Unknown Soldier at Arena Stage

Unknown Soldier

Arena Stage
1101 Sixth Street, SW Washington

Cleaning out her grandmother's home, Ellen Rabinowitz discovers the photograph of an anonymous soldier tucked away in a box of keepsakes. And so begins Unknown Soldier, a sweeping, elegiac musical from Daniel Goldstein and the late Michael Friedman on a woman's journey to unearth the secrets of her family's past... and which will chart her future.

Thru - May 5, 2024

Stage: Kreeger Theater

Show Type: Drama

Box Office: 202-488-3300

www.arenastage.com

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Unknown Soldier Reviews

Average Rating based on 6 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Washington Post - Recommended

"...It’s a lot of narrative scaffolding to hang a score on, but the majority of the 16 numbers are worthy. The music is by Michael Friedman (he and Goldstein co-wrote the lyrics), who like so many characters here died young, at 41, just two years after “Unknown Soldier” had its world premiere at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in 2015."

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- Chris Klimek

DC Theater Arts - Recommended

"...Unknown Soldier is a new(ish) musical that asks whether we really know ourselves and the people around us, and just how far we’ll go to hold on to our memories, dreams, and desires. Written by book writer and co-lyricist Daniel Goldstein and late composer and co-lyricist Michael Friedman, the musical premiered at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in 2015 and enjoyed a shortened 2020 run at New York’s Playwrights Horizons before the COVID pandemic closed theaters."

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- D.R. Lewis

MetroWeekly - Recommended

"...Goldstein’s book, and the lyrics by Friedman and Goldstein, express Ellen’s aims and emotions in plain, conversational language riding the loping melodies by Friedman. “I wanna know what happened,” she pleads, not just to know her grandma better, but so she might gain insight into her own cloudy history, and thus, herself. “‘Cause I’m starting to feel that I have the wrong story/I feel like I’m missing a page.”"

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- André Hereford

Washington City Paper - Somewhat Recommended

"...Such is the case with Unknown Soldier, a flawed but charming intergenerational musical that traces the lives of two women over 100 years. Composer and co-lyricist Michael Friedman died of complications from HIV/AIDS in 2017, less than two years after Unknown Soldier’s premiere at Williamstown Theatre Festival. A New York off-Broadway premiere was cut short by the pandemic in 2020. Now Arena Stage is hosting the show following a fresh round of tinkering from the play’s remaining creators."

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- Rebecca Ritzel

MD Theatre Guide - Recommended

"...The scope of Daniel Goldstein (book and lyrics) and Michael Friedman's (music and lyrics) "Unknown Soldier" is admirable, aiming to thread a familial story through nearly 100 years of history and three generations in less than two hours. While its DC premiere at Arena Stage has some uneven moments owing to the script's pacing issues and tone issues, it does land some stirring moments along that path."

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- Seth Rose

BroadwayWorld - Somewhat Recommended

"...Unknown Soldier, which is now playing at Arena Stage, seeks to explore our understanding of memory and our stories on these levels – individual, familial, and historical. Centered around one woman’s journey to understand her own family’s stories, Unknown Soldier explores how the past and present inform each other, and what it means to remember and forget."

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- Rachael F. Goldberg

Unknown Soldier at Arena Stage

Unknown Soldier

Unknown Soldier Reviews

Washington Post - Recommended

DC Theater Arts - Recommended

MetroWeekly - Recommended

Washington City Paper - Somewhat Recommended

MD Theatre Guide - Recommended

BroadwayWorld - Somewhat Recommended

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