Category Archives: We Love Arts

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We Love Arts: Gypsy

Sherri L. Edelen as Momma Rose in Signature Theatre’s production of Gypsy. Photo by Teresa Wood.

Based on the real-life memoirs of burlesque performer Gypsy Rose Lee, with book by Arthur Laurents, music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Gypsy has been a beloved musical of mine ever since I was 15 and was fortunate enough to be cast in a local production of it. I have seen a number of productions both on stage (including the 2003 Broadway revival with Bernadette Peters) and screen (with the 1993 film version with Bette Midler my favorite). I can honestly say that Signature Theatre‘s current production was, by far, the best one I have ever seen. It was breathtaking, rendering me speechless. Those who know me realize that is a huge feat.

Between an engaging script and two acts of captivating songs, Gypsy is more the story of Gypsy Rose Lee’s mother, Rose, than it is about her. Although the account of the famous stripper (real name: Louise) and her sister, June, is told—their history as child performers on the vaudeville circuit to June’s running away from home and Louise’s transition from novelty act to burlesque performer—it is only to highlight the journey Rose takes. The quintessential stage mother, Rose foregoes personal relationships, a stable career and home life, and financial comfort so that her children may be stars. It is only when her children and fiancé leave her, their vaudeville careers washed up, and with her life in shambles that Rose realizes all the toiling and strife done in the name of her children were really about fulfilling a dream of stardom for herself that will never come true because she was “born too early and started too late.” Continue reading →

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We Love Arts: Elf

Noah Marlowe and Will Blum in Elf at the Kennedy Center

Noah Marlowe and Will Blum in Elf at the Kennedy Center. Photo credit: Amy Boyle

There is something about the holidays that brings families to the theatre. People who don’t see live theatre the other 364 days of the year seem to revel in one annual trip with the children and in-laws to see actors sing and dance to melodies rife with sleigh bells and falling snow. Although there are a number of movies about Christmas, stage options until recently were very limited. There was A Christmas Carol, Miracle on 34th Street, and White Christmas. Whether it was because repeated viewings of these shows is extremely monotonous or just because other movies leant themselves to being musicalized, Broadway has recently introduced three new shows into the holiday canon. Now families across America, in taking their annual jaunt to the theatre can also see How the Grinch Stole Christmas, A Christmas Story or Elf. For DC area residents, this year’s musical offering is the latter, based on the 2003 movie starring Will Ferrell as Buddy, a human raised as a Christmas elf who goes to New York City to meet his father, a high-powered book publisher with no holiday spirit. Although closely following the cinematic story, the musical stage version of Elf, playing at the Kennedy Center, doesn’t try to imitate the film, but provides its own take on the story and makes for a very fun family outing.

Being a fan of the film, but not wanting to just see a stage production mirroring the same thing I can see on DVD, I was pleasantly satisfied that Elf was able to keep the integrity of the plot, characters, and humor while, at the same time, giving each of those elements a fresh lift. Continue reading →

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We Love Arts: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

A-Funny-Thing-Forum-STC-11-13-102The cast of Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Photo credit: T. Charles Erickson

In graduate school, I spent an entire semester of theatre history studying Roman comedy, as this ancient art form continues to be seen in contemporary farce today. One of my favorite musical comedies, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart, is the perfect descendent of this form, since it not only utilizes 2,000-year old comedy conventions, such as puns, mistaken identity, physical humor and absurdity, but also because its plot is taken directly from three plays written by Plautus, the Roman father of farce himself.

Forum tells the ribald story of a slave named Pseudolus who attempts to win his freedom by assisting his youthful master win the heart of the beautiful courtesan next door. Using the classical elements of farce and punctuated by fun melodies with clever lyrics, Forum is such a well-written show that even the most amateur of productions can be excellent. I have, in fact, seen Forum a number of times, ranging in scope from its Broadway revival in 1997 to a 40-seat community theatre production with virtually no budget, and thoroughly enjoyed it every time. This is why I was so excited to see Forum at The Shakespeare Theatre Company and why I was so disappointed in their production. If a community theatre of amateur actors, directors, and designers can take a nearly perfect script and present farcical magic, I expected one of the greatest theatres and directors in the DC area, combined with a cast of actors with numerous Broadway credits, to be incredible. And it wasn’t. Continue reading →

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We Love Arts: Man in a Case

Mikhail Baryshnikov in Man in a Case. Photo credit: T. Charles Erickson.

