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: Romeo & Juliet at Shakespeare Theatre Company

Reviews September 20, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

Men’s eyes were made to look and let them gaze upon the riveting new production of Romeo & Juliet at Shakespeare Theatre Company. Directed by Alan Paul, this revitalized and somewhat modern approach to the Bard’s most woeful tragedy attends the fates gaily and with swift justice for both the poetic nature of the text and the emotional capacity of the plot. Perilously little can be ascribed in complaint, save for the missed opportunities to push the conceptualized vision on the whole in a slightly different direction,

Review: Sense & Sensibility at Folger Theatre

Reviews September 20, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

Folger Theatre would be monstrous glad if you’d take up a cottage— who doesn’t love a good cottage— in town and stay a spell to celebrate their 25th Anniversary season as it gets underway with a treasured classic novel adapted to the stage in this their production of Jane Austen’s Sense & Sensibility. Adapted by Kate Hamill and Directed by Eric Tucker, this charmingly spellbinding production whisks you away from the dreary troubles of the modern world and places you in a world of romance,

Oh What a Night: An Insiders Interview with Daniel Reichard

Interviews September 20, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

They’re the big men in town and they’re coming to town quite soon! The original Jersey Boys all grown up into The Midtown Men are here with TheatreBloom offering up the fourth and final installment in the quartet series featuring Michael Longoria, Christian Hoff, J. Robert Spencer, and as the finale, an exclusive interview with Daniel Reichard.

Thanks for giving us your time! If you’d just give us a quick introduction,

Review: Bad Jews at Maryland Ensemble Theatre

Reviews September 19, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

There is some mythical notion that once children grow up and become adults that there is an onus to maintain their familial relationships. Perhaps it’s because it is believed that we are made out of the same stuff as the stars, that very same dust which twinkles billions of light years away from above. Or perhaps it’s more based in the reality that the elders do die and the responsibility of kinship upkeep passes down from generation to generation.

Review: Peter Rabbit and Me at Pumpkin Theatre

Reviews September 19, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

Be anybody, anyplace, anytime! Truer and more inspirational words would be hard-pressed to come by if they hadn’t been uttered straight from the mouth of Beatrix Potter! In a delightfully imaginative stage production that nestles itself cozily into the opening slot of Pumpkin Theatre’s 49th season, Peter Rabbit and Me, by Aurand Harris, is a fantastical adventure for young audiences and those audience members who are young of heart. Directed by Jeremy Scott Blaustein,

Oh What a Night: An Insiders Interview with J. Robert Spencer

Interviews September 19, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

It’s just too good to be true, can’t take our eyes off these Midtown Men! The readers have been waiting for the third installment in the Oh, What a Night interview tetralogy. Featuring Jersey Boys leading man J. Robert Spencer, we go in-depth about The Midtown Men experience.

Thank you so much for a quick second of your time, if you’ll just introduce yourself, we’ll get started!

Boop-Boop-Be-Do! An Interview with Beth Hylton and her work with Collective Rage

Interviews September 18, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

Boop-boop-be-BLAM! Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company is opening their 2016/2017 season with an honest-to-God firecracker of a play. Delivering the world premiere of Jen Silverman’s Collective Rage: A Play in Five Boops, Woolly sets the bar high for the rest of the conversationally loaded season with this thunderclap of a theatrical experience. In a TheatreBloom exclusive interview we sit down with Beth Hylton, playing Betty Boop 1, and pick her brain on the whole “Boop Experience.”

Hi,

Review: Collective Rage: A Play in Five Boops at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Reviews September 18, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

The “thea-taaah” is so cultural! People come and stare at the feelings that the performers are having and those feelings are art! At least that’s what Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company is presenting with the firecracker opener of their 2016/2017 season with the world-premiere of Jen Silverman’s Collective Rage: A Play in Five Boops. Directed by Mike Donahue, this evocative and explosive exploration of women, relationships, love, and above all— pussy— will rock your world from the time the first of the quintet of Betty Boops are introduced through to the sentimental,

Oh What a Night: An Insiders Interview with Christian Hoff

Interviews September 18, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

Unable to take our eyes off these Midtown Men, the readers of TheatreBloom are eager to see what Christian Hoff has to say in part 2 of the “Oh, What a Night!” interview series, featuring four of the original Jersey Boys who now tour the country as The Midtown Men.

