Shows in DC: Current DC Theatre Productions

"Be Our Guest" for this tale as old as time. Featuring the animated film's Academy Award-winning score, this breathtaking musical is the story of Belle and the Beast, who happens to be a handsome prince cursed by a beautiful enchantress. If the Beast can learn to love and be loved, the curse will be lifted. If not, he and his servants will be doomed for all eternity. Will their love bloom before time runs out?

What's a black girl from sunny Southern California to do? White people are blowing up black girls in Birmingham churches. Black people are shouting "Black is beautiful" while straightening their hair and coveting light skin. Viveca Stanton's answer: Slap on a bubbly smile and be as white as you can be! In a humorous and pointed coming-of-age story spanning the sixties through the nineties, Viveca blithely sails through the confusing worlds of racism, sexism and Broadway showbiz until she's forced to face the devastating effect self-denial has had on her life.

Dixie Longate is the fast-talking, gum-chewing, ginger-haired Alabama gal who is bringing your grandma's Tupperware party into the 21st century. Audiences howl with laughter as Dixie demonstrates the many alternative uses for the iconic plastic kitchen staple. Filled with outrageously funny tales, heartfelt accounts, audience participation, and a little bit of empowerment and homespun wisdom, Dixie's Tupperware Party leaves your heart a little bigger and your food a little fresher.

You are cordially invited to a meeting of The Drunk Shakespeare Society. In a hidden speakeasy, five classically-trained actors assemble for their sacred ritual. One actor takes five shots of whiskey and then attempts to perform a major role in a Shakespeare play. Hilarity and mayhem ensue as the remaining sober actors attempt to keep the play on track. Every night is different depending on who's drinking ... and what they're drinking! Drunk Shakespeare is a New York Times' Critics Pick and "the best thing to ever happen to the theater" according to Slate Magazine. Craft cocktails are served throughout the show.

Shauna and Robbie are expecting… different things. Shauna expects motherhood won’t be easy. Robbie can’t wait to be a dad. Then she arrives. Encountering financial difficulties alongside the arrival of baby Aisling and the barriers Shauna faces, Robbie spirals. Can Shauna and Robbie adjust their expectations and find a way back to one another? Will they sink or swim? Break down barriers with c21 Theatre Company with this accessible new show as Shauna and Robbie plunge into parenthood.

At a landfill in a country that feels familiar and foreign, three stateless youth have cobbled together a scrappy living: learning Engaleash, raising ruckus, dreaming big while getting by with little. Soon a whirlwind of tourists, social media influencers, foreign investors, and do-gooders invade their home with promises of assistance and civilization – but at what cost? Howze’s “brightly colored, comic fantasia on cultural imperialism” (The New York Times) dazzles with its blistering satire and asks, who wins and who loses in a war to hold on to the people and places we love?

The sensational, groundbreaking rock musical bursts with the jubilant spirit, raging rebellion and psychedelic color of the 1960s. A tribe of long-haired bohemian hippies on the cusp of adulthood champion freedom, pacifism, and joy, but confront a world thrown into chaos when one of their own receives a draft notice for the Vietnam War. With chart-topping hits such as "Aquarius," "Let the Sunshine In," and "Good Morning, Starshine," HAIR's vibrant, groovy celebration of peace, love and life changed Broadway forever and still resonates today.

Originally staged by London's Regent's Park Open Air Theatre and helmed by the acclaimed director Timothy Sheader (Crazy for You, Into the Woods) and cutting-edge choreographer Drew McOnie (King Kong, Strictly Ballroom), this production won the 2017 Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival garnering unprecedented reviews and accolades. Appealing to both theater audiences and concert music fans, this production pays tribute to the historic 1971 Billboard Album of the Year while creating a modern, theatrical world that is uniquely fresh and inspiring.

Come down to Skid Row for a non-stop blast, sci-fi horror comedy, love story and rock musical that has become one of the most treasured pieces of American musical theatre.

Produced nationally and internationally, Little Women has been praised by critics for its ambition in bringing the timeless, captivating story to vivid musical to life on stage. Based on Louisa May Alcott's life, Little Women follows the adventures of sisters Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy theatrical experiences, leaving audiences filled with a sense of adventure, joy, heartache, and a lifting of the spirit. The power score soars with the sounds of personal discovery, heartbreak, hope, and everlasting love - the sounds of a young America finding it's voice.

