Make way for Alexandria's 'Blue Stockings'

Paul Donahoe (Mr. Banks), Ilyana Rose-Dávila (Maeve Sullivan), Madeline Byrd (Tess Moffat), Melissa Dunlap (Celia Willbond), Tegan Cohen (Carolyn Addison) in Little Theatre of Alexandria's Blue Stockings/Photo by Matt Liptak

A "blue stocking" in 19th century England was a derisive term meaning a woman who eschewed "wifely duties" and pursuits of the home to advance her own intellectual goals, namely, that of mind enrichment and learning. 

You sometimes hear the term today.   

In this Women's History Month, the Little Theatre of Alexander brings to the stage, Blue Stockings, the first play by Jessica Swale (b. 1982) which presents four young ladies who pursue a higher education, amidst ridicule and attacks by "gentlemen" students who, then as they do now, set about to mold the women, according to their desired tastes. 

"She wants to be a scientist; alas!  She's a woman!" Tsk! Tsk!

Ilyana Rose-Dávila (Maeve Sullivan), Melissa Dunlap (Celia Willbond), Elizabeth Replogle (Miss Blake), Tegan Cohen (Carolyn Addison), Madeline Byrd (Tess Moffat) in Little Theatre of Alexandria's Blue Stockings/Photo by Matt Liptak

The setting is Cambridge University at the first female college for women, Girton College, established in 1869. (It would be another 79 years before women would be accepted at Cambridge [1948].) 

The first scene of the play opens at what appears to be the university or a prison, maybe both.

The drama hits several themes, including females who ride bicycles (this is a theme?) and want to gain their independence, seeking opportunities to attend and graduate from the university. 

Change is hard to tolerate in most circumstances, and these "gentlemen" are going to have none of it!

At least, most of them.

(Back row) Tegan Cohen (Carolyn Addison), Melissa Dunlap (Celia Willbond), Madeline Byrd (Tess Moffat), Ilyana Rose-Dávila (Maeve Sullivan)

(Front row) Robert Heinly (Dr. Maudsley/Professor Collins), Anne Hilleary (Miss Bott/Mrs. Lindley), Michael King (Holmes), Ali Cheraghpour (Edwards), James Blacker (Lloyd), Paul Donahoe (Mr. Banks)  in Little Theatre of Alexandria's Blue Stockings/Photo by Matt Liptak

Enter "Dr. Maudsley" (Robert Heinly), based on a real character, and soon to bear the hatred of most audience members. He questions, he undermines, he belittles the women in his gruff and domineering manner with a commanding voice, seizing every moment, every spotlight and devouring all the attention whenever he's on stage. 

He is thoroughly disgusting and it takes only seconds to grow to hate him.  I believe it was he who said, "This is a lecture hall, not a laundromat," but he was 65 years too early since the term was not used until 1934.

Meanwhile, to counterbalance this most unlikable of unlikables, is "Professor Banks" superbly portrayed by Paul Donahoe, a humorous fellow who exercises patience and support for the women and their goals.

Mr. Donahoe's seesawing hand and arm motions, flung out like the wings of a pterosaur, add energy and enthusiasm to his character.  He is a hero in the time of none (or, one). 

Liz LeBoo as the real-life "Mrs. Welsh," the college head mistress, makes for a stern, yet sympathetic leader.

I loved "Miss Bott" (Anne Hilleary), a perfectly good chaperone and women's hall advisor, so typical in her physical appearance and garb, not as blind and deaf as she seems (like most house mothers!). 

Madeline Byrd is "Tess Moffat," one of the four young women who receives most of the attention and earnestly carries out her duties as a discriminated woman. 

Some humor arrives when the librarian (Joel Durgavich) loudly shushes everybody in the grand manner of yesteryear. 

The British accents came across as unaffected and realistic, not pretentious and overdone, as they often are.

Costumer Joan Lawrence dressed the women according to the times, but the men's apparel seemed to diverge from the era.

Initial derogatory comments about women brought some murmurs of laughter from audience which made me a little uncomfortable that anyone would laugh at these remarks in the 21st century. We still have far to go.

