Andrew White News

After The Porch on Windy Hill plays its final tune, Spiritus/Virgil’s Dance will make its way to Merrimack Repertory Theatre’s Nancy L. Donahue Stage at Liberty Hall. Learn how to purchase tickets.

Believe it or not, Summer is coming.  After we sneeze our way through a way-too-flowery Spring, we get to contemplate the joys of those little weekend getaways here and there, sneaking out of town to enjoy some solid artistry in friendly locales. 

For family and friends who gathered at Round House Theatre to watch the latest crop of high school talent working on and offstage in Joe Calarco’s Spring Break, it was a chance to cheer on young people who have worked hard to create a compelling afternoon’s entertainment, both visually inventive and dramatically potent.

The intimate cabaret space at 54 Below was transformed into Berlin’s Grand Hotel on Monday night. The kick-off performance of GRAND HOTEL: THE 35TH ANNIVERSARY ORIGINAL BROADWAY CAST REUNION CONCERT on February 26th was exuberant, with much of the star-studded original cast reviving their roles.

Portland's The Fourth Wall has released a new shoegaze single titled 'Never A Part.' Check out the epic new track and video from this talented band. Songwriter Stephen Agustin circles a fire that feels so bright and yet so unknowable; there are not many answers to be found, only a disruption, the emergence of a world seen with new eyes. 

As the Summer draws to a hot close, and school days loom on the near horizon, it’s good to know that some childish antics will survive well into the Fall.  The American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Virginia, has pulled out the stops with Shakespeare’s zany take on the battle of the sexes, Much Ado About Nothing. 

Although the results are a bit chaotic—truth be known, this is a sprawling epic of a show which could use some trimming—the timeliness of its topic and its glorious performances make “The Overview Effect”, by rights, a major attraction for theatre goers this July.  A mix of straight drama and rock-musical-fantasy, “The Overview Effect” reaches for the stars while contemplating some of the more pressing issues surounding space exploration.

Jeffrey Lieber’s Fever Dreams (of Animals on the Verge of Extinction) is a study in tragedy of an all-too-human scale; infidelity, secrecy, lies used to cover for passion, more lies used to cover the consequences of that passion, all so intricately constructed that the heart-breaking reality, when it finally dawns on us, strikes like a streak of lightning.

Dael Orlandersmith reigns supreme in the Studio 112 space at CATF, telling the story of Virgil, a native of the Bronx.  Curated and written with care, and based on Orlandersmith’s interviews and research, the humanity of the piece shines brilliantly. 

Rivera's 'Your Name Means Dream' creates a spectacle of actors at the top of their game, with a script that gives both Anne O'Sullivan and Sara Koviak ample opportunity to shine—and to shine a light on the mysteries of the human heart and the human-generated machine.

Chisa Hutchinson's latest offering, “Redeemed,” is as vitally important a piece as the Festival has to offer this year.  Rooted in the often-distorted dialogue this country continues to have about race, Hutchinson uses the play to address the under-explored question of what it really might take for true reconciliation and redemption.

For years, I have had the incredible privilege and pleasure of reviewing shows, every July, at the Contemporary American Theater Festival in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. But I have a small confession to make:  the plays are good, sure, but I’m really in it for the Afternoon Tea at Shepherdstown’s treasured pub, the Devonshire Arms. The triple-tier of delights the Arms offers will leave you with what my sainted grandmother would call “a sufficiency” to last the rest of the weekend. 

The genius of “Dissonances” is the way that it reveals, and then gently dismantles, those walls we erect around ourselves, those unconscious fears that prevent us from really communicating and empathizing with people different from ourselves.  Both Duncan and Sandel create human beings we recognize instantly—their virtues intact, their flaws visible but never damning. 

Milt Larsen has died at 12:28pm on Sunday, May 28th, in Los Angeles of Natural Causes at 92. The patriarch of magic, Milt was perhaps best known for his life-long role in the world of magic and illusion, and grew up in a family of magicians.  

Messenger Legacy band—honoring the enduring influence of jazz great Ralph Peterson—appears at William Paterson University on May 20, 2023 at 8:00pm 

Leading music and arts festival Latitude festival returns to the ​​picturesque grounds of Henham Park, Suffolk, on 20-23 July 2023.

The Department of Curiosity at Lookingglass Theatre Company invites high school students to participate in a one-of-a-kind experience this summer in the historic Water Tower Water Works on Michigan Avenue. 

Audiences rarely have the opportunity to navigate between the Scylla of relationships and the Charybdis of a wreck at sea, and 4615 Theatre’s effort here, with both paper backs and Life Jacket, is not to be missed.

The Washington Stage Guild's current production of Shaw's Major Barbara runs rings around a whole world of ideas, metaphysical, physical, you name it, with Emelie Faith Thompson positively shining in her turn as the title character

Simon Goodwin's new production of Much Ado About Nothing pulls out all the stops. Visually joyful, with antics and sight-gags galore, this is just the break from election anxiety this town needs. We've been waiting a long time for this one (COVID delayed the premiere by a bit, as you can imagine), and boy was the wait worth it!