Washington, DC Interviews

Today’s subject Peter Salem is currently living his theatre life as the composer of Scottish Ballet’s production of The Crucible. The show runs now through May 28th at Kennedy Center in the Eisenhower Theater....

Today's subject Sarna Lapine is currently living her theatre life at the directing helm of Signature Theatre's upcoming production of Stephen Sondheim's gothic musical masterpiece Sweeney Todd. The production begins performances on May 16th and will play through July 9th in Signature Theatre's MAX s...

Today's subject Susan Rome is currently living her thetre life in an epic way. She is currently playing four very different roles in Angels in America Part One: Millennium Approaches at Arena Stage. The production runs through April 23rd in Arena Stage's Fichlander Theatre Space....

Today’s subject Sophia Manicone is currently living her theatre life on Broadway playing Iola Stover in the acclaimed revival of Parade. The show’s limited engagement, which stars Ben Platt and Micaela Diamond, runs through August sixth at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. The production marks Sophia’s...

Today's subject Jason Ma is currently living his theatre life telling us all about 'The Advantages of Floating in The Middle of The Sea' in Signature Theatre's current production of Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's underappreciated masterpiece Pacific Overtures. Jason plays the lead role of Recit...

A few weeks back, I wrote a feature on the Production Apprentices of Studio Theatre. The piece also talked about Studio Theatre’s Apprenticeship Program and how it also focusses on other areas besides the performance side of things....

Today’s subject Justin Huertas is currently living his theatre life as the composer/lyricist of Kennedy Center’s World Premiere Commission Musical The Mortification of Fovea Munson. The show begins performances March fourth and plays through the nineteenth in Kennedy Center’s Family Theater....

Those of us in the DC area have known about the talents of Dame Felicia Curry for many years. I’m sure you remember her recent star turn in My Lord, What a Night at Ford’s Theatre where she played the famous opera star Marian Anderson or maybe you saw her blow the roof off of Arena Stage in Nina Sim...

Something I have said many times is that I wish audience members would fully realize the amount of work and the amount of people it takes to put on a production. The things I have heard in theatre lobbies are both scary and laughable at the same time. Things like 'Oh, I want a chance to crash that c...

Today's subject Dani Stoller is currently living her theatre life as the playwright for Girlhood at Round House Theatre. The production is Round House's 21st Annual Sarah Metzger Memorial Play and as always, is performed by Round House's Teen Performance Company. The show performs February 17th thro...

Today's subject is one of those performers that proves you can reinvent yourself to great success. Many of us locally came to know Jessica Vosk when she blew into the Kennedy Center with the national tour of Wicked in the role of Elphaba. After touring with the show she took Broadway by storm in tha...

Today’s subject Thomas Floyd is someone you probably know if you are a regular reader of The Washington Post. Thomas is an arts journalist who contributes features on theater, movies, television, books and comedy for the Weekend and Style sections. He also writes theater, film, and literary criticis...

Today's subject Norm Lewis is probably best known for his rich baritone sound and superb acting in several Broadway musicals. His tour de force performance opposite Audra McDonald in Porgy and Bess is still one of the great modern-day performances....

Some of you might know today's subject Michael Urie from his work on the tv series Ugly Betty but his career as a stage, film and TV actor goes far beyond that one famous TV show. He can currently be seen onstage at Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) in Jane Anger playing the role of William Shakespe...

Today's subject Lissa DeGuzman is currently living her theatre life on tour as the belting green faced witch Elphaba in Wicked. The show runs through January 22nd in the Opera House at Kennedy Center....

Today's subject Aaron Posner is what I call a GOD of DC theatre. He is arguably one of the best interpreters of Shakespeare, Chekov, and so much more. His current production of The Tempest (co-director and co-adapter with Teller, yes, of Penn and Teller) is onstage at Round House Theatre through Jan...

Today’s subject Lauren Pekel is currently living her theatre life as the Production Stage Manager for what is easily one of the more technically complex productions running in DC theatre right now. Nightly (with two matinees) at Studio Theatre, Lauren calls over 300 light cues and close to 100 sound...

Today's subject Annabelle Lopez Ochoa has one of the most prolific careers in the world of dance. Starting tomorrow evening, November 30th, you can see her work Doña Perón at the Kennedy Center as performed by Ballet Hispánico. The performance runs through December 3rd....

Today's subject Lance Pennington proves that longevity can be achieved while working in theatre. For 45 years, yes you read that right, he has been living his theatre life as a member of the props department at Arena Stage. His work can currently be seen with their current production of Holiday whic...

Dance Nation, Olney Theatre's 22-23 Season opener, is a 2019 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama by playwright and performer Clare Barron and directed for Olney Theatre by Jenna Place. The play follows a 'tweenage dance team from Liverpool, Ohio, more is at stake than a first-place trophy.' Its...

