`An opera singer discovers her 'subtle voice' by Celia Wren

Consider the Nationals Park appearance a warm-up for the art songs.An appointment to sing the national anthem April 4 before an exhibition game between the Washington Nationals and the New Y…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 12:46pm on April 3, 2015[SHARE]

From canvas to stage by Celia Wren

A wealth of meaning can accrue in 20 minutes: Just consider the seven-dancer image that begins and ends "Picasso Dances," a new work by choreographer Dana Tai Soon Burgess that had its premi…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 2:11pm on March 27, 2015[SHARE]

Globe-trotting singer Dom La Nena will touch down at Artisphere by Celia Wren

Brazilian-born singer and cellist Dom La Nena doesn't second-guess inspiration. "I believe in the spontaneity of the moment, of the feeling, otherwise the song loses all the freshness," she …

SOURCE: Washington Post at 12:07pm on March 27, 2015[SHARE]

Play inspired by rabbi and his fake torahs misses its mark by Celia Wren

At one point in "G-d's Honest Truth" at Theater J, a portly man in a suit but no tie delivers a sermon about Abraham's near-sacrifice of Isaac. The man is Dov, an American rabbi, and he's gr…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 3:50pm on March 26, 2015[SHARE]

'Somewhere in Quixote': Ron Lalá puts its comic twist on Cervantes by Celia Wren

Footnotes are not usually this much fun. At the end of "Somewhere in Quixote," the clever and jaunty "Don Quixote" adaptation by Spain's Ron Lalá Theater Company, the five-actor cast brea…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 6:48pm on March 23, 2015[SHARE]

Production inspired by Portuguese poem whips up a storm by Celia Wren

On the set of the Portuguese production "Ode Marítima (Maritime Ode)," ropes and bollards evoke ships moored to a wharf. But there's nothing fettered about the lyricism in this stage adap…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 8:33pm on March 22, 2015[SHARE]

Polish Canadian piano prodigy is poised to rack up frequent-flier miles by Celia Wren

Piano virtuoso Jan Lisiecki is about to leave his teen years behind. And although the Polish Canadian musician may not know what gifts he'll be getting for his 20th birthday on March 23, he …

SOURCE: Washington Post at 1:33pm on March 20, 2015[SHARE]

Dance performance goes high-tech by Celia Wren

For a moment, the stage was a study in movement and stasis. Two dancers in orange tops and spotted leggings had locked shoulders, as if wrestling in a standing position. From the angle of th…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 1:33pm on March 20, 2015[SHARE]

A jigsaw puzzle of a play at the Kennedy Center by Celia Wren

The characters in the wistful Brazilian play "O Jardim (The Garden)" occasionally refer to plants that have grown in the eponymous patch of greenery " a mango tree, a cherry tree that never …

SOURCE: Washington Post at 1:05pm on March 19, 2015[SHARE]

Rollicking one-acts at Iberian festival by Celia Wren

To conceal misbehavior, try dressing up as a devil. That's the solution adopted by two would-be philanderers in Teatro de La Abadía's ebullient "Entremeses." The Madrid company has brough…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 12:38pm on March 18, 2015[SHARE]

Navigating the global village by Celia Wren

"Every time I take a sip of this, a polar bear comes back to life!" writer/performer Chris Thorpe says brightly as he prepares to swig from a glass of salt water in the quirky, conversationa…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 10:14am on March 16, 2015[SHARE]

'Like long-lost cousins,' Indian and Celtic musicians find common notes by Celia Wren

"Why the dickens did we not think of this earlier?"In 2011, that thought crossed the mind of Zakir Hussain, the renowned tabla performer and world-music icon. He and several other virtuosos …

SOURCE: Washington Post at 12:31pm on March 13, 2015[SHARE]

