| 1776 |
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Ford's Theatre |
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| With quick-witted dialogue and a playful score, 1776 dramatizes the impassioned debates of Philadelphia’s Second Continental Congress. As George Washington sends updates from the military front, patriots John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson attempt to persuade the 13 colonies to separate from British rule. Motivated by a series of abuses from King George, America’s first politicians forge a new democracy by composing the Declaration of Independence. Based on the letters and memoirs of America’s founding fathers, this classic, Tony Award-winning musical showcases the principles, pride and determination that influenced the birth of our nation. |
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| The 39 Steps |
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Olney Theatre Center |
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| The 39 Steps, adapted by Patrick Barlow from the John Buchan novel, is about a man on the run, his world turned upside down, giving chase in a nationwide manhunt. After agreeing to take a mysterious woman home from the theatre, he finds himself accused of murder, embroiled in a international intrigue, and falling in love quite despite himself. Four actors take on the super human task of playing over 150 characters. |
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| The All New Grand Ole Hee Haw Hootenanny Hoedown Jamboree |
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Maryland Ensemble Theatre (MET) |
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| The title says it all, the Jamboree is sure to have you busting a gut, tapping your toes, singing along and pulling the straw from your teeth. The show will feature hilarious original sketches and a revolving roster of guest artists and musical acts. |
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| The Bacchae |
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WSC Avant Bard at
Artisphere |
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| We close the season with another rep, leading off with The Bacchae of Euripides (it’s been too long since we produced one of the great Greek plays) as we welcome back director Steven Scott Mazzola, who brought our productions of The Royal Hunt of the Sun and In the Summer House to the stage. The Bacchae will be paired with The Tooth of Crime, a play from the neglected, but compelling, early work of Sam Shepard, and one of the plays that sealed his reputation as a strikingly original and influential voice in American theatre. Frequent WSC actor and director Kathleen Akerley (whose work for us off-stage includes our productions of Macbett and Jumpers), the artistic director of Longacre Lea Productions, will direct our production. |
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| The Big Meal |
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The Studio Theatre |
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| From the vantage point of a single restaurant table, five generations share the moments, both epic and intimate, that make a life. Called “one of the more emotionally consuming experiences of recent decades” (Chicago Sun Times), The Big Meal explodes from the mind of one of the country’s most intriguing playwrights. |
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| Capitol Steps |
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The Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center |
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| The Capitol Steps put the MOCK in Democracy every Friday and Saturday night in Washington, DC at their home at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center (1300 Pennsylvania Ave, NW). With their unique blend of musical and political comedy, no person in power is safe as the Capitol Steps skewer everyone whom you voted for! Now performing songs from their latest release, Liberal Shop of Horrors, and more. |
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| Clown Cabaret |
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Fort Fringe |
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| Clown Cabaret produces monthly shows showcasing the ever-evolving Art of Clown in the Nation’s Capital. “Clown Cabaret” is a theatrical laboratory, created in 2010 by DC-based performers, Karen Beriss, Matthew Pauli, and Rich Potter. It is a venue where variety performers experiment with new material and develop old routines. It continues to grow from a relationship with Capital Fringe Festival, which offers support. |
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| The Comedy Pigs |
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Faction of Fools Theatre Company at
Maryland Ensemble Theatre (MET) |
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| The Comedy Pigs, Anne Raugh, Laura Stark, Courtney McLaughlin, Franky Russell and Jeff Schnorr bring you a fast-paced, gut-busting good time where anything goes! Formed in 1992, the group has performed at national comedy festivals, been featured on Comedy Central, and have been guests at the National Pork Producers Convention. |
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| Dancing At Lughnasa |
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Quotidian Theatre Company at
Writer's Center |
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| Brian Friel's moving tale of five unmarried sisters eking out their lives in a small village in Ireland in 1936 has been called the most elegant and rueful memory play since The Glass Menagerie. |
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| Five Little Monkeys |
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Adventure Theatre MTC |
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| Going shopping…baking cakes…sitting in trees…JUMPING ON BEDS!!! In this zany play, all in cumulative verse, five silly simian siblings insist on doing things their own way and-heedless of admonitions – much more monkey mayhem ensues. And maybe a call from a doctor. |
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| Flora the Red Menace |
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1st Stage Theatre |
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| Not even the Great Depression is enough to dampen Flora's determination to land a fashion job, that is, until she meets Harry, the stammering handsome face of the local workers' party. Suddenly life is full of choices...love, ideology or a paycheck? It will take more than picket lines to stop this sparkling story of hope and determination. |
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| God of Carnage |
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Signature Theatre |
