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DC Theater Friday: Women’s Voices Theater Festival 2.0 gears up

January 4, 2018 at 2:59 p.m. EST
Mauricio Martinez as Emilio Estefan and Christie Prades as Gloria Estefan in “On Your Feet!” at the Kennedy Center starting Jan. 9. (Matthew Murphy)

The weekly feature of what's happening on Washington stages.

The last holiday offerings shuffle offstage this weekend as the Washington's two-month, 24 show Women's Voices Theater Festival gets underway with "Queens Girl in Africa" and a modernized "The Way of the World." Starting Tuesday at the Kennedy Center: the Broadway tours of "On Your Feet!" and Stephen Karam's Tony Award-winning drama "The Humans."

READ MORE: Women's Voices 2.0 arrives during #MeToo

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PREVIEWING

"45 Plays for 45 Presidents." Two-minute plays, one per Prez, performed by five women. Jan. 11-Feb. 4 at Next Stop Theatre, 269 Sunset Park Dr., Herndon. Tickets $20-$55. Call 866-811-4111 or visit nextstoptheatre.org.

"Everything Is Illuminated." Simon Block adapts the 2002 Jonathan Safran Foer novel that became a 2005 movie and a 2006 London play. Aaron Posner directs the East Coast premiere. Jan. 11-Feb. 4 at Theater J, in the Edlavitch D.C. Jewish Community Center, 1529 16th St. NW. Tickets $37-$64. Call 202-777-3210 or visit theaterj.org.

"Guilt." Scena Theatre presents Australian writer John Shand's drama of a philandering priest suspected of casting spells on women. Jan 5-Feb. 4 at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets $15-$45. Call 202-399-7993 or visit scenatheatre.org.

"The Humans." Stephen Karam's 2016 Tony-winning family drama. Jan. 9-28 in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater. Tickets $49-$139. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

Stephen Karam: "I thought if one day I had a Broadway debut, it would be 20 years from now"

"On Your Feet!" The tour of the Gloria Estefan musical. Jan. 9-28 at the Kennedy Center Opera House. Tickets $59-$149. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

Gloria Estefan: "I don't like being the center of attention"

"Queens Girl in Africa." D.C. writer Caleen Sinnette Jennings's sequel to her 2015 "Queens Girl in the World" is Mosaic's premiere for the Women's Voices Theater Festival. Through Feb. 4 at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets $20-$65. Call 202-399-7993 or visit mosaictheater.org.

Caleen Sinnette Jennings recalls her teen years in 1960s Nigeria

"The Skin of Our Teeth." Constellation Theatre revives Thornton Wilder's 1943 Pulitzer winner about a family surviving crises across eons. Jan. 11-Feb. 11 at Source, 1835 14th St. NW. Tickets $25-$55. Call 202-204-7741 or visit constellationtheatre.org.

"The Way of the World." Prolific writer Theresa Rebeck ("Seminar," "Smash") adapts/updates/directs William Congreve's Restoration comedy. Part of the Women's Voices Theater Festival. Jan. 9-Feb. 11 at Folger Theatre, 201 East Capitol St. SE. Tickets $35-$79. Call 202-544-7077 or visit folger.edu.

Showbiz vet Theresa Rebeck brings her modernized comedy to the Folger

CONTINUING

"Crazy For You." "The razzmatazzy 1992 remake of George and Ira Gershwin's 'Girl Crazy.' Signature's production offers up some heady demonstrations of tap, and there's even one heavenly number in which the ensemble wittily takes up washboards, saws, hooch jugs and emery boards to keep the beat. But you're given too much opportunity on this occasion to examine plastic emotions under a microscope." (Peter Marks) Read the review Through Jan. 14 at Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Shirlington. Tickets $40-$108, subject to change. Call 703-820-9771 or visit sigtheatre.org.

CLOSING

"Amazing Grace." "The mortal sin is that it's a musical without musicians — computer software somehow 'plays' the score — but that's not all. The largely true but plodding melodrama of John Newton, the British slave trader who ultimately repented and wrote the famous hymn, is so slow-moving and cliched that you'd swap it for a windy sermon." (Nelson Pressley) Read the review Through Jan. 7 at the Museum of the Bible, 409 3rd St. SW. Tickets $85-$100. Call 202-848-1600 or visit museumofthebible.org.

"An American in Paris." "A mostly commendable new stage version that embellishes the 1951 movie musical. The touring version, directed and choreographed as on Broadway by Christopher Wheeldon, boasts two strongly athletic dancers, Allison Walsh and McGee Maddox. But it tends to broadcast too plainly some of the blander conceits. There's a fine line, it seems, between timelessness and cliche." (Peter Marks) Read the review Through Jan. 7 in the Kennedy Center's Opera House. Tickets $59-$175. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

"Annie." "The rapport between Kevin McAllister's commanding Daddy Warbucks and Noelle Robinson's plucky Annie is by far the best thing in Olney Theatre Center's dutiful revival. Annie's ballad 'Maybe' and her anthem 'Tomorrow' are American musical cornerstones that every kid should hear, but that doesn't quite vindicate Olney taking a second run at the show in seven years." (Nelson Pressley) Read the review Through Jan. 7 at the Olney Theatre Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Rd., Olney, Tickets $47-$84. Call 301-924-3400 or visit olneytheatre.org.

