If Monday rolls around and you haven't spent all your cash on alcoholic refreshments for the 4th of July weekend, here's another way to get rid of your dough: Tickets for the Capital Fringe Festival are now on sale. Visit here to get a synopsis of each show running during the 18-day festival, and we can tell you, the selection is diverse. Cabaret, burlesque, one-man shows, operas about talk show hosts, clowns, samurai and Shakespeare.......

One word pretty much defines the D.C. theater scene in July, and that word is FRINGE. We’ll be providing exhaustive coverage of the Capital Fringe Festival as it draws closer, but know that it runs July 10 - 27. A list of shows is available here if you want to start planning in advance how to delegate your $15 per show. Some of D.C.’s theaters have Fringe offerings as well – keep your eyes open......

Rorschach's back, and in rare form. After a nearly year-long absence from the theater scene when it lost its performance space, the small but ambitious theater company is returning with a jam-packed schedule stuffed with three works running in July, including a four-part serial. If its first offering, a sexy and meditative staging of the world premiere This Storm Is What We Call Progress is an indication of things to come, we're in for an......

Phindile Mkhize as Rafiki in that little-show-that-could, The Lion King. Photo by Joan Marcus. Drama lovers, a word: Here in the lavishly appointed ahr-eee Theater cubicle of DCist’s state-of-the-art underground headquarters, we have what you call an ethos. For us, casting arbitrary, semi-informed judgment on the bustling stage traffic of Our Nation’s Capitol is about a lot more than just getting free tickets to the latest hot offering from reliable companies like Catalyst or......

"But wait...there's a second act?" When the lights go out an hour and a half into Washington Shakespeare Company's Red Noses, it's a surprise when the curtain call doesn't follow. Though not every loose end has been tied up in the play, a humorous send-up of a religious troupe who turns to comedy to combat the devastation of the Black Plague, it's difficult to figure out what else the work has left to say.......

Rene Auberjonois and Nancy Robinette star in Shakespeare Theater's The Imaginary Invalid. It takes a nerd showing up for things to really get going in Shakespeare Theater's production of The Imaginary Invalid. And this is one hell of a nerd. As Thomas Diafoirus, unwelcome suitor to the young Angelique, Levi Ben-Israel has the bushy red hair, the dorky glasses. He sputters, sniffles and belches through his awkward advances to the young heiress, all the......

Brad Oscar and J. Fred Shiffman star in The Mystery of Irma Vep at Arena Stage. Brad Oscar and J. Fred Shiffman are the newest odd couple to hit the D.C. stage in Arena’s The Mystery of Irma Vep. And they pull it off twice in one night, first matching wits as a pursed-lipped housekeeper and a gauche stableman, then as a histrionic former actress and her brooding Egyptologist husband. Along the way, they......

Neelam Patel ... and Neelam Patel Local actress/poet/dancer Neelam Patel’s first foray into the arts was through the world of dance, training and performing in the classical Indian styles of Bharatanatyam and Odissi. An injury forced her to take a hiatus from dancing and in order to feed her creative hunger, she began taking acting classes at Studio Theater, Dody Desanto's movement-based classes at The Center, as well as classes in New York. Patel......

How well you enjoy David Grimm's Measure For Pleasure at Woolly Mammoth will largely be dictated by your tolerance of puns. Because boy, are there a lot of them here, mostly of the tawdry variety. In a way it's not surprising; the work is a satire of Restoration comedy, which relied heavily on sexually-explicit double entendre to get its point (and laughs) across. Director Howard Shalwitz has the corsets and the high-society settings in place......

You have to give Ben Cunis props for sheer athleticism. The co-star of Synetic Theater's production of Carmen spends a good portion of the production hoisting himself over, under and through the winding metal, cage-like set constructed for the production. It's an impressive feat (enough to generate more than a few exclamations of "Oh my!" from some of the Kennedy Center's older patrons). But when he's not showing off his strength, Cunis is equally adept......