A provocative production which I did not anticipate would bring me to tears, but there they flowed in the last scene, leaving me to think I'm a lucky gal to live now, instead of then! 

Other cast members:  Madeline Byrd, Ilyana Rose-Davila, Melissa Dunlap (also, the dance choreographer), Tegan Cohen, Ali Cheraghpour, James Blacker, Michael King (also fight captain), John Paul Odle, Michael Townsend, Elizabeth Replogle, Khalia Muhammad (also, assistant to the director), Michael Rufo, Will Cooke, Manus Nunan, and Hilary Adams (also, assistant director).

Also in the production crew: Lloyd Bittinger, Margaret Chapman, Christine Farrell, producers; Marzanne Claiborne, director;  Meredith Kirchner, Joan A.S. Lada, stage managers; A.K. Camper, Steve Lada, assistant stage managers and (Lada) combat choreographer;  Margaret Snow, wardrobe chief; Domenica Marchetti, language coach; Robin Maline, hair/wigs/makeup; Franklin Colemen, lighting; Donna Reynolds, property design; Charles Dragonette, set design and dressing; Jim Hutzler and Jeff Nesmeyer, set construction; Diedre (De) Nicholson-Lamb, set painting; Alan Wrap, sound; Art Snow, special effects coordinator; Beverley Benda, vocal coach, Russell M. Wyland, rigging.

LTA's Covid-19 Attendance Policy requires all persons to provide proof of full vaccination AND to wear a mask inside LTA (including during the performance).

What: Blue Stockings by Jessica Swale

When: Now through Mar. 19, 2022, Wednesdays through Saturdays, 8 p.m.  The Sunday 2 p.m. performance on Mar. 13 is sold out!

How much:  $21, weekdays; $24, weekends.

Where: The Little Theatre of Alexandria, 600 Wolfe Street, Alexandria, VA 22314.

Duration: About 2 hours with one 15-minute intermission.

For more information: Box Office: 703-683-0496; Business: 703-683-5778. Email: boxoffice@thelittletheatre.com or Asklta@thelittletheatre.com

Patricialesli@gmail.com

patricialesli@gmail.com

Reston's 'Delightful Quarantine' is just that

L-R, Anthony Pohl is "Tug Goff," Liz Weber is "Mavis," and Kim Thornley is "Violet" in Reston Community Players' A Delightful Quarantine/Heather Regen Photography  
 

Attention, Theatregoers:   This one I could see again!  There aren't many shows I can write that about, but Reston Community Players' A Delightful Quarantine is so much fun.

What's to say that all quarantines are bad?  

Not necessarily so in  Susqua Creek Acres, Pennsylvania where some "extra-terrestrials" have landed and it's  immediate confinement to whatever house you're in!  

Head for the doors! 

Liz Shaher's surround sirens ignite the show and away we go!

Charlene Sloan is "Shirley" and Kevin Dykstra is "Roy" in Reston Community Players' A Delightful Quarantine/Heather Regen Photography

It's an hilarious romp with a huge cast (I love 'em), multiple scenes (ditto), many costume changes (yes!) and just about everything one could want in a stage show.

Director Liz Mykietyn writes in program notes that she found the play by Mark Dunn 15 years ago, but it took 10 years to convince anyone to do it. Enter and thank you, RCP! 

How some strangers come to be commingled is life as it is! And, not to be discriminatory, but I do believe the female actors  outshone the men!

The cast has uncoupled couples (?) stuck together, a crossdresser, a long-lost daughter, a prayerful sister, and many more. 

"It" is not the "it" you think "it " is!

My favs were the two "elderly" women (Liz Weber as Mavis, Kim Thornley as Violet) perfectly costumed (by Kathy Dunlap) in little old lady garb of flowered dresses, sweaters (de rigueur!)  and pearl necklaces. (Wait! They're in vogue!)

But it's their mannerisms, the weaves, the bobs, and "Violet's" teetering and tottering which steal the show.  I never wanted them to leave. 

Ms. Mykietyn choreographed the fights and helped design and paint the set, but her tutelage of the two women could be an acting class. 

