Articles Tagged With: Rachel Sandler

Spring Awakening at Maryland Theatre Collective

Reviews July 15, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

There is no doubt that they are going to wound you; they are going to be your bruise. Viscerally evocative and emotionally stunning, Maryland Theatre Collective closes out their season with Spring Awakening, a musical by Duncan Sheik with Book & Lyrics by Steven Sater based on the play by Frank Wedekind. Directed & Choreographed by Tommy Malek with Musical Direction by Rachel Sandler, this gloriously impactful musical is a gut-punch for the ages with a stellar cast,

The company of Falsettos at MTC ???? Matthew Peterson

Falsettos at The Maryland Theatre Collective

Reviews April 22, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

Sex and games in Brooklyn Park— gotta be played with flare and passion! Songs and dance at Chesapeake Arts (Center)— gotta be played with flare and passion! Welcome to Falsettoland! It’s so much more than just a ‘march of the Falsettos’ it’s the whole damn show— Falsettos— a half-decade in the making for The Maryland Theatre Collective, currently in residence at CAC. This brilliant production is the perfect close to their first,

Falsettos at Maryland Theatre Collective in rehearsal at sitzprobe

Please Come To Our House: An Interview With Tommy Malek & Rachel Sandler On Maryland Theatre Collective’s Falsettos

Interviews April 15, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

“It’s a song I was waiting to hear so long, so long ago.”

Five years in the making— a show that was planned and cast and ready to go before the pandemic, now finally appearing on the Maryland Theatre Collective Stage— Falsettos is rounding out MTC’s first full season in production and it’s a proper doozy well worth investigating! In a few minutes following their sitzprobe, Director and Musical Director Rachel Sandler and Associate Director and Performer Tommy Malek sat down to discuss the production and how thrilled they both are to finally be getting it up on its feet for an audience in 2024.

(L-R) Omar A. Said (Panch), Beth Amann (Rona Lisa), B.J. Robertson (Mitch), Taylor Litofsky (Logainne), Cera Baker (Marcy), Preston Grover (Chip), Sam Slottow (Leaf), Lila Cooper (Olive), and Stephen Emery (Barfée) in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, presented by Compass Rose Theater ????

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Compass Rose Theater

Reviews March 16, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

Charming— (adjective) ‘Extremely pleasing or delightful.’ Compass Rose Theater is now producing the most charming production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee I think I can ever recall seeing— and that’s saying something as I’ve covered it over a dozen times in as many years, including just a month ago elsewhere! C-H-A-R-M-I-N-G. Directed & Choreographed by Tommy Malek with Musical Direction by Rachel Sandler, this feel-good, upbeat, absolutely adorable musical is perfectly parsed in the intimate staging space that Compass Rose Theater has at Maryland Hall;

Rent at Iron Crow Theatre

Reviews January 25, 2024 Leonard Taube

By now most of us have heard of the musical RENT and may have even seen a production (or more), and/or possibly even caught the movie version of Jonathan Larson’s brilliant masterpiece which chronicles the lives of several struggling young artists/activists/musicians in New York set against the backdrop of the AIDS epidemic. With roots loosely in the 1896 opera La Boheme, Larson’s tale is set in the then-thriving Alphabet City in Lower Manhattan’s East Village in New York.

Ragtime in concert at Maryland Theatre Collective ???? Matthew Peterson

Ragtime at Maryland Theatre Collective

Reviews November 1, 2023 Mark Briner

At the turn of the 20th century, a new music emanating from African-American urban communities began creeping into mainstream culture for the first of what eventually became many times over the course of the century. But in 1975, E.L. Doctorow used this musical form as a metaphor for not only the infusion of African-American influences into the white musical world, but for the changes in emerging racial presences that forced drastic social and class struggle,

Freaky Friday at The Maryland Theatre Collective

Reviews March 28, 2023 Leonard Taube

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,

Head Over Heels at Iron Crow Theatre

Reviews December 10, 2022 Leonard Taube

Listen up folks! Have you got “the beat”? No? Well then you better get your tickets and pay a visit to The Baltimore Theatre Project in Baltimore where resident company Iron Crow Theatre is putting on Head Over Heels, a jukebox musical comedy based on the songs of the 1980’s female rock bad The Go-Go’s. But before we talk about the show, we must talk about both the company and the venue,

Rent at The Heritage Players

Reviews July 15, 2022 Amanda N. Gunther

Christmas bells are ringing! Christmas bells are singing! Somewhere else— Bal-ti-more! That’s right, the Christmas bells— from Jonathan Larson’s Rent are ringing (in July, no less!) at The Heritage Players, set currently in The Chesapeake Arts Center’s black box theatre. Directed and Choreographed by Tommy Malek with Musical Direction by Rachel Sandler, Rent is an iconic tale from the musical theatre canon which reminds us all of how precious life truly is,

