3 acts to catch at the Capital Fringe Festival by Nelson Pressley

It unfurls all over again Thursday, the swarming arts and humanity carnival that is the Capital Fringe Festival. The anything-goes event is in its seventh summer season, headquartered for …

SOURCE: Washington Post at 9:19am on July 6, 2012☆⚑

Andrew Lippa, the musical force behind 'The Addams Family' by Nelson Pressley

It used to be audiences knew the names of the people who wrote the shows: Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Andrew Lloyd Webber. Nowadays, the musicals that aren't ripping…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 1:36pm on July 5, 2012☆⚑

Chesapeake Shakespeare Company: The charming Bards of Baltimore by Nelson Pressley

In less than 10 years, the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company has become a winsome local poster child for the classic outdoor, family-friendly theater experience. Before a recent Sunday night pe…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 5:20pm on June 29, 2012☆⚑

'Sleuth' at Olney Theatre is intriguing play by Nelson Pressley

No clue why suburban Maryland's two big theaters are staging vintage mysteries at the same time, but plainly something's afoot. Bethesda's Round House Theatre is still in the clutches of the…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 1:26am on June 21, 2012☆⚑

'Memphis' at Kennedy Center: Tony winner takes a spin through D.C. by Nelson Pressley

The Broadway musical "Memphis" may be strutting into the Kennedy Center's Opera House with the 2010 best musical Tony Award in its pocket, but it doesn't do much with the ancient terrain of …

SOURCE: Washington Post at 1:31am on June 15, 2012☆⚑

Theater review: Actors make magic in 'The Illusion' by Nelson Pressley

Rapture comes naturally to playwright Tony Kushner, and in "The Illusion," he plants a big swoony kiss on the lips of the theater. At Forum Theatre, director Mitchell Hebert kisses right bac…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 2:37am on June 1, 2012☆⚑

'Flora the Red Menace': 1st Stage musical doesn't hit high points by Nelson Pressley

"Flora the Red Menace" is the rarely revived musical John Kander and Fred Ebb wrote immediately before breaking through with "Cabaret" in the mid-1960s, so hard-core musical theater buffs ma…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 7:37pm on May 28, 2012☆⚑

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SOURCE: Washington Post at 9:54pm on May 17, 2012☆⚑

At 28, Matthew Gardiner has rising role at Arlington's Signature Theatre by Nelson Pressley

The yin and yang of young Matthew Gardiner: ●He's precociously unrushed and composed, a slender dude in boots and jeans. Signature Theatre's 28-year-old associate artistic director sit…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 9:54pm on May 17, 2012☆⚑

At Artisphere, the dawning of the age of Dionysus by Nelson Pressley

The musical "Hair" turns out to be a good way to think about the largely wonderful staging of "The Bacchae," now at WSC Avant Bard's intimate Artisphere home in Arlington. Shaggy actors scam…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 7:44pm on May 16, 2012☆⚑

Washington Stage Guild gives George Bernard Shaw " and his strong-minded women " a home by Nelson Pressley

Atypical George Bernard Shaw woman, on love: "Change the subject, or I shall go to sleep." Another Shavian female, poor and uneducated, to a professional writer: "I'm never wrong when I see …

SOURCE: Washington Post at 2:03pm on May 4, 2012☆⚑

Theater review: 'Begotten' a unique look at Eugene O'Neill's life and works by Nelson Pressley

Eugene O'Neill's dog Blemie gets a monologue at the end of "Begotten: O'Neill and the Harbor of Masks," a workshop project in Arena Stage's Kogod Cradle that's part of the ongoing O'Neill fe…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 1:38am on April 28, 2012☆⚑

Marathon three-hour performances leave weary actors scrambling to recover by Nelson Pressley

Actress Francesca Faridany has never been through the kind of marathon she's running as Nina Leeds in Eugene O'Neill's "Strange Interlude." As the complex heroine at the center of what was o…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 10:19pm on April 27, 2012☆⚑

