Misery is a Gripping Psychological Thriller
from Dominion Stage
Misery
Dominion Stage
Jordan Wright
October 22, 2023
Special to The Zebra
 L to R: Ellice McCoy as Annie, Robert R. Heinly as Paul (Photo/Cleo Potter) Backgrounded by a mix of 1940’s film noir music with a smattering of classical piano, Misery reveals a dark plot. We expect exactly that from Stephen King’s horror novel. The play by William Goldman opened on Broadway in 2015 starring Bruce Willis and Laurie Metcalf long after Rob Reiner’s film adaptation starring James Caan and Kathy Bates premiered in 1990. Many of you will be familiar with this taut, psychological thriller from the movie in which Bates won a ‘Best Actress’ Oscar for her role.
Annie Wilkes (played by Ellice McCoy) has been described as bipolar, sadomasochistic, psychotic and schizoid. Annie describes herself to successful novelist Paul Sheldon (Robert R. Heinly) as his “number one fan”. “And trust me. There ain’t no number two,” she claims. These days we’d call her a stalker.
 Ellice McCoy as Annie (Photo/Cleo Potter) Annie follows Paul whenever he stays at a local inn where he writes his latest novels. One night in the middle of a huge snowstorm she notices his car has skidded off the road and he is trapped behind the wheel. Badly injured and unable to walk, she pries him out with a crowbar and takes him to her remote Colorado cabin. There, bed-ridden and unable to escape, Paul tries mollifying Annie, but she holds him hostage, demanding he write a better sequel to the Misery series he is so famous for. These days we’d call that an abduction. In her twisted mind she blames Paul for killing off her favorite character, Misery Chastain, and she tasks him with bringing her back to life in a sequel.
Veteran, local director Maggie Mumford keeps the tension at a high, edge-of-your-seat, burn rate. Yes, it’s terrifying, but you can’t look away, especially when Annie flips her inner switch and becomes a monster. McCoy and Heinly are especially effective in delivering the tension required for this terrifying two-hander.
 L to R: Robert R. Heinly as Paul, Ellice McCoy as Annie (Photo/Cleo Potter) Set and Properties Designer Peter Mumford expresses the tattered mind of a schizophrenic with patches of torn cloth hung like old clothes on an open screen behind which we can see Annie’s mood swings (and weapons!) before she enters Paul’s bedroom. To add further suspense to the spine-tingling atmosphere, Cleo Potter’s lighting design creates an eerie aura to spook even the most blasé among us.
If your taste runs to Stephen King’s sinister stories, this one’s for you.
With Danielle Taylor as Buster. Sound Design by Ruben Vellekoop; Costume Design by Anna Marquardt.
 L to R: Robert R. Heinly as Paul, Ellice McCoy as Annie (Photo/Brian Knapp and Natalie Fox) Through November 4th on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm by Dominion Stage at Theatre on the Run, 3700 South Four Mile Run Drive, Arlington, VA 22206. For tickets and information visit www.DominionStage.org.
Young Frankenstein is The Funniest, Most Risque, Goofball Comedy Now Playing at The Little Theatre
Young Frankenstein
The Little Theatre of Alexandria
Jordan Wright
October 22, 2023
Special to The Zebra
 Joshua Nettinger as the Monster; Noah Mutterperl as Dr. Frankenstein (Photo/Matt Liptak) If your taste runs to wacky sendups and zany schtick, you could do no better than Young Frankenstein at The Little Theatre. According to the program’s synopsis the comedy picks up where most tales of the famed monster leave off. This introduces us to his grandson, the young Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, a young scientist and man about town who travels to the family castle in Transylvania, bent on claiming his inheritance before racing back to his fiancée Elizabeth. With the encouragement of the adorably sexy, Inga, his grandfather’s laboratory assistant and hunchback Igor, and his grandfather’s former paramour the stern-faced Frau Blücher, Frederick agrees to stay and complete his grandfather’s experiment by bringing the monster back to life with a new and improved brain. What a life! And what a premise! When the monster is given life, we discover he’s a veritable vaudeville trooper!
 Young Frankenstein Cast in “Putting on the Ritz” (Photo/Matt Liptak) Thanks to Mel Brooks who wrote the music and lyrics and shared credit for the book with Thomas Meehan, we’ve got a rollicking musical comedy with more sight gags, double entendres, mashups and old-time burlesque jokes than you can count.
