Articles Tagged With: The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Nine at The Kennedy Center

Reviews August 5, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

The answer that you’re after is the music lights and laughter— and they’ve got it— all you have to do is… be Italian! Well, not even that, just get your tickets to Nine now appearing in the Eisenhower Theatre of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as a part of the Broadway Center Stage series. Directed and choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler with Musical Direction by Lily Ling, this visceral and evocative musical exploration of one man’s existence and his perceived madness of the women that create,

Bye Bye Birdie at Broadway Center Stage at The Kennedy Center ???? Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmeran

Bye Bye Birdie at The Kennedy Center

Reviews June 10, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

author: Amanda N. Gunther

There’s music to play— places to go— people to see! Everything— at The Kennedy! (…Center for Performing Arts!) And that luscious, glorious 22-person orchestra is playing the sensational music of Bye Bye Birdie! appearing in The Eisenhower through June 15th 2024 as a part of the ‘Broadway Center Stage’ series at The John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts! And you should definitely come see this refreshing revamp of this show;

Dixie's Tupperware Party ???? The Overture Center

Dixie’s Tupperware Party at The Kennedy Center

Reviews May 10, 2024 Erin Tarpley

author: Erin Tarpley

You’ll sing, you’ll laugh, you’ll want to buy things!

Let’s play a little thought experiment. When I say the word “Tupperware,” what is the first thought that comes to mind?

Is it “bowls”? Is it “plastic food preservation”? Or is it “Party!”?

Ok, for a lot of men, the honest answer is probably “bowls;” but for so many others who had a more traditionally feminine upbringing in the later half of the American Twentieth Century,

The North American tour of Company ???? Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade

Company at The Kennedy Center

Reviews March 16, 2024 Leonard Taube

Somebody hold me too close. Somebody hurt me too deep. Somebody sit in my chair and ruin my sleep and make me aware of being alive. Being alive. That’s the plea of protagonist Bobby in Stephen Sondheim’s musical Company (book by George Furth) which is currently gracing the stage in the elegant Opera House at The John F. Kennedy Center for The Performing Arts in our nation’s capital. Originally produced in 1970 Company was nominated for 14 Tony Awards and won six.

US premiere of Théâtre de la Dame de Coeur's performance of Acupunk

Acupunk at The Kennedy Center

News February 23, 2024 Erin Tarpley

On a chilly winter’s evening, a gathering took place at the Kennedy Center’s Reach Plaza this week. Bathed in darkness (but luckily not bathed in rain), the audience gathered with rapt attention focused on the two giant figures set off to the side of the Plaza grounds. But as the showtime began, these two 18-foot puppets sprang to life in movement, sound, smoke, and light to present the US premiere of Théâtre de la Dame de Coeur’s performance of Acupunk.

Ain’t Too Proud at The Kennedy Center

Reviews February 15, 2024 Steven Kirkpatrick

Now in its first national tour, Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations opened a six-day run at the Kennedy Center on Tuesday, Feb 13. Certainly, the 2019 Broadway musical has one of the richest R&B songbooks a musical could hope for. It was also directed by Des McAnuff, who struck gold in 2004 directing Jersey Boys — a similar biographical musical about a 1960-born men’s vocal harmony group.

The Mortification of Fovea Munson at The Kennedy Center

Reviews March 9, 2023 Amanda N. Gunther

Dead bodies are the worst! Or are they? I mean, is there anything worse than your parents naming you ‘Eyeballs’? Yes. Your parents naming you ‘Pitfall.’ Okay, not literally, but what if you figured out at the ripe old age of 13, which is a challenging age all on its own, that your name translates in Latin to the word ‘eyeballs’ or ‘pitfall’ or worse, ‘depression’? Wouldn’t that be enough to set you spinning into chaos?

The Company of Into The Woods.????Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman for Murphymade

Into The Woods at The Kennedy Center

Reviews February 27, 2023 Amanda N. Gunther

Every moment is a moment when you’re in the woods. Be careful what you wish for, bring a slotted spoon to catch the potato, and nice is different than good. Direct from Broadway (including an opening weekend surprise of Andy Karl re-joining the company for the weekend), the darkened Sondheim Fairytale launches its National Tour debut from The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Are you ready to go Into The Woods?

