Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Merry Wives Goes to Harlem and Gives Us a Side-Splitting Afrocentric Take on the Classic
Merry Wives
Shakespeare Theatre Company
Jordan Wright
September 16, 2025
 Felicia Curry (Madam Nkechi Ford) and Oneika Phillips (Madam Ekua Page) in ‘Merry Wives’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company. (Photo/Teresa Castracane Photography)
Take Shakespeare’s Merry Wives of Windsor and flip it on its head to reflect an African American neighborhood in New York’s Harlem. In Merry Wives, a re-imagining of the classic, a hair-braiding salon sits next to a coin-operated laundromat. In Scenic Designer Lawrence E. Moten III’s sets, brownstones replete with window air conditioner, bracket the commercial establishments and a NYC subway stop’s iconic green, wrought iron railings juts out from stage right – perfect for entrances and exits. It’s a jaw-dropping multi-level set that affords the cast of 14 to embrace the space.
If any of this sounds familiar, then you would have seen playwright, Jocelyn Bioh’s brilliant play Jaja’s African Hair Braiding Salon at Arena Stage last September which was as wildly hilarious and hilariously wild as Merry Wives.
If you don’t recall The Bard’s version, check out a synopsis of the plot to refresh your memory, because only some of the names are the same in this all-Black cast. Yes, there is Falstaff, and the two wives who Falstaff calls his “suga mamas” – Mistress Ford (‘Madam Nkechi’ Ford here) and Mistress Page (‘Madam Ekua’ Page here). You’ll remember Dr. Caius, Mistress Quickly (‘Mama’ Quickly here). Plus, Anne is here as well as Shallow, Sir Hugh Evans (‘Pastor’ Evans here) and Fenton. The husbands Mister Ford and Mister Page are named Mister ‘Nduka’ Ford (also playing the character ‘Brook’) and Mister ‘Kwame’ Page. Most of the classic characters are here, give it a minute and you’ll soon figure out who’s who in this remarkable cast in this side-splitting mash-up. At one point a character (who?) yells out “Jesus, take the wheel!” from the Carrie Underwood hit, and the audience dissolves into gales of laughter.
 Felicia Curry (Madam Nkechi Ford), Jordan Barbour (Doctor Caius), Nick Rashad Burroughs (Mister Nduka Ford), Sekou Laidlow (Pastor Evans), and JaBen Early (Mister Kwame Page). (Photo/Teresa Castracane Photography)
I swooned over the relationship between the wives who plot to get back at their husbands who’ve accuse them of cheating. “Let’s get to the revenge part!”, they plot in one of the many outrageous scenes inside the laundromat as the wives ham it up, falling all over each other in conspiratorial glee. Sisterhood at its best!
Jacob-Ming Trent, as the significantly rotund Falstaff, tickles with his self-deprecating asides, “I’m just like an old, fat Dumbledore,” he quips as he gets caught up in the wives’ shenanigans. The audience collapsed in hysterics.
 Jacob Ming-Trent (Falstaff) and Kelli Blackwell (Mama Quickly). (Photo/Teresa Castracane Photography)
Ivania Stack’s costumes reflect traditional African style side-by-side with 1970’s super fly street and leisure wear. I lost count of the numerous costume changes. Massive kudos to Taylor Reynolds’ direction, Ashleigh King’s choreography, Stack’s costumes and one of the best casts and cleverest shows so far this season.
Fair warning: Ghanian and Rastafarian accents sometimes befuddle as the familiar Early modern English dialogue is interwoven with modern urban street slang. Here hip-hop culture jibes with drumming, ancient African spirits and tribal dancing combine with hip-bumps and pop-locking.
Highly recommended!!! Absolutely fabulous!
 The cast of Merry Wives. (Photo/Teresa Castracane Photography)
With Bru Aju as Slender/Pistol; Jordan Barbour as Doctor Caius; Kelli Blackwell as Mama Quickly; Nick Rashad Burroughs as Mister Nduka Ford; Rebecca Celeste as Ensemble/Nafi; the divine Felicia Curry as Madam Nkechi Ford; the wondrous Oneika Phillips as Madam Ekua Page; JaBen Early as Mister Kwame Page; Latoya Edwards as Fenton/Simple; Sekou Laidlow as Pastor Evans; Peyton Rowe as Anne Page; Craig Wallace as Shallow; Ensemble member Shaka Zu.
Lighting Design by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew; Sound Design and Composition by Mikaal Sulaiman; Wig & Hair Design by Nikiya Mathis; Dialect & Voice Coach Dawn-Elin Fraser; Dramaturg Drew Lichtenberg.
Through October 5th at Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Harman Hall, 610 F Street, NW, Washington, DC 20004. For tickets and information call the box office at 202.547.1122 or visit www.ShakespeareTheatre.org
Caught Up in the Metaverse During an Election Year Warring Families Underpin This Brilliantly Reimagined Story of Romeo and Juliet at the Folger
Romeo and Juliet
Folger Theatre
Jordan Wright
October 13, 2024
 Cole Taylor as Romeo and Caro Reyes Rivera as Juliet (Photo/Erika Nizborski) Teenagers. What are you gonna to do? Do they listen? No. Do they get themselves in sticky situations? Count on it. In director Raymond Caldwell’s Romeo and Juliet, the lovers are living in the modern age – videos, Instagram, IPhones, laptops, texts, DMs, IMs, Facetime and the myriad of technologies that affect their every communication. In this fraught teenage metaverse, the story of their romance and relations between their feuding families plays out during an election year. And, uh oh, when the cellphone signal goes out at a crucial juncture, there are misunderstandings and missed calls, miscommunications and missed opportunities.
The clever backdrop features a dozen CCTV video screens filled with cross-talking characters delivering the latest news with the urgency of now. There’s an election afoot pitting the Capulets against the Montagues reflecting the power struggle between the two warring families. Sound familiar? Switch out the dates and the names and it could be today’s news. Caldwell urges audiences “to grapple with how wealth, class, substance abuse, mass media consumption, politics and tribalism shape our capacity for love and exacerbate violence.”
 Fran Tapia as Lady Capulet, Caro Reyes Rivera as Juliet, and Luz Nicolas as Nurse (Photo/Erika Nizborski) In this highly energized production jampacked with fast-moving pieces, the lovers meet at a political fundraising gala put on by Romeo’s father, Lord Montague (Todd Scofield). On the dance floor Romeo (Cole Taylor) is captivated by Juliet’s (Caro Reyes Rivera) hot disco moves and avidly pursues her. Though the theme is serious, and the fate of the lovers is… well, we already know that, still there are a lot of surprises framed by comedic mishaps and missteps lurking around every dangerous corner. While social media updates spool on video screens Romeo chugs from a flask checking out Juliet’s latest Facebook pics and Juliet snorts what can only be assumed to be cocaine. Kids using substances. What’s new? Paparazzi bear down on the scene underpinned by electronic music. Warriors clad in modern warfare gear engage in fierce knife fights of which there are several intense, utterly terrifying engagements impressively designed by Fight Choreographer, Robb Hunter.
Juliet, her mother, Lady Capulet (Fran Tapia) and the Nurse (Luz Nicolas who is outstanding) speak Spanish amongst each other, so if you don’t, though many in the audience did because they laughed faster than the rest of us, rolling translations are on the video screens. Think modern Latino telenovelas and you’ve got the idea.
 Alina Collins Maldonado as Tybalt, Fran Tapia as Lady Capulet, Todd Scofield as Lord Capulet, Luz Nicolas as Nurse, Deidra LaWan Starnes as Prince, John Floyd as Benvolio, Renee Elizabeth Wilson as Lady Montague, and Tony Nam as Lord Montague (Photo/Erika Nizborski) Scenes between the lovers are steamy. Times have changed in this telling and it’s full throttle for the amorous teens. I can’t begin to tell you what a fantastic cast has been assembled for this version. I was totally captivated by this fresh interpretation of the young romantics, their real-world problems coupled with the interference of their parents and friends – those who meant well and those who didn’t. Dramaturg Carla Della Gatta puts it this way, “This production is about the state of our lives – from inherited political ideologies and racial, homophobic, and cultural biases within a diverse community to linguistic differences between the first and second-generation immigrants to the mainland.”
A brilliantly fresh and innovative production. Highly recommended!
