Arts & Entertainment
A ‘Wardrobe’ for young and old alike
Washington Ballet, Imagination Stage team up for classic show
‘The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe’
Through Aug. 12
Imagination Stage
4908 Auburn Avenue, Bethesda, MD
$10-$27
301-280-1660
imaginationstage.org
In joining forces to create Imagination Stage’s summer show, “The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe,” the Washington Ballet and Imagination Stage have upped the bar on local children’s theater. Based on C.S. Lewis’s familiar novel, the charming world premiere production uses music, dance and sophisticated puppetry to retell the classic in a way that appeals to kids and not-so-young theatergoers alike.
It’s London, 1940. World War II has begun, and Adolf Hitler’s Luftwaffe is bombing the capital. After a particularly bad air raid, the four Pevensie children are evacuated to the relative safety of the English countryside. Their host is a dotty professor whose old house is filled with magic and mystery. While playing hide and seek, the two younger children, little Lucy and Edmund, pass through a wardrobe into a faraway, wintry land called Narnia.
During their curious visit, Lucy befriends Tumnus the faun, while Edmund is swayed by the White Witch, self-styled queen of the land, to betray his family. The brother and sister travel home only to return to Narnia again via the wardrobe on a rainy English afternoon, but this time bringing their siblings, Susan and Peter with them. And here begins the perilous battle of evil against good. Like the book, this musical version is rife with lessons of courage, forgiveness and loyalty.
Each of the four children is played by both an actor and a dancer. Lucid staging by Imagination Stage’s artistic director Janet Stanford eliminates any possible confusion, and bolstering the musical’s terse libretto (also penned by Stanford) with angry, playful and restless dance gives further insight into the young characters’ motivations and feelings.
The dazzlingly evil White Witch is danced by the charismatic Washington Ballet vet Morgann Rose, and her courageous adversary and Narnia’s rightful sovereign, Aslan the lion, is portrayed by a larger-than-life puppet. Made mainly from yards and yards of basket reed, the agile cat (designed by Eric Van Wyk) is operated by three puppeteers including Michael John Casey who also supplies the puppet’s powerful voice. Casey plays the professor and a helpful, big-toothed beaver too.
The production is co-choreographed by the Washington Ballet’s artistic director Septime Webre (who is gay) and associate artistic director David Palmer. Their inventive and athletic choreography executed by topnotch dancers coupled with Van Wyk’s designer efforts, make this production eminently watchable.
Standouts in an energetic, diverse young cast include Justine Moral as Lucy, and dancer Robert Mulvey as the cheeky faun.
Matthew Pierce sets the mood with an original melodic score that alternates from dreamy to suspenseful. Music director George Fulginiti Shakar (also gay) prompts strong vocal performances from the actors, particularly Sarah Beth Pfeifer who sings several of the women’s roles
Here and there, the plotline becomes a tad murky, but the good v. evil gist of the story is never lost. Throughout, the audience is rapt. There are sinister wolves, a suit of armor that comes to life, action-packed stage combat, and Aslan, the impressive puppet. Even Father Christmas and one of his little elves make an appearance. If children’s productions are judged on how well they hold their audience’s attention, then “The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe” definitely succeeds.
Team DC, the umbrella organization for LGBTQ-friendly sports teams and leagues in the D.C. area, held its annual Night of Champions Awards Gala on Saturday, April 20 at the Hilton National Mall. The organization gave out scholarships to area LGBTQ student athletes as well as awards to the Different Drummers, Kelly Laczko of Duplex Diner, Stacy Smith of the Edmund Burke School, Bryan Frank of Triout, JC Adams of DCG Basketball and the DC Gay Flag Football League.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
The 2024 National Cannabis Festival was held at the Fields at RFK Stadium on April 19-20.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Covering the @NatlCannaFest at RFK Stadium for @WashBlade . Stop by the LGBTQ+ booth and pick up a paper if you are here. pic.twitter.com/is7hnsaPns
— Michael Patrick Key (@MichaelKeyWB) April 20, 2024
Theater
‘Amm(i)gone’ explores family, queerness, and faith
A ‘fully autobiographical’ work from out artist Adil Mansoor
‘Amm(i)gone’
Thorough May 12
Woolly Mammoth Theatre
641 D St., N.W.
$60-$70
Woollymammoth.net
“Fully and utterly autobiographical.” That’s how Adil Mansoor describes “Amm(i)gone,” his one-man work currently playing at Woolly Mammoth Theatre.
