How do you make a story about a woman having a nervous breakdown palatable to musical theatre audiences? First, you make the characters poignantly identifiable – Dan, a loving husband and father devoted to keeping his family intact; Natalie, a teenage daughter living in the shadow of her dead baby brother and fighting her own demons; Henry, her boyfriend committed to seeing her through her pain; and Gabe, the ghost of the dead child who haunts Diana in her darkest moments. Such a deeply emotional story might seem highly unlikely to resonate with theatregoers, but it does. Thanks in large part to the unforgettably beautiful score by Composer Tom Kitt with Book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey, the show is impossible to resist.
Brandon Victor Dixon, Rachel Bay Jones, and Michael Park – Photo by Jeremy Daniel
Ignoring the needs of her family, Diana is prescribed more and more pills to dull the memory of her loss and heal her break with reality. Her struggle to keep it all together for the sake of her family, is thwarted by Gabe’s constant demands to be remembered. In the song, “I’m Alive”, he tells his mother he must never be forgotten.
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Khamary Rose, Rachel Bay Jones, and Brandon Victor Dixon – Photo by Jeremy Danie
As she slowly descends into a manic state, Diana begins to question the pills, the therapy, and even her psychiatrist, whom she once pictured as a rock star. “What happens if the break was not in my mind or my blood, but in my soul,” she asks Dan after another “visit” by Gabe. While Dan wonders, “Why would you want to remember the things that hurt you?” In her manic state questions like these are impossible to contemplate, even more difficult to explain.
Maia Reficco and Ben Levi Ross – Photo by Jeremy Daniel
Thirty-six numbers turbo-charge this sing-through with joy and pathos, passion and pain performed by some of Broadway’s biggest Tony, Grammy and Emmy-Award-winning stars. I would see it again and again.
Starring the extraordinary Rachel Bay Jones (Original Heidi Hansen in B’way’s Dear Evan Hansen) as Diana; Brandon Victor Dixon (Emmy and Grammy nominated Judas in NBC’s Jesus Christ Superstar Live) as Dan; fierce vocalist and newcomer Khamary Rose as Gabe; Maia Reficco as Natalie; Michael Park (Broadway’s Dear Evan Hansen) as Dr. Madden/Dr. Fine; and Ben Levi Ross (National Tour of Dear Evan Hansen) as Henry.
Rachel Bay Jones and Michael Park – Photo by Jeremy Daniel.
Highly recommended. Five stars!
Directed by Michael Greif (Broadway’s Dear Evan Hansen, Rent, Grey Gardens, If/Then and War Paint); Choreography by Sergio Trujillo; Music Direction by Charlie Alterman; Scenic Design by Mark Wendland; Scenic Design Adaption by Paul Tate dePoo III; Costume Design by Jeff Mahshie; Lighting Design by Cory Pattak. Part of Kennedy Center’s Broadway Center Stage with the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra conducted by Charlie Alterman.
Through February 3rd at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F St., NW, Washington, DC. For tickets and information call 202 467-4600 or visit www.Kennedy-Center.org
Sadly, the last performance of Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lakecame on the night before press night, put off till the second to the last performance. So, though you won’t be able to see this ballet in Washington, DC, it’s worth a trip to New York’s City Center where it will be performed through February 9th.
Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures ~ Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake – Photo by Johan Persson
Like many others familiar with Sir Matthew Bourne’s company, New Adventures, and his modern adaptations of classical ballets, I have become a rabid fan. (Don’t tell him I used his title. He’s very modest.) Last year at the Kennedy Center I went totally gaga over his interpretation of Cinderella set in racy London in the 1920’s. https://whiskandquill.com/cinderella-a-new-adventures-production-the-kennedy-center-for-the-performing-arts.
In Bourne’s reimagined Swan Lake, The Swans and many of the other dancers are male. Females include the Queen, the Moth Maiden, Princesses at the Royal Ball, a smattering of nightclub participants, and The Girlfriend. As the consummate Brit, Bourne uses wonderfully opulently British symbolism – sometimes with reverence, though ofttimes tongue-in-cheek as in his nod to the current Queen’s infatuation with Corgis (a mechanical dog prances behind her), the elegantly dressed servants, in tailored black uniforms, and a massive bed with royal crest where we first encounter the Prince.
