Jordan Wright
January 13, 2018
 Richard Thomas, Therese Plaehn, Pamela Reed, Lauren Klein, Daisy Eagan, and Luis Veda in the national tour of The Humans. Photo by Julieta Cervantes Stephen Karam’s The Humans takes a deep dive into the zeitgeist of the modern middle-class American family where there is much to recognize and even more to ponder. The Blake Family are a caring and tolerant lot, more progressive than their Scranton roots might have ou think. They tenderly care for their wheelchair-bound Momo, the family matriarch, who suffers from acute Alzheimer’s, their gay daughter Aimee, their unmarried daughter Brigid (Daisy Egan) and her social worker boyfriend Richard (Luis Vega), and, what may be even more surprising, they are willing to look away from their father Erik’s career-destroying adultery. What they are not accepting of is how their lost jobs and mounting debt are affecting their future happiness.
As the family gathers around the Thanksgiving table at Brigid and Rich’s recently rented rundown duplex, they appear to be anything but dysfunctional as they exchange gifts and speak in pleasantries and platitudes. Soon though, Aimee (Therese Plaehn), a successful attorney, goes into total meltdown. She’s lost both her job and her girlfriend. To temper the drama there is much dark humor as Momo (Lauren Klein) interrupts with repeated outbursts and foul curses, while Brigid and Rich do their best to explain away the bars on the windows and the cockroaches in the bedroom.
As a deeply Irish Catholic family, they embrace one another’s failings with grace. Deirdre (Pamela Reed), a mother whose schadenfreude extends to musings on lesbians, AIDS, and cancer, keeps up a cheerful front to jolly everyone along.
The play’s suspense derives from a curious cacophony emanating from an upstairs Asian neighbor. What can we draw from that? Does it signify the random incremental erosion of the status quo? Or is it related to Erik and Rich’s talk of dreams and monsters? Talk that seems to affirm the unpredictability of their future. Even the traditional celebratory peppermint pigs, cracked at a table to signify thankfulness, cannot keep out the unknown. “We just have a lot of stoic sadness,” Aimee opines
Director Joe Mantello brings together a superbly flawless cast. Richard Thomas shines as the darkly complex father, Erik, in this compelling and empathetic American dramedy that examines the universal human condition.
A multiple Tony-Award winning play, it is highly recommended.
Through January 28th in the Eisenhower Theatre at The Kennedy Center, 2700 F St., NW, Washington, DC. For tickets and information call 202 467-4600 or purchase them online.
Jordan Wright
January 11, 2018
 Christie Prades as Gloria Estefan and Company ~ Photo credit Matthew Murphy When the original ten-piece Miami Sound Machine is banging out a full-on Latin beat smack dab onstage and bringing sizzling hot salsa rhythms and house party funk, you can party like it’s 1985, the year the group’s huge crossover hit “Conga” soared to the top of the Billboard pop charts.
 Entering the theatre Emilio and Gloria Estefan graciously greet fans ~ Photo credit Jordan Wright It didn’t mitigate the excitement that the show’s producers Gloria and Emilio Estefan were in the house last night driving the on-their-feet audience wild with cheers and selfies. But when it comes right down to it, it’s her story. Their story. A universal story of hopeful immigrants everywhere, that bonds us to their triumphs and tragedies in this electrifying musical.
 Christie Prades (Gloria Estefan), Mauricio Martinez (Emilio Estefan), Danny Burgos and Omar Lopez-Cepero ~ Photo credit Matthew Murphy On Your Feet! tells the story of 26-time Grammy Award-winning pop singer/songwriter Gloria Estefan and her producer/husband Emilio and their sensational rise to fame. In spite of a talent agent who blocked the act from crossing over into mainstream American pop and a record company who wouldn’t allow them to sing in English, the pair did an end-run around discrimination by directly approaching local DJ’s and dance clubs where their beat-driven music had an immediate fan base. “See this face?” Emilio demands of his agent. “This is an American!” With this line, the audience broke into instantaneous and sympathetic applause. After all, it’s kill DACA season and we feel their pain.
