Imagine, if you will that composer Leonard Bernstein’s 18th C set piece opera Candide was first staged the year following the Broadway premiere West Side Story. 1956. It seems incredible that these two wildly divergent stories were composed, staged and produced by one man in less than twelve months. Okay, he was a genius, which is why the Kennedy Center is lauding his songbook for its exciting celebration on the 100th anniversary of his birth.
Wynn Harmon, Emily Pogorelc, Alek Shrader, and Denyce Graves in Candide. Photo by Scott Suchman.
Under the virtuoso direction of Francesca Zambello, this imaginative, new production hails from New York’s The Glimmerglass Festival, where she is Artistic Director. And it is not hyperbole to say it is a jaw-dropping extravaganza of dance, opera, comedy and, yes, drama too. Sword fights! Its list of lyricists – Richard Wilbur, Stephen Sondheim, Lillian Hellman, John La Touche, Dorothy Parker and Bernstein too – puts one in mind of late, martini-soaked nights plotting the script at the Algonquin’s famed Round Table. One can only imagine the heady repartee.
Based on the dystopian novel by Voltaire in which Candide (Alek Shrader) discovers that the world, and his royal pals, are not the egalitarian society he had been taught. And that Professor Pangloss’s (Wynn Harmon who doubles as Voltaire, the musical’s raconteur) rosy outlook on the world has its challenges – chief among them Candide’s love for the dazzling, gold-digging ingenue, Cunegonde (Emily Pogoreic). That, and survival.
Amid the velvet breeches and Gainsborough frock coats of the aristocracy, Candide encounters war, famine and human suffering but manages to keep a cheerful and brave demeanor. Along the way he meets the characters who will shape his life – The Old Lady (DC’s own superstar Denyce Graves), the haughty Maximillian (Edward Nelson), Candide’s comrade in arms Cacambo (Frederick Ballentine), the naughty servant girl Paquette (Eliza Bonet) and James (Matthew Scollin doubling as Martin the pessimistic street sweeper). Balancing out his misadventures are the ruthless Grand Inquisitor (Alexander McKissick) and the addle-headed Baroness (Keriann Otaño) who would give Marie Antoinette a run for her money with a powdered wig so high she needs her lackey to hold it up with what appears to be a fishing pole. Credit David C. Zimmerman for hair and makeup.
Emily Pogorelc, Denyce Graves, and Alek Shrader in Candide. Photo by Scott Suchman.
Throughout Candide’s peregrinations through the Old and New Worlds – in Holland, Paris, Spain, Uruguay, Paraguay and Surinam – he encounters war and misery, but somehow fortune prevails, and, unlike the thousands killed, he is spared hanging, burning at the stake, bayoneting and drowning. I may have left a disaster out. When our hero finally arrives at the Doge’s masquerade ball in Venice after some consorting with edenic Incans, he discovers his long lost Cunegonde bereft of the money and jewels she sold her soul to acquire. They work it out.
This is a lavishly artistic, sublimely witty, while yet philosophical, musical that never slows down. You will adore it! And, while I’m raving, I must single out the remarkable beauty, charm, comedic skills and flawless soprano voice of Emily Pogoreic. Her aria “Glitter and Be Gay” is breathtaking. And did I mention her dancing? Absolutely marvelous. Everyone is. Twelve additional cast members add to the beautiful chorus and the Opera House’s acoustics sound particularly magnificent thanks to G Thomas Clark and crew for GTC Sound Design LLC.
Please, please go! Even if you never thought you’d see an opera. It’s Bernstein, for Pete’s sake.
With surtitles. Even though it’s in English, they’re useful. You don’t want to miss a line.
Conducting by Nicole Paiement, book adaptation from Voltaire by Hugh Wheeler in a new version by John Caird, choreography by Eric Sean Fogel and Felicity Stiverson, lighting by Mark McCullough. Soloists are Andrea Beasom, Tom Berklund, Jaely Chamberlain, Andrew Harper, Katherine Henly, Michael Hewitt, Nicholas Houhoulis, Jarrod Lee, Danny Lindgren, Alison Mixon, Ameerah Sabreen, Louisa Morrison Waycott.
