DC Theater Arts

Tag: La Cage Aux Folles

Review: ‘La Cage Aux Folles’ at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts

Riverside Center for the Performing Arts presents La Cage Aux Folles, with Music and Lyrics by Jerry Herman and Book by Harvey Fierstein. Based on Jean Poiret’s farcical play by the same name, La Cage is a multiple Tony Award winner with a successful history and is perhaps best known for inspiring the wildly popular 1996 comedy The Birdcage, starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane. Patti D’Beck directs this flashy, decadent production, with Music Direction by Garrett Jones.

The cast of ‘La Cage aux Folles,’ playing through March 3 at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts. Photo courtesy of Patrick A’Hearn/Riverside Center for the Performing Arts.

Georges and Albin (Christopher Sanders and Gabe Belyeu) are a longtime couple who are fixtures in their Saint-Tropez community, where they co-own a beloved drag nightclub. Bawdy, gaudy, and unapologetically bold, their nightclub headlines Albin as the infamous Zsa Zsa, whose sparkly personality is outdone only by her ravishing gowns. Costume designer Kyna Chilcot was given a tall order with this production, and she delivered – with sequins to spare! Despite the insecurities that come with aging, which Albin sings about in the number “A Little More Mascara,” the couple live a happy and free life, one that was fought for and well-deserved.

The company number “La Cage aux Folles” showcases the effervescent and exciting world that they created together, and their mutual affection is highlighted in “With You on My Arm.” However, when Georges’s son Jean-Michel (John Matthew Flemming) brings his fiancée’s conservative, right-wing family over for an introduction, he requests that they hide their lifestyle… and asks that the particularly flamboyant Albin not show up at all, choosing instead to invite his long-absent mother. Not only does this test the loving foundation of their family, it launches them into a humorous chain of events that make up an unforgettable evening.

Georges and Albin begrudgingly accept Jean-Michel’s request, but not before Albin sings “I Am What I Am,” a powerful, defiant number that holds the true heart of the production. With the compromise that Albin attends the dinner as an “uncle,” Georges sets out to re-train Albin’s feminine mannerisms in the number “Masculinity.” Transforming a diva drag queen into a macho man proves to be no easy feat, and while the scene and song are humorous, you can’t help but ache for Albin. When Jean-Michel’s mother proves to be a no-show, Albin takes on the role of his life, and teaches everyone a thing or two about acceptance and integrity in the process.

The ensemble works well together, and all display impressive vocal range, though Christopher Sanders out-sings them all in the number “Song on the Sand.” Scenic designer Ron Keller uses lavish drapery and details to create a dramatic world that is over-the-top in every way, and the actors use every inch of it in their lively song and dance numbers. The music at Riverside (musical direction by Garrett Jones) is provided by a live orchestra, though if you didn’t see them yourself, they could fool you as a recording!

The most physical performance of the night belongs to Anthony Cosby, who became an audience favorite as Jacob, the energetic and overeager butler. Robert Beard and Carol Hagy do a fine job as Edouard and Marie Dindon, a narrow-minded and judgmental pair who see themselves as morally superior. Stephanie Wood is lovely as Anne, their sweet daughter and Jean-Michel’s fiancée, who mercifully seemed to escape her parents’ frigid worldview.

Riverside Center for the Performing Arts’ La Cage Aux Folles is a luxurious treat; one that is much needed and welcome in our current political and social climate. If you need a break from the news and/or your stressful day-to-day, this production is a good choice.

Running Time: Approximately two and a half hours, including one 15-minute intermission.

La Cage Aux Folles plays through March 3, 2019, at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts– 95 Riverside Parkway, Fredericksburg, VA. For tickets, call (540) 370-4300 or purchase them online.

Sound Design, George Ligon; Lighting Design, Michael Jarett

January 29, 2019
Riverside Center for the Performing Arts Presents ‘La Cage aux Folles’

The Riverside Center for the Performing Arts in Fredericksburg, Virginia is excited to present the Tony Award-winning La Cage aux Folles, beginning January 9th and running until Sunday, March 3rd.

The original 1983 Broadway production received nine Tony Award nominations and won six. The 2010 Broadway revival was nominated for eleven Tony Awards, winning the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical.

Based on the French play and retold in the Robin Williams movie, “The Birdcage,” the Jerry Herman Broadway musical La Cage aux Folles is the story of a gay couple who must pretend to be straight for one night – with one of the men in drag – to dupe the conservative political family of their son’s fiancée. Featuring songs, “I Am What I Am,” “With Ann on My Arm,” and “The Best of Times.”

The cast of ‘La Cage aux Folles,’ playing through March 3 at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts. Photo courtesy of Riverside Center for the Performing Arts.

Riverside Center for the Performing Arts Producing Artistic Director, Patrick A’Hearn, is pleased to announce a terrific cast starring Gabe Belyeu as Albin and Christopher Sanders as Georges. The cast also includes John Matthew Flemming (Jean-Michel), Anthony Cosby (Jacob), Stephanie Wood (Anne), Robert Beard (Edouard Dindon/Monsieur Renaud), Carol Hagy (Marie Dindon/Mme. Renaud), Andrea Kahane (Jacqueline), Colby LeRoy (Francis), Sally Roehl (Collette), Alan Hoffman (Tabarro), Benjamin Brackley (Chantal), Joshua James Crawford (Phaedra), Thomas Delgado (Mercedes), Andrew Prowant (Angelique), Kevin Taylor (Hanna), and Kyle Fleig (Bitelle).

The creative team is led by Director/Choreographer and Broadway veteran, Patti D’Beck with Music Director and Conductor Garrett Jones. Costumes designed by Kyna Chilcot, with Sound Designs by George Ligon. The Production Stage Manager is RaeAnna Hammerbacker, and Ronald Keller is the Scenic Designer. Our creative team is complete with Lighting Designer, Mike Jarett, and Properties Master & Set Dresser, Bridgid Burge.

La Cage aux Folles plays through March 3, 2019, at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts, 95 Riverside Parkway, Fredericksburg, VA. For tickets, contact the box office at (540) 370-4300 or go online.

Regular price tickets: $40-$69. Discounted senior and group rates are available, as well as student rush tickets (with valid student ID). Evening performances start at 7:30 pm with dinner service beginning at 5:30 pm on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Matinee performances start at 1:30 pm with dinner service beginning at 11:30 am on Wednesday and 3:00 pm on Sunday with dinner service beginning at 1:00 pm.

January 14, 2019
Review: ‘La Cage aux Folles’ by ArtsCentric

“It’s rather gaudy, but it’s also rather grand,” the title song of La Cage aux Folles asserts of its titular drag club, and the same may be said of the musical that is set there, now receiving a grandly gaudy production (one of two currently playing in Baltimore) by the extraordinary African-American-centered troupe ArtsCentric.

Left to right: Robbie Duncan (Mercedes), Henry Niepoetter (Dermah), James Kinstle (Georges), Montel Butler (Chantal), Emmanuel Key (Phaedra), Terrell Kellam (Hanna). Photo by Rob Kim

The show, adapted by songwriter Jerry Herman and librettist Harvey Fierstein from a popular French movie, is often hailed as a milestone in the theatrical representation of gay characters, especially the longtime couple Georges (Jimi Kinstle), the owner of the club, and Albin (Ray Hatch-Terbush), its star performer under the stage name ZaZa. The depiction of their often stormy but ever-devoted relationship was indeed a breakthrough for American acceptance of same-sex love, particularly welcome coming as it did on the cusp of the AIDS epidemic that would soon decimate the community it celebrated.

Nevertheless, there were many at the time – this critic included – who lamented that a relatively fluffy and musically unadventurous work would sweep the Tony Awards at the expense of a deeper and more daring musical, Sunday in the Park with George – a show that coincidentally not only shared a protagonist’s name but also was the brainchild of a gay man, Stephen Sondheim, albeit one not as publicly open back then, in either his art or his life, about his sexuality. Though the superiority of Sondheim’s George remains clear three-and-a-half decades later, time has been kind to La Cage as well. In fact, it still seems all too relevant in an era when gay marriage has been nominally legitimized but LGBTQ rights continue to be under attack.

Here representing the intolerant forces of “morality” are the Dindons, whose daughter intends to wed Jean-Michel (Jamel Cole), the boy Georges and Albin have reared as their son. Hateful as the Dindons may be, Jean-Michel is arguably even worse, if only because he should know better. Not only does he attempt to conceal his two dads’ all-but-legal marriage from his fiancée’s family, but he even tries to keep the more effeminate Albin out of the picture altogether. Director Kevin S. McAllister slyly intimates that Jean-Michel’s reticence may be more than mere cowardice. In the scene where the boy joyously announces his engagement, McAllister has him jump on a couch the way Tom Cruise did when he publicized his upcoming, ultimately disastrous marriage to Katie Holmes on Oprah Winfrey’s show. Could it be that Jean-Michel, like Tom, has something to hide?

Even more troublingly, Georges goes along with the plan at first, seemingly confirming Albin’s suspicions that there was always something a bit affected about his affections. In another stroke of genius, McAllister punctuates Georges’ assurance of his undying love, “Song on the Sand,” by drawing a curtain to reveal the Cagelles, the chorus line from the club, pretending to play the song’s accompaniment on prop instruments with all the ludicrous sincerity of Jimmy Fallon and the Roots. Yes, Georges is putting on an act, McAllister appears to be saying, but as in the best performances, who can say that the lie isn’t another form of truth?

Taking this as his cue, Kinstle portrays Georges not in the usual manner as the more straight-acting of the pair, but as a man who aspires to be as flamboyant as ZaZa, yet who, despite fabulously over-the-top costumes by Kitt Crescenzo, will always need his better half to fulfill that vision. That symbiosis makes his betrayal all the more tragic, and Kinstle plays that tragedy to the hilt in “Look Over There,” the song in which he struggles to convince Jean-Michel of Albin’s parental love. For all his protestations, Georges can’t bring himself to look over there at his spouse either, racked as he is by guilt at his own denial of Albin’s worth – and as a result, of his own true worth as well.

Conversely, Hatch-Terbush plays Albin not as a born diva, but as an ugly duckling who can only metamorphose into a swan by assuming the guise of ZaZa. There’s a strain of melancholy running through his funniest and even his most triumphant moments as if he’s aware how even his most brilliant charades fall short of reality. Frankly, some of Hatch-Terbush’s singing falls short of complete accuracy also, but he remains an undiminished figure, nonetheless, as if Herman’s music were merely an outline for him to color in as he sees fit.

Indeed, Crescenzo’s costumes tell a different story that we sense is truer to art if not life. The Marie-Antoinette outfit that ZaZa wears just prior to being cut off suggests that while he may be similarly doomed, he’s no less a queen. And the be-dazzled gown he changes into for his anthem of defiance, “I Am What I Am,” transforms him into a human rainbow flag – a creative coup as stunning, in its way, as the blending of color and light that forms the painting in the first act finale of Sunday in the Park with George. What’s more, when the most unlikely character is forced to don drag later in the show, he appears in an all-white version of this dress – a reminder that ostensibly pure white contains every color of the spectrum if refracted properly, as it is under Corey Brown’s lights.

James Raymond’s scenic design reinforces this message by making the audience part of the performance as if we’re all just awaiting a prism to reveal our true colors. Patrons are seated at cabaret tables, observing the action on two stages, to their left as well as in front, with actors occasionally even pulling up a seat next to you. Better yet, the Cagelles – consisting of Montel Butler, Robbie Duncan, Terrell Kellam, Emmanuel Key, and Henry Niepoetter, phenomenal dancers all – have been choreographed by David Singleton to be literally in your face. (One of them gave my husband a lipstick-infused smooch on the cheek in passing, for instance.) It’s no exaggeration to say they shake the theater with their hoofing, and they often skirt the lip of the stage as thrillingly as any tightrope-walker. No wonder that Georges and Albin’s “maid,” Jacob (Kymon George Carriker), so desperately wants to join their ranks and more than a few spectators will doubtlessly feel the same.

La Cage is not the first or the best musical to champion homosexuality, but it may be the gayest in the traditional sense of the word, and the talented artists of ArtsCentric will ensure that you have a gay old time in their company, no matter how hard you try to resist.

Running Time: Three hours, including one intermission.

La Cage aux Folles plays through November 4, 2018, at ArtsCentric performing at Emmanuel Episcopal Church, 811 Cathedral Street in Baltimore, MD. For tickets, buy them at the door or purchase them online.

October 29, 2018
Review: ‘Jerry’s Girls’ at Walnut Street Theatre Independence Studio on 3

There’s just no tune
As exciting
As a showtune
In two-four…

For Jerry Herman, the lyrics of this early composition, “Showtune,” represent a kind of mission statement. In song after song, in Broadway hits like Mame, La Cage aux Folles and Hello, Dolly!, Herman has made it his goal in life to send people out of a theatre humming his tunes. And while some may dismiss his style as antiquated or unsophisticated, there’s no denying that, most of the time, his relentlessly upbeat and melodic songs do the trick.

The revue Jerry’s Girls takes a bunch of Herman’s best songs and fits them into a revue format. It’s not always a smooth fit, but it’s a lovely way to spend a couple of hours, thanks to a solid production and a terrific cast.

Barbara McCulloh, Rebecca Robbins, and Adrienne S. Wells. Photo by Mark Garvin.

Barbara McCulloh, Rebecca Robbins, and Adrienne S. Wells are the trio of performers doing justice to Herman’s songs. They do most of their songs together, singing in unison (on “Put On Your Sunday Clothes”) or Andrews Sisters-style harmony (on “Kiss Her Now,” from the 1969 show Dear World). But they each get a chance to shine on some of Herman’s more tender material: Robbins does an emotional solo on “If He Walked Into My Life,” Wells does the same on “I Don’t Want to Know,” and McCulloh scores on “Time Heals Everything.”

And other numbers offer cheery pleasures: McCulloh and Robbins sparring in the sure-fire comedy number “Bosom Buddies,” Wells putting a jazzy spin on the title number of La Cage, and Robbins using her sterling soprano to get laughs (from movie lovers of a certain age) with her Jeanette MacDonald impression on “Nelson.”

“Nelson” is part of a movie-themed medley that flows naturally through songs like “Movies Were Movies” and “Just Go to the Movies.” But as conceived by Herman, Larry Alford and Wayne Cilento, Jerry’s Girls doesn’t always give Herman’s material the support it needs. Most of Herman’s songs were written to fit the plots of his musicals, and they often don’t make sense out of context.

A prime example is my favorite Herman ballad, “I Won’t Send Roses” from Mack and Mabel: changing the singer from a man to a woman doesn’t work, and adding the conceit of having the woman read the lyrics from a letter supposedly written by a man is just plain awkward. Even the jaunty title tune of Mame doesn’t work well on its own (the lyric “You make the cotton easy to pick” demands some explanation), and attempts to link songs together via props rather than dialogue are inelegant.

Barbara McCulloh and Adrienne S. Wells. Photo by Mark Garvin.

But if Jerry’s Girls is a bit of a bumpy ride, Herman’s lovely melodies and sunny attitude make the show easy to enjoy. And Director Ellie Mooney’s production gives it an appealing sheen. There’s an easygoing chemistry between the performers, and the pace never lags. Mooney’s only major misstep is to allow the audience to see many of the costume changes onstage, with the ladies singing in their lingerie for long stretches. It feels invasive and uncomfortable, and it’s out of step with the dignified, well-mannered bearing of Herman’s songs.

Those costumes are impressive, though. Each performer goes through multiple costume changes, with Mary Folino’s costumes and wigs encompassing everything from 19th century elegance for the Dolly numbers to short skirts and fishnet stockings for the La Cage numbers. Roman Tatarowicz’s scenic design, with alcoves for each performer that serve as onstage dressing rooms, are both functional and decorative, though the limited space doesn’t allow much room for Mooney’s choreography. Shon Causer’s lighting design (making shrewd use of the steps and proscenium as light sources) adds a touch of class. And Musical Director Dan Kazemi provides solid support with his energetic flourishes on piano and percussion.

The ladies of Jerry’s Girls are major talents who you’ll enjoy listening to for a couple hours. You probably know many of the show’s songs, and even the songs you don’t know may somehow feel familiar, which is part of Herman’s genius.

Jerry Herman’s songs make you feel good, and so will the Walnut’s Jerry’s Girls.

Running Time: Two hours and 10 minutes, including an intermission.

Barbara McCulloh, Rebecca Robbins, and Adrienne S. Wells. Photo by Mark Garvin.

Jerry’s Girls plays through July 2, 2017 at Walnut Street Theatre Independence Studio on 3 — 825 Walnut Street, in Philadelphia, PA. For tickets, call the box office at (215) 574-3550, or (800)-982-2787, or purchase them online.

April 7, 2017
DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #13: Best Direction and Musical Direction in Musicals and Best Direction of Plays in Community Theatres in DC/MD/VA

The staff of DCMetroTheaterArts Best Direction and Musical Direction in Musicals and Best Direction of Plays of 2016 in Community Theatres in DC/VA/MD Are:

BEST DIRECTION AND MUSICAL DIRECTION IN MUSICALS IN COMMUNITY THEATRES IN 2016 IN DC/MD/VA ARE:

Director Kevin Sockwell and Musical Director Arielle Bayer for A Grand Night for Singing at Montgomery Playhouse and Arts on the Green.

Director Susan Thornton and Musical Director Lisa Dodson for for Anything Goes at Other Voices Theatre.

Director Michael Hartsfield and Musical Directors Billy Georg and Mimi Kuhn McGinnis for Assassins at the Laurel Mill Playhouse.

Director Eric C. Stein and Musical Director Stephen M. Deininger for Avenue Q at Vagabond Players.

Director Kirk Bowers and Musical Director Pete Myers for Babes in Arms at The FrederickTowne Players.

Director Lanny Warketien and Musical Director Sarah Jane Scott for Bat Boy: The Musical at Prince William Little Theatre.

Director Stephanie Lynn Williams and Musical Director Tiffany Underwood Holmes for Bring It On at Drama Learning Center.

Director Craig Pettinati and Music Director Stuart Y. Weich for Cabaret at Kensington Arts Theatre.

Director and Music Director Matt Scarborough on Cabaret at Prince William Little Theatre.

Director Keith Tittermary and Music Director Sam Weich for Children of Eden at Damascus Theatre Company.

Director Greg Bell and Music Director Michael W. Tan for DAS BARBECÜ at Spotlighters Theatre.

Director Christopher Gerken and Music Director LeVar Betts for Dreamgirls at Tantallon Community Players.

Director Fuzz Roark and Musical Director Michael W. Tan for Evita at Spotlighters Theatre.

Director Stephanie Lynn Williams and Musical Director Tiffany Underwood Holmes for First Date at Drama Learning Cent er.

Director Shaun Moe and Music Director Lori Roddy for Footloose at McLean Community Players.

Director Christopher Dykton and Musical Director Leah Koscis for Grey Gardens at The Little Theatre of Alexandria.

Debbie Barber-Eaton and Musical Director Sandy Melson Griese for Guys and Dolls at 2nd Star Productions.

Director Paul Tonden and Musical Director Mitch Bassman for Gypsy at Reston Community Players.

Director Suzanne L Donohue and Musical Director William V. Derr for Hairspray at Port Tobacco Players.

Director Jane B. Wingard and Music Director Joe Biddle for H.M.S. Pinafore at 2nd Star Productions.

Director Susan Thornton and Music Director Jonas Dawson for I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change at Other Voices Theatre.

Director Rob Tessier and Musical Director by Chris Zavadowski for Into the Woods at Upper Room Theatre Ministry.

Director John Waldron and Musical Director James Schader for Into the Woods, Jr. at Aldersgate Church Community Theater.

Director Susan Thornton and Musical Director Jonas Dawson for La Cage aux Folles at Other Voices Theatre.

