Colin K. Bills News

Tonight, at a celebration honoring theatre excellence on stages across the Washington area, theatre artists, administrators, patrons, and special guests gathered in the National Theatre's Helen Hayes Gallery for theatreWashington's announcement of nominees for the 36th Annual Helen Hayes Awards, which will be presented on Monday, May 18 at an event at the Anthem.

The Amateurs by Jordan Harrison and directed by Jason King Jones runs in Olney Theatre Center's Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab, March 4 - April 5, 2020. The production is the fifth show in Olney Theatre's 2019-2020 season and the final show to perform in the Theatre Lab before it closes for renovations, scheduled to re-open in November 2020. OTC regulars Evan Casey (On the Town), James Konicek (Dial 'M' For Murder), Michael Russotto (Singin' in the Rain), Emily Townley (Ken Ludwig's A Comedy of Tenors) and Rachel Zampelli (The Crucible) are joined by Shakespeare Theatre Company veteran John Keabler (Hotspur in Henry IV, part I). Opening night is Saturday, March 7 at 7:45pm.

There are some topics in which you hope plays conquer correctly. Topics that include dark parts of history such as the holocaust sit at the top of that list. Luckily, Alix Sobler's remarkable script and Theater J's impressive production of Sheltered, honors the topic, the people, and the story.

Jackie Sibblies Drury's play, Fairview, currently playing at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, is a show that desperately calls for conversation. It's no wonder, then, that each performance is immediately followed by community discussions led by Build With, a DC-based anti-racist training, facilitation, and consulting practice focused on people, power, and partnership. While I wasn't able to stay for this event following Saturday night's performance, it is an important step in ensuring this work's complicated themes are digested in a clear way. Fairview is one of the most conceptual shows in recent memory. Not every idea can be fully explored in this production, which has a tight 100-minute run time that director Stevie Walker-Webb keeps clipping at a good pace. Nevertheless, Fairview is a necessary piece for anyone looking to dive deeper into discussions of race and identity in America.

Alan Paul directs and demonstrates the power of live theater.

Olney Theatre Center launches the 2019-2020 season on the Mainstage with Kander and Ebb's CABARET directed by Alan Paul (August 28 - October 6, 2019). Broadway veteran Alexandra Silber, who played Guinevere in Paul's 2019 Helen Hayes Award-winning production of Camelot, and Tzeitel in the acclaimed Bart Sher revival of Fiddler on the Roof, will star as Sally Bowles, the flamboyant showgirl carried away by the glitz and debauchery of Weimar Berlin. Invited press night is Saturday, August 31 at 8:00pm.

Everyman Theatre is presenting two plays in repertory: QUEENS GIRL IN THE WORLD and QUEENS GIRL IN AFRICA. Olney Theatre's wonderful MARY STUART could be labeled QUEENS GIRLS IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

Notable for being the final selection of Woolly's incomparable Founding Artistic Director Howard Shalwitz, Rajiv Joseph's 'Describe the Night' is a must-see for any serious DC area theatergoer

Signature Theatre presents Grand Hotel, the Musical directed by Signature Theatre Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer (Broadway's Gigi, Follies, and Signature's Titanic) and choreographed by Kelly Crandall d'Amboise (Signature's Light Years). Set in 1928 Berlin, a series of eclectic guests and staff including a fading ballerina, a destitute baron, a wannabe-starlet typist and an ailing bookkeeper collide at the bustling Grand Hotel. Grand Hotel the Musical runs through May 19, 2019 in Signature Theatre's intimate MAX Theatre.

I recall seeing GRAND HOTEL in its pre-Broadway incarnation at the Colonial Theatre in Boston in 1989. I took my mother and a niece. I do not have much recollection of whether I enjoyed it or not. But I do remember the late Michael Jeter's performance from the Tony Awards in 1990. He was terrific. Tommy Tune directed

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company announces its 2019-2020 season, which features an energizing array of plays by new voices and Woolly veterans.

Signature Theatre presents Grand Hotel, the Musical directed by Signature Theatre Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer (Broadway's Gigi, Follies, and Signature's Titanic) and choreographed by Kelly Crandall D'Amboise(Signature's Light Years). Set in 1928 Berlin, a series of eclectic guests and staff including a fading ballerina, a destitute baron, a wannabe-starlet typist and an ailing bookkeeper collide at the bustling Grand Hotel. Grand Hotel the Musical runs from April 2, 2019 - May 19, 2019 in Signature Theatre's intimate MAX Theatre.

Signature Theatre presents Grand Hotel, the Musical directed by Signature Theatre Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer and choreographed by Kelly Crandall D'Amboise. Set in 1928 Berlin, a series of eclectic guests and staff including a fading ballerina, a destitute baron, a wannabe-starlet typist and an ailing bookkeeper collide at the bustling Grand Hotel. Grand Hotel the Musical runs from April 2, 2019 - May 19, 2019 in Signature Theatre's intimate MAX Theatre.

Signature Theatre's Grand Hotel, the Musical directed by Signature Theatre Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer (Broadway's Gigi, Follies, and Signature's Titanic) and choreographed by Kelly Crandall d'Amboise (Signature's Light Years) is now on stage. Set in 1928 Berlin, a series of eclectic guests and staff including a fading ballerina, a destitute baron, a wannabe-starlet typist and an ailing bookkeeper collide at the bustling Grand Hotel. Grand Hotel the Musical will run from April 2, 2019 - May 19, 2019 in Signature Theatre's intimate MAX Theatre. Get a first look at the production below!

The clash between Queen Elizabeth and Mary, Queen of Scots takes on contemporary resonance, exploring issues of gender and power in Mary Stuart, adapted by Olney Theatre Center Artistic Director Jason Loewith from Friedrich Schiller's Maria Stuart. Loewith also directs his adaptation of this retooled classic for a unique 21st Century production staged with 6 actors in the intimate confines of the 150-seat Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab (May 8 - June 9, 2019).

Mind vs. Matter. Game on. Folger Theatre concludes its 2018/19 season of characters that "shake the world" with Love's Labor's Lost, Shakespeare's quick-witted comedy filled with oaths, trickery, and confessions of love. Vivienne Benesch, the 2017 winner of the annual Zelda Fichandler Award, makes her Folger directorial debut.

Let me start this review with a comment by Olney's Artistic Director, Jason Loewith's comment in the program. 'After all my years in this business, many of them championing playwrights and new plays, it takes a lot to knock my socks off. I can count on two hands the experiences that reshaped by understanding of live theater and its possibilities. The world premiere of Ella Hickson's OIL in London two years was one of them. It is a blazingly, ambitious, as intellectually thrilling, as emotionally resonant as most the great works I've seen this century.'

Signature Theatre has announced the full cast and creative team for Grand Hotel, the Musical directed by Signature Theatre Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer (Broadway's Gigi, Follies, and Signature's Titanic) and choreographed by Kelly Crandall D'Amboise (Signature's Light Years). Set in 1928 Berlin, a series of eclectic guests and staff including a fading ballerina, a destitute baron, a wannabe-starlet typist and an ailing bookkeeper collide at the bustling Grand Hotel. Grand Hotel the Musical will run from April 2, 2019 - May 19, 2019 in Signature Theatre's intimate MAX Theatre.

Jump back to a time when flannel was the height of fashion and mix tapes were the language of love. Lyric Theatre presents the regional premiere of this coming-of-age love story - Girlfriend - later this month at Lyric at the Plaza, 1725 NW 16 St.

Due to high demand, Olney Theatre Center is thrilled to announce that their production of Once has been extended through March 17.