Presents From the Past: Little Beasts at the National Gallery of Art

Little Beasts: Art, Wonder, and the Natural World is on view at the National Gallery West Building until November.  I’ve never been that fascinated by taxidermy, but here’s an opportunity to see three-dimensional specimens juxtaposed with representations of them by curious minds of the 16th and 17th centuries, when the study of natural history was just beginning to be codified.  Driven by the Enlightenment and advancements in technology, not to mention international trade and imperialist colonization, the study of insects and animals advanced apace.  It was documented by artists whose works still influence depictions of the natural world today.

The exhibit occupies three rooms plus a theater in which a film by artist Dario Robleto plays every hour.  The first room features a selection of illustrations from Joris Hoefnagel’s 16th century The Four Elements, “one of the treasures of the National Gallery’s drawing collection.”  Each page will be on view for only a few weeks at a time, both to limit exposure to light and provide a more varied experience of the work.

Exhibit View of Little Beasts

Throughout the exhibit, specimens lent by the National Museum of Natural History are paired with art from the NGA.  This exhibit is the first instance of collaboration between the two museums.  Here’s hoping there will be more!

A Pairing of Squirrels

One piece I found particularly interesting is a ”cabinet of curiosities,” made to allow a well-to-do gentleman to show off his collection of specimens.  It’s adorned with bronze insects and lizards, made from molds cast from the bodies of actual insects and lizards.  Probably, in its time, it held dead insects and lizards.

A Marvelously Curious Cabinet

The press tour was conducted by enthusiastic staff.  Alexandra Libby, one of the co-curators, was especially animated.

Curator Libby and Peacock

There is a sumptuous catalog, and a free pamphlet-sized nature journal geared towards children with helpful suggestions to add an interactive dimension to one’s visit.

And the food angle?  I understand that the Espresso & Gelato Bar in the Concourse is stocking Cricket Gelato; just outside the entrance to the Little Beasts exhibit, on the targeted merchandise cart, one can find Worm Lollipops.

Catalogs and Lollipops

Bon Appetit!

Little Beasts: Art, Wonder, and the Natural World

May 18 – November 2, 2025

National Gallery of Art, West Building, Ground Floor, Gallery 23

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Review: Akira Kurosawa Explains His Movies and Yogurt (with live and active cultures!)

When I saw the notice for Woolly Mammoth’s current play, Akira Kurosawa Explains His Movies and Yogurt (with live and active cultures!), I thought, “Oh, boy!  Another play using food as metaphor!” and I wasn’t wrong.  This wry, sly, insightful, and thoroughly enjoyable production mixes historical and biographical insights into Japanese and American cultures (both definitions) on so many levels I was reminded of the Ig Nobel Prizes’ motto: “First it makes you laugh, then it makes you think.”

Julia Izumi, the playwright, performs in the lead role.  As the famous filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, she travels through his life and work projecting and explaining, and also deflecting and avoiding explanation of personal grief – through guess what? Yogurt! Here’s the metaphor.  It’s played for laughs, as a popup non sequitur, but also as part of a throughline of cultural transition.

Woolly Mammoth Theatre production of Akira Kurosawa Explains His Movies and Yogurt (with live and active cultures!). L-R: Ashil Lee, Julia Izumi

There’s a direct line drawn from traditional Japanese culture to today: from Kabuki theater, with the use of a traditional Japanese woodblock sound heralding each scene imagining Kurosawa’s past; to the excellent portrayal of a benshi (interpreter of dialog placards in Japanese theaters during silent movies) by Kento Morita; to talkies, including Kurosawa’s films; to ridiculous American yogurt commercials.  These are all represented on stage by a mix of simultaneous live feeds, still projection, and acting by the five-person cast (with spontaneous breakouts of singing and dancing).  There’s a large helping of Japanese language, some faithfully translated, some not, to keep the audience fully engaged.  (My daughter, who speaks Japanese, clued me in to some of the latter.)

Woolly Mammoth Theatre production of Akira Kurosawa Explains His Movies and Yogurt (with live and active cultures!). L-R: Ashil Lee, Julia Izumi, Lizzy Lewis

Julia Izumi plays a character named Julia (who she insists is not her) as well as Kurosawa in a parallel exploration of the meaning of grief and regret in human life.  The suicide of Kurosawa’s brother, whose career as a benshi was cut short by the advent of talking pictures, and Julia’s uncle’s suicide coupled with her mother’s silence about it, become the foci of the twin resolutions.

