DC Theater Arts

Tag: Spring

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
‘On the Twentieth Century’ at Roundabout Theatre Company’s American Airlines Theatre

The word is out. It didn’t arrive in town with much hoopla, most thought “another revival of a relic from the past” so it fooled even the vast ticket buying public, but the fact is the Roundabout’s new version of On the Twentieth Century is a welcome and proper part of “Hello, Spring!” From top to bottom, it’s been lovingly cast, and staged by Director Scott Ellis and Choreographer Warren Carlyle, Music Director Kevin Stites, with an assist from Jim Carnahan and his Roundabout Casting elves who seem to know how to attract every first-rate performer in town.

Andy Karl, Kristin Chenoweth, and Peter Gallagher in ‘On the Twentieth Century.’ Photo by Joan Marcus.

So let’s begin with those, from the smaller roles on up. The four tap dancing porters begin the festivities, and happily return again and again, always newly and neatly refurbished to spread a little sunshine. There is tall, toothy and very capable Paula Leggett Chase who proves useful all evening long; each time her presence drew me as she sashayed round the stage, she seemed to be saying “Isn’t this fun?.” She served well too as the grand dame whose need of an accompanist gave Kristin Chenoweth an entrance that landed with a laugh. More of that later. But all of the “boys and girls” in this joyous romp played it as though the ghosts of Bob Fosse and Michael Bennett were out front and watching their every move, so they made every one count.

When needed, the low comics were rolled on, and you won’t find a finer three anywhere than Mary Louise Wilson, Michael McGrath, and Mark Linn-Baker. If you need reminders, Ms. Wilson was astonishing in Grey Gardens, Mr. Baker most recently was prominently into family life in the currently running You Can’t Take It With You, and one of Mr. McGrath’s recent tasks had him virtually stealing the show from the two stars as he dueted with another great, Judy Kaye, in Nice Work If You Can Get It.

And once Kristin Chenoweth hilariously transforms from a lowly piano accompanist into a major motion picture hottie called “Lily Garland,” out from under a loose garment or some hand luggage appears “Bruce Granit,” her recent leading man and co-star. Ham to the bone, Andy Karl, who plays him, does everything including climb the walls to keep his composure and fight to maintain his place in the sun. He’s a hunk, that’s all he is, but he knows how to use what he has. His prime competition is Peter Gallagher, who once upon a time had a long relationship with Garland as her producer, director and mentor. It’s been over for years, but there are embers, and he’s determined to win her back to save his financial hide, convinced as he usually is, that this return to his side will save her soul as well.

Kristin Chenoweth, Peter Gallagher, Mark Linn-Baker, Michael McGrath, Mary Louise Wilson, and Andy Karl in ‘On the Twentieth Century.’ Photo by Joan Marcus.

The Cy Coleman score with book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green is at the top of their form, and will do just fine. This is a farce, so there’s not a lot of depth here, but a comedy number like “Repent” for Ms. Wilson does almost as much for her and the show as “The Boston Beguine” did for Alice Ghostley in New Faces of 1952.

Ms. Chenoweth has been stopping shows for years, and this score gives her several arias that give flight to her exquisite lyric soprano. She’s clippped and clean with her lyrics as well. It’s the best role she’s had and she’s bitten into it like a sex-starved cobra; a funny one.

David Rockwell and William Ivey Long have made the 20th Century train from New York to Los Angeles, a week long lockup which was the mode for fancy travel in the early 1930s. If you want to see how insanely buoyant a voyage like that could once have been, climb aboard. Madness reigns eight times a week at the American Airlines Theatre. All aboard!!

On the Twentieth Century plays at Roundabout Theatre Company’s American Airlines Theatre – 227 West 42nd Street, in New York, NY. For tickets, visit the box office, or purchase them online.

RATING:

March 22, 2015
True TheaterGoer-August 21, 2014: ‘Fall Seasons of Plays’: And Rate Your Shows and Win $100 Worth of Tickets

Every week we will be sharing John and Stephen Hauge’s TheaterThoughts from their popular site TrueTheatergoer.

TrueTheatergoer’s John Hauge.

“From John Hauge: “My brother Stephen and I created the TrueTheatergoer.com website in October 2011 to promote theater in Washington, DC and on Broadway John Hauge. By providing an enriching collection of information on current shows and composite audience reviews and ratings of these shows. Our hope is to further develop a community excited about theater and willing to write short comments of shows so others can benefit from their experiences.”

REVIEW AND RATE THE SHOWS YOU HAVE SEEN AND WIN $100.00!

Review and rate the shows you have seen and you have a chance to win $100 worth of Tix Certificates, which you can use to buy tickets to several theatres in the DC Metro Area.

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TheaterThoughts: August 14, 2014

NO PLAYS ON BROADWAY

As of July 28, no play has run on Broadway. You can see 26 musicals, but no plays.

So far this season, which began on May 26, there have been only 342 performances of plays. For the first 12 weeks of this season (ending on August 17), 342 performances.

The fall portion of the 2014-15 season begins on August 18 with the first preview of This Is Our Youth and builds with three openings in September, five in October, two in November, and one in December.

But the number of performances of plays have slipped recently. In the 2010-11 season there were 2,607 performances; in the 2011-12 season, 2,680; and in the 2012-13 season, 2,677. Then last season there were only 2,037 performances, with only three shows having more than 104 performances (a quarter of a season.

With only 379 performances expected through September 28 — the first 18 weeks — it will take a strong drive to return to the level of 2010-13.

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TheaterThoughts: August 21, 2014

The Fall season is almost upon us, so here are the plays opening on Broadway in September:

1) This Is Our Youth by Kenneth Lonergan shows two days in the lives of three lost souls in New York in 1982. With Michael Cera, Kieran Culkin and Tavi Gevinson. Previews 8/18, opens 9/11 at the Cort Theatre.

2) Love Letters by A. R. Gurney follows a friendship of 50 years between an artist and a politician. This revival, with a constantly changing cast of two, has previews starting 9/13 and opens 9/18 at the Brooks Atkinson Theater.

