Thursday, August 29, 2024
By Mark Edelman
September marks the beginning of Theatre Week — an even better reason to get out there and save on more than 30 productions scattered in and around Washington, D.C. Visit theatreweek.org, beginning Sept. 9 to find companies offering tickets for as low as $20. It runs Sept. 26 to Oct. 13—plenty of time to enjoy the great theater our area has to offer, including some of the following.
SOFT POWER
Signature Theatre Now through Sept. 15
Signature kicks off its 2024-25 season with a daring piece by Tony Award winners David Henry Hwang (“M Butterfly”) and Jeanine Tesori (“Fun Home,” “Kimberly Akimbo”). After a true-life street mugging that nearly killed him, Hwang returned to the dilemma that informed his life—what does it mean to be an “other” (in his case, Chinese-American) in contemporary America? He was inspired to come to grips with that question in this quirky new musical which features the playwright himself as a character—a new one on me.
Ably directed by Ethan Heard, Daniel May as a Chinese producer trying to mount a show on Broadway and Grace Yoo as a hard-nosed Hillary Clinton tackle a sometimes madcap, other times touching tale about, of all things, governance. It’s 2016 and the run-up to our presidential contest (and you know how that turned out). Though a tough year to defend majority rule, May and Yoo still manage to sashay Fred-and-Ginger style through a show tune-filled polemic that pits our democracy against Chinese totalitarianism. If that sounds too complicated, go see it for Broadway vet Danny Troob’s gorgeous orchestrations. Tickets at www.sigtheatre.org.
THE EXPLORERS CLUB
Alexandria Little Theatre Now through Sept. 21
Deadly cobras, bad bartenders and the occasional airship populate this wacky comedy about a brilliant, beautiful woman’s quest to lead a heretofore males-only institution out of its musty old past. Sound familiar? Grab your safety goggles for the merriment. Tickets at www.thelittletheatre.com.
THE 22+ WEDDINGS OF HUGO
Gala Hispanica Theatre Sept. 5 to 29
Why in the world does Hugo, a simple postal clerk, get married so many times? In Gala Hispanica’s season opener—in Spanish with English supertitles—we find out in this hilarious tale of love in times of hatred penned by Gala Hispanica’s artistic director Gustavo Ott. Tickets at www.galatheatre.org
LADY DAY AT EMERSON’S BAR AND GRILL
Atlas Theatre Sept. 5 to Oct. 6
It’s 1959, and Billie Holiday is on a bender. Still, as embodied by D.C. actress and chanteuse Roz White, “Lady Day”—purveyor of wonderful songs like “God Bless the Child,” “What a Little Moonlight Can Do” and the tragic “Strange Fruit”— remains an incandescent talent to behold as portrayed in this Mosaic Theatre production. To add to the atmosphere, the Atlas will be transformed into Emerson’s for the run. Tickets at www.mosaictheater.org.
JA JA’S AFRICAN HAIR BRAIDING
Arena Stage Sept 6 to Oct. 13
This Tony Award nominated Best Play takes us inside a bustling West African salon in Harlem where, every day, a lively and eclectic group of hair braiders create masterpieces on the heads of the neighborhood women. During one sweltering summer day, love will blossom, dreams will flourish and secrets will be revealed. Tickets at www.arenastage.org.
THE ADDAMS FAMILY
Toby’s Dinner Theatre Sept. 6 to Nov. 10
Charles Addams’s dark but delightful New Yorker cartoons get the Broadway treatment following in the footsteps of the film. When Uncle Fester explains to Gomez, Morticia and the rest of their ghoulish clan that daughter Wednesday has invited her new (normal) boyfriend and his folks to dinner, all hell (and fun) break loose. Tickets at www.tobysdinnertheatre.com
THE COMEUPPANCE
Woolly Mammoth Sept. 8 to Oct. 6
Hot playwright and Tony Award nominee Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (“Appropriate”) penned this piece about a “multi-ethnic reject group” celebrating their 20th high school reunion in Prince George’s County. Amid the chatty reminiscing, an otherworldly presence appears, forcing these former classmates to face the past head-on and reckon with an unknowable future. Tickets at www.woollymammoth.net.