Sunset Boulevard at Broadway Center Stage at The Kennedy Center. ???? Jeremy Daniel

Sunset Boulevard at The Kennedy Center

Reviews February 3, 2023 Amanda N. Gunther

Teaching the world new ways to dream. But what happens when the shimmering gold of dreams fades to a distant silver of memory. Age comes for us all in the end does it not? The tragically beautiful and strikingly dramatic score of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard is sweeping the stage of the Eisenhower at The Kennedy Center this February as a part of the Broadway Center Stage series. With book & lyrics by Don Black &

A Soldier’s Play at The Kennedy Center

Reviews December 17, 2022 Erin Tarpley

“Any man ain’t sure where he belongs must be in a whole lotta pain.”

“War! Huh, (good God), What is it good for?” Well, that’s a loaded question for another day. But back in 1944 on a segregated southern Louisiana Army Base, the promise of deployment to the battle front is a dream for many of our young characters of color that yearn for a chance of serving their country, and perhaps getting the chance to see a part of the world that doesn’t follow Jim Crow laws.

Jennafer Newberry as Glinda and Lissa deGuzman as Elphaba in the National Tour of Wicked. ???? Joan Marcus

Wicked at The Kennedy Center

Reviews December 16, 2022 Amanda N. Gunther

Popular! You know it’s going to be pop-u-lar! It’s the perfect show to see— while you’re in DC— it’s very, green for the hol-i-daaay. You’re simply gonna love it— so don’t wait— get your tickets to-daaay! The musical sensation that’s sweeping the nation once more, Tony Award-winning Wicked has once again landed in Washington DC at The Kennedy Center, having drifted away in an emerald cloud some six years ago. Directed by Joe Mantello,

The Day You Begin at The Kennedy Center

Reviews November 22, 2022 Erin Tarpley

“There will be times when you walk into a room, and no one there is quite like you, until the day you begin to share your stories”

It is difficult at any age to enter a new space. There are different sights, unfamiliar sounds, and usually, new faces who have different experiences than you. Sometimes these new spaces take time to become familiar, and sometimes it takes courage within ourselves to open up to these new experiences to create our own place within this space.

National Touring Company of Hamilton ????Joan Marcus

Hamilton at The Kennedy Center

Reviews August 5, 2022 Amanda N. Gunther

Look around, look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now.

I’m not going to drop hot beats and flawless rap-rhymes like Lin-Manuel Miranda. But that line— after two years (and in some places more) of living in uncertainty as to whether or not live, in-person theatre would ever come back to us? After everything we all went through, collectively, individually, as a young nation struggling (not unlike the time and place where this whole thing called Hamilton is set,

Blue Man Group at The Kennedy Center

Reviews July 22, 2022 Charles Boyington

I am pretty sure that everyone has heard of Blue Man Group. You know that they paint themselves blue, play percussive instruments, have a fondness for primary colors and making a mess, all the while never saying a word. None of this is a plot spoiler. You walk into a theatre with moody lighting and a huge Syfy tech set with lots of LED lights and tv screens apparently showing random things – heck I even noticed a game of Pong.

The Second City's The Revolution Will Be Improvised. ???? Scott Suchman

The Revolution Will Be Improvised at The Kennedy Center

Reviews July 5, 2022 Erin Tarpley

“The couch is your coffin; and social media the funeral parlor”

Are current events getting you down? Starting to feel the weight of it all? Well The Second City’s The Revolution Will Be Improvised, now playing at the Kennedy Center through July 31st, may be what you need to laugh a little while you cry (or rage).