Woolly Mammoth Theatre production of Akira Kurosawa Explains His Movies and Yogurt (with live and active cultures!). L-R: Julia Izumi, Ashil Lee, Lizzy Lewis, Jamar Jones, Kento Morita

Culture as story/yogurt as culture: pun, metaphor, obscure object of desire – told with humor and a refusal to reduce individuals to their culture, but a recognition that culture influences everything – this play has it all.  Did I mention that the cast also play multiple parts terrifically, while continuously breaking the fourth wall?  I laughed, I cried, I rushed home to eat yogurt.  Everyone should do the same.

Akira Kurosawa Explains His Movies and Yogurt (with live and active cultures!) at Woolly Mammoth, by Julia Izumi, directed by Aileen Wen McGroddy, produced in partnership with New Georges, through June 1, 2025.

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Suzy Creamcheese Doesn’t Live Here Anymore

Review of Cheesecake by Mark Kurlansky

Mark Kurlansky is known more for his deeply researched nonfiction on single subjects (cod, salt, milk, onions) than his fiction.  Cheesecake marries the two genres in a highly entertaining novel incorporating the oldest written recipe for its namesake into a tale about the gentrification of the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

The only surviving book by the ancient Roman author Cato the Elder focused on farming, but it included not one but two cheesecake recipes, one simple and one more complex.  It is the latter that figures in the plot of Cheesecake, the novel, as competing groups of striving West Siders develop their own interpretations.

The Katsikas family emigrated from a Greek isle to run a diner called the Katz Brothers (they thought it would be “a better name for the neighborhood.”)  The recipe they adapted from Cato became a drawing card for their diner.  In the 1970s, Manhattan was a scruffy place to survive but a cheap place to live.  The neighborhood was filled with characters from many cultures and income levels, all united in their appreciation of a good dessert.  Katz’s Cato’s New York Cheesecake became an object of envy and curiosity.  Its progress became a metaphor for the sociological evolution of the area.

For interwoven into the gastronomic odyssey is a less light-hearted topic: the greed of landlords and the subversion of rent protection, causing the evolution of the Upper West Side into the unaffordable enclave it has become.  Sadly, this progression has included the disappearance of local delis and bakeries as collateral damage.

So the book becomes a sort of elegy for the lost mores of a late-twentieth century neighborhood and the food culture that was flourishing there.  It’s nostalgic, witty, poignant, and furious all at once.  And, in an appendix, there’s a history of cheesecake, with recipes.  What more could one ask for?

Cheesecake: A Novel by Mark Kurlansky, Bloomsbury Publishing, July, 2025

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The Right Words Can Change The World: Review of Bad Books at Round House

The world premiere of Bad Books makes a fitting corollary to Round House’s previous production, What the Constitution Means To Me.  In the current atmosphere of attacks on so many of our civil rights, their fearless attitude towards free expression promotes hope, and the determination to defend what we had previously taken so much for granted.

And, just like WTCMTM,  Bad Books avoids the trap of preachiness.  Wit and irony sparkle from the start, as Kate Eastwood Norris (as The Librarian) and Holly Twyford (The Mother) engage in a face-off about control of children’s reading.  Should parents be empowered to forbid certain books?  It’s not abstract – the Mother’s son has been reading a novel recommended by the Librarian which, it is revealed, cuts a little too close to real life.

The Mother is not just that.  Her past actions (she believes) caused a tragic accident which she atoned for – but not, apparently, enough – and her call for aggression against the Librarian on social media causes consequences for both of them.  Norris transforms into her second role as The Manager to levy retribution, and then into a third role (The Editor) in a showcase of extraordinary acting talent honed by years of experience in Washington area theaters.  Twyford matches her, emotion for emotion.

