Performance

“Other Desert Cities”, Directed by Kyle Donnnelly, runs through May 26 at Arena Stage

The Washington Ballet's Septime Webre created a masterful and dazzling work in "The Sun Also Rises." We just wish that had been more time to see it.

Arena's "Other Desert Cities" display family members' biting comments about their lives -- with a strong cast that keeps it real.

Walk into the contemporary Prospect Street home of Jack Davies, and you are struck by a impressive bachelor pad which ...

The German-born singer Ute Lemper is making one of her frequent jaunts to Washington, this time at the Sixth and ...

The boys are back.

We’re talking Ernie and F. Scott, Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, the American chroniclers ...

"Show Boat" is a wowser, as our reviewer notes and finds soprano Andriana Chuchman "the heart and soul of the show."

test by Gary photos by Jeff

A talk with Shakespeare Theatre Company director Michael Kahn reveals the rise and fall of great men in two plays.

An unique debut and unique opportunity: "Once Wild: Isadora in Russia" at Georgetown University May 3, 4 and 5.

Singer Richie Havens -- more than a performer at Woodstock -- was also a teacher for the environment.

Francesca Zambello, on the phone, at a table, in print, from a distance, and just from reading her resume, feels ...

What is it like to play Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.? Ask actor Bowman Wright in Arena Stage's "The Mountaintop."

“Harry T. Burleigh meets Antonin Dvorak” will be performed at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts April 19.

So nice to see "Hello, Dolly!" at Ford's Theatre -- with its different story lines to sing and tell.

Bowen McCauley Dance enchanted at the Kennedy Center with such works as “Le Sacre du Printemps."

Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell have enough fans between them to support their own tours, but the two singers brought ...

Writer John Carter's “I, Jack, am the Knave of Hearts" reveals a Washingtonian's enduring creativity.

At Arena Stage, “Mary T. and Lizzy K.” continues America's fascination with the Lincolns.

Joy Zinoman, looking very cool in various shades of black and gray, was sitting on a couch on the second ...

"4000 Miles," directed by Joy Zinoman, takes us to a Greenwich Village apartment and gives us "a soothing appraisal of sad laughter."

Your other weekend assignment: go to the Kennedy Center and see "Nordic Cool." It's way cool and closing in a few days.

James Galway is a world traveler and a world citizen. He’s been all over and played and taught and ...

The Washington National Opera's "Norma" runs through March 24 at the Kennedy Center.

Washington National Opera’s spring-season opener, "Manon Lescaut," matched with soprano Patricia Racette, tells the tale of ill-matched lovers.

Who can resist high flying feats and extreme tests of courage, strength and ability?! Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey ® present ...

The singer who roared, "I am woman," Helen Reddy will perform at the Barns at Wolf Trap, March 7 and 8.

Dirty Dozen Brass Band brought its New Orleans's flavor to the stage at the Hamilton March 3.

At a time when the new teen music sounds of rock and roll had emerged with its own king in Elvis Presley, the classical music world produced the equivalent of a rock star in the person of pianist Van Cliburn.

Listening to Simone Dinnerstein talk about her life and her music-- as well as Johann Sebastian Bach, her relationship with ...

A powerful, thoughtful drama on colonization in Africa during the time of the British Empire is now at Woolly Mammoth Theatre.

The Hamilton hosted benefit for the documentary "The Bayou: DC's Killer Joint" this Sunday night. The Feb. 17 event featured performances from a revue of musicians who graced the legendary stage in Georgetown.

Mary Zimmerman's "Metamorphoses" arrives at Arena Stage with a big splash of Greco-Roman myths.

To hear timeless music of America, see John Eaton at the Barns at Wolf Trap on Saturday, Feb. 16, or Saturday, March 30.

Unsurprisingly, the phone rings right on time. I have some mixed expectations about the sound of Hilary Hahn’s voice ...

Studio Theatre's "The Motherf**cker With the Hat" may be obscene, but it is a play worth seeing, says Gary Tischler.

It has been a long time comin'. The documentary on the Bayou celebrates the music and life of a night spot gone since 1999.

Thorton Wilder's American classic continues to tell us more about ourselves. It is at Ford's Theatre through Feb. 24.

The nominations for the Helen Hayes Awards reveal some recurring favorites -- and some left off the stage.

On Feb. 4, Ford’s Theatre, the city’s singular historical theater, will hold a 75th Anniversary celebration for Thornton ...

The deaths of Patti Page and Harry Carey, Jr., reflect the passing of an era in American arts and entertainment.

Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained" shows cinematic prowess in parts, but it lacks size and greatness.

Cajun music at Wolf Trap, Gerald Albright at Blues Alley and a tribute at the Hamilton to Robert Egger of D.C. Central Kitchen are some of the musical highlights this week and next.

