All stories by Roger Catlin on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Theatre Review: ‘The Iceman Cometh’ by Quotidian Theatre Company at Bethesda’s Writer’s Center by Roger Catlin

Let us now praise the Quotidian Theatre Company, which dedicates itself to classics, and crafts performances so good they remind us why the works are considered classics in the first place. …

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 04:00PM
Thursday, October 31, 2013

Theatre Review: ‘Cabaret Macabre’ by Happenstance Theatre at Round House Silver Spring by Roger Catlin

Delightful is probably not the expected adjective for a show called Cabaret Macabre, except probably for those who have seen earlier editions of the show by Happenstance Theatre. At a time w…

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 02:00PM
Friday, October 18, 2013

Opera Review: ‘The Force of Destiny’ by the Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center by Roger Catlin

The Washington National Opera is celebrating the bicentenary of Wagner and Verdi this season, and to honor the latter, artistic director Francesca Zambello has chosen what she called one of …

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 11:00AM
Monday, October 7, 2013

Theatre Review: ‘The Two-Character Play’ at Spooky Action Theater by Roger Catlin

In the early 1970s, Tennessee Williams’ best work was decades behind him. A Streetcar Named Desire, The Glass Menagerie (now in yet another acclaimed revival on Broadway), and Cat on a…

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 02:51PM
Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Theatre Review: ‘Red Speedo’ at Studio Theatre by Roger Catlin

Red Speedo, a taut play about athletic competition at Studio Lab, itself begins with its own athletic contest: climbing several flights of stairs to the performance space.  Once up there, y…

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 10:33AM
Sunday, September 29, 2013

Theatre Review: ‘Million Dollar Quartet’ at the Kennedy Center by Roger Catlin

There may not be a better musical focus for a jukebox musical than the sounds of Memphis’ plucky Sun Studios in the 1950s, where Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Ca…

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 08:16AM
Thursday, September 26, 2013

Theatre Review: ‘Maria Braun’ by Scena Theatre at the Atlas Performing Arts Center by Roger Catlin

Maria Braun was a character borne of pluck and determination, whose civil wedding was interrupted by bombs of World War II, but not invalidated by it.  She insisted the officiant sign the w…

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 11:04AM
Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Opera Review: ‘Tristan and Isolde’ by Washington National Opera by Roger Catlin

The problem with building an opera around a star is that sometimes, the star will falter. So even as the cover of the Washington National Opera Playbill of Tristan and Isolde shows Deborah …

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 07:00AM
Sunday, September 15, 2013

Theatre Review: ‘Cabaret Barroco – Interludes of Spain’s Golden Age’ at Gala Hispanic Theatre by Roger Catlin

Back in the 17th Century, theater in Spain was so rich, even the intervals between acts were entertaining. Sketches performed in the streets to engage with passerby led to their becoming par…

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 12:00PM
Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Theatre Review: ‘Caught in the Net’ at the Little Theater of Alexandria by Roger Catlin

As the curtain rises at the Little Theater of Alexandria’s new British farce, Caught in the Net, the sequel to the hit farce Run For Your Wife by Ray Cooney, the audience delights in t…

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 10:00AM
Monday, September 9, 2013

Opera Review: ‘The Abduction from the Seraglio’ by In Series at Source by Roger Catlin

The ad for the In Series season opener, a Wild West adaptation of Abduction from the Seraglio, has Mozart in a Stetson. And that might be all you need to know about the fun and strangely rev…

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 02:51PM
Saturday, July 13, 2013

Theatre Review: ‘The Book of Mormon’ at the Kennedy Center by Roger Catlin

The Book of Mormon is the musical that ate the Kennedy Center. Demand for tickets was so large in March it crashed the computer system. Traffic snarled as people stood in line for tickets. …

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 09:00AM
Friday, July 12, 2013

Theatre Review: ‘Caesar & Dada’ by WSC Avant Bard at Catholic University Callan Theatre by Roger Catlin

WSC Avant Bard is living up to its name with its strong and ambitious summer offering crossing Shakespeare with the avant garde, Caesar & Dada. In a season when the carefree and slight e…

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 07:00AM
Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Theatre Review: ‘[title of show] (clean version)’ at Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre by Roger Catlin

Another in the “let’s put on a play” tradition of American musicals, “[title of show]” takes a more meta approach: a musical about writing this very musical. Th…

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 08:00AM
Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Stand-in for the stars – the art of the dubbing singer by Roger Catlin

Soprano Marni Nixon speaks about her not-so-secret roles in some of Hollywood's best-known musicalsLong before another Nixon got mixed up with a secret recording in Washington, Marni Nixon w…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:22AM
Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Theatre Review: ‘The Hampton Years’ at Theater J by Roger Catlin

The Hampton Years, the new play currently playing at Theater J in Washington, shows the value of highlighting a little known chapter in black history – in this case, the rise of Afric…

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 03:48PM
Monday, June 3, 2013

Theatre Review: ‘Stupid F***ing Bird’ at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company by Roger Catlin

Reinventing theater is easier said than done – and easier still said with an expletive. Thus we have Aaron Posner’s Stupid F***ing Bird, an adaptation of Chekhov’s The Seagull that jus…

SOURCE: Maryland Theatre Guide at 09:00PM
Friday, May 25, 2012

In Woolly Mammoth’s ‘Mr. Burns,’ reconstructing a cartoon and a civilization by Roger Catlin

In a post-apocalyptic world, after the grid’s gone dead, people sit around a campfire and tell stories for entertainment. But their tales are not classics of Greek mythology or of literatu…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 07:43PM

by Roger Catlin

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SOURCE: Washington Post at 07:43PM
Friday, March 9, 2012

‘Gypsies’ at the Kennedy Center seeks to dispel myths about the Romany by Roger Catlin

For centuries, they have been figures of fear and fascination, in their colorful clothes and seemingly carefree lives. And while gypsies, as they are called, have left their mark on society …

SOURCE: Washington Post at 02:09PM

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