Notice All the Books? Kate Eastwood Norris (The Librarian) and Holly Twyford (The Mother) in BAD BOOKS at Round House Theatre. Photo by Margot Schulman
Kate Eastwood Norris (The Librarian) and Holly Twyford (The Mother) in BAD BOOKS at Round House Theatre. Photo by Margot Schulman
Holly Twyford (The Mother) and Kate Eastwood Norris (The Manager) in BAD BOOKS at Round House Theatre. Photo by Margot Schulman

Bad Books marks Round House’s premiere of in-the-round staging, utilizing a slowly revolving stage throughout the show.  The characters are constantly shifting position as well, resulting in sometimes-occulted action which, briefly, distracts an audience member’s attention.  A little fine-tuning is indicated.

Still, the symbolism comes through – the librarian’s station sits at the fulcrum of the spinning world; “circles within circles” describes the cover of the problematic book; the stage design features a collection of banned books (nearly 1,500 contributed/lent by the RH community*, plus 700 “faux books” suspended in an overhead circular fixture).  And the plot – the circumstances of the two protagonists (antagonists) resolve at the end almost, but not quite, where they each began.

At the Fourth Wall Bar & Café, the specialty cocktails have a distinctly literary cast.  Can Specialty Cocktails be described as Classics?  You decide!  Here they are:

The Adventures of Huckleberry Fizz

Bourbon, orange juice, huckleberry syrup, lime, Sprite

Catcher in the Rye

Whiskey, maraschino liqueur, lime juice, simple syrup

Clockwork Orange Creamsicle

Whipped cream vodka, orange juice, triple sec, half and half

Of Mice and Mint Julip

Gin, mint syrup, lime juice, club soda

The Color Purple

Vodka, lemonade, lavender-lemon syrup

And:

Zero Proof

perks of being an elderflower [sic]

Lemonade, lime juice, elderflower syrup, and Sprite

*Full disclosure: I contributed six of them.

Bad Books at Round House Theatre through May 4, 2025.

By Sharyn Rothstein

Directed by Ryan Rilette

Featuring Kate Eastwood Norris and Holly Twyford

A National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere

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Happy Pie Day!  Celebrate With Not One But Two Contests

Yes, in honor of that unique mathematical relationship and MIT cheer (Cosine secant tangent sine, 3.14159), not to mention the tastiest of round desserts, we present: the Olney Theatre Center Pie Eating and Baking Contests!

Which actually occurred last week, but Pi Day furnished me with the perfect excuse for procrastination.  With OTC’s production of Waitress continuing to attract enthusiastic audiences, it would seem only natural for one of their community events to be organized  around the eating and baking of the production’s featured foodstuff.  So one sunny afternoon, about a dozen pie lovers gathered in the Cafritz Lobby (in front of the original theater, currently under renovation) to indulge.  Some in wretched excess, some in decorous judgement.

Shruthi Mukund, OTC’s Director of Community Engagement, organized both contests.  A table laden with two apple pies (baking contest entries) and several commercial piecrusts was waiting.  Wait – where were the eating contest pies?  Shruthi, a contest-running novice, on advice from more experienced heads, had provided “pies” made of  Cool Whip and piecrust.  Yes, the contestants had to devour a mess of artificial whipped topping and store-bought piecrust; the winner was the one who finished first.   And yet, there were still four volunteers!

Two Real Pies and Two Immanent Impostors
Contestants with Shruthi in Background
Eating and Recording (Winner is Second Eater From Left)

Joseph McNally won the eating contest, finishing in two minutes, 40 seconds.  His prize, no surprise, was two tickets to an OTC production.  After applause and congratulations, the action moved on to the second feature of the day: judging the pie baking contest.  The judges were selected by asking the assembled pie fans who would like to be one.  Eight of us raised our hands.  Perfect for a nicely-sized sample of each pie!

Waiting To Judge
We Give It Our Full Consideration

There were two entries, both, coincidentally, variations on apple pie.  Only one contestant was present, and her pie was the clear winner.

The Winner! Jean and the Remains of Her Pie

Jean Krueger’s Apple Crumbly Pie won on the three criteria the judges were asked to use: taste, texture, and uniqueness.  We agreed that the crumble topping made it superior to the other pie, which was a conventional double-crust (although that pie, as well, was toothsome and delicious).  “We’re a pie family,” said Jean.  Each member has their own preferred pie, which is served on their birthdays instead of cake.

The recipe for her pie came from a set of cards published by Great American Recipe Cards years ago, and has become a tradition in her family.  I think I found it here.  Her daughter won the 4-H pie contest at the Montgomery County Fair one year with it.  Jean is continuing that tradition!