Director Frank D. Shutts II has rounded up some of the best local talent in the biz to bring his vision to the mainstage. Eighty-one actors came to the casting call – sixteen were chosen. He’s also chosen London’s West End version of the show which is more finessed than the original Broadway version. Twenty-one musical numbers backed by fourteen instruments create a big sound in the little theatre. A tricked-out stage set features a revolving library door, grand castle gates, a farmer’s wagon pulled by two “horses” and multiple surprises I want you to discover for yourself.
 Noah Mutterperl as Dr. Frankenstein (Photo/Matt Liptak) The acting, dancing and singing are excellent. As far as I’m concerned Noah Mutterperl who plays Frederick, could get on a train and open on Broadway tomorrow night. His style, indefatigable energy, talent and comic timing are spot on in every way. As for Joshua Nettinga who plays The Monster, he too could snag a lead role in a heartbeat. Performing in seven-inch lift monster shoes while pratfalling, getting up and tap dancing in top hat and tails, would grant him major street cred on the Great White Way. That doesn’t mean to throw shade on the three female leads – Claire Jeffrey as Inga who is as precious as she is hilarious, Liz Colandene as Elizabeth Benning who belts like a young Ethel Merman and Judy Lewis as Frau Blücher who is deadpan-perfect as the cigar-smoking chatelaine. Not to leave out James Maxted who plays The Hermit and croons “Please Send Me Someone” in the style of Al Jolson’s “Mammy” and Brian Ash as Inspector Hans Kemp whose chorus of Bavarian villagers rise up with torches and pitchforks in “He’s Loose”.
In the immortal words of Mel Brooks, “You’ll laugh till you plotz!” (He didn’t really say that. I did.)
 Joshua Nettinga and Liz Colandene (Photo/Matt Liptak) Ensemble – Daria Butler (Swing), Emily Carbone, Andrew Edwards, Lewis Eggleston, Odette Gutierrez del Arroyo, Patrick Kearney, Evie Korovesis, Luke Martin, James Nugent (Swing), Lourdes Turnblom.
Music Directors Francine Krasowska and Christopher A. Tomasino; Choreographer, Stefan Sittig; Dance Captain Evie Korovesis; Set Design by Robert S. Barr Jr.; Lighting and Special Effects Design by Ken and Patti Crowley; Costume Design by Jean Schlichting and Kit Sibley; Hair/Wig Design by Kadira Coley; and Makeup Design by Natalie Turkevich.
Highly recommended. The funniest, most risqué, goofball comedy since the Marx Brothers spent the night at the opera!
 Andrew Edwards, Lourdes Turnblom, Joshua Redford, Patrick Kearney, Emily Carbone (Photo/Matt Liptak) Through November 11th at The Little Theatre of Alexandria, 600 Wolfe Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. For tickets and information visit www.TheLittleTheatre.com or call the box office at 703 683-5778.
POTUS is a Flat-Out, Genius, Madcap Comedy at Arena Stage
POTUS:
Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive
Arena Stage
Jordan Wright
October 20, 2023
Special to The Zebra
 Kelly McAndrew, Yesenia Iglesias and Megan Hill in POTUS (Photo/Kian McKellar) Nothing subtle here, folks. The title tells us everything we should expect – seven women and a nincompoop U. S. President – though I can easily see this zany comedy apply to a few other countries who shall remain nameless. You know who you are. Playwright Selena Fillinger’s POTUS cannily claims to be an amalgamation of U. S. Presidents over the centuries. So, you don’t get to choose just one. Though you’ll see a few buffoons that will seem familiar. To echo the sentiment, the set is decorated with a smattering of their iconic portraits and a glass White House is suspended high above the stage as in, “People who throw stones shouldn’t live in…” yadda, yadda, yadda. Savvy inside-the-Beltway political junkies will fall head over heels for the wisecracks… that is after you pick yourselves up off the floor. When you go, and you can’t ask for a Presidential pardon if you don’t, make sure to have your wits about you. It plays out lightening quick and you don’t want to miss one single, snappy line.
Fillinger has already garnered three Tony noms for POTUS, writes tons of network comedy shows, and promises to keep us rolling in the aisles for many years to come. Her idea of comedy is mine too – loaded with slapstick, pratfalls, parody, witty digs and wacky setups. This one has them all plus a very, very talented cast who play White House operatives, family members and insiders navigating a presidential sh*t show.
