“You’ve got this tiny box. Then you’ve got sound equipment, and you got lights hanging from the top. You’ve got huge numbers of [singers] and an orchestra. You’ve got a dance stage that is probably about four feet deep and goes all the way across the theater. So the actual space you have is very, very small. The big challenge is how do you make some kind of presentation that is compelling, and warm, and echoes what’s being said when you don’t have much space.”
Such are the challenges faced by set designer J. Gregory Barton, who, for the past several years, has been designing the Congressional Chorus‘s theatrically-inclined productions. For the group’s annual spring cabaret — this year entitled Road Trip! and featuring 80 singers and 20 dancers — he’s devised a clever setting that immerses the audience in the evening’s theme of traversing the country through song (“California Dreamin’,” “Georgia on My Mind,” “This Land is Your Land,” “Dust in the Wind,” because it’s by Kansas). To that end, the stage incorporates a “neon” sign from which “map lines” branch out and into the theater space itself, enveloping the audience in what Barton jokingly calls a “poor man’s laser show.”
“We’ve immersed the theater walls with states: big states, small ones, all recognizable,” he explains. “They encircle everyone on stage and in the audience. The audience is part of the production’s space. We show our connection to each state with a big map pin. Then we connect each state from one side of the theater to the other. We use black and yellow dashed cords that crisscross the theater connecting everything, to everyone else. The black of the cords blend with the black background of the theater and the dashes appear to zip untethered from one point to the other — just like dashes on a map course.”
The 55-year-old Barton, who hails from Oklahoma City (“we had a red barn, we raised rabbits and chickens, out in the middle of nowhere”), enjoys working with the Congressional Chorus, first established in 1987, and does it for the ability to connect culturally with the community.
“Theater design doesn’t pay,” says Barton, who runs the design firm BrittBarton. “You do it as an act of love. You try to take this little budget they have and try to cover expenses. Everybody else is a volunteer there, and a lot of our work is volunteer. They pay for some of our time and some of the installation but we really support them and believe in them. We stop counting hours early on.”
Road Trip! Tour The USA in our Cabaret runs through Thursday, March 16 to Sunday, March 19. Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. General admission tickets are $50. Reserved tables of six are available from $362 to $562. Visit CongressionalChorus.org.
The D.C. theater season doesn't tiptoe in -- it arrives with gale force. The Shakespeare Theatre Company leads the charge with The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Wild Duck, and a freshly mounted Guys and Dolls, a trio that underscores why STC still sets the bar for classical and modern reinvention. Woolly Mammoth continues to push boundaries with time-bending dramas and audience-driven experiments, while Theater J stakes its ground with provocative premieres that blur the line between history, satire, and survival.
If you want spectacle with edge, Broadway at the National delivers high-gloss imports from Stereophonic to Some Like It Hot. Keegan continues its fearless streak with punk-rock carnage in Lizzie the Musical and raw new work like John Doe. GALA Hispanic Theatre reasserts itself as one of D.C.'s most vital cultural players with El Beso de la Mujer Araña and La Casa de Bernarda Alba, reminding us that Spanish-language theater isn't niche, it's essential.
The fall looks primed to be a strong season of concerts by -- and appealing to -- the LGBTQ community. Among the highlights in the category of the well-known, consider Andy Bell (Lincoln), Jane Lynch (Strathmore), Renee Rapp (Merriweather), DOECHII (Anthem), and of course All Things Go (Merriweather). In the category of merely appealing, not gay per se, consider The Queens (Capital One Arena), Deborah Cox (Bethesda Theater), and Judith Hill (The Hamilton).
That barely scratches the surface. There's a lot of new -- or perhaps new to you -- queer artists out there, just waiting for you get into them including Katie Pruitt (Union Station, Rams Head), Rio Romeo (Songbyrd), Aaron Lee Tasjan (Jammin Java), Dixon Dallas (Union Stage).
'Tis a season for celebrating significant milestones in dance, including an amazing honor for one of the most revered names ever to be associated with the art form. The Martha Graham Dance Company, appearing in 2026 at the Kennedy Center, will be marking its 100th year sharing founder Graham's singular vision of movement.
The company's major anniversary, along with many others over the 2025-26 season, offers sweet reassurance that dance is forever and shall remain. Meanwhile, a full menu of new works on tap represents what keeps dance moving forward.
Audiences can relish revisiting beloved perennials, like some of the most exciting Nutcrackers you'll find anywhere, and catch up with companies who've been doing this for decades -- from Mark Morris Dance Group and Pilobolus, visiting twice this season, to the Washington Ballet.
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
You must be logged in to post a comment.