Director Jared Shamberger and Musical Director LeVar Betts for Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill at Spotlighters Theatre.

Director Evelyn Rice and Music Directors Evelyn Rice and Alanna Mensing for Legally Blonde: The Musical at Fauquier Community Theatre.

Director Clare Shaffer and Musical Director Paige Austin Rammelkamp for Man of La Mancha at The Arlington Players.

Director Daniel Douek and Musical Director Mimi McGinniss for Man of La Mancha at Laurel Mill Playhouse.

Director Wade Corder and Musical Directors Dana and Jim Van Slyke for Mary Poppins at Reston Community Players.

Director William Leary and Musical Director Stanley Livengood for Memories & Legends at Wolf Pack Theatre Company.

Director Steven Fleming and Musical Director Scott AuCoin for Next to Normal at Silhouette Stages.

Director John K. Monnett and Musical Director Steve Przybylski for Nice Work If You Can Get It at The Arlington Players.

Directors Ashley Kinney and Kim VanArtsdalen and Musical Director Colin Taylor for Oliver! at The Sterling Playmakers.

Director Stephanie Lynn Williams and Music Director Tiffany Underwood Holmes for Parade at Drama Learning Center.

Director Paul Loebach and Musical Director Marci Shegogue for Quilters at Rockville Musical Theatre and Arts on The Green.

Director Bill Kamberger and Musical Directors Tim Viets and Gregory Merle Satorie-Robinson for Ragtime at The Memorial Players.

Director Andy Scott and Musical Director Paige Austin Rammelkamp for Rent at Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre.

Director Rochelle Horn and Music Director John Marlowe for Rent at Rockville Musical Center.

Director Gregory Scott Stuart and Musical Director Joseph Sorge for Robin Hood at Victorian Lyric Opera.

Director Jon Gardner and Musical Director Mac Fancher for Seussical at Greenbelt Arts Center.

Director Annie O’Neill Galvin and Musical Director John Edward Niles for 1776 at McLean Community Players.

Director Christine Callsen and Musical Director Jay Frost for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at St. Mark’s Players.

Director Kristina Friedgen and Musical Director Brandon Scott Heishman for The Drowsy Chaperone at Damascus Theatre Company.

Director Lisa Anne Bailey and Musical Director Kirsten Boyd for The Music Man at Fairfax Theatre Company.

Director Anthony Scimonelli and Musical Director Mayumi Baker Griffie for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Arts Collective@HCC.

Director Lois Evans and Musical Director Wendy Baird for The Secret Garden at The Colonial Players of Annapolis.

Director Lee Michele Rosenthal and Musical Director Marci Shegogue for Shrek at Rockville Musical Theatre.

Director Jillian Locklear Bauersfeld and Musical Director Michael W. Tan for Tick, Tick…BOOM! at Spotlighters Theatre.

Director Susan Devine and Musical Director Francine Krasowska for West Side Story at The Little Theatre of Alexandria.

Directors Ruben Vellekoop and Carlotta Capuano and Musical Director Marci Shegogue for The Who’s Tommy at Kensington Arts Theatre.

Director Tommy Malek and Musical Director Nathan C. Scavilla for Young Frankenstein at Silhouette Stages.

Director and Musical Director Jeff Lesniak for Zombie Prom at Greenbelt Arts Center.

BEST DIRECTION IN PLAYS:

Michael Byrne Zemarel for All My Sons at Vagabond Players.

Julie Janson and Music Director Kyle Keene for Amadeus at Providence Players of Fairfax.

Michael J. Baker, Jr. for A Christmas Carol at The Little Theatre of Alexandria.

Bob Kleinberg for Bad Jews at Greenbelt Arts Center.

Liz Mykietyn for Best Christmas Pageant Ever at Providence Players of Fairfax.

Scott Nichols for Boeing Boeing at The Colonial Players of Annapolis.

Erin DeCaprio for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at Castaways Repertory Theatre.

Chip Gertzog for Almost Maine at Providence Players of Fairfax.

Seth Ghitelman for Clybourne Park at Silver Spring Stage.

Robert Sams for Comic Potential at McLean Community Players.

Andrew JM Regiec for Deathtrap at The Arlington Players.

Bob Kleinberg for Dinner With Friends at Greenbelt Arts Center.

Pauline Griller-Mitchell for Enchanted April at Greenbelt Arts Center.

Frank Pasqualino for Foxfire at Bowie Community Theatre.

Elena Day for God: The One-Man Show at Greenbelt Arts Center.

Edd Miller for Good People at The Colonial Players of Annapolis.

Karen Fleming for Humble Boy at Silver Spring Stage.

Ilene Chalmers for I Hate Hamlet at Laurel Mill Playhouse.

William Leary for kinK at Wolf Pack Theatre Company.

Erin Riley for Les Liaisons Dangereuse (‘Dangerous Liaisons’) at Spotlighters Theatre.

Ken Kienas for Lost in Yonkers at Prince George’s Little Theatre.

Sherrionne Brown for Marx in Soho at Spotlighters Theatre.

Rosemary Hartman for Master Class at Reston Community Players.

Malcolm Edwards for Merlin at The British Players.

Kevin O’Connell for Miss Weatherspoon at Silver Spring Stage.

Michael Byrne Zemarel for Moonlight & Magnolias at Spotlighters Theatre.

John Desmone for Moon Over Buffalo at Vagabond Players.

Andrew Greenleaf for Much Ado About Nothing at Silver Spring Stage.

Jennifer Lyman for night, Mother at Dominion Stage.

Alana D. Sharp for Our Town at Reston Community Players.

Eric C. Stein for Our Town at Vagabond Players.

Larry Simmons for Pride and Prejudice at Laurel Mill Playhouse.

Beth Hughes-Brown for Red Herring at Providence Players of Fairfax.

Paul Valleau for Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll at Colonial Players of Annapolis.

Sara Joy Lebowitz for Snakebit at Dominion Stage.

Sharon Veselic for Steel Magnolias at The Little Theatre of Alexandria.

Ricky Drummond for Stupid Fucking Bird at Silver Spring Stage.

Rosemary Hartman for The Boys in the Band at Dominion Stage.

Dave Carter from The Cripple of Inishmaan at Colonial Players of Annapolis.

Joanna Henry for The Complete Works of William Shake Joanna Henryspeare (Abridged) at The Little Theatre of Alexandria.

Steve Goldklang for The Divine Sister at Fells Point Corner Theatre.

Scott Bloom for The Emperor of North America at Silver Spring Stage.

Fuzz Roark for The Game’s Afoot (Holmes for the Holidays) at Spotlighters Theatre.

Haley Murphy for The History Boys at Dominion Stage.

Frank D. Shutts ll for The History Boys at The Little Theatre of Alexandria.

Rocky Nunzio for The Importance of Being Ernest at Laurel Mill Playhouse.

John Nunemaker for The Laramie Project at Kensington Arts Theatre.

Steve Goldklang for The Lion in Winter at Vagabond Players.

Randy Barth for The Mousetrap at Prince George’s Little Theatre.

Howard Berkowitz for The Normal Heart at Vagabond Players.

Barry Feinstein for The Whipping Man at Fells Point Corner Theatre.

Barry Feinstein for Time Stands Still at Fells Point Corner Theatre.

Joshua McKerrow for Twelfth Night at Laurel Mill Playhouse.

Jessie Roberts for Unnecessary Farce at McLean Community Players.

Estelle Miller for Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at Prince George’s Little Theatre.

Jim Gallagher for Venus in Fur at Colonial Players of Annapolis.

Craig Allen Mummey for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf at Colonial Players of Annapolis.

HOW WE SELECTED OUR HONOREES

DCMetroTheaterArts writers were permitted to honor productions and concerts, dance, and operas that they saw and reviewed and productions and concerts and dance performances that they saw but did not review. Every honoree was seen. These are not nominations. There is no voting.

The staff is honoring productions, performances, direction, and design in professional, community, university, high school, and children’s theatres, and are also honoring the same in musical venues. We are honoring work in Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia, Philadelphia, PA, New Jersey, and Delaware.

LINKS:
DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #1: Best Musicals in Professional Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #2: Best Musicals In Community Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #3: Best Musicals in Professional Theaters in Philadelphia, New York, Delaware, and New Jersey.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #4: Best Plays in Professional Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #5: Best Plays In Community Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #6: Best Plays in Professional Theaters in Philadelphia, New York, Delaware, and New Jersey.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #7: Best Performances and Ensembles in Musicals in Professional Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #8: Best Performances in Musicals in Community Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #9: Best Performances and Ensembles in Plays in Professional Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #10: Best Direction in Musicals in Professional Theatres in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #11: Best Performances and Ensembles in Plays and Musicals in Philadelphia, New York, Delaware, and New Jersey.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #12: Best Direction of Plays in Professional Theater in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #13: Best Direction in Musicals and Plays in Community Theatres in DC/MD/VA.

The Complete List of The ‘Best of 2015’ Honorees on DCMetroTheaterArts.

January 10, 2017
DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #11: Best Performances and Ensembles in Plays and Musicals in Philadelphia, New York, Delaware, and New Jersey

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #11: Best Performances and Ensembles in Plays and Musicals in Philadelphia, New York, Delaware, and New Jersey Are:

Caroline Aaron as Ruth Zweigman in All the Days at McCarter Theatre Center.

Justin Ariola as Dull in Love’s Labour’s Lost at Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival.

Jessica Bedford as Mollie Ralston in The Mousetrap at McCarter Theatre Center.

Ross Beschler as He in He Who Gets Slapped at the Philadelphia Artists’ Collective.

Cassandra Bissell as Elinor Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility at People’s Light.

Damon Bonetti as Parolles in All’s Well That Ends Well at the Philadelphia Artists’ Collective.

Christian Borle as Whizzer in Falsettos at The Walter Kerr Theatre.

Emi Branes-Huff as Iris in The Nether at InterAct Theatre Company.

Salty Brine as the MC in The Elementary Spacetime Show at the Arts Bank, University of the Arts.

Tina Brock as Old Woman in Eugène Ionesco’s The Chairs at Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium.

Annabel Capper as Lady Macbeth in Macbeth at The Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre.

Peter Carrier as Roger in A New Brain at Theatre Horizon.

Kim Carson as Chanteuse in Sleeping Beauty: A Musical Panto at People’s Light.

Nick Cearley as Alex in Buyer & Cellar at Bucks County Playhouse.

Jennifer Childs as Sierra Mist in I Will Not Go Gently at 1812 Productions.

William Connell as Jamie Wyeth in Nureyev’s Eyes at Delaware Theatre Company.

Robert Creighton as James Cagney in Cagney the Musical at the Westside Theatre.

Robert DaPonte as Brian in The Jaws Project at Plays and Players Theatre.

Janis Dardaris as Mother Courage in Mother Courage and Her Children at Quintessence Theatre.

Akeem Davis as William in Lobby Hero at Theatre Horizon.

Chris Davis in One-Man Apocalypse Now at the 2016 Philadelphia Fringe Festival.

Bill Dawes as Rudolf Nureyev in Nureyev’s Eyes at Delaware Theatre Company.

Ben Dibble as Elwood P. Dowd in Harvey at Walnut Street Theatre.

Karli Dinardo as Anita in West Side Story at Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival.

Michael Doherty as Sam in Fully Committed at Theatre Horizon.

Maboud Ebrahimzadeh as Amir in Disgraced at McCarter Theatre Center.

Jennie Eisenhower as Mother in A Christmas Story: The Musical at The Media Theatre.

Cynthia Erivo as Celie in The Color Purple at The Bernard Jacobs Theatre.

Liz Filios as The Muse in An Iliad at Lantern Theater Company.

Christopher Fitzgerald as Ogie in Waitress at The Brooks Atkinson Theatre.

Jack Fry as Albert Einstein in Einstein! in FringeNYC at Under St. Mark’s Theatre.

Laura Giknis as Sister Mary Robert in Sister Act at Walnut Street Theatre.

Laura Giknis in Working: A Musical at Bristol Riverside Theatre.

Hannah Gold as Dr. Jessica Rosel in I Am Not My Motherland at Orbiter 3.

Eleanor Handley as Katherina in The Taming of the Shrew at Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival.

Sam Henderson in multiple roles in The Jaws Project at Plays and Players Theatre.

J Hernandez as Ricardo Lopez in The Best of Me at SoLow Fest.

Eric Hissom as Grumio in The Taming of the Shrew at Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival.

Jennifer Hudson as Shug Avery in The Color Purple at The Bernard Jacobs Theatre.

Claire Inie-Richards as Vivie Warren in Mrs. Warren’s Profession at Lantern Theatre Company.

Claire Inie-Richards as Marianne Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility at People’s Light.

Ashley Izard as Winnie in Happy Days at Quintessence Theatre Group.

Mikéah Ernest Jennings as Jason and Rexy in The Legend of Georgia McBride at Arden Theatre Company.

Dave Johnson as Luigi in The Explorers Club at Delaware Theatre Company.

Emily R. Johnson as Amy in Spine at Inis Nua Theatre Company.

Rob Kahn as Macbeth in Macbeth at The Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre.

Annette Kaplafka as Xena in He Who Gets Slapped at the Philadelphia Artists’ Collective.

Cailene Kilcoyne as Veronica Sawyer in Heathers: The Musical at The Eagle Theatre.

Simon Canuso Kiley as Young Ray in Tommy and Me at Theatre Exile.

Jennie Knackstedt as Fran Kubelik in Promises, Promises at the Ritz Theatre Company.

Kirsten Kunkle as the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors at OperaLancaster.

Jessica Lange as Mary Tyrone in Long Day’s Journey Into Night at American Airlines Theatre.

Frank Langella as André in The Father at Manhattan Theatre Club.

Anthony Lawton as James Tyrone in A Moon for the Misbegotten at Walnut Street Theatre Independence Studio on 3.

Anthony Lawton as Don Adriano in Love’s Labour’s Lost at Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival.

Danielle Leneé as Shatique in White Guy on the Bus at Passage Theatre Company.

Ethan Lipkin as Frank in Molly Sweeney at Irish Heritage Theatre

John Lopes as the King of France in All’s Well That Ends Well at the Philadelphia Artists’ Collective.

Deirdre Madigan as Pam in Exit Strategy at Philadelphia Theatre Company.

Mary Martello as Mrs. Kitty Warren in Mrs. Warren’s Profession at Lantern Theatre.

Brian McCann as Lavatch the Clown in All’s Well That Ends Well at the Philadelphia Artists’ Collective.

Forrest McClendon as The Cook in Mother Courage and Her Children at Quintessence Theatre.

Laural Merlington as Countess Rousillon in All’s Well That Ends Well at the Philadelphia Artists’ Collective.

Kenny Morris as Junior in Funnyman at Arden Theatre Company.

Euan Morton as Paul in Cake Off at Bucks County Playhouse.

Christopher Patrick Mullen as Costard in Love’s Labour’s Lost at Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival.

Irungu Mutu as George in The Language Archive at Bristol Riverside Theatre.

Patrick O’Hara as Albin in La Cage aux Folles at City Theater Company.

Steve Pacek as Gordon Schwinn in A New Brain at Theatre Horizon.

Steve Pacek as Snail in A Year with Frog and Toad at Arden Theatre Company.

Mary Louise Parker as Georgie in Heisenberg at Manhattan Theatre Club.

Ian Merrill Peakes as Charles Condomine in Blithe Spirit at The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival.

Ian Merrill Peakes as Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew at Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival.

Matt Pfeiffer as Ray Didinger in Tommy and Me at Theatre Exile.

Ben Platt as Evan Hansen in Dear Evan Hansen at The Music Box Theatre.

Ned Pryce as Young Tommy in Tommy and Me at Theatre Exile.

Kirsten Quinn as Molly in Molly Sweeney at Irish Heritage Theatre.

Michele Ragusa as Rita in Cake Off at Bucks County Playhouse.

Erik Ransom as Edward II and Christopher Marlowe in More Than All the World at Theater for the New City.

Jared Reed as Truffaldino in The Servant of Two Masters at Hedgerow Theatre Company.

Matt Reher as Chuck Baxter in Promises, Promises at the Ritz Theatre Company.

Patricia Richardson as M’Lynn in Steel Magnolias at Bucks County Playhouse.

Jane Ridley as Juliana in The Other Place at Walnut Street Theatre Independence Studio on 3.

Tim Rinehart as the Proprietor in Assassins at Eagle Theatre.

Megan Rucidlo as Mayella Ewell in To Kill a Mockingbird at The Media Theatre.

Bailey Ryon as Mary Lennox in The Secret Garden at Arden Theatre Company.

Bob Schmidt as Old Man in Eugène Ionesco’s The Chairs at Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium.

Amanda Schoonover as Clara Bow in The It Girl at Simpatico Theatre.

Leah Siegel as Jib in Jib: or, The Child Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was at Christ Church Neighborhood House.

Angela Smith as Josie Hogan in A Moon for the Misbegotten at Walnut Street Theatre Independence Studio on 3.

Alexandra Spadoni as Charlotte in Antagonyms at Curio Theatre Company.

Ryan Spahn as Ricky in Exit Strategy at Philadelphia Theatre Company.

Nicole Stacie in Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope at New Freedom Theatre.

Griffin Stanton-Ameisen as Woodnut in The Nether at InterAct Theatre Company.

Jenny Lee Stern in Working: a Musical at Bristol Riverside Theatre.

Tom Teti as Tommy McDonald in Tommy and Me at Theatre Exile.

Michael P. Toner as Phil Hogan in A Moon for the Misbegotten at Walnut Street Theatre Independence Studio on 3.

Mary Tuomanen as Marjorie in The Jaws Project at Plays and Players Theatre.

Jessica Wagner as Patsy Cline in A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline at Bristol Riverside Theatre.

Jessica Walter as Ouiser in Steel Magnolias at Bucks County Playhouse.

Ryan Walter as Richard III in Richard III at The Mechanical Theater.

Russ Widdall as Robert F. Kennedy in Roseburg at New City Stage.

Dan’yelle Williamson as Deloris Van Cartier in Sister Act at Walnut Street Theatre.

Meghan Winch as Launce in The Two Gentlemen of Verona at Shakespeare in Clark Park.

Greg Wood as Mr. Sims in The Nether at InterAct Theatre Company.

Greg Wood as Ray in White Guy on the Bus at Passage Theatre Company.

Frank X as Jaques in As You Like It at Lantern Theater Company.

Evan Zes as himself in Rent Control in the Fringe Encore Series at SoHo Playhouse.

BEST ENSEMBLES OF 2016 IN PLAYS IN PHILADELPHIA, NEW YORK, NEW JERSEY, AND DELAWARE ARE:

The Ensemble of A New Brain at Theatre Horizon.

The Ensemble of A Taste of Things to Come at Bucks County Playhouse.

The Ensemble of Charles Busch’s The Divine Sister at Bucks County Playhouse.

The Ensemble of Cirque du Soleil Paramour at The Lyric Theatre.

The Ensemble of Dear Evan Hansen at The Music Box Theatre.

The Ensemble of Dementia Americana in FringeNYC at Teatro LATEA at the Clemente.

The Ensemble of Dublin by Lamplight at Inis Nua Theatre Company.

The Ensemble of Found at Philadelphia Theatre Company.

The Ensemble of La Cage aux Folles at City Theater Company.

The Ensemble of Lobby Hero at Theatre Horizon.

The Ensemble of More Than All the World at Theater for the New City.

The Ensemble of Nothing to See Here at Found Theater Company.

The Ensemble of Omeletto: Like Hamlet, Only Scrambled at Ombelico Mask Ensemble.

The Ensemble of Oscar Wilde: From the Depths at Lantern Theater Company.

The Ensemble of Peter and the Starcatcher at Walnut Street Theatre.

The Ensemble of Radiant Vermin at Inis Nua Theatre Company.

The Ensemble of Sense and Sensibility at People’s Light.

The Ensemble of 1776 at The Media Theatre.

