Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater
Last week I had the opportunity to
attend a fantastic new production of "Oliver" at the Arena Stage at the
Mead Center for American Theater, located in southwest Washington D. C.
What made the show very interesting was that it had a
theater-in-the-round configuration. As you can tell from the photos
above, it is a very small theater, and holds about 680 people. The play
is performed in the center floor surrounded by four sections of seats.
The play and the action is really in-your-face, as you are so close to
the actors. The seating is quite intimate, so you really feel that you
are a part of the play. Nine year old Jake Heston Miller plays Oliver,
and is the star of the show. His singing is outstanding, and he has a
stage presence that is superb for his very young age. Jake studies
voice with professor Elysabeth Muscat at the Peabody Institute, which is
part of the John Hopkins University in Maryland, so his vocal training
is top-of-the- line classical. Professor Muscat is the dean of voice
studies at Peabody. When Jake sang "Where Is Love", my eyes filled with
tears. His rendition was so moving that my heart just melted. Jake's
voice is strong and has unusual depth for a one so young. By-the-way,
he is a straight "A" student in the fourth grade, and enjoys playing
tennis. He lives in Warrenton, Virginia. I was on vacation in
Washington D. C. with a friend, and our main itinerary was to visit the
Washington D. C. Mall, but quite by chance I saw an advertisement in the
paper for "Oliver", and we decided that it was a must see even though
the tickets were quite pricey at $122.00 each, but it was more than
worth it, and was money well spent. Getting to Arena Stage was easy
from downtown Washington D. C. We took the Metro at Union Station, and
got off at the Waterfront Metro stop, which is very close to the
theater. "Oliver" runs from October 30, 2015 to January 3, 2016 at the Arena
Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater, so if you are in the
Washington D. C. area, it is worth seeing. Safe journeys to all the
fans of Endyr's Movie Theater, wherever you may be.