The issue of self-identity is one that pervades the art of every immigrant community, especially second generation members of those communities. The question one asks is, "Am I American, or am I [insert ethnicity here]?" While the answer usually ends up occupying some space between the two, the revelation lies in the path the artist takes to find a resolution. The route Kathleen Gonzales follows to answer this question is central to The Bridge......

Does a musical have to break new ground in order to be considered a success? It’s true that Broadway has seen some exciting evolution lately in the form of “younger” works like Spring Awakening and In The Heights. But in an era that’s largely been dominated by jukebox musicals and cinematic retreads, it’s refreshing to see a new production that feels like a return to the old form, and a triumphant one that’s neither nostalgic......

Get psyched -- the Source Festival is back! When the Source Theater went off the map for awhile, so did the annual event, but it's returning this year. The event boasts interesting collaborations between seasoned artists and rookies, and creators in different mediums. It begins June 21. What else is this month? For a little mystery to liven up your summer, try Agatha Christie's classic, The Mousetrap. Olney is staging the work (June 11). It's......

David In Shadow And Light at Theater J Theater J's David In Shadow And Light seems to want to be a lot of things at once. Profound meditation on an epic character. Unusual amalgam of world music sounds and atonal themes. Pop-culture savvy, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat-esque musical referencing the WWE in the same breath as scripture. Postmodern, "in-on-the-joke" type of piece that directly addresses the audience and weaves the future with......

Andrew Long, Ted van Griethuysen, and Aubrey K. Deeker form an uneasy alliance in Antony and Cleopatra. Photo by Carol Pratt. Antony and Cleopatra is a sprawling, lumbering beast of a play — war, international intrigue, doomed love — but the best stuff in the Shakespeare Theatre’s current production is the smallest stuff: he-said/she-said, jealousy, drunkenness. When Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, learns from a rightly mortified messenger that Antony, the Roman General with whom......

Sure, with Folger Theater, two Shakespeare Theaters, and Washington Shakespeare Company all alive and kicking in D.C. (not to mention Synetic's silent Shakespeare productions), it's not exactly hard to get your Bard fix in this city. But what do all those companies have in common? You have to pay for them. That's what's so awesome about the Shakespeare Free For All at Carter Barron Amphitheatre, which begins tonight and ends June 1: you don't have......

It's hard to put a finger on what exactly doesn't gel in Folger Theater's The School For Scandal. The performers, by and large are first rate -- we have Kate Eastwood Norris, she of the impeccable comic timing, as the social-climbing Lady Teazle, and David Sabin as her husband, blustering conspiratorially to the audience at her antics. When it comes to playwrights, Sheridan's no slouch, and it's at times surprising how well the 18th century......

That Mark Antony was really a master manipulator. Watching the statesman (Andrew Long) effortlessly work a crowd is one of the many joys of Shakespeare Theater's Julius Caesar, now playing at Sidney Harman Hall. The company has finally found a production that, in the capable hands of director David Muse, befits the grandeur of the company's massive new space. Dan Kremer plays Caesar as an out-of-touch, ego-driven leader bound by superstition and plagued with bouts......

Signature Theater's Glory Days was only the second show in history to transition from D.C. to Broadway - and its run only lasted one night. The musical both opened and closed its doors this Tuesday, after running for 17 preview performances. What happened? Producers attributed the show's short shelf life to poor advance sales and negative overnight reviews. We didn't get the chance to catch the show when it was in D.C., but SanDiego.com theater......

Karen Eleanor Wight and Max McLean get demonic in The Screwtape Letters. Photos by Gerry Goodstein. Though I had never written anything more easily, I never wrote with less enjoyment . . . though it was easy to twist one’s mind into the diabolical attitude, it was not fun, or not for long. The work into which I had to project myself while I spoke through Screwtape was all dust, grit, thirst, and itch.......

