ONSTAGE, OLD TOWN – September
By Mark Edelman
September marks the beginning of Theater Week–an even better reason to get out there and save on more than thirty productions scattered across the DMV. Check in at www.theatreweek.org beginning Sep 9 to find companies offering tickets for as low as $20. It runs September 26 to October 13—plenty of time to enjoy the great theater our area has to offer, including some of these:
Though the 15th
SOFT POWER
Signature Theatre
Signature kicks off its 2024-25 season with a daring piece by Tony® Award winners David Henry Hwang (M Butterfly) and Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home, Kimberly Akimbo). After a true-life street mugging that nearly killed him, Hwang returned to the dilemma that informed his life—what does it mean to be an “other” (in his case, Chinese-American) in contemporary America? He was inspired to come to grips with that question in this quirky new musical which features the playwright himself as a character—a new one on me.
Ably directed by Ethan Heard, Daniel May as a Chinese producer trying to mount a show on Broadway and Grace Yoo as a hard-nosed Hillary Clinton tackle a sometimes madcap, other times touching tale about, of all things, governance. It’s 2016 and the run-up to our presidential contest (and you know how that turned out). Though a tough year to defend majority rule, May and Yoo still manage to sashay Fred and Ginger style thru a show tune-filled polemic that pits our democracy against Chinese totalitarianism. If that sounds too complicated, go see it for Broadway vet Danny Troob’s gorgeous orchestrations. Tickets at http://www.sigtheatre.org
Through the 21st
THE EXPLORERS CLUB
Alexandria Little Theatre
Deadly cobras, bad bartenders and the occasional airship populate this wacky comedy about a brilliant, beautiful woman’s quest to lead a heretofore males-only institution out of its musty old past. Sound familiar? Grab your safety goggles for the merriment. Tickets at http://www.thelittletheatre.com
5th – 29th
THE 22+ WEDDINGS OF HUGO
Gala Hispanica Theatre
Why in the world does Hugo, a simple postal clerk, get married so many times? In Gala Hispanica’s season opener—in Spanish with English supertitles—we find out in this hilarious tale of love in times of hatred penned by Gala Hispanica’s artistic director Gustavo Ott. Tickets at http://www.galatheatre.org
5th – October 6th
LADY DAY AT EMERSON’S BAR AND GRILL
Atlas Theatre
It’s 1959 and Billie Holiday is on a bender. Still, as embodied by DC actress and chanteuse Roz White, Lady Day—purveyor of wonderful songs like God Bless the Child, What a Little Moonlight Can Do and the tragic Strange Fruit– remains an incandescent talent to behold as portrayed in this Mosaic Theatre production. To add to the atmosphere, the Atlas will be transformed into Emerson’s for the run. Tickets at http://www.mosaictheater.org
6th – October 13th
JA JA’S AFRICAN HAIR BRAIDING
Arena Stage
This Tony® Award nominated Best Play takes us inside a bustling West African salon in Harlem where, every day, a lively and eclectic group of hair braiders create masterpieces on the heads of the neighborhood women. During one sweltering summer day, love will blossom, dreams will flourish and secrets will be revealed. Tickets at http://www.arenastage.org
6th – November 10th
THE ADDAMS FAMILY
Toby’s Dinner Theatre
Charles Addams’ dark but delightful New Yorker cartoons get the Broadway treatment following in the footsteps of the film. When Uncle Fester explains to Gomez, Morticia and the rest of their ghoulish clan that daughter Wednesday has invited her new (normal) boyfriend and his folks to dinner, all hell (and fun) break loose. Tickets at http://www.tobysdinnertheatre.com
8th – October 6th
THE COMEUPPANCE
Woolly Mammoth
Hot playwright and Tony ® Award nominee Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (Appropriate) penned this piece about a “multi-ethnic reject group” celebrating their 20th high school reunion in Prince George’s County. Amid the chatty reminiscing, an otherworldly presence appears, forcing these former classmates to face the past head-on and reckon with an unknowable future. Tickets at www.woollymammoth.net
10th – October 6th
COMEDY OF ERRORS
Shakespeare Theatre Company
STC Artistic Director Simon Godwin returns to the Folio for this silly comedy about two sets of twins, topsy turvy love and the all-too human desire to belong. With Alex Brightman and David Wynn, who kinda look alike and starred in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical School of Rock—Brightman on Broadway, Wynn in the West End. Expect some rock and roll in this adaptation, too. Tickets at http://www.shakespearetheatre.org
10th – October 20th
PRIMARY TRUST
Signature Theatre
Winner of the 2024 Pulitzer Prize, this touching story takes us to Wally’s Tiki Bar, which serves the sweetest mai tais in town. Kenneth never misses a happy hour with his best friend until a job loss upends his static existence. Now he must discover the courage to open a new door and change his life – even if it means facing the past and letting go. Tickets at http://www.sigtheatre.org
11th – October 6th
SOJOURNERS
Roundhouse Theatre
A Nigerian couple living in Texas in the 1970s welcomes the promise of America but remains homesick for the Old Country. Pregnancy, the demands of work and school, isolation and frequent separation challenge Abaisma and her husband Ukpong until the inspiration of an unexpected community teaches her to forge her own path. Tickets at http://www.roundhousetheatre.org
12th – 15th
OVO
Capitol One Arena
Those amazing Cirque du Soleil folks lend their story-telling talents and mind-boggling acrobatics to the world of insects as a gang of athletic arthropods tumble, fly, flip and soar through the cavernous confines of Capitol One. Tickets at http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/ovo
12th – 22nd
HOW TO BE A KOREAN WOMAN
Theatre J
Back by popular demand from its January DC premier, Sun Mee Chomet’s genesis tale incorporates text, music and movement to tell the poignant story of her search for her birth family in South Korea after growing up in her adopted Jewish home. Tickets at www.edcjcc.org/theater-j.org.
17th – October 6th
CLUE
Kennedy Center
The ultimate whodunit started life as a board game, then a Paramount film and now a live theater experience. Will Colonel Mustard and Professor Plum vie for Miss Scarlet’s attention. Find out at www.kennedy-center.org
18th – October 27th
EXCEPTION TO THE RULE
Studio Theatre
Six Black high school students get stuck in after- school detention, waiting on a teacher to sign them out. Flirting, fighting and forming plans for their long weekend, they anxiously await their release. But something’s wrong here; where are all the teachers and how do they get out of this place? Tickets at www.studiotheatre.org
20th – October 13th
MR LINCOLN
Ford’s Theatre
TV heartthrob Scott Bakula takes one more quantum leap into the shoes and hat of our beloved 16th president, “Mr. Lincoln” as he preferred to call himself. From prairie lawyer and anti-slavery advocate to war-time leader, the Great Emancipator’s own words are employed by Bakula and company to reveal surprising aspects of the life of one of our nation’s greatest presidents. Nice to have him back at Ford’s. Tickets at http://www.fords.org
21st – October 29th
YOU’RE A GOOD MAN CHARLIE BROWN
Adventure MTC
With charm, wit, and heart, You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown explores life’s big questions through the eyes of the Peanuts gang as they play baseball, fly kites, struggle with homework, swoon over crushes, and celebrate the joys of friendship. Growing up is serious business! Tickets to the theater in Glen Echo Park at http://www.adventureintheatre-mtc.org
About the Author: Mark Edleman is a playwright who loves writing about theater. He is a lifetime member of the Broadway League and a Tony® voter.
Photo credits: Soft Power photo by Daniel Rader. The cast of Clue photo by Evan Zimmerman for Murphy/Made. OVO photo courtesy of Cirque du Soleil. Lady Day photo by Chris Banks.