3) You Can’t Take It With You by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman portrays humorous events of the eccentric Sycamore family. This Pulitzer Prize winner, with a large cast headed by James Earl Jones and Elizabeth Ashley, previews on 8/26 and opens on 9/28 at the Longacre Theatre.

4) The Country House by Donald Margulies examines the jealousies, romances and soul-searching of a gathering of artists. With Blythe Danner as the matriarch, this play previews on 9/9 and opens 10/2 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.

5) It’s Only a Play by Terrence McNally follows a nervous playwright on his opening night spent with friends. With Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane, this previews on 8/28 and opens on 10/9 at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre.

Now go in and REVIEW AND RATE THE SHOWS you have seen and you Can Win $100 worth of ticket certificates!

August 25, 2014
TrueTheatergoer: ‘No Plays on Broadway’ & You Can Win $100 Worth of Tickets! by John and Stephen Hauge

Every week we will be sharing John and Stephen Hauge’s TheaterThoughts from their popular site TrueTheatergoer.

TrueTheatergoer’s John Hauge.

“From John Hauge: “My brother Stephen and I created the TrueTheatergoer.com website in October 2011 to promote theater in Washington, DC and on Broadway John Hauge. By providing an enriching collection of information on current shows and composite audience reviews and ratings of these shows. Our hope is to further develop a community excited about theater and willing to write short comments of shows so others can benefit from their experiences.”

REVIEW AND RATE THE SHOWS YOU HAVE SEEN AND WIN $100.00!

Review and rate the shows you have seen and you have a chance to win $100 worth of Tix Certificates, which you can use to buy tickets to several theatres in the DC Metro Area.

______

TheaterThoughts: August 14, 2014

NO PLAYS ON BROADWAY

As of July 28, no play has run on Broadway. You can see 26 musicals, but no plays.

So far this season, which began on May 26, there have been only 342 performances of plays. For the first 12 weeks of this season (ending on August 17), 342 performances.

The fall portion of the 2014-15 season begins on August 18 with the first preview of This Is Our Youth and builds with three openings in September, five in October, two in November, and one in December.

But the number of performances of plays have slipped recently. In the 2010-11 season there were 2,607 performances; in the 2011-12 season, 2,680; and in the 2012-13 season, 2,677. Then last season there were only 2,037 performances, with only three shows having more than 104 performances (a quarter of a season.

With only 379 performances expected through September 28 — the first 18 weeks — it will take a strong drive to return to the level of 2010-13.

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TheaterThoughts: July 10-August 7, 2014

July 10, 2014: Broadway Performances I

Now that we’ve looked at the drivers of Broadway’s recent season, we annually provide an updated look at the playwrights, composers, lyricists and book writers who had have the most performances of their work in the history of Broadway.

We divide the ranked list into groups, or circles. The 10th Circle includes artists whose work has been seen the equivalent of eight shows a week for 52 weeks for 10 years, or 4,160 performances. The 15th Circle is for 6,240 performances, and so on. This year a composer reached the 60th Circle!

So let’s begin with the 22 artists in the 10th Circle (4,160 – 6,239 performances), in places #61 – 82: Marshall Brickman (4,262), Arthur Miller (4,368), Winnie Holzman (4,406), E. Y. Harburg (4,570), Rick Elice (4,581), Joe Masteroff (4,617), Leonard Bernstein (5,065), Harold J. Rome (5,075), Terrence McNally (5,095), Jonathan Larson (5,123), Catherine Johnson (5,231), Harvey Fierstein (5,243), Harry Warren (5,262), Arthur Laurents (5,293), Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus (5,300), Warren Casey and Jim Jacobs (5,447), Kurt Weill (5,662), Frederick Loewe (5,858) and Joshua Logan (5,867).

Fierstein had the largest jump in the rankings this season, with 863 performances of Newsies, Kinky Boots and Casa Valentina.

Next week we’ll look at the 28 members of the 15th Circle, places #33 – 60.

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July 17, 2014 — Broadway Peformances II

Last week we looked at the 22 members of the 10th Circle.

Here are the 28 members of the 15th Circle (equivalent to eight shows a week for 52 weeks for 15 years), from 6,240 to 8,319 performances: Moss Hart (6,410), Al Dubin (6,567), Tennessee Williams (6,580), Howard Ashman (6,643), Eugene O’Neill (6,718), Alan Jay Lerner (6,781), Cy Coleman (6,788), Roger Allers and Irene Mecchi (6,870), Nicholas Dante (6,896), James Kirkwood (6,919), Edward Kleban (7,001), Frank Loesser (7,175), Herbert Kretzmer (7,216), Kenneth Tynan (7,273), Lorenz Hart (7,321), Sheldon Harnick (7,336), Linda Woolverton (7,352), Richard Maltby, Jr. (7,550), Joseph Stein (7,623), Peter Stone (7,642), George Bernard Shaw (7,661), Jerry Bock (7,670), Betty Comden and Adolph Green (7,842), Alan Menken (8,081), Jerry Herman (8,113) and T. S. Eliot (8,146).

Of these, Alan Menken should reach the 20th Circle, behind Newsies and Aladdin, about Labor Day.

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July 24, 2014 — Broadway Performances III

Today we look at those Broadway artists whose work has had the equivalent of eight shows per week for 52 weeks for 20 years (= 20th Circle) or 25 years (= 25th Circle).

In the 20th Circle (8,320 – 10,399 performances), the 15 artists, ranked #18 – 32, are Ira Gershwin (8,367), Marvin Hamlisch (8,445), Abe Burrows (8,472), George Gershwin (8,493), George Abbott (8,517), Irving Berlin (8,577), Jule Styne (8,772), Herbert Fields (8,784), William Shakespeare (9,090), Dorothy Fields (9,219), Jerome Kern (9,268), Stephen Schwartz (9,534), Thomas Meehan (9,567), Cole Porter (9,930) and Elton John (10,073).

Of these, three are still working: Schwartz (with Wicked and Pippin), Meehan (with Annie and now Rocky) and Elton John (with The Lion King<./ins>).

In the 25th Circle (10,400 – 12,479 performances), the nine artists, ranked #9 – 17, are Russel Crouse (10,484), Bob Fosse (10,679), Howard Lindsey (11,299), Charles Hart (11,328), George S. Kaufman (11,369), Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg (11,393), Richard Stilgoe (11,712() and Michael Stewart (12,189).

