Kennedy Center Honors Pay Tribute to Hamilton and Musical Legends by Jessica Goldstein

Here comes the president! No, not that one.Chris Jackson " who played George Washington in the original cast of Hamilton " is striding down the Kennedy Center Honors red carpet on Sunday wit…

SOURCE: Vulture at 10:42am on December 3, 2018☆⚑

Javier Muñoz on What It's Like to Play Alexander Hamilton When Lin-Manuel Miranda Isn't by Jessica Goldstein

What is it like to be Alexander Hamilton? Three guys know. There's the real Hamilton ( … you can't ask him). There's Lin-Manuel Miranda, the literal genius behind the musical you probably …

SOURCE: Vulture at 10:57pm on November 12, 2015☆⚑

How Gina Rodriguez sees herself by Jessica Goldstein

When actress Gina Rodriguez was a kid growing up in Chicago, she would turn on the TV and wonder: "Why does no one look like me?" The youngest of three daughters of Puerto Rican parents, she…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 11:58am on October 2, 2015☆⚑

'You're the Worst' mines comedy from an unlikely source " PTSD by Jessica Goldstein

Can PTSD ever be funny?Maybe that's the wrong question. Maybe only a monster would say "yes."And yet on "You're the Worst," FX's stellar sitcom about two undateable people who find themselve…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 11:04am on September 4, 2015☆⚑

Celebrate and/or mourn the end of your favorite TV show with 'Mad Men' bingo by Jessica Goldstein

"Mad Men" is ending. "How can this be?" you might be wondering. Didn't "Mad Men" end, like, three times already? You would be forgiven for making this mistake. After a storied run of highs "…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 10:43am on April 1, 2015☆⚑

'Parks and Recreation' has boosted cast's careers by Jessica Goldstein

"Parks and Recreation" premiered on NBC on April 9, 2009. Can you remember this distant past? It was a time before emoji and Instagram, a time before Blue Ivy and the McConaissance. Taylor S…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 3:58pm on January 13, 2015☆⚑

From Amy Poehler to Retta to Chris Pratt: 'Parks and Recreation' has boosted cast's careers by Jessica Goldstein

"Parks and Recreation" premiered on NBC on April 9, 2009. Can you remember this distant past? It was a time before emoji and Instagram, a time before Blue Ivy and the McConaissance. Taylor S…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 5:53pm on January 8, 2015☆⚑

'The Lion King,' views from inside the touring production at the Kennedy Center by Jessica Goldstein

"The Lion King" is a feat of someone's extraordinary imagination: yours. You can't just sit there in the theater and expect "The Lion King" to happen. Not even after all these years: 17 s…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 12:58pm on July 11, 2014☆⚑

Why does " and will " 'Mean Girls' continue to endure online? by Jessica Goldstein

What is it about "Mean Girls" that makes it the most quotable, gif-able, and mash-up-able movie for the Internet age? We called up David Hayes, Tumblr's Head of Canvas and Entertainment Evan…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 4:45pm on April 25, 2014☆⚑

Costume design: It's in the details by Jessica Goldstein

Someday, maybe, costume design will be easy. All theaters will have some variation on Cher Horowitz's closet from "Clueless," and with a few swipes right and left they'll have arrived at a s…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 4:05pm on April 18, 2014☆⚑

How MTV's '16 and Pregnant' led to declining teen birth rates by Jessica Goldstein

Since they premiered, MTV reality shows "16 and Pregnant" and "Teen Mom" have raised whoa-so-many eyebrows. A very vocal contingent of dismayed adults feared the shows glamorized teen pregna…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 5:22pm on April 9, 2014☆⚑

Rating the on-screen POTUSes: Who's got that 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. cred? by Jessica Goldstein

Actor Richard Thomas is having a very Washington moment. You can see him on TV in FX's excellent, espionage-filled wigfest "The Americans" and, over at Arena Stage, playing Jimmy Carter in t…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 12:15pm on March 14, 2014☆⚑