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For balletomanes who swoon at Bourne’s dazzling productions – here we enjoy the eye-popping elegance of his sets, the 1950’s-1960’s era costumes from sweeping silk dresses with cinched-in waists to Mod period minis and baby doll dresses – these aspects of his highly styled productions are excitement enough. Against the plot of the Prince’s descent into madness and his ultimate rebirth as a fully-fledged swan, they continue to be revolutionary.
Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures ~ Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake – Photo by Johan Persson
As dramatic as this story is, there are some lighter moments including The Butterfly Dance, led by a buffoon in lederhosen who chases after the enchanted butterflies with a net while creepy wood nymphs break up their fluttering fancy, and a hilarious scene in the Royal Box when the Prince brings a young floozie as his guest. The Queen is appalled when the girl’s cell phone goes off during the performance as she tries to cozy up with the Queen with chocolates and utterly inappropriate conversation.
When ultimately the Prince is ostracized, he plans his suicide by pasting his note on a streetlamp. There he encounters the lead swan who both lures him and later sadistically rejects him. It is a dance both tender and feral. In one of the most dramatic encounters of the ballet, the swan engages in a ferocious battle with the other swans to win his love.
Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures ~ Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake – Photo by Johan Persson
This 2018 revival of the 1995 original production features new designs, new lighting design and revised choreography. It is one of the most spectacular ballets you will ever witness – one barely recognizable as the Swan Lake of tutus and feathered headdresses. In this magnificent incarnation, the power and force of the dances achieved through male swans is a mind-blowing game-changer.
Highly recommended.
Director and Choreographer, Matthew Bourne; Music composed by Tchaikovsky; Set and Costume Design by Lez Brotherston; Lighting Design by Paule Constable; Sound Design by Ken Hampton.
Seen while on tour at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts www.KennedyCenter.org , this production now heads to New York City Center, 131 West 55th Street, New York, New York 10019. For tickets and information visit www.NYCityCenter.org.
Making its DC premiere at Arena Stage under Carey Perloff’s astute direction, A Thousand Splendid Suns brings to life Khaled Hosseini’s poignant and powerful novel of Afghanistan in 1992. After years of bombings by Russian and Taliban forces, creating a crisis of unimaginable destitution and deprivation, Laila’s family is forced to make a decision – whether to flee to the refugee camps of Pakistan or survive amid the ruins of Kabul.
(L to R) Nikita Tewani (Aziza/Afoon/Girl), Sarah Corey (Ensemble) and Antoine Yared (Tariq/Driver) in A Thousand Splendid Suns running January 17 through March 1, 2020 at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. Photo by Margot Schulman.
In Kabul no one is safe from harm, especially the women, who under Taliban rule must follow the most oppressive laws dictated by the local government, laws that forbid women to go outside without a male relative, to paint their nails, the enforced wearing of burkas, the closing of schools for women, that a woman is the property of her husband, and many more inhumane restrictions. I’d forgotten that I had read Hosseini’s book until the point in the play of Laila’s enforced imprisonment by the man who had rescued the teenager from the rubble and now was beholden to him as his second wife. A cruel master to the two women, Rasheed denies Laila, and his first wife, Mariam, any freedoms and the two are treated as indentured servants in his household. At first Mariam is jealous of this younger, prettier, educated girl, but eventually the women bond over Laila’s baby, and Laila devises a plan for Mariam, herself, and the children to escape to Peshawar.
(L to R) Haysam Kadri (Rasheed), Mirian Katrib (Laila) and Hend Ayoub (Mariam). Photo by Margot Schulman.
Mariam’s own story is another tragic tale that begins to unfold in flashbacks of her youth, when her mother, raped by a man of means who abandons her and their child, sends them off to live a life of deprivation in a mountaintop shack. Any child who is illegitimate in Afghan society is an outcast and Wakil and his wife cannot accept Mariam in their household. “Like a compass that always points North, a man’s accusing finger always points to a woman,” her mother warns Mariam whose desire to pursue an education is thwarted by Taliban rule.
(L to R) Mirian Katrib (Laila) and Hend Ayoub (Mariam). Photo by Margot Schulman.
The drama closely follows the book’s plot, that is to say that the violence portrayed in the book is not glossed over, and there are explosive scenes that caused the audience to audibly wince. On opening night Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was sitting behind Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The Afghan Ambassador was also in the audience. I couldn’t help wondering how differently each of them would process the most viscerally violent scenes and the raw depiction of male-dominated Afghan society. Thankfully, in this story, there is some redemption. A secret love story that plays out alongside the women’s suffering is resolved at the end.
I can’t say enough about how important this play is in bringing to light the horror of daily life under the Taliban. In some Third World countries this sadistic subjugation of women is still accepted practice.
(L to R) Mirian Katrib (Laila) and Joseph Kamal (Babi/Zaman/Interrogator). Photo by Margot Schulman.
Spellbinding and wondrously acted, it is highly recommended though not suitable for children.
With Hend Ayoub as Mariam; Mirian Katrib as Laila; Haysam Kadri as Rasheed; Antoine Yared as Tariq/Driver; Lanna Joffrey as Fariba/Nana; Joseph Kamal as Babi/Zaman/Interrogator; Jason Kapoor as Wakil; Antoine Yared as Tariq/Driver; Nikita Tewani as Aziza; Ravi Mampara and Justin Xavier Poydras as Zalmai; Sarah Corey, Ensemble; and Yousof Sultani, Ensemble.
(L to R) Mirian Katrib (Laila), Nikita Tewani (Aziza/Afoon/Girl), Hend Ayoub (Mariam) and Ravi Mampara (Zalmai). Photo by Margot Schulman.
By Ursula Rani Sarma; based on the book by Khaled Hosseini; Choreographed by Stephen Buescher; Original Music written and performed by David Coulter; Set Design by Ken MacDonald; Costume Design by Linda Cho; Lighting Design by Robert Wierzel; and Sound Design by Jake Rodriguez.
Through March 1st at Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth St., SE, Washington, DC 20024. For tickets and information call 202.488.3300 or visit www.ArenaStage.org.
For his staging of The Merry Wives of Windsor, Director Aaron Posner adapts this delectable comedy about sexual jealousy to the 20th C… specifically the burgeoning hippie styles and Mod culture of 1972. It’s the perfect imaginary moment. The Women’s Liberation movement was in full swing and the times they were a’changin’. How prophetic Shakespeare was as we look back to the future to find Falstaff, still the swaggering, conniving rogue, now clad in fringe jacket and tie-dyed, “Make Love Not War” t-shirt with his inept band of cohorts togged in bell bottoms and leisure suits. Get the picture?
Falstaff (Brian Mani) uses his brazen skills of seduction on a surprised Mrs. Ford (Ami Brabson). – Photos by Cameron Whitman Photography
Falstaff’s targets are Mistress Ford and Mistress Page who are quickly on to the antics of this corpulent seducer and set a course to entrap him in his thieving schemes, much to the initial confusion of their husbands. “Wives may be merry, and yet honest too,” says Mistress Page with a wink and a nod. The parallel plot to marry off the sweet Anne Page to a serious of unsuitable suitors – Dr. Caius and the curiously impotent Abraham Slender – adds to the overall pandemonium. Because both sides can play at this game, amirite?
Fenton (Dante Robert Rossi) consoles his true love, Anne Page (Linda Bard) – Cameron Whitman Photography
Notable cast members include Brain Mani as the devilish Falstaff; Eric Hissom exquisitely channeling John Cleese as the hapless, exploited husband; Kate Eastwood Norris adopting a Coen Brothers Mid-Western accent as the pill-popping Mistress Quickly; and Cody Nickell, as the French-accented, macho man, Dr. Caius, whose slimy ways will keep you in stitches with each and every line.
Mine Host (Louis E. Davis, left) cozies up to Dr. Caius (Cody Nickell). – Cameron Whitman Photography
Tony Cisek’s set of Mondrian-inspired color blocks paired with Devon Painter’s wild and crazy costumes and Dramaturg Michele Osherow’s smattering of hipster phraseology, keeps us firmly fixed in the free-wheeling era, all the while adhering to the original tale of wives in cahoots to humiliate the dishonorably lecherous, hilariously dissolute, conniver. Backgrounded by Matthew Nielson’s scene-transitioning groovy soundtrack, to keep us in the mood.
