A Theatre Lover's Guide to DC/Capital Area Theatres - October Offerings

The Fall theatre season in the DC area is in full bloom. As the leaves are turning, there is a colorful group of shows opening this month. There are so many, so where do I begin? Here are shows that I am looking forward to seeing, and remember I am a musical theatre lover who likes to sprinkle in a play or two - here and there - so don't get mad if I don't choose one of the plays you are looking forward to seeing. You have your chance at the end of this article to share your "must sees" also with our readers. Hopefully, you'll make the trip down to the DC area to see some of these wonderful productions.

SPECIAL OFFERINGS

12^th International Festival of Hispanic Theater, at Teatro de la Luna, from October 15^th through November 21^st , at Gunston Arts Center's Theatre 2, in Arlington, Virginia.

With works from Columbia, Argentina, Uruguay, the Dominion Republic, Venezuela, and Teatro de la Luna, this festival has something for every member of the family. Described as, "A one-of-a-kind spectacle as only you deserve! Enjoy the most evocative theater from our countries; the best of the Americas and Spain in this great festival of Hispanic Theater, with something for everyone's theatrical passion, every public, all ages and all tastes!". Every work will be presented in Spanish with English subtitles. Open your theatre horizons, and come to the festival. Traiga la familia entera al festival, inclusive los niños!

The Audience Choice Awards by The Audible Group. Over 12,000 local theatergoers voted for DC Theatre Scene's Audience Choice Awards. And here's your chance to hear The Audible Group's hysterical play they created just for the occasion, with the winners accepting their awards: "A huge crowd of DC Theatre fans have gathered, hoping to catch a glimpse of their favorite nominees. Television cameras are trained on reporter Rona Slivers at the head of the red carpet, ready to give her usual biting fashion commentary...But what's this? No taxis? No limos? No stars? Where are all the nominees? No Hedman, no Hicken, no Hemmingsen? And what's that whispering??? Nancy Robinette has skipped town! Something doesn't smell right here-and the situation is also strange....Will the curtain on the Audience Choice Awards Show ever go up? Is this the end of theatre in Washington, DC? Get comfy and listen in as Hashell Dammitt solves The Case of the Empty Red Carpet." Listen in and enjoy!

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OPENING IN OCTOBER - MUST-SEES

Jersey Boys, from October 1^st to December 12^th, at The National Theatre, in Washington, DC.

We've been waiting a long time for this Tony Award winning Best Musical to make it to the nation's capital, so when the tickets finally went on sale, they disappeared faster than you could say, "Sherry Baby!" I am so glad that the show will be playing in the very intimate National Theatre. It will be nIce To see original Broadway cast member Steve Gouveia on the stage as Nick Massi, the role that Next To Normal's J. Robert Spencer played in the original Broadway cast. DC audiences, who have not yet schlepped to NYC to see the show, are in for a great time. Sixty members of my theatre going social group called The Ushers will be seeing the October 20^th evening performance. Those tickets sold in less than an hour, faster than I could say, "Who wears short shorts". Oh, what a night (or day if you are seeing a matinee) you will have at The National Theatre!

Angels in America: Millenium Approaches, from October 3^rd through November 21^st, and Angels in America: Perestroika, from October 24^th through November 22^nd, at Forum Theatre at Round House Theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland.

When Artistic Director Michael Dove announced a few months ago that Forum Theatre would be producing Tony Kushner's two-part mega epic and Tony Award winning Best Plays, Angels in America, the theatre community jumped for joy.

Featuring some of the DC area's most talented young and veteran actors - Ro Boddie, Daniel Eichner, Nanna Ingvarsson, Jim Jorgensen, Jennifer Mendenhall, Karl Miller, Casie Platt, and Alexander Strain, this could easily be the event of the DC theatre season! Part I: Millennium Approaches, will be directed by Jeremy Skidmore, whose bloody-good production of The Lieutenant of Inishmore at Signature Theatre had audiences squirming in their seats, and Part II: Perestroika, will be directed by Michael Dove, who directed the critically acclaimed The Last Days of Judas Iscariot.

I can't wait to see the "look" and hear the "sound" of the show, because some of the best designers in town - Colin K. Bills, Tony Cisek, Paul Frydrychowski, Elissa Goetschius, Heather Lockard, Matt M. Nielson, Ivania Stack, and Jesse Terrill - are working on these productions. Because of all the incredible talent involved in these two productions, we are guaranteed two powerful productions. 

Jane Krakowski, on October 3^rd at 7:30 PM and 9:30 PM - for one night only - at the Barbara Cook Spotlight, at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theatre, in Washington, DC.

