Parrot Heads know where paradise is – on a beach with a tequila-laced cocktail in hand – and that’s exactly where this bio-musical will transport them. Last night an audience filled with Jimmy Buffett fans were jazzed to hear a mix of his best-loved hits coupled with Broadway-style tunes designed to enhance the singer’s life story.
Company of the National Tour, Jimmy Buffett’s ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE. Photo credit Matthew Murphy
The sweet love stories play out at a run-down hotel on a Caribbean island where two besties go for different reasons. Rachel, a Harvard-educated environmentalist, is there to collect soil samples for a project she hopes to get funded and Tammy wants a beach blowout before her upcoming nuptials to Chad. When they arrive, the beach party is in full swing with revelers dancing in minis and cutoffs and tropical drinks flowing. The overarching theme is party hardy and Brick shakes up shooters like “Sex on the Beach”, “Screaming Orgasm” and “Long Slow Comfortable Screw” that are no doubt familiar within the drinking culture.
Shelly Lynn Walsh as Tammy, Peter Michael Jordan as Brick, Chris Clark as Tully, Sarah Hinrichsen as Rachelin Jimmy Buffett’s ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE. ~ Photo credit Matthew Murphy
Tully Mars and his friend, Brick, live on the island where they’ve carved out a laidback lifestyle – Tully as the beach party’s guitar-strumming singer and Brick as the bartender. The guys time their affairs to the vacationers’ week-long stay. As Tully puts it, “Relationships are designed to only last a week.” Tammy puts it more succinctly, “Zip flop, namaste!” But the men soon find themselves falling in love – Brick when he discovers Tammy likes puns and the hokey pokey and Tully when he realizes Rachel is not his typical hookup. “Changes in Attitudes” is the forerunner to her opening up to Tully and his island life.
Sarah Hinrichsen as Rachel and Chris Clark as Tully in Jimmy Buffett’s ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE. ~ Photo credit Matthew Murphy
The crowd eats this up, especially the Margaritaville song, yelling out “Salt, salt, salt!” between verses. These are diehard fans, and if this isn’t your jam – tiki huts, Hawaiian shirts and tequila – you’re in the wrong place. Despite the party atmosphere, there are lessons to be learned and everyone seems to arrive at nirvana at their own pace. J. D., the island’s patch-sporting Yoda, finds love with Marley, Margaritaville Hotel’s charming owner, and it’s a kick to see where Buffett’s greatest hits turn up. “Cheeseburger in Paradise” being one of the silliest when Tammy returns home to Cincinnati and breaks her diet in a dance with a trolley stacked high with her favorite junk food.
Shelly Lynn Walsh as Tammy, Peter Michael Jordan as Brick, Chris Clark as Tully, Sarah Hinrichsen as Rachelin Jimmy Buffett’s ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE. ~ Photo credit Matthew Murphy
Twenty-five songs sung by some top-notch vocalists backed by an eight-piece band are the glue that holds this fun-night-out musical together. As Tully’s African American talent agent puts it when Tully thinks his songs won’t sell, “White people love this shit!” And we all know how that turned out for Buffett.
Recommended for ages 13 and up.
Music by Jimmy Buffett, Book by Greg Garcia & Mike O’Malley, Directed by Amy Anders Corcoran, Choreography by Kelly Devine, Costumes by Paul Tazewell, Scenic Design by Walt Spangler, Lighting Design by Howell Binkley & Amanda Zieve with Orchestrations by Michael Utley. Based on the Original Direction by Christopher Ashley.
With Chris Clark as Tully, Sarah Hinrichsen as Rachel, Shelly Lynn Walsh as Tammy, Peter Michael Jordan as Brick, Rachel Lynn Fobbs as Marley, Patrick Cogan as J. D., Matthew James Sherrod as Jamal, Noah Bridgestock as Chadd, Diego Alejandro González as Jesús and DeVon Buchanan as Ted – plus a 12-person ensemble.
Jimmy Buffett’s Escape – to – Margaritaville is part of The National’s 2019-2020 16-production series bringing the best of Broadway shows to DC.
Through October 13th at The National Theatre 1321 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. For tickets and information visit www.TheNational.com or call 1-800-514-3849.
Where will you be when the world comes to an end? Will you be sipping tea and nibbling on biscuits in a hydrangea-filled English garden? Will you notice the world’s decline outside your garden walls? Or will you be oblivious until it directly affects you? In a purposely discordant collection of conversations, four women gossip about their lives, most especially the foibles and failures of their absent acquaintances. They avoid discussions like the overarching collapse of the planet’s social and environmental systems and skirt around Vi’s six-year stretch in the penitentiary for the murder of her husband – it eventually comes up but only as a symptom of her social paralysis. Platitudes are offered up as effortlessly as teacup refills.