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July 31, 2014 — Broadway Performances IV

We are now at the top of the list of Broadway performances — the top eight artists of all time.

In the 30th circle (12,480 – 14,59 performances), ranked #8 is Stephen Sondheim (13,329), behind West Side Story (2,093), Gypsy (2,081),A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1,835) and Sweeney Todd (1,094), Into the Woods (1,045), A Little Night Music (1,026) andCompany (1,013) among his 22 shows.

In the 35th Circle (14,560 – 16,639 performances), ranked #7 is John Kander (15,964) and ranked #6 is Fred Ebb (16,018). Almost all their work was done jointly: Chicago (8,213), Cabaret, Kiss of the Spider Woman (904) and Woman of the year (770) among 15 shows each.

in the 40th Circle (16,640 – 18,719), ranked #5 is Tim Rice (18,301), lyricist for The Lion King (6,870), Beauty and the Beast (5,461), Evita(1,904), Aida (1,852), Jesus Christ Superstar (1,084) and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat) (978) among his eight shows.

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August 7, 2014 — Broadway Performances V

We are now at the top of the mountain — the top four.

In the 45th Circle(18,720 – 20,799 performances), ranked #4, is Neil Simon (19,566). Seven of his 33 shows have run more than 1,000 performances: Barefoot in the Park (1,639), Promises, PromisesThe Odd Couple (1,508), Brighton Beach Memoirs (1,308), Sweet Charity(1,256), Plaza Suite (1,097) and They’re Playing Our Song (1,082). Seventeen of his shows have run more than one year. He has by far the most performances of any playwright — 14,957 performances.

In the 50th Circle (20,800 – 22,879 performances), ranked #3, is Oscar Hammerstein II (22,471). Just above him, in the 55th Circle (22,880 – 24,959), ranked #2, is his frequent collaborator Richard Rodgers (22,944). Together they created Oklahoma (3,033), South Pacific (2,936),The King and I (2,912), The Sound of Music (1,976) and Carousel (1,362). Hammerstein had 40 shows, Rodgers 42.

In the 60th Circle (24,960 – 27,039 performances), ranked #1, is Andrew Lloyd Webber. On Christmas Day, 2013 he became the first artist to have 25,000 performances of his work on Broadway. This is the equivalent of watching a Webber show for eight performances a week for 52 weeks a year for more than 60 years! His 11 shows include The Phantom of the Opera (10,951), Cats (7,485), Evita (1,904), Jesus Christ Superstar (1,084), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (978), Sunset Boulevard (977) and Starlight Express (761).

Now go in and REVIEW AND RATE THE SHOWS you have seen and you Can Win $100 worth of ticket certificates!

August 16, 2014
TrueTheatergoer: July 10-August 7, 2014: Broadway Performances 1-5 by John and Stephen Hauge

Every week we will be sharing John and Stephen Hauge’s TheaterThoughts from their popular site TrueTheatergoer.

TrueTheatergoer’s John Hauge.

“From John Hauge: “My brother Stephen and I created the TrueTheatergoer.com website in October 2011 to promote theater in Washington, DC and on Broadway John Hauge. By providing an enriching collection of information on current shows and composite audience reviews and ratings of these shows. Our hope is to further develop a community excited about theater and willing to write short comments of shows so others can benefit from their experiences.”

REVIEW AND RATE THE SHOWS YOU HAVE SEEN AND WIN $100.00!

Review and rate the shows you have seen and you have a chance to win $100 worth of Tix Certificates, which you can use to buy tickets to several theatres in the DC Metro Area.

______

TheaterThoughts: July 10-August 7, 2014

July 10, 2014: Broadway Performances I

Now that we’ve looked at the drivers of Broadway’s recent season, we annually provide an updated look at the playwrights, composers, lyricists and book writers who had have the most performances of their work in the history of Broadway.

We divide the ranked list into groups, or circles. The 10th Circle includes artists whose work has been seen the equivalent of eight shows a week for 52 weeks for 10 years, or 4,160 performances. The 15th Circle is for 6,240 performances, and so on. This year a composer reached the 60th Circle!

So let’s begin with the 22 artists in the 10th Circle (4,160 – 6,239 performances), in places #61 – 82: Marshall Brickman (4,262), Arthur Miller (4,368), Winnie Holzman (4,406), E. Y. Harburg (4,570), Rick Elice (4,581), Joe Masteroff (4,617), Leonard Bernstein (5,065), Harold J. Rome (5,075), Terrence McNally (5,095), Jonathan Larson (5,123), Catherine Johnson (5,231), Harvey Fierstein (5,243), Harry Warren (5,262), Arthur Laurents (5,293), Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus (5,300), Warren Casey and Jim Jacobs (5,447), Kurt Weill (5,662), Frederick Loewe (5,858) and Joshua Logan (5,867).

Fierstein had the largest jump in the rankings this season, with 863 performances of Newsies, Kinky Boots and Casa Valentina.

Next week we’ll look at the 28 members of the 15th Circle, places #33 – 60.

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July 17, 2014 — Broadway Peformances II

Last week we looked at the 22 members of the 10th Circle.

Here are the 28 members of the 15th Circle (equivalent to eight shows a week for 52 weeks for 15 years), from 6,240 to 8,319 performances: Moss Hart (6,410), Al Dubin (6,567), Tennessee Williams (6,580), Howard Ashman (6,643), Eugene O’Neill (6,718), Alan Jay Lerner (6,781), Cy Coleman (6,788), Roger Allers and Irene Mecchi (6,870), Nicholas Dante (6,896), James Kirkwood (6,919), Edward Kleban (7,001), Frank Loesser (7,175), Herbert Kretzmer (7,216), Kenneth Tynan (7,273), Lorenz Hart (7,321), Sheldon Harnick (7,336), Linda Woolverton (7,352), Richard Maltby, Jr. (7,550), Joseph Stein (7,623), Peter Stone (7,642), George Bernard Shaw (7,661), Jerry Bock (7,670), Betty Comden and Adolph Green (7,842), Alan Menken (8,081), Jerry Herman (8,113) and T. S. Eliot (8,146).

