The African American experience is not represented solely by one voice or one style. For the third year in a row Horse Trade Theater Group will present The Fire This Time Festival, providing a platform for talented early-career playwrights of African and African-American descent to explore new voices, styles, and challenging new directions for 21st century performing arts in order to move beyond common misconceptions of what's possible in 'black theater.'
The Juilliard School will offer its first Master of Fine Arts in Drama with classes beginning in the Fall of 2012, a watershed moment in the Drama Division's forty-four year history.
October is packed with over 50 local productions opening on DC area stages. In fact, after the month is over, the writers of Maryland Theatre Guide, where I am the Editor and a columnist, will have reviewed over 80 shows, concerts and cabarets.
The Kennedy Center hosts its 10th annual Page-to-Stage new play festival from Saturday, September 3, 2011 to Monday, September 5, 2011, featuring more than 40 theaters from the D.C. metropolitan area, all with a mission to produce and support new work.
The new DC area theatre season begins in September. Over 50 shows are opening in our professional and community theatres. But before we move on to the new season and what's opening in September, let's look back at my personal favorite musicals, plays, and performances in both musicals and plays in the DC area - from August 2010 to August 2011.
The Kennedy Center hosts its 10th annual Page-to-Stage new play festival from Saturday, September 3, 2011 to Monday, September 5, 2011, featuring more than 40 theaters from the D.C. metropolitan area, all with a mission to produce and support new work.
The Country Girl tells the story of faithful, devoted Georgie Elgin, her alcoholic has-been actor husband, and the producer who offers him an opportunity to resurrect his career.
The acclaimed American Century Theater, led by Artistic Director and founder Jack Marshall, announces its 2011-2012 Season, featuring five productions beginning in the Fall of 2011 and continuing throughout Summer 2012.
There's a lot of 'steam heat' on DC area stages and outside, so if you're visiting DC for the annual July 4th fireworks extravaganza, stop by and see a show before you roast on the Mall waiting for the concert and loud "booms" to fill up the sky. And if you couldn't get into the sold-out Oklahoma!, Aquarium, Clybourne Park, or The Importance of Being Earnest - earlier this year - you have a chance now! And then there's The Capital Fringe Festival with dozens of new shows to choose from.
The DC area is full of spring splendor with so many gorgeous trees and azaleas in full bloom, and our local theatres are filled with new colorful productions. So come visit the Nation's Capital and bask in the city's beauty and the power and joy of our local theatres.
What do goats dream about? That is a question that has plagued mankind … well … not really at all. But New Century Theater Company is endeavoring to answer just such a question with their latest show, "O Lovely Glowworm or Scenes of Great Beauty" by Glen Berger. And this existential question is handled in as artfully and skillfully a way as to create a production of near perfection on every level.
Dynamic writing duo Edna Ferber (the author of Show Boat) and George S. Kaufman (coauthor of The Man Who Came to Dinner, You Can't Take It with You, and other hit comedies) brought high comedy and laughter to American audiences in the 1930s with their witty, stylish hits Stage Door, The Royal Family, and Dinner at Eight. Stage Door was a huge Broadway success in 1936 at the Music Box Theatre (staged by Kaufman) and was made into a star-studded Hollywood movie featuring a young Katherine Hepburn. The play, however, is rarely done in modern times because of the large cast. A magnificent vehicle for theatre actresses, Stage Door is the kind of seldom-produced classic comedy that The American Century Theater was created to produce-and will be presenting in April of 2011.
While the cherry blossoms are blooming - over 30 productions will be taking root on DC area stages in April. So come visit the Nation's Capital and see a show or two or more. There's something playing for everyone.
Dynamic writing duo Edna Ferber (the author of Show Boat) and George S. Kaufman (coauthor of The Man Who Came to Dinner, You Can't Take It with You, and other hit comedies) brought high comedy and laughter to American audiences in the 1930s with their witty, stylish hits Stage Door, The Royal Family, and Dinner at Eight. Stage Door was a huge Broadway success in 1936 at the Music Box Theatre (staged by Kaufman) and was made into a star-studded Hollywood movie featuring a young Katherine Hepburn. The play, however, is rarely done in modern times because of the large cast. A magnificent vehicle for theatre actresses, Stage Door is the kind of seldom-produced classic comedy that The American Century Theater was created to produce-and will be presenting in April of 2011.
American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) Artistic Director Carey Perloff announced Bruce Norris's critically-acclaimed Clybourne Park as the final play of the company's 44th subscription season. Home is where the heart-and history-is in Clybourne Park, a 'spiky and damningly insightful new comedy' (The New York Times).
With over 30 shows opening on DC area stages, there's lots to choose from for local theatregoers and visitors in February. There's a 'mash-up' festival, a puppet 'slam!', a Tom Stoppard play, the beginning of The Edward Albee Festival, and so much more! So come visit the Nation's Capital and join us for some outstanding theatre.
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater continues its inaugural season this spring with an unparalleled tribute to one of the nation's greatest living playwrights, Edward Albee. The company has mounted a two-month festival featuring 30 events, making nearly every one of his plays available in performance spaces throughout the Mead Center.