 Mauricio Martinez as Emilio Estefan, Christie Prades as Gloria Estefan and Devon Goffman as Phil the Agent ~ Photo credit Matthew Murphy The “jukebox musical”, as these throwback rock musicals are familiarly called (though one wonders if anyone from that era has ever played a jukebox), depicts the Estefans as children leaving on the “Pedro Pan” flights from Cuba in the early 60’s – flights that brought families from Havana to Miami from the fresh hell that was Batista’s revolution – and settling into the burgeoning Cuban community in Miami. Emilio hears Gloria sing and invites her to join his band, the Miami Latin Boys to gig weddings, bar mitzvahs and quinceañeras. To her mother’s dismay, Gloria joins the band. Even a mother’s wishes can’t hold back her teenager’s dreams or her talent.
 Nancy Ticotin as Gloria Fajardo and Company ~ Photo credit Matthew Murphy Flashbacks include Havana’s Montmartre Club and her mother’s truncated career as a nightclub singer, her Vietnam vet father José’s (Jason Martinez) tragic end, and little Gloria’s fondness for her grandmother (Alma Cuervo) and her guitar. The story charts the pop star’s meteoric success and the near career-ending tragedy of the car accident that left her unable to perform for months. It’s a deeply personal story that parallels artists’ dreams and immigrants’ aspirations.
Colored by the aqua and hot pink colors made popular by Miami Vice, it stars Christie Prades and Mauricio Martinez (from the original Broadway cast) as Gloria and Emilio. The Tony Award-winning musical includes many of Gloria’s greatest hits in 26 numbers from “Live for Loving You”, “Get on Your Feet” and “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You”, to heart-melting ballads like “Don’t Wanna Lose You” and “Here We Are”. 80’s period costumes by Emilio Sosa and Cuba-evoking sets by David Rockwell, the band is joined by three additional musicians from the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra.
Filled with uplifting sparkle. Get ready to party Latin-style!
Highly recommended for the whole family.
Through January 21st in the Opera House at The Kennedy Center, 2700 F St., NW, Washington, DC. For tickets and information call 202 467-4600 or visit www.Kennedy-Center.org.
 Company of the National Tour ~ Photo credit Matthew Murphy
Kennedy Center
Jordan Wright
December 15, 2017
 An American in Paris in USA – Photo credit by Matthew Murphy Ballet buffs and George and Ira Gershwin enthusiasts will adore Director/Choreographer Christopher Wheeldon’s film-to-stage homage of An American in Paris. Wheeldon successfully recaptures the mid-century modernist style of dance that Kelly created for the eponymous 1951 classic. The movie garnered six top Academy Awards and gave Kelly his one and only Oscar. In this multiple Tony Award-winning interpretation, Craig Lucas has freshened up both the story and the dialogue to appeal to millennials, mad for anything Parisian.
 Allison Walsh and McGee Maddox ~ Photo by Matthew Murphy Set in post-war Paris it is a story of three men enamored with the captivating, Lise (Allison Walsh), an aspiring ballerina whose backstory touches on France’s Nazi occupation. Jerry Mulligan (McGee Maddox), an American GI and amateur painter who, like many other soldiers, stayed behind in the City of Light, soon bonds with budding composer and jazz pianist, Adam Hoch (Matthew Scott), an American Jew who survived the war and stayed on with the intention of writing a ballet about it. Adam makes a few francs mentoring Henri Baurel (Ben Michael), a well-to-do society gent keen on a career as a song-and-dance man in America. All three pals are unaware that the others are in love with Lise.
