All posts by Amanda N. Gunther

A full-time theatre reviewer in the Baltimore, Washington, and surrounding areas; Amanda holds a BFA in Acting from the University of Maryland Baltimore County as well as a minor in Creative Writing. Having spent two of her five years at college studying abroad at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, she has learned a great deal about improv, devised work theatre, and interpretive movement pieces. Striving to promote theatre of all types, she can often be found in a theatre of some type, even on her nights off.

Comments from the Peanut Gallery: Voices Against Bullying with Reed DeLisle

Interviews June 12, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

When theatre is evocative and moving, audience members can’t help but wonder what it’s like for the actors who help to make it so, particularly when the subject matter is intensely poignant and relevant to the outside world. Spotlighters Theatre’s current production of Dog Sees God, addresses a great many issues that plague today’s adolescent culture, everything from homophobia and bullying in the LGBT+ community, to teenage substance abuse and mental health.

The Enlightening of Billie Dawn: An interview with Anne Shoemaker

Interviews June 12, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Gin! When a woman sets her mind to it, she can accomplish great things, like beating Harry Brock at gin rummy for example. In a TheatreBloom exclusive interview, we sit down with Baltimore area actress Anne Shoemaker to discuss her first major lead role in Born Yesterday at Vagabond Players.

If you could give us a little introduction and familiarize the readers with who you are and what you’ve been up to as of late,

Review: Tartuffe at Shakespeare Theatre Company

Reviews June 10, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

A man is a man, he is not an angel nor is he meant to be. Tartuffe is just such a man, and his tale in its tragically comedic entirety can be found at Shakespeare Theatre Company as they finish out their 2014/2015 at Sidney Harman Hall with a co-production of Molière’s iconic production shared by South Coast Repertory and Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Under the Direction of Dominique Serrand, the classic dark comedy is heralded with new enlightenment;

Review: Ring of Fire at Infinity Theatre Company

Reviews June 9, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

As a walking contradiction, partly truth, partly fiction, the musicalization of the life of Johnny Cash suits the man in black. Well known for its revitalizing revivals of obscure, outdated, and lost musical gems, Infinity Theatre Company settles into the 2015 Annapolis summer with a surefire shot at success. Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash, created and conceived by Richard Maltby Jr., and William Meade adapted from the Broadway production by Maltby Jr.

Review: Born Yesterday at Vagabond Players

Reviews June 7, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Money talks. And in a city of few secrets and much chat it’s easy to see that Washington DC hasn’t changed in 70 years. The world can only be as good as the people in it, and the same goes for a play. Fortunately at the Vagabond Players, the talent thriving within the confines of Garson Kanin’s Born Yesterday is stellar, making the production a smashing success. Directed by Steve Goldklang,

The cast in its entirety of 1776 at Toby's Dinner Theatre

Vote Yes: Inside Independence Hall with MaryKate Brouillet and Santina Maiolatesi

Interviews June 6, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Pins. Saltpeter. Does love and marriage have a place in pre-revolutionary America? One had better hope so otherwise Abigail Adams and Martha Jefferson will serve no purpose in Peter Stone and Sherman Edwards’ 1776. In the sixth installment of Vote Yes: Inside Independence Hall, TheatreBloom sits down with Santina Maiolatesi and MaryKate Brouillet, the only two female performers in 1776 to find out what it’s like to be a part of the independency revolution as a woman.

Review: Dog Sees God at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews June 5, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry and the world laughs harder. A tough but true learning lesson of life that all too often gets brushed by the wayside in favor of a more optimistic approach to finding the bright side of existence. The Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre is tackling its most evocative and poignantly moving drama to date with their current production of Burt V. Royal’s Dog Sees God.

Vote Yes: Inside Independence Hall with Scott Harrison and Andrew Horn

Interviews May 31, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Crossing the line from nay to yea in the vote for independence is more than just having Congressional Custodian Andrew McNair slide a tally marker from one side of the board to the other. Continuing on in the interview series Vote Yes: Inside Independence Hall, TheatreBloom investigates the fence-sitting, decision-making members of congress— Samuel Chase of Maryland and Judge James Wilson of Pennsylvania— as played by Toby’s veteran performer Andrew Horn and Toby’s newcomer Scott Harrison,

Review: The Mystery of Edwin Drood at Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre

Reviews May 29, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

The cold grey tendrils of a dim English dawn are unfurling across the Annapolis harbor. The thrilling era of 1890’s London has slipped across the docks and settled into the Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre to launch the first show of their 50th season of theatre under the stars. Instead of a night of traditional ASGT musical revelry, The Music Hall Royale has brought to the stage their latest work— the greatest injustice of Charles Dickens’ life— his unfinished novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

Review: Daddy’s Dyin’ Who’s Got The Will at Just Off Broadway

Reviews May 28, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

When family is involved there’s never a dull moment. Add death into the mixture and the calamity of chaos becomes an uproarious and heartfelt comedy about putting the ‘fun’ in dysfunctional. Just Off Broadway Baltimore presents their seventh production of Daddy’s Dyin’ Who’s got the Will this spring and it’s a hoot. Directed by Jason Crawford Samios-Uy, the laughs come rolling out of Lowake, Texas like tumbleweed scooting across the dessert at high noon.

