A song so beautiful it brings the world back into tune.
But’s a sad song.
It’s an old song.
And it is finally, finally here at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre!
The train on that long road to hell has arrived, bringing you the epic, Tony Award-winning musical Hadestown. With music, book, & lyrics by Anaïs Mitchell, this stylistically mesmerizing and wondrously refreshing take on an ancient Greek myth will dazzle and amaze,
The Alan Jay Lerner/Frederick Loewe classic My Fair Lady rolled their second leg of the post-Covid national tour into the National Theatre in DC. Originally conceived for Lincoln Center under the masterful eye of Bartlett Sher, the most accomplished director in the business for breathing new air and contemporary relevancy into beloved but dated musicals. Having had great success with such classics as The King & I, South Pacific, Fiddler on the Roof,
They come across my inbox like they always do; a cool drink of water— code for ‘new play’— just asking to be looked over. Not in distress or nothing, see? These ‘new works’ they hold their own. But I wouldn’t be a very good T.I. if I didn’t give it a once over, now would I. T.I.? What’s that? You don’t know? Theatrical Investigator. That’s me— Amanda Gunther, T.I. – and this new one— Craft Town?
Surreal. And yet utterly relatable. Immersive. And yet distantly isolated. Unfathomable. And yet completely imaginable. This paradox of experiences is what awaits the theatrical explorer that could— and should— be you, with Submersive Productions’ latest offering: Katalepsis. Welcome to a world set many generations in the future, where humanity has been wiped from the face of the earth by a virus, and only a precious few— four to be exact— remain, supported by mysterious benefactors,
It’s all true— it’s all true— hilarity will ensue! Down at The Dew Drop Inn— you’ll laugh too— it’s all true! Now granted, my lyrical composition isn’t nearly as hysterical as Jaki Demarest’s when it comes to scribbling together crackpot-laughable words for the 70’s heehaw hoe-down spin-about that happens pretty darn close to the end of Act I with some of the blokes box-stepping ‘round one another in sheer nonsense-grade bliss. Wait— sorry— TIMEWARP!! Back it up— all the waaaay back to the 1970s,
The sickness which no doctor can treat; the wound which can only be healed by the weapon which dealt the blow; Love. Movies, musicals, live-stage performances, television programs, radio dramas— you name it— have all attempted to conquer the subject, explore it or explain it, celebrate it, degrade it, deconstruct it— the path to love in our lives, particularly that interwove into our digestible media, is unending. But never has it felt so real, so relatable,
Hey guys! Sup?! I had the most awesome, freakiest experience last night. Actually, it was a good kind of freaky and I think you should get your freak on too! What am I talking about? Glad you asked! I think you all should come and, well, you know, like chill with the cast and crew of Freaky Friday presented by The Maryland Theatre Collective at The Chesapeake Arts Center in Brooklyn Park. I guarantee you will laugh,
I’m going to be honest. I’m not Adam Sandler’s biggest fan— or even really a fan, period— by any stretch of the imagination. I don’t like most of his movies, I think he thinks he’s funnier than he actually is, and on the whole, although we’re living in the golden “Oprah Era” of musicals (“…you get a musical, you get a musical, you get a musical, everybody gets a musical!”) and this particular one is not ‘new’ per se,
Crisis Mode: Living Pilipino in America at the Strand Theater
“If every Filipino lit a candle at the same time, we would light up the world”
The popular American narrative is one based around how this nation was built on people immigrating to these shores from a variety of other lands in search of work, opportunity, or security (whether by choice or by force). Additionally, the brutal historic reality is that this narrative has always been carefully focused on specific populations at specific points in time,
“You, you, you oughta know”
Typically with “jukebox musicals” we see the use of an album, or collection of songs associated with a band or musical artist, to tell their life story. However, in Jagged Little Pill’s case, Alanis Morissette’s 1995 album of the same name is used to tell not her story, nor even a story set in the same time frame as the album’s release, but rather a modern-day tale of themes that still ring true almost 30 years after the songs were written.
Sixty years ago Harper Lee penned what has become perhaps the quintessential American coming of age novel, the enduring and beloved staple of middle school American Literature curriculums To Kill a Mockingbird, which became in turn one of the most enduring and beloved movies of all time starring Gregory Peck, winner of the Academy Award for his endearing, human portrayal of antihero Atticus Finch trying to make a difference in the morality of the deep South.
Refreshing— (adjective.) ‘Welcome or stimulating because new or different; reinvigorating; to restore by renewing supply.’ Street Lamp Community Theatre’s production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee was thoroughly refreshing because of all the intricate little quirks included to make the production uniquely their own. R-E-F-R-E-S-H-I-N-G. Directed by Jamie DiMaio and Andrew DiMaio, with Musical Direction by LaShelle Bray, and Choreography by Jamie DiMaio, this heartwarming production is absolutely charming, humorous, and the most revitalizing production of Spelling Bee you could ever hope to encounter.
Your majesties! Your majesties! A list of the royal necessities! At the top of that list there simply must be a— ticket or two to see Cinderella! (Youth Edition) at Children’s Playhouse of Maryland! The iconic Rogers & Hammerstein classic is proving that impossible things are happening every day with a score of talented young performers parading all across the stage in their ballroom finest trying to catch the eye of his royal highness Prince Christopher Rupert Windemere Vladimir Karl Alexander Francois Reginald Lancelot Herman— Herman!?
Dead bodies are the worst! Or are they? I mean, is there anything worse than your parents naming you ‘Eyeballs’? Yes. Your parents naming you ‘Pitfall.’ Okay, not literally, but what if you figured out at the ripe old age of 13, which is a challenging age all on its own, that your name translates in Latin to the word ‘eyeballs’ or ‘pitfall’ or worse, ‘depression’? Wouldn’t that be enough to set you spinning into chaos?
“Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?” That is the question that the incredibly talented cast from Dundalk Community Theatre’s Our Town poses to the audience. Written by Thornton Wilder and Directed by Jennifer L. Gusso, this production brings this classic piece to life with a clean and straightforward approach. Set in the small New Hampshire town of Grover’s Corners (Population:2,642) a character referred to only as the Stage Manager helps guide the audience through the multiple stages of small-town life at the start of the 20th century.
Everything that happens to you is your story. How you choose to tell it? And who you let tell it? That’s up to you. A surprising drama with heart and emotional heft, Suzan Zeder’s Do Not Go Gentle is a rarely produced play— at least in these parts— and is currently making its way onto the stage at Spotlighters Theatre. An estranged son? A moody granddaughter? A spastically over-the-top estate agent? And a ghost.
Well, who’d have thought? Well, bless my soul! Well, who’d have guessed? Well, who indeed? That Phoenix Festival Theatre would be sold out before you could be their guest? Just wait and see— standing room at least— that’s all that’s left for their stunning production of Beauty and The Beast. Disney has a funny way of enchanting ticket buyers to purchase tickets before the run even truly gets underway. Good luck finding someone who wants to give up their ticket to this sold-out performance.
The year is 2013. The United States is withdrawing troops from Afghanistan as the Taliban take control; Afghans are fleeing the country.
The year is now 2023. The United States started withdrawing troops from Afghanistan two years ago as the Taliban took control; Afghans are fleeing the country. Again. How can a decade have passed and a harrowing event impacting millions still be happening as if nothing has changed in ten years’ time.
One might have to be a sage of lunacy to willingly sit through a production of Tom Stoppard’s Arcardia, regardless of how strong some of the performances are, or how pretty the costumes, how exquisitely detailed some of the props are. It’s a curious choice for Greenbelt Arts Center to be producing this play, given the unforgiving and unapologetic chauvinistic male dominance in the character who hardly gets much of a comeuppance as he commandeers most of the script— at least in modern times— once his character is introduced.
Every moment is a moment when you’re in the woods. Be careful what you wish for, bring a slotted spoon to catch the potato, and nice is different than good. Direct from Broadway (including an opening weekend surprise of Andy Karl re-joining the company for the weekend), the darkened Sondheim Fairytale launches its National Tour debut from The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Are you ready to go Into The Woods?
“I don’t want to start a riot. I don’t want to blaze a trail. I don’t want to be a symbol or a cautionary tale.” Musical theatre is story first. Always has been. It’s the lyrics in the music which transports the story to the audience and at the end of the day, the story at the heart of The Prom is just about a person wanting to live their life like any other normal person and get to have all the things that any other normal person has.
Stand Up For…Theatre did it!
In the DoodleHATCH!
With a play!
That’s Clue in a nutshell, right? Whodunnit, with what, and where? And that’s what you get with SUFT’s current production of the iconic boardgame-turned-movie-turned-play. Clue, directed by Ed Higgins, is a madcap chase of characters all throughout Boddy Manor in an attempts to solve the age-old question of whodunnit? as the bodies pile up throughout the evening.
I don’t believe it! There’s an American farce!? And it’s here in Baltimore!?!? With a first-time director and at Artistic Synergy of Baltimore!? I don’t believe it! Well, believe it! Because Whose Wives Are The Anyway? an American farce written by Michael Parker is here for a two-weekend engagement with Artistic Synergy and its being directed by first-time-director Cory Bauer. It’s an antics-loaded, shenanigans-laced nonsense show that will certain have you chuckling as the characters trip over one another,
You mustn’t cheat your readers. Ever. Or in this case, your theatergoers. Worry not, attendees of Other Voices Theatre, the current production of Misery won’t cheat you out of anything. This thrilling, edgy, and suspenseful drama— with the subtle flavoring of a dark comedy— may be a departure from the usual productions offered by the company but it’s a stellar performance that is brilliantly set down for an intense two hours’ stage traffic.
Tony Kushner’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Angels in America, was ambitious in 1993, taking on difficult subject matter, and the Maryland Ensemble Theatre is ambitious to take on such a challenging production. ‘Set in the mid-1980s amid the AIDS crisis and the Regan administration, the characters struggle with life and death, love and sex, heaven and hell’*. Originally intended for a season three years ago but sidelined by COVID, Angels now marks the MET’s 150th production overall and falls during its 25th anniversary,
What do you get when you mix three actors clad in colored and patterned tights, a giant prop box filled with an assortment of goodies, and a script full of comic gold? Hilarity, that’s what. Baltimore’s Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s (CSC) production of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) [Revised] [Again] opened to a boisterous house, complete with a swanky after-party in their upstairs lounge.
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) was conceived and written by Adam Long,
If you reach for the stars, all you get are the stars, but The Suburban Players of St. Demetrios have found a whole new spin! They have reached for the heavens— and they got the stars thrown in! Their current production of Mary Poppins is heartwarming, impressive, loaded with love and with talent, and above all it’s— Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! That fantastical nonsense word which means great joy, fantabulosity, and all things wonderfully excellent! Produced by Smaro Cook &
Do you hear the people sing? Do you hear the distant drums? It is the future that they bring when tomorrow comes! And tomorrow has finally arrived once again in Baltimore as the critically acclaimed national tour of Les Miserables arrives in Charm City, gracing the stage of The Hippodrome Theatre in The France-Merrick Performing Arts Center. The music is both iconic and memorable; the story is powerful and timeless. And this current national tour— a Cameron Mackintosh and NETWORKS presentation— is of the finest quality,
Teaching the world new ways to dream. But what happens when the shimmering gold of dreams fades to a distant silver of memory. Age comes for us all in the end does it not? The tragically beautiful and strikingly dramatic score of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard is sweeping the stage of the Eisenhower at The Kennedy Center this February as a part of the Broadway Center Stage series. With book & lyrics by Don Black &
Men are all dissemblers, liars, deceivers! Or something like it, so says playwright Hannah Cowley, author of The Belle’s Stratagem. Not to be confused with The Beaux’ Stratagem, by George Farquhar (though if you stick around in a few weeks’ time, you may see exactly that show on The Rude Mechanicals’ stage!) Belle hit Drury Lane in 1780 whereas Beaux debuted quite a few decades before (and at Theatre Royal) in 1707.