Mikhail Baryshnikov in Man in a Case. Photo credit: T. Charles Erickson.

It would be easy for Mikhail Baryshnikov to rest on his laurels. It would also be easy to recommend that you see him in Man in a Case, at Shakespeare Theatre Company as part of their Presentation Series, simply for the novelty of seeing one of the greatest performers of our time on stage. Doing anything. What a pleasure then, that this is not an easy piece. Instead, you have the privilege of witnessing charisma at the service of experimental theater. It’s truly extraordinary.

Man in a Case is adapted and directed by Annie-B Parson and Paul Lazar of Big Dance Theater, who use their innovative approach on two short stories by Anton Chekhov: “Man in a Case” and “About Love.” Parson also choreographs the production (she’s worked with David Byrne on several projects, and with St. Vincent on her upcoming tour). Though it runs just under ninety minutes, the piece has an elegiac pace which allows the seamless combination of video, sound, dance, and narration to unfold with a hypnotic beauty.

There’s a haunting immediacy to the production from its first moments, as hunters begin swapping stories in a manner evoking the folksy banter of a late night radio show. The onstage presence of sound designer Tei Blow and associate video designer Keith Skretch seems entirely natural as they execute cues from their laptops right alongside the actors. It’s that dichotomy between the natural and the artificial that gives Man in a Case an eccentric edge, which only expands as projections reminiscent of surveillance cameras appear on surfaces both expected and unexpected. It has the quality of immersive theater – even though we are watching from our stationary seats in the Lansburgh, we feel included. There’s a hint of voyeurism which expands and continues to the end.

Man in a Case begins with the story of professor Belikov (Baryshnikov), who lives a heartbreakingly restrictive and proper existence almost devoid of air to breathe. Continue reading →

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We Love Arts: The Pajama Men – Just The Two Of Each Of Us

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Mark Chavez and Shenoah Allen. Photo courtesy of The Pajama Men.

The PJ-donned duo of Mark Chavez and Shenoah Allen return to Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company for a show this holiday season called Just The Two Of Each Of Us. Of course there’s nothing to read into the title, their surreal, imaginative, and somewhat improvised comedy style hasn’t changed for those that caught them last year. Those that have yet to experience The Pajama Men need to do so as soon as possible. Chavez and Allen once again bring a heavy dose of physical humor, with amazing vocal and facial performances that result in a night of good ol’ clean fun.

Continue reading →

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We Love Arts: Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner

(L to R) Malcolm-Jamal Warner as Dr. John Prentice, Bethany Anne Lind as Joanna Drayton, Tess Malis Kincaid as Christina Drayton and Tom Key as Matt Drayton in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater November 29, 2013-January 5, 2014. Photo by Teresa Wood. (L to R) Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Bethany Anne Lind, Tess Malis Kincaid and Tom Key in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. Photo by Teresa Wood.

For a play based on a film made in 1967, you might suspect antiquated dialogue and plotlines. While William Rose’s screenplay about Joanna Drayton (Bethany Anne Lind), a girl who surprises her family by bringing home an African-American fiancée (Malcolm-Jamal Warner), may have been edgy back then, the idea of inter-racial marriage is much more accepted in our society now.

Right?

Well even in “post-racial” 2013, the idea of whites and blacks marrying each other is still making headlines. Todd Kreidler’s stage adaptation of Rose’s story still resonates with audiences in a new production at Arena Stage. The story may not provoke like it did back in the 60s; instead it serves as a galvanizing statement of equality and the way love should be. The crowd inside the packed Fichandler Stage was eager to give their stamp of approval against prejudice, exploding into applause anytime a character demonstrated against bigotry. The statement that the original film set out to make now has a strong rooting interest in 2013.

