author: Erin Tarpley
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Marlene Dietrich was a legend of the Silver Screen, but she was by no means a monolith.Â
Before the curtain rises, the audience is presented with a loop of a 1930 screen-test the notorious star filmed for The Blue Angel: the film that would eventually launch her into international acclaim. While shown without sound, this three-minute loop gives the audience an accurate preview of the many faces of Marlene Dietrich.Â
Charlene V. Smith bookends Doctor Faustus with two magnificent, and very different, speeches. She begins with arrogance borne of intelligence, full of both wit and ennui, seeking greener pastures beyond this world. She ends broken, despairing, hopeless, crying out to heaven and hell. Her performance as Joan Faustus is insightful and incisive, precise and passionate.
The bridge between the two is Hollis Evey as Mephistopheles, who grants Faustus her every worldly wish in exchange for the immortal soul that Joan doesn’t believe she has.
You’ve seen all the stage shows there are to see
With musical fortitude and pride
But if there’s something new you’re craving
Try out the musical of Bonnie & Clyde.
Monumental Theatre Company is of the suggestion
That they ought to go and raise a little hell
So they’ve put together this here production
Of two famous outlaws we know well
Bringing to the DMV the professional premiere
For a little company that is quite the great stride
It’s a limited run,
Taking the piss out of musical theatre, the Tony Award-winning show Urinetown: The Musical  (book & lyrics Greg Kotis, music & lyrics Mark Hollmann) lands with a thunderous splash on the stage of Constellation Theatre Company as the first production of their 2016/2017 season housed at Source Theatre. Directed by the company’s Founding Artistic Director Allison Arkell Stockman, with Musical Direction by Jake Null, the production is a triumphant theatrical sensation that titillates audiences with a trickle of dark humor,