Before TV watchers knew her as Jenna Maroney on NBC's 30 Rock, I watched Jane Krakowski act and dance and sing her heart out on Broadway. I first saw Jane on the stage roller-skating as Dinah The Dining Car in Starlight Express, as the adorable "Barcelona" flight attendant April in The Roundabout 1995 revival of Company, and then in one of my favorite musicals - Grand Hotel - belting out "I Want To Go To Hollywood", playing the "I-wanna-be-a-star" Flaemmchen, and as the funny Lady Larken in the 1996 revival of Once Upon A Mattress. But who can forget her sexy portrayal of Carla in the revival of Nine, which won her a well-deserved Tony Award? With that incredible voice, and that energetic and magnetic personality, audiences will have a great time with this sassy performer in The Terrace Theatre on October 3^rd.

Hysteria, from October 7^th through November 1^st, at Rep Stage, at Howard Community College, in Columbia, Maryland. 

Hello Dali! I missed last May's production of Hysteria at The Wilma in Philadelphia, so I'm glad I will get a chance to see it performed in Columbia, Maryland. Rep Stage follows its fantastic production of Wittenberg with another off-the-wall show - Terry Johnson's zany Hysteria. It's advertised as "All hell breaks loose when Sigmund Freud's final days battling cancer are interrupted by Salvador Dali and an attractive young student in this rollicking farce that bares Freud's own troubled psyche." When two-time Helen Hayes Award-winning actor Bruce Nelson plays Salvador Dali, you gotta run and see him. Jeff Baker plays Freud, and Conrad Feininger and Marni Penning round out the incredible cast. Steven Carpenter directs.

Evil Dead The Musical, from October 8^th through November 1^st,  at Landless Theatre Company, at the District of Columbia Arts Center (DCAC), in Washington, DC.

I sat in the "splatter zone", in New World Stages in NYC in February 2007, to watch the midnight show of Evil Dead The Musical, and was soaked by fake blood, even though I was given a plastic cover to protect myself. I didn't care - I had a blast! I even bought a "I Survived the Splatter Zone" T-Shirt after the show, and got to podcast blood-soaked cast member Brandon Wardell after the show - at about 1 AM in the morning. The book and lyrics by George Reinblatt and music by Frank Cipolla, Christopher Bond, Melissa Morris, and George Reinblatt were goofy and really silly. Who knew?

It's a good thing that Landless Theatre Company and Baughman brothers Matt and Andrew, and his wife Melissa (who is directing the show), and choreographer Karissa Lynn Swanigan - are getting their creative hands on Evil Dead The Musical, and since this is right up their alley, they will do a bloody good job! The multi-tasking cast will be: as Linda - Natalie Pyle, as Cheryl - Karissa Lynn Swanigan, as Shelly/Annie - Zehra Fazal, as Ash - Clay Comer, as Scott - Matt Baughman, as Ed- Mickey DaGuiso (who is also serving as Musical Director), as Jake/Moose - Andrew Lloyd Baughman, and as Hand/Dead Shelly/Puppeteer - Jen Tonon, who has also designed the special effects with Steven A. Grainger. Jared Davis has designed, according to Artistic Director Andrew Baughman, "Landless Theatre's biggest set yet!" Elizabeth Reeves has designed the costumes and puppets. In the very small "in your face" DCAC performance space - the silly jokes, the outrageous lyrics, and that gross red stuff will be overflowing. There will be no place to escape!  

Adding Machine: A Musical, from  Oct. 14^th through November 1^st, in Stage 4 at Studio Theatre, in Washington, DC.

I loved Adding Machine: A Musical when I took The Ushers to see it when it played at The Minetta Lane Theatre in the summer of 2008. Now, Studio Theatre, who brought us the eye-popping Jerry Springer-The Opera last year, brings us this very calculating musical. Based on the famous Elmer Rice play, the show has a wonderful score by Joshua Schmidt, and a libretto by Jason Loewith and Mr. Schmidt. We are very fortunate to have Jason here in DC to direct the Studio Theatre production, and I can't wait to see how he does it, and how similar or different this production will be from the show I saw in NYC.

We are in good hands knowing that Helen Hayes Award-winning musical director (for Titanic: The Musical at Toby's Columbia) Christopher Youstra, who also musical directed Jerry Springer: The Opera at Studio Theatre, is in charge of the orchestra. Designer Debra Booth will turn the small Stage 4 space into a thrust for this production. And what a great cast: Featuring: David Benoit (Mr. Zero), Joanne Schmoll (Mrs. Zero), Kristin Jepperson (Daisy), Stephen Gregory Smith (Shrdlu), Dan Via (Boss/Fixer/Charles), and Channez McQuay, Katie Nigsch, Joe Peck, and Thomas Adrian Simpson, as the Quartet.

"Elmer Rice's expressionistic masterpiece re-imagined in a stunning new musical! After losing his job to a machine, Mr. Zero's monotonous life swirls into chaos. With jangling, percussive music reflecting period influences - including early-20th-century modernists, Tin Pan Alley and gospel - this work conjures a vision of American life in the 1920s at odds with that decade's popular image as a happy-go-lucky era ended only by the Depression. It is a vision that feels eerily in tune with our own unsettled economy".

Dracula, from October 16^th to November 15^th, at Synetic Theater at The Rosslyn Spectrum, in Arlington, Virginia.

You've never seen anything like it! With stunning visuals and choreography, and a heart-pulsing score and no (shh!) talking, Synetic Theater recreates and updates their 2005 production of Dracula with more "bite". "Dan Istrate performs the title role as The Count. There are "vampiric wolves howling in the Transylvanian night and the erotic blood-lust of the demonic Count and his consorts". The only way to show you what a Synetic production looks and feels like - is for you to watch this trailer from Synetic's 2005 production of Dracula.

And as a special offer, join Synetic Theater for their Vampire's Ball on Halloween Night - Saturday, October 31, 2009. In addition to seeing the show at 8 PM, the event features a live DJ-set by resident composer Konstantine Lortkipanidze, a Halloween costume contest, and a special Dracula-themed fashion show. Sounds batty - doesn't it? Tickets are $75 each, including a $30 tax-deductible contribution to support Synetic Theater. Wow! That sounds like a bloody-good time!

Lost in Yonkers from October 21^st to November 29^th, at Theater J, in the DC Jewish Community Center's Aaron and Cecile Goldman Theatre, in Washington, DC.

You can't go wrong with a very well written Neil Simon play in a Jewish theatre. Lost in Yonkers won the Pulitzer Prize and a couple of Tony Awards for its funny and heart-warming story of two brothers trying to stay sane with their Throw Mama from the Train-like grandmother, their charming but not too smart aunt, and their gangster uncle. I saw the 1991 Broadway production at the Richard Rodgers.Theatre 5 times. I couldn't get enough of the amazing cast which won Tonys for Irene Worth as Grandma and Mercedes Ruehl as Bella, and also starred Kevin Spacey as Louie, Lauren Klein as Gert, Danny Gerard as Arty, Jamie Marsh as Jay, and Mark Blum as Eddie. Why did I see it so many times? I could relate to being a kid trying to survive in a dysfunctional Jewish household, and I had a grandmother just like the tyrant who drove these two kids crazy!

Theater J has gathered a fantastic cast to play the meshuganah characters - two-time Helen Hayes Award Winner Tana Hicken, three-time Helen Hayes Award winner Holly Twyford, Lise Bruneau, Marcus Kyd, and Kevin Bergen, and two of the most talented young actors I have had the honor to watch and write about - Kyle Schliefer and Max Talisman. I can only imagine how much fun director Jerry Whiddon will have working with this talented cast. As Ira Gershwin wrote, "Who could ask for anything more?"

The Rocky Horror Show, from October 23^rd to November 14^th, at Kensington Arts Theatre at the Kensington Armory, in Kensington, Maryland. 

KAT is my favorite community theatre in the area, and they consistently sweep the local WATCH Awards, which are awarded to DC area community theatres. I can't wait to see this production because KAT musicals are always so professionally done. Of small theatres in the area performing classical musicals, KAT is the crème de la crème.

Let's refresh you on what this crazy show is about: "That sweet transvestite and his motley crew did the time warp on Broadway in a twenty fifth-anniversary revival. Complete with sass from the audience, cascading toilet paper and an array of other audience participation props, this deliberately kitschy rock & roll sci-fi gothic is more fun than ever."

With an up-and-coming talented young director Darnell Morris at the helm, we are in for a great time. And, what a cast! John Loughney  has had a great year, and I named him one of my favorite musical performers of the year for his hearty-breaking performance as Whizzer in The Elden Street Players production of Falsettos, and he was frighteningly loony as the crazy Duke in KAT's hysterical production of The Great American Trailer Park Musical, which also appeared on my favorite musicals list this year.

