Washington, DC Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 10

Review: LEND ME A SOPRANO at Olney Theatre Center
by Peter Rouleau - February 12, 2024

Olney Theatre Center's Roberts Mainstage is presenting Ken Ludwig's 'Lend Me a Soprano' through March 10. This is a reimagining (by the author) of Ludwig's Tony-winning farce 'Lend Me a Tenor,' a staple of professional, community, and school theatres nationwide...which I've somehow never seen.  As t...

Review: THE SENSATIONAL SEA MINK-ETTES World Premiere at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
by Morgan Musselman - February 12, 2024

With the big Homecoming performance around the corner, the Sea Mink-ettes must battle malfunctioning facilities, tiring bodies, rising tempers… and a supernatural shift in reality. Vivian J.O. Barnes’ THE SENSATIONAL SEA MINK-ETTES, premiering at Woolly Mammoth through March 3, is a wholly unique sh...

Review: ALVIN AILEY - PROGRAM B at Opera House at The Kennedy Center
by Emily Berger - February 11, 2024

Thursday’s Ailey performance of Program B featured Century, a new work by Amy Hall Garner, her first for the company, 2019’s Ode by former company member Jamar Roberts, and Mr. Ailey’s juggernaut Revelations. ...

Review: THE VICTORIAN LADIES' DETECTIVE COLLECTIVE at Washington Stage Guild
by Ken Kemp - February 09, 2024

There's murder and mayhem afoot at Washington Stage Guild (and a fair amount of mirth, too) in the area premier of Patricia Milton's The Victorian Ladies' Detective Collective, a fun and lighthearted addition to the whodunnit genre with a decidedly feminist twist....

Review: THIS MUCH I KNOW at Theater J
by David Friscic - February 08, 2024

What an odd thing the human mind is! –for it can make false assumptions, construct facile rationalizations, and rely on preconceived notions---as the audience soon finds out through the alternately clever, character-driven, and coiling convolutions of Theater J’s east coast premiere of the play This...

Review: ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER at The John F. Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts - Program A
by Emily Berger - February 08, 2024

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s annual run at The Kennedy Center is consistently a highlight of the winter season, and this year is no exception. This year the company brings three programs to D.C., all including Mr. Ailey’s 1960 classic Revelations, representing the best of recent revivals and...

Review: Stephen Sondheim's MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG at Keegan Theatre
by Mary Lincer - February 06, 2024

What did our critic think of MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG at Keegan Theatre?...

Review: LAS HERMANAS PALACIOS (THE PALACIOS SISTERS) at GALA Hispanic Theatre
by Roger Catlin - February 06, 2024

The biggest drama at the GALA Hispanic Theatre this year didn’t happen on stage; it was the $250,000 that was stolen when its bank account was hacked and drained, threatening the long-serving Spanish-language performance space as its 50th anniversary approached....

Review: SHUTTER SISTERS at 1st STAGE
by Jake Bridges - February 05, 2024

What did our critic think of SHUTTER SISTERS at 1st STAGE?...

Review: THE GIRL WHO BECAME LEGEND at The Kennedy Center
by Jennifer Muscato - February 05, 2024

The musical The Girl Who Became Legend showcases the strength and bravery of a young girl, the power of big dreams and even addresses the topical issue of book banning....

Review: NEXT TO NORMAL at Round House Theatre
by David Friscic - February 01, 2024

The painful slow journey for understanding as to what normalcy or perceived sanity is --when a family member is suffering from bipolar illness--- is explored with heartbreaking poignancy, almost brutal honesty and with deadpan caustic humor in the musical Next to Normal. Now playing at Bethesda’s Ro...

Review: Audra McDonald in Concert with The National Symphony Orchestra at Kennedy Center Concert Hall
by Mary Lincer - January 31, 2024

Audra McDonald has (at least) four voices--Broadway, jazz, opera, blues--not to mention six Tonys. She brought them all (the voices, not the awards) to her two hour concert with the National Symphony Pops which repeats Wednesday evening, January 31. ...

Review: TICK, TICK ...BOOM! at John F. Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts
by Pamela Roberts - January 31, 2024

Tick, tick …BOOM! is a raw and moving semi-autobiographical musical by Rent's Jonathan Larson. The Kennedy Center revisits the work with a spiffy new Broadway Center Stage production directed by Neil Patrick Harris and brings together three of Broadway’s most exciting and award-winning talents: Bran...

Review: MINDPLAY at Arena Stage
by Ken Kemp - January 27, 2024

This moving blend of engrossing theatre, vulnerable storytelling and masterful illusions is must see theatre....

Review: ANNIE at Broadway at the National
by Peter Rouleau - January 25, 2024

A pleasantly diverting spectacle....

Review: A COMMEDIA ROMEO AND JULIET at Faction Of Fools Theatre Company
by Roger Catlin - January 24, 2024

Commedia dell’Arte was a theatrical style that developed in Italy more than 450 years ago. Intended for the lower classes, with exuberant physical movement, improvisation, lots of masks and stock characters like the Harlequin and Pulcinella, it was a celebratory perfect for the carnivale circuit....

Review: AMERICAN OPERA INITIATIVE: Three 20-Minute Operas at Kennedy Center
by Roger Catlin - January 23, 2024

What did our critic think of AMERICAN OPERA INITIATIVE: THREE 20-MINUTE OPERAS at Kennedy Center?...

Review: To Steve With Love: Liz Callaway Celebrates Sondheim at Kennedy Center
by David Friscic - January 23, 2024

Liz Callaway embodies and breathes the essence of Stephen Sondheim. In the very personal and professional tribute concert To Steve With Love: Liz Callaway Celebrates Sondheim, there is an utter fusion of the performer’s love and respect for her musical mentor and the choice and intimate presentation...

Review: NUNSENSE A-MEN! at NextStop Theatre
by Tavish Young - January 22, 2024

On January 20th, NextStop Theatre Company premiered their production of Nunsense A-Men!, directed by Andrew Regiec....

Review: THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR: NOVA Y. PAYTON SINGS BURT BACHARACH at Signature Theatre
by David Friscic - January 20, 2024

Nova Y. Payton breathed fresh air, sassy jazz elements and sublime, variegated vocals into the world of the legendary composer Burt Bacharach in an innovative and musically invigorating evening of cabaret. Entitled That’s What Friends Are For:  Nova Y. Payton Sings Burt Bacharach, this cabaret was y...

Review: LOVE LOVE LOVE at Studio Theatre
by Roger Catlin - January 16, 2024

British playwright Mike Bartlett, born in 1980, takes up the legacy of London’s swinging 60s in his play Love Love Love currently running in a sharp, well-acted production at Studio Theatre....

Review: HOW TO BE A KOREAN WOMAN at Theater J
by Roger Catlin - January 09, 2024

Like many adoptees when they reach adulthood, Sun Mee Chomet had a desire to find her biological parent....

Review: FROZEN at Kennedy Center
by Roger Catlin - December 26, 2023

The nationally traveling version of the Broadway musical has made its Washington premiere at the Kennedy Center and is already attracting large crowds of adults and many children, some of which are attired in the costumes of its lead characters Elsa and Anna (though mostly Elsa)....

Review: THE TALE OF THE FISHERMAN AND THE GOLDEN FISH At Synetic Theater
by Naomi Ducat - December 16, 2023

The Tale of the Fisherman and the Golden Fish, a Synetic Theater production, is a whimsical, family friendly production that will leave you feeling enchanted and charmed....

Review: GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY At The Kennedy Center
by Peter Rouleau - December 16, 2023

An interesting and engaging interpretation of the work of one of the most consequential American songwriters....