Metro Weekly

Stage

Fall Arts Preview 2010: Plays, musicals, theater

Above and Beyond Readings Art Galleries Dance Music: Pop, Rock, Folk, Jazz Music: Classical and Opera Stage Film

ADVENTURE THEATRE

Glen Echo Park
7300 MacArthur Blvd.
Glen Echo, Md.
301-634-2270
adventuretheatre.org

Spot’s Birthday Party — Based on the books by Eric Hill and adapted for the stage by David Wood. Directed by Joe Banno (9/17-11/2)
The Happy Elf — With music and lyrics by Harry Connick, Jr., this show tells the story of Eubie, a North Pole elf who decides to bring joy to the despondent town of Bluesville (11/12-18, Montgomery College Robert E Parilla Center)
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer — The timeless stop-motion TV classic adapted for the live stage. Directed by Michael Bobbitt (11/19-1/2/11)
Mirandy and Brother Wind — Adapted by Michael Bobbitt from the book by Patricia C. McKissack (1/21-2/13/11, Glen Echo; 2/25-3/11/11, Atlas Performing Arts Center)
If You Give a Cat a Cupcake — Jerry WHiddon directs this play based on the book by Laura Numeroff (3/11-4/25/11)
A Year with Toad and Frog — Arnold Lobel’s beloved characters hop from the page to the stage in Rober and Willie Reale’s musical (5/10-6/13/11)
Charlotte’s Web — The classic based on the book by E.B. White. Directed by Studio’s Serge Seiden (6/24-8/28/11)

AMERICAN CENTURY THEATER

Gunston Theater II
2700 South Lang St.
Arlington, Va.
703-998-4555
americancentury.org

The Tenth Man — A 1959 romantic comedy by the renowned Paddy Chayefsky (Network). The story revolves around a Jewish exorcism of a young woman (9/17-10/26)
One Night With Fanny Brice — In this one-woman musical, we get an up-close look at the theater world’s most flamboyant personalities. Including more than 20 of Brice’s signature songs “My Man” and “Second Hand Rose” (11/5-27, Rosslyn Spectrum Theatre)
Beyond the Horizon — Eugene O’Neill’s 1920 romantic tragedy is considered a turning point in the development of American drama. Directed by Kathleen Akerley (1/14-2/12/11)
Stage Door — Edna Ferber (Show Boat) and George S. Kaufman (You Can’t Take It With You) collaborated in 1936 on this dramatic/comedy chronicling the hopes, ambitions, romances and misfortunes of sixteen young women (4/8-5/7/11)
Visit to a Small Planet — Gore Vidal lampoons the Cold War in this 1956 satire originally written for television (7/8-8/6/11)

ARENA STAGE

Mead Center for American Theater
1101 6th St. SW
202-488-3300
arenastage.org

Arena presents its first season in its newly, spectacularly redesigned home. Oklahoma! — Artistic Director Molly Smith sets her production in the robust world of territory life filled with a dynamic cast as rich and complex as the great tapestry of America itself. Music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hammerstein (10/22-12/26, Fichandler)
every tongue confess — Commissioned by Arena Stage, this world premiere by Marcus Gardley blends ancient myth with magical realism, Biblical allegory with the local TV news to create a fiery theatrical furnace in which some will be saved, some will be purged and the truth cannot escape. Directed by Kenny Leon (11/9-1/2/11, Kogod Cradle)
Let Me Down Easy — Anna Deavere Smith explores the power of the body, the price of health and the resilience of the spirit. Based on interviews with people such as a heavyweight boxer, a rodeo rider and even Lauren Hutton and Lance Armstrong, the show was recently named by Entertainment Weekly as one of the top 10 productions of 2009 (12/31-2/13/11, Kreeger)
The NEA New Play Development Program Festival — Selections from outstanding new American plays including Tarrell McCraney’s The Brother/Sister Plays, Rajiv Joseph’s Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo and others (1/17-1/30/11, Kogod)
The Arabian Nights — Mary Zimmerman adapts and directs this classic tale filled with thieves, lovers, and of course genies. Presented in association with the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Kansas City Repertory Theatre and the Lookingglass Theatre Company (1/14-2/20/11, Fichandler)
Edward Albee Festival — All 30 of Albees works will receive either a full production or a public receptions, utilizing every performance space in the Mead Center. Highlights include Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? starring Tracy Letts and Amy Morton (2/25-4/10, Kreeger), At Home at the Zoo, Albee’s newest drama that expands on the playwright’s own one-act The Zoo Story, that launched his career 50 years ago (2/25-4/4/11, Kogod)
Ruined — In war-torn Congo, Mama Nadi keeps the peace between customers on both sides of the civil war by serving everything from cold beers to warm beds. Inspired by interviews conducted in Africa, Lynn Nottage’s Ruined was the most honored play in 2009, winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama among other awards (4/22-6/5/11, Fichandler)
John Grisham’s A Time to Kill — A world premiere adaptation by Tony Award-winner Rupert Holmes. After an unspeakable crime is committed against his daughter, Carl Lee Hailey takes the law into his own hands (5/6-6/19/11)