And the casting of WATCH Award winner Ryan Manning as Riff Raff, is brilliant. I can't wait to see Ryan let it all hang out! The rest of the great cast includes Amy Baughman as Janet (Dammit!) Weiss, Tim Adams as Brad Majors, Jeff Breslow as Dr. Scott, Ann Davis as Magenta, Courtney Basich as Columbia, Michael Hammond as Rocky, Mel Lerman as Eddie, Jeff Breslow as the Narrator, and the many Phantoms are Tyler Babineau, Terry Barr, Celia Blitzer, Adam Curtis, Eric Jones, Chris Mannino, Nicole Martin, Catherine Oh, and Jacqueline Salvador.

I asked Director Darnell Morris to tell me about choreographer Laurie Newton, whose work I am not familiar with: "I have collaborated with Laurie Newton on four different shows now, and I am really enjoying working together to combine our perspectives and creative processes into a fluid production with a unified vision. Laurie is an amazing choreographer, and I am consistently impressed by her ability to work with dancers of various skill levels (she can make even the most inexperienced dancer look like a Broadway professional)! Laurie's choreography is all about telling a story.  Every movement has a purpose. She has been able to retain the original campy Rocky Horror'feel' while incorporating more modern sexual elements. Her choreography is fresh and sensual, and nothing like it has been seen in DC area theatre recently." I'm so excited, that I'm ready to dance the "Time Warp" right now!

Barrio Grrrl!: A New Musical, from October 24^th through November 15^th, at The Kennedy Center Family Theatre, in Washington, DC.  

A world premiere musical for kids is always a cause to celebrate, and there is extra reason to jump for joy - three of my local favorites are in it! Natascia Diaz, who last year won a Helen Hayes Award for her kooky performance as Monica P. Miller in Rooms at MetroStage, will play The Amazing Voice. Multiple WATCH Award winner Diego Prieto will play Abuelo, and one of my Scene Stealers - Vishal Vaidya - will be playing Sandip in the new musical Barrio Grrrl! Peter Flynn will direct the production, and Devanand Janki is providing the choreography. The cast also features Ana Noguiera as Ana, Salma Qarnain as Mom, Erika Rose as Odette, and Chris Wilson as Oscar.

The show is being advertised as, "Spunky 9-year-old Ana is faced with this very big decision. On the one hand, as her alter-ego Barrio Grrrl with her invisible sidekick Amazing Voice, she's pretty busy preserving justice in the barrio and protecting her neighborhood. On the other hand, in the world where Ana lives with herabuelo (grandfather) and misses her mom who is far, far away in Iraq, reality is sneaking up on her. It's time for Ana to decide what's most important: being a superhero or a girl who works little miracles in real life. Pulitzer Prize finalist and Tony Award nominee Quiara Alegría Hudes (In the Heights) and Grammy-winning music director for PBS's new Electric Company Bill Sherman give audiences a funny and warmly truthful play that will make hearts sing. For age 9 and up" The kids will love it!

Full Circle, from October 26^th to November 29^th, at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, in Washington, DC.

When a show offers you the chance to get a really good workout, while enjoying performances from many of the area's best and award winning actors - Jessica Frances Dukes, Daniel Escobar, Naomi Jacobson, Sarah Marshall, Kate Eastwood Norris, Michael Russotto, Michael Willis, and Woolly Mammoth's Artistic Director Howard Shalwitz - why not jump on the bandwagon, and buy a ticket to Full Circle?

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company is well known for producing some off-the-wall and unique shows, so when they posted this on their website. It didn't surprise me: "NOTE: Full Circle is performed throughout Woolly's facility and the audience will move with it.  Comfortable shoes are recommended for this unconventional experience" What's it about? "The ancient Chinese myth of the chalk circle re-emerges at the fall of the Berlin Wall: as the crotchety East German Chancellor watches a play, students suddenly riot and the profiteers swoop in. Amid the chaos, two women launch a madcap chase to save an orphaned baby and outrun the vultures of both communism and capitalism. Their journey through Woolly's entire building comes full circle back to the stage-but can a disgraced artistic director help them reset the nation's moral compass?" We'll have to run around the Woolly facilities to find out. I'm going out now to buy a new pair of Reeboks.

A Streetcar Named Desire, from October 29^th through November 21^st, at The Kennedy Center's Eisenhower Theatre.

Except for a few obstructed view seats - it's totally sold out! Oscar winner Cate Blanchett stars as the seductive and way-out-there Blanche DuBois in the U.S. premiere of Sydney Theatre Company's production of A Streetcar Named Desire, directed by Liv Ullmann. Stella!!! Where did all the tickets go? Hey, Stella, do you know where I can snag a ticket?