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We Love Arts: If/Then

Idina Menzel and company in If/Then at the National Theatre. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Idina Menzel and company in If/Then at the National Theatre. Photo by Joan Marcus.

IF seeing a world-premiere musical before it went to Broadway weren’t exciting enough, THEN learning that Tony-award winners Idina Menzel and LaChanze were in it, along with Anthony Rapp and James Snyder, I was elated beyond comprehension. IF the writer/composer team of Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey could write a great musical, like Next To Normal, THEN their new show was probably going to be awesome. IF, after seeing it, I told you it was perfect, THEN I’d be lying. But IF I told you that If/Then at the National Theatre has something compelling to it, THEN that would be the absolute truth.

Set around the premise that one tiny, seemingly insignificant decision can alter the course of one’s life, If/Then addresses the ultimate existential question. What if…? In this case, Elizabeth (Menzel) simultaneously experiences dueling, but separate, existences based on the events that follow when she is faced with choosing whether to get coffee with a neighbor or attend a protest rally with a friend. In one scenario, she joins her neighbor Kate (LaChanze) for coffee, and in the process meets her future husband, becomes an adjunct professor, has a family, and is eventually faced with terrible tragedy that forces her to question whether she made the right choice that day she went out for coffee. In the other scenario, she joins her friend Lucas (Rapp) at a protest rally where she runs into an old colleague who offers her a corporate job as a New York city planner, becomes a successful professional, choosing a career over marriage and falling into a series of unsuccessful romantic relationships, eventually facing a terrible tragedy that forces her to question whether she made the right choice that day she followed Lucas to the rally.

While this was an interesting concept, I found that I didn’t fully understand exactly what was happening, or who was who in which scenario, until about 30 minutes into the show. Once I figured out that a red background was referring to the events of the coffee scenario, a blue background meant the rally scenario, that Elizabeth was Liz in one scenario and Beth in another, that her friends remained constant in both, but her careers and personal relationships didn’t cross over into both worlds, it made more sense. Both lives that Elizabeth leads are fun to see juxtaposed side by side and director Michael Greif has seamlessly woven them together. Events in each of the separate scenarios show the audience how, together, Elizabeth is a whole person, but separately, she’s incomplete, longing for something more. Because both lives find her wanting, it’s difficult to know which scenario you hope is the ‘true’ one, and about halfway through Act II, I realized that somehow the two would have to converge in order to have a satisfactory ending.

However, that ending, while it found a way to tie the two worlds together into a fairly complete conclusion, also negated the whole point of the show in doing so. This entire premise, based on the fact that destiny is created by the individual choices humans make, is erased by the realization that regardless of which simple choice Elizabeth made five years prior, it really didn’t matter because, in the end, fate was going to step in and make the choice for her. And, if fate is going to decide the course of human life, why bother considering whether you made the right choice if there is, ultimately, no actual choice? Continue reading →

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We Love Arts: Maurice Hines is Tappin’ Thru Life

Maurice Hines is Tappin' Thru Life

Maurice Hines in Arena Stage’s Maurice Hines is Tappin’ Thru Life. Photo credit: Teresa Wood

When I was 7 years old, I saw an episode of Sesame Street, where two brothers used choreography in the foreground and background to demonstrate the difference between near and far. I was completely mesmerized. That’s when I fell in love with tap dancing and with the Hines brothers. To have the opportunity to see Maurice Hines himself in Maurice Hines is Tappin’ Thru Life at Arena Stage, therefore, was the fulfillment of a childhood dream and I had extremely high expectations. I mean, here was one-half of the partnership that so creatively taught me the difference between things that were close and further away, using nothing but his feet, rhythm and charisma. How could it be anything less than great? To be honest, though, it was not great. It was phenomenal.

