All tagged David Thompson

REVIEW: “The Scottsboro Boys” at Signature Theatre

Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia mounts an impressive and solid production of Kander and Ebb’s “The Scottsboro Boys”, a satirical minstrel show presentation of the harrowing story of one of the most disgraceful episodes in American history.  Musical theatre fans in the D.C.-metro area should flock to this regional premiere of an extraordinary and underappreciated musical.  It’s an important “must see” of the season, and well-worth the visit.

REVIEW: “The Beast in the Jungle”

Susan Stroman, John Kander, and David Thompson continue their thirty year collaboration with “The Beast in the Jungle”, a “dance play” inspired by Henry James’ 1903 novella.  The dancing and music is beautiful to watch and hear, but the piece is dramatically unfulfilling, its more cryptic source material diminished in the course of fleshing out, crystallizing, and modernizing the story.