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Jordan Wright
June 10, 2013
Special to The Alexandria Times
 Heather Norcross (Anita Highland), Michael Gerwin (Dr. Grover Lockwood), and Ben Norcross (Porter) – Photo Doug Olmsted There’s nothing like the sound of a collective gasp from the audience as when the curtain draws back to reveal a dazzling stage set. Co-Set Designers, John Downing and Bill Glikbarg, achieved this stunner after months of pouring over historic photographs of the 20th Century Limited, dubbed the “Most Famous Train in the World”. Their construction consists of three railroad cars decorated with Art Deco period furnishings in cool pearl gray tones that move on hidden pulleys as the action shifts wildly from private berths to a sitting car. Scrims inserted into the back windows of the cars allow the audience to catch sight of the passengers as they race back and forth in pursuit of each other – be it out of greed, lust or retribution.
For Roland Branford Gomez directing Ken Ludwig’s adaptation of 20th Century was a trip down memory lane. Not only had he ridden on the iconic train as a former child actor, but he had met and befriended a fellow dance studio student he had come to care for. Mary was the daughter of one of the play’s authors, Charles MacArthur and his lovely wife Helen Hayes, the “First Lady of the American Theatre”. Both parents frequently took the children to matinees in New York and so for Gomez it was a dream come full circle to direct this play for his adored playmate who died at the age of nineteen.
 Kathy Fannon (Ida Webb), David James (Oscar Jaffe), Margaret Bush (Lily Garland), and James McDaniel (Owen O’Malley) – Photo Doug Olmsted Meet Oscar Jaffe, a producer with three recent flops, buckets of bombast and a burning desire to get back in the game. Lily Garland is his muse – a glamorous actress flush off an Academy Award and eager to return to the stage. Along with their respective press agents, a cheating husband and his paramour, and an escaped mental patient they are all on the train to New York City. In between stations they serve up plenty of comedy, farce and whodunit in this delightful comic stew. And for that we should all be grateful.
David James plays failed producer, Oscar Jaffe, the self-described “Wizard of Broadway”, to the hilt in a flamboyance of zany, physical comedy that often out-emotes the rest of the cast. Margaret Bush as Jaffe’s former lover Lily, delivers in fine fashion, but as with the other terrific cast members she is often overshadowed by James.
 Gary Cramer (Matthew Clark), Heather Norcross (Anita Highland), James McDaniel (Owen O’Malley), and Kathy Fannon (Ida Webb) – Photo Doug Olmsted Heather Norcross as the coy sex kitten Anita Highland and Michael Gerwin as the adulterous doctor Dr. Grover Lockwood, make the most of their small roles, as does Kathy Fannon as Ida Webb, Jaffe’s assistant. And Gary Cramer does high anxiety to a T as the bible-thumping neurotic pill saleman Matthew Clark who convinces Jaffe he will underwrite his new play. I couldn’t get enough of their quirky well-crafted characters.
The second act picks up nicely when Max Jacobs, Jaffe’s rival for Lily, shows up on the train to thwart Jaffe and offer her a contract. That’s when Bob Cohen strides onstage and nearly steals the show with his portrait of the big time New York producer with a heart of steel.
 Cal Whitehurst (Conductor) and Kathy Fannon (Ida Webb) – Photo Doug Olmsted Sound Designer David Correia does a bang up job of recreating the glorious rumble and screech of a train streaking down the tracks. But, like a train that slows when it pulls into the station and speeds up to its next destination, this production has its fits and starts, moments of brilliance, and periods of static, still with plenty of high jinks and snappy repartee to go around.
Through June 29th 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
June 3, 2013
Special to The Alexandria Times
 The cast of “Company” turns Manhattan into a dance floor as they sing “Side By Side By Side.”
Photo: Scott Suchman. When the cast of Signature Theatre’s Company struts onstage in the musical’s first number, the thing to keep in mind is that three of the four onstage couples, Sherri L. Edelen as Joanne and Thomas Adrian Simpson as Larry; Tracy Lynn Olivera as Sarah and Evan Casey as Harry; Erin Driscoll as Jenny and James Gardiner as David are in fact real-life married couples. Only Erin Weaver as Amy and Paul Scanlan as Paul are not. Got that? Knowing that underlying dynamic makes it all the more compelling to watch their interactions with each other. Set in 1970’s Manhattan to the dawning of the sexual revolution, the reimagining of the meaning of marriage, and the requisite neuroses of the typical New Yorker, the musical is reminiscent of a Woody Allen movie set to music – fabulous, iconic, Stephen Sondheim music.