The Ensemble of Shadow House at the Philadelphia Opera Collective and PhilaLandmarks.

The Ensemble of Stupid Fucking Bird at Arden Theatre Company.

The Ensemble of The Explorers Club at Delaware Theatre Company.

The Ensemble of The Invisible Hand at Theatre Exile.

The Ensemble of The Piano Lesson at McCarter Theatre Center.

The Ensemble of The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning at Inis Nua Theatre Company.

The Ensemble of The Rocky Horror Show at Bucks County Playhouse.

The Ensemble of Time Is on Our Side at Simpatico Theatre.

The Ensemble of Tommy and Me at Theatre Exile.

HOW WE SELECTED OUR HONOREES

DCMetroTheaterArts writers were permitted to honor productions and concerts, dance, and operas that they saw and reviewed and productions and concerts and dance performances that they saw but did not review. Every honoree was seen. These are not nominations. There is no voting.

The staff is honoring productions, performances, direction, and design in professional, community, university, high school, and children’s theatres, and are also honoring the same in musical venues. We are honoring work in Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia, Philadelphia, PA, New Jersey, and Delaware.

LINKS:
DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #1: Best Musicals in Professional Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #2: Best Musicals In Community Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #3: Best Musicals in Professional Theaters in Philadelphia, New York, Delaware, and New Jersey.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #4: Best Plays in Professional Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #5: Best Plays In Community Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #6: Best Plays in Professional Theaters in Philadelphia, New York, Delaware, and New Jersey.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #6: Best Plays in Professional Theaters in Philadelphia, New York, Delaware, and New Jersey.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #7: Best Performances and Ensembles in Musicals in Professional Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #8: Best Performances in Musicals in Community Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #9: Best Performances and Ensembles in Plays in Professional Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #10: Best Direction in Musicals in Professional Theatres in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #11: Best Performances and Ensembles in Plays and Musicals in Philadelphia, New York, Delaware, and New Jersey.

The Complete List of The ‘Best of 2015’ Honorees.

January 5, 2017
DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #10: Best Direction in Musicals in Professional Theatres in DC/MD/VA

Here are the DCMetroTheaterArts Staff’s honorees for Best Direction of Musicals in Professional Theaters in 2016. Congrats to all our honorees:

David James for A Christmas Carol at Toby’s The Dinner Theatre of Columbia.

Matt Lenz for A Christmas Story: The Musical at The Hippodrome Theatre.

Pierre-Jacques Brault A Christmas Story: The Musical at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts.

Mark A. Rhea and Susan Marie Rhea for American Idiot at The Keegan Theatre.

Princess Mhoon for Black Nativity at Theater Alliance.

Sandra L. Holloway for Black Pearl Sings! at MetroStage.

Charles Randolph Wright for Born for This: The Be Be and Ce Ce Winans Story at Arena Stage.

BT McNicholl for Cabaret at The Hippodrome Theatre.

Matt Conner for Caroline, or Change at Creative Cauldron.

Molly Smith for Carousel at Arena Stage.

Evan Hoffmann for Catch Me If You Can at NextStop Theatre Company.

Noah Himmelstein for Children of Eden at Young Artists of America at Strathmore.

Evan Hoffmann for City of Angels at NextStop Theatre Company.

Christopher Ashley for Come From Away at Ford’s Theatre.

Stephen Napp for Disney’s Beauty and the Beast at Charm City Players.

Kathryn Chase Bryer for Disney’s Beauty and the Beast at Imagination Stage.

Nyree Martinez for Disney’s The Little Mermaid at Mount Vernon Community Children’s Theatre.

Will Davis for Evita at Olney Theatre Center.

Nick Olcott for Floyd Collins at 1st Stage.

Christopher Ashley for Freaky Friday at Signature Theatre.

Shawn Martin for Gypsy at Washington County Playhouse Dinner Theater and Children’s Theater.

Mark Minnick for Hairspray at Toby’s The Dinner Theatre of Columbia.

Amelia Acosta Powell for Heathers at Red Branch Theatre Company.

Noah Brody for The Fiasco Theater’s Into the Woods at The Kennedy Center.

Michael Baron for James and the Giant Peach at Adventure Theatre.

Matthew Gardiner for Jelly’s Last Jam at Signature Theatre.

Des McAnuff for Jersey Boys at The Hippodrome Theatre.

Jerry Mitchell for Kinky Boots at The Kennedy Center.

Laura J. Martin and Scott Ruble for Kiss Me Kate at Washington County Playhouse Dinner Theater and Children’s Theater.

Nick Olcott for Knuffle Bunny at Adventure Theatre.

Matthew Gardiner for La Cage aux Folles at Signature Theatre.

Tazewell Thompson for Lost in the Stars at Washington National Opera.

Susan Alison Keady for Mary Poppins at Encore Stage & Studio.

Jason King Jones for Mary Poppins at Olney Theatre Center.

Tommy Iafrate and Alan Ostroff for Million Dollar Quartet at Infinity Theatre.

Bill Kiska and Dee Buchanan for Monty Python’s Spamalot at Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre & Children’s Theatre.

Matt Conner and Stephen Gregory Smith for Monsters of the Villa Diodati at Creative Cauldron.

Charles Randolph-Wright for Motown: The Musical at Hippodrome Theatre.

Corey Hennessey and Amanda J. Rife for Murder Ballad at StillPointe Theatre Initiative.

Patrick A’Hearn for My Fair Lady at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts.

Mark A. Rhea and Colin Smith for Next To Normal at The Keegan Theatre.

Marcia Milgrom Dodge for 110 In the Shade at Ford’s Theatre.

Penny Ayn Maas and Patrick A’Hearn for Oklahoma! at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts.

Ryan Maxwell for Over Her Dead Body at Pinky Swear Productions at The Capital Fringe.

Matt Conner for Ruthless! at Creative Cauldron.

Brian Mellen for Seussical The Musical at Children’s Theatre of Annapolis.

Thomas W. Jones II for Shake Loose at MetroStage.

Lawrence B. Munsey for Sister Act at Toby’s The Dinner Theatre of Columbia.

Sara Duke for Snow White at Encore Stage & Studio.

Mark Minnick for South Pacific at Toby’s The Dinner Theatre of Columbia.

Walter Ware III for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at Red Branch Theatre Company.

Melissa Baughman for The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Symphonic Metal Version) at Landless Theatre Company.

Todd Meredith and Penny Ayn Maas for The Buddy Holly Story at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts.

Tyne Rafaeli for The Bridges of Madison County at The Kennedy Center.

Kathryn Chase Bryer for The Little Mermaid at Imagination Stage.

Sean Graney for The Mikado by The Hypocrites at Olney Theatre Company.

Laurence Connor for The Phantom of the Opera at The Kennedy Center.

Jeremy Scott Blaustein for The Pirates of Penzance at Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre.

Sean Elias for The Rocky Horror Show at Iron Crow Theatre.

Tad Janes for The Rocky Horror Show at Maryland Ensemble Theatre.

David Armstrong for The Secret Garden at Shakespeare Theatre Company.

Corey Hennessey and Amanda Rife for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at StillPointe Theatre Initiative.

Suzanne Richard for The Who’s Tommy at Open Circle Theatre.

Eric Schaeffer for Titanic The Musical at Signature Theatre.

Allison Arkell Stockman for Urinetown at Constellation Theatre Company.

Joe Mantello for Wicked at The Kennedy Center.

Sean Elias for The Wild Party at Iron Crow Theatre.

HOW WE SELECTED OUR HONOREES

DCMetroTheaterArts writers were permitted to honor productions and concerts, dance, and operas that they saw and reviewed and productions and concerts and dance performances that they saw but did not review. Every honoree was seen. These are not nominations. There is no voting.

The staff is honoring productions, performances, direction, and design in professional, community, university, high school, and children’s theatres, and are also honoring the same in musical venues. We are honoring work in Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia, Philadelphia, PA, New Jersey, and Delaware.

LINKS:
DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #1: Best Musicals in Professional Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #2: Best Musicals In Community Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #3: Best Musicals in Professional Theaters in Philadelphia, New York, Delaware, and New Jersey.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #4: Best Plays in Professional Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #5: Best Plays In Community Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #6: Best Plays in Professional Theaters in Philadelphia, New York, Delaware, and New Jersey.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #7: Best Performances and Ensembles in Musicals in Professional Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #8: Best Performances in Musicals in Community Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #9: Best Performances and Ensembles in Plays in Professional Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #10: Best Direction in Musicals in Professional Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #11: Best Performances and Ensembles in Plays and Musicals in Philadelphia, New York, Delaware, and New Jersey.

The Complete List of The ‘Best of 2015’ Honorees.

January 4, 2017
DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #8: Best Performances and Ensembles in Musicals in Community Theaters in DC/MD/VA

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #8: Best Performances in Musicals in Community Theaters in DC/MD/VA Area:

Lauren Alberg as Lucille Frank and Tommy Eyes as Leo Frank in Parade at Drama Learning Center.

Gabrielle Amaro as Olive Ostrovsky in in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Arts Collective@HCC.

Michael Baker as Fagin in Oliver! at The Sterling Playmakers.

Alan Barnett as Sancho Panza in Man of La Mancha at Laurel Mill Playhouse.

Sean Bartnick as The Baker in Into the Woods at Upper Room Theatre Ministry.

Loghan Bazan as Maureen and Andy Greenwald as Joanne in Rent at Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre.

Kevin Belanger as Roger in Rent at Rockville Musical Theatre.

Jean Berard in Frau Blücher at Young Frankenstein at Silhouette Stages.

Danny Bertaux as Gabe in Next to Normal at Silhouette Stages.

LeVar Betts as Jimmy Powers in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill at Spotlighters Theatre.

Adam Blackstock as Billy Crocker in Anything Goes at Other Voices Theatre.

Lucy Bobbin as Millie Dillimount in Thoroughly Modern Millie at The Heritage Players.

Sarah Jane Bookter as Sally Bowles in Cabaret at Kensington Arts Theatre.

Frankie Brown as Motormouth Maybelle in Hairspray at Port Tobacco Players.

Steve Cairns as Aldolpho in The Drowsy Chaperone at Damascus Theatre Company.

Steve Cairns as Shrek in Shrek at Rockville Musical Theatre.

Mike Cash as Uncle Fester in The Addams Family at The Alliance Theatre.

Patrick Campbell as Jim Conley in Parade at Drama Learning Center.

Kate Collins Brown as Eileen Evergreen in Nice Work If You Can Get It at The Arlington Players.

Brian Lyons-Burke as Uncle Ernie in The Who’s Tommy at Kensington Arts Theatre.

Lila Cooper as Allison in First Date at Drama Learning Center.

Cheryl J. Campo as Eve/Mama Noah in Children of Eden at Damascus Theatre Company.

Nicholas Carter as Angel in Rent at Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre.

Marissa Chapman as Abigail Adams in 1776 at McLean Community Players.

Morganne Chu as Terry Thompson in Babes in Arms at The FrederickTowne Players.

Jordan Clifford as Cousin Kevin in The Who’s Tommy at Kensington Arts Theatre.

Brevan Collins as Tobias Ragg in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at St. Mark’s Players.

David Colton as Jonny Walker in Zombie Prom at Greenbelt Arts Center.

Maddy Curtis as Nancy in Oliver! at The Sterling Playmakers.

Cornelius “C.J.” David as Robert of Huntington/Robin Hood in Robin Hood at Victorian Lyric Opera.

Paul M. Davis as Pete White in Memories & Legends at Wolf Pack Theatre Company.

Samantha McEwen Deininger as Sarah in Ragtime at The Memorial Players.

Stephen Deininger as Tateh in Ragtime at The Memorial Players.

Hans Dettmar as Miguel de Cervantes/Alonzo Quijana/Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha at The Arlington Players.

Kevin Diana (Sweeney Todd) and Taunya Ferguson (Mrs. Lovett) in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at St. Mark’s Players.

Erich DiCenzo as Tulsa in Gypsy at Reston Community Players.

Daniel Douek as Jacob in La Cage aux Folles at Other Voices Theatre.

Corey Dunning as Coalhouse Walker, Jr. in Ragtime at The Memorial Players.

Diego Esmolo as Charlito “Chip” Tolentino in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Arts Collective@HCC.

Lindsay Espinosa as Lily Craven in The Secret Garden at The Colonial Players of Annapolis.

Ward Ferguson as George Banks and Amanda Jones as Winifred Banks in Mary Poppins at Reston Community Players.

Elizabeth Ferrante as Marian in The Music Man at Fairfax Theatre Company.

Ariel Friendly as Shelley Parker in Bat Boy: The Musical at Prince William Little Theatre.

Clare Galvin as The Baker’s Wife, in Into the Woods at Upper Room Theatre Ministry.

Ashley Gerhardt as Elizabeth in Young Frankenstein at Silhouette Stages.

Elizabeth Gillespie as Louise in Gypsy at Reston Community Players.

Emily Gilroy as Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray at Port Tobacco Players.

Jeremy Goldman as Dan Goodman in Next to Normal at Silhouette Stages.

Jeremy Goldman as Dr. Frederick Frankenstein in Young Frankenstein at Silhouette Stages.

Maureen R. Goldman as Billie Bendix in Nice Work If You Can Get It at The Arlington Players.

Micky Goldstein as Sancho Panza in Man of La Mancha at The Arlington Players.

Ella Green as Martha in The Secret Garden at The Colonial Players of Annapolis.

Brice Guerriere as Tommy in The Who’s Tommy at Kensington Arts Theatre.

Bob Gudauskas as Horton the Elephant in Seussical at Greenbelt Arts Center.

Mark Hamberger as Captain Walker in The Who’s Tommy at Kensington Arts Theatre.

Brett Harwood as Mark Cohen in Rent at Rockville Musical Center.

Warren C. Harris as William Morris Barfee in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Arts Collective@HCC.

Lee Hebb as Moonface Martin in Anything Goes at Other Voices Theatre.

Madi Heinemann as Mary Lennox in The Secret Garden at The Colonial Players of Annapolis.

Dominique Herring as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde: The Musical at Fauquier Community Theatre.

Liz Hester as Fiona in Shrek at Rockville Musical Theatre.

Ginny Hornbeck as Mother in Ragtime at The Memorial Players.

Sam Huffer as Georges in La Cage aux Folles at Other Voices Theatre.

Claire Iverson as Mistress in Evita at Spotlighters Theatre.

William Jeffreys as Donkey in Shrek at Rockville Musical Theatre.

Melanie Jennings-Bales as Aldonza in Man of La Mancha at The Arlington Players.

Carolyn Karcher as Cinderella in Into the Woods at Upper Room Theatre Ministry.

Lars Klores as Harold Hill in The Music Man at Fairfax Theatre Company.

Rikki Howie Lacewell as Deena Jones in Dreamgirls at Tantallon Community Players.

Rikki Howie Lacewell as Joanne in Rent at Rockville Musical Theatre.

Jennifer Lambert as Rose in Gypsy at Reston Community Players.

Aimee Lambing as Kate Monster in Avenue Q at Vagabond Players.

Sheron LaSha as Lorrell Robinson in Dreamgirls at Tantallon Community Players.

Kevin James Logan as Adam/Noah in Children of Eden at Damascus Theatre Company.

Lauren Lowell as Muzzy Von Hossmere in Thoroughly Modern Millie at The Heritage Players.

James Maxted as The Emcee in Cabaret at Prince William Little Theatre.

Jasmine Mays as Annabel in Robin Hood at Victorian Lyric Opera.

Garrett Matthews as Jimmy Smith in Thoroughly Modern Millie at The Heritage Players.

Grace McCarthy as Morticia in The Addams Family at Alliance Theatre.

Brian Mellen as Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls at 2nd Star Productions.

Jamie Erin Miller as Miss Adelaide in Guys and Dolls at 2nd Star Productions.

Jim Mitchell as Gomez in The Addams Family at Alliance Theatre.

Duane Monahan as Bert in Mary Poppins at Reston Community Players.

Luis “Matty” Montes as Cain and Japheth in Children of Eden at Damascus Theatre Company.

Emily Mudd as Josephine in H.M.S. Pinafore at 2nd Star Productions.

Aly Murphy as Casey in First Date at Drama Learning Center.

Nicky McDonnell as Little Edie in Grey Gardens at The Little Theatre of Alexandria.

Lexie McEntire as Maria in West Side Story at The Little Theatre of Alexandria.

Erika Miller as Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls at 2nd Star Productions.

Shaina Murphy as Mary Poppins in Mary Poppins at Reston Community Players.

Corisa Myers as Effie Melody White in Dreamgirls at Tantallon Community Players.

James Myers as Edward Rutledge in 1776 at McLean Community Players.

Anya Randall Nebel as Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill at Spotlighters Theatre.

Fred Nelson as Miguel de Cervantes/Alonzo Quijana/Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha at Laurel Mill Playhouse.

E. Lee Nicol as Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls at 2nd Star Productions.

Pamela Northrup as Miss Deilah Strict in Zombie Prom at Greenbelt Arts Center.

Viki Nova as Maureen in Rent at Rockville Musical Theatre.

Michael Nugent as Henry in Next to Normal at Silhouette Stages.

Azaria Oglesby as Danielle in Bring It On at Drama Learning Center.

Jonathan Ohmart as Anthony Hope in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at St. Mark’s Players.

Christopher Overly as Oran Tobin in Memories & Legends at Wolf Pack Theatre Company.

Ben Peter as Tony in West Side Story at The Little Theatre of Alexandria.

Ryan Phillips as the Artful Dodger in Oliver! at The Sterling Playmakers.

David Porterfield as Albin/Zaza in La Cage aux Folles at Other Voices Theatre.

Katie Puschel as Sally Bowles in Cabaret at Prince William Little Theatre.

Jonathan M. Rizzardi as the Emcee in Cabaret at Kensington Arts Theatre.

David Robinson as Tom Collins in Rent at Rockville Musical Theatre.

Tahara Robinson as Anita in West Side Story at The Little Theatre of Alexandria.

Kayla Rothstein as Little Red Riding Hood and Stephen Porter as The Wolf in Into the Woods, Jr. at Aldersgate Church Community Theater.

Daniel Santiago as Lee Harvey Oswald in Assassins at Laurel Mill Playhouse.

Aimee Santone as Mimi in Rent at Rockville Musical Theatre.

Jesse Saywell as Angel in Rent at Rockville Musical Theatre.

Kevin Schellhase as Little John in Robin Hood at Victorian Lyric Opera.

Susan Schindler as Diana Goodman in Next to Normal at Silhouette Stages.

Katie Shaffer as Mrs. Walker in The Who’s Tommy at Kensington Arts Theatre.

John Sheldon as Trekkie Monster in Avenue Q at Vagabond Players.

Pam Shilling as Buttercup in H.M.S. Pinafore at 2nd Star Productions.

Kendall Nicole Sigman as Janet Van De Graaf in The Drowsy Chaperone at Damascus Theatre Company.

Kendall Nicole Sigman as Yonah in Children of Eden at Damascus Theatre Company.

Emily Small as Toffee in Zombie Prom at Greenbelt Arts Center.

Christie Smith as Natalie Goodman in Next to Normal at Silhouette Stages.

Christopher Smith as Jimmy Winter in Nice Work If You Can Get It at The Arlington Players.

Kevin Sockwell as Father in Children of Eden at Damascus Theatre Company.

Jack Stein as Lord Farquaad in Shrek at Rockville Musical Theatre.

Brett Stone as John Adams in 1776 at McLean Community Players.

Jennifer Strand as Big Edie in Grey Gardens at The Little Theatre of Alexandria.

Devin Taylor as Bunny Byron in Babes in Arms at The FrederickTowne Players.

Jay Tilley as Reverend Shaw Moore in Footloose at McLean Community Players.

Keith Tittermary as the Man in Chair in The Drowsy Chaperone at Damascus Theatre Company.

