Reviews

Review: Hairspray at Purple Light Theatre Company

Reviews August 2, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

You can’t stop the beat as it bursts open in all the glory of the 60’s at the Purple Light Theatre Company this summer! Hairspray, the musical of Baltimore, is making a rampant return to the stage with this summer-based company, and bringing the nicest kids in town to the stage. Directed by the company’s Artistic Director, Tommy Malek, with Musical Direction by Benjamin Nabinger and Nathan Scavilla, the well-loved musical is shaking up local audiences with its spectacular dance routines,

Review: Mary Poppins at September Song

Reviews August 1, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Anything can happen if you let it! And often times all you need is just a spoonful of sugar, because it turns water into tea and cakes or in this case transforms ordinary people in a simple theatre into an extraordinary characters in a fantastical musical. Floating in for their annual summer musical, September Song welcomes 2015 with their production of Mary Poppins. Directed by Debbie Mobley, with Musical Direction by Rachel McCusker,

Review: Legally Blonde at Montgomery College Summer Dinner Theatre

Reviews July 19, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther 1 Comment

What you want! What you want! What you want— is right in front of you— at Montgomery College Summer Dinner Theatre with their production of Legally Blonde. A sizzling summer sensation, this peppy energetic movie-based musical is the perfect way to round out the 2015 summer season. With lively musical numbers, enthusiastic performances across the board, and a touching and humorous story that will leave your heart glowing pink, Legally Blonde is the show to see this season.

The Company of Into the Woods at Toby's Dinner Theatre

Review: Into the Woods at Toby’s Dinner Theatre

Reviews July 18, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Opportunity is not a lengthy visitor and the opportunity to catch one of Stephen Sondheim’s most popular musicals is equally brief at Toby’s the Dinner Theatre of Columbia this summer. With magic that defies description, Into the Woods tumbles fairytale classics onto their ear in this thrilling and adventurous family-friendly musical. Co-Directed by Toby Orenstein and Mark Minnick, with Musical Direction by Ross Scott Rawlings, this heartfelt Sondheim classic grants wishes and proves that right and wrong don’t matter in the woods.

Review: Altar Boyz at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews July 13, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Peace be with you, Baltimore! Are you ready to raise the praise with this funky fresh new sound? It’s Mary Magdalicious and it’s dropping down faster than Sunday morning parishioners on their knees in the pews over at Spotlighters Theatre this summer! That’s right, fathers, sons, and holy ladies— appearing for an extremely limited engagement in the halls of the St. Paul sanctuary— Altar Boyz are live for your praying pleasure!

Review: Baby at Infinity Theatre Company

Reviews July 13, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Look around, it’s in the air, life is changing everywhere! And it’s certainly changing down at Infinity Theatre Company as the second musical offering of their summer season pops expectantly onto the stage. A vastly different sort of musical from the man-in-black show, Co-Producing Artistic Directors Anna Roberts Ostroff and Alan Ostroff proudly present Baby: The Musical for the back-half of their 2015 season. With Book by Bille Pearson, Music by David Shire,

Review: Commander at Vagabond Players

Reviews July 12, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

America is a promise. A promise of hopes and dreams and live theatre at your fingertips. The Vagabond Players are all American, not only because they’re approaching their 100th anniversary season, but because they’re participating in the 2015 Baltimore Playwrights Festival with an area premier of a political zinger. And as the play says— politics is theatre, all that matters is that you say “here I am! Look at me!” Mario Correa’s Commander takes hold of the stage giving local stage manager Chelsea Dove her full-length Directorial Debut in this poignant dramedy of sexuality in politics.

The touring company of Once now performing at The Kennedy Center

Once at The Kennedy Center

Reviews July 10, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

To live you have to love. And you will love the musical odyssey that takes to the stage of The John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts this summer as Once lands in the Opera House starting July 7th. Based on the motion picture Written and Directed by John Carney with Book by Enda Walsh and Music & Lyrics by Glen Hansard and Markèta Irglovà, this strikingly beautiful performance captures the heart and soul of what it is to be a human being alive and in love.

Review: Catch Me If You Can at Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre

Reviews July 6, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

People only know what you tell them. And this person is telling you that the best musical experience you’re going to have this summer is at the Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre. Directed by Mark Briner with Musical Direction by Julie Ann Hawk, the area premier of Broadway’s Catch Me If You Can is live in living color under the stars for a limited engagement and it is nothing short of a stupendous dance-musical sensation.

Review: The Music Man at Charm City Players

Reviews July 1, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Well, Jeely kly! Baltimore’s got trouble! Trouble? Right here in Charm City! They got a theatre troupe— that starts with ‘T’ which rhymes with ‘P’ and that stands for pool! Meredith Wilson’s one hit wonder takes to the stage as the Charm City Players close out their second season at St. Timothy’s school. The Music Man is their sixth show to date and the company is proving that they know the territory of musical theatre.