Homer's epic -- told by one actor at Studio Theatre -- retains its power over our imagination.

The traditional caroling in the National Gallery Art included a surprise interruption: a surprise marriage proposal by an Iraq War veteran in front of everyone there.

In “Million Dollar Quartet.” the young man with the very rock-and-roll name of Cody Slaughter is asked to portray Elvis ...

If you want to get an idea of the diversity enshrined in what is loosely called "The Musical," past, present ...

Goodness gracious, I don’t know how much nostalgia an old body can handle.

These past few months have seen ...

In his role for the opera, "Hansel and Gretel," Corey Evan Rotz plays a different kind of role: a witch.

In "Pullman Porter Blues" at Arena Stage, E. Faye Butler leads the band on the train out of Chicago and takes the audience on a musical ride.

At the Hamilton Dec. 11, the Queen of Rockabilly, Wanda Jackson, ambles down memory lane while proving why she’s a living legend.

This is another in a series of profiles and stories about actors who are performing iconic roles in and around ...

It seems even the cast members of the U.S. national tour of the 25th Anniversary production of “Les Miserables ...

Ambassador Jean-Louis Wolzfeld sat down with Gary Tischler to talk about Luxembourg, Europe and Christmases past.

I think it’s getting into my DNA,” said Ed Gero, as we talked on the phone.

Gero, who’s ...

"A Midsummer Night's Dream," directed by Ethan McSweeny, presents a rush of images and dialogue from the Shakespeare Theatre Company.

Watching Manna Nichols, her black hair in a pony tail, feet tucked under, purple top and blue jeans, and Bene- ...

He played one of TV's great villains, but Larry Hagman died an admired actor, beloved friend and family man.

This staged rendition of the classic book pulls from too many other influences to have a life of its own.

The S&R Foundation hosted the DC Jazz Festival Annual Trustee Reception at the Evermay Estate in Georgetown, featuring Grammy-winner Paquito D'Rivera.

Review of Annie Baker's "The Aliens", now at the Milton Theatre at the Studio.

Still busy, still moving, Linda Lavin stops at the Kennedy Center Friday, Nov. 16, to sing Barbara Cook songs.

Every year the holiday season seems to stretch a little further and longer. In these pages, we will celebrate the ...

Vlad the Impaler, the original real his- torical figure from which sprung Bram Stoker’s fictional , blood-sucking anti- hero and ...

In time for Halloween, "The Rocky Horrow Show" is performed by the Washington Savoyards.

Mavis Staples gets the Hamilton on their feet for the second time this year.

Hear the unique singing talent of Laurie Rubin at the Millennium Stage in the Kennedy Center Oct. 22.

Accents, the way words or dozens of them are said, can carry across the ocean in our times, and so ...

Violinist Joshua Bell is no longer the boyish phenomenon of the classical musical world. Now 44 – and still boyishly handsome ...

British singer-songwriter Donovan appeared at the Hamilton this Saturday, Oct. 6. The "Sunshine Superman" took the packed house on a trip down memory lane.

The opening night performance had an electric feel to it and an almost total willingness on the part of the audience to join in. Mary Bridget Davies delivered an uncannily authentic performance as singer Janis Joplin.

A special commemoration of Holocaust victims in Nazi-occupied Lithuania offered a beautiful, bittersweet salve of music and song at the Lithuanian Embassy.

The voice on the phone didn’t give many clues. I expected to hear Janis Joplin’s growly, smoky voice ...

Give yourself the time to take in Washington National Opera's production of "Don Giovanni," Mozart's long work that goes to the next level -- it's on the must-attend list.

Pat McGee will be here performing Friday, Sept. 28, at the Music Center at Strathmore.

Studio Theatre's drama, "Invisible Man," continues to haunt in its African-American tales of presence.

Washington theater fans think they know Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Floyd King. This makes sense. After all, hundreds, maybe thousands ...

Donizetti's 'Anna Bolena' explores familiar history with powerful singing.

This year, the Kennedy Center Honors tap an actor, a bluesman, British rockers, a ballerina and a comedian.

"Hamlet" at the Folger shows off the acting chops of Michael Benz, a Georgetown alumnus.

Over the phone, Natasha Trethewey’s voice sounds warm. It’s a voice inviting you to talk, as opposed to ...

Woolly Mammoth's "Chad Deity" uses the world of wrestling to show the rest of us the ways we can act for good or bad.

Washington Ballet: A Vampire Arrives for Halloween Septime Webre, artistic director of the Washington Ballet, decided to call the company ...

THE KENNEDY CENTER

THE NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA The season starts officially in grand style for the 82nd year with the ...

Sometimes, we embrace culture in more forms than music, singing, dancing, the stories of plays and operas.

Sometimes, all we ...