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Plaster on the Corn: Review of Shucked at the National Theatre

You want to do a musical comedy about corn?  Are you worried about being accused of writing folksy, hokey humor and groaner puns?  Here’s the answer: lean into it!  Load that show with as many dad jokes and obvious double-entendres as any one production can carry.  Own it, and defy anyone to sit stoney-faced through a performance of “Shucked,” now playing (but only until March 2) at the National.

From the opening number, “Corn,” about (guess what?) just the life-blood and specialty of an isolated farming (and moonshinin’) town, the tone is obvious: if anyone in the audience is allergic to puns and goofy humor, they would do well to leave sooner than later.  But for those who stay, they will be treated to more laughs than any one night has any right to provide.

The Cast of The North American Tour of SHUCKED (Photo by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman) in the Rousing Opening Number

A pair of Storytellers (Maya Langerstam and, on opening night, Nick Raynor) promise a “farm-to-fable” story, and they deliver.  There’s nothing about the plot that would surprise anyone who’s seen more than, say, one Broadway play: a romantically-involved couple, an existential problem, a  quest to solve it, a reevaluation of the relationship, and a happy resolution.  But the plot (except the plot of corn) is not the point.

Maizy (Danielle Wade), betrothed to Beau (Jake Odmark), is our plucky heroine determined to save her town when the corn becomes mysteriously blighted.  To find a cure, she journeys to the Big City.  Which turns out to be Tampa, of all places, and provides fodder for sendups of old people and gangsters.  That slick schtick, involving the Storytellers and Gordy (Quinn VanAntwerp), the grifter who claims he can fix the corn, is itself worth the price of admission.

Quinn VanAntwerp as Gordy in The North American Tour of SHUCKED (Photo by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman)

When Gordy follows Maizy (named, obviously, for….her grandmother) back to her town, he meets Lulu (Miki Abraham), who provides a value-added corn-based product for everyone’s enjoyment, which she brings home with a boffo number, “Independently Owned.”  Lulu and Gordy develop a relationship reminiscent of Beatrice and Benedick, and I shouldn’t have to spell out how that ends.

The Cast of The North American Tour of SHUCKED (Photo by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman) at the Wedding

And guess what?  The corn problem resolves, there’s a double wedding, and everyone lives happily ever after.  Okay, I added that last bit, but you will exit the theater happy and the mood should last at least until you board the Metro for home.

Shucked – Broadway at the National  until March 2.

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Pie in the Sky: Review of “Waitress” at Olney Theatre Center

If the singing and acting weren’t so enthusiastic and entertaining, this play might be upstaged by the hydraulics.  The Olney Theatre has a stage that moves up and down in pieces, and they’re not afraid to use it.

MALINDA and the ensemble of “Waitress” at Olney Theatre Center.
Photo: Teresa Castracane Photography

Waitress features the titular character, Jenna (MALINDA), high atop one platform singing wistfully about piecrust ingredients (“Sugar, butter, flour….”) a motif that provides a throughline and recurring metaphor for the show.  Another platform regularly rises from below to disclose props, furniture, and even a whole bathroom plumbing suite signaling scene changes.  Adding to the visual feast, the “Waitress Band” provides live music in full view of the audience.

Jenna, much more than a waitress, is also a pie-making genius.  Her emotions, wrapped up in this sugary outlet (she names her daily special to reflect her feelings: “White-Knuckle-Cream Pie,” “Deep-Shit-Blueberry-Bacon Pie”), substitute for the aspirations that were squashed by her marriage to the repressive Earl (Greg Twomey).  He garnishes her wages and jealously guards her movements.  She plots in secret to enter a pie-baking contest and leave him if she wins.

MALINDA as Jenna, and the ensemble of “Waitress” at Olney Theatre Center.
Photo: Teresa Castracane Photography

But even this ambition is thwarted by fate, for she finds herself pregnant with the due date falling very close to the contest, and she laments that she is Betrayed-By-My-Eggs (Pie).  But since this is a Broadway musical, a plot twist results in a happy ending for all but the evil Earl.

Jenna’s frustration with Earl leads to an affair with Dr. Pomatter (David Sokolar), her gynecologist.  Those scenes are a mix of soft-core (but fully-clothed) porn and slapstick humor, as Dr. P seems to have an adversarial relationship with furniture.