 Ben Michael, McGee Maddox and Matthew Scott – Photo by Matthew Murphy There are disparate, sometimes awkward elements in the stage version that can sometimes feel as though it was produced by an ad hoc committee. The debonair insouciance we remember fondly of Kelly goes missing, yet the salient parts – the wonderful dancing, Bob Crowley’s seamless Parisian set designs, as well as his 1940’s costumes, are superb. Milo Davenport (Kirsten Scott), Jerry’s American sugar momma and arts patron, wows in an emerald green gown reminiscent of the period.
 Kristen Scott and Matthew Scott – Photo by Matthew Murphy If you love arabesques, multi-revolution pirouettes, dancing en pointe, lofty lifts and leaps, you will fall hard for Maddox and Walsh, who seem cloud-like and gravity-defiant. After a slew of hip rolls and high kicks in a nightclub can-can, comes Jerry and Lise’s 18-minute pas de deux finale that will cause you to dismiss any less than stellar moments. Crowley again delivers with Mondrian color-block leotards echoing the abstract minimalist movement of the period.
A twenty-person dance ensemble delights as feather-bedecked Follies girls (Henri’s show biz fantasy tapdanced in tails and high hats), in Grecian tableaus at a salon reception given by Henri’s staid maman, Madame Baurel (Teri Hansen), and in the many jazz ballet numbers.
And harder you may fall for David Andrew Rogers’ soaring orchestra backing songs like “I Got Rhythm”, “S Wonderful”, “The Man I Love”, “Shall We Dance”, “They Can’t Take That Away From Me”, and twelve other somewhat lesser known Gershwin tunes that dovetail neatly into the plot.
Through January 7, 2018 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts at 2700 F St., NW, Washington, DC. For tickets and information call 202 467-4600 or visit website.
Jordan Wright
September 15, 2017
Special to The Alexandria Times
For one night only, some of Broadway’s leading lights will captivate audiences with the iconic American composer’s greatest hits. Bernstein on Broadway launches the year-long international centennial celebration of Leonard Bernstein with the opening weekend of Leonard Bernstein at 100, a celebration of the Leonard Bernstein’s musical contributions to American theatre.
 (l-r) Mikaela Bennett – Santino Fontana – Matthew Hydzik – Photo credit Kennedy Center Three-time Tony Award-winning Director Kathleen Marshall and Music Director Musical Rob Fisher, will lead Mikaela Bennett (The Golden Apple at Encores!), Santino Fontana (Cinderella, Act One), Matthew Hydzik (the Kennedy Center production of Side Show), Norm Lewis (Porgy and Bess), Beth Malone (Fun Home), and Laura Osnes (Bandstand, Cinderella) in an extraordinary evening of Bernstein’s music for the theater. Joining them will be an ensemble of Broadway triple-threats including Max Clayton, Kim Fauré, Keven Quillon, Shina Ann Morris, Brandon Rubendall, Samantha Sturm, Erica Sweany, and Anthony Wayne.
 (l-r) Norm Lewis – Beth Malone – Laura Osnes – Photo Credit Kennedy Center The sensational production will feature a lush 40-piece orchestra and the acclaimed Choral Arts Society of Washington as more than 75 performers fill the Eisenhower Theater with the unforgettable music of West Side Story, Wonderful Town, and Candide. The performance will also include the irresistibly tuneful score and dancing from On the Town, as well as selections from Bernstein’s Mass, originally commissioned by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis for the opening of the Kennedy Center in 1971.
Don’t miss it!
This Friday, September 22, 2017 at 8:00pm in the Eisenhower Theater at 2700 F St., NW, Washington, DC. For tickets and information call 202 467-4600 or visit www.Kennedy-Center.org.