"Curve of Departure." "The occasion is the funeral of an old man named Rudy's universally loathed son Cyrus. Rudy shares the hotel room with his daughter-in-law, Linda, who was abandoned by Cyrus but affectionately tends to Rudy as dementia bedevils him. Linda's grown son Felix will also be sharing the room. So will Felix's boyfriend, Jackson. Rachel Bonds meticulously crafts her 85-minute slice of life in one long, unbroken scene (with a coda) that is impeccably designed and played." (Nelson Pressley) Read the review Through Jan. 7 at Studio Theatre, 1501 14th St. NW. Tickets $52-$90. Call 202-332-3300 or visit studiotheatre.org.

"The Illusionists." The Vegas-style act is back after its 2015 visit. "The Kennedy Center has enough surplus dignity to indulge a brief sideshow: zingy (and time-tested) bits that included bodies sawed in half, cards pulled out of thin air and a suspenseful Houdini-like escape by a guy handcuffed and hung upside down in a water tank." (Nelson Pressley) Read the review Through Jan. 7 in the Kennedy Center's Eisenhower Theater. Tickets $49-$175. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

"Les Miserables." One day more with Jean Valjean, Javert and the gang. "When Enjolras and his comrades march, and projections of streets fall away behind them, you know that you are trapped, not in revolutionary Paris, but in a colossal — and ever more lucrative — media franchise." (Celia Wren) Read the review Through Jan. 7 at the National Theatre, 1321 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Tickets $63-$118. Call 800-514-3849 or visit thenationaldc.org.

"My Name Is Asher Lev." Aaron Posner's adaptation of the Chaim Potok novel, directed by Nick Olcott. "Illuminates the stubborn bravery of the title character, a young Hasidic Jewish artist who must flouts the values of his devout community to realize his vision. Asher's courage is cheering, yet you reel at the emotional and spiritual cost of his choice." (Celia Wren) Read the review Through Jan. 7 at 1st Stage, 1524 Spring Hill Rd., McLean. Tickets $15-$33. Call 703-854-1856 or visit 1ststagetysons.org.

The real Felonious Munk

"The Revolutionists." "Real-life playwright Olympe de Gouges (Megan Anderson) is besieged by Marie Antoinette (Beth Hylton), Jean-Paul Marat's assassin Charlotte Corday (Emily Kester) and Caribbean revolutionary Marianne Angelle (Dawn Ursula) as the Paris guillotine lops heads during the Reign of Terror. Director Casey Stangl generates a screwball pace (wonderfully nailed by her acting quartet) that leaves room for the second act's slashes of drama. The feminist echoes ring out: You cheer along as these modern-sounding women erupt in profane defiance." (Nelson Pressley) Read the review Through Jan. 7 at Everyman Theatre, 315 W. Fayette St., Baltimore. Tickets $43-$65. Call 410-752-2208 or visit everymantheatre.org.

TYA: Theater for Young Audiences

"Charlotte's Web." The E.B. White classic about Wilbur the pig, with live music and aerial silks. Through Jan. 7 at Imagination Stage, 4908 Auburn Ave., Bethesda. Tickets $14-$32. Call 301-280-1660 or visit imaginationstage.org.

READ MORE: A guide to current youth-friendly shows

ETC.

"Around the World in 80 Days." The American Pops Orchestra presents a family-friendly concert version of the Jules Verne tale, with songs from the American songbook. Jan. 6 at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. at Arena Stage, 1101 6th St. SW. Tickets $20-$35. Visit theamericanpops.org.

The Capitol Steps. The longtime political satirists, tearing laughs from the headlines. Fridays and Saturdays in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center Amphitheater, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Tickets $40.50. Call 202-397-7328 or visit www.capsteps.com.

READ MORE:

Washington's Best of 2017, and 2017 Favorites from Peter Marks

Peter Martins retires amid controversy. What's next for NYCB?

The SpongeBobbing of Broadway, where plays are Frozen out

'Not In Our House' fights abuse in theaters and takes root in D.C.

Facebook Live with "Pajama Game"'s Tim Rogan

A dozen actors to watch

NEW YORK NOTES:

The $20 million "SpongeBob" musical

Steve Martin's "Meteor Shower," with Amy Schumer

"The Band's Visit" is Broadway's best new musical

Ayad Akhtar's new 1980s money drama "Junk"

Springsteen on Broadway

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