Blue is a Must See All Black Cast Opera at the Kennedy Center
Blue
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Jordan Wright
March 15, 2023
Special to The Zebra
 Left to right: tenor Jonathan Pierce Rhodes (Police Officer Buddy 2/Male Congregant 2); bass-baritone Christian Simmons (Police Officer Buddy 3/Male Congregant 3); bass Kenneth Kellogg (The Father); Tenor Camron Gray (Police Officer Buddy 1/Male Congregant 1) (Photo/Scott Suchman) On the nightly news a camera pans in for a tight closeup of a Black mother surrounded by her family and her community. She is grieving the loss of her son at the hands of the police. In this contemporary opera Blue takes us on a journey from the cradle to the grave.
Three years to the day the Washington National Opera’s Blue was scheduled to debut at the Kennedy Center. On March 13th 2020 everything shut down, the building went silent and the only sounds heard in the storied theater complex were the security guards roaming the vast structure. This March 13th marked the opera’s premiere and what a triumphant moment it was – a historic night for Librettist, Tazewell Thompson, he as director of a host of operas, and Composer Jeanine Tesori, she of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musicals Shrek The Musical, Fun Home, and Caroline, or Change. Blue features an all-Black cast including Black conductors, Joseph Young and Jonathan Taylor Rush.
 – Bass Kenneth Kellogg (left) plays The Father; mezzo-soprano Briana Hunter (right) plays The Mother (Photo/Scott Suchman) To say Blue is the most exquisitely honed modern opera I have ever seen, is an understatement. It is modern Shakespearean tragedy at its finest with a story as relevant and relatable as if it popped out of today’s headlines. Thompson’s words express pure poetry in the urgent reality of a family whose personal experiences seesaw between both sides of the most polarizing issues of our day – the continuing shroud of racism and the demand for Black justice.
Blue, as in men in blue, signifies the color of a policeman’s uniform and The Father (Kenneth Kellogg) in this story is a cop working the beat as a rookie in New York’s Harlem neighborhood. His wife, The Mother (Briana Hunter), is a local restaurant owner. The couple joyfully awaits the birth of their baby. While pregnant The Mother’s three close friends warn her, “We talked, argued and debated. Thou shalt not bring forth no Black boys into this world.” Each woman knows the dangers that lie ahead for Black boys. Conversely, The Father’s friends express their envy that he’s having a son and ask how he feels. “I feel like the first man on the moon,” he replies. Later we hear him voicing the words of “the talk” every Black parent gives to their sons.
 Bass Kenneth Kellogg (left) plays The Father; tenor Aaron Crouch (right) plays The Son (Photo/Scott Suchman) There are tender and even funny moments of The Father learning to hold his baby and of the relationship between The Mother and her stalwart trio of “sistahs”. We see his parents believing the future immeasurable for their child and later meet The Son (Aaron Crouch) as a teenager rebellious and disdainful of his father’s profession. On the surface it appears to be the eternal generational conflict, but to the son, his life has so much more meaning when he becomes an activist – protesting injustice in the Black community and the brutality of law enforcement. There are harsh words between his policeman father and son and the music swells to reflect the tension.
 Left to right: soprano Katerina Burton (Girlfriend 2/Congregant 2); mezzo-soprano Briana Hunter (The Mother); soprano Ariana Wehr (Girlfriend 1/Congregant 1/Nurse); mezzo-soprano Rehanna Thelwell (Girlfriend 3/Congregant 3) (Photo/Scott Suchman) Blue is not only a showcase for African American talent but features several impressive singers who are either alumni or current members of the Cafritz Young Artist Program. Outstanding and indelible is Aaron Crouch, whose performance was brilliant. I plan to follow him on social media and go to the ends of the earth to witness his next performance.
Blue expresses an aching poignancy in every note and line – one that sent my heart fairly leaping out of my chest in concert with the emotion of the music. Many in the audience were moved to tears at the beauty of the words and music blending mellifluously. I promise you there is a hopeful ending, one you will long for and hold fast.
Highly recommended whether you are an opera aficionado or never cared a fig for opera.
 Bass Kenneth Kellogg (back) plays The Father; mezzo-soprano Briana Hunter (front) plays The Mother (Photo/Scott Suchman) Additional Cast Members – Joshua Conyers as The Reverend; Ariana Wehr as Girlfriend/Congregant/Nurse; Katerina Burton as Girlfriend/Congregant; Rehanna Thelwell as Girlfriend/Congregant; Camron Gray as Policeman/Male Congregant; Christian Simmons as Policeman/Male Congregant.
Costume Designer Jessica Jahn; Set Designer Donald Eastman; Sound Designers Kai Harada and Haley Parcher; Lighting Designer Robert Wierzel.
With the Washington National Opera Orchestra.
Performance dates – March 11th, 13th, 19th, 22nd, and 25th. In the Eisenhower Theatre at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F Street, NW, Washington, DC. For tickets and information visit www.Kennedy-Center.org or call the box office at 202 467-4600.
A Deeply Moving Drama Unfolds at Signature Theatre
Selling Kabul
Signature Theatre
Jordan Wright
March 8, 2023
Special to The Zebra
 Yousof Sultani and Awesta Zarif (Photo/Christopher Mueller) As the repercussions ripple out across the world after the U. S. retreat from the war in Afghanistan, its people continue to be deeply affected in a myriad of ways. This neatly crafted play focuses on one family’s struggles to navigate the frightening and endless fallout. In award-winning writer Sylvia Khoury’s play Selling Kabul, family members Taroon (Mazin Akar), his sister Afiya (Awesta Zarif) and her husband Jawid (Yousof Sultani) are living in a small one-bedroom flat in Teheran. They are barely surviving. Taroon, who acted as translator for American soldiers, is in hiding from the Taliban who are actively hunting down all Iranians who aided the Americans. He knows, if captured, he will be tortured and killed. The lives of his friends and family members are similarly endangered if they are found to be collaborating in any way.
In a crumbling economy, Jawid tries to support his wife and son-in-law sewing Taliban uniforms in his family’s tailor shop while Afiya brings in additional income by mending their uniforms. They hope their familiarity with the soldiers will protect them. Jawid observes guiltily, “I sold Kabul for a television set.”
The Taliban’s harsh edicts and the soldiers’ omnipresence make daily life a constant struggle. They are all in danger from prying eyes like those of their neighbor and Afiya’s best friend, Layla (Neagheen Homaifar), whose unannounced visits terrify them forcing Taroon to hide in an armoire. While Taroon awaits a message from the U. S. Immigration approving his asylum, his wife is in hospital giving birth to their first child. A wrenching decision is made by the family. He must not risk a visit to see his newborn son.
 Awesta Zarif and Neagheen Homaifar (Photo/Christopher Mueller) When after four months in hiding Taroon receives no word from America, Jawid and Afiya conspire to smuggle him out of the country with the help of a fixer. There is no guarantee he will make it out alive. Afiya tells him, “You will leave without a visa or without your head!”
This tightly knit drama shows us the human costs of a country at war with its own citizens and the agonizing and uncertain decisions its people are forced to make just to stay alive.
The small cast shines with a tenacious incandescence under the superb direction of Shadi Ghaheri.
Scenic Design by Tony Cisek; Costume Desgin by Moyenda Kulemeka; Lighting Design by John D. Alexander; Sound Design by Matt Otto; Cultural Consultant & Dramaturg, Humaira Ghilzai.
For more information the theater suggests three organizations:
Aschiana Foubndation at www.Aschiana-Foundation.org; Afghan_American Foundation at www.AfghanAmericans.org; and Afghan-American Women’s Association at www.A-AWA.org.
 ousof Sultani and Awesta Zarif (Photo/Christopher Mueller) Through April 2nd at Signature Theatre in Shirlington Village, 4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington, VA 22206. For tickets and information visit www.SigTheatre.org or call the box office at 703 820-9771.
Synetic’s Beauty and the Beast Conquers All
Beauty and the Beast
Synetic Theater
Jordan Wright
March 7, 2023
Special to The Zebra
 Irina Kavsadze as Belle with Zana Gankhuyag as the Beast (Photo/Elman Studios) With his son Vato by his side, a standing ovation greeted Synetic co-founder, Paata Tsikurshvili as he stood onstage for the opening night of Beauty and the Beast. Paata had been in a serious car crash last December and seeing him in good health thrilled the audience of longtime supporters. As Founding Artistic Director of the highly creative Georgian troupe, Paata along with his choreographer wife, Irina, has continued to shepherd their wildly successful productions since their formation in 2009.
The troupe, which was to star father and son for the first time together on stage in years, had scheduled War of the Worlds for the March slot, but with Paata’s accident in mind pivoted to a version of one of their earlier successes. It was a night filled with anticipation and emotion.