 Felicia Curry (Photo/Kian McKellar) Here’s the premise. The Prez has his typically busy daily schedule and all hands are on deck to see that he is on time and on point. These are our magnificent seven: Harriet, his Chief of Staff (Naomi Jacobson); Jean, his Press Secretary (Natalya Lynette Rathnam); Margaret, his wife – The First Lady (Felicia Curry); Chris, a journalist for the Washington Post (Yesenia Iglesias); Dusty, his dalliance (Sarah-Anne Martinez); and Bernadette, his sister (Kelly McAndrew). Just remember they hate each other until they need each other when they will fight to the death to guard the president’s reputation above all else.
The day begins at a meeting with foreign dignitaries and with POTUS dropping an insulting curse word for female genitalia in describing his wife’s mood. We don’t hear or see this gaffe, but the West Wing is on high alert trying to put out this five-alarm fire. In fact, the West Wing will be on constant high alert. Calamity is the modus operandi for these nimble spin doctors.
 Sarah-Anne Martinez, Felicia Curry, Yesenia Iglesias, Natalya Lynette Rathnam and Naomi Jacobson (Photo/Margot Schulman) Fillinger’s characters are sharply-drawn and their intersections are like watching a car crash – riveting, but disastrous, and ultimately hilarious. Here within the confines of the White House, the infighting is WWE-worthy, the barbs are as sharp as poison darts and it’s absolutely, positively delicious. Compare FLOTUS and Harriet to attack dogs. No one in their sphere of influence remains unscathed. They are the president’s gladiators and in some cases quite well-armed.
Director Margot Bordelon cleverly uses the theater-in-the-round technique on the Fichandler Stage to reflect the fishbowl that is the West Wing, employing the aisles for the breakneck chases that ensue. Trust me. No one remains unscathed. There is so much cursing I cannot provide a quote without offending delicate ears. So, dear grownups, this is a warning. Don’t bring your delicate ears, because you won’t want to miss any of the profanity.
In her choice of this sharp-as-knives political comedy, I’d say all the stars have aligned for the debut production of Arena’s new Artistic Director, Hana S. Sharif. I’ll be looking forward to her next selection.
Highly recommended. A flat-out, genius, madcap comedy!
 Sarah-Anne Martinez and Megan Hill (Photo/Margot Schulman) Set Design by Reid Thompson; Costume Design by Ivania Stack; Lighting Design by Marika Kent; Original Music and Sound Design by Sinan Refik Zafar; Dramaturg Otis Ramsey-Zöe.
Through November 12th at Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth Street, SW, Washington, DC 20024. For tickets and information visit www.ArenaStage.org or call the box office at 202 554-9006.
In Macbeth in Stride a Fierce and Fabulous Lady Macbeth Showcases Female Empowerment in this Rock/Gospel Musical at STC
Macbeth In Stride
Shakespeare Theatre Company
Jordan Wright
October 17, 2023
Special to The Zebra
 Charlie Thurston and Whitney White in MACBETH IN STRIDE. (Teresa Wood) On a stage built with zigzag catwalks, three black-robed Witches appear. With smoke wafting from the bowls they carry, they crisscross the metal runways, incanting the familiar “Double, double, toil and trouble” when there emerges a statuesque goddess in a skintight, black-sequined jumpsuit. Long, dark, wavy hair crowns her magnificence as she fiercely calls out, “What’s the story?” “Black, brown, femme,” reply the witches, urging her to seize power.
Creator and lead, Whitney White, inhabits the role of Lady Macbeth, except in White’s version of the play, the Lady calls the shots. With the witches as her collaborators in a soulful sisterhood, this sultry mama is all about female empowerment – flipping the script by taking Macbeth’s role and wholly owning it. Backed by an onstage band of keyboard, drums, electric guitar, electric bass + additional electronika, our Lady Macbeth can sing. And how! Rocking a three-and-a-half octave range, White wows the audience through thirteen musical numbers incorporating Gospel, Hip-Hop and Soul.
 Chelsea Lee Williams, Steven Cuevas, Stacey Sargeant, Ximone Rose, and Whitney White in
MACBETH IN STRIDE. (Teresa Wood) This seductive, sultry Lady Macbeth is as eager to find love as she is to have control and she lets us know it in the number, “Knowledge is Power”. She wants it all. And, why not? When Macbeth strolls onstage, tatted and chest-bared, slickly virile and playing a full-size accordion, she lets us know she’s found her man with the song, “Hallelujah”. Occasionally White backs herself up on piano and, in her softest and highest vocal range which could captivate and tame a charging lion, this Lady convinces us she is going to get what she wants whatever it takes.
