Category Archives: Theatre

Survey of American Music in Drag

By Roger Catlin | Published: March 9, 2018

The Kennedy Center kicked off its multidisciplinary contemporary cultural assault with something thought to embody the approach, Taylor Mac’s “A 24-Decade History of Popular Music (1776-2016).” Had the cabaret history in drag been presented in its original form — a single, 24-hour concert with 246 songs — it certainly would have been the kind of [...]

Also posted in Music, Review | Comments closed

Comic Nimesh Patel Keeps Topical

By Roger Catlin | Published: February 24, 2018

The comedian Nimesh Patel was in town this week, playing the Improv. His first D.C. show, he says, came in opening for Michael Che at the old LivingSocial on H Street. It was the Che connection that helped land his “Saturday Night Live” gig last fall, where he writes as part of the “Weekend Update” [...]

Also posted in Television | Comments closed

When Sir Tim Rice Wrote for Elvis

By Roger Catlin | Published: February 14, 2018

I had Sir Tim Rice on the line the other day, to discuss the restaging of “Chess,” which he created with two members of Abba. It premieres at the Kennedy Center with a new book by Danny Strange (“Game Change,” “Empire”) tonight. But I had to ask him about some earlier songs he wrote in [...]

Also posted in Music | Comments closed

Theatre Review: LBJ’s ‘The Great Society’

By Roger Catlin | Published: February 11, 2018

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. His first, “All the Way,” about Johnson’s first year in office and passage of the Civil Rights act, was a Tony-winner on Broadway and adapted for [...]

Also posted in Review | Comments closed

American Ballet Theatre’s ‘Whipped Cream’

By Roger Catlin | Published: February 3, 2018

It must be galling for many ballet companies that their very operation is dependent on extended holiday performances of “The Nutcracker” year after year. Why can’t there be some other pieces that could delight wide audiences in the same way the Sugarplum Fairies do, during other parts of the year? A strong candidate for that [...]

Also posted in Music, Review | Comments closed

Daniel Kitson’s D.C. World Premiere

By Roger Catlin | Published: November 7, 2017

There was sufficient buzz about the booking of a new Daniel Kitson show at Studio Theatre this season that they would apparently take anything. The British storyteller, the darling of Edinburgh Festival Fringe, has already whipped up his own fervent fan base in New York to the degree that he doesn’t have to do interviews [...]

Also posted in Review | Comments closed

Folger’s Close Up ‘Antony and Cleopatra’

By Roger Catlin | Published: October 18, 2017

A condensed “Antony and Cleopatra” at the Folger Theatre still has time for a couple of ensemble dance numbers straight out of “Solid Gold,” a battle scene that’s almost as well choreographed and a whole lot of kissing. There’s no questioning the physical attraction between Cody Nickell’s Antony and Shirine Babb’s Cleopatra. As the play [...]

Also posted in Review | Comments closed

‘I’ll Get You Back Again’ at Round House

By Roger Catlin | Published: October 12, 2017

With its emphasis on both 1960s psychedelic rock music and the Three Stooges, it would seem the latest offering at the Round House Theatre was tailored precisely for my taste. Add to that the guy who in my mind had the single best moment in this summer’s “Twin Peaks: The Return,” David Patrick Kelly (who [...]

Also posted in Review | Comments closed

On Stage: Bessie Smith and ‘Devil’s Music’

By Roger Catlin | Published: August 31, 2017

The Mosaic Theater Company ignites its third season with a sure hit, a proven crowd-pleaser about the Empress of Blues. “The Devil’s Music: The Life & Blues of Bessie Smith” retells the story of the American musical legend, and is as sure to delight audiences here as it did when it premiered Off-Broadway in 2001 [...]

Also posted in Review | Comments closed

What I Saw at Capital Fringe

By Roger Catlin | Published: July 22, 2017

I took buses, cars, Metro trains, streetcars, and even walked to the H Street corridor where most of this year’s Capital Fringe Festival took place in Northeast D.C. As part of the team reviewing shows for The Washington Post, I saw quite a range from good to bad this year. Here’s what I saw: A [...]

Also posted in Other Writing, Review | Comments closed