Aaron Verchot-Ware as Reverend Hightower in Bat Boy: The Musical at Prince William Little Theatre.

Eric Verchot-Ware as Edgar/Bat Boy in Bat Boy: The Musical at Prince William Little Theatre.

Becca Vourvoulas as Eva Peron in Evita at Spotlighters Theatre.

Mary Wakefield as Aldonza in Man of La Mancha at Laurel Mill Playhouse.

Rob Wall as Che in Evita at Spotlighters Theatre.

Liz Weber as The Drowsy Chaperone in The Drowsy Chaperone at Damascus Theatre Company.

Liz Weber as Fraulein Schneider and Chuck Dluhy as Herr Schultz in Cabaret at Kensington Arts Theatre.

Liz Weber as Sarah McKendree Bonham in Quilters at Rockville Musical Theatre and Arts on The Green.

Jeffery Westlake as Benjamin Franklin in 1776 at McLean Community Players.

Matt Wetzel as the Balladeer in Assassins at Laurel Mill Playhouse.

Taylor Whidden-Knapp as Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes at Other Voices Theatre.

Stephen P. Yednock as The Cat in the Hat in Seussical at Greenbelt Arts Center.

Joel Yetzbacher as Winthrop in The Music Man at Fairfax Theatre Company.

Kristen Zwobot as The Witch in Into the Woods at Reisterstown Theatre Project.

BEST ENSEMBLES:

A Grand Night for Singing at Montgomery Playhouse: Danny Santiago, Lauren-Nicole Gabel, Brian Lyons-Burke, Jennifer Georgia, and Rachel Weisenthal.

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Assassins at Laurel Mill Playhouse: Stephen Yednock, Joe Mariano, Meg Nemeth, Stephen Deininger, Morrigan Condo, John Scheeler, Jordan Essex, Brianna Scheeler, AnnaBelle Lowe, Maureen Rogers, Ron Able, Cassandra Ferrell, Stuart Deininger, Daniel Santiago, Penni Barnett, and Patrick Pase.

___

Avenue Q at Vagabond Players: Calla Fuqua, Taylor Washington, Ryan Gunning, Emily Boling, Michael McGoogan MacKay. Second row: John Sheldon, Michael Paradiso, Jim Baxter, Aimee Lambing, Linae’ C. Bullock, and Andrew Worthington.

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Children of Eden at Damascus Theatre Company: Kevin Sockwell, Cheryl J. Campo, Kevin James Logan, Matty Montes, Kendall Nicole Sigman, Nick Cox, Katherine Worley, Rob Milanic, Katelyn Avon, Matthew Rubin, Noah Haren, Brianna DeLauder,
Stephanie Bonte-Lebair, Jessie Dulaney, Paul May, Jonah Schwartz, Michele D. Vicino-Coleman, Sophia Anthony, Elissa Borzilleri, Brittany Broadus, Katherine Judge, Melissa Law, Nicki Mazza, Amy Nisonger, Emma Shankman, Elizabeth Weiss, Zoë Zindash, Beth Hays, Tatiana Sollod, Samantha Vidas, Lindsey Ehrenfried, Cadence Frey, Kendall Rill, Maria Sales, Christina Williams, Elizabeth Weiss, and Michelle Williams.

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DAS BARBECÜ at Spotlighters Theatre: Andrea Bush, Allison Comotto, Jim Gross, Clare Kneebone, and Rob Wall.

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I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change at Other Voices Theatre: Will Heyser Paone, Karen Heyser-Paone, Steve Custer, Adam Blackstock, Taylor Whidden-Knapp, Katherine Worley, Lee Hebb, and Jeanine Evans.

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Quilters at Rockville Musical Theatre and Arts in the Green: Liz Weber, Hillary Templeton, Megan Evans, Maisie Irene Rocke, Valerie Hubert, Amy Winter, and Zoe Alexandratos.

____

Ragtime at The Memorial Players: Skye A. Barber, Marcos Santiago Calderon, Eden Deininger, Samantha McEwen Deininger,
Stephen Deininger, Stuart Deininger, Corey Dunning, Arden Fisher, Brinley Fisher, Jill Fisher, Karis Fisher, Jamie Griffith, Fred Gorman, Sue Arthur Gorman, Steven Gross, Renata Hammond, J. Purnell Hargrove, Darlene Harris, Carley Heck, Amber Hooper, Ginny Samford Hornbeck, Walter Montgomery Howard, Kendra Sweren Keiser, Valerie Konou, Sonia Korn, Beth Lesser, Miles Light, Thomas Light, John Lisch, J.R. Lyston, Randi Bradley Martin, Tracy McCracken, Janet McMannis, Jesse Milan Jr., Kenna Mitchell, Nicole Mitchell, Myles Jaden Muse, John O’Brien, Debby Phinney, Cecelia Rafferty, Sally Ratrie, Charlie Roberts, Elena Russinoff, John Seeley, Clarence Simmons Jr., Jeff Tegeler, Marian Tibrey, Mike Ware, Nathaniel Wells, Tyler McKay White.

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Seussical at Greenbelt Arts Center: Bob Gudauskas, Jim Pasquale, Marie Nearing, Joanna Andrus, Win Britt, Tiffany Chadwick, Beatrice McNabb, Anna Shenk-Evans, Mayumi Griffie, Bridget Adams, Heather Babin, Laura Adams, Silas Fishburne, Elizabeth Gardner, Shawday Graves, Jamie Miller, Jeffery Lesniak, Jason Britt, Stephen P. Yednock, Harper Chadwick, Amanda Dees, Rachel Pino-Elliott, Julie Dixon, John Carter, Kathleen Marilyn Moors, Joey Rolandelli, Isabela Martins, Carlin Wells, Findley Holland, and Sophie Cooper.

____

1776 at McLean Community Players: Bob Ashby, Michael Bagwell,
Matt Bogen, Jonathan Cagle-Mulberg, Marissa Chapman, Bob Cohen, Shawn Cox, Richard Dahl, Michael Doan, Michael Gerwin, Scott Scott Gustaveson, Jerry Hoffman, Mike Holland, Derek Marsh, Mytheos Holt, Leslie Lewis, Derek Marsh, James Kevin McCormack, Bob McGrath, Todd Meikle, James Myers, Sam Schwarz, Jon Simmons, Brent Stone, David Weaver, and Jeff Westlake.

____

HOW WE SELECTED OUR HONOREES

DCMetroTheaterArts writers were permitted to honor productions and concerts, dance, and operas that they saw and reviewed and productions and concerts and dance performances that they saw but did not review. Every honoree was seen. These are not nominations. There is no voting.

The staff is honoring productions, performances, direction, and design in professional, community, university, high school, and children’s theatres, and are also honoring the same in musical venues. We are honoring work in Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia, Philadelphia, PA, New Jersey, and Delaware.

LINKS:
DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #1: Best Musicals in Professional Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #2: Best Musicals In Community Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #3: Best Musicals in Professional Theaters in Philadelphia, New York, Delaware, and New Jersey.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #4: Best Plays in Professional Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #5: Best Plays In Community Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #6: Best Plays in Professional Theaters in Philadelphia, New York, Delaware, and New Jersey.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #7: Best Performances and Ensembles in Musicals in Professional Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #8: Best Performances in Musicals in Community Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

December 31, 2016
DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #7: Best Performances and Ensembles in Musicals in Professional Theaters in DC/MD/VA

Here is the staff of DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #7: Best Performances in Musicals in Professional Theaters in DC/MD/VA:

Scean Aaron as Riff Raff in The Rocky Horror Show at Iron Crow Theatre.

Scott Ward Abernethy as Doctor Madden in Next to Normal at The Keegan Theatre.

Nicklas Aliff as Caldwell B. Cladwell in Urinetown at Constellation Theatre Company.

Hasani Allen as J.D. in Heathers at Red Branch Theatre Company.

Robert Ariza as Che in Evita at Olney Theatre Center.

Jessica Lauren Ball as Belle in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast at Imagination Stage.

Henry Baratz as Colin Craven in The Secret Garden at Shakespeare Theatre Company.

Andrew Baughman as Fred Graham/Petruchio in Kiss Me Kate at Washington County Playhouse Dinner Theater and Children’s Theater.

Shannen Banzhoff as Louise in Gypsy at Washington County Playhouse Dinner Theater and Children’s Theater.

Jessica Bennett as Kate in The Wild Party at Iron Crow Theatre.

Jenna Berk as Little Sally in Urinetown at Constellation Theatre Company.

Iyona Blake as Caroline Thibodeaux in Caroline, or Change at Creative Cauldron.

Heidi Blickenstaff as Katherine Blake in Freaky Friday at Signature Theatre.

Kelli Blackwell as Motormouth Maybelle in Hairspray at Toby’s Dinner Theatre.

Kaylee Bloom as Jo-Jo in Seussical The Musical at Children’s Theatre of Annapolis.

Kurt Boehm as Enoch Snow in Carousel at Arena Stage.

Allison Bradbury as Queenie in The Wild Party at Iron Crow Theatre.

Megan Bunn, Tiara Whaley, and Geocel Batista as the Three Heathers in Heathers at Red Branch Theatre Company.

Ryan Burke as Stone in City of Angels at NextStop Theatre Company.

Evan Casey as Floyd Collins in Floyd Collins at 1st Stage.

Teresa Castracane as Susannah Mullally in Black Pearl Sings! at MetroStage.

Reilly Claxton as Gertrude McFuzz in Seussical The Musical at Children’s Theatre of Annapolis.

JP Coletta as Jerry Lee Lewis in Million Dollar Quartet at Infinity Theatre Company.

Brevan Collins as King Triton and Chef Louie in Disney’s The Little Mermaid at Mount Vernon Community Children’s Theatre.

Annlouise Conrad as Ursula in Disney’s The Little Mermaid at Mount Vernon Community Children’s Theatre.

Amanda Jane Cooper as Galinda in Wicked at The Kennedy Center.

Ben Crawford as Starbuck in 110 in the Shade at Ford’s Theatre.

Teresa Danskey as Nellie Forbush in South Pacific at Toby’s Dinner Theatre.

Katie Davis as Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance at Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre.

Aaron De Jesus as Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys at Hippodrome Theatre.

Wyn Jake Delano as Jud Fry in Oklahoma! at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts.

Cleavant Derricks as Chimney Man in Jelly’s Last Jam at Signature Theatre.

Susan Derry as Mary Shelley in Monsters of the Villa Diodati at Creative Cauldron.

Matt Dewberry as Officer Lockstock in Urinetown at Constellation Theatre Company.

Marcus Dowd as Ralphie, in A Christmas Story, The Musical at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts.

Caroline Dubberly as Natalie Goodman in Next to Normal at The Keegan Theatre.

Daisy Eagan as Martha in The Secret Garden at Shakespeare Theatre Company.

Christine Nolan Essig as Penelope Pennywise in Urinetown at Constellation Theatre Company.

Julia Fanzeres as Eve/Mama Noah in Children of Eden at Young Artists of America at Strathmore.

Crystal Freeman as Bloody Mary in South Pacific at Toby’s Dinner Theatre.

Bobby Gallagher as Japheth in Children of Eden at Young Artists of America at Strathmore.

Eleasha Gamble as the Baker’s Wife in The Fiasco Theater’s Into the Woods at The Kennedy Center.

J. Harrison Ghee as Lola in Kinky Boots at The Kennedy Center.

Kari Ginsburg as Diana Goodman in Next to Normal at The Keegan Theatre.

Ari Goldbloom-Helzner as Adam/Noah in Children of Eden at Young Artists of America at Strathmore.

Andrea Goss as Sally Bowles in Cabaret at The Hippodrome.

Christie Graham as Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray at Toby’s Dinner Theatre.

Leo Grinberg as Frank ‘N’ Furter in The Rocky Horror Show at Iron Crow Theatre.

Sylvern Groomes, Jr. as Black in The Wild Party at Iron Crow Theatre.

Ryan Haase as William Barfee in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at StillPointe Theatre Initiative.

Kathy Halenda as Lita Encore in Ruthless! The Musical at Creative Cauldron.

Kathy Halenda as Aunt Eller in Oklahoma! at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts.

Randy Harrison as The Emcee in Cabaret at The Hippodrome Theatre.

Russell Harvard as Tommy in The Who’s Tommy at Open Circle Theatre.

Tracy Haupt as Janet in The Rocky Horror Show at Maryland Ensemble Theatre.

Will Hayes as The Voice of Tommy in The Who’s Tommy at Open Circle Theatre.

Corey Hennessey as The Narrator in Murder Ballad at StillPointe Theatre Initiative.

Karen Heyser-Paone as Rose in Gypsy at Washington County Playhouse Dinner Theater and Children’s Theater.

Autumn Seavey Hicks as Mrs. Walker in The Who’s Tommy at Open Circle Theatre.

Matthew Hirsh as Frank Abagnale, Jr. in Catch Me If You Can at NextStop Theatre Company.

Alan Hoffman as Ali Hakim in Oklahoma! at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts.

Emma Hunton as Ellie Blake in  Freaky Friday at Signature Theatre.

Erich Izdepski as George Banks in Mary Poppins at Encore Stage & Studio.

Molly Janiga as Heather in American Idiot at The Keegan Theatre.

Kristen Jepperson as Winifred Banks in Mary Poppin at Encore Stage & Studio.

Ashley Johnson as Deloris Van Cartier in Sister Act at Toby’s Dinner Theatre.

Eric Jones as Frank ‘N’ Furter in The Rocky Horror Show at Maryland Ensemble Theatre.

Nicole Jones as Ariel in Disney’s The Little Mermaid at Mount Vernon Community Children’s Theatre.

Anne Kanengeiser as Madame Giry in The Phantom of the Opera at The Kennedy Center.

Isabel Keating as Madame Morrible in Wicked at The Kennedy Center.

Katie Keyser as Gabby in City of Angels at NextStop Theatre Company.

Katie Keyser as Hope Cladwell in Urinetown at Constellation Theatre Company.

Lizzie Klemperar as Lily Craven in The Secret Garden at Shakespeare Theatre Company.

Manu Kumasi as Absalom Kumalo in Lost in the Stars at Washington National Opera.

David Landstrom as Gabe in Next to Normal at The Keegan Theatre.

Nick Lehan as Harold Bride and William Hartley in Titanic The Musical at Signature Theatre.

Bobby Libby as Stine in City of Angels at NextStop Theatre Company.

Aarron Loggins as ASL Cousin Kevin, and Carl Williams as Cousin Kevin in The Who’s Tommy at Open Circle Theatre.

John Loughney as Buddy Fidler in City of Angels at NextStop Theatre Company.

Sam Ludwig as Frederick Barrett and Benjamin Guggenheim in Titanic The Musical at Signature Theatre.

Brian Lyons-Burke as King Arthur in Monty Python’s Spamalot at Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre & Children’s Theatre.

Chris Mann as The Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera at The Kennedy Center.

Laura J. Martin as Lilli Vanessi and Katherine in Kiss Me Kate at Washington County Playhouse Dinner Theater and Children’s Theater.

Dave Martinek as Horton in Seussical The Musical at Children’s Theatre of Annapolis.

Justin Mazzella as Burrs in The Wild Party at Iron Crow Theatre.

Kevin McAllister as File in 110 in the Shade at Ford’s Theatre.

Darius McKeiver as Loganne Schwartzandgrubenierre in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at StillPointe Theatre Initiative.

Katie McManus as Oolie in City of Angels at NextStop Theatre Company.

Katie McManus as Judy Denmark in Ruthless! The Musical at Creative Cauldron.

Mark G Meadows as Jelly Roll Morton and Elijah Mayo as Young Jelly Roll Morton in Jelly’s Last Jam at Signature Theatre.

Todd Meredith as Buddy Holly in The Buddy Holly Story at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts.

Lee Merriman and Russell Nye as the Gangsters in Kiss Me Kate at Washington County Playhouse Dinner Theater and Children’s Theater.

Vaughn Ryan Midder as Bobby Strong in Urinetown at Constellation Theatre Company.

Christian Montgomery as St. Jimmy in American Idiot at The Keegan Theatre.

Christian Montgomery as Henry in Next to Normal at The Keegan Theatre.

Lawrence B. Munsey as Edna Turnblad in Hairspray at Toby’s Dinner Theatre.

Alan Naylor as Sylvia St. Croix in Ruthless! The Musical at Creative Cauldron.

Mackenzie Newbury as Brenda in Catch Me If You Can at NextStop Theatre Company.

E. Lee Nicol as The Beast in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast at Charm City Players.

Henry Niepoetter as James in James and the Giant Peach at Adventure Theatre.

Tracy Lynn Olivera as Lizzie Curry in 110 in the Shade at Ford’s Theatre.

Tracy Lynn Olivera as Alice Bean in Titanic The Musical at Signature Theatre.

Eric Owens as Stephen Kumalo in Lost in the Stars at The Kennedy Center.

Jobari Parker-Namdar as Lumiere in in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast at Imagination Stage.

Belle Perkins as The Vixen in Snow White at Encore Stage & Studio.

DJ Petrosino as Jacob in La Cage aux Folles at Signature Theatre.

Lawrence Redmond as J. Bruce Ismay in  Titanic The Musical at Signature Theatre.

Ayana Reed as Carrie in Blackberry Daze at MetroStage.

Vanessa Reseland as the Witch in The Fiasco Theater’s Into the Woods at The Kennedy Center.

Russell Rinker as The Old Man in A Christmas Story, The Musical at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts.

Russell Rinker as Carl Hanratty in Catch Me If You Can at NextStop Theatre Company.

Russell Rinker as Emile de Becque in South Pacific at Toby’s Dinner Theatre.

Kate Rockwell as Carrie Pipperidge in Carousel at Arena Stage..

Nicholas Rodriguez as Billy Bigelow in Carousel at Arena Stage.

Anya Rothman as Mary Lennox in The Secret Garden at Shakespeare Theatre Company.

Matthew Schleigh as The Prince/The Beast in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast at Imagination Stage.

Kyle Schliefer as Jigger Craigin in Carousel at Arena Stage.

Allison Semmes as Diana Ross in Motown: The Musical at Hippodrome Theatre.

Thomas Adrian Simpson as Professor Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts.

Bobby Smith as Albin/Zaza in La Cage aux Folles at Signature Theatre.

Bobby Smith as Thomas Andrew in Titanic The Musical at Signature Theatre.

Lynn Sharp-Spears as Mother Superior in Sister Act at Toby’s Dinner Theatre.

Yvette Spears as Pearl in Blackberry Daze at MetroStage.

Russell Sunday as Sweeney Todd and Janine Sunday as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at Red Branch Theatre Company.

Elizabeth Stanley as Francesca and Andrew Samonsky as Robert in The Bridges of Madison County at The Kennedy Center.

John Sygar as Homer Collins in Floyd Collins at 1st Stage.

Emily L. Taylor as Belle in  Disney’s Beauty and the Beast at Charm City Players.

Frankie Thams as Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance at Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre.

Ethan Van Slyke as Noah Gellman in Caroline, or Change at Creative Cauldron.

Dawn Ursula as Grace Kumalo in Lost in the Stars at the Kennedy Center.

Quinn Vogt-Welch as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts.

Jessica Vosk as Elphaba in Wicked at The Kennedy Center.

Tori Weaver as Lady of the Lake in Monty Python’s Spamalot at Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre & Children’s Theatre.

Chad Wheeler as Dan Goodman in Next to Normal at The Keegan Theatre.

Aidan White as Sebastian in Disney’s The Little Mermaid at Mount Vernon Community Children’s Theatre.

Roz White as Alberta “Pearl” Johnson in Black Pearl Sings! at MetroStage.

Laura Whittenberger as Johanna in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at Red Branch Theatre Company.

Matthew R. Wilson as the Major General in The Pirates of Penzance at Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre.

Juan Winans as BeBe Winans and Deborah Joy Winans as CeCe Winans in Born for This: The BeBe Winans Story at Arena Stage.

