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June 13, 2016
Jordan Wright
 The grounds of Wentworth Mansion Last Friday the magnificent Wentworth Mansion served as backdrop for Southern Living magazine’s 50th anniversary celebration in Charleston, South Carolina. The iconic shelter magazine, rated as the largest regional lifestyle publication in the nation, paid tribute to its past by acknowledging its history of recipes and tradition with “A Taste of the Decades”. Southern Living Editor-in-Chief Sid Evans presided over the festivities greeting guests who strolled the grounds during the cocktail reception before sitting down to a lavish five-course dinner. Wine pairings were provided by Moet Hennessy.
Executive Chef Marc Collins, of the adjacent fine dining restaurant, Circa 1886, designed the five-course Lowcountry menu to reflect each decade of the magazine’s classic recipes. Collins a major player in the founding of Charleston Wine + Food, clearly was inspired by the culinary challenge.
Southern Living’s 50th Anniversary Dinner “A Taste of the Decades”
 “Spam” disguised as Quiche Lorraine Hors d’Oeuvres
Charleston Press Club Meat Balls ‘93
Shrimp-In-A-Pickle ‘86
Fried Green Tomatillos, Jalapeno Jelly ‘97
Paired with Domaine Chandon Étoile Brut
Napa Valley, California (Founded in 1973)
 Heirloom Tomato Aspic with Blue Crab The 60’s
Heirloom Tomato Aspic
Blue Crab, Lemon Mayonnaise, Roasted Garlic Purée, Baby Basil,
Smoked Cheddar Croutons
Cape Mentelle Sauvignon Blanc/Sémillon 2015
Cape Mentelle, Margaret River, Australia (Founded in 1970)
 Chicken with Cashews Salad The 70’s
Chicken with Cashews Salad
Bibb Lettuce, Pepper Relish, Chicken Confit, Carolina Gold Rice Polpette, Cashew Butter, Sherry n’ Soy Vinaigrette
Newton Unfiltered Chardonnay 2013
Spring Mountain, California (Founded in 1977)
 Seared Foie Gras with a side of Green Bean Casserole and Beech Mushroom and Parsley Salad The 80’s
Green Bean “Casserole”
Seared Foie Gras, Crispy Onion Rings, Lemon Gelée,
Beech Mushroom & Parsley Salad
Cloudy Bay Marlborough Pinot Noir 2013
Marlborough, New Zealand (Founded in 1985)
 A surprise dish served in a TV dinner tray of Edna Lewis’ Collard Greens, Blackened Catfish and Corn Pudding The 90’s
Elegant Beef Blue
Rosewood Farms Wagyu Shoulder Tender, Blue Cheese Crust, Asparagus, Chardonnay Pan Sauce
Bodega Numanthia, Numanthia 2009 served from a magnum
Toro, Spain (Founded in 1998)
 A Trio of Cakes ready to go out The Y2k’s
A Trio of Southern Cakes – Hummingbird, Red Velvet and Coconut
What a night! What a heavenly fête! Don’t you just wish you were there.
Photo credit: Marc Collins
Jordan Wright
June 14, 2016
Special to The Alexandria Times
 Brent Barrett (Georges) with Sam Brackley, Jay Westin, Isaiah Young, Ethan Kasnett, Darius Delk, Phil Young. Photo by Christopher Mueller. A marabou boa-filled extravaganza blew into town with Matthew Gardiner’s La Cage Aux Folles. As glitzy as Vegas, as chi-chi as its French Riviera setting, and as campy and flamboyant as Jerry Herman and Harvey Fierstein intended, this six-time Tony Award-winning musical comedy hits all the right notes. Director Gardiner doing double duty as choreographer, takes on the story of two gay men with a nightclub in Saint-Tropez, where, as we all know, anything goes. At least that’s what Cole Porter taught us.
Georges, the straight-looking one (Is there an app for that?) and the club’s emcee, is played by Brent Barrett, who looks and sings like a young Robert Goulet. His paramour and right-hand man/gal is Albin, stage name Zaza, whom actor Bobby Smith portrays like the metamorphic stages of a caterpillar to a butterfly and the killer instincts of a shark.
 DJ Petrosino (Jacob) and Paul Scanlan (Jean-Michel). Photo by Christopher Mueller. Georges has a son, Jean-Michel (Paul Scanlan), the result of a quickie with a showgirl in a one-night-only heterosexual fling. The problem is the dear boy wants to introduce his dewy-eyed fiancée, Anne (Jessica Lauren Ball) and her ultra-conservative parents to his father and jet-setting mother. What ensues is a sort of gay version of Meet the Parents, with Georges, Albin and their snippy maid Jacob (DJ Petrosino). “I thought I hired a butler!” quips Georges. Keep your eyes on the hilarious Petrosino who is a first class scene stealer.
