Patrick Pho – We Love DC http://www.welovedc.com Your Life Beyond The Capitol Fri, 03 Apr 2015 16:25:20 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.9.9 Why I (Still) Love DC: Patrick http://www.welovedc.com/2015/03/27/why-i-still-love-dc-patrick/ Fri, 27 Mar 2015 17:00:38 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=98525 White House Bowling

Bowling at the White House. Photo by author.

So, I have a hashtag. It’s called #RageLikePho.

People have come to associate me with the hashtag to the point it’s often mentioned in introductions to other people.

“This is Patrick, he has his own hashtag.”

People ask to take “#RageLikePho photos” with me thinking the hashtag refers to the goofy yet on-trend face I tend to make when people take photos of me.

They are not entirely correct. The roots of #RageLikePho stem from a We Love DC writers meeting back in January of 2013, when we discussed content ideas and approach of writing stories that reflected each writer’s own personality. A lot of regular features at We Love DC used a well-established pronoun-verb-object nomenclature: She/He Loves DC, We Love Music, We Love Drinks.

In a pizza-induced coma-like state, I started joking around about writing articles on the one good thing I can do: go out all night. I messed up the naming however and jokingly suggested a series of stories that recap my weekend benders and call it “Rage Like Pho.”

Everyone laughed none the less.

A few days later I used it as a hashtag for the first time:

The first mention of #RageLikePho on Twitter

The rest is history.

When people ask me what #RageLikePho is I say it’s more like a lifestyle than a face. You might think it means rampant drinking, dance parties, or streaking through the quad. While it does have some debaucherous overtures, I personally think #RageLikePho is about having a good time, but not in a Clarendon Bro kind of way.

All I really need are friends and a chill place to hang out in a neighborhood that gives us options to mix it up after awhile. I’m not a one-bar kind of guy. Luckily DC has always given me those options in the form of many diverse neighborhoods and experiences.

Bar hopping in Dupont? Jazz in the Garden? Bowling in the White House? For the past nine years now I’ve lived in the DMV and have been drawn to the combination of history, power, and urban life that is truly unique. Sure, Los Angeles or New York may be bigger and Portland or Austin maybe hipper but there isn’t a place that has the right combination that DC has.

The District is my Goldilocks match in a world full of many great cities.

It’s why I fell in love with DC nine years ago and I continue to love it today, whether I’m Raging Like Pho or not.

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We Love Arts: West Side Story http://www.welovedc.com/2014/06/05/we-love-arts-west-side-story/ Thu, 05 Jun 2014 15:00:56 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=97579 ©Amy Boyle Photography

(Maryjoanna Grisso and Jarrad Biron Green. Photo: Amy Boyle)

The “Tonight Quintet” in West Side Story, the song that ushers in the show’s first act finale, is one of my all-time favorite ensemble numbers. It is second only to “One Day More” from Les MiserablesWhen I first heard the opening brass vamps of the Quintet song I bounced a little bit in my seat inside the National Theatre. However there was something different about this particular performance of the song. The verses sung by the Sharks were in Spanish, like many other numbers throughout the show that were sung by Puerto Rican characters. Those changes, new to me and perhaps those that haven’t seen the West Side Story apart from previous versions or the iconic 1961 film, were originally incorporated into the 2009 Broadway revival of the show for which the current tour is based off of. The result is a West Side Story that is more modern and offers something different to audiences who think they know the Bernstein and Sondheim masterpiece.

Besides the languages changes, this production of West Side Story is more racy, gritty, and raw. The confrontation between Anita and the Jets in the second scene is much more explicit. In past productions, inferences of rape and sexual assault were skirted around by actors, here you see A-rab (Justin Joseph Laguna) pull down his pants and you know what despicable act he is about to commit. The character behaviors also reflect a more modern society with healthy doses of making out between girlfriends and boyfriends and plenty of obscene gestures during moments of angsty teenage anger.

It’s clear that this production of West Side Story is not your Grandmother’s West Side Story.

But at the same time the show still retains all the classic elements that has made West Side Story a show that has endured over 60 years on stage. You’ll still find beautifully choreographed dance scenes between the Jets and Sharks complete with snaps, leaps, and of course, Mambo. The “Tonight” duet between star-crossed lovers Tony (Jarrad Biron Green) and Maria (Maryjoanna Grisso) is still a highlight of the show but this show’s version of “Gee, Officer Krupke”, revisited as a misunderstood adolescent rant, almost steals the show.

Almost everybody knows the story of the Romeo and Juliet inspired musical, but most likely not everyone has seen it like this. This tour of West Side Story offers just enough to appease fans of the show but with a fresh enough take to keep things interesting.

West Side Story, performs through June 8th, 2014 at the National Theatre. The National Theatre is located at 1321 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest Washington, DC 20004. Closest Metro stop: Metro Center (Red/Orange/Blue line). Tickets start at $58 For more information call 202-628-6161.

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A 2014 Helen Hayes Awards (Drama Prom) Diary http://www.welovedc.com/2014/04/22/a-2014-helen-hayes-awards-drama-prom-diary/ Tue, 22 Apr 2014 16:41:40 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=97102 Helen Hayes Awards 2014

Last night marked the 30th anniversary of the Helen Hayes Awards, and theatreWashington spared no expense in creating a blow-out bash. The annual celebration of Washington DC Theatre, aka Drama Prom, sported a new format and venue. Moving from the Warner Theatre to the National Building Museum gave the awards ceremony a much more casual feel as patrons mingled about throughout the three-act show. Victor Shargai received the Helen Hayes Tribute and Woolly Mammoth’s Stupid Fucking Bird, Ford & Signature’s Hello Dolly!, and Olney Theatre Center’s A Chorus Line went home with Best Resident Play and Musical honors.

However if you want a complete list of the winners you can find those here. Instead I offer you a tradition now four years running: my complete breakdown of my day (and night) with Helen (and others).

6:01 PM

Helen didn’t come during a particularly quiet time in my life. Fresh off a week-long business trip in NYC and a weekend packed with whiskey bars and wine tastings left me reeling. However this 5-day bender was close to finished, all I needed to do is to survive Drama Prom. I was going to need a nap.

Meanwhile actor John Dellaporta was already pre-gaming and many praise their Rent The Runway outfits. If you were Chris Klimek however, you were ready to cut the person that copies his approach to “Creative Black Tie”.

6:21 PM

A nap wouldn’t be enough to power me through the five hour party, I was going to need a little back-up. I was also going to need a little back-up for when the open bar closes. Don’t judge: why break the tradition of bringing a flask to Helen Hayes?

6:36 PM

The theatreWashington crew was ready to turn on the lights, while this group of partiers were ready to black out:

6:51 PM

My bow-tie outfits often get lots of respect but I will admit when you attend the Helen Hayes Awards, it’s more of a status quo.

Also lots of people took selfies of them getting to the show.

7:14 PM

With wristband secured and Five Hour Energy shot taken it was time to see what Helen had in store for the night:

Also my date Brenna matches the tables:

7:33 PM

My inner stage manger loved hearing the show warnings in the style of a stage manager running through cues.

7:41 PM

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company ups their selfie game:

The show opens with a musical number from Sam Ludwig, Rachel Zampelli and Ashleigh King but I’ll be honest- it was hard to hear from the back. However it looks like they sang about the party being five hours long and much more streamlined:

7:45 PM

As Linda Levy makes opening remarks, the general scene of the night sets in. In past years the crowd had to endure a three-hour long awards show which drove many to the flasks. Instead the emphasis was put more on the party and less on the awards. As a result the overall scene was split between those paying attention and those freely socializing. I’m a fan of the move yet I can imagine some who might not appreciate having their acceptance speeches fall on deaf, drunk ears.

Also if acceptance speeches ran over winners got played off by the band along with the three performers who sang, “Goodbye!” while waiving. It’s a very entertaining sight.

8:37 PM

The journo crew of me, Ben, and Maura spend a long time waiting in line for a drink. The bar lines are a common complaint of a night that had few other things to complain about. The whole ordeal is reminiscent of an Inaugural Ball. I saw one actress hold up the line as she ordered nine glasses champaign. I hope they were not all for her.

I also realize that a show of three acts and two intermissions effectively makes the Helen Hayes Awards into a hockey game.

While we were waiting in line actress Kimberly Gilbert demands that we all bow down to her family and a steamy promo plays for theatreWashington’s Summer Hummer event. I casually explained to those unaware that it’s the event where, “I think people sing but they are naked or something.”

9:00 PM

The Murder She Wrote star makes a cameo during Victor’s Helen Hayes tribute. Meanwhile I start taking photos with people for the next hour:


10:22 PM

The open bars are closing and people’s feet are getting tired. The ladies go running for the shoe check and put on a pair of Helen Hayes slippers.

Aubri gets desperate for a drink while Gwen’s photos get more and more blurry (much like my memory at that point).