Although I am not a "cat woman," Shelby Kaplan as the convincing "Judeen" almost made her stumbling date, "Chester" (Michael Wong) and me, into cat fanciers. 

Ms. Kaplan was another favorite whose performance, delivery, and voice grow stronger in every scene she's in, producing cat howls from the audience, for to get 14 cats on stage simultaneously is quite the feat.

A sneeze is a sneeze is a sneeze (maybe, two). (?) He flushed the toilet twice! (?) 

"Professor" Lucy Fuller (Beth Atkins) is the seesawing "moderator" who leads the show with a terrific voice to boot!  It is no wonder she's the music coach, too.

The playbook calls for seven different interior house scenes and before the show, I wondered how that would be achieved.  

Not to worry.

Minimalism may be in vogue, but here, not so much.

One scene easily flows into another on the complicated, stacked stage of different rooms which all work splendidly with Jeff Auerbach and Kimberly Crago's expert lighting, blinking in different colors to target the speaker. 

A laughing good time at the theatre will set your mind apart from another world, for this Quarantine is a fantastic escape to kick off spring to a rollicking start.

I must say I felt some guilt and unease having a jolly good time watching the play unfold in this time of global tragedy and death and destruction in Ukraine.  It's impossible to escape all the horror, but RCP managed to make me forget troubles for a little while and I am grateful.

Other cast members are Alexa Yarboro Pettengill (also, properties designer and set dresser), America Michelle, Nida Syed (another standout actor), Rebecca Asch, Josh Keiter, Charlene Sloan, Kevin Dykstra, Allie Blanchet (Mar. 5, 6, 11),  Birdie Thomas (Mar. 11), Jane Keifer (Mar. 5, 6, 11),  Cara Ethington (Mar. 12), Eileen Marshall, Danny Seal, Anthony Pohl, Ryan Heise (also the stage manager), Kate Keifer (also, the marketer), Anna Mintz (also, set designer and painter), Charlotte McIntosh (also, assistant stage manager), David Reph, Richard Durkin (also the producer).

The production team included Dan Widerski, master carpenter, electrician, and with Sara Birkhead, technical director; Kat Brais, hair and makeup; Jon Roberts, projections; and Ali Althen, marketing.

Who: Reston Community Players

What:  A Delightful Quarantine by Mark Dunn

When: March 5, 11 and 12 at 8 p.m. and March 6, 2 p.m.

Where: Reston Community Center, 2310 Colts Neck Road, Reston, VA 20191

Tickets:  Buy online, at the box office at the Community Center, or call 703-476-4500 and press 3 for 24-hour service. $30, adults; $25, juniors and seniors, plus, $2, fee each ticket. The Reston Community Center’s box office is open Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 4 - 9 p.m.; Saturday, 1 - 5 p.m.; and 2 hours before any ticketed performance.

Ages: For all but likely too complex for those under age 12. 

Duration: Two hours plus one 15-minute intermission. 

patricialesli@gmail.com

#StandingwithUkraine @White House, Lafayette Park

A reporter conducts an interview at the White House in the early evening hours, Feb. 27, 2022. The sign says: "I AM NOT UKRAINIA but I SUPPORT YOU"/Photo by Patricia Leslie 

His sign says:  "I AM RUSSIAN and I SUPPORT UKRAINE." I cropped his face so that Putin's assassins in Washington would not hunt him down. At the White House in the early evening hours, Feb. 27, 2022/Photo by Patricia Leslie 

#StandingwithUkraine at the White House in the early evening hours, Feb. 27, 2022. When Trump was in the White House, he had a 12-foot high wrought-iron railing fence installed around the White House and the People's Park, Lafayette Park to keep the people out. He was afraid of the people who were charged $1.5 million for his fence. President Biden took it down.  Thank you, President Biden!/Photo by Patricia Leslie

#StandingwithUkraine at the White House in the early evening hours, Feb. 27, 2022/Photo by Patricia Leslie 

Next Putin stop:  Alaska?  The sign in Lafayette Park at the White House in the early evening hours, Feb. 27, 2022/Photo by Patricia Leslie 

