 DC-area theaters, and dozens of theater-makers as they kick off Theatre Week 2023.

SOURCE: dctheaterarts.org at 05:54PM
Sunday, September 17, 2023

‘Never in Our Image’ at Source: an artfully woke anti-gun opera by John Stoltenberg

The performance is stunning sonically, scenically, and choreographically — haunting in its grace, alarming in its force and power. By JOHN STOLTENBERG

SOURCE: dctheaterarts.org at 03:50PM
Sunday, September 10, 2023

Cirque du Soleil’s ‘Echo’ immerses us in emotion way beyond awe by John Stoltenberg

The virtuoso circus acts are as breathtaking as ever, but here they remind us that trust, cooperation, and support are crucial to coexistence. By JOHN STOLTENBERG

SOURCE: dctheaterarts.org at 09:38AM
Thursday, September 7, 2023

Stop the presses. ‘Ink’ at Round House Theatre is a must-see. by John Stoltenberg

In a rip-roaring co-production with Olney Theatre Center, James Graham's astute play is the origin story of sensationalism and sleaze as news. By JOHN STOLTENBERG

SOURCE: dctheaterarts.org at 08:50AM
Thursday, August 31, 2023

Compagnie Käfig’s mesmerizing ‘Pixel’ is virtually now real life by John Stoltenberg

The physicality of these dancers’ freedom in the midst of myriad data offers a tech-surfeited viewer vicarious liberation. By JOHN STOLTENBERG

SOURCE: dctheaterarts.org at 10:03AM
Tuesday, August 8, 2023

Sublimely bonkers ‘Brute Farce’ debuts at Dominion Stage by John Stoltenberg

As a 'proof of concept' production of a solidly laugh-out-loud script, this promising comedy is very worth catching. By JOHN STOLTENBERG

SOURCE: dctheaterarts.org at 05:09PM
Sunday, July 16, 2023

2023 Capital Fringe Review: ‘RiverShe Collective Arts: Queer Family Summer Sanctuary’ (3 1⁄2 stars) by John Stoltenberg

A gender-and-ethnicity affirmation ceremony in the form of a music-poetry-and-sketch revue with elements of a religious service. Which is a lot.

SOURCE: dctheaterarts.org at 06:09PM
Saturday, July 15, 2023

2023 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Drown the Muse’ by Hannah Phipps and Zoë Bowen Smith (3 1⁄2 stars) by John Stoltenberg

Audition anxiety and performance insecurity take centerstage as two friends seek through the art of acting a sense of worth.

SOURCE: dctheaterarts.org at 11:58AM
Friday, June 9, 2023

Deducing the divine: ‘C.S. Lewis on Stage: Further Up & Further In’ by John Stoltenberg

The image of a brainy don interrogating the universe to the music of the spheres was unmistakable.

SOURCE: dctheaterarts.org at 02:17PM
Wednesday, May 24, 2023

The transcendent hope of Ruth Bader Ginsburg in ‘All Things Equal’ by John Stoltenberg

The show is so moving it suspends us in belief she is still with us.

SOURCE: dctheaterarts.org at 06:14PM
Friday, May 19, 2023

Landless Theatre Company picks a quippy ‘Mr. and Mrs. Fitch’ by John Stoltenberg

The comedy's sendup of celebrity culture and this post-truth world is well-timed.

SOURCE: dctheaterarts.org at 11:00AM
Sunday, April 23, 2023

Citizen satirists of Hexagon bounce back with ‘The Sedition Edition’ by John Stoltenberg

March 12, 2020, was the day the COVID theater shutdown began, including the show I was booked to see that night: Hexagon’s 65th annual satire revue. This intrepid all-volunteer organizatio…

SOURCE: dctheaterarts.org at 04:44PM
Monday, April 17, 2023

Wannabe comics on a caper in ‘Finding Neil Patrick Harris’ at Nu Sass by John Stoltenberg

Two bickering nail salon workers decide to grant a client his dying wish.

SOURCE: dctheaterarts.org at 03:22PM
Friday, April 14, 2023

The enduring magnificence of ‘Les Misérables,’ now at Kennedy Center by John Stoltenberg

It's one of the world’s greatest musicals and essential to see.

