Turn your face toward Cockpit in Court…let your memory lead you…open up enter in (to the F. Scott Black Theatre inside the Robert & Eleanor Romadka College Center) you will find there…the meaning of what happiness is… and a new show…will begin. If it was mystical the first time, magical the second, it will certainly be memorable, magnificent— truly Jellicle— the third as Bambi Johnson (who has become synonymous with Andrew Lloyd Webber and T.S.
More than half the cast’s new this year— but the crowd still cheers— opera! They’ve cut out old Growltiger, but dear Griddlebone is pleasantly still here! Had to borrow some other ALW lyrics there…sort of, as we are just thrillified to welcome yet another ‘Tidewater Cat’ to the ‘Return to the Jellicle Ball’ series this year!
Thank you for sitting with us! Remind us who you are, please?
Anne Acerno: I’m Anne Acerno.
Pssp-pssp-pssp-pssp! Heeeere— Etcetera, Etcetera, Etcetera! Ooh— and here she is!
Thank you for joining us— one of the first ‘Tidewater’ Cats to sit with us this season. (A Tidewater Cat is black and white…a Tidewater Cat has moonlit eyes…no seriously, a Tidewater Cat was a part of Cats at Tidewater Players in 2022 and ascended the Heaviside Layer to Cockpit in Court for 2024)— please tell us who you are, who you are playing in this incarnation of Cats and who you were last time as a ‘Tidewater Cat’?
I’m reviewing— the situation! Or as the case may be— the production! Of Oliver! at Tidewater Players this spring. And it is not your grandma’s Oliver! which is arguably one of the best things that can be said for a production of this show, as so many people write it off as either a children’s show or Annie with boys. This production is neither of those things and I’ll raise all the flagons of ale in the tavern in a grateful cheer to that!
“Spit it out, dear. Go on. On the floor. There’s worse things than that down there.” – Mrs. Lovett
And she’s right. In a world where borders are overlooked, people are minimalized, and one pill or another is all you need what ails you, the floor of humanity is riddled with disgust. The Havre de Grace Opera house has found a way to give us a three-hour respite from what lies outside their doors.
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.
With Cats some say one rule is true: get your tickets for Tidewater Players’ production this fall. It is like no other production of Cats ever seen or that will ever be seen. The stunning immersive world of T.S. Eliot and Andrew Lloyd Webber come swirling together in a mystical, magical, Jellicle production directed and choreographed by Bambi Johnson with musical direction by Chris Rose. There are singing cats, there are dancing cats,
“Like the sunflower, I learn to turn my face to the dawn. I am waiting, for the day.” ~Sillabub.
“Growltiger had no eye or ear for aught but Griddlebone, and the Lady seemed enraptured by his manly baritone.” ~Growltiger’s Last Stand.
While the musical number may or may not be included in this current production of Cats (that’s all on ALW and the licensing folk) Griddlebone the Cat as well as Sillabub the cat are both cats who are still a part of Cats.
Well they’ve got dreams and you know they matter— they’re doing their own show and climbing that ladder— that show is finally here it’s on their stage. Two years in the makin’ with the Tidewater Players, it’s a Dolly Parton show and it’s got layers, the spring finale is here and it’s all the rage! Yes it’s 9 to 5; it’s all dancing and all singing— makes you feel alive— with toes tapping and joy ringing— through the audience— get your tickets or you’ll regret it!
It’s time to make a joyful noise and
“Raise Your Voice” for Scottfield Theatre Company and their latest production: Sister Act the Musical! Based on the
film of the same name starring Whoopi Goldberg, this disco fairytale follows
the misadventures of Deloris Van Cartier, a nightclub singer forced into the
Sisterhood after witnessing a crime! Directed by Allan Herlinger with Musical
Direction by Niki Tart and Choreography by Becky Titelman,
Talented performers and lots of new faces, wondrous fun costumes and well lit-up stages, Rogers & Hammerstein for a summertime fling, these are a few of my favorite things! And The JC Summer Community Theatre, now appearing live at The John Carroll School, has them all in their inaugural production of The Sound of Music. Directed and Choreographed by Kimberly Brueggemann, Orchestral Direction by Richard Hauf and Vocal Direction by Bonnie Dubel Burns,