Annie Baker's "Body Awareness" plays with your assumptions and keeps you guessing about the characters.

The great American soprano Sondra Radvanovsky admits she likes a challenge.

She’s taking one on now as she prepares ...

The performing arts—all of them-are all about music, movements and moments that add up to magic. In our second ...

Opera singers are identified by voice—as in soprano, mezzo-soprano, bass, tenor and so on, as if it’s part ...

Fall—inevitably, surprisingly—is coming. Do you want to know how we can tell?

No, it is not all the ...

It’s hard to doubt that somewhere in the course of a long career of jabbing Texas politicians and officials ...

One way to tell that the 2012-2013 theater season is just around the corner, if not upon us, is the ...

At Signature Theater, pretty much from the beginning and for the last 22 years, everything old has found a way ...

Fifty years after her death, the American Film Institute in Silver Spring offer films that illuminate the persona and talent of Marilyn Monroe.

Well, we’ll be doing the songs I’ve done over the years, from the beginning until now. We’ll ...

At the Kennedy Center and at age 58, Jerry Seinfeld brings his polished humor about "nothing."

There is always one sure sign of summer in Washington. Besides the four horsemen of the weather apocalypse we are ...

There is still time to catch a show at the Seventh Annual Capital Fringe Festival, which continues until July 29. With more than 140 productions, the vast selection has performances for all age groups.

As a Broadway musical, “The Addams Family” has had its share of tumult, upheaval and critical sneers before it ever went on the road, including the replacement of stars Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth in mid-run.

Gene was all about dance as an American art form. He was muscular, confident. He embodied in dance what it was to be an American .

It’s July, it’s summer, it’s Washington, D.C., and we’re right where we belong again.

On ...

In Washington, D.C., people talk about HIV-AIDS frequently, given the city’s notoriously high rate of infections — one higher ...

Comings And Goings

All the world’s a stage. And when it comes to Washington’s world of performance, as ...

People forget. Larry Kramer won’t let you.

There was a time in the early 1980s when gay men all ...

For the last ten years, the AFI Silverdocs Festival has helped transform the quiet genre of documentary films into blockbuster movie events. This year, among the abundant festival features, George Plimpton steps into the limelight once more, with a wide-eyed documentary chronicling the life and times of this one-of-a-kind man. And The Georgetowner has its own unique connection to the film...

First You Dream: The Music of Kander & Ebb runs in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater June 8 to July 1, 2012.

Ever wonder why Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and artistic director Howard Schalwitz refuse to lose their edge, get stale, play ...

D.C. Jazz Festival: Sound and site selections for the week ahead.

Juke joints and cabaret. Kander and Ebb show tunes. Bachelorettes and Falstaff. Artful comedy and noir fatales. Think Tony Kushner ...

There’s a certain air of expectation that hangs over artistic director Molly Smith’s production of “The Music Man” at Arena Stage, which is now running through July 22, 2012.

You got trouble, right here in River City, Harold Hill, Marian the Librarian Paroo and 76 trombones. Sound familiar?

You ...

The Washington National Opera production of Jules Massenet's "Werther" may seem over the top, but it is well worth it, says reviewer Gary Tischler.

View our photos of the Folger Theatre's current production of "The Taming of the Shrew" running through June 10th The Folger Shakespeare Library.

With music as ambassador, Jerome Barry's Embassy Series brings us the music of Iraq and instruments from ancient Mesopotamia at the Iraqi Cultural Center on Dupont Circle.

Running and walking enthusiasts, supporters of breast health and breast cancer research and generally fun individuals gathered at Hudson Restaurant on M Street May 2 to support the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.

There is wider notice of Washington theater now that plays which began here are up for Tonys. Add to that a Regional Theater Tony for the Washington Shakespeare Theatre Company. Its artistic director Michael Kahn will accept the award in New York on June 10.

If you're out and about in the city between May 6 and 12, whether you're walking, reading a newspaper or texting on the Metro or bus, or on a bench or eating at your favorite restaurant across the city, check it out. Look up! Look out!

For the Washington National Opera, it's a first-time production of the epic opera, directed by the electrifying young American Thaddeus Strassberger and conducted by Philippe Auguin, running April 28 through May 21 at the Kennedy Center's Opera House. For costume designer Mattie Ullrich, making her WNO debut, "Nabucco" is "a dream assignment."

At this annual bash and awards show for the Washington theater community, actors, designers, directors and entire companies become winners but somehow never losers.

The Washington Savoyards, the professional light opera company, begin its 40th season, performing the music of the celebrated team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II to positive reviews at the Atlas Theater. Performances continue through May 6.

Everybody in Washington's theater community will show up tonight for the 28th annual Helen Hayes Awards at the Warner Theatre, but that's only the beginning for what this year is theatreWeek in Washington, which would be April 23-29.

When Norman Scribner picks up the baton to conduct the Choral Arts Society of Washington and the National Symphony Orchestra ...

In theater, as in other endeavors, there are plays and roles that sit like slumbering challenges, just daring for artist ...

Everywhere you read or hear about Basil Twist—the New Yorker, the Post, YouTube (highly recommended) — he’s described as ...

The circus was in town. The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus presents "Fully Charged" at the Verizon Center in ...

Seville's Rafaela Carrasco is a breathtaking dancer and one of the most important flamenco choreographers of the younger generation. She and her troupe performed at GWU's Lisner Auditorium in Washinton DC on March 7 during Flemenco Festival 2012.

The latest production of “1776,” at the Ford’s Theatre, is playing right during the longest-running reality show in the nation, the Republican Party race for the presidential nomination. How 36 seconds ago.

What do people outside of Spain think of when they think of Spanish culture?

For certain, Don Quixote, the gallant ...

Packs a wallop. Packs a punch. A one-round, one-act knockout. "Sucker Punch,” currently running at the Studio’s Theatre through April 8.

After 20 years, Flo Stone still sounds like a kid at a party, albeit a serious kid at a serious ...

In Jason Grote’s new play “Civilization (All You Can Eat),” now getting a sharp and haunting staging at Woolly Mammoth Theatre, everybody’s hungry all of the time. Hungry, not so much for food, as for the top-heavy buffet of life and stuff that’s out there like a sparkling city-as-a-mall, but now beyond the reach of our burdensome absurdly high-interest credit cards

Bowen McCauley Dance performed the ambitious “Le Sacre du Printemps” ("Rite of Spring") to glowing reviews on Thursday, March 1, 2012 at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater.

A review of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Cosi fan tutte”. "Cosi fan tutte" will be running till March 15,2012 at The Kennedy Center.

“He was America’s greatest playwright. He was the writer who influenced everyone who came after. He plumbed the deepest ...

In addition to current offerings as well as the O’Neill Festival with all of its main attractions and special ...

Now in its 41st year, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts presents itself in a rush of ...

Outside of the mad scene in “Lucia Di Lammermoor” or climbing Mount Everest every year to sing your favorite aria ...

Cosi Fan Tutte — Mozart’s dense, stylish, comic opera called by one critic a “mix of comedy and psychological pain ...

Actor Edward Gero has spent the better part of the last year playing American Abstract Expressionist painter Mark Rothko, in the intensely thoughtful play “Red.” Gero spoke with The Georgetowner about becoming an iconic American figure.

Over the last week, we lost two American icons. One brought African American culture from into our living rooms, the other was a lauded contemporary of such actors as Paul Newman and James Dean.

If you’ve seen Holly Twyford on stage, talked with her on the phone or during an interview at a coffee shop on 14th Street, or listened to her accept yet another Helen Hayes award for acting, there’s one constant. It’s her voice. 

Director P.J. Paparelli often refers to the title of his new gig at the Shakespeare Theatre Company as “the two gents.” That would be “The Two Gentleman of Verona,” one of Shakespeare’s earliest works, and to Paparelli’s way of thinking, his most youthful. One way or another, you can expect that youth will be served in his production of the play.

A rundown of what's what on the horizon of Washington's theater scene. From Hedda Gabbler and Mark Rothko, to photojournalists from the Iraq war and mystic magicians, it's all happening onstage in DC.

‘Ann’: An Original Played by an Original

I thought I knew Holland Taylor.

She was a lawyer, a judge, a ...

I got a confession to make.

I’m a huge fan of the long-running CBS crime show “CSI” (for “Crime ...

Near the end of his “Classic Conversations” visit with Shakespeare Theatre Company Artistic Director Michael Kahn, actor and sometime movie star Kevin Kline noted that he loved the big parts, the scary parts.

Talking with George Stevens, Jr. in his wonderland office at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on a mid-November ...

Culturally speaking, Robert Aubry Davis is big.

If this city ever appointed a minister of culture, someone who represents what ...

In Washington, we already have a year-round treasure trove of performance venues and offerings.

But you ain’t seen nothing ...

There’s a whole bunch of reasons why “Jersey Boys,” the show biz bio-musical of one of the most successful pop-rock groups ever, is still running strong on the road after opening on Broadway in 2005.

Septime Webre is fresh.

Celebrated, influential and exceptionally charismatic, Webre has been the Artistic Director of the Washington Ballet since ...

Take a sneak peek at what the District’s theaters have in store for this holiday season with festive productions new and old.

Twenty five years ago, an unlikely phenomenon and juggernaut burst on the Broadway musical scene. It had a huge set including a giant barricade from which young revolutionaries battled the powers that be in a sort of Occupy Paris spectacle.