SOURCE: dctheaterarts.org at 04:42PM
Thursday, April 13, 2023

A comic donut dipped in tears in ‘Jennifer Who Is Leaving’ at Round House by John Stoltenberg

Women’s exasperation with men has never been mined for the stage more hilariously and achingly.

SOURCE: dctheaterarts.org at 09:15AM
Tuesday, April 11, 2023

At play in the ashes of the dead: János Szász on directing ‘Angels in America’ by John Stoltenberg

Inside the creation of the Arena Stage production, which transforms our understanding of a great work in a way that finds in it new truth.

SOURCE: dctheaterarts.org at 10:00AM
Tuesday, March 28, 2023

A lighthearted look at the lovelorn in ‘Sometimes the Rain, Sometimes the Sea’ from Rorschach by John Stoltenberg

A fabulist hodgepodge of fresh fairytales with diverse new characters, the show is a riff on one-way romances.

SOURCE: dctheaterarts.org at 06:17PM
Wednesday, March 8, 2023

‘How the Light Gets In’ at 1st Stage illuminates the kindness of strangers by John Stoltenberg

At the heart of this beautiful play is a tenderly tentative connection that becomes an improbable love story.

SOURCE: dctheaterarts.org at 02:14PM
Monday, March 6, 2023

Theater Alliance turns 20 with playtime for all ages by John Stoltenberg

The socially conscious company surprises with a sweet intergenerational fairytale, 'This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing.'

SOURCE: dctheaterarts.org at 03:55PM
Tuesday, February 21, 2023

In ‘Love Like Tuesday,’ Faction of Fools devises a rom-com commedia dell’ight by John Stoltenberg

With talented playwright Doug Robinson, the company pooled their recollections of young love and collaboratively created a confetti-colored comic confection.

SOURCE: dctheaterarts.org at 05:30PM
Friday, February 17, 2023

Justin Tamborini and Aria Velz on what takes the cake in ‘The Cake’ by John Stoltenberg

The designer and the director of Prologue Theatre's resplendent production share their winning recipe for authenticity and astonishment.

SOURCE: dctheaterarts.org at 04:14PM
Saturday, February 11, 2023

For Black girls who have considered tweet-hating, this powerful new play at Woolly is deep AF by John Stoltenberg

Jasmine Lee-Jones' provocatively titled 'seven methods of killing kylie jenner' comes to Woolly Mammoth Theatre from sold-out runs in London.

SOURCE: dctheaterarts.org at 04:04PM
Tuesday, January 31, 2023

Unpacking Beckett’s ‘Endgame’ at Washington Stage Guild by John Stoltenberg

An almost hypnotic humanizing of the melancholic and existentially bleak masterpiece.

SOURCE: dctheaterarts.org at 06:16PM
Wednesday, January 25, 2023

There’s plenty to be wowed and stirred by in ‘The Horse and His Boy’ by John Stoltenberg

The Logos Theatre's spectacular family-friendly stage adaption of the fantasy novel by C.S. Lewis is now playing through March 4 at the Museum of the Bible.

SOURCE: dctheaterarts.org at 06:23AM
Thursday, January 19, 2023

Live theater returns to a gem of a venue at the Museum of the Bible by John Stoltenberg

Now playing: 'The Horse and His Boy,' the Logos Theatre's stage adaptation of C.S. Lewis' classic allegory, with music and life-size animal puppets.

SOURCE: dctheaterarts.org at 08:36AM
Sunday, January 1, 2023

Absorbing self-affirmation in Sean Surla’s ‘Awakening Club’ at DC Arts Center by John Stoltenberg

Three women gather to seek self-loving in a tsunami of truths.

SOURCE: dctheaterarts.org at 02:05PM
Saturday, November 19, 2022

Can you believe it? Alex Edelman laughs at #whiteness at Woolly. by John Stoltenberg

In 'Just for Us," the comedian sends up antisemitic white supremacists. And he is so sly about it, you will double over in laughter before it hits you.

SOURCE: dctheaterarts.org at 04:36PM
Monday, November 14, 2022

You could get hooked on Kristen Bush in ‘People, Places & Things’ at Studio by John Stoltenberg

Playing an addicted actress, she gives a performance you will be intoxicated by.

SOURCE: dctheaterarts.org at 08:46PM

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