PRIMARY TRUST
Signature Theatre Sept. 10 to Oct 20
Winner of the 2024 Pulitzer Prize, this touching story takes us to Wally’s Tiki Bar, which serves the sweetest mai tais in town. Kenneth never misses a happy hour with his best friend until a job loss upends his static existence. Now he must discover the courage to open a new door and change his life — even if it means facing the past and letting go. Tickets at www.sigtheatre.org.
COMEDY OF ERRORS
Shakespeare Theatre Company Sept. 10 to Oct. 6
STC Artistic Director Simon Godwin returns to the Folio for this silly comedy about two sets of twins, topsy turvy love and the all-too human desire to belong. With Alex Brightman and David Wynn, who kind of look alike and starred in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, “School of Rock”—Brightman on Broadway, Wynn in the West End. Expect some rock and roll in this adaptation, too. Tickets at www.shakespearetheatre.org.
HOW TO BE A KOREAN WOMAN
Theatre J Sept 12 to 22
Back by popular demand from its January Washington premier, Sun Mee Chomet’s genesis tale incorporates text, music and movement to tell the poignant story of her search for her birth family in South Korea after growing up in her adopted Jewish home. Tickets at www.edcjcc.org/theater-j.org.
SOJOURNERS
Roundhouse Theatre Sept. 11 to Oct. 6
A Nigerian couple living in Texas in the 1970s welcomes the promise of America but remains homesick for the Old Country. Pregnancy, the demands of work and school, isolation and frequent separation challenge Abaisma and her husband Ukpong until the inspiration of an unexpected community teaches her to forge her own path. Tickets at www.roundhousetheatre.org.
OVO
Capital One Arena Sept. 11 to 15
Those amazing Cirque du Soleil folks lend their story-telling talents and mind-boggling acrobatics to the world of insects as a gang of athletic arthropods tumble, fly, flip and soar through the cavernous confines of Capital One. Tickets at www.cirquedusoleil.com/ovo
EXCEPTION TO THE RULE
Studio Theatre Sept. 18 to Oct. 27
Six Black high school students get stuck in after-school detention, waiting for a teacher to sign them out. Flirting, fighting and forming plans for their long weekend, they anxiously await their release. But something’s wrong here; where are all the teachers and how do they get out of this place? Tickets at www.studiotheatre.org.
CLUE
The Kennedy Center Sept. 17 to Oct. 6
The ultimate whodunit started life as a board game, then a Paramount film and now a live-theater experience. Will Colonel Mustard and Professor Plum vie for Miss Scarlet’s attention. Find out at www.kennedy-center.org.
MR. LINCOLN
Ford’s Theatre Sept. 20 to Oct. 13
TV heartthrob Scott Bakula takes one more quantum leap into the shoes and hat of our beloved 16th president, “Mr. Lincoln” as he preferred to call himself. From prairie lawyer and anti-slavery advocate to wartime leader, the Great Emancipator’s own words are employed by Bakula and company to reveal surprising aspects of the life of one of our nation’s greatest presidents. Nice to have him back at Ford’s. Tickets at www.fords.org
YOU’RE A GOOD MAN CHARLIE BROWN
Adventure MTC Sept. 21 to Oct. 29
With charm, wit, and heart, “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown” explores life’s big questions through the eyes of the Peanuts gang as they play baseball, fly kites, struggle with homework, swoon over crushes, and celebrate the joys of friendship. Growing up is serious business! Tickets to the theater in Glen Echo Park at www.adventureintheatre-mtc.org.
Mark Edelman is a playwright who loves writing about theater. He is a lifetime member of the Broadway League and a Tony voter.