Perennial bachelor, Bobby, is a cad and a charmer, the type of guy who won’t commit to any girl. But his married friends adore him. He remembers their birthdays and brings them flowers when they are sick. They reveal their innermost selves to him and he stays as neutral as Switzerland. Light and breezy Bobby, the perennial observer, who stands on the sidelines and watches as the couples bicker or praise, need one another, yet feel trapped. Marriage. It’s complicated. And for middle-aged Bobby, bed hopping is far less messy.
 Joanne (Sherri L. Edelen; center) gets fired up to sing “The Ladies Who Lunch” while out on the town with Larry (Thomas Adrian Simpson; left)
and Bobby (Matthew Scott; right). Photo: Scott Suchman. When he queries the husbands about their marital satisfaction they explain the dichotomy of their lives with ” Sorry-Grateful”, a song that attempts to clarify both the loneliness and the comfort of marriage. Given such conflicting advice Bobby hunkers down in his bachelor foxhole examining the paradoxes of modern relationships. The wives sing about Bobby’s loneliness and trash his choice of women in “Poor Baby”, synching up with their husbands in the tune, “Have I Got a Girl For You”.
For more than four decades the music from Company has been sung in every city and cabaret from here to Timbuktu. Memorable showstoppers like “The Ladies Who Lunch”, “Another Hundred People”, “Barcelona”, “Side By Side”, “Marry Me a Little” (a later addition) and “Getting Married Today” have become beloved classics.
 The cast of “Company” serenades Bobby (Matthew Scott; center) as they sing “Side By Side By Side.”
Photo: Scott Suchman. Matthew Scott as Bobby is outstanding throughout, especially if you like Seth Meyers of Saturday Night Live whom he could double for in adorableness. Notable too is the effervescent Erin Weaver recently off her starring roles in The Last Five Years and Xanadu, who tears off the roof with her rendition of “Getting Married Today”.
Choreographer Matt Gardiner keeps the cast on their toes with snappy slick dance routines and a karate scene between Sarah and Harry that is outright hilarious. (Oh, yes, there’s plenty of comedy amongst all that angst.) Scenic Designer Daniel Conway employs a sleek three-tier stage bracketed by a grand staircase, sliding doors, a lofty apartment terrace and hydraulically controlled mid-century modern furnishings.
Producer Eric Shaeffer has put together a strong cast of powerful singers to showcase Sondheim’s musical and in turn give us a terrific show.
Through June 30th 2013 at Signature Theatre (Shirlington Village), 4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington, VA 22206. For tickets and information call 703 820-9771 or visit www.signature-theatre.org.
Jordan Wright
June 1, 2013
Special to DC Metro Theater Arts, Broadway Stars, and localKicks
Welcome to the Olympics of the Sailing World
Last week the organizers of the 2013 America’s Cup – the gold standard of sailing and crème de la crème of international yacht racing – came to the Willard Intercontinental DC to showcase their plans for this summer’s premiere event and flew in Michelin-starred chef Daniel Corey. Wouldn’t you if you wanted to impress? Partnering with the timelessly elegant Intercontinental Mark Hopkins and its sister hotel the ultra-contemporary Intercontinental San Francisco, they’ve dubbed their mission “The Luce Cup Tour” after the hotel’s Luce Wine Restaurant where Corey is Chef de Cuisine. In the shadow of the White House we lunched on Corey’s distinctive cuisine and learned a good bit about an iconic race that began as a loop around Britain’s Isle of Wight back in 1851.
 The Luce Cup Tour Luncheon at the Willard Intercontinental – photo credit Jordan Wright Here’s the backstory. Exercising their right as the current cup holders the American team of BMW Oracle Racing opted to hold the event in San Francisco – only the seventh location to host the race in its 162 years. It will be held in the terrible, awful, no good, crazy tides and death-defying eddies of San Francisco Bay, a body of water akin to the Bermuda Triangle on a bad day. For the first time viewers can watch the multi-hull action from a beautiful shoreline that includes cities like Sausalito, Tiburon, Berkeley and naturally “The City By the Bay”. It promises to be an exciting spectacle filled with bravery, terror and camaraderie.
