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Ellington’s spirit lives on

‘Sophisticated Ladies,’ featuring Maurice Hines, is a musical triumph

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The musical language of body and soul soars through the Lincoln Theatre on U Street where D.C. native Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington has come home again to where he began musically at age 17, playing jazz clubs on U Street including the Lincoln Theatre’s own Colonnade, one of the first desegregated clubs in the city.

The work of song and dance impressario, star of the show and its choreographer, openly gay Maurice Hines, the musical triumph of “Sophisticated Ladies” has taken up short-term residence at the Arena Stage production at the Lincoln Theatre through May 30.

Get thee to see this show — no excuses are allowed.

With Hines as its artistic muse and star, this magnificent recreation of the musical career of Duke Ellington and his big-band hits such as “It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing,” “Satin Doll” and “Mood Indigo” lights up the Lincoln stage with high-voltage hot notes and cool moves in a multi-talented sensational ensemble cast of 15 singers and dancers.

If you like your showgirls who can dance as well as flaunt their sexuality, strutting their stuff in a negligee, this is the show for you. Same goes of course for the chorus boys, all in tight pants and smooth moves. So what’s not to like?

Flirtatious and toe-tapping, this show does a tap dance all over the audience, especially when dance veteran Hines — born in 1943 and older brother to the great dancer-actor Gregory, who died in 2003 after a long battle with liver cancer — takes the stage.

And Hines wows the audience every time his feet touch the ground, which is often as tap dancer, especially in his show-stopping tap-off with two brothers he found in D.C. and encouraged to audition for this show — teenagers John and Leo Manzari, who attend The Field School and who grew up on the city’s waterfront next door to Arena Stage’s permanent theater complex.

The brothers Manzari make their professional regional theater debut in this show, but when you see them duel Hines to a draw in the tap-dance department, you know you haven’t seen the last of this dynamic fraternal duo. At the end, Hines stands back with an infectious avuncular grin at how every good they are.

This blend of vaudeville and burlesque and the best of big band and Broadway is all agog with non-stop singing and dancing, as fingers snap, bodies pop, and hips swivel while the Charleston, bunny hop and swing are performed. Among the numbers are show tunes and jazz hits such as “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore,” “I’m Beginning to See the Light,” “I’m Just a Lucky So-and-So,” “I Got It bad and “That Ain’t Good.”

The show sparkles with enough bubbly entertainment that a full magnum of every expression of Duke Ellington elegance couldn’t contain these carbonated moments of pure delight. The Duke’s own sophisticated musicianship lives again on U Street now.

Finally, Hines reveals his partisan colors by showing both Michelle and Barack Obama some hot dance moves (they were not in attendance the night I was there but the president has seen this show). Hines said the special moves were designed for the president, to “chase away those pesky Republicans.” Another moment to remember comes when Hines arrives on stage literally riding a man-mobile, moving parts of men forming the look and feel of a sleek automobile.

Hines began his own acclaimed career at age 5 and soon he and his younger brother Gregory were appearing on Broadway and touring as the opening act for such legendary headliners as singer-stripper Gypsy Rose Lee. Their father joined the act, and soon Hines, Hines and Dad were performing to rave reviews in New York, Las Vegas and Europe, and appeared 35 times on “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson. Later, Hines was chosen to star as Nathan Detroit in the national tour of “Guys and Dolls,” which he recently reprised in another national tour, and in 1978/79 he created a sensation on Broadway in the hit show “Eubie!”

As for the legendary composer, conductor and pianist Duke Ellington (1899-974), his spirit lives on in this show. Ellington was a giant in the world of jazz and brought its rowdy subversive soul into concert halls and religious services. His works spanned genres including symphonic as well as film scores and jazz classics. “Sophisticated Ladies” first opened on Broadway in 1981 and garnered eight Tony nominations, including best musical.

Tickets for “Sophisticated Ladies” range from $25 to $74, with discounts available for students and groups, as well as a limited number of $10 tickets available weekly for patrons under 30 and half-price tickets also available day of performance.

