Articles Tagged With: Jim Knost

Twelfth Night at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews November 4, 2022 Joshua Bermont

In a modern context, the production of William Shakespeare’s works largely hangs upon the performers’ ability to voice these verses in such a way that the audience not only instantly and instinctually understands their meaning, but may also benefit from their specific notes of humor, tragedy, etc. In this sense, Spotlighters Theatre’s Twelfth Night – the classic gender-bending romantic comedy – is a decidedly mixed bag.

The older generation of performers seem to know exactly what they’re doing here,

Lysistrata at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews September 27, 2018 Amanda N. Gunther

War! Huh! Good God! What is it good for? The age old question that is as relevant now as it was 2400 years ago when Aristophanes took words to parchment and penned Lysistrata. The classic Greek comedy where women hole themselves up in the Acropolis and refuse sex to the men until they end the war finds a retooling with a new translation by Sarah Ruden. Opening the 57th Season— A Season of Strong Voices— at The Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre,

The Wizard of Oz at Charm City Players

Reviews July 11, 2018 Angel Duque

Charm City Players ends their 5th season by showing us all that there is no place like home in this timeless classic, The Wizard of Oz. Based on L. Frank Baum’s popular series, with music and lyrics of the MGM motion picture score by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg, background music by Herbert Stothart, and book adaptation by John Kane from the motion picture screenplay. Director Stephen Napp takes us over the rainbow into the merry old land of Oz,

Patience at The Victorian Lyric Opera Company

Reviews June 11, 2018 Rachel Zirkin Duda

What happens when you combine beauty, love, poetry, song, and satire? You get Patience – an operetta poking fun at the European Aesthetic Movement of the late 19th century – written by the famous composing duo Gilbert and Sullivan. This witty production is now being performed at the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre in Rockville, MD by the Victorian Lyric Opera Company, directed by Felicity Ann Brown, with musical direction by Joseph Sorge.

Titanic: In Concert at Heritage Players

Reviews February 10, 2018 Amanda N. Gunther

Sail on! Sail on…great ship. Godspeed, Titanic. (in concert!) In a bold and ambitious move, and an unprecedented trend in the area’s community theatre scene, The Heritage Players launch the first “in-concert” musical production on their stage of the 2018 season with their floating city Titanic: In Concert. Directed by David Jennings with Musical Direction by David Zajic, this “concert-plus” experience is the ship of dreams for any community theatre.

Three Penny Opera at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews January 19, 2017 Amanda N. Gunther

The line forms, on the right, babe— now that Macheath is back in town! The Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre is sending scarlet billowing all over the stage, kicking off 2017 with a flash of those pearly white sharks teeth as they bring the iconic Bertolt Brecht adaptation, The Three Penny Opera to the stage. Directed (with new editing, adapting, and translating) by Michael Blum with Musical Direction by Erica Rome, this poor man’s opera is certain to put the tingles up your spine.

Review: The Shoemaker’s Holiday at Baltimore Shakespeare Factory

Reviews November 13, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther 1 Comment

Hey, ho! Baltimore— take heed! Take all in good worth what is intended, which is nothing but mirth, of course! How could it be anything but merriment and entertainment at this time of year? Baltimore Shakespeare Factory is embarking upon a bold new endeavor— producing for the very first time— a non-Shakespearean production! Debuting a non-Bard classic, though penned most excellently by a contemporary of Shakespeare’s— one Thomas Dekker— BSF brings The Shoemaker’s Holiday to the stage under the hearty Direction of one Tom Delise.

Review: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead at Stillpointe Theatre

Reviews June 19, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

An audience knows what to expect and that is all they are prepared to believe in. Such a premise as this is where the initial notion of “suspending one’s disbelief” came from, and thus theatrical extemporanea, et. al and so forth. When playwright Tom Stoppard dared the audience to believe in his tertiary character-exploration of Hamlet, he had no idea that Stillpointe Theatre would be putting their hands all over Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead in only a way that this innovative,

Sensational! Volume III: An Interview with Director Michael Blum and Musical Director Erica Rome

Interviews September 25, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Something sensational is cooking up over at The Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre. Gilbert before Sullivan! Unheard of, right? This fascinating work marks the American premier of A Sensation Novel: A Musical Play in Three Acts, that was previously lost to time. In Volume III of the TheatreBloom exclusive interview series, we sit down with Director Michael Blum and Musical Director Erica Rome, conceptual artists who have worked to reconstruct the missing pieces of Gilbert’s work and get it up on its feet as the opening show of the Spotlighters 2015/2016 season.

Sensational! Volume I: An interview with Sensation Novel Player Jim Knost

Interviews September 21, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

To be a sensation novel author is a most fascinating thing indeed. To play a wicked baronet who isn’t all that wicked is also a curious subject. To play both in one show— and not just any show but the American premier of a Gilbert before Sullivan play is a great honor and sensational experience. In an exclusive TheatreBloom Interview series, we’ve sat down with Baltimore area performer Jim Knost to find out just what it’s like to play in and write the sensation novel in the musical performance of A Sensation Novel: A Musical Play in Three Acts,

Review: A Sensation Novel at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews September 14, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Piece together, for a moment if you can imagine, all of the fancy finery that floats to mind when you utter the words Victorian London. Let those images of haughty parlors, high cinched collars, and stodgy outfits with miles of lace drift dreamily through your mind along the delectable operetta-style story telling of W. S. Gilbert. Add the accompaniment of Music by Michael Nash, T. German Reed, and a little hint of Arthur Sullivan.

Review: The Sorcerer at The Salem Players

Reviews May 13, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

A marvelous illusion. A terrible surprise! Who knew that The Salem Players were passing themselves off as a little community theatre when in actuality they were harboring operatic talent in their repitoire? Presenting a rarely seen Gilbert and Sullivan, The Sorcerer takes to the stage at TSP and is really quite the accomplishment. The talent and voices alone that waft off that stage surpass any expectations that come to mind when one thinks of little community theatres,

Much Ado About Nothing at Baltimore Shakespeare Factory

Reviews July 19, 2014 Amanda N. Gunther

Tis indeed summer and that to the world of the Bard means Much Ado About Nothing. And the Baltimore Shakespeare Factory is no exception to that rule as they mount their first in-the-round production this summer. Taking the well recognized comic back to its simplistic basics, the BSF strips away the scenery and all the other convolutions that can often clog-up Shakespeare’s wittiest comedy and present it in its original essence.