Keith Tittermary

Fats Domino once sang, 'I found my thrill, on Blueberry Hill.' He might have been channeling little Sal, the central character in Robert McCloskey's 1948 picture book, Blueberries for Sal. The book which in its almost 70 year existence, has been cited in many best of lists and was an award a Caldecott Honor in 1949. And finally, Adventure Theatre MTC has turned it into a delightful stage adaptation which is now playing through October 21, 2018 at Glen Echo Park.

Brooklyn the Musical is one of those rare gems of a show that the back story of its creation can influence what you experience on stage. The duo behind the show, Mark Schoenfeld and Barri McPherson were songwriting partners in the early 1980's and lost touch and about 20 years later, Mr. Schoenfeld was singing on the streets of Brooklyn when his old writing partner, Ms. McPherson ran into him and a new partnership was born, this time creating art out of life in Brooklyn.

Godspell is one of those shows that is reinvented with each production. There is a timelessness about it that makes it just as applicable today as it did when the first production opened off-Broadway in 1971. NextStop Theatre Company's current production, Godspell is more grounded in our obsession with electronics and social media, then with the overall notion of becoming a community.

'We believe in the power collaboration, between artists and with the audience' - These words are the mantra of dog & pony dc, and do they deliver. Their latest offering, Peepshow, is the ultimate in audience interaction. Before you enter the theater, or rather the Rehearsal Hall at Woolly Mammoth, you are greeted to a window dresser who is dressing up mannequins in the window.

Jonathan Safran Foer's 2002 semi-autobiographical debut novel, Everything Is Illuminated, is a riveting portrayal of one man's quest to find the woman who saved his grandfather from the Nazis at the start of World War II. While the journey of the central character, Jonathan, is the focus of the book, and the brilliant adaption playing now at Theatre J, the secondary story of Alex and his grandfather is equally, if not more, poignant.

In the course of American history there have been 44 men to become President of the United States. In the course of just under two hours, 5 very capable women embody those 44 men, plus their wives, mistresses, political opponents, and everyone's favorite non-POTUS, Benjamin Franklin.

Gene Autry's famous song, Frosty The Snowman (written by Jack Rolling and Steve Nelson) first the radio in December of 1950 and since then there have been many incarnations of Frosty: from famous recordings like The Chipmunks or The Jackson 5 to the beloved 1969 animated special, which airs on TV every year. A new version of this holiday classic written by William Francis is currently playing at Adventure Theatre MTC in Glen Echo Park.

Back in the late 90's I went to the old Vat Room at Arena Stage to see this Christmas show that my Catholic University professor talked about. Being the grandchild of a British war bride, I had many British Christmases growing up, so I knew what to expect. What I didn't expect back then was how enjoyable that night would be. Sometimes you go to the theater to have fun and escape from the troubles of your day.

Politics can be the graveyard of the poet. And only Poetry can be his resurrection. Langston Hughes, 1964 These words by the great Langston Hughes adorn the backdrop of Metrostage's moving production of Carlyle Brown's Are you now, or have you ever been Waiting for the play to begin the audience is left to ponder these words and how they frame the action on stage. Politics and the arts have had a difficult time coexisting during certain eras, particularly during the Army-McCarthy hearings of 1953-54, which colloquially known as McCarthyism. The 90 minute intermission-less play takes place on the eve of Mr. Hughes testimony to the committee and the committee hearing itself. The evening before the hearing, Mr. Hughes is struggling to comprehend his subpoena to the hearings while attempting to write the poem, Georgia Dusk .

This summer when I was watching a movie, I saw a trailer for the yearly sequel of Pirates of the Caribbean. I thought to myself, are pirates still a thing? With so many other film villain tropes out there, why do we keep coming back to pirates? Well, as evident by the hordes of children adoring How I Became A Pirate at Adventure Theatre MTC, the pirates are alive and well and soaring the high seas.

Back in the late 1970's Wildwood Summer Theater was producing a disco-themed West Side Story in the old Rockville Mall. In that production was a young high school kid named Michael Mayer who was dancing as a Jet. In 2007, that young kid won a Tony Award for directing the new Broadway Musical, Spring Awakening. Since 1965, WST has been producing shows that feature those between the ages of 14 and 25 in every single aspect. From director to orchestra to designer, every person involved is under 25.

Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman made their mark with the early Disney musicals, and always included a sense of "home" and "belonging". As much as Disney's The Little Mermaid is a princess-story aimed at the pre-teen audience, it also has a deeper message of being a fish out of water, only in Ariel's case she is a fish in water who doesn't belong.

Disney's The Little Mermaid is coming to Wolf Trap from June 29 - July 2. The smash musical, based on the 1989 Disney film, will only be here for 5 performances. I had the opportunity to talk to Broadway Veteran, Eric Kunze, who plays Prince Eric.

Sometimes you attend a performance and one of the most memorable parts is something unscripted and spontaneous, and that leaves you with a lasting impression of the performance. In Mouth Open, Story Jump Out, the phenomenal solo performance by UK spoken word artist, Polarbear, something unscripted happened and it was truly wonderful.

The Kennedy Center Theater for Young Audiences takes a bold leap in bringing this one man show from Red Bridge Arts in Scotland. Titus, a show recommended for audiences 12 and up tackles serious issues that unfortunately in today's society, children may face.

The Maryland Opera Studio at the University of Maryland's School of Music is a two-year program for graduate students in Opera Performance. Their ambitious The Orpheus Adventure is a gorgeous endeavor between the School of Music, along with the Theater and Dance Departments.

“Men are like weapons. Women are like wounds.” That is a poignant line and an apt summation of the first part of Forum Theatre's #NastyWomen ethos. The first piece in this horrifying, yet deeply moving, work is Monica Byrne's What Every Girl Should Know, which takes place in 1914 and follows four teen girls in a New York reformatory.

Highwood Theater in Silver Spring has been providing education in a 'community-produced' environment for more than 10 years, but recently has moved into producing professional theater in their new black box theater. I applaud the work that founder and Executive Director Kevin Kearney has been doing and the organization he has created.

The American Pops Orchestra, founded in 2015 by Maestro Luke Frazier has a mission to 'breath new life into orchestral pops programming and inspiring new audiences to discover the wealth of material in the Great American Songbook in dynamic ways.'

The In Series, which creates innovative theatrical programming around a classical music core of opera, cabaret, and song, presents a tune-filled look at the music of Irving Berlin, one of America's most celebrated composers. Artistic Director Carla Hubner notes in the program: "George Gershwin called Berlin 'the greatest songwriter that has ever lived.'" I tend to agree, although I would reserve that for Mr. Gershwin, but at the In Series, they crafted a delightful evening filled with some of his most memorable songs.