All posts by Amanda N. Gunther

A full-time theatre reviewer in the Baltimore, Washington, and surrounding areas; Amanda holds a BFA in Acting from the University of Maryland Baltimore County as well as a minor in Creative Writing. Having spent two of her five years at college studying abroad at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, she has learned a great deal about improv, devised work theatre, and interpretive movement pieces. Striving to promote theatre of all types, she can often be found in a theatre of some type, even on her nights off.

Review: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at Colonial Players

Reviews October 24, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

Do people learn nothing from history? Not that there is nothing to learn but that people actively learn nothing, for surely somewhere in the annals of recorded time there are couples who engage in dark play, where not everyone in the game knows the rules. That’s exactly the mechanism that snaps to life in Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? now appearing on stage at Colonial Players as the second selection in their 68th season.

Little Sisters of Toby’s Dinner Theatre: Inside the Cloister of Sister Act with Teresa Danskey and Amy Haynes

Interviews October 21, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

If you want the world to listen, stand up tall and proud! And these sisters have the whole world listening as they raise their voices on the fourth installment of the Little Sisters of Toby’s interview series. This time around we’re featuring Sister Mary Robert and Sister Mary Patrick, played by Teresa Danskey and Amy E. Haynes. We sit down with both ladies to hear their take on the Sister Act experience.

Thank you both for joining us!

Review: The Flower Queen at Yellow Sign Theatre

Reviews October 20, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

Let your imagination run away with you when you hear bumps in the night…this may birth poor monsters out of sheer nothingness and they may resent you for it. Such can happen in the mythical ether of The Flower Queen, a play by Connor Kizer now appearing on stage at Yellow Sign Theatre. With just three performers— one little girl and one imagined monster plus a graceful Ballerino, there is an hour’s journey through a dreamy nightmare or a nightmarish dream just depending on your mood for the evening.

Review: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at Twin Beach Players

Reviews October 20, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

Nothing that’s formal! Nothing that’s normal! But something for everyone at Twin Beach Players— a comedy tonight! Old situations! New complications! Nothing portentous or polite! Because tragedy tomorrow— A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum tonight! Directed by Sid Curl, with Musical Direction by Katie Evans, this Sondheim classic will tickle your funny bone for a good two hours’ stage traffic over the course of the evening! There are servants running amuck,

Little Sisters of Toby’s Dinner Theatre: Inside the Cloister of Sister Act with Samantha McEwen Deininger, Ashley K. Nicholas, and Elizabeth Rayca

Interviews October 20, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

Tossing everything in and digging deep inside, the third round of The Little Sisters of Toby’s are ready to raise their voice. Sitting down with Samantha McEwen Deininger, Ashley K. Nicholas, and Elizabeth Rayca, we find out just what it’s like for these sisters to be a part of the sisterhood happening in Sister Act playing now through November 13, 2016 at Toby’s Dinner Theatre.

Thank you ladies for giving us a quick pinch of your time!

Enter the Realm of the Flower Queen: An Interview with Allison Clendaniel and Connor Kizer

Interviews October 18, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

When you get into bed at night, you double-check beneath your bed to make sure there are no monsters, right? At least, you did when you were a child, didn’t you? What if there was a monster living under your bed when you were a child? And what if you made friends with that monster? Such a tale is what is unfolding at Yellow Sign Theatre in time for Halloween! A new play, The Flower Queen,

Review: Twelfth Night at Annapolis Shakespeare Company

Reviews October 17, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

I say there is no darkness but ignorance, and to remain ignorant of the truly sensational production of Twelfth Night that is gracing itself upon the stage of the Annapolis Shakespeare Company’s studio stage would be to remain steeped in the depths of an aphotic gloom of indescribable proportions. Directed by the company’s Artistic Director— Sally Boyett— this reimagined, innovative approach pays homage to the glistening golden era of Hollywood’s silver screen,

Married to Their Work: An Interview with Woolly Company Members Gabriela Fernandez-Coffey and Tim Getman and their work in Kiss

Interviews October 15, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

Love. Deception. Soap Opera. Kiss. An evocative new work is pushing the conversational envelope at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in the 2016/2017 season. Revolving around the melodramatic relationships of four individual characters inside a soap opera, but going so much deeper than that simple premise, Kiss is a story like no other. In a TheatreBloom exclusive interview, we sit down with Woolly Company members Gabriela-Fernandez Coffey and Tim Getman, who are starring opposite one another in Kiss,

Review: Kiss at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Reviews October 15, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther 1 Comment

When you experience something so beautiful, you have to put it into words just to make sure that it is real. Though I purport no ability that will come close to doing Guillermo Calderón’s work an inkling of justice, finding word to convince you to see Kiss at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company for its sheer horrifying beauty and stunning emotional weight is now my mission; the must-see show of the season has risen to the stage with harrowing political relevance,

Review: Young Frankenstein at Silhouette Stages

Reviews October 14, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

Have you heard about the mania? If not, then let me explain-iya, popping up in Columb-ania— yes, sir! It’s the Transylvania Mania! And it’s making its way across Silhouette Stages this October in the guise of And it’s making its way across Silhouette Stages this October in the guise of the new Mel Brooks’ musical, Young Frankenstein. Directed and Choreographed by Tommy Malek with Musical Direction by Nathan C. Scavilla, it’s a doozy— it’ll make you woozy— this masterpiece and phenomenon!

