David Friscic

An exploration of what constitutes the writer’s role and ownership of material, issues of representation in the arts, racial politics and the messiness of friendship and caring are all threshed out in Inda Craig -Galván’s play A Jumping-Off Point. Now being presented at the Round House Theatre, this 90-minute play is provocative, topical, and moves briskly. The various issues it explores, however, cannot be fully explored too well in a play that tries to be too many things at once.

The shattering of the world that took place during World War I propelled humanity into a fight for survival amidst the onslaught of enemy forces. The cacophony and horror of that war was fought in the trenches and on the open fields as portrayed in the poem “In Flanders Fields”, and in the many films including All Quiet on the Western Front and 1917, etc. Right now, however, this war is being fought theatrically (and with an emotional gut punch) on the stage of the Max at Signature Theatre.

What an odd thing the human mind is! –for it can make false assumptions, construct facile rationalizations, and rely on preconceived notions---as the audience soon finds out through the alternately clever, character-driven, and coiling convolutions of Theater J’s east coast premiere of the play This Much I Know. This is a play that asks questions more than it supplies answers and in that the audience can find sufficient satisfaction.

The painful slow journey for understanding as to what normalcy or perceived sanity is --when a family member is suffering from bipolar illness--- is explored with heartbreaking poignancy, almost brutal honesty and with deadpan caustic humor in the musical Next to Normal. Now playing at Bethesda’s Round House Theatre, this almost totally sung-through musical caught me up in its oddly satisfying emotional pulse. I fell into its compelling pull as the trauma of a family experiencing the highs and lows of bipolar illness unfolded.

Liz Callaway embodies and breathes the essence of Stephen Sondheim. In the very personal and professional tribute concert To Steve With Love: Liz Callaway Celebrates Sondheim, there is an utter fusion of the performer’s love and respect for her musical mentor and the choice and intimate presentation of the Sondheim songs that Ms. Callaway interprets.

Nova Y. Payton breathed fresh air, sassy jazz elements and sublime, variegated vocals into the world of the legendary composer Burt Bacharach in an innovative and musically invigorating evening of cabaret. Entitled That’s What Friends Are For:  Nova Y. Payton Sings Burt Bacharach, this cabaret was yet another fine evening of cabaret from Signature Theatre.

The transcendent and poetic music and lyrics of legendary and influential musicians Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen are showcased with sensitivity and professional panache by two terrific artists ----Danielle Wertz and Robbie Schaefer –in Signature Theatre’s Both Sides Now: Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen.  It was indeed a very intimate, sophisticated, and remarkably enlightening evening that encompassed the earlier songs and milieu of Mitchell and Cohen.

The oft-told tale of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet which has been beloved throughout the ages and been interpreted and showcased in so many films, stage productions and even a ballet ---has been mounted by the Washington National Opera in an odd sort of manner. In composer Charles Gounod’s opera, the music is bewitching and should be the glory of the opera, but it should be paired with a text that is respected.

The beautiful blue skies that Jess, an F-16 fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force, soars through from the mighty heights above soon become mottled with dismal greys ---as she plummets into mental despair and confusion after being Grounded. In the paradigm-changing opera which is a World Premiere by the Washington National Opera, Jess continues to work (after pregnancy, marriage, and having a daughter) as a professional who pilots drones remotely from a trailer park in Las Vegas.

A dazzling evening of pure vocal, instrumental, and theatrical bliss occurred on the evening of October 21,2023 when the renowned Broadway veteran and entertainer Brian Stokes Mitchell wowed the crowd at the Music Center at Strathmore.  This two -time Tony Award winning talent showcased versatility to the max and he delivered an upbeat spirit of positive energy and goodwill that made his impeccable talent even more appealing. (His hope was to make the audience feel better by the end of the concert—then they had felt when they had come in, --- and this hope was fulfilled).

The sacred and the secular are merged to show the need for connection in a broken world in playwright Katori Hall’s The Mountaintop in an amazing production at Bethesda’s Round House Theatre. A feminist narrative envelops this beautifully written play that portrays the civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the eve of his final day on earth---as the tragic portent of his tragic assassination is conveyed to the consciousness of the audience.

The brilliant and undying talent of the legendary entertainer Judy Garland was celebrated at the Music Center at Strathmore in the memory-laden production Get Happy! Michael Feinstein Celebrates the Judy Garland Centennial. Produced with the approval of daughter Liza Minnelli, this memorable show displayed the iconic talent of Judy Garland as interpreted and narrated by the wonderfully talented singer, pianist, and archivist Michael Feinstein.

Cutthroat capitalism and journalistic sensationalist exploitation rears its ugly head in playwright James Graham’s Ink. This superb play is a sharply and pointedly observed tale of the rise of the infamous media mogul Rupert Murdoch (Andrew Rein) as he captures control of the newspaper The Sun and becomes the controversial sensation of Fleet Street.

What did our critic think of RENT IN CONCERT at The Kennedy Center?

The hallowed tradition of Sunday Brunch plays out as a beloved campy, caustic yet collegial celebration of LGBTQ camaraderie in the comic chamber opera Brunch with the Boys –now an enjoyably disarming offering of the 2023 Capital Fringe Festival.

Based on many, many interviews with residents of Charlottesville, court transcripts and news reports, the very timely and relevant show Charlottesville was presented with theatrical integrity and complex layers/themes as part of the 2023 Capital Fringe Festival.

What did our critic think of BRUNCH WITH THE BOYS at DCJCC Theatre J?

1776 is now being given a triumphantly moving and vigorous radically deconstructed interpretation at the Kennedy Center. There are many fans already who are firm believers in the message of this uniquely conceived musical but this production will lead them even further into intellectual and sensory depth.

Golf is a metaphor for “the haves and have nots” in playwright August Wilson’s masterful final play Radio Golf. This challenging play now being presented at Bethesda’s Round House Theatre is directed by Reginald L. Douglas with a finely tuned ear for the cadence of speech and the robust, all-encompassing writing style of August Wilson. 

Growing up with the New York City Ballet (NYCB)nearby during my high school and college years (as they had their summer residency at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs), I was thrilled to turn around many years later to see the Kennedy Center present an evening of some of the New York City Ballet’s most beloved ballets.