Susan Rome News

This evening, the 34th Annual Helen Hayes Awards celebrated Washington's diverse and vital theatre community with a gala event at The Anthem, recognizing 258 Helen Hayes Award nominees and 48 award recipients drawn from 202 eligible productions presented at 64 theatres in 2017. GALA Hispanic Theatre's Spanish-language production of Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegria Hudes' In The Heights received nine awards, putting them at the top of a list of 20 theatres receiving Helen Hayes Awards this year.

There is a great drama in Roz and Ray, but only if the focus is less on Roz and Ray and more about what brought them together, healthcare.

Thank you Arena Stage Artistic Director Molly Smith for bringing to the Washington Area the sequel writer Robert Schenkkan's two part series on President Lyndon Baines Johnson. First there was the Tony Winning ALL THE WAY which dealt with Johnson ascending the presidency while THE GREAT SOCIETY picks up at Johnson's State of the Union message in 1965 after his massive election victory.

It will take biographer Robert Caro five volumes to complete his portrait of Lyndon B. Johnson, so it's no surprise that there's a second LBJ play from Robert Schenkkan.

Robert Schenkkan's The Great Society, the second half of the epic drama about President Lyndon Baines Johnson, makes its Washington, D.C. debut at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater, following the theater's critically acclaimed 2016 run of All the Way.

The nominees for the 2018 Helen Hayes Awards were announced on February 5, 2018. One of the country's most prestigious cultural honors, The Helen Hayes Awards recognizes and celebrates excellence in professional theatre throughout the Washington metropolitan area. The National Theatre's Helen Hayes Gallery set the scene for the announcement of nominees in 47 categories for artistic excellence, and the theatre companies eligible for the 2017 John Aniello Award for Outstanding Emerging Theatre Company. The recipient of the 2018 Helen Hayes Tribute will be announced shortly.

Robert Schenkkan's The Great Society, the second half of the epic drama about President Lyndon Baines Johnson, makes its Washington, D.C. debut at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater, following the theater's critically acclaimed 2016 run of All the Way. Kyle Donnelly returns to Arena Stage to helm this political thrill ride that shines a bright, clear light on a pivotal moment in American history (New York Times).

Robert Schenkkan's The Great Society, the second half of the epic drama about President Lyndon Baines Johnson, makes its Washington, D.C. debut at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater, following the theater's critically acclaimed 2016 run of All the Way. Kyle Donnelly returns to Arena Stage to helm this political thrill ride that shines a bright, clear light on a pivotal moment in American history (New York Times). Chronicling LBJ's second term as he seeks to maintain his relationship with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and complete a raft of impossibly ambitious social policy projects, The Great Society runs February 2-March 11, 2018 on the Fichandler Stage.

From the cast to the production design, Theater J's production is as good as it gets. We just wish Uhry's play was the same way.

Today's subject Amber Paige McGinnis is currently living her theater life at Theater J as the director of the Tony Award-winning play The Last Night of Ballyhoo. The production runs through December 31st.

Just in time for the holiday season, Theater J offers Alfred Uhry's classic comedy The Last Night of Ballyhoo. A Chanukah-inflected alternative to the Christmas Carols and Nutcracker Suites, The Last Night of Ballyhoo is a winning combination of quirky romance with real dramatic heft at its core.

Just in time for the holiday season, Theater J offers Alfred Uhry's classic comedy The Last Night of Ballyhoo. A Chanukah-inflected alternative to the Christmas Carols and Nutcracker Suites, The Last Night of Ballyhoo is a winning combination of quirky romance with real dramatic heft at its core.

Reacting to enthusiastic critical and audience response, Theater J is extending the run of its current production of Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs by one week, to May 14.  

Featuring a cast of seasoned veteran actors working beside some of the DC-area's most gifted young performers, Theater J offers a sublime take on Neil Simon's semi-autobiographical look at growing up poor and horny in Depression era Brooklyn. Through the lens of nostalgia, Simon's 34 year-old play is like a valentine to a hard-scrabble upbringing sprinkled with humor, rather than the laugh riot of THE ODD COUPLE or the later RUMORS.

Starting in the 1950's everyone knew that Neil Simon could write hilarious jokes and craft entertaining comedies. But in 1983, when Brighton Beach Memoirs premiered on Broadway, it became abundantly clear that Simon's heart is as robust as his funny bone. The first of his "Eugene trilogy" of semi-autobiographical plays, Brighton Beach Memoirs runs at Theater J from April 5-May 7, 2017.

Theater J, the nation's largest and most prominent Jewish theater, announces full casting for the 2016-2017 season, the first season chosen by new Theater J Artistic Director Adam Immerwahr.

Theater J, the nation's largest and most prominent Jewish theater, announces full casting for the 2016-2017 season, the first season chosen by new Theater J Artistic Director Adam Immerwahr.

This week, we go around our Broadway World to feature stories in Boston, Sacramento, Los Angeles and more. Check out our top 10 stories around our Broadway World below, which include THE MUSIC MAN at Cape Playhouse, SEUSSICAL at California Music Circus, and GREY GARDENS in Los Angeles, just to name a few.

The long ride up the elevator to Studio Theater's Stage 4 is certainly rewarded in the regional premiere of Robert Askins' Broadway hit Hand to God.