Both created and performed by out artist Mansoor, it’s his story about inviting his Pakistani mother to translate Sophocles’s Greek tragedy “Antigone” into Urdu. Throughout the journey, there’s an exploration of family, queerness, and faith,as well as references to teachings from the Quran, and audio conversations with his Muslim mother.
Mansoor, 38, grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and is now based in Pittsburgh where he’s a busy theater maker. He’s also the founding member of Pittsburgh’s Hatch Arts Collective and the former artistic director of Dreams of Hope, an LGBTQ youth arts organization.
WASHINGTON BLADE: What spurred you to create “Amm(i)gone”?
ADIL MANSOOR: I was reading a translation of “Antigone” a few years back and found myself emotionally overwhelmed. A Theban princess buries her brother knowing it will cost her, her own life. It’s about a person for whom all aspirations are in the afterlife. And what does that do to the living when all of your hopes and dreams have to be reserved for the afterlife?
I found grant funding to pay my mom to do the translation. I wanted to engage in learning. I wanted to share theater but especially this ancient tragedy. My mother appreciated the characters were struggling between loving one another and their beliefs.
BLADE: Are you more director than actor?
MANSOOR: I’m primarily a director with an MFA in directing from Carnegie Mellon. I wrote, directed, and performed in this show, and had been working on it for four years. I’ve done different versions including Zoom. Woolly’s is a new production with the same team who’ve been involved since the beginning.
I love solo performance. I’ve produced and now teach solo performance and believe in its power. And I definitely lean toward “performance” and I haven’t “acted” since I was in college. I feel good on stage. I was a tour guide and do a lot of public speaking. I enjoy the attention.
BLADE: Describe your mom.
MANSOOR: My mom is a wonderfully devout Muslim, single mother, social worker who discovered my queerness on Google. And she prays for me.
She and I are similar, the way we look at things, the way we laugh. But different too. And those are among the questions I ask in this show. Our relationship is both beautiful and complicated.
BLADE: So, you weren’t exactly hiding your sexuality?
MANSOOR: In my mid-20s, I took time to talk with friends about our being queer with relation to our careers. My sexuality is essential to the work. As the artistic director at Dreams of Hope, part of the work was to model what it means to be public. If I’m in a room with queer and trans teenagers, part of what I’m doing is modeling queer adulthood. The way they see me in the world is part of what I’m putting out there. And I want that to be expansive and full.
So much of my work involves fundraising and being a face in schools. Being out is about making safe space for queer young folks.
BLADE: Have you encountered much Islamophobia?
MANSOOR: When 9/11 happened, I was a sophomore in high school, so yes. I faced a lot then and now. I’ve been egged on the street in the last four months. I see it in the classroom. It shows up in all sorts of ways.
BLADE: What prompted you to lead your creative life in Pittsburgh?
MANSOOR: I’ve been here for 14 years. I breathe with ease in Pittsburgh. The hills and the valleys and the rust of the city do something to me. It’s beautiful, it’ affordable, and there is support for local artists. There’s a lot of opportunity.
Still, the plan was to move to New York in September of 2020 but that was cancelled. Then the pandemic showed me that I could live in Pittsburgh and still have a nationally viable career.
BLADE: What are you trying to achieve with “Amm(i)gone”?
MANSOOR: What I’m sharing in the show is so very specific but I hear people from other backgrounds say I totally see my mom in that. My partner is Catholic and we share so much in relation to this.
I hope the work is embracing the fullness of queerness and how means so many things. And I hope the show makes audiences want to call their parents or squeeze their partners.
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