 Bobby Smith (Albin). Photo by Christopher Mueller. It takes place within the confines of their first floor nightclub and second floor home, with an occasional stroll along the shore to reminisce. Scenic Designer Lee Savage has upped the wow factor by giving us an insider’s view of the drag club’s green room. Two dressing rooms bracket the stage and we become voyeurs to the cross-dressing performers, primping and preening in various stages of undress.
 Ethan Kasnett (Chantal). Photo by Christopher Mueller. But this show is not all show. There are no lip-synching Diana Ross lookalikes in this line up of gender-bending chorines. This is the real deal. Hey, even Jesus makes an appearance, but I’ll keep the surprise. No one here is, to borrow a phrase, ‘resting on pretty’. Gardiner has cast some extraordinary performers with pipes that can go from alto to soprano in a New York minute, fantastic dance skills (Did he really? OMG to the full splits and high kicks) and GQ-worthy bodies too. Big applause to the supporting cast of Les Cagelles: Sam Brackley, Darius R. Delk, Ethan Kasnett, Jay Westin, Isaiah W. Young and Phil Young. How they transform themselves into glam divas is alone worth the price of admission! Extra ‘chicken cutlets’ (gel inserts) all around. And an additional hats off to Frank Labovitz’s over-the-top, ab fab, feathered and sequined costumes, and Anne Nesmith’s endless assortment of towering wigs.
But there’s a plot here too and notwithstanding the lights (kudos to Jason Lyons) and sound (hats off to Lane Elms) we are treated to one of the year-to-date’s best performances by Bobby Smith, in a tour de force portrayal of Albin, the headlining drag performer whose boundless love and sacrifice teaches us the ultimate truth of what “family” really means.
Highly recommended for its tender love story and comic relief in the midst of our turbulent times.
Through July 10th at Signature Theatre (Shirlington Village), 4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington, VA 22206. For tickets and information call 703 820-9771 or visit www.sigtheatre.org.
Jordan Wright
June 12, 2016
Special to The Alexandria Times
 Shylock (Matthew Boston) looks on disapprovingly as Lorenzo (William Vaughan) tries to steal a kind word with Jessica (Dani Stoller) – Photo by Teresa Wood Resident Dramaturg, Michele Osherow, lays out the historical landscape behind playwright Aaron Posner’s architecture of his world premiere, District Merchants – a re-imagining of The Merchant of Venice. Commissioned by Folger Theatre as part of its 2016 celebration of 400 years of Shakespeare, this rendition becomes an exploration of class and difference among Blacks and Jews in the post-Civil War era.
To circumscribe the tumultuous times that defined the 1870’s when Blacks had won their freedom and the country was struggling to get its footing, Osherow reminds us that “the England into which Shakespeare was born had barred Jews for centuries.” And further, “that members of the Jewish race were believed to have murderous impulses”. In fact, she explains, in many instances violence against Jewish creditors were committed to avoid paying back debts. She faults “the hypocrisy of a world obsessed with cash and credit.” And it is within this context that we can better comprehend Posner’s intent to humanize Shylock.
 Shylock (Matthew Boston, right) works out the terms of his loan with Antoine (Craig Wallace) in Aaron Posner’s ~ Photo by Teresa Wood. Set amid the reconstruction era in Washington, DC, we find Shylock (Matthew Boston) and Antoine (Craig Wallace as the character better known as Antonio), two rapacious opportunists looking to make their fortunes in a dramatically altered nation. For Shylock it is money lending, aka loan sharking. For Antoine, a free Black man, it is any scheme that he can put his mind to. “You can think of me as an opportunistic philanthropist or a philanthropic opportunist, or you can just think of me as an American,” he boasts, neatly absolving himself of both guilt and responsibility.
 Nessa (Celeste Jones, left) is stunned to hear of Portia’s (Maren Bush) inspired plan to disguise herself as a male lawyer ~ Photo by Teresa Wood. In Posner’s version the beautiful heiress Portia (Maren Bush) struggles to assuage her White guilt with her Black maid Nessa (Celeste Jones), while at the same time, she is clueless that her adored suitor, Benjamin Bassanio (Seth Rue), is a penniless mulatto. Concurrently the pious Jewess Jessica (Dani Stoller), daughter to Shylock, is falling for Lorenzo (William Vaughan) a Wasp with little education but mad skills in wooing. For her, he’s a way out of her father’s oppressive household. For him, she is a ticket to a new and prosperous life. Vaughan plays up the ‘aw shucks’ outlier to an endearing hilt – cagey meets naïve is a tricky balance – and he nails it. Meanwhile Lancelot (Akeem Davis), Shylock’s servant, bobs and weaves his way into Nessa’s heart. Davis makes the most of this secondary role through charm alone.
 Lancelot (Akeem Davis) receives a most important letter from Nessa (Celeste Jones) ~ Photo by Teresa Wood. Director Michael John Garces skillfully directs Posner’s timely re-interpretation with an engagingly intense cast whose characters are carefully crafted to allow us to be drawn in by their passions and nonetheless disgusted by their hostilities and intolerance. Boston’s Shylock remains chillingly coldhearted. But Posner reveals a shaft of explanation in the moneylender’s second act soliloquy when he demands that we, the audience, feel his pain, his outcast status, the loss of his daughter. Stoller, as his daughter, is wonderful – exceptionally expressive and nuanced. Maren Bush proves to be utterly engaging as the gender-switching Harvard law grad, holding the audience captive in a wait-for-it, wait-for-it moment of cringe-worthy indecision as to whether or not to marry Bassanio. “I’m stuck,” she finally blurts out, “I wish I could say ‘yes’, that the world was different. But I’m not big enough inside.” Craig Wallace as the swaggering Antoine, the antithesis of of a compliant Black man, gives a commanding and indelible performance.
Themes of financial scandal, racial injustice and religious conflict keep the story relevant. Modern colloquialisms keep it alive.
Highly recommended.
Through July 3rd at the Folger Theatre at the Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 East Capitol Street, SE, Washington, DC 20003. For tickets and information call 202 544-7077 or visit www.Folger.edu/theatre.
Jordan Wright
May 25, 2016
Special to The Alexandria Times
 Maulik Pancholy as Katherina and Peter Gadiot as Petruchio. Photo by Scott Suchman. A curious production of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew is currently showing at Sidney Harman Hall. I say curious, because it doesn’t have a real identity – unless you want to call this classic play a gender-bending musical with anti-feminist leanings. In another words, it’s all over the place in terms of direction and cast.
 Oliver Thornton as Bianca and Maulik Pancholy as Katherina. Photo by Scott Suchman. Tapping into Shakespeare’s use of an all-male cast, Director Ed Sylvanus Iskander has instead given us an ersatz drag show (I’ve seen far better) performed by an oddly uneven cast. The only thing worth holding your breath for is Tony Award-winning Jason Sherwood’s heart-stopping, gold gilded, rotating set, Seth Reiser’s intricate lighting design and Duncan Sheik’s rock music with a catchy backbeat. But, trust me, you will never hear a cast recording of Sheik’s terrific music, since the all-male voices were either gravelly or garbled and, far too often, off-key.
 Matthew Russell as Tranio and Telly Leung as Lucentio. Photo by Scott Suchman. Before I enumerate the plethora of disasters this dismal interpretation holds in store for lovers of the Bard of Avon, I must give credit to the two performers who, despite all discombobulations, kept this three-hour snoozefest from becoming even more intolerable. Peter Gadiot as Petruchio is a marvel of timing, delivery and believability. Blessedly he became the glue that held the plot, as it were, together. And the hilarious stage antics of André De Shields who exudes the classical training and timing of a true actor’s actor, most especially in a hilarious death scene.
Modern day renditions of this comedy are more likely to have the tongue firmly planted in the cheek when it comes to interpreting Petruchio’s male dominance and Kate’s subservience. Nowadays the misogynistic elements are firmly tamped down and contemporary stagings present it as a light-hearted romp with Kate’s willfulness interpreted as her independent feminist spirit. But here Iskander offers up Kate as a victim of the Stockholm Syndrome, subjugating herself and willing the other “ladies” of her acquaintance to follow her lead, which results in them genuflecting side by side in the finale with palms upraised to God, giving themselves over to the demands of the men to be good, obedient wives. I felt as though I’d been hurtled backwards into a time warp before women had the vote.
Under Eskander’s direction Loren Shaw’s costumes veer wildly from classical robes to modern street wear – dressing Bianca in a pink 50’s chiffon frock, the “obvious” males in exaggerated codpieces and Hortensio sporting silver sequined high heels after a make out session with one of the women’s suitors. What’s the point? Ask the paparazzi that appear on stage to snap photos of Bianca acting like Madonna. Maybe they can explain. And I won’t dignify the bondage scene either. So let’s just move on, shall we? Unless you need an explanation for Lucentio in 1970’s pimp’s fur coat and fedora, or a reason for Petruchio’s antlers. Hardly worth the ink.