 Daniel Corey’s Amuse Bouche – Pacific Amberjack marinated in yuzu with radishes and creme fraiche – Dark Chocolate and Olive Oil Cake with preserved kumquats – photo credit Jordan Wright Did you know that nearly fifty preliminary races are held from July 4th through the end of September? I didn’t. Race aficionados from around the world will begin flocking to the city next month to witness the preliminary Louis Vuitton Cup races as well as the excitement of the finals. Capturing the “Auld Mug”, as the silver ewer-shaped trophy is familiarly known, from the Golden Gate Yacht Club will be any sailor’s game in these high stakes, high-tech, hyper-engineered catamaran races.
Here are some of the ways to view the race. Charter a private luxury yacht. There are over a dozen accredited on-water charters to choose from. Commodore Yachts names its six multi-level boats after wines. Rent the “Chardonnay” or “Cabernet” with your sailing pals for a celebration party or opt to watch from atop the Pier 39 Rooftop Lounge. The World War II SS Jeremiah O’Brien a living museum at Pier 45 and has tickets available for all races. The new America’s Cup Park and Pavilion is yet another absolutely spectacular site that will host concerts at night. There are family-friendly rates at the Race Course Bleachers and swank waterfront chalets adjacent to the America’s Cup Village at Marina Green for the seriously nautical minded.
Organizers have partnered with the San Francisco Giants and AT&T Park (the stadium itself is another amazing viewing venue), to handle ticket and event sales. If you choose to watch from the Liberty Ship, which comes with its own naval museum, prices start at $110.00 per ticket. But if entertaining in luxe style is how you see yourself and your peeps, rent out the Club 72 at the tip of the Park. It can accommodate 450 guests for a mere $30,000. Keep me on your speed dial if you decide to go for it!
For tickets and info on race events visit www.AmericasCup.com/experience.
For accommodations visit www.IntercontinentalMarkHopkins.com or www.IntercontinentalSanFrancisco.com
June 4, 2013
Jordan Wright
Special to DC Metro Theater Arts, Broadway Stars, and localKicks
 Jordan Wright, Publisher/Writer on Food/Spirits/Travel/Theatre Whisk and Quill, LLC As the sole celebrity judge for this weekend’s Taste of Del Ray, I’m pondering how I’ll be able to select a winner from a slate of twelve very qualified competitors vying for just one trophy. A nicely balanced three-person panel might have taken some of the heat off of me, but organizers were firm. “One judge!” they insisted in unison. So there you have it. Yours Truly acceded to their demands. The event will take place in the heart of Del Ray in the tented parking lot of the Virginia Commerce Bank on Mount Vernon Avenue on June 9th from 1 till 3pm and I’m hoping you’ll be there.
The plan is to sample everything from cheese to chocolate and pizza to BBQ. Everyone gets to taste the dishes. There’ll be French, Mexican, Modern American and Italian tastings that I expect to wash down with glugs of coffee from Swing’s, a century-old coffee roasting company that recently moved their operations into an historic building in the Soho-hip community.
Following in the footsteps of previous judges Rock Harper (third season winner of Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen), and Carla Hall (of Top Chef and ABC’s The Chew) will not be an easy task. I’ll need to channel my inner Sonya Thomas aka “The Black Widow”, a Virginia native and uber competitive eater who can put away forty-five Nathan’s hotdogs in ten minutes. I’ll have five minutes per restaurant to sample their wares. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.
Sheriff Lawhorn Gayle will announce the Chef’s Choice Award (That’s me!) and the People’s Award Choice (That’s you!). Let’s hope I don’t get arrested for public gluttony.
Here’s the line up and the link. Artfully Chocolate, Cheesetique, Del Ray Café, Del Ray Cakery, Del Ray Pizzeria, Dos Amigos, Evening Star Café, Pork Barrel BBQ, Rosemarino d’Italia, Swing’s Coffees, Taqueria Poblano and The Happy Tart.
www.VisitDelRayVA.com. Bring your discerning palates and a big appetite.
Jordan Wright
May 20, 2013
Special to DC Metro Theater Arts, Broadway Stars, and localKicks
Lessons in Modern Japanese Dining
Following in my tried and true method of going to newly trendy restaurants at unfashionable hours, I had no problem getting into Daikaya, the wildly anticipated Japanese restaurant and bar with its first floor ramen house, Izakaya. I’m told the Japanese like to dine on many levels but my plan was to head upstairs where I would dine with one of the owners and be schooled in Sapporo.
