WASHINGTON, DC THEATER REVIEWS

What did our critic think of MERRY WIVES at Harman Hall? Shakespeare Theatre Company is opening their 40th Season with Merry Wives, pulling one of Shakespeare’s lesser known plays into modern day Harlem while retaining all the impact of the original work. ...

Nu Sass, an excellent part of DC's “off Broadway” since 2009, opens its season in a new space: it's accessible! it's clean! (and its entrance is actually on 11th St., around the corner from its given address, 1100 H St. NW—super close to a Metro Center entrance). ...

Cirque du Soliel’s LUZIA merges powerful artistry and adrenaline-fueled action punctuated with lush music, evocative scenery and a dreamy atmosphere for 125 minutes of pure entertainment. It’s exciting, with an immediacy and connection that only live performance can deliver. ...

Mosaic's season opener pits a failing marriage against seventy-two hours confined in a hotel room. See what our critic had to say....

The Kiss of the Spider Woman, a 2-hour show presented in Spanish with English surtitles, runs through September 28. See here for more details! ...

It’s an odd thing to consider, especially in a week that began with Labor Day. But that’s an early surprise turn in Mary Glen Fredrick’s fiercely strange play “Fire Work” that is having part of its “rolling world premiere” at Theater Alliance....

To Wong Foo the Musical, featuring Quadry Brown, Solomon Parker III, Connor James Reilly, and David Singleton, recently made its American debut as a concert as part of Olney Theatre Center’s Outdoor series. ...

The Kennedy Center’s Local Dance Comissioning Project (LDCP) 2024/2025 awardees Jamison Curcio and Shanice Mason presented a vulnerable, metaphysical dance autobiography in I have a secret to tell you…. ...

It was an enchanting night of envigorating and touching music and tender narrative—a celebration of one of the most famous and apt musicals in the American Canon....

Twenty-three songs from the catalogue of the legendary composer and musician Duke Ellington creatively exploding with swinging energy or calming with mellow moods are enough to make one’s mind spin ---but combine this with a creative book by Cheryl L. West (the project was conceived by Sheldon Epp...

In two clicks of a mouse, a theatregoer can find a summary of Leo Frank's story; Parade, which tells it, isn't merely based on a true story, it IS a true story. So outlining the plot would be, by definition, a spoiler. ...

The ever popular and hardy perennial of the operatic canon, composer Georges Bizet’s Carmen, was given a unique yet solid interpretation by the Wolf Trap Opera under the direction of John de los Santos. (Originally directed by Anne Bogart, according to the program). This opera is so well-known (an...

Olney Theatre marks 30th anniversary of Jason Robert Brown's debut musical with a powerful concert staging. See what our critic had to say....

It was an entertaining and charming night, and centered around a seasoned performer's talent and character. The music was engaging, and the outdoor venue was sumptuous....

The word legend is tossed around quite a bit when talking about performers. Sometimes it’s true but many times it isn’t. This past Friday evening at Wolf Trap’s Filene Center two true modern day legends of musical theatre took the stage to pay homage to two all-time legends of entertainment....

Over the decades, Disney music has brought much joy to generations of fans. The 80s and 90s were a particularly important time for Disney as a company because it was that period when the company came back from a creative slump with powerhouse animated features such as The Little Mermaid and Beauty a...

The Signature cabaret succeeds because it gets the irony. Even while they play up the captain’s hats, cold drinks and ocean sunsets that help frame the genre, they realize the era’s hits can be at once catchy and silly — a good mix for a summer night of entertainment....

Dungeons & Dragons The Twenty-Sided Tavern is not just a play. It’s an active (albeit simplified) D&D campaign set in the Forgotten Realms. There is an expert Dungeon Master (Conner Marx) and a Tavern Keeper (Alex Stompoly) who serves as his partner in crime. The two of them manage live storytelli...

DC, and frankly the Kennedy Center, could use some sunny days, and, judging by the giggles, squeals and enthusiastic applause, Sesame Street The Musical succeeded in bringing joy to its intended audience....

'Dead Inside' is a beautifully crafted and deeply thoughtful production, but it’s also immensely funny – a balance Riki Lindhome seems to have mastered, and one that really lends itself to this difficult topic....

What did our critic think of ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND at District Fringe?...

Wolf Trap Opera continues to breathe new life into the art form, and this weekend’s performance of Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites was a special treat. ...

In the hands of Synetic Theater, Shakespeare’s A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM becomes more than a whimsical tale of love and mischief—it transforms into a kinetic, visually arresting spectacle that dances between comedy and enchantment....

This year, the District Fringe Festival hosts a talented young performer, Erin Ellbogen, who takes us on a half-magical, half-film noir journey, in Corvin Kevlihan’s “Prey Most Difficult.”  It is a solid effort at breathing new life into epic poetry the likes of which we think are long gone; ...

The best-selling book series in history, which in turn became one of the highest-grossing franchises of filmdom would naturally spawn a big Broadway hit, the nationally touring version of which is playing D.C. at the National Theatre after four months each in Chicago and Los Angeles. ...