All stories by Steven McKnight on BroadwayStars

Thursday, August 31, 2017

The Devil’s Music: The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith (review) by Steven McKnight

Miche Braden is the biggest force of nature this side of Hurricane Harvey.  She personifies the “Empress of the Blues” Bessie Smith with a powerful voice, enormous talent, a powerful st…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:06AM
Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Fan of Prince of Broadway answers its critics by Steven McKnight

How do you begin to assemble a show based upon all of the Broadway musical productions connected to Hal Prince over a legendary career spanning nearly seven decades?  How do you choose from…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:18PM
Thursday, August 10, 2017

Barbara Cook. A fan remembers her fabulous second act by Steven McKnight

Scott Fitzgerald famously wrote that “There are no second acts in American lives.” F. Scott Fitzgerald never met Barbara Cook, the beloved Broadway star and singer who passed away on Aug…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 09:54AM
Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill (review) by Steven McKnight

Billie Holliday experienced extreme poverty, racism, sexual abuse, a drug addiction, and prison, yet still had a legendary career as one of the great jazz singers of the 20th century.  If y…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 08:54AM
Sunday, July 16, 2017

The Changeling Child (Capital Fringe review) by Steven McKnight

A marketing company might have taken The Coil Project’s The Changeling Child and instead titled it A Midsummer Night’s Dream – The Next Generation.  That title better conveys the subs…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 08:36AM
Monday, July 10, 2017

Passing – A Stage Play (Capital Fringe review) by Steven McKnight

Kukui Kikuyu Productions’ Passing – A Stage Play is a fascinating psychological character study in which secrets revealed inevitably lead to a shockingly tragic end which deserves a lon…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 09:42AM

Lost Teeth (Fringe review) by Steven McKnight

How far are we willing to go to seek happiness?  That’s the intriguing premise of Jona Tarlin’s Lost Teeth, a world premiere production from New York City’s Blowout Theatre Company wh…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 08:36AM
Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Junie B. Jones Is Not a Crook at Adventure Theatre (review) by Steven McKnight

Junie B. Jones has to face a lot of moral and social quandaries for a 5-year-old.  Who took her furry black mittens, should she be able to keep a multi-ink pen she found, should she compete…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:12PM
Friday, May 12, 2017

King Charles III airs on PBS Sunday evening by Steven McKnight

King Charles III, a filmed adaptation of the London production of Mike Bartlett’s Tony-nominated play, airs this Sunday night at 9:00 p.m. EDT as a one-off episode of PBS’s Masterpiece T…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 07:36AM
Thursday, April 27, 2017

Neil Simon’s I Ought to Be in Pictures from Peter’s Alley (review) by Steven McKnight

One of the great challenges for a director involves taking a slightly dated play like Neil Simon’s I Ought to Be in Pictures and making it work.  That the latest Peter’s Alley Theatre…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 08:02AM
Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Brave Spirits gives A King and No King its debut after 400 years (review) by Steven McKnight

It took over 400 years for A King and No King to receive a DC area premiere.  Yet were authors Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher still alive, they would certainly be pleased with the Brave…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 08:02AM
Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Trevor at 1st Stage (review) by Steven McKnight

It’s not easy being a famous child actor struggling to stay in show business after passing puberty.  It’s even more difficult when that actor is a chimpanzee, Nick Jones imagines in hi…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:24AM
Saturday, December 17, 2016

Wicked. Popular and deservedly so. At the Kennedy Center (review) by Steven McKnight

Wicked is one of the most loved musicals in history, regularly selling out Broadway’s largest theatre since 2003 and spawning several national tours, the most recent now in an outstanding …

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:12PM
Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Fully Committed at MetroStage. (review) by Steven McKnight

Tom Story provides a comedic tour-de-force as the frenetic and frazzled Sam and forty other characters in the hilarious Fully Committed at MetroStage. Pity poor Sam, the out-of-work actor fo…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 11:36AM
Thursday, November 17, 2016

Love Jones: The Musical – soulful sounds at The National (review) by Steven McKnight

If you loved the terrific 1997 film Love Jones, you may want to cue up that DVD again.  Before the opening night show at The National Theatre, an announcement was made that this production…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 11:32AM
Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Thief and nun on the run in Little Thing, Big Thing (review) by Steven McKnight

