BroadwayWorld.com Washington, DC Stories

Review: PRECARIOUS at Mosaic Theater Company

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 12:19:48 PST

In its world premiere at Mosaic Theater Company, Precarious begins at a simmer and quickly works toward a boil. Vi arrives unannounced at her daughter’s apartment just as a dangerous heatwave envelopes the city.

It seems that on the heels of her recent retirement, Vi (Kimberly Schraf) has been making some big decisions – donating her car and most of her belongings, preparing her house for sale – maybe this is the best way to shrink her carbon footprint? Vi is consumed with anxiety over the climate crisis.

With rolling suitcase in tow, she makes her way (on foot and by public transit) to the tight NYC apartment of her daughter Tillie (Zoe Walpole) and her partner Drew (Jonathan Del Palmer). The visit is unexpected; mother and daughter rarely speak.

(L-R) Jonathan Del Palmer, Zoe Walpole, and Kimberly Schraf
Photo by Chris Banks

As temperatures rise, the air conditioner fails, composting attracts pests and deeply personal decisions unfold within earshot of everyone, the apartment becomes a pressure cooker for an already strained mother-daughter relationship. Meaningful conversation happens in fits and starts and we see how complex the intergenerational relationship is.

The small cast is powerful and assured. Kimberly Schraf, Zoe Walpole and Jonathan Del Palmer are honest, raw and engaging. Schraf anchors the production with a nuanced, moving portrayal of Vi, who is lost and lonely, consumed by anxiety over the environment, and sadly distanced from her daughter. Yet with all this depth, Schraf’s comedic moments stand out as memorable highlights of the show.

Kimberly Schraf as Vi
Photo by Chris Banks

Mosaic Theater Company’s world premiere of Precarious by Steph Del Rosso and directed Jaki Bradley is an ambitious and risky undertaking. It’s a big bet for any theater to usher a new work from the page to the stage and introduce the play to audiences. Mosaic has a strong history of committing to new work.

Precarious is a promising play that takes on big, weighty questions and complicated relationships, but it meanders. The play never fully settles on whether it wants to be a dark comedy, a climate-crisis cautionary tale or an intimate family drama.

(L-R) Kimberly Schraf and Zoe Walpole
Photo by Chris Banks

At 95 minutes without intermission, the show feels longer because of uneven pacing. This was most evident in the final stretch which includes major revelations, relationship shifts, a literal big bang … and then 10 to 15 more minutes of conversation that adds little insight.

But the earnestness and yearning, the worries, the quest for a healthy and stable future, the desire for connection, are powerful driving forces of Precarious – thanks in large part to the talented and memorable cast.

The production’s design team makes equally significant contributions. Misha Kachman’s scenic design traps us in a hot New York City one-bedroom, with couch serving as guest room and nearby desk as home office. Everyone is on top of each other and little is private. Kachman’s exposed-brick wall doubles as a clever scrim, allowing the audience to witness ostensibly private conversations through the apartment walls.

Not only does Minjoo Kim’s lighting design make the scrim magic work, but the lighting design ushers us from tight apartment to stormy blackout to the respite of outdoor nature.

Whether it is the squeak of a mouse, the boom of thunder, or the noise of incessant city traffic, Kenny Neal’s sound design immerses us in the environment in and outside the apartment.

Contemporary costumes designed by Jeannette Christensen share important details of the character’s ages, means and attitudes. And, as characters shed layers of costumes, the audience is mindful of the oppressive heat in the unairconditioned apartment.

Aoife Creighton’s props are spot on. The tiny little glass bowls that are pressed into service to unsuccessfully catch rainwater, the Gatorade bottle that serves as an ice pack, the candles that light the way in a dark night and the frying pan surprisingly wielded in bad-ass fashion are critical parts of the story.

Mosaic deserves credit for championing new work. While Precarious has not yet fully solved its structural challenges, it demonstrates considerable promise and offers three compelling performances worth seeing. Kimberly Schraf, Zoe Walpole and Jonathan Del Palmer are a strong cast with touching and memorable moments that linger well beyond curtain call.

(L-R) Kimberly Schraf and Zoe Walpole
Photo by Chris Banks

Runtime: Approximately 95 minutes with no intermission

Precarious by Steph Del Rosso, directed by Jaki Bradley, is presented by Mosaic Theater Company. It is performed at the Atlas Performing Arts Center’s Sprenger Theatre, 1333 H Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. The production runs through June 28, 2026, with performances Thursday through Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m., and matinees on Saturdays and Sundays at 3 p.m. For tickets and schedule, accessible performance information, special events, attendance policies, and further information, visit the company's website at mosaictheater.org.

Cast

Jonathan Del Palmer (Drew), Kim Schraf (Vi), Zoe Walpole (Tillie)

Creative/Production Team

Steph Del Rosso (Playwright), Jaki Bradley (Director), Jeannette Christensen (Costume Designer), Misha Kachman (Scenic Designer), Minjoo Kim (Lighting Designer), Kenny Neal (Sound Designer), Aoife Creighton (Properties Designer), Sierra Young (Intimacy and Violence Director), Shayna O'Neill (Stage Manager), Isabella Tapia (Assistant Stage Manager), Ian Vespermann (Sound Engineer)

Photos by Chris Banks

Washington National Opera Sues Kennedy Center, Seeking More Than $17 Million in Disputed Funds

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 10:57:09 PST

According to reporting from The New York Times, the Washington National Opera has filed suit against The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, seeking to recover more than $17 million the company says it is owed following its departure from the center earlier this year.

The complaint, filed Thursday in the United States Court of Federal Claims, names the federal government as the defendant, since Congress established the Kennedy Center. The opera says the disputed sum includes endowment funds, donor gifts, and other income gathered on the company's behalf over many years, money its attorneys describe as essential to keeping the organization running. The company has framed the legal action as a step taken to safeguard its future and protect the artists and donors who have supported it.

The opera ended its affiliation with the center in January, roughly a year after President Trump assumed the chairmanship of the institution and brought in his own slate of leaders, a shift that the Times has reported coincided with declines in attendance, programming, and philanthropic support. At the time of the split, center officials cited a financially difficult relationship as the reason for parting ways. The two organizations had been linked for about 15 years under an affiliate arrangement, and the company had performed in the center's 2,364-seat Opera House since 1971.

Central to the dispute is a claim, detailed in the filing, that the center's chief financial officer informed opera leadership shortly before the separation was announced that funds containing bequests and contributions earmarked for the company had been pledged as collateral against a line of credit for the center. The opera maintains those funds were always reserved for its own use. The suit does not state how much of the contested money was tied to that arrangement, nor does it break down how much of the $17 million figure reflects endowment versus other revenue.

The complaint also alleges that by last fall, opera leaders had lost insight into the financial accounts the center had been managing on their behalf, and that repeated written requests and meetings produced little response. While public statements from both sides were cordial when the separation was announced, the filing describes mounting friction behind the scenes. The opera says the center hired an outside accounting firm to determine what it might be owed but never committed to actually releasing any funds.

The legal fight unfolds while the Kennedy Center faces broader turmoil, including a separate court order, now under appeal, addressing the president's name and a proposed multi-year closure for renovations.

In the meantime, the Washington National Opera has been building a new season at venues around the Washington area, drawing on reserves and emergency fundraising.

Kennedy Center Appeals Ruling Ordering Removal of Trump Name

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 23:12:23 PST

Attorneys representing President Donald Trump and The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts have filed an appeal of a federal court ruling that ordered Trump's name removed from the institution, according to The New York Times.

The notice of appeal was filed Thursday as a two-week deadline approached for removing the president's name from the building and official Kennedy Center materials. The appeal also challenges a separate portion of the ruling that temporarily blocked the administration's proposal to close the center for two years during a planned renovation project.

The Kennedy Center's largely Trump-appointed board voted to pursue the appeal earlier today.

The appeal follows a recent ruling by Judge Christopher R. Cooper of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, who found that the Kennedy Center's board lacked the authority to rename the institution. Cooper ruled that only Congress can change the name of the national cultural center, which was established in memory of President John F. Kennedy and formally dedicated in 1964.

The judge ordered the Kennedy Center to remove Trump's name from both the building and its official materials within two weeks.

In response to the ruling, Kennedy Center staff were instructed to begin restoring references to the institution's original name, according to an internal memo first reported by The New York Times. Employees were directed to update official forms, social media accounts, email signatures, voicemail greetings and signage. Staff were also instructed to revert references to either "The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts" or simply "Kennedy Center."

The dispute stems from a December vote by the Kennedy Center's board to add Trump's name to the institution. The president's name was subsequently added to the building's façade and other official materials.

The appeal now places the future of the renaming effort before a higher court while the Kennedy Center continues complying with the district court's order.

Interview: Theatre Life with Maya Keleher

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 13:48:48 PST

Maya Keleher

Today’s subject Maya Keleher is currently living her theatre life onstage touring the country as suffragette Alice Paul in the Tony Award winning Suffs. The show begins a two week engagement at The National Theatre on June 16th and will play through June 28th.

Maya’s past stage credits have won her both critical and audience acclaim. She is a recipient of the Connecticut Critic Circle Award for Outstanding Debut Performance for Next to Normal at TheaterWorks Hartford while also wowing upwards of 10,000 people a night at The MUNY in Paint Your Wagon.

Other credits include a workshop/reading at Barrington Stage Company of Butterflies (directed by Graciela Daniele) and singing at 54 Below for The Songs of Josh Frelich and Kate Chadwick.

Maya and company are telling a story many don’t know but absolutely should. The story of Suffs is one of fighting for your rights and shear passion until that job is complete.

Head over to The National Theatre and check out Suffs. It’s a show that history buffs and everyone else need to see and by doing so it will help “Finish the Fight” moving forward. “Keep Marching!!”

Maya Keleher is an actress with plenty of talent and plenty of passion for what she does. Performing in Suffs fuels that passion and keeps her living her theatre life to the fullest.

Was there a particular show you saw as a child that made you think, “Hey, I want to do this!”?

There were three pivotal shows that solidified my passion for theater. First was the 1954 film version of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, which my mom and I would watch together. Then there was the revival of Hair. My mom and I saw the touring production at The Bushnell in Connecticut, and I was completely enamored. Finally, there was Next to Normal on Broadway. My mom and I went into the city to see it on Halloween one year, and I cried the entire train ride home because I wasn't on Broadway yet.

Where did you receive your training?

I attended The Boston Conservatory, where I earned my BFA in Musical Theater. I graduated in 2016.

L-R Christiane Noll and Maya Keleher in the 2017
TheaterWorks Hartford production of Next to Normal.
Photo by Lanny Nagler.

What was your first professional job as a performer?

My first professional job was playing Natalie in Next to Normal at TheaterWorks Hartford. Christiane Noll played my mom, and we shared a dressing room, which was incredibly special. My classmate John Cardoza played Gabe. We graduated from BoCo together. It was a stacked cast, I was performing in my home state, and I earned my Equity card. It was truly a dream role, and it meant so much that my entire family was able to come see the show.

Maya Keleher and company in the National Tour of Suffs.
Photo by Joan Marcus.

For those not familiar with the story of Suffs, can you please give us a brief overview of the show, and can you tell us something about your character?

Suffs tells the story of the courageous, unsung women who worked tirelessly to get the 19th Amendment passed. Throughout the show, we watch them buttheads, laugh, struggle, and persevere, taking audiences on a real emotional roller coaster.

I play Alice Paul, a young radical who joined the suffrage movement and helped push it forward with some rather intense tactics. Alice was born into a Quaker family in New Jersey and dedicated her entire life to fighting for women's rights. She also authored the Equal Rights Amendment, which still has not been fully ratified to this day.

When you were offered the show, what were your thoughts on the material after the first read-through?

I was blown away! Shaina Taub crafted such an intentional, lush, and powerful musical. Every note and every line feels essential to the story. I couldn't wait to sing the songs and bring this story to life for audiences every night.

Touring a show across the country can take its toll on performers. Can you talk about any regimen you have to keep your voice and body in shape while dealing with five-show weekends and the other demands of touring?