Performances on May 12th, 14th, 18th, 20th, 22nd, 24th and 26th at The Kennedy Center, 2700 F St., NW, Washington, DC. For tickets and information call 202 467-4600 or visit www.Kennedy-Center.org.
Samantha Lee
Contributing Food Writer May 10, 2018
Photo credit: Samantha Lee
Australian native and restauranteur, Edward Wong, chose the Japanese name Akira for his recently opened ramen and izakaya restaurant on Rockville Pike. The name is synonymous with the words “bright”, “intelligent” or “clear” – a very auspicious beginning for this small, appealing spot. As a graphic designer Wong was drawn to the Japanese character tsu, a kanji word meaning tsunami, and chose it for his dramatically etched black-and-white logo. Since opening the 42-seat spot last October, he has enjoyed an enthusiastic and dedicated clientele in this cheerful, window-lit eatery. Wong also owns Gong Cha, a Taiwanese bubble tea shop, and Urban Hot Pot, a Chinese-style hot pot restaurant. All three are located within the same strip mall.
Before coming to Akira, Wong’s chef Tony Lin had run his own Japanese restaurant in New York City. Working alongside noodlemaker Jerry Li, the men learned to make traditional buckwheat skinny and curly noodles from renowned Japanese soba master Shuichi Kotani – more familiarly known as “Kotani San”. Their noodles are a combination of wheat flour, water, and alkaline salt. It’s the salt which gives the noodle color and helps to control the acidity levels in the dough. Everything in the ramen – sauce, broth, noodles and meat – is made from scratch. The pork-based broth – made from pork bones, vegetables and spices – is cooked low and slow for 8 hours.
The restaurant’s decorations are simple. A feature wall has a design of pink cherry blossom trees and song birds and white paper lanterns and vintage lights hang from above. Alongside the bar, there is a navy-colored noren curtain with multiple panels of block print waves.
The menu is two double-sided pages. The main menu describes the appetizers, dessert and non-alcoholic beverages. On the reverse, it describes the ramen and ramen add-ins. A bowl of ramen is around $13.00. Another page lists the chef’s specials. Unlike most Japanese restaurants in the area, they offer unique appetizers such as Okonomiyaki (Japanese-style pancake), Geso Kara (fried squid legs), and Hamachi Kamayaki. The restaurant has an open kitchen concept that allows guests to sit at the bar and watch their ramen being prepared.
My favorite appetizers are Karaage, Tofu Avocado Salad, Poke Salad, Geso Kara, Yellowtail Carpaccio, Hamachi Kamayaki, Sashimi, Kani Salad and Takoyaki.
Karaage
Deep fried chicken pieces served with lemon and two dipping sauce – Sriracha Aioli and horseradish mayonnaise. It’s crispy, tender and juicy.
Tofu Avocado Salad
Freshly chopped romaine lettuce, topped with chopped silken tofu, seaweed threads, garlic chips, and pickled radish in a sweet tangy mustard/sesame/ginger vinaigrette.
Poke Salad
Served Hawaiian style and consisted of chopped sashimi from three types of fish – tuna, salmon and yellowtail – mixed with diced cucumber, mango, and avocado with micro wasabi in a ponzu sauce.
Geso Kara
Tempura-battered and lightly fried squid legs served with lemon and sriracha aioli.
Yellowtail Capaccio
Five pieces of half-torched yellowtail topped with scallion and fish roe and served in a yuzu-scented miso-mustard sauce.
Hamachi Kamayaki
A lightly seasoned yellowtail collar, grilled and served with lemon and tart soy dipping sauce with a hint of yuzu. The meat was fatty, juicy and tender. I like how the flesh easily comes off the bone with a chopstick or fork.
