All stories by Peter Orvetti on BroadwayStars

Sunday, July 8, 2018

Fringe Review: 'O Monsters' by New Paradise Laboratories at Arena Stage Cradle by Peter Orvetti

As I was enduring New Paradise Laboratories' "O Monsters," one of the five productions in the Fringe Curated Series at this year's Capital Fringe Festival, I thought often of "The Emperor's …

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 04:42PM[SHARE]
Monday, June 4, 2018

Theatre Review: 'A Delicate Balance' at Silver Spring Stage by Peter Orvetti

With Fred Zirm's mounting of "A Delicate Balance," Silver Spring Stage has created a very good production of a very odd play. To mark its semicentennial, Silver Spring Stage — which co…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 06:19PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Theatre Review: 'Vietgone' at Studio Theatre by Peter Orvetti

The elevator to Studio Theatre's Stage 4 opens onto a corridor lined with crates, packing materials, and the stenciled words "Made in Vietnam." Entering the tight performance space, the audi…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 03:03AM[SHARE]
Friday, May 4, 2018

Theatre Review: 'Hamlet' at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts by Peter Orvetti

For a very limited run this week, Denmark by way of West Africa by way of Britain is in residence at The Kennedy Center. The Royal Shakespeare Company has created a sub-Saharan "Hamlet" that…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 06:12PM[SHARE]
Thursday, April 5, 2018

Theatre Review: 'Potted Potter' at Shakespeare Theatre Company by Peter Orvetti

"Potted Potter", the good-natured send-up of J.K. Rowling's seven Harry Potter novels, is back at the Shakespeare Theatre Company for another brief run of dumb fun. Daniel Clarkson and Jeffe…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 09:24AM[SHARE]
Monday, April 2, 2018

TV Theatre Review: 'Jesus Christ Superstar: Live in Concert' on NBC by Peter Orvetti

"Jesus Christ Superstar: Live in Concert" taught me to have faith in NBC, or at least in its live musical endeavors. I was a Doubting Thomas about the Peacock's plans to mark Easter with a s…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 09:10AM[SHARE]
Monday, March 19, 2018

Theatre Review: 'All In The Timing' at Silver Spring Stage by Peter Orvetti

David Ives first came to the attention of many theatergoers with his "Venus in Fur" eight years ago or with his adaptations of Pierre Corneille's "The Liar" and Jean-Francois Regnard's "The …

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 01:58PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Theatre Review: 'Godspell' at NextStop Theatre Company by Peter Orvetti

"Godspell" has been an American theatrical mainstay for so long that it's easy to forget just what a strange show it is. It has no linear plot, no particular setting in either time or space,…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 08:26PM[SHARE]
Monday, February 19, 2018

Theatre Review: 'Light Years' at Signature Theatre by Peter Orvetti

John Adams once wrote that he devoted his life to politics and war so that his children could devote theirs to science and philosophy. That sentiment is at the core of the American immigrant…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 12:47PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Theatre Review: 'The Way of the World' at Folger Theatre by Peter Orvetti

Actor Ashley Austin Morris and costume designer Linda Cho are the true stars of "The Way of the World," Theresa Rebeck's new comedy of the indiscreet, charmless One Percent currently running…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 03:30AM[SHARE]

Theatre Review: '45 Plays for 45 Presidents' at NextStop Theatre Company by Peter Orvetti

"45 Plays for 45 Presidents" is a rough, vital, essential work of theatre, currently being expertly performed by a perfectly selected cast at NextStop Theatre Company. The show — actua…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 02:31AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Theatre Review: 'Vicuña & The American Epilogue' at Mosaic Theater Company by Peter Orvetti

"Vicuña & The American Epilogue" is a tale of an aspiring emperor's new clothes. The Los Angeles premiere of this sharp satire of Donald Trump's presidential run straddled Election Da…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 12:24PM[SHARE]
Sunday, October 15, 2017

Theatre Review: 'Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike' at Highwood Theatre by Peter Orvetti

