Jonathan Lee Taylor News

As directed by Alex Levy, THE FARNSWORTH INVENTION is theatrically inventive and mostly compelling recounting of of Farnsworth and Sarnoff's parallel stories. The production is also performed by a skillful company of actors who take the audience on this little known historical journey.

In his return to playwriting, celebrated film and television writer Aaron Sorkin's signature style lends itself to the remarkable story of the invention that changed our lives. In 1929, two ambitious visionaries race against each other to invent a device called "television." Separated by two thousand miles, each knows that if he stops working, even for a moment, the other will gain the edge. Who will unlock the key to the greatest innovation of the 20th century: the ruthless media mogul, or the selftaught Idaho farm boy? The answer comes to compelling life in the regional premiere of this "firecracker of a play" (The Chicago Sun-Times).

In his return to playwriting, celebrated film and television writer Aaron Sorkin's signature style lends itself to the remarkable story of the invention that changed our lives. In 1929, two ambitious visionaries race against each other to invent a device called "television."

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts's production of Shear Madness, the uproarious whodunit that holds the Guiness world record as the longest-running play in America, celebrates 30 years of hair-raising hilarity as it resumes performances tonight, August 29, in the Kennedy Center Theater Lab.

Adventurous theatre-goers, take note: a short drive beyond the Beltway, just off the Dulles Access Road, sits Next Stop Theatre Company, a troupe with a growing reputation for solid acting; their current production of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing is an excellent introduction to the growing theatre scene in Herndon, Reston and beyond-a scene which will become much closer as the Silver Line makes its progress to Dulles Airport.

As the 2017 inauguration arrived, leaving many in the Washington, D.C.-area fleeing the city to avoid crowds, NextStop Theatre opened their first two performances of 2017 to packed houses of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing", now appearing through February 12, 2017. Inside a 114-seat black box theatre, just 20 miles west of the nation's capital, in Herndon, Virginia, "the original romantic comedy", whisks audiences off to the sun-drenched sandy beaches of Messina, Italy.

NextStop Theatre presents their first production of 2017, Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" starting January 19, 2017. Billed as "the original romantic comedy", the story of Beatrice and Benedick will be directed by Abigail Isaac Fine at NextStop's black box theatre in Herndon, Virginia.

The 1st Stage production of HARVEY by Mary Chase features Tonya Beckman, Jonathan Lee Taylor, William Aitken, Elliott Bales, Robert Grimm, DeJeanette Horne, Carolyn Kashner, Kelsey Meiklejohn, Emily Morrison, Sue Schaffel, and Tim Torre. Michael Chamberlin returns to 1st Stage to direct the production. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

With World War II raging on in Europe, Veta Simmons and her daughter, Myrtle Mae Simmons are fighting a battle of their own against Elwood P. Dowd, Veta's brother, in order to try to keep their social lives intact. However, all of their tactics cannot keep Elwood from inviting his friend, Harvey, to their social events. Harvey is Elwood's best friend and they do everything together. The only problem is that Elwood is the only person who can see Harvey, a pooka in the form of a six foot tall rabbit. One afternoon after a disastrous Wednesday forum, Veta decides that it is time to commit Elwood to Chumley's Rest, a sanitarium.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, this beloved classic is a treat for the whole family. Veta Simmons and her daughter Myrtle Mae have just moved back into town and are making quite a splash on the social scene. Gatherings and engagements abound as Myrtle Mae peruses for a viable suitor. However, to Veta and Myrtle Mae's great dismay, uncle Elwood insists on involving his best friend Harvey in all their social affairs. Harvey is a precocious, humorous, and mischievous character who just so happens to be an imaginary, six-foot-one-and-a-half-foot tall rabbit. When Veta and Myrtle Mae decide to seek respite from Elwood and his pooka, a case of mistaken identity leads the town on a journey to discover the true 'lunacy' at play. This delightful, timeless classic challenges us to embrace our imaginations and to resist, at all costs, 'being perfectly normal human beings.'

Indian playwright Girish Karnad's play 'The Fire and the Rain' is now receiving a spectacular North American premiere at Constellation Theatre.  In the grand tradition of Greek tragedy, Karnad has taken a chapter from the Mahabharata's long saga and given it his own personal stamp.  And as directed by Allison Arkell Stockman you are guaranteed a fascinating spectacle that, although complex, can be truly rewarding.

We Happy Few Productions has once again brought its signature commitment to enlivening classic theatre through bare-bones, ensemble storytelling to this year's Capital Fringe Festival. Happily, they have re-energized a 90-minute version of the Jacobean drama, THE DUCHESS OF MALFI by John Webster, and placed its prescient outrage at the subordination and persecution of women before a 21st century audience still battling this oldest of injustices.

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.

Victoria Reinsel and Charlene V. Smith are proud to announce the formation of a new professional theatre company, Brave Spirits Theatre.