Kirsten Wyatt as Tammy Faye Bakker in Born for This: The BeBe Winans Story at Arena Stage.

Rachel Zampelli as Eva Peron in Evita at Olney Theatre Center.

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BEST ENSEMBLES OF 2016:

Black Nativity at Theater Alliance: Catrina Brenae, Frank Britton, Demitrus (Demie) Carter, Amaiya Holley, Jocelyn Jenkins, Derrionne Key, Branden Mack, Shanté M. Moore, R. Joshua Reynolds, and Awa Sal Secka.

____

Come From Away at Ford’s Theatre: Jane Bunting, Geno Carr, Jenn Colella, Joel Hatch, Rodney Hicks, Kendra Kassebaum, Alyssa Wilmoth Keegan, Chad Kimball, Lee MacDougall, Kevin McAllister, Happy McPartlin, Caesar Samayoa, Q. Smith, Astrid Van Wieren, Sharon Wheatley, and Harry A. Winter.

____

The Hypocrites’ Production of The Mikado at Olney Theatre Center: Mario Aivazian, Kate Carson-Groner, Eduardo Xavier Curley-Carrillo, Matt Kahler, Brian Keys, Amanda Raquel Martinez, Tina Munoz-Pandya, Dana Omar, Shawn Pfautsch, and Lauren Vogel.

____

James and the Giant Peach at Adventure Theatre: Eli Shulman, Henry Niepoetter, Keith Richards, Karen Vincent, Awa Sak Secka, Suzanne Stanley, Jimmy Mavrikes, Joshua Simon, Emily Zickler, and Tobias Young.

____

Knuffle Bunny at Adventure Theatre: Scott Harrison, Suzanne Lane, Emily Zickler, Simone Lewis, and John Sygar.

____

Monsters of the Villa Diodati at Creative Cauldron: Susan Derry, Catherine Purcell, David Landstrom, Alan Naylor, and Sam Ludwig

____

Next to Normal at The Keegan Theatre: Kari Ginsburg, Chad Wheeler, David Landstrom, Caroline Dubberly, Christian Montgomery, and Scott Ward Abernathy.

____

Over Her Dead Body at Pinky Swear Productions at The 2016 Capital Fringe Festival: James Finley, Karen Lange, Rebecca Phillips, Rebecca Speas, Brittany Alyse Willis, Dead Men’s Hollow.

____

Shake Loose at MetroStage: Anthony Manough, Roz White, Lori Williams, Roz White, and Rayshun Lamarr.

____

The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Symphonic Metal Version) at Landless Theatre Company: Alexis Turbat, Andrew Lloyd Baughman, Ally Jenkins, Andre Brown,Shaina Kuhn, Karissa Swanigan, Jason Hoffman, Matt Baughman, Mary Patton, Eric Jones, Dylan Ngo, and Malcolm Lee.

____

The Rocky Horror Show at Iron Crow Theatre: Scean Aaron, Paul America, Jessica Bennett, Allison Bradbury, Sarah Burton

Nick Fruit, Nick Fruit, Leo Grinberg, Brice Guerriere, Danielle Harrow, Kelly Hutchison, Nancy Linden, Chelsea Paradiso, Emily Small, Eduard Van Osterom.

____

The Secret Garden at Shakespeare Theatre Company: Alex Alferov, Brittany Baratz, Henry Baratz, Jared Michael Brown, Mary Jo Dugaw, Daisy Eagan, Catherine Flye, Jason Forbach, Charlie Franklin, Sean G. Griffin, Lizzie Klemperer, Maya Maniar, Happy McPartlin, Anya Rothman, Greg Stone, Hayley Travers, Vishal Vaidya, Ethan Watermeier, Billie Wildrick, Michael Xavier, and Josh Young.

____

The Who’s Tommy at Open Circle Theatre: Russell Harvard, Will Hayes, Autumn Seavey Hicks, Malcolm Lee, Carl Williams, Aarron Loggins, Mikey Cafarelli, Maggie Leigh Walker, Molly Janiga, Chloe Mitchiner, Kira Mitchiner, Joey antonion, Elver Ariza-Silva, Rachel Barlaam, Jen Bevan, Tina Ghandchilar, JP Illarramendi, Christian Kelly, Monica Lijewski, Jackie Madejski, Amy Maniscalco, Jose Martinez, Edward C. Nagel, D’Arcee Charington Neal, Lynley Peoples, Michelle Mary Schaefer, andEric Teran.

____

The Wild Party at Iron Crow Theatre: Scean Aaron, Allison Bradbury, Jessica Bennett, Adam Cooley, Kathryne Daniels, Terrance Fleming, Fred Fletcher-Jackson, Nick Fruit, Sylvern Groomes Jr., Brice Guerriere, Rose Hahn, Valerie Holt, Jesse Marciniak, Justin Michael Mazzella, and Emily Small.

____

Titanic The Musical at Signature Theatre: Hasani Allen, Iyona Blake, Christopher Bloch, E.J. Smith, Sean Burns, Matt Conner, Erin Driscoll, Jamie Eacker,Katie McManus, Nick Lehan, Florence Lacey, Sam Ludwig, Kevin McAllister, Katie McManus, Christopher Mueller, Tracy Lynn Olivera, Lawrence Redmond, Chris Sizemore, Charles Clarke, Bobby Smith, Stephen Gregory Smith, Russell Sunday, and John Leslie Wolfe.

____

HOW WE SELECTED OUR HONOREES

DCMetroTheaterArts writers were permitted to honor productions and concerts, dance, and operas that they saw and reviewed and productions and concerts and dance performances that they saw but did not review. Every honoree was seen. These are not nominations. There is no voting.

The staff is honoring productions, performances, direction, and design in professional, community, university, high school, and children’s theatres, and are also honoring the same in musical venues. We are honoring work in Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia, Philadelphia, PA, New Jersey, and Delaware.

LINKS:
DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #1: Best Musicals in Professional Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #2: Best Musicals In Community Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #3: Best Musicals in Professional Theaters in Philadelphia, New York, Delaware, and New Jersey.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #4: Best Plays in Professional Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #5: Best Plays In Community Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #6: Best Plays in Professional Theaters in Philadelphia, New York, Delaware, and New Jersey.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #7: Best Performances and Ensembles in Musicals in Professional Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

The Complete List of The ‘Best of 2015’ Honorees on DCMetroTheaterArts.

December 29, 2016
DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #3: Best Musicals in Professional Theaters in Philadelphia, New York, Delaware, and New Jersey

BEST MUSICALS IN PROFESSIONAL THEATRES IN PHILADELPHIA, NEW YORK, NEW JERSEY, AND DELAWARE:

A Bronx Tale at The Longacre Theatre.

A Christmas Story: The Musical at The Media Theatre.

A Taste of Things to Come at Bucks County Playhouse.

A Year with Frog and Toad at The Arden Theater Company.

Assassins at the Eagle Theatre.

Cagney at The Westside Theatre.

Cake Off at Bucks County Playhouse.

Cirque du Soleil Paramour at The Lyric Theatre.

Dear Evan Hansen at The Music Box Theatre.

Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope at New Freedom Theatre.

Dark of the Moon at the Ritz Theatre Company.

Do I Hear a Waltz? at Encores! at City Center.

Exile 2588 at Almanac Dance Circus Theatre at the 2016 Philadelphia Fringe Festival.

Falsettos at The Walter Kerr Theatre.

Fiddler on the Roof at The Broadway Theatre.

Found at Philadelphia Theatre Company.

Hadestown at The New York Theatre Workshop.

Heathers: The Musical at The Eagle Theatre.

I Will Not Go Gently at 1812 Productions.

In Transit at Circle in the Square Theatre.

La Cage aux Folles at City Theater Company.

More Than All the World at Lil Rascals Theatre.

Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 at the Imperial Theatre.

Nothing to See Here at Found Theater Company.

1776 at The Media Theatre.

Shadow House at Philadelphia Opera Collective and PhilaLandmarks at the 2016 Philadelphia Fringe Festival.

Sister Act at Walnut Street Theatre.

Sleeping Beauty: A Musical Panto at People’s Light.

The Elementary Space Time Show at César Alvarez and the University of the Arts at the 2016 Philadelphia Fringe Festival.

The Legend of Oni at Musical Company OZmate at FringeNYC.

The Secret Garden at Arden Theatre Company.

Take One at The Council of Nine at FringeNYC.

The Wizard of Oz at Walnut Street Theatre.

West Side Story at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival.

Working: A Musical at Bristol Riverside Theatre.

HOW WE SELECTED OUR HONOREES

DCMetroTheaterArts writers were permitted to honor productions and concerts, dance, and operas that they saw and reviewed and productions and concerts and dance performances that they saw but did not review. Every honoree was seen. These are not nominations. There is no voting.

The staff is honoring productions, performances, direction, and design in professional, community, university, high school, and children’s theatres, and are also honoring the same in musical venues. We are honoring work in Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia, Philadelphia, PA, New Jersey, and Delaware.

LINKS:
DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #1: Best Musicals in Professional Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #2: Best Musicals In Community Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #3: Best Musicals in Professional Theaters in Philadelphia, New York, Delaware, and New Jersey.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #4: Best Plays in Professional Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #5: Best Plays In Community Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #6: Best Plays in Professional Theaters in Philadelphia, New York, Delaware, and New Jersey.

The Complete List of The ‘Best of 2015’ Honorees on DCMetroTheaterArts.

December 22, 2016
DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #2: Best Musicals In Community Theaters in DC/MD/VA

Here are The staff of DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best Plays of 2016 in Community Theaters. Congrats to all the honorees.

A Grand Night for Singing at Montgomery Playhouse and Arts on the Green.

Anything Goes at Other Voices Theatre.

Assassins at the Laurel Mill Playhouse.

Avenue Q at Vagabond Players.

Babes in Arms at The FrederickTowne Players.

Bat Boy: The Musical at Prince William Little Theatre.

Bring It On at Drama Learning Center.

Cabaret at Kensington Arts Theatre.

Cabaret at Prince William Little Theatre.

Children of Eden at Damascus Theatre Company.

DAS BARBECÜ at Spotlighters Theatre.

Dreamgirls at Tantallon Community Players.

Evita at Spotlighters Theatre.

First Date at Drama Learning Center.

Footloose at McLean Community Players.

Grey Gardens at The Little Theatre of Alexandria.

Guys and Dolls at 2nd Star Productions.

Gypsy at Reston Community Players.

Hairspray at Port Tobacco Players.

H.M.S. Pinafore at 2nd Star Productions.

I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change at Other Voices Theatre.

Into the Woods at Upper Room Theatre Ministry.

Into the Woods, Jr. at Aldersgate Church Community Theater.

La Cage aux Folles at Other Voices Theatre.

Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill at Spotlighters Theatre.

Legally Blonde: The Musical at Fauquier Community Theatre.

Man of La Mancha at The Arlington Players.

Man of La Mancha at Laurel Mill Playhouse.

Mary Poppins at Reston Community Players.

Memories & Legends at Wolf Pack Theatre Company.

Next to Normal at Silhouette Stages.

Nice Work If You Can Get It at The Arlington Players.

Oliver! at The Sterling Playmakers.

Parade at Drama Learning Center.

Quilters at Rockville Musical Theatre and Arts on The Green.

Ragtime at The Memorial Players.

Rent at Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre.

Rent at Rockville Musical Center.

Robin Hood at Victorian Lyric Opera.

Seussical at Greenbelt Arts Center.

1776 at McLean Community Players.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at St. Mark’s Players.

The Drowsy Chaperone at Damascus Theatre Company and Arts on the Green.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Arts Collective@HCC.

The Secret Garden at The Colonial Players of Annapolis.

Shrek at Rockville Musical Theatre.

Tick, Tick…BOOM! at Spotlighters Theatre.

West Side Story at The Little Theatre of Alexandria.

The Music Man at Fairfax Theatre Company.

Thoroughly Modern Millie at The Heritage Players.

The Who’s Tommy at Kensington Arts Theatre.

Young Frankenstein at Silhouette Stages.

Zombie Prom at Greenbelt Arts Center.

HOW WE SELECTED OUR HONOREES

DCMetroTheaterArts writers were permitted to honor productions and concerts, dance, and operas that they saw and reviewed and productions and concerts and dance performances that they saw but did not review. Every honoree was seen. These are not nominations. There is no voting.

The staff is honoring productions, performances, direction, and design in professional, community, university, high school, and children’s theatres, and are also honoring the same in musical venues. We are honoring work in Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia, Philadelphia, PA, New Jersey, and Delaware.

LINKS:
DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #1: Best Musicals in Professional Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #2: Best Musicals In Community Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #3: Best Musicals in Professional Theaters in Philadelphia, New York, Delaware, and New Jersey.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #4: Best Plays in Professional Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #5: Best Plays In Community Theaters in DC/MD/VA.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #6: Best Plays in Professional Theaters in Philadelphia, New York, Delaware, and New Jersey.

The Complete List of The ‘Best of 2015’ Honorees on DCMetroTheaterArts.

December 21, 2016
Review: ‘La Cage aux Folles’ at City Theater Company

Wilmington’s City Theater Company ushers in its 23rd season with lots of glitter for the holidays. But it’s not the usual tinsel on the tree, it’s the fabulous drag fest that is La Cage aux Folles! Based on the 1973 French play of the same name by Jean Poiret, the story, which inspired a 1978 European comedy film and a 1996 American remake (The Birdcage), became a Tony Award-winning musical in 1983, with book by Harvey Fierstein and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman. CTC’s current effervescent production of the Broadway hit is a hilarious and poignant reminder that its message of ‘love is love is love’ couldn’t be more relevant than it is today, in our current socio-political climate.

Paul McElwee (center) with William Bryant, Zach DeBevec, Andrew Dean Laino, and Christian Ryan. Photo by Joe del Tufo/Moonloop Photography.

The simultaneously over-the-top and tender-hearted song-and-dance extravaganza tells the story of a gay couple—Georges, the proprietor, and Albin (aka ZaZa), the star attraction at their eponymous St. Tropez nightspot–whose straight son Jean-Michel brings his fiancée Anne, and her conservative parents Deputy and Madame Dindon, home for a first meeting. Suffice it to say that the evening doesn’t go as planned. Yet beneath the comical antics and show-stopping numbers, glitzy feathers and glistening sequins, lies a serious examination of the true meaning of love and family, identity and acceptance.

An effulgent cast of thirteen, in eye-popping attire by Rob Paluso, brings the eccentric characters to life. In the leads are Paul McElwee as the conflicted Georges, who wants to, but knows he can’t, please both his long-time partner and his anxious son; and Patrick O’Hara, who is heartbreaking and triumphant as the timorous Albin and his more flamboyant alter-ego ZaZa (as expressed in “A Little More Mascara”), making painful sacrifices for the men he loves. Both bring three-dimensionality to their roles in delightfully humorous and sensitive performances, with believable interactions of romance and bickering that define their relationship (and most relationships, whether gay or straight). Their duets of “With You on My Arm” and “Song on the Sand” provide loving counterpoints to the outrageously funny “Masculinity” (on teaching Albin how to act ‘straight.’)

Zachary J. Chiero plays Jean-Michel, who expresses in strong vocals the love he feels for his girlfriend (“With Anne on My Arm”), sweetly played by Grace Tarves, and the mistake he made in denying Aldin (“Look over There (Reprise)”), out of his fear of being rejected by the Dindons (Mary Catherine Kelley and Greg Tigani, who are appropriately stodgy and reactionary ‘turkeys’), until the tables are turned on them by the clever restaurateur Jacqueline (Kerry Kristine McElrone, portraying her character with a heavy French accent and a provocative attitude).

Patrick O’Hara (center) with Andrew Dean Laino, William Bryant, Zach DeBevec, and Christian Ryan. Photo by Joe del Tufo/Moonloop Photography.

Of course the high energy of the show comes from the dazzling troupe of drag queens known as Les Cagelles, fully inhabited with no-holds-barred flair by the terrific William Bryant, Zach DeBevec, Andrew Dean Laino, and Christian Ryan. And then there’s Aldin’s butler (or “maid”), Jacob–a drag star wannabe whose accent and attitude are on a par with Jacqueline’s–played with pizzazz by Adam Pierce Montgomery. Rounding out the ensemble’s gender-bending roles is CTC regular Dylan Geringer, sporting a black mustache and tuxedo. The entire cast contributes wholeheartedly to the rousing anthems “We Are What We Are,” “La Cage aux Folles,” and “The Best of Times,” as the audience sings along and claps.

Set-and-lighting design team Vicki Neal and Richard Kendrick make perfect use of the intimate black box theater at the Opera Delaware Studios, transforming it into a sparkling nightclub with colorful lights and cabaret tables around a runway stage. Director Michael Gray uses the entire space to full advantage, as his cast moves around the audience, on and off the stage, through the aisles, and within inches of us (some of the actors, in full ruffled skirts, even brushed up against me at my stage-side seat). The up-close-and-personal interactions with the cross-dressing characters add to the excitement of the show and recreate the authentic experience of being at a real drag club, as do the cocktails and snacks sold at the bar!

Grace Tarves and Zachary J. Chiero (front), with Mary Catherine Kelley, Adam Pierce Montgomery, and Greg Tigani. Photo by Joe del Tufo/Moonloop Photography.

Witty choreography by Dawn Morningstar and Devon Sinclair Fields is executed with physical éclat and comic panache (Les Cagelles’ risqué can-can number, and an extended sequence of in-place cartwheels by DeBevec, are especially thrilling). The sensational ensemble is backed by a live orchestra (Michele M. Ferdinand on piano, George M. Murphy on bass, Steve Smith on trombone, Robert Baronio on trumpet, Barbara Benedett on reeds, and Christopher Tolomeo on percussion), conducted with a buoyant beat by Musical Director Joe Trainor, before a shimmering upstage background of strips of silver.

All of the fun, camp, and extravagance in CTC’s production of La Cage aux Folles, along with its important underlying moral, will have you believing–at least while you’re there in the theater–that “The Best of Times” is now. I know I did!

Running Time: Approximately two hours and 30 minutes, including a 15-minute intermission.

La Cage aux Folles plays through Saturday, December 17, 2016, at City Theater Company, performing at The Black Box at Opera Delaware Studios – 4 South Poplar Street, in Wilmington, DE. For tickets, call the box office at (302) 220-8285, or purchase them online.

December 12, 2016
Review: ‘La Cage aux Folles’ at Other Voices Theatre

With music and lyrics by Jerry Herman and a book by Harvey Fierstein, La Cage aux Folles running at Other Voices Theatre is a splendid spectacle stuffed with laughs and many poignant moments about the simple subject of love. Superbly directed by Susan Thornton, the show features a hilariously heartwarming collection of emotionally powerful and hysteric moments.

David Porterfield and Samn Huffer. Photo courtesy of Other Voices Theatre.

In La Cage aux Folles, Georges and Albin lead a charming, albeit unconventional lifestyle, living above the drag nightclub and the show’s title, La Cage Aux Folles, in Europe. Albin as a drag queen “Zaza” is the star performer while Georges manages and runs the nightclub. Complete with feathers, glitz and sparkles, the gay couple’s lifestyle is fabulous. Georges has a son, Jean-Michel, from a one night encounter with a woman many years ago, who completes their happy family. However, the family is taken for a spin when Jean-Michel suddenly announces he’s met the girl of his dreams, proposed, and now his fiance’s ultra conservative, traditional lifestyle platform political family is coming to meet Jean-Michel’s most nontraditional family, in a hilarious case of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?!

Sam Huffer excels as the club owner and emcee for the audience, Georges. As the straight man (pardon the pun) and more reserved character to all the comedy in the production. Huffer’s dry wit and old school charm is sensational. He has the best one-liners in the show and sometimes a dryly observed three or four word comment could bring the house down. Huffer also pulled at the heartstrings with his gentle, loving solo “Song on the Sand.”

