International Children’s Book Day occurs this year on April 2, 2020, on the birthday of children’s storyteller Hans Christian Andersen, with National Children’s Book Week not far behind in May. In anticipation of these events, we recently came across a unique children’s book called “The Mouse Made of Dough,” written by Steven Thomas Oney. He […]

The harsh treatment of women in Taliban-occupied Kabul is viewed through a dark lens in Arena Stage’s “A Thousand Splendid Suns” on stage at the Kreeger Theater through March 1. Based on Khaled Hosseini’s 2007 novel, the play explores the last 33 years of Afghanistan’s tumultuous history of war and oppression through the eyes of […]

A recent visit to Colonial Williamsburg prompted me to return to the Riversdale House Museum, which might fairly be called a slice of early 1800s life in just a short drive from Bladensburg in Prince George’s County. Built by Flemish émigré Henri Joseph Stier and his daughter Rosalie Stier Calvert from 1801 to 1807, the […]

“By the Light of the Silvery Moon: A Century of Lunar Photographs,” an exhibition of the lunar photos from the infancy of photography up to the human-crewed moon landing, is set to close after its final weekend on Jan. 5 at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The exhibit contains stereoscopy albumen photographs […]

Recorded some two decades ago, “A Stan Kenton Christmas” by Capitol Bones, an area “all brass” big band, is suddenly gaining traction: this unusual compact disc spent several weeks on the Roots Music Report Top 50 Holiday Chart, peaking at No. 3. The album is based on the simply-titled Capitol release “A Merry Christmas!” by […]

The Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) held its 27th Annual Gala on Nov. 4, raising a record $1.15 million for its extensive arts education and performance initiatives. Held at the Harman Center for the Arts with the theme, “A Journey Through Neverland,” the evening featured performances inspired by the upcoming 2020 season. Shows include J.M. Barrie’s […]

“And the wild things roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws.” This is a quote from Maurice Sendak’s “Where the Wild Things Are,” a book many of us remember from childhood, not least of all because of the dark, heavily stylized illustrations. Imagine such […]

“The Drowsy Chaperone” is a musical of nostalgia for the 1920s with many songs using Roaring Twenties stylistics. What makes this show distinctive is the central character, the “Person in the Chair” (played by Eliot Malumuth). The Person is a middle-aged men  living in our own era of the early 21st century, and playing phonograph […]

Across the country, Black playwrights have been having their voice heard in abundance, offering plays that honestly explore race without apologizing if they get under some folk’s skin. Theater Alliance continued this trend with its Season of Revolutions offering of Douglas Turner Ward’s “Day of Absence.” A satirical fantasy, the play is about a town […]

“Mystery Science Theater 3000” (or “MST3K” to its devoted fans) is a television show often associated with the 1990s. Originally shown on the local TV station KTMA in Minneapolis, the show was first picked up by Comedy Central, then by the Sci-Fi Channel, and most recently, in a handful of new episodes on Netflix. The […]

Alumni of Strathmore’s Artist in Residence program took to the stage on Oct. 19 to benefit its mentorship programs for talented young musicians on the rise. Hosted by the Strathmore Cabaret series, the evening was a tribute to the music of legendary singer and musician Stevie Wonder, one of the most successful and creative musicians […]

Those interested in the visual arts, and in paintings, might be interested to learn about an exhibit a stone’s throw from Prince George’s County. Currently, paper and canvas works by Stephen Lewis are on display at the Salve Regina Gallery at Catholic University. The works on paper are mixed media, mainly comprised of Sumi ink […]

Tribute shows to the legendary acts of Motown have been held across the country recently, paying homage to the legendary R&B acts that formed the Motown sound. The 2019 Grammy Awards in March featured such artists as Smokey Robinson and Jennifer Lopez performed during the Motown Tribute segment. At the Kennedy Center this year, “Ain’t […]

Giacomo Puccini’s opera “Tosca” is a tragic love story, but to limit the description to that would be to sell it short indeed. Fortunately, the current production of the Virginia Opera, directed by Lillian Groag, brings out so much more! The story is also a suspenseful political thriller with a very poetic text, as Ewa […]