Sashimi
A choice of two each – tuna, yellowtail and salmon served over shisho leaves and shredded daikon radish with pickled ginger and wasabi. Instead of wasabi, I prefer the sashimi with lemon. I love how the sashimi was super fresh and high quality.
Kani Salad
A bed of shredded daikon radish topped with a shower of shredded crabmeat, cucumber and fish roe and lightly tossed in kewpie mayo.
Takoyaki
Six deep fried spheres of octopus drizzled with a Worcestershire-based sauce, with mayonnaise, green laver seaweed, bonito flakes and scallions. The takoyaki is savory, crispy on the sides, and chewy on the inside.
Gyoza
Five dumplings made of thin wonton wrappers filled with a seasoned pork and ginger then pan fried and served in a spicy ponzu sauce.
Charsu Bun
Two steamed sweet open-faced buns stuffed with lettuce-wrapped marinated pork belly drizzled with sriracha mayo.
A dish of skinny or curly noodles, stir-fried bean sprout, onion, pork belly, egg, fish cake, corn, scallions, bamboo shoots, wood ears, nori, black garlic oil, and chili paste in tonkotsu salt flavored broth. If it’s not spicy enough for you, feel free to add shichi-mi tōgarashi, a spicy Japanese seasoning blend of ground red chili pepper, orange peel, sesame seeds, ground sanshō, ginger, and seaweed, to your liking.
Tonkotsu Miso Ramen
Skinny noodles cooked with egg, fish cake, scallion, corn, bamboo shoots, and wood ear mushrooms in a miso paste pork broth garnished with nori and torched pork belly.
Vegetable Ramen
Vegetable ramen boasts curly noodles cooked in a vegetable broth made from onions, carrots, garlic, tomatoes, shiitakes, bok choy, wood-ear mushrooms, and tofu and garnished with stir-fried bean sprouts, scallion, bamboo shoot, nori, and pickled ginger.
Green Tea Cheesecake
A lovely combination of smoothly blended cream cheese, matcha powder, and sugar on a graham cracker crust which is then baked and dusted with matcha powder. It is served with a scoop of matcha ice cream. It could be matcha overkill if consumed by one person, but it’s a perfect dessert for sharing.
Though not a seasonal menu, the chef introduces new items every now and then. Look for cold noodle dishes – in-house made udon and soba noodles and sukiyaki – to come on the menu this summer. If you love a Japanese restaurant that offers variety or would love to try the best ramen spot in Montgomery County, Akira Ramen & Izakaya is certainly worth checking out.
Wong plans a second location in downtown Columbia, MD later this year. It will have an open kitchen concept where patrons can watch chefs prepare the food including the yakitori, handmade noodles and ramen and where there will be a larger waiting area as well as a bar.
Akira Ramen & Izakaya is located in the Galvan at Twinbrook apartment complex. The restaurant address is 1800 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20850. Open daily – Mon to Thurs: 11am – 3pm and 5pm – 10pm; Fri: 11am – 3pm and 5pm – 11pm; Sat: 11am – 11pm and Sun 11:30am – 9pm. The restaurant does not take reservations – seating is first come, first served. During peak hours, expect a 30 to 45-minute wait. Akira is within walking distance from the Twinbrook Metro. There are a few parking spots on the side street and in the front lot. Additional parking is in the underground retail garage in the rear, and the first two hours are free.
Shakespeare’s first play, Titus Andronicus, was written for pure shock value. It’s considered a revenge play and his purpose was to get noticed and to one up his competition. A sort of revenge of the playwright, if you will. It worked. In today’s world, it would probably be categorized in the fantasy genre along with Game of Thrones. With fourteen murders, six severed limbs and two acts of cannibalism involving meat pies, there’s nothing tame about it. It’s the most gruesome, grotesque Elizabethan potboiler ever conceived for a two-hour play. Never a dull moment.
Scott Whalen and Dan Istrate with the ensemble in Titus Andronicus. Photo by Johnny Shryock.
