Tom Prewitt News

Avant Bard's acclaimed production of The Gospel at Colonus, a critical and audience favorite a year ago, returns in all its glory to Gunston Arts Center February 22 to March 25, 2018. The exhilarating African American musical will again star renowned Arlington actor and judge William T. Newman (pictured above) in the role of Oedipus.

Avant Bard announces a one-week extension of Emilie: La Marquise Du Ch telet Defends Her Life Tonight. The comic drama about 18th-century scientific genius Emilie Du Ch telet--written by Lauren Gunderson, today the most-produced playwright in America--continues through November 19, 2017, at Gunston Arts Center Theatre Two in Arlington, VA. 'When we began the run, few folks knew much at all about Emilie Du Ch telet,' said Tom Prewitt, Artistic and Executive Director. 'And no wonder. One of the most brilliant mathematicians who ever lived, Emilie had become a 'hidden figure' in history, a woman remembered if at all as the lover of a great man, Voltaire. Happily that has changed for audiences who have seen Gunderson's whip-smart play and are blown away by the passionate genius they get to know.

The exhilarating musical The Gospel at Colonus returns, Lauren Gunderson's fiery genius Emilie makes her DC debut, and Shakespeare's fantastical The Tempest takes the stage by storm

The exhilarating musical The Gospel at Colonus returns, Lauren Gunderson's fiery genius Emilie makes her DC debut, and Shakespeare's fantastical The Tempest takes the stage by storm

Avant Bard announces full casting and creative team for its first production of the season, Lauren Gunderson's Emilie: La Marquise Du Ch telet Defends Her Life Tonight--a witty reincarnation of a passionate and defiant woman who in 18th-century France dazzled Voltaire and blazed a trail for women in science.

For its 28th season making theatre on the edge, Avant Bard proudly announces the regional premiere in October of Emilie: La Marquise Du Chatelet Defends Her Life Tonight by Lauren Gunderson, one of America's hottest, most produced young playwrights

The exhilarating musical The Gospel at Colonus returns, Lauren Gunderson's fiery genius Emilie makes her DC debut, and Shakespeare's fantastical The Tempest takes the stage by storm

Tom Prewitt, Avant Bard's current artistic director, knew who he wanted to take on this monumental role: Rick Foucheux. A 35-year veteran of stages large and small in the Washington, DC area, Foucheux has played everything from realism to the avant garde; modern and the classics. Capping off his storied career as he is about to leave the limelight to spend time as a grandfather and to travel, Foucheux taking on Lear is a match made in heaven. Effortlessly commanding the stage, Shakespeare's words and the arc of the tragedy seem newly minted in Foucheux's skillful hands.

BroadwayWorld has a full list of the Helen Hayes Awards winners updating LIVE below! Named for actor Helen Hayes - a Washington native and legendary First Lady of the American Theatre - the Helen Hayes Awards celebrates excellence in professional theatre throughout the Washington region and has become a hallmark recognized by theatre makers and theatre lovers far beyond Washington D.C.

The 33rd annual Helen Hayes Awards will be celebrated at the historicLincoln Theatre at 7:30 pm on May 15, with accomplished actors E. Faye Butler and Lawrence Redmond as hosts. The line-up of award presenters includes artistic leaders from across the Washington region, highlighting the depth and breadth of a theatre community recognized worldwide for the quality and diversity of its work. Following the awards, a roof-raising dance party gets underway at the world-renowned 9:30 Club. Both events honor 236 Helen Hayes Award nominees drawn from 200 eligible productions presented in 2016. Tickets for the combined Awards Ceremony and Dance Party are $275 for premium seating, $150 for balcony seating, and can be purchased online.

Avant Bard proudly announces the last production of its 2016/2017 season, Shakespeare's masterpiece King Lear starring local acting legend Rick Foucheux as Lear.  

It turns out that there's a reason that WSC Avant Bard's production of The Good Devil (In Spite of Himself starts 15 minutes late. The actors who are running frantically back and forth for last minute details and consultation are actually already in character.

Like a sepia-toned photo from the pages of a family album, Avant Bard's production of HOLIDAY MEMORIES evokes seasonal joys untouched by commercialism and cynicism - two mortal enemies of the true spirit of Thanksgiving and Christmas, in my opinion. Taken from two personal short stories by the iconoclastic author Truman Capote, this stage adaptation deserves to become an annual tradition.

Shakespeare may not have known Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in his time, but Director Tom Prewitt sees all the classic symptoms in Othello. With this lens of PTSD, WSC Avant Bard's current production becomes an examination of civilian vs. military life, generational differences, differing life experiences and, at its core, the terrible ravages of war. Race, the central feature in so many interpretations of Othello, is almost incidental here.

Collaboration is on full view in this production that touches on DC history, the deaf community in particular, and the importance of communication in general. Theater company WSC Avant Bard, has worked with the theater community at DC's vaunted university for the deaf and deaf studies, Gallaudet University, to create a work of musical theater in which deaf and hearing actors and creative artists come together to tell a very personal story. A story, as it turns out, that is both historically true-to-life and theatrically interesting. Alexander Graham Bell, Edward Miner Gallaudet, Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan, and, most importantly, deaf students of the time, all converge in the Washington of the late 1800s in a personal, professional and political dialogue about communication, assimilation, education and self respect.

Crash of Rhinos, an endangered little theater company, announced today that, as part of the Kennedy Center's 2014 Page To Stage Festival, it would hold a staged reading of 'Carved in Stone … A Comedy of Terrors,' a new play by Mario Baldessari.

Crash of Rhinos, an endangered little theater company, announced today that, as part of the Kennedy Center's 2014 Page To Stage Festival, it would hold a staged reading of "Carved in Stone … A Comedy of Terrors," a new play by Mario Baldessari.

Crash of Rhinos, an endangered little theater company, has become the new theater company in residence at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts, following on the heels of such previous resident companies as Rorschach Theater and Charter Theater. As the resident theater, Crash will produce a slate of new play readings, short films and one new production in 2014 - many of which will provide behind-the-scenes educational opportunities for the students enrolled in the Conservatory's accredited acting program.

If your appetite for Shakespeare's history plays was whetted by PBS's recent series "The Hollow Crown," be of good cheer; King John is now receiving a solid production by the WSC Avant Bard. A rare gem, King John is a must for Shakespeare enthusiasts, not least because the play's complex plot renders it extremely difficult to stage. You will have the rare treat of seeing this unjustly neglected piece in fine form.

The National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts, the only accredited acting school in the Greater Washington Area, announced today that its "Manilogy" reading series - a trilogy of new comedies about men - will conclude with a staged reading of "Best Men" on Monday, August 19, at 7:30 pm. The play was written by local playwrights Mario Baldessari and Chris Stezin, and the reading is being directed by WSC Avant Bard Artistic Director Tom Prewitt.