Heather Nadolny

This weekend The Kennedy Center offers GOBSMACKED!, an a cappella and beatboxing collaboration that works to remind audiences why they love Pitch Perfect, Pentatonix, and other popular acts. That said, if you're going to use those acts as a draw, you need to make sure your show is strong. And this one misses some notes.

RAGTIME, currently playing at Ford's Theatre, hits a number of current, resonant themes across multiple notes with powerful ballads and a stellar cast. DC audiences, this is the show we need right now.

Are there parts of this play that are beyond silly? Yes. Do we need a play like that right now? You bet. PETER AND THE STARCATCHER at Constellation Theatre Company has a lot your inner child (and adult) will enjoy.

If you hear upbeat jazz wafting through the halls of The Kennedy Center this weekend, it may very well be their world premiere commission BUD, NOT BUDDY, a production that is part jazz concert, part radio play, and all quite good.

Dickensian purists and rabid followers, be warned in advance: this is not your typical 'A Christmas Carol'. There are skateboarding ghosts, celebrity origin stories, murderous plots and even rewrites of classic TV specials. But don't worry, your concerns will come from the audience. It's all part of the messy fun that is The Second City's TWIST YOUR DICKENS, currently playing at The Kennedy Center Theatre Lab. 

Lillian Hellman's THE LITTLE FOXES comes to Arena Stage at an uncannily resonant time. Amidst the opulent Victorian decor and genteel Southern manners there is, at its dark heart, a family that will do anything to maintain its status and a small town that will suffer for it. Now, more than ever, this show with its immensely talented cast needs to be seen.

Folger Theatre's season opener SENSE AND SENSIBILITY tells the story that Austen fans love, but ultimately suffers from too many comedic and stylistic additions that create a lack of balance within the production.

Cirque du Soleil has arrived in Tysons Corner with KURIOS - CABINET OF CURIOSITIES, a breathtaking, exquisitely detailed adventure into a dystopian dreamworld and all of the wonders within it.

Monumental Theatre Company's new production of URINETOWN proves a very timely look into politics, corporate control and crowd dynamics; however, some central problems cause the show and its company to struggle in their space.

Theatre and film nuts alike will be both entertained and affected by Annie Baker's Pulitzer Prize-winning play THE FLICK, a work which shows high emotions and drama can happen even in the most mundane of places.

'Jack in the Beanstalk' gets a modern twist at Imagination Stage as two friends embark on a giant adventure to save Jack's house, all the while learning lessons about being friends and knowing what matters.

Charles Dickens tangles with Broadway this holiday season at MetroStage with Kathy Feininger's A BROADWAY CHRISTMAS CAROL. Broadway fan or not, it's hilarity for all.

Arena Stage puts beloved columnist, author and women's advocate Erma Bombeck front and center in a show that, while full of wit and memories, needs a more fulfilling script.

Longtime Broadway performer TERRI WHITE took The Kennedy Center stage in a farewell solo performance that covered her many roles, thoughts on life and love of her family and the theatre.

Jessica Dickey's world-premiere comedic drama THE GUARD, currently playing at Ford's Theatre, paints masterful depictions of not only Rembrandt and Homer, but also those in modern times who cherish their works and wish to find beauty and memory themselves.

DESTINY OF DESIRE playwright Karen Zacarias and director Jose Luis Valenzuela combine theatre and telenovela to give DC audiences a hilarious yet insightful look at the stories we love to say we never watch.

Scena Theatre's gender-bending THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST is a great idea conceptually, but some performances and technical choices ultimately take away from the production.

Tim Teasley's original score accompanying Lotte Reininger's animated film THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE ACHMED provides an evening of interesting fusion.

Fans of improv, comedy and making fun of all the ridiculousness that is Washington, DC, rejoice. Second City is back in town, and their show is not to be missed.

DOUBLE TROUBLE, despite its classic story, scenic quality and talented actors, ultimately suffers from a faulty adaptation that feels too rushed and in need of major changes.