111 stories by "Terry Byrne"
In an era of TikTok attention spans, 21st Century Players' new audio play is a refreshing dive into storied traditions that came before.
America's beloved franchise The Wizard of Oz gets a sprightly and spectacular makeover at Creative Cauldron this month. The musical " with music and lyrics by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg, …
The title alone is fair warning. Red, White, and Tuna is irreverently reverse-patriotic. Let's break it down: red state (Texas), mixed with a dash of white supremacy and a tangy, Southern fl…
Some plays are like peeping through your eye doctor's phoropter " layer upon layer of filters. Say, a playwright of the Roaring Twenties borrows a style of the 1660s English Restoration peri…
As self-conscious plays go, Neil Simon's Broadway Bound is both a self-fulfilling prophesy and a cross-examination of the creative process. The play, which was nominated for a Pulitzer…
Stephen Schwartz's often treacly Godspell, conceived by book writer John-Michael Tebelak, is a parade of parables borrowed from the New Testament's Matthew and Luke set to a hippie-chic Seve…
Like The Nutcracker at Christmastime, Cirque Spooktacular, the NSO Pops' Cirque de la Symphonie Halloween Extravaganza, is bound to become a seasonal tradition at The John F. Kennedy Center …
Think commissioned plays are a thing of the Elizabethan past? Nu Sass Productions' 22 Boom! is concierge theater at its nimblest. Written by Miranda Rose Hall and directed by Renana Fox, thi…
What better setting for black-box theater than a figurative black box " a stalled elevator " with two discordant strangers trapped inside? Luigi Laraia's Too Close is definitely too close…
Don't feel like committing to a two-hour show in development? Secrets & Sound: Six 10-Minute Plays is your ticket to theatrical speed-dating. You're bound to fall in love with one of six…
A Little Night Music might be classified as a gateway drug to Stephen Sondheim. Whether a fan or a skeptic, once you get a whiff of this vigorous (and tuneful!) exposé on humankind's mating…
The Keegan Theatre's American Idiot speaks to collective genius. Hardly a no-brainer to mount this explosive, war-weary work, weaned in the Bush II era, at the height of today's media-hijack…
Rob from the rich, give to the poor ̶  a theme with universal and enduring appeal, at least among 99% of us. The centuries-old legend of benevolent British outlaw Robin Hood has pra…
Long before singles misrepresented themselves in their Tindr profiles or cribbed others' memes online, there was Cyrano de Bergerac" the man who would be Romeo, if not for that monstrous app…
Simplicity is the key to director Scott Edmiston's passionate vision for this musical.
Somebody get Eddie Lounge a cocktail — and maybe a ream of cocktail napkins to wipe his beady, bald head. What’s a guy gotta do to get a drink around here?! The Lord of Loungeolo…
Memo to Star Johnson, mastermind of OpenStage's How to Quit Your Day Job: Quit your day job. It'll be OK. Johnson's merry musical comedy — staged bohemian-style in the Eastern Market h…
A critic is not supposed to be part of the show. A critic is not supposed to get up on the stage and “get down,” wiggling her fat belly/butt under the bright lights. But BellyFun…
Area performers will be performing a good deed on June 27th to help a theater family in need. On June 1, Kelly Hennessa, a social studies teacher for children with special needs at Centrevil…
Who knew metro Washington was also the nation's nerd capital? A sold-out crowd " many ectomorphs in geeky garb, monk/Jedi robes, foil caps, riotous colors, vintage tour shirts, and even one …
For a good time, call (703) 425-6782. That gets you the Providence Players of Fairfax's reservations line, and this bedrock company of major-league players never disappoints. The Glass Menda…
Fitting that If All the Sky Were Paper " a dramatization of war correspondence lovingly presented by archivist Andrew Carroll " would unfold at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing …
The Grand Parade is a truly sumptuous feast of imagination, color, emotion and movement; a uniquely dramatic way of interpreting our history as a torrent of events presented without judgment.
The beauty of David Cromer's production of Come Back, Little Sheba that by focusing on the play's intense psychological undercurrents he minimizes its cultural mustiness.
Weary of winter, Washingtonians? NextStop Theatre Company has your antidote. Instead of a resurrection-vague Jesus Christ Superstar timed to Easter, this praiseworthy playhouse s…