Lynn Nottage's 'Las Meninas,' Patrick Barlow's '39 Steps' keep laughs coming by Nelson Pressley

Why haven't Washington area theaters had more of a hand in making playwright Lynn Nottage a star? Arena Stage's production of "Ruined" earned top honors at the Helen Hayes Awardsthis week, b…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 2:53am on April 27, 2012☆⚑

At Helen Hayes Awards, Signature's 'Hairspray' takes musical honors by Nelson Pressley

Signature Theatre's "Hairspray" stood a beehive above the rest of Washington theater during Monday night's Helen Hayes Awards at the Warner Theatre. The local revival of the popular show won…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 2:57am on April 24, 2012☆⚑

Theater review: 'God of Carnage' at Signature Theatre by Nelson Pressley

In "God of Carnage," the comic belch of a play by the sensationally popular French provocateur Yasmina Reza, two upscale couples sit down for a civil conversation and quickly make each other…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 10:34pm on April 23, 2012☆⚑

Helen Hayes Awards could use a two-tiered approach to Washington theater by Nelson Pressley

Aticklish question: How to critique the Helen Hayes Awards process on the eve of the ceremony without smearing the accomplishments of the 153 nominees? It may not require such finesse. The i…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 8:20am on April 21, 2012☆⚑

At Studio Theatre, Basil Twist's alluring scenery changes invoke Japanese tradition by Nelson Pressley

Puppeteer Basil Twist loves the old-fashioned business of raising the curtain. That's how each of the four eye-opening shows in this month's festival of Twist's work has begun, and in "Dogug…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 8:14pm on April 13, 2012☆⚑

'The Whipping Man' at Baltimore's Centerstage: Drama aplenty by Nelson Pressley

Matthew Lopez's "The Whipping Man" is one of the most-produced new plays on U.S. stages right now, and watching the dark-and-stormy show that opened Wednesday at Baltimore's Centerstage, you…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 1:26am on April 13, 2012☆⚑

In 'Carnage,' another hit play bombs on screen by Nelson Pressley

Three years ago, "God of Carnage" was the biggest play on Broadway. The cast was killer: James Gandolfini, Marcia Gay Harden, Jeff Daniels and Hope Davis. French dramatist Yasmina Reza's dar…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 6:24pm on April 6, 2012☆⚑

Basil Twist's 'Symphonie Fantastique' is spectacle of puppetry and fun by Nelson Pressley

It's hard to explain the magical pull of fabric and light in Basil Twist's puppetry spectacle "Symphonie Fantastique" except in terms of sheer charm. This clever blend of color and movement …

SOURCE: Washington Post at 6:21pm on April 5, 2012☆⚑

Mike Daisey attempts damage control with his audience by Nelson Pressley

The only applause line during a 75-minute public forum with Mike Daisey on Tuesday evening at Woolly Mammoth came when the theater's artistic director, Howard Shalwitz, said, "We shouldn't b…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 9:47pm on March 28, 2012☆⚑

'How to Disappear' by Theater Alliance explores thin line between life, death by Nelson Pressley

Start with a dead guy, or maybe not " maybe he's in purgatory, or the subway. Wait " he's alive, but he's a grieving liar-thief-coke fiend who needs to erase his identity and start fresh. …

SOURCE: Washington Post at 3:48pm on March 28, 2012☆⚑

Michael Kahn, the Shakespeare Theatre Company's risk-taker in chief by Nelson Pressley

When you make a success of a major arts institution for 25 years, you can choose your own special projects for fun. What's fun for Michael Kahn? Eugene O'Neill. "Strange Interlude," an intel…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 5:45pm on March 23, 2012☆⚑

'New Jerusalem: The Interrogation of Baruch De Spinoza' returns to Theater J by Nelson Pressley

"New Jerusalem: The Interrogation of Baruch De Spinoza" strides back into Theater J after its acclaimed 2010 run as an established hit, and the show's success is no mystery. The David Ives s…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 9:45pm on March 6, 2012☆⚑