11:30 PM

Perhaps Ben, but then again maybe it was for the best. My date and I eventually make an early exit while the rest of the party rages on:

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We Love Arts: Loveland http://www.welovedc.com/2014/03/26/we-love-arts-loveland/ Wed, 26 Mar 2014 17:00:58 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=96687 Loveland at Arena Stage

(Ann Randolph in Loveland Photo: Teresa Wood)

As she struts up and down the imaginary aircraft cabin on the stage of Arena’s Kogod Cradle, Franny Potts (Ann Randolph) achieves a level of adorkable that dates back before Zooey Deschanel put on a pair of plastic frames. I’m not talking about today’s awkward yet cute look, I’m talking about an unfiltered mouth passionately spouting out factoids about America’s National Parks. I’m talking about a mouthful of adult braces and the lisp it causes. I’m talking about proudly and unabashedly being a dork because you love it and you don’t care what everybody else thinks.

The protagonist in Randolph’s Loveland reminded me of Molly Shannon’s Sally O’Malley character on SNL, down to Franny’s black stretch pants. I wouldn’t have been surprised if Potts spoke about her love of kicking, stretching, and kicking while shouting, “I’m 50!”

Loveland is a semi-autobiographical tale of humor, love, and loss. In this one-act, one-woman play, Randolph is awkwardly hilarious, occasionally endearing, and is very comfortable in her pair of stretchy pants.

The bulk of the show takes place on a cross-country flight where Franny is traveling to her hometown of Loveland, OH. A series of asides and flashbacks introduce a variety of other characters including Franny’s mother, a chain-smoking tour-de-force who is the source of Franny’s no-holds-bar attitude.

No topic is taboo for Potts, who openly opines over a possible soul mate in the flight’s Pilot and hilariously illustrates awkward situations when her sexual urges clash with her Yoga class or shopping trips to Whole Foods. A masterful storyteller, Randolph finds a good balance between awkward humor and poignant and cathartic moments.

Loveland is full of bite-sized moments that you will eat right up. The show’s theme of love and loss resonates with audiences to the point that Randolph offers post-show talkbacks to allow them to share their own experiences. As a short piece it gets the job done and as Randolph delightfully and sometimes painstakingly shares her experiences, it is a simply a solid piece of theatre.

Loveland performs at Arena Stage’s Kogod Cradle now through April 13th, 2014. Arena Stage is located at 1101 6th St SW, Washington DC 20024. Tickets start $25. For more information, call 202-554-9066.

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We Love Arts: Yellow Face http://www.welovedc.com/2014/02/24/we-love-arts-yellow-face/ Mon, 24 Feb 2014 16:00:40 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=96310 Yellow Face Theatre JStan Kang, Al Twanmo, Rafael Untalan, Mark Hairston, Tonya Beckman, Jacob Yeh (Photo: C. Stanley Photography)

Correction: This article originally referred to the closing date of Yellow Face as March 9. The production ended on February 23. We apologize for the mistake. 

I had Theater J’s production of Yellow Face in my crosshairs ever since they first announced it would be a part of their 2013-2014 season. It sounded like a natural follow-up show to Signature’s Miss Saigon which I reviewed this past fall. The David Henry Hwang piece is a “based on true events” biographical tale of his life advocating for Asian American actors in the wake of the “yellowface” casting of Jonathan Pryce in the Broadway production of Miss Saigon in the early 90s. With that premise I knew that racial themes would be a big part of the piece, especially when Theater J invited me to speak on a panel about the subject.

However the show was much more than I originally expected. It’s a highly entertaining yet poignant story about the Asian American struggle as an invisible minority despite their reputation as a model minority. Just as films like 12 Years a Slave and Fruitvale Station are being touted as important films of the past year for their racial themes, I feel that the exploration of race in Yellow Face is important enough to say that this is one of the most important shows to see right now.

The show sees David Henry Hwang (Stan Kang) fresh off his Tony win for M. Butterfly speaking out against the controversial Pryce casting. The issues from the controversy are heightened in hilarious fashion as Hwang finds out that the Asian lead he casted in his upcoming production is actually white. The show also touches upon Hwang’s family life as a first-generation Asian American as well as events of the time, such as the Wen Ho Lee indictment during the Los Alamos information leak investigation.

Director Natsu Onoda Power assembles a cast (Tonya Beckman, Mark Hairston, Brandon McCoy, Sue Jin Song, Al Twanmo, Rafael Untalan, and Jacob Yeh) that works well together. Several cast members play “color blind” roles, such as Song playing Lily Tomlin, which only deepens the show’s themes of race and identity. While on the surface it may sound out of place for Theater J to put on a show focused on the Asian American experience, the idea of cultural identity is one that applies to not only Asians but Jews, African Americans, and any minority living in America today.

Sure, you can suspect by my name or appearance that I am a fan of this production, however what makes this show great is not only the entertaining yet striking presentation of an oft-discussed diversity issue, but a more universal message that doesn’t hit the audience over the head. I tip my hat to Theater J for not only thinking outside the box with the selection of this show for this season, but for putting on a well-done production that everybody should see while they can.

Yellow Face performed through February 23, 2014 at Morris Cafritz Center for the Arts, located at 1529 16th Street NW, Washington DC 20036. Closest Metro stop: Dupont Circle (Red line). Tickets start at $45. For more information call 202-518-9400.

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We Love Arts: American Idiot http://www.welovedc.com/2014/02/21/we-love-arts-american-idiot/ Sat, 22 Feb 2014 02:06:27 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=96368 01 American Idiot NationalThea

The company of American Idiot (Photo by Jeremy Daniel)

Pop hits start and finish this stage musical version of Green Day’s American Idiot. The production, in its third U.S. tour at the National Theatre, opened strong with “American Idiot” and ended with a touching cast rendition of “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).” However between the curtain rise and fall is a performance that certainly packs all the moody, angst-filled energy you would expect but suffers from a story that feels too contrived to be anything more than a 90-minute live-action music video.

Green Day fans will certainly come out to listen to Billie Joe Armstrong’s Rock Opera album come to life on the stage and they will not be disappointed with the tunes. There is plenty of eye-liner and broody, hunched-over dance moves that feel ripped from Spring Awakening. Also I swear I saw at least one move from the Contemporary Eric viral video.

The story focused on three rebellious youths who hope to escape their suburban digs and head into the city. Johnny (Jared Nupute), Will (Casey O’Frrell), and Tunny (Dan Tracy) each take different paths: Will decides to stay at home when her girlfriend Heather (Mariah Macfarlane) reveals that she is pregnant. Tunny and Johnny both head into the big city but Tunny decides to enlist in the Army. All by himself, Johnny falls into a drugged-filled bender that threatens to swallow him whole. There is a lot of potential here but there really isn’t enough depth get the audience truly invested. Don’t get me wrong, the young cast truly gives it their all but it’s not enough to elevate a lackluster narrative.

The entire show runs on a very anti-establishment theme that feels very punk and very Green Day but with all that anger and frustration the show doesn’t feel like anything more than a Jukebox musical.

American Idiot, performs through February 23rd, 2014 at the National Theatre. The National Theatre is located at 1321 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest Washington, DC 20004. Closest Metro stop: Metro Center (Red/Orange/Blue line). Tickets start at $58 For more information call 202-628-6161.

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We Love Arts: We Are Proud To Present… http://www.welovedc.com/2014/02/20/we-love-arts-we-are-proud-to-present/ Thu, 20 Feb 2014 20:00:42 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=96307 We Are Proud To Present Woolly MammothAndreu Honeycutt, Dawn Ursula, Joe Isenberg, Holly Twyford. Photo courtesy of Stan Barouh.

The experience of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company‘s We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as Southwest Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915 starts as soon as you walk onstage. Yes, onstage. In another effort to explore integrating the audience further into the experience of Woolly’s 34th season (earlier in the season Woolly split the house in half for productions of Detroit), audience members are ushered into the house through the backstage. Drinks are served in the wings and there is a set of risers where patrons can enjoy the show from the back of the stage looking into the house. The new seating configuration for We Are Proud to Present… is very much theater-in-the-round. Placing the audience all around the actors also makes sense for a show where the actors are going back-and-forth between acting in a show and revealing the process of putting on the show. It’s a level of meta-physical that is beyond simple Frank Underwood-like asides.

Jackie Sibblies Drury’s piece isn’t really about the African history lesson described in the title but rather the process of telling that story, and how even true stories can be influenced by the people who tell them. It is within that process that We Are Proud to Present… finds both its most comedic and strikingly powerful moments.

The premise of the show is simple. In fact, it’s so simple that it is explained within a short introduction that lasts around 10 minutes and includes a few cobbled-together Powerpoint slides and gigantic stick-figure puppets. An ensemble of actors (Andreu Honeycutt, Peter Howard, Joe Isenberg, Holly Twyford, and Michael Anthony Williams) led by Dawn Ursula, who plays the show’s director, set forth to tell the story of a genocide that occurred at the turn of the 19th century in Germany-occupied Namibia.