Three women (though not Three Sisters) elevate director Melissa B. Robinson's production of Christopher Durang's "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike," running through the end of October at …

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 09:35PM[SHARE]
Monday, October 2, 2017

Theatre Review: 'The Judicial Murder of Mrs. Surratt' at Aldersgate Church Community Theater by Peter Orvetti

Rich Amada's historical drama "The Judicial Murder of Mrs. Surratt" is making its world premiere at Aldersgate Church Community Theater in Alexandria this month, in a production where Charle…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 12:04AM[SHARE]
Thursday, September 28, 2017

Theatre Review: 'The Wild Party' at Constellation Theatre Company by Peter Orvetti

Though thin on plot and weak on character development, the Constellation Theatre Company production of Andrew Lippa's 2000 musical "The Wild Party" still manages to impress due to a strong c…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 02:31PM[SHARE]
Saturday, August 5, 2017

Theatre Review: 'King Kirby' at Off The Quill by Peter Orvetti

Director Keith Cassidy, a comic book fan, discovered the script of "King Kirby" while browsing a bookstore in New York. He had no idea that the play existed. It was a fitting start for his O…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 10:02PM[SHARE]
Monday, July 17, 2017

Fringe Review: 'Trey Parker's Cannibal! The Musical' by HalfMad Theatre at Atlas Sprenger by Peter Orvetti

The dozens of shows that make up a Capital Fringe Festival always vary wildly in terms of subject and style, but perhaps even more in terms of stagecraft. Some shows consist of just a perfor…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 03:50AM[SHARE]

Fringe Review: 'Numesthesia' by Uncle Funsy Productions at Atlas Lab II by Peter Orvetti

David S. Kessler has a condition known as ordinal linguistic personification. But he does not suffer from it; he could be said to enjoy it (for the most part). The condition is a form of syn…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 03:44AM[SHARE]
Thursday, July 13, 2017

Fringe Review: 'The Dream Dancer' at Elstad Auditorium at Gallaudet University by Peter Orvetti

"The Dream Dancer," part of the Capital Fringe Festival, is an intriguing but flawed dance theatre production that veers between well-executed movement pieces and dialogue that is stilted an…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 01:03AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Theatre Review: 'Crazy Mary Lincoln' at Pallas Theatre Collective by Peter Orvetti

Ask someone to name a bad president and they'll be quick to offer several names. Ask someone to name a bad First Lady, and it's likely that one name will jump to come to mind. Mary Todd L…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 03:00PM[SHARE]
Monday, June 12, 2017

Show and Director with Regional Ties Win Big at Tonys by Peter Orvetti

The CBS broadcast of the 71st Annual Tony Awards brought few surprises in terms of winners, and a game but middling performance by host Kevin Spacey. But the performances " the real reason f…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 12:16AM[SHARE]
Monday, May 29, 2017

Theatre Review: 'Urinetown: The Musical' at NextStop Theatre Company by Peter Orvetti

When the Emperor Vespasian's son Titus criticized his father for placing a tax on Rome's toilets, Vespasian held up a gold coin and told him, "Money does not stink. And yet it comes from uri…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 01:48PM[SHARE]
Monday, May 22, 2017

Theatre Review: 'The Glass Menagerie' at Parlor Room Theater by Peter Orvetti

Washington is wealthy in terms of theatres, but sometimes one has to be wealthy to afford a ticket. Parlor Room Theater is a small professional company with the admirable goal of making grea…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 07:28PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Theatre Review: 'The Man Who' at Spooky Action Theater by Peter Orvetti

A 1985 book by a neurologist might seem like strange fodder for the stage, but the real individuals described in Oliver Sacks's "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" are ripe for theatric…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 06:02AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Theatre Review: 'The Arabian Nights' at Constellation Theatre Company by Peter Orvetti

Constellation Theatre Company marks its 10th season with a revival of a show from its first, playwright Mary Zimmerman's adaptation of "The Arabian Nights," directed by Allison Arkell Stockm…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 02:50PM[SHARE]

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