Synetic’s approach is to render the bloodiest scenes, bloodless and Shakespeare’s lines, wordless. It is one of Synetic’s hallmarks. By using reams of red silk, elbow-length red satin gloves and a stage bathed in vivid red spotlights during each murder (I lost count after the tenth), they have achieved all the thrill and all the horror without shedding a single drop of stage blood.
The play opens with a horde of Roman soldiers gripping their lances and galloping towards the audience at full tilt. That they’re not actually riding horses is incidental – it’s visceral. In one of the most thrilling productions this year, Artistic Director Paata Tsikurishvili has crafted an edge-of-your-seat interpretation of the classic that will blow your mind.
The story of King Titus is drenched in power struggles, betrayal, violence and intrigue. They are all fighting for the crown. It’s a deliciously complex battle of forces between the Goths, here intricately costumed by Erik Teague to reflect modern-day goths replete with metal-studded clothing, and the Romans, whose military toga-like costumes are exquisitely detailed. The women wear diaphanous multi-pleated gowns come hell or high water and the courtiers sport faceless metallic masks.
Alex Mills, Irina Tsikurishvili, Irina Kavsadze, and Dallas Tolentino in Titus Andronicus. Photo by Brittany Diliberto
Titus is played magnificently by Philip Fletcher to Irina Tsikurishvili’s Tamora, Queen of the Goths in one of her finest performances to date. The 15-member troupe is spectacular, especially Irina Kavsadze as Lavinia, Tori Bertocci as Marcia Andronicus and Audrey Tchoukoua as Aaron who does a torrid tango with the Queen. Phil Charlwood’s massive rotating sets of monoliths and amorphous castle walls serve well to background the evil of their murderous deeds and the sounds of their clashing swords.
It’s impossible to describe the many crimes of passion and struggles for power. Suffice it to say, they are fiercely intense and hyper imaginative with action that explodes at the speed of a super collider housed in an erupting volcano – all set to Konstantine Lortkipanidze’s fantastical sound track ranging from electronica to Gregorian and Phillip Glass to the interior of a wind tunnel. It’s a well-orchestrated madness that can only be described as electrifying from the opening scene to the climax.
And though I won’t give away the banquet scene – remember the meat pies? – it’s a stunner set to the flowery notes of carousel music. Insider tip: Black Panther fans look for Titus to give the Wakanda salute.
Five stars. Highly recommended.
With Chris Galindo as Lucius, Alex Mills as Chiron, Dan Istrate as Saturnius, Matt Stover as Quintus, Dallas Tolentino as Demetrius, Scott Whalen as Bassianus and Scott Turner as Alarbus. Choreography by Irina Tsikurishvili, Sound Design by Thomas Sowers, Fight Choreography by Vato Tsikurishvili and Alex Mills.
Through May 27th at Synetic Theater, 1800 South Bell Street, Arlington in Crystal City. For tickets and information call 1 800 494-8497 or visit online.
Girlfriend is writer Todd Almond’s warmhearted story about two teens searching for love while trying to find their footing amid the anxiety-fraught, coming-of-age high school years. Will is a footloose, no-plans, out-of-the-closet introvert. His new friend, Mike, is the high school’s prom king and quarterback. Mike has a structured life that includes leaving their small town in Nebraska for med school. Their connection seems doomed from the start when Mike calls out Will for being “obvious”, telling him “things could be perfect, if you weren’t you.” Who would stick around after that? But Mike keeps phoning Will after he gifts him with a mix tape, and together they bond over music and flicks. It’s an emotional story filled with the fraught exploration of young love coupled with the universal awkwardness that accompanies anyone’s first relationship.
Lukas James Miller (Mike) and Jimmy Mavrikes (Will) . Photo by Christopher Mueller.
Will acknowledges he’s gay – he gets bullied at school for it – but Mike is confused about his sexuality identity. Mike has a girlfriend and being gay doesn’t fit into his long-range plans. Notwithstanding their differences, the teens form an unlikely friendship that begins with a date at the drive-in to see a movie about Evangeline, a nun who’s secretly a superhero. Mike loves it. Will’s too shy to say he doesn’t. Their personalities are polar opposites.