The rest of the show takes place in between the actors performing the presentation and the actors discussing the right way to present the tale. Going off a collection of hand-written letters from German soldiers, there is a lot of space for interpretation and each actor offers their own angle as they explore the delicate process of staying true to history yet creating a piece that is moving.

The show has a sort of improvisational feel, with bells being rung as actors go in-and-out of scenes. Also seeing actors reveal their egos and blatant boredom in between scenes make for several hilarious moments. The ensemble shines, with Ursula putting on a strong performance as the show’s guide. Director Michael John Garcés certainly puts his own mark on the production, including some literal waterworks.

We Are Proud to Present… keeps you laughing for most of the show until it takes a dramatic turn in the final act. While it is certainly a very powerful moment, it feels somewhat out of place after the first two-thirds of the show. It certainly leaves the audiences with a couple of possible points to walk away with.

With so many stories on stage and screen described as, “Based on real events,” We Are Proud to Present… makes us think twice about accepting the story we see in front of us as cold hard fact. Even the most amazing real-life stories are filtered through another storyteller’s view.

We Are Proud to Present… performs now through March 9, 2014 at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, located at 641 D Street NW, Washington, DC 20004. Closest Metro stop: Archives/Navy Memorial (Yellow/Green lines). Tickets start at $55. For more information call 202-393-3939.

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30th Helen Hayes Awards Nominees Announced http://www.welovedc.com/2014/01/27/30th-helen-hayes-awards-nominees-announced/ Tue, 28 Jan 2014 03:21:48 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=96106 Helen Hayes Awards Nominations

Tonight Theatre Washington announced the nominees for the 30th annual Helen Hayes Awards. The DC Theatre community gathered on the stage of the National Theatre, a departure from the Helen Hayes Gallery where the nominees were announced in previous years. The new backdrop made for a great setting for both the people on-hand and the many who watched the nominations through Theatre Washington’s live webcast.

Arlington’s Signature Theatre led the board with a total 20 nominations while Woolly Mammoth Theatre led shows with a total eight nominations for their production of Stupid Fucking Bird.

Nominees for Outstanding Resident Play include Woolly Mammoth’s Stupid Fucking Bird and The ConvertRound House Theatre’s Glengarry Glen Ross, Arena Stage’s Good People and The Mountaintop, Ford Theatre’s The Laramie Projectand Folger Theatre’s Romeo & Juliet.

Nominees for Outstanding Musical include Olney Theatre’s A Chorus Line, Shakespeare Theatre Company’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the ForumKeegan Theatre’s Cabaret, Signature Theatre’s GypsyFord & Signature Theatre’s Hello, Dolly!Signature Theatre’s The Last Five Years, and The Rocky Horror Show from Studio Theatre 2nd Stage.

This will be the last year before the awards takes on a new format, however one notable change this year is the split of choreography awards into two categories: choreography in a musical and Outstanding movement in a play. Also the term “non-resident”, used for tours and other shows that are simply hosted in the city, has been changed to “visiting.”

The full list can be found below, the winners will be announced on Monday April 21st, 2014 at the National Building Museum, a change from the awards usual home at The Warner Theatre. With a new venue and a new show format allowing attendees to roam about the floor with drinks in hand; I can assure you that this year’s Drama Prom Diary will be one for the ages.

2014 Helen Hayes Nominees

Outstanding Choreography, Resident Musical

Karma Camp
Hello, Dolly!
Ford’s Theatre and Signature Theatre

Rachel Leigh Dolan
Cabaret
The Keegan Theatre

Maurice Hines
Maurice Hines is Tappin’ Thru Life
Arena Stage

Josh Rhodes
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Shakespeare Theatre Company

Tara Jeanne Vallee
The King and I
Olney Theatre Center

Outstanding Costume Design, Resident Production

Mariah Hale
Twelfth Night
Folger Theatre

Murell Horton
Wallenstein
Shakespeare Theatre Company

Helen Huang
The Convert
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Sabrina Mandell
4th Annual, ALL-NEW Cabaret Macabre
Happenstance Theater

Kendra Rai
The Magic Finger
Imagination Stage

Katie Touart
Peter Pan and Wendy
Imagination Stage

Merrily Murray-Walsh
Mary T. & Lizzy K.
Arena Stage

Outstanding Director, Resident Musical

Joe Calarco
Gypsy
Signature Theatre

Thomas W. Jones II
Gee’s Bend
MetroStage

Alan Paul
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Shakespeare Theatre Company

Aaron Posner
The Last Five Years
Signature Theatre

Eric Schaeffer
Hello, Dolly!
Ford’s Theatre and Signature Theatre

Outstanding Director, Resident Play

Matthew Gardiner
The Laramie Project
Ford’s Theatre

Mitchell Hébert
Glengarry Glen Ross
Round House Theatre

Robert O’Hara
The Mountaintop
Arena Stage

Aaron Posner
Romeo & Juliet
Folger Theatre

Howard Shalwitz
Stupid Fucking Bird
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Outstanding Ensemble, Resident Musical

A Chorus Line
Olney Theatre Center

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Shakespeare Theatre Company

The Full Monty
The Keegan Theatre

Gee’s Bend
MetroStage

Hello, Dolly!
Ford’s Theatre and Signature Theatre

Outstanding Ensemble, Resident Play

The Apple Family Plays
The Studio Theatre

Glengarry Glen Ross
Round House Theatre

The Laramie Project
Ford’s Theatre

Never the Sinner
1st Stage

Optimism! or Voltaire’s Candide
Spooky Action Theater

Stupid Fucking Bird
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Outstanding Lead Actor, Visiting Production

Mark Evans
The Book of Mormon
The Kennedy Center

Josh Franklin
Anything Goes
The Kennedy Center

Chester Gregory
Sister Act
The Kennedy Center

Bongile Mantsai
Mies Julie
Shakespeare Theatre Company

Christopher John O’Neill
The Book of Mormon
The Kennedy Center

Outstanding Lead Actor, Resident Musical

Bruce Dow
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Shakespeare Theatre Company

James Gardiner
The Last Five Years
Signature Theatre

David Gregory
In the Heights
Toby’s Dinner Theatre

Bryan Knowlton
A Chorus Line
Olney Theatre Center

Paul Scanlan
Cabaret
The Keegan Theatre

Thom Sesma
Miss Saigon
Signature Theatre

Outstanding Lead Actress, Visiting Production

Hilda Cronje
Mies Julie
Shakespeare Theatre Company

Perri Gaffney
The Resurrection of Alice
The Essential Theatre

Andrus Nichols
Bedlam’s Saint Joan
Olney Theatre Center

Rachel York
Anything Goes
The Kennedy Center

Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Musical

Sherri L. Edelen
Gypsy
Signature Theatre

Diana Huey
Miss Saigon
Signature Theatre

Nancy Opel
Hello, Dolly!
Ford’s Theatre and Signature Theatre

Maria Rizzo
Cabaret
The Keegan Theatre

Jessica Vaccaro
A Chorus Line
Olney Theatre Center

Erin Weaver
The Last Five Years
Signature Theatre

Roz White
Gee’s Bend
MetroStage

Lauren Williams
Elephant & Piggie’s “We Are in a Play!”
The Kennedy Center

Lori Williams
Ladies Swing the Blues
MetroStage

Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Play

Johanna Day
Good People
Arena Stage

Tana Hicken
4000 Miles
The Studio Theatre

Joaquina Kalukango
The Mountaintop
Arena Stage

Susan Lynskey
Ghost-Writer
MetroStage

Nancy Moricette
The Convert
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Holly Twyford
Contractions
The Studio Theatre 2ndStage

Erin Weaver
Romeo & Juliet
Folger Theatre

Outstanding Lighting Design, Resident Production

Brian S. Allard
Never the Sinner
1st Stage

Andrew F. Griffin
Henry V
Folger Theatre

Andrew F. Griffin
The Tempest
Synetic Theater

A. J. Guban
36 Views
Constellation Theatre Company

Rui Rita
The Laramie Project
Ford’s Theatre

Outstanding Movement, Resident Play

Monalisa Arias
Optimism! or Voltaire’s Candide
Spooky Action Theater

Matthew Gardiner
Never the Sinner
1st Stage

Happenstance Theater
4th Annual, ALL-NEW Cabaret Macabre
Happenstance Theater

Robb Hunter
Red Speedo
The Studio Theatre

Irina Tsikurishvili
The Three Musketeers
Synetic Theater

Ben Cunis
The Three Musketeers
Synetic Theater

Outstanding Music Direction, Resident Production

Jon Kalbfleisch
Gypsy
Signature Theatre

William Hubbard
Gee’s Bend
MetroStage

William Knowles
Gee’s Bend
MetroStage

Dr. Sherrie Maricle
Maurice Hines is Tappin’ Thru Life
Arena Stage

James Moore
Hello, Dolly!
Ford’s Theatre and Signature Theatre

William Yanesh
The Last Five Years
Signature Theatre

Outstanding Set Design, Resident Production

A. J. Guban
36 Views
Constellation Theatre Company

James Kronzer
Glengarry Glen Ross
Round House Theatre

Elizabeth Jenkins McFadden
The House of the Spirits/La casa de los espirtus
GALA Hispanic Theatre