You can almost feel the Fringe/touring roots of Little Thing, Big Thing from the mixture of story-telling with theatre, the acting challenges given the small cast, the clever blending of ge…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 03:06PM
Friday, November 11, 2016

Staunton’s starring role in Gypsy airing on PBS Friday, Nov 11 by Steven McKnight

What do Ethel Merman, Angela Lansbury, Tyne Daly, Bernadette Peters, and Patti LuPone have in common?  They have all played the iconic role of Mama Rose in Gypsy, one of the greatest works…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:48AM
Friday, October 7, 2016

A Matter of Perspective from Live Garra Theatre (review) by Steven McKnight

A Matter of Perspective is a provocative new work that examines racial tensions in the context of jury deliberations.  It is a stimulating work with the potential for greater accomplishment…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:55AM
Friday, September 30, 2016

Five film musicals to watch for – some you’ve seen onstage by Steven McKnight

I love musicals.  I prefer my musicals live and in person; however, I will take a good musical wherever I can find it regardless of setting or format. Below is a list in chronological order…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 11:09AM
Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Lobby Hero at 1st Stage (review) by Steven McKnight

Kenneth Lonergan’s Lobby Hero is a rare work that is, at once, a drama, a comedy, a romance, a mystery, and a modern morality play.  It is an outstanding work that makes for equally outs…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 08:37AM
Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Teachout’s Satchmo at the Waldorf at Mosaic Theater (review) by Steven McKnight

Louis Armstrong, arguably the first jazz superstar, achieved world-wide fame as a trumpet player, composer, singer, occasional actor. Satchmo at the Waldorf by Terry Teachout (best known as …

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:09AM
Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two, the next Hamilton? (script review) by Steven McKnight

Typically readers of plays are drama students, theatre professionals, and other artistic nerds like myself.  J.K. Rowling and friends have clearly shattered that barrier last weekend with …

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:27AM
Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Redder Blood at Hub Theatre (review) by Steven McKnight

Plays involving religion often have a defined point of view that can make them predictable and boring.  Yet nothing is predictable or boring about Helen Pafumi’s world premiere Redd…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:25PM

The Lady with the Little Dog, Chekhov adaptation at Quotidian (review) by Steven McKnight

The Lady with the Little Dog, the story of a melancholy affair between a Russian couple which begins in 1901, is one of Anton Chekhov’s most famous and influential short stories. Dmitry Gu…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 08:52AM
Tuesday, June 28, 2016

The Three Musketeers amidst the Ruins (review) by Steven McKnight

The Three Musketeers, as performed by Chesapeake Shakespeare Company-in-the-Ruins receives a spirited and entertaining outdoor staging that will please many family members, although the ad…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:38AM
Thursday, June 9, 2016

Lost in Wonderland (review) from Pallas Theatre Collection by Steven McKnight

Lost in Wonderland is a workshop production of a new musical based upon Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. As fostered by Pallas Theatre Col…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:44AM
Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Mosaic Theater’s When January Feels Like Summer (review) by Steven McKnight

The welcome arrival of the Mosaic Theater Company of DC on the local theatre scene is punctuated by When January Feels Like Summer.  The heartwarming and frequently funny Cori Thomas play a…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 11:22AM
Wednesday, May 18, 2016

War of the Worlds (review) from Scena Theatre by Steven McKnight

The storied 1938 CBS Radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds by Orson Welles and The Mercury Theatre on the Air allegedly created a panic by individuals who believed that the dramatization …

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 06:06PM
Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Hunting and Gathering at Rep Stage (review) by Steven McKnight

Have you ever mocked how TV characters of modest means live in apartments way beyond their means (e.g., NBC’s Friends)?  Rep Stage has a play for you.  The regional premiere of Brooke Be…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 01:10PM
Monday, April 4, 2016

in a word at Hub Theatre (review) by Steven McKnight

One of the greatest stress tests imaginable for a couple would be having their only child go missing.  Lauren Yee’s in a word focuses on the challenges of a couple with a missing child a…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 11:58AM
Monday, February 1, 2016

OLIVERio: A Brazilian Twist at The Kennedy Center (review) by Steven McKnight

One of the joys of living in the DMV is that it is both a strong area for theatre, and a strong area for family theatre.  A case in point is the charming and clever production of OLIVÉRio…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:57PM

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