Jordan Wright
July 22, 2017
 The Cast of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s The King and I. Photo credit Matthew Murphy Under the expert direction of Barlett Sher we allow ourselves to be transported to the magic and majesty of the Kingdom of Siam. It’s 1862 and the King (as played by Jose Llana) is fearful of France taking over his kingdom as learns they have done in Cambodia. To prove his British-ruled country is worldly wise, he employs Anna Leonowens (Laura Michelle Kelly) a charming British schoolteacher to educate his extended family. Recently widowed and accompanied by her young son, Louis (Graham Montgomery), the story begins with Anna and Louis arriving into Bangkok harbor. It’s a breathtaking opening scene featuring an enormous wooden ship against the background of a fiery sunset and a scene of Siamese villagers going about their daily tasks in silhouette – figures toting baskets hung on poles and sporting coolie hats. The menacing King’s guards arrive to terrify the locals into submission. Cue the kowtowing – an issue we will see addressed by Anna and Prince Chulalonghorn (Kavin Panmeechao) later in the story.
 Laura Michelle Kelly as Anna and the Royal Children. Photo credit Matthew Murphy Anna is soon greeted by Kralahome (Brian Rivera) the king’s aide, an intimidating figure who tells her the King’s instructions demand they live in the palace rather than a separate house. “The King doesn’t always remember what he promises,” the King smugly pronounces upon their meeting. This is the plot device that sets Anna and the King at sixes and nines as Anna strives to get her footing in a household filled with the King’s many children and favorite wives, most especially Lady Thiang (Joan Almedilla) and the beautiful, star-crossed Tuptim (Manna Nichols). But it’s Anna’s sense of propriety, anti-slavery stance and insistence on female equality that especially trips her up with the King. “I believe women are just as important as men,” she asserts. The most hilarious moments derive from their contretemps.
Meanwhile the King in his “puzzlement”, as he refers to his indecision, compares his predicaments with that of Western world leaders. “What would Lincoln do? What would Queen Victoria do?” he asks Anna whose advice he begrudgingly seeks as their love for each other grows deeper.
 Manna Nichols and Kavin Parmeechao. Photo credit Matthew Murphy This outstanding musical provides a rich tapestry of emotional connection and unrequited love framed by sumptuous costumes ranging from Anna’s Victorian hoop-skirted silk dresses to lavishly encrusted golden chada hats and jewel-toned silks by designer Catherine Zuber. Choreography that includes Thai dancing and intricate ballet, as well as Anna and the King’s waltz is by Christopher Gatelli and Greg Zane and faithfully based on Jerome Robbins’ original dance sequences. The sets by Michael Yeargan, plus a mega-sized golden Buddha, are designed to blow your socks off. And they do. One of the most spectacular scenes is Tuptim’s play set to Harriet Beecher Stowe’s historic story “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, here called “The Small House of Uncle Thomas”. It is a rich tale performed in traditional Thai ballet and elaborate costume and written by the lovelorn maiden to bring awareness to the country’s treatment of women as slaves.
 Laura Michelle Kelly and Jose Llana. Photo credit Matthew Murphy There are so many powerful voices and goose-bump solos it’s hard to know who to single out. Naturally Kelly as Anna, Almedilla as Lady Thiang, Nichols as Tuptim, and Llana as the King of Siam, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera as the King is fond of saying. Of course, you’ll revel in the sweeping score with classic songs like “I Whistle a Happy Tune”, “Hello Young Lovers”, “Getting to Know You”, “Something Wonderful” and “Shall We Dance” as the most memorable. And the royal children are so endearing, we awaited their entrances at every turn.
Brought here by the wildly successful national touring company, Ambassador Theatre Group, this production is top drawer. My plus one and I reveled in memories of the first Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway blockbuster starring Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr and weren’t disappointed by this faithful reprise for a New York minute.
Highly recommended for the whole family.
Through August 20th in the Opera House at The Kennedy Center, 2700 F St., NW, Washington, DC. For tickets and information call 202 467-4600 or visit www.Kennedy-Center.org.