 Rachael Small as Emmeranne (Witch), Nutsa Tediashvili as Claudette (Sister), Irina Kavsadze as Belle, and Irene Hamilton as Marie (Sister) (Photo/Elman Studios) “Everyone knows that crows don’t talk,” quoth Emmerane (Rachael Small) clad as a Goth crow who is both keeper of the legend and narrator of the story. In this ancient folk tale, lies the myth of the prince turned into a beast and restored to his former self through the love of a beautiful and kindly woman. In typical Synetic fashion, humor is interspersed with raging fight scenes, extraordinary acrobatics and romantic dance.
The opening scene finds the beautiful Belle (Irina Kavsadze) with her two adorably silly sisters Claudette (Nutsa Tediashvili) and Marie (Irene Hamilton) as they prepare to bid farewell to their father, John Paul (Irakli Kavsadze), off to retrieve his ship laden with fine goods. Claudette and Marie comically primp and pose, begging their father to bring them back jewels and finery. They tussle over Avenant (Jacob Thompson) a handsome prince who has eyes only for Belle. When Belle becomes lost in the woods while searching for her father, The Beast (Zana Gankhuyag) portrayed as half-man half-forest animal, rescues her from a pack of hungry wolves and takes her to his castle. The story remains close to the original with the addition of the astounding, gravity-defying physicality and clever mime routines.
 Rachael Small as Emmeranne (Witch) with Irakli Kavsadze as Jean Paul (Father), Irina Kavsadze as Belle, Nutsa Tediashvili as Claudette (Sister), and Irene Hamilton as Marie (Sister) (Photo/Elman Studios) To great effect, Director/Adaptor Ben Cunis features some of the chase scenes with black-and-white, backlit, silhouette artistry reminiscent of Arthur Rackham’s beautifully illustrated “Sleeping Beauty”. With this original interpretation there are breathtaking dramatic scenes mixed with deeply emotional poignancy – all with very little speaking. Some of the most incredible battle scenes you’ll ever witness in a theater come from the creative minds of Co-Director and Fight Choreographer Vato Tsikurishvili and Choreographer Irina Tsikurishvili.
I must confess I was particularly taken by Gankhuyag as The Beast. His terrifying entrance morphing seamlessly into a kind and caring lover, is both haunting and memorable and notable too is Small in the role of Emmerlane who held the audience captive as her speaking role predicated the story line. In the fight scenes both Synetic alum Philip Fletcher as Magnificent and Jacob Thompson as Avenant were utterly captivating with their dead falls and eye-popping leaps that catapulted the duo across the stage to audible gasps from the appreciative audience.
We all need fairy tales and this one is immortal. Not for children, but teens and adults will love it. Highly recommended.
 Irina Kavsadze as Belle with Zana (Photo/Elman Studios) Ensemble members Osama Ashour and Lev Belolipetski.
Co-Adaptor, Peter Cunis; Original Music by Clint Herring and Andrew Gerlicher; Puppet Designer, Zana Gankhuyag; Original Costume Designer, Kendra Rai; Remount Costume Designer, Delaney Theisz.
Through April 2nd at Synetic Theater at Crystal City, 1800 South Bell Street, Arlington, VA 22202. For tickets and information visit www.SyneticTheater.org or call the box office at 703 824-8060 x 117.
King Lear Smashes All STC Sales Records
King Lear
Shakespeare Theatre Company
Jordan Wright
March 5, 2023
Special to The Zebra
 Patrick Page in King Lear (Photo/DJ Corey Photography) As a cautionary tale King Lear offers up lessons so dark, so full of evil premonition and so dangerously dire, one might be loath to examine its foreshadowing against the present day. That it reveals the fates and foibles of the human condition is what Shakespeare serves up for us to ponder. And ponder we do on the treachery, the perfidy and the murderous jealousy of this dynasty spelled out in spades.
Director Simon Godwin wrangles this beast of a play into a modern-day crime drama with all the attendant twists and turns – taking us on a grizzly journey into the inner workings of one uber-twisted royal family. I won’t bother describing the plot. Go online for that. What I want you to know and feel is the way Godwin has approached it.
 Craig Wallace, Julian Elijah Martinez, and Bekah Zornosa (Photo/DJ Corey Photography) It struck me as a cross between The Real Housewives of the British Court (the king’s two shrewish daughters Regan and Goneril) and Hitchcockian film noir. Set in an airplane hangar with his soldiers garbed in camouflage, Lear delivers his edicts describing the division of his lands to his daughters. The daughters must pledge their undying love to their father to secure the best lands. As an early Christmastime entertainment originally written for King James I, it seems it wasn’t meant to be a family-friendly amusement, but more of a warning – as in “Watch your back, your Majesty.”
