The Daily News - Featured Item

Big Changes Ahead As Potomac Stages Redesign Takes Effect Next Monday

January 30, 2009 - As readers of the free email newsletter Potomac Stages Update already know, the services of Potomac Stages and the appearance of both the website and the newsletter will undergo a major change starting next Monday, February 2. The website will feature the same reviews our readers have come to rely on, but will no longer include a daily news feature nor schedule information on shows that have yet to open or be reviewed. After eight years of providing news and schedule information, we have retrenched somewhat in order to concentrate our resources on the elements you have told us are the most valuable to you. The free email Potomac Stages Update will also be re-designed to feature new reviews instead of schedule information. Rather than simply listing reviews, the Update will include the opening summary paragraph of each review so readers can tell at a glance if the show is one that interests them. These will be hyperlinked to the full text of the review on the Potomac Stages website so it will be easy to access the balance of the review for those who want to read them in their entirety. While we have reduced the amount of material we will provide to our readers, we believe the new format will provide the most important part of our service and that Potomac Stages will continue to be an indispensable tool for getting the most out of the incredibly vibrant theater community of the Potomac Region.

Ragtime Cast Announced by Kennedy Center

The Kennedy Center's new production of the last great musical of the twentieth century, Ragtime, will star Ron Bohmer as Father, Quentin Earl Darrington as Coalhouse Walker, Manoel Felciano as Tateh, Christiane Noll as Mother, Jennlee Shallow as Sarah, and Bobby Steggert as Younger Brother. The Center released the cast list yesterday for the April 18 - May 10 run in the Eisenhower. The production will be directed and choreographed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge. Among the supporting cast will be a number of artists familiar to Potomac Region theater lovers including Dan Manning, Donna Migliaccio, Tracy Lynn Olivera and Eric Jordan Young.

Signature Continues Domination Of Ushers' Favorite Show Awards

The string of victories for Signature Theater in the annual competition for the Ushers' Favorite Show Award continues as the results of the balloting come in from the theater lovers who usher at Potomac Region theaters and participate in the award program sponsored by Potomac Stages. Signature has been the winner of the annual award for the past four years in a row. This time, for 2008, the ushers tied in the balloting but both winners were Signature shows: Martin McDonagh's outrageous and bloody take on the illogic of violence, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, which was directed by Jeremy Skidmore, and Kander and Ebb's musical The Visit which was directed by Frank Galati and which starred Chita Rivera and George Hearn.

Final Broadway Performance of Rent To Be Released on Video

The 5,123rd and final Broadway performance of the rock musical Rent was recorded for release by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment last September 7. The cast at the end of the run included Will Chase and Adam Kantor as roommates Roger and Mark. The video will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray disc on February 3 but is available for pre-order from Amazon.com. The DVD format is available here for $18.99 and the Blu-Ray disc is available here for $28.95. List price for the DVD is $24.95 while the list price for the Blu-Ray is $38.96.

Plan Now For February Free Shows At The Kennedy Center

The Millennium Stage program of free concerts every evening at 6 pm at the Kennedy Center rarely has many theater related events in any given month. The 12th anniversary of the program, however, starts off with a theatrical bang. It actually starts off one day before February with a Broadway Today concert in the Opera House featuring composers/lyricists Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens (Ragtime), Scott Frankel and Michael Korie (Grey Gardens), Stephen Schwartz (Wicked), Jeanine Tesori (Shrek) and Broadway stars Liz Callaway, Capathia Jenkins, Adriane Lenox, Brian Stokes Mitchell and KT Sullivan. Tickets will be required but will be distributed free of charge starting at 4 pm on the day of the concert, Saturday, January 31. Then the first seven of February's nightly free concerts in the grand foyer of the Center will be devoted to musical theater, specifically the composers of musicals involved in the Kennedy Center's Broadway: The Third Generation program designed to foster works of newer composers, lyricists and book writers.

Stage Combat Class Kicks Off In Manassas

The Center for the Arts at the Candy Factory in Old Town Manassas will offer classes in stage combat for ages 13 to adult starting this Saturday from 1 to 3 pm. Classes continue each Saturday through March 14. The instructor will be Kevin Robertson, who handled fight choreography for such productions as the Dominion Stage presentation of Tom Sawyer - The Musical. Call 703-330-2787.