An army of bedbugs was partying in her mattress. What else could go wrong? by Jessica Goldstein

This all started with tiny spots of blood. I had no idea where they came from. They were in a splatter pattern. Dots of rust-colored stains on my soft, yellow bedsheets. Very Jackson Pollock…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 2:41pm on March 13, 2014☆⚑

The real stars of 'The Americans'? The wigs. by Jessica Goldstein

Meet the real stars of "The Americans": the disguises. The wigs of "The Americans" have developed a following unto themselves, in part because they are so integral to the plot, in part becau…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 1:31pm on February 21, 2014☆⚑

'Spies in our own lives': FX's Cold War thriller 'The Americans' enters second season by Jessica Goldstein

Nothing about "The Americans" is as it should be. Philip and Elizabeth Jennings live in a peaceful neighborhood in suburban Virginia, and they're at war with the FBI agent across the street…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 1:25pm on February 21, 2014☆⚑

In Alexandria, Civil War Ball draws a crowd yearning for elegance in a hoop skirt by Jessica Goldstein

No one is required to wear a hoop skirt to the Civil War Ball at Gadsby's Tavern Museum in Alexandria, but at this year's gala nearly every woman does. Outside, the wind is so cold that ever…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 11:34am on February 7, 2014☆⚑

Race and casting's recurring role by Jessica Goldstein

Can a white actor play an Asian character? Never. Sometimes. Maybe. It depends. "Yellow Face," by Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang, wrestles with this question under the dire…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 11:42am on January 24, 2014☆⚑

Dating? There's an app (or 20) for that, but have you considered a matchmaker? by Jessica Goldstein

If you want to date, you have choices. Oh, the choices. You could meet someone in what we call the real world " at work or at school, lock eyes across that crowded bar, reach for the same bo…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 11:52am on December 27, 2013☆⚑

Washington theater's best acts for 2014 by Jessica Goldstein

Merry Christmas, Backstage readers! It's that end-of-the-year "best of" season, when every gaffe, meme and hook you tried so hard to forget comes back to haunt you in top 10-list form. You'r…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 5:31pm on December 24, 2013☆⚑

Arena Stage's Voices of Now program headed to India to lead theater projects for local youth by Jessica Goldstein

Arena Stage's Voices of Now program, which organizes ensembles of young people who devise and perform original works of theater, has earned a grant from the State Department to send the nine…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 6:14pm on December 17, 2013☆⚑

National Women's History Museum gains traction; bill would launch exploratory panel by Jessica Goldstein

At a House Administration Committee hearing Wednesday morning, Reps. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) presented their bipartisan bill to launch an exploratory commi…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 2:32pm on December 11, 2013☆⚑

Christmas Day is opening day for 'Porgy and Bess' and 'Flashdance' by Jessica Goldstein

"The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess" and "Flashdance: The Musical" have something in common. It's leggings. They both involve a lot of leg warmers. Also off-the-shoulder tops. I jest, Backstage r…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 6:46pm on December 10, 2013☆⚑

Kennedy Center Honors: Red-carpet stars glimmer on a night when 'everything's magic' by Jessica Goldstein

Wonder Woman is the first red-carpet celebrity to arrive at the Kennedy Center Honors. Lynda Carter is looking regal " perhaps her superpower is imperviousness to weather, which is a miserab…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 10:02pm on December 8, 2013☆⚑

That press tour escalated quickly. Will Ferrell talks Ron Burgundy, not in character this time by Jessica Goldstein

Will Ferrell does not get embarrassed. He's not embarrassed when he's dancing in tight, white pants on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon," or when he's ice skating in a rhinestone-spangled bodys…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 3:42pm on December 4, 2013☆⚑

'The 12 Dates of Christmas' at Next Stop Theatre, a jolly chronicle of romantic missteps by Jessica Goldstein

Playwright Ginna Hoben, a longtime fan of David Sedaris's "The SantaLand Diaries," knew she had something special to contribute to the holiday show canon. For one thing, anything she wrote w…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 5:33pm on December 3, 2013☆⚑