Rebecca Ritzel

2 months ago | washingtoncitypaper.com | Rebecca Ritzel

Thanks for being a member of City Paper! With the exception of the star-crossed Juliet, there’s no Shakespearean woman character with a larger cultural footprint than sweet Ophelia, whose watery death has obsessed everyone from pre-Raphaelites painters to the Lumineers. But what if Ophelia, with help from a few allies, took steps to control her own Danish destiny? That’s the girl-power premise behind Lauren M.

2 months ago | washingtoncitypaper.com | Rebecca Ritzel |Mary Manning |Will Lennon |Brandon Wetherbee |Allison R. Shely

Thanks for being a member of City Paper! DMV choreographers are always moving. Blame the transient nature of D.C.’s job market, which too often pulls artists in and out with their spouses, or area universities that draw MFA students who depart when they graduate. Nejla Yatkin may have moved to Chicago more than a decade ago, but whenever she brings a project back to Dance Place in Brookland, this formerly local dance icon deserves a homecoming party.

Mar 4, 2025 | what-if-arts.ghost.io | Rebecca Ritzel

Credit for this headline goes to Sarah Marloff, arts editor of (Washington) City PaperWhat I'm Writing... Trump's Truth Social posts tend to be 90 percent bloviation and 10 percent reality. So when he used "drag shows specifically targeting our youth" as a justification for the taking over the Kennedy Center, the story I most wanted to write was one that would figure out what the hell Trump was talking about. City Paper gave me a chance to do that story.

Feb 26, 2025 | washingtoncitypaper.com | Rebecca Ritzel

Thanks for being a member of City Paper! Two days before convicted felon and President Donald Trump announced his plan to take over the Kennedy Center, local drag queen Tara Hoot sat in Eisenhower Theater laughing uproariously, sans costume and bouffant wig, at the world premiere of Schmigadoon!“It was so joyful and so well done,” says Hoot.

Feb 7, 2025 | thebaltimorebanner.com | Rebecca Ritzel

She was the most beautiful dancer the kindergartner from Randallstown had ever seen: a petite African American woman, hair slicked back into a voluptuous bun, dancing a solo to a gospel number by Yolanda Adams. Jessica Amber Pinkett, wearing a sparkly tutu and standing in the wings, was watching her teacher’s former student Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell, a Baltimore-born star at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, who had returned to share the stage with Pinkett and other young dancers.