Opening our 2026-2027 Cabaret Season, local composer, company member, and film buff, Andrew Earle Simpson, is recognized nationally as one of the most prominent and gifted silent film scholars and accompanist-musicians. He will host and accompany a screening of an exuberant Weimar-era French/German silent film from 1928, SAXOPHON SUSY, in a new live score by his truly. Joining him to set the context for our year will be our much-beloved colleague Carolyn Braus and – you guessed it – her saxophone! Also, chanteuse Erin Granfield – featured live in a selection of songs from the Weimar cabaret.

Alliance for New Music-Theatre’s production of The Trumpeter this past January was a categorical success, garnering critical acclaim, and was Helen Hayes Recommended by Theatre Washington.

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The performances quickly grew to SRO, so now we are bringing it back to Dupont Underground with 13 performances from November 4 -22.

Staged again in the bunker-like tunnel of Dupont Underground, our production of Inna Goncharova’s play about the siege and bombing of Mariupol during the first year of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and survival against all odds by the last surviving member of a Ukrainian military band.

This will be a total immersive experience!

Directed by Hungarian Director János Szász the show will be remounted with its original actors, two of the areas finest, Michael Kevin Darnell and Lise Bruneau, and will again be enriched greatly by the talents of trumpeter Kevin McKee and our male chorus of Ukrainian singers led by Ruslan Bondar.

Our fully-staged experience is the latest event in our ongoing commitment to the writings of Ukrainian playwrights, bringing the far-away suffering of the Ukrainians up close during the fourth year of the Russian invasion.

Company Member Daniel ‘Deacon’ Smith takes the lead to embark on a partnership with Howard University’s award winning student performers from a cabaret competition.

This cabaret will feature songs from Company Member Josh Cleveland's adaptation of Fitzgerald's novel with original music and lyrics inspired by 20’s jazz.

Crossover Artist, Company Member, and Dominican Republic songstress Melisa Bonetti blends different music genres, pairing operatic arias with jazz standards to express wild and deep emotions.

Company Member Cara Schaefer shares her wit, expressive voice, and enormously generous heart, especially for all creatures great & small whose stories are overlooked in the mainstream narrative.

Join us when our whole cabaret ensemble reassembles in a season finale and a preview of a new work based on Klaus Mann’s novel, Mephisto, about making art in a growing Fascist society.