Sasha Olinick News

1st Stage will continue the 2021-2022 season with The Phlebotomist, a dark, gripping science-fiction romance.

There are certain musical theatre pieces that audiences see on Broadway and believe the version they saw is the only way the material can be interpreted.  Beauty and the Beast definitely falls into that category for the sole reason of that once you’ve seen how Disney produced it originally, it’s impossible to see it done in a less spectacular way.

In Theater J's fall opening, we are asked to consider: what really happens when love makes you sick? And yet, despite a strong cast and well-executed technical elements, 'Love Sick' suffers from a slight disconnect.

After a year of producing at venues around DC, Theater J returns to a beautifully renovated Aaron and Cecile Goldman Theater at the Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center with the passionate new musical Love Sick, the first show of its 19/20 season. Love Sick is written and adapted by Israeli actress/writer Ofra Daniel, with music by Daniel and Lior Ben-Hur. It is directed by Olivier and Tony Award nominee Christopher Renshaw, music directed by celebrated Palestinian musician Ali Paris, who also performs, and choreographed by Matt Cole. The press is invited to Opening Night of Love Sick on Monday, September 9 at 7:30 PM.

Do not miss this three hour thriller about diplomacy about the Middle East makes its regional premiere.

Oslo is an amazing against-all-odds story of risk, trust, and diplomacy. It is about overcoming hard-and-fast assumptions. Oslo shows the value in finding common ground and allowing ourselves to hope. This Round House Theatre production is a wonder-a brilliant heartfelt, heart-filling experience.

Political legitimacy and enduring human connections are at the forefront of a gorgeous and spare King John at the Folger Theatre. In the assured hands of Helen Hayes Award-winning director Aaron Posner, and with a dynamic and gifted cast, the production makes a powerful case for bringing King John off the shelf and onto the stage far more often.

Secret deals. Threats of mass destruction. Shifting loyalties. Folger Theatre follows its sold-out run of Macbeth with King John, Shakespeare's rarely performed history play chronicling King John's turbulent reign from 1199 to 1216.

Secret deals. Threats of mass destruction. Shifting loyalties. Folger Theatre follows its sold-out run of Macbeth with King John, Shakespeare's rarely performed history play chronicling King John's turbulent reign from 1199 to 1216. Directed by six-time Helen Hayes Award-winner Aaron Posner, the production features Kate Eastwood Norris (Macbeth, The Taming of the Shrew) as Philip Faulconbridge (the Bastard) and Holly Twyford (A Midsummer Night's Dream, Arcadia) as Arthur's tragic mother, Constance. Brian Dykstra, last seen on the Folger stage in Romeo and Juliet, will play the inscrutable King John.

The Hub Theatre, continues its foray into new plays that highlight our common humanity with the world premiere of The Secrets of the Universe (and other songs) by playwright Marc Acito. Secrets, the final production in The Hub's 10th season, will run from July 6-29, 2018 at the John Swayze Theatre in Fairfax, Virginia and is a Co-Production with the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia. Secrets marks The Hub's third production by Marc Acito, after audience favorite Birds of a Feather (2012 Helen Hayes Outstanding New Play winner; Outstanding Ensemble nominee), and How I Paid for College (starring Broadway's Tony Nominated Alex Brightman). The show will be directed by Hub's founding Artistic Director, Helen R. Murray, and produced by incoming Artistic Director, Matt Bassett.

 It's 1965 in New York City and the lights are about to go out. But not before a melancholy sandwich maker becomes enchanted with two sisters in this bittersweet romantic tale about finding hope in a world best by darkness. This truly original rock-fable, nominated for 4 Drama Desk Awards, will sweep audiences off their feet and enchant them in an evening under the stars filled with romance, mystery and enchantment… but not a lot of light.

Written and composed by Will Connolly, Michael Mitnick, and Kim Rosenstock, Fly By Night is an appealing mish-mash of rock n' roll, opera, and classic music theater. It is an ode to a doomed love affair and a modern-day fairytale.

It's 1965 in New York City and the lights are about to go out. But not before a melancholy sandwich maker becomes enchanted with two sisters in this bittersweet romantic tale about finding hope in a world best by darkness. This truly original rock-fable, nominated for 4 Drama Desk Awards, will sweep audiences off their feet and enchant them in an evening under the stars filled with romance, mystery, and enchantment… but not a lot of light.

From the cast to the production design, Theater J's production is as good as it gets. We just wish Uhry's play was the same way.

Just in time for the holiday season, Theater J offers Alfred Uhry's classic comedy The Last Night of Ballyhoo. A Chanukah-inflected alternative to the Christmas Carols and Nutcracker Suites, The Last Night of Ballyhoo is a winning combination of quirky romance with real dramatic heft at its core.

Just in time for the holiday season, Theater J offers Alfred Uhry's classic comedy The Last Night of Ballyhoo. A Chanukah-inflected alternative to the Christmas Carols and Nutcracker Suites, The Last Night of Ballyhoo is a winning combination of quirky romance with real dramatic heft at its core.

'The Last Schwartz,' a play that's perfectly suited for Theater J, is certainly a familiar trope for its audience: Somebody brings home a non-Jewish women to a solemn family occasion fraught with religious underpinnings.

?Theater J begins the 2016-2017 season with the regional premiere of the rollicking, engaging, and thoughtful comedy, The Last Schwartz, written by Lilly Award Winner Deborah Zoe Laufer. It plays at Theater J September 7 through October 2, 2016 and kicks off the first season selected by new Artistic Director Adam Immerwahr.

Theater J, the nation's largest and most prominent Jewish theater, announces full casting for the 2016-2017 season, the first season chosen by new Theater J Artistic Director Adam Immerwahr.