Clint Ramos
Appropriate
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Clint Ramos
The Mountaintop
Arena Stage

Outstanding Sound Design, Resident Production

Christopher Baine
Romeo & Juliet
Folger Theatre

Carla Kihlstedt
Romeo & Juliet
Folger Theatre

Mark Bennett
Coriolanus
Shakespeare Theatre Company

Broken Chord
Appropriate
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Lindsay Jones
The Mountaintop
Arena Stage

Matthew M. Nielson
Carried Away on the Crest of a Wave
The Hub Theatre

Eric Shimelonis
Never the Sinner
1st Stage

Outstanding Supporting Actor, Resident Musical

Matthew Dewberry
The Full Monty
The Keegan Theatre

James Konicek
Peter Pan and Wendy
Imagination Stage

John Loughney
The Full Monty
The Keegan Theatre

Bobby Smith
Spin
Signature Theatre

Edward Watts
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Shakespeare Theatre Company

Tobias Young
In the Heights
Toby’s Dinner Theatre

Outstanding Supporting Actress, Resident Musical

Jennifer Cordiner
A Chorus Line
Olney Theatre Center

Lora Lee Gayer
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Shakespeare Theatre Company

Maria Rizzo
Gypsy
Signature Theatre

Erin Weaver
Company
Signature Theatre

Brittany N. Williams
Three Little Birds
Adventure Theatre MTC

Outstanding Supporting Actress, Resident Play

Starla Benford
The Convert
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Sherri L. Edelen
Romeo & Juliet
Folger Theatre

Kimberly Gilbert
Stupid Fucking Bird
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Kate Eastwood Norris
Stupid Fucking Bird
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Susan Rome
After the Revolution
Theater J

Dawn Ursula
The Convert
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Outstanding Supporting Performer, Visiting Production

Grey Henson
The Book of Mormon
The Kennedy Center

Kevin Mambo
The Book of Mormon
The Kennedy Center

Thoko Ntshinga
Mies Julie
Shakespeare Theatre Company

Edward Staudenmayer
Anything Goes
The Kennedy Center

Samantha Marie Ware
The Book of Mormon
The Kennedy Center

The Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play or Musical

4th Annual, ALL-NEW Cabaret Macabre
Happenstance Theater
Matthew R. Wilson, freely adapted from Moliere
Don Juan
Faction of Fools Theatre Company

Lucas Hnath
Red Speedo
The Studio Theatre

Aaron Posner
Stupid Fucking Bird
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Michael J. Bobbitt, adaptation, based on the book by Cedella Marley, music & lyrics by Bob Marley, additional music & lyrics by Jon. L. Cornelius, II
Three Little Birds
Adventure Theatre MTC

The James MacArthur Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor, Resident Play

Louis Butelli
Twelfth Night
Folger Theatre

Rick Foucheux
Stupid Fucking Bird
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Ted van Griethuysen
The Apple Family Plays
The Studio Theatre

Mitchell Hebert
How to Write a New Book for the Bible
Round House Theatre

KenYatta Rogers
Glengarry Glen Ross
Round House Theatre

Richard Sheridan Willis
Twelfth Night
Folger Theatre

The Robert Prosky Award for Outstanding Lead Actor, Resident Play

Rick Foucheux
Glengarry Glen Ross
Round House Theatre

Brad Koed
Stupid Fucking Bird
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Julian Elijah Martinez
9 Circles
Forum Theatre

Patrick Page
Coriolanus
Shakespeare Theatre Company

Steve Pickering
Wallenstein
Shakespeare Theatre Company

Alexander Strain
Glengarry Glen Ross
Round House Theatre

Brandon Uranowitz
Torch Song Trilogy
The Studio Theatre

Outstanding Visiting Production

Anything Goes
The Kennedy Center

Baby Universe: A Puppet Odyssey
The Studio Theatre

The Book of Mormon
The Kennedy Center

Mies Julie
Shakespeare Theatre Company

The Second City’s America All Better!!
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Outstanding Production, Theatre For Young Audiences

Anime Momotaro
Imagination Stage

Goodnight Moon
Adventure Theatre MTC

The Magic Finger
Imagination Stage

Peter Pan and Wendy
Imagination Stage

Three Little Birds
Adventure Theatre MTC

Winnie the Pooh
Adventure Theatre MTC

Outstanding Resident Musical

A Chorus Line
Olney Theatre Center

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Shakespeare Theatre Company

Cabaret
The Keegan Theatre

Gypsy
Signature Theatre

Hello, Dolly!
Ford’s Theatre and Signature Theatre

The Last Five Years
Signature Theatre

The Rocky Horror Show
The Studio Theatre 2ndStage

Outstanding Resident Play

The Convert
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Glengarry Glen Ross
Round House Theatre

Good People
Arena Stage

The Laramie Project
Ford’s Theatre

The Mountaintop
Arena Stage

Romeo & Juliet
Folger Theatre

Stupid Fucking Bird
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Helen Hayes By The Numbers

Breakdown By Production

Stupid Fucking Bird (Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company): 9

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Shakespeare Theatre Company): 7

Glengarry Glen Ross (Round House Theatre): 7

The Book of Mormon (The Kennedy Center): 6

Hello, Dolly! (Ford’s Theatre & Signature Theatre): 6

A Chorus Line (Olney Theatre Center): 5

The Convert (Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company): 5

Gypsy (Signature Theatre): 5

The Last Five Years (Signature Theatre): 5

The Mountaintop (Arena Stage): 5

Romeo & Juliet (Folger Theatre): 5

Anything Goes (The Kennedy Center): 4

Cabaret (The Keegan Theatre): 4

Gee’s Bend (MetroStage): 4

The Laramie Project (Ford’s Theatre): 4

Mies Julie (Shakespeare Theatre Company): 4

Never the Sinner (1st Stage): 4

4th Annual, ALL-NEW Cabaret Macabre (Happenstance Theater): 3

The Full Monty (The Keegan Theatre): 3

Peter Pan and Wendy (Imagination Stage): 3

Three Little Birds (Adventure Theatre MTC): 3

Twelfth Night (Folger Theatre): 3

36 Views (Constellation Theatre Company): 2

The Apple Family Plays (The Studio Theatre): 2

Appropriate (Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company): 2

Coriolanus (Shakespeare Theatre Company): 2

Good People (Arena Stage): 2

In The Heights (Toby’s Dinner Theatre): 2

The Magic Finger (Imagination Stage): 2

Maurice Hines is Tappin’ Thru Life (Arena Stage): 2

Miss Saigon (Signature Theatre): 2

Optimism! or Voltare’s Candide (Spooky Action Theater): 2

Red Speedo (The Studio Theatre): 2

Wallenstein (Shakespeare Theatre Company): 2

4000 Miles (The Studio Theatre): 1

9 Circles (Forum Theatre): 1

After The Revolution (Theater J): 1

Anime Momotaro (Imagination Stage): 1

Baby Universe: A Puppet Odyssey (The Studio Theatre): 1

Bedlam’s Saint Joan (Olney Theatre Center): 1

Carried Away on the Crest of a Wave (The Hub Theatre): 1

Company (Signature Theatre): 1

Contractions (The Studio Theatre 2nd Stage): 1

Don Juan (Faction of Fools Theatre Company): 1

Elephants & Piggie’s “We Are in a Play!” (The Kennedy Center): 1

Ghost-Writer (MetroStage): 1

Goodnight Moon (Adventure Theatre MTC): 1

Henry V (Folger Theatre): 1

The House of Spirits (GALA Hispanic Theatre): 1

How to Write a New Book for the Bible (Round House Theatre): 1

The King and I (Olney Theatre Center): 1

Ladies Swing the Blues (MetroStage): 1

Mary T. & Lizzy K. (Arena Stage): 1

The Resurrection of Alice (The Essential Theatre): 1

The Rocky Horror Show (The Studio Theatre 2nd Stage): 1

The Second City’s America All Better!! (Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company): 1

Sister Act (The Kennedy Center): 1

Spin (Signature Theatre): 1

The Tempest (Synetic Theatre): 1

The Three Musketeers (Synetic Theatre): 1

Torch Song Trilogy (The Studio Theatre): 1

Winnie The Pooh (Adventure Theatre MTC): 1

Breakdown by Theatre

Signature Theatre: 20

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company: 16

Shakespeare Theatre Company: 15

The Kennedy Center: 12

Arena Stage: 10

Ford’s Theatre: 10

Folger Theatre: 9

Round House Theatre: 8

The Keegan Theatre: 7

Olney Theatre Center: 7

The Studio Theatre: 7

Imagination Stage: 6

MetroStage: 6

Adventure Theatre MTC: 5

1st Stage: 4

Happenstance Theater: 3

Constellation Theatre Company: 2

Spooky Action Theatre: 2

The Studio Theatre 2nd Stage: 2

Synetic Theater: 2

Toby’s Dinner Theatre: 2

The Essential Theatre: 1

Faction of Fools Theatre Company: 1

Forum Theatre: 1

GALA Hispanic Theatre: 1

The Hub Theatre: 1

Theater J: 1

 

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Oscar Watch: Where To Watch Every 2014 Academy Award Nominee In D.C. http://www.welovedc.com/2014/01/25/oscar-watch-where-to-watch-every-2014-academy-award-nominee-in-d-c/ Sat, 25 Jan 2014 17:00:31 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=95942

Once again Awards Season is in full effect and for Oscar Watchers like me, there’s an extra week to catch-up on films this year thanks to the Winter Olympics. So if you are up to the challenge of watching all nine Best Picture nominees, or perhaps you are like me and will try to watch all 58 nominated films, here are some tips on taking on the challenge and here is an updated breakdown on where you can find this year’s Academy Awards nominees in The District before the March 2nd ceremony.

