Review: AN IRISH CAROL at Keegan TheatreDecember 7, 2024Of the too-many stage variations of Charles Dickens’ Scrooge story this time of year, the one that’s found its place in my cold, black heart is the Keegan Theatre’s “An Irish Carol.”
Review: I'LL TAKE YOU THERE: STAX RECORDS CO. at Signature TheatreNovember 16, 2024Signature Theatre’s cabaret series has been mining the riches of the 1960s for some time, from Bacharach to Woodstock, with repeat visits to Motown. A new show diverges to Memphis for its own flavor of gritty soul and the gems that came from its own indelible record label.
Review: MEAN GIRLS at National TheatreOctober 17, 2024t was 20 years ago when “Mean Girls” first hit movie theaters, cementing a certain kind of malevolent high school clique even as it launched a million memes, introduced a generation of actresses and established a pink dress code for its female fans years before “Barbie.” A rite of passage in itself, “Mean Girls” has never really gone away.
Review: EXCEPTION TO THE RULE at Studio TheatreSeptember 25, 2024But the new play by Dave Harris at Studio Theater is framed the same way: Six people marooned in an afterschool detention classroom on the Friday before Martin Luther King weekend, who bicker, flirt, nearly fight, and wonder if the presiding teacher will ever come to sign forms allowing them to go home.
Review: Bandhouse Gigs 20th Anniversary Tribute to DC Legends at StrathmoreAugust 20, 2024Bandhouse Gigs, an outfit that assembles top local musicians to honor a variety of artists from Bob Dylan to the Stones, began its life outdoors at the Strathmore, honoring Nils Lofgren. For a big event Saturday with the full title “Strathmore Presents A BandHouse Gigs 20th Anniversary Tribute to DC Legends,” an attempt was made to honor no less than 24 acts over three and a half hours, involving, by one count, 75 different musicians.
Review: SUMMERTIME: AWA SAL SECKA SINGS LADIES OF JAZZ at Signature TheatreJuly 29, 2024The talented actress and sometime playwright has appeared in dozens of shows in D.C. — and several at Signature, including an award-winning performance in its Ragtime last year. Here, she shares her passion for jazz singers from the golden era that have never gone out of style in a personable revue backed by a couple of ace musicians.
Review: THE MOORS at Faction Of FoolsJuly 24, 2024The Faction of Fools Theatre Company specializes in the arcane form of the Italian Renaissance, commedia dell’arte, with elaborate masks, exaggerated movements and a kind of extreme reading of what often are classic texts. The troupe’s “Commedia Romeo and Juliet,” revived earlier this year, was a good example of that.
Review: BROADWAY IN THE PARK at Wolf TrapJuly 2, 2024The intent of Wolf Trap’s annual “Broadway in the Park” event is to blend the star power of the Great White Way (if it’s still called that) with the rising stars of the local co-presenter, Signature Theatre.
Review: HERE IT IS: A TRIBUTE TO LEONARD COHEN at Kennedy CenterApril 29, 2024The producer Larry Klein honored the memory of Leonard Cohen with a 2022 tribute album that had a hushed sensibility and taste, as well as an impressive array of vocalists. Hoping to continue that feel, he began work on an equally fine performance version with the same title, “This is Now: A Tribute to Leonard Cohen,” which played two nights with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center over the weekend.