While the vocal and physical demands are certainly important, I've come to realize that my mental health is even more important because it directly affects everything else. Having a calm, encouraging voice in my head and learning how to coach myself through challenging stretches has been essential during five-show weekends. I journal daily and choose a word each morning to help set my intention for the day.

As for the physical and vocal side of things, I've learned to approach each day differently. There isn't one magic routine that works. I drink a ton of water every day—I even bought a purse specifically for my water bottle. I prioritize sleep, stretch my tongue three times a week, and always do both a vocal and physical warm-up before every performance. Those are my non-negotiables.

L-R Maya Keleher and Marya Grandy in the Natioanl Tour of Suffs.
Photo by Joan Marcus.

Why do you think Suffs resonates with audiences, and why is it so important for this story to be told?

I think that in uncertain times, people are looking for hope. Watching this chapter of history come to life through music provides that hope. While Suffs is specifically about the suffrage movement, at its core it's a story about fighting for what you believe in.

My biggest takeaway from the show is that there will always be something worth fighting for if we want to create a more just and equitable world. You may not know how long change will take, but that uncertainty shouldn't stop you. Keep fighting for the world you believe in. It's worth it, and that's why this story remains so important to tell.

Special thanks to National Theatre's Marketing Manager Abby Berman for her assistance in coordinating this interview.

Theatre Life logo designed by Kevin Laughon.

Review: LOOT at Edge Of The Universe Theater

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 14:01:44 PST

Billed by Edge of the Universe Theater as “Monty Python meets Oscar Wilde,” Loot is a quirky, satirical snapshot of 1960s Britain that shares images of 2020s America. Written in 1965 by controversial playwright Joe Orton, Loot explores religious, moral, and institutional corruption through the collision of a bank robbery and a funeral. The play was divisive in its day for being so counter-cultural, but in modern America, the distance heightens the comedic payout while retaining the overall anti-establishment rhetoric.

Loot had a spirited cast of varying talent/experience levels who were professional and committed. The fast-paced, punchy style of the dialogue contained waves of poignant jokes yet lulls of tongue-tying lines that tripped the actors trying to keep the tide. Director Stephen Jarrett remained faithful to the script, so some dated British humor and on-the-nose comedic exposition coated the otherwise witty and funny performance. The lines also included a dated, offensive term that was unintentionally jarring for modern audiences.

The pacing was further affected by clunky prop work that should have been ironed out during their run-throughs: McLeavy’s pause between setting down a flower wreath and unfolding the newspaper was particularly halting, and the cast having to find the right angle for placing the coffin back on the stands was deeply distracting. But work with the “sewing dummy” corpse was the most effective physical bit, with each actor being able to throw it around in a darkly funny disservice to the dead. The fight scenes were also a surprising strength, as David Bryan Jackson’s (Truscott) brutality is emphasized by the flexibility and flurry of Max Jackson (Hal).

The second act picked up right where the first left off, yet with better bits and pacing. Either the play itself found its voice here, or the actors got out their opening-night jitters. One felt the culmination of everyone’s motivations coming in and saw which side was really coming out the victor: debauchery and corruption.

Max Jackson’s accent and acting were the most consistent and impactful. His personality was certainly styled after an Oscar Wilde lead: mischievous, shameless, and proudly flawed. Hal as a character was also the most intriguing. He had aptitudes in thievery and scheming, but his inability to lie created a complex morality that Jackson certainly had fun with.

Truscott was cartoonishly villainous and unabashed. David Bryan Jackson’s suspicious eyes and gritted smiles really sold his nefarious nature, and she really committed to the bits. Jackson, a veteran of the DC theater scene, also composed the sound design and original music for the show, both of which were immersive.

The character of McLeavy was simplistic and purposely hard to root for: outside of incensed monologues delivered straight to the audience, his aloof convictions in his beliefs blinded him to all of the wrongdoing of the people around him and made him easy to steamroll. Jesse Terrill’s strength was in McLeavy’s fall, as his desperate wailing and crying were jarring and effective at conjuring pity.

Terrill’s pairing with Sabrina Lynne Sawyer as Fay was well-balanced. Sawyer had a great suspicious, flippant energy, but needed to play up her deliberately deceitful side so that it wasn't a complete shock how far she was willing to go to get what she wanted. She was convincing in her innocent act, folding her hands to feign piety and speaking with the emphasis of a 1940s movie star.

Max Johnson as Dennis was a great mischief maker and had an impressive presence. However, he was tasked with prop work that was central to a bit, yet easy to miss: To unwrap, chew gum, and stick it to the coffin while not talking needed bigger action to make it a notable character trait and get the payoff of using gum as glue for the busted coffin several scenes later.

Loot by the Edge of the Universe Theater Company was a good-faith rendition of a play about the hijinx of a bad batch. It’s a fascinating choice that mirrors societal critiques of contemporary America, yet it's bathed in British culture and references. It’s a fun, contrarian romp once you catch up to its intentions. The show is running through June 28th at Gunston Theater Two.

Duration: 2 hours, including a 15-minute intermission

Photo credit: Chris Ferenzi

INDECENT to Run Extended at 1st Stage After Sold-Out Opening Weekend

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 21:48:10 PST

1st Stage has announced Paula Vogel's Indecent, directed by 1st Stage Artistic Director Alex Levy, has been extended through June 28 after a sold-out opening weekend.

From Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel, a deeply moving play inspired by the true events surrounding the controversial 1923 Broadway debut of Sholem Asch's “God of Vengeance”—a play seen by some as a seminal work of Jewish culture, and by others as an act of traitorous libel. Indecent charts the history of an incendiary drama and the path of the artists who risked their careers and lives to perform it.

The 1st Stage Helen Hayes Recommended production of Indecent features returning 1st Stage artists:

Ethan J. Miller (The Waverly Gallery, Postcards from Ihatov, The Chosen, and others)
Zach Brewster-Geisz (The Chosen)
Stephen Russell Murray (The Chosen, Never the Sinner)

and welcomes Lily Burka, Nicole Halmos, Lauren Hart, and Ben Ribler to 1st Stage. The production is directed by Artistic Director Alex Levy (Birthday Candles, The Lake Effect, The Waverly Gallery, and others).

The design team includes: scenic design by Kathryn Kawecki, lighting design by William K. D'Eugenio, sound design by Ethan Balis, costume design by Maria Bissex and Rakell Foye, props design by Pauline Lamb, music direction by Joe Walsh, Marika Anne Countouris, and Deborah Jacobson, choreography by Robert Bowen Smith, dialect coaching by Susan Lynskey, and intimacy coaching by Lorraine Ressegger-Slone.

Indecent will now run at 1st Stage through June 28, 2026 with show times as follows: Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays at 7:30 pm, Saturdays at 2 pm and 7:30 pm, and Sundays at 2pm.

General admission tickets are dynamically priced at $25 (limited availability), $40 (limited availability), and $55. Student, educator, and military tickets are $15. Tickets can be purchased online at www.1ststage.org or by calling the 1st Stage box office at 703-854-1856.

The run time is approximately ninety-five minutes with no intermission. Captions and audio description will be offered for select performances. Check https://1ststage.org/indecent for the schedule.

INDECENT to Run Extended at 1st Stage After Sold-Out Opening Weekend

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 21:48:10 PST

1st Stage has announced Paula Vogel's Indecent, directed by 1st Stage Artistic Director Alex Levy, has been extended through June 28 after a sold-out opening weekend.

The 1st Stage Helen Hayes Recommended production of Indecent features returning 1st Stage artists:

Ethan J. Miller (The Waverly Gallery, Postcards from Ihatov, The Chosen, and others)
Zach Brewster-Geisz (The Chosen)
Stephen Russell Murray (The Chosen, Never the Sinner)

Indecent will now run at 1st Stage through June 28, 2026 with show times as follows: Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays at 7:30 pm, Saturdays at 2 pm and 7:30 pm, and Sundays at 2pm.

The run time is approximately ninety-five minutes with no intermission. Captions and audio description will be offered for select performances. Check https://1ststage.org/indecent for the schedule.

I DREAM DC Civic Engagement Project to be Presented at Arena Stage

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 13:44:29 PST

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater will present I Dream DC. Created for the community, by the community, I Dream DC is an arts and civic engagement project inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s world-changing “I Have a Dream” speech, to center Washington, DC in a national conversation about hope, healing, and justice. Aligned with the nation's 250th Anniversary, I Dream DC will premiere at THEARC (Town Hall Education Arts Recreation Campus) on Saturday, June 27, 2026, at 5pm.

More than a theatrical offering, I Dream DC is designed as a civic experience. Featuring a community ensemble of local residents performing alongside professional artists, it amplifies local voices and connects artists, elders, and activists in re-envisioning what belonging, freedom, and transformation look like here and now.

As the first installment of a new annual production series dedicated to creating theatrical works rooted in community voices, artistic collaboration, and civic engagement, the project invites residents of the Washington metropolitan area to imagine a more just and connected future through storytelling, performance, and collective dialogue.

“I Dream DC is not only about what we present, but how we arrive there. The process itself is the work—creating space for truth, connection, and collective responsibility,” added I Dream DC director and Arena Stage Community Engagement Producer Tiffany Fulson. “Through interviews and workshops, we invite community members not just to witness theater, but to practice it and become co-creators. This work asks for presence and care from everyone involved, and in that exchange, we open the door to healing, transformation, and art as a catalyst for meaningful change, locally and across the nation.”

I DREAM DC Civic Engagement Project to be Presented at Arena Stage

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 13:44:29 PST

Interview: Olivia Cygan On Making Her Shakespeare Theatre Company Debut as Desdemona in OTHELLO

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 13:25:42 PST

Shakespeare Theatre Company is presenting William Shakespeare's OTHELLO at Harman Hall through June 28, 2026, directed by Simon Godwin. The production stars Wendell Pierce in the title role alongside a company that includes Broadway and regional theatre veterans.

Making her STC debut as Desdemona is Olivia Cygan, a New York-based, Chicago-native actress whose credits include DOUBT on Broadway in 2024, world premieres at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Goodman Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, and Arena Stage, and developmental work with Roundabout Theatre, New York Stage and Film, and Playwrights Realm. A Northwestern University graduate, she earned her MFA from the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale, where she received the Carol Finch Dye Award in 2023.

BroadwayWorld spoke with Cygan about finding an active, fighting Desdemona rather than a passive one, the profound collaboration of working opposite Wendell Pierce, and what Simon Godwin's direction has brought to one of Shakespeare's most iconic and contested roles.

What does it mean to you to make your Shakespeare Theatre Company debut in such an iconic role as Desdemona?

Getting that offer was one of the best phone calls of my life, and it's been more fulfilling than I even imagined. I'm absolutely over the moon.

How do you approach playing a character who is so often defined by what others say about her rather than by her own voice?

Every night backstage, I hear Othello say, "my wife is fair, loves company: Is free of speech, sings, plays, and dances well…" It's this gorgeous counter to Brabantio's description of his daughter: "Of spirit so still and quiet that her motion Blushed at herself…" Those descriptions are almost at odds, and it's tempting as an actor to wonder who's more "right." But neither man is objective about her, of course, so I really had to look at the actual actions she takes. They are quite bold! Girly goes to war, without a second's hesitation. And I used all the talk about her to build a sense of who she might want to be and who she is trying not to be. That feels so much more active and alive than a static sense of who she "is."

Desdemona is caught in a web of manipulation she knows nothing about. How do you find ways to keep her active and present as a character rather than simply a victim?

Desdemona's gone through the world with tremendous privilege, a particular kind of ease and power. She's used to getting what she wants, and much of the misunderstanding comes from doubling down when she doesn't. Her "love doth so approve him," yes, but I see that as fuel for her fight, not resignation.

What has it been like working opposite Wendell Pierce as Othello, and how has that collaboration shaped your portrayal of Desdemona?