Her two fellow waitresses provide vocal variety and comic relief.  Becky (Allison Blackwell) can belt out a number in contrast to Jenna’s plaintive laments, and Dawn (Ashley G. Nguyen), especially in concert with her boyfriend Ogie (Sam C. Jones), delivers helpings of humor.  Their wedding scene is a highlight of the show.

Sam C. Jones (Ogie), MALINDA (Jenna), and Ashley D. Nguyen (Dawn) in “Waitress” at Olney Theatre Center. Photo: Teresa Castracane Photography

Another highlight of Opening Night/Press Night at Olney: Pie.  Cherry or Apple, supplied by Sunflower Bakery.  Delicious!

A Keepsake? No! An Eat-sake!

Waitress at the Olney Theatre Center Extended! thru April 6.

Book by Jessie Nelson

Music and Lyrics by Sara Bareilles

Music Directed by Christopher Youstra

Based upon the motion picture written by Adrienne Shelly

Directed and Choreographed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge

Click here for my review of the touring production of Waitress at the National Theatre in 2018.

Oh, and one more thing: Olney Theatre will host a Pie Eating & Baked Pie Contest on Saturday, March 8, 2025 at 4:30 PM in the lobby for a “sweet fun-packed event.” Free with RSVP.

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Wretched Excess– And After: Valentines Day 2025

On the evidence of two local supermarkets, Valentine’s Day has blown up to proportions unseen in modern history.  The Harris Teeter in Olney and the Wegman’s in Columbia have gone to extremes to coax the last dollar out of last-minute swains desperate to impress their significant others.

Before the Day, we happened into HT when the last of the decorations were going up.  Debbie, the floral department manager, usually marks each major holiday with special decorations, but for Valentines Day she goes all-out.

Balloon Arches Going Up
Balloons and Flowers in Place
Debbie Poses With Her Handiwork

On Valentine’s Day Eve, we found ourselves in Wegman’s.  There was an equally impressive display of seasonal excess, incorporating the expected balloons, candy, and flowers, but with a couple of interesting variations.

The View From the Mezzanine

On a marble tabletop, an array of chocolate-covered strawberries greeted us.  So did Stevyn, eager to assist.

Stevyn Will be Happy to Help You Spend on Strawberries

We had never seen so many different kinds at once.  At $3.00 each, we had never seen such spendy ones, either.

The rose display also held a unique experience.  Painted roses, stiff and shiny, in many colors.  Also spendy.

More Balloons! More Flowers!
We’re Painting the Roses Red – and Pink and Orange and Black (Shudder)

Okay, I can’t resist.  Gilding the lily.  There, I said it.

Epilogue:  Then there was February 15.  Sad carts loaded with 50% off candy and plushies.  Timing is everything.

[HT after v-day;2]

Sad Carts o’ Leftovers

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Review: What the Constitution Means To Me at Round House Theatre

Before I saw Round House’s production of What the Constitution Means To Me, I was only vaguely aware that this play was about a teenager debating the Constitution.  I hoped that it would not be tedious, or tendentious, as that description suggests – but it’s only ninety minutes long, so how bad could it be?

I was totally unprepared for how energetic, funny, poignant, timely, and engaging this production is, with its fine performance by Kimberly Gilbert in the part originated by the playwright Heidi Schreck.  She speaks directly to the audience from the play’s first moments, building rapport and sympathy until we are all pulling for her.  Her fictional debate opponent wouldn’t stand a chance, even if she were to materialize!  Spoiler alert: she never does.

Moving seamlessly from a fifteen-year-old’s overly dramatic debate performance (“a living, warm-blooded, steamy document… It is hot and sweaty”) to her passionate examination of her family’s generational traumas as a grown woman, she embodies the emotional force to carry the audience along on the journey from uncritical admiration of our foundational text to the revelation of its basic flaws.

Kimberly Gilbert as Heidi and Michael Glenn as Mike
Kimberly Gilbert as Heidi, Fadekemi- Laniyonu as Debater, and Michael Glenn as Mike

From the abstraction of the 14th Amendment (which guarantees “birthright citizenship” and the right to life, liberty, and property), we hear how Heidi’s grandmother and great-grandmother were abused by their husbands with no response from the police for years.  Wives, it seems, were considered “property” of their husbands then, and, now, they are again in danger of losing control over their own bodies.  This argument is timely indeed!

