Reviews

The Crucible at Small Town Stars Theatre Company

Reviews October 25, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

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,

Into The Woods at the Vagabond Players 📷 Shealyn Jae Photography

Into The Woods at Vagabond Players

Reviews October 22, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther 2 Comments

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,

Pride & Prejudice at Baltimore Center Stage

Reviews October 21, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

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.

Same Time, Next Year at Compass Rose Theatre

Reviews October 20, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

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.

Rocky Horror Show at Stand Up For…Theatre

Reviews October 19, 2024 Jake Schwartz

author: Jake Schwartz

Let’s do the time warp again! But this time, in the 60s! Stand Up for… Theatre returns with their third annual production of Rocky Horror, but this time with a groovy twist! Everything from references to Beach Boys, Scooby Doo gags, Laugh In, to the entire set being painted a yellow floral pattern, director Ed Higgins wanted a 60s feel and he sure got one!

The Odd Couple (Female Edition) at The Salem Players 📷 Tim Toscano

The Odd Couple (Female Version) at The Salem Players

Reviews October 19, 2024 Leonard Taube

author: Leonard Taube

It’s odd how things sometimes just tend to work out in the world of theatre. Take Neil Simon’s play The Odd Couple for instance. Following the shenanigans of mismatched roommates Felix Ungar and Oscar Madison, Simon’s comedy not only premiered on Broadway in 1965, but went on spawn a film version in 1968 and a popular television series in the 1970’s. Since then, it’s spawned several revivals,

Evita at Silhouette Stages

Reviews October 19, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

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.

Michael Bliss as Ash in Evil Dead: The Musical 📷 Matthew Peterson

Evil Dead: The Musical at Deer in the Spotlight

Reviews October 18, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

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.

Our Town at Manor Mill Playhouse

Reviews October 17, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

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,

Natalie Shaw (Cady Heron), Kristen Amanda Smith (Gretchen Wieners), Maya Petropoulos (Regina George), and Maryrose Brendel (Karen Smith) in Mean Girls 📷 Jenny Anderson

Mean Girls at The National Theater

Reviews October 17, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

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,

The Woman in Black at The Keegan Theatre

Reviews October 16, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

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.

Crazy For You at Laurel Mill Playhouse

Reviews October 14, 2024 Leonard Taube

author: LEONARD TAUBE

Call me crazy, but in today’s world sometimes it feels good to do something out of one’s ordinary routine. Skydiving anyone? Maybe mountain climbing. Too extreme? Well, here’s a crazy idea that I think suits the bill. Go see Laurel Mill Playhouse’s production of the Gershwin musical Crazy For You. Not only will it take your mind off things (for a couple of hours at least),

Jekyll & Hyde at The Havre de Grace Opera House

Reviews October 12, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

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.

Monster (or #MeToo, Brute)

Reviews October 11, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

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,

Sister Act at 2nd Star Productions

Reviews October 10, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

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.

Big Fish at Other Voices Theatre

Reviews October 5, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

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.

Karin Rosnizeck as Marlene 📷 Teresa Castracane Photography

Marlene at ExPats Theatre

Reviews October 1, 2024 Erin Tarpley

author: Erin Tarpley

Marlene Dietrich was a legend of the Silver Screen, but she was by no means a monolith.

Before the curtain rises, the audience is presented with a loop of a 1930 screen-test the notorious star filmed for The Blue Angel: the film that would eventually launch her into international acclaim. While shown without sound, this three-minute loop gives the audience an accurate preview of the many faces of Marlene Dietrich.

Oh Happy Day! at Baltimore Center Stage

Reviews September 28, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

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”,

A Raisin in the Sun at Spotlighters ???? Spotlighters Theatre/Jonathan Hemphill

A Raisin in the Sun at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews September 27, 2024 Lilou Von Kokoro

author: Lilou Von Kokoro

I honestly haven’t ventured into the city in many years. But on the last day of summer, I spent the evening at Spotlighters Theatre, located in Baltimore City on St. Paul Street, seeing A Raisin In The Sun, written by Lorainne Hansberry, as directed by Rain Pryor.

Spotlighters definitely has an intimate feeling especially with its theater in the round staging. The crowd that night was small but you could feel the anticipation.

Sweeney Todd at Rogue Swan Theatre Company ???? James Craig

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at Rogue Swan Theatre Company

Reviews September 27, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

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.

Broadway Production of "& Juliet" ???? Matthew Murphy

& Juliet at The Hippodrome Theatre Baltimore

Reviews September 25, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

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.

Sense & Sensibility at Maryland Ensemble Theatre ???? Spence Photographics

Sense & Sensibility at The Maryland Ensemble Theatre

Reviews September 24, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

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 at Tidewater Players

Reviews September 24, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

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,

Bye Bye Birdie at Children’s Playhouse of Maryland

Reviews September 23, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

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,

Zipporah Brown Gladden (left) as Mattie Campbell and Miley Folley (right) as Jeremy Furlow in Joe Turner's Come and Gone at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company ???? Kiirstn Pagan Photography

Joe Turner’s Come and Gone at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company

Reviews September 23, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

If you forget your song or how to sing it, you forget who you are. There’s something powerful in that paraphrased saying from August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, which is appearing live on the main stage at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, as a part of the Baltimore City-wide “Baltimore August Wilson Celebration.” As the second production in this city-wide festival, committed to producing ten of August Wilson’s works in chronological order (of when they take place,

Clue at The Kennedy Center

Reviews September 22, 2024 Erin Tarpley

author: Erin Tarpley

“You can not make an omelet without breaking eggs, every cook will tell you that. But look what happened to the cook!”

A stormy night. A lone eerie mansion owned by one, Mr. Boddy. A mysterious party invitation sent to six unrelated party guests. An assortment of items that lead to a murder (or six). These are the initial ingredients for a night of mystery and fun at the Kennedy Center’s Opera House for the performance of the hit show: Clue.

Director Eric Bray Jr. (subbing for Matthew Peterson) as The Fiddler in Fiddler on the Roof ???? Matthew Peterson

Fiddler on the Roof at Phoenix Festival Theater

Reviews September 20, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles! Phoenix Festival Theater is up in production for the fall! And they’re bringing a time-honored classic, some might call it a musical theatre tradition— Fiddler on the Roof. Directed by Eric Bray Jr., whose main stage directorial debut could not have been more successful, with Musical Direction by Rebecca Rossello, and Choreography by Karlie Surgeon, this insightfully nuanced and emotionally driven production is truly an extraordinary feat,

Church & State at Silver Spring Stage

Reviews September 19, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

How is our prayer going to stop the next senseless shooting?

How. Is our prayer. Going to stop the next senseless shooting?

It’s not a typo or a mistake that the question has been repeated. I ask it again because it is an unanswered question that continues to haunt millions of Americans each and every day. And while using a stage, a play, a performance, or a theatrical experience as a profound echo chamber for the real message that needs to be heard may not amount to much,

Sojourners at Round House Theatre

Reviews September 18, 2024 Steven Kirkpatrick

author: Steven Kirkpatrick

For an immigration story with a refreshing change of focus, you would do well to catch the Round House production of Mfoniso Udofia’s Sojourners, which kicks off their 2024-2025 season. It is also the first of a projected nine-part cycle about a family of Nigerians in the United States. Running through October 6th, “Sojourners” centers on a heroine who leaves a relatively privileged life in Nigeria in the late 1970s to study biology at Texas Southern University.

Intimate Apparel at Compass Rose Theater

Reviews September 14, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

“Don’t you let no man have no part of your heart without getting a piece of his.” Profound words and life lessons to live by from Lynn Nottage’s Intimate Apparel, which is now appearing on stage at Compass Rose Theater at the top of the 2024/2025 season. Directed by Lottie E. Porch, this vibrant period drama, set in Lower Manhattan in 1905, is a heartfelt tale of Esther, a colored woman who stitches intimate apparel to make her living and all of the subsequent trials and tribulations that accompany that lifestyle at that time.