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| Two upper-middle-class Brooklyn couples meet to discuss an incident of playground violence between their sons. Though the evening begins with polite pleasantries, it quickly descends into primal madness as tempers flare, loyalties shift and the parents devolve into children. Like last season’s Art, Reza ferociously and hilariously strips her affluent, over-achieving characters down to their savage core. |
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| Hamlecchino: Clown Prince of Denmark |
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Faction of Fools Theatre Company at
Gallaudet University |
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| HAMLECCHINO: CLOWN PRINCE OF DENMARK is an energetic, tragi-comic spectacle that pairs the dramatic philosophy of Shakespeare with the physical comedy of Commedia. Shakespeare’s poetry meets Faction’s foolery! Tragedy puts “an antic disposition on” as each character from Hamlet is interpreted through the mask, gestures, and mentality of a famous Commedia dell’Arte character. The royal family consists of a put-upon Pulcinella (the Ghost of Hamlet’s father), his randy wife Donna Zezza (Queen Gertrude), and a charismatic, interloping Capitano (King Claudius). The royal advisor, a babbling Dottore (Polonius), schemes with his two children, both Lovers (Ophelia and Laertes). The Prince himself becomes “a rogue and peasant slave” as the clownish servant Arlecchino. |
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| Hum |
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Theater Alliance at
Atlas Performing Arts Center |
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| A stunning allegory of Orwellian proportions that follows a couples journey to discover what life is like when the safety net is pulled down. How can you find happiness, in world that is build to keep you from thinking? What cost must we pay to express our truest feelings and basest needs? |
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| The Ice Child |
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Factory 449 at
Mead Theatre Lab |
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| Urban legend gets a shot of Edgar Allan Poe and a dash of contemporary horror in Factory 449's world premiere of The Ice Child. Catherine wakes to find herself imprisoned in a coffin-size freezer chest. To discover how she got there -- and whether she can talk her way to freedom -- she must quickly decide which of her captors to trust. Outside her makeshift prison, a struggle soon arises over Catherine's treatment that will decide the fate of victims and villains alike. Told through a heart-pounding mash-up of film, live performance, and visual art, The Ice Child is a ticking time bomb of a show. |
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| Las Quiero a las Dos (I Want Them Both) |
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Teatro de la Luna at
Gunston Arts Center |
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| During times of economic crisis… there are also marriage crises. A husband packs to run off with his lover. His wife locks him in while
she waits for “the other one” to arrive to unleash a scandal. This delicious comedy uses the classic love triangle as the base for an intelligent theatrical game
that examines a failure to communicate, the freedom of man and the problem when people want no ties, social or legal. |
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| Lonely Planet |
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MetroStage |
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| A brilliant, evocative award-winning play about the power of friendship in a world of potential terror and suffering. Dietz's love of maps and the absurdist world inhabited by Ionesco's masterpiece The Chairs, coupled with game playing, truth telling, and surprising moments of humor, creates a world where friendship and fear collide, and the compassion, empathy and commitment of Jody and Carl can resonate and survive. |
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| Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament |
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Medieval Times - Baltimore Castle |
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| Medieval Times is an exciting, family-friendly dinner attraction inspired by an 11th century feast and tournament. Guests are served a four-course banquet and cheer for one of six knights as they compete in the joust and other tests of skill. At Medieval Times expect lots of jousting, swordsmanship, thrilling hand-to-hand combat, and displays of extraordinary horsemanship as part of an exciting story set in Medieval Spain. |
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Watch a video preview of Medieval Times
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| Metamorphoses |
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Constellation Theatre Company at
Source |
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| Ovid’s tales celebrate the transformative power of love in this Broadway hit written and originally directed by Mary Zimmerman. Join the mythical characters around a shimmering pool of water for an inspiring glimpse of the divine, underscored by the enchanting live music of Helen Hayes Award Winner Tom Teasley. |
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| The Music Man |
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Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater |
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| Heartwarming family favorite The Music Man comes to Arena Stage, bringing with it the lovable swindler "Professor" Harold Hill, attempting to pull a con on the citizens of River City, Iowa. Having exhausted all 102 counties in Illinois, fast-talking Hill hits Iowa with a new scheme for making money. He'll save the town's youth from the sin and corruption of the pool hall by selling them instruments and helping to organize a boys' band -- despite the fact that he secretly knows nothing about music. The "Music Man" manages to turn the bickering school board into a barbershop quartet, win the heart of Marian the Librarian, and somehow turn himself into an honest man in the process. The delightful story is set to cheery music, including the songs "Seventy-Six Trombones," "Ya Got Trouble," "Till There Was You" and "Goodnight, My Someone." The show stars Kate Baldwin. |
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| Nabucco |
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The Kennedy Center |
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| Witness the epic struggle of a royal family at odds with their nation and each other, battling for power among the lost wonders of the world in Verdi's powerful opera about the defeat, enslavement, and exile of the ancient Babylonian Jews. |
