In the
summer of 1984, a little movie with a big soundtrack took the world by storm
and launched a young up-and-coming leading man for whom at the time you’d be
pressed to find movie connections of two degrees into the stratosphere as the
ubiquitous megastar Kevin Bacon. Filling out the cast with veteran actors like
John Lithgow and Dianne Weist along with breakout performances from young
actors like Lori Singer, Chris Penn, and Sarah Jessica Parker,
Like the play being revieweditself,
this review is by necessity going to be different. No cute opening paragraph.
No clever parallels. No history lesson to set the stage. Let me start right out
by saying that in 2019, this play couldn’t be more important. After two
off-Broadway incarnations and a Tony-nominated Broadway debut last spring
(winning the Obie Award for best new American play, the New York Drama Critic’s
Circle for best American play, and the Off-Broadway Alliance Award for best new
play as well as a Pulitzer nomination along the way),
Dear Washington DC,
Today is going to be a good day and here’s why:
#youwillbefound
Dear Evan Hansen has arrived for a limited-run
engagement at The John F. Kennedy Center for The Performing Arts just as summer
comes to an end. This Tony Award-Winning musical has stunning emotional impact
and will take your breath away with its poignancy and overall relevance to
everyone from every walk of life,
Well Ali Baba had them 40 thieves, Scheherezad-ie had a thousand
tales! But DC, you in luck, ‘cause on your stage— you got a Disney show that
never fails! You got some Disney in your Opera House, it’s the summer show, it’s
set up camp! The Kennedy Center’s punching with pizzazz, and all you’ll wanna
do is rub that lamp and you’ll get— Disney’s Aladdin! Direct from
Broadway on its National Tour,
Once, not long ago, a group of musicians came from Broadway
to The Kennedy Center— but you will hear about this as it is pretty important.
The Tony Award-winning musical The Band’s Visit comes to the Eisenhower
Theatre of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts this summer, with
Music and Lyrics by David Yazbek and Book by Itamar Moses, the poignant and
striking tale of two cultures meeting by mistake is brilliant and relevant in
today’s ever-changing,
When the whistles blow and the cymbals crash and the
sparklers light the sky— it’s time to call on The John F. Kennedy Center!
Because this summer they’re raising the roof; they’re carrying on; and you’ll
want to have an old trombone and an old baton before the parade of Hello, Dolly! starring Betty Buckley
passes by! Appearing live for one sizzling summer month on the Kennedy Center’s
Opera House Stage,
After two solid seasons, it’s
established that the Kennedy Center’s Broadway Center Stage series is a major
component of the Baltimore/DC theatrical landscape. Acquiring first rate
Broadway and Hollywood talent in intensely-assembled one week runs of home-grown
musicals in “concert” form that frankly rival and even exceed many current
national touring productions has brought unique, exciting new possibilities for
musical theatre to our region. They have given us superior mountings of
classics like How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and The
Music Man.
Amanda N. Gunther | TheatreBloom
What started out as a bold new
idea last year has realized itself as an exciting new staple of the
Baltimore/DC theatrical scene. The Kennedy Center’s Broadway Center Stage
concert series, which features top notch Broadway and Hollywood talent in
quickly-assembled one week runs to add special event variety to their already
busy tour and concert seasons, once again strikes gold (or perhaps more
accurately, brass—an entire marching band’s worth) in their jubilant current
production of Meredith Willson’s Tony winning classic The Music Man.
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 &
After their inaugural season struck gold with the latest reworking of Chess, a jubilant celebration of In the Heights, and a megawatt production of Pulitzer Prize winner How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, all of which rivaled or improved upon their latest Broadway incarnations, The Broadway Center Stage concert series at the Kennedy Center has set a high standard with their ambitious and impressive pop-up musicals.
Raw emotions and a powerhouse of a production on display!
The 2018-2019 World Stages season opens with Measure for Measure, produced by Cheek by Jowl and the Pushkin Theatre Moscow, a production filled with raw emotions and powerful performances. This production is superbly directed by Declan Donnellan and extraordinarily designed by Nick Ormerod. In the politically charged atmosphere that we are currently living in, this timeless piece is presented in such a relatable,
Hey, sister, whatcha gon’ do? Goin’ down by the Potomac River, gonna see The Color Purple with you. In a striking reimagination of the iconic novel turned film turned stage musical, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts proudly presents The Color Purple, a Menier Chocolate Factory Production. Directed and Conceptualized by John Doyle, with Musical Direction and Pit Conduction by Darryl Archibald, this stunning story is reinvented with simplicity at its aesthetic core,
You can achieve many successes in the music industry. You can climb to the top, you can enjoy the view from the top once you get there, but to be the top? There’s only group in the history of rhythm & blues that has been touted continually, through to this very moment, as the best group in the entire history of rhythm & blues: The Temptations didn’t climb to the top they became the top.
There are moments that the words don’t reach. Seeing the musical sensation that’s sweeping the nation with its razzle-dazzle rhyme in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s prime is supposed to be one of them, and not just one of them, but the biggest one of them, all the people coast to coast begging for the musical with the most finally have their shot— and they are not throwing away their shot— not this summer— because Hamilton has arrived.