Working with Wendell has been a profound honor. He is as generous and present in life as he is onstage. At some point, I realized the most important thing was making Desdemona someone worthy of Wendell's Othello. Who she is teaches us about who he is, and I could tell from the beginning that this Othello wanted a partner who could hold her own. So that despite all the chatter around them, you say, "yeah, they make sense." We're both committed to making their relationship substantive and satisfying and fun.

Simon Godwin is directing this production. What has his vision for the play brought to your understanding of Desdemona?

My gosh it has been a gift working with Simon. He somehow brings this play to the present without sacrificing an ounce of consideration for the text. That balance feels rare, and it's built us a world that's thrilling to inhabit. And Simon has been the biggest champion of a Desdemona who's actively in pursuit. We've found in the rehearsal room that certain scenes work because she's fighting so hard.

You share Yale Drama roots with castmates Lucas Iverson, Giovanna Drummond, and Melanie Field. Does having that common training background affect how you work together on stage?

It's been the biggest joy. We ended up onstage warming up the other day, which, if you've never seen an actor warm up, it's strange! And so nice to do in community. But I'm most grateful to Yale for teaching presence and flexibility, not, you know, "the Yale style of acting." The work we did as a company in the early weeks of rehearsal gave the whole room a set of values and a vocabulary that's served us every day.

Playing Desdemona requires navigating a character who has been interpreted in countless ways over centuries. How did you find your own unique entry point into her story?

Through the other actors in the room, which has been a thrill. I did a lot of solo text work before we started, because I wanted to know I could trust my impulses when I finally got on my feet. It's always tempting to say, "How will I do MY Desdemona?" But instead of trying to "create" her myself, I've really tried to let the text move through me and the other artists in the room work on me. There is an alchemy that's hard to describe, if you can sometimes get your own "good ideas" out of the way.

Why must audiences come and see the show?

Under Simon's direction, I hope we've made this story accessible without making it simple. We want to invite you in, gut-level, and take you along for the ride.

OTHELLO runs through June 28, 2026 at Shakespeare Theatre Company's Harman Hall in Washington, D.C.

Interview: David Bryan Jackson On LOOT at Edge of the Universe Theater

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 13:19:35 PST

Edge of the Universe Theater is presenting Joe Orton's wickedly subversive black comedy LOOT to Gunston Arts Center's Theatre Two in Arlington, Virginia, for a limited run from now through June 28, 2026. Directed by Stephen Jarrett, the production follows two young men who rob a bank and stash the money in a coffin, setting off a chain of anarchic events involving a crooked police inspector, a predatory nurse, and a grieving widower. First staged in 1965, the play remains a master class in controlled chaos and razor-sharp anti-authoritarian satire.

Taking on the role of the spectacularly corrupt Inspector Truscott is David Bryan Jackson, one of Washington's most versatile and long-tenured stage actors. A veteran of Arena Stage, The Kennedy Center, Woolly Mammoth, Folger Theatre, Studio Theatre, Signature Theatre, and Olney Theatre Center, among many others, Jackson has also appeared with Edge of the Universe in A NUMBER, THE CARETAKER, ENTERTAINING MR. SLOANE, and LAUGHTER IN THE SHADOW OF THE TREES. Earlier this year he was seen in BREAKING THE CODE at Central Square Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

His work spans directing, composing, and sound design in addition to acting, and his on-screen credits include AMC's TURN: WASHINGTON'S SPIES and the title role in the award-winning short film UNLOVED.

BroadwayWorld spoke with Jackson about his decades-long history with the play, finding the dark volatility beneath Truscott's comic surface, and what Orton's 60-year-old satire has to say to audiences in 2026.

What drew you to the role of Truscott in LOOT, and what do you find most compelling about playing a corrupt police inspector in Joe Orton's world?

I first read LOOT when I was 15, and I directed (and read the role of Hal in) a staged reading of it at my school. I was greatly taken with Orton's irreverent style and Wildean wit; however, despite the universal truth that one knows everything at 15, I suspect that there were some layers of nuance and analogy in the text that I missed at that age. While Truscott is on one level a pastiche, combining elements of Christie, Conan Doyle, and innumerable British TV police inspectors, there's also something scarily dark and volatile within him. With any comic character in a farce, the challenge is to find a balance between playing the immediate absurdity of the situation and delivering the precisely-tuned dialogue, while rooting the character in a degree of credibility into which the audience can (not necessarily comfortably) settle. In playing him, I can't concern myself with adjectives like "corrupt." Like many people given unfettered authority, he pursues his opportunities as he encounters them, cutting his losses along the way, in order to remain as close to the top of the food chain as he can be.

How does it feel to be returning to Edge of the Universe Theater for LOOT after your previous productions with the company, and how has your working relationship with the theater evolved?

I've been fortunate to act in plays that mean a lot to me with the company, ENTERTAINING MR. SLOANE, THE CARETAKER, A NUMBER, so I'm grateful for the repeated opportunity to play challenging characters.

Truscott is a character who operates with complete moral impunity. How do you approach finding the humanity, or perhaps the lack of it, in a character like that?

By looking for traits in the character that are common to almost everyone. We all have traces of greed, arrogance, pettiness, and impatience, mostly driven by fear and insecurity. Some people are better at controlling such impulses; others seem to revel in displaying them when the checks and balances of the system in which they operate appear to have been removed.

Director Stephen Jarrett has described LOOT as "Oscar Wilde meets Monty Python." How does that vision inform your performance as Truscott?

Well, clearly Wilde was a major influence on Orton, and I suspect that Orton was somewhat an influence on the Pythons, who were starting to write and perform around the time of Orton's early successes. Having acted in Wilde plays before, I recognize lines in the text that cry out for a similar delivery in order to land their punchlines.

Joe Orton wrote LOOT with a very specific deadpan style. How do you balance the farcical physical comedy with the razor-sharp dialogue the play demands?

The essential nature of a successful farce lies in taking an everyday situation and injecting into it one or more factors that inevitably lead the whole to the brink of chaos, on which the characters, driven by their own agendas, attempt to regain control. For an actor, the task is to play all that while maintaining momentum, at the same time as speaking each line with the intention, rhythm, and emphasis they imply, all the while clinging to the internal (albeit perhaps twisted) logic of the play.

LOOT has been described as having a timely anti-authoritarian message. How do you see that message resonating with audiences in 2026?

Orton was writing 60 years ago, and Sophocles 2,500 years ago. In between, there have been many other playwrights who illustrated the dangers of untrammelled power, Shakespeare, Gogol, Ibsen, Shaw, and Miller, to name but a very few. Audiences can interpret the play any way they like. If it increases their vigilance and inspires them to take steps to prevent the depressing repetition of history, more power to them.

Truscott spends much of the play hiding his true identity and motivations. What is the challenge of playing a character who is constantly performing a role within the play itself?

We all play different roles, according to the situations in which we find ourselves throughout our daily lives. In Truscott's case, the challenge lies in the fact that while he may believe he is "a master of disguise," at various stages in the play every other character sees through this, and the audience does from the start.

What do you want audiences who may be unfamiliar with Joe Orton to know about LOOT before they come to see the show at Gunston Arts Center this June?

As an audience member, I prefer to come to any play with as little information about it as possible, so I can experience it without preconceived expectations. At most, I would say: LOOT is a farce, written and set in mid-1960s England.

Why should audiences come and see the show?

I wouldn't presume to tell an audience what they must do. However, this is a rare chance to see a classic of mid-20th century British theatre, with many resonances for our own times, and a lot of good laughs to boot.

LOOT runs June 6 through June 28, 2026 at Gunston Arts Center, Theatre Two, 2700 S. Lang St., Arlington, VA. Tickets are $25 and available at www.edgeuniversetheater.org.

Feature: Why Lauren Daigle Is The Singer/Songwriter Everyone Needs In Their Lives Right Now.

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 13:25:32 PST

Lauren Daigle. Photo by Ashley Wright.

Singer/songwriter/humanitarian Lauren Daigle is a two-time Grammy, seven-time Billboard Music Award, four-time American Music Award, and ten-time GMA Dove Music Award winner. Her incredible musical talents can be heard at Wolf Trap tomorrow evening June 11th at 8:00. Appearing with Ms. Daigle at Wolf Trap and other select cities will be the distinguished musical ensemble Preservation Hall Jazz Band. The stop is part of a multi city tour and you can see the full tour itinerary here.

Ms. Daigle has performed at the Super Bowl (“America the Beautiful” with Trombone Shorty), garnered over a billion streams, and sold-out world tours with performances spanning four continents (North America, Australia, Europe, and Africa). From Carnegie Hall to the New Orleans Jazz Fest and Lollapalooza, Cape Town to the U.K. and Sydney, Red Rocks to The Greek Theater and Radio City Music Hall, She has cemented her status as a modern vocal powerhouse with a global, ever-growing fanbase.

Since the release of her GRAMMY® Award-winning, 2x platinum-certified 2018 album Look Up Child – which includes the breakthrough, 6x Platinum hit single “You Say” – Daigle has been a mainstay on the Billboard charts. When Look Up Child debuted at No. 3 on the Top 200 Albums chart, Daigle became the first female artist in history to simultaneously hit the Top 10 on both Billboard’s Pop and Christian Album charts. She went on to break another record when the LP reached 100 weeks at No. 1 on the Top Christian Albums chart, which is the greatest number of weeks that any artist has spent at the top of any individual album chart. Similarly, the 6x platinum-certified “You Say” is the longest-running No. 1 to appear on any weekly Billboard chart.

Daigle continued to push her craft with her latest GRAMMY-nominated album, Lauren Daigle, which consists of 23 songs including the GRAMMY nominated gold-certified single, “Thank God I Do,” which became Daigle’s sixth Billboard No. 1, making her the first artist to have two songs top the chart for 20+ weeks. The album also includes the hit “These Are The Days” and “Be Okay.” Her accompanying tours, The Kaleidoscope Tour and Kaleidoscope Nights, took arenas by a storm and was extended twice by popular demand, including additional dates throughout Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.

Throughout all her successes, Ms. Daigle remains consistent in her faith and passion to serve others. That has never been more apparent than in her latest single, “Let It Be a Hallelujah.” Written during the time between her first album, How Can It Be, and Look Up Child and recorded in Spring of 2025, the single is a passionate dedication to living a life that matters – a message that resonates with Daigle now more than ever. Not only does she speak of this, but she practices what she preaches through her non-profit fund, The Price Fund. Established in 2019, The Price Fund has contributed over $4.2 million worldwide to over 100 organizations dedicated to music education, providing food to those in need, and helping the elderly.

We are all at a point in this country where hope is something we think is all but lost sometimes. An artist like Lauren Daigle is just what is needed. Her pixie-like stage personality and superb musicianship and vocal abilities is what every person should have on their playlist.

If you are familiar with Lauren Daigle’s work, then you know exactly what I am saying. If you are not familiar with Ms. Daigle, I highly suggest you get to Wolf Trap or one of her other tour stops. I guarantee you will be lifted by her music and be enamored of her talent. Lauren Daigle is truly a musical godsend.

At what age was it apparent to you that singing/writing music was going to be your chosen profession?

Oh, wow. That's fun. I love telling this part of my story because it was so different for me. I was sick in high school with an autoimmune situation, and I had to be placed on homebound for about a year and a half or so.

My mom, just to help with depression and things, said, "You know what? Let's get you into voice lessons because you love to sing. You sing all the time." And so I would just sing around the house.

I started voice lessons, and then she went to my choir director and said, "Hey, she sings all the time. I don't know if she's any good or not, but you could put her in the back row.” And so, I started singing in the church choir and lead in worship. I remember I told my choir director, "Hey, in exchange for voice lessons, I would love to be your maid. I'm just a broke high school student, but I'll do anything to learn." And so, he started teaching me chord structures, how to harmonize, and things like that.

And then fast forward from there, I tried out for American Idol. This was kind of when I realized, huh, maybe something's a little different here. There were about ten thousand people or so that tried out that day, and I was one of the ones that got the golden ticket. And I remember thinking, "whoa, hold on! From our little church of two hundred people to someone who makes it out of ten thousand people, maybe I'm not just good for our church, maybe I'm good for our town, or maybe I'm good for the country."

