Parade is a musical that wreaks havoc on the emotions.

When Open Circle Theater company announced it would be reworking Jason Robert Brown’s Songs For A New World to revolve around the Iraq war, it was hard to squelch images of flag-waving, canons booming, and rewritten lyrics resembling “I’m not afraid of anything/be it religious extremists, guns or sand.” Fortunately, Open Circle’s take has much more sincerity, skill and imagination driving their interpretation, though ultimately, the work stands up better unadorned. Songs, which recently was…

When you grow up an obsessive musical theater fan, sometimes it can be a rude awakening when your artistic tastes mature. Appreciation for the best shows’ haunting melodies, clever wordplay, or epic spectacle remains; unconditional love for the shows heavy on the schmaltz factor can fade (suddenly Phantom of the Opera doesn’t seem like the world’s most enduring love story anymore). But for recovering musical theater lovers, enduring lifelong fans, or even skeptics of the…

As April was the month of 80 zillion new play openings, we kind of thought things would slow down a bit for the theater community in May. Not the case – we’ve got lots of exciting productions to share with you, from post-modern Hamlet comedies to, well, Hamlet itself. Plus, something new from the guy behind “Schindler’s List”. Here’s what’s playing. Catalyst Theater impressed all its larger competitors by taking home the award for best…

It’s officially December, so we find our thoughts turning to holiday shopping. Will you be giving the gift of local theater (or hoping to receive it) this season? Here are a couple of things on our wish list for the D.C. theatre community: 1. For tiny companies like Meat & Potato and Natural Theatricals to have their seats filled more frequently, and for small but innovative companies like Rorschach to get Helen Hayes nods this…