It was Mr. Green! In the billiards room! With the dagger! Cue elaborate explanation— hold— drop lights— “That’s not how it really happened. Because we know who actually did it!” REWIND! RESET! GO! It was Clue! At The Hippodrome! With a stage show! Murder, mystery, mayhem, a manor and— six!? SIX DEAD BODIES!? That’s a lot of bodies piling up on the floor! Or in the lounge! Or wherever they’re piling up!
Right and wrong don’t matter in the woods… only feelings. And the feeling is that Woodbrook Players has some talented vocalists appearing in their current production of Stephen Sondheim’s Into The Woods. Directed by Ron Oaks with Musical Direction by Bryan Alston, this iconic fairytale-gone-wrong musical brings all of your favorite storybook characters together to unravel their stories amid the darkness of the woods. Sondheim is a bear at the best of times (not featured in this particular woodsy setting,
Plastic, glitter, and rhinestones don’t shine like these stars do! And Children’s Playhouse of Maryland is closing out their 2023/2024 season with some of the shiniest stars around with their production of Mean Girls (High School Edition). It’s so phenomenal— IT’S FETCH!! Directed by Liz Boyer Hunnicutt, with Musical Direction by Charlotte Evans, and Choreography by Rachel Miller, this fabulous and cautionary tale is an extraordinary way to end their season and showcases some of the area’s brightest and most talented stars making their way out into the theatrical universe one twinkle at a time.
The thing about songwriting is that you can’t have just one catchy line. You have to tell a story and get at that truth. Enter Cynthia Kaplin, her three-man band— all named Mike— and her Cock Show, which is a metaphor. And also not a metaphor. Buckle up, kids, this one is something else! Directed by Dani Davis, this one-woman, one-hour clusterbang of chaos is quirk and off-color whilst being a little entertaining, and a whole lot of in your face politically.
Romance. Tragedy. Primal Murder. The urge of revenge. This looks like a job for—
Well it isn’t Sherlock Holmes, that’s for sure! In a Christie? He would never!
Hercule Poirot, but of course! And ooh la la, ooh la la, ooh la la, does he have a case for you! Er— a show. Yes, that’s it! A show! Murder On The Orient Express, based on Agatha Christie’s novel of the same name and adapted to the stage by Ken Ludwig,
Sex and games in Brooklyn Park— gotta be played with flare and passion! Songs and dance at Chesapeake Arts (Center)— gotta be played with flare and passion! Welcome to Falsettoland! It’s so much more than just a ‘march of the Falsettos’ it’s the whole damn show— Falsettos— a half-decade in the making for The Maryland Theatre Collective, currently in residence at CAC. This brilliant production is the perfect close to their first,
If love be rough— be rough with love! Or get on down to Club Escalus for Mercutio’s Funky Boogie Woogie! Or both! All of the above. Groove to rhythm of ’75, baby— and nah, we don’t mean no 1575. We’re talkin’ 1975, ya dig? And we’re talkin’ Baltimore Baby! Closing out their 2023/2024 season on their Main Stage (and please join them for their fabulous summer fling out at the PFI in Ellicott City when R&J closes) Chesapeake Shakespeare Company is bringing you the grooviest production of Romeo &
Tell your children! Fight the menace! Kill the devil! Save our country! Because it’s—
Reefer Madness!
Now live on stage at The State Theater of Havre de Grace for two weekends only! Directed by Marion Jackson with Musical Director Jerrett Rettman and Choreography by Katie Gordon, this ‘cult-classic’ black-comedy musical has all the warnings you need to protect America from THE REEFER!
One of the most impressive things about the performance is how well-balanced the orchestra pit is.
author: Alan Duda
“It’s not Immodest, it’s Art!”
Alfie Byrne loves art. Specifically the works of Oscar Wilde. Which he reads daily to the commuters of the Dublin bus he conducts. And nightly as he conducts Wilde’s plays for his community theater at St. Imelda’s church. And everyone loved their Importance of Being Earnest. But as Wilde himself discovered, not everyone loves the idea of them putting on Salome.
author: Charles Boyington & Steven Kirkpatrick
Round House Theatre launches the premiere of Inda Craig-Galván’s play A Jumping-Off Point. It is a great launch and worth seeing! The new piece focuses on Leslie Wallace (Nikkole Salter), an African American writer newly hired to develop a series for HBO, whose personal victory is compromised by the return of Andrew (Danny Gavigan), a white man from her graduate school days, who accuses her of plagiarism.
author: Wes Dennis & Liana Olear
How shall you beguile the lazy time, if not with some delight? Perhaps by running off to Silver Spring Stage for their performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and spending the evening with besotted Athenian lovers, pranking fairies, and those oddest of creatures, amateur actors!
