Jason Loewith News

Olney Theatre Center, recipient of 27 nominations for the 2020 Helen Hayes Awards, tonight releases a specially filmed version of The Humans by Stephen Karam and directed by Aaron Posner.

Olney Theatre Center tonight is releasing a specially filmed version of The Humans by Stephen Karam and directed by Aaron Posner. Originally scheduled to run during the 2019-2020 Season, the physical production was permanently shelved this summer when the COVID-19 pandemic would not relent.

Four DMV-area arts leaders will co-curate and assemble a 4-week series of free streaming programs celebrating BIPOC artists and the tradition of social protest, presented by Olney Theatre Center. Kicking off on Friday, October 9, and running through October 30, each installment will highlight a different pillar of social justice:  a?oeAccessibility,a?? a?oeRights,a?? a?oeEquity,a?? and a?oeParticipation.a??

In an announcement released today, National Players, the educational touring troupe at Olney Theatre Center, has been awarded a 2020-21 Shakespeare in American Communities grant, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest, worth $25,000.

Beginning this Saturday. May 9 at 5:00 pm, Olney Theatre Center presents 'Streaming Saturdays: Artists Envision the Future' a new series of live, online discussions that will feature the perspectives of a wide range of theatre makers locally and across the country.

Tomorrow is the pinnacle of a busy week of online activity for Olney Theatre Center. On Saturday, April 4 at 11:00 am, the Montgomery County, MD-based regional theatre will livestream on its Facebook and YouTube pages the announcement of its 2020-2021 season.

Olney Theatre Center's production of The Amateurs by Jordan Harrison and directed by Jason King Jones will be available to stream online beginning Saturday, March 28 at noon through the end of Sunday April 5 through Vimeo On-Demand. The streaming version is just one of the ways Olney Theatre Center has shifted its activities online to serve the public during this period of prolonged home-confinement. Other highlights include free classes on Zoom, a panel discussion on the future of DC Theatre and a community storytelling project. 

Olney Theatre Center, recipient of 27 nominations for the 2020 Helen Hayes Awards, begins rehearsals tomorrow for The Humans by Stephen Karam and directed by Aaron Posner. The 6th show of the 2019-2020 season runs on the Mainstage, April 1 - May 3, 2020. Press is invited to attend the performance on Saturday, April 4 at 8:00 pm.

The comedy 2 Pianos 4 Hands has been added to the current Olney Theatre Center schedule as a special event for a limited run on the Historic Stage, May 8 - 24, 2020. Written and originally performed by Ted Dykstra and Richard Greenblatt; Jefferson McDonald and Matt McGloin take the stage for this production to portray Ted and Richard from their very first piano lessons as they strive to become professional concert pianists. Directed by Tom Frey, each actor plays a piano in this comic look at what happens when we chase our dreams and come up short. Tickets are on sale today via olneytheatre.org and the box office (301-924-3400).

Olney Theatre Center kicks off the decade with a production of Quiara Alegría Hudes' newest musical, Miss You Like Hell on the Mainstage (January 29 - March 1, 2020). Hudes, a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and Lin-Manuel Miranda's collaborator on the book and film of In The Heights, wrote the book and shares credit for the lyrics with folk-rock star Erin McKeown who also wrote the music. Lisa Portes and Breon Arzell make their Olney Theatre debuts as director and choreographer, respectively. Press is invited to attend the performance on Saturday, February 1 at 8:00 pm.

It's great there is a family-friendly musical ready for the holidays.

Olney Theatre Center presents Paul Morella's unique solo performance of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas in the Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab from November 29 a?" December 29, 2019. Morella, who adapted the story himself, has been performing the show for ten years.

Trap Door Theatre presents The White Plague.

Olney Theatre Center presents its biggest, most technically challenging musical to-date when it produces Singin In The Rain, November 8, 2019 - January 5, 2020, directed by Marcos Santana. Santana, who directed and choreographed In The Heights, which won the 2018 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Musical Production, is joined by choreographer Grady Bowman who choreographed 2017's My Fair Lady. Press is invited to attend the performance on Thursday, November 14 at 8:00pm. Keeping with its tradition of partnering with community oriented non-profits during its holiday productions, Olney Theatre will be accepting donations of new or gently used coats to be distributed to community members in-need by One Warm Coat.

Olney Theatre Center and 1st Stage's co-production of The Royale by Marco Ramirez and directed by Paige Hernandez begins its delayed run on Wednesday, October 2 at 1:45pm. The original first week of performances were cancelled when the actor had to withdraw for medical reasons just prior to the first scheduled performance.

Olney Theatre Center and 1st Stage combine forces to co-produce the first show of the 2019 - 20 Season in the Olney Theatre's Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab: The Royale by Marco Ramirez, directed and choreographed by Paige Hernandez. Inspired by the story of Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion boxer, the New York Times praised Ramirez's play that a?oeboldly takes on and reorients a familiar genre and a familiar tale.a?? The area premiere runs at Olney Theatre Center September 25 - October 27, 2019 with Invited Press Night on Saturday, September 28 at 7:45pm. The production, with the same actors and set, moves to 1st Stage for a run January 30 - February 23, 2020

Olney Theatre Center launches the 2019-2020 season on the Mainstage with Kander and Ebb's CABARET directed by Alan Paul (August 28 - October 6, 2019). Broadway veteran Alexandra Silber, who played Guinevere in Paul's 2019 Helen Hayes Award-winning production of Camelot, and Tzeitel in the acclaimed Bart Sher revival of Fiddler on the Roof, will star as Sally Bowles, the flamboyant showgirl carried away by the glitz and debauchery of Weimar Berlin. Invited press night is Saturday, August 31 at 8:00pm.

Let me admit when I saw MATILDA on Broadway in 2013 (winner of 5 Tony Awards), I did not enjoy it. I just could not understand the character of the buffoon Miss Trunchbell, the Olympian hammer throwing athletic principal of Matilda's school. He was the villain of all villains.

Olney Theatre Center's SummerFest, its annual open house, happens Saturday, July 27 beginning at 11:00am with events continuing all day and late into the evening. This is the fourth edition of the event with several new elements and improvements over past years along with the continuation of perennial favorites.

EVERY BRILLIANT THING at Studio Theatre takes an audience of individuals and transforms them, in 65 short minutes, into a collective. It is theatre in its purest, most primal, form, and it's hilarious to boot. Described by The Guardian as 'one of the funniest shows you'll ever see about depression' EVERY BRILLIANT THING is as compassionate as it is hilarious. The first in Studio Theatre's Showroom series-a curated performance series in the summertime (with spirits)-EVERY BRILLIANT THING is warm, intimate, and inventive.