Jordan Wright
January 29, 2015
Special to The Alexandria Times
 TC Carson, Lori Williams, Stephawn Stephens, Roz White, Djob Lyons, Nia Harris, LC Harden Jr., Bernardine Mitchell – Photo credit Chris Banks “I heard it said the Blues was the Truth.” And Bessie Smith had an intravenous line along the Truth Trail and straight to the heart of the Blues. Bessie’s Blues is a powerful homage to Smith. Produced by Artistic Director Carolyn Griffin this is neither a tribute concert, nor a paean to the late great blues singer, but a full throttle musical interpretation of her life and times, both good and bad. Bernadine Mitchell, Lori Williams and Roz White are among the cast of eight powerhouse singers.
 Bernardine Mitchell, Lori Williams, Djob Lyons, Roz White – Photo credit Chris Banks Thirty-three numbers, many co-written by the show’s writer, director and choreographer, Thomas W. Jones II, are belted, scatted, swung, jived, barbershopped and tenderly delivered by this exceptional ensemble rounded out by TC Carson, Stephawn P. Stephens, Djob Lyons, LC Harden, Jr. and Nia Harris. William Knowles leads the five-piece band that throws out some serious joint-jumpin’ chops.
The storyline that strings it together with soulful sounds is the rise to fame and fortune of the woman known as the “Empress of the Blues”. Smith’s life afforded plenty of raw material for Jones to work with – – her problems with men and managers, the Great Depression, racial discrimination, and her alcoholism. As Bessie says, “Pain ain’t got no geography.”
Mitchell, who has played iconic singers before at MetroStage – Mahalia comes to mind – owns this role and she proves it without a shadow of a doubt by reaching deep within to reveal the glory of her rare and matchless voice. Mitchell could rip the skin off a crocodile with her heart-wrenching vocals that display her breathtaking vocal range and high-wattage with the ability to scale back to lullaby level when it’s called for.
Costume Designer Frank Labovitz has adorned the women in Charleston era style with boas, feathers, fringe, red hot silk gowns and sexy lurex minis, while the men sport the plaid sharkskin suits of the Minstrel shows and the sequined vests of Vaudeville hoofers. In an uptown party scene where Smith is disastrously presented to high society, they sashay around in black tie with bowlers and canes.
 Roz White, Djob Lyons, LC Harden Jr., TC Carson, Nia Harris, Stephawn Stephens –
Photo credit: Chris Banks Roz White plays “Rhythm” a tougher side of Smith that reveals her motivation to be successful. “I could shake my bottom or pick cotton,” she declares which she does when she joins the Moses Stokes’ Traveling Show with Ma Rainey at St. Louis’s famed Ivory Theatre where the music speaks of “sweet steppin’ papas and hip shakin’ mamas”.
As “Passion” Lori Williams’s sweet voice adds a sexy, sultry element to the show. On “Wet Match” (“You can’t light a fire with a wet match.”) she shows her way of sensuously carving out notes that is both alluring and assertive at the same time.
 TC Carson, Nia Harris, Djob Lyons, LC Harden Jr., Roz White, Stephawn Stephens – Photo credit Chris Banks Nia Harris is “The Dancer” – – a sort of alter ego to Bessie. Wearing flapper dresses or flowing streams of chiffon, the sprite-like Harris weaves in and out of Smith’s journey, interpreting her travails through movement. Harris, who has trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and the Alvin Ailey School, is sheer magic as she silently executes her sinuous movements in an exquisitely choreographed interplay.
Highly recommended.
At MetroStage through March 15th – 1201 North Royal Street, Alexandria, 22314. For tickets and information visit www.metrostage.org.
Jordan Wright
January 27, 2014
Special to The Alexandria Times
 (L to R) Lucas Hall as Doctor Watson and Gregory Wooddell as Sherlock Holmes – Photo by Margot Schulman. As I enjoy the second mountainously entertaining Ken Ludwig drawing room comedy in less than a week, I am reminded that the Washington-based American playwright is anything but British. So how does he nail the veddy, veddy stiff-upper-lip satire that evokes the stories of P. G. Wodehouse? Ludwig draws on the schadenfreude of watching the posh get their comeuppance, a premise employed in many of his comedies, and one in which we can all delight.
In Arena Stage’s premiere of Baskerville Ludwig concocts his fiction around Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, as in The Game’s Afoot, (reviewed here last week).