The Director, Emma Hooks, shows a solid understanding of Shakespeare’s language, and her actors illustrate the words with enthusiastic action (though language purists – or audience members not expecting to hear multiple F-bombs punctuating the iambic pentameter – may not appreciate the choice to also insert modern phrases to add reactions where the bard neglected to spell them out).
Lessons can be blessings. Mistakes can be good. Finding a way to learn the lessons and take the ‘Beyoncé’ approach to making lemonade when life won’t stop raining fiery hot lemons down on your head is exactly what the Pulitzer Prize-Winning play The Hot Wing King, by Katori Hall is serving up in the Pearlstone Theatre of Baltimore Center Stage. It’s a limited engagement, playing through the end of the month of April but it’s a powerhouse piece that’s equal parts funny and heartfelt,
author: Jamie Gerhardt
Fag Gods is a mythic camp comedy making its worldwide performance debut at Spotlighters in their 61st season in Baltimore, and it truly couldn’t have had a better opening. Written by John Bavoso and presented at the Baltimore Playwright’s Festival last year, it was the highest-rated selection of that season, and Spotlighters (very thankfully!) decided to give this wonderful little show its debut. The show is highly representative of the LGBTQIA+ community— as you might be able to discern from its title— and as someone who came out as transgender myself within the past year,
author: Chris Pence
On the 12th day of the month of April, in a small auditorium not too far from your home, the human race suddenly encountered a deadly threat to its very existence, and this terrifying enemy surfaced, as such enemies often do, in the seemingly most innocent and unlikely of places… Anne Arundel Community College! Howard Ashman’s cult classic Little Shop of Horrors creeps with terrifying new life onto the AACC stage.
Broadway dreams. We’ve all had ‘em. And Scottfield Theatre Company is havin’ ‘em right now. They’ve got all you need to cheer you up right on the ends of their ankles! Side by side— they’re glorified— that amazing tap corps that makes up the splashiest, flashiest dance routines of 42nd Street. Directed and Choreographed by Becky Titelman, with Musical Direction by LaShelle Bray, this iconic golden-era Broadway musical is a true dancer’s dream and every bit the spectacular dance show one expects.
author: Charles Boyington
Delightful! So much fun! Run and get tickets!
Peter Pan at the National Theatre through April 21st, 2024 is surprisingly fresh and relevant. The first surprise of the evening was how excited the audience was. I honestly did not think that kids knew anything about Peter Pan anymore. However the youngsters were applauding and screaming as the overture started, and it continued to grow.
Innocence is only wisdom in a world without evil. But why is it we are so quick to believe that of which we are not certain? Why are we so quick to judge? The most innocent interaction can see seem sinister to a poisoned mind. Why do we let our minds be primed so readily with poison? In a striking and evocative drama now appearing on the Vagabond Players’ stage as the penultimate production of their 108th season,
author: Lilou Von Kokoro
Friday night was cold, raw and blustery, but as I entered The Strand Theatre, I was warmly welcomed by Producer Elena Kostakis. I wasn’t sure what to expect but let me tell you— this was not just a performance; it was an experience. Interactive would be an understatement! To quote their program, “Welcome to the immersive production of alight, Sweet hearted.”
alight,
Dear Diary,
My teenage angst bullsh*t now has a body count. But what’s your damage, Heather? Is your name even Heather? Just in case it isn’t, Third Wall Productions has a whole bunch of them (three to be in fact) with their fiery production of the screen-to-stage musical Heathers, now playing through April 14th 2024. Directed by Jake Schwarts with Musical Direction by Anton Van De Motter and Choreography by Kelly Williams Carlson,
Our subject tonight?
The Squirrels. Better still— The Squirrels at Maryland Ensemble Theatre as the penultimate production of their 2023/2024 main stage season. Written by Robert Askins (Hand To God) and Directed by Julie Herber…well… buckle up, you discerning patrons of the arts, because this one’s a doozey. Hell— I’ll say it. It’s nuts!