Daddy’s Dyin’ but Baltimore’s Blooming: An Interview with Co-Founder and Artistic Director Jason Crawford Samios-Uy about Just Off Broadway

Interviews May 26, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Baltimore is a city full of charm and surprises. And one of the ever-present surprises is that just around the corner there is another theatre company popping up and doing something fascinating. Just Off Broadway Baltimore should be no exception to that intriguing surprise as they are a community theatre that falls under the heading of “for theatre people by theatre people.” Founded in 2011 and producing since 2012, the company is now opening their 7th production,

The Business End of The Business End: An Interview with Director Jeffrey L. Gangwisch

Interviews May 26, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

When it comes to underground theatre in Baltimore City, Yellow Sign Theatre Company corners the market on the notion of the undiscovered, unheard of, and unseen. Nestled into a store-front found space attached to Club Charles up on Charles Street near Station North, the company has been in existence for four years now, producing theatre and film that pays tribute to the “low-brow arts” and teaches lessons about the existence of pop-culture before Madonna.

Review: Dry Bones Rising at Venus Theatre

Reviews May 24, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

When the walls fell down and everything ended; the bones rose out of the dirt. An epic poem, not your traditional format for what comes to the stage as theatre, but in keeping true to the mission statement of Venus Theatre, company founder Deborah Randall opens Dry Bones Rising, script #52 and the second of the 15th season, on the stage and it calls to mind more than just poetry in motion.

Review: The Business End at The Yellow Sign Theatre

Reviews May 18, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

I’ll give you a picture, you give me a script in two weeks. Better yet, I’ll give you a play, well, I won’t give you a play, see, that’s the job of The Yellow Sign Theatre Company. And they could be giving you a love story, they could be giving you animal mutants. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then their production of Mike Jancz’ new work The Business End is surely worth one evening of your attention?

Review: Godspell at Silhouette Stages

Reviews May 18, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Come sing about love! And build a better city, not a city of angels but a city of man. The message is clear and in this particular moment in time it couldn’t be more relevant than what’s rolling out to the audience from Silhouette Stage’s production of Godspell. Directed by Stephen M. Deininger, with Musical Direction by Robin Trenner, this reimagined take on Stephen Schwartz’ music and John-Michael Tebelak’s original conception is exactly what the world needs in this time of destruction and man-wrought chaos.

Vote Yes: Inside Independence Hall with Dan Felton

Interviews May 17, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Does one play the villain when one simply exposes the truth for what it is? The pungent aroma of hy-pocrisy wafting down from the north as John Adams campaigns for Independence in Philadelphia exposed by the surly tongue of Edward Rutledge in what is marked as one of the darkest musical numbers in 1776. Continuing on as the fourth installment of Vote Yes: Inside Independence Hall, TheatreBloom sits down with Dan Felton to discuss his antagonistic role inside the second continental congress.

Review: Marley at Centerstage

Reviews May 15, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Life is only important if you can help plenty of people. And Centerstage is helping plenty of people by jammin’ and jammin’ and jammin’ and jammin’ to the groovy heartfelt love that can only be Bob Marley. With Music and Lyrics by the Reggae legend himself and a Book written by Centerstage’s Artistic Director Kwame Kwei-Armah, this intricate examination of Marley’s life and his work to help the masses is a moving experience that shakes the soul with the chords of justice,

Review: Les Miserables at Children’s Playhouse of Maryland

Reviews May 14, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Red! The blood of angry men! Black! The Dark of ages past! Red! A world about to dawn! Black! The night that ends at last! Night has ended and the world is dawning at the Children’s Playhouse of Maryland. Painted in the bold barricade colors of red and black, and just a season behind the sensational trend of producing the internationally acclaimed musical, CMP brings the iconic production of Les Miserables to the stage for Baltimore to enjoy.

Vote Yes: Inside Independence Hall with Russell Silber

Interviews May 14, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

The secretary of the second continental congress will now take the attendance. Actor Russell Silber, playing the congressional secretary, present with TheatreBloom as the third installment of Inside Independence Hall gets underway, and the labored debate for the vote on independence continues at Toby’s Dinner Theatre in their production of 1776.

If you could give us an introduction to yourself, tell us a little about where we might have seen you in the area on stage over the last year,

To See Thee More Clearly: Seeing Stephen Deininger the Director of Godspell

Interviews May 14, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

To see thee more clearly, to love thee more dearly, to follow thee more nearly, day by day. These three things I pray, and Director Stephen Deininger will enlighten the readers of TheatreBloom just how these three things can be found in his current production of Godspell at Silhouette Stages. With chaos erupting in the streets of Baltimore just a few weeks ago there seems no more poignant of a time to be staging such a relevant musical.

