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Barbara Papendorp
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Theater Review: FRIDA…A SELF PORTRAIT (Shakespeare Theatre Company / Washington, DC)
FRIDA’S ART COMES TO LIFE Vanessa Severo transforms clothing, movement, and memory into an inventive and deeply affecting portrait of Frida Kahlo Frida Kahlo’s self-portraits reveal a woman who refused to separate her art from the physical pain, emotional turmoil, and fierce individuality that defined her life. In Frida…A Self Portrait, written and performed by…
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Theater Review: THE SCORE (Shakespeare Theatre Company / US Premiere / Directed by Trevor Nunn)
WHEN GENIUS MEETS POWER Brian Cox’s magnificent Bach reminds us that kings disappear while great music endures What happens when artistic genius meets absolute power? The Score, written by Oliver Cotton and directed by Trevor Nunn, brings Johann Sebastian Bach and Frederick the Great face to face in a compelling clash between a king accustomed…
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Theater Review: MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM (Round House Theatre / Bethesda, MD)
THE BLUES MEAN BUSINESS A superb ensemble brings August Wilson’s recording studio to life as music, ambition, and exploitation collide There is something almost intoxicating, and ultimately suffocating, about being inside the recording studio with the musicians in Round House Theatre’s production of August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Music, laughter and teasing fill the…
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Concert Review: WYNTON MARSALIS’ SYMPHONY NO. 5, “LIBERTY” (Wolf Trap / Vienna, VA)
LIBERTY, IN ALL ITS CONTRADICTIONS Wynton Marsalis brings jazz and symphonic traditions together in a sweeping portrait of an America still wrestling with the meaning of freedom It was one of those beautiful September evenings at Wolf Trap when the night air seems to become part of the performance. Under the open sky at the…
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Music Review: JAMES TAYLOR & HIS ALL-STAR BAND (Wolf Trap / Vienna, VA)
RAIN OR SHINE, SWEET BABY JAMES DELIVERS At 78, James Taylor still has the songs, the voice, the humor and one hell of a band There are concerts that are simply enjoyable, and then there are nights like James Taylor and his All-Star Band at Wolf Trap on August 30, when great songs, superb musicians…
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Concert Review: JOSH GROBAN “Stage, Screen, and Symphony” Tour (NSO / Wolf Trap / Vienna, VA)
GROBAN WITH THE FLOW A soaring baritone meets the sweep of the National Symphony Orchestra There are singers who command a stage, and then there are artists who seem genuinely delighted to share it. On Saturday night at Wolf Trap, Josh Groban did both. Backed by the National Symphony Orchestra under conductor Sean O’Loughlin, Groban…
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Concert Review: GIPSY KINGS FEATURING NICOLAS REYES (Wolf Trap)
THE FAMILY THAT PLAYS TOGETHER, SWAYS TOGETHER Generations of the Reyes family keep the Gipsy Kings’ irresistible rhythms moving forward Under a cool, clear moonlit sky at Wolf Trap last night, the Gipsy Kings turned a summer concert into a family affair, with generations of the Reyes clan sharing a musical heritage that proved as…
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Concert Review: DIANA ROSS (Wolf Trap’s Filene Center / Vienna VA)
THE BOSS STILL SUPREMES At 82, Diana Ross still knows how to turn a concert into an occasion From the moment Washington, D.C.’s DJ Heat began warming up the crowd, Diana Ross’s return to Wolf Trap felt like a celebration. By the time Miss Ross swept onto the white-drenched stage in an electric chartreuse gown…
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Concert Review: JON BATISTE WITH THE NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (Wolf Trap)
BATISTE INFECTION Jon Batiste and the NSO make musical boundaries disappear From the very start of Jon Batiste’s performance with the National Symphony Orchestra at Wolf Trap last night, I couldn’t stop smiling, and I couldn’t stop shimmying in my seat. That was the first clue that this was going to be more than a…
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Concert Review: GERSHWIN, BERNSTEIN & AMERICAN MOSAIC (National Symphony Orchestra / Renée Fleming / Wolf Trap / Vienna, VA)
AMERICA, ORCHESTRATED Bernstein and Gershwin soar, Renée Fleming enchants, and even the Virginia wildlife gets into the act Saturday night’s National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) concert at Wolf Trap is part of the nation’s America250 celebrations, marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Conducted by Gianandrea Noseda, the wide-ranging program offers several perspectives on…
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Concert Review: LIZZO & THE NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (Wolf Trap / Vienna, VA)
GOOD AS HELL… WITH STRINGS Lizzo and the National Symphony Orchestra prove that pop and classical music make exhilarating partners The National Symphony Orchestra’s collaboration with Lizzo at Wolf Trap’s Filene Center proved that when classical and pop are treated as equal partners, the results can be exhilarating. Under the baton of Steven Reineke, the…
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Concert Review: 6TH ANNUAL BROADWAY IN THE PARK (Signature Theatre & Wolf Trap / Vienna, VA)
A BROADWAY BLOCK PARTY Tituss Burgess, Heather Headley, and Signature Theatre turn a summer concert into a joyous celebration of musical theater There are summer evenings at Wolf Trap that entertain, and then there are evenings that remind you why Broadway music continues to resonate across generations. Signature Theatre’s sixth annual Broadway in the Park…
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Opera Review: LA CENERENTOLA (Wolf Trap Opera / Wolf Trap National Park / Vienna, VA)
A CINDERELLA STORY THAT FITS THE SLIPPER Rossini’s comic gem sparkles in an engaging production filled with youthful talent Wolf Trap Opera opened its 2026 season at The Barns with an engaging and thoroughly entertaining production of Rossini’s La Cenerentola. Based on the beloved Cinderella story, the opera follows the gentle and mistreated Angelina as…
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Concert Review: STING 3.0 (Wolf Trap / Virginia)
COLD RAIN, HOT CLASSICS Sting ignites Wolf Trap’s summer season Sting opened the summer season with a 3-night stay at the Filene Center at Wolf Trap. On Friday, May 22, his performance easily overcame the evening’s cold and rain. If the weather threatened to dampen spirits, Sting’s two-hour Sting 3.0 set quickly warmed the crowd….