Playwright Robert Askins is wringing audiences in Frederick through the high-octane spin-cycle of this satirical washing machine.
Todos estamos juntos en esto.
We’re all in this together.
Changing the face of musical theatre, changing the soundscape of our nation’s narrative— Mexodus is the story of the Underground Railroad that led south; a story that they will have to pass down by word of mouth. It’s a moment omitted from the history books— but it’s a story of thousands worth a second look— rapture and release, visceral emotions and peace— this is one for the ages splitting time on two stages— but you get to be in the room where it happened first— The Head Theatre at Baltimore Center Stage.
Little Shop of Horrors returns to Ford’s Theatre from March 15 through May 18 after a previous mounting in 2010. From its origin as a low budget 1960 sci-fi dark comedy by Roger Corman, to its initial adaptation as an off-Broadway musical in 1982, to subsequent high-budget film versions and worldwide stage success, Little Shop of Horrors has become one of the most treasured pieces of American musical theatre.
If you have never seen this American staple of musical theatre then you should run and see this production.
We’re told we have to do what we’re told, but surely sometimes you have to be a little bit naughty! Like doing all those things you shouldn’t do— reading books, loving musicals, and going to Small Town Stars Theatre Company’s production of Matilda! Those are all naughty little things you absolutely should be doing— and the third thing on that list you should definitely be doing this weekend! Directed by Joel Roberson with Musical Direction by Kelly Stoneberger,
Somebody hold me too close. Somebody hurt me too deep. Somebody sit in my chair and ruin my sleep and make me aware of being alive. Being alive. That’s the plea of protagonist Bobby in Stephen Sondheim’s musical Company (book by George Furth) which is currently gracing the stage in the elegant Opera House at The John F. Kennedy Center for The Performing Arts in our nation’s capital. Originally produced in 1970 Company was nominated for 14 Tony Awards and won six.
Charming— (adjective) ‘Extremely pleasing or delightful.’ Compass Rose Theater is now producing the most charming production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee I think I can ever recall seeing— and that’s saying something as I’ve covered it over a dozen times in as many years, including just a month ago elsewhere! C-H-A-R-M-I-N-G. Directed & Choreographed by Tommy Malek with Musical Direction by Rachel Sandler, this feel-good, upbeat, absolutely adorable musical is perfectly parsed in the intimate staging space that Compass Rose Theater has at Maryland Hall;
Puffs at Silhouette Stages: Revenge of the Nerds,” Potter Style
Have you ever wondered what it was like to be a side character in a story? To not be the hero, but just another onlooker? Matt Cox’s Puffs at Silhouette Stages examines this idea in hilarious fashion as we delve into the world of a Certain School of Magic and Magic. A riotous romp through mediocrity,
Come spirit! Come charm! Come days that are warm! Come magical spell— they will help you get well! Come to their garden for the most extraordinary theatrical experience that is so stunning, so professional, and so polished you’ll find it hard to believe that it’s a community organization and playing in a church nonetheless! The Secret Garden now live in living color is appearing through the weekend of March 17th with the Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church and it is beyond remarkable,
Third Wall Productions, you know I love you. Did you see I waved? I believe in you and your show so tell me that I’m saved! If you’re ready to rock and roll along with the best of them, Third Wall Productions is bringing you that iconic Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Jesus Christ Superstar and it’s the most solid production that they’ve had so far! (In their new home at Chestnut Grove Presbyterian.) Directed by Mike Zellhofer,
“Laughter Through Tears”
Grab your curlers and spill the tea, because it’s time for Steel Magnolias at Artistic Synergy of Baltimore! Playwright Robert Harling’s comedy-drama comes to stunning life through skilled direction and superb performing. Based on experiences from Harling’s life, Steel Magnolias tells the story of six women who become lifelong friends in a Louisiana nail salon, coming together to support each other through good times and bad.
“Tomorrow is a Latter Day”
Hello, my name is Elder Tarpley. And I would like to share with you the most amazing play now showing at The National Theatre!
Since its debut on Broadway way back in 2011, The Book of Mormon has been continuing to stun audiences all over the world with its funny, offensive, but surprisingly sweet story, and top-notch music sure to make the Musical Theatre Greats of the Twentieth Century proud… minus all the F-bombs… and the satirical sacrilegious look at organizational religion….