 (L to R) Stanley Bahorek, Michael Glenn and Gregory Wooddell – Photo by Margot Schulman. For “the greatest, most dangerous case, in his remarkable career”, as sidekick Watson describes it, Holmes must uncover the murderer of Sir Hugo, the lord of Baskerville. As it is revealed the haunting creature, rumored to be “a great black beast”, roams the moors and rips out the throats of its victims. (A charming thought referencing Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Hound of the Baskervilles”.) When the big-hearted Texan, Sir Henry, arrives to claim his rightful stake in the Devonshire estate “Y’all got anything out here I can shoot?” the plot gets curiouser and curiouser.
 L to R) Michael Glenn and Jane Pfitsch – Photo by Margot Schulman. Gregory Wooddell plays Holmes, Lucas Hall, Doctor Watson, and four other actors Stanley Bahorek, Michael Glenn, Jane Pfitsch and Milo Tindale, play dozens of roles while dashing offstage lickety-split for changes of both costume and character. By the second act the audience is clued in to the madness of the quick change as hats, wigs and props are tossed off stage in full sight and characters and props burst forth from five trapdoors embedded in the stage floor.
 (L to R) Gregory Wooddell, Lucas Hall and Stanley Bahorek – Photo by Margot Schulman. As you may imagine the crew is as crucial in the production’s helter-skelter pace as the actors – – and neither disappoints. Sound effects from storms and trains, lighting from vaudeville period stage lights to spots in full view, and props, some of which descend from above, all contribute to the haunting atmospherics as scenes change as rapidly as the costumes and roles. There is a night at the opera, the fog of the “gimpenmeyer” that swallows ponies, Sherlock’s bespoke study, the creepy castle and multiple scene and costume changes that require lightening quick switcheroos.
Jess Goldstein created the period costumes, Philip S. Rosenberg designed the dramatic lighting effects, Joshua Horvath and Raymond Nardelli created the sounds, and Gillian Lane-Pescia trained the actors in the multiple dialects. I noted Scottish, English, Texan, Cockney, Russian, German and Spanish. Bahorek mines a lisping Spanish accent as a campy concierge in charge of a luxury hotel where there has been some, need I say, very questionable activity. Bear in mind this was written before this year’s Golden Globes-winning movie “The Grand Budapest Hotel” which closely mirrors Ralph Fiennes role as the madcap concierge.
 Stanley Bahorek in Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville -Photo by Margot Schulman. Director Amanda Dehnert, whose background is mainly in Shakespeare’s plays, does a bang-up job with the pacing, turning a complex production into a seemingly effortless, entirely hilarious, Brit-wit romp.
Highly recommended.
Through February 22nd at Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth St., SE, Washington, DC 20024. For tickets and information call 202 488-3300 or visit www.ArenaStage.org.
Jordan Wright
January 20, 2015
Special to The Alexandria Times
 Front Row (L to R) – Aggie Wheeler (Maureen R. Goldman), Daria Chase (Melissa Dunlap), Martha Gillette (Patricia Spencer Smith), and Madge Geisel (Pam Kasenetz). Back Row (L to R) – Simon Bright (Joe Quinn), William Gillette (John Henderson), Inspector Harriet Goring (Michelle Fletcher), and Felix Geisel (Chuck Leonard) – Photo credit Matt Liptak Sherlock Holmes portrayer William Gillette (John Henderson) lives with his dowager mother Martha (Patricia Spencer Smith) in his newly acquired mansion on the Connecticut River near East Haddam, Connecticut. He is at home nursing a gunshot wound he sustained from an unknown assailant while performing at his Palace Theatre. It is Christmas Eve and he has invited the cast in his long-running, self-produced play to dine and dish. Gillette describes his portrayal of Holmes as, “A play about a man of reason who stands up for the cause of justice.” All very high-minded stuff.
Actors-as-actors in a whodunit is playwright Ken Ludwig’s premise in The Game’s Afoot at The Little Theatre of Alexandria. Now you can always expect high hat hijinks from a Ludwig play, but when the characters are actors you are effectively doubling down. Gillette’s sophisticated troupe are “Class A” emoters who swan around quoting Shakespeare, Keats, FDR and dozens of writers and notable actors throughout the course of the action. Add to that tons of snappy repartee, snide asides, glamorous gowns from Costume Designers Jean Schlicting and Kit Sibley, and murder. Oh yes, there is murder most delicious, and mayhem galore.
