WASHINGTON, DC INTERVIEWS

Today’s subject Salar Nader is currently living his theatre life as the Tabla Artist in the national tour of The Kite Runner. The show will conclude it’s tour in the Eisenhower Theater at Kennedy Center starting on June 25th and playing through June 30th....

Nowadays orchestra size has become more and more of an issue for me. Even when seeing productions of classic Broadway musicals, there is a tendency to reduce the size of the orchestra for more in the way of production elements. It’s even worse when a production “reimagines” the charts complete...

Today’s subject Simon Godwin is currently living his theatre life as the Artistic Director of DC’s Tony Award winning Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC). He assumed the position in 2019 succeeding the company’s founder Michael Kahn after a stunning 33-year reign....

Today’s subject Stephen Cole is an accomplished lyricist, performer, and book writer. You can now add novelist to that already impressive list of accomplishments. Stephen Cole’s latest literary endeavor takes us back to the Golden Age of Broadway with his first novel entitled Mary & Ethel…and ...

As we all know, the 23/24 Broadway theatre season has been one of the busiest in a very long time with many new plays and musicals opening within a short period. One of those shows was The Notebook. It features a score by pop writer Ingrid Michaelson and a book by Bekah Brunsetter. The show had a pr...

Today’s subject Nora Palka is currently living her theatre life at Signature Theatre playing Jeanie in their current production of Hair. The production runs through July seventh in the MAX. Hair is a homecoming for Nora to be sure. She grew up in the DC area and as you will read, credits Signatur...

Today’s subject Katherine Goforth is someone who can definitely be called a breakthrough artist to be sure. She is the inaugural recipient of Washington National Opera’s True Voice Award for transgender and non-binary singers. She will be making her Kennedy Center debut on May first at 6:00pm wi...

Today’s subject Judy Kuhn is known to musical theatre aficionados from her performances in Rags, Chess, Fun Home and more on Broadway. Currently this off the charts performer is living her theatre life at Arena Stage in Unknown Soldier in the role of Lucy Anderson. The production runs through May ...

Today’s subjects Alex Bechtel, Grace McLean, and Eva Steinmetz are currently living their theatre lives as the creative team for the DC premeire of Signature Theatre’s latest piece of musical greatness Penelope. The Greek myth inspired solo performer musical runs through April 28th in Signature�...

Today’s subject Peter Anastos has been living his theatre life as one of the co-Founders of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo. The all- male dance troupe has been parodying the classics of ballet for 50 years now. You can see the company in action for three performances only from April fourth ...

Composer Andrew Lippa is probably best known for his musical The Addams Family but his work spans far beyond that one show. He wrote additional songs for the Broadway production of You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown and wrote the off-Broadway version of The Wild Party....

Today’s subject Psalmayene 24 is someone we can aptly classify as the whole package when we talk about artists in the DC theatre community. He is an accomplished writer/actor/performer and educator whose work has been enjoyed by audiences of all ages over the years. Currently Psalmayene 24 is the ...

Today’s subject Amelia Hensley is currently living her theatre life at Signature Theatre as The Storyteller for the World Premiere musical Private Jones. The production runs through March 10th in Signature’s MAX space....

Today’s subject Stephen Oremus has been living his theatre life for many years now as a music director/pianist/orchestrator/arranger/musical supervisor. His career is something many of us dream of having but very few of us actually achieve. His current project brings him full circle. Stephen is th...

If you have been following my writings over the years, you know that when someone asks me about what arts in education to go to in the DMV, The Theatre Lab School of The Dramatic Arts is the ONLY one I will recommend. For over thirty years, The Theatre Lab has been helmed by co-Founders Deb Gottesma...

If you have been around DC theatre for any length of time, you are very familiar with the writing of Chief Theater Critic for The Washington Post, Peter Marks. He has been the definitive voice of theater for the DMV and beyond for 21 years. On December 31st, Peter Marks’ stunning reign at The Wash...

Today’s subject Faith Seetoo is currently living her theatre life on the conductor’s podium as the musical director of the North American Tour of Disney’s Frozen. The show is currently running in the Opera House at Kennedy Center continuing through January 21st,2024....

What happens when the Bard meets the Beatles? Audiences are finding out in Washington, D.C.  In this video, watch as Chelsea Rose discusses As You Like It at Shakespeare Theatre Company....

Today’s subject Gaelyn D. Smith is currently living her theatre life onstage at Studio Theatre in the show that just seems to keep going and going Fat Ham playing the role of Opal. The show is now running through January 14th in Studio’s Mead Theatre. For those of you thinking, “I’ll wait be...

Chris Miller and Brian Usifer are currently living their theatre lives as the co- Music Arrangers/Orchestrators of The Avett Brothers’ new musical Swept Away. Brian also serves as the Musical Supervisor for the show which runs through January 14th in the Kreeger Theater space at Arena Stage....

Today’s subject Jeanine Tesori is a two-time Tony Award winning composer whose work spans the gamut from large scale and chamber musicals for Broadway to grand opera and beyond. Her holiday children’s opera The Lion, The Unicorn and Me premiered ten years ago at Kennedy Center as a commission fo...

Today’s subject Erin Driscoll is someone you are most likely familiar with if you have been inhabiting productions in our area theatres for any length of time. Her memorable leading performances include the title character in Violet at Ford’s Theatre and Cloak and Daggar at Signature Theatre. Yo...

Today’s subject Marcus Yi is living proof that you can do it all and succeed in the theatre. Currently he is living his theatre life as the book, music, and lyric writer of the World Premiere Musical The Dragon King’s Daughter. The show runs from November 18th through December 17th in the Family...

Today’s subject Don Michael H. Mendoza is a local artist now living his theatre life as one of the Co-Producers of the Immersive Broadway musical Here Lies Love. The show is slated to close on November 26th at the Broadway Theatre in New York and to be perfectly honest, it’s a shame that it is. ...

Today’s subject Sir Bryn Terfel is a Grammy, Classical Brit, and Gramophone Award–winning recording artist with a discography encompassing operas of Mozart, Wagner, and Strauss, and more than 15 solo discs including Lieder, American musical theatre, Welsh songs, and sacred repertory. He is, righ...