As the La Cage star and other half of the main couple, David Porterfield packs an emotional powerhouse as Albin, also known as drag star “Zaza.” Porterfield displays an exceptional star quality entirely fitting to the character and a fabulous sense of comedic timing. His opening solo “(A Little More) Mascara” was exceptional and his barely concealed rage and surprisingly reserved performance on the character’s well known number “I Am What I Am” left very few dry eyes in the house. Porterfield also went deliciously over-the-top throughout the show, typically leaving the audience in hysterics with such simple acts as even walking or sitting.

Porterfield and Huffer make an exceptional pair, greatly playing up the contrast between the two personalities and letting the loving emotions clearly show through. Their relaxed chemistry and playfulness during “With You On My Arm” was one of the best moments of the production.

Thomas Bricker as their son, Jean- Michel, was wholesomely earnest and flamboyant as a young man desperately in love. His opening solo, “With Anne on My Arm,” was utterly charming.

Rachel Weisenthal was adorable as Anne, Jean-Michel’s fiance and your typical girl next door. Weisenthal had a stand out moment in Act II when she finally stood up to her overbearing father and let her self confidence shine through.

As the blustering bigot Eduard Dindon, Glenn Frail does an exceptional job as the conservative, homophobic politician and villain figure in the musical. Frail’s sour facial expressions and arrogant demeanor are spot on for the straight laced politician. Angela Thompson as Madame Dindon, his wife, portrays a very sweet and subdued perfectly presented politician’s wife who gets a standout soprano moment in Act II that nearly stopped one of the musical numbers with applause.

Thompson also excels in a dual role as restaurant owner Madame Renaud and Ed Gabb is hilariously friendly and down-to-earth as restaurant owner, Mr. Renaud. Alex Prete is outstanding as hard-nosed stage manager, Francis, whose growing list of injuries and sarcastic comebacks formed a hysterical running gag during the show. Claudia Patterson is deliciously flighty and flirty as fine dining restaurant owner Jacqueline, who is a close friend of Georges and Albin.

If Porterfield provides the emotional center of the production and Huffer the sensible, comedic narrator, then Daniel Douek certainly steals the show as overly-flamboyant butler/maid, Jacob, a task not easy to accomplish in a cast filled with over-the-top flamboyant characters. Douek’s character voice and accent left the audience rolling as soon as he opened his mouth. Douek also has an impeccable sense of comedic timing and does a great job balancing his exceptional comedic bits without upstaging any of the other actors in the scene.

Les Cagelles Ensemble. Photo courtesy of Other Voices Theatre.

The Cagelles, played by Dan Henderson, Kasey Taylor, Richard Stonebraker, Donald Toms, Donald Harver, Riley Smith, and Scott Beadle, are all sassy and stunning in the nightclub acts and hilarious in their interactions during the backstage scenes. They strut confidently and sing proudly, and forewarning to any audience members uncomfortable with audience interactions: do not sit in the front row. The Cagelles often interact with the audience members as though they were in the nightclub, and some of their improvisations last night were excellent.

Music direction by Jonas Dawson is outstanding, with very crisp diction on many of the ensemble numbers and a fantastic addition of a live orchestra. The choreography by Donna Grim is flashy and high energy for the nightclub performance acts and simple and subdued for character duets or solos. There were some minor moments of uncertainty in choreography with some of the ensemble numbers, which I am sure will be resolved by the next performance.

Lighting, designed by Steve Knapp and Jim McGuire, is fantastic, with flashing marquee lights and an impressive lighting design, particularly during the Overture, for silhouettes of the nightclub performers that changed color on the upstage walls. The set, designed by Kyle Huth and Tim Huth, serves double duty as both the flashy nightclub and Georges’ and Albin’s charming Parisian apartment, with the change of only a few set pieces. And extra kudos to Thornton for a few very clever and unusual scene change ideas that kept the pace of the show moving and provided very fun transitions.

However, the truly magnificent spectacle in the show are the stunning costumes. Supplied by Nancy Speck, Patty Byrne, Regina Cox, Samn Huffer and Jayden Elyse, they were exquisite and fabulously flamboyant. Bedazzled sequined evening gowns for Albin/Zaza and enormous beaded headdresses for the Cagelles were stunning, while simpler every day ensembles for the characters off stage in everyday life were nicely patterned and well put together.

For a hilarious and heartwarming musical filled with glitz and glamor, don’t miss Other Voices Theatre’s La Cage Aux Folles. It’s magnifique!

Running Time: Two hours and 30 minutes, with a 15-minute intermission.

La Cage aux Folles plays through November 13, 2016, at Other Voices Theatre performing at the Performing Arts Factory – 244 South Jefferson Street, in Frederick, MD. For tickets, call the box office at (301) 662-3722, or purchase them online.

RATING:

November 6, 2016
Take A Bow Part 2: The Staff of DCMetroTheaterArts’ Favorite Spring/Summer 2016 Performances

Here’s Part 2 of the staff of DCMetroTheaterArts’ favorite Spring/Summer 2016 performances. To our honorees: TAKE A BOW!

____

Stori Ayers as Alma (and others), in Yellowman at Anacostia Playhouse.

Stori Ayers (Alma) and Justus Hammond (Eugene). Photo by Michael DuBois.

Stori Ayers’ performance as Alma is magnificent. The hurt inside the character—which Playwright Dael Orlandersmith’s script makes explicit—coexists in Ayers’s incandescent embodiment with a warmth, humor, and largesse of spirit that is a wonder to behold. And when in an instant she transforms into Alma’s mother, the bile and self-loathing she brings to the role is shocking. Solely the evidence of Ayers’s performance in this production, she is clearly an actor with a depth and breadth of range and indelible presence that great roles are written for.-John Stoltenberg.

____

Iyona Blake as Gran Mimi in Jelly’s Last Jam at Signature Theatre.

Iyona Blake (Gran Mimi) and Elijah Mayo (Young Jelly). Photo by Margot Schulman.

Iyona Blake who plays Gran Mimi, Jelly Roll Morton’s Creole grandmother is a powerhouse vocalist with a stage presence that can be described as imposingly magnificent. Her mesmerizing performance as the high “yalla”, highbrow mulatto matriarch who banishes young Jelly Roll from the family for not preserving “The Creole Way” sheds artistic light on the psychology of racial identity and the emotional scars which underlie the dramatic conflict in Jelly’s Last Jam.-Ramona Harper.

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Leila Buck in Hkeelee at Mosaic Theater Company of DC.

Leila Buck. Photo courtesy of Mosaic Theater Company.

Leila Buck‘s performance in Hkeelee, her powerful one-woman show about the process of “becoming,” combines those two most precious aspects of theatrical dynamism: intimacy and pizzazz. As Ms. Buck brought her Mosaic audience into the intimate details of her relationship with her Teta (her Lebanese Grandmother), she filled Arena’s Kogod Cradle with life’s tiny titillations, the kind that electrify the air not with mega-stars, but with every day wishes and desires.-Robert Michael Oliver.

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Alan Held as Wotan in The Ring Cycle: The Rhinegold at Washington National Opera at The Kennedy Center’s Opera House.

Alan Held as Wotan in ‘The Rhinegold.’ Photo by Scott Suchman

As Wotan, Bass-Baritone Alan Held sang with authority yet concurrent sensitivity to each new scenario. Mr. Held beautifully elucidated the proper balance between his internal struggles with lust for greedy power and devout love for his family-David Friscic.

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Jeremy Keith Hunter as Devaun in When January Feels Like Summer at Mosaic Theater Company of DC.

From left: Shravan Amin (Indira) and Jeremy Keith Hunter (Devaun) in ‘When January Feels Like Summer.’ Photograph by Stan Barouh.

At the beginning of this play by Cori Thomas, Jeremy Keith Hunter plays the Harlem homeboy Devaun with delightfully antic swagger, loudly bantering about “getting with” women and boasting cocksurely of his experience. Hunter’s is a larger-than-life comic performance that keeps getting more impressive as the play goes on. By the end, Devaun has begun an unlikely bicultural romance with 28-year-old who is transitioning to live as a woman. There arises a sexual chemistry between them that is beautifully believable and amazingly moving, in large measure because Hunter brings to each libidinous instant of it such unstinting emotional conviction that we see the woman he has fallen for through his adoring eyes.-John Stoltenberg.

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Alan Naylor as Angel (though not identified as such in the program) in Going to a Place Where You Already Are at Theater Alliance.

Alan Naylor in ‘Going to a Place where you Already Are.’ Photo by Daniel Corey.

Beautiful sound and lighting effects can create a sense on stage that we are in heaven, but in Theater Alliance’s production of Bekah Brunstetter’s Going to a Place Where You Already Are, it is Alan Naylor’s winning and nimble performance that is truly our entrée to the play’s magical realism. His appearance is inexplicable at first. He hovers solicitously and mysteriously on the sidelines wearing a sleek blue suit and white sneakers without socks. He hands a hymnal to two parishioners when it comes time for them to sing along with a churchful of mourners. Later we learn he is an angel, a son who died in his youth and grew up gay in heaven. Naylor’s sensitive and transporting performance literally lifts the show to a hereafter that we get to experience through him right now.-John Stoltenberg.

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Bobby Smith as Albin/Zaza in La Cage aux Folles at Signature Theatre.

Bobby Smith (Albin). Photo by Christopher Mueller.

Bobby Smith is nothing short of transcendent in the challenging role of an aging drag queen. He turns in a multi-layered, nuanced depiction of Albin’s private life as well as his onstage persona Zaza, with equal parts of sensitivity and hilarity. Smith’s comedy timing is perfect; his acting and dancing are top-notch; his vocal range and voice dynamics are superb. When he performed the iconic anthem, “I Am What I Am,” he stopped the show. A tour de force performance!-Barbara Braswell and Paul M. Bessel.

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Chris Stezin as Father Welsh in The Lonesome West at The Keegan Theatre.

Chris Stezin and Bradley Foster Smith. Photo by Cameron Whitman Photography.

The marvelous actor Chris Stezin portrays this priest as a person trying fervently to hold on to any sliver of hope and redemption. Stezin’s complex yet amazingly direct and self-possessed portrayal of this Irish priest is the emotional center of this play-David Friscic.

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Kirsten Wyatt as Tammy Faye Baker in Born for This: The BeBe Winans Story at Arena Stage.

Chaz Pofahl (Jim Bakker) and Kirsten Wyatt (Tammy Faye Bakker). Photo by Greg Mooney.

Kirsten Wyatt gave a knockout performance as the feisty firecracker, Tammy Faye Bakker. Kirsten’s Tammy Faye is over-the-top. Irreverently funny, her terrific comic timing and shrill-voiced histrionics are a blast, all in the name of the Lord. Big as a minute, the diminutive Kirsten Wyatt as Tammy Faye commands the stage with Napoleonic chutzpah.-Ramona Harper.

LINKS:
‘Take A Bow’ Part 1: The Staff of DCMetroTheaterArts’ Favorite Spring/Summer 2016 Performances.

‘Take A Bow’ Part 2: The Staff of DCMetroTheaterArts’ Favorite Spring/Summer 2016 Performances.

‘Take A Bow’ Part 3: The Staff of DCMetroTheaterArts’ Favorite Spring/Summer 2016 Performances.

‘Take A Bow’ Part 4: The Staff of DCMetroTheaterArts’ Favorite Spring/Summer 2016 Performances.

‘Take A Bow’ Part 5: The Staff of DCMetroTheaterArts’ Favorite Spring/Summer 2016 Performances.

Afternote:

Tiziano D’Affuso as Birdlace in Dogfight at The Keegan Theatre.

Tiziano D’Affuso (foreground) with cast. Photo by Traci J. Brooks Studios.

As the lead character, Birdlace, Tiziano D’Affuso plays the hell out of his part. D’Affuso commands the stage with an authoritative yet unstudied and natural stage presence. What a future this leading man has in store for him!-David Friscic.

*This performance was one Mr. Friscic wanted to honor because he missed doing so in the Fall of last year. It’s never too late to honor a fantastic performance.

August 25, 2016
‘Love Can Build a Bridge’: An Anti-Violence Charity Concert: Interviews With Actors and Musicians

The violence in the US and overseas has rattled millions of people, making many of us feel vulnerable. Sarah Gafgen, well-known actor, singer, and director, took the initiative and, with the help of the Philadelphia theater community, initiated the first Love Can Build A Bridge charity concert to support three organizations that actively work toward a lessening of violence: the National Organization for Victim Assistance, the Anti-Violence Partnership of Philadelphia, and the OneOrlando Fund.

Quite a few singers and musicians are taking time out to join in the group interview for the charity concert against violence, one of Philadelphia’s most promising concerts—and also a chance for directors to see whom they would like to invite for auditions in the future. There’s complimentary wine for everyone who buys a ticket. And Sarah may have a surprise or two for everyone who attends this concert of love to help three organizations to cut down on violence.

The charity concert is hosted by Mark Cook and Nate Golden. The musicians include Tyler Blanchard, Christopher Ertelt, Steve Gudelunas, Maura Johnston, and Rob Tucker.

And the singers and performers include: Demetria Joyce Bailey, Meredith Beck, Clyde Brooks (spoken word), Sarah Lynn Dewey, Mike Dorsey, Sarah J. Gafgen, Aileen Goldberg, Donnie Hammond, Tim Johnson, Mike Kammerer, Josh Keiter, Topher Layton, Mark Marano, Connor McAndrews, Josh Millhouse, David Nikolas, Craig O’Brien, Katherine Perry, Christine Petrini, Megan Pisors, The Plaids, Samantha Reisenberg, Frank Schierloh, Carl Nathaniel Smith, Madalyn St. John, Jamie Beth Weist, Janet Wilkie, and Shaun Yates.

We asked the participants to whom they were dedicating their performances. Two singers dedicated their songs to five-year-old Omran Daqneesh, the little boy from Aleppo in Syria.

https://youtu.be/U1j4tFFkoQY

“The image, hopefully, speaks for itself,” as one of the performers noted. Someone remembered Matthew Shepard, the young gay man who got tortured and was left to die all by himself in a field, while another Philadelphia singer dedicated her song to Yusra Mardini, the Olympic swimmer who competed with the refugee team under the Olympic flag in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Demetria Joyce Bailey:

“We need more people to know and understand how important they are.”

I dedicate my performance to the children who have lost their lives and the children that are directly affected by the loss of a friend or family member.

I’ll sing “I Got Love” from Purlie. This song speaks of the love between Lutiebelle and Purlie. The lyric is stating how someone feels when they are in love and when they know they are loved. We need more people to know and understand how important they are and that no matter what they are going through. THEY ARE ALL LOVED! God is Love.

Sarah Dewey:

Photo by Kim Carson.

“Somewhere we’ll find a new way of living. We’ll find a way of forgiving.”

I’m dedicating my song to Yusra Mardini, the Olympic swimmer who completed with the refugee team under the Olympic flag, is such an inspiration to me. She escaped Syria by swimming across the Aegean Sea when the boat she was in began to take on water. She and two others pulled their vessel for over three hours before landing, saving the lives of everyone on board.

When I first heard about the concert, I felt like someone needed to perform a selection from West Side Story. The show that tells a story of how judging people based solely on their heritage ends in sorrow for so many. What better inspirational song could there be than “Somewhere?” – “somewhere we’ll find a new way of living. We’ll find a way of forgiving.” I believe that people are, at our cores, good, and if we work together we can find more common ground and live together in greater understanding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BQMgCy-n6U

Sarah J. Gafgen:

Photo by Dan Olmstead.

“Much violence and hate is inspired by feelings of insecurity within us.”

The first time I remember understanding the idea of being a “victim of crime” was when young Megan Kanka was raped and murdered in 1994 by a neighbor. I was only two years older than Megan and was deeply affected by her story. No child should ever suffer such a crime.

Much violence and hate is inspired by feelings of insecurity within us. Carole King, with her song “Beautiful,” reminds us through the lyrics that if we wake up with love for ourselves it will shine out and make a positive impact on everyone you meet and everything you do: “You’ve got to get up every morning with a smile in your face, and show the world all the love in your heart.”

Aileen Goldberg:

Photo by Eleanore Thomas.

“Why sing, or act, or dance when there is so much hate and violence in the world?”

Often times during hard times, artists wonder what our purpose is in the greater picture. Why sing, or act, or dance when there is so much hate and violence in the world? I went through this conundrum after 9/1—even though I’m not a police officer or fire fighter. What good can I do?

Love! We can spread love and light in a world full of darkness. We can make others think about the world differently. The one line that always sticks with me from my song is “Gone. Love is never gone. As we travel on, love’s what we’ll remember.” Be the light in the darkness. Even a small act of kindness or a silly performance can impact a stranger more than you know.

Timothy Johnson:

and Michael Kammerer:

“For all the progress we have made, our safe spaces are still being invaded.”

We chose to dedicate our performance to the 49 people killed in the shooting at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando. There isn’t a way to pick just one of them. Not only was this the deadliest mass shooting by a single shooter, but it was also the deadliest incident of violence against LGBTQ people in U.S. history. Our safe spaces are still being invaded. For all the progress we have made, people are still being murdered because of their sexuality. We dedicate this song to those 49 people lost while they were out celebrating the happy days of their lives.

We chose to sing a medley of “Get Happy” and “Happy Days are Here Again.” Our favorite performance of this mashup is by Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand, sung by the duo on The Judy Garland Show in 1963. The simple message of both of these songs resonates with us because even in the darkest of times, there is the promise of happy times ahead. Although we take the time to mourn the loss of members of our community, we choose to look toward a brighter future: “happy times, happy nights, happy days are here again.”

Josh Keiter:

Photo by Jim Carroll.

“For Omran, the wounded child in Aleppo.”

I am dedicated my song to five-year-old Omran Daqneesh, the rescued child in Syria, slumped in a chair, bleeding. The image, hopefully, speaks for itself.

I’ll be singing, “Don’t Be Shy.” In the introduction to his song, Yusuf Islam [the former Cat Stevens] said, “One of the things about the journey of life is when you look back and see the pages of the past in a new light. And I think this next song says to me that unless good people stand up to be heard, then fear and cruelty will always dominate the world. So, it’s time for those people to stand up and lift their heads. This is a song I think that talks about that.”

Topher Layton:

Photo by Kate Raines.

“I dedicate this song to every person who is afraid to be themselves.”

I really can’t dedicate this song just one victim. I have to dedicate this to every person who is afraid to be themselves, whether it’s because of the people around them, or their inner demons. I grew up in a place where it was very hard to be myself and be happy at the same time. My song is dedicated to those people. You don’t have to be afraid, because there is love all around you, ready for you.

I’ll sing, “I Am What I Am.” The title of the song describes it pretty well. It’s all about being yourself, enjoying things about yourself, and whether people accept you or not, it doesn’t matter. It’s about having the right for you to be you, owning the God given right to love yourself despite the opinions that others may have of you. “So what if I love each feather and each spangle. Why not try and see things from a different angle?”

Connor McAndrews:

“The Sandy Hook shooting was the biggest wake-up call. My heart still aches for the victims and their families.”

For me, the Sandy Hook shooting was the biggest wake-up call, and President Obama’s eloquent, unifying response really drove home that gun violence is plaguing our nation. My heart still aches for the victims and their families.

The most important line in “Never, Ever Getting Rid Of Me” is, “I’m gonna do this right.” Love should always come from a place of the purest, simplest intention, and I think Sara Bareilles totally crystallized that notion in this song. Beneath the goofy, quirky exterior, the character of Ogie is ready to grow up and give his love to Dawn the best way he knows.

David Nikolas:

Photo by Tom Schopper.

“Friends—when we’re confused, or hurting, or just need a friendly ear.”