CENTER STAGE

700 North Calvert St.
Baltimore, Md.
410-332-0033
centerstage.org

The Wiz — Ease on down the road with Dorothy and her friends in this funked-up adadptaion of The Wizard of Oz featuring music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls (9/29-11/7, Pearlstone Theater)
ReEntry — This acclaimed new play, based on interviews with veterans and their families, puts aside politics and Hollywood alike to probe the unvarnished, and powerfully personal, truths of those who serve and sacrifice (11/10-12/19, Head Theater)
The Second City Does Baltimore — In a world-premiere commission, The Windy City’s comedy factory, birthplace of legendary laughmeisters like John Belushi, Stephen Colbert, and Tina Fey, blows into Charm City with a customized creation, a wild and wacky show in Baltimore, for Baltimore, and about Baltimore (12/30-2/20/11, Head)
The Homecoming — Harold Pinter’s classic about the return of a prodigal son whose return home is less than pleasant. Directed by Irene Lewis (1/26-2/20/11, Pearlstone)
Snow Falling on Cedars — Against the backdrop of an America torn by World War Two, cultures and communities clash when a Japanese American islander is accused of murder. An East Coast premiere adapted from the novel by David Guterson (3/9-4/3/11, Pearlstone)
Crime & Punishment A riveting, intimate adaptation of Dostoevsky’s novel provides a thrilling new look at one of the most vivid murder mysteries ever written (4/13-5/15/11, Head)

CLARICE SMITH CENTER

University of Maryland
College Park, Md.
301-405-ARTS
claricesmithcenter.umd.edu

Enchanted April — In an Italian villa in the 1920s, four Englishwomen — formerly strangers — open themselves to new possibilities and find unexpected pathways to self-discovery. Adapted from Elizabeth von Arnim’s novel (10/8-16)
Am I Black Enough Yet? — A touching yet funny look at the state of Blackness in America (11/5-13)

CONSTELLATION THEATRE

Source
1835 14th St. NW
202-204-7741
constellationtheatre.org

Women Beware Women — By Thomas Middleton, adapted by Jesse Berger. Directed by Allison Arkell Stockman (10/14-11/14)
On the Razzle — Tom Stoppard’s classic, directed by Nick Olcott (2/3-3/6/11)
The Green Bird (5/5-6/5/11)
The Ramayana — A revival of last season’s hit (8/4-8/21/11)

DOMINION STAGE

Gunston Arts Center
2700 S. Lang St.
Arlington, Va.
703-683-0502

Altar Boyz — A robust spoof about an all-guy singing group (10/1-17)
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas — Texas never seemed so inviting. Directed by David Moretti (1/14-1/30/11)
Psycho Beach Party — The off-the-charts Charles Busch classic, directed by Emily Ann Jablonski (6/3-6/19/11)

FACTORY 449

Factory449.com

The Saint Plays — A mystical, theatrical journey that re-imagines the historical lives of the saints in a contemporary landscape. By Erik Ehn (9/16-10/10, Church Street Theatre)
Magnificent Waste — In a decadent world of sex, booze, and pills, three friends are linked in a chain of explosive events that will change the course of their lives (April, 2011, Mead Theatre Lab at Flashpoint)