Performed by an amazingly talented ensemble cast, The Second City’s The Revolution Will Be Improvised does a lovely job of pulling topics from the headlines and poking fun at them while also not forgetting to address the real-world effect these events have on people in the present,

To Kill a Mockingbird ????Julieta Cervantes

To Kill A Mockingbird at The Kennedy Center

Reviews June 25, 2022 Steven Kirkpatrick & Charles Boyington Steven Kirkpatrick & Charles Boyington

If we needed a fresh take on this American classic, then playwright Aaron Sorkin has delivered it. Don’t get us wrong, this is still the Harper Lee story that most of us know and love, but it has been adapted in a 21st century manner, with some characterizations that are a bit more nuanced and, arguably, real. To summarize up front, this is a production we think everyone should see. Unfortunately, like so much entertainment with a powerful message,

Freestyle Love Supreme at The Kennedy Center

Reviews May 12, 2022 Charles Boyington

In name and beyond, FREESTYLE LOVE SUPREME pays homage to John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme,” with a nod to musical roots in jazz, soul, blues, and hip hop.

Improvisation games are a standard part of theatre and music. Not all theater has improvisation nor do all forms of music but they can be great training tools and occasionally create something that is performance worthy. The key to creating really good improvised performances is a set of rules and a set routine,

Beastgirl at The Kennedy Center

Reviews April 10, 2022 Erin Tarpley

“What does it mean to be a girl, Dominic Republican, a Beastgirl?”

Don’t be fooled. You may think you are entering Studio K at the Kennedy Center, but you are actually on the rooftop of the Amsterdam Ave. Apartments in New York City. From the moment you scan your ticket, you are transported to the rooftop of this humble apartment building in NYC; though you may not be sure at first why you are there.

(L to R) Danielle Wade as Cady Heron, Megan Masako Haley as Gretchen Wieners, Nadina Hassan as Regina George, and Jonalyn Saxer as Karen Smith in Mean Girls. ???? Jenny Anderson

Mean Girls at The Kennedy Center

Reviews April 9, 2022 Amanda N. Gunther

Welcome to High School! Get in, losers— we’re going to The Kennedy Center! Because their production of Mean Girls the musical, Directed and Choreographed by Casey Nicholaw is just so FETCH! And they are absolutely making FETCH happen!!! Based on the Paramount Pictures film from 2004 with book by Tina Fey, music by Jeff Richmond, and lyrics by Nell Benjamin, this high-octane, high-quality Broadway musical is a trip down memory lane for some and a totally relevant look at the uncivilized jungle that is American public high school.

Riverdance 25th Anniversary Show at The Kennedy Center

Reviews March 18, 2022 Steven Kirkpatrick

The 25th Anniversary tour of Riverdance (which began touring in 2020) is at The Kennedy Center for a very short run, March 15-27, in the Opera House. In Riverdance, Bill Whelan, Moya Doherty and John McColgan have created a show that has revolutionized ethnic dance, rendering it wildly appealing to general audiences. The production is well worth a visit for anyone who loves energetic dance, visual spectacle, toe-tapping rhythms, and absurdly talented performers.

Aaron LaVigne and the company of the North American Tour of JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR. Photo by Matthew Murphy, Evan Zimmerman - MurphyMade

Jesus Christ Superstar at The Kennedy Center

Reviews February 25, 2022 Steven Kirkpatrick

Fresh off a hit run in London, the 50th Anniversary production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s groundbreaking musical Jesus Christ Superstar is electrifying audiences at the Kennedy Center through March 13th.

Featuring the well-known hits “Superstar” and “I Don’t Know How to Love Him,” Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera retelling of how Jesus Christ spent the last week of his life as seen through the eyes of Judas,

Next To Normal at The Kennedy Center

Reviews January 31, 2020 Mark Briner

The
Kennedy Center’s Broadway Center Stage series drastically shifts gears but
continues to strike gold with their current production of Tom Kitt and Brian
Yorkey’s Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning musical Next to Normal. They have enjoyed great success for the last three
seasons mining a pleasing blend of golden age musicals like How to Succeed in Business Without Really
Trying and The Music Man and
modern age classics like In the Heights and The Who’s Tommy,

Footloose at The Kennedy Center

Reviews October 12, 2019 Mark Briner

In the
summer of 1984, a little movie with a big soundtrack took the world by storm
and launched a young up-and-coming leading man for whom at the time you’d be
pressed to find movie connections of two degrees into the stratosphere as the
ubiquitous megastar Kevin Bacon. Filling out the cast with veteran actors like
John Lithgow and Dianne Weist along with breakout performances from young
actors like Lori Singer, Chris Penn, and Sarah Jessica Parker,

