A Theatre-Goer's Thoughts

  The cast of the 2023 St. Ann's Warehouse production of The Jungle . Photo credit: Teddy Wolff. The arts transport us to different times and different places. Most of the time we can be somewhat objective about our experiences, because we know we are standing in a museum or sitting in a concert hall or theatre. Sometimes, though, theatre can take us to locations that, even though we know we are seated in a (hopefully) comfortable seat in a theatre, we feel a part of what is (supposedly) actually happening. Washington’s Shakespeare Theatre Company and Woolly Mammoth have joined forces to bring the St. Ann’s Warehouse and Good Chance production of The Jungle to Washington. Written by Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson (based on their own experiences as volunteers at the real “Jungle”) and directed by Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin, The Jungle takes its audience to a different place and time in which we become witnesses to the events that unfold, rather than spectators at a play. When...

  Nick Westrate as Prior Walter in Angels in America: Part One, Millennium Approaches . Photo by Margot Schulman. Arguably one of the most important, and perhaps best American play of the last half of the twentieth century, is Tony Kushner’s Angels in America . A work of epic proportions, Angels is divided into two parts. Part One, Millennium Approaches , is the current offering at Arena Stage’s Fichandler Theatre. Although there has been no announcement concerning the production of Part Two, Perestroika , one can hope that, having produced such a fascinating production of Part One, Part Two will be on the schedule soon. Coming toward the end (we hope) of the plague of COVID, this play reminds us of another plague, AIDS from the 1980s, which still has not been conquered. Seven actors play a variety of characters in three connected stories. Prior Walter has just learned that he has Kaposi’s sarcoma, indicative of the beginning stages of AIDS, and is sharing the news with his part...

  Jason Ma (Center) as the Reciter and the cast of Pacific Overtures . Photo credit: Daniel Rader. For the second time in less than a week, I had the opportunity to see a show I didn't know well: Signature Theatre's production of Pacific Overtures . One of the least often performed of Stephen Sondheim's musicals, I knew the plot vaguely and had heard just a couple of its songs. Just as was the case with Shout Sister Shout! , I was in for a memorable evening of learning while being superbly entertained. There are many East-meets-West depictions in various genres. When these opposites meet, each learns something about the other but also something about themselves. This is the story of Western (American) encroachment on Eastern (Japanese) culture, told from the perspective of the Japanese. John Weidman’s book takes us back to mid-19 th century Japan. “The Advantages of Floating in the Middle of the Sea,” the opening song, sets the stage. A Shogun’s edict issued in 1638 fo...

Carrie Compere as Sister Rosetta Tharpe (center) with the cast of Shout Sister Shout! Photo credit: Andre Chung. It is a rare event when I attend a performance of a play I know nothing (or almost nothing) about. (I wish I had kept a running list over the years of all of the performances I have been fortunate enough to see.) Such is the case, however, with the current production at Ford’s Thatre: Shout Sister Shout! (Every reference to the play in the program is written without commas, and in all CAPS as well. My inner grammarian grimaces.) Having scored a free ticket to the final preview performance through TodayTix, I wasn’t about to miss this opportunity. Shout Sister Shout! defies easy categorization. It is a “jukebox musical,” in which the songs by a famous musician are assembled in a way to tell the subject’s story ( Jersey Boys , for example) or songs are arranged to tell an invented story ( Mamma Mia! is a good example). Possibly the first (and maybe only) gospel-based jukebo...

  Patrick Page as the all-powerful King Lear at the beginning of the play. Photo credit: DJ Corey Photography. I have never been known for understatement, but I just might take the prize for what I posted on Facebook to share that I would spend the evening seeing the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s current production of King Lear : “Tonight, a little family drama.” But I took some solace in the succinct summary in the play’s program: Two royal families are bad at communication. The children who actually love their fathers flee, regroup, and come back. Almost everyone dies. Many years ago, I taught King Lear in a college classroom. One of my exam questions was, “Name anyone who is still alive at the end of the play.” Due to the play’s extensive body count, it can be a challenging question. From the moment you enter the Klein Theatre, you know you are seeing a King Lear unlike any you’ve seen before. The soundtrack plays the recognizable noise of jet engines as airplanes take ...

Montego Glover as the Witch, Gavin Creel as Cinderella's Prince, and Stephanie J. Block as the Baker's Wife in the National Tour cast of  Into the Woods . Photo credit: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade. I have seen Into the Woods now five times: the original Broadway production in 1988, at the Civic Light Opera in Pittsburgh (with my friend Beth Leavel as the Witch) in 2009, a slimmed-down touring production at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theatre in 2017, at Arlington’s Signature Theatre last November (see https://theatregoerthoughts.blogspot.com/2022/11/into-woods-signature-theatre-arlington.html for my response), and the National Tour of last year’s City Center Encores! and Broadway production at the Kennedy Center’s Opera House, making its first tour stop February 23-March 19. Add to that the 1991 television version of the original production aired by PBS and the 2014 film. You may surmise from all that, Into the Woods is a show I enjoy enough to see ov...

Stephanie J. Block as Norma with members of the ensemble in the Kennedy Center's Broadway Center Stage production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's  Sunset Boulevard . Photo credit: Jeremy Daniel. The latest Broadway Center Stage (BCS) production at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theatre was Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Sunset Boulevard , which was well-received during its all-too-brief eight-day, 10-performance run. Whenever critics compile lists of the best films of all-time, director/co-writer Billy Wilder’s 1950 masterpiece, “Sunset Boulevard,” is almost always on the list, and for good reason. Its story of a faded film star trying to reclaim some of her former glory has elements of tragedy, dark comedy, romance, mystery, and suspense. The musical generally follows the plot of the film. For those who are unfamiliar, a down-on-his-luck screenwriter, Joe Gillis, frustrated by a lack of work (and income), is being followed by loan sharks eager to repossess his car. Escaping them,...