The dialogue alternates between street slang and familiar Shakespearean lines. Referring to King Duncan, she and the Witches rap to Macbeth, “You better kill that motha.” With the notable Shakespeare line, “Screw your courage to the sticking place and we’ll not fail,” she promises him that together they will take the throne. When he refuses to commit the murder, she calls him a coward. Here the theme of female empowerment also includes the wife committing the murder to get Macbeth crowned and crowning herself in return. Quite the power play for this Lady.
 Steven Cuevas, Charlie Thurston, Chelsea Lee Williams, and Ximone Rose in MACBETH IN STRIDE.
(Teresa Wood) The production features thirteen musical numbers and plays out in rock concert form. Most impressive is the cleverness of the script, the humor, the superb vocal chops of the entire cast and their crafty performances. Highly original, White’s fresh twist on Lady Macbeth gives us pause to ponder all Shakespeare’s writings. What if a woman were in charge?
Highly recommended. Fierce and fabulous!
 Chelsea Lee Williams, Stacey Sargeant, and Ximone Rose in MACBETH IN STRIDE. (Teresa Wood) Starring Whitney White, with Charlie Thurston as Macbeth and First Witch, Stacey Sargeant; Second Witch, Ximone Rose; Third Witch, Chelsea Lee Williams.
Directed by Tyler Dobrowsky & Taibi Magar in association with Philadelphia Theatre Company & Brooklyn Academy of Music. With Choreography by Raja Feather Kelly; Orchestrations by Steven Cuevas and Whitney White; Scenic Design by Daniel Soule; Costume Design by Qween Jean; Lighting Design by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew; Sound Design by Nick Kourtides; Wig, Hair & Makeup Design by Rachel Padula-Shufelt.
Through October 29th. Shakespeare Theatre Company in the Klein Theatre located at 450 7th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20004. For tickets and information visit www.ShakespeareTheatre.org or call the box office at 202 547-1122.
Synetic’s The Tell-Tale Heart is Absolutely, Positively, Freakin’ Brilliant!
The Tell-Tale Heart
Synetic Theater
Jordan Wright
October 9, 2023
Special to The Zebra
 Alex Mills as Edgar with the Synetic Ensemble. (Photo/Jorge Amaya) Yes, I know you read Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart in high school, but it’s certain you’ve never seen it come to life through the eyes of Synetic’s extraordinary creative team of Resident Dramaturg and Adaptor Nathan Weinberger, Synetic’s Co-Founder and Director Paata Tsikurishvili, Co-Founder and Choreographer Irina Tsikurishvili, Resident Composer Koki Lortkipanidze, Scenic Designer Daniel Pinha and veteran Costume Designer Erik Teague. I mention the team up front because I try mightily to imagine them sitting around a table tossing ideas around, coming up with a mind-bendingly original interpretation of this classic horror story, then unifying their wildly experimental approach, and against all odds, producing it. I’d like to be a fly on their wall because I don’t know how they do it.
For those of you who have never experienced a Synetic production, I promise you it’s like nothing you’ve ever seen before. Expect highly athletic dancers trained in both classical ballet and modern interpretive dance coupled with master class-level mime and pugilistic skills. In this monumentally macabre version of The Tell-Tale Heart you will witness all of these skills underpinned by a dark, twisted, spooky and mercilessly disturbing story – just in time for the haunting season. Hello, Halloween!
 Irakli Kavsadze as the Old Man and Alex Mills as Edgar. (Photo/Jorge Amaya) As Act One opens, two central characters command our attention – Edgar (Alex Mills) and Old Man (Irakli Kavsadze). Edgar is the caregiver for the old man who lives in a house filled with oddities and antiquities stacked in dozens of wooden boxes. The Old Man is speechless communicating through guttural grunts of anger and frustration. He is clearly non compos mentis spending his days in a wheelchair when not throwing objects willy-nilly and destroying everything within his reach. Edgar patiently cares for him trying his best to calm the old man’s fears. After a time, Edgar becomes gripped by fear and frustration – inhabited by the specter of six ravenous Vultures. When they encircle him and take control of his mind, he too descends into madness.
Here fantasy becomes horror as the Vultures mirror his attempts at escape transmogrifying their flesh-eating desires into Edgar’s very self. It is schadenfreude. We cannot help but feel both reviled and attracted as we sense the futility of his plight. The cacophony of the Vultures caws and the sound of the beating heart echo in the wordless silence.