Valerie Leonard as Mrs. Jarrett, Helen Hedman as Sally, Catherine Flyeas Vi and Brigid Cleary as Lena in Escaped Aloneat Signature Theatre. Photo by Margot Schulman.
Sally’s daughter, Mrs. Jarrett, serves as narrator of Earth’s current state of anarchism and apocalypse. Her news updates announce all the latest disasters – widespread disease, floods, mudslides, pollution, tidal waves, domestic violence, starvation, refugee camps, and more – nothing that’s not reported in our everyday news feeds. Scenes toggle between the ladies nattering in non sequiturs and Mrs. Jarrett’s doomsday doses of reality. The women don’t hear her and don’t care. They have their own problems, picayune though they are. Sally is cat-phobic and Lena is agoraphobic and without purpose. Vi is wound up in her own malaise, and Mrs. Jarrett appears to have zero impact on the other ladies. They’d rather revisit the past and dance to Petula Clark or blame the whole thing on God’s revenge for sexual dysphoria. Notwithstanding the light-hearted conversations, we sense an undercurrent of depression and manic behavior.
Helen Hedman as SallyandCatherine Flye as Vi in Escaped Aloneat Signature Theatre. Photo by Margot Schulman
A brief but notable reference to the Book of Job, “I only am escaped alone to tell thee”, serves to explain the play’s title. But who of these four will escape? Their survival is neither promised nor suggested. Legendary playwright Caryl Churchill (Cloud Nine, Top Girls) wrote Escaped Alone as a short but compelling drama about ordinary people living in extraordinary times – much like ours. It draws from the concept of British tea houses run by women for women who were free to discuss private matters apart from men. It later became a sanctuary in which the women’s suffragist movement blossomed. Expertly directed by Holly Twyford, it features a cast of highly respected, veteran actors.
Valerie Leonard as Mrs. Jarrett in Escaped Aloneat Signature Theatre. Photo by Margot Schulman
Brigid Cleary as Lena, Catherine Flye as Vi, Helen Hedman as Sally, and Valerie Leonard as Mrs. Jarrett.
Scenic Design by Paige Hathaway, Costume Design by Alison Samantha Johnson, Lighting Design by Maria Shaplin, Sound Design by Victoria Deiorio.
Through November 3rd at Signature Theatre (Shirlington Village), 4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington, VA 22206. For tickets and information call 703 820-9771 or visit www.sigtheatre.org.
Take The Tempest. Now place it on a stage holding 2,500 gallons of water, six-inches deep. Got it? Mix the technological wizardry of a cutting-edge audio/visual immersive experience with an electronic score and keep it utterly wordless. This is the fantasy world created by Synetic Theatre’s version of Shakespeare’s familiar drama. Born out of the seemingly limitless imagination of visionary Artistic Director, Paata Tsikurishvili, a Georgian-born, theatrical pioneer and his wife Irina Tsikurishvili, actress and choreographer, who together founded this uniquely transgressive, no-rules theatre company, the two theater idealists combined to reinvent the classics through the art of athleticism, aesthetics, futuristic sound, and physicality as no other theater company.
Irina Tsikurishvili as Prospera. “The Tempest” at Synetic Theater. Photo by Johnny Shryock.
As with early Shakespeare productions, gender reversal was the norm as men played all the roles, both male and female. In this production Paata toys with gender, casting Prospero as a newly minted, “Prospera”, played by his wife, Irina, a dancer/choreographer and 33-time Helen Hayes Award nominee. Ariel, the female sprite, is imagined as male and performed by the tremendously talented dancer/performer, Alex Mills, who appears as a pop-locking, anime-inspired superhero, stylistically reminiscent of Marvel Comics’ Silver Surfer.
Alex Mills as Ariel. “The Tempest” at Synetic Theater. Photo by Johnny Shryock.
Welcome to Synetic’s phantasmagoric world of enchantment and mysticism. Overflowing with dizzying acrobatics, flips, and watery somersaults, it offers up a seemingly psychedelic experience far outside the realm of the Shakespeare you have come to know. You will never see anything like it in your lifetime.
Vato Tsikurishvili as Caliban. “The Tempest” at Synetic Theater. Photo by Johnny Shryock.
Cutting an elegant swath through an aqueous mist Prospera, the sorceress, cuts a majestic figure as she stands bravely amidst the sounds of crashing waves interwoven with electronica and futuristic synth-pop. Hidden behind prison gates in a fiery-red grotto, lurks the malevolent monster, Caliban (Vato Tsikurishvili at his most magnificent). He emerges stealthily, inching beneath the waves and the two lock horns as water spews across the stage, catching the light and spraying wildly onto the first three rows. Dominated by splashing water, rainstorms, ferocious battles, amorphous sea creatures and playful comic scenes, this wildly atmospheric water world will be your new normal.
“The Tempest” at Synetic Theater. Photo by Johnny Shryock.
The entirety of this cast is outstanding in every respect. In a production that redefines acting as both intensely physical and dramatically interpretive, the casting requires a unique kind of performer – one who is both classically trained in ballet and acrobatics, and who must be in top physical condition. I was utterly blown away by the fearless athleticism and extraordinary acting expressed by this amazing cast.
Five stars! Bring the kids.
*** The first three rows are known as the “splash zone” and courtesy ponchos are graciously provided. Request these seats when booking your tickets if you’re up for a totally immersive experience.
With Anne Flowers as Syncorax, Megan Khaziran as Antonia, Scott Brown as Ferdinand, Pablo Guillen as King Alonso, Katherine DuBois Maguire as Trinculo, Matt R. Stover as Stephano, and Scean Aaron and Katherine Frattini in the ensemble.
Directed by Paata Tsikurishvili and choreographed by Irina Tsikurishvili with Composer & Sound Designer Konstantine Lortkipanidze, Scenic & Costume Designer Anastasia Simes and Lighting Designer Andrew Griffin.
Through October 20th at Synetic Theater, 1800 South Bell Street, Arlington, VA in Crystal City. For tickets and information call 1-866-811-4111 or visit www.synetictheater.org.
Hard on the heels of Arena Stage’s ongoing production of Jitney comes Fences, another August Wilson drama and the sixth play in Wilson’s ten-part series the American Century Cycle that chronicles 100 years of the African American experience. (Jitney, Wilson’s first play in the series, was reviewed here earlier this week.) It’s clear Wilson has further honed his vision to encapsulate pockets of Black culture with another deeply moving story reflecting both humor and pathos. Fences depicts the struggles and complex interpersonal relations of the Maxsons, an American family living in a racist society.
Doug Brown, Jefferson A. Russell, Erika Rose and Craig Wallace – Photo by Scott Suchman.
In a family dominated by Troy Maxson, an emotionally detached father who blames his sons for his personal failures and cuckolds his devoted wife, each member is forced to carve out their own truth. Both sons and wife Rose try to escape his unpredictable moods, but it’s his inability to express love that eventually takes its toll on everyone – including Troy, who lacks both education and basic human understanding.
Justin Weaks and Craig Wallace. Photo by Scott Suchman
Troy’s fifteen-year incarceration for murder took away his promising baseball career in the Negro Leagues and he is still bitter. Forfeiting his future, he takes a menial sanitation job with the city of Pittsburgh to provide for his family and becomes resentful when his son Cory is offered a football college scholarship. As a result, his jealousy and arrogance fracture their relationship. “I’m the boss around here,” he warns the boy, insisting he doesn’t have to like him and that his only responsibility is to provide for his son’s basic needs. When Troy refuses to sign a permission slip allowing Cory to accept the college scholarship, Cory tells his father, “You just scared I’m gonna be better than you.”
Erika Rose, Doug Brown, Justin Weaks and Craig Wallace. Photo by Scott Suchman
This is where I struggled to comprehend the sense of this father-son battle. I wondered, if the father is so resentful of supporting his son, then why doesn’t he allow him to take the scholarship so he can be absolved of further financial responsibility? How this could be? As luck would have it, during intermission I had a discussion with an African American acquaintance who told me that he had grown up in a family with twelve children and Troy reminded him of his own father. When I asked why that was, he told me his father was functionally illiterate like Troy and had no understanding of college. Shockingly, his father believed it would be a place where his daughters would become prostitutes, and, as for the sons, he claimed their only choice was to learn a manual skill. I thanked my friend for this insight and can only imagine that it reflects a time within a certain struggling African American community who believed they shouldn’t overstep their bounds. The play is set in 1957 and opportunities were slow in coming.
Craig Wallace – Photo credit Scott Suchman
Rose is Troy’s long-suffering wife who cleans and cooks and stands by her man despite his drinking and womanizing. Erika Rose (the actress shares the character’s name) proves to be the perfect counterpart to Craig Wallace’s Troy Maxson, not only in sheer emotionality, but also in fiery intensity. And Doug Brown as Jim Bono, Troy’s former prison mate and best friend, grants us a character who tempers Troy’s hardheadedness with humor and country wit.