Review: Impossible! A Happenstance Circus at Happenstance Theatre

Reviews July 1, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Impossible is only in the mind. That is, of course, until it takes to the stage with Happenstance Theatre. Remounting their very successful Impossible! A Happenstance Circus, the movement-based ensemble company’s show is received to great acclaim at Round House Theatre Bethesda this summer. Truly investing the imagination of the audience into their work, the company— consisting of the two co-founders and four additional core performers— scales new heights with their mime work,

Review: The Pillow Book at Cohesion & The Strand Theatre Companies

Reviews June 26, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Everyone should be needed by someone and need someone; be loved by someone and love someone. We all need someone to touch our bones when we are dead. The elusively fantastical play, The Pillow Book, which has only been produced once before in New York, makes its regional premier as a co-production with Cohesion Theatre Company and Strand Theatre Company here in Baltimore. Written by Anna Moench and Directed by Jonas David Grey,

Review: Kiss Me, Kate at 2nd Star Productions

Reviews June 25, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Brush up your Shakespeare! You might need it to thoroughly enjoy each and every hysterical joke featured in 2nd Star Productions current performance of Kiss Me, Kate, the musical whose focus revolves around the Bard’s Taming of the Shrew. Directed by Roy Hammond with Musical Direction Joe Biddle, the show is a smash-hit sensation with an extraordinarily talented cast that makes an afternoon at the theatre thoroughly enjoyable.

Review: Jack VS Rapunzel at Infinity Theatre Company

Reviews June 23, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls! Children of all ages! Let’s get ready to— FAIRYTALE!!! In a dynamic new children’s production, Infinity Theatre Company brings an exciting new musical to the stage with the performance of Jack VS Rapunzel. With Book and Lyrics by the company’s Co-Artistic Director Alan Ostroff, and Music by Clayton Colwell, these classic fairytale characters are being presented in a brand new fashion that is both entertaining and educational.

Review: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at Montgomery College Summer Dinner Theatre

Reviews June 22, 2015 Joshua Engel

Comedy, at last! Having lost their opening night to a power failure, the students of Montgomery College Summer Dinner Theatre came roaring back with energy, style, and verve. A Funny Thingis a very, very funny thing. Directed by Walter Ware III with Musical Direction by John Henderson, this modern reimagining of Roman farces features songs by Steven Sondheim. The opening number, “Comedy Tonight” gets off to a roaring and hilarious start,

Review: Parlor Room Theatre

Reviews June 19, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

There is nothing like the logic of an illogical mind. The witty resplendence that is the hallmark of Neil Simon is resonating through Parlor Room Theatre’s current production of Fools. Directed by Frank DiSalvo Jr., this double-whammy of a whip-smart comedy packs the punch-lines from start to finish, catering to a vast array stylistic humors. An amusing production that infuses love with wit and idiots with brains, this show is a great light-hearted evening of entertainment to enjoy this summer.

Review: Don’t Drink the Water at Cockpit in Court

Reviews June 16, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Espionage. Romance. Communists. Tourists. A magic priest living in the attic of the US embassy. Don’t Drink the Water has it all this summer as Cockpit in Court‘s first production of their 2015 season upstairs in their cabaret. A Woody Allen comedy, the play is Directed by Albert J. Boeren and is an honest hysterical hoot that keeps the audience laughing all through the chaos and calamity of an innocent summer vacation gone wrong in 1967.

Review: The Wedding Singer at Cockpit in Court

Reviews June 13, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

What’s love got to do— got to do with it? Who needs a heart when you can have an entire cast full of fun at Cockpit in Court this summer season? Kicking off their musical series with The Wedding Singer, is a great way to put love in the air for the summer. Directed by Greg Dorsey, with Musical Direction by Nathan Christopher Scavilla, this 80’s based on the New Line Cinema film is sure to get you dancing to the well-loved riffs of the era all throughout the night.

Review: Ruddigore at Victorian Lyric Opera Company

Reviews June 13, 2015 Joshua Engel 1 Comment

Victorian Lyric Opera Company has found a gem in Ruddigore and they have set it in a jewel-piece of a production. It never received much love during its authors’ lifetimes, but in the adept hands of Director Helen Aberger and her tremendously talented cast, it is an absolute delight today. A lesser produced Gilbert & Sullivan work, whose alternate title is The Witch’s Curse, receives Musical Direction from Joseph Sorge and is well worth seeing this hot and humid summer.

"One Day More" performed by the cast of Les Miserables at Milburn Stone Theatre

Review: Les Miserables at Milburn Stone Theatre

Reviews June 12, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

At the end of the day it’s another show over. And that show it has surely been making its rounds. From Broadway to touring and finally released to the public— Les Miserables settles down for one show more at The Milburn Stone Theatre in North East Maryland. Broadway’s biggest musical is live in Cecil County for a three weekend limited engagement run and may be the last time that any area theatre is given the rights to perform the show for quite some time to come.