FOLGER THEATRE

201 East Capitol St. SE
202-544-7077
folger.edu

Henry VIII — Robert Richmond directs Shakespeare’s final history play that reverberates with power struggles—both political and personal—as Henry’s advisors, paramour Anne Boleyn, and Queen Katherine vie for the favor of the King. Starring Ian Merrill Peakes as Henry. Costumes by William Ivey Long (10/12-11/21)
The Comedy of Errors — Aaron Posner directs one of the bard’s most delightful comedies involving a shipwreck and a lot of confusion at the expense of others (1/25-3/6/11)
Cyrano — In Edmund Rostand’s classic, Cyrano secretly adores Roxanne but fears she could never share the sentiment because of his extraordinarily huge nose. So he uses his gift for wit and wordplay to help a tongue-tied friend Christian woo her instead. Directed by Aaron Posner and starring Eric Hissom in the title role (4/26-6/5/11)

FORD’S THEATRE

511 10th St. NW
202-347-4833
fordstheatre.org

Sabrina Fair — When the daughter of the Larrabees’ chauffeur returns from five years in Paris, she bewitches the Larrabee brothers with her newly found sophistication. Largely ignored as a child, Sabrina finds suitors at every turn. Audrey Hepburn made the role famous on screen. Directed by Stephen Rayne (10/1-24)
A Christmas Carol — Michael Baron returns to direct his original staging and the magnificent Ed Gero returns to play Scrooge in this annual holiday treasure (11/20-1/2/11)
The Carpetbagger’s Children — A captivating tapestry of family secrets, small-town lives and private tragedies are woven together by Foote in this thoughtful exploration of one family’s life in the Post-Reconstruction South. Nancy Robinette, Kimberly Schraf and Holly Twyford star (1/21-2/13/11)
Liberty Smith — Ford’s big musical this year is a World Premiere of a madcap romp through Revolutionary America. Music by Michael Weiner, lyrics by Adam Abraham. Directed by Matt August (3/23-5/21/11)

FORUM THEATRE

Round House Silver Spring
8641 Coleville Road
Silver Spring, Md.
240-644-1417
forumtd.org

Scorched — The dying wishes of their mother sends Simon and Janine on a journey to the war-torn Middle East to unravel their origins and unearth the source of their mother’s decades of silence. By Lebanese-born playwright Wajdi Mouawad. (9/30-10/23)
One Flea Spare — Naomi Wallace’s bawdy Black Plague comedy explores the limits of compassion in a tale about sex, class and disease. Winner of the 1997 Obie Award for Best Play (2/17-3/12/11)

Bobrauschenbergamerica — Charles Mee imagines a fantastical road trip through the American landscape, written as Robert Rauschenberg might conceive it had he been a playwright instead of a painter (6/2-6/25/11)

GALA HISPANIC THEATRE

3333 14th St. NW
202-234-7174
galatheatre.org

The Knight from Olmedo — One of Lope de Vega’s most poetic works, this tragicomedy is driven by intrigue, honor, and a passionate love doomed by a bitter rivalry between two Spanish towns (9/16-10/17)
Sixth Annual Flamenco Fest: Fuego Flamenco VI — This annual tradition includes performances by Jose Barrios and Co. (11/18-21) and the Flamenco Aparicio Dance Company (12/4-5)
Innocent Eréndira and her Heartless Grandmother — Eréndira is forced to sell herself by her grandmother to pay for accidentally burning down the family home. Based on a story by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (2/3-2/27/11)
Divorcees, Evangelists and Vegetarians — Abel Lopez directs this hilarious play of three women on the verge who ultimately find comfort, and salvation, in each other. A smash hit in GALA’s 2003 season (4/7-5/1/11)
El Jazz Latino — In 1940, singer Machito and trumpet player Mario Bauzá arrived in New York City from La Habana, paving the way for the encounter between Cuban percussionist Chano Pozo and the great American jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. “Latin Jazz” was born. This World Premiere musical revue will be directed by Hugo Medrano (6/2-6/26/11)