That was a long story to say, I was probably around seventeen.

What do you most remember about the first time you stepped on stage professionally?

I was opening for this artist named Jason Gray, and it was my very first tour ever. My grandfather had passed away three days prior, and I had flown in from the funeral to start my first show. And I remember just being like, "How in the world am I going to do this?" It was a really difficult time for me, and it was the very first time I'd ever toured or been with an artist.

I remember at the end of the night, I helped push out the road cases with the crew guys. And after like two, they were like, "Oh, Lauren, this isn't your role. You don't have to do this." And I remember saying, "No, I really want to. I want to help." And they were like, "No, honestly, you don't have to." They said, "You're actually causing more work for us because you're not putting anything where it goes." And that was when I quickly realized, okay, there's a whole system to this thing. It's not just like being in the swamp at home.

I just remember feeling nervous and unsure, but so excited and ready to take on the world.

Where do the ideas for your songs come from you and how does your faith influence your music?

I would say they all came from life experiences and situations that I've walked through. Some things are personal, some things are accounts of other people's stories, and then just me processing it through songwriting.

Faith is a major component of that because I love the Lord. I love my relationship with God and the hope that He gives me. And so, a lot of times I try to write songs that allow people to see that there is hope in the world and that there is actually goodness.

What styles of music or singers have influenced your compositions and how would you describe your style of music?

We can go so far with how many people have influenced me. My dad was someone who loved classic rock, so it was that kind of a journey. We would literally sit and analyze Steve Perry's voice and listen to Queen and Freddie Mercury.

And then my aunt was always playing Motown. She would play Marvin Gaye and then she would play jazz. She would play Nora Jones, Aretha Franklin, and The Supremes. So I felt like I had a pretty wide variety of music. And then I loved pop music when I was a kid.

I loved the powerhouse vocals of Celine Dion and Whitney Houston. I would say as a child I'll never forget hearing the song “Because You Loved Me.” I would lay down next to the radio and just wait for that song to come on. That was the first time I was like "You know what? When I grow up, I want to be a singer," because of the way Celine Dion communicated and what it poured into me.

I tell everybody my style of music is a blend of soul and pop. And then my Christmas record is a pop jazz record.

What do you enjoy the most about playing at a venue like Wolf Trap and what might we hear you perform?

I'm so excited to play there again. It just brings me to life. They have curated the experience for not only the audience, but for the artist, the crew, and everybody who comes in. You can absolutely tell a lot of thought went into this venue in the realm of hospitality. I love getting to play there, and it pours into the show. How our day goes backstage really does influence how the show goes.

I say that to say it's going be a show full of light, full of love, full of joy, and full of happiness. There's going be some moments where you probably cry, introspective moments, but definitely moments full of hope.

Many singer songwriters have made the jump to writing for the stage and screen. If the opportunity was presented for you to write an original musical for the stage would you accept the offer? If yes, what would the subject matter be?

Oh yes, I would accept the offer. What the subject matter would be is a hard question that I need to ruminate on. I definitely feel like it would be a show full of color, and it would be a show full of the human experience, because those are the things that I'm fixated upon.

I love the human experience. I love emotion. I love having to learn how to go through difficult situations and become better on the other side. Maybe there would be some relational dynamics between family members or loved ones, something like that. But I would definitely say yes.

You’ve received many awards and accolades in your career thus far. What do you consider to be your greatest musical achievement as of now?

The very first thing that came to mind when you said your greatest musical achievement was the opportunity to sing in Stateville Prison outside of Chicago. And I say that because the last person who had performed there was James Brown. I think it was in the '80s that he performed there, and it was the last time they had a crew and audience of that size. I think it was roughly two hundred inmates. Since that day, I've never experienced anything like it. But this was going into a maximum security prison, which I've done multiple times, but this one was different for many reasons. There's no parole, and that's really difficult. It really rocket launched kind of the beginning of me getting involved with humanitarian efforts and various philanthropic things.

I remember I had an opportunity to go back a second time, and there was this man that I met, and I said, "Hey "I'm going to get out of here.” and I said, "Okay." He got out that day after serving for thirty years. He was fifty years old. He went in when he was eighteen, and we got to greet him on the other side as a free man. He had been waiting for thirty years. It was just incredible to see what had happened.

I remember asking him, "What would you do differently?" And he said, "I would go back to the youth." And I said, "How do we help?" He said, "Get involved with after-school programs. Get involved with the youth. Like, help these kids." And so, we birthed this nonprofit called The Ty Fund out of it. We go around the country, and help after-school programs. We help nonprofits with instruments and different things like that. We help kids have an opportunity where maybe they are not great with sports or maybe they're not academically driven, but music is kind of an outlet. There was a lot of good that came from that one interaction that really transformed my life.

And because of that, thousands of kids have been touched because of that one man's story. I would say that's probably the highest achievement.

Special thanks to the following village of people for their assistance in coordinating this interview: Rachael Jordan at Red Light Managemant, Alicia Krass at PFA Media, and Wolf Trap's Media Relations Manager Morgan Elwell.

Video: 'Glory' from PIPPIN at Signature Theatre

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 12:46:39 PST

Signature Theatre has shared a new video featuring Cedric Neal performing "Glory" from its current production of PIPPIN, offering audiences a glimpse of one of Stephen Schwartz's most rousing numbers as staged in the company's intimate MAX Theatre space.

PIPPIN is a musical by Stephen Schwartz, the composer and lyricist behind GODSPELL and WICKED, following Pippin, the restless heir of Charlemagne, as he pursues purpose and greatness through war, passion, and disillusionment. The show blends sardonic wit with spectacle, built around a traveling troupe of performers who frame the young prince's coming-of-age journey as a theatrical extravaganza complete with iconic songs including "Corner of the Sky" and "Magic to Do."

The Signature Theatre production is directed by Matthew Gardiner and choreographed by Rachel Leigh Dolan, with music direction by Jon Kalbfleisch. Neal leads the cast as the Leading Player, the charismatic ringmaster guiding Pippin through his quest. The production runs through July 26, 2026, with tickets available at sigtheatre.org.

BroadwayWorld has followed this production closely since it opened, including a review calling Matthew Gardiner's staging a production that "surpasses even the highest of expectations," as well as earlier video coverage of Brayden Bambino performing "Corner of the Sky."

Click Here to Play!

PASSPORT MUSIC FESTIVAL to Return to Creative Cauldron Stage in Falls Church

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 11:45:40 PST

Creative Cauldron Stage will present the return of its highly anticipated summer tradition, the Passport Music Festival, running from June 13, 2026 through September 13, 2026.

This year's festival will feature a summer of world-class music, curated by the acclaimed local musical duo Ken Avis and Lynn Veronneau.

The theatre's new location at Broad and Washington will give Creative Cauldron Stage a permanent home for the next 30 years, making a cultural anchor to a comprehensively planned arts and entertainment district that can appeal to people of all ages, incomes, and cultures.

Around The BroadwayWorld: Top News, Reviews, Interviews & More from May 2026

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 12:03:21 PST

Around the BroadwayWorld is our monthly snapshot of the biggest stories making waves across the global theatre community. In this May 2026 edition, we're bringing you a fresh batch of standout reviews from regional stages across the country - from Brigadoon at Pasadena Playhouse in Los Angeles to The Phantom of the Opera at Seattle's Paramount Theatre and Pippin at Signature Theatre in DC.

Diane Paulus directs an immersive, David Bowie-inspired Life on Mars at American Repertory Theater, the producers of Japan's Gypsy revival walk back a planned title change, and we go behind the scenes with interviews spanning Adam Fields of the Beetlejuice national tour, The Muny's casting director Michael Baxter, Richard Kind on finally taking on Edna in Hairspray, and BWW's Kid Reporters chatting with the touring Von Trapp kids of The Sound of Music. Plus, get a first look at exciting new productions through performance videos and photos, including Anastasia at La Mirada Theatre, Dear Evan Hansen at Arden Theatre, Pippin at Signature Theatre, and the Manila cast of Jesus Christ Superstar - and so much more from across the BroadwayWorld.

Diane Paulus Will Direct Immersive David Bowie Inspired LIFE ON MARS at American Repertory Theater

Joshua Wright | Boston

Diane Paulus will direct Life on Mars, an immersive theatrical production set to David Bowie's music, as the inaugural production at the Goel Center for Creativity & Performance in May.

GYPSY in Japan: Producers Walk Back Title Change Ahead of 2026 Revival

Joshua Wright | Japan

The Japanese revival of GYPSY will retain its original title when it returns to the stage in 2026, reversing an earlier decision to present the production under the name 'Rose.'

Interviews

Interview: Adam Fields of BEETLEJUICE National Tour

Brock Mills | Jacksonville

For Adam Fields, returning to Jacksonville with the national tour of Beetlejuice the Musical isn’t just another stop, it’s a full-circle moment. The production will play in Jacksonville from May 12–17 at the Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts.

Interview: BWW’s 'Kid Reporters' Chat With THE SOUND OF MUSIC’s Touring Von Trapp Kids

Melissa Heckscher | Los Angeles

BroadwayWorld Los Angeles' kid reporters talk with the young touring cast of THE SOUND OF MUSIC to find out what it's like to be part of one of Broadway’s most iconic shows and what actually happens behind the curtain.

Interview: Chatting with The Muny's Casting Director Michael Baxter

James Lindhorst | St. Louis

Michael Baxter’s work will shine on The Muny stage during all 50 performances this summer. He led the efforts and had a hand in hiring every one of the 194 actors who will fill the principal and ensemble roles.

Interview: Richard Kind Talks Finally Taking on Edna in The Muny's HAIRSPRAY

James Lindhorst | St. Louis

When The Muny opens their production of Hairspray on June 15, 2026, the legendary Richard Kind will don Edna Turnblad’s housecoat and step into her fuzzy house slippers. Kind, star of stage, screen and film, calls it bucket list moments to get to perform at The Muny and play Edna all at the same time.

Reviews

Review: BRIGADOON at Pasadena Playhouse

Andrew Child | Los Angeles

Brava to Alexandra Silber for capturing all the heart and humor of Lerner’s original book with her thoughtful new adaptation and brava to Katie Spelman for dreaming up a Brigadoon that is as ebullient and spirited as it is deeply human.

Review: THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA at Paramount Theatre

Shelley Dean | Seattle

It’s almost unbelievable for me to admit that this was my first time seeing The Phantom of the Opera. Of course, I knew the iconic songs and had seen countless clips over the years, but experiencing the production live on stage for the first time was entirely different, haunting, and spine-chilling in the best way possible. From the chandelier drop to the monumental set pieces, the show truly lives up to its legendary reputation. The 2026 tour, directed by Harold Prince, serves as a revitalized version of the original production, featuring Maria Björnson’s iconic designs, musical staging, and choreography by Gillian Lynne. It is absolutely ravishing, and Seattle audiences are lining up hours early to witness the spectacle for themselves.

Review: PIPPIN at Signature Theatre

Aidan O'Connor | Washington, DC

Certain facets of the human condition are foundational to our very existence – change, connection, desire. One such particularly toxic universal truth is a constant need to be something more than we currently are. To search for happiness in external achievement rather than within ourselves, in our simple joys. Pippin at Signature Theatre breathes within that precise virulence, relatively orchestrated by a troupe of impeccably costumed and choreographed players. A feast for the eyes in all senses, Matthew Gardiner’s production surpasses even the highest of expectations.

Videos

Video: Watch La Mirada Theatre's ANASTASIA Star Lena Ceja Perform 'Journey to the Past'

Michael Major | Los Angeles

La Mirada Theatre has released new video footage of Lena Ceja rehearsing 'Journey to the Past' from their upcoming production of Anastasia. The production features Dillon Klena as Dmitry, a role first played on Broadway by his brother Derek Klena.

Photos/Video: DEAR EVAN HANSEN At Arden Theatre

A.A. Cristi | Philadelphia

Arden Theatre Company is now presenting DEAR EVAN HANSEN as the final production of its 2025/26 season, with performances continuing through July 5. New production photos and video have been released from the Philadelphia production, including footage of Evan A. Kaushesh performing “Waving Through a Window.”

