Saturday, January 11, 2014
Urinetown: The Musical holds a special place in my theatergoing memory. I first saw it in New York City days after the September 11, 2001, attacks because then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani told me t…
SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 04:41PMThursday, December 26, 2013
History hit an astounding “rewind” and “refresh” button last night at The National Theatre. An abundantly assorted audience of Washingtonians rose as one to applaud an iconic work …
SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 01:28PMMonday, December 23, 2013
Avid and discerning theatergoers seeking a fresh take on a beloved classic will not find a more rewarding gift this time of year than Our Suburb, brilliantly directed by Judith Ivey, which j…
SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 02:12PMFriday, December 13, 2013
Washington Improv Theater has been tickling DC audiences for 15 years. When I discovered the madcap company a while ago, I got hooked on the spot. Hooked as in addicted. Feeling the need for…
SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 10:05AMSaturday, December 7, 2013
“Audience integration” is a buzzword that has been flying around awhile but only recently landed in my brain. In live theater, it means going beyond removing the fourth wall; it means er…
SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 11:24AMFriday, December 6, 2013
It is one thing to amble through a modern art gallery and appreciate an innovative multimedia installation—some videos and audio here, some projections and lighting effects there, perhaps …
SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 09:01AMMonday, December 2, 2013
Hootenanny is a word one hardly hears anymore. Whole generations have come along for whom it elicits blank stares and a big ”Huh?” The press release for Woody Sez: The Life & Music o…
SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 09:00AMFriday, November 29, 2013
The first time I saw If/Then, I knew I would be seeing it again. The show’s beauty, originality, and heart won me over, and that experience increased all the way through. I wrote a review …
SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 12:27PMMonday, November 25, 2013
The fresh new musical If/Then—now in a tryout run at The National Theatre on its way to Broadway (where it is destined to be embraced by theatergoers who will want to see it again and aga…
SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 02:00AMTuesday, November 12, 2013
On the evidence of Mies Julie, Yael Farber, who wrote and directed it, must be counted among the most important theater artists on the world stage today. Beyond brilliant: important. Rarel…
SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 09:43AMSunday, October 27, 2013
“How’s your family?” are the seemingly innocuous final words of this startling and riveting new play. Carly, a quintessentially desperate housewife, is on the phone with a female neigh…
SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 03:03PMMonday, October 14, 2013
There’s dramatic tension—and then there’s traumatic tension. Molotov Theatre Group’s absolutely riveting production of Extremities—William Matrosimone’s wicked good play about…
SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 12:16PMFriday, October 11, 2013
If you’re a theater buff who’s worried that the shutdown’s shuttering of Ford’s Theatre and the shunting of The Laramie Project to a nearby church means audiences there must be get…
SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 08:34AMMonday, September 30, 2013
The notorious aesthete Oscar Wilde believed that beauty is be-all and end-all. After The Painting of Dorian Gray met with moral outrage upon its publication in 1890, he appended a Preface …
SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 08:30AMSaturday, September 21, 2013
For $64,000, the funny thing about aging is…? Funny like strange or funny like—? Like LOL. Oh, okay, lemme think. [Thinks a long time; lame music plays.] Haven’t got all day. Please, …
SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 02:48PMMonday, September 16, 2013
On top of the antic hilarity in Faction of Fools’ new production of Molière’s Don Juan, I had the funny feeling while watching this company’s work for the first time that I’d been a…
SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 12:40PMSaturday, September 14, 2013
Having heard tantalizing details about Bell in a pre-opening interview, I attended the National Geographic Live production with the sort of eager/anxious anticipation one might have watch…
SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 01:16PMThursday, September 12, 2013
Who would have guessed that a family drama about everyday ethics and far-left ideology could be so engrossing and engaging, the characters so real and riveting, that what happens on stage en…
SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 12:16PMMonday, September 9, 2013
Some plays don’t age well; they get dated but dusted off anyway. Some time-travel okay, and get mounted in modern dress. But rare is the work that—while still set in the period years ago…
SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 10:14AMFriday, September 6, 2013
National Geographic has been thinking outside its trademark yellow box a lot lately. The Society’s motto is “Inspiring people to care about the planet.” Adventure and exploration are i…
SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 10:10PMMonday, September 2, 2013
If you’ve never made your way to The Kennedy Center’s Page-to-Stage fest, let me let you in on a few pleasures that await you even before the pleasures packed into this annual Labor Day …
SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 12:59AMThursday, August 29, 2013
If you like theatrical storytelling—the kind that catches you by the heartstrings, gets you all wrapped up, then doesn’t let loose until the very end—you’re going to love The Resurre…
SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 03:18PMWednesday, August 28, 2013
Claire Lebowitz conceived a documentary theater piece called Bradass87 and crafted the script from primary sources—including Bradley Manning’s own online chats and instant messages, in…
SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 09:51PMTuesday, August 27, 2013
“I am Nijinsky,” says the actor/dancer Primož Bezjak, in a tone almost primal. “The great Nijinsky.” He speaks in Slovenian as his words appear on overhead screens in English. He ha…
SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 02:47PMTuesday, August 20, 2013
Who is the real Bradley Manning? Does anyone know? Can anyone know? These pressing and compelling questions ricochet today even in mainstream news media, which—more beholden to elites t…
SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 12:43PMThursday, August 15, 2013
Exploding onstage like a fusillade of biting wit and badinage, A Few Good Men is getting a crackling-good production that makes this power-packed 1991 play feel like it was ripped from tod…
SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 11:10PMSaturday, August 10, 2013
In 1972 some men made a film that did her wrong. Unspeakably and indelibly wrong. The film was named Deep Throat. Now some men—with two women producers—have made a film that does right…
SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 11:32AMSaturday, August 3, 2013
Caroline, or Change—the gorgeously resonant musical about race relations and resilience—has just opened in a gloriously heart-rending production by The Elden Street Players. Here in He…
SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 05:14PMFriday, August 2, 2013
The Third Breast is a gritty play, produced by a gutsy company. The three actors are arresting; the music and visuals, appealing. But for some interesting reasons, the challenging script by …
SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 01:39PMWednesday, July 31, 2013
The Book of Mormon… CONTAINS HERESY. That’s not a preshow advisory you’ll find posted at The Kennedy Center where The Book of Mormon is playing to standing-room houses. No, it�…
SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 12:11PMSunday, July 28, 2013
The term “gay musical theater” is almost redundant, especially for countless closeted teens who found they could forget their troubles and get happy when they happened upon the uniquely …
SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 02:55PM 
