All stories by Elizabeth Ballou on BroadwayStars

Sunday, June 3, 2018

Review: ‘Botticelli in the Fire’ at Woolly Mammoth by Elizabeth Ballou

Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus” is a painting famous for its youthful beauty and artistic mastery. When I stood in front of it in Florence, I struggled to …

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 08:22PM
Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Performance as Research: An Interview with Playwright and ‘Vietgone’ Director Natsu Onoda Power by Elizabeth Ballou

Many theater people grow up daydreaming of the classic shows they want to take on one day. They envision themselves directing Angels in America, or performing the lead role in Phantom of the…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 02:47PM
Sunday, May 6, 2018

Review: ‘The Rite of Spring’ by Pointless Theatre Company by Elizabeth Ballou

When The Rite of Spring, a ballet with a score by Igor Stravinsky, premiered in 1913, theater-goers were so shocked by Stravinsky’s relentless, stabbing music and Vaslav Nijinsky’s avant…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 12:22PM
Monday, April 23, 2018

Profile: Can Storytelling Change Our Response to Mass Shootings? by Elizabeth Ballou

“No major social change in this country has ever happened without the aid of storytelling,” said Kimmel. “That’s one of the reasons why I’m using a play to tell this story.” The …

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 12:32PM
Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Interview: Actor Sara Barker Discusses Upcoming Performance of Lauren Gunderson’s New Play Against Gun Violence (1st Stage April 23) by Elizabeth Ballou

On February 14, 2018, a gunman entered Stoneman Douglas High School and killed 17 students and teachers. On April 3, Playwright Lauren Gunderson made her new play involving gun violence, Nat…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 09:18AM
Monday, April 16, 2018

Review: ‘En el tiempo de las mariposas’ at GALA Hispanic Theatre by Elizabeth Ballou

The play En el tiempo de las mariposas (In the Time of the Butterflies), making its D.C. debut at GALA Hispanic Theatre, tells one of the most inspiring and heart-wrenching stories to come o…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 02:09PM
Thursday, April 5, 2018

Review: ‘Potted Potter’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company by Elizabeth Ballou

Potted Potter, Potted Productions’ rollicking parody of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels, is full of toy snakes, terrible wigs, and boatloads of physical comedy. The audience plays Qui…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 03:40PM
Thursday, March 1, 2018

Review: ‘The Gospel at Colonus’ by Avant Bard by Elizabeth Ballou

The Gospel at Colonus, Avant Bard’s production of the gospel-infused Oedipus story, opened on February 27 with a sweet, bright salvo of a song. Members of the Women’s Ecumenical Choir (…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 02:55PM
Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Review: ‘Noura’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company (Women’s Voices Theater Festival) by Elizabeth Ballou

Imagine this: it is the night before Christmas. A silent snow blankets New York City, and inside a spare living room, a woman dozes in front of her Christmas tree. Her adolescent son snuggle…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 03:28PM
Sunday, February 11, 2018

Review: ‘Cabaret Rising’ by TBD Immersive at Dupont Underground by Elizabeth Ballou

“Let your joy be an act of resistance!” proclaims the woman who has seized the stage underneath Dupont Circle. She’s wearing a top hat, winged liner, and a stylish frock coat. A li…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 07:47AM
Monday, January 29, 2018

Interview: Kyla Garcia on Playing Sarah Ridge Polson in ‘Sovereignty’ at Arena Stage (Women’s Voices Theater Festival) by Elizabeth Ballou

Kyla Garcia is starring as Sarah Ridge Polson in Sovereignty at Arena Stage. Sovereignty, by Mary Kathryn Nagle, tells two stories. One is of a modern Native woman (played by Garcia) fightin…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 11:35AM
Friday, January 26, 2018

Review: ‘Jefferson’s Garden’ at Ford’s Theatre by Elizabeth Ballou

The Ford’s Theatre production of Jefferson’s Garden (by Timberlake Wertenbaker), which had its American premiere on January 24, tries to balance the oft-tread narrative of Thomas Jeffers…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 08:16AM
Sunday, January 21, 2018

Review: ‘Imogen’ by Pointless Theatre (Women’s Voices Theater Festival) by Elizabeth Ballou

Imogen, Pointless Theatre’s adaptation of Cymbeline, places one of Shakespeare’s most confusing heroines at the center of a battle for her independence. As in Cymbeline, Imogen has to co…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 11:05AM
Thursday, December 14, 2017

Report: Arena Stage’s Molly Smith and Playwright Mary Kathryn Nagle Discuss ‘Sovereignty’ and Why Plays by Native American Women Are More Vital by Elizabeth Ballou

In 1839, Mary Kathryn Nagle’s great-great-great grandfather, Cherokee statesman John Ridge, was assassinated for signing the Treaty of New Echota. In 2017, Nagle wrote a play about her fam…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 11:35AM
Sunday, November 12, 2017

Review: ‘Binomio’ at GALA Hispanic Theatre by Elizabeth Ballou

Binomio, a flamenco show making its U.S. premiere at the GALA Hispanic Theatre, begins with two solo dances by Francisco Hidalgo and Anabel Moreno. The two dancers command the stage as they …

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 05:47PM
Wednesday, November 1, 2017

News: DC Performing Arts Organizations Rally to Support Puerto Rico After Hurricane Maria by Elizabeth Ballou

When Hurricane Maria struck the island of Puerto Rico on September 20th, the storm left millions of American citizens with no electricity, drinkable water, cell service, or a roof over their…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 05:34PM
Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Review: ‘Lady M’ – A Co-Production of Collective Eleven, Women from Mars and Gitana Theatre at Atlas Performing Arts Center by Elizabeth Ballou

In the first scene of LadyM, a show devised by Francesca Chilcote, Rachel Hynes, Vanita Kalra, and Anastasia Wilson, a woman dressed in white dumps an entire bottle of ketchup onto a burger.…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 09:56AM
Thursday, September 14, 2017

Analysis: Charlottesville Theater Groups Respond to Last Month’s Deadly Rally by Elizabeth Ballou

On August 11th and 12th, a group of neo-Nazis, fascists, and white supremacists thronged Charlottesville, Virginia. They were there to protest – peacefully, they’d said – the removal o…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 02:45PM

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