#StandingwithUkraine at the White House in the early evening hours, Feb. 27, 2022/Photo by Patricia Leslie 

The center sign says: "President Zelenskyy you are my Hero." The sign on the left says: "Georgia  Ukraine." At the White House in the early evening hours, Feb. 27, 2022/Photo by Patricia Leslie 

#Standingwith Ukraine at the White House in the early evening hours, Feb. 27, 2022/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Carrying Ukrainian flags, a group marches over to #StandwithUkraine at the White House in the early evening hours, Feb. 27, 2022/Photo by Patricia Leslie 

Patricialesli@gmail.com

'Ethel Rosenberg: An American Tragedy,' highly recommended

 

Ethel Rosenberg was killed by the U.S. government because of her spouse. Without evidence or proof that she committed treasonous acts worthy of death, the U.S. government executed her and her husband on June 19, 1953, “to prove a point,” to play bluff with her and Julius, her husband, trying to get each to rat on the other. 

But they had nothing to give.

The Soviets said later they didn't need the little information Julius had about the development of the atom bomb. They scoffed at the idea that it was because of them that the Rosenbergs were executed. 

Ethel's brother, David Greenglass, later admitted he lied during testimony, words which sent his sister to the electric chair. He said he lied to protect his wife, also involved in the scheme but never charged. David Greenglass played a much larger role than Ethel Rosenberg, yet he got less than 10 years in prison.

In Ethel Rosenberg: An American Tragedy, Anne Sebba furnishes a well-documented, gripping story of the first woman executed by the U.S. government since 1865 when Mary Surratt was hanged for the death of President Abraham Lincoln.

Ms. Sebba's accounting is an engrossing biography about Ms. Rosenberg and her long love affair with Julius. 

The ending is based on original letters the Rosenbergs exchanged while in prison and what appears to an infatuation Ethel had with a psychotherapist.

Ethel's chief desire was to be a good mother for the couple's two sons, Michael, 7, and Robert, 3, who were forced into a children's home when their parents were taken to jail, after their grandmother, Ethel's mother, and other relatives refused to take the boys in. 

Ethel questioned her own motherly abilities. 

She wanted to be an opera singer and during her prison confinement, entertained guards and other prisoners with her singing. Because she was considered "dangerous" (?), the government forced her into solitary confinement the last two years of her life.

Presiding at their trial, Judge Irving Kaufman became a witness for the prosecution. Roy Cohn, a friend of Donald Trump and chief legal counsel to Sen. Joseph McCarthy, was a chief prosecutor who prided himself on the Rosenbergs' executions, claiming the judge followed his recommendations. 

The Rosenbergs' bail had been set at $100,000 which today is equivalent to one million dollars.

Because of their clients' notoriety, the Rosenbergs' two attorneys, lacking the skills and experience for a death trial, were unable to recruit other practiced lawyers to help them.

Three million letters from around the world poured in, pleading for reduced sentencing for the couple; thousands protested at the White House. 

Albert Einstein and Pope Pius XII pleaded for reduced sentencing for the couple, but not President Eisenhower, not President Truman, not Eleanor Roosevelt, nor the U.S. Supreme Court (with Justice Hugo Black dissenting) would relent. 

And the "civil rights" organization, the ACLU which boasts today about its "attorneys nationwide" who help "handle thousands of cases each year on behalf of clients whose rights have been violated" ignored the pleas to come to the aid of Ethel Rosenberg.

This is a sad story of a couple, deeply in love, caught in the wave of the 1950s Red hysteria, the only civilians killed by the U.S. government for espionage-related activity during the Cold War.

It's an important story in the annals of American history which proves judges, juries, and the U.S. Supreme Court are swayed by events of the times. 

Ethel Rosenberg is not dead.  She lives on, proof that the American justice system is not just. 

Thank you, Ms. Sebba.