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| Oliver! |
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Compass Rose Studio Theater |
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| Compass Rose Studio Theater proudly presents Oliver! The Musical. Based on Charles Dickens fable about a starving orphan in 19th century London, the play tells the rags to riches story of goodness rewarded and thievery and wickedness punished. Lionel Barts musical score includes world famous songs such as “Where is Love” and “As Long as He Needs Me.” A professional cast will be rounded out by Compass Rose students who are incorporated as full members of the production. |
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| Oxygen |
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Taffety Punk Theatre Co at
Capitol Hill Arts Workshop |
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| Company member Esther Williamson reunites with Car Plays collaborator Mark Krawczyk in a play that dares to be a concept album. Russian playwright Ivan Vyrypaev sets up two actors and a DJ to take on ten language intense tracks about love and suffocating, and suffocating in love. Directed by Lise Bruneau and Chris Curtis! With Music by the Caribbean. |
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| Pinocchio |
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The Puppet Co. |
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| To add its own twist on this well-known story, the Puppet Co.’s version of “Pinocchio” is performed with rod puppets instead of marionettes. Pinocchio sets out for school with the best intentions, but something more interesting leads him off the straight and narrow path. A Fox and Cat, a coach ride to a land to good to be true and even a puppet show distract little Pinocchio from his quest to become a real boy. |
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| Punk Rock Mom |
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Venus Theatre Play Shack |
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| Punk Rock Mom tells the story of Jamie Fontaine, a former punk rocker and single mother. She may have lost a little eyeliner and a lot of black leather after having her daughter Joan, but she still has the spirit of the music inside her. When conservative Joan makes a startling and rebellious announcement, Jamie goes on a search to find her daughter's birth father and attempts to come to terms with becoming a grandmother. This world-premiere play discusses what it means to age when you don't feel old and how to bridge a generation gap when you are the one who needs to grow up. |
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| Rapunzel |
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Imagination Stage |
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| Rapunzel is a typical teenage girl, with a few exceptions: she was stolen from her real parents by a wicked witch who pretends to be her mother; her home is a high-security tower in the middle of nowhere; and her hair is long enough to be used as a ladder. She’s content, though, and as far as she knows, hers is a great life...if a little boring. On her sixteenth birthday, excitement finds Rapunzel in the form of the charming and handsome Prince Brian when he stumbles upon her remote abode, and she realizes how much she has been missing! Brian dodges the witch to visit his new friend regularly, and the two plot an escape. But the witch is crafty and casts a spell that sets the young couple on a zany path to a happy ending. |
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| Rapunzel |
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Workhouse Arts Center |
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| What do a lost prince, a two-headed monster, an unscrupulous baker, a lonely witch and a flaxen-tressed maiden all have in common??? This comic tale will answer that question and many more.
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| Rooms: A Rock Romance |
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Kensington Town Hall |
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| Rooms: A Rock Romance is a gritty rock musical that tells the story of Monica, an ambitious singer-songwriter, and Ian, a hard-driving rocker. The story traces the pair as their romantic and creative partnership is challenged when they journey from their native Glasgow to London and New York seeking rock stardom. Written by Paul Scott Goodman (Bright Lights, Big City), the musical features a five-piece rock band that provides live accompaniment to the two main characters as they try to find the balance between their ambitions and their personal happiness. |
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| Ruined |
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Fells Point Corner Theatre |
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| Inspired in large part by the celebrated 1939 play Mother Courage and her Children, RUINED is considered Brecht for our era. Playwright Lynn Nottage has created a great persona in Mama Nadi, a shrewd businesswoman in a land torn apart by civil war. She is caught between the violent struggle of opposing armies in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This portrait of a proud, determined woman saving the lives of other women, stands out as a powerful theatrical contribution to our changing world. |
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| The Seafarer |
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SCENA Theatre at
H Street Playhouse |
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| From contemporary Irish playwright Conor McPherson, witness a group of Irish lads playing cards at a boozy Christmas party. When they run out of things to wager, they bet their souls. Yet, there is hell to pay when the devil comes to collect. |
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| The Servant Of Two Masters |
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Shakespeare Theatre Company at
Lansburgh Theatre |
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| The Servant of Two Masters centers on the wily servant Truffaldino, played by Steven Epp, who devises a zany scheme to double his wages by serving two masters at once. Mayhem erupts when identities are mistaken, engagements are broken and lovers are reunited in this commedia dell’arte masterpiece. "The Servant of Two Masters offers so many opportunities for music, for playfulness, for tragic abandon. It has everything in it. It has poetry and even this knocked-out farcical element in it that allows for great physical play,” says director Christopher Bayes. |
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| Six Degrees of Separation |
