All stories by Peter Orvetti on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, October 29, 2024

Theatre Review: ‘Astro Boy and the God of Comics’ presented by Flying V at the Silver Spring Black Box Theatre by Peter Orvetti

I have reviewed more than 100 productions in my seven years with this publication, and “Astro Boy and the God of Comics” is among the best of them. Created by Natsu Onoda Power, author o…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 09:17AM
Monday, July 22, 2024

Theatre Review: ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and ‘The Rover, or the Banish’d Cavaliers’ presented by Shakespeare Theatre Company Academy by Peter Orvetti

For the first time in its 24 years in existence, Shakespeare Theatre Company is presenting the final performances of the STC Academy’s Master of Fine Arts program on one of the theatre’s…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 11:44AM
Tuesday, July 16, 2024

Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Call of Cthulhu’ presented by North Shore Theatre Productions at Capital Fringe Bliss by Peter Orvetti

North Shore Theatre Productions, a D.C.-based company specializing in one-person performances through its Solo Classics Series, presents a chilling and captivating adaptation of H.P. Lovecra…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 06:05PM

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Tom Lehrer Is Alive And Well And Has Given Away All Rights To His Music’ presented by the Landless Theatre Company at Capi by Peter Orvetti

The title says it all. Tom Lehrer, the biting musical satirist who took on Jim Crow, the Catholic Church, and the nuisance of urban pigeons in a three-decade heyday spanning from the end of …

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 05:56PM

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Next Level’ at Theater J by Peter Orvetti

“Next Level,” written by and starring Elizabeth Cutler, is a charming work in progress about a woman who is a work in progress. Sophie, played with wry good humor by Cutler, is an “edi…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 02:44PM
Sunday, July 14, 2024

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Democracy’ by XY Players at Theater J by Peter Orvetti

“Democracy” is a strange, sketch comedy show that ostensibly “takes a look at democracy in a completely unbiased, highly partisan manner.” If that is confusing, so is the show. It op…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 10:25PM

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Re: Writing’ at Capital Fringe Bliss by Peter Orvetti

One of the joys of Capital Fringe is the discovery of new talent. Caitlin Frazier, who just recently graduated from Georgetown University, proves herself to be a face to watch with “Re: Wr…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 09:34PM
Saturday, July 13, 2024

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Who Did It? An Improvised Murder Mystery’ by Erick Acuña Productions at Theater J by Peter Orvetti

“Who Did It? An Improvised Murder Mystery” opened Capital Fringe Festival last year on the Theater J stage. In my review, I wrote that creator Erick Acuña’s comedic whodunnit had flaw…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 12:35PM

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Over Her Dead Body: Revival’ presented by Pinky Swear Productions at Theater J by Peter Orvetti

If there is one sure thing at Capital Fringe, it is Pinky Swear Productions (PSP). Even Founding Artistic Director Karen Lange, speaking to the audience just before this year’s opening per…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 12:17PM

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Medea’ presented by Songs of the Goat at Theater J by Peter Orvetti

Songs of the Goat, a company of actors who all came out of the Studio Acting Conservancy, makes its debut at Capital Fringe with a tight and haunting rendition of Euripides’ “Medea.” D…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 11:30AM
Monday, March 18, 2024

Theatre Review: ‘Penelope’ at Signature Theatre by Peter Orvetti

One lesson of “Penelope”—both the new musical now running at Signature Theatre and the woman at its center—is that it is important to choose one’s partners well. Penelope is define…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 06:21PM
Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Theatre Review: ‘Coriolanus’ by Avant Bard and Longacre Lea at Gunston Arts Center by Peter Orvetti

If society treats soldiers as machines and war as a game, should it be a surprise when those soldiers lose their humanity? That is the question at the core of the startlingly original produc…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 06:39PM
Monday, March 4, 2024

Theatre Review: ‘The Trans-Atlantic Time Traveling Company’ by Theater Alliance at Anacostia Playhouse by Peter Orvetti

“The Trans-Atlantic Time Traveling Company,” a devised work presented by the Theater Alliance at the Anacostia Playhouse, is a vibrant and energetic production stuffed with music, storyt…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 08:59PM
Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Theatre Review: ‘Desperate Measures’ at Constellation Theatre Company by Peter Orvetti

“Measure for Measure” is a problem play. “Desperate Measures” is a problematic musical. To be sure, director Allison Arkell Stockman’s current production at Constellation Theatre C…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 08:24PM
Monday, February 5, 2024

Theatre Review: ‘The Victorian Ladies’ Detective Collective’ at Washington Stage Guild by Peter Orvetti

Director Morgan Duncan’s production of Patricia Milton’s “The Victorian Ladies’ Detective Collective” at the Washington Stage Guild is a spirited and impeccably performed show that…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 06:49PM
Friday, December 8, 2023

Theatre Review: ‘As You Like It’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company by Peter Orvetti

Daryl Cloran’s adaptation of “As You Like It” may not be the absolute best of the several dozen shows I’ve seen at the Shakespeare Theatre Company over the past decade or so, but it …

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 05:08PM
Sunday, December 3, 2023