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Also Opening in October

Blood, Sweat & Fears II, from October 1^st through October 31^st, at Molotov Theatre Group, at Playbill Café, in Washington, DC.

Sylvia, from October 2^nd through November 7^th, at Bay Theatre Company, in Annapolis, Maryland.

4.48 Psychosis, from October 8^th through October 25^th, at Warehouse Theatre, in Washington, DC. 

Julius Caesar, from October 8^th through November 1^st, at Chesapeake Shakespeare, in Ellicott City, Maryland.

Macbeth, from October 9^th through October 25^th, at Vpstart Crow, in Manassas, Virginia.

Hobey Ford's Animalia, on October 10^th and 11^th, at the Kennedy Center Family Theatre, in Washington, DC.

Tyler Perry's Laugh to Keep from Crying, on October 13^th through October 18^th, at The Warner Theatre, in Washington, DC.

Much Ado About Nothing, from Oct. 21^st through Nov. 29^th, at Folger's Elizabethan Theatre, in Washington, DC.

Lie With Me, from October 23^rd through November 22^nd, at Charter Theatre, in Arlington, Virginia.

Port Authority, from October 23^rd through November 22^nd, at Quotidian Theatre, in Washington, DC.

26 Miles, from October 28^th through November 22^nd, at Round House Theatre in Bethesda, Maryland.

Helen of Sparta, from October 29^th through November 22^nd, at Venus Theatre, in Laurel, Maryland.

HEDWIG & The Angry Inch, on October 30^th and 31^st, at Warehouse Theater, in Washington, DC.

We Won't Pay! We Won't Pay!, from October 30^th through November 22^nd, at Hub Theatre, in Falls Church, Virginia.

Zarzuela on the Avenue, from October 31^st through November 7^th at In Series at Gala Theatre, in Washington, DC.

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Currently Open and Running Through October/November

Dirty Blonde, through October 4^th, at Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia.

The Game of Love and Chance, through October 4^th, at 1^st Stage, in McLean, Virginia.

The Picture Of Dorian Gray, through October 4^th, at Round House Theatre, in Bethesda, Maryland.

Measure for Measure, through October 10^th, at Taffety Punk Theatre Company, in Washington, DC.

A Midsummer Night's Dream through October 10^th, at Synetic Theater, at the Rosslyn Spectrum, in Arlington, Virginia.

A Piece of My Heart, through October 11^th, at American Century Theater, in Arlington, Virginia.

Glorious! through October 11^th, at Dominion Stage, in Arlington, Virginia.

Lucido, through October 11^th, at Gala Hispanic Theatre, in Washington, DC.

Black Pearl Sings!, through October 18^th, at Ford's Theatre, in Washington, DC.

The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!) through October 18^th, at MetroStage, in Alexandria, Virginia.

The Quality of Life, through October 18^th, at Arena Stage, in their Crystal City location in Arlington, Virginia.

Strange Bedfellows, through October 18^th, at The Washington Stage Guild, at Catholic University, in Washington, DC.

Night Must Fall, through October 25^th, at The Olney Theatre Center, in Olney,

Maryland.   

Ferdinand the Bull, through November 1^st, at Imagination Stage, in Bethesda, Maryland.

Go, Dog. Go! at Adventure Theatre, through November 8^th, at Adventure Theatre, in Glen Echo Park, Glen Echo, Maryland.

Sweeney Todd, through November 8, 2009, at Toby's - The Dinner Theatre of Columbia, in Columbia, Maryland.

AIDA, through November 12^th at Toby's Baltimore, in Baltimore, Maryland.

A Flea in Her Ear, through November 8^th, at Constellation Theatre, at Source, in Washington, DC.

Tale of the Fisherman & the Golden Fish, through November 22^nd, at Synetic Theatre's Classika Theatre, in Arlington, Virginia.______

Come visit our 204 theatre venues in the DC/MD/VA area, and see some of these great productions. You'll have a monumental time!_____

Joel Markowitz writes about theatre in Washington, DC, Philadelphia, and New York for DC Theatre Scene.com. Follow Joel's Theatre Schmooze column here and his podcast interviews here.

Cate Blanchett as Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire.
Photo Credit to Lisa Tomasetti. Sydney Theatre Company.

Bruce Nelson as Salvador Dali in Hysteria.
Photo Credit to Stan Barouh

Dan Istrate as Dracula
Photo Credit: Graeme B. Shaw

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