Shows run Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday at 7:30 p.m., with a 6 p.m. curtain on April 25; Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.. Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. (1 p.m. curtain on April 25). Also, weekday matinees at noon run on April 21, 27 and May 5.

‘Sophisticated Ladies’
Arena Stage @ Lincoln Theatre
1215 U St., N.W.
202-488-3300
arenastage.org

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Theater

Rupert Murdoch’s powers on full display in ‘Ink’

Media baron helped pave the way for Brexit, Prime Minister Thatcher

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Cody Nickell (Larry Lamb) and Andrew Rein (Rupert Murdoch) in ‘Ink’ at Round House Theatre. (Photo by Margot Schulman Photography)

‘Ink’
Through Sept. 24
Round House Theatre
4545 East-West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814
$46-$94
Roundhousetheatre.org

Yes, Rupert Murdoch’s loathsome traits are many, but his skills to succeed are undeniably numerous. 

In the first scenes of John Graham’s West End and Broadway hit drama “Ink,” an exciting year-long detail from the life of a burgeoning media baron, Murdoch’s powers of persuasion are on full display.

It’s 1969 London. Over dinner with editor Larry Lamb, a young Murdoch shares his plan to buy the Sun and rebrand the dying broadsheet, replacing the Daily Mirror as Britain’s best-selling tabloid. What’s more, he wants to do it in just one year with Lamb at the helm. 

Initially reluctant, Lamb becomes seduced by the idea of running a paper, something that’s always eluded him throughout his career, and something Murdoch, the outsider Australian, understands. Murdoch taunts him, “Not you. Not Larry Lamb, the Yorkshire-born son of a blacksmith, not the guy who didn’t get a degree from Oxford or Cambridge, who didn’t get a degree from anywhere. Not you.”

Still, Lamb, played convincingly by Cody Nickell in Round House Theatre’s stellar season-opener, a co-production with Olney Theatre Center, remains unsure. But Murdoch (a delightfully brash Andrew Rein) is undeterred, and seals the deal with a generous salary. 

Superbly staged by director Jason Loweth, “Ink” is riveting. Its exchanges between Lamb and Murdoch are a strikingly intimate glimpse into ambition involving an ostensibly average editor and a striving money man who doesn’t like people.  

Once on board, Lamb is trolling Fleet Street in search of his launch team, played marvelously by some mostly familiar actors. He makes his most important hire — news editor Brian McConnell (Maboud Ebrahimzadeh) — in a steam bath. The remainder of the Sun’s new masthead falls handily into place: Joyce Hopkirk (Kate Eastwood Norris) the women’s page editor whose forward thinking is marred by her casual racism; Zion Jang plays Beverley Goodway, an awkwardly amusing young photographer; persnickety deputy editor Bernard Shrimsley (Michael Glenn) who learns to love ugly things; and an old school sports editor who proves surprisingly versatile, played by Ryan Rillette, Round House’s artistic director. 

At Lamb’s suggestion, the team brainstorms about what interests Sun readers. They decide on celebrities, pets, sports, free stuff, and —rather revolutionarily for the time —TV.  Murdoch is happy to let readers’ taste dictate content and the “Why” of the sacred “five Ws” of journalism is out the window. 

Murdoch is portrayed as a not wholly unlikable misanthrope. He dislikes his editors and pressman alike. He particularly hates unions. His advice to Lamb is not to get too chummy with his subordinates. Regarding the competition, Murdoch doesn’t just want to outperform them, he wants to grind them to dust. 

Loewith leads an inspired design team. Scenic designer Tony Cisek’s imposing, inky grey edifice made from modular walls is ideally suited for Mike Tutaj’s projections of headlines, printed pages, and Rein’s outsized face as Murdoch. Sound designer and composer Matthew M. Nielson ably supplies bar noises and the nonstop, pre-digital newspaper clatter of presses, linotypes, and typewriters.

From a convenient second tiered balcony, the Daily Mirror’s establishment power trio Hugh Cudlipp (Craig Wallace), Chris Lee Howard (Chris Geneback) and Sir Percy (Walter Riddle) overlook all that lies below, discussing new tactics and (mostly failed) strategies to remain on top.   

Increasingly comfortable in the role of ruthless, sleazy editor, Lamb is unstoppable.