 Simon Bright (Joe Quinn), Aggie Wheeler (Maureen R. Goldman), William Gillette (John Henderson), Felix Geisel (Chuck Leonard), Madge Geisel (Pam Kasenetz) – Photo credit Matt Liptak Simon (Joe Quinn) and Aggie (Maureen R. Goldman) and Felix (Chuck Leonard) and Madge (Pam Kasenetz), two couples who are dinner guests, are shocked when renowned theater critic and columnist Daria Chase (Melissa Dunlap) arrives under the guise of doing a puff piece on Gillette. “Everyone wants publicity!” she declares. As Martha describes Daria to her son, “She was ruthless. She was evil. She was a theater critic, for God’s sake!” I’ll admit that was my favorite line of the play and Ludwig’s plum chance to get in a dig. In one of the most hilarious scenes Daria conducts a séance to intuit the murderer, which only convolutes the entire purpose and draws the others’ motives into question.
 William Gillette (John Henderson) and Aggie Wheeler (Maureen R. Goldman) – Photo credit Matt Liptak Frank Pasqualino directs a crack cast in this tidy comedy filled with outstanding performances by Henderson (absolutely brilliant), Kasenetz, Dunlap and Smith. Set Designer John Downing draws on the original Gillette castle (Yes, Gillette was a real actor!), using medieval armaments as décor and a clever “magic” door. How LTA’s compact stage affords the sense of being in a mansion is anathema to everything conceivable about a small theater! Yet Downing achieves the impossible. Heads up: Watch for Michelle Fletcher who enters during a snowstorm to give a scene-stealing performance as Inspector Goring, a star-struck wannabe actor.
 Inspector Harriet Goring (Michelle Fletcher) – Photo credit Matt Liptak Highly recommended for hilarity.
Through February 7th at The Little Theatre of Alexandria, 600 Wolfe Street. For tickets and information call the box office at 703 683-0496 or visit www.thelittletheatre.com
Jordan Wright
December 14, 2014
Special to The Alexandria Times
Photo credit The Shakespeare Theatre Company
 Sofia Jean Gomez as Ariel Lest you forget. Ariel is the feisty sprite in The Tempest who flits around doing Prospero’s bidding. And yes, here she flies, though aided by what appears to be a ship’s thick mooring line. In a way, it’s refreshing to have it be obvious, unlike an aerialist’s metal wire that reveals itself from time to time. Once you’ve gotten accustomed to it, it seems natural. As if a floating fairy might be considered “natural”!
As you’ll recall Prospero (Geraint Wyn Davies), the former Duke of Milan, is endowed with magical powers and charges Ariel and her gang of harpies with fulfilling all of his commands – – from the murder of his brother, Antonio (Gregory Linington), who stole his dukedom while he was lost at sea, to assuring the love match of his daughter, Miranda (Rachel Mewbron), and her paramour, the smitten Ferdinand (Avery Glymph). “They are both in either’s powers,” Prospero brags upon their first encounter.
 Avery Glymph as Ferdinand and Rachel Mewbron as Miranda All this makes Ariel a very busy little spirit who must also oversee her cohort Caliban (Clifton Duncan). Once the proud owner of this island of Sycorax, he has been reduced to a firewood gatherer by Prospero. Sofia Jean Gomez plays Ariel, a hissing, clawing spitfire, with a duplicitous vulnerability. “Pardon, Master, I will do my spriting gently,” she assures Prospero, hoping to gain her freedom through obedience.
 (L to R) Dave Quay as Stephano, Clifton Duncan as Caliban and Liam Craig as Trinculo Director Ethan McSweeny presents us with a spare sand-drenched set adorned with a single shipwreck. This bold arrangement allows the playgoer to more fully absorb the characters’ relationships in this lightened up script of Shakespeare’s final play, though the stripped down interpretation yet gifts the audience with all the humor, skullduggery and romance the play affords. And although there is plenty of bloodthirsty treachery plotted by both the duke’s brother Antonio and his coterie of royal thugs, there is much lighthearted whimsy to enjoy especially when Trinculo (Liam Craig), portrayed as a hapless jester, and Stephano (Dave Quay), a hilarious drunk, pair with Duncan to create a total riot fest in a classic scene of mistaken identity – – if you can mistake three men under a gabardine cloth for a spider.
 Rachel Mewbron as Miranda and Geraint Wyn Davies as Prospero Meanwhile the lords are plotting, as embittered royalty is wont to do, to murder Prospero. But the Sorcerer’s magical powers prove too strong to overcome and Prospero drugs the lords. “What’s past is prologue,” Antonio reminds us.