For the next edition, may I suggest a simple family tree and a two-sentence biographical identification about the major players. 

patricialesli@gmail.com

 

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A GALA 'House' of fire and rage

Ernesto Concepción as Quintín and Yaiza Figueroa as Isabel in GALA Hispanic Theatre's La casa de la laguna (The House on the Lagoon)/Photo by Daniel Martínez

GALA Hispanic Theatre's La Casa de la Laguna (The House on the Lagoon) is anything but calm.

It's the world premiere of the play by Caridad Svich, based on the novel by Rosario Ferré, the story of a tumultuous marriage and a woman's search for meaning.

Directed by Rebecca Aparicio, the production follows the adult life of a woman seeking her independence while Puerto Rico's modern history and internal debates about its quest for statehood, flow in the background.  

From left, Omar Cruz as Manuel, Ernesto Concepción as Quintín, Evelyn Rosario Vega as Petra (standing), and Yaiza Figueroa as Isabel in GALA Hispanic Theatre's La casa de la laguna (The House on the Lagoon)/Photo by Daniel Martínez

This "casa" is a complex, multi-generational drama, action-packed with relationships and disharmonies. 

The acting brings some of Puerto Rico's finest to Washington, many making their technical and stage debuts at GALA. 

The lagoon is a conclave of wealthy homes where the Mendizábal family has raised their son Quintín (Ernesto Concepción), according to strict guidelines of the father, Buenaventura (Juan Luis Acevedo). 

Quintín is a vigorous showman whose dominance will never succumb to a woman or love of family. Like his father, he is unwilling to compromise, and his intensity increases as the play progresses alongside the passage of his wife's journey. 

Yaiza Figueroa is Isabel, who falls in love with the seemingly suave, "gentle" Quintín on a romantic beach. As their relationship evolves, his controlling father wants to know if Isabel is good enough for his son.

Buenaventura has no trouble convincing the audience that he calls the shots in his family, aided by his charming wife, Rebecca (Luz Nicolás), whose well-tamed behavior is one desired by her offspring for his own wife. 

Never without a lit cigarette, Rebecca coddles her husband and son, smiling all the while with soothing deliveries. 

But someone forgot to tell Quintín that time moves on and today is not yesteryear. 

Quintín and Isabel marry and have a son Manuel (Omar Cruz, excellent in his role as the irreverent son). The years pass, and Isabel struggles with wifely duties vs. her own self-awareness and questions of identity. 

She starts writing an autobiography about their families which enrages Quintín when he finds the book that he secretly begins to edit.

At home, the housekeeper, Petra (Evelyn Rosario Vega) maintains some normalcy with a mild demeanor until she, too, can't handle it anymore.  Her slower pace, pulled back hair, and halting speech keenly demonstrate the advent of time.  

Throughout the performance I held my breath, worrying whether the men would strike, like the vipers they were. 

The conclusion was quite the surprise.

Another cast member is María Coral as Coral, Manuel's girlfriend.

Germán Martínez produced savvy sounds and music to forecast rising conflicts and tension on many horizons. 

Puerto Rican artist Gerardo Díaz Sánchez designed a minimalist set of dining and living room furniture on opposite sides of the stage to complement the backdrop of frequent video and photo changes of Puerto Rico.(Production by Kelly Colburn.)   

Costuming by Jeannette Christensen is realistic with Rebecca's bright, colorful gowns, a welcome visual variation.

Other technical crew members are Jennifer Fok, lighting; Ilyana Rose-Dávila, stage manager and props; Vanessa Losada, production manager; and Hugo Medrano, producer.

La Casa de la Laguna  was a finalist for the National Book Award when it was published in 1995.  Ms. Ferré (1938-2016) was a leading author in contemporary Latin America who studied at Wellesley College, Manhattanville College, the University of Puerto Rico, and the University of Maryland. 

Her father was the third elected governor of Puerto Rico and the founding father of the New Progressive Party which advocates for U.S. statehood.

The production is made possible with generous support from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the Miranda Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts which recently awarded GALA a $150,000 grant from the American Rescue Plan. 

GALA will use the money to save jobs and to fund operations and facilities, health and safety supplies, and marketing and promotional efforts to encourage attendance. GALA was one of 567 arts organizations in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Washington, DC. to receive a grant. 