Washington D.C.’s Arena Stage recently kicked off its season-long celebration of playwright August Wilson with his award-winning “Jitney,” and the terrific acting is just one reason to run to see this outstanding show. Superbly directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, the play won the 2017 Tony Award for Best Play Revival. Written by Wilson as the first […]

“Leapin’ lizards!” exclaimed “Little Orphan Annie,” using her catchphrase and walking with her dog Sandy through the newspaper comics pages of the 1930s. “Arf!” the sandy-colored canine responded (in his catchphrase!), as the two friends got involved in kidnappings, shipwrecks and mistaken identities, which were often left to Annie’s foster father, billionaire “Daddy” Warbucks, to […]

“In Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, they had five hundred years of democracy and peace – and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.”   So said Orson Welles famously in […]

Jocelyn Bioh’s “School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play” is onstage at the newly renovated Round House Theatre and its exploration of the corrosive effects of colorism will have audience members discussing the topic long after they leave this excellent play. Colorism, discrimination based on skin color — usually directed at those with darker […]

A highly entertaining, moving production is currently playing at Toby’s Dinner and Show in Columbia: “The Bodyguard: The Musical, Featuring the Greatest Hits of Whitney Houston.” The show is sure to bring back memories as well as win young fans to the late singer, whose magnificent voice segued smoothly between pop, soul, rhythm and blues […]

Looking for great entertainment within a two-and-half drive of Maryland? Then check out the cities of Lewes and Rehoboth, Delaware and Cape May, New Jersey. These beach cities offer music festivals, craft festivals, regular theater productions and a variety of tasty cuisine. In addition, one can immerse themselves in the local history and culture. I […]

The Falstaff character of Shakespeare’s “1 Henry IV” is obese, “a huge hill of flesh,” lacking wisdom despite his age “vanity in years, and unchivalrous “a sanguine coward.” Although a knight, he holds courtly ideals such as “honor” in utter contempt, “What is in that word?” Yet he is one of Shakespeare’s most popular characters […]

“Doubt: A Parable” won the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize in 2005 for its questions about the nature of moral certitude, as audience members had to decide whether the priest, Father Flynn, was a serial predator allowed to go unchecked by a corrupt Catholic Church. Now onstage at the Studio Theatre in Washington, D.C., John […]

The Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention from Sept. 12-14 offered a glimpse into American popular culture of the mid-twentieth century. The event’s emphasis is primarily on television shows, radio programs, movies, comics and novels from the 1930s through the 1980s. Held in Hunt Valley, Maryland at the Hunt Valley Delta Marriott, the convention featured opportunities to meet […]

Through Sept. 22, the Tantallon Community Players are performing “Into the Woods” at Harmony Hall in Fort Washington, here in Prince George’s County. In this Stephen Sondheim musical, characters from fairy tales such as “Cinderella,” “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Rapunzel” and “Jack and the Beanstalk” all interact with each other and, in some cases, are […]

Queen of Hip Hop Soul Mary J. Blige celebrated the 25th anniversary of her “My Life” album at Wolf Trap on Sept. 3, thrilling fans with a dramatic, high-energy, 75-minute show. At 48, the Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and actress, was in top form as she strutted about the stage in stunning thigh-high boots, sunglasses […]

“How about a musical?” “Please!  That is the lowest form of entertainment!” This ironic dialogue in “Finding Neverland,” playing at the Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre in Lancaster, Pennsylvania through Sept. 21, is very much contradicted by this wonderful and charming musical itself! I assumed initially “Finding Neverland” would be a Disneyesque production of “Peter Pan.” […]

Lynn Nottage’s “Fabulation: or The Re-Education of Undine” is on stage at the Mosaic Theater through Sept. 22, and though this comic tale is full of laughs, its layered messages around systemic racism will hit home with those who have been similarly impacted. Written by Nottage, the only woman to win the Pulitzer Prize twice […]

This reviewer once attended a lecture given by the famous author and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. Wiesel made a salient and very troubling point about the Nazi regime. With its crimes against humanity, Germany’s Nazi leadership and its architects of the Holocaust, he assumed, had been largely made up of uneducated, uncultured people who rose […]

