Laugh Audibly: The Colored Museum Confronts the Absurd Contradictions of What it Means to be Black in America
“You are allowed to laugh audibly” reads a note from playwright Dominique Morisseau’s “Rules of Engagement, excerpted in Studio Theatre’s program for The Colored Museum. Morisseau’s note is a reminder to audiences that, despite the toxicity they might encounter in the 11 vignettes that compose George C. Wolfe’s play, the story is fundamentally satirical. Arguably…
Beautiful Makes One Thing Clear: Carole King and Cynthia Weil Paved the Way for Today’s Women Chart-Toppers
Taylor Swift was still in her Red era when Beautiful: The Carole King Musical opened on Broadway in 2014. The high-end jukebox musical about the intersection of songwriting and relationships hits differently a decade later, in the golden age of Spotify. Today listeners analyze song lyrics like Bletchley Park codebreakers. Is Joe Alwyn “the smallest…
Step Afrika!’s Remounted Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence Is Still Good, Could Be Better
In the 13 years since D.C.-based Step Afrika! debuted Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence, the field of percussive dance has grown by leaps and bounds. Black performing artists have benefited from an influx of support, including millions from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. Meanwhile, many historically White arts organizations are continuing to increase racial diversity, both onstage…
Don’t Rain on Her Parade: Funny Girl Goes Girlboss
The funny thing about Funny Girl is that the stories surrounding the musical are often more interesting than the play itself. The plot is loosely based on the life of Fanny Brice, a vaudevillian comedian who became one of America’s first mega-celebrities with the Ziegfeld Follies. (The play doesn’t even cover Brice’s extensive film and…
Is God Is: Unapologetically Twisted, Wickedly Funny, and Wildly Entertaining
Constellation Theatre Company plays with fire in Aleshea Harris’ scintillating tragi-comedy Is God Is. Winner of the 2016 Relentless Award and a 2017 OBIE Award for playwriting, Harris’ play weaves biblical mythology and hip-hop into a road epic about twin sisters on the brink of vengeance. Fiercely directed by KenYatta Rogers, Is God Is is…