 Alina Collins Maldonado as Tybalt, Fran Tapia as Lady Capulet, Todd Scofield as Lord Capulet, Deidra LaWan Starnes as Prince, and Luz Nicolas as Nurse (Photo/Erika Nizborski) With Gabriel Alejandro as Paris; Brandon Carter as Friar Lawrence; Giovanna Alcântara Drummond as Mercutio; John Floyd as Benvolio; Alina Collins Maldonado as Tybalt; Tony Nam as Lord Montague; Deidra LaWan Starnes as Prince/Chorus; and Renee Elizabeth Wilson as Lady Montague.
Choreographed by Tiffany Quinn; Lighting Design by Alberto Segarra; Scenic Design by Jonathan Dahm Robertson; Sound Design and Composer Matthew M. Nielson; Costume Design by Jeannette Christensen; Projection Design by Kelly Colburn; Adaptor Caleen Sinnette Jennings; Resident Intimacy Director Kaja Dunn.
Through November 10th at Folger Shakespeare Theatre 201 East Capitol Street, SE, Washington, DC 20003. For tickets and information call the box office at 202 544-7007 or visit www.Folger.edu/theatre
Monumental Theatre’s Brilliant Production of American Psycho, the Musical, Taps Into the Twisted Mind of a Serial Killer
American Psycho
Monumental Theatre
Jordan Wright
July 12, 2024
 Kyle Dalsimer and the Cast of American Psycho (Photo/Christopher Mueller) Set in the financial center of New York City during the high-flying, coke-fueled 1980’s when young bucks ruled Wall Street, American Psycho personifies that high-flying era of über excess and inglorious greed within a corporate coliseum. Monumental Theatre turns this story into an immersive and highly sensory experience, seating the audience within mere feet of the action. For those familiar with the stage or film version, this is a far more intense experience. I had my doubts before going, but I can say it is one of the most memorably visceral productions I’ve ever seen.
 L-R Kyle Dalsimer, RJ Pavel, Jeremy Crawford, Stephen Russell Murray, and Carson Young (Photo/ Christopher Mueller) There is an immediacy of place as soon as you enter. The walls are covered with pleated plastic sheeting as in a crime scene and there is a bar serving cocktails. Red banquettes with small tables are positioned closest to the stage. (When you go online to purchase tickets, you can decide if you want to be close or in the risers.) A stunning and quite stylish DJ, Marika Countouris, overlooks the scene from a raised booth. She plays keyboard and grooves to the beat and handles the techno club music.
 Kyle Dalsimer (Photo/Christopher Mueller) Fair warning: There is blood and lots of it. The anti-hero, 26-year-old Patrick Bateman, is a serial killer extraordinaire – an obsessive-compulsive, label-obsessed (“You Are What You Wear”) freak and narcissist. He manifests as a sociopath with a grand plan for ridding the world of his competition, or in fact, anyone he disapproves of. Patrick has mommy issues, worships Donald Trump and has a fabulously wealthy girlfriend, Evelyn (Jordyn Taylor), who ignores his murderous rants and uses him as arm candy on her Hamptons’ weekend jaunts. This is a man who dreams of slaughter when his friends dream of mistletoe. As for his friends and co-workers, they’re far too busy clawing their way to the top to take him seriously. Only his secretary, Jean, whom he abuses daily, sticks with him. This is straight up crime drama set to music. It is both emotional and cerebral, and you can’t look away for a millisecond.
 The Cast of American Psycho (Photo/Christopher Mueller) As Patrick’s depersonalization of his world and his insatiable appetite for bloodlust increase, his ability to conjure new ways to murder becomes front of mind. Kyle Dalsimer is sensational in his portrayal of the frenzied serial killer. His performance is award-winning and riveting times a thousand. He is so utterly believable in the role I’d hate to be his real-life neighbor. The entire ensemble is tight. Their voices are like a fine choir so seamlessly do they blend in the ballads as well as the pop-rock numbers. Brilliantly directed by Michael Windsor, this production is a tour de force for this small but mighty theater company who have garnered 28 Helen Hayes Award nominations with two wins in their short nine years of operation.
Highly recommended, but not for the faint of heart!