Of these, Alan Menken should reach the 20th Circle, behind Newsies and Aladdin, about Labor Day.

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July 24, 2014 — Broadway Performances III

Today we look at those Broadway artists whose work has had the equivalent of eight shows per week for 52 weeks for 20 years (= 20th Circle) or 25 years (= 25th Circle).

In the 20th Circle (8,320 – 10,399 performances), the 15 artists, ranked #18 – 32, are Ira Gershwin (8,367), Marvin Hamlisch (8,445), Abe Burrows (8,472), George Gershwin (8,493), George Abbott (8,517), Irving Berlin (8,577), Jule Styne (8,772), Herbert Fields (8,784), William Shakespeare (9,090), Dorothy Fields (9,219), Jerome Kern (9,268), Stephen Schwartz (9,534), Thomas Meehan (9,567), Cole Porter (9,930) and Elton John (10,073).

Of these, three are still working: Schwartz (with Wicked and Pippin), Meehan (with Annie and now Rocky) and Elton John (with The Lion King<./ins>).

In the 25th Circle (10,400 – 12,479 performances), the nine artists, ranked #9 – 17, are Russel Crouse (10,484), Bob Fosse (10,679), Howard Lindsey (11,299), Charles Hart (11,328), George S. Kaufman (11,369), Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg (11,393), Richard Stilgoe (11,712() and Michael Stewart (12,189).

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July 31, 2014 — Broadway Performances IV

We are now at the top of the list of Broadway performances — the top eight artists of all time.

In the 30th circle (12,480 – 14,59 performances), ranked #8 is Stephen Sondheim (13,329), behind West Side Story (2,093), Gypsy (2,081),A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1,835) and Sweeney Todd (1,094), Into the Woods (1,045), A Little Night Music (1,026) andCompany (1,013) among his 22 shows.

In the 35th Circle (14,560 – 16,639 performances), ranked #7 is John Kander (15,964) and ranked #6 is Fred Ebb (16,018). Almost all their work was done jointly: Chicago (8,213), Cabaret, Kiss of the Spider Woman (904) and Woman of the year (770) among 15 shows each.

in the 40th Circle (16,640 – 18,719), ranked #5 is Tim Rice (18,301), lyricist for The Lion King (6,870), Beauty and the Beast (5,461), Evita(1,904), Aida (1,852), Jesus Christ Superstar (1,084) and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat) (978) among his eight shows.

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August 7, 2014 — Broadway Performances V

We are now at the top of the mountain — the top four.

In the 45th Circle(18,720 – 20,799 performances), ranked #4, is Neil Simon (19,566). Seven of his 33 shows have run more than 1,000 performances: Barefoot in the Park (1,639), Promises, PromisesThe Odd Couple (1,508), Brighton Beach Memoirs (1,308), Sweet Charity(1,256), Plaza Suite (1,097) and They’re Playing Our Song (1,082). Seventeen of his shows have run more than one year. He has by far the most performances of any playwright — 14,957 performances.

In the 50th Circle (20,800 – 22,879 performances), ranked #3, is Oscar Hammerstein II (22,471). Just above him, in the 55th Circle (22,880 – 24,959), ranked #2, is his frequent collaborator Richard Rodgers (22,944). Together they created Oklahoma (3,033), South Pacific (2,936),The King and I (2,912), The Sound of Music (1,976) and Carousel (1,362). Hammerstein had 40 shows, Rodgers 42.

In the 60th Circle (24,960 – 27,039 performances), ranked #1, is Andrew Lloyd Webber. On Christmas Day, 2013 he became the first artist to have 25,000 performances of his work on Broadway. This is the equivalent of watching a Webber show for eight performances a week for 52 weeks a year for more than 60 years! His 11 shows include The Phantom of the Opera (10,951), Cats (7,485), Evita (1,904), Jesus Christ Superstar (1,084), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (978), Sunset Boulevard (977) and Starlight Express (761).

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August 6, 2014
National Philharmonic: ‘Sarah Chang Plays Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons’ at The Music Center at Strathmore

The National Philharmonic is constantly changing both in size and in artistic depth, and it was evident on Saturday night at Strathmore as the Philharmonic was their own opening act presenting Strauss’ Metamorphosen. The somber Strauss piece is written for 23 solo instruments – all strings – and just as the title suggests, the National Philharmonic grew by decreasing in size for this evening of chamber music.

Sarah Chang. Photo by Cliff Watts.

Richard Strauss composed this minor piece in 1945 in Germany, just as the war was ending and you can hear from the opening cello lines that this piece is more about a memorial to his country and the change that was occurring at the time. Maestro Piotr Gajewski took large strides with his famous baton-less conducting and made his expert musicians navigate the subtle themes and not so subtle dynamic changes with beautiful artistry. Gajewski beautifully conducted the decrescendo on the final three chords that there was a haunting air in the room as if there still was more.

As the piece goes through the whole gamut of emotions in 30 minutes, Strauss lovingly borrowed the funeral theme from Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony as the final passage in this beautiful memoriam. The last 8 bars of the piece, the three double basses play this theme note for note and in the score it is noted: “In Memoriam!” And what a tribute it was both in composition and execution.

While the opening act was worthy of top billing itself, the mostly filled Strathmore was here to see the star of the evening: Korean-American violinist, Sarah Chang. From the moment she took the stage wearing a sparkling green dress, this fashionista of the music world captivated the audience.

Vivaldi’s Four Seasons plays like a greatest hits of classical music. Each movement has a theme in it immediately recognizable to the average listener, but just because this piece is so recognized, Chang puts her own stamp on it. In 2007, Chang recorded this piece on the EMI label, where she has recorded exclusively her entire career, and tonight’s performance was another taste of what she does so beautifully: challenge the listener to find something new.

Listening to a recording of Chang lets you really appreciate her artistry, but seeing her perform live is another gem. Watching her perform, you can see her whole body sway to the music and she really lets her accompanying orchestra have their moment as well. In one particular section of “Spring” – the Allegro “Country Dance” section, Chang was playing along with the violin section as if she were an equal sitting along side of them. Seeing moments in her performance that show her modesty, makes her uniqueness all the more brilliant.

