Articles Tagged With: Bobby Smith

Ragtime at Signature Theatre

Reviews November 5, 2023 Steven Kirkpatrick

Signature Theatre’s latest offering is a stellar production of Ragtime, a musicalization of E. L. Doctorow’s sprawling 1975 novel, in which a variety of real and fictional characters from the turn of the 20th century are woven into an epic American tapestry. Presenting a panoramic view of the dawning of the twentieth century, Ragtime addresses such issues as immigration, racism, socialism, women’s rights, industrialization, and the labor movement. Seeking to identify the forces that have shaped America over the past century,

Food In My Mouth; Art On My Stage: An Interview With Bobby Smith In Signature Theatre’s No Place To Go

Interviews September 21, 2022 Amanda N. Gunther

What do you do when you reach a certain age and the ‘family’ you’ve always thought you had in your job is now walking away from you? To go to Mars? And all you asked from them is a jazillion dollars? A semi-non-direct quote from No Place To Go, a new musical conceived by Ethan Lipton, now on stage in Signature Theatre’s Ark stage, starring Bobby Smith. A one-man musical with three musicians live on-stage in addition to Smith,

No Place To Go at Signature Theatre

Reviews September 9, 2022 Charles Boyington

No Place to Go by Ethan Lipton is the antithesis of the Frank Loesser musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying—it’s about the experience of losing a job, and a sense of purpose, without trying. It is also a comedic look at our modern society that smacks you in the face with how honest and real it is, and I loved it.

The story is simple enough: George is a middle-aged man with his own small band who has been working the same day job for the last 10 years as a “permanent part time” employee.

She Loves Me at Signature Theatre

Reviews March 10, 2022 Amanda N. Gunther

Will you like the show you see? Will you know that there’s a world of love, uplifted spirits, and joyous frivolity— waiting just inside those painted walls, waiting for everyone to see? You’ll know— if the show— you’re seeing is— She Loves Me. Signature Theatre, in its most extensive and momentous live-staged undertaking (after 600 days of being dark) is bringing a heartwarming musical classic to its Max Theatre stage and it just the dose of giddy and glee that the world needs right now.

Assassins at Signature Theatre

Reviews August 23, 2019 Amanda N. Gunther

Just a single little finger can change the world.

9— Dayton, Ohio August 4, 2019

22— El Paso, Texas August 3, 2019

3— Gilroy, California July 28, 2019

34 people dead from just a single little finger.

Something just broke.

It’s the strap-line for Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins now
open and running at Signature Theatre in Shirlington, Virginia. And they’re not
wrong.

Light Years at Signature Theatre

Reviews February 15, 2018 Amanda N. Gunther

Did I tell you the story? The story of the #uglycry of the century? Did I tell you the story? The story of the most evocative musical to take to the stage in recent history? Did I tell you the story? The story of truth, humanity, reality, and life all swirled together through song and narrative perfection, unwinding, unraveling, and unfurling in The Max Theatre at Signature Theatre this winter? Did I tell you the story of Light Years?

Crazy For You at Signature Theatre

Reviews November 20, 2017 Amanda N. Gunther

Music is the magic that makes ev’rything sunshiny! And dancing is the thing that makes all your troubles seem tiny! And when you’re sitting watchin’ Crazy For You at Signature Theatre this holiday season, it’ll be all sunshine and smiles with no troubles or cares and you won’t be bothered o’er anything else, I swear! They’ve got the music and it’s magic, and they’ve got the best dancing once could ask for!

A Little Night Music at Signature Theatre

Reviews August 30, 2017 Amanda N. Gunther

Purchase your tickets, la la la! Queue up at the entrance, la la la! Unfold your program, la la la! Hi-ho the glamorous life! It’s so much more than a weekend in the country if you’re venturing to Signature Theatre’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music. Opening the 2017/2018 with this simplistically elegant classic, Director Eric Schaeffer sets the 28th season in motion with a glorious performance of smiling nighttimes and sensual characters entangling themselves around and through one another all whilst dripped and draped in one of Sondheim’s convoluted albeit romantic,

Jesus Christ Superstar at Signature Theatre

Reviews May 19, 2017 Amanda N. Gunther

Jesus Christ Superstar, do you think you’re what they say you are? Now appearing for a limited engagement at Signature Theatre, the Andrew Lloyd Webber that defined rock musicals is now being presented as sleek and modernized. But before you cast your first stone of judgement, take a step back and look at what you’re witnessing. Directed by Joe Calarco with Musical Direction by William Yanesh and Choreography by Karma Camp,

Midwestern Gothic at Signature Theatre

Reviews April 3, 2017 Amanda N. Gunther

You never know how many secrets stay hidden beneath the surface until you start digging. Don’t dig too far down into Virginia or you’ll miss all the sordid secrets that come tangled up in the world premiere of Midwestern Gothic, a new musical with Book by Royce Vavrek, Music by Josh Schmidt, and Lyrics by Vavrek & Schmidt. Appearing now in The Ark Theatre of Signature Theatre, this freeze-frame capture of dystopian life in the American Midwest circa the late 80’s/early 90’s is a questionable venture with a welcomed,

Review: Titanic at Signature Theatre

Reviews December 23, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

In every age mankind attempts to fabricate great works at once magnificent and impossible. And impossibly magnificent is the success of the maiden voyage of Signature Theatre’s production of Titanic. With Story & Book by Peter Stone and Music & Lyrics by Maury Yeston, this spellbinding production is a floating city of magnificence in the ephemeral way that only theatre can be. Directed by Eric Schaeffer with Musical Direction by James Moore,

Review: Freaky Friday at Signature Theatre

Reviews October 27, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

So you’re never going to believe me— but I guess you will if you go and see it for yourself— but there’s a crazy world premiere musical happening in the Max at Signature Theatre this fall! Debuting— after previous incarnations as a novel and two major motion pictures (about 25 years apart)— as a stage musical, Freaky Friday lands in the Max with a propulsive rock sound, a textbook Disney outline, and a sensational story that you just have to see to believe.

Review: La Cage Aux Folles at Signature Theatre

Reviews June 13, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther 1 Comment

Take a deep breath, open your eyes, you have arrived at La Cage Aux Folles. Signature Theatre does its utmost to deliver this ravishing, sensual, fabulous musical Directed by Matthew Gardiner with Musical Direction by Darius Smith, and succeeds making it the show of their season, which is saying something considering just how many smashing productions they’ve managed this year. Legend has told and rumor has promised this zesty, thrilling performance would dazzle theatergoers of Washington DC and there are simply not enough words to properly praise the nearly perfect production as it titillates audiences right to the edges of their chairs!

Review: Road Show at Signature Theatre

Reviews February 25, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

The journey is the destination in the Max Theatre as Road Show gets underway for the backend of the 2015/2016 season at Signature Theatre. With all of the style, flare, and spark of an old-world adventure tale, this lesser recognized Sondheim treasure hits the open stage with Director Gary Griffin and Musical Director Jon Kalbfleisch at the wheel. Being the third collaborative effort of Music and Lyricist Stephen Sondheim and Book Writer John Weidman,

Review: West Side Story at Signature Theatre

Reviews December 18, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Te adoro, Signature Theatre, te adoro. Blowing the minds of every theatergoer that snaps their way into the Max Theater at Signature Theatre in Shirlington, Virginia this holiday season, West Side Story is a smash-hit that steals the heart, captures the soul, and brings the audience to a standing ovation. A stunning tale of star-crossed lovers set to inspiring Music by Leonard Bernstein, with Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and Book by Arthur Laurents,

Review: Girlstar at Signature Theatre

Reviews October 27, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Move over, Maleficent! A new breed of sinister sins and exquisite evil is sweeping into Shirlington as the world premiere musical Girlstar settles into Signature Theatre this fall. A modern day fairytale with spunk and verve takes root in the Max Theatre of Signature’s two-stage performing arts complex and is ready to entice the world into a new-wave experience when it comes to fairytale enchantment and modern magical realism. With Book and Lyrics by Anton Dudley and Music by Brian Feinstein,

Review: The Fix at Signature Theatre

Reviews August 24, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

These are the games, the tools and the tricks, of making brilliant theatre with a musical called The Fix. Signature Theatre is revolutionizing political corruption; they’re not accentuating the foul filth of America’s crooked political climate, they’re flaunting it and making it look devilishly delicious. With Book and Lyrics by John Dempsey, and Music by Dana P. Rowe, this rarely produced musical sensation is a riveting and electrifying political scandal that has all the razzle dazzle of Broadway and all the unctuous sleaze of Washington DC.