Restoration comedy...very hungry caterpillars...and Justin Timberlake. The D.C. theater scene has a diverse set of offerings this May, to say the least. Speaking of the former bye-bye-bye-er, Catalyst's Crumble (Lay Me Down Justin Timberlake) sounds intriguing...and if it isn't, their tickets are only $10, so not much lost there. (May 7). Kate Eastwood Norris just snagged her second Helen Hayes award in a row for best supporting actress. See her strut her comic stuff in......

Only at the Helen Hayes awards will you have three acceptance speeches referencing the word "girdle." The celebratory, at times irreverent ceremony took place in front of a sold-out crowd at the Warner Theater last night. The big winners of the evening were Synetic Theater, the edgy dance-dominant Rosslyn troupe, solidifying its place as one of the most innovative companies working in the area right now. Five out of the group's six trophies were for......

If you see a bunch of people milling around the Warner Theater tonight in evening dress, no, it's not prom; tonight, the D.C. theater community gets its chance to shine at the Helen Hayes Awards, our city's version of the Tonys. Along with winners in 24 categories, the Helen Hayes Awards will give out a few special honors. Planned are a special tribute to British stage actor Sir Derek Jacobi, a The Washington Post Award......

Stephen Schwartz isn't exactly a songwriter known for his pathos, but something about The Stephen Schwartz Project at MetroStage makes his music seem even more sanitized. The revue, which focuses on the show tune composer behind such works as Pippin, Godspell and Wicked, does its best to try to breathe new life into some of Schwartz's songs by featuring non-traditional arrangements. The problem is that few of the re-workings end up for the better; a......

Looks like Bethesda Theater's production of Smokey Joe's Cafe won't "Keep On Rollin'" into May. The theater announced today that the remainder of the run has been canceled due to water damage at the theater. A broken water pipe caused extensive damage to the theater on Friday, and the production is not able to be moved to a new venue on such short notice. The show had been scheduled to run through May 11. We......

"Judas was a dick, but he deserved better." It's one theory anyway, and is sort of the point of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, the intriguing new work being staged by the gutsy Forum Theater and Dance at H Street Playhouse. The play is set in purgatory, where a prosecutor on a mission (Julie Garner) has decided to try to get Judas Iscariot's (Jason McCool) crimes against God re-tried, so he can escape from......

Seriously, you have to be a fool not to fall in love with Aurelia Williams. Whether she's brashly convincing a round of paramours to "Dance With Me", stealing the scene merely by rolling her eyes as her suitor begs her to "Treat Me Nice", or ruefully explaining to us why fools fall in love, all eyes are on Williams when she's on the stage during Bethesda Theatre's new production of Smokey Joe's Cafe. The......

The annual summertime deluge of theater shows comes back again this year with the Capital Fringe Festival, which announced today it will run from July 10 to 27. The non-profit, which started the city-wide festival in 2006, took home two well-deserved awards last year for their programming, the Mayor's Arts Award for Innovation in the Arts and the Momentum Award from the Downtown DC BID. This year's festival promises us even more shows and participants:......

Rick Foucheux, Tim Getman, Nancy Robinette, and Jeremy S. Holm are all smiles in Arena's Death of a Salesman. Photos by Scott Suchman/courtesy Arena Stage. Willy Loman is a tired, pitiable, senile man, older than his 60 years. But in the canon of 20th century American drama, he’s the Alpha dog, the big man, the Steve McQueen. He’s become an iconic figure, like Icarus or Hamlet, and lots of people who have never seen......

April's the most glamorous month for the D.C. theater community, as it marks the celebration of the Helen Hayes Awards, our city's answer to the Tonys. Any favorites to win this year? In the meantime, check out some potential 2009 Tony winners playing this month throughout Washington. Kander & Ebb fever continues over at Signature, as it produces the little-seen production The Happy Time (April 1). Round House Theater in Bethesda will take on the......