Slender (Brian Reisman, left) and Justice Shallow (Tommy A. Gomez) try to understand Windsor’s local glergyman, the Welsh-accented Sir John Hughes (Todd Scofield). – Cameron Whitman Photography
Highly recommended. A marvelous cast who bring the characters to life with sharp-as-a-needle comic acuity.
With Regina Aquino as Mrs. Page; Linda Bard as Anne Page/Pistol; Ami Brabson as Mrs. Ford; Louis E. Davis as Mine Host; Danielle Gallo as Bardolph/J. Rugby/John; Tommy A. Gomez as Justice Shallow; Brian Reisman as Abraham Slender; Dante Robert Rossi as Nym/Fenton; Todd Scofield as Sir Hugh Evens; Tyee Tilghman as Page; and Derrick Truby as Simple/Robert.
The cast of Folger Theatre’s The Merry Wives of Windsor! – Cameron Whitman Photography
Through March 1st at the Folger Theatre at the Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 East Capitol Street, SE, Washington, DC 20003. For tickets and information call 202.544.7077 or visit www.Folger.edu/theatre.
In Dominique Morisseau’s play Pipeline, a direct line is drawn from the consequences resulting from a broken school system to criminal punishment or expulsion for teenagers acting out. That the system is broken, and kids are warehoused in these ever-larger institutions with no remedies for psychological attention, is well known. But what are we doing about? Schools aren’t getting smaller, nor are classrooms, teachers are overwhelmed, and counselors are in short supply – one counselor per 482 students is the national average. That’s nearly half what is recommended by the National School Counselor Association to address the needs of kids in crisis. The play is an indictment of the current American school system.
Andrea Harris Smith as Nya and Justin Weaks as Omari in Pipeline. Photo: C. Stanley Photography.
Morisseau’s powerful play presents us with African-American teens in a private school vs. those in a public school. Given current laws and strict punishment guidelines to address punishment for students as well as teachers, the differences between the two types of schools in handling issues between teachers, students and parents, actually appear to be minimal. Though Omari’s mother, Nya, teaches in a public school, she and his distant father, Xavier, afford him the advantages of a private school, hoping he will have access to a better education. But Omari’s personal problems stem from outside the school – divorced parents and a complicated romance with Jasmine, a fellow student. They are smart kids. Nevertheless, as teens they are ruled by their emotions and insecurities, and their reactions are often wrong-headed and impulsive.
Pilar Witherspoon as Laurie and Andrea Harris Smith as Nya in Pipeline. Photo: C. Stanley Photography.
Omari’s rage quickly gets the better of him when he is confronted by a teacher who expects his participation at a time when the teen is feeling vulnerable. His reckless response is to shove the teacher against the wall. Classmates record the incident with their cell phones and the incident goes viral. Does the teacher have a responsibility to deal with a troubled teen in an overcrowded classroom or intuit his personal crisis? Probably, not. But in consoling her child, Omari’s mother reminds him he is in school to learn and obey his teacher.
Justin Weaks as Omari and Monica Rae Summers Gonzalez as Jasmine in Pipeline. Photo: C. Stanley Photography
Nya’s colleague and veteran teacher, Laurie, has struggles of her own. Unable to reach Dun, the school’s security guard, who’s off dealing with another crisis, she tries breaking up a vicious fight in her classroom with a broomstick. She too, becomes at risk of expulsion.
Justin Weaks as Omari and Bjorn DuPaty as Xavier in Pipeline. Photo: C. Stanley Photography
The framework for the play draws on Richard Wright’s “Native Son” and the character Bigger Thomas who became a murderer due to his inability to control his rage. Additionally, video projections of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gwendolyn Brooks’s poem, “We Real Cool”, in which young African American students skip school to go down a deadly path, are displayed onto the stage walls in a haunting forewarning of a fate that all fear could become Omari’s.
Andrea Harris Smith as Nya in Pipeline; background: live projection of Justin Weaks as Omari. Photo: C. Stanley Photography
As a former high school teacher in DC, Artistic Director David Muse notes, “Maybe most striking and recognizable to me about Pipeline is Dominique’s [Morisseau’s] treatment of the fatalism that takes hold of urban educators and parents as they struggle daily to deal with systems that seemed stacked against the young people in their charge.”
