-
Dec 16, 2024 | 
dctheaterarts.org | Gregory Ford
The Jungle Book, based on the stories by Rudyard Kipling, is a work that Washington National Opera commissioned for young people both as audience members and as performers. In their welcome letter to the audience, General Director Timothy O’Leary and Artistic Director Francesca Zambello state:We want the kids’ first encounter with opera to make an impression, so we make sure they are working with artists at the top of their game.
-
Nov 12, 2024 | 
dctheaterarts.org | Gregory Ford
The Second City engaged with DC audiences at Woolly Mammoth in 2016 after Trump’s first election. Behold, here we are again. Who woulda thunk? If laughter is the “best” medicine, when it comes to the health of the city of Washington, DC, and the nation, The Second City has earned the medical label of “PRN” (pro re nata: to be administered as the situation demands or as needed). Ah, but is the prescription a soothing balm or a gut-wrenching emetic?
-
Nov 4, 2024 | 
dctheaterarts.org | Gregory Ford
At the beginning of Western civilization, in ancient Greece, playwrights would produce serious theater works that addressed issues of such importance to the well-being of the state that the productions were subsidized so that the entire populace would be able to attend. Those works were called tragedies. John Leguizamo’s world premiere The Other Americans at Arena Stage is a tragedy in the same tradition.
-
Oct 28, 2024 | 
dctheaterarts.org | Gregory Ford
The Washington National Opera’s production of Fidelio is a spectacular triumph. The credit for most of this triumph goes to director Francesca Zambello and conductor Robert Spano. Zambello uses Erhard Rom’s sets and the projections by S. Katy Tucker and Kylee Loera to concretize the trauma state experienced by a people living under the tortuous and sadistic rule of a brutal dictator.
-
Oct 20, 2024 | 
dctheaterarts.org | Gregory Ford
-
Sep 21, 2024 | 
dctheaterarts.org | Gregory Ford
Primary Trust at Signature Theatre has one of the happiest endings ever. As in It’s a Wonderful Life kind of happy. I have some suggestions for how to prepare for attending this show. Bring tissues. Bring a sense of humor. And since the protagonist, Kenneth, says several times over the course of the play: “I don’t really believe in God or heaven or hell, but I do believe in friends,” I suggest that you bring a friend.
-
Sep 19, 2024 | 
dctheaterarts.org | Gregory Ford
Watching Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ The Comeuppance as directed by Morgan Green at Woolly Mammoth Theatre is like watching those startling gymnasts perform at the Olympics: the routine that the script lays out for performers is brilliant and the performances of that script are breathtaking. Death is a character in this play. Death takes an intense fascination with and appreciation of what the other characters are doing, how they’re doing it, and why.
-
Jul 21, 2024 | 
petnews2day.com | Gregory Ford
About UsPet News 2Day is an online platform for the latest news, expert guides, and heart warming stories about pets from around the world. Our mission is to educate, entertain, and inspire pet owners and enthusiasts alike, providing them with up-to-date information and valuable insights about their beloved furry, feathery, and scaly companions.
-
Jul 21, 2024 | 
dctheaterarts.org | Gregory Ford
There is not much in this show about Lucy the cat. But there is much about how hard it is to continue to live when there is so little in the world that affirms your right to be here. How the effort “pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again” can feel less like an invitation to dance along with Ginger Rogers/Fred Astaire and more like being caught in a Groundhog Day–like cycle of repetition. And maybe one’s cat is the only source of unconditional positive regard that one gets.
-
Jul 20, 2024 | 
dctheaterarts.org | Gregory Ford
James Baldwin, in The Struggle of the Artist, writes: “There is such a thing as integrity. Some people are noble. There is such a thing as courage. The terrible thing is that the reality behind these words depends on choices one has got to make forever and ever and ever every day.”Actor/writer David Kaye, in this engaging biographical solo performance, gives us a vivid, narrative embodiment of what Baldwin is talking about.
