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.
The cast of Picasso at the Lapine Agile at The Salem Players

Review: Picasso at the Lapine Agile at The Salem Players

What is there to hate about a century? Wasn’t the 20th century the grandest that had yet to come in its time? The century where no political movement will be as glorious as the movement of the line across the paper, the note across the staff, or the idea across the mind; that century is captured in The Salem Players 2014 production of Picasso at the Lapine Agile. A brilliantly poignant comic play written by Steve Martin,

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The ensemble of Not My Monkey: featured left to right The Green Clown (Sarah King) The Orange Clown (Jack Novak) Ringmaster Tekla (Anna Jackson) and The Pink Clown (Alani Kravitz)

Review: Not My Monkey at InterAct Story Theatre

 

Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls! Step right up to see the most amazing show under the big tent that the city of Gaithersburg currently has to offer! The Cyrk Zaba has come to the stage on tour with the InterAct Story Theatre and is here with their brand new production of Not My Monkey. The show, which is written and directed by Ali Oliver-Krueger and the InterAct Story Theatre Ensemble,

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Review: The Rocky Horror Show at Spotlighters Theatre

It’s just a jump to Mount Vernon. And then a step to St. Paul. Stop at 817, and take the steps but don’t fall! See it’s those crazy shows that really drive you insa-ay-ay-ay-ane! Let’s go to Spotlighters again! Let’s go to Spotlighters again! Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show in its full fabulous glory is time warping its way through The Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre in time for Halloween this 2014.

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The Three Billy Goats Gruff at The Puppet Company in Glen Echo Park

Review: The Three Billy Goats Gruff at The Puppet Company

Once upon a time there was a magic little puppet theatre who told exciting children’s stories with even more exciting puppets! The Puppet Company at Glen Echo Park is moving further into the fall with their production of The Three Billy Goats Gruff. Narrated and performed by Company Founder Christopher Piper, the tale as you remember it is perfect for children of all ages and is customary has a few little humorous nods for the grown-ups in the audience as well.

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Interview: Keepin’ Out of Mischief with Vagabond Players Director Rikki Howie Lacewell

Take a stroll through the square of Fells point any evening weekend this fall and you’ll hear the joint is truly jumpin’ over at The Vagabond Players. Their production of Ain’t Misbehavin’ has got the whole of Baltimore tappin’ its toes and stompin’ its feet! TheatreBloom took a quick break from doing the jitterbug waltz and sat down with Director Rikki Howie Lacewell to find out just what this crazy cool cat musical is all about!

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Review: Grounded at Everyman Theatre

A pilot is the blue. A fighter pilot becomes the blue through sweat, brains, and guts. Grounded, an evocative one-woman show written by George Brant, has landed at Everyman Theatre this fall. An award-winning sold out sensation in London, this co-production with Olney Theatre Center takes flight for the Baltimore-Washington area premier and soars with flying colors as an exceptionally well-penned and phenomenally well-performed dramatic production.

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Review: Ain’t Misbehavin’ at The Vagabond Players

When taking a chance on an evening out at the theatre just what one gets? Well, one never knows, do one? But one will certainly be having a toe-tappin’ foot-stompin’ swingin’ ringin’ good time down at The Vagabond Players as their 99th season continues on with Ain’t Misbehavin’, The Fats Waller Musical Show. Conceived by Murray Horwitz and Richard Maltby Jr. this jazzy swinging sensation of a musical revue hits the stage a stompin’ and has the whole joint jumpin’ before all is said and done.

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Review: Next to Normal at Centerstage

Life is insane but crazy can be done. Crazy is oft the norm when normal can’t be found. Centerstage is taking crazy to the next level with their fall production of the Tony and Pulitzer Award-Winning musical Next to Normal. The emotionally poignant musical is a groundbreaking work that infusing real life dysfunction into musical theatre in a jarring but exhilarating fashion. With music by Tom Kitt and Book and Lyrics by Brian Yorkey,

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Review: God’s Country at Strand Theatre

The Strand Theatre is alive and well in Baltimore, presenting a newly furnished work written, created, and performed by Michelle Antoinette Nelson aka LOVE the poet. An hour-long explorative piece of theatre that confronts God in the modern world through the voices of eight individual characters where the ninth voice is meant to be that of the audience, Nelson’s new work brings a series of creative mediums together in one performance that is provocative and touching as well as poignant and relevant to anyone that ventures out to see it.

