Sharpenicity

THE FATHER   Ted van Griethuysen is so convincing as Andre in The Studio Theatre’s The Father that for the first few moments of the play I was  sure that the other actors switching around as his daughter and her husband (a musical chairs feat of actors Kate Eastwood Norris Caroline Dubberly, Erika Rose, Manny Buckley and Daniel Harray)— were all in on a scam to commit him and take his worldly possessions.   So was this a detective mystery  or a play about the declining brain?   In a way, it turns out to be both, as we try to piece together reality from Andre’s demented viewpoint. Seeing people who are not there, seeing people as being others then who they are— and the resulting confusion as to what he hears them  say to him— is part of his slow painful process of decline.  The flashing lights between the breaks in the scenes well suit the blank moments that memory recedes in the mind.  The confusion of what the place is— no lon...

The Arabian Nights Constellation’s production of Mary Zimmerman’s The Arabian Nights is a dream come true.      As Constellation concludes its tenth anniversary season, it has its own story behind The Arabian Nights .  This was Founding Artistic Director Allison Arkell Stockman’s second production in 2007,  one which received great reviews and launched Constellation’s stellar career in Washington theater circles.   That production also launched the collaboration with Tom Teasley, a world-renowned composer, instrumentalist, and teacher who created The Arabian Nights on his CD All the World’s a Stage .   Their formula of great stories accompanied by live original music  continues. While it   might seem daunting for a small theater company with only 100 seats to attempt world classics,   Constellation shows never miss its target which is the human heart. Eleven ensemble actors portray 40 characters from the...

IN THE HEIGHTS = It’s here in Columbia Heights!   What do you say about a sold out show that gets a standing ovation?  GALAs production of In the Heights is that special.  With heart stopping singing and exuberant dancing, this production of In The Heights   explodes with endless possibilities as one “follows the path that is your life.”   There are days when everything goes wrong from fights with family to NYC ConEd blackout to the death of a dearest  lifelong friend.  And at the same time, things go right—lovers match up and  people resiliently re-build businesses.   And there are nights when everyone goes out dancing! Juan Luis Espial leads the cast, as Usnavi, in the role originally played by Lin-Manuel Miranda.  He is the narrator and owner of a small bodega in Washington Heights and in love with Vanessa,   (Veronica Alvarez).   He was raised by Abuela (means grandmother in Spanish)  Clau...

Blood Knot and A Human Being Died that Night South Africa: Then & Now Two monumental plays by two South African icons at Mosaic pose a question.  What has changed in South Africa in 50 years? Nathan Hinton and Tom Story star in Athol Fugard’s classic fable Blood Knot is the never ending struggle between two brothers, separated by color but bound by blood. Erica Chamblee and Chris Genebach face off in A Human Being Died that Night ,  the true story from South African psychologist Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela’s  2003 book about the interrogation of Apartheid-era torturer and assassin Eugene de Kock. We are reminded that in 1961 Johannesburg, when Fugard himself performed as Morris,  that the premiere production closed the day after it opened, after  a single performance, in part because it was then illegal for a racially mixed company to perform on the same stage.  We can also read the daily political and social news articles on...

From EUGENE ONEGIN  to  DER ROSENKAVALIER  (Or Everything you want to know about love is at the MET OPERA) Great music and great literature meet on a great stage at the Met Opera’s production of Eugene Onegin on the big screen on April 25, 2017.  The words are Pushkin’s from his  Russian novel-poem.  The music is by Tchaikovsky  for what he termed “lyrical scenes.” Tchaikovsky’s music is forever embedded in our consciousness  with his fantasy ballets like  Nutcracker   and Swan Lake .   Pushkin’s work has provided the inspiration for dozens of musical works, including another famous Russian opera, Boris Godunov.     This team of Tchaikovsky and Pushkin is a sure thing but while there are many scholarly interpretations of Pushkin’s work, there is none that so gets it at its core as this opera. Using the very words from Pushkin’s poem,  Tchaikovsky built the opera through a series of powerful co...