Obsessed with overtaking the Daily Mirror’s circulation, he opts for some sketchy reportage surrounding the kidnapping and presumed murder of Muriel McKay, the wife of Murdoch’s deputy Sir Alick (Todd Scofield). The kidnappers mistook Muriel for Murdoch’s then-wife Anna (Sophia Early). Next, in a move beyond the pale, Lamb introduces “Page 3,” a feature spotlighting a topless female model. Awesta Zarif plays Stephanie, a smart young model. She asks Lamb if he would run a semi-nude pic of his similarly aged daughter? His reaction is uncomfortable but undaunted. 

For Murdoch’s purposes, history proves he chose well in Lamb. By year’s end, the Sun is Britain’s most widely read tabloid. Together they give the people what they didn’t know they wanted, proving the pro-Labour Daily Mirror’s hold on the working class is baseless and paving the way for things like Brexit and a Prime Minister Thatcher. 

“Ink” at Round House closes soon. See it if you can.

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Theater

Local theater scene prepares for a season to remember

‘Evita,’ a Garland tribute, ‘Night of the Living Dead’ among highlights

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Out actor Grant Chang plays Larry Yee in ‘King of the Yees’ at Signature Theatre.

Mosaic Theater Company has already stepped into the fall season with Psalmayene 24’s “Monumental Travesties” (through Oct. 1), a new D.C.- set comedy that explores race, memory, and disturbing statuary. Mosaic’s out artistic director Reginald L. Douglas directs. Mosaictheatre.org  

At Round House Theatre in Bethesda, it’s James Graham’s “Ink” (through Sept. 24). A co-production with Olney Theatre, the smashing joint effort rivetingly rehashes the beginning of the relationship between burgeoning media tycoon Rupert Murdoch (Andrew Rein) and an increasingly ruthless British editor Larry Lamb (Cody Nickell). Olney’s out artistic director Jason Loewith directs. Roundhousetheatre.org

Shakespeare Theatre Company rather uncharacteristically kicks off its season with a musical, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Evita” (through Oct. 15). Produced in cooperation with Boston’s American Repertory Theater and staged by young director Sammi Cannold, the show promises a new take on the rise and fall of Eva Peron (played by Shireen Pimental), Argentina’s iconic first lady, both sainted and despised in equal measure. Shakespearetheatre.org 

Following the recent death of GALA Hispanic Theatre’s beloved artistic director Hugo Medrano, the Columbia Heights company marks the opening of its 48th season with “Baño de luna/Bathing in Moonlight” (through Oct. 1), written and directed by Pulitzer Prize-winning out playwright Nilo Cruz. 

The provocative drama (in Spanish with English surtitles) centers on the illicit romance between a handsome Catholic priest (Raúl Méndez) and talented pianist parishioner (Hannia Guillén). The cast also features Hiram Delgado, Luz Nicolás, and out actors Victor Salinas and Carlos Castillo. Galatheatre.org 

Studio Theatre marks its foray into foreign language with “Espejos: Clean” (through Oct. 22), a bilingual play with both Spanish and English supertitles by Christine Quintano. The new work takes a look at isolation and the power of being seen when two women from different worlds cross paths in touristy Cancún, Mexico. Studiotheatre.org

Through Oct. 8, Woolly Mammoth is premiering Sasha Denisova’s “My Mama & The Full-Scale Invasion.” Starring multiple Helen Hayes Award-winning out actor Holly Twyford as Mama, the 90-minute long, three-person piece describes an old Ukrainian woman’s fantastical account of her experiences in the war with Russia. Woollymammoth.net 

Ford’s Theatre presents the premiere production of playwright Pearl Cleage “Something Moving: A Meditation on Maynard” (Sept. 22 – Oct. 15).  The work reflects on Maynard Jackson’s game-changing 1973 election and legacy as Atlanta’s first Black mayor and strong gay ally. The 10-person ensemble cast includes queer actors Billie Krishawn and Tom Story. Seema Sueko directs. Fords.org

And a note to friends of Dorothy. For one night only at the Strathmore in Bethesda, it’s the Liza Minelli-produced “Get Happy! Michael Feinstein Celebrates the Judy Garland Centennial” (Sept. 21). The good-time show features famed out pianist Feinstein performing Garland’s hallmark songs along with big-screen film clips, never-before-seen photos, and rare audio recordings. Strathmore.org

The Edge of the Universe Theater is offering Harold Pinter’s “The Caretaker” (Sept. 29 – Oct. 22) at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda. The absorbing 1960 psychological study involving two brothers and a homeless man was Pinter’s first commercial success. Stephen Jarrett directs. Universalplayers2.org 

On Capitol Hill, Taffety Punk Theatre Company presents Kelsey Mesa’s intriguing new play “La Salpêtrière” (Sept. 28 – Oct. 15), a painful yet heartening exploration of one woman’s experience as an inmate in the dreaded asylum known for its curious and publicly demonstrated methods of “treatment.” 

The four-person cast includes Fabiolla da Silva, Yihong Chen, Danny Puente Cackley, and celebrated local actor Kimberly Gilbert. Danielle A. Drakes directs. Taffetypunk.com

At 1st Stage in Tysons Corner, it’s “The Chosen” (Sept. 28 – Oct. 15). Penned by Aaron Posner and Chaim Potak, it’s the story of two Jewish teenage boys navigating friendship, family, and religion in 1940s Brooklyn. Artistic director Alex Levy directs. 1ststage.org

Arena Stage opens its season with “POTUS: or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive,” (Oct. 13 – Nov. 12), Selina Fillinger’s feminist farce describes a staff of women who keep their dim president and beleaguered country afloat. Directed by Margot Bordelon, the singularly female seven-member cast includes Felicia Curry, Naomi Jacobson, and Natalya Lynette Rathnam. Arenastage.org

Through Nov. 11, Constellation Theatre Company presents Sarah Ruhl’s adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s novel “Orlando,” a trans tale of an amorous young nobleman who one night goes to sleep as a man and awakens the following morning as a woman. Nick Martin directs. Constellationtheatre.org 

Just in time for Halloween, Rorschach Theatre presents a reimagining of filmmaker George Romero’s 1968 zombie cult classic “Night of the Living Dead” (Oct. 27-Nov. 19) with an “unforgettable theatrical experience with thrills and surprises for both horror fans and those new to the genre.” Lilli Hokama directs.  Rorschachtheatre.com  

Lauren Yee’s “King of the Yees” is making its D.C. premiere at Signature Theatre in Arlington through Oct. 22. It’s not a musical (Signature’s specialty), but a play, more specifically “a vibrant, semi-autobiographical comedy about community, culture and the connection between fathers and daughters.” Out actor Grant Chang plays the playwright’s father Larry Yee. 

And then it’s “Ragtime” (Oct. 24 – Jan. 7) directed by Signature’s powerhouse artistic director Matthew Gardiner. With a score by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, and an adaption of E.L. Doctorow’s novel by extraordinary gay playwright Terrance McNally (who succumbed to COVID complications early in the pandemic), the epic musical intertwines storylines from early 20th century New York including the scandal involving Evelyn Nesbit portrayed on celluloid in “The Girl on the Red Velvet Swing” with Joan Collins as the eponymous showgirl. Sigtheatre.org 

Broadway at the National continues with hits from the Great White Way including “Mrs. Doubtfire” (Oct. 10-15). Rob Mclure reprises his Tony Award-nominated performance as an out-of-work actor who poses as a Scottish nanny in a desperate attempt to stay in his kids’ lives followed by “The Wiz” (October 24-29), a gospel/rock/funk infused take on “The Wizard of Oz” with a Tony Award-winning score by Charlie Smalls. Broadwayatthenational.com 

Theatre J presents Jenny Rachel Weiner’s “The Chameleon” (Oct. 11- Nov. 5), directed by Ellie Heyman. Rampaging through questions of identity, representation, and the complications of assimilation, Weiner’s new comedy centers on an aspiring actor poised for her big break, or so she hopes. Theatrej.org 

Along with promising works, Theatre Week (Sept. 21 – Oct. 8) is ushering in fall with a three-week-long celebration of the launch of the 2023-2024 theater season in the DMV. The festivities begin with Kickoff Fest, a free all-day event at Arena Stage on Saturday Sept. 23. 

Throughout Theatre Week, more than 25 area productions will offer discounted tickets at $22, $40, and $60 through todaytix.com. More information is available at theatreweek.org.

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Theater

Little Amal spreading refugee awareness across U.S.

12-foot figure brought to life by three puppeteers

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Little Amal (Photo by Trent Bullion)

‘Amal Walks Across America’
Sept. 17 and 19
walkwithamal.org 

Since the summer of 2021, Little Amal, a 12-foot puppet portraying a 10-year-old Syrian refugee, has roamed far and wide spreading refugee awareness. After walking all over Europe, exploring the streets of New York City and Toronto, she is now trekking across America. 

Created by internationally acclaimed artistic director Amir Nizar Zuabi in association with Handspring Puppet Company out of South Africa (famed for the brilliant puppetry behind “War Horse”), “Amal Walks Across America” highlights the cross-cultural experiences of the millions of refugee children fleeing war, violence and persecution throughout the globe, each with their own story. 

Little Amal was inspired by an unaccompanied minor character who appeared briefly in “The Jungle,” a play created in the former Calais jungle encampment in 2015.  

As a sort of honorary ambassador/refugee, the very large puppet has clicked with audiences wherever she goes. And now through early November, Amal is visiting 35 towns and cities from the East Coast to San Diego where thousands of artists and arts organizations creating free public events are slated to show up to welcome her.

On Sept. 17 and 19, Amal will be in D.C. Her program includes stops at Lafayette Square (a high school marching band), Black Lives Matter Plaza (a Muslim children’s choir and shared testimonies), McPherson Square, and Franklin Park where the Washington Performing Arts Children of the Gospel Choir perform, and the park is filled with family art activities such as sidewalk coloring books, an activation of letters to Amal from Planet Word, and fare from Immigrant Food. 

Though ostensibly on her own, Amal is brought to life by three puppeteers: one inside her torso walking on stilts, and two operating the arms. 

Ashley Winkfield, a multidisciplinary nonbinary artist based in Harlem, New York, handles one of the arms. 

“Puppetry is my main art form. I sort of fell into it,” they explain. 

As an undergrad at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, they learned puppetry in a workshop of Basil Twist’s “Rite of Spring.” Twist liked what he saw and invited them to follow the production to Lincoln Center where they made their New York debut. 

“Puppeteering involves choreography, dance, and movement, and also acting…all the things I love,” says Winkfield, 31. “Through puppeteering I’ve done theater, singing, and travelled the world. I’m fortunate to do this craft.”

Though not part of Little Amal’s original European tour, they joined the walk with three weeks in New York (2022) followed by a shorter stint in Toronto (2023), and now they’re part of the national gig. 

When Amal arrives on the scene of an event, her team dresses her and checks mechanisms away from the gathering crowd. But once she stands and walks around the corner, it’s show time. Before swarming her, fans and onlookers react with variations of surprise and excitement. Often local artists will present her with things they’ve made like outsized library cards, books, and flowers. 

Winkfield describes the puppet as “beautifully articulated,” especially for her large size: “People want to reach out and touch her beautifully sculpted hands; they’re made from a hard material but still have a caressing ability to them.” 

Amal’s message resonates with the puppeteer too. 

“She brings the crisis face to face. She’s a symbol of refugee children and all displaced people. Indigenous leaders I’ve met on the road, understand where she’s coming from, and as a Black American, that’s something I understand about my own family history, not knowing where I come from and what that means.”

Winkfield hopes moving forward across the continent, the project will do more events with the queer community. 

“As queer people, we very often have chosen family. Amal is discovering her identity on the road. She’s searching for comfort and family.”

Along the route, the project partners with different organizations and artists who help coordinate events. Winkfield rather blithely opines that it’s “a logistical miracle” the way things come together. 

“Anything can happen. As puppeteers we don’t have a lot of information about the next event, so just like Amal, we’re experiencing whatever’s ahead with fresh eyes.” 

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