Lovers of comic opera have a splendid opportunity to preview the Victorian Lyric Opera Company’s offerings during the offseason through its manifold compact disc releases. There is also an upcoming operetta, Johann Strauss II’s “The Queen’s Lace Handkerchief,” appearing Sept. 6-8 in a special “concert version.” The first CD set we will examine is “The […]

Shakespeare lovers who travel to Staunton, Virginia, are now being treated to a veritable Roman Holiday! The unfailingly excellent Blackfriars Playhouse is currently performing three plays with ancient Roman themes: “Julius Caesar,” “Antony and Cleopatra” and “Caesar and Cleopatra.” Audiences may do a double-take at “Caesar and Cleopatra,” which was written by George Bernard Shaw […]

The Broadway hit “Dear Evan Hansen” is at the Kennedy Center through Sept. 8, and its emotional story about a lonely teenager who gets caught up in a viral lie will deeply resonate with those who have ever felt they did not fit in. Based on the book by Tony Award-winner Steven Levenson, with music […]

“Amélie,” a musical based on the popular 2001 French film, is now playing at Bowie Playhouse. Directed and choreographed by Kelsey Meiklejohn Bowen, the show focuses on a good-hearted but isolated young waitress who idealizes those who take action to improve the world, even as she feels inadequate to do so herself. She finally does […]

It is still not too late to catch “Ann,” Holland Taylor’s funny and moving portrait of Texas Gov. Ann Richards, that is at Arena Stage through Aug. 11th  The show intimately portrays the life of the dynamic icon who served Texas for one term. Ably directed by Kristen Van Ginhoven, the play, a co-production with […]

Herbie Hancock and Kamasi Washington, two of the most acclaimed names in contemporary jazz, kicked off a multi-city tour at Wolftrap July 30, during an evening that represented a historical moment in the music genre. Widely regarded as artists who have acted as bridges between an older generation of jazz and a newer generation, Hancock, […]

Audiences have an excellent opportunity to enjoy “Young Frankenstein” through Aug. 11 at Other Voices Theatre in Frederick. Billed as “the new Mel Brooks musical,” it is actually a show from 2007 based on the 1974 Mel Brooks’ film. It may be fairly described as a production similar to the film. However, it provides enough […]

“The Band’s Visit” can be seen at the Kennedy Center through Aug. 4 in Washington, D.C. and this deceptively simple tale about the commonalities between human beings is a refreshing addition to this year’s theater scene. A winner of 10 Tony Awards, the musical features solid acting, terrific music and a storyline where strangers meet […]

“I wish I could tell you about the South Pacific. The way it actually was. The endless ocean. The infinite specks of coral we called islands. Coconut palms nodding gracefully toward the ocean. Reefs upon which waves broke into spray, and inner lagoons, lovely beyond description.” So begins James Michener’s “Tales of the South Pacific,” […]

Disney’s touring production of “Aladdin” is at the Kennedy Center through Sept. 7, and this eye-popping spectacle will entertain audiences both young and old. Featuring dazzling costumes, epic scenery and impressive visual effects, the show pulls out all the bells and whistles. For those smitten with the 1992 animated film, the animal companions are gone, […]

Encore Stage and Studio’s youth theatre program coins itself as “Theatre by Kids, for Kids!” Young people not only act in the show; they also work backstage as well as building the sets and arranging the props. Their current production is “Newsies,” a play based on a 1992 Disney movie. While the film was not […]

One of the best-kept secrets in Prince George’s County is the county park system’s annual midsummer productions of Shakespeare in the Parks, in which the bard’s plays are performed in idyllic park and garden settings throughout the county, even reaching a little bit beyond into Brookside Gardens and Cabin John Regional Park Amphitheater in Montgomery […]

Pilobolus, the creative avant-garde dance company, performed July 9 at the Music Center at Strathmore, and again, proved why the troupe is revered around the world. Known for its innovative choreography, dazzling surrealism and superhuman strength, the company of seven dancers performed five works that explored various ways of testing the limits of human physicality. […]

How would a 1930s-era German opposed to Nazism explain German politician and leader of the Nazi Party Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in terms Americans of the time might understand? For German émigré playwright Bertolt Brecht – already fascinated with American gangster movies – the answer lay in presenting Hitler in the form of a […]

Happy Fourth of July!