GALA audiences are seldom disappointed by anything less than dynamic acting and fascinating stories which capture our minds and send us away on thoughtful adventures. 

What: La Casa de la Laguna (The House on the Lagoon)

Language:  Spanish with English surtitles

Masks, vaccination cards and photo IDs required, or proof of negative covid-19 tests within 72 hours

When: Thursday through Sunday, Feb. 27, 2022 at 8 p.m. except Sundays, 2 p.m.

Where: Gala Theatre, 3333 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20010.

Handicapped accessible 

Duration: About two hours and one intermission

Metro stations: Columbia Heights is one block away or get off at McPherson Square, take bus #52 or #54 up 14th, or, instead of the bus or Metro, walk two miles up 14th, save money and expend calories! Lots of places to eat along the way.

Parking: With validation at Gala, a flat rate of $4 is available at Giant grocery around the corner on Park Road, NW.  

For more information: Call (202) 234-7174 and/or email info@galatheatre.org

Will Alexandria's 'Bright Star' be extended?

                        Bright Star on stage now at the Little Theatre of Alexandria

There's a saying in Washington that if you really want to see a performance, better go ahead and get the tickets now and not spend too much time thinking about it or the show might sell out, which is what has happened with Bright Star at the Little Theatre of Alexandria.

It's a musical with a homespun twist, a local yarn, and a live nine-member bluegrass band.

And just what the doctor ordered to brighten a day and provide a few hours' escape from this cold and dastardly covid winter. 

But what a couple of hours they are!

For a trip to North Carolina's hills and pretty skies of changing colors with twangy chords, come on along and see and hear them here and enjoy a storyline, too.

   

Maura Lacy is Alice Murphy and Joshua Nettinga is Jimmy Ray Dobbs in Little Theatre of Alexandria's Bright Star/Photo by Matt Liptak.

It's a night of make believe but based on a true story of a woman who falls in love, endures a tragedy of unspeakable horror, and grows up to be a dispirited editor. Nearby, a parallel life unfolds as a young man (Preston Grover as Billy) returns from military service in World War II and sets about on his own adult path, meeting a girl, finding work, romance, and more.

The star of the show is Maury Lacy as the versatile and glamourous Alice Murphy, a flirty young thing (weren't we all like that?) who transitions into a straitlaced, no-nonsense journal editor with little joy in life, until....

Joshua Nettinga is convincing as a true amour whose love never dies. Billy is the hometown boy done good, and I am always delighted to find Patricia Nicklin in a cast since she's compelling in whatever role she's got (here as Mama Murphy, Alice's mother). 

My favs in this show though were Ashton Schaffer (Daryl) and 

Audrey Baker (Lucy) who work for Ms. Murphy and counterbalance her strict ways at the office and elsewhere. Sure, the script had a lot to do with their funny portrayals, but Ms. Baker's exaggerated mannerisms, prancing and delivery always produced out loud laughs.  

What a delightful twosome they were, and laughter I like! 

Another acting favorite was Jamey Pellegrini, the swashbuckling demagogic mayor who elicited the audience's animosity as intended.

The play jumps back and forth from the 1920s to the 1940s but is not as disjointed and hard to follow as it may appear, however, some roles interrupt the show's flow, and I did question the large part of Margo (Audrey Landau Townsend). She is Billy's romance. 

Costumers Jean Schlichting and Kit Sibley had their hands full, skillfully designing garments (especially the mayor's getup) for the two time periods for a cast of 27.

While none of the songs may be familiar, the uncommon tunes do not dilute enjoyment, with their magnificent harmonies, most with the ensemble, to carry a girl's heart away. 

A little schmaltzy and overdramatic, maybe. A little predictable, yes, but still, quite entertaining and that's why we go, isn't it? 

The wonderful accompaniment by the onstage band (behind high wooden fencing in Matt Liptak's folksy set) with guitar, mandolin, banjo, cello, fiddle, and more make joyful sounds.

The "Bright Star" in this show is the ensemble who dances and sings to music which was nominated for a Grammy.