My performance is dedicated to anyone who’s felt more alone or alienated because of the negativity we’ve been experiencing in the world recently. I want them to know there’s still a positive vibe out there, too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awBy_K30Pe8

I’ll be singing with a group, performing “With A Little Help From My Friends.” This song, for me, really underscores how none of us are alone as long as we have folks to reach out to and who can support us when we’re confused, or hurting, or just need a friendly ear. And getting to sing it with a group of fellow performers demonstrates that reality in a really positive way!

Carl Smith:

Photo by Jay Sullivan.

“Legislation cannot stop violence, only create consequences. Love, however, has potential to conquer and eradicate hate.”

I know it’s old news, but I think of Matthew Shepard. There’s deadly violence and then there’s brutality. What sets him apart in my mind is not that he died, but that he was, for all intents and purposes, brutally tortured. There’s no question that many have died unnecessarily as a result of wanton violence, but Shepard’s case is particularly gut-wrenching to me.

Our group, The Plaids, are singing “Love Is A Many Splendored Thing,” which speaks of love originating from a lover’s kiss, but the lyrics as a whole refer to all love—romantic, platonic, familial, etc.—as an incredible force. Legislation cannot stop violence, only create consequences. Love, however, has potential to conquer and eradicate hate if we individuals truly commit to loving the differences that make us great. It’s Quixote’s quest of course, but “Love is nature’s way of giving a reason to be living,” and by not pursuing this “impossible” dream, we miss one of life’s greatest fulfillments—the blessings of each other.

Rob Tucker:

“If we just look—truly look—we’ll see people all around us that are suffering and hurting.”

I’d dedicate my performance to the 5 year old boy from Aleppo who’s rescue video went viral today. His name is Omran Daqneesh, and for me, and many others, he has become a symbol for the innocent people caught in the crossfire of the violence of the warring factions in Syria. He sits in the back of an ambulance with his body coated in dust and his face covered in blood. He neither speaks nor cries. He just sits with the calm, dazed look of shock in his eyes. It. Is. Heartbreaking.

“What You Need” by John Bucchino is a reminder that if we just look—truly look—we’ll see people all around us that are suffering and hurting. Once we’ve seen their pain, we have an obligation to step outside of ourselves to work toward soothing that pain. We can’t always prevent violence. But rather than just posting a Facebook status that involves “thoughts”, “prayers”, “love” and “like” (which may all be important), it urges us to do something to help its victims. Bucchino’s words “Take my hand … I’ll try to give you what you need” are a gentle call to action.

Tickets for tonight’s 7:30 PM LOVE CAN BUILD A BRIDGE concert, are available at the door online. The concert is being held at Plays & Players Theatre – 1714 Delancey Place, in Philadelphia PA, 19103.

August 22, 2016
DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2015 #11: New York’s Ten Best of 2015 by Richard Seff

It was an active year, heavily marked by new and revisited musicals. The attendance and box office numbers were good, both on and off Broadway. I, as the only writer covering New York theater for DCMTA, could not see everything, but from the 35 plays and musicals I did attend, I submit the ten that I found most distinctive. I list them in no particular order, but all of them rewarded me on any number of levels.

Kristin Chenoweth, Peter Gallagher, Mark Linn-Baker, Michael McGrath, Mary Louise Wilson, and Andy Karl in ‘On the Twentieth Century.’ Photo by Joan Marcus.

(1) In mid-March, when I joined DCMetroTheaterArts, I reported that On The Twentieth Century at the Roundabout was in the capable hands of director Scott Ellis and Choreographer Warren Carlyle who gave it a sleek and lively new look. It’s always interesting to see good material interpreted by original artists who, as performers, start from scratch and build their own characters. Certainly Kristin Chenowith, Andy Karl, Mary Louise Wilson, Michael McGrath and Mark Linn-Baker gave us musical comedy fun all night long. Leading man Peter Gallagher is just a bit too sane to have given theatre genius Oscar Jaffe the barely hidden madness that made him move, but he looked the part and sang well.

Comden and Green, late in their careers as book writers and lyricists, here proved they never lost their ability to take perfectly ordinary people and turn them into highly original lunatics and lovers. And Cy Coleman sprinkled his musical notes all along the way. Together all of these gifted artists, totally committed, came up with a merry musical.

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Leanne Cope and Robert Fairchild in ‘An American in Paris.’ Photo by Angela Sterling.

(2) Barely a month later, An American In Paris opened on Broadway. It’s a prime example of creative people tackling a beautifully wrought film, and delivering a fresh version of the source material that shines like any great original musical must. Introducing us to Robert Fairchild, on leave from the New York Ballet, was a major plus because as leading man he was notable as singer, dancer and actor. He’d have been snapped up by MGM in an instant had this been played out first onstage, before the film was made, just as Gene Kelly was spotted in Pal Joey on Broadway, and whisked west for a major career on screen.

The delightful George and Ira Gershwin score, (which used highlights from the film, but was augmented by many numbers to serve the new book), that new book by Craig Lucas and the direction and choreography of Christopher Wheeldon all melded to transform the movie into something we’d not seen before, and now we could relish it live on stage.

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The cast of ‘The Visit.’ Photo by Joan Marcus.

(3) The Visit continued the rush of openings racing to happen in time for consideration by the Tony Award committee. It is the last of the many collaborations by John Kander and the late Fred Ebb, the last of the four mostly completed works that Ebb left behind. The other three were finished by Kander and in some cases by other collaborators who contributed finishing touches.

The last of the four was The Visit, a dark musical about revenge that is based on a Dürenmatt play of the same name. It had served the Lunts as a drama, and was in fact their swan song on Broadway, where it was highly regarded. An unlikely source for a musical because it told a very dark story, dealing with revenge for a hurt imposed years earlier. In it, Claire Zachanassian, the world’s richest woman, returns to her desperately poor home town, from which she’d been banished many years earlier when her lover had abandoned her to marry another woman.

Terence McNally, a frequent Kander and Ebb collaborator, adapted the play and wrote an engrossing story of this wealthy woman, her ex-lover and some of the key people of the town. It deals with greed, perfidy, betrayal but remains a love story gone wrong, and there is romance in it when it flashes back.

The score is one of the team’s loveliest, and songs like “Only Love,” “You,” “Yellow Shoes,” and others will live on. I found the show memorable, more so because it offered Chita Rivera the role of a lifetime, and she triumphed in it. I saw it in all three regional productions that preceded Broadway and it was richly rewarding to watch it grow until it positively glowed. It was not popular and only managed a three-month run, but it’s a major work in my opinion, and belongs on any “Best 10 list.”

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Kelli O’Hara (Anna), Ken Watanabe (King of Siam), and the cast of ‘The King and I.’ Photo by Paul Kolnik.

(4) Days after my visit to The Visit I was at Lincoln Center’s large Beaumont Theatre to catch Bartlett Sher’s production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic The King and I. Kelli O’Hara has been lighting up Broadway season after season in some ten musicals since 1997, and her work in South Pacific, The Light In The Piazza, and The Bridges of Madison County prepared her for her major star turn as Anna Leonowens which is still playing at Lincoln Center.

Her new “King” replacement, Hoon Lee, is younger than the original King and is reported to be bringing a more sensual quality to the relationship he has with “Mrs. Anna.” I urge you to see this production, for it is unlikely to be bettered — ever.

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Ben Miles and Lydia Leonard in ‘Wolf Hall.’ Photo by Johan Persson.

(5) The year wasn’t devoted exclusively to musicals. They certainly led the way to record breaking grosses, but in addition to holdover hits like The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, the British import Wolf Hall arrived in the April rush. This monumental work was really one long play, running some six hours, but to make it user friendly, it was played out with the one title, on two evenings. One could see the two at matinée and evening on the same day. The first play deals with Henry VIII and his life on the throne through his marriage to Anne Boleyn, the second one opens as he is on the verge of marrying Jane Seymour. It dealt with the banishment and ultimate death of Cardinal Woolsey whose power over the English throne was potent when Henry began his reign.

The evenings were filled with rich and informative performances by Ben Miles and this excellent company of British actors. A vast and entertaining history lesson, and a worthy addition to the season it graced.

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Brad Oscar (Nostradamus) and Brian d’Arcy James (Nick Bottom). Photo by Joan Marcus.

(6) April continued to shower us with well conceived and executed products. A refreshing original musical (Something Rotten!) with nothing on its mind but amusement, took up residence in the St. James Theatre, once home to Oklahoma!, The King and I, The Producers, Hello, Dolly! and other crowd-pleasers, where it remains happily pleasing large audiences as it rounds out its first year. This lighthearted romp involving show folk trying to make a buck in London in 1599 offers a cast of farceurs who are tops.

I enjoyed Tony Award winner Christian Borle (so great in Peter and the Starcatcher) and Brian D’Arcy-James (who has played with great range all sorts of plays and musicals. This is his first outing in farce since he was a youngster playing the bellboy in Lend Me a Tenor in Ohio. (I know he can play farce because I was in that production and he was hilarious). It features such great character actors as Brad Oscar, Brooks Ashmanskas, John Cariani, Peter Bartlett and the lovely Kate Reinders, and Heidi Blickenstaff. Check your troubles in the lobby, and c’mon, get happy.

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Steven Boyer (Jason) and Sarah Stiles (Jessica) in ‘Hand to God.’ Photo by Joan Marcus.

(7) April continued to bring May flowers along with 3 and 4 openings a week! I was so busy I didn’t get to see one of those, an original play by Robert Askins called Hand to God. I finally caught it in early June, but its originality and brave use of controversy are still imbedded in my head. As I wrote then: “Askins takes us on a journey into little known territory and with the aid of a first rate cast, he helps us to understand and relish the little band of broken very human beings.” The play deals with the preparation of a Christian puppet show, and the Pastor is demanding that it must be ready within a week.

One of the participants is Jason, a soft spoken lad who has made himself a hand puppet he calls “Tyrone.” Suffice it to say that Tyrone has a mind of his own, and as an extension of Jason’s arm, he will spend most of the evening shocking us as he becomes adversary to the world, particularly when he spots anyone being evasive in answering a tough question. He is the dark side of Jason, and he’s as scary as the demon inside the girl in The Exorcist. Shocking and provocative, beautifully executed theatre that’s been thrilling audience for most of the year. It will play its last performance on Broadway this Sunday, January 3rd, but I’m certain it will pop up again wherever a theatre company can find an actor of the caliber of Steven Boyer to play both roles, often in the same sentence.

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Sam Rockwell (Eddie) and Nina Arianda (May). Photo by Joan Marcus.

(8) Fool For Love deserved a return run (it originally opened in 1983 at Circle Rep) if for no other reason than to give the iridescent Nina Arianda a role she can fully inhabit, not to mention one that can do the same for Sam Rockwell. Set in a motel in the Mojave Desert, it’s the re-uniting of a pair of untidy lovers and they will interest you whether or not you’ve ever met anyone like them. Rough and tumble, that’s them – and the tumbling gets fairly rough between clinches. Ed Harris and Kathy Baker had a field day (and big career boosts) from the original production, as have many other actors in the ensuing years.

It’s an early Shepard play; Eddie and May, the two principals characters, will be around indefinitely for their connection is visceral and will not date. There is tenderness and violence within them, with many shades in between, This production lent drama to the year, and deserves credit for that.

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James Earl Jones and Cicely Tyson. Photo by Joan Marcus.

(9) To move from Sam Shepard’s Fool For Love to Donald L. Coburn’s The Gin Game is almost like mentioning Charley’s Aunt and Medea in the same breath, in that one is a gut wrenching tug of war between two turbulent characters and the other is a love letter to two aging individuals who have built armor against hurt. Both plays are rich in detail, and are immensely satisfying. Of course plays are meant to be acted, and when that’s well done, an audience can be transformed. James Earl Jones has great range, and in this play he sensibly keeps under control his resonant baritone voice, so useful to him in the past in roles that require thunder (The Emperor Jones is one, The Great White Hope is another). But in this he is just an old guy who is lonely, (Weller Martin) living in a retirement home, who tries to break through the shell constructed by a fellow retiree (Fonsia Dorsey). It’s just the two of them, a series of gin games, and the unfolding of two deep and meaningful relationships, that make up this Pulitzer Prize-winning play.

This production has the good fortune to have Cicely Tyson playing Fonsia. In it she fulfills the promise she showed in her lovely performance in The Trip to Bountiful for which she won the Tony Award. Now over 90, she is in full command of her talent, and her Fonsia is another character she has created from the text, from her imagination, and from her great gift as a creative artist. She never seems to be acting; she is just being. Every moment is real, and as Mr. Coburn has affection and understanding for his characters, some of the effects are chilling, others are terribly funny, many more are just plain touching. An old play, somewhat forgotten, given vibrant new life by two actors in their ancient age, blessed with the ability to deliver.

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L to R: Daveed Diggs, Okieriete Onaodowan, Anthony Ramos, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Photo: Joan Marcus.

(10) The tenth selection I make is virtually mandatory. I refer of course to Hamilton, the incredible achievement of Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote the book, music and lyrics and manages to play the central role as well. Noel Coward used to do all that, but that was in the age when theatre folk were revered, when cocktails and cocktail hours were evident in all the smart places, when cigarette smoking was a very sophisticated thing to do.

There is no one like Miranda today, and the theatre is blessed to have him. In the so-called Golden Age we had a dozen or more teams of writers prolifically producing theatre, season after season, including Irving Berlin, Rodgers with Hart and Hammerstein, Lerner and Loewe, Cole Porter, Frank Loesser, Jule Styne, Schwartz and Dietz, Harold Rome, Noel Coward, and more, was followed by the next generation, equally gifted and interested in keeping musical theatre alive and thriving. In that group — Kander and Ebb, Stephen Sondheim, Jerry Herman, Bock and Harnick, Adams and Strouse, Jones and Schmidt and a dozen others. But the generation after that — brought us Stephen Schwartz, William Finn, Craig Carnelia, and Jason Robert Brown.

Now, it’s the post-AIDS generation and Lin-Manuel Miranda is the titan who emerges from it to give us all hope. His Hamilton is audacious, original, and satisfying. It’s different, it casts casting correctness aside with some interesting results, and its rap score will not work for everyone, but it is original and pungent. He is our hope for the future, and of course his work must be on any list of bests that is worth its salt. So here is Hamilton, the biggest hit since Oklahoma!

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I have two latecomers for you, as alternates. One, School of Rock-The Musical, surprised me for I really can’t take rock in the theatre (it’s too loud for me, it’s not always about melody and it takes all nuance out of lyrics).

But this simple tale of under achieving kids finding something to give them confidence, Sir Andrew Lloyd-Webber (the show’s composer) has written some stirring anthems and has found Alex Brightman, who is tireless in the leading role, and very funny and appealing. And for once stage kids are appealing and genuinely talented.

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Josh Segarra (Emilio) and Ana Villafane (Gloria). Photo by Matthew Murphy.

Another juke box musical is called On Your Feet!) and is the story of composer/performer Gloria Estefan and her husband. It’s a jolly night out with a superb cast and some wildly exuberant staging by Jerry Mitchell which has you doing the Conga on your way out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkZ1_RL1J3U

Both shows are happy editions to the scene on Broadway as 2015 calls it a day.

LINKS:

Read Richard Seff’s New York reviews.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2015 #1: Special Awards.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2015 #2: Best Musicals in Professional Theatres.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2015 #3: Best Musicals in Community Theatres.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2015 #4: Best Plays in Professional Theaters.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2015 #5: Best Plays in Community Theatres.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2015 #6: Best Children’s/Family Productions.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2015 #7: Best Performances in a Play in Community Theatres.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2015 #8: Best Performances in a Play in Professional Theatres

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2015 #9: Best Performances in a Musical in Community Theatres.

DCMetroTheaterArts: Best of 2015 #10: Best Performances in a Musical in Professional Theatres and Special Awards.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2015 #11: New York’s Ten Best of 2015 by Richard Seff.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2015 #12: ‘Memorable Dance in Baltimore and Beyond’ by Carolyn Kelemen.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2015 #13 in Theater in The Philadelphia Area.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2015 #14: Dance Performances.

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2015 Honors Begins Tomorrow-A Look Back at the 2014 Honorees.

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DCMetroTheaterArts writers were permitted to honor productions that they saw and we did not review.

January 1, 2016
‘Hamilton’ at The Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York City

I was away in August when the musical Hamilton opened on Broadway so yesterday I caught up with it as it was about to enter its third month of sellout business at The Richard Rodgers Theatre. It is indeed the big one of the ’15-’16 season, so it joins The Book of Mormon as a “must see, can’t get tickets” event. It bills itself as “An American Musical” and it’s as scrappy, unpredictable and youthful as is our nation. By the time I got to it, I was of course aware of the critical acclaim that has been given freely as well as the enormous potency of its box office appeal.

L to R: Daveed Diggs, Okieriete Onaodowan, Anthony Ramos, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Photo: Joan Marcus

I’m steeped and somewhat conditioned by the great musicals of the golden age, those that adhered to the requirements of audiences of their day. The breakthrough musicals which moved musicals from the early 20th century romantic operettas and George M. Cohan patriotic pastiches to more of the same with occasional infusion of substance in the 1920s, which could embrace Show Boat, a true ground breaker. The 30s brought antidotes to the Great Depression in the form of melodies and lyrics from the likes of Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart, Irving Berlin and by the time the 1940s arrived, with six years of World War II, Oklahoma! led a pack of treasures that were hard to top. By the 50s we were coasting, but a new generation of tunesmiths that included Kander and Ebb, Bock and Harnick, Jerry Herman, and Frank Loesser once again made the USA the leader in the world of musical theatre.

As youngsters grow up, they invariably need to express themselves differently than those who came before, and so it was theat jazz, music of ethnic origin and finally rock ‘n roll hit Broadway stages. Hair spawned a dozen second rate imitations, Rent enjoyed a very long run but didn’t eliminate more traditional forms as exemplified by La Cage Aux Folles, Chicago, Wicked, humongous London imports of Lloyd-Webber and Schönberg-Boublil which in their way changed musicals into stories with wall to wall music, enormous casts, increased amplification, sort of pop operas that have attracted a new audience, a huge one.

After dipping his toe successfully into the Broadway scene with the amiable In The Heights several seasons ago, the triple threat talents of Lin-Manuel Miranda have now been put to work on yet another new form. A second generation American of Puerto Rican background, Miranda has been a fan of the traditional composers who have preceded him, but he hears hip-hop and rap in his head as well, and with Hamilton he’s been fortunate to find, quite accidentally, a character and a story to which he was immediately attracted.

While resting on a holiday from Heights, he read Ron Chernow’s biography “Alexander Hamilton,” and his reaction was instant — he’d found his next project. Hamilton lived from 1755 (some say 1757) until 1804 but Miranda identified with him at once. As a central character, Hamilton rose from a tarnished birth out of wedlock on the island of Nevis. He was orphaned as a child, but mirculously rose to become chief aide to General George Washington; he became an influential interpreter of the U.S. constitution, he was the creator of the national financial system, he was even the father of the U.S.Coast Guard. A Horatio Alger hero long before Alger created several of his own. Miranda felt the Hamilton story resonated with today’s world in which his work is to create musicals plays that will speak to the new young breed of theatre goers.

Phillipa Soo and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Clearly, he has succeeded, by his own admission far beyond his wildest dreams. Working again (as in In The Heights) with director Thomas Kail, he presents Hamilton’s story with a cast whose actors are more interested in capturing the spirit, the essence of the world of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr, and James Madison then they are in attempting to look like them or sound like they might have sounded. Each, and the women in Hamilton’s life as well, are up there letting us in on some 35 musical numbers, most of them flung at us with the power that makes rap so effective. It’s not what we’re accustomed to, and I had to make some adjustments, but half way through the long first act, I began to go with the flow and I became fascinated by this highly original way of presenting history. Where needed, Choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler keeps his principals and his large ensemble vividly moving, swirling, dancing to add emphasis to whatever is being sung (more precisely, “rapped”).