Heidi is assisted by Michael Glenn, who begins the play as the debate moderator, but as the fourth wall completely breaks down, we witness his testimony to his own journey.  Then, another shift: Fadekemi Laniyonu, a student at Richard Montgomery High School, appears as herself, and an actual debate ensues, with the audience as judges.  To complete the experience, a personal copy of the Constitution is handed to each audience member with the performance’s program.  I’ve never experienced so passionate and dramatic a civics lesson.

The Fourth Wall Bar and Café features “7th Amendment Mac and Cheese” made with seven different cheeses; “The 26th Amendment” zero-proof cocktail (which seems ironic, as that amendment guarantees the right to vote to eighteen-year-old citizens), and two specialty cocktails: the Const-CHAI-tution, and the Susan B. Anthony.

On Opening Night at Round House, the audience has a chance to meet and congratulate the cast and creative team after the performance.  This time, it involved the presentation of souvenir sock puppets to all the creatives involved.  Yes, they are relevant to the play.  You will just have to go see how for yourself!

The Cast and Creative Team Pose for the Official Photo
Mason Catharini, Mike’s Understudy, with His New Friend

What the Constitution Means To Me is playing at Round House Theatre through February 16, 2025.

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Worth Its Weight in Gelt

Review: A Hanukkah Carol, or Gelt Trip! The Musical, at Round House Theatre

So for something completely different from all those Nutcrackers and Hallelujahs this season, Round House presents a mash-up of Dickens, Fiddler on the Roof, and wised-up Millennial humor – and it’s hilarious.

Right away we know we’re in for amusement, when a line from Fiddler is quoted (to knowing chuckles from the audience).  But wait! A real fiddler shows up!  And, we’re off!

Cast of A Hanukkah Carol, or Gelt Trip! The Musical

The plot echoes A Christmas Carol’s structure – we follow the heroine, the self-involved social influencer Chava Kanipshin, through the visitations of the three ghosts to ultimate redemption – but with Jewish and social media mashups.  One ghost is a parody of Santa Claus, in a blue robe; one a Maccabee, complete with shofar; and one seems to be a mechanized Spirit of the Internet puppet.  That last one may need some more work.

But don’t worry – if there are a few spots that could use a little more development, another song and/or dance number will be right along to keep our Spirits high.  The cast puts their all into it; most play several parts and must be exhausted by the end of the night.  The energy level is exhilarating. Two outstanding examples: a glittery drag turn by Kit Krull, and Katrina Michaels as the Dickensian Orphan.

Not that everybody will get all the jokes as they go flying by – most of the audience when I saw it tended toward Jewish boomers – but they came fast enough as not to matter.  Still, it helped to have my daughter explain why she laughed at the “Big Dickens Energy” line (it’s an internet meme, Mom).

The Round House is getting right into the spirit of the holiday.  The lobby is decorated with a blue and white paper chain above a station where the audience is invited to guess the number of miniature dreidels in a big glass container to win free tickets to the next production. 

How Many Dreidels in the Bowl?

The Fourth Wall Bar & Café is featuring several specialty cocktails in honor of the production: the Golden Gelt Gimlet, the PegaSpritz (it’s blue), the Hanukkah Hot Toddy, and A Light in the Dark.  We tried the last, made with allspice Drambuie, bourbon, lime juice, and simple syrup.  It’s appropriately festive.

How Many Candles Do You See?

There’s also beef brisket on offer, served with a potato latke, dill sour cream, and apple sauce.  Very Hanukkah.

And, hanging out near the dreidels, two audience members who had gotten right into the spirit.  Turns out they had reason to kvell – they were the playwright’s parents!

Proud Parents and a Playwright: David Fox, Harrison Bryan, Gail Fuchs

A Hanukkah Carol, or Gelt Trip! The Musical, is at Round House Theatre through December 29.

Music by Aaron Kenny

Lyrics by Rob Berliner

Book by Harrison Bryan & Rob Berliner

Original Concept by Harrison Bryan

Directed and Choreographed by Marlo Hunter

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