Theatre Review: ‘An Irish Carol’ at The Keegan Theatre by Peter Orvetti

There’s an adage that states that no one on their deathbed ever said, “I wish I’d spent more time at work.” It encapsulates the theme of “An Irish Carol,” a charming but flawed o…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 01:47PM
Monday, November 20, 2023

Theatre Review: ‘Arms and the Man’ at Washington Stage Guild by Peter Orvetti

When “Arms and the Man” opened in the West End in April 1894, George Bernard Shaw found himself called onto the stage after the curtain to receive a cavalcade of applause. The response s…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 10:29PM
Saturday, November 18, 2023

Theatre Review: ‘Ride the Cyclone’ at NextStop Theatre Company by Peter Orvetti

In 2008, a new musical appeared on stage in Victoria, British Columbia. Ambitiously called the second work in the “Uranium Teen Scream Trilogy” (the first was a novel and one-act play an…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 07:32PM
Thursday, August 24, 2023

Theatre Review: ‘One Moment Now’ by Solas Nua and Murmuration at Eaton DC’s Baker’s Daughter by Peter Orvetti

There’s no stage, and it does not take place in a theatre. There are no actors, or at least none that can be seen. There is no set and there are no costumes, save those in the audience’s…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 01:05PM
Sunday, August 20, 2023

Theatre Review: ‘Alice in Wonderland’ by Sandy Spring Theatre Group at Gaithersburg Arts Barn by Peter Orvetti

Theatre for young children is deceptively hard to do well. It may seem like simple stories would be the simplest to tell, but it requires great skill to craft such stories in ways that are c…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 05:15PM
Saturday, July 22, 2023

Capital Fringe Review: ‘TBD: A Devised Theatrical Celebration/A Musical Love Letter’ at Theater J by Peter Orvetti

The Capital Fringe Festival has changed a lot since the days of Fort Fringe and long afternoons at the Baldacchino Tent Bar. The artists behind “TBD: A Devised Theatrical Celebration/A Mus…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 12:40PM

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Attack on Tunggorono’ at Capital Fringe Rind by Peter Orvetti

The publicity for “Attack on Tunggorono” is compelling, which accounts for the full house on the evening I attended. But well before the end of the show, several patrons had quietly slip…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 10:45AM
Thursday, July 20, 2023

Capital Fringe Review: ‘I could have set the world on fire’ at Theater J by Peter Orvetti

Shaun Michael Johnson’s “I could have set the world on fire” is the rare play that is both too long and too short. The play takes us inside the hospital room of Ernest Williams (played…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 10:54AM
Sunday, July 16, 2023

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Tender’ by Transformation Theatre at Capital Fringe Sour by Peter Orvetti

It’s a winter night in Paris in 1926. F. Scott Fitzgerald, one year removed from the publication of his breakout hit “The Great Gatsby,” is churning out short stories for publication t…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 12:38PM

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Shut Up Martha’ at Capital Fringe Squirt by Peter Orvetti

Martha Mitchell is having a moment. In April 2022, a well-reviewed limited series about the outspoken wife of Attorney General John Mitchell, with Julia Roberts in the lead, began to air. Tw…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 11:02AM
Friday, July 14, 2023

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Who Did It? An Improvised Murder Mystery’ by Erick Acuña Productions at Theater J by Peter Orvetti

The 16th Capital Fringe Festival kicked off Wednesday evening with a true showstopper: a corpse on the Theater J stage. For the next 50 minutes, a crack team of local improvisers tried to fi…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 04:47PM
Monday, May 15, 2023

Theatre Review: ‘In the Heights’ at NextStop Theatre Company by Peter Orvetti

It has been a decade since the Elden Street Players, an all-volunteer community theatre located in a nondescript office park in Herndon, took a leap of faith and reinvented itself as NextSto…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 10:28PM
Monday, May 8, 2023

Theatre Review: ‘Henry IV’ by Lumina Studio Theatre at Silver Spring Black Box Theatre by Peter Orvetti

Part of the magic of Lumina Studio Theatre is that it mounts serious, artistically thoughtful productions of complex works with a young cast of all ages and makes it work for all of them and…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 12:42PM
Monday, March 27, 2023

Theatre Review: ‘Push the Button’ at The Keegan Theatre by Peter Orvetti

The fast-paced and energetic “Push the Button” is making its world premiere at the Keegan Theatre. The hip-hop musical emerged from Keegan’s Boiler Room Series, an incubator for works …

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 04:30PM
Monday, March 13, 2023

Theatre Review: ‘The Hula-Hoopin’ Queen’ at Imagination Stage by Peter Orvetti

Imagination Stage has a well-earned reputation for presenting innovative children’s theatre that does not talk down to its audience. It continues to impress with “The Hula-Hoopin’ Quee…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 04:08PM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes Theatre
Jul 11, 2024: Oh, Mary! - Lyceum Theatre
Jul 30, 2024: Job - Hayes Theater
Sep 12, 2024: The Roommate - Booth Theatre
Nov 14, 2024: Tammy Faye - Palace Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 15, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 01, 2025: Glengarry Glen Ross
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre
TBA: Titanic