 School’s in session at Daikaya with Daisuke Utagawa – photo credit Jordan Wright Multi-lingual, world traveled, and wed to a beautiful Brazilian he wooed and won in Dubai, Daisuke Utagawa opened his two-story labor of love this month after a four-year wait and a tasting trip to Japan with his partners, Katsuya Fukushima (Daikaya’s Executive Chef) and Yama Jewayni. “When we were there I saw it with their eyes,” he said describing the men’s sense of wonderment as they hopped from place to place sampling food and drink and learning new recipes. From that fact-finding mission they cobbled together a unique Sapporo-influenced menu, “a sort of Japanese comfort food” he calls it. And with that I began my lessons from the very patient and congenial Daisuke.
“Sapporo is just one of twenty-six types of regional ramen in Japan. It’s our Japanese soul food,” he instructs, going on to name the major styles – Sapporo, Tokyo and Kyushyu noodles – the last of which he characterizes as a ‘turbid’ or milky noodle. These noodles are not the kind you microwave in a Styrofoam cup while cramming for finals. The traditional ramen served here are handmade and pre-aged for ten days in a noodle factory in Japan and flown over each week.
 Brined cucumber with togarashi – photo credit Jordan Wright Daisuke’s aims were to make his restaurant a democratic spot. “In Japan you could be sitting next to a banker, a lawyer or a truck driver. It was important to create this same ambiance in the U. S. I wanted it to be a very free style. So we hired an American designer that we sent to Japan to learn about the essence of Japanese design and translate it here.” That is immediately noticeable by the crazy quilt walls and menus stapled inside of Japanese pop fashion magazines. My edition read “Love Toxic” and featured dozens of laughing preteens in heart emblazoned t-shirts posing with their plush teddy bears.
Daisuke took charge of the ordering and we began our culinary journey with salmon poke, pronounced “po-kay” for those unfamiliar with the Hawaiian raw fish dish followed by a refreshing salad of mizuna with dashi gelee and ponzu vinaigrette, its profile tempered by the highly unorthodox use of burrata. From a vast and complex selection of wines, beers, sake, Japanese whiskey (who knew?) I chose a softly floral Japanese made Belgian style beer, Suiyoubi No Neko by Yoho, for my pairing. It was the one flavor profile that wasn’t in the food, so I felt I chose well.
 A play on Oysters Rockefeller – photo credit Jordan Wright All of a sudden small plates are flying to the table in rapid progression. Baked Rappahannock oysters with teriyaki sauce and Parmesan cheese – a play on Oysters Rockefeller – and brined baby cucumber topped with thin-sliced togarashi. I dip into chawanmushi, a soothing custard soup with steamed egg and braised shitake and enoki mushrooms. A curative dish that would set you back on your feet after a night of sake sipping.
Blackened shishito peppers stuffed with gouda in a Japanese version of jalapeno poppers, and a hot-off-the-grill avocado with ponzu sauce, fresh wasabi and nori salt, are two more playful experiments. Sweet, hot, cool, spicy, tender, crunchy, salty, umami. It’s all about the balance.
 Shishito peppers stuffed with gouda and topped with togarashi – photo credit Jordan Wright A humble dish of fried garlic – nutty, creamy and not at all pungent – is swiped across kimchee-miso sauce. Next up are tender sautéed chicken livers – lovely. Skewered beef tongue is too tough. The first, and what would prove later, the only miss. But the memory is fleeting when little nuggets of tempura-fried chicken called Chicken Kara-age are dipped in ‘Chili-Kewpie Sauce’, a type of spicy Japanese mayonnaise. Lady Gaga would smack her kewpie doll lips over this and Colonel Saunders would have never dared to compete with these tasty morsels.
Daisuke explains that the Japanese have many words and phrases to describe the exact moment of putting food into one’s mouth and of how flavor and texture affect the taste buds. “For example when food passes through your throat or you drink a beer that is dry on the palate, we might refer to how it ends afterwards, like its dryness or ‘long tail’. But there are many others,” he remarks. An intriguing concept I would have liked to further explore.
 Chicken Kara-age with chili-kewpie sauce – photo credit Jordan Wright To achieve the perfect sear on meats and vegetables the restaurant uses a Vulcan gas grill that emits infrared energy to mimic a charcoal grill. Daisuke chose it in place of an open flame grill they couldn’t get city approval for. It’s not any easier to use, its ferociously high heat demands full attention, but it achieves the same purpose.