Review: Tartuffe at Shakespeare Theatre Company

Reviews June 10, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

A man is a man, he is not an angel nor is he meant to be. Tartuffe is just such a man, and his tale in its tragically comedic entirety can be found at Shakespeare Theatre Company as they finish out their 2014/2015 at Sidney Harman Hall with a co-production of Molière’s iconic production shared by South Coast Repertory and Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Under the Direction of Dominique Serrand, the classic dark comedy is heralded with new enlightenment;

Review: Ring of Fire at Infinity Theatre Company

Reviews June 9, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

As a walking contradiction, partly truth, partly fiction, the musicalization of the life of Johnny Cash suits the man in black. Well known for its revitalizing revivals of obscure, outdated, and lost musical gems, Infinity Theatre Company settles into the 2015 Annapolis summer with a surefire shot at success. Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash, created and conceived by Richard Maltby Jr., and William Meade adapted from the Broadway production by Maltby Jr.

Review: Born Yesterday at Vagabond Players

Reviews June 7, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Money talks. And in a city of few secrets and much chat it’s easy to see that Washington DC hasn’t changed in 70 years. The world can only be as good as the people in it, and the same goes for a play. Fortunately at the Vagabond Players, the talent thriving within the confines of Garson Kanin’s Born Yesterday is stellar, making the production a smashing success. Directed by Steve Goldklang,

Review: Dog Sees God at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews June 5, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry and the world laughs harder. A tough but true learning lesson of life that all too often gets brushed by the wayside in favor of a more optimistic approach to finding the bright side of existence. The Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre is tackling its most evocative and poignantly moving drama to date with their current production of Burt V. Royal’s Dog Sees God.

Crab the Dog (L- Julie) and Launce (R- Matthew Alan Ward) in The Two Gentlemen of Verona

Review: The Two Gentlemen of Verona at Annapolis Shakespeare Company

Reviews June 1, 2015 Joshua Engel

Shakespeare’s Two Gentlemen of Verona is, by turns, hilarious and horrifying, and it’s hard to know which of these is more daunting to a director approaching the play. Annapolis Shakespeare Company‘s Sally Boyett conquers both with flying colors. Her 1920’s-inspired Two Gents is sharp, incisive, fearless, and polished.

Proteus and Valentine (Patrick Truler and Joel Ottenheimer) are young friends on the verge of manhood. Proteus loves Julia (Amy Pastoor),

Review: The Mystery of Edwin Drood at Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre

Reviews May 29, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

The cold grey tendrils of a dim English dawn are unfurling across the Annapolis harbor. The thrilling era of 1890’s London has slipped across the docks and settled into the Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre to launch the first show of their 50th season of theatre under the stars. Instead of a night of traditional ASGT musical revelry, The Music Hall Royale has brought to the stage their latest work— the greatest injustice of Charles Dickens’ life— his unfinished novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

Review: Daddy’s Dyin’ Who’s Got The Will at Just Off Broadway

Reviews May 28, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

When family is involved there’s never a dull moment. Add death into the mixture and the calamity of chaos becomes an uproarious and heartfelt comedy about putting the ‘fun’ in dysfunctional. Just Off Broadway Baltimore presents their seventh production of Daddy’s Dyin’ Who’s got the Will this spring and it’s a hoot. Directed by Jason Crawford Samios-Uy, the laughs come rolling out of Lowake, Texas like tumbleweed scooting across the dessert at high noon.

Review: The Servant of Two Masters at Annapolis Shakespeare Company

Reviews May 27, 2015 Paul Davis

Let’s take a moment to have a beer you and I. There. Now we are fully prepared to enjoy one of the finest forms of comedy ever put to stage: Commedia D’elle Arte. Annapolis Shakespeare Company’s adaptation of Goldoni’s classic The Servant of Two Masters by Timothy Mooney is ready for us. Ensconced, a jewel in the firmament of Reynolds Tavern Courtyard, Director Sally Boyett choreographs a “Commedia D’ell Right Now” that doesn’t just tickle the funny bone it hits it hard and rubs it for you afterwards.

Review: Dry Bones Rising at Venus Theatre

Reviews May 24, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

When the walls fell down and everything ended; the bones rose out of the dirt. An epic poem, not your traditional format for what comes to the stage as theatre, but in keeping true to the mission statement of Venus Theatre, company founder Deborah Randall opens Dry Bones Rising, script #52 and the second of the 15th season, on the stage and it calls to mind more than just poetry in motion.

Review: Dream Island at Baltimore Theatre Project

Reviews May 22, 2015 Paul Davis

When I was a lad there was an anime called Paranoia Agent that questioned all perception of reality and illusion. The music was hypnotic and jarring, harmonies clashing with sharp metallic screeches and traditional Noh theater horns and strings. The theme song is called “Dream Island: Obsessional Park.” Baltimore Theatre Project’s exquisite moving work of art, Dream Island, Directed by Naoko Maeshiba, and created by the entire team (listed below) is an obsessional park where dreams are shredded and collaged together in a papier-mãchè sculpture of light,