Appomattox at Washington National Opera, Reviewed by Mike Paarlberg

Go see Appomattox"especially if you're not an opera fan.

SOURCE: Washington City Paper at 4:32pm on November 17, 2015[SHARE]

The Tender Land at Gala Theatre, Reviewed by Mike Paarlberg

The In Series' latest opera"part of its "Made In America" series"is about as dull as life on the farm.

SOURCE: Washington City Paper at 5:34pm on October 19, 2015[SHARE]

Gounod's Roméo et Juliette at Maryland Lyric Opera, Reviewed by Mike Paarlberg

If you're going to take liberties with famous works of literature, you might as well give us a happy ending or more sex and violence or something.

SOURCE: Washington City Paper at 3:47pm on July 21, 2015[SHARE]

Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro at Wolf Trap Opera, Reviewed by Mike Paarlberg

Cross-dressing, switched identities, and R. Kelly trapped-in-the-closet scenarios deign to prevent a count from sexually assaulting or murdering anyone.

SOURCE: Washington City Paper at 6:52pm on June 16, 2015[SHARE]

I'm on a Boat: Washington National Opera's The Flying Dutchman, Reviewed by Mike Paarlberg

Parallels to Wagner's life: He once took a long boat trip and probably felt persecuted and sexually frustrated a lot.

SOURCE: Washington City Paper at 12:41pm on March 10, 2015[SHARE]

Washington National Opera's Dialogues of the Carmelites at the Kennedy Center, Reviewed by Mike Paarlberg

Who said it: Francis Poulenc or ISIS?

SOURCE: Washington City Paper at 12:02pm on February 23, 2015[SHARE]

In La Sonnambula, the Perils of Translating a Foreign-Language Opera by Mike Paarlberg

Few things puncture opera's highbrow conceit better than hearing a soprano sing "It's my way or the highway."

SOURCE: Washington City Paper at 12:07pm on January 14, 2015[SHARE]

Isango Ensemble's Magic Flute and Venus and Adonis at Shakespeare Theatre, Reviewed by Mike Paarlberg

Classical operas played with impressive talent through a South African lens.

SOURCE: Washington City Paper at 1:08pm on September 16, 2014[SHARE]

You've Got Whale: Moby-Dick at the Washington National Opera, Reviewed by Mike Paarlberg

Opera fans don't get many opportunities to see things that nearly no one in the audience has seen before. It's a test of how a work of art stands up on its own, without any famous aria or…

SOURCE: Washington City Paper at 4:07pm on February 28, 2014[SHARE]

Washington National Opera's Tristan and Isolde, Reviewed by Mike Paarlberg

We've all been there. Falling for the wrong guy, the one you know will break your heart, the one who killed your last boyfriend and you are scheming to kill in a murder-suicide revenge plot,…

SOURCE: Washington City Paper at 10:45am on September 20, 2013[SHARE]

Washington National Opera's Show Boat, Reviewed by Mike Paarlberg

The Washington National Opera's new production of Show Boat, the 1927 musical, opened only a few weeks after the release of "Accidental Racist," the misbegotten country-rap duet in which Bra…

SOURCE: Washington City Paper at 10:22am on May 7, 2013[SHARE]

A Christmas Carol Smackdown! Olney Theatre vs. Keegan Theatre by Mike Paarlberg

A Christmas Carol is like crack to theater companies: do it every year or not at all, but after your first hit, you're hooked on that sweet holiday revenue. No other play can rake in the kin…

SOURCE: Washington City Paper at 10:00am on December 18, 2012[SHARE]

Remembering Marvin Hamlisch, A Prodigy and a Showman by Mike Paarlberg

Marvin Hamlisch, who died Monday at the age of 68, won't be remembered primarily as the National Symphony Orchestra's former pops conductor, but he was the ideal man for the job. A lot of…

SOURCE: Washington City Paper at 3:04pm on August 8, 2012[SHARE]

Virginia Opera's Orphée at George Mason Center for the Arts, Reviewed by Mike Paarlberg

Philip Glass's vision of hell has Orpheus and Eurydice being grilled about their love life by judges holding tea cups; it looks a lot like marriage counseling. This probably wasn't the point…

SOURCE: Washington City Paper at 4:43pm on February 11, 2012[SHARE]