For sophisticates, the very hip, cool and urban trendy, there are so many targets in Samuel Hunter’s “A Bright New Boise” (now at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre through November 13) to feel smug, snarky and snide about that it could have been a buffet of satire, enough material for a lifetime of Bill Maher monologues.

I took the Green Line Metro to meet with Karen Zacarias for an interview at Arena Stage, where her play ...

THESE OUR ACTORS

We’re always talking about the richness of theater talent in Washington, but sometimes even we veteran ...

“Parade” (now at Ford’s Theatre through Oct. 30) sounds like a musical, it pretends to be a musical, it ...

The extended run of "Oklahoma" at Arena Stage is finally coming to a close. Two of the show's stars speak about thier experience with the production.

There are certain images that come to mind when you think of classical music, and pianist Till Fellner, a rising ...

The Shakespeare Theatre Company's "The Heir Apparent" opens to riotous reviews.

Washington experienced a wrenching and rare one-two weather punch in one week — an unprecedented earthquake followed by a hurricane. The ...

August may be the dog days of summer, but it also has every year now for the past seven years ...

Who would have thought that fur—event thinking about it, let alone wearing it—would be so popular in town ...

"Rock of Ages stage manager Michael Danek talks about his lengthy career and his experiences on the road.

Even at 40, Ethan McSweeny looks too young to have done everything he’s done, to be, well, Ethan McSweeny. He’s casually dressed, has a thin beard which still can’t prevent him from looking boyish, looks nonchalantly handsome, and is finishing up some salad after winding down a rehearsal for his production of “The Merchant of Venice” at the Washington Shakespeare Company in the Harman Center, which will open officially three days later.

Here’s something perfect: Shakespeare, music, The Castleton Festival Orchestra, and renowned Castleton director and conductor Lorin Maazel, all together at the Music Center at Strathmore June 30 to perform “Music Inspired by Shakespeare”.

Who knew that S & M, named after the very same Sacher-Masoch without the von, could be so much fun? Readers are not required to answer the last question for the usual reasons, but really, folks, go check out Venus in Furs at the Studio Theatre.

Follies”, Stephen Sondheim’s groundbreaking musical, is one of those great white whales that lurk in the American musical lists ...

It's that time of year again! We took some time to speak with Charles Fishman, executive producer of DC Jazz Festival, who talked about the DC's heart for Jazz. This year's festival is bigger and better, featuring artists like Bobby McFerrin at the Warner Theater.

The WNO announced that the dynamic and gifted opera and theater director Francesca Zambello will become its Artistic Advisor. Zambello comes with a varied resume, with work ranging from Disney to the English National Opera.

Believe it. “Follies” is no folly. It’s a big deal. A ground-up, full-blown revival of the groundbreaking Stephen Sondheim musical is now on stage at the Kennedy Center Opera House through June 19. It is the culmination of four years of planning, effort and work.

A John Grisham adaptation and an interesting take on American history in this week's shorts.

Sam Forman is a quintessential New York type in some ways. He is young, hip, very smart and a knowing young playwright and actor who has brought something to the theater that goes back to Chekhov, Neil Simon, even Woody Allen. Mostly, though, he’s brought himself.

What makes the Helen Hayes Awards unique is its celebration of this city’s theater community. It has blossomed into a kind of tribe and built a national reputation that is no longer a secret. For my money, we are right up there with Chicago, New York and San Francisco.

Can you get the full measure of Shakespeare’s “King Lear” without hearing Lear’s verbal rage against the Gods? You bet you can—and without any of the words for that matter—in Synetic Theater’s “silent Shakespeare” series, now through April 24 at the Lansburgh and April 29 – May 9 at Synetic’s home base in Rosslyn.

New and fresh Irish playwright Enda Walsh is currently getting a full-blown festival exposure at the Studio Theater, with “Penelope,” his contemporary version of the story of Ulysses and his wife, having already been performed. Now its “The Walworth Face” and “The New Electric Ballroom,” starring some of DC’s finest veteran actors and actresses, being performed simultaneously in the Milton and at the Mead theaters, respectively.

This Oprah Winfrey-backed musical theater version of Alice Walker’s powerful novel packs more emotional punch than your everyday Broadway musical.

Say happy 447 thbirthday, Master Shakespeare. It was a day in April when “the spirit of youth was in everything.”

A collection of Samuel Beckett's one-acts, directed by Peter Brook, will be at the Kennedy Center for One Weekend Only, April 14-17. In an interview with this iconic director, Brooks talks about producing the work of his old friend, as well as Beckett's humor, genius, current relevancy, and the public's perceptions.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of Oscar Wilde’s “An Ideal Husband” has a lot going for it. It ...

This is the 25th anniversary for Filmfest DC, which opened April 7 and closes April 17 at locations and venues throughout the city, and it’s also the same for Filmfest DC Director Tony Gittens, the festival’s first and only director over the years. “We didn’t used to have all these new delivery systems and ways of looking at films,” he said. “There was no digital film, no Internet, no Youtube, nothing like that. Sundance didn’t exist as a major marketplace for independent films.”

“Liberty Smith,” a kind of tongue-in-cheek, young-hero retelling of some major events of the Revolutionary War, has a number of things going on for it. “We think this is going to be great entertainment,” says Paul Tetreault, Ford’s executive artistic director. “We have a big, Broadway-style musical here, which will appeal to the whole family.”

The recent death of Elizabeth Taylor and its coverage around Washington highlighted the nurture-torture nature of the relationship between Washington and Hollywood, like an electric wire was connecting the two cities. People remember her here; just ask the senator, the gossip writers, theatergoers and the folks at the Whitman Walker Clinic.

It’s hard to pin Mike Daisey down. You’d kind of like to know what he is – is he ...

If you want to know a little bit about what’s going on in the vibrant Washington area theatre scene, as well as a little bit about its history, check out the Helen Hayes Awards nominations. They’ve always provided clues about what’s hot and what’s not, trends and directions.

Giacomo Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” is probably the most performed opera in America. The Washington National Opera, with two different ...

Sitting in the balcony seats at Arena Stage’s Kreeger Theatre overlooking the stage, I had a disquieting thought as ...

The Kennedy Center

Maximum India Festival
March 1-20

New York City Ballet Three mixed Repertoire Programs: April 5, 8 and ...

In the annals of 20th-Century American theater history, there are few playwrights more influential, more continually fascinating to theatergoers and theater makers, than Tennessee Williams and Edward Albee. And both playwrights are getting their full due in two ambitious, wide-reaching, far-flung local festivals. Arena stage will be hosting a two-month long Edward Albee festival. And “The Glass Menagerie Project” at Georgetown University is part of a nationwide Tennessee Williams Centennial Festival...

Here is India, according to stats provided by the embassy: 1.2 billion people, 24 languages, 1,600 dialects, 28 ...

Spring is on its way to Washington. And if we need a sign of spring—and a beautiful, highly anticipated ...

Maximum India Festival
March 1-20

New York City Ballet Three mixed Repertoire Programs: April 5, 8 and 10; April 6 ...

“Madame Butterfly”
February 26 – March 19

“Iphigenie en Tauride”
May 6 – May 26
Placido Domingo himself, departing as head of ...

Among many offerings, there are:

Hilary Hahn performs this Sunday at 4 p.m.
February 27

Itzhak Perlman comes to ...

“Liberty Smith”
March 23 – May 21
Geoff Packard, who wowed audiences in the title role of “Candide,” takes on another ...

Oscar Wilde’s “An Ideal Husband”
March 8 – April 10
Oscar Wilde will get the full treatment by the Shakespeare ...

“New Ireland: The Enda Walsh Festival”
March 15 – April 25
Featuring the works of acclaimed Irish playwright Enda Walsh, the ...

“The Edward Albee Festival”
March 5 – April 24
With lots of events, plays, talks and side activities, and it’s ...

“The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs”
March 21 – April 10
Most intriguing prospect and title goes to this ...

Unless you’re a classical music and opera fanatic, you may not have heard of Joyce DiDonato. But take my ...

Theater Critics love “Tynan,” the one-man show about the acerbic, outrageous, revolutionary British drama critic-as-hedonistic celebrity now at the Studio ...

Forget what you thought you knew about Irish lit, Irish mores and Irish culture; the stuff you learned by way ...

When Kimberly Schraf, Holly Twyford and Nancy Robinette come back onto the set to take their final bows for their ...

Holly Twyford, Nancy Robinette and Kimberly Schraf are the matrons of the Washington theater scene, now performing together for the first time in Horton Foote's "The Carpetbagger's Daughters" at Ford's Theater.

Zimmerman has managed, over a couple of decades of directing and writing, to create a whole new kind of play, as yet difficult to fit into a descriptive category. And yet you come back to it: children, fairytales, storytelling, tales told around a campfire, the first writings of man. It’s that kind of thing, but made complicated, and made deep.

War plays are tough, and not just because war is hell.

With perhaps the exception of Shakespeare’s “Henry V ...

At the outset, it needs to be said that I am not an expert or aficionado. I can’t even ...

Mary Zimmerman is back. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

Zimmerman’s "Arabian Nights" comes to Arena Stage fresh ...

When is a theater company more than a theater company? When does a play become something more than a play ...

Washington’s theater season ended in an embarrassment of riches, especially for anyone who loves full-bodied productions of musicals.

We ...

At the end of “Let Me Down Easy,” Anna Deavere Smith’s provocative, shattering play about health care in America ...