A powerful and haunting drama performed by an excellent cast.
Starring Andrea Harris Smith as Nya; Justin Weaks as Omari; Monica Rae Summers Gonzalez as Jasmine; Bjorn DuPaty as Xavier; Pilar Witherspoon as Laurie; and Ro Boddie as Dun.
Directed by Awoye Timpo; Set Design by Arnulfo Maldonado; Lighting Design by Jesse Belsky; Sound Design by Fan Zhang; Projection Design by Alexandra Kelly Colburn; Dramaturg Lauren Halvorsen.
Through February 16th at Studio Theatre, 1501 14th Street, NW, Washington, DC. For tickets and information visit www.StudioTheatre.org or call 202.332.3300.
Sometimes the hardest reviews to write are the ones in which a show exceeds all expectations. Shows that excel in all facets of production from onstage to backstage. I had a clue it would be a must-see show when I heard that Frank D. Shutts II was directing. But it wasn’t till I cracked open the playbill on opening night to reveal that Matt Liptak designed the sets, Stefan Sittig was the choreographer, Jean Schlichting and Kit Sibley designed the costumes and the crack team of Ken and Patti Crowley did the lighting. This is a formidable crew of multi-award-winning pros whose productions consistently dominate the WATCH Awards. Producer Mary Beth Smith-Toomey sure knows how to pick a winner.
Drew Goins as Monty and Katie Weigl as Sibella Hallward in ‘A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder’ at The Little Theatre of Alexandria. Photo by Matt Liptak.
What I wasn’t sure of was if the acting, singing (and some hoofing) would be up to snuff. The musical has a lot of moving parts – 193 lighting cues, 40 scene changes, and scads of props. A few of the actors were familiar to me from the LTA stage, but not many. Most notably Chuck Dluhy whom we saw in last year’s award-winning production of The Nance and God of Carnage, Derek Marsh who was outstanding here recently in The Producers, and longtime LTA supporter and actor, Margie Remmers. Leads were played by actors either new to the stage (apart from university stage work) or new to our area and several of them emerged as serious challengers to area actors with top notch vocal chops.
If you crossed author Edward Gorey, filmmaker Wes Anderson and composers Gilbert & Sullivan you might be able to describe this eccentrically charming musical set in the Victorian Era. Based on Roy Horniman’s 1907 novel “Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal”, it’s a story of a down-on-his-heels clerk living with his mother who has been disinherited and forced to work as a charwoman. At her funeral, an old family friend arrives with proof that Monty is related to the D’Ysquith family giving him claim to a title and a royal estate. The only glitch is our lovable hero is eight times removed from becoming the Earl of D’Ysquith. Hmmm…
Alexandra Chace as Phoebe D’Ysquith in ‘A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder’ at The Little Theatre of Alexandria. Photo by Matt Liptak.
This quirky tale of retribution opens with Monty already imprisoned for murder and writing his memoir. It then toggles back and forth from the young man’s cell to explain how he got there – eight murders, a rising career in a tony brokerage house led by his D’Ysquith uncle, who has taken pity on him, plus two mad love affairs. However, do not despair for this once painfully shy, now increasingly bold, chronically endearing, murderer. He’s got more than few defenders who will happily take the fall to see him take his royal seat at High Hurst Castle.
Eleven actors, some in multiple roles, succeed mightily in bringing this fast-paced Tony Award-winning musical to a crescendo of laughter and sophisticated wit. Credit everyone, but this reviewer was gobsmacked by lead actor Drew Goins as Monty Navarro, Alexandra Chace as Phoebe D’Ysquith, the hilarious Chuck Dluhy in NINE roles! and Katie Weigl as Sibella Hallward.
An eleven-piece orchestra, led by Conductor Christopher A. Tomasino with Concert Master Steve Natrella, perform 22 numbers ranging from comic operetta to love songs.
Book and Lyrics by Robert L. Freedman, Music and Lyrics by Steven Lutvak. With Kristin Jepperson as Miss Shingle; Audrey Baker as Miss Barley; Jordan Peyer as Tom Copley; and ensemble members Devin Dietrich and Allison Meyer.
Dazzling and dastardly. Race to the box office STAT!
Through February 8th 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.
