If Mr. Rogers could have been president, his tenure might have looked a lot like Dave’s—the titular character of a new musical, now debuting at Arena Stage, based on the 1993 Academy Award-nominated film of the same name. A nerdy, passionate teacher of American history… Read More
Snow Child at the Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater seems like the potential little sister to 2015’s breakout smash Dear Evan Hansen, destined to take wing from the boards of DC direct to the bright lights of Broadway. Under the sure direction of Molly… Read More
“I love that we are already spilling drinks,” Mary BcBride laughed as water bottles fell from atop a speaker during the first song of her all-American musical set at the Kreeger Theatre during the 2018 Arena Stage Gala Thursday night. After an awards presentation to… Read More
“There are always and only two trains running. There is life and there is death. Each of us rides them both. To live life with dignity, to celebrate and accept responsibility for your presence in the world is all that can be asked of anyone.” –… Read More
I always like a play where I can’t wait to exit the theater and research the history behind the story. Written by Jeanne Sakata, Hold These Truths at Arena Stage is such a play. The script offers the straightforward tale of Gordon Hirabayashi, a University of Washington… Read More
I really loved Arena Stage’s last season production of All The Way, the story of Lyndon B. Johnson’s ascent from Vice President to the Oval Office and passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. So, I looked forward with Great Anticipation to Robert Schenkkan’s sequel play, The Great… Read More
The latest in Arena Stage’s Power Plays initiative is a play that, as Director Molly Smith puts it, is “a story that’s important to all Americans. They just didn’t know it yet.” Sovereignty acts out a part of the past that deserves remembrance and dives into… Read More
A musical play about the deep-strung voice of Nina Simone is enough to get you in the door, but Christina Ham’s Nina Simone: Four Women at Arena Stage goes beyond song and storytelling, cracking apart the veneer of “black women” and “the civil rights movement” to show… Read More
If you’re in the mood for a nostalgic musical or fun-for-the-whole-family cross-generational holiday outing, the revival of 1954 Tony Award Winner for Best Musical The Pajama Game, at the Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater, is the ticket for you. Based on the 1953… Read More
They say that everything has a price. But when that price is the sum total of your life — all of your experiences, your memories, your belongings, your very essence — that price says everything about you. Should it be depressing, or a delight? One… Read More
