WASHINGTON, DC THEATER REVIEWS

Don't let the title fool you. The fact that Elizabeth McCain is a lesbian is a subplot; the main stories here are about being raised in the deep South, the importance of family, fitting in and finding self. As one of her aunts eventually said about McCain's wife, Marie: thank goodness she was sout...

This is a play for people who like twisted and difficult puzzles, impossible riddles, and impenetrable modern art. This is a play for people who want to see raw impulse onstage, but can't stand the hokeyness of improv. If you've always wanted to ride the waves electric inside someone's brain and see...

Robert Epstein, the writer and director of The Big A, based the show on his family's own experiences. As a long-time New York and DC actor, acting teacher and Macomb Theater Company founder, Epstein felt that, instead of lecturing about the experience of Alzheimer's/dementia, he wanted to take the a...

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, an...

Simply sensational is but one way to describe Ms. Bareilles....

While 'This Gonna Be On the Test, Miss?' and 'Master Harold…and the Boys' are far from perfect productions, each offer something that would make them recommended viewing for certain Fringe audiences....

The Capital Fringe Festival brings DC some hilarious and exciting new offerings: a spoof of fighting movies and 'Romeo and Juliet' set in a bar. See 'The Tournament' to take in some great stage combat. Check out 'R+J: Star-Cross'd Death Match' to get involved in some excellent debauchery,...

Not since Carrie. A phrase that has haunted creators of musicals ever since Ken Mandelbaum's famous 1991 book that looks at 40 years of Broadway musical flops. The original Broadway production in 1988 was a disaster, partly due to the writing, but more to do with original director Terry Hands' disas...

A musical at Fringe succeeds!...

Alysha Umphress returned to Signature to wow local audiences again with her powerful voice, but this time in a solo cabaret as part of the ongoing Sizzlin' Summer Nights cabaret series....

While 'Bethesda' and 'Hey, Hey LBJ' - the first two Fringe offerings I saw - don't fall into the category of being ready for primetime, there are several good elements in both pieces from which to build....

The Ad Hoc Players give Capital Fringe 2014 a funny, witty, and intelligent love song to book nerds....

As embodied by the engaging Robert Michael Oliver-heavily bearded for the occasion-Sanctuary Theatre revives Whitman in all his messy glory, bringing us his passion, sensuality, sensitivity and eroticism. It's hard to imagine a guy who looks like Santa Clause relishing the kinds of behavior that (u...

As a bit of a musical theatre geek, admittedly one of the things I look forward to the most each summer in DC is the Sizzlin' Summer Nights Cabaret series at our very own Tony Award-winning Signature Theatre. These ones were winners!...

Pumpernickel Productions offers up a John Patrick Shanley comedy, Four Dogs and a Bone at Capital Fringe, and Anne Vandercook shines....

WEST SIDE STORY, now playing through August 3 at Riverside Center, still has the power to enthrall audiences with Leonard Bernstein's symphonic jazz score and Stephen Sondheim's young lyrics. The lyrical voices of Quinn Vogt-Welch and Matthew Hirsh as Maria and Tony captivate the audience....

Yes, it's National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) at Wolf Trap season again in the DC Metro Area. Last night's offering featured the NSO, Matthew Morrison, and Laura Benanti taking on some classic Broadway showtunes with a few pop hits thrown in for good measure....

This one doesn't shy away from the hard questions......

PINKALICIOUS, at the Adventure Theatre - Musical Theater Center, in Glen Echo Park, directed by Carl Menninger, based on Victoria and Elizabeth Kann's children's novel, and adapted by the authors, with music and lyrics by John Gregor, is a winner. Although it is aimed at young children, it has plent...

Imagination Stage, in Bethesda, has scored yet another home run with its production of THE BFG, adapted by David Wood, OBE, from Roald Dahl's children's novel, and directed by Kathryn Chase Bryer and Eric J. Van Wyck. Parents will find themselves laughing along with their kids at Dahl's and Wood'...

Love. Toxic frustration. Pillow fight weapons that look like something George R. R. Martin would design for Playskool. These are just a few of the things to be seen in FLYING V FIGHTS: LOVE IS A BATTLEFIELD, currently playing at The Writer's Center in Bethesda....

Due to popular demand, AVENUE Q extended to July 13, 2014...

Director Bill Condon envisions a new and exciting SIDE SHOW that includes new music....

A fascinating blend of dance, monologue, dialogue, lights, sound effects and live music, 'Enter Ophelia, distracted' gives you a piercingly perceptive look into the psyche of a young girl fated to lose first the love of her life, then her father, her mind, and then her life. Ophelia's fictional fate...

Featuring a wonderful combination of dazzling and unique artistry, Elton John and Tim Rice's strong score, and many strong performances, even those who have been there done that and seen The Lion King before can likely still find something to appreciate in the current national tour....