Review: The Toxic Avenger at Milburn Stone Theatre

Reviews October 14, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

There is a place between heaven and hell— don’t need a map, just follow the smell— all the way up to Milburn Stone Theatre! New Jersey has come south for the back half of the Spooktacular Halloween repertory cycle at MST and it’s brought with it The Toxic Avenger! Loosely based on Lloyd Kaufman’s film The Toxic Avenger with Book by Joe Dipietro and Music & Lyrics by David Bryan,

Little Sisters of Toby’s Dinner Theatre: Inside the Cloister of Sister Act with MaryKate Brouillet, Erica Clare, and Rachel Kemp

Interviews October 12, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

When you’ve got a song worth hearin’ there’s just one thing to do— and these sisters of Toby’s Dinner Theatre most definitely have a song worth hearing! In the second installment of The Little Sisters of Toby’s Dinner Theatre series, we’re sitting down with nunsemble members MaryKate Brouillet, Erica Clare, and Rachel Kemp, to find out what it’s like to be a nun in Sister Act.

Thank you ladies for sitting with us!

Little Sisters of Toby’s Dinner Theatre: Inside the Cloister of Sister Act with Jane C. Boyle and Lynne Sigler

Interviews October 12, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

Everybody knows that the first rule of singing is to get those rafters ringing! And nobody seems to know that better than the sisters of Sister Act now appearing at Toby’s Dinner Theatre! In a TheatreBloom exclusive series, we go behind the walls of the cloisters and talk chapel with the nuns of the show! First up? Sister Mary Lazarus and Sister Mary Martin of Tours.

Thank you ladies for giving us a moment of your time— if you would just remind the readers who you are,

Review: Das Barbecü at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews October 12, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

There’s a ring of gold in Texas that hitched a tumbleweed coach to Baltimore and is kicking up more dust than a dozen road-runners aiming to outrun a pack of coyotes. Yeehaw, you dun heard right if what you heard was Das Barbecü, the musical that spins Wagner’s Ring Cycle as a witty Texas fable, coming to the stage of The Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre! Sure ‘nuff it done been Directed by Greg Bell with that there Musical Direction by Michael Tan and the result is a dead ringer for comedic performance of the year.

Halloween Hijinks: An interview with War of the Worlds Directors Craig Coletta and Dave Marcoot

Interviews October 12, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

With infinite complacency, men go to and fro over this globe about their little affairs— but on November 5, 2016 at exactly 8:00pm, the world as we know it will cease to exist. The aliens have landed (though that may have actually been some five years ago when Yellow Sign Theatre took up residence in the old Zodiac Restaurant…theatre company started on a dare? A likely story…) and they’re recreating a science fiction thriller with their pending production of Orson Welles infamous radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds.

The Bard & The Beautiful by Twisted Knickers Burlesque at Yellow Sign Theatre

News October 9, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

What soft through yonder window breaks? It is Burlesque! And Twisted Knickers is the sun! A strip! A tease! Their kingdom for a strip-tease! The Bard & The Beautiful brought some of Shakespeare’s finest work as it was meant to be experienced— by the groundlings with a true appreciation for beauty of all varieties— to the stage of Yellow Sign Theatre. And although tis no longer midsummer, what was witnessed was beyond the audience’s wildest dreams!

Review: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at The Kennedy Center

Reviews October 8, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

His name is Christopher John Francis Boone. He knows all the countries of the world and their capital cities. He notices everything. But most importantly he is now appearing on the Opera House stage of The John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts as the 2016/2017 theatrical season gets well underway. Fresh from Broadway, the national tour of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time makes its regional debut at The Kennedy Center and mesmerizes the audience for the evening with its spellbinding wonder and its heart-wrenching emotional journey.

Review: Evil Dead The Musical at Milburn Stone Theatre

Reviews October 7, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

Join us. Joooiiin usss….JOOOOIIIN USSS! Well, join them— Milburn Stone Theatre that is— as Ash of S-Mart braves the cabin in the woods and attempts to fight for his life and fend off the evil Candarian Demons that have been wakened from the Necronomicon! You heard it here first— Evil Dead: The Musical (rising from the beyond in the spooktacular Halloween repertory alongside The Toxic Avenger) has possessed The Milburn Stone Theatre’s mainstage and is coming after you!

Review: Net Worth at Strand Theater

Reviews October 7, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

Assets – Liabilities = Net Worth. Do you know your Net Worth? Bari does, down to the penny. But does knowing your Net Worth make provide you with happiness? Do things like job security, financial stability, and the almighty sense of safety in both of those elements really equate to happiness? In this emotionally entrenched one-woman exploration, which kicks off the 2016/2017 for Strand Theater Company in their brand new home on Harford Road,

Tyler Lea and the cast of Curious Incident

A Curious Incident of Interviews in the Daytime: Speaking with Gene Gillette on playing Ed Boone

Interviews October 5, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

After a whirlwind of success on Broadway, featuring five Tony Award wins including the 2015 win for Best Play, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time has launched its national tour and has landed in Washington DC. In a TheatreBloom exclusive interview we take a moment to talk with Gene Gillette, playing the father character of Ed Boone, to hear what the experience with this evocative drama has been like.

