Theatre In DC Top Rated Plays List - The Highest Rated Shows In The DC Area
The "Theatre In DC Top Rated Play List" is a list of the top rated plays now running in the DC area based on what the current reviews are saying. To see all of the play reviews go to Review Round-Up.
When Stephen Sondheim first brought A Little Night Music to the stage in 1973, the musical's elegance and charm led to four Tony Award wins. Now its Sweden-set tale of a tangled web of affairs comes to Arlington in a new production at Signature Theatre. Centered around the charismatic actress Desiree Armfeldt, A Little Night Music follows one terribly complicated weekend in the country, where lovers, ex-lovers, wives and husbands all come together, and seemingly endless possibilities for new romances and second chances bring plenty of surprises. Witty and filled with deeply touching moments of regret and desire, A Little Night Music also features one of Sondheim's most popular songs, the haunting "Send in the Clowns."
Metro Weekly-
Highly Recommended
BroadwayWorld-
Highly Recommended
Talkin Broadway-
Highly Recommended
DCTheatreScene-
Highly Recommended
DC Metro Theater Arts-
Highly Recommended
MD Theatre Guide-
Highly Recommended
Iconic blues singer Bessie Smith's life was as large and outrageous as her talent. Live it with her as The Devil's Music: The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith takes you back to a 1937 Memphis "buffet flat" where the partying, laughter and bawdiness reach a crescendo after Bessie and her band are turned away by a whites-only theater. Starring Miche Braden, reprising the role she originated off-Broadway, the musical is packed with a trove of Bessie's all-time hits, including "I Ain't Got Nobody," "St. Louis Blues" and "Tain't Nobody's Bizness If I Do." Get rowdy with a musical legend when Mosaic Theater Company's production of The Devil's Music comes to D.C.'s Atlas Performing Arts Center.
Washington Post-
Recommended
Metro Weekly-
Highly Recommended
BroadwayWorld-
Recommended
DCTheatreScene-
Highly Recommended
DC Metro Theater Arts-
Highly Recommended
MD Theatre Guide-
Highly Recommended
Theatre Bloom-
Highly Recommended
In the Heights made a splash on Broadway, scoring the 2008 Tony Award for Best Musical and winning over audiences with its fresh-faced charm and vibrant music. Olney Theatre Center's production, co-produced by Round House Theatre, now brings this hit to the D.C. and Baltimore area. With incredible hip-hop dancing, a contemporary Latin-flavored score and a story from Lin-Manuel Miranda (creator of the hit Broadway show Hamilton), In the Heights is an exhilarating journey into the lives of the residents of the Dominican-American neighborhood of Washington Heights in New York City -- a place where the coffee from Usnavi's corner bodega is light and sweet, the windows are always open and the breeze carries the scent of impending change. Like many in his community, Usnavi struggles to decide which traditions to keep and which to leave behind.
Washington Post-
Recommended
BroadwayWorld-
Highly Recommended
Talkin Broadway-
Highly Recommended
DCTheatreScene-
Highly Recommended
DC Metro Theater Arts-
Recommended
MD Theatre Guide-
Highly Recommended
You probably know the meme of the cartoon dog surrounded by flames and declaring: "This is fine." But you might not know this classic work that may as well have inspired it. Mild-mannered Mr. Biederman tries to live a blameless life, refusing to acknowledge evil of any kind -- even as the world around him burns. The facade comes crashing down when he allows two smooth-talking guests to move in to his home and they start filling his attic with petrol drums. Part moral fable and part black farce, Alistair Beaton's The Arsonists is an elegant, witty translation of Max Frisch's 1958 absurdist comedy The Firebugs, which was inspired by the Communist takeover of Czechoslovakia in 1948 and satirizes the way in which people can be manipulated into accommodating their own destruction.
BroadwayWorld-
Highly Recommended
Talkin Broadway-
Recommended
DC Metro Theater Arts-
Recommended
MD Theatre Guide-
Recommended
Senators Cassius and Brutus are suspicious of Caesar's growing power in the Republic. They fear he'll accept offers to become Emperor. Cassius is jealous, and he convinces Brutus to participate in assassinating Caesar. The conspirators stab Caesar in a gruesome murder. Yet their troubles have just begun. Citizens unite and rebel. Unrest sweeps Rome. The rebels flee Greece and wage battle against Caesar-loyalist Mark Antony and his troops in a vain attempt to reclaim power. Political aspirations and the fate of Rome hang in the balance during this climactic battle. Scena Theatre's modern interpretation of Julius Caesar features an all-star cast from the D.C. area. Revel in this timeless tale as it unfolds on the stage of Atlas Performing Arts Center, and discover the parallels of modern Washington and ancient Rome.
BroadwayWorld-
Highly Recommended
DCTheatreScene-
Somewhat Recommended
DC Metro Theater Arts-
Recommended
MD Theatre Guide-
Highly Recommended
Playwright Dominique Morisseau's ferocious hometown pride inspired her to write The Detroit Project, a trilogy of dramas set at three distinct periods in the city's history. Skeleton Crew centers on Detroit during the 2008 recession. Faye has spent her career at one of the last auto-stamping plants in Detroit, Shanita is pregnant, Dez has a whole future to plan, and their manager Reggie owes a nearly un-payable debt to his work family. As rumors of a plant shutdown begin to spread, these tight-knit workers face what they're willing to sacrifice to survive. Find out for yourself why The New York Times hailed the show as "a deeply moral and deeply American play," when it comes to the stage of the Studio Theatre.
Metro Weekly-
Highly Recommended
BroadwayWorld-
Somewhat Recommended
DCTheatreScene-
Recommended
DC Metro Theater Arts-
Recommended
