Reviews

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.

Out of the Blue at Laurel Mill Playhouse

Reviews September 13, 2024 Chris Pence

author: Chris Pence

Where Were You when The World Stopped Turning: Out of The Blue at Laurel Mill Players

“September 11th, 2001, revealed heroism in ordinary people who might have gone through their lives never called upon to demonstrate the extent of their courage.”

– Geraldine Brooks

Everyone remembers where they were on that blue cloudless day in September when the Twin Towers fell,

Jessie Duggan (left) as Sylvia and Brian Binney (right) as Greg in Sylvia at Laurel Mill Playhouse ???? Cassidee Grunwald

Going to the Dogs: Sylvia at Laurel Mill Playhouse

Reviews September 9, 2024 Chris Pence

author: Chris Pence

Ever wonder what your dog is thinking? How they feel about your love for them? How about how your love for your dog might impact your significant other? With A.R. Gurney’s Sylvia, Laurel Mill Playhouse examines all these questions and more, delving deep into the meaning of relationships, both human and animal.

Premiering off-Broadway in 1995, the play follows a stray dog named Sylvia as she is adopted by Greg,

The Producers at The State Theatre of Havre de Grace

Reviews September 6, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

Reviews come out a lot faster when the critics leave at intermission! But take it from this critic— if you leave at the intermission, you’re only getting half the hilarity, half the good times, and half the damn show! I could never! And you should never! But you SHOULD definitely get your butt to a seat at The State Theater of Havre de Grace for what is a surprisingly heartfelt but equally off-the-rails funny production of Mel Brooks’ The Producers.

Mamma Mia! at Beth Tfiloh Community Theatre

Reviews August 19, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

People everywhere! A sense of expectation hanging in the air! Giving out a spark! This theatre’s glowing and they’re shining in the dark— it’s Mamma Mia! and it has landed at Beth Tfiloh Community Theatre for three performances only this summer! Directed by Diane M. Smith, with Musical Direction by Charlotte Evans, and Choreography by Rachel Miller, this ABBA-sensation splashy Broadway hit is not your grandmother’s Mamma Mia! With a more realistic,

Kim Bessler (left) as Abby with Amanda Matousek (center) as Teddy and Joanne Bauer (right) as Martha in BTC's Arsenic & Old Lace ???? Reed Sigmon

Arsenic & Old Lace at Bowie Community Theatre

Reviews August 19, 2024 Chris Pence

A Spoonful of Wine Helps The Poison Go Down: Arsenic & Old Lace at Bowie Community Theare

author: Chris Pence

Don’t drink the wine at Bowie Community Theatre! Joseph Kesselring’s 1939 classic black comedy Arsenic & Old Lace follows Mortimer Brewster, a theatre critic who comes home to 1930’s Brooklyn to announce to his beloved Aunts Abby and Martha that he’s engaged to Elaine Harper,

John Covaleskie (left) and Michael P. Sullivan (right) in The Monroe Doctrine ???? Rand Black

The Monroe Doctrine at Baltimore Theatre Project

Reviews August 18, 2024 Chris Pence

author: Chris Pence

What defines success? The American Dream? Career goals? Personal satisfaction? Baltimore playwright Mark Scharf examines these queries and more in The Monroe Doctrine, a new play making its world premiere at The Baltimore Theatre Project. The play centers around the Monroe Family, a typical American family hoping to celebrate Memorial Day 2014 with the Traditional Monroe Family Memorial Day Picnic on Hog Island, Maryland. Through family arguments and personal reflections,

Ellie Paquin (center) as Summer Hathaway and the kids of School of Rock ????Images Production Co.

School of Rock at Scottfield Theatre Company

Reviews August 17, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

Rock the house and make a scene and crank the amps to 17! There’s no way you can stop— Scottfield Theatre Company’s School of Rock!!! Directed and Choreographed by Becky Titelman with Musical Direction by LaShelle Bray, this unconventional Andrew Lloyd Webber musical is a little extra— it’s bringing you some very talented youngsters and they’re playing their rock-n-roll instruments LIVE on stage all night long! Filled with energy and enthusiasm these kids (and their supportive,

Benjamin Hopkins as Hamlet ???? Shealyn Jae Photography

Hamlet at The Bard’s Wagon Players

Reviews August 16, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

To go or not to go? That is the question! Technically it’s ‘be’ or ‘not be’ but with Shakespeare being hundreds of years of dead, I’m sure he’ll grant us this liberal creative license…especially considering what the world at large is doing to his canon from a musical standpoint! I won’t extoll and wax poetic like Polonius, earning me an eyeroll from Laertes and Ophelia, no I shall to the point as brevity is the soul of wit.

Christine Sherrill (center) as Donna Sheridan and the company of Mamma Mia 25th Anniversary Tour ???? Joan Marcus

Mamma Mia! at The Kennedy Center

Reviews August 16, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

And here they go again, they know the start, they know the end! Masters of the scene! They’re really glad you came, you know the stars, you know the game! You know what they mean! It’s— Mamma Mia! and now it’s here again! The 25th Anniversary tour, making the rounds across the country and landing for a brief spell in Washington DC at The Kennedy Center on the Opera House stage. You know the ABBA songs,

Big Fish at Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre

Reviews August 15, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

What if I told you— you could change the world with just one thought? I think the thought you might think would be “please let me somehow get my hands on some tickets to see Big Fish at Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre.” And it’s going to take a miracle to get your hands on those because the run is sold out. And rightfully so, the show itself is stupendous, thoroughly engaging, emotionally invested,

Anastasia at September Song Musical Theatre

Reviews August 9, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

Be very careful of these rumors that prevail. Be very careful what you say. I am the girl who knows the truth behind the tale…don’t let this one get away! The Neva flows! September Song shows— and now it’s finally here… They’re on the stage, they’ll turn your page… with their Anastasia this year. In case you somehow haven’t heard, (the rumors in Carroll County-berg) September Song Musical Theatre is celebrating their 50th Anniversary season with Anastasia,

Nine at The Kennedy Center

Reviews August 5, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

The answer that you’re after is the music lights and laughter— and they’ve got it— all you have to do is… be Italian! Well, not even that, just get your tickets to Nine now appearing in the Eisenhower Theatre of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as a part of the Broadway Center Stage series. Directed and choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler with Musical Direction by Lily Ling, this visceral and evocative musical exploration of one man’s existence and his perceived madness of the women that create,