Thank you so much for giving us a moment of your morning,

Review: POE…And All The Others at Annapolis Shakespeare Company

Reviews October 5, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

He stands amid the roar of a surf-tormented shore, and all that he sees and seems is but a dream within a dream. Appropriate as the autumnal offering and 2016-2017 season starter at Annapolis Shakespeare Company as they roost in residence at Reynolds Tavern just off the city dock shore on Church Circle for the world premiere of Tony Tsendeas’ POE…and All the Others. Directed by Sally Boyett, this newly imagined take on Baltimore’s master of the macabre is an absurd burlesque of memory,

Review: Dante’s Inferno at Synetic Theater

Reviews October 4, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

Beauty awakens the soul to act. Synetic Theater inspires such beauty that it would be a mortal sin not to act in such a manner that gets you quickly into possession of tickets to see their production of Dante’s Inferno. Created by Paata Tsikurishvili and Directed by Irina Tsikurishvili, this stunning visual masterpiece is the quintessential interpretive movement ballet of contemporary theatre. Adapted by Paata Tsikurishvili and Nathan Weinberger from the poem by Dante Alighieri,

Review: Love’s LaBEERS Lost at Live Art DC

Reviews October 4, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

Duuuude! Are you down to party with the King of Navarre? Naaah man, I hear he’s got some wicked sick rules— like ‘No woman shall come within a mile of his court on pain of losing her tongue’ and ‘If any bro be seen to talk with a woman within the term of three years he shall endure such public shame as the rest of the court can possibly devise.’ But we hear he throws killer parties!

Review: The Wild Party at Iron Crow Theatre

Reviews October 1, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther 2 Comments

No limits.

No boundaries.

No compromise.

Iron Crow Theatre is kicking off their historic 2016/2017 season, entitled “Dark Play”, with a raucous bang, setting the bar high with expectations. Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party, directed by Sean Elias with Musical Direction by Ben Shaver, lives up to those standards and is a scandalously swinging evening of titillating entertainment which plunges the depths of the seasonal through-line of dark play right from the word go.

Review: The Gulf at Signature Theatre

Reviews September 29, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

Do you ever stop and think about your life in reverse? Pause a moment and find that one moment where your life is exactly as it could be and allow that moment to wash over you and fill the gulf of emptiness and restlessness that occupies all human beings on one level or another. In an evocative new dramedy, award-winning playwright Audrey Cefaly delivers her latest work, The Gulf to Signature Theatre.

Review: Jersey Boys at The Hippodrome Theatre

Reviews September 28, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

They were just four guys under a neighborhood street lamp singing someone else’s number one hits. If you ask those four guys how it all happened, you’ll get four different stories, but the truth of the matter is when those four guys found their sound? The Jersey Boys were born. For a one-week only limited engagement, the smash-hit musical Jersey Boys (with Book by Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice, Music by Bob Gaudio,

Review: Horatio Dark’s Between the Lines September Broadcast at Wind-Up Space

Reviews September 27, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

Good evening, Charm City. It’s 9:00 o’clock. Do you know where your children are? If they’re good little children, then they’ve settled into The Wind-Up Space for an evening of radio broadcast that is the strangest, most bizarre thing ever heard, at least this side of millennial temporal rift! Broadcasting live from W-IND studios, Horatio Dark’s Between the Lines is here and it’s a doozy. Featuring just one recurring serial and three new non sequiturs,

Review: Bunnicula at Maryland Ensemble Theatre’s Fun Company

Reviews September 27, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

There’s nothing like a pet in the house! They keep you safe! They keep you warm! They drain your vegetables of all their color because they’re juice thirst vampires! Wait— what?!? Well, only that last bit if you accidentally sit on a rabbit in a movie theatre while seeing Dracula and decide to take it home. This may be exactly what happens to the Monroe family in the childhood classic story of Bunnicula,

Review: Memories & Legends at Wolfpack Theater Company

Reviews September 24, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

The world may change but people stay the same, at least they do in Newfoundland. This is a sobering discovery for rock-legend Oran Tobin when he returns home for the first time since childhood. Coping with the loss of a father he never knew, his declining career, and rocky relationship, the rock star vocalist finds himself drowning in a tidal wave of nostalgia and memories that are not quite his own as he encounters for the first time the legend that was the father he never knew.

Review: Stupid Ghost at Annex Theater

Reviews September 23, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

The broad specter-spectrum when it comes to ghosts is limited to the dichotomy of baddies and goodies. There are the spook-you-till-you-scream, chain-rattling, malevolent haunts that will get you. And there are the friendly kind— the happy haunts who materialize for a midnight spree with the vocalizing and harmonizing and socializing. But what if neither of those categories were true? What if ghosts just were? They exist; they drift clueless in the woods while listening to music and have no intention of helping or hurting you.