All stories by Peter Marks on BroadwayStars

Monday, May 25, 2015

Chess at Signature Theatre: musical theater more musical than theatrical by Peter Marks

Almost any time a mouth opens and notes spill out, the newly slimmed down Chess is a gateway to musical-theater nirvana.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 05:58PM

In Washington's musical-heavy new theater season, the show tunes must go on by Peter Marks

If musicals are your thing, you're in the right place

SOURCE: Washington Post at 05:58PM

Karl Miller shines as 'Talented Mr. Ripley' at Round House Theatre by Peter Marks

Karl Miller is seriously creepy. And we can all be grateful for that.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 05:58PM

Glisten up: Synetic's 'King Arthur' makes a splash without saying a word by Peter Marks

Every knight into the pool! For the baptismal production in its new home in Crystal City, Synetic Theater has left the water running. It's ankle-deep on the stage throughout the 90 heart-jo…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 05:58PM

Amy Ryan: A journeyman's actress co-stars in 'Jack Goes Boating' by Peter Marks

It may have been the most mortifying night of Amy Ryan's life. She was on Broadway, playing the role of Sonya opposite Derek Jacobi and Laura Linney in Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya."

SOURCE: Washington Post at 05:58PM

NYC reviews: 'Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson,' 'La Bête,' 'A Life in the Theatre' by Peter Marks

NEW YORK -- Just in time for the populist uprising of 2010, Broadway is host to a rock musical about the populist uprising of 1828. In the vibrantly subversive "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 05:58PM

Phylicia Rashad's star trajectory to Arena Stage's 'every tongue confess' by Peter Marks

World premiere on church burnings a compelling sell

SOURCE: Washington Post at 05:58PM

Broadway's 'Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown' lacks an edge by Peter Marks

Your eye will never get weary in a visit to "Women on the Verge," but you're still likely to come out of the experience feeling shortchanged.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 05:58PM

'Every tongue confess' at Arena Stage: A newborn play with room to grow by Peter Marks

Andrea Marcovicci new show, “Blue Champagne,” at the Oak Room of the Algonquin Hotel, is a deeply researched, thoroughly entertaining history of the torch song.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 05:58PM

'Candide': The best of one possible world by Peter Marks

The Shakespeare Theatre Company has on its hands a 1,000-pound canary. It warbles like a dream, but boy, does it take up a lot of space.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 05:58PM

Smooth sailing by Peter Marks

Few things in life sound better than " South Pacific ." And few "South Pacifics" have sounded as good as the deeply pleasurable revival bivouacked in the Kennedy Center Opera House for the h…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 05:58PM

A hot season for June by Peter Marks

There is, it seems, no holding June Schreiner back. During a rehearsal for "Oklahoma!" - the hit Arena Stage revival in which the 16-year-old is making such a remarkable impression - Schrein…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 05:58PM

Best of 2010: Theater by Peter Marks

Whether they featured a man alone at a desk, or a chorus dancing in formation, the best theater of 2010 in Washington shared a gratifying characteristic: the dazzle factor. For the sparkle o…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 05:58PM

Ready for their close-up by Peter Marks

When Florence Lacey's Norma Desmond steps uncertainly into the spotlight on the Hollywood sound stage in "Sunset Boulevard" and sings the first notes of "As If We Never Said Goodbye," Andrew…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 05:58PM

'Return to Haifa' crosses borders of war by Peter Marks

Arab literature, Israelis say, is not exactly rife with acknowledgments of the horror of the Holocaust. So when Israeli playwright and journalist Boaz Gaon was introduced to the work of the …

SOURCE: Washington Post at 05:58PM

Studio Theatre's new muse by Peter Marks

Angular and soft-spoken, wearing a dark suit and the inscrutable grin of someone who seems to know something you don't, David Muse rises at a dinner in a sprawling, art-filled house on the e…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 05:58PM

