It might seem like a stretch to weave together a coming-of-age-story about two Korean-American girls with Alice In Wonderland and the Greek myth of Medea. But writer/performer Sue Jin Song does this with ease, and her one-woman show, Children of Medea at the Capital Fringe Festival, is a fascinating story performed by a compelling performer. Song embodies all the characters present in her narrative, namely two sisters and their emotionally-withdrawn father. The story teeters intriguingly......

Horatio Hornbeam likes nuts. In his mouth. And if you didn't get it the first time, you'll have dozens of reminders of this fact throughout the production of I Like Nuts! (The Musical), playing at Studio Theatre for the Capital Fringe Festival. The hammering home of such silliness is part of the charm of I Like Nuts!, but it also quickly wears thin. Those who are fans of the "Deez Nuts" school of humor should......

"Reefer gets you raped. And you won’t care!" Such is one of the hilariously overwrought statements blasted across the screen, 30s public service announcement-style, during Studio Theatre's hysterical production of Reefer Madness: The Musical. Based loosely upon the 1938 anti-marijuana propaganda film of the same name, the show’s setup involves a high school theater troupe dramatizing the devastating effects of reefer, using the tale of one high school sweetheart couple’s demise as its center.......

FRIDAY: >> Even though Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is an obvious choice for the movie-going crowd this weekend, the Avalon Theatre -- just north of the Potter madness at the Uptown -- is showing Talk to Me, the new biopic on the life of famed Washington, D.C., talk-show host and activist Ralph Waldo "Petey" Greene Jr. 5:50 and 8:30 p.m. >> Unbuckled alumni The Vita Ruins celebrate the release of their......

In their coverage of the Capital Pride Festival, which kicked off yesterday and will culminate in a parade and street festival this weekend, the Post gives an account of a town hall meeting on GLBT issues last night at Studio Theatre where Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) said he plans to introduce a bill legalizing gay marriage in the District within the next two years. Graham appeared on the panel with several other openly......

Tonight, the D.C. theater community will descend on Warner Theater, decked out in tuxes, kilts, ball gowns and whatever else the artsy crowd comes up with to approximate “black tie” attire. It's the night each year they get the chance to party their brains out and recognize the outstanding contributions they've made this year; it's the Helen Hayes Awards. As busy theater critics with day jobs, we don’t get the chance to attend and review......

This post by DCist contributor Rawn James, Jr. This week’s Five O’Clock Meeting takes us to a happy hour that runs Mondays through Fridays from 5-7pm, but on Tuesdays, lasts until 11pm. The spotlight this week shines on Viridian, located north on 14th Street, NW just north of the Studio Theatre in Logan Circle. Viridian’s space is a unique combination of polished concrete and unobtrusive modernity. On this early evening, large paintings catch angled sunlight......

With poignant lines such as "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye," who couldn't love The Little Prince? A French classic by Antoine de Saint Exupery, it has been translated into more than 160 languages and has sold more than 50 million copies worldwide, and I was excited to hear that the Washington Ballet was bringing their adaptation to the stage. With choreography......

So if October's the month for spooky productions and December is the time to get in the holiday spirit, what does November mean for D.C. Theater? Looks like this month, it means a diverse catalogue of everything from Chinese Elvises to Katie Couric (ok, maybe some theaters are apparently still thinking "scary"). Actors' Theater of Washington has the camp-tastic Fatal Attraction: A Greek Tragedy, which will serve as a late-night follow-up to its current production,......

One thing that Studio Theatre has proven over the past year is that, when necessary, it is unafraid to brutalize its audience. The result has been some of its most ambitious and affecting productions, from the caustic Fat Pig to the harrowing Frozen. The trend continues with the company's season opener: Red Light Winter, Adam Rapp's study of an Amsterdam and New York-set love triangle. While the show's blatant and at times disturbing sexuality may......

George Sand is undoubtedly a fascinating subject for literary treatment. Whether it is her status as a groundbreaking woman, inspiring revolutionary, or the lover of famous, glamorous men, there is certainly material aplenty for a story here. But as a musical? MetroStage gives it a go in the new Becoming George; the jury is still out on whether this is an endeavor doomed to failure, or merely one that falters here. One thing's for certain,......

After seeing Studio Theatre Secondstage's production of Frozen, you may find yourself asking your friend to walk you to your car after the show, fearful that some predator is stalking about. You may wake up at 5 a.m., the victim of eerie dreams prompted by the show's imagery. But the creep-out factor is worth it – Frozen, both in content and execution, is exceptional. Frozen focuses on the kidnapping of a small child, and features......

DCist theater critic Missy Frederick contributed to this report. Signature Theatre's production of Urinetown took top honors at last night's Helen Hayes Awards, D.C.'s local theater awards ceremony, taking home 8 prizes including director of a musical (Joe Calarco), choreographer (Karma Camp), four different acting awards (Will Gartshore is pictured right accepting his award for lead actor in a musical, which he shared in a tie with Michael McElroy from Big River), and outstanding resident......

