All stories by Brian Bochicchio on BroadwayStars

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Theatre Review: ‘Erma Bombeck: At Wit’s End’ at Arena Stage by Brian Bochicchio

  As we close out the DC Women’s Voices Theatre Festival, theatre-goers have experienced voices come that have roared, whispered, shocked us and teased. With the quirky and wholesome …

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 07:23PM
Sunday, October 11, 2015

Theatre Review: ‘Beautiful: The Carole King Musical’ at The Kennedy Center by Brian Bochicchio

With as many hits as iconic 60s singer and lyricist Carole King had, one would think that Beautiful: The Carole King Musical would “chart” an easy path to success. It’s fun, likabl…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 09:36PM
Saturday, September 26, 2015

Theatre Review: ‘Destiny Of Desire’ at Arena Stage by Brian Bochicchio

At the highest level, I invariably find myself looking at a show in one of three ways. What is it trying to tell me? Where is it all going? Or, do I just strap in and go along with the ride?…

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 10:18PM
Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Theatre Review: ‘Uprising’ at MetroStage by Brian Bochicchio

What is it like to be partly free? Emerging playwright Gabrielle Fulton’s fascinating new play, Uprising, at Alexandria’s MetroStage, provides a unique twist on the African-American expe…

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 09:56PM
Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Theatre Review: ‘Chimerica’ at Studio Theatre by Brian Bochicchio

A show that a playwright spends 6 years writing, creating 5 acts/38 scenes, and 3+ hours long play requiring a cast of about 20 (a half dozen who must be fluent in Mandarin Chinese),�…

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 01:26PM
Monday, August 24, 2015

Theatre Review: ‘The Fix’ at Signature Theatre by Brian Bochicchio

In our politically charged climate, our electoral process can indeed be akin to kabuki theater. Whether a parody, satire, or theatre of the absurd, the upcoming election cycle promises to co…

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 07:53PM
Thursday, July 23, 2015

Theatre Reivew: ‘Silence! The Musical’ at Studio Theatre 2nd Stage by Brian Bochicchio

  The search for creative ideas to implement has led to numerous movies being turned into Broadway musicals, the hook usually being archetypal characters that resonate and plotlines tha…

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 06:00PM
Saturday, July 11, 2015

Theatre Review: ‘Once’ at The Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theatre by Brian Bochicchio

I’ve seen quite a few musicals over the years, but never have I been so easily and graciously taken in as I was last week at the DC opening of Once at the Kennedy Center.  The season’s …

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 06:57PM
Monday, June 8, 2015

Theatre Guide: ‘The Good Counselor’ at 1st Stage by Brian Bochicchio

The unappreciated and unending responsibilities of motherhood are wrapped around a woman accused of harming her baby  in the artfully performed drama The Good Counselor by Kathryn Grant at …

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 09:06PM
Saturday, June 6, 2015

Theatre Review: ‘Jarry Inside Out’ at Spooky Action Theatre by Brian Bochicchio

  Open the head of famed iconoclast writer/artist Alfred Jarry, and watch out. In this free-flowing imaginarium, playwright and Artistic Director Richard Henrich has crafted for DC’s …

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 03:44PM
Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Theatre Review: ‘The Letters’ at MetroStage by Brian Bochicchio

Two actors in a relentless cat and mouse exchange, unexpected plot changes, and an emotional roller coaster makes for a masterful psychological thriller in The Letters at Alexandria’s Metr…

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 12:04PM
Monday, May 11, 2015

Theatre Review: ‘The Blood Quilt’ at Arena Stage by Brian Bochicchio

A new work of theatre art is a singularly unpredictable­ event. Even after it is onstage, it is still essentially a work in progress, so is it fully baked? And the thought always occurs to …

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 08:52PM
Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Theatre Review: ‘On Approval’ at Washington Stage Guild by Brian Bochicchio

The spring offering from Washington Theatre Guild is a step back to the classical age of the 1920s, a time of postwar change and a heightened appreciation of the arts and social mobility.  …

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 12:11PM
Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Theatre Review: ‘The Typographer’s Dream’ at The Hub Theatre by Brian Bochicchio

  When you first meet someone at a party, especially in Washington titletown, you know the go-to thing is to ask them “and what do you do?”  Not many people would say “I …

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 04:39PM
Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Theatre Review: ‘The Island’ at MetroStage by Brian Bochicchio

  It’s a premise for mesmerizing theatre. What to do in the face of imprisonment under degrading conditions? Do you have the ability to exhibit dignity in the face of oppression and r…

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 11:22AM
Saturday, March 21, 2015

Theatre Review: ‘Freedom’s Song: Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War’ at Ford’s Theatre by Brian Bochicchio

“I never had a policy; I have just tried to do my very best each and every day.”–Abraham Lincoln. On this, the 150th anniversary of the death of our 16th president–a …