Yes, Audience: There really is a Zebulon, North Carolina.

Will the show be extended?  We DMVers do hope!

If you are Steve Martin (yes, THE Steve Martin) or Edie Brickell, the duo which created the story, book, and music, the LTA's box office manager, Jeffery Westlake, just might find seats for you since Mr. Martin and Ms. Brickell need to get to Alexandria pronto and see what this fabulous team has done with their creation.

It'll make them right proud, I must say.

Other cast members are Joseph Peacock, Drew Goins, Jasmine Jones, Caleigh Riordan Davis, Steven Palkovitz, Michael Gale, Rene “Kieth” Flores, Jeremy Venook, and Alicia Braxton.

The ensemble includes Anna Longenecker, Sally Ann Flores, Maya Focht, Eamonn Herbold, Carolina Sramek, Sophia Stine, Xander Stine, Maya Topalhan, Elena Wear, and Leah Wong.

Paige Rammelkamp, assisted by Justin DeLong and Lucia LaNave direct the music. Band members are Chuck Perryman, Patrick Costanzo, Clyde Bowie, Noah Dail, Jason Labrador, Tim Thulson, Sara Korpeck Farris, Stephen Kelsey, Emilie Mitchell, and Sedale McCall.

Other crew members are: Hilary Adams and Jamie Blake, producers; Rachel Alberts, assistant producer; Emily “EJ” Jonas, director, intimacy coordinator, and fight choreographer; Ramah Johnson, stage manager; Pauline Lamb, choreographer and dialect coach; Jim Hutzler, Jeff Nesmeyer,  Stacey Becker, and Charles Dragonette, set construction, painting and design; Allison Gray-Mendes, technicals and properties; Jeffrey Scott Auerbach and Kimberly Crago, lighting, assisted by Cleo Potter; David Correia, sound; Karen Sagun and Robin Worthington, wardrobe; Larissa Norris, makeup; Chanel Lancaster, hair; and Russell M. Wyland, rigging.

What: Bright Star

When: Now through Feb. 5, 2022, Wednesdays through Saturdays, 8 p.m.

Where: The Little Theatre of Alexandria, 600 Wolfe Street, Alexandria, VA 22314.

Duration: About 2 hours with one 15-minute intermission.

Masks and vaccine cards or proof of a negative covid test within 72 hours of show time are required. No exceptions.

For more information: Box Office: 703-683-0496; Business: 703-683-5778. Email: boxoffice@thelittletheatre.com or Asklta@thelittletheatre.com

patricialesli@gmail.com

'Alma Thomas' leaving The Phillips Sunday

     

Laura Wheeler Waring (1887-1948), Portrait of Alma Thomas, ca. 1945, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Vincent Melzac.  The Smithsonian's label differs from the one at the Phillips whose label copy says the title is Portrait of a Lady, painted in 1947.  Two different paintings?  They look the same.  You decide!

Alma W. Thomas, Grandfather's House, 1952, The Columbus Museum, gift of Miss John Maurice Thomas, Alma Thomas's sister.

Alma W. Thomas, Orangery, 1973, Newark Museum of Art, gift of Harold Hart. The label copy says Alma Thomas's student, Harold Hart, tended her yard and exhibited her works in New York when he was director of the Martha Jackson Gallery.  The title may refer to Dumbarton Oaks in Washington which Ms. Thomas often visited and/or Claude Monet's paintings she saw when she visited the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris. 

Visitors at Everything is Beautiful at The Phillips/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Alma W. Thomas, Red Roses Sonata (detail), 1972, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, gift of Longview Foundation, Inc. Ms. Thomas attended concerts at The Phillips and credited rock and roll with many of her titles.

Alma W. Thomas, Mars Reflection (detail),  1972, The CIA. Ms. Thomas found inspiration in a dust storm on Mars which, in 1971, delayed images from a U.S. spacecraft, the first to orbit another planet besides Earth.