 Kyle Dalsimer and Sarah Stewart (Photo/Christopher Mueller) With Noah Mutterperl as Paul et al, Jeremy Allen Crawford as Luis/et al, Carson Young as Van Patten/et al, Stephen Russell Murray as McDermott/et al, Kaeli Patchen as Jean, Sarah Stewart as Courtney /et al, Jessica Barraclough as Sabrina/et al, Valerie Nagel as Christine/et al, Sydne Lyons as Mrs. Bateman/et al, and Cam Powell and Deema Turkomani as swings.
Scenic Design by Michael Windsor and Laura Valenti, Music Design by Marika Countouris, Choreography by Ahmad Maaty, Lighting Design by Helen Garcia-Alton, Costume Design by Elizabeth Morton, Projection Design by Julian Kelley, Fight and Intimacy Direction by Bess Kaye, Dance Captain Jessica Barraclough, Albeton programming by Tobi Osibodu.
Through July 21st at Ainslie Arts Center, 3900 Braddock Road, Alexandria, VA 22302. For tickets visit www.MonumentalTheatre.org/American-Psycho
Kennedy Center to Celebrate MLK, JR.’s Legacy with Headliners
Nolan Williams Hosts MLK, Jr. Celebration in Song
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Jordan Wright
January 10, 2023
 (Photo/The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts) In a musical tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Kennedy Center will host a celebration of King’s legacy. As an integral part of the Center’s Millennium Stage performance series, the annual program, co-hosted by Georgetown University will feature a musical performance by Jordin Sparks, Nolan Williams, Jr. and Cécile McLorin Salvant accompanied by pianist Sullivan Joseph Fortner, Jr. and backed by the Let Freedom Ring Choir led by Music Producer, Nolan Williams, Jr.
Held in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, a highlight of the program will be William’s, Jr.’s “Rise Up and Fight”, a civic anthem composed to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Freedom Summer.
 Nolan Williams Jr. Nolan Williams, Jr. is best described as a creative force. An award-winning producer, music director, composer/lyricist, playwright, filmmaker, musicologist, and cultural curator, the multi-hyphenate Williams, Jr. has dedicated his professional career to creating works that illuminate issues of civil rights, social justice, and cultural curiosities. His body of work includes choral/orchestral works premiered by major American orchestras; music for television; the bestselling African American Heritage Hymnal (over 500,000 copies sold worldwide); songwriting credits on two Grammy®-nominated projects; arts and educational festivals produced in partnership with the Kennedy Center and Philadelphia’s Mann Center; cultural programming developed with the Smithsonian, U.S. State Department, and multiple embassies; video/documentary projects, including the star-studded viral video “I Have A Right To Vote” (over two million global media hits); “Becoming Douglass Commonwealth” (winner of ten media prizes); and a slate of theatrical productions, including his critically-hailed new musical Grace – winner of eleven 2022 Broadway World Washington, D.C. awards, including Best Musical and Best New Musical).
(Read my review of Grace here – https://whiskandquill.com/grace)
Local DC resident, Williams, Jr. is CEO of NEWorks Productions, a leading producer of impact-arts programming and entertainment since 2003. He has given musical leadership to this Let Freedom Ring concert since the same year.
In 2019, Williams, Jr. was named the Kennedy Center’s inaugural Social Practice Resident.
 Jordin Sparks Jordin Sparks is a Grammy® nominated, multi-platinum singer-songwriter and actress who, in one of the show’s highest-rated seasons, garnered worldwide attention as the winner of season six of American Idol. Cumulatively, Sparks’ popular singles have sold over 10 million digital tracks in the U.S. Sparks is also a gifted songwriter. Arianna Grande’s smash single, “The Way,” was co-written by Sparks and earned her a B.M.I. songwriting award. She has toured with superstars Britney Spears, Alicia Keys, The Jonas Brothers, New Kids on The Block, and the Backstreet Boys and headlined her own tour.
Sparks has garnered two B.E.T. Awards, one American Music Award, and one People’s Choice Award, and has been nominated for two MTV Awards and a Grammy®. She made her Broadway debut starring in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway smash, In the Heights, and made her film debut playing the lead role in the SONY Pictures film Sparkle, opposite the legendary Whitney Houston. Sparks‘s positive body image, message, and success have impacted people worldwide. She considers philanthropy an integral part of her life and was recently profiled by CNN Heroes and Dress for Success for her charity work.