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 05:11PM
Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Theatre Review: ‘The Spoof, the Whole Spoof, and Nothing but the Spoof’ by Hexagon by Brian Bochicchio

Hexagon just goes on and on and on. The six-sided show is in its 60th year in DC, stepping up to deliver satirical sketches skewering DC political types and celebs, commenting on our daily l…

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 09:21AM
Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Theatre Review: ‘Cherokee’ at Woolly Mammoth Theatre by Brian Bochicchio

What is it about this verging-on-stereotype artistic inspiration that by placing most of our belongings in an SUV and visiting that thing called nature we will plumb new depths, understand o…

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 10:30AM
Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Theatre Review: ‘Doubt, A Parable’ at 1st Stage Theatre by Brian Bochicchio

In the austere functional office of head nun and principal Sister Aloysius, order reigns supreme. People know where to sit and when to speak. And decisions are made based on the rules of the…

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 09:24PM
Saturday, January 24, 2015

Theatre Review: ‘Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery’ at Arena Stage by Brian Bochicchio

  “Unpredictable, my dear Watson.” The real Sherlock Holmes would likely intone, if he was in the audience watching the dazzling stage debut of Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Myster…

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 03:13PM
Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Theatre Review: ‘The Great American Trailer Park Musical’ at Dominion Stage by Brian Bochicchio

After the success of the productions of Chess and Urinetown, I stopped scratching my head over what inspires themes for musicals. So, I now give up my purist views. (You could say that Anyth…

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 06:57PM
Saturday, January 10, 2015

Theatre Review: ‘The Illusionists–Witness the Impossible’ at Kennedy Center by Brian Bochicchio

  “What the eyes see and the ears hear, the mind believes.” –Harry Houdini And if that is true, then there is a lot to believe in a barrage of sight and sound that compris…

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 02:28PM
Monday, December 22, 2014

Theatre Review: ‘The Little Prince’ presented by Washington National Opera at Kennedy Center by Brian Bochicchio

  It is good to think like a child again. To let life be what it is, explore it and react to it as if for the first time. Children believe in magic, until told otherwise. As we learn in…

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 01:02PM
Monday, December 8, 2014

Theatre Review: ‘You Can’t Get a Decent Margarita at the North Pole’ at Grain of Sand Theatre by Brian Bochicchio

Yes, the holiday season, with all the usual offerings. A Nutcracker a Christmas Carol, the stand around and don’t-do-anything-stupid office party.  It’s also a time for intrepid pla…

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 08:40PM
Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Theatre Review: ‘A Broadway Christmas Carol’ at MetroStage by Brian Bochicchio

Its back, the holiday gift that keeps on retelling. it is carefully packed away every year, then taken out and freshened up by MetrosStage Theatre, with a few extra songs, a schmaltzy move h…

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 08:41PM
Monday, November 10, 2014

Theatre Review: ‘There Is a Happiness That Morning Is’ by WSC Avant Bard by Brian Bochicchio

Some shows nay not a mental chore; Aye but to leave your mind close by the door. This show betides fills more thru and thru– With wit rhyme and love so daunting a brew. A contemporary …

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 10:15PM
Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Theatre Review: ‘The Mystery of Edwin Drood’ at GMU by Brian Bochicchio

It’s not often that the pre show announcement states, “Ladies and Gentlemen, please turn on your mobile devices.” With the addition of social media technology and fine visual proje…

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 12:28PM
Thursday, October 23, 2014

Cabaret Review: ‘Signature Sisters’ at Signature Theatre by Brian Bochicchio

A half-lit room, small tables with people murmuring pre-show whispers sipping drinks, a mature, knowing crowd…with a little aroma of smoke and without the AC vents, I could picture mys…

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 02:14PM
Saturday, October 18, 2014

Theatre Review: ‘Elmer Gantry’ at Signature Theatre by Brian Bochicchio

One of the things that set us apart as people is our yearning for something better, a higher cause if you will. One of our greatest failings can be relying on someone else for our happiness.…

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 04:10PM
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Theatre Review: ‘Sweeney Todd’ by Virginia Opera at GMU by Brian Bochicchio

The Sondheim masterwork Sweeney Todd slashed its way into George Mason University this weekend, as Virginia Opera presented its version of the darkly enthralling musical experience. Sweeney …

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 02:51PM
Monday, September 29, 2014

Theatre Review: ‘The Game’s Afoot’ by McLean Community Players by Brian Bochicchio

Stephen T. Wheeler as Felix Geisel, Melissa Dunlap as Madge Geisel, Frank Gorrell as William Gillette, Dina Soltan as Daria Chase, Kathryn Johnston as Martha Gillette, Michael Schwartz as Si…

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 03:38PM

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