Octogenarian Marjorie is battling dementia as her daughter Tess and son-in-law Jon introduce cutting-edge technology to their household called a Prime. The Prime, which resembles Marjorie's deceased husband, Walter, becomes a repository of memories selectively shaped by Tess and Jon. As Marjorie's health declines, Tess grapples with aging, mortality, and the complex relationship with her mother.

Ovid's classic tales come to astonishing life in Mary Zimmerman's adaptation where gods and mortals experience love, loss, and transformation. Juxtaposing the mythic and the modern, the stories of Aphrodite, Midas, Orpheus, Cupid, and others are told in a whimsical and poignant fashion, reminding us of the joys, follies, and heartbreaks of being human.

History meets hip-hop in this groundbreaking theatrical experience that explores the often-untold stories of enslaved people in the United States who sought freedom in Mexico, rather than looking north. Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson use live-looping to create a musical in real-time, telling a unique story of the Underground Railroad that led south, highlighting the power of Black and Brown unity.

With tantalizing lyrics and the seductive allure of tango, waltz, and salsa, this wicked show seamlessly blends history and fantasy. Follow the afterlife of Eva Perón when her preserved corpse ignites political scandals, clandestine affairs, and mysterious murders, exposing the intense love between Evita and the working class and her mesmerizing spiritual power as Argentina's most revered icon.

Two pregnant sisters-one visual artist, one con artist-converge on a remote family cabin in Vermont. Jess races to finish her long-awaited solo show; Rory sees a new audience for her latest scam. When Rory hatches a plan for an art project of her own, the problems between the sisters flare into a collision of family baggage, personal morality, and artistic taste. A response to True West, Sam Shephard's surreal psychodrama about brothers with problems, Problems Between Sisters is a funny and savage take on domestication, creativity, and the elusive demands of the Primal Female.

A tongue-in-cheek, musical comedy satire, based on the 1936 film of the same name. Reefer Madness tells the cautionary tale of Jimmy Harper and Mary Lane, a wholesome pair of all-American teenager sweethearts, who fall victim to the dangers of the drug menace...MARIJUANA!!! The musical chronicles their downward spiral, filled with evil jazz music, sex, and violence!

Monteverdi's second opera sets the story of Trojan War hero Ulysses' traumatic homecoming from the epic The Odyssey. IN Series will bring this rarely heard masterpiece to life in an expansive new work that re-tells the story through the lens of the Vietnam war. Incorporating Southeast Asian contemporary dance, interviews with veterans, and newly commissioned arrangements of popular Vietnam era songs in the style of Monteverdi madrigals, the production features an all-star cast led by Derek Chester and Elizabeth Mondragon.

"Shear Madness" is one of the most popular entertainments in the world, delighting audiences night after night with its unique blend of madcap improvisation and spine-tickling mystery. This unique comedy-whodunit takes place today in the "Shear Madness" hairstyling salon and is chock full of up-to-the-minute spontaneous humor. During the course of the action, a murder is committed and the audience gets to spot the clues, question the suspects, and solve the funniest mystery in the annals of crime.The outcome is never the same, which is why many audience members return again and again to the scene of the mayhem.

Journey into the Appalachian Mountains in this award-winning musical that deftly weaves four traditional tales and original music into a keepsake quilt of mountain lore and wisdom for the whole family. Jack who lands himself a job despite his foolishness. "Catskins" is a spunky Appalachian Cinderella. "The Enchanted Tree" is a beauty-and-the-beast love story between a lost girl and a frightening crow. And in a zany, sung-through "Sow and Her Three Pigs" plucky Nancy the pig outsmarts the hungry fox. This play with music incorporates singing, mountain dances, music, and puppets to create a highly theatrical storytelling style. The score, which interweaves music throughout the tales, is inspired by "Old Time" Appalachian music featuring fiddle and banjo that drives the play's action and makes music itself a character in the play.

Powerful princess Turandot plays by her own rules. She invites any suitor to marry her, but first they'll have to correctly solve three riddles-or face a gruesome death. The men are dropping like flies until Prince Calaf cracks the code. When he poses his own riddle back to Turandot, she finally has a glimpse at true love. But will Turandot's icy heart freeze love out?