Review: Chess at Kensington Arts Theatre

Reviews May 13, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

We go on pretending that stories like ours have happy endings. But in the game of chess, who can say where the story will end? One king conquered, one queen fallen; a gripping story of love, war, and a deceptively simple board game set to stirring music comes to live in the Kensington Arts Theatre production of Chess the musical. With their most ambitious production to date, KAT succeeds in winning over the audience with the Music of Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson,

Review: The Sorcerer at The Salem Players

Reviews May 13, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

A marvelous illusion. A terrible surprise! Who knew that The Salem Players were passing themselves off as a little community theatre when in actuality they were harboring operatic talent in their repitoire? Presenting a rarely seen Gilbert and Sullivan, The Sorcerer takes to the stage at TSP and is really quite the accomplishment. The talent and voices alone that waft off that stage surpass any expectations that come to mind when one thinks of little community theatres,

The cast of Bachelorette at Dominion Stage

Dishing the Dirt: An interview with Maura Hogan on Dominion Stage’s Bachelorette

Interviews May 11, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

When your friends are really your enemies you get the modern-coined phrase “freinemies.” And when Bridesmaids meets Mean Girls you get Bachelorette now playing at Dominion Stage for a limited engagement. TheatreBloom takes a minute to get inside one of these zany character’s brains by sitting down with actress Maura Hogan to get her perspective on the show.

If you could introduce yourself to our readers, we’ll get started!

Review: Macbeth at BOOM Theatre Company

Reviews May 11, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

In the modern dieting trends where slimming down is all the rage even the world of the theatre could not be spared from the ravages of this new craze. Shakespeare gives us a smorgasbord of poetry and imagery; beautiful and powerful and in the new diet-approved rendition of Bard-Light: tragedies in under an hour, The BOOM Theatre Company is rendering down Macbeth to its purest essence; a powerhouse of moving and monumental scenes.

Review: Once Upon a Mattress at St. Gabriel Miracle Players

Reviews May 8, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

A genuine princess is exceedingly rare. A genuine fairytale is exceptionally brilliant. Having both together on one stage for a musical is nothing short of a miracle. The Saint Gabriel Miracle Players have found such a miracle with the tremendously talented cast and design team of their current production of Once Upon a Mattress. A rare treat to have such a silly story told with such stellar vocal quality; the music and lyrics of Mary Rodgers and Marshall Barer come to whimsical fruition against Jay Thompson and Dean Fuller’s book— there’s a happily ever after waiting for theatergoers who enjoy sparkling singers and gorgeous costumes.

Review: Jacques Brell is Alive and Well and Living in Paris at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews May 7, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Bienvenue sur le carnaval! Where the broken sands of time and fairy floss floats o’er the fairgrounds of The Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre. You won’t recognize a single song in this flash of 21 vignettes, at least not by their lyrics, but the iconic melodies of Jacque Brell tinkle blissfully under each song inviting the audience into a cantering calliope of romanticism, cynicism, and jingly jaunts of whimsy. Directed by Timoth David Copney with Musical Direction by Michael Tan,

Inside the Closet, Inside the Mind: An interview with Factory449’s Sara Barker and David Lamont Wilson

Interviews May 7, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

If you intend to shut a mind, then it is best to know the mind you are attempting to shut. Going deep into the minds of Factory449 company members Sara Barker and David Lamont Wilson, TheatreBloom interviews these two actors about their experience with Closet Land, the company’s current production that delves into the realm of psychological, emotional, and physical torture in the name of government stability.

Thank you both for this interview.

Vote Yes: Inside Independence Hall with David James and Matthew Hirsh

Interviews May 6, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Hey, hey! Momma, look sharp. For you might just find two of Toby’s cast members of their current production of 1776 sitting down with TheatreBloom to talk about Independence Hall from the inside out. In Part Two of Inside Independence Hall, we sit down with Matthew Hirsh and David James to discuss the importance of the battlefield briefs being delivered to congress as they debate on the most important decision of our country’s history.

Review: The Addams Family at Dundalk Community Theatre

Reviews May 6, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

They’re creepy and they’re kooky! Mysterious and ookey! They’re all together spooky— and now they’re rising up from the dead over at Dundalk Community Theatre. Closing out the 2014-2015 season, DCT presents The Addams Family. All the rage in theatres across the state of Maryland, the black-clad family is putting the fun in dysfunctional as they take to the stage. Iconic characters, memorable musical numbers composed by the infamous Andrew Lippa,

Review: 1776 at Toby’s Dinner Theatre

Reviews May 2, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Vote yes! Vote yes! Vote for independency! For God’s sake, theatergoers, sit down! And make sure you do it over at Toby’s Dinner Theatre where history comes to life in one of her most striking productions to date. 1776, a revolutionary tale of how the great nation of America got its start is well underway as spring gets started close to the nation’s capitol. Directed by Jeremy Scott Blaustein and Shawn Kettering,