Video: Watch 'Corner of the Sky' From Signature Theatre's PIPPIN

Michael Major | Washington, DC

Watch a video of Brayden Bambino performing 'Corner of the Sky' in Signature Theatre's production of Pippin. The in-the-round production is now running through July 26 with tickets available now.

Photos

Photos: Get a First Look at JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR in Manila

Oliver Oliveros | Philippines

The 2017 Olivier Award winner for Best Musical Revival, Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s rock opera 'Jesus Christ Superstar,' has officially opened at The Theatre at Solaire.

Theater J Awards Joshua Harmon the Trish Vradenburg New Jewish Play Commission

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 21:07:49 PST

Theater J has announced that acclaimed playwright Joshua Harmon has been awarded Theater J's Trish Vradenburg New Jewish Play Commission.

The commission supports the creation of bold new theatrical work that explores Jewish identity, culture, history, and contemporary life. Named in honor of visionary arts advocate Trish Vradenburg, the commission reflects Theater J's longstanding commitment to developing and producing significant new Jewish plays and amplifying some of the most important voices in American theater.

Harmon is widely recognized as one of the leading playwrights of his generation, known for works including Bad Jews, Admissions, Prayer for the French Republic, and Significant Other. His writing combines incisive humor, emotional depth, and fearless engagement with questions of identity, family, politics, and belonging.

“We are thrilled to support Joshua Harmon through the Trish Vradenburg New Jewish Play Commission,” said Hayley Finn, Artistic Director of Theater J. “Joshua's work embodies the kind of urgent, provocative, deeply human storytelling that Theater J is passionate about championing. His plays spark conversation, challenge assumptions, and illuminate the complexities of Jewish life with extraordinary wit and compassion. We are honored to invest in his next work and excited to be part of its journey.”

"I'm moved and honored by Theater J and Hayley's continued belief in me and desire to support my work,” says Joshua Harmon. “I have no idea what this next play will be, but I'm grateful to Theater J for their bravery in jumping into the unknown alongside me."

The Trish Vradenburg New Jewish Play Prize was established to foster the development of adventurous new theatrical works by leading and emerging playwrights. The commission continues Theater J's legacy as a national center for new Jewish storytelling and artistic innovation.

Theater J Awards Joshua Harmon the Trish Vradenburg New Jewish Play Commission

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 21:07:49 PST

Theater J has announced that acclaimed playwright Joshua Harmon has been awarded Theater J's Trish Vradenburg New Jewish Play Commission.

Review: THE ROARING GIRL at Theatre Prometheus

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 10:45:52 PST

Theatre Prometheus, a company devoted to queer and feminist art, celebrates Pride Month 2026 with a production that’s more than 400 years old.

Yes it was the time of Shakespeare, but “The Roaring Girl” was written instead by a couple of other prolific playwrights of the era, Thomas Middleton and Thomas Dekker .

It’s the tale of a young man (Daniel Brody) who is forbidden from marrying his true love (Ayanna Fowler) because her dowry would be too little for his overbearing father (Erik Harrison). So he pretends to fall for a notorious cross-dressing thief Moll Catpurse (Jae K. Gee).

Moll is apparently based on a real historical figure, Mary Frith, who had a reputation of basically being a tom boy, and was never ladylike in her smoking, swordplay or bold unapologetic demeanor. While Frith became something of a legend in her time (and may have once played the role inspired by her), her manly aspects would hardly be out of the ordinary today, in straight or gay circles.

But in the olden days, gender disguises was often the basis of the comedy, so they run with it, or maybe gallop.

A play with two playwrights scores a production with two directors, Sophia Menconi and Sarah Marie Wilson, whose aim is apparently to crank up all the performances to 11, with oversized gestures, eyebrow wagging and exaggerated delivery to wring every possible titter out of the ancient piece.

The trouble with this kind of comic excess is that it leaves very little heart at the core of it, despite being a love story. It’s played so over-the-top so much of the time, there’s never a pause for any softer resolution.

We are also come to realize very quickly that not every playwright in the Elizabethan age exhibited the height of superb poetry as Shakespeare. The prose of Middleton and Dekker by comparison clinks hard on the ear.

As in any period comedy where disguising as the opposite sex is a major plot device (even when it is achieved solely by applying a mustache), it is undermined in general by today’s gender-blind casting. If contemporary audiences don’t mind which gender plays which, it makes it more difficult to care about such a thing in the story. Indeed, the picture of fair Mary by costumer Regan A. McKay is leather jacket, punk buttons and Doc Martens, a tougher look than even Moll.

In a cast prone to excess, Gee’s Moll does exude some boisterous glee and some heroics as well, particularly during a sword fight (fight direction: Julia Rabson Harris).

This version of “The Roaring Girl” seems to be set in some kingdom where Victorian furniture is arranged in a graffiti-strewn realm. Bras and balloons hang down from August Henney’s set. The choices of sound designer Kiefer Cure are irritating — with radio announcements, punk rock and static blaring between scenes.

Some seemed to have a lot of fun watching “The Roaring Girl” on opening night, but that may be out of generous spillover from Pride good cheer.

Running time: About 75 minutes, no intermission.

Photo credit: Jae K. Gee, Daniel Brody and Ayanna Fowler in “The Roaring Girl.” Photo by Charlotte Hayes / Shutterbugs Creations.

“The Roaring Girl” runs through June 27 at the Universalist National Memorial Church, 1810 16th St NW, the usual home of Spooky Action Theater. Tickets available online.

Review: INDECENT at 1st Stage

Sun, 07 Jun 2026 13:12:15 PST

Paula Vogel’s Indecent is an incredibly powerful story about the real-life early-20th-century playwright Sholem Asch, who writes a groundbreaking play in his native Yiddish about two young women who fall in love while working and living at a brothel. He wrote the play God of Vengeance in 1906, and it’s not hard to imagine just how revolutionary these themes would have been compared to the titles typically produced at the time.

Based on Asch’s real-life story and actual commercial success and eventual controversy, with God of Vengeance, the play is a hit. The show tours throughout the European continent, mainly through the many Yiddish-speaking Jewish communities that populated the area at the time. While the themes were controversial and feelings mixed on how it portrayed Jewish communities, it was still a masterpiece by a Jewish writer experiencing success. It becomes so successful that Asch immigrates to the United States and takes the play, and several company members, with him.

However, in the 1920s, antisemitism and fatigue from the immigration boom of the early 20th century were rampant in the United States. Additionally, traditional, conservative values were taking root. The company has no choice but to confront this head-on. Not only is this a show considered indecent because of the homosexual love affair, but also because this play is Jewish culture sneaking into a mostly Christian country. As Asch reflects on in one scene, it’s one thing to have a Jewish-produced play downtown, but on Broadway, the mainstream, it’s another thing entirely.

Therefore, as God of Vengeance continues to be produced throughout the 1920s and into the 1940s, it does so against a drastically changing background each time. Ellis Island was the gate to the new world and a new hope for so many during this time, but this new land of opportunity was in reality rife with racism, Anti-Semitism, and xenophobia. All of these things grew in the decades that followed the mass immigration.

Vogel’s play creatively lets the audience experience this climate indirectly. For instance, we watch the play being rehearsed or performed throughout the decades, with subtle changes each time. During the US rehearsals in the 1920s, one of the main actresses with a thick Yiddish accent and broken English was replaced by an “All-American” white woman with a Southern drawl and no acting experience. In another scene, the show’s key conflict and “indecent” material are removed entirely, seemingly in order to make it more palatable to the mainstream, more conservative sensibility of the time.

With each performance and each subsequent year that goes by, a little more of the show’s identity is erased, Americanized, and whitewashed. The resistance also grows over time. Still, the play perseveres and continues to be produced even in sometimes dire circumstances. It doesn’t take much to see the parallel to the immigrant experience of the time and the play itself. Wrapped up in themes of identity and survival, both ideas exist together in this piece.

Vogel’s Indecent does a tremendous job of balancing competing truths like this throughout. For example, Asch’s work has led him to this new country to achieve unimaginable success for him and his wife. On the other hand, they are clearly not embraced by their new country. Ironically, his success as a playwright and author also coincides with horrifying atrocities happening to the Jewish people across the world. In the old country, pogroms began to sweep the continent, and anti-Jewish sentiment swelled to a fever pitch that resulted in the genocide of the Jewish people during World War II. It’s these kinds of paradoxes that Vogel masters in this play.

One piece that I found particularly interesting was that when they play heads to New York, the audience's objections are mostly about the lesbian relationship, but inevitably layered with anti-Semitism. It’s almost as if the new audiences in the new country can’t decide which is more objectionable - the lesbian themes, the brothel itself, or the fact that it’s a Jewish story by Jewish people permeating the American mainstream.

The bigger the play gets in the US, the bigger the objections. There’s definitely an underpinning theme here that American (white) audiences were comfortable hearing immigrant stories, but only certain kinds of stories and only when told by certain kinds of people in the spaces that Americans felt comfortable hearing them. It’s a fascinating context that audiences must reckon with while watching the play.

Shifting to the technical side of the production, I am admittedly pretty skeptical about the use of projections in the modern theatre, mainly because I have seen a wide variety (mostly poor) of executions. Some projections, like Ford’s The American Five, utilized the technology well and swept audiences between vastly different settings with ease. Other productions, who will remain nameless, fumble with the technology and try to use projections as a lazy substitute for a set. They don’t end up adding anything and, in fact, distract.

1st Stage’s production falls into the former. In fact, the projections (more like upgraded subtitles, really) are used as critical, effective guideposts throughout. Indecent’s characters use a combination of English, Yiddish, and German throughout the production, often in rapid succession. In this production, and I’m not sure if Vogel has written it this way in the script, the characters speak mostly in English, with the projections indicating which language the dialogue is being spoken in (ie - Yiddish, German, etc.).

The quirk here is that the players speak in plain, easy-to-understand English only when they’re speaking Yiddish, or their native tongue, to each other. It’s when they speak English that they sound foreign and othered. It’s a brilliant way to illustrate how different the immigrant experience is when perceived in the native language.

In an otherwise flawless production, the only real weak point is the musical numbers. While I can see how these numbers could serve as creative interludes that break up the very heavy action of the scenes, they don’t really work well in this production. Each song felt like a round peg trying to fit into a square hole. The numbers themselves aren’t the issue. They’re creative, smoky Cabaret-like numbers that look fresh out of 1920s Berlin. However, the actors don’t seem comfortable in this medium, which could have been a factor in having seen the production while still in previews. Either way, the lackluster execution of these musical numbers stands out because everything else around them is incredibly strong.

Outside of this, I have nothing but good things to say about this ensemble and this company of players, all of whom are asked to portray several characters of varying nationalities throughout. The real standout performance is Ethan J. Miller’s Lemml, our narrator who also plays Asch’s most ardent and earliest believer from the old country. A devoted champion of the Jewish playwright, Lemml feels a sense of great pride that a Yiddish artist writing in Yiddish is making it in America. Miller’s evolution in the back half of the play from hope to disillusionment is expert, and Miller shows breathtaking nuance in the more dramatic moments of the play’s climax.

Ben Ribler (Avram) is equally as brilliant as Sholem Asch, and he also skillfully handles a difficult character arc. He begins as a principled and ambitious young writer of novels and plays and devolves into a damaged and scarred artist who’s sold his dignity for what he thinks will be security and safety.

These two are complemented well by an incredibly talented ensemble. In particular, Lily Burka (Chana) is exceptional as one of the leading characters of the play within the play. She is at her best when she plays the Yiddish actress in the new country when the show transfers to Broadway. She breaks the audience's heart with her portrayal of an immigrant, skilled as an actress but poor at speaking English for this new audience. Her skill is perfectly matched by her co-star, Lauren Hart (Halina). The two are captivating as the lovers of God of Vengeance, and they weave in and out of a half-dozen characters with ease throughout as well.