Adrian Ries is currently living his theatre life as the musical director for the U.S. National Tour of The Band's Visit. The show runs through July 17th in the Eisenhower Theater at Kennedy Center. For those who can't see the tour in DC, it will conclude in Richmond VA playing from July 26th to the ...

Theatre Life chats with Bree Lowdermilk, one of the most talented modern-day composers working in the musical theatre. You might know her work from her long association with book writer/lyricist Kait Kerrigan. ...

Deborah F. Rutter is the President of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. A post she has held since September 1st, 2014. ...

Today’s subject Melanie Moore is currently living her theatre life playing the iconic literary character Scout Finch in the U.S. Tour of To Kill a Mockingbird. The show is currently in performance at Kennedy Center’s Opera House and will play through July tenth....

The National Tour of Dear Evan Hansen is in its fourth year of touring across North America, and will now have a new Evan Hansen! Anthony Norman (The Prom original Broadway cast, National Tour of Newsies, and more) is stepping into the lead role! Read BroadwayWorld's interview with the new star of D...

Today’s subject Ivania Stack is currently living her theatre life as the costume designer for There’s Always the Hudson at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. The production runs through June fifth....

Today’s subject Andrew Lippa is an award-winning composer/lyricist whose work spans all forms of music. On June fourth the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington will present Lippa’s Unbreakable for two performances only at 3:00 and 8:00pm. The event will be performed at The Lincoln Theatre....

Today’s subject Schele Williams is currently living her Theatre Life as the director of the World Premiere TYA (Theatre for Young Audiences) production Show Way The Musical now running in the Family Theater at Kennedy Center through May 29th....

Today’s subject Michael John LaChuisa is currently living his theatre life as the composer for the upcoming production of Our Town at Shakespeare Theatre Company. The production runs May 12th through June 11th in STC’s Sidney Harman Hall and features (wait for it) a FULL cast of DC performers....

Today’s subjects Anne Runolfsson and Tess Adams are currently living their theatre lives performing in their mother/daughter self-created show about the ups and downs of being in show business entitled The Story Goes On. You can see these crazily talented ladies in action April 29th at the New Spire...

Today’s subject Bobby Smith is a prime example of someone living his theatre life to the fullest. Currently he is performing in Signature Theatre’s excellent production of She Loves Me as parfumerie clerk Ladislav Sipos. The production runs through April 24th in Signature's MAX space....

DC’S little jewel of a theatre company Washington Stage Guild (WSG) was built on producing the works of George Bernard Shaw. In its long and distinguished history of producing high quality theatre the company has produced over thirty productions of Shaw’s work....

You know how many people in the performing arts think of themselves as Christlike or just consider themselves GOD? Today's subject Aaron LaVigne can actually get away with it because he is currently living his theatre life on tour playing the world's most famous carpenter Jesus in the North American...

Today’s subject Luz Nicolas is currently living her theatre life onstage at GALA Hispanic Theatre in the World Premiere production of La Casa De La Laguna (The House on The Lagoon) where she once again is demonstrating her fierceness as one of the area’s best performers. The production runs through ...

Today’s subject Yesenia Iglesias is currently living her theatre life onstage at Signature Theatre in Daphne’s Dive which runs through March 20th in the ARK space. Last time Yesenia performed at Signature, she was getting beat up and bludgeoned to death in Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible He...

Anyone that has read my reviews or columns over the years knows that I always pay attention to the orchestrations and orchestrator of any given musical. Let’s face it, without the orchestrator, the score is only a piano. Today’s subject Doug Besterman has been living his theatre life for many yea...

There is almost nothing consistent anymore in life with the current state of affairs but when Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater comes to town, things almost feel normal again. The company will be performing in the Kennedy Center Opera House starting tonight through February 6th with four different ...

Today’s subject Lisa Stephen Friday has a remarkable story to tell as she is currently living her theatre life as the writer and performer of Trans Am. The show begins performances at Keegan Theatre on January 29th and will run through February 26th....

Today’s subject Kenny Seymour is currently living his theatre life being immersed with the Motown Sound as the Musical Supervisor and Arranger for the US National Tour of Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations while still serving as the show’s Musical Director on Broadway. The tourin...

Today’s subject Courtney Balan is currently living her theatre life on tour as the self-absorbed Broadway star Dee Dee Allen in the TOTALLY original musical The Prom.  The show plays through January 16th in the Eisenhower at The Kennedy Center. It will then continue on locally to The Hippodrome in B...

Today’s subject William T. Newman Jr. is currently living his theatre life portraying the esteemed African-American playwright August Wilson in How I Learned What I Learned at WSC Avant Bard. The production marks the company’s return to LIVE performances and runs through December 19th at Gunston Art...