But the appeal of this rock musical isn’t just their adorably awkward relationship, or the hilarious situations these two find themselves in, but the catchy Beatles’-styled tunes composed by Matthew Sweet and played by a four-piece, onstage, powerhouse girl band. Add in Jimmy Mavrikes’s (Will) and Lukas James Miller’s (Mike) wonderfully appealing in sync voices skillfully blending in ten original numbers from Sweet’s alternative-rock album “Girlfriend”.
Lukas James Miller (Mike) and Jimmy Mavrikes (Will) . Photo by Christopher Mueller.
Thanks to Misha Kachman’s masterful set design that places the musicians behind a wall of glass in a lipstick red, padded recording studio sound booth, stretching the length of the stage, we can see them rock out and tune into their energy. As backup singing musicians, they are an integral part of the story as they watch the teens along with the audience to see how their budding relationship will turn out.
Directed and choreographed by Matthew Gardiner, it debuted in Berkeley, CA ten years ago, yet has an enduring resonance that aims to please.
Lukas James Miller (Mike) and Jimmy Mavrikes (Will) . Photo by Christopher Mueller.
Recommended to anyone who has ever felt awkward in love and has the memories to prove it.
With musicians Britt Bonney conducting and playing keyboard, Beth Cannon on guitar, Nicole Saphos on bass and Erika Johnson on drums. Costume design by Frank Labovitz, lighting design by Colin K. Bills and sound design by Ryan Hickey.
Through June 10th in the ARK Theatre 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.
Out of the darkness of a frigid Alaskan winter, comes a sweet story of an enchanted, forest-dwelling wild child and her effect on a childless couple making their way in the forbidding landscape. Molly Smith directs this premiere – the last of the season’s ‘Power Plays’ series at Arena Stage. Smith’s connection to Alaska runs as deep as the snow drifts. She began her theatre career opening Perseverance Theatre in Juneau in 1979 and was Founding Artistic Director there before coming to Arena twenty years ago. To put it mildly, this is personal.
As Arena’s Artistic Director her influence is felt in all of her theatrical choices. Smith’s commitment to this particular project is reflected in the length of time it took for it to go from page to stage – four years from the time the decision was made for John Strand to write the book based on Eowyn Ivey’s children’s story based on a Russian fairy tale.
L to R) Alex Alferov (Garrett) and Christiane Noll (Mabel) in Snow Child. Photo by Maria Baranova.
Set in pre-statehood Alaska of the 1920’s, a young suburban couple, Jack (Matt Bogart) and Mabel (Christiane Noll), makes the brave (reckless?) decision to homestead a 167-acre parcel in a wilderness where their nearest neighbors are an hour’s trek away. The prerequisites to ownership are to farm the land for at least five years. They seem determined. But can they survive the brutal winters and the loss of their child so unbearable it will break them apart?
(L to R) Matt Bogart (Jack), Fina Strazza (Faina) and Dorothy James (Ensemble/Fox) in Snow Child. Photo by Maria Baranova.
In a brilliant feat of casting Fina Strazza plays the illusive snow child, Faina. Strazza is utterly captivating as are the puppets – a giant Dapple Grey horse, a Tundra swan and Faina’s ‘familiar’, a curious white fox – designed by Emily Decola. They are the perfect foil for the couple’s rough-hewn neighbors, George (Dan Manning) who makes moonshine, his wife Esther (Natalie Toro) and their son, Garrett (Alex Alferov) who vacillate between being good neighbors (who doesn’t like moose meat stew?) and imagining they will take over the homestead when Jack and Mabel quit trying.
