All stories by Steven McKnight on BroadwayStars

Thursday, November 5, 2020

National Theatre’s One Man, Two Guvnors free show Friday night on PBS by Steven McKnight

Before James Corden became known to American audiences as host of “The Late, Late Show,” he became a theatrical star in the Royal National Theatre’s 2011 production of One Man, Two Guv…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 05:48PM
Thursday, March 26, 2020

Streamed performance helps American Shakespeare Center raise a record breaking $350,000 by Steven McKnight

The American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Va received a huge outpouring of local and international support for its “Keep the Lights On” campaign. Artistic Director Ethan McSweeny prev…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 06:42PM
Monday, March 23, 2020

Madama Butterfly starring Hui He on WETA Great Performances this Sunday by Steven McKnight

Local PBS affiliate WETA will be airing an encore presentation of Puccini’s famous opera Madama Butterfly this Sunday, March 29, at 12:00 noon.  The Metropolitan Opera’s fall 2019 produ…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:54PM
Wednesday, February 26, 2020

Review: Ordinary Days, Adam Gwon’s charming chamber musical by Steven McKnight

Adam Gwon’s chamber musical Ordinary Days is ostensibly the story of four young adults searching for love and their “life stories” in New York City.  Yet the real love story at the he…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 01:12PM
Thursday, February 13, 2020

Review: The King’s Speech makes a brief, but memorable, stop at The National by Steven McKnight

The King’s Speech, the true royal story told in an Academy Award-winning 2010 film, brings its American debut as a play to the National Theatre.  Early in, King George V (who in 1932 beca…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 07:36PM
Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Toxic Avenger: The Musical is indestructible. Here’s why. by Steven McKnight

Watching Rorschach Theatre’s production of Toxic Avenger: The Musical, I wondered what it is about this show that makes it seem as indestructible as its mutant monster hero? Toxic Avenger:…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 08:06PM
Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Review: Bloomsday at Washington Stage Guild by Steven McKnight

Are there any two more painful and provocative words in the English language than “what if”?  Steven Dietz’s Bloomsday is a sensitive time-bending romance looking at one consequential…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 01:32PM
Wednesday, May 22, 2019

In the Movies: Aladdin, Lion King, Cats plus two nods to the Bard by Steven McKnight

Anyone watching television this week has probably viewed the onslaught of commercials for the Memorial Day weekend opening of Aladdin. It is the first of three major releases based on Broadw…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 02:24PM
Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Review: The Brothers Size at 1st Stage, captivating performances by Steven McKnight

The Brothers Size is a deceptively simple three-character play that tackles themes of brotherhood, devotion, and freedom.  It is receiving an outstanding production at 1st Stage. The story …

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 11:48AM
Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Review: Sheila and Moby, a perfect fit for Flying V by Steven McKnight

Local playwright Patrick Flynn has spent the last two years developing his new comedy about growing up and proving how“adults can be idiots, just like children.”  Sheila and Moby recei…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 02:48PM
Thursday, October 25, 2018

Review: Illyria, or What You Will, a wildly imaginative Twelfth Night by Steven McKnight

The challenge of finding a fresh take on any play by The Bard has foiled many an artist, but Avant Bard joyfully clears that hurdle with Illyria, or What You Will, a clever reimagining of Tw…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 04:32PM
Friday, September 28, 2018

DC Area hosts most popular new plays in America by Steven McKnight

In its annual October Season Preview issue,  American Theatre magazine has released its lists of the Top 10 Most-Produced Plays (11 this year due to a tie) .  Ten of those plays have eith…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 08:12AM
Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Review: 1st Stage give Ayckbourn’s play Hero’s Welcome its area debut by Steven McKnight

A war hero returns to his hometown after 17 years with a new wife with hopes for a new life.  Yet the scandalous circumstances of his departure and long-standing regrets challenge his plans…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 02:32PM
Thursday, July 26, 2018

Review:  Unscripted at Capital Fringe by Steven McKnight

Unscripted is an apt name for an improvisational performance.  The show is performed by two members of the improv company VI Lenin.  While Unscripted demonstrates their skill and offers so…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:12AM
Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Review:  (Super) Friends at Capital Fringe by Steven McKnight

Given our divisive culture and the omnipresence of superheroes in our movie theaters, along comes this  light-hearted riff on the whole hero-villain dichotomy, including who decides who is …

