Three Decembers at Artisphere

Washington City Paper - Somewhat Recommended

"...Except in this case, there’s no satire and no self-awareness; it’s a soap opera parody that doesn’t realize it’s either a soap opera or a parody. Everything is earnest and serious, from Charlie’s unseen partner dying of AIDS to Bea’s dilemma over what to wear to the Tony Awards. In the end, you’re left with the impression that you should be feeling a deeper connection to the characters than you actually do, simply because you’ve been through 90 minutes of them being nice, then not so nice, then nice to each other again."

DC Theater Arts - Highly Recommended

"...A relatively new opera company UrbanArias stages the touching, beautiful opera Three Decembers by Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer based on a play by Terrence McNally. Robert Wood founded UrbanArias in 2010 to produce modern, short operas – all written in the last 40 years and all under 90 minutes. Heggie was in the audience for opening night. One of the perks of a modern piece – and this truly is. They start the opera on the phone and at one point hum through one of the songs. Heggie and Scheer also collaborated on Moby-Dick, which debuted on the east coast at The Kennedy Center last season."