As the year draws to a close, we asked DCMTA writers to think back on the performances that left an indelible impression on them in 2019. Here are the professional performances that made the biggest impact on DCMTA writers this year. Performers are listed in alphabetical order by last name.
Megan Anderson as Elizabeth I
Mary Stuart at Olney Theatre Center
Megan Anderson is superb as Elizabeth in her battle to retain the throne against Mary Stuart, her rival and cousin. Striding back and forth across the stage, Anderson flaunts her power, yet flinches from its potential abuse. It’s a brilliant performance. – Ravelle Brickman
Ravelle Brickman’s Review
Moses Bossenbroek as Billy
Blue Camp at Rainbow Theatre Project
Billy is the most memorable character in Blue Camp – he’s a soldier who wears his queerness like a badge of honor and doubles as a drag entertainer – and an assured Moses Bossenbroek plays him with extraordinary charisma. – John Stoltenberg
John Stoltenberg’s Review
David Siegel’s Column
Lise Bruneau as Iago
The Tragedy of Othello, The Moor of Venice by Riot Grrrls, Taffety Punk
As Iago, Lise Bruneau seethes with resentment from the very beginning. She seems to enjoy recounting Iago’s brilliant strategic initiatives and she displays a consciousness of intellectual superiority and lower status that renders her incandescent with rage. Her last line, “From this time I never will speak more,” is the high point of an extraordinary performance. – Sophia Howes
Sophia Howes’ Review
Michael Burgos as himself
Tiramisù at the DC Arts Center
Michael Burgos is part mime, part clown, part zany, part goof-off. And he has perfected a unique comic persona that invites audience participation even as he himself participates in the audience’s responses and reactions. At each slight sound from the audience, some quicksilver smile or glance or twitch of his will register that he is sweetly attuned to us. And that instantaneous comedic reciprocity so completely takes us in and makes us laugh all the more that it’s as if we are at one with his wit. – John Stoltenberg
John Stoltenberg’s Review
Harrison Bryan as Christopher Boone
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at Round House Theatre Christopher Boone, in a virtuoso performance by Harrison Bryan, is nothing if not curious. Bryan brings this arresting character to life in a beginning-to-end whirlwind of energy, with constant, often rapid, changes in affect and physicality, along with spot-on comic timing. The bravery and determination of his second act quest is satisfying in a way that Joseph Campbell would surely applaud. We root for Christopher, and one of the strengths of Bryan’s performance is that it shows Christopher demanding, usually successfully, to be the center of attention, exercising power in an unusual but effective way.
Bob Ashby’s review
5 reasons Christopher Boone liked ‘Curious Incident’ at Round House better than on Broadway by John Stoltenberg
Paula Calvo as Carmen Diaz
Fame! at GALA Hispanic Theatre
The rise of Carmen Diaz as an aspiring star and her subsequent crash when demons overcome her is brought to life through the inspired performance of Paula Calvo. Calvo’s performance is a reminder that talent alone is not enough. Success also requires hard work and a lifetime of dedication to one’s craft. – Nicole Hertvik
Nicole Hertvik’s Review
Anthony Chisholm as Fielding
Jitney at Arena Stage
Although the entire ensemble in Jitney was outstanding, Anthony Chisolm, as Fielding, the happy drunk, was a standout. His portrayal of the alcoholic driver with the distinguished past of having been a haberdasher to the stars was sweetly devilish, his performance so authentically sot you’d swear this guy had a drinking problem off-stage. – Ramona Harper
Ramona Harper’s Review
Ian Coursey as Jean Valjean
Les Miserables at Young Artists of America (pre-professional teen program)
Coursey approached the role of Jean Valjean with a gravitas that belied his young years, easily filling the stage with his presence and commanding the audience’s attention and respect. For Les Miserables to work, Jean Valjean has to be a figure of moral authority who commands our attention and respect whenever he is onstage. He must also have a stellar voice and a vocal range that can handle several octaves. Coursey excels in all aspects, enthralling the audience from start to finish. Coursey is a young performer with a great future. – Nicole Hertvik