Best picture nominees in bold

Still In Theatres

The following films are still in widely available in theatres in DC, Virginia, and Maryland. If you are just interested in knocking out the Best Picture nominees, local AMC theatres are once again showcasing the Best Picture nominees in late February/early March. This year AMC is offering four and five movie packages at local cinema locations, if you want to catch-up in the extreme you can watch all nine Best Picture nominees in 24 hours at the Georgetown AMC on March 1st. Last year Regal theatres held similar marathons, no information on any similar events this year have been released yet.

Also check other theatres like the Arlington Drafthouse and AFI Silver Spring for second run opportunities for films that may not be widely available.

  • 12 Years A Slave
  •  All Is Lost (On DVD 2/11/14)
  • American Hustle
  • August: Osage County
  • Dallas Buyers Club (On DVD 2/4/14)
  • Frozen (On DVD 3/18/14)
  • Gravity (On DVD 2/25/14)
  • Her
  • Inside Llewyn Davis
  • Lone Survivor
  • Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (On DVD 3/18/14)
  • Nebraska
  • Omar (In Limited Release 2/21/14)
  • Philomena (On DVD 3/4/14)
  • Saving Mr. Banks
  • The Book Thief (On DVD 3/11/14)
  • The Great Beauty (On DVD 3/25/14)
  • The Hobbit: the Desolation of Smaug
  • The Invisible Woman
  • The Wind Rises (In Theatres 2/21/14)
  • The Wolf of Wall Street

Released on DVD & Netflix

These films are already out on DVD/Blu-Ray, which means they are probably available on Amazon, Red Box, Netflix, iTunes, or wherever you rent your films. I made note of films that are available for streaming on Netflix Instant.

  • 20 Feet From Stardom
  • Before Midnight
  • Blue Jasmine
  • Captain Phillips
  • Cutie and the Boxer (On DVD 2/4/14, on Netflix Instant now)
  • Despicable Me 2
  • Dirty Wars (Netflix Instant)
  • Ernest & Celestine (Available in European Format)
  • Iron Man 3
  • Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa
  • Prisoners
  • Star Trek Into Darkness
  • The Act of Killing (Netflix Instant)
  • The Broken Circle Breakdown (On DVD 3/11/14)
  • The Croods
  • The Grandmaster
  • The Great Gatsby
  • The Hunt (Netflix Instant)
  • The Lone Ranger
  • The Square (Netflix Instant)

Watching The Documentary Feature Nominees

The National Archives will be holding free screenings of the documentary features (as well as nominees from all three Shorts categories) from February 26th – March 2nd. Visit the Archives’ website for complete details.

Watching The Short Films

ShortsHD will be bringing the short film nominees (Live Action, Animation, and Documentary Short) to theatres on January 31st. Typically the Live Action and Animated short films have been screened at E-Street cinema and the Documentary short films have been screened at West End Cinema. Stay tuned to their websites for details.

The shorts will be released on iTunes and video on demand as well.

Watching The Foreign Language Nominees

National Geographic will screen all five nominees through their Global Glimpses series. Between February 14th and February 16th you can watch the nominees at their Washington, DC headquarters.

The One That Got Away

Alone Yet Not Alone, nominee for Best Original Song, qualified for this year’s Academy Awards with a limited run back in September but won’t be released until June 2014.

[UPDATE: Looks like you don’t have to worry about this one, the film has been disqualified from the Academy Awards.]

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We Love Arts: Late: A Cowboy Song http://www.welovedc.com/2014/01/10/we-love-arts-late-a-cowboy-song/ Fri, 10 Jan 2014 22:00:03 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=95770 Olmsted Thomas and Wilmoth Keegan in LATE A COWBOY SONG(L-R: Sarah Olmsted-Thomas and Alyssa Wilmoth-Keegan in No Rules Theatre’s production of Late: A Cowboy Song. Photo: Second Glance Photography)

Despite the title of Sarah Ruhl’s Late: A Cowboy Song, this early work from a quickly rising playwright is about being trapped rather than being late. The show now playing at No Rules Theatre features a heroine Mary (Sarah Olmsted-Thomas) who is trapped in an abusive relationship and day-to-day bustle that is quickly getting away from her to the point where it feels like she’s living from holiday to holiday. Her exasperated observation about the litany of holidays in a year will ring true to you once you sit down and think about it. Her boyfriend/husband Crick (Chris Dinolfo) is trapped in a perpetual man-child state which involves a love for modern art that borders on unhealthy and extremely needy tendencies. Mary’s childhood friend Red (Alyssa Wilmoth-Keegan) found her escape through her life as a cowboy living outside the city setting of Pittsburgh. The show’s eclectic tastes include musical interludes, interpretive dance, and clever use of props. However, despite a captivating exploration of identity, romance, and the idea of the perfect life, Late is a production trapped in its own complexity. Its lack of polish can be attributed to a playwright’s early work.

Many could go out of the way to associate this piece with praise for Ruhl’s more recent successful work like Dead Man’s Cell Phone or The Vibrator Play, but looking at this show on its own, it feels like there’s a lot going on that doesn’t get resolved.

The main storyline focuses on Mary’s relationship with Crick: both childhood sweethearts that appear to be destined for each other down to the birthday they both share. When they both decided to get married and start a family, things don’t appear as rosy as they once were. While Crick finds solace looking at art in his job as a museum security guard, Mary finds her escape through Red’s companionship, which blossoms into a romance that has a very Brokeback feel.

The idea of identity relies on both Red’s shunning of lady-like stereotypes for the rough and tough cowboy exterior, and Mary and Crick’s feelings towards their child who was born intersex but ultimately declared a girl by the doctors. Crick wants to raise the child with pink toys while Mary wants a more open-minded and gender-neutral approach to traditional roles.

The performances are strong, particularly from Wilmoth-Keegan and Olmsted-Thomas. Wilmoth-Keegan says so much with so little as she fully embraces Red’s cowboy ways. The show gives her ample opportunity to show off her musical chops as well. Olmsted-Thomas entertains as Mary, an anxious worry-wort who is in desperate need of peace. Described as “macho-effeminate”, the role of Crick just felt convincing to me.

Director Rex Daugherty does a great job with the physicality of the production, smartly placing props that give a healthy dose of whimsey. Great performances and a truly creative approach aside, Late: A Cowboy Song is simply a piece that has a lot of potential but shows the green-side of a playwright’s earlier work.

No Rules Theatre’s production of Late: A Cowboy Song performs through January 19th, at Signature Theatre located at 4200 Campbell Ave Arlington, VA 22206. Closest Metro stop: Pentagon City (Blue/Yellow lines). For more information call 336-462-9182.

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We Love Arts: The Pajama Men – Just The Two Of Each Of Us http://www.welovedc.com/2013/12/13/we-love-arts-the-pajama-men-just-the-two-of-each-of-us/ Fri, 13 Dec 2013 14:00:05 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=95487 pj.conflict

Mark Chavez and Shenoah Allen. Photo courtesy of The Pajama Men.

The PJ-donned duo of Mark Chavez and Shenoah Allen return to Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company for a show this holiday season called Just The Two Of Each Of Us. Of course there’s nothing to read into the title, their surreal, imaginative, and somewhat improvised comedy style hasn’t changed for those that caught them last year. Those that have yet to experience The Pajama Men need to do so as soon as possible. Chavez and Allen once again bring a heavy dose of physical humor, with amazing vocal and facial performances that result in a night of good ol’ clean fun.

The framework is familiar: a series of sketches involving characters who are all somehow intertwined into a bigger, more fantastical story. Without revealing too much, expect knights, monsters, and a woman with one-arm. The jokes feel like a Family Guy cut-scene, down to the milking of every moment which still has the audience in stitches regardless. The loose storytelling is beautifully mashed up with improvised moments where you can see the duo struggle to keep a straight face as they attempt to one-up each other.

What makes the show most amazing however is Monty Python-like comedy that doesn’t have to resort to dirty undertones to achieve its goal. Cheesy one-liners, clever wordplay, and the ability to bring the audience in on the joke is all The Pajama Men need to make this sleepover a success.