David Korins’ set and Howard Binkley’s lighting allow for vivid pictures all night long. The feeling is of great fluidity as most all of the skeletal set is on wheels and it does yeoman work as street scene, the halls of congress, and everything in between Costumes of the period, designed by Paul Tazewell keep us grounded in the 18th century, and add visual vitality to the evening as well.

It’s an ensemble piece, and even though Hamilton is the central figure, and has the greatest number of musical pieces, it’s not conceived as a star vehicle and each of the many principals has moments in which to take center stage.

Leslie Odom, Jr. makes a believable adversary in Aaron Burr, who will ultimately challenge Hamilton to the duel that will kill him. Christopher Jackson’s “Washington” is a force and we can believe that he overcame almost impossible obstacles in commanding the troops of the revolution and leading them to victory over the Brits, thus changing the course of history for our nation as well as for the world. I would be thrilled if he won a Tony Award for his exceptional performance. (Editor’s note: He did!]

Hamilton’s women; his wife Eliza, his sisters in law Angelica and Peggy are all well played. Mr. Miranda is in full command as Hamilton, and he’s certainly written himself a demanding and rewarding role. He does not play Sunday matinees, for the show is just under three hours long, and of the 35 numbers therein, I’d say he has at least ten of them. How he handles the Wednesday and Saturday two-show days has got to remain his secret. But he clearly loves the role and the show, and plays it with ease, energy and great appeal. As the writer, composer, lyricist, and star, this is his baby, and you can sense his great pride and joy in seeing it so well-realized.

There have already been three excellent actors to play the small but key role of King George III. Brian d’Arcy-James had it for a short while before the decamped for a starring part in Something Rotten. He was followed by Jonathan Groff who I’m told brought star quality to it, making his fans from Spring Awakening and the TV series Smash happy. At yesterday’s matinee, which was the performance I saw, there was Andrew Rannells (who had entered the cast the night before), and he positively sparkled. The King works alone, he doesn’t relate to any other character, but he’s absolutely on the nose hilarious as he tells us, with reference to the upstarts across the sea who are making trouble, “You’ll Be Back.” His reactions to the gloomy news as the rebels become stronger and ultimately win, are priceless.

Daveed Diggs (center) as Thomas Jefferson. Photo by Joan Marcus.

To conclude on my one note of caution: to those of you not familiar with hip hop and rap, prepare yourselves for an evening in which you may have trouble catching the lyrics. The King George monologs I mentioned above prove that there are indeed words in them, some of them wise, witty, and very funny, but as the rest of them come at you throughout the long evening, I admit I missed most of them. The strength of the performances in most cases made it clear what they were getting at, but for the specifics I’m going to have to listen to the original cast CD. As for the music, it is used to set the words. I don’t think there will be much humming of the so-called tunes ten years from now. But the songs are very well-performed, and all in all I found Hamilton rewarding for a number of reasons. It’s original, and I hope it doesn’t encourage other ambitious but less gifted writers to give us pale imitations of it, as was the case when Hair was followed by Soon, Rockabye Hamlet and Via Galactica, all big time flops.

But for Hamilton, innovation is refreshing and theatrically valid, so it’s a winner.

Running Time: Two hours and 50 minutes, and one intermission.

Hamlton is playing at The Richard Rodgers Theatre – 226 West 46th Street, in New Y ork City. For tickets, call ticketmaster at (877) 250-2929, or purchase them online.

October 29, 2015
‘Kinky Boots’ at The Hippodrome Theatre

Kinky Boots is getting Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre year off on the, er, right foot.

Here’s a show so full of energy and charm that it doesn’t care a fig whether you think of it as chic or trashy. It sticks to its belief that “The Sex Is In the Heel,” and where there’s sex there’s sure to be ticket sales.

The Company of the ‘Kinky Boots’ Tour. Photo by Matthew Murphy.

A full house on opening night in Baltimore proved that plenty of raucous enthusiasm remains for an old-fashioned show about drag queens in six-inch stilettos. Or maybe everyone just loves a good-time musical about a working-class factory that sheds its gender biases and joins the 21st century glam-rock party.

While the plot derives from a popular 2005 British movie (itself based on a 1999 TV documentary), this Tony Award-winning Best Musical heavily bears the likeness of its two celebrity co-creators: Cyndi Lauper and Harvey Fierstein.

Lauper’s songs tend to blast their messages to the world with disco-level exuberance. Put them in a dramatic framework provided by Harvey Fierstein (La Cage aux Folles) and just about every character in this show comes across as something of a diva. That is indeed remarkable for a play purportedly about sons reconciling with their fathers.

Maybe the only non-diva on view is Charlie, the affable Brit who inherits his father’s dead-in-the-water shoe factory in blue-collar Northampton. He is played here by Steven Booth, who has a nice voice and some agile dance moves (“Step One”). He helps Charlie sparkle and shine when given enough notice, especially after he sets his sights on resolving all inner doubts (“Soul of a Man”) as easily as changing one’s shoes.

No one can upstage a star-spangled drag queen, however, and in this play that is Lola all the way. Kyle Taylor Parker makes such a strong impression in the role that it’s a shock when he enters at one point dressed as a man. Still, it’s as Lola that Parker shines as Fierstein’s stiletto-heeled sage, with a quip and a comeback for every perceived slight.

Kyle Taylor Parker. Photo by Matthew Murphy.

Baltimore audiences may well be talking about Parker’s bravura performance of numbers like “Land of Lola” for seasons to come. It’s his soulful “Not My Father’s Son,” though, followed in the last act by the explosive “Hold Me in Your Heart” that truly define the reach of his star power.

Charissa Hogeland is everything a dispensable fiancée should be as Nicola, who would rather Charlie pack it in and move to London with her. Waiting in the wings to soothe Charlie’s ruffled feathers is blonde working gal Lauren, brought joyfully center stage by Lindsay Nichol Chambers in the plucky solo “The History of Wrong Guys.”

Excellent support throughout is given by Joe Coots as Don, the stereotypical blue-collar male (not that there’s anything wrong with that), Mike Longo as Harry, and Craig Waletzko as George.

Also coming on strong are Lola’s gender-bending “Angels” back-up group, played by Joe Beauregard, Joseph Anthony Byrd, Sam Dowling, Sam Rohloff, Ricky Schroeder, Juan-Torres Falcon, and Hernando Umana.

The live pit orchestra led by Adam Souza, from the arrangements of Stephen Oremus, provides plenty of thrust for the direction and choreography by the show’s original Tony Award winner Jerry Mitchell.

Technical credits, including the Scenic Design by David Rockwell and the luscious Broadway Costume Designs by Gregg Barnes, all bring the professional look and feel of a Broadway sensation to the heart of Charm City.

Overall, the transition appears just as seamless as the onstage move from grimy East Midlands conveyor belts to the glitz-and-glamour runways of Milan. This show has ‘sole.’

Running Time: About two hours and 30 minutes, with one 15-minute intermission.

Kinky Boots plays through October 4, 2015 at the Hippodrome Theatre at the The France-Merrick Performing Arts Center – 12 North Eutaw Street, in Baltimore, MD. For tickets, call (800) 982-ARTS, or purchase them online.

RATING:

September 30, 2015
Meet the Performers of GMCW of DC’s ‘Born this Way’: Part 2: Michael “Cabbie” Caban

Joel: Please introduce yourself to our readers and tell us how long you have been in GMCW and where we may have seen perform on our local stages?

Michael Cabbie Caban.

Michael: My name is Michael “Cabbie” Caban. I was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY from Colombian and Puerto Rican parents. I moved to DC in 2012. I’ve been performing with GMCW since January 2013 and I’ve performed on various stages with them: Lisner Auditorium, Main Stage at the Pride Festival, Church of the Epiphany, and The Lincoln Theatre just to name a few places. I also did a little stint with some of the guys from GMCW for Frenchie Davis. We sang “Seasons of Love” at the HRC Inaugural Ball at the Mayflower Hotel in January, 2013. That was actually the first time I sang with these incredible men.

How has GMCW changed your life and why is it important for the Gay community to come see the show?

GMCW has changed my life in so many ways. We really are a family and this family has allowed me to be out and proud and just be me without judgment and with unconditional positive regard. This chorus has also changed my perception of what a gay chorus is. Before, I thought gay choruses were all about singing Cher and Madonna in 18-part harmony. But musically, this chorus is so much more than that. In the 2 years I’ve been with the Chorus, We’ve sung some really beautiful music with such incredible musicality and heart. We’ve sung songs from everywhere: showtunes, pop songs, protest songs, anthems, carols, songs from cartoons and animated movies… I mean, EVERYWHERE!!! And yes, we’ve sung some pretty “gay” songs too, but I’ve come to realize that when we sing it – when you have 200 gay men singing a song in glorious harmony and passion – there’s something really powerful that I can’t articulate. Its just magical. Special. And important.

Socially, the Chorus has been a haven and a home. But the biggest piece that stands out for me the most is the political context of the GMCW organization. The fact that we are the GAY MEN’S chorus of the Nation’s capital is huge! And we are fighting for something more than just presence. Through song, we fight for equality. Through song, we fight for love. Through song, we fight for understanding and acceptance. We are not asking for our audiences to jump on the bandwagon and agree with the LGBTQ+ agenda. We are asking folks to understand who we are as humans, and we are a culture, and we are a people with beliefs and values, just like anybody else.

What solos do you have in the show and what special meaning do they have for you?

It’s really funny to answer this question, because, in the Chorus, I’m known as a dancer. In just about every show that I’ve done since I started, I’ve always been in a dance number. But this time, I auditioned to sing “America” (My Country ‘Tis of Thee”). And, there is something very special about the way in which we’re singing it. I’m singing this song with three other GMCW brothers, in 4-part harmony and in Spanish.

Though I was born in the U.S., I was raised bilingually. And so, to sing this song in Spanish is very special to me. And to sing it with three other Latinos – it is a real honor. It is important for me to sing this song because my mom emigrated to the U.S. when she was 17 years old from Colombia. She was one of many immigrants who has busted her ass to make a life for herself, for her family here in the U.S., and for her family back home in Barranquilla, Colombia. I sing this song for my mom and for so many other mothers who have broken their backs to lift up their children.

Can you share with us how this show reflects experiences you have had in your life as a Gay man?

Growing up in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn, New York, I was bullied for being perceived as gay. I was an effeminate kid who just didn’t fit into the gender roles that society pushed me to be in. So, I got spit on, teased, thrown rocks at, and beaten for being different. This show reflects my experiences as a gay man because I’ve had to fight to be seen and to be loved. But this show not only reflects my experience as a gay man. It also reflects my experiences as a person of color. I’ve had experiences in which if you weren’t of a fairer skin color and your last name might be seemingly ethnic, you got put in special ed classes, had folks look at you funny, and were spoken to as if you were an idiot. I often found myself not fitting in anywhere, so this show is a big decry to those who didn’t believe in me – for those who tried to silence me. But this show is also a show to salute those who did see me, loved, and supported me.

What songs that you are not singing move you and why?

Just to get out of the political context of this conversation, I’m going to say Brahms’ Shicksalslied always moves me to tears just about every time I listen to it. The harmony, ascending and descending melodic lines, and counterpoint… it is just a gorgeous piece of music. And the way in which Brahm’s resolves the rhythms and the harmony from the second part, the allegro “Doch uns ist gegeben…” in the orchestral postlude is just brilliant!

Another song that does move me is “Hablemos El Mismo Idioma” by Gloria Estefan. This song is a great salsa song, so it actually physically moves me. I can’t help but move my body to the beautiful Cuban rhythms. More importantly, the song talks about the importance of being united as Latinos. See, there is a ridiculous rivalry between Latin American countries. There’s always an us versus them mentality when folks from different Latin American countries interact.

What Gloria is saying in this song is, “we speak the same language, give me your hand my brother.” One of my favorite lines is “Hablemos el mismo idioma, que hay tantas cosas porque luchar y que solo unidos se lograra” -which means, “We speak the same language, there are so many things to fight for, and only united will we achieve them.”

What do you want the audience to take with them after seeing Born This Way?

I want the audience to take away understanding and the will to fight for something larger than themselves. I want them to leave empowered and with humility.

Born This Way plays on May 15-16, 2015 at The Lincoln Theatre-1215 U Street, NW, in Washington, DC. For tickets, purchase them online.

LINKS

Meet the Performers of GMCW of DC’s ‘Born this Way’: Part 1: JJ Vera and Marcus Brown.

Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC to Host Dialogue on Equality Following The 3 PM Performance of ‘Born This Way’ on Saturday, May 16th.

Read DCMetroTheaterArts’ coverage of The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC.

GMCW is awarded a Special Award on DCMetroTheaterArts.

May 12, 2015
Meet the Performers of GMCW of DC’s ‘Born this Way’: Part 1: JJ Vera and Marcus Brown

In a series of interviews with members of The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC who are performing in their upcoming concert Born This Way on May 15 and 16, 2015, meet JJ Vera and Marcus Brown.

Joel: Introduce yourself to our readers and tell us how long you have been in GMCW and where we may have seen perform on our local stages?

JJ Vera. Photo courtesy of GMCW.

JJ: Greetings! My name is J.J. Vera, I’m 24 years-old, and this is my third concert and first year with GMCW. I have performed with GMCW at the Lincoln Theatre for all three shows this concert season.

Marcus: My name is Marcus Brown, and I have been a singing member of GMCW for 11 years. I’ve been fortunate to sing with the chorus in various locations both here and abroad. Most of my solos and leading roles with GMCW have been on the stage at Lisner Auditorium, but I’ve also performed at The Kennedy Center, as well as the historic Lincoln Theatre. I was also very proud to be on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial when the chorus performed for President-Elect Obama and his family at the We Are One Concert.

How has GMCW changed your life and why is it important for the gay community to come see the show?

JJ: GMCW has been the driving force for me this year. It has been the most meaningful; emotional experience since my audition last fall. I think it’s important for the gay community and general public alike to see our shows and hear our message because we aren’t just a chorus. The idea that we’ve begun to integrate a three-dimensional, beyond-the-beltway approach is very authentic and unique to other choruses/choirs. What makes GMCW unique is that we are a chorus with a mission of equality, and it’s clearly heard every time we sing. What is more brave and inspiring than to see people of all walks of life come together to represent a minority with pride and finesse?

Marcus Brown Photo courtesy of GMCW.

Marcus: GMCW has allowed me to find the voice inside myself that I never thought I had, and to be able to let that voice be heard, anywhere and everywhere possible. To be in the company of such a large, diverse group of talented individuals has truly allowed me to embrace my own individuality, and by doing so, engender a profound sense of Pride. And that’s what this concert is all about: looking within yourself and loving the beautiful creature that you were born and destined to be. Every LGBTQ citizen in our community has to discover that sense of Pride in his or her own time: our concert will give the audience a glimpse into the world of our singing members and how we’ve been able to overcome our adversities to discover our own sense of Pride.

What solos do you have in the show and what special meaning do they have for you?

JJ: I’m singing in a quintet with four other marvelously talented men for the song ‘Not My Father’s Son’ from the musical Kinky Boots. It’s my first solo in GMCW and it has been an emotional roller-coaster! Like many others in the chorus, the message of this song is so profound and relatable to me in terms of my relationship with my dad. My father is nearly 79 years young and has worked hard labor his entire life for what we have as a humble Latino family, so things like the arts or the LGBTQ community are very foreign to him. I’m not “out” to him, nor does he know that I am in a gay men’s chorus. It’s been interesting to say the least.

What I love most about the song is that it encompasses many aspects of the tumultuous relationship some may face when it comes to a father/son relationship in regards to acceptance of sexuality and identity. The way each man sings their verse reinterprets the song ten fold, and that’s what is truly amazing to me. Each man has a different dynamic and relationship with their father, and it’s wonderful that we all get to express that in a universal way. I believe that the song may even transcend the straight dad/gay son complex and venture deeper into our own thoughts on masculinity and shame no matter what your sexuality is. ‘We’re the same, all of us, you and me’.

Marcus: I won’t be singing any solos in this show; however, every song in the show resonates with me on an intimate level. Dr. Kano has programmed a concert that speaks to every angle of the emotional spectrum. I can guarantee you that every soloist and chorine will be singing with an extra amount of gusto, as we all truly feel every lyric in this concert.

Can you share with us how this show reflects experiences you have had in your life as a gay man?

JJ: This show not only reflects the experiences I have had as a gay man, but it also touches on the many social constructs that have oppressed or ostracized all people. What remains to be the most compelling and important aspect of this particular concert is that it allows us to give a voice to everyone for a night. All shapes, sizes, colors and backgrounds of people will be addressed at some point during our show. I have always found inspiration in the stories of Stonewall because at the time it was widely perceived deviant and rebellious to be gay or anywhere else on that colorful spectrum. Someone had to raise up so that our people could begin to defend themselves, and they did just that.

Marcus: Mental health professionals say that there are 7 stages to the grief process; I think that there must be ten times as many in the ‘coming out’ process. To me, each song in the concert represents one of those stages; you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn’t relate to some or all of these songs in the show, whether it’s wondering if you’ll ever find love to just learning to love yourself. We’ll be singing about so many relevant topics, from self-acceptance to the fight for equality. And each of those topics reflects the struggles we all encounter and the triumphs that we all strive for.

What songs that you are not singing move you?

JJ: The pieces with the GenOUT Chorus will always leave tears in my eyes. They are the future and they are singing for the future. It’s so very powerful to see the youth on our stage. “Glory” from the movie Selma is most definitely at the top of my list as well. The assembling of the chorus with our incredible soloists creates an experience that is unequivocal to anything I have seen the chorus do. The body language and performance art aspect of what these men have accomplished is breathtaking and I’m honestly jealous to not be in the audience for that particular moment! Similarly, to hear the other boys do “America (My Country ‘Tis of Thee”) in English and Spanish gives me a huge sense of pride in my heritage as a Paraguayan American. On a not-so-heavy note, I explicitly enjoy “I Am What I Am” from La Cage aux Folles. The soloists breathe individual life and truth into every word, and I am overjoyed to see this message of self love tempered with O-P-U-L-E-N-C-E. Sing out, Louise!

Marcus: The audience will be treated to a moving rendition of “Who Will Love Me As I Am?” It’s a question I have often asked myself. So often in the LGBTQ community, we are faced with the age old concept of conformity and the peer pressure therein. We have to look a certain way or dress a certain way or act a certain way to find acceptance. I’ve spent a lifetime defying those conventions in my search for true individuality and self-acceptance. And yet, the act of defying conformity, more often than not, leaves me feeling undesirable and alone. So, that song strikes a very intimate chord with me. And I think our audience will feel the same.

What do you want the audience to take with them after seeing Born This Way?

JJ: I want the audience to leave feeling like they can facilitate change and love in everything they do. I want the audience to feel empowered and informed so that the conversation of equality continues. I think it’s imperative that we all find unity in our individual battles and adversities so that we may breed compassion with every act. The struggle is different for everyone, but together we can build a “Beautiful City.”

Marcus: Every GMCW concert is comprised of one part laughter, one part tears, one part reflection, and one part learning. I want our audience to walk away from this show feeling as inspired and informed as they do entertained. It’s our goal to leave the stage after a concert with our audience wanting more. And in the case of Born This Way, they should want to become more involved in the fight for equality. They should want to reach out to a friend or family member who’s struggling with being accepted to tell them how much they are loved and respected. They should want to love themselves more and spread that love to a world that desperately needs it.

Born This Way plays on May 15-16, 2015 at The Lincoln Theatre-1215 U Street, NW, in Washington, DC. For tickets, purchase them online.

LINKS

Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC to Host Dialogue on Equality Following The 3 PM Performance of ‘Born This Way’ on Saturday, May 16th.

Read DCMetroTheaterArts’ coverage of The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC.

GMCW is awarded a Special Award on DCMetroTheaterArts.

May 7, 2015