 The cast of Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of The Taming of the Shrew, directed by Ed Sylvanus Iskandar. Photo by Scott Suchman. At the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Sidney Harman Hall through June 26th 2016 at 610 F St., NW Washington, DC 20004. For tickets and information call 202 547-1122 or visit www.ShakespeareTheatre.org.
Jordan Wright
May 12, 2016
Special to The Alexandria Times
 (l-r) Ambassador Kevin O’Malley, USA Ambassador to Ireland – President of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Deborah Rutter – Taoiseach Enda Kenny with Ambassador Anne Anderson to USA A film narrated by Liam Neeson was the kick off event for Ireland’s celebratory year of its independence from British rule. Produced by Notre Dame, the documentary, 1916: The Rebellion, tells the story of the Easter Rising and the hard fought quest for Irish independence, and was hosted by Irish Ambassador Anne Anderson.
Beginning next Tuesday, Kennedy Center will now be your go-to venue for dozens of events surrounding the celebration of Irish Culture. The three-week festival runs from May 17th through June 5th and features Fiona Shaw as Artist-in-Residence.
IRELAND 100: Celebrating a Century of Irish Arts & Culture, is an international festival will feature more than 50 performances with the participation of more than 500 artists in venues throughout the theatre complex. This extraordinary schedule of events highlights Ireland’s rich cultural legacy and its major contribution to the fields of theatre, literature, music and dance.
 Colin Dunne in OUT OF TIME ~ photo by Peter Hallward There will be more than 30 theater, music and dance groups; visual and theatrical installations; and JFK Centennial events.
Staged readings of six new “Tiny Plays for the Ireland 2 and America Literature Series”, and culinary events will also be featured.
 Louis Lovett in The Girl who Forgot to Sing Badley (Theatre Lovett) ~ Image by Pt Redmond Taking place in the living memorial to President John F. Kennedy, the nation’s most well-known Irish-American President and the first sitting President to visit Ireland, the festival is also part of a yearlong celebration marking the centennial of JFK’s birth. In addition, IRELAND 100 is the centerpiece in the United States of the global commemoration of the 1916 Easter Rising.
 Mary Murray and Sorcha Fox in Fishamble’s Tiny Plays for Ireland 2 ~ photo by Pat Redmond The festival launches on May 17th with an opening performance in the Concert Hall directed and hosted by Fiona Shaw, one of the most acclaimed Irish actors and directors of our time, also known for her appearances in five of the Harry Potter movies. The multidisciplinary event features the National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of leading Irish conductor, David Brophy, as well as a host of Irish acts that will appear in performances throughout the festival, offering a glimpse at the gamut of Irish arts. As the festival’s Artist-in-Residence, Shaw will also present a master class, a panel discussion with guest artists, and the premiere of her work Blowing the Heart Open.
 Pan Pan Theatre ~ All That Fall ~ photo by Ros Kavanagh IRELAND 100 also opens with three art installations in the Center’s public spaces. The Ogham Wall, an architectural construct by Grafton Architects and Graphic Relief that is inspired by the Irish Ogham alphabet, will be on display in the Hall of Nations. Meanwhile, the Hall of States will host two exhibits: William Close’s The Earth Harp, a large-scale installation designed specifically to fill this space and which will feature live musical demonstrations; and the Egan Harp, a portable harp from 1820 by Irish harp-maker John Egan, on loan from The O’Brien Collection. All three exhibits will be open to the general public throughout the festival.
 The Gloaming ~ Photo by Rich Gilligan Newly announced programs include: screenings of three documentary films chronicling President Kennedy’s visit to Ireland in 1963; a performance showcase and unveiling of a special installation honoring the 99th anniversary of JFK’s birth on May 29; free performances on the Millennium Stage; a literary series designed by Maureen Kennelly of Poetry Ireland and Paul Muldoon, which features over 20 Irish and American writers and musicians; and highly anticipated culinary events, including a free cooking demonstration and lecture by Irish chef, Cathal Armstrong, of Alexandria’s Restaurant Eve, as well as tasting events showcasing Irish whiskey, beer, and cheese. The updated announcement also highlights a Family Day, and calls all redheads, and redheads at heart, to participate in special free activities for all ages, and the addition of an outdoor green space—which allows for further free performances and workshops, picnicking, and Irish food and drinks.