Stephen Russell Murray (Mendel) inhabitants many likable and unlikable characters throughout, as do both Zach Brewster-Geisz (Otto) and Nicole Halmos (Vera). This multi-faceted ensemble is led under the skillful hand of Director Alex Levy, who has been given quite a palette to create with both players and material. There are so many powerful moments handled with subtlety and care here, and it’s a real achievement for all involved. This is a piece that could easily lean into melodrama, but luckily Levy understands that silence and stillness matter just as much. The result is an incredibly moving piece of theatre with honesty in spades.

In the end, Indecent reminds us how fragile and how resilient art can be when it’s asked to survive the weight of history. 1st Stage’s production honors that legacy with clarity, compassion, and a deep respect for the people who first carried this story across continents. Even with a few musical misfires, the heart of this piece beats strongly. What Levy and this ensemble have created is a moving, beautifully rendered testament to the artists who insisted on telling their truth, even when the world tried to sand it down. It’s the kind of theatre that lingers.

Additional members of the creative team include the following: Ethan Balis (Sound Design), WIlliam K. D’Eugenio (Lighting Design), Rakell Foye & Maria Bissex (Costume Design), Kathryn Kawecki (Scenic Design), Pauline Lamb (Props Design), Lorraine Ressegger-Slone (Intimacy Coordinator), Deidra LaWan Starnes (Associate Artistic Director), Sarah Usary (Stage Manager), Joe Walsh (Music Director), Marika Anne Countouris (Music Director), Deborah Jacobson (Music Director), Susan Lynskey (Dialect Coach), Robert Bowen Smith (Choreographer), Rocky Nunzio (Assistant Director), Naida Kuffar (Assistant Costume Design), Terrence Griffin & Rah Matthews (Assistant Stage Manager).

Indecent runs from now until June 21, 2026, at 1st Stage in Tysons, VA. The show runs approximately 95 minutes with no intermission.

Photo Credit: (l-r) Lauren Hart, Ethan J. Miller and Lily Burka in Indecent, June 4 - 28. Photo by Teresa Castracane Photography.

Review: SALLY & TOM at Round House Theatre

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 11:12:26 PST

The historical and still-ongoing revelations about the children that Thomas Jefferson had with his slave woman Sally Hemmings has justifiably created a reevaluation of Thomas Jeferson’s image and reputation---as one can discover in Suzan-Lori Parks’ probing play Sally & Tom currently playing at Bethesda’s Round House Theatre.

However one feels about these tragic revelations, it is inevitable that people will justifiably be upset by these moral issues-- while others may still compartmentalize some of these revelations due to the paradigm about separating one’s personal life from external achievements and accomplishments.

Many well-known figures have had scenarios in their lives that have wreaked havoc on their image and reputations. Entertainment giant Walt Disney was found to be anti-union and anti-labor, aviator Charles Lindbergh was devoutly antisemitic, President Richard Nixon obstructed justice, writer Ezra Pound embraced fascism, and opera composer Richard Wagner was antisemitic.

The question is: how does the playwright, Pulitzer-prize-winning Suzan -Lori Parks, focus on the controversial personal life of the often-iconic past President, writer, and inventor –in a theatrically, artistic manner ? The solution, in the play entitled The Pursuit of Happiness, is to subvert the conventional, historical narrative of Thomas Jefferson-- by the addition of an additional contemporary narrative, in which there is a theatrical troupe (Good Company) that can comment on the main historical narrative--- while the actors double up by playing the contemporary roles as well as the historical roles.

Commentary is made on such issues as racism, class, privilege, sexism, misogyny, and so forth via this interesting concept and theatrical technique. The content of Jefferson’s life---replete with its idiosyncrasies, foibles, and hypocrisies--- is revealed very clearly through this directorial technique.

Director Timothy Douglas directs in a clean, crisp, spare, and unhurried manner. The play reminded me of Ronald Harwood’s stage play The Dresser in its “behind the scenes” look at a production, as well as the use of the same actor playing two roles that is reminiscent of the film The French Lieutenant’s Woman.

Mr. Douglas takes his time with the tiniest gesture or movement, and he focuses on the minutiae of the historical period contrasted with the contemporary style of the modern theatrical troupe of players. This mixture of the historical with the contemporary lends itself to the audience member being able to draw their own conclusions without the typical chronological narrative.

The acting in this production is top-notch with the highlights being three major monologues ----Josiah Bania as Thomas Jefferson reflects on his image and cajoles the audience to judge him, Renea S. Brown as Sally Hemmings reflects on her dehumanization, and Ro Boddie as James reflects on the indignity of being a slave. Mr. Bania, Ms. Brown, and Mr. Boddie also bring out all the nuances of their dual roles as Mike, Luce, and Kwame, respectively.

Kimberly Gilbert and Jamar Jones added solid support to this unique play.

Interactive elements are added to the play to enhance audience involvement.

The scenic design of classically designed portals/arches continually being moved around to show various elements of Jefferson’s home and the contemporary habitats of the traveling troupe, are a compelling and eye-catching component of the scenic design by Tony Cisek. The concept of watching scenery moving into the stage space from the wings throughout the play is visceral and innovative. An eye-catching large tapestry of the Declaration of Independence is displayed as a backdrop.

Choreographer Dane Figueroa Edidi utilizes the minuet, the Virginia Reel, and the waltz to stunning effect aided by the composition and sound design of Matthew M. Nielson. The use of the violin throughout the play adds much instrumental physicality and texture to the proceedings.

Costume design by Danielle Preston is splendid and replete with vivid satins, silks, and vivid colors.

Lighting design by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew is alternately subtle or sharply delineated when appropriate to the myriad moods of the play.

The fairly recent Diane Paulus’ production of the musical 1776 also casts our historical forefathers in a more aware and caustic lens and this insightful play (Sally & Tom) also does the same (as Jefferson is portrayed with warts and all).

In a startling ending, fireworks burst over the set celebrating our nation’s independence while the names of the unjustly enslaved are inscribed on the upstage scenic design.

New realizations about Thomas Jefferson and history will inevitably be heightened or reflected upon after seeing this provocative and sometimes polemical play. What has happened to the American promise of equal rights for all?

Running Time: Two Hours and forty-five minutes plus one fifteen-minute intermission

Sally & Tom runs through June 28, 2026, at the Round House Theatre 4545 East-West Highway, Bethesda, MD, 20814.

Photo credit- L-R Renea S. Brown and Josiah Bania in the Round House Theatre production of Sally & Tom.

Photo by Kent Kondo.

Interview: Theatre Life with Maria Rizzo

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 15:17:50 PST

Maria Rizzo. Photo by J. Demetrie Photgraphy.

Today’s subject Maria Rizzo is currently living her theatre life onstage at Signature Theatre playing the role of Fastrada in Pippin. The production runs through July 26th in Signature’s MAX space.

Over the years, Maria has performed in many Signature productions to much acclaim. Past credits include Evelyn Nesbitt in Ragtime (Helen Hayes Nomination), Into the Woods, Ilona in She Loves Me (HH Award), A Chorus Line, Assassins, Grand Hotel, Crazy For You, A Little Night Music, The Gulf (world premiere), West Side Story, Cabaret, Louise in Gypsy (HH Nomination), Spin (world premiere), The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and Xanadu.

Maria’s versatile talents have also been seen in many of the area’s biggest theatres. Past credits include Erma in Anything Goes (HH Award), and Fiddler on the Roof at Arena Stage, Evita, and Grease! at Olney Theatre Center, Roxie in Chicago (HH Award), and Sally Bowles in Cabaret (HH Nomination), and others at Keegan Theatre, Carrie the Musical at Studio Theatre 2ndStage, Bat Boy at 1stStage, and Hairspray at Toby’s Dinner Theatre.

Regioanlly Maria performed in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at Arkansas Rep Theatre.

Recently Maria and her husband Adventure Theatre MTC’s Artistic Director Kurt Boehm became first time parents. As we all know, performing and rehearsing a show takes lots and lots of time. Now add in 3am feedings and more. Read on to see how Maria has found that very delicate balance. It’s truly “Extraordinary.”

For those that have been watching Maria Rizzo onstage over the years, you know the kind of commanding presence she has onstage. Her performances are unforgettable to be sure. Fastrada is no acception.

Grab your tickets to Pippin at Signature Theatre this summer. I think you’ll find much joy as an audience member “In just no time at all.”

Maria Rizzo is definitely living her theatre life to the fullest.

How did you get interested in performing?

Movie musicals. Love‘emall!!

Where did you receive your training?

Here in DC. I have my bachelors in music theatre. I came here for school and never left. It’s easy to stay when I feel likeI’m still training and learning from the best in this town.

What was your first professional job as a performer?

I swung 6 tracks in Hairspray at Toby’s Dinner Theatre in Columbia, MD. It was my second year of college and it ran for something like 6 months. I remember going on for Penny and then Pennys mother in the same double show day. I learned so much throughout the whole process and got to flex a necessary part of the performing brain. I will always hold understudies and swings to the highest regard.

L-R Ryan Sellers and Maria Rizzo in
Signature Theatre's production of Pippin.
Photo by Daniel Rader.

Can you please talk about the production concept for Signature Theatre’s production of Pippin? How is it different from other stagings?

Our director Matthew Gardiner holds reverence to so many iconic and historic moments from the original— especially with the dark and truthful colors Bob Fosse painted with. But I believe Matthew exemplified the spirit and the simplicity of telling the Faustian story without whimsical distraction. It’s dynamic characters and inticing choreography with intimate and truthful storytelling.

Maria Rizzo in Signature Theatre's production of Pippin.
Photo by Daniel Rader.

How do best describe your character in the show?

“Crafty…cunning…calculating……. But a warm and wonderful mother.”

You’ve worked in many of the area’s top theatres over the years. What do you enjoy the most about working in the DMV theatre community?

We have the great privilege of living in such a politically charged city. And what is theatre if not a reflection of our humanity during times of great influence, change, fear, hope, joy, etc? It feels exciting and impactful to be telling stories around such intelligent creatives and audiences.

You recently became a first-time mom. As we all know, rehearsing and performing in any production takes a lot of time. Can you please talk about how you are maintaining life balance while performing and,also, what advice can you give to new moms who feel that the balancing thing might be a challenge for them?

Wow thank you for asking. I have to laugh because I’m currently answering these questions at 3:04 am with my son latched to me and I feel like all I can say is -I’mjust trying my best. I’m 6 months postpartum with my first so I have no idea what I’m doing and don’t feel equipt to handout advice by any stretch. I have new insecurities and new strengths and a new degree of tired I never understood until now. We are teething, sleep training, trying solids andI’mdoing all I can trying to figure things out as it goes.

Emotionally leaving this little thing that still feels attached to me is the hardest part. Like your heart suddenly living on the outside of your body. But the credit I give is to my village led by my husband who is #dadgoals. He finds the balance or the encouragement when I can’t.

Matthew and Rachel Leigh Dolan, our choreographer -and fellow new mom- also made it especially comforting as I navigated my new body and new brain. They made space for that navigation and I’ll never forget that kindness. I’ve certainly not mastered the “balance” but the duality sure can be fun. Whispering “You Are My Sunshine” every morning and then screaming out “Spread a Little Sunshine” by night. Or sharing a dressing room that has a pack-n-play and breast pumps with my eye glitter and thong. Even after hard days missing him or rough nights rocking— I hope one day looking back my son can be proud of all this. Not for the thong part but for the balance we’re finding together.

Maria Rizzo in the 2013 Keegan Theatre production of Cabaret.
Photo by C. Stanley Photgraphy.

Of all the productions you have performed in thus far, which stand out as personal favorites to you?

They all hold value to pick just one but it’s the people I get to work with that stick with me. I got to work with Rachel Dolan on Cabaret at Keegan- (both of our “first breaks”) and I’ve worshiped her and her storytelling ever since.

I’ve gotten to work with Matthew and the people at Signature so many times as well and those productions always feel distinctive. West Side Story felt so special to be apart of…My first show back after the pandemic was She Loves Me -that brought back a lot of joy. Gypsy helped me find my place amoungst some DC vet actresses. Crazy for You, I got engaged on this stage. The shows feel like the best chapters of life because of the people that enriched them.