She has since returned to the Broadway stage as the lead in the TONY® award-winning Waitress with music by Sara Bareilles, to critical acclaim, and Executive-Produced and starred in Hallmark’s, A Christmas Treasure. She is a sought-after successful social media influencer due to her impressive social media following. She has also successfully transitioned into network broadcasting hosting/co-hosting on some of television’s most iconic programs, such as NBC.‘s TODAY Show, ABC.’s Good Morning America, ABC.’s The View, CBS.’ The Talk, PBS’ Great Performances (with John Lithgow), amongst others. She currently holds the position of Governor of the LA Chapter of the Recording Academy (GRAMMYS).
Sparks released two previous albums in 2020. “Sounds Like Me,” and her first-ever Christmas album, “Cider & Hennessy.” She received a Dove, Billboard, and Grammy nomination in 2023 for her #1 single with For King & Country, “Love Me Like I Am”, and released the single, “Call My Name” along with her latest single, “Candy Cane Lane”.
 Cécile McLorin Salvant Cécile McLorin Salvant is a composer, singer, and visual artist. The late Jessye Norman described Salvant as “a unique voice supported by an intelligence and full-fledged musicality, which light up every note she sings.” Salvant has developed a passion for storytelling and finding the connections between vaudeville, blues, folk traditions from around the world, theater, jazz, and baroque music. Salvant is an eclectic curator, unearthing rarely recorded, forgotten songs with strong narratives, interesting power dynamics, unexpected twists, and humor. Salvant won the Thelonious Monk competition in 2010. She has received Grammy Awards® for Best Jazz Vocal Album for three consecutive albums, “The Window”, “Dreams and Daggers”, and “For One To Love”. In 2020, Salvant received the MacArthur Fellowship and the Doris Duke Artist Award. Salvant released her debut Nonesuch Records release “Ghost Song” in 2022; the album went on to receive two Grammy® nominations. Mélusine, an album mostly sung in French, along with Occitan, English, and Haitian Kreyòl, was released on March 24, 2023, and has now been nominated for two Grammy® Awards.
 Anna Deavere Smith The program will feature musical performances by Jordin Sparks, music producer and commissioned composer Nolan Williams, Jr., Cécile McLorin Salvant, pianist Sullivan Joseph Fortner, Jr., Anna Deavere Smith, Rodrick Dixon, Rayshun LaMarr, Benjamin H. Moore, and John Riddle.
In addition, Georgetown University will present the annual John Thompson Jr. Legacy of a Dream Award to Reginald L. Douglas, Artistic Director of Mosaic Theater Company of DC. The aim of Reginald L. Douglas and Mosaic Theater is to use theater to build community and foster change. The award is given by Georgetown University to a local individual who exemplifies the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Mosaic Theater Company produces bold, culturally diverse theater that illuminates critical issues, elevates fresh voices, and sparks connections among communities throughout the D.C. region and beyond.
Mosaic’s innovative education and engagement programming provides opportunities for community members of all ages and backgrounds to engage more deeply with the themes of Mosaic’s plays. As a national leader in new play development work, Mosaic serves as an incubator for stories often untold on U.S. stages. Mosaic is committed to investing in artists and advancing equity practices, which has garnered national attention and served as a model for other theaters.
In its first eight seasons, Mosaic has produced over 10 world premiere plays (with more underway), engaged nearly 4,500 students across all eight wards of D.C. through educational initiatives, programmed over 700 panel discussions and conversations, and commissioned or developed over 30 plays and musicals.
Mosaic has received the John Aniello Award for Outstanding Emerging Theatre Company, and in 2022, Mosaic received 11 Helen Hayes nominations, including three for “Outstanding New Play”.
As part of Georgetown University’s MLK Initiative: Let Freedom Ring! the event builds on the success of the first joint program in January 2003, which featured the legendary Roberta Flack and attracted more than 5,000 patrons. The second, held in August of 2003, commemorated the 40th anniversary of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, and featured actor and civil rights leader, Ossie Davis. Past concerts have featured Jessye Norman in 2004; Aaron Neville in 2005; Yolanda Adams in 2006 and 2016; Brian McKnight in 2007; Denyce Graves in 2008; Aretha Franklin in 2009; India. Arie in 2010; Patti LaBelle in 2011; Bobby McFerrin in 2012; Smokey Robinson in 2013; Dionne Warwick in 2014; Natalie Cole in 2015; Gladys Knight in 2017; Vanessa Williams in 2018; and Audra McDonald and Brian Stokes Mitchell in 2019, Chaka Khan in 2020 and Leslie Odom Jr. in 2023.
