Barbara Papendorp

MORE THAN JUST A REVIVAL, THIS INTIMATE IN THE HEIGHTS IS A JOYFUL TRIBUTE TO COMMUNITY AND DREAMS Before Hamilton changed the face of Broadway, there was In the Heights—Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first revolution. Bursting onto the scene in 2008, it infused hip-hop, salsa, merengue, Broadway, and street-smart storytelling into a genre that never saw it…

URINE LUCK WITH THIS NUMBER ONE MUSICAL Sarah Silverman’s The Bedwetter splashes onto Arena Stage’s Kreeger Theater with a gleeful irreverence that belies its emotional depth. Adapted from Silverman’s 2010 memoir, this musical—co-written with Joshua Harmon, with music by the late Adam Schlesinger—turns childhood mortification (incontinence, self-acceptance, and family dysfunction) into comedy gold. Under Anne…

IT’S A SCHMIGAHIT! Adapting from his Apple TV+ series that satirized and saluted the glories of old timey musicals like Oklahoma! and Carousel, co-creator and writer Cinco Paul brings his stage version of Schmigadoon! to Kennedy Center. The fun angle here is that NY doctors Josh (Alex Brightman) and Melissa (Sara Chase) are hoping to…

DEATH IS ALIVE AND BETTER THAN WELL Ken Ludwig’s stage adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile premiered to a packed house at Arena Stage, with the playwright himself attending the Kreeger Theater’s opening performance. The story follows 11 disparate passengers embarking on a six-day Nile River cruise. Along the way, relationships are tested, secrets are…

SURE, LET SILCON VALLEY DO ITS JOB WITH THE GOVERNMENT. WHAT COULD GO WRONG? Along with The Other Americans, Arena Stage is offering yet another world premiere. A highly relevant corporate thriller that makes the Enron financial scandal look tame, DATA plunges viewers into the ethically complex world of Silicon Valley at a time when our…

S-T-U-P-E-N-D-O-U-S AND S-I-D-E-S-P-L-I-T-T-I-N-G The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a delightful and unconventional musical comedy that debuted in 2005. With music and lyrics by William Finn and a book by Rachel Sheinkin, the show is set at a fictional spelling bee in Putnam Valley Middle School. It follows an eclectic group of middle…

DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE, DOUBLE YOUR FUN The Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare’s earliest and most farcical comedies, centered around themes of mistaken identity and slapstick humor. The play tells the story of two sets of identical twins who were separated at birth, leading to a series of misunderstandings, wrongful accusations, and chaotic…

A FABULOUS FEVER DREAM Soft Power at Signature Theatre is a meta-theatrical production that begins with a semi-autobiographical portrayal of David Henry Hwang, who, following a near-fatal incident, envisions a future where China has risen to become the world’s dominant superpower. The narrative then transitions into a futuristic “Chinese musical,” offering a perspective on how…

NINE IS A TEN AT THE KEN CEN Following Broadway Center Stage‘s delightful production of Bye Bye Birdie, here comes a musical on the opposite spectrum in every way. Presented by The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Nine, the musical adaptation of Federico Fellini’s 1963 film  8 ½ now playing at the Eisenhower, is…