George Mason News

Here is the scenario. Imagine going to a community theatre in Arlington, VA to see a show that requires a good size choir and a fourteen-piece orchestra. I imagine some of you might think that the company was crazy. I'm here to tell you that, in the case of The Arlington Players' 68th season opener The Hunchback of Notre Dame, you would be totally wrong. Never assume anything until you witness it. The production indeed features a twenty-member choir and it utilizes Michael Starobin's full orchestration but besides that, the production overall is as good as I've seen from some professional theatre companies. Yes, you read that right folks.

Hamlet Machine, an adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet and Henrikh Muller's Hamletmachine by Ani Vardanyan, will officially start performance Off-Broadway on October 24th, 2018 at Theatre Row (410 W 42nd St.)

Even if you've never seen an opera, you know at least one or two of the tunes from Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata, which has become one of the most popular modern representations for classical opera. While the work was jeered at the time of its premiere, this tragic tale has aged beautifully-with a lush score featuring some of the greatest duets. The Washington National Opera's newest production injects new life into this piece, thanks to smart directorial choices by WNO Artistic Director Francesca Zambello and a top-notch creative team.

Updated this week! Check out upcoming Non-Equity Auditions from Sunday, October 7, 2018 for productions in your area and around the country.

There's nothing quite like a case of mistaken identity to really spice up a relationship. This is a lesson learned the hard way for Adrianna, wife of Antipholus of Syracuse, in Shakespeare Theatre Company's newest staging of The Comedy of Errors. While it takes a little while for this staging to settle into a groove, Alan Paul's deft direction supplies some of the finest comedic moments of the D.C. theater season thus far.

The Riverside Opera Company (ROC), under the direction of Maestro Alan Aurelia, presents: 'A Musical Feast' Daniel Rodriguez and the Sopranos

IMG Artists, today's leading global performing arts management agency, announces a 36-city North American tour with multi-genre recording artist Damien Sneed. The Sphinx Medal of Excellence recipient will bring his brand of classical, jazz, and gospel music to 'We Shall Overcome: A Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., featuring Damien Sneed.' The tour will kick off on Friday, January 11, 2019, at the Empire Center at The Egg in Albany, NY, and will make stops at concert halls and universities in the U.S. and Canada. The tour will conclude on March 3 at the Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto, CA.

On Saturday night, Washington, D.C. had a visit from one of the most popular American presidents and, while thoughts of a certain musical about a founding father hung over the evening, George Washington delivered a charming concert in the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater. To clarify, Mr. Washington himself was unavailable for the evening since he's been dead for two centuries. Christopher Jackson, however, who received a Tony nomination for his portrayal of our first president, served as a great alternative.

Updated this week! Check out upcoming Non-Equity Auditions from Sunday, September 30, 2018 for productions in your area and around the country.

Producing Artistic Director Carolyn Griffin is pleased to announce that the musical ROOMS a rock romance with book by Paul Scott Goodman and Miriam Gordon, music and lyrics by Paul Scott Goodman, and directed by MetroStage Artistic Associate Thomas W. Jones II will celebrate its 10th anniversary with a new production at MetroStage, running Oct 11-Nov 11.

Writing about gun violence is difficult. There's no 'how-to' guide when it comes to preventing these attacks which have become more and more commonplace. The more we try to understand the inner machinations of the monsters who carry out such senseless assaults, the more we begin to spiral into someone we hardly recognize. Such is the thesis of David Greig's The Events, which opened last week at Theater Alliance at the Anacostia Playhouse. While the work is incredibly poignant, some artistic decisions muddle the plot and make the 80-minute performance drag during the middle of the production.

Atlantic for Kids presents the world premiere production of Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach, featuring words and music by Benj Pasek & Justin Paul and a book by Timothy Allen McDonald to kick off their season.

Even if you haven't seen the original film, the musical is still a fun ride. Despite some missteps, NextStop Theatre Company's new production is an undeniably good time, thanks in large part to some winning lead performances.

"I don't like works which require an explanation," begins Timothy Nelson, the new Artistic Director for the In Series, at Sunday's performance of Viva VERDI. Even after Mr. Nelson describes the performance with great detail, he encourages the audience to embrace their inevitable confusion. Instead, Mr. Nelson explains, this is a work that should be felt rather than understood. Keeping true to Mr. Nelson's suggestion, Viva VERDI is a work that only a genius could fully understand. Nevertheless, it is one of the most emotionally stirring performances I have seen in recent memory.

Erblin Nushi's heart wrenching story Bini shares the story of a young boy whose family is sent to a refugee camp during the 1999 Kosovar War, this film is based on the true story of the director, who lived this nightmare himself as a child. This gripping tale is one out of only eight finalists at the Student Academy Awards and Erblin is the only undergraduate amongst all the finalists.

Kodo -- the world's most celebrated professional taiko company -- will present their program Evolution in North America for the first time, visiting 27 cities in the U.S. and Canada between January and March 2019.  Evolution invites audiences to step into the world of Kodo, created by their past, their present, and their dedication to the future of taiko performing arts. This production showcases Kodo's perpetual creative evolution under the artistic direction of the legendary Tamasaburo Bando.  2019 tour highlights include stops at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Chicago's Symphony Center and National Arts Center in Canada.  Complete schedule below.

Since his formidable emergence on the music scene in the 1990s, renowned pianist and composer Jason Moran has challenged the status quo, which has earned him a reputation as the future of jazz.

Siegmund Fuchs's new play In the Closet, produced by Rainbow Theatre Project, manifests this space in vivid detail. Unlike similar coming out stories, Fuchs emphasizes the continual process of coming out over the course of one's life. Even when the script stumbles, the themes presented in this show are worth listening to intently.

Arena Stage will continue to host Arena Civil Dialogues to engage the D.C.-area community

Pointless Theatre's production of Don Cristobal is an inventive send-up to Punch and Judy shows that is unfortunately bogged down by a clunky script which spends too much time trying to set up profundities it doesn't successfully execute.