Cusack stars as the brimming-with-optimism Army nurse Nellie Forbush in 'South Pacific,' the role originated by the legendary Mary Martin in the 1940s original. Singing some iconic Rogers & Hammerstein songs like “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair” and “Wonderful Guy,” this national tour has brought her home in a big way.

Just because it’s the Christmas season, not everyone wants to be entertained by all things Christmas.

That’s true ...

In a November 14 New York Times Arts and Leisure article by Alastair Macaulay, entitled “The Sugarplum Diet,” it was ...

You’d have to be damn near blind not to see what Kris Kristofferson looked like, even from a distance ...

“House of Gold” has closed its doors, shutters, and weird basement entrance down at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre, but I ...

You know the drill. It’s time to celebrate the holidays. Not Thanksgiving. That’s practically yesterday. We’re talking about THE HOLIDAYS, when families reunite, and the grandparents will inevitably come bearing sweaters for everybody.

The 60 year old Arena Stage and its Artistic Director Molly Smith have recently opened the doors to its architecturally majestic new Mead Center for American Theater to rave reviews with a revival of the great American classic, Rodger‘s and Hammersteins‘s “Oklahoma!” This has prompted my look back to the inception of an important milestone in the history and development of the American theater.

One thing you can say about jazz, even if you don’t know a heck of a lot about jazz ...

Steel Burkhardt and Paris Remillard, two of the stars of the musical revival of "Hair," at the Kennedy Center through November 21st, talk about what it means to star in a counter-revolutionary musical from the 1960s in 21st Century .

Even if she hadn’t announced herself, the voice on the phone, a little whispery, a little dramatic, not as ...

Arena Stage Artistic Director Molly Smith has accomplished quite a bold and remarkable thing here, picking and staging the great ...

Oscar Madison and Felix Unger. The slob and the neatnik. We know these guys, since, like forever. They’re Jack Klugman and Tony Randall. They’re Walter Matthau and Art Carney and or Jack Lemmon. They’re “The Odd Couple.”

Remember those old, tinted granny glasses worn by hippies in the sixties, along with their bellbottoms, fringed jackets, tie-dyed blouses and long hair or afros? You don’t?

Most worthwhile efforts have small beginnings, and this is also true for the Embassy Series, the unique musical events put together every year by its director, Jerome Barry, now in its 17th season.

The Washington Savoyards present THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE at the Atlas Performing Arts Center ( 1333 H Street, NE Washington DC ...

The eminently successful playwright Ken Ludwig insists that no one has ever called him a dinosaur.

“My kids maybe sometimes,” he said. “But as far as I remember, no one has said that to my face or in print.”

Well, there’s always a first time. Ken Ludwig is something of a dinosaur. And I mean that entirely as a compliment.

Major change is coming to the Washington National Opera. Placido Domingo, the world-renowned tenor, who has been general director of the company since 1996, helping to launch it to another level of respect, stature and accomplishment, will be leaving his post as of June, 2011.

That mother-ship construction project people have been noting at the site of the old Arena Stage near the Southwest waterfront is finally set to open its pearly gates to the public. After two and a half years of construction, Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater will have a ribbon cutting ceremony and Homecoming Grand Opening Celebration on Saturday, October 23, lasting almost all day long from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

After a sold out run of performances last fall, the VelocityDC Dance Festival is coming back for a second season. This vibrant performance experience presented by the Washington dance community will hopefully continue to be a seasonal offering in the DC Area.

Hundreds of bare feet grazed the Nationals’ field as families and couples picnicked for “Opera in the Outfield” last Sunday ...

The 12th Annual Hyman S. & Freda Bernstein Jewish Literary Festival will run from October 17 to the 27 throughout DC ...

Musicians are invited to discuss with professionals about how to be successful in the music industry and answer the big ...

Nicholas Kent and The Tricycle Theater, a UK based theater company, is touring a landmark project, "the Great Game: Afghanistan", across the United States: a near full-day marathon of theater dealing with the past century's conflicts in Afghanistan, from the British Empires efforts in the first half of the 20th century and the Soviet Union invasion, to the modern ongoing turmoil with America. A revelatory must-see for all defense contractors, state department and federal employees, national security officers, and international advisers – in other words, anyone working in and around the DC Metro area.

Almost any production of William Shakespeare’s “All’s Well That Ends Well” is bound to be problematic. That’s because the play is, well, one of those problem plays in the Shakespeare canon — plays which are difficult to stage, about which there are critical misgivings, to say the least. To that category you could probably lend the title “lesser Shakespeare”. They don’t go down well with their after-taste and often don’t play as well as they should because lesser characters sometimes take over the play. Put “Cymbeline” on that list alongside “Pericles”. Perhaps add “Troilus and Cressida,” “Henry VIII,” and even “The Winter’s Tale,” — let alone “Timon of Athens” to which we can only say, when’s the last time you’ve seen that?