Adding to McSweeny’s vision Sound Designer Nevin Steinberg conjures up some jaw-dropping audio, producing a tempest filled with such thunder claps you’d be pardoned if you thought the entire theater might succumb to a roiling sea. Lighting Designer Christopher Akerlind augments the storm’s ferocity with a few masterful tricks of his own.
When at last our two lovers are joined Designer James Ortiz imagines the joyful goddesses Juno, Ceres and Iris as giant, diaphanously draped puppet masks, bringing to mind the fantastical puppetry of Julie Taymor, known best for her imaginary creatures in The Lion King.
Highly recommended.
Through January 11th at Sidney Harmon Hall, 610 F Street NW, Washington, DC 20003. For tickets and information contact the Box Office at 202 547-1122 or visit www.shakespearetheatre.org.
Jordan Wright
December 8, 2014
Special to The Alexandria Times
| The Nutcracker performed by The Washington Ballet |
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One of the best ways I know of to get excited about the Christmas season is to get thyself (and thy family) to the theatre where you can watch dancers soar in Septime Webre’s The Nutcracker performed by The Washington Ballet, sing your heart out to the National Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Handel’s Messiah at the Kennedy Center, or be transported by the age-old charms of A Christmas Carol. Whether you’re a traditionalist or modernist, there’s something for every taste, and plenty of holiday spirit for the kids too and plus a whole lot of ICE! to pretend we’re at the North Pole.
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At Signature Theatre it’s zany adult fare with a new spin on the beloved seasonal revue, Holiday Follies. Directed by Walter Ware III with musical direction by the inimitable Howard Breitbart, it’s an audience song choice evening featuring four fabulous singers, Gannon O’Brien, Stephen Gregory Smith, Delores King Williams and Bayla Whitten in a cabaret set list that changes with each performance. For tickets and information visit www.Signature-Theatre.org or call the box office at 703 820-9771.
| Peter Boyer (Scrooge)-Tracey Stephens (Charity Collector) |
Tracey Stephens as Bob Marley (in the body of Mae West) |
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North Pole enthusiasts will enjoy thrills and chills at this year’s ICE! – now at the Gaylord National Resort. The fun starts at the door of this glamorous resort when you lay eyes on the 60-foot tall glass tree glowing with over 2 million lights and gaze at the nightly indoor snowfall and musical “dancing” fountains. There’s fun for the whole family at the “Christmas on the Potomac” celebration where Frosty the Snowman is the star attraction. For info visit www.ChristmasOnThePotomac.com.
| 60-foot tall glass tree with 2 million lights |
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Carved from more than 2 million pounds of brightly colored ice sculptures and kept at a crisp nine degrees, you’ll stroll through life-size scenes of Frosty coming to life, marching through the Town Square, taking a train to the North Pole and Santa coming to the rescue to make “melted Frosty” whole again. Kids and grownups will want a turn on the two-story ice slide before checking out the interactive “Frostbite Factory”, where the Chinese artisans show off their master ice carving skills.
| Two-story ice slide |
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Afterwards head to the Atrium where little ones can hop aboard the miniature Peeps & Company Potomac Express Train or join DreamWorks’ Gingy from Shrek to decorate a gingerbread house to take home. Along the way play The Great Reindeer Roundup scavenger hunt throughout the hotel’s indoor gardens.
| Potomac Express Train |
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To learn about the many other holiday plans at the resort and to make reservations for the Brunch with Santa at Old Hickory Steakhouse, a DreamWorks’ Madagascar Crack’ A Lackin’ Cook-in Character Breakfast or buffet Dinner, a Yule log pastry making class, or a wine and cheese pairing class with the Old Hickory’s Maitre d’Fromage visit www.GaylordNationalTickets.com or call 301 965-4000.