Nicole Hertvik’s Review
Kelley Curran as Clytemnestra
The Oresteia at Shakespeare Theatre Company
Curran’s Clytemnestra carries the weight of the Oresteia from beginning to end. Her performance anchors this magnificent production and she excels in this supremely difficult role. – Sophia Howes
Sophia Howes’ Review
Felicia Curry as Doctor Martha Livingstone
Nanna Ingvarrson as Mother Miriam Ruth
Zoe Walpole as Agnes
Agnes of God at Factory 449
“Zoe Walpole’s singing voice as Agnes is every bit as angelic as the script says. Besides her dulcet voice, what she brings to the role is extraordinary. From her initial timidity through her gathering terror all the way to her excruciating howl and physicalization of pain, Walpole’s performance is that of a young actor who has joined the firmament of stellar talent. Among those top-tier talents are Factory 449 members Nanna Ingvarrson—whose Mother Superior is a portrait in inner torment, determined to present herself as beatific and benign, but whose unraveling is both awesome and fearsome—and Felicia Curry, whose emotional range and raw authenticity would steal the show even if she were not in every scene.” —John Stoltenberg
John Stoltenberg’s review
Mike Daisey as himself
A People’s History at Capital Fringe
Over 16 days in July 2019, Mike Daisey gave 18 different solo performances, each about an hour and 45 minutes long, of his epic look at America’s past, present, and future. He drew from his high school American history textbook, from Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, and from his own life. What Daisey did in A People’s History as a politically conscious performing artist had to be seen to be believed. It was a landmark achievement in DC theater—and a living lighthouse of conscience for America’s dark times. – John Stoltenberg
John Stoltenberg’s Review
John Stoltenberg’s Q&A with Mike Daisey
John Stoltenberg’s Feature about A People’s History
Christopher Dinolfo as Edward Kynaston
Nell Gwynn at The Folger Theatre
Christopher Dinolfo is hilarious as Edward Kynaston, a rival diva who resents the intrusion of actual women onto the stage with their inartistic real figures and profound cultural ignorance. He throws a fit over his motivation during an entrance in which he has a single line. Theatre fans will not be surprised to learn that his inspiration derives from a long-ago childhood trauma. – Sophia Howes
Sophia Howes’ Review
Shannon Dorsey as Imani and Justin Weaks as Justin
BLKS at Woolly Mammoth Theatre
BLKS is about being black and female and is as raw, blunt, and brazen as it fuckin wants to be. The entire ensemble is of Helen Hayes-award caliber, but an extra shoutout goes to Shannon Dorsey and Justin Weaks, whose gifts for physical comedy just keep on giving. To watch Dorsey bounce giddily about, and Weaks clamber gangly through a window, is to savor two of DC’s preeminent talents in peak comedic form. – John Stoltenberg
John Stoltenberg’s Review
Terrance Fleming as Hamlet
Hamlet at Baltimore Shakespeare Factory
Terrance Fleming’s Hamlet is so brilliant that it is painful when one cannot catch every delicious word. Fleming is a more engaging, approachable, funny, less melancholy and more layered Hamlet than one expects, creating a well-developed character who happens to recite some of the most famous soliloquies in all of Shakespeare’s works. Fleming’s Hamlet is a whole person, with quirks and sarcasm, self-amusement and passion, and an incredible ability to keep the audience’s sympathy and attention. This young actor shows seasoning beyond his years. – Mara Bayewitz
Mara Bayewitz’ Review
Edward Gero as Falstaff
1 Henry IV at The Folger Theatre
The success of any 1 Henry IV production rests largely on the character of Falstaff, whose scenes are works of comic genius. Fortunately, in Edward Gero, Folger has found a Falstaff whose performance is the epitome of great acting. In a red Lord of Misrule hat, Gero’s Falstaff sits atop a table, pretending to be Henry IV while Whitted’s Prince Hal plays himself. He intones his admonitions to the Prince with delicious faux-indignant gusto. His Falstaff is not only hilariously funny, but sometimes rageful, and sometimes touching. It’s easy to agree with him when he says wistfully: “Banish plump Jack, and banish all the world.” – Sophia Howes