Erika Rose, Janiyah Lucas and Justin Weaks in the Ford’s Theatre production of August Wilson’s “Fences,. Photo by Scott Suchman
Eventually, Troy comes to need Rose in ways he never imagined, and they develop a marital détente. It is at this point in their already strained relationship that Troy begins to find the words to describe his loneliness and fears of inadequacy, and finally comes to terms with the error of his ways. Troy’s tragedy is lack of compassion, the inability to see outside of himself, and jealousy of his own son’s success. The result is that it eats him alive and, as we all know, a wooden fence can’t keep out death or the devil.
Highly recommended for a superb cast and Timothy Douglas’ splendid direction.
Additional cast members: KenYatta Rogers as Lyons Maxson, Jefferson A. Russell as Gabriel Maxson, Justin Weaks as Cory Maxson and Janiyah Lucas/Mecca Rogers as Raynell Maxson.
Scenic Design by Lauren Helpern, Costume Design by Helen Huang, Lighting Design by Andrew R. Cissna, Hair and Makeup by Danna Rosedahl, and Sound Design by Nick Hernandez.
Through October 27th at Ford’s Theatre, 511 10th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20004. For tickets call 888.616.0270 or visit www.Fords.org.
As the play opens, Turnbo pulls out a set of checkers from a purple felt Crown Royal whiskey sack and the mood is set. It’s a 1977 snapshot of Pittsburgh’s Hill district in the office of a rundown gypsy cab station. August Wilson’s period play focuses on eight African American jitney drivers of varying ages, and one young woman, Rena, girlfriend to Youngblood. The scene tracks like the world of painter Thomas Hart Benton’s African American subjects, thanks in large part to the atmospheric set design by David Gallo.
(R to L) Amari Cheatom (Youngblood) and Nija Okoro (Rena) in Jitney. Photo by Joan Marcus.
Wilson hails from Pittsburgh and his life, and the unregulated jitney services his community used, was the basis for this play. It is the first of ten plays in his American Century Cycle. This gem of a play gifts us with an unfiltered view of the harsh, often times funny, life in a part of the black community when the Civil Rights movement was strengthening while, at the same time, black neighborhoods were being torn down and gentrified. Program notes reveal that the Ellis Hotel, mentioned in the play, was a safe haven for African American travelers and that the actual Westbrook Station was the inspiration for Becker’s Station in Jitney.
(R to L) Steven Anthony Jones (Becker) and Amari Cheatom (Youngblood). Photo by Joan Marcus.
Turnbo, a big gossip, has his nose up in everybody’s business, “I just talk what I know,” he claims, but it doesn’t sit right with the other men and he soon becomes a pariah when he stiffs Youngblood over a cup of coffee he’s sent him out for. Youngblood, trying to overcome his Vietnam War experiences, still has anger issues and the men fight when Turnbo accuses him of running around with Rena’s sister. Sheely is a colorfully clad, pimp daddy numbers runner who uses the business as his office and Fielding is another driver whose affinity for the bottle is destroying his life.
(R to L) Steven Anthony Jones (Becker) and Francois Battiste (Booster). Photo by Joan Marcus.
Becker, a straight up guy and owner of the jitney service, learns his son Booster is getting out of prison after a twenty-year sentence for murder. Tension explodes when the son confronts his father, each feeling the other is a disappointment and the cause of the untimely death of Booster’s mother. And then there’s, Doub, a Korean war veteran who bonds with the other men in swapping war stories and serves as a counterbalance to the hostilities.
(R to L) Harvy Blanks (Shealy) and Amari Cheatom (Youngblood). Photo by Joan Marcus.
Called the “Shakespeare of American playwrights”, Wilson’s wry drama is a particularly optimum choice for the opening of Arena’s season-long Festival celebrating the playwright’s work. Jitney is directed by the brilliant Ruben Santiago-Hudson who won the 2017 Tony Award for “Best Revival of a Play” for his Broadway production of the play.
(R to L) Amari Cheatom (Youngblood), Harvy Blanks (Shealy) and Brian D. Coats (Philmore). Photo by Joan Marcus.
It’s a gem of a opener with a phenomenal cast. Highly recommended.