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Theater Review: PIPPIN (Signature Theatre / Arlington)
CORNER OF THE SKY, CENTER OF THE RING Signature’s dazzling revival embraces Pippin‘s whimsy, darkness, and enduring search for meaning A sort of ninth-century, one-ring circus crammed with presentational glee, Pippin has always been an unusual musical. Premiering in 1972 with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Roger O. Hirson, it…
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Theater Review: THE TRAGEDY OF HAMLET (International Tour at Shakespeare Theatre Co, DC)
ONE ACTOR, A KINGDOM OF SOULS Eddie Izzard’s virtuosic solo turn reframes Shakespeare with clarity and control Eddie Izzard’s Hamlet is far from a traditional staging of William Shakespeare’s tragedy. Instead, it becomes a riveting solo performance—an exercise in precision, imagination, and endurance. Portraying every role alone, Izzard crafts a theatrical experience that feels both…
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Theater Review: CHEZ JOEY (Arena Stage)
A CLASSIC MUSICAL REBORN AS A RHYTHM-DRIVEN NIGHTCLUB EXPERIENCE A propulsive, jazz-infused staging that reclaims Pal Joey’s cultural roots At Arena Stage, Chez Joey is less a revival of Pal Joey than a sleek, rhythm-driven reinvention that returns the material to the cultural currents that shaped it. Drawing on John O’Hara’s original stories—first published in…
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Theater Review: OCTET (Studio Theatre in DC)
DAVE MALLOY’S A CAPPELLA SUPPORT-GROUP MUSICAL ABOUT INTERNET ADDICTION Intimate, exacting, unplugged, emotionally bracing— an in-the-round ritual that is a communal act of listening Dave Malloy’s Octet is a bold and quietly unsettling chamber musical that explores the anxiety, isolation, and fragile intimacy of life online. From the Tony Award–winning composer of Natasha, Pierre &…
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Concert Review: STEVE WINWOOD (Wolf Trap)
MULTI-INSTRUMENT MAESTRO STEVE WINWOOD CLOSES WOLF TRAP’S SEASON IN STYLE Under a sky dotted with stars and the gentle glow of the Filene Center’s stage lights, Steve Winwood closed Wolf Trap’s summer season on September 20, 2025, with a performance that felt both timeless and deeply alive. The evening wove seamlessly through his extraordinary career,…
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Theater Review: DAMN YANKEES (Arena Stage)
DAMN YANKEES SWINGS BACK IN STYLE: ARENA’S REVIVAL IS MORE THAN A MUSICAL — IT’S A MILESTONE When Damn Yankees first opened on Broadway in 1955, it was the ultimate baseball fantasy: a middle-aged fan makes a Faustian bargain with the devil to turn into a young slugger for the Washington Senators and finally beat…
Theater Review: ANY REBELLION OF WILL (Trap Door Theatre in Chicago)
by Croydon Fernandes | October 14, 2026
in Chicago, TheaterOff-Broadway Review: A GHOST IN YOUR EAR (Audible Theater at Minetta Lane Theatre)
by Gregory Bernard | October 14, 2026
in New York, TheaterOpera Review: DON GIOVANNI (Lyric Opera)
by Barnaby Hughes | October 12, 2026
in Chicago, Music, TheaterTheater Review: DRACULA: A COMEDY OF TERRORS (Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Watertown)
by Lynne Weiss | October 11, 2026
in Boston, TheaterOff-Broadway Review: GOOD TIME CHARLIE (The Public Theater)
by Gregory Bernard | October 9, 2026
in New York, TheaterTheater Review: VLADIMIR (Shattered Globe Theatre, Chicago)
by Emma S. Rund | October 9, 2026
in Chicago, TheaterTheater Review: AMERICAN RHYTHM (Lamb’s Players Theatre / Coronado)
by Milo Shapiro | October 8, 2026
in San Diego, Theater
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