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes at The Heritage Players

Reviews February 21, 2020 Amanda N. Gunther

Baltimore is full of theatre shows; some comedies, some with
duels, but I prefer a company that produces flashy jewels! A show on your stage
might be quite continental— but “in concerts” are your new best friend! At
least, they are for The Heritage Players this winter. On their third annual “musical
in concert” The Heritage Players breathes new life into a golden oldie— Gentlemen
Prefer Blondes. Directed and Choreographed by Tommy Malek (with Lori
Struss-Weatherly),

Terrifying Thrills with Baltimore Theatre Collective’s Creepy Kooky Cabaret

News November 14, 2019 Amanda N. Gunther

They’re being pulled in a new direction! Quite literally in
all senses imaginable too! Baltimore Theatre Collective, formerly known as The
Purple Light Theatre Company, has progressed into its next phase of life, now
under the auspices of Baltimore Theatre Collective. And just as their first
major cabaret was attempting to get underway, a snag in their original performance
venue pulled them right over to Genesis Arts, a dance studio in Columbia’s Red
Branch corridor.

Sweeney Todd at The Heritage Players

Reviews March 8, 2019 Amanda N. Gunther

Attend the tale of Sweeney
Todd. The opening line should be enough to entice anyone to visit this dark
and bloody Sondheim event at The Heritage Players. The second in their annual “musical
theatre concert” series, this year’s devious stage offering is none other than
the bloody demon barber of fleet street. Sweeney
Todd, Directed by John Gary Pullen with Musical Direction by David Zajic,
and Vocal Direction by Sharen Camille,

The Company of ASoB's 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Artistic Synergy of Baltimore

Reviews February 28, 2019 Amanda N. Gunther

Miraculous— (adjective.)
“performed by or involving a supernatural power or agency. Of the nature of a
miracle; marvelous. Having or seeming to have the power to work miracles.” This
current production of The 25th
Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a miraculous show put forth by
Artistic Synergy. M-I-R-A-C-U-L-O-U-S. Produced
by Melissa Broy Fortson, with Direction by Atticus Cooper Boidy, and Musical
Direction by Rachel Sandler, the astonishing talent, the heartfelt
performances,

The Toxic Avenger at Greenbelt Arts Center

Reviews November 3, 2018 Holly Trout

The Toxic Avenger, directed by Jeffery Lesniak, is a musical based on the movie of the same name and both a playful parody of the superhero genre and of conventional musical theatre sensibilities. The plot revolves around a toxic dump of a fictional New Jersey town called Tromaville and its dark knight—Melvin Ferd the Third, a sweet, stereotypical nerd with a crush on his pretty (and blind—beware there are a lot of blind jokes that get old quickly) librarian friend Sarah and deep-seated convictions about cleaning up the town and calling out the corrupt mayor Babs Belgoody.

The Addams Family at Silhouette Stages

Reviews October 13, 2018 Amanda N. Gunther

Move toward the darkness.

Don’t avoid despair.

Creep into Silhouette Stages

And you’ll see what’s there!

They’ve got family first— and family last— and family through and through! They’ve got The Addams…and now they’re waiting just for you! After its run on the circuit of community and professional houses all over the tristate area, The Addams Family musical has risen from the dead in time for Halloween and is taking up a three-week residence at Silhouette Stages.

Mamma Mia at Scottfield Theatre Company

Reviews October 7, 2018 Daniel Plante

Scottfield Theater Company has a dream, a song to sing… and sing it they do! Running October 5-7 and 12-14 in the Cultural Center of Havre de Grace, this production of Mamma Mia is stuffed to the brim with infectious energy, uproarious laughter, and an impressive performance of pop monolith ABBA’s timeless catalog.

Mamma Mia tells the story of Sophie and Donna, a daughter and her single mother in their journey to discover who Sophie’s father was and face the memories Donna has of her three old flames and potential father for her daughter.

Bullets Over Broadway at Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre

Reviews June 1, 2018 Mark Briner

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,

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at Silhouette Stages

Reviews March 16, 2018 Amy Haynes

While there’s nothing that’s formal and nothing that’s normal, there is something for everyone at Silhouette Stages—a true comedy tonight! Old situations! New complications! Nothing portentous or polite! There may be tragedy tomorrow but, thankfully, there is A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum tonight! Smartly directed by Conni Ross, with superb Musical Direction by William Georg, and entertaining Choreography by Tina DeSimone and her assistant Maddie Bohrer,