Jordan Wright
July 17, 2017
 Jon Peterson as the Emcee. Photo by Joan Marcus. New York’s Roundabout Theatre Company, now celebrating its fiftieth year, has brought a sensational version of Cabaret to Kennedy Center in a production that gives Kander and Ebb’s original Broadway show a run for its money. In this eye-popping staging, directed by award-winning Director BT McNicholl, a chorus line of dancers that double as musicians give us legs, legs, legs thanks to the top-notch choreography based on the original by Rob Marshall and recreated by Cynthia Onrubia. High kicks, undulating spines, towering lifts and pseudo copulations performed by bare-chested men and ladies in lingerie is the order of the day. How we love slumming it at the Kit Kat Club. Beats the news from Capitol Hill.
 (l-r) Joey Khoury as Bobby, Jon Peterson as the Emcee and Chelsey Clark as Lulu. Photo by Joan Marcus. Co-directed by Sam Mendes and Rob Marshall, Jon Peterson, of Broadway Cabaret fame, reprises the role of Emcee. As the enigmatic, gender-bending character, Peterson pulls it off with aplomb and a black leather trench coat, managing to affect a character of sadistic amorality and razor-sharp charm in an atmosphere so sexually charged a single match could set the whole theatre ablaze. He even pulls a few audience members onstage. Dancing with a male audience member, he tells him he looks a little Spanish. When the man balks, he asks him, “How would you like a little German in you?” Bada-boom!
 Leigh Ann Larkin as Sally Bowles. Photo by Joan Marcus. Sally Bowles is played by Leigh Ann Larkin, a mere slip of a girl, blonde (wasn’t expecting that), blue-eyed and as bubbly as a bottle of French champagne. Her Sally is frothier, all pink and feathered, than others we’ve seen in the role. She definitely has her own interpretation of the hard-on-her-luck dancer. And she’s feistier, more independent. Madly in love with Cliff Bradshaw, a Midwestern English teacher who has chosen a rather inopportune place and time, during the rise of the Nazi regime, to write a novel. Benjamin Eakeley, who reprises his role from the Studio 54 revival of Cabaret when he played opposite Michelle Williams, is masterful (and swoon-worthy) as Cliff – – managing to be both subtle and forceful in his interpretation of the lovesick innocent abroad.
 Scott Robertson as Herr Schultz and Mary Gordon Murray as Fraulein Schneider. Photo by Joan Marcus. But it’s grim times for the couple and their friends, landlady Fraulein Schneider (the fabulous Mary Gordon Murray), Ernst the smuggler and Nazi sympathizer (Patrick Vaill), Fraulein Kost (Alison Ewing) and Herr Schultz (Scott Robertson) the fruit seller and gentleman who seeks the affections of Fraulein Schneider. Much to their dismay jackboots and turncoats keep encroaching on their merry life. For Sally, it’s her last chance for a world outside the cruel reality of a seedy nightclub in a rapidly changing political climate. “One must keep mobile,” she gaily tells Cliff before launching into a goosebump-worthy version of the ballad “Maybe This Time”.
 Sarah Bishop as Helga, Leigh Ann Larkin as Sally Bowles and Alison Ewing as Fritzie. Photo by Joan Marcus. So impressive is the lighting design by Peggy Eisenhauer and Mike Baldassari, you’ll think you’re in Vegas, if Vegas were transported to Germany in the 30’s. Cue the descending pineapple lights for the duet “It Couldn’t Please Me More”.
Look for all your favorite numbers – “The Money Song”, “Perfectly Marvelous”, “Cabaret” and “Willkommen” to thrill as expected, with orchestrations by Michael Gibson. Costumes by six-time Tony Award award-winning designer, William Ivey Long run the gamut from sexy lingerie, beaded flapper dresses and 1930’s hausfrau frocks, to the sinister red armbands of the Third Reich.
Fierce, fabulous and highly recommended. This is the gold standard for Cabaret!
Through August 6th at The Kennedy Center, 2700 F St., NW, Washington, DC. For tickets and information call 202 467-4600 or visit www.Kennedy-Center.org.
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