There are few things in the theatrical world that are “forbidden”. Those of a certain age might remember the Sci-Fi cult classic film Forbidden Planet, or the TV show Forbidden Island. But there’s one Broadway phenomenon that has stood the test of time and, while not “forbidden” in the technical sense of the word, has sparked legions of loyal followers over the years, and that is Forbidden Broadway.
Madness does not run through the theatre family; it gallops. With sardines. And while you’re certainly not going to get a gargantuan house on the postage stamp stage at The Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre, you can definitely get a hilariously good time with their current production of Charles Morey’s Laughing Stock. Mild to moderate insanity with a dash of ‘WTF’ all balled neatly into the nonsense that is the lifestyle we choose when we jump into the world of theatre.
Reset your mind to island time. Because it’s five o’clock somewhere. And for the next two weekends, it’s five o’clock in Havre de Grace as the Tidewater Players presents Jimmy Buffett’s Escape to Margaritaville. Directed by Dickie Mahoney, with Musical Direction by Chris Rose, and Choreography by Evyo (and tap-choreo by Bambi Johnson), this ‘throw-your-cares-away’ silly good time show is just what the doctor ordered in these chilly winter months. And if you really want to be on “island time”?
As above— so below. From the profoundly deep to the oddly absurd, Adrift: A Medieval Wayward Folly, the latest live stage performance from Happenstance Theater, has it all. And also a strawberry. Appearing for a limited two-weekend engagement at Baltimore Theatre Project, this newly devised work comes the masterminds of Mark Jaster, Sabrina Mandell, Gwen Grastorf, Sarah Olmsted Thomas, and Alex Vernon, with their inspirations set ‘adrift’ on stage from the works of Hieronymus Bosch (amongst others) and will fill you with an oddly enlightened sense of wonderment,
Dreams are dreams. Awake is awake. Know the difference. But if you don’t know— or don’t want to know? In stunningly beautiful narrative that blend magical realism with the burning yen to simultaneously connect one’s past to one’s future, Dontrell, Who Kissed The Sea is playing a limited engagement with Sisters Freehold currently at The Peale Museum for the next two weekends. This evocative coming-of-age journey, written by Nathan Alan Davis and directed by Makeima Elise Freeland,
econd star to the right and straight on til— viral video ballroom waltzing? Shut the fort door, since when does Peter Pan have Wendy being obsessed with going viral so that she can help pay for her medical school training because she wants to grow up and be a surgeon?
~*~*~*ANGRY TINKLING & CHIMING NOISES*~*~*~
What was that, Tinker Bell? In the newly refurbished national tour launch production that’s leaping into the air with lovely thoughts straight out of Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre?
Dreams don’t have to be deferred. They can grow and bloom; they can bring nourishment to the soul. The sentiment, if not the words exactly, of creator Shemika Renee in the setting the tone for her one-woman production of Ms. Story’s Living History, now appearing at the Greenbelt Arts Center through March 3rd, 2024. Directed by Rikki Howie Lacewell, this educational presentation explores important narratives of historical women of color, telling their stories to help unravel the mystery of history when all too often these stories are overlooked.
One might think that a play with a title like How I Learned to Drive would depict a story that goes places; and by its own design, this is a play that goes many places and goes in circles (while in reverse) at the same time. But that being said, while funny and well told, Paula Vogel’s Pulitzer Prize winning play How I Learned to Drive is not for the faint of heart.
Do I remember this? Or is this what’s about to happen? This is no dream. This is no vision. This is the truth. Profound words. Or are they questions? What are words if not questions? You’ll hear them over and over— though never truly in one voice as one might expect from a chorus in a Greek tragedy; their effect, however, is no less striking. Chesapeake Shakespeare Company presents The Oresteia freely adapted from Aeschylus by Ellen McLaughlin and directed by Lise Bruneau.