Sarah Chang. Photo by Cliff Watts.

Ms. Chang first burst on the scene at the age of 8 with the New York Philharmonic and ever since then she has become one of the great masters of her instrument and has many more years of concerts and recordings for us to enjoy and new ways to rejuvenate old favorites.

Running Time: One hour and 45 minutes, with one intermission.

The National Philharmonic has one more performance today, Sunday, May 18, 2014 at 3 PM at The Music Center at Strathmore – 5301 Tuckerman Lane, in North Bethesda, MD. For tickets, purchase them online.

LINK
Sarah Chang’s website.

https://youtu.be/JyCV1WWR2f8

May 18, 2014
TrueTheatergoer: ‘TheatreThoughts: Standing Room,’ and Rate Your Shows & Win $100 in Tickets & Predict The Helen Hayes Winners & Win $200.00 by John and Stephen Hauge

Every week we will be sharing John and Stephen Hauge’s TheaterThoughts from their popular site TrueTheatergoer.

John Hauge.

“From John Hauge: “My brother Stephen and I created the TrueTheatergoer.com website in October 2011 to promote theater in Washington, DC and on Broadway by providing an enriching collection of information on current shows and composite audience reviews and ratings of these shows. Our hope is to further develop a community excited about theater and willing to write short comments of shows so others can benefit from their experiences.”

______

REVIEW AND RATE THE SHOWS YOU HAVE SEEN AND WIN $100.00!

Review and rate the shows you have seen and you have a chance to win $100 worth of Tix Certificates, which you can use to buy tickets to several theatres in the DC Metro Area.

______

This Week’s TheaterThoughts: Standing Room

Currently seven Broadway shows (Chicago, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Mamma Mia!, Matilda, Newsies, The Book of Mormon and The Phantom of the Opera) offer “standing room.” This practice generally means that if a show is sold out, a person in the waiting line may purchase a place to stand (behind the orchestra seats) to watch the show. (The number of persons so enabled is limited by the number of places to stand.)

Having stood in such a line last night, your reporter can say that the experience of talking with fellow theater-goers was marvelous, full of rich stories of performances seen and of those warmly remembered.

If the show is not sold out, however, (last night’s had 12 seats left), theaters do not sell “standing room” tickets. On the surface this seems logical: why discount an available seat (say, $145) to a “standing room” space (say, $27)?

Yet the clientele in the line is clearly different. After all, if a person wanted to spend $145, he or she would buy a seat, if available. The standee typically does not want to or cannot spend the extra money, so relies on “standing room,” especially when the rear mezzanine and balcony seats are sold out.

The result is no revenue from the empty expensive seats and none from the empty “standing room” spaces. To what purpose? Every show can benefit from the extra word of mouth as well as the good will generated by fervent theater-goers willing to spend up to five hours in line — and then stand for 90 to 150 minutes to see the show.

So Broadway management: please reconsider this policy, and encourage theater-going by broadening its reach.

______

AND GO IN AND VOTE FOR YOUR CHOICES FOR THE HELEN HAYES AWARDS, AND YOU CAN WIN $200.00!

When you have reviewed both lists, please look directly above for the Award Ballot, click on it, and choose your winners in these categories.

The voter with the highest correct total will win $200.

All ballots must be submitted electronically by April 18th.

April 14, 2014
TrueTheatergoers’ TheaterThoughts: ‘Spring NYC Season, Rate Your Shows & Win $100 in Tickets & Predict The Helen Hayes Winners & Win $200.00

Every week we will be sharing John and Stephen Hauge’s TheaterThoughts from their popular site TrueTheatergoer.

John Hauge.

“From John Hauge: “My brother Stephen and I created the TrueTheatergoer.com website in October 2011 to promote theater in Washington, DC and on Broadway by providing an enriching collection of information on current shows and composite audience reviews and ratings of these shows. Our hope is to further develop a community excited about theater and willing to write short comments of shows so others can benefit from their experiences.”

______

REVIEW AND RATE THE SHOWS YOU HAVE SEEN AND WIN $100.00!

Review and rate the shows you have seen and you have a chance to win $100 worth of Tix Certificates, which you can use to buy tickets to several theatres in the DC Metro Area.

______

This Week’s TheaterThoughts: Spring Season on Broadway III

We come now to the season’s final six shows, which will be opening in late April to beat the April 24 deadline for Tony Award nominations.

April 20 — The Cripple of Inishman — Martin McDonough’s dark 1996 comedy concerns the impact on Aran islanders when a Hollywood film company descends to make a movie. The cripple orphan Billy vies for a role. Stars Daniel Radcliffe.

April 20 — Violet — A disfigured woman travels from North Carolina to Oklahoma to be healed by an evangelist in this musical that won the Off-Broadway Drama Critics’ Circle Award and the Lucille Lortel Award in 1997. Along the way a black soldier teaches her about life. Stars Sutton Foster.

April 21 — The Velocity of Autumn — Aging Alexandra barricades herself in her Brooklyn apartment to defeat the depradations of time. Estelle Parsons stars in Eric Coble’s comedy.

April 22 — Hedwig and the Angry Inch — A transgender singer’s life, loves and botched operation are the spine of this international rock musical than ran two years off Broadway. Stars Neil Patrick Harris.

April 23 — Casa Valtentina — Harvey Fierstein’s new play examines relationships at a Catskill resort in 1962 that enabled heterosexual men to dress and act like women on the weekends. With an all-star cast of nine.

April 24 — Cabaret — Kander and Ebb’s musical follows performer Sally Bowles and the emcee of the seedy Kit Kat Klub in decadent Berlin as the Nazis rise to power. The show, which won eight Tony Awards in 1967, stars Alan Cumming and Michelle Williams.

Now go in and REVIEW AND RATE THE SHOWS you have seen and you Can Win $100 worth of ticket certificates!

AND

Predict The Helen Hayes Awards Winners and Win $200.00!

March 21, 2014
Arts Collective’s “What Improv Group?!?!” Spring Fling Friday, April 4! by Susan G. Kramer

Arts Collective’s “What Improv Group?!?!” Spring Fling Friday, April 4!