 Irakli Kavsadze as the Old Man, Alex Mills as Edgar, with the Synetic Ensemble. (Photo/Jorge Amaya) With extraordinary physicality and precision, Mills’ keenly portrayed passion is felt throughout the theater. The audience is dead silent too – watching and waiting. As well, one cannot help but thrill over Kavsadze’s performance. His subtle and skillful talents are yet another master class in the art of mime.
In the end… oh! I’m not going to spoil it for you. See it. It’s absolutely brilliant!
The Vultures are played by Lev Belolipetski, Kaitlin Shifflett, Tony Amante, Josh Lucas, Zana Gankhuyag and Vato Tsikurishvili. Lighting Design by Brian S. Allard; Props Design by Claire Caverly and Fight Choreography by Vato Tsikurishvili.
Highly recommended. Absolutely brilliant!
Through November 5th at Synetic Theater, 1800 Bell Street, Arlington, VA at National Landing. For tickets and information call the box office at 703 824-8060 ext. 117 or visit www.SyneticTheater.org.
Signature Theatre’s King of the Yees is Acerbic, Witty, Fresh-as-a-Breeze and Sharp-as-a-Tack
King of the Yees
Signature Theatre
Jordan Wright
September 30, 2023
Special to The Zebra
 Jacob Yeh (Erhu Player) and Ashley D. Nguyen (Lauren) (Photo by DJ Corey Photography) In one of the most refreshing new productions by playwright Lauren Yee (Cambodian Rock Band), we are gifted with an insider’s view of Chinese American culture. It is very much her story. Set in San Francisco it tells of a young Yale-educated playwright penning a story of her father, Larry Yee (Grant Chang), a neighborhood activist and amateur genealogist determined to advance the family name. Larry’s connection to a 150-year-old Chinatown social club manifesting mystical powers proves instrumental in Lauren finding her roots. And though he is no relation to a local politician running for office, Leeland Yee (a reference to a real-life character), they share the same last name and Larry, believing in the strong ancestral culture of his elders, becomes Leeland’s exalted gofer and supporter.
 Jacob Yeh (Sichuan Face Changer) and Ashley D. Nguyen (Lauren) (Photo by DJ Corey Photography) There is a strong connection to Larry’s respect for the ancients and his desire to convince his daughter, Lauren (Ashley D. Nguyen), that her destiny lies behind the club’s imposing red door. Between Lauren’s search for her own identity and Larry’s determination to prove his ancestral roots, lie some of the most hilarious characters ever created – some younger generation, others are elders who reflect past cultural norms – and ancestral bugaboos. That the playwright pokes fun at everyone proves the universality of her theme. Fortune cookies, twerking lion dancers, ancient rituals, a Chinese gangster (the real life “Shrimp Boy” Chow!) and an acupuncturist/herbalist make appearances shuttling Lauren headlong towards her goal of understanding her father and finding her cultural identity. No one is spared skewering in Yees’ cleverly representational imaginings.
References to Chinese immigrant heritage play nicely with flashback memories of mid-19th century San Francisco and Lauren’s father’s connection to the Yee Fung Toy Family Association which he is determined to keep afloat. Program notes tell us the association and its many chapters still exist throughout the United States.
 Jacob Yeh (Erhu Player) and Ashley D. Nguyen (Lauren) in King of the Yees at Signature Theatre. (Photo by DJ Corey Photography) King of the Yees is an eye-opening insight into Chinese American cultural assimilation and its subsequent generational struggles – the loss of identity and the keen awareness of rapidly gentrifying Chinese neighborhoods. The playwright employs magical realism and original humor to add to the wonderment of Lauren’s fraught journey to know her father, affectionately drawing each unique character to reveal their strengths and foibles. Her approach results in a super-fast pace and highly physical comedy executed perfectly by its super talented, very much in sync cast. This cleverly constructed play is acerbic, witty, fresh-as-a-breeze and sharp-as-a-tack, and I absolutely loved it. Ditto for the audience who roared in appreciation and wonderment.
 Ashley D. Nguyen (Lauren), Sylvia Kwan (Actor 2), Grant Chang (Larry) and Jacob Yeh (Actor 1) (Photo by DJ Corey Photography) With Jacob Yeh as Actor 1; Sylvia Kwan as Actor 2; Nicholas Yenson as Actor 3 and Fight Captain.
Directed by Jennifer Chang; Scenic Design by Tanya Orellana; Costume Design by Helen Q. Huang; Lighting Design by Minjoo Kim; Sound Design and Original Music by Matthew M. Nelson; Assistant Director Gregory Keng Strasser.
Highly recommended. One of the best comedies of the year!
Through October 22nd 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.
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