The event will occur on Monday, January 15, 2024, at 6:00 p.m. in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F Street, NW, Washington, DC 20566.
The ticket giveaway begins January 15 at 4:30 p.m. at the Hall of Nations and will be limited to two tickets per person. This performance will be captioned. If you or a member of your party requires accessible seating or seats in the captioned section, please notify staff when you reach the front of the ticket distribution line. This performance will also be live-streamed on the Kennedy Center’s Facebook and YouTube pages and its website at www.kennedy-center.org.
Remote Warfare Clashes with Humanity in Grounded at the Kennedy Center
Grounded
Washington National Opera
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Jordan Wright
October 31, 2023
Special to The Zebra
 Mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo (center) plays Jess (Photo Credit/Scott Suchman) When a young, female top gun returns to the Air Force after raising a child on her husband’s Wyoming ranch, she finds the war game has changed dramatically since her eight years of flying F-16s. Grounded soon finds Major Jess sitting indoors in an ersatz cockpit making life and death decisions with a joystick. In this setting, remote warfare is conducted by the “chair force” – a couple of young gamers who are better suited to playing video games on the sofa. Although she dearly misses her days of dodging aircraft volleys from 36,000 feet in the sky, her husband, Eric (Joseph Dennis), is thrilled she’ll be at home each night after 12-hour shifts trailing convoys and suspicious vehicles in Iraq from the safety of a Las Vegas military base. Split screens in real time follow and target who the crew call “the guilty”.
 Willa Cook (left) plays Sam; tenor Joseph Dennis (right) plays Eric (Photo Credit/Scott Suchman) This phenomenal opera is like nothing you have ever witnessed. It combines 3-D rock concert-level visual projections with a story about computerized modern warfare. The set is made up entirely of LED panels to emphasize how the world of Grounded is inundated with digital images. The libretto is unique and contemporary – melodic and often atonal in an alluring way. And there is a romantic, and deeply human element in Jess (Emily D’Angelo) and Eric’s love story – a dichotomy against the backdrop of decisions made by proxy. If you’ve ever seen the brilliant movie Eye in the Sky starring Helen Mirren, you’ll understand how these drones, flying 10,000 feet above enemy planes, have the advantage of superseding all other aircraft. The digital technology of the production equals the story of how this detached type of warfare has replaced all human interconnectivity.
As Jess romanticizes the power her uniform gives her, the chorus, also in flight suits, stands at attention on an angled stage that is spilt horizontally. Her small apartment is revealed beneath where she lives with Eric and child, Sam (Willa Cook). That cozy set switches out to become a local bar where the flyboys carouse. In an ironic twist, where death and destruction reign, Jess finds her inability to leave warfare and its accompanying stress with the “Kill Chain” drone operators, overlapping into her home life.
 A scene from Grounded in the Kennedy Center Opera House (Photo Credit/Scott Suchman) Author of over 30 plays and musicals, George Brant, created this piece as a play before joining forces with two-time Tony Award-winning Composer Jeanine Tesori. Commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera, it is a radical departure from classical opera – in a good way. The audience was mostly young with some avid military folks. As I was walking up the aisle to the lobby at intermission, I heard an older gentleman turn to an audience member and say, “I only go to classical opera, but this is fantastic!” That seemed to be the reaction of the entire audience at this extraordinary world premiere.
Joined by the Washington National Opera Orchestra conducted by Daniela Candillari and the Washington National Opera Chorus, this thoroughly mind-and-musical immersive production will rock your world. If opera continues to source from new composers and new playwrights to tell a contemporary story that is both highly visual and deeply moving, I truly believe that opera will extend its reach to a younger audience… and it must do exactly that to survive into the next generation of audiences.
Highly recommended!!! This production is the talk of the town! I am flinging rating stars around like candy on Halloween.
 A scene from Grounded in the Kennedy Center Opera House (Photo Credit/Scott Suchman) Composer Jeanine Tesori; Librettist George Brant; Director Michael Mayer; Choreographer David Neumann; Set Designer Mimi Lien; Costume Designer Tom Broecker; Lighting Designer Kevin Adams; Projection Designers Kaitlyn Pietras and Jason H. Thompson; Sound Designer Palmer Hefferan; and Dramaturg Paul Cremo.