Sophia Howes’ Review
Kimberly Gilbert as Richard III
Bootleg Shakespeare Richard III at Folger Theatre
Central to the allure of Taffety Punk Theatre Company’s Bootleg Shakespeare Richard III was the luminous performance of Kimberly Gilbert as the Duke of Gloucester, later to be King Richard. Gilbert totally killed in a bravura portrayal of a scheming king with a grudge against the world and not one iota of apology for the horrific deeds done in his name. Gilbert was verbally brazen and wantonly ruthless, presenting Richard as a deeply insecure individual out to bend the world to him. – David Siegel
David Siegel’s Column
Sophia Howes’ Review
John Harrell as Ftatateeta
Caesar and Cleopatra at the American Shakespeare Center
Harrell has a long, long history with the American Shakespeare Center, going back to its early days as the Shenandoah Shakespeare Express. His knowledge of Shakespeare is solid, so it’s a real treat to see him do the numbers on George Bernard Shaw and play the (traditionally female) role of Ftatateeta, Cleopatra’s nurse and aide-de-camp (emphasis on camp). He knew how to uphold his dignity as nearly everyone in the cast mispronounced his name, always to hilarious effect; Harrell has a knack for combining grand-dame vanity with the insouciance that comes from privilege, with enough absurdity and irony to evoke the great Margaret Dumont of Marx Brothers fame. – Andrew Walker White
Andrew Walker White’s Review
Diana Huey as Built
White Pearl at Studio Theatre
Built is a character full of paradoxes. Her wealthy father renders her financially independent. But she has a childlike quality and a passion and anger which burns bright and makes her character more interesting. Huey finds all the colors in this challenging role and commits utterly to every emotion. – Sophia Howes
John Stoltenberg’s Column
Cori Dioquino’s op-ed
Ryan Knowles as Chiron, Hades, and Medusa, etc.
The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical at the Kennedy Center
Ryan Knowles as Chiron, Hades, and Medusa (to name a few) was a scene-stealer every time he stepped, wheeled, or galloped on stage. His remarkable range of intricately layered personas was fascinating to watch unfold and were always perfectly balanced on the edge of ridiculous and delightful, for adults and kids alike. – Em Skow
Em Skow’s review
Billie Krishawn as The Nina
Airness at Keegan Theatre and 1st Stage
Billie Krishawn as The Nina has a difficult challenge in Airness: she is the central figure and the character who changes the most as the plot progresses. She is always engaging and her emotional honesty as an actress is something to see. – Sophia Howes
Sophia Howes’ Review
Kenneth Lautz as Frank ‘N’ Furter
Rocky Horror Show by Wolf Pack Theatre Company
Lautz was astonishing as Frank ‘N’ Furter. He can sing, he can dance and his acting varies from sweet overlord to nasty dictator in numbers like “Sweet Transvestite.” His scenes were tastefully done. – Andy Arnold
Andy Arnold’s Review
Alison Luff as Nell Gwynn
Nell Gwynn at Folger Theatre
Alison Luff’s performance as the title character in Jessica Swale’s Nell Gwynn was nothing short of perfection; watching her transform from a rude orange-monger to star was a miracle. In particular the sequence at the end of Act I, watching Luff’s Nell endure the agonies of sheer terror backstage and take her first steps, haltingly but then boldly, onto the boards is something I can never forget. There is an intimacy to the Folger Theatre space which enables the truly talented to charm everyone, seemingly effortlessly. Luff accomplished this with grace. – Andrew Walker White
Sophia Howe’s Review
Rachel Manu as Ophelia
Hamlet at Baltimore Shakespeare Factory
Rachel Manu stood out as the feminine, longing, romantic Ophelia. Her transformation from sassy love interest to cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs is the highlight of the production, with Manu’s wild eyes, chilling singing voice, and unruly hair conveying a young woman tortured by loss and shock. Manu’s mesmerizing portrayal leaves the audience open-mouthed by the time she makes her final exit. – Mara Bayewitz