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Review: Social Creatures at Single Carrot Theatre

Warning: The theatre is no longer safe. The infection has spread. There are rules to follow to remain safe and save what remains of mankind. Follow the rules and you might survive. Single Carrot Theatre is no longer safe. Social Creatures is taking over. Instructions for basic survival as well as all dialogue witnessed inside the containment collective has been documented by Jackie Sibblies Drury. Kellie Mecleary previously served as a director of operations,

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Vanishing Point at Stillpointe Theatre Initiative

Adventure! Amelia Earhart vanishes over the Pacific Ocean: 1937. Mystery! Agatha Christie disappears from roadside, her car is found but she is not: 1926. Spectacle! Aimee Semple McPherson disappears in the ocean without reason: 1926. All three of these enigmatic exciting tales are coming together under one roof in one brand new musical at Stillpointe Theatre Initiative this fall. As the opening show in their 2014/2015 season, Vanishing Point, a new musical with Books and Lyrics by Rob Hartmann &

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TEAR DOWN THE HOUSE: A HOCKADOO INTERVIEW WITH THE MASTERMINDS BEHIND MEMPHIS: PART 2- Meet Actor Jonathan David Randle

It’s time to say a prayer with Gator as Part 2 of the exclusive Hockadoo Interview series continues here on TheatreBloom. We’re sitting down with actor Jonathan Randle, who plays the strong but silent Gator in Toby’s production of Memphis to find out what he has to say about the role.

Let’s have a quick introduction of who you are and where the readers of TheatreBloom might have seen you around the Columbia,

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4.48 Psychosis

Review: 4.48 Psychosis at Iron Crow Theatre

What do you do to make your friends so supportive? Chaos. Agony. Emotions. Destruction. A disconnected final note from a disturbed playwright at the end of her wits? Or a wildly animated look inside the notion of psychosis in its final stages of enlightened madness. Be the judge yourself as Iron Crow Theatre kicks off its 2014/2015 season with Sarah Kane’s last work 4.48 Psychosis. Often interpreted as the playwright’s suicide note,

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Review: The Addams Family at The Milburn Stone Theatre

Living. Dead. Or undecided. Family is still family, and when you’re an Addams, you’re obligated to the clan! It’s time to catch a case of the creepies and the kookies up at the Milburn Stone Theatre as they present the North East Maryland premier of The Addams Family the musical. Directed by S. Lee Lewis with Musical Direction by Shane Jensen, this all-too familiar musical with Music and Lyrics by Andrew Lippa and Book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice is pleasing audiences up and down the coast.

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Evita playing at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Opera House Stage through October 19, 2014

Review: Evita at The Kennedy Center

Don’t cry out now, Washington DC! The truth is they never left you! Returning home to the nation’s capital are area acting natives Caroline Bowman and Sean MacLaughlin in Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Tony Award-Winning musical Evita. Rounding out the American end of this Rainbow Tour their final destination is The John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. Directed by Michael Grandage with Musical Direction by Robert Meffe,

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Ophelia (Chelsie Lloyd) waltzing with Hamlet (Michael J. Dombroski) at the wedding reception of Gertrude and Claudius

Review: Hamlet at Off the Quill

Everybody lies. Shakespeare was teaching it long before House. In a newly adapted physical translation of the Bard’s greatest tragedy, Off the Quill presents their interpretation of Hamlet: Believe None of Us. Fully formulating the quote of “oh what tangled webs we weave when we practice to deceive,” this new dance-based performance has all of the recognizable quotes and characters but with a few major plot altering elements that may leave you questioning what exactly happened to the crowned Prince of Denmark.

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Review: The Shoplifters at Arena Stage

Some chase. Some run. The game of life might really just be a game of cat and mouse as Arena Stage proves with their uproarious new comedy that launches their 2014/2015 season into full gear. The world premier of the biting and gripping comedy The Shoplifters makes its debut upon the Kreeger Theater stage at the Mead Center for the Arts with rapturous laughter that will leave your side sore,

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Kathryn Elizabeth Kelly as Titania, Queen of Fairies (l) and Gregory Burgess as Nick Bottom, the weaver (r)

Review: A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company

You’re innocent when you dream. And if we are such stuff that dreams are made on than perhaps are all but mere innocent mortals; pawns in the great scheme of a Fairy’s game. The inaugural production of Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s first season in their new home in Baltimore City kicks off with a dreamy bang. A visual delight, an aural treat, an experience to savor; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, now directed by company Artistic Director Ian Gallanar,

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Annie Get Your Gun

Review: Annie Get Your Gun at The Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre

Jumpin’ Jehoshaphats! Annie Get Your Gun is barrelin’ its way over the stage of The Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre this fall season! Shoot, it’s a surefire thing that in this heartless world of glitter and grease paint there’s no business like show business and what better way to experience that than with the original show business love story between Miss Annie Oakley and Mister Frank Butler? Darn tootin’ it’s a good thing!

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Tear Down The House: A Hockadoo Interview with the Masterminds Behind Memphis: Part 1- Meet Choreographer Christen Svingos

It’s time to tear down the house over at Toby’s Dinner Theatre of Columbia! Their smokin’ hot production of Memphis is burning down the roof! In an exclusive interview series featured only on TheatreBloom, we go in-depth and behind the scenes with the cast and creative team of this Tony Award-Winning musical to get the full musical experience and find out exactly what Memphis means to them.

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The Prince, Witch Wartsmith and Rapunzel at The Puppet Company in Glen Echo Park

Review: Rapunzel at The Puppet Company

Rapunzel! Rapunzel! Let down your hair! The classic fairytale that has transcended time with its whimsical tale of the maiden trapped high in the tower with long golden hair now appears with a big screaming *POOF* at the The Puppet Company at Glen Echo Park to start their fall season on their main stage. Performed solo by company co-founded Christopher Piper, this children’s fairytale classic is a fascinating engagement into the world of puppetry.

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Review: Take Me Out at 1st Stage

It’s the bottom of the 9th; the bases are loaded with two outs and the home team trailing by four. Up to the plate is 1st Stage’s first production of their seventh season— Take Me Out— an exceptionally moving and poignant drama that will smash home a win for theatergoers all across Washington. Directed by Doug Wilder, this intensely relevant and exceptionally well-written play stirs deep emotions in theatre and sports lovers everywhere.

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Review: Aladdin at The Pumpkin Theatre

Follow me to a place where enchantment is real and fairytales thrive and grow. The stories are familiar and the characters are a squeal, it’s the only place you can go— Pumpkin Theatre for a full season of princes and princesses in this their 47th season. Starting off with the classic tale of magic and a princess, Pumpkin Theatre is proud to present their production of Aladdin. Directed by Stacey Needle,

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Review: Stuart Little at Adventure Theatre Musical Theatre Center

A mighty great adventure awaits audiences of all sizes at Adventure Theatre-Musical Theatre Center this fall! The 63rd season kicks off with a jubilant squeak as Stuart Little takes to the stage. Based on the award-winning literary classic by E. B. White and adapted to the stage by Joseph Robinette, the story of a shy and thoughtful mouse who lives with his human family in New York City is perfect for children of all ages.

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Review: God of Carnage at Silver Spring Stage

Are we ever interested in anything but ourselves? If one can be interested in something other than ones’ self for just a moment, take interest in the Silver Spring Stage production of Yasmina Reza’s God of Carnage. Translated by Christopher Hampton and Directed by Adam R. Adkins, this viscerally biting comedy displays the inner child in four seemingly sophisticated adults. As their children come to blows on the playground and how to handle the situation is discussed,

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Review: Marie Antoinette at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Beauty is a function but there is more to life than glittery things. The raw and striking humanity that is viciously exposed beneath the opalescent and lavish lifestyle of the spoiled queen of France kicks off Season 35 at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. Marie Antoinette, a revolutionary work written by David Adjmi, is starting off the season with an illustrious bang. Lavish extravagance never looked so good as it does strutting down the stage at Woolly but in the eyes of the masses such expenditures have their price.

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Review: Amadeus at Centerstage

A note of music is either right or wrong; not even time can change that. Centerstage is hitting notes of marvelous perfection as they launch their 52nd season with a resplendent production of Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus. Directed by Artistic Director Kwame Kwei-Armah, the epic masterpiece of one man’s struggle against God comes to Baltimore in time to welcome in the autumn days. The tale is invigorating; a stunning exposure to the raw humanity that drives mortal men to unspeakable sins all spurned from jealousy.

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Review: Masquerade at Wolf Pack Theatre Company

Pain. Illness. Death. These are all parts of our lives. All too often the socially unacceptable topics along these lines creep in unnoticed and are swept away into taboos. Suicide becomes one of those un-discussable topics, the white elephant in the room as it were. The founding Artistic Director of Wolf Pack Theatre Company is pushing to change that convention with a brand new work entitled Masquerade. Playwright and Director William Leary embarks on a journey with a cast of six to create an honest conversation about the topic of suicide with his compelling new work;

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Playwright Daria Marinelli outside of Venus Theatre premiering her work We Are Samurai.

Voices of Venus: Director Deb Randall Speaks Samurai

It has happened before. It will happen again. It’s happening right now. The innovative new work that is changing the way theatre is viewed right in Washington DC’s back yard. Venus Theatre is midway through ‘Fierce14’ with their production of We Are Samurai, a new work by emerging playwright Daria Marinelli. The piece itself fully supports the mission statement of the theatre company currently producing it. which is setting flight to the voices of women and children in theatre for live.

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Requiem of Genius: An Interview with Bruce Randolph Nelson on Playing Salieri in Amadeus

What a story. What a scandal. What does he cry? Amadeus! But it is Salieri’s tale to tell. And what better a way to hear it than in an exclusive interview with Baltimore area actor Bruce Randolph Nelson, playing the lead role of Salieri in Centerstage’s production of Amadeus. The first production of their 2014/2015 season is underway and in a sit down interview Bruce gives us the real deal on what it’s like to play the lesser genius to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

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