We're all suckers for Dead Poets Society-esque tales of the inspiring relationships that can form between teacher and student. But regardless of the fact that The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is certainly a much more cautionary tale than some of its contemporaries, Studio Theatre's production, largely because of a lackluster lead, does nothing to solidify its place in the canon. Jean Brodie is an iconoclastic school teacher, who embraces the humanities passionately, decries science......

Damn you, Neil LaBute. Damn you for getting your audience caught up in your clever dialogue, your complex, well-drawn characters and compelling plotline, and then making us leave the theatre feeling defeated about the state of humanity. Then again, it’s what you do, and few do it better. When you see a show by the playwright who brought you In The Company Of Men and The Shape Of Things, among others, you know you’re in......

December may have been classic musical central, but January brings a new year and host of exciting options, heavy topics and renowned playwrights showcased by local theatres. Opening this week is Studio Theatre's anticipated Neil LaBute Festival, highlighting the work of the often-caustic man responsible for, among other things, The Shape of Things and In The Company Of Men. The festival kicks off with Fat Pig, which explores whether a man can overcome his friends'......

Written by DCist contributor Rob Birgfeld While stories are often traded about "that guy" who made millions because he was ahead of the real estate curve, few match that of a Brazilian family interested in little more that auto repair. Just one year after riots decimated much of downtown Washington in 1968, Pedro Petrovich opened an auto repair shop on 13th Street, one block north of Logan Circle. Soon after, he moved Petrovich Auto Body......

October is here, and it's inevitable that local theater companies would try to haunt us with some spookier fare. Here's a look at who's obliging our more macabre sensibilities next month: >> Don't tell Mom, well, anything about the babysitter? Studio Theatre has Marie Ndiaye's Hilda, a horror story about a mother's growing obsession over the woman she hires to care for her kids (Oct 5). >> There's double, double, toil and trouble over at......

Five pseudo-historical, pseudo-literary feminist icons from widely different eras are brought together by a modern-day executive for a dinner party. This arguably contrived premise is the initial basis for Caryl Churchill's Top Girls, now being staged by the Fountainhead Theater. The show's conceit feels rather forced, and continues to puzzle during the second act, when all the main figures are dropped and the action shifts to a present-day story of that same executive and her......

Plays by women; plays about women. The fairer sex captures the imagination of many D.C. theaters this September, offering works by celebrated female authors and performing plays that focus on female characters. And if that's not your thing, well, there's always Kafka. Two area theaters present works by Caryl Churchill -- Studio Theatre performing A Number beginning Sept. 7, and Fountainhead Theatre staging Top Girls, which opens Sept. 8. The former show explores ethical issues......

Sexual intrigue, Hellen Keller and urine; that's what area theaters have to offer us during the slow month of August, the dead time between the close of the '04/'05 season and the beginning of the new one. In all seriousness, August still has plenty of offerings for D.C. theatergoers, as a bunch of well-received shows take final bows and a few exciting new productions make their debuts. People can't stop tinkering with Les Liasons......

FRIDAY: >> Put on your robe and wizard hat...Harry Potter's coming to town! The sixth book in the series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, will be released tonight at midnight, and don't think we don't know. Watch this space for more info on tons of crazy HP events going on around town. For one, Politics and Prose will be hosting a party in their parking lot with magicians, a costume contest with prizes, and......

Consumed by an obsession to find your birth mother, while plagued by a serious case of obsessive compulsive disorder and some pesky agoraphobia to boot. What’s a poor girl to do? Clearly, it’s time to build a robot. That’s the conceit behind The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow, the witty and moving production by the The Studio Theatre Secondstage team, now on the Milton Theatre stage through the end of the month. The play focuses......

FRIDAY >> Proving once again that country legends, unlike most rock stars, actually can age well, Wanda Jackson (pictured right) makes an appearance on the Black Cat mainstage tonight, where she will no doubt trot out classic hits like "Big Iron Skillet" and "Let's Have A Party." But with over 50 albums worth of songs to choose from, including some backed up by the Oak Ridge Boys, let's hope she performs a few obscure numbers......

For a city often characterized by expensive food, high-priced drinks and rising real estate prices, low-priced entertainment is actually pretty easy to find in DC –- if you know where to look. Live here awhile, and you'll find yourself outraged when you travel elsewhere and discover you actually occasionally have to pay admission to get into a museum, or hand over more than $25 for a decent concert ticket. The theater scene is no......

The City Paper's own Trey Graham recently took home a significant accolade in the world of theatre criticism, winning the 2003-04 George Jean Nathan Award. The Nathan Award, administered by the Cornell University Department of English, was established to reward "the American who has written the best piece of drama criticism during the theatrical year (July 1 to June 30), whether it is an article, an essay, treatise or book." Graham was selected by a......