The Pajama Men: Just the Two of Each of Us performs now through January 5, 2014 at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, located at 641 D Street NW, Washington, DC 20004. Closest Metro stop: Archives/Navy Memorial (Yellow/Green lines). Tickets start at $55. For more information call 202-393-3939.

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We Love Arts: Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner http://www.welovedc.com/2013/12/12/we-love-arts-guess-whos-coming-to-dinner/ Thu, 12 Dec 2013 20:00:05 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=95388 (L to R) Malcolm-Jamal Warner as Dr. John Prentice, Bethany Anne Lind as Joanna Drayton, Tess Malis Kincaid as Christina Drayton and Tom Key as Matt Drayton in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater November 29, 2013-January 5, 2014. Photo by Teresa Wood. (L to R) Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Bethany Anne Lind, Tess Malis Kincaid and Tom Key in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. Photo by Teresa Wood.

For a play based on a film made in 1967, you might suspect antiquated dialogue and plotlines. While William Rose’s screenplay about Joanna Drayton (Bethany Anne Lind), a girl who surprises her family by bringing home an African-American fiancée (Malcolm-Jamal Warner), may have been edgy back then, the idea of inter-racial marriage is much more accepted in our society now.

Right?

Well even in “post-racial” 2013, the idea of whites and blacks marrying each other is still making headlines. Todd Kreidler’s stage adaptation of Rose’s story still resonates with audiences in a new production at Arena Stage. The story may not provoke like it did back in the 60s; instead it serves as a galvanizing statement of equality and the way love should be. The crowd inside the packed Fichandler Stage was eager to give their stamp of approval against prejudice, exploding into applause anytime a character demonstrated against bigotry. The statement that the original film set out to make now has a strong rooting interest in 2013.

The plot is contrived from the beginning: Joanna suddenly returns from Hawaii with her new soul mate: Dr. John Prentice. On top of the shock her art dealer mother (Tess Malis Kincaid) and liberal newspaper publisher father (Tom Key) are caught up with, they must also give a thumbs up or down to the marriage that night before Dr. Prentice leaves the country for work. Also caught up in the saga is the house maid Matilda (Lynda Gravatt), who is suspicious about the whole romance. While it seems like an arbitrary situation where everyone must come to immediate terms with Joanna’s relationship, director David Esbjornson deftly guides this ship on a straight and narrow path with audience in tow well past it.

Rounding out the cast is an art gallery employee (Valerie Leonard), a Monsignor (Michael Russotto) who’s a family friend, and Dr. Prentice’s parents (Eugene Lee and Andrea Frye).

Being the biggest name in the cast, Malcolm-Jamal Warner has certainly matured well since his days on The Cosby Show. As Dr. John Prentice, Warner puts his own spin on the role that helped put Sidney Poitier on the map. Warner disarms others around him as well as the audience with a smooth quiet smile all throughout the first act. In the second he really breaks out with his declaration that he is not a colored man, but a man.

However it should be clear that Warner is only one piece of a solid cast. For Lind, Kincaid, and Frye this show is very familiar territory with all three having done the show last year for Atlanta’s True Colors Theatre. Much of the action goes through parents Key and Kincaid whose performances certainly rival Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy in the film version.

Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner may hark to a decade gone by, but its humorous approach will still entertain audiences and point to a future where we can perhaps look back and laugh at how things used to be.

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner performs at Arena Stage’s Fichandler Stage now through January 5th, 2014. Arena Stage is located at 1101 6th St SW, Washington DC 20024. Tickets $85. For more information, call 202-554-9066.

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We Love Arts: Appropriate http://www.welovedc.com/2013/11/18/we-love-arts-appropriate/ Mon, 18 Nov 2013 16:00:17 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=95030 DSC_2049

Deborah Hazlett and David Bishins in Woolly Mammoth’s Appropriate. Photo credit: Stan Barouh

“I try to go back home to visit family when I can.”

These were the words spoken to me by my cousin, who was in Washington, DC attending a medical conference. We were enjoying the delectable cuisine of José Andrés at Jaleo, right down the block from where I would soon be reviewing Woolly Mammoth‘s latest production: Appropriate.

“Otherwise the only time you see them is either when someone gets married or when someone dies. ”

It only seems fitting that we had this conversation before I attended Appropriate‘s opening night. Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s dramedy brings a family together in a situation similar to what my cousin and I discussed: taking care of the estate of their recently deceased father. Three siblings meet at the Southern plantation home of their late father to sell it off to the highest bidder in hopes of covering the debts and expenses he left behind. However instead of feeling a sense of unity through the ability to grieve with family, the three grow even further apart as their dysfunctional relationships have to support the weight of a startling discovery about their father. The ensuing drama will push and pull the audience in every direction.

Toni (Deborah Hazlett) has endured a lot of hardships up to this point. Her family is crumbling to ground. Her husband? Divorced. Her son? Kicked out of school. Her job? Lost. Her ability to survive to the point has turned her into a bitter soul and you can see it from the start. Her brother Bo (David Bishins) tries to clean up the mess left not only by their father but the seemingly incompetent efforts of Toni in organizing the liquidation and auction of the plantation.

Meanwhile the youngest brother Frank (Tim Getman), estranged due to past scandals, shows up out of the blue with a new hippie girl (Caitlin McColl) by his side. Frank says he’s back to make amends but Bo and Toni have their suspicions that he shows up just in time to see everything get sold for money.

Hidden motives and unresolved conflicts are main ingredients of a stew of a first act that is very shouty. Everyone feels slighted yet everyone feels like they are doing the right thing in regards to their father and their past.

What about that father? Well, the discovery of certain photos and artifacts brings to question a potentially racist past, one that would frame him as truly evil by today’s standards.

Jacobs-Jenkins does a wonderful job in setting up the drama with not only endless questions, but with just enough meat to satisfy any sort of conclusion you come to. Toni doesn’t want to face the possibilities the artifacts present but Bo’s wife Rachael (Beth Hylton) quickly recalls her experience with him that not only hints as him being a racist but also an anti-Semite (Rachael is Jewish). What’s the truth? We’ll never know.

The performances from the cast are solid from the adults down to the children (Cole Edelstein, Eli Schulman, Maya Brettell, Josh Adams). The story is compelling the but show still needs some polish. Personally I felt that the balance of comedy and drama really clicked in the second act but was set-up by a first act that was perhaps too bombastic. While the execution was fantastic (great set by Clint Ramos, suburb sound design by Broken Chord), the show needs more of that second half cohesiveness throughout.

Appropriate performs now through December 1, 2013 at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, located at 641 D Street NW, Washington, DC 20004. Closest Metro stop: Archives/Navy Memorial (Yellow/Green lines). Tickets start at $55. For more information call 202-393-3939.

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We Love Arts: Pride In The Falls Of Autrey Mill http://www.welovedc.com/2013/11/06/we-love-arts-pride-in-the-falls-of-autrey-mill/ Wed, 06 Nov 2013 18:00:22 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=94852 13082-213-1024x681

Photo credit: Margot Schulman

After Really Really sold out and wowed crowds at Signature Theatre last winter, up-and-coming playwright Paul Downs Colaizzo is back with another new play. This time instead of dissecting millennials, Colaizzo sets his sights on a more affluent crowd in Pride in the Falls of Autrey Mill. Starring Golden Globe and Emmy winner Christine Lahti, Autrey Mill is a powerful character-driven dramedy that explores conventional human needs in an unconventional setting: a luxury community where only the elite of the elite reside.

The play is set in the present day inside the home at The Falls of Autrey Mill, where the homes are adorned with Roman columns and the families have matching polos with the neighborhood crest emblazoned on the front. A cursory search reveals a real-life neighborhood in the Atlanta suburbs with a similar name.

As we know, money doesn’t buy happiness. Within the immaculate walls of this home is a family falling apart at the seams. Matriarch Carly (Lahti) is in the epicenter of the earth-shattering series of events that threatens to reduce her family to rubble. Under the pressure of keeping up with the Jones (better said than done when your neighbors are as wealthy, if not wealthier, than you) and raising the conventionally perfect family, Carly cracks the worst of them all. As her son Chad (Anthony Bowden) comes out of the closet and her other son Tommy (Christopher McFarland) decides to drop out of law school for his current job as a waiter she reacts with fanciful denial. The measures get even more extreme when her marriage with husband Louie (Wayne Duvall) takes a turn for the worst.

Michael Kahn (artistic director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company) takes Colaizzo’s words and brings them to life with same mixture of drama and comedy that made Really Really a success. The failures in the family are personified in humorous fashion through the home, which takes its toils as the show goes along. While I’m not sure why Colaizzo decided to go in a certain direction with Tommy, specifically his hands, it does deliver some laughs. Colaizzo is great at breaking up drama with a well-placed one-liner or slapstick bit.

