Scott Suchman News

Ford's Theatre Society presented Come From Away: In Concert at the Lincoln Memorial, a free one-night-only concert presentation of the Tony and Olivier Award-winning musical Come From Away on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, September 10, 2021, at 6:00 p.m. 

Debbie Allen is one of those arts types that simply doesn’t fit into one category. I think it is safe to say she is an all-around goddess of the arts. Her list of achievements includes being directed by Bob Fosse and Jerome Robbins, directing Cat on a Hot Tin Roof on Broadway, choreographing the Oscars, being an executive producer and actress on the long running Grey’s Anatomy, and running a dance academy that bears her name.

The biggest surprise about the surprise program at the Kennedy Center by the National Symphony Orchestra under the direction fo Gianandrea Noseda may have been that it was happening at all.

On January thirteenth the DC area arts community lost the immensely talented performer Delores King Williams. She was an incredibly talented actress and singer who was always a huge support factor for her fellow performers.

If you were planning the first in-person performance in the Kennedy Center in six months, a kind of historic cultural awakening after the darkness of the pandemic lockdown, you couldn't go wrong with a double bill of Renée Fleming and Vanessa Williams.

Bad haircuts can be tragic, but none more so than for Samson, the Biblical figure whose strength was sapped the moment his mullet was gone. The treacherous shearing by a revenge-seeking Delilah launched centuries of retelling, including Camille Saint-Saëns' opera 'Samson and Delilah' which the Washington National Opera is currently presenting at the Kennedy Center in repertoire with 'Don Giovanni.'

Some unclear choices keep a beautifully-designed and often well-sung GIOVANNI from making the impact it intends to.

The Amen Corner shows the role faith can play when there is almost nowhere left to turn. This alone is a powerful statement about the American experience.

The city lights of Washington may typically obscure the night sky, but a portal to the cosmos has opened in downtown DC. Playwright Lauren Gunderson has gifted us a corner of the galaxy through the telescopic lens of astronomer Henrietta Leavitt's life and scientific discoveries. Leavitt's work may have been rooted in facts and figures, but SILENT SKY is bursting with imagination.

This past Sunday, newly awarded Kennedy Center Honoree Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT) was celebrated in a special tribute presentation at the 42nd annual Kennedy Center Honors Gala. The tribute included a performance by more than 40 alumni of the New World Symphony, America's Orchestral Academy (NWS), which MTT co-founded 32 years ago as a training ground for the next generation of classical musicians. Conducted by NWS alumnus and Louisville Orchestra Music Director Teddy Abrams, the alumni musicians paid tribute to MTT's wide-ranging artistry, performing a program that celebrated his acclaimed interpretations of modern masters, his advocacy for American music, and his own work as a composer. Joining the orchestra in performance were MTT's longtime friends and collaborators Audra McDonald and Yuja Wang, as well as Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, who recently collaborated with MTT as part of Metallica and San Francisco Symphony's S&M2 concert. Spoken tributes were also given by Mr. Ulrich and actress Debra Winger.

The magic of the WNO's THE MAGIC FLUTE is that it is captivating for all ages and a tempting proposition for first-timers and opera-buffs alike.

Giuseppe Verdi's penultimate masterpiece is brought to its intense glory in a production filled with magnificent performances and crackling with dramatic fervor.

The 19/20 theatrical season has seen several milestones for many of its area theatres but the biggest by far is the 70th anniversary of the company that helped pioneer the regional theatre movement in this country Arena Stage.

It won't be the novelty of these plays that will continue to draw us to Wilson's compelling portraits of the Hill District in Pittsburgh; it will be his indelibly drawn characters given new life by artists putting their own personal stamp on his work. August Wilson is meant to be savored live; he can't be contained in a damned DVD box. And with local heroes like Craig Wallace and Erika Rose as the headliners, it's not to be missed.

Ford's Theatre Society presents August  Wilson's Fences, directed by Timothy Douglas— one of the foremost interpreters of Wilson's work.

The newly opened REACH at Kennedy Center continues the institution's promise set forth by President John F. Kennedy of arts for all.

On September 11, Alan Menken joined the Kennedy Center's festivities as a part of the 16­-day Opening Festival for The REACH. The legendary composer's music was celebrated in a free concert on the festival's mainstage by Tony Award nominee Megan Hilty (Smash, the Kennedy Center's Little Shop of Horrors), Adam Jacobs (Aladdin, The Lion King), Tony Award nominee Norm Lewis (The Little Mermaid, the Kennedy Center's The Music Man), Tony Award winner Patina Miller (Sister Act, Pippin), the National Symphony Orchestra, and Principal Pops Conductor Steven Reineke.

Today's subjects Dana P. Rowe and John Dempsey are currently living their theatre lives as the writing team for the excellent swashbuckling World Premiere Musical Blackbeard at Signature Theatre. The production runs through July 14th in the MAX.

It's easy to see why 'Tosca' is one of the most popular works in opera.Its very musical style, broken free from the strict opera house rules before it, allows it to breathe. Singers are not urgently singing every moment. The supertitles person can take a break as it goes dark from time to time. Still, there is drama to burn in the story of an opera singer in the midst of a divided Italy in 1800.

Michael Kahn's final production at Shakespeare Theatre Company deeply understands the underlying questions and humanity of the tale, and draws out an emotional, sympathetic performance that rings with a relevance to our lives today. Under his direction, 'The Oresteia' is not just insight to our shared history, but also into the world we want to build.