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,
2018: the entire world— of Washington DC— is on high alert. No one can deny these are difficult times, especially if you’re trying to snag a ticket into the pre-Broadway trial engagement of Chess now appearing at The Kennedy Center for its limited five-day run. With a new book by Danny Strong, the musical— originally conceived by Tim Rice, Benny Andersson, and Björn Ulvaeus— is more potent than ever in its political charge,
“History is the domain of rich, white men, who as a breed, are allergic to change.” Who said it? Her name is: MARY ANNING! MARY ANNING! She knows what it is like when the world won’t acknowledge you. But the universe is impartial, the universe does not care. It’s the people that populate the universe that are not impartial, the people that care. So what do you do when the people won’t acknowledge you?
Be it Christmas, Thanksgiving, Passover, or Festivus, the family convening for an annual anticipated holiday ritual that begins with good intentions, love, and thanks for all those gathering, but will inevitably devolve into a miserable airing of deeply-buried, lifelong grievances is one of the most tired and overused tropes in the cannon of American theatrical comedy or drama. When creativity comes to a halt, have a family dinner to force the blowup. Steven Karam’s 2016 Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning The Humans,
Cold winter blues got you down? Feeling the urge to “shake it” but don’t have a good beat? Would you like to experience a range of emotions, but ultimately leave happy and dancing your way to your car? Wonderful! The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has just the cure for you! Right now in their Opera House you can go feel the rhythm of On Your Feet! The Emilio and Gloria Estefan Broadway Musical.
Are you ready to witness the next generation of magic? Forget card tricks as you know them, and illusions as you’ve come to see them…or not see them…as the case may be. Returning to The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, direct from Broadway with a whole new routine and series of new magicians, The Illusionists will razzle you, dazzle you, and perform mind-blowing defeats of magic that simply must be seen to be believed!
When you think of Paris, what comes to mind? Is it the irresistible city of lights? Parisian art? The people? All of those miraculous, wondrous, lively attributes that radiate from the cultural capital of France are what vividly and readily come to mind. But what about when the city of light was darkened by the days of war? When Nazi occupation dimmed even the brightest bulbs of creativity? In the stellar screen-to-stage adaptation inspired by the motion picture,
God bless you, theatre patrons of DC. You’ve been blessed that for another year, The Second City’s Twist Your Dickens is bringing tiding of holiday hilarity to The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts! Appearing now through New Year’s Eve in the Theatre Lab, this uproarious mishmosh of Dickensian tomfoolery and modernity will have you splitting seams as you chuckle with Christmas cheer all through the nonsensical two hours of silliness they traffic across the stage.
Gobsmacked! By the rhythm of you! Gobsmacked! By what they can do! Mind blown! How do I react? Silenced by the impact! All true statements when it comes to the high-octane explosive acapella performance happening in The Eisenhower Theatre this weekend at The John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. Direct from London and led by the ferociously tenacious and fearlessly flawless beat-boxing legend, Ball-Zee— GOBSMACKED lands in time to pump up the volume,
Animals, animals, animals, animals. Animals, Animals, Animals, Animals. ANIMALS, ANIMALS, ANIMALS, ANIMALS! It’s all about those animals, well, actually, you see, it’s all about those wild and incredible animals that Jane Goodall will spend her life researching and understanding as she evolves into being a Naturalist. But first she’s got to eat her breakfast! Bring the whole family for a fun and thrilling adventurous musical all about young Jane Goodall, who would later in life grow to be one of the world’s most renowned Naturalists,
Ding Dong! Hello! My name is Elder Gunther and I would like to share with you— the most amazing musical. Ding Dong! Hello! My name is Elder Bloom; it’s a musical about America a long, long time ago— dating all the way back to 2011! It has so many awesome parts you won’t believe how much this musical can change your life! Ding Dong! Hello— we’re all going to die someday,
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,
What good is sitting alone in your room? Come hear the music play. Life is a cabaret, old chum! Come to the Cabaret! The Roundabout Theatre Company is pleased to give to you— and be sure to give it back when you’re finished with it— Kander and Ebb’s stunning Cabaret. Directed by BT McNicholl, this production is showing the nation’s capital that life is beautiful, the girls are beautiful,
To walk away you have to leave something behind. Be prepared to leave your judgements behind as you walk away from mainstream life and step into the glory, the glamour and pure wonderment that is Hedwig and The Angry Inch now appearing in the Eisenhower Theatre of The John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts this summer of 2017. Directed by Michael Mayer, with Musical Staging by Spencer Liff and Musical Direction by Justin Craig,
The hills are alive— with the sound of local talent! How delightful it is when local talent who grew up in the DMV area, and got their professional start in the district, returns to the nation’s capital on a national tour! In this TheatreBloom exclusive interview, we take just a quick moment to sit down with Austin Colby— of Richmond, VA and whose professional career got started in area regional theatres like Toby’s Dinner Theatre of Columbia and Signature Theatre— and discuss playing Rolf in the current national tour of Rogers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music.
Christ, you know you love it— Jesus Christ Superstar— what more do you need to convince you to come and see it at Signature Theatre? Perhaps a one-on-one interview with Awa Sal Secka, playing Simon Zealotes will do the trick! In this TheatreBloom exclusive one-on-one, we speak with Awa about the current production and her part in the show.
Thank you, Awa, for giving us your time! If you would just give a quick introduction of who you are and some of your DC credits,