Notable performances include Abbey Theater’s The Plough and the Stars, regarded as an Irish masterpiece; the U.S. debut of Tiny Plays for Ireland 2 and America, performed by the Irish theater company Fishamble and directed by Jim Culleton; the U.S. premiere of A Girl’s Bedroom, the second in a series of theatrical installations created by Enda Walsh in collaboration with the Galway International Arts Festival; and the D.C. debut of The Gloaming, a contemporary Irish music supergroup comprised of vocalist Iarla Ó Lionáird, pianist Thomas Bartlett, hardanger player Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh, violinist/fiddler Martin Hayes, and guitarist Dennis Cahill.
 Anthony Kearns of the Irish tenors Also of note will be a performance by world-renowned Irish tenor Anthony Kearns on opening night May 17th. Kearns will also headline on May 23rd with Tara Errnaiuught, fresh off the Washington National Opera’s Cinderella.
Ambassador Anne Anderson, Ambassador of Ireland to the United States, said: “We are delighted to partner with the Kennedy Center on this exciting festival to commemorate Ireland’s 100-year journey from the 1916 Rising and the early days of independence to today. The centenary year has had a profound resonance in the United States. The United States has the greatest concentration of our Diaspora and the contemporary ties between Ireland and the US are of extraordinary depth and breadth. This festival will give us an opportunity to express our gratitude for the support that the U.S. has provided to Ireland in so many ways, and will help to renew and strengthen the bonds of friendship for the future.”
For tickets and information visit the IRELAND 100 webpage or purchase in person at the Kennedy Center box office. 202 467-4600.
Jordan Wright
May 2, 2016
Special to The Alexandria Times
 Dylan Morrison Myers and Megan Graves. Photo by Daniel Corey. After half a decade, Solas Nua, the celebrated Irish-centric performing arts company, has returned with Deirdre Kinahan’s play, Wild Sky. Written in commemoration of Easter Rising, the five-day war for Irish independence, it revisits the occasion of its centenary with a scorching drama filled with fiery passion and emotional sensitivity.
 Dylan Morrison Myers and Megan Graves. Photo by Daniel Corey. To offer a bit of background, the play takes place one hundred years ago when Irish nationalists took up arms against the British who governed Ireland with an iron hand, outlawing the Irish language and forbidding Irish culture. And though the Dublin-centered battle claimed the lives of many fighters on both sides, it was successful in setting into motion the wheels of change, inspiring Nobel Prize winning poet, W. B. Yeats, and Douglas Hyde, scholar, author and first President of the Republic of Ireland to create the Gaelic League, whose responsibility it was to protect and create cultural expression.
 Dylan Morrison Myers and Megan Graves. Photo by Daniel Corey. Using the bloody uprising as background, Kinahan gives us a heart-wrenching tale from the viewpoint of Tom Farrell (Dylan Morrison), one of the fighters, his feisty and funny childhood friend, Josie Dunne (Megan Graves), and a Greek female chorus played by Beth Amann, Daven Ralston and Ashley Zielinski. To say it is fierce, is an understatement. To say their performances are spine-chilling, barely does it justice.
 Dylan Morrison Myers – Photo by Daniel Corey. We see Tom as a young revolutionary. Left behind while his friends have gone to fight the French alongside the British, at first he is eager to take up arms to impress the beautiful Josie. But after a few days of fighting he becomes traumatized by the realities of war and questions his involvement. Josie is frustrated that as a woman she can’t participate in the fighting. Still she is conflicted believing all this killing will amount to nothing. “What was our grand plan?” she asks. “They talked about women’s rights and women’s jobs and it made sense.”
 The cast of ‘Wild Sky.’ Photo by Daniel Corey. Morrison and Graves give indelible performances heightened by the interweaving of the flat-toned harmonies of mournful Irish ballads played on drum, fiddle and banjo. A particularly haunting tune, “The Wind That Shakes the Barley”, recalls the 1798 rebellion which had also failed to throw off 800 years of British rule. As with performances during the centuries of Irish cultural suppression, these too are presented in the living rooms of private homes. The one I attended was staged in the large living room of a Dupont Circle townhouse with a charming walled garden where cast members offered Gaelic language and dance instruction before the show.
Rex Daugherty, director, choreographer, musician and cast member, brings a profound immediacy to the characters in this absorbing production.
Highly recommended.
Performances run now through May 15th on Thursday and Sunday at 8pm, Saturday and Sunday at 2pm and 8pm – and June 3rd – 5th at 8pm. For tickets, locations (all in Washington) and information visit www.SolasNua.org or call 202 315-1317.
 Dylan Morrison Myers – Photo by Daniel Corey.
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