Less a traditional theatrical format and more a tribute to some of the greatest talents in American music history, Tappin’ Thru Life reminded me of a multi-mode art installation, the likes of which are rarely seen on stage anywhere. Although I was born and raised in the era of disco and big hair bands, to see a performance that so richly entertained based purely on the bare talents of a nine-piece jazz orchestra playing standards, two sets of tap dancing brothers, and a 70-year old legendary performer without any pyrotechnics, technological enhancement, or schmaltzy glitz was a rare gift.

Although less well-known, perhaps, than his younger brother Gregory (who died of liver cancer in 2003), Maurice Hines is still a performing force not to be trifled with. Continue reading →

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A Christmas Carol Plethora

Production photo from A Commedia Christmas Carol. Presented at Gallaudet University, Nov 29 – Dec 23. Left to Right: Joel David Santner, Toby Mulford, Tyler Herman, Sandra Mae Frank, Jessica Willoughby and Paul Reisman. Photo by Second Glance Photography.

Production photo from A Commedia Christmas Carol in 2012, photo by Second Glance Photography.

If the shops have all started their pre-xmas decoration and planning why shouldn’t you? Not the decorating part – that’s borderline criminal to do before turkey day. But some planning is in order, as tickets – unlike tacky tinsel – are a finite resource.

In D.C. theater the end of the year means it’s A Christmas Carol time. There’s three I’m aware of that you can choose from and they’re either here or about to open. Here’s the rundown on your choices.

The every-year annual appearance is, of course, Ford’s Theater’s offering. This article actually arrives a bit late by Ford’s standard – their first show was last night, November 21st. How you could possibly be in the mood for this show that early is beyond me, but if you started humming along with Frosty several weeks ago then maybe you’re game.

You’ll have to wait a week till November 29th for the next opening, Faction of Fools’ A Commedia Christmas Carol. I saw and reviewed this show last year and can recommend it. Four shows will be sign language interpreted – check the list on the bottom – and there’s a pay-what-you-can offering on November 30th. So if you need something affordable to break up the day on Saturday when your family has really started to make you nuts, there you go – hie on over to Gallaudet’s campus for the show at 2p and take them to Union Market for an early dinner afterwards.

Paul Morella in ‘A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas.” Photo by Stan Barouh.

Paul Morella in ‘A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas.” Photo by Stan Barouh.

Also opening on the 29th is Paul Morella’s one man production of A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas at Olney Theater. I saw this last year but didn’t get a chance to review it – the first thing I ever blamed on That Darned Baby, whose surprise arrival cut into my writing time. So I’ll tell you here: it’s well worth the sometimes infinite-seeming drive to Olney. Morella manages to control the stage – such as it is in the black box that is the theater lab at Olney – and makes you and your 149 seat mates feel like you’re just a half-dozen folks sitting on the floor, listening to the tale of Scrooge’s last chance to reform.

A Commedia Christmas Carol runs November 29 through Sunday, December 22, 2013 and is at the Elstad Auditorium at Gallaudet University, 800 Florida Ave NE. Free parking is available and the closest metro stop is NoMa-Gallaudet U.

A Christmas Carol at Ford’s Theater runs November 21, 2013 through January 1, 2014, 511 Tenth St, NW, Washington, DC 20004. Metro Center is marginally the closest stop of the four stations (Federal Triangle, Gallery Place/Chinatown, Archives) that box the theater.

A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas at Olney Theater runs November 29 through December 29, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney, MD 20832. The closest metro stop is you must be kidding. It’s about a 30 minute drive but there is the possibility of bussing it, though it’s not a minor time commitment.

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We Love Arts: The King and I

Paolo Montalban and Eileen Ward in Olney Theatre Center’s The King and I. Photo credit: Stan Barouh

To be considered a lover or scholar of musical theatre, there is an essential repertoire of work that a person must know. Alongside shows like Oklahoma, Fiddler on the Roof, and Guys & Dolls, The King and I stands proudly as one of these classic standards. When it opened on Broadway in 1951, it broke thematic ground, with a plot based on actual historical events and character’s relationships focused on respect and understanding, rather than romantic love. Following the story of English schoolteacher Anna Leonowens’ experience teaching the children and wives of Siamese King Mongkut in 1863 Bangkok, The King and I is as much a tale of political diplomacy and an examination of the post-colonial cultural struggle as it is a heartfelt musical with beautiful songs.

