What do you do to make your friends so supportive? Chaos. Agony. Emotions. Destruction. A disconnected final note from a disturbed playwright at the end of her wits? Or a wildly animated look inside the notion of psychosis in its final stages of enlightened madness. Be the judge yourself as Iron Crow Theatre kicks off its 2014/2015 season with Sarah Kane’s last work 4.48 Psychosis. Often interpreted as the playwright’s suicide note,
Living. Dead. Or undecided. Family is still family, and when you’re an Addams, you’re obligated to the clan! It’s time to catch a case of the creepies and the kookies up at the Milburn Stone Theatre as they present the North East Maryland premier of The Addams Family the musical. Directed by S. Lee Lewis with Musical Direction by Shane Jensen, this all-too familiar musical with Music and Lyrics by Andrew Lippa and Book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice is pleasing audiences up and down the coast.
Don’t cry out now, Washington DC! The truth is they never left you! Returning home to the nation’s capital are area acting natives Caroline Bowman and Sean MacLaughlin in Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Tony Award-Winning musical Evita. Rounding out the American end of this Rainbow Tour their final destination is The John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. Directed by Michael Grandage with Musical Direction by Robert Meffe,
Everybody lies. Shakespeare was teaching it long before House. In a newly adapted physical translation of the Bard’s greatest tragedy, Off the Quill presents their interpretation of Hamlet: Believe None of Us. Fully formulating the quote of “oh what tangled webs we weave when we practice to deceive,” this new dance-based performance has all of the recognizable quotes and characters but with a few major plot altering elements that may leave you questioning what exactly happened to the crowned Prince of Denmark.
Some chase. Some run. The game of life might really just be a game of cat and mouse as Arena Stage proves with their uproarious new comedy that launches their 2014/2015 season into full gear. The world premier of the biting and gripping comedy The Shoplifters makes its debut upon the Kreeger Theater stage at the Mead Center for the Arts with rapturous laughter that will leave your side sore,
You’re innocent when you dream. And if we are such stuff that dreams are made on than perhaps are all but mere innocent mortals; pawns in the great scheme of a Fairy’s game. The inaugural production of Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s first season in their new home in Baltimore City kicks off with a dreamy bang. A visual delight, an aural treat, an experience to savor; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, now directed by company Artistic Director Ian Gallanar,
Jumpin’ Jehoshaphats! Annie Get Your Gun is barrelin’ its way over the stage of The Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre this fall season! Shoot, it’s a surefire thing that in this heartless world of glitter and grease paint there’s no business like show business and what better way to experience that than with the original show business love story between Miss Annie Oakley and Mister Frank Butler? Darn tootin’ it’s a good thing!
Rapunzel! Rapunzel! Let down your hair! The classic fairytale that has transcended time with its whimsical tale of the maiden trapped high in the tower with long golden hair now appears with a big screaming *POOF* at the The Puppet Company at Glen Echo Park to start their fall season on their main stage. Performed solo by company co-founded Christopher Piper, this children’s fairytale classic is a fascinating engagement into the world of puppetry.
It’s the bottom of the 9th; the bases are loaded with two outs and the home team trailing by four. Up to the plate is 1st Stage’s first production of their seventh season— Take Me Out— an exceptionally moving and poignant drama that will smash home a win for theatergoers all across Washington. Directed by Doug Wilder, this intensely relevant and exceptionally well-written play stirs deep emotions in theatre and sports lovers everywhere.
Follow me to a place where enchantment is real and fairytales thrive and grow. The stories are familiar and the characters are a squeal, it’s the only place you can go— Pumpkin Theatre for a full season of princes and princesses in this their 47th season. Starting off with the classic tale of magic and a princess, Pumpkin Theatre is proud to present their production of Aladdin. Directed by Stacey Needle,
A mighty great adventure awaits audiences of all sizes at Adventure Theatre-Musical Theatre Center this fall! The 63rd season kicks off with a jubilant squeak as Stuart Little takes to the stage. Based on the award-winning literary classic by E. B. White and adapted to the stage by Joseph Robinette, the story of a shy and thoughtful mouse who lives with his human family in New York City is perfect for children of all ages.
