American literature has a soft spot for con artists, those ruffians who, lacking the skills or inclination to earn an honest living, prosper by using sheer charm and creativity to tell other people what they most want to hear. These rapscallions, despite living by lying, often find themselves in a position to help other characters discover certain truths about themselves. 1st Stage's production of N. Edward Nash's 1954 play The Rainmaker is an enjoyable and entertaining visit with one such miscreant.
1st Stage is now presenting The Rainmaker, written by N. Richard Nash and directed by Deidra LaWan Starnes, through December 11, 2022. Check out all new production photos here!
You not only have to have the talent to do the technical side of costume drama well, and have actors who can emote convincingly and then (in this case) reverse gears convincingly, and then reverse gears again as many times as the script calls for. You need a script that doesn’t make them do it so often it makes the audience stop following and stop caring. That is a bar this script doesn't clear.
The Shakespeare Theatre Company wraps up its 2021/2022 season with a brilliant production of Red Velvet, directed by Jade King Carroll, playing now at the Michael R. Klein Theatre through July 17, 2022.
Everyman Theatre will close out its live, 2021/2022 season with R. Eric Thomas's World Premiere comedy, CRYING ON TELEVISION. The production at Everyman Theatre is directed by Reginald L. Douglas and runs from May 31 through June 26, 2022. At-home streaming is also available from June 17 through July 10.
Today’s subject Ivania Stack is currently living her theatre life as the costume designer for There’s Always the Hudson at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. The production runs through June fifth.
The Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Our Town is a triumphant production of vitality, and consequence. Thornton Wilder’s classic—a work that captures the universal experience of being alive—takes on new resonance and depth in the capable hands of an extraordinary ensemble.
This play is immediate—one to see and share and talk about.
'The Joy that Carries You' is a touching and touchingly thoughtful journey, one which many might recognize in their own. But Secka and Stoller also make this a celebration of the relationships which until (only) very recently were taboo. Thank goodness we're no longer at the stage where seeing two women choosing each other as life-partners is a shock; we can now see them as human beings. But we also know that relationships like this are still fraught with a unique form of anxiety, between the women themselves but especially with their families.
The premiere of THERE’S ALWAYS THE HUDSON, on stage now at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, has been a long time coming. Don’t miss this hilarious and heart-wrenching story of trauma, revenge, and friendship.
While ostensibly about grief and how we see the world, 'The Upstairs Department' is really more about the central sibling relationship, about how two people can drift apart and find their way back to each other along their journeys to better understand themselves.
Earnest, funny, and full of life, Lisa B. Thompson's The Mamalogues is an intimate piece about navigating the world and looking for a fulfilling way of life (and in particular America) as a single Black mother.
One may never know what to expect on April Fool's Day, but a one-night-only performance by a Venezuelan-American artist at the GALA Hispanic theatre was certainly one of them.
Hi, Are You Single? is a one-man show that explores intimacy, hypocrisy, sex, and slow dancing with strangers. Written and performed by Ryan J. Haddad, the show exists at the intersection between queerness and living with a disability.
'The Phlebotomist' is a fascinating look into how the world could be in the not-too-distant future, and it raises all the questions good science fiction can. 1st Stage’s production does the complex tale justice, and ensures that people will continue to ruminate on these topics for a long time – as we all should.
A.D. 16 is an exuberant, ambitious world premiere with its eyes on Broadway; music and lyrics by Cinco Paul (Despicable Me, Schmigadoon!), book by Bekah Brunstetter (This Is Us) and direction by Stephen Brackett (Be More Chill). A.D. 16 starts with the missing teen years of Jesus, layers in an effervescent R&B-influenced score, and sprinkles in some irreverence and anachronistic humor.
BroadwayWorld has a first look at Olney Theatre Center's world premiere of A.D. 16, now on stage through March 6, 2022. The new musical is by writers Cinco Paul (co-creator of Despicable Me and Schmigadoon!) and Bekah Brunstetter (producer and writer on This Is Us).
Anyone that has read my reviews or columns over the years knows that I always pay attention to the orchestrations and orchestrator of any given musical. Let’s face it, without the orchestrator, the score is only a piano.
Today’s subject Doug Besterman has been living his theatre life for many years as an orchestrator for Broadway, regional, and West End theatre as well as doing scoring for films and TV.
