ONSTAGE OLD TOWN- NOVEMBER
By Mark Edelman
November welcomes rich fall colors: the ones that stage lighting, scenery and costumes bring to theaters all around the DMV. Don’t miss all of the vibrant theater illuminating DMV stages this month. With the holidays around the corner, it’s a great time to catch a show:
Through the 9th
JEKYLL & HYDE
Alexandria Little Theatre
It’s your last chance to see Frank Wildhorn’s celebrated Broadway musical, produced by our local theater, celebrating its 90th birthday this year. Holiday favorite A CHRISTMAS CAROL goes on sale November 7. Tickets at http://www.thelittletheatre.com
Through the 10th
ROMEO & JULIET
Folger Library Theatre
The timeless story of star-crossed lovers is also a story of the politics of hatred and the violence that can consume society. Sound familiar? Tickets at http://www.folger.edu
Through the 17th
THE WOMAN IN BLACK
Keegan Theatre
The infamous West End melodrama returns to this DuPont Circle playhouse. A lawyer obsessed with a curse cast over his family by the eponymous Woman in Black tries to exorcise the fear that grips his soul. Not surprisingly, it doesn’t end well. Tickets at http://www.keegantheatre.com
Through the 24th
THE OTHER AMERICANS
Arena Stage
Award-winning actor and playwright John Leguizamo introduces us to a Colombian-American laundromat owner grappling with a failing business and buried secrets. When son Nick returns after a traumatic incident, Nelson is forced to tackles racial and identity challenges to achieve his dream. Tickets at www.arenastage.org
THE ART OF CARE
Atlas Performing Arts Center
Mosaic Theatre presents this world premier about the beauty of a loved one’s passing, births, boundary crossings, and the frustrations and resilience in the face of unexpected health crises. In a divisive election season, the play with music asks audiences to bear witness to the common humanity of one another and deep connections between art and medicine. Tickets at http://www.mosaictheater.org
Through the 30th
PRAYER FOR THE FRENCH REPUBLIC
Theatre J
A Parisian Jewish family is overwhelmed by an anti-Semitic attack on their son while Marine Le Pen’s right wing views fuel a troubling anti-Muslim fire . The family faces choices mirroring a generation ago as past and present play out simultaneously in this Tony® Award Best Play nominee. Tickets at www.edcjcc.org/theater-j
Through December 15th
DATA
Arena Stage
Arena’s intimate third stage—the Kogod Cradle—plays host to this suspenseful new play that takes you behind the locked doors of Silicon Valley. Maneesh is a brilliant entry-level programmer who’s content to work in a low-stress environment at a data mining firm. But things are not all they seem at Athena Data Analytics, tearing our hero from his unique American roots. Tickets at www.arenastage.org
Through January 4th
DISNEY’S FROZEN
Olney Theatre Center
What better anthem for the holidays than “Let It Go,” as in the credit card in your wallet. Take the young’uns up to Olney for one of the few regional theater productions to get the call from Disney to create their own take on this money spinner. This time, the adventures of Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, and Olaf will be supervised by director Alan Muraoka, a Sesame Street alum. It’s the Maryland theater’s biggest musical yet, which is saying something. Tickets at http://www.olneytheatre.org.
6th through December 22nd
DANCE LIKE THERE’S BLACK PEOPLE WATCHING
Woolly Mammoth
Those wacky improv comedians from Chicago’s famed Second City returns to Woolly Mammoth to deliver a dose of brilliant Black Joy. Created exclusively for Woolly Mammoth, this “Black Excellence Revue” features the troupe’s world-renowned ensemble of rising comedy stars, who promise a fresh look at the ridiculous things in life. Tickets at http://www.woollymammoth
12th through December 6th
SIX
National Theatre
Those six hot wives of Henry VIII are back at the National, still divorced, beheaded, died or survived. From Tudor Queens to Pop Icons, these regal brides remix decades of historical heartbreak into a celebration of 21st Century girl power. And you pick the winner of this Middle Age Brits Got Talent spectacular. Tickets at http://www.broadwayatthenational.com
13th through December 22nd
SUMMER 1976
Studio Theatre
It’s midsummer in the mid-seventies and two very different women are thrown into one another’s orbit in college-town Ohio. Iconoclast artist Diana looks down on faculty wife Alice, but their young daughters and the transformative power of a friendship forces them together. Tickets at http://www.studiotheatre.org.
THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION
Next Stop Theatre
Stephen King’s novella and the great Tim Robbins-Morgan Freeman film have spawned this stage version of the tale of a wrongly-convicted murderer who uses his wits, determination and an unlikely friendship to keep hope alive and escape a notorious, corrupt prison. Tickets at http://www.nexstoptheatre.org
15th through January 12th
THE SOUND OF MUSIC
Toby’s Dinner Theatre
The hills are alive over in Columbia, MD when this family friendly chestnut takes the stage for the holiday season. The real-life von Trapp family, under the steely command of Sister Maria, escape from the Nazis who have taken over Austria on their way to European domination—a cautionary tale for the world today, unfortunately. Tickets at http://www.tobysdinnertheatre.com.
20th through December 22nd
A HANUKKAH CAROL or GELT! TRIP THE MUSICAL
Round House Theatre
The OTHER holiday musical (see below) this family-friendly riff on a holiday classic aims to make the world a kinder place. Naturally—or otherwise—several ghosts visit our heroine Chava to help her reconnect with her Jewish identity. I assume that potato pancakes, jelly donuts and the Maccabees will show up sometime during this world premier—drive or take the Metro up to Bethesda and find out for yourself. Tickets at http://www.roundhousetheatre.org
21st through December 31st
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
Ford’s Theatre
The holidays here in the DMV wouldn’t be the same without Ford’s timeless Yuletide classic, a music-infused production that captures the magic and joy of Dickens’s chestnut with familiar characters, ghosts and a cheerful children’s ensemble. Craig Wallace returns to play Ebenezer Scrooge. Tickets at http://www.fords.org.
22nd through December 29th
DEATH ON THE NILE
Arena Stage
Award-winning DC playwright Ken Ludwig adapts Agatha Christie’s suspense-filled whodunit for Arena’s Kreeger Stage. Undauntable Inspector Hercule Poirot becomes entangled in a web of deceit and desire aboard a cruise ship when a murder occurs among the passengers. It’s Hercule to the rescue—but can he unmask the killer before he strikes again? Tickets at www.arenastage.org.
About the Author: Mark Edelman is a playwright who loves writing about theater. He is a lifetime member of the Broadway League and a Tony® voter.
Photo credits: Jekyll & Hyde Michael McGovern photo by Mark Armstrong. Woman in Black photo by Cameron Whitman. Six photo by Joan Marcus. Dance Like There’s Black People Watching photo from Second City’s 2023 production by Nolis Anderson.