Roger Catlin - Page 2

What did our critic think of LA SALPÊTRIÈRE at Taffety Punk?

The Writer’s Center is just the right place to stage a reverent version of one of Harold Pinter’s best known plays.

There may be no better town for political drama than Washington, and no theater more historically consequential than Ford’s Theatre, where Lincoln was assassinated 158 years ago.

The all-woman production is top-notch, from the vibrant cast to the sharp direction of Elena Araoz. 

Controversial statues have been de-installed long before a racial reckoning meant the end of most Confederate statues in recent years. An 1840 marble sculpture of George Washington was removed from the U.S. Capitol rotunda because some didn’t like that he was shirtless (it sits now at the National Museum of American History) 

The tantalizing notion of a forbidden romance was part of Tennessee Williams’ “The Night of the Iguana,” Colleen McCullough’s novel “The Thorn Birds” (made into a TV miniseries with Richard Chamberlain), and the hot priest that tantalized Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s “Fleabag.” 

It’s only the third time the Maryland regional powerhouses have collaborated, and people still recall their only other two such efforts, “Angels in America” in 2016 and “In the Heights in 2017. “Fela!” will be equally well-remembered alongside them. 

The National Symphony Orchestra’s intent this weekend was to pay tribute to the 50th anniversary of native son Marvin Gaye’s classic “What’s Going On” album, a high water mark for both social commentary and Motown soul. 

The latest musical production from the GALA Hispanic Theatre highlights a specific but not widely known genre — that of Afro-Peruvian dance, music and poetry. Specifically, it’s about  the work of the influential brother and sister team of Victoria and Nicomedes Santa Cruz, who took separate paths to enrich, enliven and expand Afro-Cuban culture in the 1960s and 70s.

Read BroadwayWorld's review for NEW YORK BALLET: VISIONARY VOICES at the Kennedy Center.

When the cast of “Hadestown” emerge on stage at the National Theatre waving to the waiting audience, they’re received with cheers like old friends. 

It's really the perfect weekend for the Washington Ballet's revival of its grand 'The Sleeping Beauty.' With all the pomp and pageantry currently dominating news cycles, with flocks of kids are seen trailing behind newly-crowned monarchs lugging their elaborate trains, it didn't seem so out of place to see the same kind of splendor at the Kennedy Center.

Constellation Theatre Company's production of David Ives' 'The School for Lies' is a witty, rollicking farce, reimagining Molière's 'The Misanthrope' with modern sass and plenty of surprises. The cast, costumes, and set design all impress, making for a delightful experience from start to finish.

A ghost is already sitting on stage - in sheet and eyeholes - as the audience files in for 'La Valentía' at GALA Hispanic Theatre.

When elders pass, surviving family members often learn more than they knew about the departed by clearing out their home and going through papers left behind.

How do you fit an 800-page Russian classic into a night's ballet? Throw a lot of ballroom dances. There has been a couple of attempts to make Leo Tolstoy's 'Anna Karenina' into a ballet before - there also has been two operas and nearly two dozen filmed versions. Past ballets have usied a pastiche of works from Tchaikovsky for the music. But Yuri Possokhov's recent version, presented with verve this week at the Kennedy Center is a winning one.

It's a little surprising that the Red Sky Performance company of Canada is just now making its debut at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. The striking group of contemporary indigenous dance has been around for 22 years, performing in 21 countries and performing at two Cultural Olympiads. And the Kennedy Center, of course, has maintained a distinguished dance series over the years.

The star-crossed story of Romeo and Juliet has certainly kept is relevance in the 426 years since William Shakespeare premiered his enduring play. Endlessly reinterpreted on stage, screen and song ever since, its leading interpretation through dance came in the mid-20th century ballet from Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev, whose other famed works included the ballet for 'Cinderella' and 'Peter and the Wolf.'