Elliot Lanes - Page 19

In the pop music world there are certain artists who only need to be introduced by their first names. When you hear Cher, Madonna, or Barbara, there is instant recognition. The same holds true in the musical theatre world. When you hear the names Idina, Sutton, or Audra you know exactly who these people are. The latter, of course, is six-time Tony Award-winning actress, singer, and modern day goddess of the Great American Songbook Audra McDonald.

Sometimes things sound really good on paper, but never fully pan out in their final incarnations. Paul D. Miller's ( aka  DJ Spooky) Rebirth of a Nation is a prime example of this scenario becoming reality.

Today's subject Natascia Diaz is currently living her theatre life onstage at Signature Theatre playing the whore with a heart Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar, directed by Joe Calarco. The production runs through July 2nd. Previously she appeared at Signature in West Side Story, The Threepenny Opera (2015 Hayes Award nomination), and Kiss of the Spider Woman.

It's hard to believe that the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar has been around since 1971. What started life as a concept album a year earlier, the musical is now a perennial favorite to present among professional and non-pro companies.

Today's subject Emily Townley is currently living her theatre life over at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company where she is preparing to begin performances of Taylor Mac's play Hir. The production plays from May 22nd through June 18th.

Today's subject Sun King Davis is currently living his theatre life onstage in Rorschach Theatre's world premiere play Forgotten Kingdoms by Randy Baker. The production continues through May 21st at the Atlas Performing Arts Center.

At one point in Monumental Theatre Co's current production of Five Lesbians Eating a Quiche, one of the actors asks, “What would happen if a bomb were to go off?” If you are brave enough to attend this show, you will get your answer first hand.

Today's subjects, Sherri Edelen and Thomas Adrian Simpson, are currently living their theatre lives in tech for Jesus Christ Superstar at Signature Theatre. Thomas is playing the high priest Caiaphas and Sheri, in a brilliant turn of non-traditional casting, will be playing King Herod. The production runs from May 9th to July 2nd.

Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book has seen no shortage of adaptations. In addition to its original print form, it's the source for two Disney movies, and a stage adaptation at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago a few years back. Would-be adaptors face as slight problem in that while there is lots of fun within Kipling's stories about a human child named Mowgli being raised by wolves, the story also has a dark side to it that might not work well for the youngest of theatregoers. Imagination Stage in Bethesda, Maryland is currently presenting a new adaptation by Greg Banks of Kipling's work, which will leave your little ones engaged from beginning to end without clawing you to go into the lobby. Older kids and adults are also likely to enjoy themselves, making it a theatergoing experience for the whole family.

Over the past week this column featured two remarkable ladies named Tina Ghandchilar and Julie Dixon. They are currently living their theatre lives as part of a production of Chess at The Theatre Lab School of the Performing Arts. The show opens this evening and runs through May 6th. Now it's time to feature one of the male leads.

Today's subject, Julie Dixon, is currently living her theatre life onstage at the Theatre Lab School of the Dramatic Arts where she will be opening in the pop rock musical Chess. The production plays this weekend through May 6th.

Today's subjects, Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp, are most commonly associated with one particular Broadway show – Rent. This Friday night, April 28th, you can see them join forces once again at the Music Center at Strathmore in Bethesda, Maryland, and it promises to be a really good time. It may also introduce you other aspects of their theatre lives since that groundbreaking 1990s musical.

Today's subject Tina Ghandchilar is currently living her theatre life in the most stoked way possible. She is currently preparing to star as Florence in Chess at The Theatre Lab School for the Dramatic Arts, which, in my opinion, is the best arts in education institution in DC. The production runs from April 27th through May 6th.

Today's subject Lorene Chesley is currently living her theatre life as Valerie Johnston in Arena Stage's production of Smart People in the. The show marks Lorene's Arena Stage debut. It runs through May 21st in Arena Stage's Kreeger Theater space.

Today's subjects, Joy Zinoman and Logan Vaughn, are currently living their theatre lives over on H Street at Mosaic Theater Company. They are the directors for the company's current South Africa: Then & Now repertory, which is comprised of the Athol Fugard's classic Blood Knot and the newer A Human Being Died That Night by Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela and adapted for the stage by Nicholas Wright. The rep represents the old and the new. It's appropriate that Mosaic's genius Artistic Director Ari Roth has enlisted a veteran director of over 50 years and a hot up-and-coming director to bring the plays to vivid life onstage at the Atlas Performing Arts Center.

Today's subjects, Kim Scharnberg and Christopher Youstra, are currently living their theatre lives as the orchestrator and musical director, respectively, for the Ford's Theatre production of Ragtime. The show continues through May 20th.

Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) companies have it more difficult than companies that present theatre for adults in some respects. If they set out to present a story that's already been adapted by a certain big entertainment company – you know, the one that all started with a mouse – audiences are likely to come into the theatre with that version in mind. They may also expect a big budget spectacular that few – if any – TYA companies are positioned to deliver.

John Kander and Fred Ebb's murderess musical Chicago is back in town at the Kennedy Center's Opera House. The score is still as good as it ever was, but overall this current tour is missing some of the spark it needs to be totally satisfying.

Today's subject George Caldwell is currently living his theatre life as one of the composers and the onstage pianist for the creative dance troupe Urban Bush Women. The company performs Walking with'Trane this Friday and Saturday in the Eisenhower Theater at Kennedy Center.

Most of us know the story of Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid from the Disney animated feature and subsequent stage musical adaptation. What people forget is how dark the original story is and how a Caribbean crab and an absent-minded bird are not elements of the original story.