COMMUNITY— noun. “a unified body of individuals such as: people with common interests living within a particular area broadly; a group of people with a common characteristic or interest; a body of persons with common interest scattered through a larger society; a group linked by a common policy.” Stand Up For…Theatre’s production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is fostering a real sense of dedication and commitment to the local theatre community,
Now in its first national tour, Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations opened a six-day run at the Kennedy Center on Tuesday, Feb 13. Certainly, the 2019 Broadway musical has one of the richest R&B songbooks a musical could hope for. It was also directed by Des McAnuff, who struck gold in 2004 directing Jersey Boys — a similar biographical musical about a 1960-born men’s vocal harmony group.
Lynn Nottage’s Intimate Apparel has local origins; originally a co-production between Baltimore’s Center Stage and California’s South Coast Repertory in 2003, it went on to a 3-month Off-Broadway run starring Viola Davis. The material also has a direct link to Nottage’s family history and was inspired by her great-grandmother’s life as a seamstress in the early 1900’s. Nottage found that the narrative and stories of black women in the early 1900’s were largely absent by researching her great-grandmother’s life.
Out there! There’s a world outside of Carney! Way out there beyond this suburb, Barnaby! There’s a theatre, Barnaby! Out there! Full of shine and full of sparkle! The Suburban Players of Saint Demetrios’ are glistenin’, Barnaby! Listen, Barnaby! Put on your Sunday clothes— or your Saturday clothes or your Friday clothes— and get yourself down to Hello, Dolly now appearing at The Suburban Players of St. Demetrios’ Greek Orthodox Church before that parade passes you by!
No one mourns the Twisted.
No one cries they won’t return (…of Jafar, terrible movie. Just terrible.)
No one lays a Jasmin on their graaaave.
The good man scorns the Twisted.
Through their lives our children learn.
What we miss— when we misbehaaaave.
And goodness knows— the Twisted’s lives are zany!
“Such welcome and unwelcome things at once ‘tis hard to reconcile.” Macduff, ActIVsc.iii
I spent hours trying to find the way I felt about the current Rude Mechanical’s production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth only to have Billy Bard having already wrapped it up for me more than halfway through the show. This particular production is a balancing act of strong performances, questionable conceptualizations, impressive technological inclusions, mismatched aesthetics, and a barrage of death,
As a plus sized person, I have spent many years wrestling with my self-confidence and sense of belonging in a world that condemns any body type that is not considered “normal”. Being a fat girl meant that I was different, an outcast, ugly and in certain spaces, unwelcome. I Will Eat You Alive, a new play written and directed by Katie Hileman, brilliantly tackles the societal, familial and personal pressures that fat women like me experience from early childhood through adulthood.
Wanted: Heart-warming, feel-good, fun-loving musical to fill the aching hole in the hearts of Baltimore after Sunday’s devastating upset at Raven’s stadium.
Helloooooo, Poppets!
Mrs. Doubtfire is exactly what this city needs to wake up, feel good, laugh and cry a little, and be made whole again! Coming in hot off the boards of Broadway, Rob McClure and the sensational singing, rapping, hip-hop-happening Scottish nanny is hear to take Charm City by hilarious and heartfelt storm.
Some people were born to speak, others just to listen. And occasionally those of us that listen will report back on what we hear. Form an opinion, as it were. It’s me. I’m a listening opinion-former. And I’m forming an opinion on the current production of The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, now playing at The Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre through February 4th 2024. The midway point of their 61st season,
By now most of us have heard of the musical RENT and may have even seen a production (or more), and/or possibly even caught the movie version of Jonathan Larson’s brilliant masterpiece which chronicles the lives of several struggling young artists/activists/musicians in New York set against the backdrop of the AIDS epidemic. With roots loosely in the 1896 opera La Boheme, Larson’s tale is set in the then-thriving Alphabet City in Lower Manhattan’s East Village in New York.
In a time in our history when yet again we are faced with a growing divide of “us” vs “them,” we are challenged to ask ourselves if the old proverb about how a “house divided against itself shall not stand” is indeed truth. Suzan-Lori Parks’ play The Book of Grace, making its Baltimore debut with Rapid Lemon Productions, tackles that notion.