Heidi Schreck in What The Constitution Means to Me. Photo: Joan Marcus

What The Constitution Means To Me at The Kennedy Center

Reviews September 15, 2019 Mark Briner

Like the play being revieweditself,
this review is by necessity going to be different. No cute opening paragraph.
No clever parallels. No history lesson to set the stage. Let me start right out
by saying that in 2019, this play couldn’t be more important. After two
off-Broadway incarnations and a Tony-nominated Broadway debut last spring
(winning the Obie Award for best new American play, the New York Drama Critic’s
Circle for best American play, and the Off-Broadway Alliance Award for best new
play as well as a Pulitzer nomination along the way),

Dear Evan Hansen at The Kennedy Center

Reviews August 14, 2019 Amanda N. Gunther

Dear Washington DC,

Today is going to be a good day and here’s why:

#youwillbefound

Dear Evan Hansen has arrived for a limited-run
engagement at The John F. Kennedy Center for The Performing Arts just as summer
comes to an end. This Tony Award-Winning musical has stunning emotional impact
and will take your breath away with its poignancy and overall relevance to
everyone from every walk of life,

Kaenaonālani Kekoa (left) as Princess Jasmine and Clinton Greenspan (right) as Aladdin in Disney's Aladdin. Photo: Deen van Meer

Aladdin at The Kennedy Center

Reviews July 22, 2019 Amanda N. Gunther

Well Ali Baba had them 40 thieves, Scheherezad-ie had a thousand
tales! But DC, you in luck, ‘cause on your stage— you got a Disney show that
never fails! You got some Disney in your Opera House, it’s the summer show, it’s
set up camp! The Kennedy Center’s punching with pizzazz, and all you’ll wanna
do is rub that lamp and you’ll get— Disney’s Aladdin! Direct from
Broadway on its National Tour,

The Band’s Visit at The Kennedy Center

Reviews July 14, 2019 Amanda N. Gunther

Once, not long ago, a group of musicians came from Broadway
to The Kennedy Center— but you will hear about this as it is pretty important.
The Tony Award-winning musical The Band’s Visit comes to the Eisenhower
Theatre of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts this summer, with
Music and Lyrics by David Yazbek and Book by Itamar Moses, the poignant and
striking tale of two cultures meeting by mistake is brilliant and relevant in
today’s ever-changing,

Betty Buckley and the National Touring Company of Hello, Dolly! Photo: Julieta Cervantes

Hello, Dolly! at The Kennedy Center

Reviews June 7, 2019 Amanda N. Gunther

When the whistles blow and the cymbals crash and the
sparklers light the sky— it’s time to call on The John F. Kennedy Center!
Because this summer they’re raising the roof; they’re carrying on; and you’ll
want to have an old trombone and an old baton before the parade of Hello, Dolly! starring Betty Buckley
passes by! Appearing live for one sizzling summer month on the Kennedy Center’s
Opera House Stage,

The Who’s Tommy at The Kennedy Center

Reviews April 28, 2019 Mark Briner

After two solid seasons, it’s
established that the Kennedy Center’s Broadway Center Stage series is a major
component of the Baltimore/DC theatrical landscape. Acquiring first rate
Broadway and Hollywood talent in intensely-assembled one week runs of home-grown
musicals in “concert” form that frankly rival and even exceed many current
national touring productions has brought unique, exciting new possibilities for
musical theatre to our region. They have given us superior mountings of
classics like How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and The
Music Man.

The Music Man at The Kennedy Center

Reviews February 9, 2019 Mark Briner

Amanda N. Gunther | TheatreBloom

What started out as a bold new
idea last year has realized itself as an exciting new staple of the
Baltimore/DC theatrical scene. The Kennedy Center’s Broadway Center Stage
concert series, which features top notch Broadway and Hollywood talent in
quickly-assembled one week runs to add special event variety to their already
busy tour and concert seasons, once again strikes gold (or perhaps more
accurately, brass—an entire marching band’s worth) in their jubilant current
production of Meredith Willson’s Tony winning classic The Music Man.