Stage Banter: The Arena Stage Blog

Citizen Review: ELLA and The Crystal City Experience

by Bob Poogach

Through the graciousness of incredibly friendly Arena personnel, I had the opportunity to catch the run through of ELLA at the new Arena "Restaged" in Crystal City before its official opening on Friday.  My most important suggestion to the good people at Arena is an addition to their obligatory pre-performance announcements about the do's and don'ts of cell phones and candy wrappers. For this show, "If you can't feel the beat and you aren't tapping your feet, please proceed to the lobby and dial 911."

Tina Fabrique as Ella Fitzgerald IS the show and quite a show she is.  A bandstand stage provides the setting for Ms. Fabrique to showcase her own talents in imitating the style and sound of the First Lady as she delivers a broad range of song standards from the likes of Porter, the Gershwins, and  Berlin. The thin construct of the play has Ella telling her story through between-songs "patter" encouraged by her long-time manager. All well and good but the play is the music and the music is s'wonderful. Hard to pick a personal favorite in this nightclub concert but a sassy A-tisket, A-tasket rendition of Ella's youthful classic highlighted the second act for me.  There are some rough and slow spots that still need to be smoothed out with the backup combo and the dialogue (not sure the homage to Satchmo was necessary), but one can't walk away without being a little lighter, a little happier, and a whole lot impressed with Tina Fabrique's talent.

For anyone worried about the trek to Crystal City while the Arena goes through its renovation, don't be.  We drove and parked a short block and a half away. Street parking is available but not sufficient to handle a full crowd. There's apparently free parking at the Marriott lot around the corner but the better bet is just to take the Metro to the Crystal City stop -- it's right there and a short underground walk away from the theatre. Crystal City can be a deserted place after work hours but the long list of nearby restaurants and hotels and the sanitized brick surroundings makes this temporary home a safe and inviting environment. The theatre itself is arranged in more traditional orchestra seating but the seats and leg room are more than ample for any Redskin or Wizard taking in a show.

One final thought. Upon returning home, I dug out an old cassette of Ella Fitzgerald performing "The Irving Berlin Songbook." Was it live or was it Memorex? Was it Ella or was it Tina? I knew. But the theatre experience blurs those lines. Arena has chosen well with its inaugural "remote" performance.

Citizen Review: Ella and the Crystal City Experience

By Steve from Bethesda

What an incredible show!

I was lucky enough to catch the final rehearsal of “Ella” last night, and it is wonderful!  Tina Fabrique was great in “The Women of Brewster Place” but she is incredible as Ella Fitzgerald.  Ms. Fabrique has the chops to accept the challenge of comparison to the great Ella.  She can scat and swing, hit the high notes and take on the blues.  The stage band is tight, and the set and lighting are top notch.  With apologies to the Gershwin brothers, this is no lady be good – this lady be great!

The new space in Crystal City will be good for theater goers from across the region.  The seats are comfortable with good leg room (for those of us with long legs).  The best part of the temporary quarters for Arena – it is accessible by METRO.  Actually “METRO accessible” is a gross understatement – the theater lobby is a short walk from the train stop – through a tunnel.  There will be no excuse to miss this show when the weather is bad. 

I took the METRO from Bethesda to the show and got a ride from friends back.  The drive to my home was about as long as the trip from Arena’s Southwest DC home – with many fewer traffic lights.

The Move Is ON! ELLA Open Rehearsal Update

by David Dower

For those who have been following the blog it will come as no surprise that the move is in full swing and we're getting ready to open our first show in our temporary headquarters in Crystal City.  I was over at the theater on Sunday, along with several hundred audience members, checking out the progress, rehearsing the directions, and figuring out the best spots for hanging out before and after the show.  [Our Arena Restaged page has lots of this information spelled out for you, btw.]

The theater looks great!  I think you are going to be very impressed when you get out to see Ella.  And the band, in this space, sounds hot!  What a nice way to inaugurate our temporary home—Tina Fabrique, Ella Fitzgerald, and a tight jazz ensemble.

We will NOT be doing a full run-through of the show on Thursday night.  Many of you probably have your calendars marked for that traditional Open Dress Rehearsal event.  What with the fun of building out the new theater at the same time as we're loading in a show and the schedule of the holidays this year, we're going to be using the Thursday night to finish tech for the show.  So, if you come that's what you'll see.

Gotta run.  The movers are here.  See you at the theater!

Snapshot Diary: "Arena Restaged" Dec 14, 2007

posted by Vijay Mathew

Here's a slide show from Friday, December 14th, of the second phase of moving out of Arena's current home for the construction of the new Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater.

The music you hear is Tina Fabrique singing "Ella Riffs" - a preview from the musical Ella which begins performances on December 28, 2007 at Arena Stage in Crystal City, 1800 S. Bell Street, Arlington, VA 22202.

Snapshot Diary: "Arena Restaged" Nov 30, 2007

posted by Vijay Mathew

Starting with this entry, we'll be documenting and reporting on the several month transition into the reinvented Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. Here's an initial snapshot dairy documenting the first phase of our move out of 1101 Sixth Street, SW to make room for the new center's groundbreaking: