All stories by Keith Loria on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

National tour of Phantom of the Opera at The Kennedy Center (review) by Keith Loria

Full disclosure: I have seen Phantom of the Opera on Broadway four times, dating back to my formative theatergoing years during its inaugural season on Broadway in 1988. A decade later, and…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 02:36PM
Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Cirque due Soleil’s KURIOS at Tysons is a homecoming for high-flying gymnast by Keith Loria

When Ryan Shinji Murray was 10, he made the short trek from his home in Ashton, Maryland to Washington, D.C. with his family to see a performance of Cirque du Soleil. A decade later, he did …

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 11:40AM
Tuesday, June 21, 2016

From solitary confinement, Mariposa & The Saint co-writer turns performer by Keith Loria

In 2005, activist and award-winning playwright Julia Steele Allen was volunteering in the Bay area for the California Coalition for Women Prisoners, when she met and befriended Sara (Maripos…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 11:58AM
Thursday, June 2, 2016

Nataki Garrett directs provocative Octoroon at Woolly Mammoth by Keith Loria

  Director Nataki Garrett remembers studying the script of Dion Boucicault’s 1859 antebellum melodrama The Octoroon in college. While working with playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins o…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:51AM
Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Source Festival opens June 8: “Dive in and don’t be afraid” by Keith Loria

Two dozen new works will be on display as part of Washington D.C.’s Ninth Annual Source Festival, running June 8 through July 3, and theater fans will surely be intrigued by what’s bei…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:32AM
Friday, May 13, 2016

There’s new action at Spooky Action Theater – a live video game by Keith Loria

Escape rooms have been all the rage recently, and Spooky Action Theater is getting in on the trend with Happy Hour, a production created by German theater collective machina eX, which offers…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:32PM
Thursday, May 12, 2016

Katie Keyser on her two roles in City of Angels at NextStop Theatre by Keith Loria

Even though City of Angels was a Broadway smash in 1990, taking home Tony’s for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Original Score, here it is 26 years later and it’s still ye…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 09:28AM
Friday, April 22, 2016

Solas Nua returns to theatre producing with an inventive production of Wild Sky by Keith Loria

Rex Daugherty, the new Artistic Director of Solas Nua’s theatrical productions, wanted to plan something original for his first season. Not only did he come up with a play that’s dif…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 07:39AM
Thursday, April 21, 2016

A glowing baby is just the beginning. Randy Baker discusses The Electric Baby by Keith Loria

DC native Stefanie Zadravec is a resident playwright at New Dramatists in New York City, and over the last seven years, has seen her star rise with a Helen Hayes Award for the 2009 staging o…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:14AM
Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Shayna Blass in Mystery of Love and Sex: sometimes a character just speaks to you by Keith Loria

In The Mystery of Love & Sex, currently playing Signature Theatre, it’s quickly established that long-time friends Charlotte and Jonny share a love that’s deep and special, but is it…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 02:15PM
Thursday, March 31, 2016

American Moor, seen at Anacostia Playhouse, now part of Folger Shakespeare Library by Keith Loria

Keith Hamilton Cobb’s award-winning solo play, American Moor, was one of the most talked about plays last season when it was staged at The Anacostia Playhouse, fresh off a critically accl…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 01:03PM
Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Annie, a big hit on its brief stop at The National Theatre (review) by Keith Loria

The last time I saw a full production of Annie on stage, I was only 8 and Andrea McArdle was playing the titular redhead on the Great White Way. And it was my first-ever Broadway show and th…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 01:30PM
Friday, March 11, 2016

Best friends Hasani Allen and Harrison Smith in Green Day’s rocker American Idiot at Keegan Theatre by Keith Loria

If you happen to notice a deeper than normal camaraderie between the characters of Tunny and Johnny in Keegan’s upcoming production of American Idiot, it’s no coincidence. While the cha…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:58PM
Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Tracy Lynn Olivera on her starring role in 110 in the Shade by Keith Loria

There’s a line in the musical 110 in the Shade where the central character, Lizzie Curry, describes her perfect husband: “I want him to stand up straight—and I want to be able to stan…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:04PM
Thursday, February 25, 2016

Intersections Festival 2016 gets two big gifts this weekend by Keith Loria

As the 2016 Atlas Intersections Festival celebrates its sixth anniversary, two events will add to the excitement.  H Street’s newest restaurant will donate all of its weekend reve…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:32AM
Thursday, February 18, 2016

Josh Lamon and Noah Racey play Mizner brothers in Sondheim’s Road Show by Keith Loria

When Josh Lamon and Noah Racey were at what would be director Gary Griffin’s final callback for Signature’s upcoming performance of Road Show, both actors felt an immediate bond wit…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:27AM
Friday, January 29, 2016

