What if I told you— you could change the world with just one thought? I think the thought you might think would be “please let me somehow get my hands on some tickets to see Big Fish at Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre.” And it’s going to take a miracle to get your hands on those because the run is sold out. And rightfully so, the show itself is stupendous, thoroughly engaging, emotionally invested,
author: Mark Briner
City life in the Metropolitan DC to Baltimore corridor can be harsh. We’re pulled in a hundred directions by work, family, and myriads of other obligations when sometimes just want to unplug, relax, and run away from it all. The good news is it doesn’t matter where you are or what time it is because, as they say on Island time, “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere”, and this month, that magical hour is tucked away in the heart of downtown historic Annapolis in a courtyard inside a little historic building right on the harbor amidst the multitude of docked yachts and rooftop bars.
One thing’s universal! Life’s no dress rehearsal! And they are certainly making waves before it’s through! Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre has indeed built a prom! For everyone! And they’re showing us— it can be done! Kicking off the 2024 season under the stars, ASGT is bringing The Prom to life with its powerful, important message and it’s a real glittering spectacle well worth attending. Directed and Musical Directed by David Merrill, with Choreography by Elysia Merrill,
In the summer of 1984, a little movie with a big soundtrack took the world by storm and launched a young up and coming leading man (for whom at the time you’d be pressed to find movie connections of two degrees) into the stratosphere as the ubiquitous megastar Kevin Bacon. Filling out the cast with veteran actors like John Lithgow and Dianne Weist along with breakout performances from young actors like Lori Singer and Sarah Jessica Parker,
Delicious, well-seasoned, and rare. And a big enough portion to share! Bring me all of the heartache, a small side of woe— that flavor of longing that I long to know— yes I’d order love! Well, maybe that’s a tall order for a— *gasp* First Date! But it happens. Sometimes. Almost never. But sometimes!! The fairytales we all grew up on, the soap operas and prime-time dramas we’re all addicted to— the fiction books and even the musical librettos.
First impressions, wearing the right thing, not saying the wrong thing, and all the butterflies, nausea, and chaos that typically accompanies a first date. We’ve had them. (Most of the waking world that is.) Most of us can even remember a disastrous first date. And now Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre, for it’s mid-season musical, is premiering First Date that low-key musical that debuted on Broadway a decade ago, starring that young girl who had just finished originating Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family musical.
I had no choice— but to hear you. You stated your case time and again. I thought about it—
I’m in the wrong story. Wait one moment please!
There is a Prince…well, princesses? And falling flags. And a non-binary Olympian (in the sense of the Gods on high not in the sense of gold-medal-winning…though the gold Doric dress of the shiniest lamé all the way from the Amazon is certainly prize-worthy!) and calamity and chaos and a good time.
“Joy and sorrow never last, I’ll die trying not to live in the past”
Banjos, bluegrass, and bright dreams grace the stage at Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre this summer with their production of Bright Star. Playing now through July 23rd, appropriately under the bright stars shining over Annapolis in the summery open air, Bright Star will delight audiences with its wholehearted Americana folksy twang.
Bright Star follows the tales of a young aspiring writer just back from war who seeks out the approval of a stern but talented editor-in-chief with an aspirational past of her own.
Everybody wants a thrill! And while every rose may have its thorn— Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre is serving up flawless 80’s glam-metal reality with their stunning production of Rock Of Ages. Directed & Musically Directed by Shane Jensen with Choreography by Pauline Lamb, Kaya Harrison, Meghan McCarthy, Caitlyn Ruth McClellan, & Tia Silver, this jukebox musical featuring all those iconic 80’s rocker songs will have you bouncing along in your seat from beginning to end as these wannabe rockstars sing their souls out and ROCK to save The Bourbon Room on the Sunset Strip in the mid-to-late 80’s.
There’s a brand new sound goin’ ‘round the world and it’s going to ‘altar’ your mind! It’s the Altar Boyz live in living color at the Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre and they’re going ‘altar’ your mind for sure! Directed by Mark Briner with Musical Direction by Ken Kimble and Choreography by Becca Vourvoulas, this poppy, enthusiastic musical will spin your head right round, get your feet stomping on the ground, and really get you down on your knees— praising along with these altar boys!
Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre opens their 2018 season with a bang—literally—in the madcap musical version of Woody Allen’s Academy Award winning film Bullets Over Broadway. When an up and coming playwright is paired with the financial backing of the underworld, expect all the standard screwball hijinx of the Roaring 20’s told with the sounds of the Jazz Age hit parade. Armed with a book by Woody Allen (adapted form his Academy Award nominated original screenplay with Douglas McGrath) and a score,
The first rule of singing is to get those rafters ringing! And you can bet all the dollars in the collection plate that if Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre had rafters they would surely be ringing with all the wonderful singing that’s coming out of their current production of Sister Act. They’d raise the roof— if they had one— with the joyous noise these sensational sisters are making, under the fine Direction of Clare Shaffer and Musical Direction of Paige Rammelkamp.
The cast is great, the script is swell, but this I’m telling you, sirs. It’s just no go, you’ve got no show without The Producers! And Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre has got a show because they’ve got The Producers as the final offering of their 50th Anniversary season this summer. The iconic Mel Brooks musical arrives at Annapolis’ own theatre under the stars venue under the Direction of Jerry Vess with Musical Direction by Anita O’Connor.
525,600 minutes— that’s how you measure a last year on earth. And Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre is measuring the second slot of their 50th Anniversary season with their production of Rent, which is currently celebrating its 20th Anniversary of debuting on Broadway. Directed by Andy Scott, with Musical Direction Paige Austin Rammelkamp, this moving and evocative musical about real life in New York City circa the early 90’s is more relevant now than ever in a world that cannot seem to realize there is no day but today.
The year is 1985! The hair is big. The greed is good. The collars are up. And love is in the air. Actually, it’s 2016 and the hair is pretty flat, all things considered, greed is grody, and the collars are thankfully back down where they belong. Love is, however, STILL in the air and more potent than ever as Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre kicks off their 50th season with a production of the 80’s-themed The Wedding Singer.
They’re crazier than you. That’s just the overview. And nothing up ‘til now has proved me wrong. With their wall-climbing spiders, creepy set, and kooky performers, the Annapolis Summer Garden is proving black is the new cool with their current production of The Addams Family. Directed by Debbie Barber-Eaton, with Musical Direction by David Merrill, this spooky production is anything but normal. And that’s perfectly fine as normal is relative— what’s normal for the spider is a calamity for the fly!
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.
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.
Take a stroll through the square of Fells point any evening weekend this fall and you’ll hear the joint is truly jumpin’ over at The Vagabond Players. Their production of Ain’t Misbehavin’ has got the whole of Baltimore tappin’ its toes and stompin’ its feet! TheatreBloom took a quick break from doing the jitterbug waltz and sat down with Director Rikki Howie Lacewell to find out just what this crazy cool cat musical is all about!