Arena Stage is a stellar Washington, D.C. theater that regularly presents new productions of classic Broadway musicals. For the holidays this year, Arena is producing The Pajama Game. A smash hit when it was first staged on Broadway in 1954, The Pajama Game won Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical, and Best Choreography.More
Gobsmacked by an age enthralled with the immediate, “tradition” has lost its footing. Institutions built as permanent bulwarks of common purpose have been fissured by an appetite for what is happening in the moment: NOW is desirable because it is instantly accessible and gratifying. Yesterday is not on the social media radar, and building old walls higher won’t put Humpty Dumpty back together again. It is the age of Elon Musk’s Tesla, not Henry Ford’s Model T.
Left: Choreographer, Dana Tai Soon Burgess, has been appointed the Smithsonian’s first choreographer in residence.
In the spring of 2013, seven of Washington, D.C’s most influential theater artistic directors met to explore how they could enhance the state of their art. Although Washington hosts one of the largest number of theaters in the country, the theater community’s impact as a whole lacks recognition. Part of this invisibility is geographic, since Washington’s theaters are spread throughout the region rather than strung along a singular “Great White Way.” Another reason is financial, with competition for funding creating more of a silo sensibility than an embracing collaborative spirit. xxxxxxMore