All stories by Nelson Pressley on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Alzheimer's gets a warm face in 'Blackberry Winter' by Forum Theatre by Nelson Pressley

Holly Twyford stars as a woman whose mother lives with dementia in a Steve Yockey play.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 05:49PM[SHARE]

'Salome,' 'Avenue Q,' 'Yerma' are major Hayes Award winners by Nelson Pressley

"Dear Evan Hansen" takes the prize for top musical.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 12:07AM[SHARE]
Sunday, May 22, 2016

Clowning around with yesterday's junk in 'The Object Lesson' by Nelson Pressley

Geoff Sobelle's offbeat solo show at Studio Theatre pulls meaning and fun out of boxes.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 02:52PM[SHARE]
Friday, May 20, 2016

Bobby Smith, standing tall (in heels) in 'La Cage Aux Folles' by Nelson Pressley

Singer-actor-dancer steps into the spotlight to play Albin at Signature Theatre.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 12:22PM[SHARE]
Thursday, May 19, 2016

Abbey Theatre charges through KenCen with 'The Plough and the Stars' by Nelson Pressley

The Irish troupe brings O'Casey's signature play to Washington, briefly.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 01:42PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, May 18, 2016

A manic 'Hedda' sails 'round the bend at Studio Theatre by Nelson Pressley

A modernized take looks great but doesn't let you breathe.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 11:51AM[SHARE]
Monday, May 16, 2016

Synetic's 'Man in the Iron Mask' has action and unexpected melodrama by Nelson Pressley

As much as anything yet from the theater, this has the texture of a good old-fashioned movie.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 06:07PM[SHARE]
Friday, May 13, 2016

Fiona Shaw leads the Kennedy Center's Irish celebration by Nelson Pressley

Amid the hundreds of performers taking part, the actress is the festival's artist-in-residence.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 02:06PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, May 11, 2016

The political wrath of Wendy Wasserstein by Nelson Pressley

"An American Daughter" and the "woman card" problem

SOURCE: Washington Post at 01:36PM[SHARE]
Friday, May 6, 2016

The killer career of Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa by Nelson Pressley

From Broadway's "American Psycho" to zombie Archies, D.C. kid makes good.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 12:22PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, May 4, 2016

The revolution will definitely be dramatized by Nelson Pressley

Quotidian revives Fugard apartheid play, while The Welders challenge your beliefs.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 07:13PM[SHARE]

'Body of an American' goes beyond Black Hawk Down photo by Nelson Pressley

The prize-winning play at Theater J is an exhilarating take on war and trauma.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 03:03PM[SHARE]
Friday, April 29, 2016

Nearly Nirvana in 'Journey to the West' by Nelson Pressley

Constellation's delightful eyeful doesn't quite reach that higher plane

SOURCE: Washington Post at 05:16PM[SHARE]
Friday, April 22, 2016

A Pulitzer for his play 'Disgraced' in hand, Ayad Akhtar comes to Washington. by Nelson Pressley

Two of his topical works on Muslim American identity arrive at Arena and Round House.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 01:04PM[SHARE]
Thursday, April 21, 2016

It's the 1960s, baby. Who do you love? by Nelson Pressley

The politics of gender and race smolder in Morisseau's 'Detroit '67.'

SOURCE: Washington Post at 12:57PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, April 20, 2016

The messiness of 'Love & Sex' anatomized at Signature Theatre by Nelson Pressley

Bathsheba Doran's warmhearted play on family and identity has the right actors.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 02:39PM[SHARE]
Friday, April 15, 2016

Exit Max Woodward after four decades at the Kennedy Center by Nelson Pressley

Memories of entering as an usher and leaving as VP of theater programming

SOURCE: Washington Post at 11:30AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Friday, April 8, 2016

How to design a dystopian play by Nelson Pressley

In a wave of current shows, the future looks eerily like us

SOURCE: Washington Post at 01:31PM[SHARE]

The married life with 'his' and 'hers' hits by Nelson Pressley

Career high notes arrive in harmony for Olivera and Casey.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 12:14PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Williams's 'Cat' lands on its feet at Round House by Nelson Pressley

Maggie, Brick and Big Daddy are revived solidly, and with size

SOURCE: Washington Post at 02:25PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, March 30, 2016

'Moment' review: Kitchen-sink realism makes this Irish drama shine by Nelson Pressley

Deirdre Kinahan's exactingly detailed play gets an exemplary cast at Studio Theatre.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 12:38PM[SHARE]

Fable of grief has clipped wings at Theater J by Nelson Pressley

David Grossman's novel "Falling Out of Time" weighs heavily onstage.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 12:38PM[SHARE]

At Ford's, a cool '110 in the Shade' by Nelson Pressley

The 1963 musical is old-fashioned but easy to warm to.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 12:38PM[SHARE]
Friday, March 25, 2016

Venus in "Fur," keeping strange romantic flames burning by Nelson Pressley

Because we're keeping the Women's Voices initiative in mind even though Washington's groundbreaking fall festival is done (and we are, aren't we?), let's wrap our heads around this one mo…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 05:48PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Fable of grief has clipped wings at Theater J by Nelson Pressley

When David Grossman's novel "Falling Out of Time," about parents grieving for dead children, came out in 2014, some reviewers suggested that the poetic fable read like a play. Now it is a pl…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 02:16PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, March 22, 2016

'Moment' review: Kitchen-sink realism makes this Irish drama shine by Nelson Pressley

The acting in Deirdre Kinahan's "Moment" at Studio Theatre is so sharp it's like seeing a play in a live equivalent of high-def. The drama revolves around a criminal incident that blew a fam…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 12:32PM[SHARE]
Friday, March 18, 2016

At Ford's, a cool '110 in the Shade' by Nelson Pressley

Musicals just don't get a lot smarter or more sensitive than the loping "110 in the Shade" that opened Wednesday at Ford's Theatre. The 1963 show is simple but bighearted, with an underrated…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 04:06PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, March 16, 2016

A hard-knock 'Annie' hits the National Theatre this week (and gets heckled) by Nelson Pressley

A Trump rally briefly threatened to break out Tuesday night at the National Theatre in downtown Washington during the normally adorable musical "Annie" as a viewer fleetingly protested the s…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 01:37PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, March 15, 2016

The comfort of robots in sci-fi 'Marjorie Prime' at Olney Theatre by Nelson Pressley

Are you more at ease talking into a device or on social media than speaking face to face with a loved one? Are you more frank when the chat is virtual? The sly new play "Marjorie Prime" will…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 01:46PM[SHARE]
Friday, March 4, 2016

Singer-guitarist Benjamin Scheuer purrs his life and times in 'The Lion' by Nelson Pressley

Benjamin Scheuer is a mesmerizing guitarist, and he tells his story strumming in his solo show "The Lion." Scheuer pours his heart into his own coming-of-age tale, dealing with a difficult d…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 05:20PM[SHARE]

All that Chat

2025-2026 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 12, 2025: Call Me Izzy - Studio 54
Sep 16, 2025: Art - Music Box Theatre
Oct 08, 2025: Beetlejuice - Palace Theatre
Nov 13, 2025: Oedipus - Studio 54
Nov 16, 2025: Chess - Imperial Theatre
Mar 23, 2026: Giant - Music Box Theatre
Apr 06, 2026: Becky Shaw - Hayes Theater
Apr 16, 2026: Proof - Booth Theatre
Apr 26, 2026: Drama Desk Cut-Off