With dessert Daisuke suggested Choya Ume, a delicious drink with a plum wine soaked lychee nut in the bottle. It accompanied a trio of unusual sweets from black sesame panna cotta and purin, a concoction of caramel ice, orange and burnt orange zest to chocolate aisu-kurimi, a kitchen sink of miso-banana caramel, chocolate crisps and crushed banana crisps. When I asked how they came up with such unusual combinations of ingredients, Daisuke answered in abbreviated Haiku, “If you listen, it will tell you how to prepare it.” I’d been schooled.
 Purin with caramel ice, orange, purin espuma and burnt orange zest – photo credit Jordan Wright At last, after two and a half hours of Daisuke’s gentle instruction I felt I could navigate my way around Daikaya’s menu but I surely would need help in future understanding the over thirty sakes including such varieties as unfiltered ‘Nigori’, and unpasteurized ‘Nama’. That is better left to those more learned than I. I am but a humble cricket.
 Black sesame panna cotta with crispy wild rice, shortbread and sweet sesame sauce – photo credit Jordan Wright
Jordan Wright
May 11, 2013
Special to The Alexandria Times
 The Musketeers and D’Artagnan: Hector Reynoso as Porthos, Dallas Tolentino as D’Artagnan, Ben Cunis as Athos and Matthew Ward as Aramis. Photo credit Johnny Shryock “It is supposed to be the most difficult task for a dancer to leap into a definite posture in such a way that there is not a second when he is grasping after the posture, but by the leap itself he stands fixed in that posture. Perhaps no dancer can do it — that is what this knight does. The knights of infinity are dancers and possess elevation. They make the movements upward, and fall down again; and this too is no mean pastime, nor ungraceful to behold.” – Soren Kierkegaard
Synetic’s dancers excel in perceived weightlessness and aerialistic suspension and in this production of The Three Musketeers their talent is well utilized. Thankfully most of the play is good old-fashioned swashbuckling, fight-till-the-death duels and leaping tour-de-force dances performed with a viscerally physical athleticism for which the ensemble is best known. It’s the script that gets in the way of the action.
 Dallas Tolentino as D’Artagnan, Mitchell Grant as the Duke of Buckingham and Brittany O’Grady as Constance. Photo credit – Johnny Shryock Playwright brothers Ben and Peter Cunis, seem to have conceived the play to serve as backdrop to the fight scenes using the speaking parts as a vehicle to hang the piece together until the next dramatic swordplay. And that’s a good thing since the dialogue is not nearly as riveting and the scene transitions are sometimes awkward.
In Alexandre Dumas’s classic you may recall D’Artagnan, the eager rube from Gascony, who endeavors to join the illustrious Musketeers, the King’s personal guard. The “barn boy” as the men refer to him, is determined to prove his mettle and his love for Constance, the Queen’s handmaiden. Within France’s Bastille, Athos, Porthos and Aramis serve a cuckolded child king, a beautiful queen and a Machiavellian cardinal. Their unforgettable motto, “All for one and one for all!” becomes a battle cry for “I’ll meet you at dawn!” “I’ll take you out!” and “How dare you insult me or my King!”
 A ball at the palace. Robert Bowen Smith as Louis XIII, Dan Istrate as Cardinal Richelieu, Brynn Tucker as Queen Anne and Ensemble. Photo credit – Johnny Shryock Dallas Torentino stands out as the eminently likeable D’Artagnan, whose love for Constance, played enchantingly by Brittany O’Grady, is placed in peril when she defends her queen’s cheating heart. Dance diva Irina Tsikurishvili as the treacherous Milady thrills in Act One in a pas de deux with Athos. Later, amidst an ongoing duel, she performs a macabre tango with the evil Cardinal Richelieu. Notable too are all three Musketeers – Hector Reynoso portraying Porthos as a short-tempered, speech-slurring buffoon; Ben Cunis rendering Aramis, the priest wannabe, as a handkerchief hoarding heartbreaker; and Matthew Ward as Athos the Musketeer with a dark past. But it’s Robert Bowen Smith as the petulant, mincing King Louis XIII who sends it over the top.
Set to an olio of bal-musette, a dash of Mendelssohn’s Wedding March, and a soupçon of exhilarating orchestral pieces, the play is a departure from Synetic’s Silent Shakespeare Series but keeps to the troupe’s same riveting dance-centric tradition.
Through June 9th at Synetic Theater, 1800 South Bell Street, Arlington in Crystal City. For tickets and information call 1 800 494-8497 or visit www.synetictheater.org.
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