GANYMEDE ARTS

202-709-3698
ganymedearts.org

Falsettos — William Finn’s classics March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland are woven into a single evening (now-10/10)

THE IN SERIES

Various Locales
202-204-7760
inseries.org

Casino Paradise & Trouble In Tahiti — In Series’s ”pocket opera” provocative double-bill of longing, illusion, gangsters and greed (9/18-10/2, Source)
Bob & Clara & Bill & Joan — A tribute to the bicentennial of German Romanticism composer Robert Schumann and the songs and letters written for his wife — plus the contemporary cabaret songs composed by Bill Bolcom for his wife (9/26, Source)
10th Anniversary Big Birthday Bash (10/23-24, GALA)
Swingtime — Director Tom Mallan and conductor/pianist Burnett Thompson lead singers, dancers and band players to relive the best of the swing era in dance and song; a revival from last season (12/3-12, Atlas Performing Arts)
Maria La O & Pagliacci — In Series’s ”pocket opera” powerhouse double-bill of passion, betrayal and revenge, with Lecuona’s Cuban zarzuela masterpiece and Leoncavallo’s tragic anti-hero the clown (1/8-1/22/11, Source; 4/23/11, 5/1/11, Atlas)
WAM! (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) — The sequel of last season’s blockbuster, where stars of the Washington Ballet’s Studio Co. and In Series opera singers join to explore the miracle of Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Cosi fan tutte (3/4-3/12/11, Atlas)
Protest and Passion: Latino & American Resistance Songs — A musical journey from the civil rights anthems of the United States to the Nueva Cancion political revolutions of Latin America (3/12-3/13, Atlas; 3/26-4/9/11, Source)
From Berlin To Sunset — Premiere of a cabaret about the constellation of émigré artists in 1940s Hollywood, including Billy Wilder, Erich Korngold, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler (4/29-5/15, Atlas)

KEEGAN THEATRE

Church Street Theatre
1742 Church St. NW
703-892-0202
keegantheatre.com

Fool for Love — Sam Shepard’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece (10/16-11/7)
Golden Boy — The Cliff Odets classic about a man who sets aside his musical career for the promise of a lucrative career in boxing (11/20-12/19)
A Shadow of Honor — World Premiere of Peter Coy’s play about history and family, love and war, where past and present collide with a new generation and something has to give (1/8-1/30/11)
The Weir — Set in a pub in rural Ireland, Conor McPherson’s drama focuses on the bar’s regulars and a young Dublin woman newly moved to the area (2/12-3/13/11)
Basra Boy — A look at the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and their impact on the streets of Belfast (2/12-3/13/11)
National Pastime — The World Premiere of a new musical that tells the story of a radio station on the verge of bankruptcy that saves itself by broadcasting phony baseball games (4/9-5/15/11)
25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee — Six young people in the throes of puberty learn that winning isn’t everything and that losing doesn’t necessarily make you a loser in this musical from Rachel Sheinkin and William Finn (6/4-7/3/10)
Steel Magnolias — Robert Harling’s quintessential story of friendship and trust, set in the world of Truvy’s local-homegrown beauty salon (7/23-8/21/11)