Francois Battiste (Broadway’s Bronx Bomber, Prelude to a Kiss) as Booster; Harvey Blanks (Broadway’s Jitney) as Shealy; Amari Cheatom (Django Unchained, Roman J. Israel, Esq.) as Youngblood; Anthony Chisholm (Broadway’s Jitney); Brian D. Coats (Broadway’s Jitney) as Philmore; Steven Anthony Jones (longtime veteran of August Wilson’s plays) as Becker; Nija Okoro as Rena; Keith Randolph Smith (Broadway’s Jitney, King Hedley II) as Doub; and Ray Anthony Thomas (Broadway’s Jitney, The Crucible).
Scenic Designer David Gallo; Costume Designer Toni-Leslie James; Lighting Designer Jane Cox; Original Music composed by Bill Sims, Jr.
Through October 20th at Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth St., SE, Washington, DC 20024. For tickets and information call 202 488-3300 or visit www.ArenaStage.org.
Cats! Lots of cats! Twenty-six, in fact. Most especially Jellicle cats – the ones T. S. Elliot told of in “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats”. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s classic blockbuster is in town for a short run, and this is the musical to see. Full stop.
As the music’s eerily and compelling orchestration plays the intro, and just as you’re adjusting your eyes to pitch darkness, the cats slink down the aisles, their tails twitching and laser-eyes blinking, leaping and posing and creating the electrifying moments you won’t soon forget. A silvery moon hangs high over a darkened alley as the cats prepare for the annual Jellicle Ball – a magical occasion whereby one cat is chosen to be reborn. Keeping up with so many cats takes a bit of doing since they have three names: fanciful names, sensible names and naturally, as befits a cat of stature, an elegant name. As explained in “The Naming of Cats”, “the cat himself knows his name, but will never confess.”
The North American Tour Company of CATS. Photo by Matthew Murphy
The sheer athleticism of the show is jaw-dropping – leaps, backover flips, cartwheels, tap dancing!!!, jazzy bits and ballet bits – all frenetically energetic and fiercely feline. Some of the most spectacular choreography ever includes thigh-to-ear kicks that would make the Rockettes jealous. I had to wonder how these actors/dancers/singers do it all, and all at the same time, in costume, with cat faces and long tails.
Brandon Michael Nase as ‘Old Deuteronomy’ and the North American Tour Company of CATS. Photo by Matthew Murphy
Old Deuteronomy appears in a massive fur suit, and the roly-poly tuxedo cat, Bustopher Jones, sports a fur suit of black tie when he’s out cattin’ around. Well, of course, he’s from the posh side of St. James.
McGee Maddox as ‘Rum Tum Tugger’ and the North American Tour Company of CATS. Photo by Matthew Murphy.
McCavity, “The Mystery Cat” is a ginger cat and a monster of depravity, only outdone by the fabulous Rum Tum Tugger, played in spectacular fashion by 10-foot tall, legs-for-days (ah, well, it seems like it) McGee Maddox. You are sure to pick your favorites, based on the particular quirks and quibbles of cats you have known. But everyone will agree on the appeal of Grizabella, the tattered old tabby who is on her last paws. Played by the amazing Keri René Fuller, whose sublimely soaring rendering of “Memory” will send goosebumps up your spine, it is transcendent.
Keri René Fuller as Grizabella in the North American Tour of CATS. Photo by Matthew Murphy
Orchestrations by Andrew Lloyd Webber & David Cullen with the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra and the Cats Orchestra. With original scenic and costume design by John Napier (Les Misérables), all-new lighting design by Natasha Katz (Aladdin), all-new sound design by Mick Potter, new choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler (Hamilton) based on the original choreography by Gillian Lynne (The Phantom of the Opera), and direction by Trevor Nunn (Les Misérables), make this production of Cats the perfect show for a new generation.
With Phillip Deceus as Alonso, Emma Hearn as Bombalurina, Mariah Reives as Cassandra, Maurice Dawkins as Coricopat, Alexa Racioppi as Demeter, Kaitlyn Davidson as Jellylorum, Emily Jeanne Phillips as Jennyanydots, PJ DiGaetano as Mistoffelees, Tony d’Alelio as Mungojerrie, Dan Hoy as Munkustrap, Timothy Gulan as Peter/Bustopher Jones/Asparagus, Tyler John Logan as Plato/Macavity, Brett Michael Lockley as Pouncival, Rose Iannaccone as Rumpelteazer, Ahren Victory as Sillabub, Ethan Saviet as Skimbleshanks, Laura Katherine Kaufman as Tantomile, Devin Neilson as Tumblebrutus, Brandon Michael Nase as Victor/Deuteronomy, Caitlin Bond as Victoria, and Maria Failla, Adam Richardson, Zachary Tallman and Tricia Tanguy as The Cats Chorus.
Highly recommended. It’s the cat’s meow and more!
Through October 6th 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.
