The staff of DCMetroTheaterArts has taken a brief breather and is offering their favorite ‘Scene Stealers’ from August through December 2013. Here’s Part 1 of our selections. Congrats to all our Scene Stealers.
Feel free to leave a congrats and comment in the Comment Box below.
From Jessica Vaughan:
Adina Aaron singing “Pace, Pace, Mio Dio!” in The Force of Destiny at Washington National Opera.
American Soprano Adina Aaron is a rising star in opera and her turn as Leonora is a worthy addition to her repertoire, especially in this innovative production at Washington National Opera. This is not your mother’s opera, with pole dancers weaving around a chorus dressed in leather and lace and toting machine guns. Aaron is the brilliant center piece of the action, but it is her voice that stole the scene, and the opera, especially on her final, glorious “Pace, Pace, Mio Dio!” Verdi has written some excellent finales in his time, but this quiet end is one his best. Aaron’s voice is so powerful, warm, and moving for this final song.
Tiernan Madorno as Aaron the Moor in his final monologue “Ay, that I had not done a thousand more” in Titus Andronicus at Taffety Punk Theatre Company
Taffety Punk runs a company within a company called the Riot Grrrls who cast all-female productions of some of the classic male roles. While the whole production did a stellar job, Tiernan Madorno was a tour de force in her role as the villain Aaron the Moor. They play the roles seriously, never winking at the gender of the actor, and Madorno clearly reveled in this deranged villain, particularly in his closing monologue where he declares himself absolutely unrepentant. She was superbly believable and it felt as if she were no longer acting, as if there was no room in her for anything but this character. I was a little relieved at the end when she smiled and took a bow.
From Joel Markowitz:
Carley Rosefelt as Nina Rosario singing “Breathe’ at In The Heights
at Act Two @ Levine
I still have chills thinking about Carley Rosefelt’s powerful and emotional rendition of “Breathe’ at In the Heights. I’ve watched Carley in several Act Two productions as she always does – she sang “Breathe” with so much heart. She’s not only a fabulous singer but also fine actress. She’s a star!
From Jessica Vaughan:
Laura Russell and the wedding dress in Red Herring at Silver Spring Stage
Silver Spring Stage put on a farce of the 1950’s government spying program with a generally hilarious cast of characters, including Laura Russell as Maggie, a hard- boiled police detective with all of the usually tropes…except for the fact she happens to be a woman. She infuses the role with a long-suffering patience for the police department and the clueless men who run it, and a genuine affection for her boyfriend, an equally sharp FBI agent who asks her to marry him. Imagine a police detective walking into a wedding dress shop. Oh yes, and there just happens to be a suspect at the shop. The moment she walked onstage in her white dress, I just about died laughing.
Awa Sal Secka as Rita singing “Fancy Meeting You Here” in Lucky Stiff at Montgomery College
She’s a force of nature with a booming voice and a personality to match, and after watching Awa Sal Secka mesmerize the audience with her performance of Dorothy in Montgomery College’s Summer Dinner Theatre production of The Wiz, it was so much fun watching her now playing an angry borderline meglomaniac maid. And when she delivered “Fancy Meeting You Here” with her usual gusto, the audience went nuts. I can’t wait to see what role she plays next.
From Ramona Harper:
Mavis Staples Singing “I’ll Take You There” at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.
The legendary singer of protests songs from the civil rights movement, brought the audience to its feet with “I’ll Take You There” at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. She had the audience add their voices to this timeless popular tune in her rousing concert finale, and we gladly obliged in hand-clapping, foot-stomping jubilation. It was a well-earned standing ovation for a living legend.
LINK
Read the DCMetroTheaterArts Staff’s Best Scene Stealers of 2012-2013.
https://youtu.be/l64Bte5ygvM