Elka M. Stevens (b. 1968), re-creation of the dress designed by Maceo E. McCray for Alma Thomas's Fisk University and Whitney Museum exhibition openings, loaned by The Columbus Museum/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Alma Thomas, Christmas Menu, U.S. Veterans Hospital, Tuskegee, AL, 1935. Ms. Thomas's mother and aunts taught at or graduated from Tuskegee. Ms. Thomas's students made holiday cards for patients at the hospital. 

Alma W. Thomas, Historical Costume Studies, 1922, The Columbus Museum, gift of Miss John Maurice Thomas, in memory of her parents and sister, Alma Thomas. The label copy says Alma Thomas learned clothing design from her mother, a professional seamstress.  At Howard University, Alma Thomas enrolled in the Department of Home Economics but was guided to the new fine arts department by a professor.

Alma W. Thomas, They Laid Him in the Tomb, c. 1958, Paolo Luptak

Alma W. Thomas, Sketch for March on Washington, c. 1963 or 1964 (depending upon the source), The Columbus Museum, gift of Miss John Maurice Thomas, in memory of her parents and sister, Alma Thomas. Although Alma Thomas seldom participated in political movements, she marched on August 28, 1963 with her sister and thousands of others, including Josephine Baker, Lena Horne, and Paul Newman. A detail of this painting became a U.S. postage stamp in 2005.

Alma Thomas's home at 1530 15th Street, NW, Washington, DC, now on the National Register of Historic Places. An earlier occupant was Rosetta Douglass-Sprague, daughter of Frederick Douglass/photo by Kurt Kaiser, March 10, 2020, Wikimedia  

The dress on the left is a recreation of Alma Thomas's house dress made by Elka M. Stevens (b. 1968) loaned by The Columbus Museum/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Whoa!

For those who think it's too late, those do not know about Alma Thomas, DC celebrated artist extraordinaire who didn't really get her start until her 70s, after she retired from 35* years of teaching which then gave her time to "blossom."

Which she did at her own home, gazing outside her windows to see magnificent gifts of nature presented in dazzling array which often became part of her paintings which evolved into astonishing vertical lines of bright colors.

Her vehicle to happiness, she said, was color which is where her works take viewers.

Said Ms. Thomas: "Through color I have sought to concentrate on beauty and happiness in my painting rather than on man's inhumanity to man....Color is life, and light is the mother of color."

Alma Thomas (1891-1978) was an abstractionist who enjoyed many firsts: At age 81, she became the first black woman to enjoy a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of America Art; she was the first fine arts  graduate at Howard University.

She never abandoned learning, earning a master's from Columbia University and traveling to larger cities and museums to absorb their sights and treasures. 

After her retirement, she made her art debut at Howard in 1966 and at age 75, her career took off.

She was born in Columbus, Georgia but moved to Washington with her family when she was 16, to a house where Ms. Thomas lived the rest of her life (and is now on the National Register of Historic Places). 

Like springtime's bouquet which inspired her, Ms. Thomas brings us the same stimulating colors and bright canvases to the Phillips Collection exhibition in contrast with the dark and cold winter.

Read the labels and learn that the show is much more than art:  It sheds light on the many achievements by Ms. Thomas who resisted being categorized as a "black" or a "woman" artist.  Let art stand on its own, she said. Note how her styles changed over the years.

In a private transaction last year, Wikipedia says her painting Alma's Flower Garden sold for $2.8 million.  You  don't have to be a youngster or a rich world traveler to claim success: You just have to keep up with what you love to do!  

You see what art can do!

I don't know anyone who thinks the show is anything less than fantastic.  

*(or 38, depending upon the source) 

What: Alma W. Thomas:  Everything is Beautiful

When: Through Sunday, January 23, 2022, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Where: The Phillips Collection, 1600 21st St., N.W. at Q St., Washington, D.C. 20009

Admission: $16, adults; $12 for those over 62; $10, students and educators (with ID); free for members and for children 18 and under. Timed tickets are required, but members may walk in at any time. Visitors 12 and over must show proof of vaccination or a same-day negative COVID-19 test upon entry, along with a government-issued photo ID for visitors 16 and over.

Metro Station: Dupont Circle (Q Street exit. Turn left and walk one block.)

For more information: 202-387-2151


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