KENNEDY CENTER

Hair
Hair

2700 F St. NW
202-467-4600
www.kennedy-center.org

Three Sisters and Twelfth Night — Kennedy Center presents the exclusive North American engagement of the Chekhov International Theatre Festival productions of these two plays, running concurrently and performed in Russian with English surtitles (10/19-23, Eisenhower Theater)
On The Fringe: Eye On Edinburgh — A three-week event featuring new work emerging from Scotland’s storied Edinburgh Festival Fringe, including: A Life in Three Acts, about Bette Bourne, a key figure in Britain’s post-war gay liberation struggle; Susurrus, a play with some audience participation and staged throughout the Kennedy Center, with narration by headphones; One Small Step, an inventive exploration of the space race; and Midsummer [a play with songs], about two strangers whose one-night-stand turns into a long weekend of high-jinks (10/28-11/13, Various)
Hair — The Kennedy Center lets the sun shine in on this 2009 Tony winner for Best Musical Revival as it kicks off its national tour (10/26-11/21, Opera House)
Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific — Some Enchanted Evening it shall be this winter at the Opera House with this seven-time Tony-winning revival from 2008 (12/14-1/16/11, Opera House)
The Cripple of Inishmaan — From one of Ireland’s foremost theater companies, comes this play written by Oscar winner Martin McDonagh and directed by Garry Hynes, the first woman to win a Tony for Best Direction (2/8-2/12/11, Terrace Theater)
Fragments — Peter Brook directs four short plays and a poem by Samuel Beckett in collaboration with Marie Hélène Estienne (4/14-4/17/11, Eisenhower)
Follies — The theater world (Broadway Babies, natch) is buzzing about the Kennedy Center’s plans for a big-budget revival of this Sondheim classic, with the stupendous Sondheim interpreter Bernadette Peters as its first announced star. She’ll play Sally Durant Plummer. Who will play Phyllis? Oh, the anticipation! (5/7-6/5/11, Eisenhower)
I Wish You Love — A new play, with music that follows a moment in the life of Nat ”King” Cole, from Penumbra Theatre Company, the 2011 recipient of the Kennedy Center Fund for New Amerian Plays (6/11-6/19/11, Terrace)
Wicked — Ah, yes, Oz is finally returning to the Kennedy Center, after its record-selling, sold-out run five years ago. Popular! (6/15-8/21/11, Opera House)
Next to Normal — This 2009 Tony-winning musical is a tour de force examination of contemporary life. Tom Kitt deservedly won the Tony for Best Score: This is music at its most all-encompassing and powerful (6/28-7/9/11, Eisenhower)

METRO STAGE

1201 North Royal St.
Alexandria
703-548-9044
metrostage.org

Glimpses at the Moon — Metro Stage kicks off its season with this new jazz-age musical based on the novel by Edith Wharton, focused on two popular but penniless schemers who aim to help each other marry a millionaire — but then they fall in love (Now to 10/17)
Broadway Christmas Carol — From the same creative team as the wonderful Broadway parody Musical of Musicals (The Musical!), this show sends up Broadway show tunes as it relates the classic Dickens tale (11/18-12/19)
His Eye Is On The Sparrow — Helen Hayes Award-winner Bernardine Mitchell (Mahalia, Three Sistahs) returns to Metro Stage to tell the story of the legendary Ethel Waters, the blues and jazz vocalist and actress, only the second African American nominated for an Oscar (1/20-3/13/11)
The Real Inspector Hound — Tom Stoppard’s hilarious send-up of the classic Agatha Christie murder mystery (4/14-5/22/11)

NATIONAL THEATRE

1321 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
202-628-6161
nationaltheatre.org

Pandemonium – From the creators of Stomp, so you know there’s lots of loud, rhythmic banging (10/5-10)

OLNEY THEATRE CENTER

2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road
Olney, Md.
301-924-3400
olneytheatre.org

Dinner With Friends — Donald Margulies’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play explores what happens to decades of friendship between two married couples when one couple is on the verge of divorcing (Now to 10/3, Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab)
Misalliance — George Bernard Shaw’s classic comedy (9/29-10/24, Mainstage)
Annie — The sun will come out at Olney, dang it (11/17-1/2/11)
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat — Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s family musical retelling this biblical story offers an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink score, with parodies of French ballads, Elvis-inspired rock ‘n’ roll, old-time country-western, 1920s Charleston, Caribbean style, even disco (2/23-3/20/11, Mainstage)
La Bête — Art squares off with ego in David Hirson’s literary showdown for the ages in this play, which is also being revived this season on Broadway (4/27-5/29/11, Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab)
Opus — Violinist-turned-playwright Michael Hollinger has tempers flaring and egos clashing in this play when a new member is introduced and the group’s secrets are revealed (6/8-7/3/11, Mainstage)
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee — In this Tony Award-winning musical comedy, six young people in the throes of puberty vie for to win a spelling bee, the only place they can stand out and fit in at the same time (7/27-8/21/11, Mainstage)
Witness for the Prosecution by Agatha Christie — Classic whodunnit Christie (9/28-10/23/11, Mainstage)

