Articles Tagged With: Marsha Norman

The Secret Garden at Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church

Reviews March 10, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

Come spirit! Come charm! Come days that are warm! Come magical spell— they will help you get well! Come to their garden for the most extraordinary theatrical experience that is so stunning, so professional, and so polished you’ll find it hard to believe that it’s a community organization and playing in a church nonetheless! The Secret Garden now live in living color is appearing through the weekend of March 17th with the Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church and it is beyond remarkable,

The Bridges of Madison County at Signature Theatre

Reviews August 25, 2023 Amanda N. Gunther

This is Albany… This is Buffalo… This is Shirlington… Not an original planned stop on the train that Francesca took with Bud on their way to Winterset, Iowa. But The Bridges of Madison County is stopping in Shirlington, Virginia for a few weeks (through September 17th 2023) as the main-stage musical opener to their 23/24 season. Jason Robert Brown’s haunting score wending through the rolling book by Marsha Norman, based on the novel by Robert James Waller,

Home Before You Know It: An Interview with Julia Wheeler Lennon on Signature Theatre’s The Bridges of Madison County

Interviews August 5, 2023 Amanda N. Gunther

They’ll be home before you know it! And by home we mean back to the stage— the live stage, Max Theatre at Signature to be specific. Signature Theatre launches its 2023/2024 season with the 2013 Broadway musical— The Bridges of Madison County, with music & lyrics by Jason Robert Brown and book by Marsha Norman. Based on the 1992 novel of the same name by Robert James Waller, Bridges (as it is affectionally referred to in the theatre world) won the 2014 Tony Awards for Best Original Score and Best Orchestrations— after the show had closed on Broadway.

Unveiling What’s Inside: An Interview with Kaiyla Gross on The Color Purple at Signature Theatre

Interviews July 25, 2022 Amanda N. Gunther

“It take a grain of love to make a mighty tree. Even the smallest voice can make a harmony.” ~ “The Color Purple” from the musical of the same title, soon to be opening the 2022-2023 season at Signature Theatre. A powerful show, with book by Marsha Norman, and music & lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray, based on the 1982 novel by Alice Walker and its 1985 film adaptation, this striking musical has the potential to be a dynamite way to open Signature’s new season.

‘Night Mother at Strand Theatre

Reviews September 30, 2018 Amanda N. Gunther

Things don’t have to be true to talk about them. In fact, that’s why some people like to talk— gossip and fake news, and really anything they can jabber about, just to make noise. People make noise— with their mouths, with their words— because they can’t cope with silence. They can’t deal with quiet. But what if all you want is quiet? What if all you need is silent? In the harrowing Tony Award &

The Bridges of Madison County at Dundalk Community Theatre

Reviews October 30, 2017 Andrew Worthington

The movie-turned musical has become a prevalent trend in today’s world, but The Bridges of Madison County is unlike most musicals in the same family; it breaks the mold and offers the audience an emotional, rich story filled with phenomenal music. Based on Robert James Waller’s 1992 novel, which was adapted into the 1995 film starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood, The Bridges of Madison County is a rich, profound love story that transcends the page,

Review: The Secret Garden at Shakespeare Theatre Company

Reviews November 25, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

When a thing is wick it has life about it— just come to the garden and you’ll see— The Secret Garden now appearing in Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Sidney Harman Hall. Blooming with beauty and bursting with vibrant life, this newly envisioned production of Marsha Norman’s book & lyrics and Lucy Simon’s music based on Frances Hodgson Burnett’s novel, is a sensational and mesmerizing musical experience. Directed by David Armstrong with Musical Direction by Rick Fox,

Review: The Bridges of Madison County at The Kennedy Center

Reviews July 6, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

Striking and inspiring beauty isn’t just in the covered-bridge landscape of Winterset, Iowa. It’s possessed wholeheartedly in the stellar music of Jason Robert Brown’s The Bridges of Madison County musical, now appearing live on stage in the Eisenhower Theatre of The John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. Based on the novel by Robert James Waller with Book by Marsha Norman, Brown’s stunning score of the heart-melting and utterly emotionally mesmerizing love story is populated with bittersweet poignancy and the closest thing to true American Opera the stage has heard since the 80’s.

Review: The Secret Garden at Colonial Players

Reviews April 14, 2016 John Nunemaker 3 Comments

When I was younger I read the book The Secret Garden. A few years later I watch the movie when it was released so I was very excited to get to see the musical adaptation of the story. Walking into the theatre at The Colonial Players of Annapolis I was transported by the stage decorations, painting, and lighting of their production of The Secret Garden with Book and Lyrics by Marsha Norman and Music by Lucy Simon.

Review: The Secret Garden at Centerstage

Reviews November 10, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Come to the garden for all that’s good and true. Blossoming and flourishing with spectacular success the first musical of the 2015/2015 season at Centerstage is a rare and wondrous flower blooming up through the floorboards of Centerstage’s Pearlstone Theater. Ripe with vibrant visuals, succulent sounds, and an overall mesmerizing aesthetic, The Secret Garden is a tragically beautiful and hauntingly gorgeous musical that spellbinds the audience from the moment it greets the audience with its tale.

Pondering Playwrights: An Interview with Mark Scharf on Fortune’s Child

Interviews January 16, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Everyone dies; it is a fact of life. Fortune’s Child, a new work by Baltimore area playwright Mark Scharf has made its debut at the Baltimore Theatre Project this winter season of 2015. In a TheatreBloom exclusive interview, I’ve sat down with the playwright to discuss the work and what it is meant to tell the audiences who see it about living life.

Thank you for taking the time to sit down with the readers of TheatreBloom for this interview,