Improv troupe rounds out its out-of-control successful 3-show season with a Spring Themed Improv Show featuring its popular, unique brand of improv paired with special guest appearances

Candace Cooper, Keri Eastridge, Daniel Johnston, Kathleen Williams, Keith Becraft, and Ashanti Cooper. Photo by PhotoArt by Cheri.

Howard Community College’s (HCC) Arts Collective (AC) proudly announces its popular improv troupe, “What Improv Group?!?!” (W.I.G.), Spring Fling Friday Improv Show, on April 4th at 8:00 p.m. in the college’s Studio Theatre.

W.I.G. rounds out its successful 3-show improv season by delivering its most unique take on improv… Spring (Will it ever arrive?!?! Yes, No, Yes… Maybe?) and much, much more… including give-away treats and audience participation! That’s right! Seriously funny business… WIG flings into spring with on-the-spot storytelling using suggestions from the audience!

APRIL 4TH’s W.I.G. Show

Features:

Keith Becraft, Ashanti Cooper, Candace Cooper, Keri Eastridge, Daniel Johnston, Emma K. McDonnell, Shawn Naar, Kathleen Williams, and… Special Guest Artists (might even be YOU)!

Individual tickets are $12 for general admission and $10 for students with identification.

Tickets may be purchased through the Box Office at (443) 518-1500, or online.

For more information on AC, call (443) 518-1922, visit their website, or email artscollective@howardcc.edu.

Note: Parental guidance suggested. Recommended for ages 12 and up.

About AC’s “What Improv Group?!?!”

Daniel Johnston. Photo by PhotoArt by Cheri.

Arts Collective’s What Improv Group?!?! (W.I.G.) began its on-stage journey February, 2009. For the past 5-plus years W.I.G. has been about creating and exploring a unique voice, a new take on improv and storytelling. W.I.G. not only performs at HCC–shows, workshops, seminars, etc.–they also appear off-campus. Previous off-campus gigs have included shows via the Baltimore Improv Festival, Columbia Festival of the Arts, local schools, special events at HCC, etc.! Most notably, W.I.G. has also partnered with Steppenwolf West (Los Angeles)–hosting three summer intensives (in 2009, 2010, 2012) featuring instructors Alexandra Billings, Eric Hunicutt, and Susan G. Kramer. See W.I.G.’s complete history on AC’s website:

About HCC’s Arts Collective

Now in its 19th Season, Arts Collective (AC) is a creative force, entirely committed to offering diverse, awe-inspiring works across several genres, including plays, musicals, improvisation, dance and more! Established in 1994, AC is a professionally run organization all about supporting, nurturing and fusing collaborative relationships between all artists, from students to professionals, on and off the stage, to Howard County and beyond.

Ashanti Cooper. Photo by PhotoArt by Cheri.

View AC’s 19th Season line-up.

Illustrations by Emma K. McDonnell.

March 15, 2014
Round House Theatre Announces its 2014-2015 Season by Sarah Pressler

Round House Theatre announces its 2014/15 season:

FOOL FOR LOVE
By Sam Shepard

FETCH CLAY, MAKE MAN
By Will Power

The NUTCRACKER
By Tommy Rapley, Jake Minton, Phillip Klapperich, and Kevin O’Donnell

RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN
By Gina Gionfriddo

UNCLE VANYA
By Anton Chekhov, new version by Annie Baker

NSFW
By Lucy Kirkwood

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Artistic Director Ryan-Rilette.

Round House Theatre Producing Artistic Director Ryan Rilette today announced the lineup of plays for company’s 2014/15 season.

During the new season, Round House will produce a modern American classic, a new musical, two contemporary comedies, a potent new drama, and a compelling new version of a classic on its Bethesda stage. One production is an American premiere and four productions are D.C. area premieres.

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FOOL FOR LOVE
By Sam Shepard
Directed by Ryan Rilette
September 3 – 27, 2014

From one of America’s most renowned playwrights comes this explosive tale of love, hate, and the dying myths of the Old West. May’s hiding out at a seedy motel on the edge of the Mojave Desert when Eddie, her longtime on-again/off-again lover, shows up. Dark secrets are revealed during a night of gripping jealousy, brutal betrayal, and the deepest kind of love. Producing Artistic Director Ryan Rilette directs this revival of one of the great American plays of the 20th century. “Shepard’s purest and most beautiful play.” — New York Daily News

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FETCH CLAY, MAKE MAN

Area Premiere
Co-production with Marin Theatre Company
By Will Power
Directed by Derrick Sanders
October 8 – November 2, 2014

In the days before one of the most anticipated fights in boxing history, heavyweight champ Muhammad Ali forms an unlikely friendship with controversial Hollywood star Stepin Fetchit. This true story explores the improbable bond that forms between these drastically different, influential cultural icons – one a vibrant and audacious youth, the other a resentful, almost forgotten relic – as they fight to shape their legacies amidst the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Derrick Sanders (The Raisin Cycle at CenterStage) directs Will Power’s absorbing, poetic, and humorous exploration of the true meaning of strength, resilience, and pride. Delivers “a potent and satisfying wallop” – New York Daily News

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THE NUTCRACKER

Area Premiere
Created by Tommy Rapley, Jake Minton, Phillip Klapperich, and Kevin O’Donnell
Book by Jake Minton and Phillip Klapperich
Music by Kevin O’Donnell, Lyrics by Jake Minton
Based on the story by E.T.A. Hoffman
Directed by Joe Calarco
November 26 – December 28, 2014

This captivating new musical reinvents E.T.A. Hoffman’s original tale, turning it into a brand new seasonal classic. Weaving together spellbinding spectacle, riveting dialogue, astonishing puppetry, and a delightful original score, Clara’s crusade to save her family (with the assistance of a remarkable nutcracker) comes alive with dazzling theatricality. This contemporary retelling is a heartwarming, hilarious story of magic and hope that’s as poignant and touching as it is hilarious, tuneful, and fun. Joe Calarco (Signature’s Gypsy) directs the D.C. area premiere of a Chicago holiday favorite hailed as “moving, inclusive, and wholly original” by the Chicago Tribune.