REP STAGE

10901 Little Patuxent Parkway
Columbia, Md.
410-772-4900
repstage.org

Two By J.M. Barrie: The New Word And The Old Lady Shows Her Medals — Two short plays by the Peter Pan writer are paired together to create a magical evening of theater, to be directed by Rep Stage’s Michael Stebbins (10/6-24)
An Almost Holy Picture — Heather McDonald’s Pulitzer Prize-nominated work follows one man’s odyssey from Massachusetts to New Mexico, from despair to triumph, heeding a mysterious voice (God?) heard as a child (2/2-2/20/11)
Speech & Debate — A hit Off-Broadway and on the regional theatre circuit, this contemporary dark comedy explores what the New York Times calls ”the borderland between late adolescence and adulthood, where grown-up ideas and ambition co-exist with childish will and bravado” (4/13-5/1/11)

ROUND HOUSE THEATRE

4545 East-West Highway
Bethesda, Md.
240-644-1100
roundhousetheatre.org

The Talented Mr. Ripley — Now that the decade-old big-budget movie is fading from memory, Phyllis Nagy’s play is making its U.S. regional premiere in a production directed by Blake Robison (Now to 9/26)
Ameriville — This play examines our country through the lens of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, exploring politics, history, race, poverty and government (10/20-11/7)
A Wrinkle In Time — Before Harry Potter or Percy Jackson, there was Madeleine L’Engle’s magical play, the original youth sci-fi classic focused on Meg Murry, a New England tomboy (12/1-26)
Charming Billy — Blake Robison adapts Bethesda writer Alice McDermott’s National Book Award-winning novel in this world premiere production, offering a masterful look at how a community can pin its dreams to one man, and how good intentions can be as destructive as the truth they were meant to hide (2/2-2/20/11)
The Trip to Bountiful — One of playwright Horton Foote’s most beloved works gets a new production at Round House with an African-American cast directed by Timothy Douglas (3/16-4/3/11)
Amadeus — Peter Shaffer’s Tony-winning play (which became an Oscar-winning film) depicts the flamboyant genius of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as seen through the eyes of his desperately jealous contemporary, composer Antonio Salieri (5/11-6/5/11)

SHAKESPEARE THEATRE COMPANY

202-547-1122
shakespearetheatre.org

All’s Well That Ends Well — Michael Kahn directs Marsha Mason in Shakespeare’s romantic comedy (9/7-10/24, Lansburgh Theatre)
Candide — Voltaire’s rousing musical pokes fun at optimism as it follows the title character on a quest for true love. Adapted for the stage by Leonard Bernstein. Directed by Mary Zimmerman (11/26-1/9/11, Harman Hall)
Cymbeline — A rarely produced Shakespearean romance, the production heralds the return of director Rebecca Bayla Taichman (1/18-3/6/11, Lansburgh)
An Ideal Husband — Keith Baxter directs Oscar Wilde’s wickedly witty comedy revolving around blackmail, political corruption and honor in late 19th century England (3/8-4/10/11, Harman Hall)
Old Times — The Shakespeare takes on Pinter, with this nostalgic and haunting work that examines the power of memories. Directed by Michael Kahn and starring Holly Twyford, making her Shakespeare Theatre Company debut (5/17-7/3/11, Lansburgh)
The Merchant of Venice — Ethan McSweeny directs this compelling look at human nature and the insidious nature of power, justice and revenge (6/21-7/24, Harman Hall)