After Pippin finishes its run, what does the rest of 2026 and onward hold in store for you workwise?

I get to play Gussie in Matthew’s Merrily We Roll Along!! And thenI’mgoing to throw my son his first birthday party.

Special thanks to Signature Theatre's Publicist and Marketing Manager Zachary Flick for his assistance in coordinating this interview.

Theatre Life logo designed by Kevin Laughon.

BroadwayWorld Launches Producer Fantasy Game

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 11:00:05 PST

Ever watched the weekly Broadway grosses roll in and thought you could pick the winners? Now you can put it to the test. BroadwayWorld has launched the Producer Fantasy Game, a free, season-long competition that lets theatre fans build a roster of Broadway shows and earn points based on how those productions actually perform at the box office. The draft window is open now.

How It Works

The setup is simple. During the draft window, you pick any six Broadway productions that opened this season. Drafting is non-exclusive, so there is no need to race a rival for a hot title. Any number of players can roster the same show.

From there, your shows go to work for you. Every week, each production on your roster earns fantasy points based on its reported box office grosses and capacity percentages. When Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle nominations and wins are announced, your shows bank bonus points on top of that. And each week you can answer our Fantasy Forecast prediction questions for up to five bonus points per correct call.

Weekly Scoring

Each week, a show earns one base point for every $50,000 it grosses, so a $1 million week is worth 20 base points. On top of that, shows can earn bonuses: up to five points for filling seats (based on how close to full capacity the house ran), six points for grossing $2 million or more (or three points for grossing between $1 million and $2 million), and eight points if its gross jumped at least 15 percent from the week before. A show loses four points if its gross dropped at least 15 percent. If a show goes dark and reports no gross for a week, it scores zero for that week with no penalty.

The Fantasy Forecast

The Producer Fantasy Game is really two games in one. The first is the box office game: drafting shows and earning points from their weekly grosses and awards. The second is the Fantasy Forecast, a weekly set of prediction questions about what's happening on Broadway, where each correct answer is worth up to five points. You can play one or both.

We track them separately so you can shine at either. Your Producer score covers the box office game, your Forecast score covers your prediction results, and your Combined score adds the two together for the overall championship ranking. The leaderboard lets you toggle between Overall, Producers, and Forecasters, so a sharp predictor can top the Forecasters board even during a rough season for their roster, and a roster powerhouse can lead the Producers board without answering a single question.

Managing Your Roster

Your lineup stays at six shows all season, and you have plenty of room to maneuver. You get one free drop every week, three additional season drops to use anytime before the trade deadline, and free replacements whenever a show on your roster closes. New productions open throughout the season and become available the moment they start reporting grosses, so it pays to keep a transaction in your pocket for that buzzy new opening.

Join the Game

The Producer Fantasy Game is free for all BroadwayWorld users, and you can join any time the draft window is open. Draft within the first two weeks of the season and your roster is scored from opening week, so the earlier you get in, the more weeks you bank. Build your roster, make your predictions, and start climbing the leaderboard today.

Interview: Theatre Life with Melanie Field

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 17:07:07 PST

Melanie Field

Today’s subject Melanie Field is currently living her theatre life onstage at Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) playing the role of Emilia in Othello. The production is helmed by STC’s Artistic Director Simon Godwin and runs through June 28th at Harman Hall.

This is not the first time Melanie has performed at STC. She was previously seen there in The Wild Duck and Uncle Vanya.

On Broadway she has been seen in The Phantom of The Opera and Evita and on tour in Wicked.

She has also been seen regionally at Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

You might have seen her on the small screen in A League of Their Own, You, Heathers, Shrill, Killing It, Florida Girls, or The Alienist or on the big screen in Home Delivery.

As you can see from Melanie’s credits, her work is as varied as it comes and definitely shows her versatility as a performer.

I highly urge you to see Othello at STC if you possibly can. It stars Wendell Pierce in the title role while also featuring such great local talent as Todd Scofield. And of course, the fine talents of Melanie Field are back at STC for all to enjoy. What other reason do you need?

Melanie Field is truly living her theatre life to the fullest.

How did you get interested in performing?

Growing up, I played the piano and flute and sung in the choir. But it wasn’t until sophomore year of high school that I did my first musical, Les Misérables. My role? “Whore #1” and I donned that corset and played her proudly.

I was bitten by the bug hard. I always say there is no drug more powerful than high school musical theater. From that point on, I was hooked.

My dad is a singer and a huge theater nerd, and both of my parents were incredibly supportive of my desire to pursue acting. I really have them to thank for encouraging my talents and giving me the confidence to go for it.

Where did you receive your training?

I got my Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from NYU Steinhardt and my MFA from Yale School of Drama.

L-R Kristen Blodgette and Melanie Field backstage at
The Phantom of The Opera on Broadway.
Photo courtesy of the artist.

What was your first professional job as a performer?

The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway was my very first professional theater job, and the way it came about still feels a little surreal. A mentor of mine had arranged for me to meet and sing for Kristen Blodgette, the show's music supervisor. The idea was simply that she might be a helpful resource as I prepared to graduate and enter the profession.

I sang five full songs in the lobby of the Majestic Theatre under a chandelier— I mean, what?!

What I didn’t know was that the production had an ensemble member preparing to go on maternity leave. After hearing me, they offered me a position covering her leave. If I remember correctly, I received the offer the day after I graduated from college and made my Broadway debut just three weeks later. It was nuts.

Those seven months were pretty much a crash course in “How To Be On Broadway.” The cast—many of whom had been with the show for years—really took me under their wing. It was an incredibly formative time in my life and really shaped the rest of my career.

Melanie Field in STC''s production of Othello.
Photo by Teresa Castracane.

Can you please tell us a little something about the character you play in Othello?

Emilia is honestly such a boss. Especially in this production. Everyone knows her arc—this incredible redemption at the end, even though it costs her everything.

What’s interesting here is how complicit she is along the way, even without fully understanding what Iago is up to. I love that Simon really leaned into the class structure. She comes from nothing, grills a mean hot dog, and is ultimately hired as Desdemona’s maid. She’s one of those women you recognize immediately: tough exterior, sharp tongue, but underneath it all, just desperate to matter, desperate to be loved, desperate to be seen.

She goes along with things longer than she should, making choices that aren’t clean, until she finally understands the cost of not speaking up.

Is Othello the first time you have performed in a play by Shakespeare?

This is my first professional Shakespeare job, and I really hope it’s not the last. I had read quite a bit of Shakespeare in high school, but it was grad school that really opened me up to his work. And I’ve been pretty obsessed ever since.

You have performed in both musicals and plays. For you as a performer, what is the biggest difference in working on a musical like Evita over a play like Othello?

I remember coming home from rehearsals for Evita and practically crawling to the couch so I could soak my feet in an ice bath. The choreography was incredibly demanding, and the brilliant Rob Ashford treated every one of us like a true dancer. The entire ensemble—even those of us who were primarily considered singers—were fully utilized in the big dance numbers. It was awesome.

The physical demands of the plays I've done are different. The toll comes less from choreography and more from asking my mind and body to go through deeply lived emotional journeys. It's funny—the body doesn't always know the difference between real life and play-pretend. Tears are tears, rage is rage; even in a fictional world, those experiences are felt on a cellular level. So, while I can leave a character at the stage door, so to speak, my body often carries the memory of what she's lived through onstage. It takes a little while to shake that off.

Othello is your third time working at STC. What do you enjoy the most about working there?

The people. It goes without saying that STC is under incredible leadership with Simon Godwin at the helm. He and I have formed a really special creative bond over these last three plays and I’m so grateful he keeps inviting me back.

The entire staff and crew at STC is special. It feels like one big family — each person dedicated to their role and bringing their unique talents to make the magic you see every night. I love going to work every day.

And then there’s the community. I’ve been lucky enough to engage with audiences through various talkbacks and events, and I’m always struck by how curious, thoughtful, and engaged they are. The support for theater in this community gives me so much hope for the future.

L-R Olivia Cygan and Melanie Field STC''s production of Othello.
Photo by Teresa Castracane.

Why do you think Shakespeare’s plays are still being performed hundreds of years after they were originally written?

Because they're so damn good.

Seriously, Shakespeare understood people. And human beings haven't changed nearly as much as we'd like to think they have.

Just look at Othello. It's a play about jealousy, manipulation, insecurity, prejudice, and violence against women. Sadly, those aren't problems from 400 years ago.

Working on the play, I was struck by how modern it feels. I recognize these characters. I know these dynamics. Shakespeare really understood human behavior at a profound level, and I think that’s why audiences still respond so intensely.

Globally, tens of thousands of women and girls are killed each year by intimate partners or family members — an average of 137 every day, or one every 10 minutes.

Desdemona’s and Emilia’s fates are horrifying but not uncommon. That's part of what makes the play so devastating and so relevant.

After Othello finishes it’s run, what does the rest of 2026 and onward hold in store for you workwise?

The rest of the year is a bit of a mystery—at least professionally. Outside of work, I’m a mom to two-year-old twins, so I can confidently say I won’t be bored anytime soon.

They’re at such a fun age right now, constantly discovering new things and, in the process, teaching me a lot about finding wonder in the everyday. Getting to experience the world through their eyes is really special. Sometimes just observing them feels like an acting exercise in itself.

I’m also taking a few online science courses, which has been a really cool change of pace. Science wasn’t something I focused on much in my formal education, so it’s been exciting to stretch a different part of my brain and dive into a subject that feels completely new to me. It’s nice to be reminded that learning doesn’t have to stop just because school did.

Special thanks to Shakespeare Theatre Company's publicity goddess Heather C. Jackson for her assistance in coordinating this interview.

Theatre Life logo designed by Kevin Laughon.

Kennedy Center Orders Staff to Strip Trump's Name from Documents and Signage

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 14:21:56 PST

The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has instructed its employees to begin scrubbing President Trump's name from the institution's official materials, according to an internal memo from the general counsel's office reported by The New York Times. The directive landed only days after a federal judge found that the board had acted unlawfully when it voted to attach the president's name to the Washington building.

Staff were told to make the changes to forms and other documents right away, with the memo laying out a detailed list of what needed updating. That list reportedly covered social media accounts, email signatures and voicemail greetings. Indoor and outdoor signage carrying the prohibited name, including parking signs branded "Trump Kennedy Center," was given a firm deadline of June 12.

The memo instructed employees to revert all references back to "The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts" or, in shorter form, simply "Kennedy Center." Leaders at the institution signaled last week that they intended to challenge the ruling, though no appeal had been filed as of Thursday.

The renaming traced back to December, when a board filled with the president's allies voted to honor him. His name went up on the building's marble facade less than a day after that vote. The reversal came when Judge Christopher R. Cooper of the Federal District Court in Washington ruled that the authority to rename the center, dedicated to Kennedy in 1964 following his assassination, rests solely with Congress. He gave the institution two weeks to take the name down from both the building and its official paperwork.

LAURA BENANTI: NOBODY CARES to Launch Tour This Summer

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 13:47:39 PST

Following a run Off-Broadway and a sold-out run at Edinburgh Festival Fringe last year, Laura Benanti: Nobody Cares is set to make its UK return this summer, followed by a multi-city US tour this fall.

Created by Tony Award-winner Laura Benanti, with original songs co-written by Todd Almond and directed by Annie Tippe, Laura Benanti: Nobody Cares is a one-woman comedy show that blends side-splitting storytelling with original songs. A New York Times Critics Pick, Laura Benanti: Nobody Cares is a hilarious, heartfelt, and sometimes brutally honest take on getting older, people-pleasing, motherhood, marriage(s), and the absurdity of it all.

The upcoming tour schedule is as follows, and tickets for all venues are on sale now. Additional dates and venues to be announced soon.