Great drama is what Colaizzo delivers with Autrey Mill. Lahti is surrounded with a great supporting cast and compelling storylines; it’s clear that she’s firmly in the spotlight and she does shine in this performance. However, as a whole there are moments where it feels as if there are one too many ingredients in the casserole. In particular, a subplot between the two brothers seems wedged in there. In the end, the show is all about the pride, not of community of The Falls of Autrey Mill, but of Carly, the housewife diva who wants to have it all but ends up with nothing at all.

Signature Theatre’s production of Pride In The Falls Of Autrey Mill performs through December 8th, at the Ark Theatre located at 4200 Campbell Ave Arlington, VA 22206. Closest Metro stop: Pentagon City (Blue/Yellow lines). Tickets start at $47. For more information call 703 820 9771.

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Local Community Theatre Takes The Leap Into The Pros: The Transformation of NextStop Theatre http://www.welovedc.com/2013/11/04/local-community-theatre-takes-the-leap-into-the-pros-the-transformation-of-nextstop-theatre/ Mon, 04 Nov 2013 18:00:08 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=94670 Emily Levey and James Finley in NextStop Theatre's Production of -The 39 Steps-   (Photo; Rebekah Purcell, VSION)_1600x1067

(Photo: Rebekah Purcell)

This fall the doors opened at the DC area’s latest theatre company, the NextStop Theatre Company, out in Herndon, Virginia.

However this isn’t the first rodeo for the group located out in the Dulles Technology Corridor. Known for over 25 years as the Elden Street Players, the former community theatre is setting out to do something that is rarely ever done when it comes to Community Theatre: go professional.

The transformation started with NextStop’s newly installed Artistic Director Evan Hoffman. Hoffman was an Elden Street fixture, having been a part of ESP productions since he was ten years old. After spending many years acting and directing productions in community theatres all around Washington DC, Virginia, and Maryland, he hoped to start his own theatre company and realize his dream of becoming an Artistic Director. At the same time the Elden Street Players was considering where they wanted to go after a quarter century of productions and wanted to take the next step, whatever that maybe. It became clear that Hoffman and Elden Street could both achieve each other’s goals with a transformation of Elden Street into a professional theatre with Hoffman at the helm.

In an interview this past summer before the opening of their inaugural season, Hoffman explained to me that even though the board, artistic identity, and venue at the Industrial Strength Theatre will remain the same, the group under a new moniker will present an inaugural season featuring professional directors and talent that have previously performed on other professional DC stages.

The season kicked off with a production of The 39 Steps, a tongue-in-cheek adaptation of Alfred Hitchock’s film. The show directed by Hoffman featured a talented cast (James Finley, Emily Levey, Evan Crump, Nick Rose) with credits from American Century, Keegan, Signature, Studio, and Woolly Mammoth. After laughing my way through the show it looks like NextStop will certainly have the capabilities to produce quality work on par with DC’s other small professional stages. Because after all it’s not about the Equity asterisk in the program that defines what is professional and what is not according to Hoffman.

“Professional is not about talent- it’s about commitment.”

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We Love Arts: The Laramie Project http://www.welovedc.com/2013/10/05/we-love-arts-the-laramie-project/ Sat, 05 Oct 2013 15:00:45 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=94304 01h_LaramieProject

Photo: Carol Rosegg

In the performing arts world it is almost canon law that the show must go on. For the cast and crew of Ford’s Theatre’s The Laramie Project that meant finding a performance space for their production after Tuesday’s Government Shutdown resulted in the National Parks Service forcing the closure the famed theatre.

I learned about the events of that faithful day in an interview with Paul R. Tetreault, the Theatre Director for Ford’s Theatre. The staff arrived to work at 8:30 unsure on how the Shutdown would affect their production. In past government closures the theatre has been allowed to produce theatrical productions. This production of The Laramie Project doesn’t use any federal employees or funds, however the theatre facility is funded by both the Ford’s Theatre Society, a nonprofit entity, and the National Parks Service.

“We thought we’d be beneath the radar… the Federal government has bigger issues than little ol’ Fords Theatre.” Tetreault explained.

At 10:30 that morning Tetreault was hand-delivered a letter from the Director of the National Parks Service informing them that the facility will be closed for the duration of the shutdown. Suddenly The Laramie Project was out on the street without a home.

The next move for Tetreault and company was clear: find a new space for Tuesday’s performance. Ford’s Theatre typically holds around 650 patrons, it would be hard to find a space in nine hours that would accommodate that many people. The theatre placed calls to nearby Shakespeare Theatre Company and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. Around noon Ford’s snagged a rehearsal hall at Woolly. The production staff decided to go forward with a performance for members of the press as well as DC metro teachers that were conducting educational outreach related to the show. The audience of 650 was cut down to 70.

“The show is an intimidate story told by a company of 8 actors- it’s not about flashy scenery or big production numbers. It’s not about that,” Tetreault remarked. This production of The Laramie Project also had special meaning as it coincides with the 15th anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s death this month.

The production presented on Tuesday was a stripped down, bare-bones performance. No sets, basic lighting, no projections or other theatrics. Just the hardwood floor of the rehearsal hall, some chairs, a desk, and a black curtain where the 10-person ensemble ducked behind to change costumes.

While I cannot talk about the show as it was originally envisioned for the stage at Ford’s, what I will say is that director Matt Gardiner and his cast displayed a strong, moving performance after spending only two hours in their new space. It helped that The Laramie Project feeds off powerful performances and if anything the performances were augmented by the intimacy of the small rehearsal room.

Based on first-person research done by Moisés Kaufman and the Tectonic Theater Project, The Laramie Project unfolds like a live action documentary. The ensemble portrays various people involved in the brutal beating and murder of gay student Matthew Shepard in 1998. The individual asides and monologues come together to create a moving drama that explores all sides of the incident.

Gardiner’s cast is a venerable all-star line-up with fantastic performances from Mitchell Hebert, Kimberly Gilbert, and Craig Wallace among others. The acting was strong enough to shine through the technical limitations of the night.

With the shutdown entering its first weekend, Ford’s has found an additional venue over at the First Congregational United Church of Christ. The theatre held a free performance this past Thursday and will have an additional one Tuesday October 8th at 7:30 PM. Free tickets will be given out starting at 6:30 PM.

After that? The future is uncertain. In the event the Government Shutdown is lifted performances will most likely resume at Ford’s Theatre but til then?

When I asked Tetreault after Tuesday’s performance he told me, “Your guess is as good as mine.”

Ford’s Theatre’s production of The Laramie Project performs October 8th at First Congregational United Church of Christ, located at 945 G Street, NW Washington, DC 20001. Closest Metro stop: Metro Center (Blue/Orange/Red lines). Admission is free.

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Reaction: TheatreWashington Changes Helen Hayes Awards Rules, Splits Into Two Groups http://www.welovedc.com/2013/09/19/reaction-theatrewashington-changes-helen-hayes-awards-rules-splits-into-two-groups/ http://www.welovedc.com/2013/09/19/reaction-theatrewashington-changes-helen-hayes-awards-rules-splits-into-two-groups/#comments Thu, 19 Sep 2013 16:00:14 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=93989 Show_logo_web_hha13

In an announcement this past Tuesday, theatreWashington announced sweeping changes to the rules among which is a division of the awards into two groups. The biggest change is meant to divide professional productions apart from smaller shows.

The revisions come after a year-long study which was brought into the spotlight after the larger theatre companies in DC wrote a letter to theatreWashington asking for reform to the awards process or else they would, “rethink their future involvement.”

After combing through the details on theatreWashington’s site, here are the points the DC Theatre scene needs to know and my take on them.

  • The awards will now be split into to two groups based on the amount of Equity Actors in a cast. “Helen” productions will be for shows where less than 51% of the cast is Equity and no more than three Equity members are in the cast. “Hayes” productions will include shows with more than 51% Equity cast or shows where three or more cast members in Equity.
  • My Take: The move is to clearly delineate shows from “Big” theatres vs. “Small” theatres but since the division occurs on the show level, a theatre could possible have shows that will compete in both categories which makes it more flexible than a hard division of the theatre community. The use of “Helen” and “Hayes” to name the two categories is a smart move to label them as “different but equal” awards. Regardless of the new divisions, each award will still be a Helen Hayes Award. The challenge will be to convince the community at large, who are already joking about the “Helen Helen Hayes” and the “Hayes Helen Hayes.” One cannot deny that budget size (a factor theatreWashington tried to take out of the division process) is a factor in regards to the amount of equity actors that are in a cast so to a certain extent, budget still plays a role in the grouping.
  •  Judging will also get a makeover, four judging panels will be used to adjudicate Plays and Musicals on the Helen and Hayes level. One panel will solely judge plays in the Helen group while another will judge plays in the Hayes group and so on. A fifth panel will also judge new plays and musicals in both groups.
  •  The judges will be nominated and selected by the Artistic Directors of the theatres. Judges will have to go through a vetting process and will consist of former theatre professionals, academics, and “life-long theatregoers.”
  • While the post-show scoring will still determine nominations, there will also be a “second look” session at the end of the year where each judge panel will cast final votes on the nominations to determine the winner.
  • My Take: The new rules on judging certainly gives these awards a more Oscar-race like feel. Also the awards now feel more like celebrating the best of the past year. I wonder if we will see any sort of campaigning now that judges will cast final votes after nominations. While theatreWashington says it will prevent lobbying and persuasion through moderated discussions at these “second look” sessions, it is still totally possible to reach out to the judges (who are identified on the site) and have some lunch, throw a party, and other things people in the Oscar race are familiar with. Will we see Artistic directors get a little bit more strategic with the programming of their seasons? Will we see shows slated towards the end of the year to create more buzz riding into the end of the year?
  • With now twice as many awards to give out the total number of possible awards grows to 47. Not every category doubled with these changes, the non-resident awards shrank from four to two.
  • My Take: I guess theatreWashington got tired of nominating famous actors and out-of-towners, only to see them not show up. Whatever makes for a faster ceremony I say. However with 47 awards how will they fit that into an already long awards night? They can’t, and they haven’t figured out how they are going to tackle that challenge. Will there be two award ceremonies? Will the night only award the “top-line” categories? Will sound, costume, and set awards be given out at another dinner hosted by a celebrity for the techies to fawn over?