In closing out their 75th season, Olney Theatre Center’s production of this Rodgers and Hammerstein classic presents a fine balance between these light-hearted tunes and the more dramatic themes of imperialism and honor. Without getting overly sentimental or insufficiently serious, director Mark Waldrop has created the perfect blend of elements and reminded me why The King and I has been so beloved for more than 60 years. He has assembled a large cast (36 actors, although the children are double-cast, so there’s never more than 28 in a show) and an impressive 12-person design team, and yet not allowed the 2 hour 45 minute show fall prey to its own mammoth size, or even feel like it was nearly three hours. The show was clean, clear, and well-paced, with a very talented cast. Continue reading →

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We Love Arts: Appropriate

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Deborah Hazlett and David Bishins in Woolly Mammoth’s Appropriate. Photo credit: Stan Barouh

“I try to go back home to visit family when I can.”

These were the words spoken to me by my cousin, who was in Washington, DC attending a medical conference. We were enjoying the delectable cuisine of José Andrés at Jaleo, right down the block from where I would soon be reviewing Woolly Mammoth‘s latest production: Appropriate.

“Otherwise the only time you see them is either when someone gets married or when someone dies. ”

It only seems fitting that we had this conversation before I attended Appropriate‘s opening night. Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s dramedy brings a family together in a situation similar to what my cousin and I discussed: taking care of the estate of their recently deceased father. Three siblings meet at the Southern plantation home of their late father to sell it off to the highest bidder in hopes of covering the debts and expenses he left behind. However instead of feeling a sense of unity through the ability to grieve with family, the three grow even further apart as their dysfunctional relationships have to support the weight of a startling discovery about their father. The ensuing drama will push and pull the audience in every direction.

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We Love Arts: Crossing

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The cast of Signature Theatre’s production of Crossing. Photo credit: Teresa Wood.

There was so much to like about Crossing at Signature Theatre, the world premiere musical written by the extremely talented writing team, Grace Barnes and Matt Connor, whose Nevermore was premiered at the theatre in 2006. From Eric Schaeffer’s beautiful, yet simple set design, the spectacular rain effects orchestrated by lighting designer Chris Lee, the lovely underscoring of the orchestra led by music director Gabriel Mangiante, to the phenomenal acting and vocal prowess of nine incredible actors, Barnes and Connor created moments of theatrical magic, punctuated by uncomplicated dialogue and enchanting melodies.

There was also much about Crossing that was problematic. Although it has enjoyed readings and a workshop, this is the first full production of Crossing and, like all new shows, it felt like it was still trying to find its footing. The challenge of producing new work is that the premiere production is part of the continued refining and improving of a show, which means that the initial audience is witness to some of the kinks and challenges that eventually are worked out until a show is a masterpiece. Understanding this, I applaud the writing of Barnes and Connor, who have a very solid framework in place, and am confident that Crossing will achieve the same success that their Nevermore and Connor’s The Hollow and Night of the Living Dead are enjoying.

Set in a train station in anytown and anytime USA, Crossing follows the personal intimate emotional journeys of travelers as they wait for a train, highlighting the concerns and fears that they can’t share with loved ones, but choose to share with strangers to whom they feel a kinship, in the same way many people do with others they are seated next to on an airplane or a neighboring bar stool. Although the characters are living in different decades of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, they interact with one another beyond time and comprehension, listening to, supporting, and uniting with one another, giving the audience the impression that regardless when or where we live or have lived, each human soul has a journey they have to make alone, but are afraid to do so. Continue reading →

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In the House with Howard Shalwitz

Howard Shalwitz

Howard Shalwitz of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

In the House is a feature interview series about the theater-makers that keep our most precious institutions up and running. We want to know what artistic and executive directors love about their jobs, how they see their work affecting the city’s theater culture, and what they hope for the future of the craft.

