By Patrick Pho
The We Love DC Theater team: Don Whiteside, Patrick Pho, Jenn Larsen, and Joanna Castle Miller.
Fall is in the air and that means one thing…
RGIII!
Oh ya and Theatre.
As new seasons across the District kick-off, the We Love DC Theater team got together at The Brixton to talk about the upcoming year in theater – and I got some of it on video! Find out which shows we are excited about in the first of two videos below!
By Patrick Pho
‘IMG_2063’
courtesy of ‘dbking’
My pal Brieahn J. DeMeo calls it Theatre Prom.
I call it the fanciest event I ever had to get dressed for.
Sure I’ve been to weddings, but it’s easy when you know you just have to rent a tux and you are all set. For this one I had to call in the big guns- I rang up Brittany and she set me straight.
I’m talking about the Helen Hayes awards, the annual night where the local theatre community honors the outstanding plays and musicals of the past year. It’s kind of like the Tony’s- but for stuff that happens at Kennedy Center and Arena Stage. 26 awards will be presented tonight as well as three special awards to Ford’s Theatre (Innovative Leadership in the Theatre Community), Factory 449 and No Rules Theatre Company (Outstanding Emerging Theatre Company), and stage legend Tommy Tune will be honored with the he Helen Hayes Tribute.
Tonight also marks the debut of a Helen Hayes commemorative stamp issued by the United States Postal Service.
By Jenn Larsen
Clementine Thomas and Brian Sutow in No Rules Theatre Company's production of "Some Girl(s)" Photo Credit: C. Stanley Photography
It’s Neil LaBute’s birthday next week, so it seems fitting that relative newcomers No Rules Theatre Co. are performing his play Some Girl(s) now through March 21st. Many have called him a psychologist of the dark side of the human soul, others a misogynist (personally, I think he’s an equal opportunity misanthrope). LaBute was responsible for one of my favorite films, Your Friends and Neighbors, scenes of which still sting sharp in my mind. Fellow WLDC author Don and I ventured out to H Street Playhouse convinced we would be at each other’s throats at the end of the play, in fitting tribute to LaBute with a raucous “He Said, She Said” review.
Our bottom line? This is a tight production featuring great performances, guaranteed to cause debate afterwards. The play’s age is showing, and a key character seems miscast, but that shouldn’t stop you from heading out to H Street and laughing cruelly as LaBute holds the mirror up to our blighted interpersonal relationships. It seems a pretty simple plot – watch as a man revisits his most memorable flings and exes before his impending marriage. Fun times! Who hasn’t wanted to gloat a little over the ones you left behind? But it’s not that simple, of course.
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