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Vpstart Crow at
Hylton Performing Arts Center |
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| Based on a true story, the eye-opening, 90-minute romp focuses on the contingencies that link lives together or tear them apart and the pivotal role of the imagination. Rob Batarla, Vpstart Crow’s artistic director and director for this season’s instant classic, noted, "With elements of comedy and tragedy, ‘Six Degrees of Separation’ is, at its core, the telling of a story about the basic human need of connection, and because we are performing the show in the round, the audience will get to live the story from every angle." |
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| The Taming of the Shrew |
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Folger Theatre |
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| Riotous events lead to the seemingly ill-fated marriage of the arrogant Petruchio and the headstrong Kate. Full of wit and lusty humor, Shakespeare’s quintessential battle of the sexes redefines the boundaries of love. |
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| The Tooth of Crime |
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WSC Avant Bard at
Artisphere |
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| We close the season with another rep, leading off with The Bacchae of Euripides (it’s been too long since we produced one of the great Greek plays) as we welcome back director Steven Scott Mazzola, who brought our productions of The Royal Hunt of the Sun and In the Summer House to the stage. The Bacchae will be paired with The Tooth of Crime, a play from the neglected, but compelling, early work of Sam Shepard, and one of the plays that sealed his reputation as a strikingly original and influential voice in American theatre. Frequent WSC actor and director Kathleen Akerley (whose work for us off-stage includes our productions of Macbett and Jumpers), the artistic director of Longacre Lea Productions, will direct our production. |
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| Werther |
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Washington National Opera at
The Kennedy Center |
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| In Jules Massenet's Werther, the young poet Werther has fallen desperately in love with the beautiful Charlotte. When he discovers that she is honor-bound to marry Albert, he tries to stay away, but his passion draws him back to her. Finally, Werther decides the only way he can find peace is through death. The performance by Washington National Opera features Italian tenor Francesco Meli in his company debut in the title role and mezzo-soprano Sonia Ganassi as Charlotte. The two performers recently sang the same roles together in Parma, Italy. Chris Alexander directs and Emmanuel Villaume conducts. |
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| The Whipping Man |
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Theater J |
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| 1865; Richmond, Virginia: Two newly-freed slaves and the son of their former master—a Jewish Confederate soldier who has retreated to the burnt remains of his home—inhabit the disordered aftermath of the just-concluded War between the States. As the three men celebrate a most unconventional Passover Seder, they uncover a snarl of secrets and examine what it really means to be free. |
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| Wives and Wits |
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Washington Stage Guild at
Undercroft Theatre |
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| The Washington Stage Guild Silver Season concludes with a pair of one-acts from either end of the long career of the Stage Guild’s “playwright in residence” – George Bernard Shaw. The evening of Wives & Wits will be the Washington area professional premiere of GBS’ stereoscopic look at sex, the irresistible force. The two plays, comedies of love and marriage, are among Shaw's most entertaining works, and this is a rare opportunity for Washington audiences to see them performed. Starting the evening is 1913’s Overruled, directed by Alan Wade, and rounding it out is a play from Shaw's late career, Village Wooing, directed by Laura Giannarelli. Village Wooing premiered in 1933 and is described as a “Comedietta for two voices.” |
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| The Wizard of Oz |
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Toby's Dinner Theatre - Columbia |
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| Friends and families who follow the yellow brick road just might venture “somewhere over the rainbow” and find themselves in a musical dream with Dorothy and friends. This most beloved of all musicals features well known songs such as "We’re Off to See the Wizard", "Ding, Dong! The Witch is Dead!" and of course, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". |
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| Women of the Blues |
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Creative Cauldron at
ArtSpace Falls Church |
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| Creative Cauldron is joining forces with the Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation to present an original Blues music review celebrating the lives and music of some of the greatest Blues divas of the 20th Century! Directed by internationally acclaimed artist, Matt Conner, the show will take audiences on a soulful and sassy journey through some of the most memorable songs in the blues canon. Performed by a powerhouse quartet of versatile female vocalists, including Helen Hayes Award Nominees, Carolyn Cole and Ashleigh King (HairSpray at Signature Theatre), musical theater diva, Shaylay Simmons, and Indie Soul recording artists, Tarina Szemzo, this is a show you won't want to miss! Scenic designer Margie Jervis will work her magic and transform The Cauldron into a friendly blues club atmosphere |
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| Xanadu |
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Signature Theatre |
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| Grab your loved ones and glow sticks – as Signature turns the MAX Theatre into one big disco-heaven ball! 1980. Venice, California. Legwarmers are in and roller skates are way sexy. Xanadu, the zany send-up of the cult film starring Olivia Newton-John, delivers rock-star hilarity in an electrifying tale of forbidden love. Kira, one of seven quirky Greek muses, is sworn to three things: to inspire mortals, never reveal her identity and never, ever fall in love. However, when she emboldens struggling artist Sonny to create the first roller disco, Kira feels the artistic pull of her own. |
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