Weaving a web of seductive stories by Peter Marks

Mary Zimmerman's often beguiling "The Arabian Nights" is an evening of unfoldings: first of elegant Persian carpets, then of lyrical Eastern tales. Over the course of 21/2 hours, the Chicago…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 05:58PM

'Cymbeline': A fairy tale without magic by Peter Marks

Measured against his greatest dramas, "Cymbeline" counts as an iffy achievement for Shakespeare, what with subplots recycled from weightier efforts and characters lacking in lightning-bolt i…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 05:58PM

At Arena, the new play's the thing by Peter Marks

Marking its emergence as a center for asking big questions about the future of American theater, Arena Stage brought together more than 100 writers, directors and artistic managers from acro…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 05:58PM

National Theatre of Scotland casts 'Black' magic on stage by Peter Marks

The thunderous aftershocks of "Black Watch" are not merely those set off by the realistic sounds of mortars and rockets exploding in the convulsed soil of Iraq. No, the jolts delivered in th…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 05:58PM

The Shakespeare turns up show tunes, turns attention to Kahn in Season 25 by Peter Marks

Capitalizing on the many fans of classical drama who also seem to love show tunes, the Shakespeare Theatre Company will inaugurate in its 25th-anniversary season a musical-in-concert series …

SOURCE: Washington Post at 05:58PM

NEA chairman provokes heated debate: How much art is too much? by Peter Marks

It's a hot-button debate that the nation's leading advocate for dance and theater, sculpture and opera has been spoiling to ignite for months: Does the country have more outlets for the arts…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 05:58PM

In New York, 'Good People' a sign of hope for this theater season by Peter Marks

IN NEW YORK Alook of terror flashes in the eyes of Tate Donovan in the stomach-knotting second act of David Lindsay-Abaire's scintillating new comedy-drama, "Good People." It's the gaze of a…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 05:58PM

Without new voices, stages will just echo the familiar by Peter Marks

When the Kennedy Center puts its estimable weight behind a big theater project, the results can have inordinate impact. Consider the importance to culture in this country of staging the late…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 05:58PM

Review: Peter Marks on Theater J's 'The Chosen' at Arena Stage by Peter Marks

The multitalented director Aaron Posner conjures with exceptional intelligence and sensitivity the religious and generational tempests of " The Chosen ," Chaim Potok's 1967 coming-of-age nov…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 05:58PM
Wednesday, May 20, 2015

‘Marley’ at Baltimore’s Center Stage offers up the music but not the man by Peter Marks

The Bob Marley of “Marley,” the new bio-musical forged from the life and artistry of the Jamaican reggae legend, is a tough guy to get a handle on. Stoic, unforthcoming, introspective, h…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 04:55PM
Monday, May 18, 2015

Wilkommen once again to ‘Cabaret’ by Peter Marks

It’s remarkable how bleak and yet so spirit-lifting “Cabaret” can be, all at once. Boasting John Kander and Fred Ebb’s richest score and an ingenious hall-of-mirrors storytelling str…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 06:33PM
Monday, May 11, 2015

‘The Blood Quilt’ is a tempest-tossed sister act by Peter Marks

A river of anguish spills out of the memory-haunted half-sisters of “The Blood Quilt,” playwright Katori Hall’s character-rich though unevenly engaging family drama, receiving its worl…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 10:00AM
Friday, May 8, 2015

Scalia and his audience by Peter Marks

Audience walkouts during a performance are an occupational hazard for stage actors. But the one that occurred some days ago in the opening moments of “The Originalist” struck Edward Gero…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 12:12PM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes Theatre
Jul 11, 2024: Oh, Mary! - Lyceum Theatre
Jul 30, 2024: Job - Hayes Theater
Sep 12, 2024: The Roommate - Booth Theatre
Nov 14, 2024: Tammy Faye - Palace Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 17, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 01, 2025: Glengarry Glen Ross
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre
TBA: Titanic