We’ll find out more in good time but for now one thing is certain, change is coming and as a whole everybody is at least happy something is being done.

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We Love Arts: Detroit http://www.welovedc.com/2013/09/18/we-love-arts-detroit/ Wed, 18 Sep 2013 21:00:22 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=93925 (left to right) Tim Getman, Gabby Fernandez-Coffey, Danny Gavigan, Emily  Townley. Photo: Stan Barouh

(left to right) Tim Getman, Gabby Fernandez-Coffey, Danny Gavigan, Emily
Townley. Photo: Stan Barouh

For a show that’s not set in wartime or a musical it’s odd to find myself writing about the wonderful special effects in Woolly Mammoth‘s production of Lisa D’Amour’s Detroit. However I’d be remiss to not point out the notable use of grills that appear as if they are sizzling burgers, blood that looks real enough to cause concern, vomit that looks real enough to disgust, and a fire that’s climatic enough to make Michael Bay spin in circles. The pizzazz factor in this production of the Pulitzer Prize finalist (it lost out in 2011 to Clybourne Park, another show Woolly produced) is certainly noteworthy.

But the show is more than just a spectacle of stagecraft details. It is a smart, dark comedy that’s well written and well directed (John Vreeke, of The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity fame). D’Amour explores the downfall of the idyllic neighborhoods of the 50s, closely knit communities that declined alongside the manufacturing industries that supported them. Through her prose, D’Amour skims the surface of changing suburbia but does so with a fresh story that is truly entertaining and endearing.

Despite the play’s title, the show’s setting is described as, “suburb outside of a mid-sized American city.” While Detroit works nicely in this context, D’Amour has stated that the show could take place in any metropolitan suburb. All of the 1 hour and 45 minutes of action takes place in the backyard of Mary (Emily K. Townley) and Ben (Tim Getman). They are just your average suburban couple: Mary works as a paralegal while Ben worked in a bank until a recent layoff.

On the otherside of the backyard is a couple who just moved in next door: Sharon (Gabriela Fernandez-Coffey) and Kenny (Danny Gavigan). The two neighbors share very little in common besides a property line: Sharon and Kenny are recovering addicts who have more blue collar careers that don’t make enough cash for them to furnish their newly rented abode. However the two get along through a series of BBQ dinners and bonds are formed. In manic-pixie dream girl-like fashion, the presence of Sharon and Kenny shakes things up for Mary and Ben in ways they never imagined.

The acting and chemistry are strong between the couples, with a slight edge given to the females. Fenandez-Coffey is manic, effusive, and doesn’t hold anything back in her portrayal of Sharon. The comedy lies in her unsolicited openness: she’s that friend that is ready to throw out a story or confession you never asked for. Townley also has moments as Mary, especially when alcohol is in the equation. Overall the cast is a tight unit that makes the comedy in this show come easy.

In between the laughs L’Amour’s message shines through. In Detroit all the characters deal with vices and a sense of quiet desperation, but it is a battle they each fight alone. L’Amour’s view is that there is no more sense of neighborly community and no reason to bother your neighbor for anything anymore. Not even a cup of sugar.

Detroit performs now through October 6th, 2013 at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, located at 641 D Street NW, Washington, DC 20004. Closest Metro stop: Archive/Navy Memorial (Yellow/Green lines). Tickets start at $25. For more information call 202-393-3939.

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We Love Arts: Miss Saigon http://www.welovedc.com/2013/09/05/we-love-arts-miss-saigon/ http://www.welovedc.com/2013/09/05/we-love-arts-miss-saigon/#comments Thu, 05 Sep 2013 16:00:58 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=93651 SG-6564-1024x773
Signature Theatre’s production of Miss Saigon. Photo credit: Christopher Mueller

An impoverished woman who turn to prostitution to make a living in hopes of sending her child off to live a better life. The mostly good-natured man man who “saves” said mother and child. Signature Theatre’s Miss Saigon shares a few common traits with Les Miserables. Both musicals were written by the French duo of Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, so it makes sense.  Both also set out to be prime examples of the epic blockbuster musical, one where every word is a song and big numbers are orchestrated to put the musical into musical theater. The barricades of Les Mis are matched by the swooping helicopters of Miss Saigon when it comes to iconic imagery.

On Broadway, famed producer Cameron Mackintosh made both productions into long-running hits. At Signature, Eric Schaeffer and company attempt to fit as much giltz and glam of Miss Saigon onto the small Max Theatre as possible. Unable to fit a whirly bird into the production, the show instead is dressed to the nines with ripped parachutes, barbed wire fences, and metal grating that creeps from the stage into the audience. The ensemble that takes to this rough and gritty stage is strong, but has noticeable holes that makes this rendition solid, but not show-stopping.

The story of an American GI falling in love with a Vietnamese bar dancer in Saigon during the Vietnam War has been criticized time and time again for misogynistic and racist themes. As a first generation Asian American whose parents escaped Saigon in a boat, I struggle with these issues. On one hand I understand why my fellow Asian Americans would be angered by this story, on the other I understand the context of the show, which is an update of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly. Yet another angle for me is that I am happy to see a show that prominently features Asian American actors, a minority that has been overlooked time and time again in theatre. The fact non-Asians were cast in this ensemble of to mix in with the Asian bar girls at some moments doesn’t make me feel too thrilled however.

The show is carried upon the shoulders of the Vietnamese bar girl Kim (Diana Huey) and The Engineer (Thom Sesma), the owner of the club where she works. Kim shines so bright in her performance that I was somewhat surprised she did not get final billing during the curtain call. Alas, the last billing goes to Sesma, who does hold his own as the conniving Engineer, stealing lots of scenes with his subtle humor that gets the laughs without having to go too over the top.

What makes this talented ensemble incomplete is the hole left by Jason Michael Evans who was tapped to play Chris, the American GI, but had to drop out of the production a week before opening due to a throat injury. Understudy Gannon O’Brien has done a wonderful job stepping in with virtually no prior preparation, however the difference is noticeable. Not to mention that complete lack of chemistry between Chris and Kim due to O’Brien’s sudden thrust into the show. I have confidence that O’Brien will use the rest of the run to get up to speed and hopefully the substitution will end up being a non-issue.

There may not be any helicopters or other big show spectacles in this production of Miss Saigon, but Signature shows that it can pull out as many stops as possible in giving the audience a larger-than-life experience on stage. However, until the entire cast can reach a consistent level, the show feels incomplete.

Signature Theatre’s production of Miss Saigon performs through September 29th, at the MAX Theatre located at 4200 Campbell Ave Arlington, VA 22206. Closest Metro stop: Pentagon City (Blue/Yellow lines). For more information call 703 820 9771.

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A Peek Inside BonChon’s New Clarendon Location http://www.welovedc.com/2013/08/01/a-peek-inside-bonchons-new-clarendon-location/ http://www.welovedc.com/2013/08/01/a-peek-inside-bonchons-new-clarendon-location/#comments Thu, 01 Aug 2013 13:00:56 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=93158

I’m no stranger to the sensation that is BonChon. However it was a hike to venture out to Annandale to partake in the artery clogging goodness. Earlier this year the Annandale location closed but this month a brand new location opened up in Clarendon on Pershing Drive across the highway from Fort Myer.

Built into the ground level of a new apartment complex, the restaurant has a no-nonsense design with red accents, dark hardwood, and black furnishings that fits in with the Clarendon scene. Besides a dining room for feasting on wings and drumsticks there is also a fully stocked bar with growler service.

I’m sure BonChon will pull in more DC folks with their latest location and hopefully you will have a chance to experience the goodness that is Korean fried chicken.

BonChon
2209 N Pershing Dr
Arlington, Virginia 22201
(703) 528-1011
Closest Metro: Clarendon (Orange Line)

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