Is it shocking? Yes! within a dire series of political circumstances that seem to correlate with certain dynasties current states of affairs. In real life we can’t peek behind the curtain of political deception, but here we can witness betrayal after betrayal play out amongst the characters – all of whom feel cheated of their rightful due. Fair warning. There will be blood!
 Matthew J. Harris, Michael Milligan, Patrick Page, and Shirine Babb (Photo/DJ Corey Photography) Costume Designer, Emily Rebholz, outfits Goneril and Regan in flashy kelly green or black leather and fur replete with 80’s gold chains and spike heels while true blue Cordelia is garbed in more subtle pastels. For a headpiece, The Fool wears what appears to be a gaudy hand-knitted cockscomb, while soldiers sport present-day military uniforms. Set Designer Daniel Soule conceives the wreckage of an old airplane as the scene for Lear’s shelter from the storm and a modern-day hospital for his death scene. Note the pizza boxes tossed after a wild party at Goneril’s house. Sound Designer Christopher Shutt provides the thunderous backdrops for the battle scenes with sounds of airplanes strafing the ground, radar bleeps, and bombs blasting. It’s quite effective.
You may never see a Lear as marvelously mad and subtly complex as Patrick Page’s portrayal of the mad king. How we loved his performances in Broadway’s Hadestown and STC’s Hamlet, Othello (Helen Hayes Award), Macbeth and The Tempest. Beloved local actor Craig Wallace is thrilling in the role of Gloucester. A graduate of Howard University, Wallace has played dozens of lead roles in area theaters.
Highly recommended.
 Lily Santiago, Stephanie Jean Lane, and Rosa Gilmore (Photo/DJ Corey Photography) With Rosa Gilmore as Goneril; Stephanie Jean Lane as Regan; Matthew J. Harris as Edgar; Julian Elijah Martinez as Edmund; Yao Dogbe as Cornwall; Michael Milligan as Fool; Jake Loewenthal as Albany; Ryan Neely as Roland; Lily Santiago as Cordelia; Raven Lorraine as Ursula; Shirine Babb as Kent; Terrence Fleming as Burgundy/Curran/French Soldier; Todd Scofield as Oswald; Hunter Ringsmith as France/Dennis; Bekah Zornosa as Constance/Doctor.
Assistant Director, Kate Pitt, Choreography by Jonathan Goddard; Lighting Design by Jeanette Oi-Suk-Yew; Projection Design by Aaron Rhyne; Composer, Michael Bruce.
Through April 16th at the Shakespeare Theatre Company Klein Theatre, 450 Seventh Street, NW, Washington, DC 20004. For tickets and information visit www.ShakespeareTheatre.org or call the box office at 202 547-1122.
A Frothy Comedy Delights at The Little Theatre
Lettice and Lovage
The Little Theatre of Alexandria
Jordan Wright
February 28, 2023
Special to The Zebra
 Pat Nicklin as Lettice Douffet: Rachael Hubbard as Lottie Schoen (Photo/Matt Liptak) In this delectable comedy we find ourselves drawn to Lettice Douffet (Patricia Nicklin), an erudite lady with a penchant for the dramatic. As docent of Fustian House, a historic manor in Wiltshire, England, her tours are peppered with bland tales of its former denizens. Noticing the distracted tourists, she begins to enhance her talks with wildly invented fables designed to titillate. The tourists are delighted and far more attentive as she performs her zany pantomimes which include stories of the occupants making dinners of hedgehogs and rabbits. Unfortunately, the poor dear runs up against some touring scholars who challenge her “facts”. That’s when we witness her uncanny ability to dodge her way out of a pickle.
Soon Lotte Schoen (Rachael Hubbard), the Director of the Preservation Trust and a stickler for facts, calls her into her office to confront her shenanigans. Lettice eloquently holds her own, defending her histrionics by explaining she comes from a theater family where, “enlarge, enliven and enlighten” is her mother’s watchword. (If prevaricating could be blamed on the theater, courtrooms would be a circus. Hmmm… I think there’s a TV show for that.) Notwithstanding her mounting a strong case for performance art, Lotte gives her the axe and Lettice goes off roundly defeated.
 Tourists in the castle: Tegan Cohen, Nicole Gray, Nicole Lamberson, Colin Davies, James Blacker (Photo/Matt Liptak) After a time, Lotte pays a visit to Lettice’s lowly Earls Court digs and offers to help by suggesting a job on a tour boat she thinks would suit her. They bond over ageism in the workplace and Lettice regales Lotte over some serious drinking. They soon become fast friends with a penchant for reenacting historic executions. Yes, you read that right.
