Interviews

Sensational! Volume II: An Interview with Sensation Novel Composer Michael Nash

Interviews September 24, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Having an American premier musical on the stage of The Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre is a fascinating event all on its own. Having music lost from history composed by an Englishman specifically for the project only adds to the sensations that are happening with the current production of A Sensation Novel. In Volume II of the exclusive TheatreBloom interview series, we sit down with British composer Michael Nash to hear how he became involved with the project and what his experience has been like composing original music for the great W.

Sensational! Volume I: An interview with Sensation Novel Player Jim Knost

Interviews September 21, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

To be a sensation novel author is a most fascinating thing indeed. To play a wicked baronet who isn’t all that wicked is also a curious subject. To play both in one show— and not just any show but the American premier of a Gilbert before Sullivan play is a great honor and sensational experience. In an exclusive TheatreBloom Interview series, we’ve sat down with Baltimore area performer Jim Knost to find out just what it’s like to play in and write the sensation novel in the musical performance of A Sensation Novel: A Musical Play in Three Acts,

Variations on 10-Minute Play Festivals: An Interview with Rapid Lemon’s Max Garner

Interviews September 17, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

It’s Baltimore’s original 10-minute play festival. Now in its 11th run of production, The Variations Project is taking up residency in 2015 at the Baltimore Theatre Project. Now presented by Rapid Lemon Productions, a theatre company which evolved into the Baltimore Theatre Scene in 2012, the production is going strong and features eight works from local playwrights. This year’s theme: Family. Much like every year that preceded it,

Politics of the Stage: An Interview with the Cast and Director of BPF production Commander

Interviews July 8, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

“The nature of marriage is that, through its enduring bond, two persons together can find other freedoms, such as expression, intimacy, and spirituality. This is true for all persons, whatever their sexual orientation.” ~Justice Anthony Kennedy, SCOTUS ruling 6/26/15. The nation has finally legally recognized gay marriage in all fifty states, but is the country ready for its first openly gay president? In a sit-down TheatreBloom exclusive interview with the cast and creative team of Commander,

A Mind-Bending Discussion behind the Directorial Mind of Cohesion Theatre Company’s The Pillow Book

Interviews July 8, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Immortality is a faded portrait. Theatre is the art of capturing the ephemeral and transposing it— even just for a moment, an evening, a run of a show— into immortality. In a TheatreBloom exclusive interview, we sit down with area Director Jonas David Grey to discuss his latest directorial work with Cohesion Theatre Company.

If you could give us a quick introduction for the readers that may be new to TheatreBloom or to your work,

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

Vote Yes: Inside Independence Hall with Jeffrey Shankle

Interviews July 4, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

He’s obnoxious and disliked, haven’t you heard? This Boston radical! This ag-i-ta-tor! This demagogue! This madman! John Adams, the poster child for revolution inside Independence Hall. As the series Vote Yes: Inside Independence Hall draws to its conclusion in this ninth and final installment, TheatreBloom sits down with Toby’s seasoned veteran Jeffrey Shankle and discusses the forgotten founding father at length.

Welcome back, Jeffrey. It’s only been a few months since we saw you last,

Vote Yes: Inside Independence Hall with John Stevenson

Interviews June 30, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

“Franklin did this and Franklin did that and Franklin did some other damn thing. Franklin smote the ground and out sprang George Washington, fully grown and on his horse. Franklin then electrified him with his miraculous lightning rod and the three of them— Franklin, Washington, and the horse— conducted the entire revolution by themselves.” John Adams, 1776. While Ben Franklin may stand around quoting himself and John Adams complains about it, TheatreBloom continues on in the Vote Yes: Inside Independence Hall series with an exceptionally talented actor who has returned after retiring from the stage 29 years ago.

Inside the Occult: An Interview with Brian M. Kehoe and Annelise Montone on Planchette

Interviews June 25, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

It’s only a game— isn’t it? The only toy of one’s childhood that was often not allowed inside the house; The Ouija Board. It’s mysterious ability to commune with the dead has kept children up all night at sleepovers and Halloween parties. Few people know that like The Star-Spangled Banner, the Ouija Board finds its roots in Baltimore. Local magician Brian M. Kehoe in collaboration with area playwright Annelise Montone are working together for a new experiential theatre production that brings audience participation to the next level.

