A Theatre-Goer's Thoughts

  Tracy Olivera (center) and the cast of Next to Normal . Photo Credit: Margot Schulman Photography. One of the special joys of getting to see a number of productions at different venues in the Washington area is getting to see many actors demonstrating the versatility and range of their talents as they perform different roles in different venues. I don’t know how easily it works from the actors’ standpoint, but they appear to slide seamlessly from one company to another.   When I saw that the Round House Theatre Company in Bethesda, MD, would be staging Next to Normal this season  (in a co-production with Barrington Stage Company) , starring Tracy Lynn Olivera and Kevin S. McAllister, I knew that I would be making the trek to Bethesda for my first visit at the Round House. Unfortunately for me, McAllister’s understudy went on for him at that performance, thus, instead of seeing two long-time favorites, I would see one and become acquainted with an actor I had not prev...

  Gina Daniels as Anna Julia Cooper in Tempestuous Elements  at Arena Stage. Photo credit: Kian McKellar. I can’t remember ever having used the word “elegant” in describing a theatrical production. To make sure I was using the word correctly, I consulted some online resources, where my instincts were confirmed. “Elegant,” to me, includes elements of grace, refinement, dignity, and luxuriousness. My summary of Arena Stage’s current production of Tempestuous Elements is this: it is an elegant production centered on an elegant lead performance by the very talented Gina Daniels, elegantly directed by Psalmayene 24. Tempestuous Elements , written by Kia Corthron, is the latest in Arena’s “power plays” series, now in its world premiere run. Based on real characters and situations regarding the appropriate role of education in the lives of DC’s African American children around and shortly after the turn of the century (19 th to 20 th ), the play focuses on DC educator Anna Julia ...

  Madeline Sayet in Where We Belong at Folger Theatre. Photo Credit: Erika Nizborski Photography. Where We Belong , the title of the current offering at the Folger Theatre presented in association with Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, could easily have become a question: Where [do] we belong? Instead, the title is an assertion, a claim of dominion, a statement that where “we” belong is precisely where “we” are: in a Shakespearean theatre in the capital city of a nation that was built by the displacement and genocide of indigenous people and much of their culture, on land that was once the home of the Piscataway tribe, only a few blocks from Woolly Mammoth Theatre, which nurtured this play before it was originally performed digitally, at the height of the pandemic. After a tour with runs in places like New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Seattle, “We” belong here , on the stage at Folger Theatre, because in figurative and literal ways, Washington is “home” for this and where it “be...

  (From top) Sabrina Lynne Sawyer, Kalen Robinson, Lauren Fraites, Kimberly Dodson, Khalia Muhammad, and Billie Krishawn in The Sensational Sea Mink-ettes. Photo by Teresa Castracane. The Sensational Sea Mink-ettes , a new play by Vivian J. O. Barnes having its world premiere at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre, provides an unexpected series of events and indelible characters. It is a very funny character study of six college students at an HBCU (historically black college or university). They are the step team preparing for the upcoming Homecoming celebration, in which they will be featured as part of the football game’s half-time show. The pressure is on because they will be performing for an audience that will include Sea Mink-ettes from previous years (and generations). There are serious and timely themes at play: teamwork, camaraderie, body image, peer pressure, bullying, tradition, depression, and coping with stress from the need to succeed at school. The play defies easy ca...

  Johnny Link (Gomer Jones) and the cast of Private Jones at Signature Theatre. Photo by Christopher Mueller. Signature Theatre’s current presentation (continuing through March 10), a musical written and directed by Marshall Pailet, has the very unremarkable title, Private Jones . The title, though, is the only unremarkable thing about it. According to a program note, Pailet was at a writer’s conference in 2019 when he came across an article about – now, let this sink in – a deaf Welsh sniper during World War I. Definitely not typical fare for musical theatre, but an incredible challenge. The result is an intriguing story of one man’s determination to use his talents to support his country in a time of war, just like his friends. What Pailet has created, with a talented cast of hearing, deaf, and hard-of-hearing performers and a set of gifted designers, is much more remarkable than you might expect from such a mundanely-titled show. There really was a Gomer Jones, but his circ...

  Brandon Uranowitz and the company of tick, tick...Boom! on the Eisenhower Theatre stage at the Kennedy Center. Photo credit: Teresa Castracane. This is the fifth season of the Kennedy Center-produced series Broadway Center Stage (BCS). Like the New York Encores! series at City Center, the plan was to present a very limited run (currently 10 performances) of stripped-down musicals with exciting Broadway talent, staged with minimal sets and costumes, some actors perhaps operating with script in hand. Working in an extremely limited rehearsal period of two weeks, performers have an opportunity to create roles they might not otherwise be able to create. In some instances, actors even take leave from Broadway roles in order to participate, as Derek Klena did, taking leave from his starring role in Broadway’s Moulin Rouge! to co-star in last season’s BCS production of Sunset Boulevard . While I have not seen all of the productions, I have seen several. Another feature in each of the ...