OLIVERio: Felicia Curry takes on role reversal for Dickens’ character by Keith Loria

Despite being one of the area’s go-to talents for mature-themed productions—netting her four Helen Hayes nominations in the process—Felicia Curry has always had a soft spot in her hear…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 01:20PM
Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Aaron Davidman tells a deeply personal story in Wrestling Jerusalem by Keith Loria

Aaron Davidman, whose Wrestling Jerusalem is onstage now at Mosaic Theater, is no stranger to the issues affecting Israel, having been a frequent visitor over the years, and it was always h…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:39AM
Friday, December 18, 2015

Deirdre LaWan Starnes finding answers in The Gospel of Lovingkindness by Keith Loria

After opening weekend of Marcus Gardley’s The Gospel of LovingKindness at the Mosaic Theater of DC, Deidra Lawan Starnes took a few days to reflect on the play and admitted it was even mo…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:08PM
Thursday, December 17, 2015

Stars of David, Off-Broadway fave, at Theater J for one week by Keith Loria

In the spring of 2014, Theater J presented a concert reading of Stars of David: Story to Song, based on Abigail Pogrebin’s best-selling book, for a benefit, and those involved saw somethi…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 05:04PM
Thursday, December 10, 2015

Musical of O. Henry’s Gift of the Magi makes its area debut at MET by Keith Loria

Glancing though director Suzanne Beal’s notes of the Maryland Ensemble Theatre’s script of The Gifts of the Magi, you’ll see entries about her memories dating back to when she was a yo…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 02:10PM
Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Playwright takes the spotlight as Dickens in one man Christmas Carol by Keith Loria

New York City playwright Greg Oliver Bodine remembers sitting in his living room as a child around Christmas time, watching the 1951 movie Scrooge starring Alastair Sim as the crotchety Vict…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 02:06PM

Seussical the Musical at NextStop. Oh the things they can think by Keith Loria

As a devotee of Dr. Seuss for many years (I even did my college essay in Theodor Geisel’s Dr. Seuss-ese!), I was looking forward to NextStop’s interpretation of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen F…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:01PM
Tuesday, November 24, 2015

How Sweet It Is: Jarran Muse channels Marvin Gaye in Motown the Musical by Keith Loria

Legendary singer Marvin Gaye is one of DC’s most popular native sons, and his soulful sound helped to define Motown as it was coming to age in the early ’60s. Gaye was responsible for su…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:27PM
Friday, November 6, 2015

Kyle Coffman gets his dream role in Arena Stage’s new take on Oliver! by Keith Loria

When Kyle Coffman sings “Consider Yourself” as the Artful Dodger in Oliver at Arena Stage, the words “part of the family” hits close to home. As a fourth-generation performer, Coffma…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:43PM
Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Deathtrap, frightfully fun, at NextStop Theatre (review) by Keith Loria

It’s sometimes hard to properly merge comedy with suspense on the stage, but at NextStop Theatre, Deathtrap is a diabolically clever thriller that combines acerbic wit, mysterious anticipa…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:35PM
Thursday, October 15, 2015

Pointless’s samba spectacular tells the story of Carmen Miranda by Keith Loria

Say the name “Carmen Miranda” and immediately images of a crazy lady with a fruit bucket on her head probably pop into your brain. But there was so much more to this iconic star than the…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 02:44PM
Monday, October 5, 2015

David S. Kessler, 2015 outstanding audience member by Keith Loria

David S. Kessler remembers a time when he and his wife went to a church hall to see a play and there were more people on stage than in the audience. And that was Woolly Mammoth Theatre in th…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:50AM
Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Newly expanded Columbia Festival of the Arts has plenty for theatre lovers by Keith Loria

For 29 years, the Columbia Festival of the Arts has brought together dance, music and theater a couple of weekends each summer, hoping to bring attention to the Maryland city and its growing…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 11:22AM
Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Sherri L. Edelen – ready for the Cake Off battle by Keith Loria

It was back in 1949 that the Pillsbury Company held its first annual Pillsbury Bake-Off competition, awarding $50,000 for the contest’s best recipe, which in its first year was No-Knead Wa…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 02:44PM
Thursday, September 10, 2015

Studio opens Chimerica: Chinese-American politics through the lens of a human story by Keith Loria

Chimerica has been something of a sensation in London since premiering in 2013, but until now, has never been performed in America. That all changes this week when Studio Theatre stages the …

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 08:27AM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes Theatre
Jul 11, 2024: Oh, Mary! - Lyceum Theatre
Jul 30, 2024: Job - Hayes Theater
Sep 12, 2024: The Roommate - Booth Theatre
Nov 14, 2024: Tammy Faye - Palace Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 17, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre
TBA: Titanic
TBA: Ragtime