All stories by Brett Steven Abelman on BroadwayStars

Monday, November 24, 2014

The Gift of Nothing, a great child’s gift at the Kennedy Center by Brett Steven Abelman

We’re truly blessed to have such sharp talents right here in D.C., who can take a comic strip and whip it up into a classy, pleasant children’s musical seemingly effortlessly. Wh…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 11:07AM
Thursday, September 18, 2014

Take Me Out at 1st Stage by Brett Steven Abelman

Baseball is the all-American blank slate, and Richard Greenberg’s Take Me Out draws a dazzling array of ideas, jokes, poetry, meanings and tragedies large and small all over it. It cel…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 09:55AM
Friday, August 15, 2014

Geeks do theatre: creating She Kills Monsters at Rorschach by Brett Steven Abelman

“At the core, this is about not just entering into someone else’s life, but entering into someone else’s fun.” So says fight choreographer Casey Kaleba, who, along wi…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 11:40AM
Saturday, July 19, 2014

RagnaPOP! (or She’s Got the Bomb) by Brett Steven Abelman

More the idea of a show than a show itself, RagnaPOP! (or She’s Got the Bomb)is a concept album live on stage. Pete Wright, a longtime area musician and songwriter, has created a song …

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 02:37PM
Friday, July 18, 2014

Refresh: Stories of Love, Sex, and the Internet by Brett Steven Abelman

Refresh is a kaleidoscope of dysfunction. Don’t look at any of the individual elements too closely – you’ll find they’re just simple, colored blobs – but put th…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 11:54AM
Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Sage of Blackwell by Brett Steven Abelman

This is not one of those times where the typically short Fringe running time is a blessing. Leaving Sage of Blackwell, you wish you could spend another hour in this world, learning about the…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 06:32AM
Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Finding Ophelia – Kimberly Gilbert and Taffety Punk’s newest revelation by Brett Steven Abelman

Enter Ophelia, distracted opens June 20 at Capitol Hill Arts Workshop. The word ‘distracted’ did not originally have the meaning you’re familiar with. “We found these…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 09:25AM
Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Nick Olcott’s chamber-sized La Traviata by Brett Steven Abelman

In this chamber version of Verdi’s classic opera, La Traviata, In Series dispenses with the pomp and melodrama to find the character study waiting underneath. Director Nick Olcott may …

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 11:45AM
Monday, June 2, 2014

The Fools get really bloody for Titus Andronicus by Brett Steven Abelman

There’s a bloody moment in the first act of Faction of Fools’ Titus Andronicus that goes way, way too far – and it is a mighty relief. We can almost believe up to that point, despite t…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 07:32AM
Friday, May 2, 2014

Playwrights and directors join Peter Marks in The Summit: declining audiences – whose responsibility? by Brett Steven Abelman

Now that the three-part Summit series at Arena Stage has concluded, the agenda is clear: this has been an investigation into the unbalanced social and financial economy of the American theat…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:01PM
Wednesday, April 16, 2014

The family known as the award winning Pointless Theatre Company by Brett Steven Abelman

“Shamelessly co-dependent is what we like to say.” So Patti Kalil, co-artistic director, describes Pointless Theatre.  She is sitting beside a brightly painted backdrop before rehearsal…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 08:26AM
Tuesday, April 8, 2014

The Thousandth Night by Brett Steven Abelman

A simple tale about how tales are often more than simple, Carol Wolf’s The Thousandth Night at MetroStage is an enjoyable little punch to the gut.  The story has a number of characters, b…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 06:38PM
Thursday, March 27, 2014

Actors join Peter Marks’ Summit – some nights they earn less than the babysitter. Why do it at all? by Brett Steven Abelman

A less contentious affair than last month’s Summit , this second of three, “In-Depth Explorations of D.C. Theatre,” led by Washington Post critic Peter Marks and hosted by Arena St…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 09:45AM
Monday, March 24, 2014

Loveland by Brett Steven Abelman

A good laugh can lift up the harshest material, and Ann Randolph’s Loveland keeps afloat with constant humor despite dealing intimately with death. Ann Randolph, alone in Arena Stage’s K…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 11:51AM
Thursday, March 20, 2014

Ari Roth on The Admission at Theater J – even in good wars, bad things happen by Brett Steven Abelman

Although controversy has swirled around the upcoming workshop presentation of The Admission at Theater J, artistic director Ari Roth is is looking beyond it. “The play’s the thing,” sa…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 08:21AM
Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Fresh interpretation of Caryl Churchill by the young women of Lumina Studio by Brett Steven Abelman

With a pair of plays by Caryl Churchill, Lumina Studio Theatre looks to tap into the spirit of our times. “Top Girls… is sort of women on top, and Fen is sort of women on the bottom,” …

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:12AM
Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Playwrights producing – The Welders find their grail with Allyson Currin play by Brett Steven Abelman

“Already I feel like this is the coolest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” says Allyson Currin, local playwright. The Welders, the D.C-based, playwright-run collective previously profi…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 09:13AM
Friday, February 28, 2014

Back to Methuselah, Part 1 by Brett Steven Abelman

With Washington Stage Guild’s gusty production of Back to Methuselah, less is more, and, also, more is more. Less is more:  The set is appealingly minimal, the blocking clear and simple, …

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 11:01AM
Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Arena Stage’s first Summit, headed by Peter Marks, sparks online debate by Brett Steven Abelman

About a month ago, Washington Post critic Peter Marks announced “The Summit,” a special series of three panel discussions.  Arena Stage’s artistic director, Molly Smith, had offered M…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:04PM
Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Rainbow Theatre Project: GBLT company going beyond the expected by Brett Steven Abelman

“While we may be trying to have all these lofty ideals, we still want people to have a good time.” H. Lee Gable, Producing Artistic Director for the Rainbow Theatre Project, knows that p…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 11:35AM
Thursday, February 13, 2014

Jess Jung on her long road to Happy Days by Brett Steven Abelman

“I think the DC Theatre scene is a great place for a director to pick up small projects, I think there’s a lot of theatres in town that are very supportive,” says Jess Jung, sittin…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:19PM
Thursday, February 6, 2014

“It’s a chiller.” Kasi Campbell on The Piano Teacher at Rep Stage by Brett Steven Abelman

The Piano Teacher, next up at Rep Stage, may unsettle you, but mum’s the word about just what it’s going to unsettle you about.  “You think the play is going to go one place,” says …

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 09:13AM

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