Mara Bayewitz’ Review
Alex Mills as Richard III
Richard III at Synetic Theater
At one point, we see Richard sitting in—is it a throne or a wheelchair? He is being operated on by two of his minions, Tyrell (Ana Tsikurishvili) and Ratcliffe (Scean Aaron). He will become, as Director Tsikurishvili describes, “a terrifyingly surreal synergy of the organic and the synthetic.” Mills’ transformation is remarkable; his head movements, need to control everything he sees, and spasmodic physicality perfectly represent the suffering (for despite the horror of who he is, Richard IS suffering) of this impossible being. – Sophia Howes
Sophia Howes’ Review
Christian Montgomery as Michael Mell
Be More Chill at Monumental Theatre Company
Christian Montgomery has the key role of Michael, Jeremy’s best friend. The song “Michael in the Bathroom” as sung by George Salazar, was crucial to the evolution of Be More Chill into an Internet phenomenon. Montgomery is marvelous in the part, and he makes Michael all his own. His performance of “Michael in the Bathroom” is one of the highlights of the production. – Sophia Howes
Sophia Howes’ Review
Ian Merrill Peakes as Antonio Salieri
Amadeus at Folger Theatre
Ian Merrill Peakes plays the older, staid Salieri, a prosperous man with fear and darkness hidden within. His Salieri is a formidable, assured, no-nonsense gentleman, yet he depicts internal self-aware fears in a number of fourth-wall-breaking conversations with the audience as if we are sitting in on a therapy session with him. He says what he truly thinks in a most transparent manner. “Why does God only speak through Mozart’s music and not mine?” Salieri asks of himself and the audience. – David Siegel
David Siegel’s Review
Ravelle Brickman’s Interview with Ian Merrill Peakes
Caroline Neff as Laurel
Byhalia, Mississippi at The Kennedy Center
The pivotal character in this profoundly moving comedy is Laurel, a young woman who has relocated from Jackson to Byhalia, Mississippi, to make a life with the young man she plans to love for the rest of her life. She is pregnant and overdue. A snob might think them “white trash” because they’re broke and this is the South, but they are rich in joy and mutual affection. And in Caroline Neff’s incandescent performance, Laurel keeps us caring about her every instant—not least when no one else does because her baby turns out to be black. – John Stoltenberg
John Stoltenberg’s Review
Matt Newberry as Jerry
Betrayal at 4615 Theatre Company
Dewberry’s Jerry is a bundle of emotions, very much in love with Emma throughout. The intensity of his passion continually threatens to get the best of him, and his biting wit fails to save him from falling into one trap after another. – Sophia Howes
Sophia Howes’ Review
Andrew Quilpa as Chuck Biggs
She Kills Monsters at Rorschach Theatre
There wasn’t a single weak link in this ensemble cast, with every actor bringing their own brand of passion to their often multiple roles. These talented actors proved that even characters steeped in stereotype can be subtle, unique, and interesting. But Andrew Quilpa as Chuck Biggs was a standout. He was downright masterful in walking the tightrope between super-knowledgeable (yet sometimes-creepy) gamer and loyal, lovable friend. He was the perfect gatekeeper to a nerd culture that our society suddenly wants to embrace yet fails to fully comprehend. – Julie Janson
Julie Janson’s Review
Matthew Rauch as Richard III
Richard III at Shakespeare Theatre Company
Rauch’s Richard has the cold aura of a psychopath. His Richard is terrifying not because he enjoys his crimes, as we often see in Richards, but because he cares so little; or really, not at all. – Sophia Howes
Sophia Howes’ Review
Nancy Robinette as Lavinia Pennington
The Heiress at Arena Stage
From the moment she enters—decked out in widow’s weeds and descending a carpeted stairway—Nancy Robinette dominates the stage in this revival of The Heiress, a 1947 Broadway hit based on a book by Henry James. Although Robinette plays a supporting role – that of Lavinia Pennington, the widowed aunt of the titular “heiress” – she invests it with an extraordinary blend of naivete and craft. She radiates hope, sets the plot in motion, and then leaves us to wonder about the consequences. – Ramona Harper