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 09:54AM

Review:  On the Eve at Capital Fringe by Steven McKnight

On the Eve questions turning points in three famous stories, in which characters make decisions “on the eve of when the ordinary becomes extraordinary” to quote the Capital Fringe summa…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 09:54AM
Tuesday, July 3, 2018

Review: People for Whom the World Spins and Turns by Steven McKnight

The Essential Theatre’s new play People for Whom the World Spins and Turns is best described by its subtitle A World Premiere Play about Addiction & Recovery.  It is a thoughtful and…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:04AM
Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Review: Trayf at Theater J by Steven McKnight

Two 19-year-old Yeshiva students set out on a mission to support less-dedicated Jews on the streets of New York, but their faith and friendship are tested in the world premiere of Lindsay Du…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 05:04PM
Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Fly by Night musical gets first rate production at 1st Stage (review) by Steven McKnight

If you love musicals but aren’t in the mood for a familiar warhorse, then head out to 1st Stage in Tysons’ Corner for the area debut of Fly By Night.  You will find, as I did, a…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:42AM
Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Coriolanus from Brave Spirits (review) by Steven McKnight

One of the joys of theatre is seeing a classic play presented in a surprising manner that gives new life to the story.  Brave Spirits Theatre’s lively production of Coriolanus once again …

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 03:12PM
Monday, February 12, 2018

Julia Cho’s Aubergine, a Korean-American family’s drama (review) by Steven McKnight

In Julia Cho’s Aubergine, a Korean-American chef deals with his dying father. Cho uses food as the cornerstone for a sensitive though meandering meditation on the difficulties of family, c…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:52AM
Tuesday, February 6, 2018

Kennedy Center’s family friendly Digging Up Dessa (review) by Steven McKnight

Laura Schellhardt’s Digging Up Dessa tell the story of a troubled teenager who copes with a family tragedy through her interest in fossils.  This world premiere production, commissioned b…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:11PM
Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Guilt at Scena Theatre (review) by Steven McKnight

If your theatre tastes favor new and challenging works, Scena Theatre’s world premiere of Guilt is worthy of your consideration with its interesting mélange of light comedy, dark tragedy…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 01:25PM
Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Soldier Poet, an on-the-ground view of the war in Aleppo (review) by Steven McKnight

Perhaps in years to come we will better appreciate the horrors of the battle of Aleppo, Syria which stretched from 2012-2016.  Playwright Darcy Parker Bruce makes a valiant attempt to rende…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:24PM
Monday, December 4, 2017

Peekaboo! A Nativity Play (review) by Steven McKnight

The Hub Theatre adds a new production to the canon of Christmas stories with  its world premiere of Anne M. McGraw’s Peekaboo! A Nativity Play.  Described as a “heartfelt farce” with…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:54AM
Monday, November 27, 2017

GOBSMACKED! review by Steven McKnight

Fans of the Glee TV show and the Pitch Perfect films were thrilled by the performances of GOBSMACKED! at the Kennedy Center.  The show earns the all caps, the exclamation mark, and the subt…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 11:48AM
Thursday, October 12, 2017

I’ll Get You Back Again review by Steven McKnight

I’ll Get You Back Again uses a band’s reunion as the basis for a combined comedy, drama, memory play, and meditation on the meaning of life. While the Round House Theatre world premi…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 08:06AM
Monday, September 25, 2017

Bernstein on Broadway Review: an exquisite evening by Steven McKnight

A year-long international celebration of the life of Leonard Bernstein called “Bernstein at 100” received its official launch at a memorable, one-night-only show Bernstein on Broadway i…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 11:54AM
Thursday, September 21, 2017

From stage to screen: fall recommendations by Steven McKnight

Thanks to the Washington Post’s This is Your Brain on Art we understand what you and I have known all along – that nothing quite compares to live performaning. But great theatre can…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 01:33PM
Monday, September 18, 2017

Clover from Ally Theatre Company (review) by Steven McKnight

Clover is the story of a 19th century socialite, Marion “Clover” Hooper Adams who was a participant and keen observer of the Washington, DC scene in the Gilded Age of the 1870s and 1880s…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 12:42PM
Thursday, August 31, 2017

The Devil’s Music: The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith (review) by Steven McKnight

Miche Braden is the biggest force of nature this side of Hurricane Harvey.  She personifies the “Empress of the Blues” Bessie Smith with a powerful voice, enormous talent, a powerful st…

SOURCE: DC Theatre Scene at 10:06AM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards