What a chilly evening! Havre de Grace is all aglow! Don’t it feel like it might snow? Such a merry season! Don’tcha love it so? Merry Christmas, dearie— time to go! To Tidewater Players’ production of A Christmas Carol. Yes, it’s mid-November, and yes Thanksgiving is still two weeks away, but gosh darn it in the infamous words of Auntie Mame (yes, yes, different show, I know) “…we need a little Christmas!
Oh the weather outside is frightful— truly, we just finished having 80º days in mid-November— but the fire is so delightful— and it is, it looks so realistic you might think those are actual manuscripts going up in smoke— and they’re finally open so you can cheer and claps— go to Spots, go to see Deathtrap. The nature of live theatre being what it is, the grand opening of this Ira Levin stage thriller under the superb direction of Stephen Foreman,
Get your hands up, DC! Get this party buzzin’! You wanna Queen Bee? Well, here’s half a dozen! Everybody knows that they used to be six wives… and just for you tonight (and every night through December 1st 2024) they’re live at Washington DC’s National Theater— count them— one…two…three…four…five…SIX. The high-octane, super-sassy musical sensation (by Toby Marlow & Lucy Moss) has landed— once again in the nation’s capital and is here to wake you up,
Fondest Greetings, Good Monsieurs…did you think that I had left you for good?
We’ve been waiting. Since Sunday April 16th 2023…when Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera played its final performance at The Majestic Theatre on Broadway. After 35 years and 13,981 performances (marking it as the longest running musical in Broadway’ illustrious history), there was a darkness that overtook The Great White Way, though not without the promise of a return…and that return has finally arrived.
Link by link by horrifying link…though I think some prefer the duet from the Muppets. Either way, we’ve got the one— the only— Steve Flickinger as the one and only Jacob Marley for this year’s production of A Christmas Carol, and we’re here to hear him spill his Christmas-y guts all about the feel-good holiday.
We’re thrilled to sit with you Steve. Thanks for joining us! Now this is not your first theatrical soiree.
God bless us, everyone! In case you hadn’t guessed, the next merry member of Tidewater Players A Christmas Carol is the youngest of the Cratchit children…little Tiny Tim!
Thanks for coming out and sitting here with me! Can you tell me your name?
Elliot Lookingland: I’m Elliot Lookingland.
And who are you playing in this show?
Elliot: Tiny Tim!
And this is your first theatre show ever?
It’s in the singing of a street corner choir! It’s going home and getting warm by the fire! It’s true, wherever you find love— it feels like Christmas! And it is— the season of the spirit— the message if we hear it— is make it last all year! And since Tidewater Players is getting you into the season of the spirit a good six weeks ahead of time, we figured we could pick some of the featured players’ brains all about their upcoming production of A Christmas Carol.
Just listen to that! The voice of Argentina! They are loved and adored! Just Off Broadway throwing their hats into the ring for this autumnal season’s offering of Evita. Directed by Jason Crawford, with Musical Direction by Patty DeLisle, and Choreography by Katie Noppinger, this Tim Rice & Andrew Lloyd Webber operatic musical (with no spoken dialogue) comes to Epiphany Lutheran Church via Just Off Broadway for two weekends only this November and it has its moments and it has its style.
Fill the moat to overflowing and raise the goblet high! Third Wall Productions is giving a ball— wait…no…no that’s not right. They’re building a wall— around the swamp? No…wait a minute…which fairytale-ever-after is this one? (*double checks the program*) Aah! Yes! Once Upon a Mattress! The original swamp-princess and a silly good time with campy good characters, up-tempo music, and a living pea! Directed by Kristen Cooley, with Musical Direction by Will Zellhofer,
Girls never marry the men that they flirt with! Unless they’re flirting with a handbag! There’s something to be said for a tried and true chestnut of the stage. Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, in its originality, is tried and true and presently on the stage at Greenbelt Arts Center under the direction of Stephen Cox. Humorous, salty, and often silly— the three best things one could want for a period comedy of romance and frivolity— this production is charming and well-paced and will tickle your fancy whether you’re new to Wilde and his wondrous strange notions of romantic comedies or cherish his work with great fondness.
Some make you happy! Some make you sad! Some are quite big! Some are quite small! Some are too long— some are just plays with song! And they’re— all— called— MUSICALS! And CJ Productions (a relatively new and upcoming small professional theatre company based in the Baltimore area) is producing The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals. Direct from Team StarKid, this 2018 viral sensation of a musical is making its Charm City debut under the Direction of Sammy Jungwirth (the J in CJ Productions) with area musical director Charlotte Evans at his side.
I cannot blink what I saw. And the eerie sensations of how relevant ‘misinformation’ and its wildfire-level of spread still is in this day and age is unsettling, which makes Arthur Miller’s The Crucible a perfectly chilling tale for October. And Small Town Stars Theatre Company will do you one better. They’re presenting The Crucible outdoors. Directed by Cecelia Boynton, this dark drama is eerily relevant to the world today— as we are taught not to question the court,
Every moment is a moment when you’re in the woods— again please.
It’s the Vagabond Players’ turn to try their hand at Sondheim’s most beastly bear…Into The Woods, under the co-direction of Audra M. Mullen and Kerry Simons, launches its five-weekend run as the first show of the company’s 109th season. With Musical Direction by Stephen M. Deininger, this challenging Sondheim musical has a few twists, turns, and pleasant surprises in store for audiences who are familiar with the work,
How much can we ever know of anyone? We are all blind to ourselves, after all. But don’t be blind to Baltimore Center Stage. And know that they are currently producing a spectacular production of Pride & Prejudice (by Kate Hamill, adapted from Jane Austen’s novel.) It’s a wildly comedic reimagining of Regency life with colorful characters, twisted societal demands, and a bunch of other little quirky gems that will keep you snickering and enjoying yourself from start to finish.
One beautiful weekend a year. No cares, no ties, no responsibilities. Sounds grand, doesn’t it? Just swell? It’s exactly the picture Bernard Slade was trying to paint when he penned Same Time, Next Year. Probably. Appearing now at Compass Rose Theatre (for the next several weekends, at any rate) this somewhat dated stage comedy still has its humors and in its own right is a quaint little evening’s worth of oddly colored ‘old school’ humor.
What makes a city hum? Who gives it life? Evita! Evita! And Silhouette Stages’ current production of the Tim Rice & Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Evita will have the whole city of Columbia more than just humming. You’ll cheer. You’ll cry. You’ll be moved. Directed by Daniel Douek, with Musical Direction by Ginny Moses, and Choreography by Amie Bell, this tragically beautiful tale of Argentina’s first lady— the first ‘princess of the people’— is in gloriously capable hands under Daniel Douek’s direction and his production team’s innovative practices on stage.
Don’t you wanna join the crew? You’ll be all dead and evil too! JOIN THEM!! JOIN THEM!!
It’s an annual tradition like Christmas Carol or Rocky Horror only so much more bad-ass and way more fun because of the…
BLOOD.
Yes. Blood. For their ninth year— Evil Dead: The Musical returns (Deer in the Spotlight is producing this in the creepy back-gym of Havre de Grace’s STAR Centre this year) to get you SOAKED…if you’re seated in the splash zone.
Do any live people ever realize life every minute while they live it? Saints and poets…and theatergoers… maybe… It’s time to take a step back, take a breath, and come celebrate the simplistic joys in life. The sunrising… the birds in the trees…the seasons changing… a new theatre company opening its doors for the very first time… Okay, that last one isn’t quite so simple, but Angelo Otterbein (owner and operator and art enthusiast of Manor Mill) and Vanessa Eskridge (director and producer of Manor Mill Playhouse’s inaugural production of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town) make it look simple,
Hear about a party— here’s the procedure:
Text all your friends— tell ‘em where to meet you!
At The National Theater in DC to welcome (back) the tour of Mean Girls! That’s so FETCH. NETworks is touring the cautionary tale this time around, bringing the iconic film-come-musical full-circle as it launched it’s pre-Broadway debut at The National in 2017. Directed (on tour) by Casey Hushion with musical supervision by Mary-Mitchell Campbell and touring choreography by John MacInnis,
When the crypt door creaks and the tombstones quake… and all those other thrillifying haunted things that trickle down through the mist to send shivers up the spine this time of year…it can only mean one thing. Spooky season is upon us! And delving into the vein of stage thriller, The Keegan Theatre presents The Woman in Black, by Stephen Mallatratt (based on the novel by Susan Hill) now through November 17th 2024.
Mesmerizing. Haunting. Lingering. Distill the theatrical experience into a singularity of words and those are the three that flash immediately to mind. Look further still behind the façade for evocative sensationalism, hypnotic chaos, captivating moments of song, movement, and storytelling…and you just might find yourself seated in The Opera House of Havre de Grace for Jekyll & Hyde. Adapted for the stage by Steven Cuden and Frank Wildhorn, this musical thriller appears on the Opera House stage just in the throng of the calendar’s most haunted month.
Reputation is everything. You either have enough wealth to buy reputation or you have enough reputation to be wealthy. That’s the vicious cycle of existing. Or at least existing on the internet. In a world-premiere of Marshall Logan Gibbs’ new work, Monster (or #MeToo, Brute) the ‘safe space’ of the internet is deeply examined through an all-too relatable lens. Directed by Maxwell Wolf, this current production appears as one of two brand new works being produced by The Maryland Theatre Collective this 2024/2025 season and is deeply poignant,
If you want the world to listen— stand up tall and proud— let them know what they been missing— and turn that volume up loud! 2nd Star Productions is raising their voice— ringing through the rafters with their production of Sister Act, which has a couple of matinee performances already sold out! Directed by Kevin Sockwell, with Musical Direction by Michelle Bruno, and Choreography by Kristin Rigsby, this cinema-classic-come-stage-musical is a bit of joyful noise that will give you a case of Sunday morning fever.
Secrets are the backbone of society. Everybody ought to have a few. And Frederick has got at least one— Other Voices Theatre, tucked away up off Jefferson Street in the Performance Factory. And that little secret is currently producing Big Fish: Small Cast Edition as their 2024/2025 season opener. Directed by Andrew Lloyd Baughman, with Musical Direction by Lisa Dodson, and Choreography by Donna Grim, this modern-day fantasy exploration musical is oddly charming and heartwarming.
Sometimes you gotta look crazy to find your happy. Choose to be happy today because you never know what day will be your last day on earth. Celebrate life while you have it; choose your happy. It’s a good day to be happy. And it’ll be a better day to be happy if you have tickets to the world premiere production of Jordan E. Cooper’s Oh Happy Day! Following the popular trend of being “a new play with music”,
The more he bleeds the more he lives…he never forgets and he never forgives…not Sweeney… not Sweeney Todd…and you do not wish to be on his hit list, I assure you. Rogue Swan Theatre Company, celebrating their ten-year anniversary, has gone all out— not just the spacious stage and auditorium of Havre de Grace’s STAR Centre— but they’re producing Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street on said STAR Centre’s mainstage and this beast of a Sondheim musical is waiting with glistening razor edge and an unusually unique Rogue Swan hallmark stamped across its existence.
Baltimore is throwing glitter and making it rain! Launching their National Tour from right here in Charm City, & Juliet is the refreshing and sensational ‘Elizabethan meets Millennials Mashup’ the world didn’t know it needed! Evocative, full of heart, and one hell of a good time, & Juliet is the upbeat, feel-good, coming of age tale that the great William Shakespeare was never able to truly give us; audiences are falling in love with it if their show-stopping ovations and unending applause are any indication.
Tis your ambition to be happy? Then come to Maryland Ensemble Theatre as they open up their 2024/2025 main stage season with Kate Hamill’s sprightly adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense & Sensibility. Indeed, the season of MET’s happiness kicks off swimmingly with this exuberantly energetic movement-based comedy, Directed by Gené Fouché, this most agreeable and enjoyable afternoon of quirky comedy meets winsome romance is a delightfully balanced romp of pathos and silliness,
Grease is the word…is the word…is the word… is the word… it’s on stage… it’s here now…
At Tidewater Players for two weekends only (and be careful to pick your Grease very carefully when you make your ticket selections because Tidewater is offering Grease-OG and Grease-Elite, where the Elite production cast is comprised of performers age 55+ so if you’re hoping to see someone you know,
Kids! You can talk and talk til your face is blue! Kids! But they still do just what they want to do! And they want to be laughing, singing, dancing, grinning— sensations! And while we’re on the subject— Kids! They’re at Children’s Playhouse of Maryland kicking off the 2024/2025 season with their production of Bye Bye Birdie! Complete with lots of moonlight swims and loop-da-loops! Directed by Liz Boyer Hunnicutt with Musical Direction by Charlotte Evans,