Howard Shalwitz is the co-founder and artistic director of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, which is currently in its 34th season of producing and developing contemporary new plays that “defy convention.”

Joanna Castle Miller: What does your job as an artistic director involve, and what is its purpose?

Howard Shalwitz: I used to say that my job was the guardian of the soul of the institution – and now I hate the word “institution” so I don’t say that anymore. You would think you’d define the job according to what plays we select, and the artists who work here, and the character of the work, and that’s all true; but I actually think more of my time goes into the long-term vision of the organization: What is the mission? How are we expressing our mission right now? I think I have an important role – because I’ve been here so long – as a kind of guardian of the institutional memory of the organization.

It’s really those long-term mission and vision parts of the job that I think are most important; and if you neglect that, then the theater’s really in trouble.

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We Love Arts: Pride In The Falls Of Autrey Mill

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Photo credit: Margot Schulman

After Really Really sold out and wowed crowds at Signature Theatre last winter, up-and-coming playwright Paul Downs Colaizzo is back with another new play. This time instead of dissecting millennials, Colaizzo sets his sights on a more affluent crowd in Pride in the Falls of Autrey Mill. Starring Golden Globe and Emmy winner Christine Lahti, Autrey Mill is a powerful character-driven dramedy that explores conventional human needs in an unconventional setting: a luxury community where only the elite of the elite reside.

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Don’t tell mama, but Cabaret is opening tomorrow

If you’re at all a fan of the musical Cabaret – and why wouldn’t you be? – you have a shot at catching it live on stage with the Georgetown G&S Society. Goldstar has half-price tickets available for shows running from tomorrow through Saturday. They’re at the GU Law Center, not the main campus, so you have a variety of metro stops to choose rather than dealing with hell Georgetown traffic.

I mean, how many times can you hear Liza Minnelli sing those songs? Okay, all the times. But live is its own magic.

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Local Community Theatre Takes The Leap Into The Pros: The Transformation of NextStop Theatre

Emily Levey and James Finley in NextStop Theatre's Production of -The 39 Steps- (Photo; Rebekah Purcell, VSION)_1600x1067

(Photo: Rebekah Purcell)

This fall the doors opened at the DC area’s latest theatre company, the NextStop Theatre Company, out in Herndon, Virginia.

However this isn’t the first rodeo for the group located out in the Dulles Technology Corridor. Known for over 25 years as the Elden Street Players, the former community theatre is setting out to do something that is rarely ever done when it comes to Community Theatre: go professional.

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We Love Arts: Love in Afghanistan

Love in Afghanistan

Khris Davis and Melis Aker in Love in Afghanistan at Arena Stage. Photo credit: Teresa Wood.

It could have been the perfect modern-day Cinderella story—rich and handsome boy meets oppressed but beautiful girl, the attraction is immediate, they fall in love, and despite the multiple barriers that ensue, he eventually rescues her from her oppressive situation, they get married and live happily ever after in his world of fame and fortune, never to look back on her former life of injustices. Real life and love, of course, are much more complicated, and thankfully, the lovers’ relationship in Arena Stage’s production of Love in Afghanistan reflects life and love’s complexities. It doesn’t fall prey to the fairy tale ending.

Playwright Charles Randolph-Wright’s modern tale of love in war-torn Afghanistan is the story of Duke (played by Khris Davis), a young, successful American hip-hop artist performing for the US troops at the military base in Kabul, whose language interpreter, Roya (Melis Aker), is a beautiful and smart Afghan woman who, when she’s not utilizing her skills as a polyglot for the US military, is secretly helping run an underground rescue organization for women. Intrigued and impressed by the other person, an immediate and intimate friendship between Duke and Roya develops. Although the transition from friendship to love is predictable, the relationship between the two characters is not. Theirs is a love complicated by the intricacies of two separate cultures that, in many ways, are not compatible with one another. He is from the ‘land of the free and home of the brave’ where playing the proverbial hero on the white horse rescuing the damsel in distress is considered noble and romantic, while she is from a land where, although fear permeates every facet of life and bomb explosions are regular occurrences, women do not want to be rescued by men but, rather, are rescuing themselves from the oppression of a male-dominated society. Continue reading →

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We Love Arts: Van Gogh Repetitions at The Phillips Collection

Van Gogh’s Bedroom in Arles, 1889, Musée d’Orsay, Paris

Vincent van Gogh, The Bedroom at Arles, October 1889. Oil on canvas, 22 11/16 x 29 1/8 in. Musée d’Orsay, Paris. © RMN-Grand Palais/Hervé Lewandowski/Art Resource, NY.

If all you got from it was the opportunity to stand in front of Vincent van Gogh’s heartbreakingly beautiful painting The Bedroom in Arles, the upcoming exhibition at The Phillips Collection would be well worth the visit. After all, this will be DC’s first van Gogh exhibition in fifteen years, and the first in the Phillips’ history.

There’s more, however. This exhibit is an exquisite study of the artist’s process.

In 1889, Vincent van Gogh set up his easel on a village road and hastily painted an oil sketch of the scene on an improvised canvas of stretched fabric. Later that year he would paint it again, on a proper canvas sent by his brother Theo. Continue reading →

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We Love Arts: The Laramie Project

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Photo: Carol Rosegg

In the performing arts world it is almost canon law that the show must go on. For the cast and crew of Ford’s Theatre’s The Laramie Project that meant finding a performance space for their production after Tuesday’s Government Shutdown resulted in the National Parks Service forcing the closure the famed theatre.

I learned about the events of that faithful day in an interview with Paul R. Tetreault, the Theatre Director for Ford’s Theatre. The staff arrived to work at 8:30 unsure on how the Shutdown would affect their production. In past government closures the theatre has been allowed to produce theatrical productions. This production of The Laramie Project doesn’t use any federal employees or funds, however the theatre facility is funded by both the Ford’s Theatre Society, a nonprofit entity, and the National Parks Service.

“We thought we’d be beneath the radar… the Federal government has bigger issues than little ol’ Fords Theatre.” Tetreault explained.

At 10:30 that morning Tetreault was hand-delivered a letter from the Director of the National Parks Service informing them that the facility will be closed for the duration of the shutdown. Suddenly The Laramie Project was out on the street without a home.

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We Love Arts: Red Speedo

Frank Boyd (Ray) and Laura C. Harris (Lydia) in Studio Theatre's production of Red Speedo. Photo: Teddy Wolff

Frank Boyd (Ray) and Laura C. Harris (Lydia) in Studio Theatre’s production of Red Speedo. Photo: Teddy Wolff

Chlorine. It’s an unmistakable, pervasive odor that greets audience members climbing the stairwell up to the Studio Lab’s production of Red Speedo. It’s one of those scents that taps instantly into memory, permeating everything. For some it brings to mind the leisure of a summer swimming pool, for others the heady competition of swim meets. Here it’s the latter that’s being evoked, and with it, a dose of ethics. There’s a queasy sensation that rises up when your sense of what is right is pitted against your sense of what is wrong. In the heat of competition, moral and physical fiber can be in opposition.

Red Speedo dives into a pretty deep pool of complex arguments, and in doing so owes a great deal to Greek drama, both in its format and in its unabashed way of piling on those arguments ever higher. From the first segment, when a lengthy monologue gives way to a staccato two-character exchange, to the final striking betrayals, it has a Sophoclean air. Lucas Hnath’s play is having its world premiere at Studio Theatre’s Studio Lab, and with all tickets at twenty dollars it’s well worth the eighty minutes of heavy moral quicksand. For the most part, Hnath sticks to scenes between two characters as they continually delude themselves and each other through dilemmas that warp the moral compass. Over it all, that whiff of chlorine heightens the queasy feeling right to the end.

Unless you love the smell of chlorine. In which case, the ends may justify the means. Who can say? It’s that kind of play.  Continue reading →