A shining new era is tiptoeing nearer…
And where does it feature? Just listen to teacher…
It’s the main stage feature of The Kennedy Center’s Opera House stage. Disney’s The Lion King, one of its most spectacular touring productions to date (and that’s saying something considering all of the fantastical magical enchantment that’s rolling around the country with Aladdin and Frozen), has arrived in the nation’s capital for a month-long summertime engagement!
The Alan Jay Lerner/Frederick Loewe classic My Fair Lady rolled their second leg of the post-Covid national tour into the National Theatre in DC. Originally conceived for Lincoln Center under the masterful eye of Bartlett Sher, the most accomplished director in the business for breathing new air and contemporary relevancy into beloved but dated musicals. Having had great success with such classics as The King & I, South Pacific, Fiddler on the Roof,
The touring production of Tootsie, a musical spin on the classic 1982 film comedy, plays at the National Theatre from Dec 7 through 12th, delivering old-fashioned, crowd-pleasing antics.
The plot concerns Michael Dorsey (Drew Becker), an NYC actor desperate to be cast in anything, who eventually auditions for a play disguised as a woman he names Dorothy Michaels. Not only is he cast but becoming “Dorothy” allows him to “access his inner female” in a way that creates both emotional growth and increasingly comic complications.
Look out world! This show’s on a roll! It’s unstoppable! Tootsie the musical is crashing its way into Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre in the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center this holiday season, just in time to give everyone a little something different this December. Based on the 80’s film of the same name (from Columbia Pictures, staring Dustin Hoffman), this Tootsie is something strange and something new; it’s a fast-paced, high-octane story of the real-life struggles of actors,
Fiddler on the Roof for Christmas? Unthinkable.
Unheard of. On the other hand, it’s a brilliant story with glorious music. On
the other hand, it’s not A Christmas Carol or some other stalwart
tradition in the nation’s capital. On the other hand, The National Theatre is
bringing tradition to their stage for a limited week-long engagement smack in
the middle of December this year. With original Direction by Barlett Sher
(recreated here by Sari Evans) and original choreography by Hofesh Shechter
(recreated here by Christopher Evans),
Have you heard? There’s a rumor that St. Petersburg— is coming straight to Washington D.C.! No longer far away or long ago, glowing brighter than an ember, it’s here to see, a breathtaking show, one you will always remember… Anastasia— a wintery wondrous fairytale arriving in time for the Thanksgiving season now on the Eisenhower stage of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Commissioned by Dmitry Bogachev, with Book by Terrence McNally and Music &
A theatrically inclined, over the top leader is called upon the carpet by a strong, oppositional feminist for policies that are alternately deemed sexist, racist, tyrannical, oppressive, and a throwback to less enlightened times as their country struggles to enter a new era of ideology under the watchful eyes of the rest of the free world. No, this is not this week’s headline at The Huffington Post, but the underlying dilemma at The Kennedy Center in Washington,
Striking and inspiring beauty isn’t just in the covered-bridge landscape of Winterset, Iowa. It’s possessed wholeheartedly in the stellar music of Jason Robert Brown’s The Bridges of Madison County musical, now appearing live on stage in the Eisenhower Theatre of The John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. Based on the novel by Robert James Waller with Book by Marsha Norman, Brown’s stunning score of the heart-melting and utterly emotionally mesmerizing love story is populated with bittersweet poignancy and the closest thing to true American Opera the stage has heard since the 80’s.
Salomé…seductress? Salomé…femme fatale? Salomé…revolutionary heroine? South African Playwright and director Yaël Farber posits how a nameless young woman mentioned briefly in the Bible as the catalyst for the death of John the Baptist became the femme fatale of Oscar Wilde’s version of the story. By examining the biblical narrative in the context of the conquest of Judea by the Romans, Farber presents a provocative reimagining of this woman’s place in history. The result is a fascinating if flawed look at the oppression of feminine narratives in history and literature.