Vote Yes: Inside Independence Hall with Brendan McMahon

Interviews June 19, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

A patriot? Or a lover? The question isn’t so easily answered when writing a yet-to-be nation’s founding declaration against the prospect of seeing a doting and loving wife of six month’s absence are the choices. But as the play and history would dictate, Thomas Jefferson at the forcible hand of John Adams became a patriot and penned the brilliant declaration and the rest as they say is history. Continuing on as the seventh installment in the Vote Yes: Inside Independence Hall series,

One Mis More: A Behind the scenes interview with Lance Bankerd and Lee Lewis

Interviews June 12, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

When the beating of your heart echoes the beating of the drum, you know it’s time to see Les Miserables again, and this time, perhaps for the last time in the Baltimore-Philadelphia area for quite some time as the rights provided by MTI are being sealed away once more into the barricade of their vault. The Milburn Stone Theatre will be the last in a long line of the shows productions over the last two years when the rights were initially released for some time to come.

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,

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.

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,

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

Let’s Not Talk About Anything Else But Fester: An Interview with the first Female Uncle Fester

Interviews May 1, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

It’s creepy and it’s kooky! Mysterious and spooky! All-together ookey, that’s The Addams Family! Now a major hit musical that is playing absolutely everywhere, it’s settling into Dundalk Community Theatre for a brief two weekend spring run. But DCT has something unusual, something unique, something very Addams. The line that describes Uncle Fester in this musical, “what could a fat bald person of no specific sexuality know about love?” And DCT has taken a leap on that line,

Vote Yes: Inside Independence Hall with Co-Director Jeremy Scott Blaustein

Interviews April 29, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Somebody opened up a window over at Toby’s Dinner Theatre and all of the thrilling behind-the-scenes details of their current production of 1776 have come freely flowing out into the open. In a TheatreBloom exclusive interview series entitled Vote Yes: Inside Independence Hall we sit down with the cast and creative team of the production to find out just what it’s like to mount this iconic historical event as a musical this season.

Side by Side by Shannon: An Interview

Interviews April 17, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

While Into the Woods may be all the rave in the world of Stephen Sondheim right now, the Vagabond Players takes a step back to a simpler time in the musical master’s history. The earlier works all bound together in a magically enchanting evening; one musical revue to thoroughly enjoy an evening of intimate musical theatre is now opening on the stage as the second musical show in their 99th season.

Move Toward the Darkness: Part 7 Meet Gomez Addams

Interviews April 14, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

It’s family first and family last and family by and by! When you’re an Addams? You do what Addams’ do or die! Finishing out the Move Toward the Darkness interviews, we bring the series to a close with the patriarch of the family, Gomez Florencia Addams. Toby’s Co-Artistic Director is back to the stage after nearly a year’s acting hiatus and is loving every minute of what this creepy and kooky papa character has to offer.

Imaginative Interviews: Habit Forming Nunsense with Reverend Mother

Interviews April 11, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

She’s holier than thou! Supreme chief nun, as it were, the big momma in charge! Finishing out the TheatreBloom exclusive interview series (a part of Imaginative Interviews featuring characters from musicals and plays) with the Little Sisters of Riverdale is Revered Mother, Sister Mary Regina. And she has some explaining to do about those poor nuns stuck in the freezer!

Mother Superior? Reverend Mother? What should we call you?

Reverend Mother: My name is Sister Mary Regina,

Imaginative Interviews: Habit Forming Nunsense with Sister Hubert

Interviews April 11, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Second in command does not necessarily mean second best! Sister Hubert is definitely top notch when it comes to keeping things going at the convent! In the penultimate piece of the TheatreBloom exclusive interview series (a part of Imaginative Interviews featuring characters from musicals and plays) with the Little Sisters of Riverdale, we sit down and talk shop with Sister Hubert.

Thank you for sitting down with us, Sister Hubert. What is your role here at Little Sisters of Riverdale?

Sister Mary Amnesia's forgetful shower days helps promote the show!

Imaginative Interviews: Habit Forming Nunsense with Sister Robert Anne

Interviews April 10, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Making our way down convent row in the TheatreBloom exclusive interview series (a part of Imaginative Interviews featuring characters from musicals and plays) with the Little Sisters of Riverdale, we have a quick chat with Sister Robert Anne, who drives the car, and has lots and lots to say.

Sister Robert Anne, can you tell us how you came to be with the Little Sisters of Riverdale?

Sister Robert Anne: Well,

Move Toward the Darkness: Part 6 Meet Morticia Addams

Interviews April 6, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Oh she of skin so pale, eyes so black, and dress cut down to Venezuela; Morticia Addams is muddling through plums as she discovers that not each husband is a gem! Fortunately, death is just around the corner and she’s happy being both the mourned and mourner! Settling in for the penultimate piece of the Move Toward the Darkness interview series, we sit down with Priscilla Cuellar and discover what life is like as Morticia Addams in the Toby’s Family Household.