Thanks so much for giving us your time today! If you want to give us a quick introduction,

Review: Sister Act at Toby’s Dinner Theatre

Reviews September 17, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

Spread the news! It’s time to rock the pews! Toby’s Dinner Theatre of Columbia has caught Sunday morning fever! And it’s burning wild with happiness as Sister Act, the five-time Tony Award-Nominated musical, flocks with glory into the intimate theatre-in-the-round space under the Direction of Lawrence B. Munsey. With Musical Direction by Ross Scott Rawlings and spectacular Choreography by Helen Hayes Award-Winner Mark Minnick, this soulful feel-good musical will lift your spirits straight up to heaven and create an excitingly memorable theatrical experience for everyone in attendance.

Oh What a Night: An Insiders Interview with Michael Longoria

Interviews September 17, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

Oh what a night— it will be in Frederick later this month as four former Jersey Boys bring a fantastic show to The Weinberg Center for the Arts! All grown up, these Broadway boys are now presenting The Midtown Men. Starring four of the originating performers from the Tony Award-Winning Jersey Boys, The Midtown Men is bound to dazzle anyone that loves music from that era.

Review: Anything Goes at Phoenix Festival Theater at Live! at Harford Community College

Reviews September 16, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

I hate parading my serenading as I’ll probably miss a bar, but if this ditty is not so pretty at least it’ll tell you how great they are— they being the Phoenix Festival Theater and their current production of Anything Goes! One of Cole Porter’s finest musicals— baby it’s the tops— is now setting sail under the Direction of James Hunnicutt and the Musical Direction of Julie Parrish. With Conductor Will Poxon leading the live on-stage orchestra,

Review: Rock the Line at Venus Theatre

Reviews September 16, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

Are you ready to rock, theatergoers? Because it’s time to get down to life and live at Venus Theatre as it enters the halfway point of Season16 with Kathleen Warnock’s work Rock the Line. Directed by Founding Artistic Director Deborah Randall, this edgy exploration of sex, love, and rock and roll teaches audiences a valuable lesson or two through the lens of musical fanatic devotion. Like all productions that make their way to the Venus Stage,

Ritija Gupta, writer and performer of "Charming the Destroyer: Questionable Choices in Search of the Sublime"

Review: Charming the Destroyer: Questionable Choices in the Search for the Sublime at Mead Theatre Lab

Reviews September 14, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

In a world where brunch heals most wounds and Shiva is the fast-acting delivery pray-to God when it comes to finding one’s soulmate, there are most definitely stories to be told. Stories of identity, stories of the struggles when it comes to pursuing one’s identity, stories of experience; these are experiences not our own and yet we can relate to them on a simply human level because they are stories that answer questions that at one time or another in our lives we have all asked ourselves,

(L to R) Erin Tarpley as Eve Adams, Anders Tighe as Colin Padgett, Ceej Crowe as Caitlin Padgett, Jose de la Mar as Kieran Padgett Jr., TheatreBloom Reviewer Amanda Gunther, Cybele Pomeroy as Charity Brown, Pat McPartlin as Fabrizio Santorini, and John Kelso as Antonio Santorini

Review: One of the Gang at Do or Die Mysteries

Reviews September 14, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

Come on, babe, why don’t we paint the town? Paint it red with the blood o’ the Irish, that is. Or perhaps you are more inclined to let those Italians marinate in their own-a special ragout? Whichever side of this roaring 1920’s mafia feud you’re on, you’re in for a deviously delightful good time as Do or Die Mysteries presents their September show, One of the Gang. Appearing in the dining room of The Sunset Restaurant and Lounge on select Monday evenings throughout the month,

Review: I Call My Brothers at Forum Theatre

Reviews September 13, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

When the wind howls do you answer it by building a shelter or by building a kite? Forum Theatre answers by not only building a kite but flying it through an emotionally turbulent storm with their 13th season opener, with the DC-area debut of I Call My Brothers, written by world-renowned playwright Jonas Hassen Khemiri. Translated from Swedish by Rachel Willson-Broyles and Directed by Michael Dove, this gripping and visceral tale explores the narrative experience of Amor,

Review: The Cripple of Inishmaan at Colonial Players

Reviews September 13, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

Ireland mustn’t be such a bad place if Colonial Players is willing to do a production that’s set there. Kicking off their 68th season with Martin McDonagh’s dark comedy The Cripple of Inishmaan, Colonial Players of Annapolis invites theatergoers into the world of a small island off the west coast of Ireland in 1934. Directed by Dave Carter, this moving piece of darkly humored theatre is quite the engagement, oh aye.

Review: Catch Me If You Can at NextStop Theatre Company

Reviews September 13, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

Entering their fourth season as a professional theatre outfit, NextStop Theatre Company is making butter out of cream with their smashing season opener, Catch Me If You Can. Based on the DreamWorks Motion Picture, this snazzy musical— featuring book by Terrence McNally, music by Marc Shaiman, and lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman— will inspire you to hop a Pan Am flight down to Herndon, Virginia so you don’t miss out on all the excitement and entertainment the show has to offer.

Review: One Gold Coin Una Moneda de Oro at InterAct Story Theatre

Reviews September 12, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

When you give something away, something better will come your way! That is the heartwarming true moral snuggled in-between zany characters and fantastical music in InterAct Story Theatre’s latest production of One Gold Coin— Una Moneda De Oro. Written by company founder Lenore Blank Kelner, and recently adapted to be an immersive bilingual experience featuring dialogue and music in both English and Spanish, this classic story from the InterAct Story Theatre repertoire teaches young audiences and audiences young at heart the importance of giving and sharing,

The Mystery of Edwin Drood: Symphonic Metal Version at Landless Theater Company

News September 12, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

Landless Theatre Company is off to the races! Off to the races! I said, they’re OFF TO THE RACES with their workshop production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood: Symphonic Metal Version. Directed by Melissa Baughman, with Musical Direction by Andrew Lloyd Baughman and Zachary Pinkham, this symphonic metal version of Rupert Holmes’ musical (based on the unfinished play by Charles Dickens) features new arrangements and orchestrations by The Fleet Street Collective of Landless Theatre Company.

The Deputy Done It! An Interview with Student Performers Dylan Ngo and Alexis Turbat (and their dads) about The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Interviews September 12, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

I now swear and record the oath on this page that I nevermore will discuss this mystery with any human creature until I hold the clue to it in my hand! In a TheatreBloom exclusive interview, we’re getting clues of all sorts to help us solve the mystery of The Mystery of Edwin Drood: Symphonic Metal Edition, and just what it’s like for young performers Dylan Ngo and Alexis Turbat to play with the big boys of Landless Theatre Company in their current production of Dickens’ unfinished mystery tale turned musical.

Getting InterAct-ive: An Interview with InterAct Story Theatre’s Artistic Director Ali Oliver-Krueger

Interviews September 10, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

So many of us have great memories of our first outing to the theatre. A musical or a play— perhaps even a play designed specifically for children? InterAct Story Theatre, a local children’s theatre company that specializes in bringing a unique theatrical experience to young audiences, is making memories with their current production of One Gold Coin— Una Moneda De Oro. In a TheatreBloom exclusive interview, we sit down with current Artistic Director Ali Oliver-Krueger,

Review: Variations on Blame at Rapid Lemon Productions

Reviews September 9, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

Her heart got broken. The car was totaled. He’s wildly out of control. Who’s to blame? In a world of helicopter parents, disasters beyond our imagination, catastrophe around every corner, isn’t the question always who’s to blame? Appearing on the stages of Baltimore City for its 12th Annual Production the Variations Project, produced by Rapid Lemon Productions, takes up residency for a limited run-performance in the Wright Theatre of the University of Baltimore. 11 short,