David Muse makes his official debut as the new artistic director of the Studio Theater (he succeeds founder and long-time A-D Joy Zinoman) by directing “Circle Mirror Transformation.”

With Sarah Ruhl, who penned "The Vibrator Play" at Woolly Mammoth, you’re going to get ambushed at every turn with reveries, lyrical side trips, and unexpected behavior by almost all of the characters. And you'll love it.

The Washington performing arts world runs the gamut. But we also have institutions, organizations and individuals that are beyond category.

This fall in Washington, everything from vibrators to Verdi is taking the stage. Arts writer Gary Tischler picks the top performances you shouldn't miss.

Marsha Mason, four-time Oscar nominee, farmer and classic actress, returns to the stage this fall in Shakespeare Theatre's production of "All's Well That Ends Well."

As Artistic Director Molly Smith puts it, “We are finally home again.” But Arena's home isn't exactly what it used to be — in fact, it's about to complete a colossal renovation that will soon light up Washington's theater scene once more.

Gary Tischler is not in the least embarrassed to admit that he really, really enjoyed myself at a recent performance of “Mary Poppins,” now at the Kennedy Center’s Opera House.

In August, The Music Center at Strathmore hosts its annual tribute gig, this year devoted to the turbulent '60s and the British Invasion.

“Mary Poppins” is a way of life for Welsh tour director Anthony Lyn. A life a long way off from his homeland's famous Swansea Grand Theatre.

"Passing Strange," now performing at the Studio Theatre's 2nd Stage, taps into a long tradition of growing-pain and coming-of-age tales. But it also feels and plays as if the whole couple of hours had been lived and imagined right on the spot.

Capital Fringe festival largely showcases lesser-known artists and avant-garde work to the public, often new works, highlighting some of the local D.C. talent.

Jenna DeWitt reviews "Florida Days" and "No Gentlemen of Verona," two productions now playing in this month's Capital Fringe Festival.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production “Mrs. Warren’s Profession” is gorgeous to look at, often out-loud funny, even more often sharp and witty and wonderfully acted.

Lypsinka's Studio Theatre performance of “Legends!”, if not legendary, is still a hoot.

Laurence Fishburne shines in George Stevens' "Thurgood." Gary Tischler sits down with Stevens to discuss the making of the acclaimed play, and what's next.

The Tony-winning Liz Ashley, writes Gary Tischler, is as brash, direct, self-deprecating, emotive and blunt as ever.

A week ago Tuesday, Denyce Graves was in a car, heading toward Dulles International Airport to catch a plane that would take her to Turkey. The opera star is moving up and around the world.

For a while, “to be or not to be” could have been the slogan for Washington National Opera's adaptation of "Hamlet" — it almost didn’t happen.

Gary Tischler visits Charles Fishman, the founder of the DC Jazz Festival, to talk Dizzy Gillespie, Paquito D'Rivera and, of course, the Duke.

Studio Theatre's departing Artistic Director Joy Zinoman shows again that she get the essentials of familiar material.

If you know about and love the loosely bordered Great American Songbook, you probably know about her.

If you like ...

With music and lyrics by Jeff Bowen and a book by Hunter Bell, “[title of show]” follows characters named Jeff and Hunter in their quest to write an original musical.

What does Washington's performing arts scene have in store for the first spring of the decade? Robert Sacheli and Gary Tischler weigh in with their top picks.

Rich Bloch is a labor arbitration attorney, serving as a neutral arbitrator for the National Football League. He is also a professional magician and a performer.

There’s a lot of serendipity going on in and around “Sophisticated Ladies,” a big, splashy, stylish love letter to and about Duke Ellington.

For Director Joy Zinoman, Studio Theatre’s upcoming production of “American Buffalo” has elements of both a homecoming and a leave-taking.

Actor Marc Kudisch is part of the cast of “The Golden Age” by Terence McNally, which kicks off “Nights at the Opera,” a three-part, five-week presentation by the Kennedy Center.

Almost from the moment I entered the room to meet conductor John Mauceri, having heard that I was a musician ...

As global warming has clearly been a hot topic (no pun intended) in recent news, this year D.C.’s ...

The Shakespeare Theatre Company calls its productions of “Richard II” and “Henry V” now being performed at Sidney Harman Hall’s “The Leadership Repertory.” I call it two of the most outstanding Shakespeare productions I’ve ever encountered, period.

We recently talked with Shakespeare Theatre Company's Michael Kahn, who directed “Richard II” and "Henry V," about the plays and the process.

In “Make Believe,” one of the classic songs from Show Boat, Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II celebrate the power of imagination.

The Christmas holidays are upon us and its not even Thanksgiving yet. Everywhere you look — in malls, in television ads ...