Are we ever interested in anything but ourselves? If one can be interested in something other than ones’ self for just a moment, take interest in the Silver Spring Stage production of Yasmina Reza’s God of Carnage. Translated by Christopher Hampton and Directed by Adam R. Adkins, this viscerally biting comedy displays the inner child in four seemingly sophisticated adults. As their children come to blows on the playground and how to handle the situation is discussed,
Beauty is a function but there is more to life than glittery things. The raw and striking humanity that is viciously exposed beneath the opalescent and lavish lifestyle of the spoiled queen of France kicks off Season 35 at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. Marie Antoinette, a revolutionary work written by David Adjmi, is starting off the season with an illustrious bang. Lavish extravagance never looked so good as it does strutting down the stage at Woolly but in the eyes of the masses such expenditures have their price.
A note of music is either right or wrong; not even time can change that. Centerstage is hitting notes of marvelous perfection as they launch their 52nd season with a resplendent production of Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus. Directed by Artistic Director Kwame Kwei-Armah, the epic masterpiece of one man’s struggle against God comes to Baltimore in time to welcome in the autumn days. The tale is invigorating; a stunning exposure to the raw humanity that drives mortal men to unspeakable sins all spurned from jealousy.
Pain. Illness. Death. These are all parts of our lives. All too often the socially unacceptable topics along these lines creep in unnoticed and are swept away into taboos. Suicide becomes one of those un-discussable topics, the white elephant in the room as it were. The founding Artistic Director of Wolf Pack Theatre Company is pushing to change that convention with a brand new work entitled Masquerade. Playwright and Director William Leary embarks on a journey with a cast of six to create an honest conversation about the topic of suicide with his compelling new work;
Ladies and Gentlemen! Step right up and come on down! You’re the next contestant on Game Show! Taglined as “The Comedy You Play” The Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre kicks off their 53rd season with a unique audience interactive show. Directed by Kristen Cooley, this zany participatory program keeps the audience laughing and involved in a real live game show while a melodramatic comic plot unwinds around the host and all the members of the production team.
Well, Hockadoo! Don’t touch that dial, you good folks of Baltimore and Washington DC because coming to you straight from the center of Toby’s Dinner Theatre of Columbia is the regional premier of the smashing Broadway sensation Memphis. Winner of four Tony Awards, including Best Musical, this stunning tale of underground rock & roll and rhythm & blues comes exploding onto the stage at Toby’s with electrifying choreography,
How do you document real life when real life’s getting more like fiction each day? The Phoenix Festival Theatre is documenting the musical that captures that essential message with spectacular brilliance in their current production of Jonathan Larson’s Rent. Directed by Laurie Starkey with Musical Direction by Terri Mathews, this timeless musical of life, love, and humanity comes roaring to life straight off the stage in Harford County with punch,
Love’s all very well but in the hands of people it all turns to soup. There is a delicious soup like no other presented in the form of Broadway’s 8-Tony Award-Winning musical Once making it’s Baltimore debut at the Hippodrome Theatre as a part of the 2014-2015 Broadway Across America— CareFirst Hippodrome Broadway series. Stunning music and lyrics by Glen Hansard and Markèta Irglovà and book by Enda Walsh,
Just like the tides that crash into Annapolis harbor, the Bay Theatre Company is on its way back into town. Alive and kicking, though currently not producing, the company is endeavoring to raise a fund to get back up on their feet and wants the public to be aware. After a successful, albeit brief, run of Theresa Rebeck’s Bad Dates back in January, the company hosted a one-evening-only staged reading of an uproarious comedy Four Weddings and an Elvis,
They’re the 1342 Dupont Circle Heroes! And they are appearing for a limited run engagement at the Greenbelt Arts Center. An evocative story of humanity and human nature written by Cheryl Poole, this one-act production is a striking performance that touches the deepest part of the audience’s souls. Directed by Gregory Poole, the story follows the memories of a quartet of men— self-proclaimed the Dupont Circle Heroes— a bumpy stumble down memory lane to a darker time that may have all but escaped their minds as time left them in the past.