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RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN

Area Premiere
By Gina Gionfriddo
Directed by Shirley Serotsky
January 28 – February 22, 2015

In a comedy hailed by The New York Times as “intensely smart and immensely funny,” Gina Gionfriddo (Becky Shaw) takes a sharp, unflinching look at 21st century gender politics. After grad school, Catherine built a career as a rock-star academic while Gwen built a home with a husband and children. Decades later, unfulfilled in opposite ways, each woman covets the other’s life, and a dangerous game begins as each tries to claim the other’s territory. With searing insight and trademark wit, this 2013 Pulitzer Prize finalist, directed by Shirley Serotsky (Associate Artistic Director of Theater J), looks at family, career, romance, middle-aged meltdowns, and the decisions that define a life.

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UNCLE VANYA

Area Premiere
By Anton Chekhov, new version by Annie Baker
Directed by John Vreeke
April 8 – May 3, 2015

This new version of Chekhov’s classic by Annie Baker (Circle Mirror Transformation, The Aliens) is a revelation, bringing modern language to this timeless story of relationships and yearning. Written to create “a version that sounds to our contemporary American ears the way the play sounded to Russian ears during the play’s first productions,” Baker’s award-winning Uncle Vanya reintroduces audiences to Chekhov’s enduring wit, insight, and emotional depth. It was hailed as one of the top 10 shows of 2012 by both The New York Times and New York Magazine. John Vreeke (The Lyons) directs a production that re-envisions our performance space and features Mitchell Hébert as Vanya and Producing Artistic Director Ryan Rilette as Astrov.

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NSFW

American Premiere
By Lucy Kirkwood
Directed by Meredith McDonough
May 27 – June 21, 2015

Money, sex, and Photoshop! NSFW (Not Safe for Work) is a hilarious, biting comedy about power games and privacy in the media and, in particular, how magazines objectify women. When Aiden, editor of “Doghouse” men’s magazine, charges his team of journalists with finding an amateur model for a racy photo spread, he can’t foresee the trouble it will bring. In the aftermath, feature writer and prime casualty, Sam, seeks a lifeline at “Electra,” a stylish women’s magazine that surely can’t be anywhere as bad as his last job…or can it? Meredith McDonough (Associate Artistic Director of Actor’s Theatre of Louisville) directs a sharp, funny, and timely new play by one of Britain’s most exciting playwrights. “Provocative… outrageous humor” – Evening Standard

NSFW playwright Lucy Kirkwood just won this year’s Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, given “to recognize women who have written works of outstanding quality for the English-speaking theater,” for her play Chimerica.

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THE SARAH METZGER MEMORIAL PLAY
In addition to the six-show subscription season, Round House will bring its annual Sarah Metzger Memorial Play to Bethesda for the 2014/15 season. The Sarah Play provides high school students from across the D.C. metro area the guidance and resources to mount a production under the mentorship of professional theater artists. It’s the country’s only theatrical production, offered as part of a regional theater’s regular programming, that is directed, designed, stage managed, and performed entirely by high school students. The 13th annual Sarah Play will be onstage March 13 – 15, 2015, with the play title to be announced.

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SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
Subscriptions for Round House’s 2014/15 season are on sale by calling 240.644.1100, online, or by visiting the box office. Flexible packages of three to six plays are available. Tickets to individual performances will go on sale in August.

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Round House Theatre is located at 4545 East-West Highway, one block from Wisconsin Avenue and the Bethesda Metro station.

March 7, 2014
TrueTheatergoers’ TheaterThoughts: Spring NYC Season, Rate Your Shows & Win $100 in Tickets & Predict Helen Hayes Awards & Win $200 by John and Stephen Hauge

Every week we will be sharing John and Stephen Hauge’s TheaterThoughts from their popular site TrueTheatergoer.

John Hauge.

“From John Hauge: “My brother Stephen and I created the TrueTheatergoer.com website in October 2011 to promote theater in Washington, DC and on Broadway by providing an enriching collection of information on current shows and composite audience reviews and ratings of these shows. Our hope is to further develop a community excited about theater and willing to write short comments of shows so others can benefit from their experiences.”

______

REVIEW AND RATE THE SHOWS YOU HAVE SEEN AND WIN $100.00!

Review and rate the shows you have seen and you have a chance to win $100 worth of Tix Certificates, which you can use to buy tickets to several theatres in the DC Metro Area.

______

This Week’s TheaterThoughts:

Spring Season on Broadway

Broadway’s spring season will open tonight and run to April 24, the deadline for shows to open so they can receive Tony Award nominations. This season 15 shows will open in this seven-week window. We’ll look at the five March openings this week, and the 10 April openings next week.

March 6 — All The Way — VP Lyndon Johnson has just become President in November, 1963 and in the next 12 months he wants to push through the Civil Rights Bill and become President in his own right. This three-hour show examines the political savvy and arm-twisting necessary to achieve both as he interacts with Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Sen. Richard Russell, J,. Edgar Hoover and others of the time. Bryan Cranston stars as LBJ, with Brandon J. Dirden, John McMartin, Michael McKean and Robert Petkoff.

March 13 — Rocky — This adaptation of Sylvester Stallone’s 1986 film follows the journeyman boxer Rocky Balboa as he gets a shot at the title and falls in love with the shy Adrian. A love story and boxing story, with an extravaganza of the title fight. Music & lyrics by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens. Stars DC’s own Andy Karl, and with Margo Seibert, and Terence Archie, and Dakin Matthews.

March 20 — Aladdin — Disney’s 1992 film is re-created on stage, with Aladdin’s finding of a magic lamp that ushers him into adventure and romance. Music by Alan Menken, and lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice. With Adam Jacobs, Courtney Reed, Jams Monroe Iglehart, and Jonathan Freeman.

March 24 — Mothers and Sons — Terrence McNally’s play looks at the meeting of an angry mother who has lost to her son to AIDS and his ex-lover who now has married another man with whom they have a six-year-old son. Stars Tyne Daly, with Frederick Weller and Bobby Steggert.

