June 25, 2009, is a day that I’ll never forget. I remember that I was on a shuttle bus taking the trip home when, it was announced by a fellow bus writer, that Michael Jackson had passed away. The day is visited again in the play, The Night Michael Jackson Diedwhich had a dry run at The Hamilton in Washington D.C., on the ninth anniversary of the King of Pop’s passing.
On this latest edition of INTERVUE: Today’s guest has been featured in such Broadway shows as Les Miserables, Wicked and Annie. She has also been featured in the national tours of Evita and Wicked. As a singer-songwriter, her music can be found on both Spotify and iTunes. Now, she’ll be baking her way across the country as Jenna in the brilliant movie turned Broadway musical “Waitress” coming to the National Theatre May 15th– June 3rd.
Oakley plays Jenna, a waitress and expert pie maker who dreams of a way out of her small town and loveless marriage. A baking contest in a nearby county and the town’s new doctor may offer her a chance at a fresh start while her fellow waitresses offer their own receipt for happiness but Jenna must muster up her own strength and courage to rebuild her life. Ladies and Gentlemen: here’s the wonderful Desi Oakley
The National Theatre confirmed today that the pre-Broadway world premiere of the new musical comedy BEETLEJUICE will open its 2018-19 “Broadway at the National” season. This will be the second consecutive year the National Theatre opens its season with a pre-Broadway world premiere, following last season’s sold-out engagement of MEAN GIRLS.
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces Drew Gehling (Waitress, Jersey Boys) will play both President Bill Mitchell and the title role in Dave, the world-premiere musical debuting this summer, based on the blockbuster Academy Award-nominated comedy. The production, by three-time Tony Award winner Thomas Meehan (Annie, Hairspray, The Producers), Tony Award nominee Nell Benjamin (Mean Girls, Legally Blonde) and Pulitzer Prize and two-time Tony Award winner Tom Kitt (Next to Normal, If/Then), is directed by Tina Landau (SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical) and will run July 13-August 19, 2018 in the Kreeger Theater.
As a fan of dance, my expectations were high when I found out that I would be attending “Step Afrika’s Step Xplosion at Strathmore. The event which wasn’t an all-out competition, but more or a less a celebration of stepping and, how it helps children on their journey into adulthood.
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater will host a special post-show conversation with Gloria Steinem on Sunday, January 28 following the 7:30 p.m. performance during the run of Mary Kathryn Nagle’s world premiere Power Play Sovereignty. This gripping political exploration travels the intersections of personal and political truths, and historic and present struggles, in the fight to save the sovereignty of Cherokee Nation both past and present. Under the direction of Artistic Director Molly Smith, Sovereignty runs January 12-February 18, 2018 in the Kreeger Theater.
This February, the Shakespeare Theatre Company presents William Shakespeare’s Othello, helmed by internationally acclaimed director Ron Daniels and featuring stage and screen performer Faran Tahir in the titular role and Jonno Roberts as Iago. Director Ron Daniels, an honorary associate director at the Royal Shakespeare Company, brings his sure hand with Shakespeare to one of the Bard’s greatest tragedies. Othello runs at STC’s Sidney Harman Hall (610 F Street NW) from February 23 through March 27.
LiveArtDC is producing another show created by the New York City’s Three Day Hangover for the Accidental Vanya Festival in Washington, D.C. Drunkle Vanya mixes Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya with Cards Against Humanity (“the party game for horrible people”), vodka shots and the kind of intimacy you only get at a dive bar. Staged at The Pinch in north Columbia Heights, the show brings out the dark humor of Chekhov’s original text and adds the kind of fun and games fans are accustomed to from the two production companies.
Studio Theatre announces cast for immersive rock musical experience “Murder Ballad”
Priest Tyaire’s Highly Acclaimed Inspirational Stage Play “Torn Between 2 Fathers”, Brings A Message of Hope and Forgiveness By Destroying the Cycle of Absentee Fathers will be in DC – February 12TH– 15TH, 2015 at the Warner Theatre (Valentine’s Weekend)