SIGNATURE THEATRE

4200 Campbell Ave.
Arlington, Va.
703-820-9771
www.sig-online.org

Chess — Signature presents the first major production of this 26-year-old rock musical with glorious and stirring music by the men of ABBA, Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, before they went on to create Mamma Mia!, with lyrics by Evita and Lion King‘sTim Rice, and book by Richard Nelson (Now-10/3, MAX)
A Fox On The Fairway — Ken Ludwig (Lend Me A Tenor) pays tribute to the great English farces of the 1930s and 1940s in this new comedy, which makes its world premiere at Signature and focuses on the stuffy denizens of two competing country clubs (10/12-11/14, MAX)
Walter Cronkite Is Dead. — Joe Calarco, the Helen Hayes Award-winning director of Side Show and Assassins, has written a charming and intimate new comedy that explores the choices we all make, the regrets with which we burden ourselves, and the losses
we suffer as we age, mature and stride through an incomprehensible world (10/26-12/19, ARK)
Sunset Boulevard — Starring Florence Lacey (star of
Broadway’s Evita and Signature’s Follies) as the faded screen star Norma Desmond, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s lush romantic comedy is a noir musical and one of the greatest Hollywood tales ever told (12/7-2/13/11, MAX)
Wheatley’s Folly — Part Three of Signature’s American Musical Voices Project, aimed at nurturing new talent, focuses on this valentine to musical comedy, a classic backstage comedy about the creation of the first American musical, from Michael Slade, Joseph Thalken and Mark Campbell (3/15-4/10/11, MAX)
ART — Yasmina Reza’s Tony Award-winning comedy examines the pressures friends place on each other – and how different values can transform relationships (3/29-5/22, ARK)
Side by Side by Sondheim — Award-winning revue of Sondheim’s earlier work, from West Side Story to Gypsy to Anyone Can Whistle to A Little Night Music (4/26-6/12/11, MAX)

STUDIO THEATRE

1501 14th St. NW
202-332-3300
studiotheatre.org

Circle Mirror Transformation — Incoming Artistic Director David Muse directs Annie Baker’s play in which theater games and acting exercises mirror the real drama in a group of students’ lives. Starring Jennifer Mendenhall and Harry Winter (Now to 10/17, Mead Theatre)
Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven — A coterie of Korean women smash conventions of Asian-identity to bits and toss them up like confetti in this explosive, violent theatrical event (9/29-10/24, Stage 4)
Superior Donuts — In this new comedy from the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of August: Osage County, an offbeat friendship grows between a cantankerous white shop owner and an ambitious black teenager with something to hide. Directed by Serge Seiden (11/10-12/19, Metheny Theatre)
Mojo — Jez Butterworth’s comedy is set in the London rock-and-roll underworld in the ’50s (12/1-26, Stage 4)
Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet — The final chapter in Tarell Alvin McCraney’s epic Brother/Sister series of plays. Starring J. Mal McCree and directed by Timothy Douglas (1/12-2/20/11, Mead)
Tynan — Philip Goodwin stars in this one-man show about the great theater critic Kenneth Tynan (1/26-2/13/11, Metheny)
The Enda Walsh Repertory — Ireland’s Matt Torney directs two plays by the stunning Irish playwright Enda Walsh — the sinister The Walworth Farce starring Ted van Griethuysen and Jimmy Davis (4/6-4/24/11, Milton Theatre) and The New Electric Ballroom, in which three Irish sisters (Nancy Robinette, Jennifer Mendenhall and Sybil Lines) lead a strange, isolated existence before a lonely fisherman arrives (4/13-5/1/11, Metheny)
Palomino — Remarkable performance artist David Cale brings his latest one-man show to the Studio (6/15-7/3/11, Milton)
Pop! — Keith Alan Baker directs this musical murder mystery that glimpses into Andy Warhol’s infamous Factory (7/13-8/7/11, Stage 4)

SYNETIC THEATER

Various Locations
703-824-8060
synetictheater.org

King Arthur — Ben Cunis plays King Arthur in this new movement-based take on the Camelot tale (9/30-10/30, Crystal City)
The Master and Margarita — Paata and Irina Tsikurishvili star in an adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel about the devil’s visit to the Soviet Union (11/11-12/12, Lansburgh Theatre)
King Lear — The Shakespeare tragedy, interpreted Synetic-style (3/24-4/24/11, Lansburgh)
Don Quixote — Paata Tsikurishvili directs an interpretation of the classic starring Dan Istrate in the title role (6/2-7/3/11, Crystal City)