(L to R) Dan Manning (George), Alex Alferov (Garrett), Natalie Toro (Esther), Christiane Noll (Mabel) and Matt Bogart (Jack) in Snow Child. Photo by Maria Baranova
Bob Banghart and Georgia Stitt composed 24 numbers for this heartfelt musical ranging from tender, melancholy ballads to upbeat songs (porch clogging, anyone?) – all to the tune of bluegrass accompaniment. Expect to enjoy a score filled with mandolin, fiddle, banjo, piano, spoons and guitar led by conductor/percussionist/keyboardist William Yanesh. Shawn Duan creates the spectacular stage-wide projections evoking the aurora borealis as well as the alpenglow against Alaskan mountain vistas. Cue the snow! Lots of it.
Pack your bags. We’re going to Alaska! Highly recommended.
With lighting by Kimberly Purtell, sound by Roc Lee, set designs by Todd Rosenthal, costumes by Joseph P. Salasovich, and musical supervision and orchestrations by Lynne Shankel.
Through May 20th 2018 in the Kreeger Theater at Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth St., SE, Washington, DC 20024. For tickets and information call 202 488.3300 or visit www.ArenaStage.org.
When Irish playwright Samuel Beckett’s existentialist masterpiece, Waiting for Godot, was first produced in Paris in 1953, it was a time of high intellectualism and experimentation in the Arts. Modern art was blossoming and writers like James Joyce, Jean Genet and Eugene Ionesco were exploring new ways to communicate with audiences. They and many others began to reinvent the dynamic and break the mold of what the theatre arts had known. The ‘Theatre of the Absurd’ they created challenged the status quo to examine the human condition as a comic tragedy on the futility of life and the frailties of mankind. Beckett saw it as a fool’s game and chose two penniless drifters to advance his notions.
Marty Rea as Vladimir and Aaron Monaghan as Estragon. Photo Matthew Thompson.
As a highly stylized foray into the surreal – delivered in compact, visceral dialogue – Beckett’s fools, the supercilious Vladimir (the incomparable Marty Rea) and the dismissive Estragon (Aaron Monaghan in a master class performance), slowly go mad waiting for Godot to arrive. They wait in the misguided hope that Godot will save them from their misfortunes. As the two men struggle to define their reasons for living, the dialogue toggles back and forth between anger at their circumstances and hilarious attempts to make light of their gloom. Frequent references to nature – the tree, the stone and the bog – serve to anchor them to earthbound realism as they themselves continue to go madly off the rails. “There’s nothing to be done,” asserts Estragon while considering hanging himself. “I resumed the struggle,” responds Vladimir in a clear but Tigger-like non sequitur. (You may succumb, as I did, to seeking out the symbolism in every line.)
Garrett Lombard as Lucky, Marty Rea as Vladimir and Aaron Monaghan as Estragon. Photo Matthew Thompson.
To comprehend, and this is the intellectual exercise of Beckett, much of their vacillating emotional state is topsy-turvy – a clear definition of the avant garde movement. One minute they embrace the secular – a moment later the spiritual. Other times the two jolly each other up with a sort of Abbot and Costello routine of “Who’s on first?” – a running banter that defines the absurdity and futility of their predicament. There are times when you can imagine you are overhearing a couple of old sots at four o’clock in the morning in an Irish pub.
As counterbalance to their predicament, Pozzo (Rory Nolan in a larger than life portrayal of the inbred landed gentry), appears with his forlorn servant, Lucky, a sort of idiot savant played masterfully by Garrett Lombard. Altogether the men cling to the hope that they can save one another from the vicissitudes of life.
C. Conneely as Boy, Marty Rea as Vladimir and Aaron Monaghan as Estragon. Photo Matthew Thompson.
This outstanding production is directed by Tony Award-winning Garry Hynes and presented by Druid, the illustrious Irish theater company.
Francis O’Connor gives us a modernistic set design that brings to mind the surrealism of Rene Magritte and Salvatore Dali.
With lighting by James F. Ingalls, scenic and costume design by Francis O’Connor and sound design by Greg Clarke.
Highly recommended. Bring your thinking cap and your sense of humor.
Through May 20th at The Lansburgh Theatre, 450 7th Street, NW, Washington, DC 2004. For tickets and information visit www.ShakespeareTheatre.org or call the box office at 202 547-1122.