At MetroStage the Great White Way is celebrated in A Broadway Christmas Carol, a spoof of the classic tale featuring the usual suspects – – Marley, Scrooge, Mrs. Fezziwig, The Cratchits and Tiny Tim. Set to familiar Broadway blockbusters this madcap Christmas special is performed by three phenomenal singer actors, Peter Boyer, Michael Sharp and Tracey Stephens plus alternating pianists, Howard Breitbart and William Knowles.
| Peter Boyer (Scrooge)-Tracey Stephens (Want)-Michael Sharp (Ignorance) – Photo: Colin Hovde |
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Lyricist Kathy Feininger has concocted all the belly laughs you can handle in this riotous revue that draws its musical chops from all your fave shows like Oklahoma, Guys and Dolls, Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, The Wiz and many, many more. More than five-dozen tunes and a whirlwind of wacky costume changes jam-pack this hilarious parody directed and choreographed by Michael Sharp. For tickets and information visit www.MetroStage.org or call the box office at 703 548-9044.
| The Little Theatre of Alexandria |
Scrooge (Mike Baker, Jr.)-Photos by Veronica Brunoo |
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For the traditionalist The Little Theatre of Alexandria presents its annual heartwarming classic, A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens’ classic tale of transformation and redemption. Set against the backdrop of Victorian England, the show has gorgeous costumes, ghastly ghosts and charming children. Rachael Hubbard adapts and directs this picture perfect Christmas postcard for a family friendly show that reminds us all of the true meaning of the season. If it’s a Currier & Ives Christmas you hunger for, this is the show for you. For tickets and information visit www.TheLittleTheatre.com or call the box office at 703 683-5778.
Jordan Wright
December 8, 2014
Special to The Alexandria Times
 Irinka Kavsadze as Belle, Vato Tsikurishvili as The Beast. Photo by Johnny Shryock In Ben and Peter Cunis’s original adaptation of Gabriel Bardot de Villeneuve’s classic tale of Beauty and the Beast, the audience finds themselves catapulted into a dark world of forest spirits, shapeshifters, a hideous horned beast and a vengeful beauty – – no, not the beautiful ingénue Belle – – but the prince’s spurned first love, Emmeranne, who morphs into a magnificent crow in a scene plucked straight out of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds putting death and destruction foremost on her agenda and setting up the audience for an indelibly unique interpretation. The scorned woman is an introduced character serving as the prince’s nemesis and his reality check. In this telling she is hell-bent on revenge and retribution for his fickle-minded affections.
Renata Veberyte Loman plays the hauntingly vengeful Witch and Narrator, Emmeranne, who taunts and curses the man she has transformed into a terrifying beast. “Crows don’t talk. And love never, ever hurts,” the enchantress proclaims, determined to demonstrate the opposite. Don’t look for Disney’s saucy little teapot to make an appearance. The Cunis brothers’ highly imaginative bedtime story is more in keeping with the fiendish fairy tales of the brothers Grimm, or the moralistic fables of Hans Christian Anderson.
 Renata Veberyte Loman as Narrator/Witch “Emmeranne”. Photo by Johnny Shryock. Another introduced character is the top-hatted Fantome, the Beast’s magical servant. Matthew Alan Ward gives a captivating performance in a silent role that draws on his elegant physicality and talent for mime.
Vato Tsikurishvili portrays the Prince and the Beast with both heart and soul, rendering him monstrous at times, at others, as sympathetic a character as Quasimodo. Irina Kavsadze, a delicate beauty who is the perfect foil for the diabolical Emmeranne, the fearsome beast and the castle’s living candelabras that make up the ensemble, plays Belle.
 Irinka Kavsadze as Belle. Photo by Johnny Shryock. Delivering the perfect alignment of creativity are Scenic Designer Daniel Pinha’s opulent sets and dual ramps providing both comedy and drama, Clint Herring’s original score blending new wave and classical sounds, Sound Designer Thomas Sowers’ eerily futuristic effects, Lighting Designer Brittany Diliberto’s clever transitions all of which combine to produce some splendid special FX throughout, including the Prince’s transmogrification and the creation of a projection screen in the shape of an egg through which the audience views a parallel universe depicted in silhouetted woodcuts.
Irina Tsikurishvili’s choreography adds kinetic flair to a memorable slow motion fight-and-flight scene and a romantic danse è deux between Belle and the Beast, while Costume Designer Kendra Rae draws on leather, silk, fur to reflect lost elegance and folklorica to offer a comedic relief in the costumes of Belle’s ditzy sisters played by Anna Lane and Kathryn Elizabeth Kelly.
Lest you think it’s too scary for children (though I wouldn’t recommend it for the very young), as the theatre was letting out, I asked an eight-year old if the witch had frightened her. “Not at all,” she declared, to which her father added, “She’s not afraid of anything.”
Utterly spellbinding.
Through January 11th at Synetic Theater, 1800 South Bell Street, Arlington in Crystal City. For tickets and information call 866 811-4111 or visit www.synetictheater.org.
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