Review: Urinetown at Constellation Theatre Company

Reviews September 6, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

Taking the piss out of musical theatre, the Tony Award-winning show Urinetown: The Musical (book & lyrics Greg Kotis, music & lyrics Mark Hollmann) lands with a thunderous splash on the stage of Constellation Theatre Company as the first production of their 2016/2017 season housed at Source Theatre. Directed by the company’s Founding Artistic Director Allison Arkell Stockman, with Musical Direction by Jake Null, the production is a triumphant theatrical sensation that titillates audiences with a trickle of dark humor,

Review: The Elephant Man at Fells Point Corner Theatre

Reviews September 6, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

When you are told a thing, you must listen. Take a closer look with your exhibitionist eyes to the current co-production at the Fells Point Corner Theatre with The Collaborative Theatre; the current production of The Elephant Man by Bernard Pomerance, which launches the 2016-2017 season #RescueMe. Directed by Anthony Lane Hinkle, this strange venture into Victorian London exposes theatergoers to beauty that goes beyond the eye of the beholder. Fully articulating one of the core concepts of theatrical endeavors— suspension of disbelief— the production in its essence is a remarkable parade of aesthetically pleasing features.

Scott Burke (left) as Junius Brutus Booth and Alex Hacker (right) as Flynn

Their Kingdom for an Interview: Talking Richard III with Playwright Alex Hacker and Actor Scott Burke

Interviews September 5, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

Sin, death, and hell have set their marks on Alex Hacker. The Baltimore-based playwright and actor has is preparing for the world premiere of his newest work, His Majestic Lump of Foul Deformity, debuting with his company The Analogue Players later this month. But the play itself was an accidental response when Hacker hit a creative roadblock to a different work (one still in progress) that at present remains unfinished. In a TheatreBloom exclusive interview,

Review: Murder Ballad at Stillpointe Theatre

Reviews September 4, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

We all want to touch the flames but not get burned. Stillpointe Theatre is bringing you flaming theatrical reality with their first main stage production of the 2016/2017 season and it isn’t even on their main stage! In the fully exposed in-your-face, at-your-feet, all-around-you production of Murder Ballad, Director Corey Hennessey and Co-Director Amanda J. Rife bring a visceral and emotional biting love-triangle straight to your eyes, ears, and hearts. Ensconced in the grungy rocker atmosphere upstairs at The Ottobar,

Review: Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at September Song

Reviews September 4, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

Close your eyes, draw back the curtain, and you will see for certain what you thought you knew. And what you thought you knew was that September Song, a dedicated summertime community theatre in Carroll County entering its 42nd year of producing a mainstage musical, is doing impressive work on its stage. You were right to think so as the company proves their worth as a community staple and heartfelt institution with this year’s production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Joseph &

Review: Marx in Soho at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews September 2, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

Is there anything more outrageous than an honest critic? It might be the way that The Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre is kicking off their 55th season with Howard Zinn’s Marx in Soho. Directed by Sherrionne Brown, with Phil Gallagher in the titular role, this evening of socialist banter is an engaging theatrical endeavor that will grip the audience and give them pause to think about whether or not society is going in any direction at all,

Review: Henry V at The Rude Mechanicals

Reviews September 1, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

Suppose within the girdles of the Greenbelt Arts Center’s walls are now confined two mighty forces— The Rude Mechanicals: a community theatre troupe that delivers judiciously trimmed and readily accessible Shakespearean plays— and Henry V: Shakespeare’s middle Henry history play. Directed by Rebecca Speas, this muse of fire finds its place among the Bard’s canon in true Rude Mechanicals style and delivers swiftly the plot, the point, and the perfectly pared-down rendition of what is otherwise a lengthy history lesson in the trajectory arc of Prince Hal to King Harry.