It has happened before. It will happen again. Cats. Souls. Revenge. Samurai. Venus Theatre is taking a daring new leap in the middle of ‘Fierce14’ with their 49th production. Unlike anything previously staged at the Playshack, Director Deborah Randall is giving Daria Marinelli’s We Are Samurai its regional premier. As a promenade style performance, this ensemble piece takes place in five different locations set both inside and outside the theatre;
What is it that binds us to other human beings? On what do we base our friendships with others? And can something as insignificant as a disagreement in artistic tastes be the basis for ending a deep and lasting relationship with a best friend? All of these questions are answered as the Vagabond Players mount their 99th season with a production of Yasmina Reza’s Art. Directed by Howard Berkowitz,
Ladies and gentlemen! Step right up! The circus has come to town! Only, not exactly. Hold onto your brain-balls, it’s about to get a little bit “thinky” over at Single Carrot Theatre as they launch the first production of a brand new initiative called their ‘Featured Second Series.’ Existing outside of the Carrots’ 8th season, this second series will serve as a theatrical incubator; a safe space for shows that take big risks on tiny budgets.
Mysteries of appearances. Deceptions of the heart. Androgynies of the soul. These are no longer dated topics held applicable to only women of the Jewish faith. As Theater J opens its 18th season with an invigorating and refreshing new production of Yentl, theatergoers are compelled to reflect upon the change for everyone that this particular show inspires. Directed by Shirley Serotsky with Musical Direction by Jonathan Tuzman, this strikingly beautiful tale is a remarkable work,
Silence is not beautiful. Understudies are not bitter. Silence is a failure of words; silence is defeat. And understudies are real actors that are failed to be recognized in light of a big name draw to a Broadway show. This riveting and uproarious concept, albeit completely true, is wrapped up in Everyman Theatre’s production of Theresa Rebeck’s The Understudy. Directed by Joseph W. Ritsch, this exciting dramadey is more than just a metaplay about real life actors and Kafka.
Advice is free. If it doesn’t fit you can always return it. And just like any shopping endeavor, good advice is often hard to find. Prince George’s Little Theatre is a great place to go looking for it in their production of Brighton Beach Memoirs, the first of three shows in the 55th season. A poignantly witty, well received , emotionally touching comedy, the family featured in the Neil Simon classic puts the ‘fun’ in dysfunctional.
With every ending comes a new beginning and that’s exactly what is swinging into town up at The Milburn Stone Theatre as they present Tarzan, the stage musical based on the epic Disney film. With book by David Henry Hwang, and Music and Lyrics by Phil Collins, this catchy family show is filled with fun for everyone. Directed by Bambi Johnson, this production is quickly earning a spot in the hearts of audiences everywhere.
When one takes a vacation the last thing one thinks about is work, generally speaking. But when you work in and around the theatre it is hard not to enjoy the chance to see performance at an out of town venue. Especially when it’s the only little Improv Troupe in all of Bar Harbor— if not the whole of Mount Desert Island up in Maine. Ten years in the running, ImprovAcadia has a brilliant little hybrid form show that they have compiled right in the main thoroughfare of downtown Bar Harbor.
Light and darkness make fools both of the eyes. But it is oft better to live in the bliss of darkness than in the harsh intelligence of the light for once a thing is known and learned it can never be unknown. The Rude Mechanicals illustrate this concept with exception as their bring their 2014 Capital Fringe Festival production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth: The Instruments of Darkness to the Greenbelt Arts Center for a limited five show engagement.