Articles Tagged With: Nova Y. Payton

Nova Y. Payton in The Color Purple. 📸Christopher Mueller

The Color Purple at Signature Theatre

Reviews August 29, 2022 Amanda N. Gunther

It is a joyful noise unlike any other. Signature Theatre’s production of The Color Purple will take you to church— in the most inspiring, healing, and joyous fashion possible. Directed Timothy Douglas, with Musical Direction by Mark G. Meadows, and Choreography by Dane Figueroa Edidi, this rapturous production is stellar beyond compare and leaves the heart bursting with indescribably hope.

It’s a humble set and yet the vivid life that spring forth both from behind the slatted wooden shutters and on the planks itself are worth exalting to the heavens.

Assassins at Signature Theatre

Reviews August 23, 2019 Amanda N. Gunther

Just a single little finger can change the world.

9— Dayton, Ohio August 4, 2019

22— El Paso, Texas August 3, 2019

3— Gilroy, California July 28, 2019

34 people dead from just a single little finger.

Something just broke.

It’s the strap-line for Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins now
open and running at Signature Theatre in Shirlington, Virginia. And they’re not
wrong.

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at The Kennedy Center

Reviews June 8, 2018 Amanda N. Gunther

Well it’s been a long— been a long— been a long— been a long time…since How To Succeed in Business Without Really trying has seen boards the likes of a Broadway-style stage. Six years may not seem that long ago to some, when Harry Potter film legend Daniel Radcliffe teamed up with Emmy-star John Larroquette as the big-name duo starring in the 2012 Broadway revival. Landing in The Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theatre as a part of the 2017/2018 Broadway Center Stage Concert Series initiative,

Caroline, Or Change at Round House Theatre

Reviews February 4, 2017 Amanda N. Gunther

Change come fast and change come slow, but change come. And a change— Caroline, Or Change to be exact— is coming to Round House Theatre this season. Nothing happens below ground in Bethesda because all the fiery action of this sensational musical with Book & Lyrics by Tony Kushner and Music by Jeanine Tesori is happening on ground floor stage for everyone to see! Directed by Matthew Gardiner with Musical Direction by Jon Kalbfleisch,

Review: Silver Belles at Signature Theatre

Reviews December 1, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

Oralene was dead: to begin with. This must be distinctly understood or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate. Well, jingling Jesus, there ought to be a law that every Christmas musical start out with a coffin in Silver Ridge, Tennessee! Christmas is a gift, it’s true, (it’s the season of presents for a reason, after all) and Signature Theatre is giving you the simplest, most entertaining, down-home musical gift that anyone could ask for at this festive time of year: the world premiere of Silver Belles.

Review: Jelly’s Last Jam at Signature Theatre

Reviews August 12, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

And it came to pass that jazz was born at Signature Theatre when Jelly’s Last Jam kicked off the 2016/2017 season in the sweltering August heat! Step right into ‘The Jungle Inn’ where you’re jammin’ with Jelly tonight! There’s no doubt about this masterful musical— with book by George C. Wolfe, Music by Jelly Roll Morton, Lyrics by Susan Birkenhead, and Musical Adaptation & Additional Music composed by Luther Henderson— as it lays down the birth of jazz exactly like Jelly Roll Morton remembers it!

Review: La Cage Aux Folles at Signature Theatre

Reviews June 13, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther 1 Comment

Take a deep breath, open your eyes, you have arrived at La Cage Aux Folles. Signature Theatre does its utmost to deliver this ravishing, sensual, fabulous musical Directed by Matthew Gardiner with Musical Direction by Darius Smith, and succeeds making it the show of their season, which is saying something considering just how many smashing productions they’ve managed this year. Legend has told and rumor has promised this zesty, thrilling performance would dazzle theatergoers of Washington DC and there are simply not enough words to properly praise the nearly perfect production as it titillates audiences right to the edges of their chairs!

Review: Freedom’s Song: Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War at Ford’s Theatre

Reviews March 19, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

We cannot escape history; the good, the bad, the beautiful, the ugly. 150 years ago on April 14, 1865 one of the greatest forefathers of our country was assassinated inside of Ford’s Theatre while attending a production of Our American Cousin. Commemorating this national event that helped shaped the nation as we know it today, Ford’s Theatre has commissioned a brand new musical Written by Frank Wildhorn, Gregory Boyd, and Jack Murphy to capture the essence of the greatness of Abraham Lincoln and the world in which he lived during a time of Civil War.