THEATRE J

1529 16th St. NW
202-777-3210
www.theaterj.org

Something You Did — Theater J launches its new season with Willy Holtzman’s political drama about an anti-war activist’s attempt to win early release from prison (Now-10/3)
The Odd Couple — Jerry Whiddon directs a new production of Neil Simon’s Tony-winning play (10/23-11/28)
The Kinsey Sicks in Oy Vey In A Manger — They’re back! The ”dragapella beauty shop quartet” returns to Theater J for what’s sure to be a must-see romp of a holiday show (12/18-1/2/11)
Return to Haifa — This gripping drama from Tel Aviv’s Cameri Theatre follows a young soldier torn between his Palestinian birth parents who fled Haifa during the 1948 war and the Jewish Holocaust survivors who raised him (1/15-1/30/11)
The Chosen — Aaron Posner directs his adaptation of this play based on the novel by Chaim Potok and to be presented by Arena Stage at its new Mead Center’s Fichandler Stage (3/8-3/27/11, Arena’s Fichandler Stage)
Photograph 51 — Anna Ziegler’s new drama chronicling the frenzied chase to find the DNA molecule’s structure focuses
on Jewish female scientist Rosalind Franklin, whose contribution to the 20th Century’s biggest scientific
breakthrough went unsung (3/23-4/24/11)
The Moscows of Nantucket — Shirley Serotsky directs Sam Forman’s new comedy about a modern Jewish family, crackling with sibling rivalry, alcohol-fueled confessions and acerbic wit (5/11-6/12/11)

WASHINGTON IMPROV THEATER

Source
1835 14th St. NW
202-204-7770
washingtonimprovtheater.com

Late Night Improvised Shenanigans (10/22-11/13)
Seasonal Disorder — WIT’s troupes offer a fun range of holiday-themed shows ranging from super-sweet to bittersweet… to just bitter (11/26-1/1/11)
F.I.S.T. — The 5th annual tournament of the Fighting Improv Smackdown Tournament (F.I.S.T.) is like March Madness redefined for the non-sports inclined, with one three-player improv troupe emerging as the champion (3/10-4/16/11)

WASHINGTON SHAKESPEARE CO.

Artisphere Black Box
1101 Wilson Blvd.
Arlington, Va.
703-418-4808
washingtonshakespeare.org

Richard III — One of Shakespeare’s most complex and fascinating characters is central to the bard’s most entertaining history play (10/21-12/12)
Mary Stuart — German playwright and poet Friedrich Schiller’s exploration of the story of Queen, Elizabeth I, and her fierce rivalry with her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots (10/21-12/12)
Juno and the Paycock — Sean O’Casey’s tragedy, replete with all the color, character and humor of the Irish tenement in which it is set (2/17-3/20/11)
Night and Day — Tom Stoppard’s play looks at a British newspaper strike through the eyes of journalist covering a civil war in Africa (5/12-7/3/11)
Tennessee Continuum — A double bill of two infrequently performed one-acts by Tennessee Williams — Portrait of a Madonna and The Gnadiges Fraulein (5/12-7/3/11)

WOOLLY MAMMOTH

641 D St. NW
202-393-3939
woollymammoth.net

The Vibrator Play — Sarah Ruhl’s period comedy about a doctor who finds a unique way to relieve the stress of his female patients (Now to 10/3)
House of Gold — Sarah Benson directs a first-rate cast including Mitchell Hebert and Michael Russotto in a darkly funny story about the fate of a six-year-old beauty queen (11/1-28)
A Girl’s Guide to Washington Politics — Chicago’s notorious and uproarious The Second City returns with this new political comedy revue (12/8-1/9/11)
Oedipus El Rey — Luis Alfaro’s adaptation of the “mother” of all tragedies, set in the L.A. barrio. Starring David Anzuelo and J.J. Perez (2/7-3/6/11)
The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs — Mike Daisy (The Last Cargo Cult) returns with his latest one-man diatribe (3/21-4/10/11)
Bootycandy — Robert O’Hara (Antebellum) writes and directs this kaliedscope of sassy lessons in sex education (5/30-6/26/11)

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