London, UK: Underbelly Soho

July 14 - July 26, 2026

Chicago, IL: Steppenwolf Theatre

August 6 - August 9, 2026

New Brunswick, NJ: George Street Playhouse

August 26 - August 30, 2026

Baltimore, MD: Baltimore Center Stage

September 17 - September 26, 2026

Los Angeles, CA: The Wallis

October 1 - October 4, 2026

Costa Mesa, CA: South Coast Repertory

October 8 - October 11, 2026

Boston, MA: The Huntington

October 22 - October 25, 2026

Arlington, VA: Signature Theatre

April 27 - May 2, 2027

Laura Benanti Sings ">

Creative Cauldron Stage Receives $15,000 Shubert Foundation Grant for New Works

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 21:35:19 PST

Creative Cauldron Stage has received a $15,000 grant from the Shubert Foundation, which directs funding toward not-for-profit, professional theatres with an emphasis on producing, rather than presenting, organizations. The Shubert Foundation is especially interested in providing support to professional resident theatre and dance companies that develop and produce new American work.

“We are proud of our Bold New Works for Intimate Stages” and Bold New Voices initiatives which have allowed us to develop new works by underrepresented artists. And to have many of those productions go on to have subsequent performances across the country and the world, has been a thrill. We are honored that the Shubert Foundation has recognized our hard work,” said Founding Artistic Director Laura Connors Hull.

In addition, the Shubert Foundation recognizes theaters who excel in arts education and community engagement. The Learning Theater Ensemble is an inclusive multi-generational program providing students grades 3 and up the opportunity to team up with professional actors and directors to learn the craft of acting. “Our Learning Theater Ensemble offers an intensive experience for young people that is unmatched by any other program in the area,” said Connors Hull.

ABOUT CREATIVE CAULDRON STAGE

Creative Cauldron Stage is an award-winning non-profit theater and educational arts organization whose innovative programs in the performing and visual arts embody collaboration, experimentation, and community engagement. Creative Cauldron Stage was founded by Artistic Director Laura Connors Hull in 2002. In 205, Creative Cauldron Stage relocated to a new theater in the Broad and Washington Development in Falls Church.

Programs are presented in part through grants from the Virginia Commission for the Arts, The National Endowment for the Arts, ArtsFairfax, the City of Falls Church, the Little City CATCH Foundation, and the Robert W and Gladys S Meserve Charitable Trust. Generous corporate and individual sponsors also support Creative Cauldron's programs.

ABOUT CREATIVE CAULDRON

Creative Cauldron is an award-winning non-profit theater and educational arts organization whose innovative programs in the performing and visual arts embody collaboration, experimentation, and community engagement. Creative Cauldron was founded by Artistic Director Laura Connors Hull in 2002. In 2023, Creative Cauldron launched a $500,000 New Home-New Horizon capacity campaign to raise funds for a move into a new theater in the Broad and Washington project in Falls Church City in the Winter of 2025. After raising approximately $725,000 over a two-year span, Creative Cauldron has been able to smoothly transition into its new home, closing out the 2024-2025 season.

This new location at Broad and Washington will give Creative Cauldron a permanent home for the next 30 years, making a cultural anchor to a comprehensively planned arts and entertainment district that can appeal to people of all ages, incomes, and cultures.

Creative Cauldron Stage Receives $15,000 Shubert Foundation Grant for New Works

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 21:35:19 PST

ABOUT CREATIVE CAULDRON STAGE

ABOUT CREATIVE CAULDRON

Special Offer: LOOT at Edge of the Universe Theater

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 16:22:44 PST

Joe Orton’s Loot represents one of the most audacious achievements in twentieth-century British theatre — a dark comedy that both embodies and satirizes British social mores, and probes the nature of authority, religion, and morality through razor-sharp dialogue and uproarious physical comedy.

First staged in 1965, the play follows two young men who rob a bank and, desperate to conceal the loot, stash it in a coffin. This incident triggers a farcical, anarchic chain of events involving a spectacularly corrupt police inspector, a predatory nurse, and a grieving, oblivious widower. Loot is much more than a bank-heist comedy; it’s a master class in controlled chaos, provocative, subversive, and wickedly funny.

Monty Python meets Oscar Wilde
Joe Orton's LOOT is "CRIMINALLY BRILLIANT"

*$20 Tickets with Promo Code LOOT5

Review: A FINE MADNESS at Woolly Mammoth

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 11:06:24 PST

“It’s not a play,” Justin Weaks declares fairly early in his one-man “A Fine Madness” presented by the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. “But we gon’ play,” he adds.

And so we do. A number of games are included among the stories, team building exercises, German philosophy and overhead projections that vaguely tie the planetary greetings of the Golden Record sent out on Voyager 1 with audience reactions to the pandemic.

Sleek in his black garb and stocking cap, and holding a vintage microphone, Weaks describes waits at doctor’s offices and his own recent diagnosis of HIV and connects it to the Covid-19 virus.

Borne out of a workshop production in 2024, “A Fine Madness” still seems a little loose, no matter how much the disembodied mission control voices announce segments and count off times for recordings. The idea is that Weaks’ own recordings of the audience, shouting out answers or providing other responses are collected in a manner that suggests there will be a new version of the Golden Record, nearly 50 years after the first was sent out, reflecting on life in D.C. the 2020s.

A couple of times, he plays back what’s been recorded during the performance and mashes it into a little mix.

There is some community built among the four sections in which he divides the audience for whom he had assigned leaders. When they’re supposed to put heads together to solve a puzzle, Hangman style, as if on “Wheel of Fortune,” they're sometimes solved so quickly, the timer hadn’t even started.

Another game was straight up Mad Libs, with audience-derived suggestions for objects, song titles or emotions fitting into blanks on some prose proposing some healing.

The lulls in the short show come during the two or three passages of personal history and parable, minus the visual aid. At one point he selects a few audience members to pour and distribute sweet tea and talk among themselves in lieu of an intermission.

Under the direction of Raymond O. Caldwell, there’s a kind of magical expectation built in the show, with twinkling lighting design of Eli Golding working in consort with Matthew M. Nielson’s brooding sound design.

Weaks often sits on the floor to dash pictures of the cosmos or jotted down transparencies onto his overhead projector. Other times he’s poetically describing the scene theatrically or walking all the way around the limited rehearsal hall space (Tony Thomas gets a choreography credit).

The dimensions and effect of the performance may well change, though, as “A Fine Madness,” after an opening weekend at the theater, will have its remaining performances in three different sites in the city — the Dupont Underground, Hamiltonian Artists on U Street and The Nicholson Project in southeast.

I’m not convinced the responses at these different places will be all that different from those preserved at Woolly Mammoth. But if a record of the highlights is indeed pressed and sent into the cosmos, I’m not sure what any alien life force on the receiving end will make of it.

Running time: About 80 minutes.

Photo credit: Justin Weaks in “A Fine Madness.” Photo by Cameron Whitman.

“A Fine Madness” plays the Digital Underground, 19 Dupont Circle NW, June 5-7; Hamiltonian Artists, 1343 U St. NW, June 11-14; and The Nicholson Project, 2310 Nicholson St. SE, June 25-28. Tickets and information from Woolly Mammoth Theatre, at 202-393-3939 or online.

A DRAG QUEEN CHRISTMAS to Return for 12th Year With 39-City National Tour

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 19:57:07 PST

“A Drag Queen Christmas” will return for its 12th year, launching a 39-city national tour this November - December. The 2026 edition is hosted by returning fan favorite and theatre star Nina West, and features an all-new merry lineup of drag superstars from the Emmy-winning RuPaul's Drag Race franchise.

Artist pre-sale begins Wednesday, June 3 at 10 a.m. (local time) with the code “TWELVE,” and general on sale begins Friday, June 5 at 10 a.m. (local time) at dragfans.com.

This year's cast includes:

Myki Meeks, Winner of RuPaul's Drag Race Season 18 (2026)
Nini Coco, Runner-up, Drag Race Season 18 (2026)
Darlene Mitchell, Drag Race Season 18 (2026)
Juicy Love Dion, Drag Race Season 18 (2026)
Discord Addams, Drag Race Season 18 (2026)
Crystal Methyd, Drag Race All Stars Season 11 (2026) & Drag Race Season 12 (2020)
Silky Ganache, Drag Race All Stars Season 11 (2026), Drag Race All Stars Season 6 (2021), Drag Race Season 11 (2019)

“A Drag Queen Christmas” is the world's premiere holiday drag showcase and a sensational theatrical experience that delivers high camp, over-the-top lip-sync performances, side-splitting comedy, elaborate costumes, Broadway-style staging, and a whole lot of heart—something we all seek during the chaos of the holiday season. With plenty of spectacular surprises in store, the show offers audiences a chance to see drag queens at the top of their game perform showstopping numbers of epic holiday proportions on revered theater stages across America. Each year, “A Drag Queen Christmas” provides an annual tradition for folks from all walks of life to come together and connect, find community, and celebrate the season with joy and laughter.

This dazzling, 18+ holiday extravaganza runs two hours and offers fans the chance to add-on a VIP Meet & Greet Experience—including early access to the venue, photos with the queens on stage, autographs, and exclusive tour merchandise.

A Drag Queen Christmas 2026 Tour Dates:

November 11 - Detroit, MI (Fisher Theatre)

November 12 - Rochester, NY (Kodak Center)

November 13 - Rutland, VT (Paramount Theatre)

November 14 - Portland, ME (Merrill Auditorium)

November 15 - Boston, MA (Emerson Colonial Theatre)

November 17 - Red Bank, NJ (Count Basie Center for the Arts)

November 18 - Morristown, NJ (Mayo Performing Arts Center)

November 19 - Washington, DC (Warner Theatre)

November 20 - Durham, NC (Durham Performing Arts Center)

November 21 - Wilmington, NC (Wilson Center - Cape Fear Community College)

November 22 - Philadelphia, PA (Fillmore)

November 24 - Pittsburgh, PA (Byham Theater)

November 25 - Columbus, OH (Palace Theatre)

November 27 - Chicago, IL (Riviera Theatre)

November 28 - Appleton, WI (Fox Cities Performing Arts Center)

November 29 - Omaha, NE (Orpheum Theater)

November 30 - Oklahoma City, OK (The Criterion)

December 1 - Des Moines, IA (Hoyt Sherman Place)

December 2 - Kansas City, MO (Uptown Theater)

December 4 - Denver, CO (Paramount Theatre)

December 5 - Salt Lake City, UT (Kingsbury Hall)

December 7 - Seattle, WA (Moore Theatre)

December 9 - Sacramento, CA (Channel 24)

December 10 - San Francisco, CA (Golden Gate Theatre)

December 11 - Stockton, CA (Bob Hope Theatre)

December 12 - Los Angeles, CA (The Wiltern)

December 13 - Santa Rosa, CA (Luther Burbank Center)

December 15 - Mesa, AZ (Mesa Arts Center)

December 16 - Tucson, AZ (Fox Tucson Theatre)

December 17 - El Paso, TX (Plaza Theatre)

December 19 - Austin, TX (ACL Live at The Moody Theater)

December 20 - Dallas, TX (Winspear Opera House)

December 21 - Wichita, KS (Orpheum Theatre)

December 22 - St.Louis, MO (The Factory)

December 23 - Knoxville, TN (Tennessee Theatre)

December 26 - Tampa Bay, FL (Straz Center for the Performing Arts)

December 27 - Fort Myers, FL (Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall)

December 28 - West Palm Beach, FL (Kravis Center for the Performing Arts)

December 29 - Jacksonville, FL (Florida Theatre)

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Creative Cauldron Stage Receives $15,000 Shubert Foundation Grant for New Works

ABOUT CREATIVE CAULDRON STAGE

ABOUT CREATIVE CAULDRON

Creative Cauldron Stage Receives $15,000 Shubert Foundation Grant for New Works

ABOUT CREATIVE CAULDRON STAGE

ABOUT CREATIVE CAULDRON

Special Offer: LOOT at Edge of the Universe Theater

Review: A FINE MADNESS at Woolly Mammoth

A DRAG QUEEN CHRISTMAS to Return for 12th Year With 39-City National Tour

This year's cast includes:

A Drag Queen Christmas 2026 Tour Dates: