All stories by Ramona Harper on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, October 11, 2022

LeeAnét Noble’s bold plan for Adventure Theatre: restore, rebuild, renew, before reopening by Ramona Harper

An upfront and personal conversation with the new artistic director of DC’s longest-running children’s theater.

SOURCE: dctheaterarts.org at 02:19PM
Friday, March 11, 2022

‘I want to give you goosebumps when you’re at Mosaic’: Reginald L. Douglas by Ramona Harper

Understudying Peter Marks at Mosaic Theater's season-reveal party, Ramona Harper asked the new artistic director new questions.

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 05:15AM
Friday, January 7, 2022

Reginald L. Douglas on the next chapter at Mosaic Theater by Ramona Harper

The new artistic director and self-described 'new play development junkie' talks candidly about 'producing from a spirit of joy.'

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 06:03AM
Monday, November 22, 2021

‘I have to live in hope’: Tazewell Thompson gets personal by Ramona Harper

In rehearsal for August Wilson's 'Seven Guitars' at Arena Stage, the renowned director opens up about the future of theater and America.

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 08:15AM
Tuesday, October 12, 2021

For Folger’s Karen Ann Daniels, the Bard’s big O stands for opportunity by Ramona Harper

The new artistic director and director of programming has her sights set on equity and community.

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 02:46PM
Friday, October 8, 2021

‘My Lord, What a Night’ becomes truly thrilling at Ford’s Theatre by Ramona Harper

Imagined musings on the historically real friendship between Marian Anderson and Albert Einstein, two powerful voices for freedom.

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 06:42AM
Wednesday, October 6, 2021

Once upon a time under the stars at Wolf Trap: STC’s 2021 gala by Ramona Harper

On the scene at Shakespeare Theatre Company's buzzed-about fundraiser.

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 11:01AM
Saturday, September 11, 2021

‘Concert of Remembrance’ at Kennedy Center for a nation in need of healing by Ramona Harper

Patriotism and love of country were in the air as a unifying force to heal the past and lend hope to a future of inclusion and equality for all.

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 11:00PM
Friday, September 10, 2021

Thoroughly enjoyable ‘Toni Stone’ gets a hero’s welcome at Arena Stage by Ramona Harper

You don’t need to be a baseball fan to be inspired by this amazing story.

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 06:07PM
Thursday, August 26, 2021

Why Toni Stone’s story needs to be told: A Q&A with Santoya Fields, who stars as the trailblazer at Arena Stage by Ramona Harper

The ballplayer who slugged it out against race and gender stereotypes in the 1950s shows what it takes to play the game today.

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 12:54PM
Saturday, January 16, 2021

Theaters honor Dr. King’s dream by acting on #WeSeeYouWAT demands by Ramona Harper

An insurrection by far-right extremists within the U.S. Capitol; Washington, DC, looking like a war zone prepared for battle; and capitols around the country braced for violence on the eve o…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 07:44PM
Thursday, December 31, 2020

‘Twelve Days of Watchmas’ from #WeSeeYou is a blunt and raw must-read by Ramona Harper

Revolution is rooted in protest. And in revolutionary ways, protest theater promotes social change. The ubiquitous We See You, White American Theater movement courageously flips the script u…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 11:10AM
Monday, December 21, 2020

‘A Protest in Eight’ at Theater Alliance packs a social-justice punch by Ramona Harper

No doubt about it, in just fifteen minutes, protest theater can pack a powerful punch. Theater Alliance’s creatively ambitious A Protest in Eight, with its lineup of eight fierce young pla…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 07:12PM
Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Reginald Douglas and David Muse on how Studio Theatre is “doing the work” by Ramona Harper

The ground feels as if American theater might actually be shifting in the direction of change for Blacks, Indigenous people, and People of Color. Here in the DMV, Studio Theatre is grappling…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 10:45AM
Sunday, August 16, 2020

Can white arts leaders become anti-racist “accomplices”? by Ramona Harper

Recently, during an interview with Nicole Brewer, founder of Anti-Racist Theatre, I learned about the Arts Administrators of Color Network’s Accomplices Leadership Institute (ALI). As a me…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 06:30PM
Sunday, August 9, 2020

A dynamic ‘Tears of the Soul’ dramatizes 1968’s BLM awakening by Ramona Harper

Racial unrest and violent protests in the streets. Social division and a nation on the verge of collapse. A nascent social movement confronting racial injustice and police brutality. Interna…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 05:25PM
Saturday, July 25, 2020

Anti-racist theater and the #WeSeeYou movement: A Q&A with Nicole Brewer by Ramona Harper

I had the chance to attend Nicole Brewer’s Anti-Racist Theatre workshop at the National Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, last year, and it was an eyeopener. So whe…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 04:00PM
Saturday, July 11, 2020

The #WeSeeYou White American Theatre movement is ready to end a battle it didn’t start by Ramona Harper

Boots are on the ground. Battle lines are drawn. A collaborative network of more than 300 BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) theatermakers are in garrisons and trenches across the…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 08:00AM
Sunday, March 8, 2020

‘Rasheeda Speaking’ is a ticking time bomb of workplace racial animus by Ramona Harper

Something struck me as incredulous about Rasheeda Speaking, a ticking time bomb about racial paranoia interlaced with the destructive power of office politics. But its recently deceased play…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 10:54AM
Thursday, February 20, 2020

James Baldwin’s ‘Amen Corner’ bears witness to the Beloved Community by Ramona Harper

Corners can be safe spaces for hiding. There’s comfort in corners because they’re out of sight and out of danger. In The Amen Corner, James Baldwin’s dilemma is whether to embrace the …

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 05:54AM
Thursday, February 13, 2020

The power of romantic love endures in American Ballet Theatre’s ‘Giselle’ by Ramona Harper

After almost two centuries of gracing the ballet world, American Ballet Theatre’s Giselle, sometimes called the Hamlet of ballet, still has the redemptive power to transform a story of dec…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 10:34AM
Monday, January 13, 2020

‘Quadrille’ at Greenbelt Arts Center is a four-handed game of romance and chance where true love prevails by Ramona Harper

In a veddy, veddy proper tale about class differences, gender roles, secret lovers and the pitfalls of an arranged marriage, playwright Melynda Kiring is quite right that “the fun in this …

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 08:46PM
Sunday, December 15, 2019

‘A Holiday Pops! with Leslie Odom, Jr.’ brings holiday cheer to the Kennedy Center by Ramona Harper

The NSO Pops helped to make our spirits bright with its annual Christmas concert featuring Tony and Grammy Award-winning Leslie Odom, Jr. and a parcel of musical gifts from his Simply Christ…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 12:41PM
Wednesday, November 6, 2019

The music lives forever in ‘Ain’t Too Proud:  The Life and Times of the Temptations’ at The Imperial Theatre by Ramona Harper

The most successful singing group in the history of R&B proudly lives on in the Tony-award winning jukebox musical Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations. Now onstage a…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 10:14PM

Jeremy O. Harris’ ‘Slave Play’ is a raw and ribald examination of race by Ramona Harper

An antebellum plantation is a hotbed of erotica in the raw, ribald and at times ridiculously funny examination of race in Jeremy O. Harris’s Slave Play. Three interracial couples run wild,…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 10:03PM
Friday, October 18, 2019

Aleshea Harris’ ‘What To Send Up When It Goes Down’ is cathartic release against racialized violence by Ramona Harper

Rage is scary. We don’t know what to do with rage.  It’s uncomfortable and untouchable. We fear what’s inside when rage is lurking around. But in What To Send Up When It Goes Down, cr…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 04:10PM
Saturday, October 12, 2019

Review: India.Arie at Strathmore Music Center by Ramona Harper

India.Arie is music therapy for the soul – part mindfulness meditation through song and part groove-funk to keep it real. Authenticity is her brand essence, but her performance is much mor…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 09:34PM
Thursday, October 3, 2019

Review: ‘Fences’ at Ford’s Theatre by Ramona Harper

As seen through the simple symbolism of a wooden fence, Ford’s Theatre’s season opener of August Wilson’s Fences is a brilliant and searing exploration of the tragi-conflicts and heroi…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 07:18PM
Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Review: ‘School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play’ at Round House Theatre by Ramona Harper

Teenage girls can be mean – just ask Broadway’s Tina Fey. But if you ask Jocelyn Bioh, the award-winning playwright of off-Broadway’s School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play, you…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 02:04PM
Saturday, September 21, 2019

Review: ‘Jitney’ at Arena Stage by Ramona Harper

When the opening moments of a play are a super loud blast of bluesy music and a checkers game on the verge of anarchy, you know you are in for a lively ride. But it was the acting in Jitney,…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 11:30AM
Thursday, September 19, 2019

Review: ‘NSO Pops: Maxwell: A Night at the Symphony’ at the Kennedy Center by Ramona Harper

There’s something way-cool seeing a full classical orchestra accompany a cornrowed, ponytailed R&B crooner in a bow-tied tux on the stage of the hallowed Concert Hall of the Kennedy Ce…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 08:24PM

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