To say that Nicklin inhabits her character with zeal would be an understatement. She had the audience well in hand by taking total command of the stage. Hubbard proved to be up to the challenge with an equally memorable performance. The whole dang thing is spot on hilarious.
 Colin Davies as Mr. Bardolph; Pat Nicklin as Lettice Douffet (Photo/Matt Liptak) Look for Tegan Cohen who shows off her comedy chops as Lotte’s secretary and Colin Davies who makes a brief but effective appearance as Mr. Bardolph, the attorney hired to defend the women against a murder charge. Did I forget to mention murder?
Director Juli Tarabek Blacker has Peter Shaffer’s super witty script to work with and makes the most of its snappy pacing and eye-rolling bon mots.
Other cast members include Nicole “Nicki” Gray, Nicole Lamberson and James Blacker.
Produced by sheri ratick stroud and Griffin Voltmann with Set Design by Julie Fischer, Lighting by JK Lighting Design, Costume Design by Joan Lawrence, Sound Design by Manuel Medina.
Light, lively and tons of fun!
Through March 18th 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 703 683-0496.
A Poignant, Gritty and Powerful New Play at Arena Stage
The High Ground
Arena Stage
Jordan Wright
February 24, 2023
Special to The Zebra
 Nehassaiu deGannes (Victoria/Vicky/Vee/The Woman in Black) and Phillip James Brannon (Soldier) (Photo/Margot Schulman) In recognition of America’s celebration of Black History Month, many area theaters have mounted plays which tell stories drawn from the American Black experience. At Arena Stage’s ongoing commitment of producing newly commissioned American “Power Plays” engages audiences by broadening their knowledge of American history by expressing the very human side of some of our country’s seminal events. To date Arena’s Artistic Director Molly Smith has produced eight commissioned plays with 17 more to come, each story bearing witness to history and its effect on the human heart. The High Ground is the ninth in this great American experiment.
Written by award-winning playwright, Nathan Alan Davis, the play draws us in by expressing both tenderness and tragedy following the events of the Tulsa Race Massacre in the Spring of 1921. Known as the single worst incident of racial violence in American history, in two days it caused the destruction of what was known as Black Wall Street, saw 300 innocent demonstrators shot dead, burned hospitals, schools and churches, looted houses and displaced up to 10,000 Black Americans from their community of Greenwood. Falsely called a riot by local policemen who brought in heavy armor, machine guns and helicopters, the event gripped the entire nation for two days. When the dust cleared, it turned into a land grab for local Whites.
 Nehassaiu deGannes and Phillip James Brannon (Photo/Margot Schulman) Davis tells this vivid story through a young Black man (Phillip James Brannon) who was shot and killed during the onslaught and returns in spirit to find his community gone. In its place stands Oklahoma State University. The setting is the university’s tower, high upon Standpipe Hill. “Soldier”, as he calls his spirit self, shows signs of severe PTSD. He is reliving the horrific events of the massacre and searching for his wife, played by Nehassaiu deGannes in all the female roles. She first appears to him as Victoria, a former neighbor and student who begs him to leave and accompany her to a funeral; next as Vicky, a policewoman who tries to save his life from an approaching posse of armed police; and lastly as his wife Vee who pleads with him to abandon the hill and leave with her. Robed in a silken white gown, Vee, like the Greek prophetess Cassandra, bears witness to the tragedy and its aftermath, warning of its power to destroy future generations, yet knowing her prophesy will go unheeded.
 Nehassaiu deGannes and Phillip James Brannon (Photo/Margot Schulman) Brannon and deGannes are more than up for the task in this two-hander which has many moving parts and a wealth of deeply emotional dialogue. In transitioning between three separate roles – as college student, policewoman and wife – deGannes displays an impressive ability to inhabit three distinctly different characters and showcase her range. For Brannon, maintaining the combative persona of the anxiety-plagued soldier still capable of love, it is a brilliant achievement.
Director Megan Sandberg-Zakian stages the play with great sensitivity leaning into the pathos and tension created between the characters, the unfolding tragedy and the legacy such violence leaves in its wake.
Highly recommended.
Set Design by Paige Hathaway; Costume Design by Sarita Fellows; Lighting Design by Sherrice Mojgani; Original Music and Sound Design by Nathan Leigh; Dramaturgs Otis Ramsey-Zöe and Jocelyn Clarke.
Through April 2nd at Arena Stage in the Kogod Cradle, 1101 Sixth Street, SW, Washington, DC 20024. For tickets and information visit www.ArenaStage.org or call the box office at 202 488-3300.
|