Elliot Lanes - Page 9

Master monologist Mike Daisey is known locally for his many performances at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. When you go to a Mike Daisey performance you expect to continue the conversation afterwards. His stuff is that thought provoking and is always spot on.

This past week marked the 50th anniversary of the passing of the iconic entertainer Judy Garland. Can you believe she was only 47 when she passed? Think of the body of work she left us in such a short life.

Today's subjects Deb Gottesman and Claire Schoonover are currently living their theatre lives onstage at Keegan Theatre playing two very resourceful and cutthroat senior citizens in the DC area premiere of David Lindsay-Abaire's Ripcord. The production runs through July 6th.

Signature Theatre concludes its 29th season with a World Premiere musical written by, in my opinion, one of the most underrated writing teams working in musical theatre today. Blackbeard written by John Dempsey (Book & Lyrics) and Dana P. Rowe (Music) has everything you could ever want in a musical. It features a high quality score, a great cast, excellent production values, and swordplay. What more do 1you need?

Today's subject Alexander Strain is living testament to the old adage that you can come home again. You probably remember Alexander from his many wonderful performances all over town at places like Theater J and Round House Theatre. Recently he took a break from acting to get his Masters in Psychology and many of his fans myself included were wondering if he would ever return to the stage.

Today's subject Eden Espinosa is currently living her theatre life as part of the national tour of the William Finn/James Lapine musical Falsettos where she is portraying the role of Trina. The show is currently playing in the Eisenhower Theater at the Kennedy Center and will continue through June 23rd. The tour will then travel to Charlotte, North Carolina for its final stop where it will end on June 30th.

When an actress has a long and distinguished career they are sometimes referred to as a Grande Dame. Today's subject Holly Twyford is what we call the Grand Damn! of DC Theatre. Throughout her many years of performing at pretty much every large theatre in town she proves time and time again that she is a force of nature every time she steps onto an area stage. Holly can currently be seen in the Round House Theatre production of A Doll's House Part 2. The show is running through June 30th at the Lansburgh Theatre while Round House Theatre completes its renovation for a fall re-opening.

Throughout theatrical history many great ladies of the theatre have tackled the role of Thornton Wilder's famous matchmaker Dolly Gallagher Levi in the musical Hello, Dolly! In 2017 a brand new revival of the show hit Broadway starring Bette Midler (with Donna Murphy alternating in) and later on in its run Bernadette Peters. That production is now touring the country with Tony Award winning actress Betty Buckley in the starring role and veteran actor Lewis J. Stadlen as the well-known half a millionaire Horace Vandergelder.

Washington DC's premiere arts education institution The Theatre Lab School of the Dramatic Arts presents it's second world premiere musical as part of its Summer Musical Institute for Teens program.

Today's subject David Muse is currently living his theatre life as the Artistic Director of Studio Theatre. This season marks his ninth in the position. He became only the second Artistic Director in the company's history when founder Joy Zinoman stepped down in 2010.He is currently represented as a director at Studio Theatre with The Children which is now playing through June 9th in the Metheny Theatre space.

Since 2012 today's subject Lourdes Lopez has been living her theatre life as the Artistic Director of Miami City Ballet. The company is performing May 31st through June 2nd at the Kennedy Center as part of Ballet Across America. The May 31st performance is a shared program with Dance Theatre of Harlem who will be performing May 28th through the 30th.

Today's subject KenYatta Rogers is currently living his theatre life onstage at Signature Theatre playing Folk Man 3 in Spunk. The production directed by the esteemed Timothy Douglas runs through June 23rd in Signature's ARK space. The show is KenYatta's Signature Theatre debut.

Today's subject Zonya Love is currently living her theatre Life performing the role of Georgia Gordon in Arena Stage's production of Jubilee. The show runs through June 9th in Arena Stage's Kreeger Theater space. Zonya is making her Arena Stage debut with this production.

Today's subject Julia Rhoads is currently living her theatre life as the founding Artistic Director of Lucky Plush Productions. Lucky Plush is a dance company that melds dance with theater, dialogue elements, and more. Their work entitled Rooming House can be seen at the Kennedy Center from May 2nd through May 4th in the Terrace Theater

It's that time of year when arts institutions hold their annual galas. This year the Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda, MD has a double bill wallop of an evening planned.

There is an old expression in theater about knowing when to shut up and sing. Some performers refuse to subscribe to that theory. If I use Wednesday's concert at the Music Center at Strathmore as a basis, multi-award-winning singer/activist Alan Cumming is – or at least can be or is prone to be – one of those performers.

For 25 years now the percussion spectacular known as Stomp has been making beautiful noise all over the world. This high-octane audible feast is back in town at the National Theatre for a week and the historic rafters are shaking from the melodious vibrations Stomp brings with it.

Spring has sprung here in DC. The cherry blossoms are in bloom, Lawmakers are doing whatever they do and my favorite area art education institution The Theatre Lab School of the Dramatic Arts is gearing up for their  spring musical production. This year as part of the Creating a Musical Role class The Theatre Lab will be presenting the Bill Russell/Henry Krieger cult musical Side Show with performances starting on May 2nd and running through May 11th.

Since 2003, today's subject, Jeremy Price has been living his theatre life making noise all over the world in the international percussion phenomenon, Stomp. The current US tour is coming to DC's National Theatre April 23rd, playing through the 28th.

There are certain things that really bother me in theater.  One of the biggest is when a theater company that is capable of brilliance presents a show that should be a perfect fit – and unfortunately ultimately delivers a final product that does not meet my expectations.