March 30 — If/Then — As Elizabeth moves to New York City to re-start her life, this musical looks at two paths she could take. Music by Tom Kitt, and lyrics and book by Brian Yorkey. Stars Idina Menzel, with LaChanze, Anthony Rapp.

______

AND GO IN AND VOTE FOR YOUR CHOICES FOR THE HELEN HAYES AWARDS, AND YOU CAN WIN $200.00!

When you have reviewed both lists, please look directly above for the Award Ballot, click on it, and choose your winners in these categories.

The voter with the highest correct total will win $200.

All ballots must be submitted electronically by April 18th.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical: Bruce Dow (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum), James Gardiner (The Last Five Years), David Gregory (In the Heights), Bryan Knowlton (A Chorus Line), Paul Scanlan (Cabaret) and Thom Sesma (Miss Saigon).

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical: Sherri L. Edelen (Gypsy), Diane Huey (Miss Saigon), Nancy Opel (Hello, Dolly!), Maria Rizzo (Cabaret), Jessica Vaccaro (A Chorus Line), Erin Weaver (The Last Five Years), Roz White (Gee’s Bend), Lauren Williams (Elephant & Piggie’s “We are in a Play”) and Lori Williams (Ladies Swing the Blues).

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Musical: Matthew Dewberry (The Full Monty), James Konicek (Peter Pan and Wendy), John Loughney (The Full Monty), Bobby Smith (Spin), Tobias Young (In the Heights) and Edward Watts (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum).

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Musical: Jennifer Cordiner (A Chorus Line), Lora Lee Gayer (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum), Maria Rizzo (Gypsy), Erin Weaver (Company) and Brittany N. Williams (Three Little Birds

Outstanding Ensemble, Musical: A Chorus Line, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Full Monty, Gee’s Bend and Hello, Dolly!.

Outstanding Director, Musical: Joe Calarco (Gypsy), Thomas W. Jones II (Gee’s Bend), Alan Paul (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum), Aaron Posner (The Last Five Years) and Eric Schaeffer (Hello, Dolly!).

Outstanding Musical: A Chorus Line, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Cabaret, Gypsy, Hello, Dolly!, The Last Five Years and The Rocky Horror Show.

Now go in and REVIEW AND RATE THE SHOWS you have seen and you Can Win $100 worth of ticket certificates!

March 7, 2014
Real Life and Lots of Donuts: ‘Superior Donuts’ Opens at Silver Spring Stage by Lennie Magida

It’s a shop in Chicago that’s worn out and rough around the edges—and you could say the same about many of the people who walk through its doors. Inside you can find freshly made donuts—assuming the proprietor, Arthur, has decided to open for business that day. You can also find Franco, a young aspiring novelist and shaker of the status quo. And you can find poetry, loss, friendship, and love.

Welcome to the world of Superior DonuComments 1ts, which opens this Friday, February 21st at Silver Spring Stage. It runs for four weekends—and, yes, there will be donuts!

L-R, Nick Torres (Arthur), Joel Beaven (Kiril), Jill Goodrich (Randy), Donta Hensley (Franco), William Cassidy (Max), and Joe Lewis (James). Photo by Lennie Magida.

Written by Tracy Letts (best known for writing August: Osage County), Superior Donuts centers on the intertwining stories of Arthur Przybyszewski (pronounced “Shub-er-shef-ski”) and Franco Wicks. Arthur is a one-time Vietnam War draft evader who still clings to his ’60s sensibility—and sense of style. Franco is a young African American who, urgently in need of money for reasons that shortly become clear, takes a job at Superior Donuts. He tries to get Arthur interested in modernizing the shop. He’s also convinced that he has the next great American novel scrawled on a pile of notepads in his backpack.

“I see Superior Donuts as a comedy, drama, and love story,” says Director Stenise Reaves. “It’s a story about love and loss. It’s filled with damaged characters that I want to have a drink with. Sometimes it’s so funny that you laugh out loud; at other times, you are moved to tears.”

All this unfolds on Silver Spring Stage’s distinctive diamond-shaped stage. “It allows us to reproduce the feeling of looking into the windows of a corner store,” says Reaves. “It’s a really cool effect.”

In writing Superior Donuts, Reaves notes, Letts was inspired by Langston Hughes’ poem Let America Be America. “Throughout the poem,” she says, “Hughes contrasts his hopes for America with the reality of life for those outside of the dominant racial, religious, economic, and social groups.” It is those outsiders who populate Superior Donuts: Arthur and Franco; a Russian immigrant entrepreneur and his nephew; two beat cops—one an African American man who’s a Star Trek fanatic, the other an Irish American woman; an aging homeless woman, and a couple of thugs. These are not gentrifiers or urban glitterati.

Nick Torres, who plays Arthur, calls Arthur and Franco “The Odder Couple.” While Arthur’s many past troubles have led him “to cover all the dysfunction, all the feelings, with a perpetual stoned-ness,” Torres says, Franco embodies “youth and a belief in the possibility of everything. The humor comes from their opposing viewpoints.” Adds Torres, “Arthur does have joy buried deep within him. Franco gradually wears away the hiding places.”

In playing Franco, actor Donta Hensley says he has found something of a kindred spirit: “Franco and I share the same sense of humor and the joy of making life intriguing.” He also sees Franco’s endless ideas and self-belief as having their own kind of power, saying that “Franco’s strengths lie in his being self-motivated and a visionary. Those qualities give water to the roots that drive the dreamer within him.”

Donta Hensley (Franco), and Nick Torres (Arthur). Photo by Lennie Magida.

Joining Torres and Hensley in portraying the unique community of Superior Donuts are William Cassidy (Max Tarasov), Jill Goodrich (Officer Randy Osteen), Joe Lewis (Officer James Bailey), Shelley Rochester (Lady Boyle), Greg Garcia (Luther Flynn), Neal Cohen (Kevin Magee), and Joel Beaven (Kiril Ivakin).

Silver Spring Stage’s production of Superior Donuts runs weekends through March 15 (Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., plus Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. on November 10th. Regular ticket price is $20, but $10 tickets are available for select performances on Goldstar. The Stage is located in the Woodmoor Shopping Center -10145 Colesville Road, in Silver Spring, MD. Purchase your tickets online.

February 18, 2014