D.C.
(Maryland / Virginia)

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…

A FANTASIZED LOOK INTO BLACKNESS IN AMERICA The Colored Museum by George C. Wolfe, currently at The Studio Theatre, is a wild, satirical glance into African-American experiences, dating back to slaves in Africa to the present (which was 1986 when Wolfe penned it). The experiences are how Blacks are portrayed to a white public, as…

THE MINDLESS SILLINESS WE DIDN’T KNOW WE NEEDED Broadway Center Stage’s production of Bye Bye Birdie, the 1960 musical comedy smash currently at The Kennedy Center, is delightfully corny, schmaltzy, and yes, hysterically funny. Broadway superstars Christian Borle as the goofy, lovable Albert Peterson (originally played by the now 98-year-old Dick Van Dyke) and Krysta…

HAIR EXPLODES WITH ECSTACY AT SIGNATURE The 1967 “American Tribal Love-Rock Musical” Hair, currently at The Signature Theatre through July 7 and directed by Matthew Gardiner, is an explosion of emotion, iconic music, dance, and nostalgia.   Amanda Lee (Dionne), Jordan Dobson (Claude) and the cast (Daniel Radar) The timing of the show is impeccable. Over…

AN EYE-OPENER Prior to Next to Normal  at Round House Theatre a giant, obtrusive woman’s eye projected onto the back wall (projections by Nicholas Hussong) stares and blinks out at the audience. This impossible to ignore image is just the start of the haunting 2009 rock musical by Tom Kitt (music) and Brian Yorkey (lyrics, book)…

A MYTH, A MESS, AND A MISS For all the hoopla that is Evita, save for the beautifully haunting ballad “Don’t Cry for me Argentina,” Shakespeare Theatre’s version, directed by Sammi Cannold, was a painful two hours of screeching and unintelligible lyrics. You want to cry for Evita, but may end up crying for the…

Created and performed by Shakespeare Theatre Company Associate Director Whitney White, this rock ‘n’ roll play with music turns  Macbeth  on its head’”and is a great complement to STC’s spring production of  Macbeth. The cast features  Whitney White  as Woman (Director of STC’s  The Amen Corner  and Broadway’s  Jaja’s African Hair Braiding),  Charlie Thurston  as Man (STC’s  Here There Are Blueberries),  Stacey Sargeant  as First Witch (Broadway’s  for colored…

SIGNATURE’S BRIDGES FREES VIEWERS TO BE HOPELESS ROMANTICS Given its syrupy and soaring sentimentalism, Robert James Waller’s very short 1992 novel The Bridges of Madison County was amazingly effective. The tale of “love-that-could-have-been” had a universality which resonated with readers big time: It’s one of the best-selling books of the 20th century: over 50 million…

WATCHING THIS MAY NOT ALWAYS BE FUN, BUT IT SURE FEELS LIKE HOME Fun Home, which opened yesterday at Studio Theatre, will likely touch even the most cynical of hearts. Deep but never sappy, it’s full of multi-level contradictions within its characters, themes, and plot. Under David Muse‘s sensitive, fluid direction, a cast of strong…

AN ANGELIC PRODUCTION Arena Stage’s Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches begins with the Angel (rapturous Billie Krishawn) grooming a sand-swept stage into a giant spiral. As soon as her zen garden is complete, Rabbi Isidor Chemelwitz (stoic Susan Rome) sinks his foot into the stage, telling the story of the emigration of Jews…

PLEASE HELLO! How’s this for an overture: Go see it. Signature Theatre has mounted a very good production of an experimental, rarely performed musical by the late composer Stephen Sondheim. It is both spotty and highly recommended. Pacific Overtures tells the story of the Westernization of Japan through the lens of Commodore Perry’s 1853 forcible…