Ramona Harper’s review
Ravelle Brickman’s interview with Nancy Robinette
Romainson Romain as Tyrone Jackson
Fame! at GALA Hispanic Theatre
Romain portrays Tyrone Jackson, the jaded breakdancer whose skills are so great that his teachers work hard to ensure he overcomes other limitations. Romaine’s dance moves awed and contained a mixture of traditional street dance and a uniquely offbeat ballet moves. His sympathetic portrayal of his demons left the audience rooting for him and hoping from the heart that he would overcome. – Nicole Hertvik
Nicole Hertvik’s review
Susan Rome as Louise Nevelson and Jonathan David Martin as The Man
Edward Albee’s Occupant at Theater J
Susan Rome as legendary sculptor Louise Nevelson commands the stage with a spontaneity, grandiosity, and luminosity that would make Auntie Mame and Mama Rose consider retirement. Jonathan David Martin brings to the role of the inquisitive Man such wry charm, boyish zest, and tweedy warmth we are won over immediately and for keeps.
– John Stoltenberg
John Stoltenberg’s Review
Ravelle Brickman’s Interview with Susan Rome
Nigel Rowe as Ariel
Stormy Weather at The IN Series
IN Series’ Stormy Weather, inspired by Shakespeare’s The Tempest, features the music of Billie Holiday and a stunning cabaret performance by Nigel Rowe as Ariel. Rowe’s musical talent shines throughout and his every number is beautifully sung and emotionally appealing. – Sophia Howes
David Siegel’s Review
Sophia Howes’ Interview with Nigel Rowe
Kimberly Schraf as an Israeli therapist and Mitchell Hebert as the Hebrew God
Oh, God at Mosaic Theater Company
The play, by the late Anat Gov – an Israeli playwright known for comedy with political undertones – is about a once omnipotent God in need of help. Kimberly Schraf delivers a fine performance as the therapist who tries to reassure her patient, and Mitchell Hebert is sensational as the macho deity who feels rejected. The two literally circle each other, arguing about life and death, in a performance that is a joy to watch. – Ravelle Brickman
John Stoltenberg’s Review
Bobby Smith as Charles Guiteau
Assassins at Signature Theatre
Signature Theatre’s incredible production of Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins was distinguished by many fine performances. Yet for sheer, manic nuttiness, it’s hard to beat Bobby Smith’s portrayal of the delusional Charles Guiteau, an all-around loser who shoots James Garfield when the president refuses to name him Ambassador to France. “The Ballad of Guiteau,” a frantic and truly funny number that this failed preacher and writer sings while mounting the gallows, is a high point of the show. – Amy Kotkin
Amy Kotkin’s Review
Zoe Speas as Cleopatra
Antony and Cleopatra at the American Shakespeare Center
Any trip to Staunton, Virginia, and the Blackfriars Playhouse is an artistic quest that borders on pilgrimage; you have to see Shakespeare performed as originally intended at least once in your life—and preferably a helluva lot more often than that. Zoe Speas, one of the American Shakespeare Center’s company members, is one of the best reasons to go there. Her Cleopatra balanced sexiness and cattiness with raw political calculation; this was a monarch who knew perfectly well what she was doing, who knew how to have fun—but serious fun, nothing frivolous. The depth of the character becomes much clearer when performed by someone as accomplished as Speas. The play itself is one of the most chaotic of Shakespeare’s canon, and Speas accomplished the almost impossible feat of rendering it cohesive and moving. – Andrew Walker White
Andrew Walker White’s Review
Constance Swain as Cleopatra
Caesar and Cleopatra at the American Shakespeare Center