'Doctor Caligari': Off-balance to a fault by Celia Wren

Pointless Theatre's "Doctor Caligari" bristles with eerie images, but one of the most resonant ones involves a police station. We're in a German town whose black-and-white, skewed-angle land…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 5:30pm on March 12, 2015[SHARE]

Portuguese company Mundo Perfeito brings its vision to Kennedy Center by Celia Wren

The Portuguese company Mundo Perfeito assumes theatergoers are educated types. Making a U.S. debut at the Kennedy Center, as part of the Iberian Suite: Global Arts Remix festival, the troupe…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 3:45pm on March 8, 2015[SHARE]

Pasta and Kafka at the Italian Embassy by Celia Wren

Pastamaking. Franz Kafka's "The Trial." Yes, there is a common denominator. Both have inspired the highly regarded Italian photographer Francesco Nonino, whose work is being showcased at the…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 12:23pm on March 6, 2015[SHARE]

'Stories on a Journey " Cape Verde' review by Celia Wren

"Bless this show! Bless this show!"The performer in the red skirt and top called out those heartfelt words " actually, the Cape Verdean equivalents " in the opening moments of "Contos Em Via…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 1:38pm on March 5, 2015[SHARE]

Bringing historic Bolivian music to light by Celia Wren

"Bolivia is a very unique place " in America, and on Earth," says Piotr Nawrot, a Polish-born musicologist and Catholic priest. Nawrot has helped draw attention to thousands of pages of baro…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 11:59am on February 27, 2015[SHARE]

Estonian indie rockers gearing up for more international exposure by Celia Wren

Estonian indie rockers Ewert Sundja and Erki Pärnoja remember when getting a gig in Latvia, Estonia's next-door neighbor, was a huge deal. It was early 2010, and their band, Ewert and the T…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 11:58am on February 20, 2015[SHARE]

'Much Ado About Nothing' at Synetic Theater by Celia Wren

This high-spirited dance is part prank, part street fight. The woman in the flared party dress and the guy in motorcycle-gang attire are twisting and bopping to 1950s rock, but a pugnacious …

SOURCE: Washington Post at 1:50pm on February 17, 2015[SHARE]

Eran Riklis's latest film illuminates the experience of Israel's Arab citizens by Celia Wren

Take great care when filming a story that touches on politics " a principle Israeli director Eran Riklis was ever mindful of while crafting "Dancing Arabs.""The days of political, issue-driv…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 12:14pm on February 13, 2015[SHARE]

'Last of the Whyos': It's a bold story, but it doesn't budge by Celia Wren

"Life is motion. Forward motion." That philosophy, expressed by an adventurous character named Ada Ann, becomes a leitmotif in "Last of the Whyos," a play receiving a world premiere from Spo…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 5:39pm on February 11, 2015[SHARE]

'Last of the Whyos': It's a bold story, but it doesn't budge by Celia Wren

"Life is motion. Forward motion." That philosophy, expressed by an adventurous character named Ada Ann, becomes a leitmotif in "Last of the Whyos," a play receiving a world premiere from Spo…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 2:48pm on February 11, 2015[SHARE]

Two classic Shakespeares, each with ups and downs by Celia Wren

If Shakespeare's Prospero and Othello ever found time to hang out, they surely would commiserate about the fickleness of fortune. After all, Prospero ruled as Duke of Milan before his brothe…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 2:19pm on February 10, 2015[SHARE]

Instruments from China, Korea and Japan to come together at Smithsonian by Celia Wren

No one expects musicians to replace the United Nations any time soon. Still, musical visionary Naoyuki Miura has geopolitical hopes for a round of concerts featuring three traditional instru…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 12:32pm on February 6, 2015[SHARE]

Timothy Douglas directs 'King Hedley II' at Arena Stage by Celia Wren

'Keep breathing, everybody!" director Timothy Douglas says affably as an actor puts down a prop machete in a rehearsal room at Arena Stage. It's the lead-up to Arena's production of "King He…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 11:19am on February 5, 2015[SHARE]