You want to have your cake and eat it too. Well don’t we all. But maybe you can have your cake and eat it too, at least when it comes to loving and feeling emotions for more than one person in a relationship circumstance. At least that seems to be the path of exploration occurring in the world premiere production of Ryan Nicotra’s Circle Circle Dot Dot at BOOM Theatre Company this December.
On the third interview of Christmas, Wolf Pack Theatre Company did give to TheatreBloom— three trips back in time to the days of young Belle and young Ebenezer Scrooge. Played by Brigid Lally and Dwayne Allen respectively, these talented performers give us their insight to the true meaning of Christmas as we follow along the journey of the TheatreBloom exclusive interview series and discover what it’s like for the young ingénues in Wolf Pack’s Christmas Carol.
Can you believe in something or relive something that never actually happened? Do you know how to live your life? The students involved with the Academic Theaters of CCBC certainly seem intent on proving that you can and that they do, and so too can you if you attend their current double-feature production of Edward Albee’s The Zoo Story and Pullman, WA written by Young Jean Lee. Directed by Julie Lewis,
Ladies and gentlemen, step right up! You think you understand art and culture? You’re about to discover that art and culture as you know it may in fact be older than you are. In a TheatreBloom exclusive interview to promote his upcoming TED-style conference talk appearing at the Hotel RL Baltimore— as a part of Hotel RL’s on-going The Living Stage Experience project— Yellow Sign Theatre’s Founder and Artistic Director Craig Coletta sits down to explain his approach to theatre in the arts.
Circle, circle, dot, dot— now you’ve got your cootie shot! A fond recollection for a great many of the Gen-Y kids, but what does that mean in this modern world of sexual fluidity and polyamorous relationships? Playwright Ryan Nicotra, the Founder of BOOM Theatre Company sits down to explain his new work Circle Circle Dot Dot in a TheatreBloom exclusive interview. See what Ryan has to say on polyamorous relationships and why he’s chosen theatre as his platform to broaden the experience.
On the second interview of Christmas, Wolf Pack Theatre Company did give to TheatreBloom— the insight of their company’s resident Technical Director Stephen Beitzell! Two blinking lights— quick, Stephen they’re not supposed to blink! And a glowing spotlight on solo singers too! Follow along in the TheatreBloom exclusive series to see what Stephen has to say about his Christmas favorites and his experience with A Christmas Carol
Merry Christmas, Stephen! Thanks for giving us a moment of your time!
It’s 9:00pm, Baltimore. Are you sitting up eagerly by your radio cabinet anxiously awaiting the master of the macabre to make his way into your living room? The navigator of the netherworld is nearing his time to kick off the monthly broadcast of Horatio Dark’s Between the Lines, recording live from inside the walls of The Yellow Sign Theatre. The antiquarian of the insane takes the audience for a riveting ride through four new installments of radio episodes designed to harken back to a time of thrilling radio plays and radio mysteries.
God bless us, every one! At this time of year where need is most keenly felt, Wolf Pack Theatre Company is reminding us all that it is the season to be spreading kindness and good cheer. Their annual production of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol as adapted by the company’s Founder and Artistic Director William Dean Leary, is cause for true celebration as it shines a radiant light on the true meaning of Christmas.
They’re unstoppable. They’ve got magic. They’re in the air. Just like Tony and Maria, Milburn Stone Theatre is flying 12 feet above everyone else as they boldly attempt a production of West Side Story. Known for its dance-intensive approach to musical theatre, this Sondheim-Bernstein adaptation of Shakespeare’s most tragic love story comes to the main stage under the Direction of Bambi Johnson and Musical Direction of Shane Jensen. Jets. Sharks. Milburn Stone has it all just in time to present a refreshing musical alternative to all of the Christmas-themed shows that appear on stages during the holidays.
There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor. Mr. Dickens spoke it best when he put this sentiment into the ether at the holidays in his classic novella A Christmas Carol. And although everyone has their own version, their own retelling, are we not all but fellow passengers this time of year on our way to finding the laughter and good humor of the holiday season?
Great family-friendly entertainment plus your favorite theatre in Frederick equals the Maryland Ensemble Theatre’s Fun Company holiday production of Junie B. Jones in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells. BOOM! You do the math! That’s right, everyone! It’s that time of year when Junie B. Jones starts her holiday shenanigans with jingle-bell hats, Christmas sing-a-longs and— a burp-in-a-bag? Directed by Julie Herber, Adapted by Allison Gregory, and based on the book by Barbara Park,
Where am I in life? What’s the meaning of it? In the eyes of the world, what does it mean to grow old? Colonial Players of Annapolis is answering those questions with a heartwarming comedy for the holidays. Paul Osborn’s Mornings at Seven is a delightful little theatrical engagement featuring the grand dames of theatre. A timeless, undiscovered stage treasure Directed by Rick Wade, the show is perfect for a family and friends gathering this festive season.
Sex and death, love and hate, passion, these are all things that consume our lives, that become our lives should we choose to embrace them. Annex Theatre is indeed embracing all that comes with the appropriately titled Impassioned Embraces, a play by John Pielmeier this winter season. Taking a jaunt down a different path— in a vein almost more suitable for Valentine’s day than the forthcoming Christmas celebration— this evocative and simultaneously hilarious piece of theatrical brilliance will engage audiences from all walks of life and provide nearly three hours of uproarious entertainment that both exposes the mind to humor and danger while tugging the heartstrings in a plethora of new directions.
Well yeehaw, y’all! It’s a rootin’ tootin’ Christmas time down in ol’ Tuna, Texas, yes it is, why yes it is! And for a limited holiday engagement you too can visit with Aunt Pearl, Didi and RR, Vera Carp, and all the rest of those zany southern characters from the lone star state at The Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre as they take up residence to celebrate the festive season through December 20th.
Gay. Straight. They’re just words, aren’t they? Why should it matter what you sleep with, shouldn’t the focus be on with whom you sleep? In a riveting and provocative production of Mike Bartlett’s Cock, the Fells Point Corner Theatre begs the question of sexual persuasion and its correlation to identity. Primed to spark a discussion, this engaging and somewhat shocking drama Directed by Steve Goldklang delivers high-octane intense scenes of emotional turmoil,
Football is one of the last places where the American dream truly still exists. Anyone from anywhere with any background, or any given Sunday; it’s all right there within America’s most treasured sporting event. A cultural phenomenon that unites a nation in wartime and in crisis that gives us common ground to stand on. This illustrious tradition creates a sense of pride and belonging in the heart. But what about the sensations and feelings it creates in the brain?
Are you prepared to anticipate pleasure for a casual evening at the theatre? Are you ready to have to have a plethora of ripened sexual innuendo sweep over your senses and crash through your brain in a delicious and dizzying cacophony of brilliant chaos and farcical entertainment? Are you ready to taste the subtle yet eager notes of double entendre served to pristine perfection in a wild and zany new food-focused farce? Then you need to have what the UMBC Department of Theatre is having when they serve up their new production of Susan McCully’s Voracious.
Lords and ladies, sinners and saints, draw close your ear and may to it the Folger Theatre bring pleasure with their presentation of The Oregon Shakespeare Festival Production of Pericles. Neither comedy nor tragedy nor history but well containing aspects of all, this exceptional production is a delightful incarnation of the way Shakespeare intended his work to be experienced. Seen, heard, felt, and absorbed, this mythical tale, as Directed by Joseph Haj,
Some experiences are compatible and others aren’t. In a world where normal is an everyday struggle for the average human being because the notion of normative social constructs no longer fit the individuality of our personal identities, an experience such as relating a gender identification to a family member can be somewhat of a beautiful catastrophe. Cohesion Theatre Company proudly presents the world premiere of A Little Bit Not Normal. Written by Lillie Franks and Directed by Alice Stanley,
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.
War always takes a piece of something. And it’s very easy to talk about dying for your country when someone else is doing the dying. The Woodbrook Players bring a pivotal work to the stage with their Baltimore area premiere of Rebel Yells, a confederate-focused Civil War drama written by Steve Warren. With evocative writing and a sturdy cast to mount the show, the play— Directed by Ron Oaks— captures the final moments of wounded confederate soldiers inside of an army hospital in Virginia just as the south takes its final fall.
The thrill you get from doing your work is the single most important thing in the world. When the good folks of The Salem Players take to the stage with as much dedication, commitment, love, and enthusiasm as they do for their current production of George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber’s The Royal Family, it is easy to see that they understand this line of thinking. Directed by John D’Amato, who makes his directorial debut with the comedy in three acts,
In a world where everyone struggles, bullying is rising to the surface as an alarmingly high cause for youth suicide. Taking to the helm of a new project to help generate awareness about bullying in schools, particularly in the LGBT+ community, Baltimore-based actor and performer Ed Higgins has taken a stand against bullying by using the art form that he knows best. Creating the ongoing project of ‘Erase Hate Through Art’ Higgins and Co-Founder Grant Myers have launched the theatrical branch of their project,
If you don’t believe in your people, that’s a sickness. But it can be remarkably hard to believe in your roots when they crack the ground of backwoods Appalachia in the mountains of Western Pennsylvania. In a riveting new drama with the heavy overtones of a Greek tragedy, area playwright Susan McCully’s Kerrmoor receives its world premiere production as a part of the Women’s Voices Theater Festival. Co-Produced by Strand Theatre and Interrobang Theatre Company and Directed by Eve Muson,
A feverish pandemic of Thrilleritis Malignus is sweeping through the Northern Virginia area as NextStop Theatre Company unloads Ira Levin’s Deathtrap onto their stage just in time for the tail-end of spooky season. Directed by Evan Hoffmann with eminence and experience, this comedic thriller delights audiences with laughs and screams as the play-within-a-play-within-a-play takes a chilling twist around the bend of darkness and deceit.
A lavish yet simultaneously foreboding set takes root in the play space of NextStop Theatre Company compliments of Scenic Designer JD Madsen.
The Women’s Voices Theater Festival has surpassed the boundaries of the nation’s capital and meandered over to Baltimore. A city thriving with theatre, it’s an honored opportunity to take part in the festival that has been occurring throughout the 2015 calendar season. In a TheatreBloom exclusive interview, we sit down with playwright Susan McCully to discuss her work Kerrmoor, a Co-Production with Baltimore’s Strand Theatre and Interrobang Theatre Company. Susan McCully is a professor at UMBC where she teaches playwriting and dramatic literature.
Meaning is often found by happenstance. If you should be seeking a meaningful theatrical experience for the spooky autumnal season, look no further than Happenstance Theater as they take to the stage of the Baltimore Theatre Project with their newest work, Cabaret Noir. Described by the company as ‘A Film Noir Inspired Theatrical Montage,’ Cabaret Noir rides in on the successful coattails of the last several years work, Cabaret Macabre.
To conquer death you only have to die. So tell us, oh great king of Nazareth, this Jesus Christ Superstar, do you think you’re what they say you are? Kensington Arts Theatre thinks that the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice Broadway pop classic is worth using to open their 2015/2016 season upon the mainstage. Directed by Craig Pettinati with Musical Direction by Stuart Y. Weich, this rocker-classic retelling of the bible’s most infamous tale explores the relationships and motivations of Jesus’ rise to fame and how like in all celebrity existences too much fame can bring about a downfall of epic proportions.
People take great comfort in proof, especially when it comes to the unknown. But sometimes the proof is the explanation. Baltimore-based playwright Mark Scharf debuts his newest work, The Quickening— a ghost story for the stage— as a part of the Baltimore Footlights Reading Series 2015-2016. Hosted by the Dramatists Guild of America, this reading series provides the opportunities for local playwrights to have staged readings of their new works, generating a chance for workshopping new ideas based on feedback given by the audience.
A moment can change your life forever. You go from being the blueberry muffin lady to the lesbian traffic reporter whose girlfriend got beaten into a coma. The powerfully evocative drama Stop Kiss comes to the stages of How Do You Like Me Now? Productions as their second official production since their inception a year ago. Directed by company Co-Founder Ed Higgins, the work is a remarkably astute encapsulation of the company’s mission statement to draw awareness to bullying and erase hate through art.