Disney's The Little Mermaid is coming to Wolf Trap from June 29 - July 2. The smash musical, based on the 1989 Disney film, will only be here for 5 performances. I had the opportunity to talk to Broadway Veteran, Eric Kunze, who plays Prince Eric.

The beloved children's classic and vintage film musical THE WIZARD OF OZ has been enthralling audiences for decades. Creative Cauldron is doing its part to keep the magic of L. Frank Baum's story and the tuneful adaptation we all know and love alive with a magical production that puts a spell over the audience and transports them with imagination and heartfelt performances.

A starry night, with a huge moon looking down, is the perfect setting for an evening of songs that have become part of musical theatre history. This is the look and the sound of SOME ENCHANTED EVENING, now running through July 16, 2017, at the Riverside Center for the Performing Arts, just south of DC off of I-95.

Tom Prewitt, Avant Bard's current artistic director, knew who he wanted to take on this monumental role: Rick Foucheux. A 35-year veteran of stages large and small in the Washington, DC area, Foucheux has played everything from realism to the avant garde; modern and the classics. Capping off his storied career as he is about to leave the limelight to spend time as a grandfather and to travel, Foucheux taking on Lear is a match made in heaven. Effortlessly commanding the stage, Shakespeare's words and the arc of the tragedy seem newly minted in Foucheux's skillful hands.

MASTER CLASS is McNally's fictionalized and highly entertaining play where "La Divina" once again brings her passions to the stage, this time as a teacher of young opera students. For the production now lighting up MetroStage, Illona Dulaski embodies Callas in a tour de force performance.

Creative Cauldron's production of BLUES IN THE NIGHT, directed by Matt Conner, spotlights a strong four-person cast that delivers 26 songs by Duke Ellington, Bessie Smith, and other early jazz legends. Backed by a live band led by Walter 'Bobby' McCoy and surrounded with a sultry set, these singers enthrall.

There was a time on Broadway when acting couples made certain plays better than they actually were by giving tour-de-force performances. D.L. Coburn's The Gin Game is a prime example.

Seen most recently in his unforgettable turn as Billy Bigelow in Arena Stage's CAROUSEL, Nicholas Rodriguez graces Signature Theatre with his own cabaret. Those in the DC area who have delighted in Rodriguez's take on traditional musical roles now get the chance to hear him croon, emote, and belt a variety of music spanning the decade of the 1970s.

Schonberg and Boublil will be artists-in-residence at the University of Virginia from Feb. 22 to 24, sharing their experience and creative insights with students, faculty, staff and the Charlottesville, Virginia community.

All told, this is a fantastic production and definitely one of my favorites of the 200+ shows I saw in 2016 - whether in the DC Metro Area, New York, or anywhere else.

Written and first presented two decades ago, FULLY COMMITTED was revised and revived in New York recently with Broadway veteran and one of the costars of TV comedy hit 'Modern Family,' Jesse Tyler Ferguson. This brought enough interest in the show to warrant additional productions and Carolyn Griffin, artistic leader of MetroStage thought it was the perfect vehicle for two of the DC areas hardest working artists: Tom Story and Alan Paul.

Scrooge, Tiny Tim, and the quartet of seasonal spectres - if these characters are back in action, it must mean A CHRISTMAS CAROL has returned to spread humbug and cheer in the Kellar Family Theatre in Manassas. The resident community theatre at the Center for the Arts, Rooftop Productions, is offering their annual revival of the Dickens classic to delight audiences young and old. As a matter of fact, at the Sunday matinee I attended, there were nearly as many youngsters as grown-ups, which is a wonderful thing to see at a live theatre event.

The world premiere stage adaptation features some of Broadway and television's best creative talent, two extremely strong leads, and an infectiously energetic ensemble cast.

The sixties are alive and rocking at Signature Theatre with the latest addition to their cabaret series: Woodstock.

"Dying is easy, comedy is hard". The old adage has been attributed to countless comedians over the years. When a musical comedy attempts to combine comedy and death, the outcome can either be successful (think Monty Python) or fall on its face. Ruthless! The Musical, a 1992 off Broadway campy musical, which opened this week at Creative Cauldron in Falls Church, falls into the latter category. The intermission-less show written by Marvin Laird and Joel Paley has funny bits, and a few memorable songs, but overall the piece, which has had a successful life in regional theater, is just flat. Sure, it spoofs musicals like Gypsy and movies like All About Eve, but the humor is a bit rudimentary and plays more like a bad SNL skit, then a well-polished farce.

Shenandoah Conservatory students have been creating a lot of their own art and content, one of the most successful projects is a web series called The Dream Team. Created by two theatre students, the original series tells the story of a class of theatre majors, living out their first year of college at the fictional Betsey Bell Conservatory. Founded in October of 2015, the show has garnered more than 8,000 views on YouTube, over 150 subscribers, and upwards of 300 FaceBook likes. I was lucky enough to connect with the show's co-creator and star Emma Benson, a third year Musical Theatre student at Shenandoah and hear about what's in store for Season 2.

BWW Review: SPRING AWAKENING at Shenandoah Conservatory, a brilliant and commanding journey that engages from beginning to end.

Audrey Cefaly's new play THE GULF is an exciting premiere to say the least. As funny as it is powerful, as tender as it is passionate, THE GULF reveals a pair of volatile lovers whose relationship is as sharp as a fishing knife - pointed and dangerous. As directed by Joe Calarco, the play is also a duo-de-force for the actresses who bring the love, sex and honky tonk to a small fishing boat floating aimlessly in the Gulf of Mexico. IT is also a tour de force for two actresses: Rachel Zampelli and Maria Rizzo light up the stage with fire and gritty realism.

Shenandoah Conservatory's production of Spring Awakening runs this weekend only, from Friday, September 30th through Sunday, October 2nd in the Ohrstrom-Bryant Theatre on the campus of Shenandoah University. Stephen Sater and Duncan Sheik's Tony award-winning musical led by two Broadway veterans and now Shenandoah educators: Kevin Covert (Direction and Choreography) and Rick Edinger (Music Direction).