With Morris Robinson as Commander; Frederick Ballentine as Trainer; Kyle Miller as Sensor; Teresa Perrotta as Also Jess; Michael Butler as Kill Chain: Mission Coordinator; Joshua Dennis as Kill Chain: Ground Control; Rob McGinness as Kill Chain: Joint Terminal Attack Controller; Jonathan Patton as Kill Chain: Safety Observer; and Sergio Martínez as Kill Chain: Judge Advocate General.
Through November 13th at the Kennedy Center, 2700 F Street, NW, Washington, DC 20566. For tickets and information call the box office at 202 467-4600 or visit www.Kennedy-Center.org.
A Farmer’s Wife Finds Passion and Purpose in America’s Heartland in The Bridges of Madison County at Signature Theatre
The Bridges of Madison County
August 20, 2023
Signature Theatre
Jordan Wright
Special to The Zebra
 Mark Evans (Robert Kincaid) and Erin Davie (Francesca Johnson) (Photo by Daniel Rader) Readers will remember Robert James Waller’s wildly successful 1992 best-selling novel on which Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Marsha Norman bases this 2013 musical adaptation and followed the eponymous 1995 film starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood. With music and lyrics by the brilliant composer, Jason Roberts Brown, it garnered two Tony Awards for Best Score and Best Orchestrations in 2014.
Coming off his recent success with Pacific Overtures, Signature Theatre’s recently appointed Associate Artistic Director Ethan Heard directs this sweeping love story focusing on the indelible integrity of the score performed by its two leads, Erin Davie as the beautiful Francesca Johnson and Mark Evans as her lover, Robert Kincaid.
 Rayanne Gonzales (Marge) and Christopher Bloch (Charlie) (Photo by Daniel Rader) The story is set in America’s heartland where iconic covered bridges can still be found and where Robert’s National Geographic assignment leads him to Winterset, Iowa to find and photograph all six of them. Francesca, a post-war Neapolitan transplant to America is married to “Bud” Johnson (Cullen R. Titmas) and the farming couple have two children, Michael (Nolan Montgomery) and Carolyn (Julia Wheeler Lennon). When Francesca begs off a family trip to Davenport for the Iowa State Fair, she revels in her solitude and friendship with neighbors, Marge (Rayanne Gonzalez) and Charlie (Christopher Bloch) in “You’re Never Alone”. Soon she is very much not alone when hot and hunky Robert turns into her driveway to ask directions to one of the covered bridges. In “What Do You Call a Man Like That?” she reveals stirrings of a fire she had tamped down after 18 years of marriage. Their subsequent 4-day forbidden love affair is a story of intense passion and the sexual reawakening of a woman who sacrificed her emotional needs to devote herself to farm and family.
 Marina Pires (State Fair Singer) and the cast of The Bridges of Madison County at Signature Theatre. (Photo by Daniel Rader) Davie’s and Evans’ perfectly complementing voices prove irresistible in Brown’s lush score. Their duets on “Get Closer/Falling Into You” and “Before and After You/A Million Miles” are magical. And I was pleasantly delighted by Marina Pires who holds multiple roles as Marian, Chiara, State Fair Singer, Ginny and Waitress. Her delivery of “Another Life” is outstanding.
Between the rapturous love scenes on a quilt-covered brass bed, neighbors Marge and Charlie provide the levity as they examine their own marriage and their indelible connection to each other. Yes, marriage takes a healthy dose of humor!
Backed by Conductor William Yanesh’s 12-piece orchestra, this moving musical will steal your heart.
Music Directed by Laura Berquist; Choreography by Kelly Crandall d’Amboise; Scenic Design by Lee Savage; Costume Design by Kathleen Geldard; Lighting Design by Jesse Belsky; Sound Design by Eric Norris.
Highly recommended.
 Mark Evans (Robert Kincaid) and Erin Davie (Francesca Johnson) (Photo by Daniel Rader) Through September 18th at Signature Theatre in Shirlington Village, 4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington, VA 22206. For tickets and information call the box office at 703 820-9771 or visit www.SigTheatre.org.
|