One of the greatest things about seeing a repertory company perform interrelated plays is the way roles are sometimes shared from one production to the next. So although it’s unusual to nominate two Cleopatras from the same rep, it points to the consistently high quality of acting on tap at Staunton, Virginia’s American Shakespeare Center, and the freedom with which actors can assume widely divergent approaches to the same persona. Swain’s range and body of work is so impressive, I’m tempted to say she should get an award for just about everything she does. Her passion, her timing, her physicality, her fearlessness is all remarkable to watch, regardless of whether it’s her comic, girlish take on Cleopatra (in this Shaw production) or earlier this year in the title role of Sophocles’ Antigone, which touched down briefly at the Alden Theatre in McLean Virginia. – Andrew Walker White
Andrew Walker White’s Review
Gerrad Alex Taylor
Henry IV, Part I at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company
In a stunningly entertaining display of stagecraft, Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s Henry IV, Part I features some of the best performances you’ll see this year, including the swaggering and rebellious Gerrad Alex Taylor as Harry “Hotspur” Percy. Taylor (who directed CSC’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream) as Hotspur, raised both the stakes and his voice high in the scene with Lady Kate Percy (Elana Michelle) Act II, Scene 3: “Away, away, you trifler! Love? I love thee not; I care not for thee, Kate!” – William Powell
William Powell’s Review
Holly Twyford as Nora
A Doll House, Part 2 at Round House Theatre
Holly Twyford is a local treasure and dazzles as Nora in Round House’s ‘A Doll’s House, Part 2.’ Not just with big moments delivering her views about matrimony, parenthood and selfhood. No, it is the smaller moments, when she is taking in what others think. She is totally in the moment. She is in real discomfort. Her eyes show pain. Her hands and fingers are like wilted flowers seeking out water and sun. She does not just step forward defensively to take prisoners with shouts. She once cared for these people, she loved them in her own way. Twyford shows that. – David Siegel
David Siegel’s Review
John Stoltenberg’s Column
Zoe Walpole as Frankie and Deidra LaWan Starnes as Berenice
The Member of the Wedding at 1st Stage
With To Kill a Mockingbird now a smash hit on Broadway in Aaron Sorkin’s controversial adaptation, the warmhearted production at 1st Stage of its literary precursor, Carson McCullers’s adaption of her beloved novel The Member of the Wedding, takes on a sheen of timely theatrical interest. And that anticipation is amply rewarded—for Zoe Walpole, whose flighty fancifulness lights up the stage as Frankie, and Deidra LaWan Starnes, whose empathy and dignity anchor the drama as Berenice, give two of the must-see performances of the season. – John Stoltenberg
John Stoltenberg’s Review
Roz White as Alberta “Pearl” Johnson
Black Pearl Sings by Alliance for New Music-Theatre
When we first see Pearl, she is incarcerated in a Texas jail. Yet her talent and queenly demeanor mark her out as exceptional. The beauty of White’s voice, as she sings “Little Sally Walker,” “Blackberries,” and “Kum Ba Yah” is undeniable. Her singing becomes a metaphor for the magnetism of Pearl herself, a woman whose talent shines like a diamond amid the painful realities of her life. – Sophia Howes
Sophia Howes’ Review
Emily Whitworth as Althea
Annie Jump and the Library of Heaven at Rorschach Theatre
Playing an intergalactic supercomputer, knower of all, and one who “is just feeling her look” was the sharp Emily Whitworth as Althea in ‘Annie Jump and the Library of Heaven’ by Rorschach Theatre. An entertaining blend of mean girl and robot sprinkled with some serious stardust attitude, Whitworth’s Althea was a highlight of the production. With countless flatly delivered digs and judgmentally swiveling looks, Althea pushed Annie towards the stars. – Em Skow
Em Skow’s Review
Elan Zafir as Juror # 10
Twelve Angry Men at Ford’s Theatre
Elan Zafir was the embodiment of the working-class white man. His mind was made up about the case long before he entered the courtroom, having sentenced the defendant solely on the grounds of the man’s race. His performance was solid and nuanced and a grave reminder that racism skewed people’s vision when Twelve Angry Men was written, as it continues to do today. – Nicole Hertvik
David Siegel’s Review
John Stoltenberg’s Column
