All stories by Lisa Traiger on BroadwayStars

Sunday, May 1, 2022

Havana-based Malpaso Dance Company steps out at The Clarice by Lisa Traiger

Four pieces showcased ten dancers’ drive, indomitable spirit, and unassailable technical abilities.

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 04:31AM
Saturday, March 19, 2022

In Arena’s ‘Catch Me If You Can,’ gloss, glitz, and con by Lisa Traiger

The highlight of the production is Parker Esse's choreography, executed with sassy precision by a terrific chorus.

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 06:53AM
Friday, February 11, 2022

Washington Ballet shows a so-so ‘Swan Lake’ at Kennedy Center by Lisa Traiger

Ballet lovers would likely call it respectable, if uneven.

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 06:38AM
Monday, February 7, 2022

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater celebrates choreography of Robert Battle by Lisa Traiger

A tribute at Kennedy Center to his tenth anniversary as artistic director of the company and a collection of his dances on a single program.

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 09:50AM
Monday, January 24, 2022

Two men hold on in Britta Joy Peterson’s ‘And Now, Hold Me’ at Dance Place by Lisa Traiger

An exquisite performance shows us that two people sharing space create a universe of possibilities.

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 06:15AM
Monday, November 22, 2021

in ‘Xenos’ at Kennedy Center, Akram Khan dances to the end of the world by Lisa Traiger

A rumination on identity, memory, death, life, and regeneration — a portrait of humanity captive to demons.

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 05:19AM
Tuesday, October 26, 2021

Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE takes a soul-infused journey from mercy to grace by Lisa Traiger

At Kennedy Center, a rich triptych of works with historical underpinnings of the African American experience. 

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 03:19PM
Monday, October 18, 2021
Saturday, October 9, 2021

Paul Taylor Dance Company opens Kennedy Center dance season with verve by Lisa Traiger

Two familiar works ease us back into the theater on a high note.

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 10:00AM
Sunday, July 18, 2021

‘Clowntime’ takes down politics with smart snark and belly laughs by Lisa Traiger

Saving the world from its grim humorless political maneuverings through comedy feels right at this moment.

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 07:04AM
Friday, July 16, 2021

Chamber Dance Project takes bold step back to normalcy by Lisa Traiger

An evening of choreography titled 'Tear the Edge,' featuring four world premieres, comes to National Cathedral Sunday, July 18.

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 05:00AM
Wednesday, June 2, 2021

Bowen McCauley Dance to take last bows, gives penultimate performance by Lisa Traiger

As the dance world eases back to stages, Bowen McCauley Dance was among the first to dip a toe in to test the waters, dancing together on the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater stage before …

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 07:38PM
Tuesday, May 25, 2021

An independent woman faces cancer in Solas Nua’s intimate outdoor drama by Lisa Traiger

There couldn’t be a more perfect setting for Irish playwright Deirdre Kinahan’s In the Middle of the Fields than the grassy, clovered slope of P Street Beach, a sliver of Rock Creek Park…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 06:30AM
Tuesday, February 23, 2021

In Matthew Bourne’s ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ the lovers are teens in juvey by Lisa Traiger

“For never was there a tale of more woe, than this of Juliet and her Romeo.” Who doesn’t know the tragic ending of star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet? Yet we continue to be besotted …

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 08:53AM
Wednesday, January 13, 2021

Muslim women’s voices in ‘Unveiled’ serve up tea and empathy by Lisa Traiger

Hot tea is the recommended beverage for viewing Chicago-based playwright Rohnia Malik’s Unveiled, available online through January 2021 from Baltimore Theatre Project. The one-woman show i…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 08:50AM
Tuesday, October 27, 2020

A son summons his absent father in ‘Dear Mapel’ at Mosaic Theater by Lisa Traiger

Urgent times call for urgent theater. And urgent theater has been Mosaic Theater Company’s calling card since its founding — rather unexpectedly — five years ago, by artistic director/…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 07:22AM
Saturday, March 7, 2020

Fearless feminist dance takes the stage in Martha Graham Dance Company’s ‘The EVE Project’ by Lisa Traiger

On the eve of the day we learned that we still can’t elect a woman as qualified as Elizabeth Warren president, the Martha Graham Dance Company returned to the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 07:52AM
Thursday, January 30, 2020

Round House’s ‘Spring Awakening’ captures the essence of teenage angst by Lisa Traiger

With her green roots and sneakers that spout “fuck you,” Billie Eilish, who swept Sunday night’s pop Grammys, sings a new song for a new generation. Her 2020 teen angst recalls hardcor…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 08:54AM
Saturday, November 16, 2019

Mark Morris Dance Group boldly re-imagines ‘Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ in ‘Pepperland’ at the Kennedy Center by Lisa Traiger

Mark Morris dances are emphatically watchable, easily digestible, eccentric, and smartly witty. He so proficiently pairs music and dance, costume and set – with a cadre of collaborators �…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 10:10AM
Saturday, October 5, 2019

Review: ‘Merce Cunningham at 100, Beach Birds and BIPED’ at the Kennedy Center by Lisa Traiger

What a pleasure to celebrate the centenary of modern dance master Merce Cunningham with a pair of works that demonstrates his formidable vision for dance, imbued with clarity of form and gen…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 10:25AM
Thursday, July 11, 2019

Review: ‘Bright Colors and Bold Patterns’ at Studio Theatre by Lisa Traiger

Gerry is mad. Furious even. And who can blame him? He’s all set for the wedding of the … well … summer. He’s driven out the I10 from Los Angeles to Palm Springs and the expensively t…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 03:30PM
Friday, April 5, 2019

Review: ‘New York City Ballet: New Works and New Productions’ at the Kennedy Center by Lisa Traiger

It’s been a challenging few years for New York City Ballet, the nation’s preeminent ballet company. What with the misconduct and resignation of its ballet master in chief, subsequent mis…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 08:32PM
Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Review: ‘Analogy Trilogy’ by Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company at the Kennedy Center by Lisa Traiger

It’s too simplistic to call Bill T. Jones a choreographer, although that’s been his stock and trade for more than 40 years. This past week his Analogy unfolded as a trilogy, over three n…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 09:11PM
Sunday, February 17, 2019

Review: ‘Hair & Other Stories’ by Urban Bush Women at Dance Place by Lisa Traiger

Don’t think you’re going to sit back and observe if you show up at Urban Bush Women’s latest, Hair & Other Stories, which made its Washington, DC premiere this past weekend at Danc…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 10:42PM
Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Review: ‘Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (Program A)’ at The Kennedy Center by Lisa Traiger

A cough, a gasp, the sound of a heartbeat. A sudden flash in the darkness. These sounds and images begin “Lazarus,” the brand-new work from hip hop master Rennie Harris, which opened a g…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 08:45PM
Thursday, January 17, 2019

Review: ‘Cinderella’ at The Kennedy Center Opera House by Lisa Traiger

Don’t walk into the Kennedy Center Opera House expecting a Disney-esque, happily-ever-after retelling of the evergreen fairytale Cinderella. British director/choreographer Matthew Bourne h…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 01:15PM
Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Holly Bass Celebrates Black Sisterhood in ‘The Trans-Atlantic Time Traveling Company’ by Lisa Traiger

District-based solo performer Holly Bass creates in so many media and art forms I can’t keep up with her—and I’ve been covering her for nearly a decade. Her latest devised work, a danc…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 03:57AM
Saturday, July 14, 2018

2018 Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Unaccompanied Minor’ by Lisa Traiger

Comedy. It isn’t always pretty. And sometimes it isn’t even funny. In the case of Elan Zafir’s biographical one-man show The Unaccompanied Minor, although it’s billed as a comedy, it…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 01:52PM
Friday, July 13, 2018

2018 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Isadora Duncan: Landscapes of the Soul’ by Lisa Traiger

Church basements have a long and surprisingly illustrious history in the evolution of modern dance, particularly in the mid-20th-century when they were creative strongholds for iconoclastic …

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 10:49AM
Friday, June 29, 2018

Review: ‘Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations’ at The Kennedy Center by Lisa Traiger

Ain’t too many surprises in Ain’t Too Proud, the new jukebox musical about the supergroup The Temptations and their rise to meteoric heights. Their music defined a generation and gave vo…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 04:42PM
Monday, June 25, 2018

Review: ‘#poolparty’ by Ally Theatre Company by Lisa Traiger

“No diving. No running. Absolutely no cannonballs,” the pre-show announcement at Joe’s Movement Emporium orders. But get ready to dive deep for the world premiere of #poolparty as it u…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 11:26AM

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