Before continuing, a warning: this production contains depictions and descriptions of domestic violence,
When Director Roy Hammond got the rights for Merrily We Roll Along in 2019, little did he know a pandemic and some Broadway wizardry would interfere. But it’s up! And it’s amazing! This 1981 musical covers the trials and tribulations of three artistic friends … backwards … starting with their ultimate breakup and ending with the hopeful youths staring up on a roof in October 1957. Being Sondheim, you’ll be hard pressed to whistle a melody on the way home,
Small Town Stars Theatre Company, based at the Carroll Arts Center of Westminster MD, skillfully and confidently walks a fine, fine line in its short but hilariously fun run of Avenue Q (Robert Lopez & Jeff Marx, music & lyrics; book by Jeff Whitty). STS’s production, under the direction of Sean Olsson, effortlessly navigates mature themes of sexuality, racism, internet pornography, all in the oeuvre of network children’s educational programming, complete with custom-made puppets the Jim Henson Company would be proud to associate with.
Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? You can’t handle the truth! Though I might be mixing up my courtroom dramas as this one seemed to be skirting all around the truth, only revealing parts of the truth, and there was a lot of questionable truths floating in the ether. In true Agatha Christie style, Witness For the Prosecution splashes onto The Vagabond Players stage to kick of the 2024-leg of their 108th season.
Currently playing at the Kennedy Center through Jan. 21st, 2024, Disney’s musical Frozen, a wintry fairytale loosely based on Hans Christian Anderson’s The Snow Queen, is a fabulous theatrical spectacle for all ages, a celebration of love, family, and self-acceptance that is visually spellbinding (if a little light on characterization).
Based on the phenomenally successful 2013 animated Disney film, the stage version is delivered by the same artistic team,
Inspiration comes in dreams. Or maybe the answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind. Be it fever dream or disjointed wind that blows you into The Kennedy Center this December holiday season, you’re in for something a bit unusual when it comes to the National Touring production of Girl From the North Country. Now playing in The Eisenhower Theatre through new year’s eve, this ‘jukebox musical’ (and I use that term very,
“Everyone has a dream… you’ll get lost without one”
The classic “Cinderella” story is an oldie but a goodie. No, really. Like really old. Like Ancient Egypt old! Bet you didn’t think you’d get a history lesson from a theatre review, huh? Regardless, it is an enduring classic for a reason. The general theme of a protagonist going from rags to riches is one that resonates with people and really appeals to their inner-dreamers.
Of all the blithe sounds you’ll hear this holiday season, tis none merrier than that of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, performed in near-entirety by Phil Gallagher as a one-man endeavor at Spotlighters Theatre. For its third year running, this solo-performer adaptation of the iconic Christmas classic holds its own against the 400 other productions of the Dickensian money-maker this time of year. Adapted for the stage by Sherrionne Brown and Phil Gallagher,
If you find yourself short on cheer just think about that special year (no, not 2019 that was a different year…same story) that Tidewater Players reached up on their shelf…and put up on their stage a musical called Elf! It’s sparkle-jolly-jingle-twinkly! Or however it goes (this Christmas Grinch over here still hasn’t finished writing out her Christmas cards…) but however it goes— it goes with lots of razzle-dazzle seasonal pizzazz! Elf at Tidewater Players is a heart-warming,
Hello, Chickens!!! Are you ready to experience the epicenter of your passions? The apogee of your desires? Of course you are, you radiant reprobates and rascals!
Truth
Beauty
Freedom
Love
They’ve got it all in Montmartre— it’s all there to titillate the senses, tease the mind, sway the heartstrings— it’s all there inside The Moulin Rouge! And Moulin Rouge has landed itself grandly at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre for a limited two-week engagement just in time for the holiday season.
What if you can’t remember the last time you were able to let go, have fun, and just be yourself? Well isn’t that exactly what theatre is for? A place to let go, have fun, and just be yourself! And Children’s Playhouse of Maryland has always been that place for all of the up-and-coming theatrical talents that pass through their doors over in Essex. Celebrating the holiday season with a very special, brand-new-production (written and conceived by their musical director and her father) Children’s Playhouse of Maryland is thrilled to present Neverland: A New Musical.