Reviews

Dontrell, Who Kissed The Sea at Sisters Freehold

Reviews February 23, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

Dreams are dreams. Awake is awake. Know the difference. But if you don’t know— or don’t want to know? In stunningly beautiful narrative that blend magical realism with the burning yen to simultaneously connect one’s past to one’s future, Dontrell, Who Kissed The Sea is playing a limited engagement with Sisters Freehold currently at The Peale Museum for the next two weekends. This evocative coming-of-age journey, written by Nathan Alan Davis and directed by Makeima Elise Freeland,

Nolan Almeida (left) as Peter Pan and Cody Garcia (center) as Captain Hook and Hawa Kamara (right) as Wendy and the cast of Peter Pan. 📷Matthew Murphy

Peter Pan at The Hippodrome

Reviews February 22, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

econd star to the right and straight on til— viral video ballroom waltzing? Shut the fort door, since when does Peter Pan have Wendy being obsessed with going viral so that she can help pay for her medical school training because she wants to grow up and be a surgeon?

~*~*~*ANGRY TINKLING & CHIMING NOISES*~*~*~

What was that, Tinker Bell? In the newly refurbished national tour launch production that’s leaping into the air with lovely thoughts straight out of Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre?

Ms. Story’s Living History at Greenbelt Arts Center

Reviews February 20, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

Dreams don’t have to be deferred. They can grow and bloom; they can bring nourishment to the soul. The sentiment, if not the words exactly, of creator Shemika Renee in the setting the tone for her one-woman production of Ms. Story’s Living History, now appearing at the Greenbelt Arts Center through March 3rd, 2024. Directed by Rikki Howie Lacewell, this educational presentation explores important narratives of historical women of color, telling their stories to help unravel the mystery of history when all too often these stories are overlooked.

How I Learned To Drive at Vagabond Players

Reviews February 18, 2024 Erin Tarpley

One might think that a play with a title like How I Learned to Drive would depict a story that goes places; and by its own design, this is a play that goes many places and goes in circles (while in reverse) at the same time. But that being said, while funny and well told, Paula Vogel’s Pulitzer Prize winning play How I Learned to Drive is not for the faint of heart.

The cast of Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s The Oresteia. 📷 Kiirstn Pagan Photography.

The Oresteia at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company

Reviews February 17, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

Do I remember this? Or is this what’s about to happen? This is no dream. This is no vision. This is the truth. Profound words. Or are they questions? What are words if not questions? You’ll hear them over and over— though never truly in one voice as one might expect from a chorus in a Greek tragedy; their effect, however, is no less striking. Chesapeake Shakespeare Company presents The Oresteia freely adapted from Aeschylus by Ellen McLaughlin and directed by Lise Bruneau.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Stand Up For…Theatre

Reviews February 16, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

COMMUNITY— noun. “a unified body of individuals such as: people with common interests living within a particular area broadly; a group of people with a common characteristic or interest; a body of persons with common interest scattered through a larger society; a group linked by a common policy.” Stand Up For…Theatre’s production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is fostering a real sense of dedication and commitment to the local theatre community,

Ain’t Too Proud at The Kennedy Center

Reviews February 15, 2024 Steven Kirkpatrick

Now in its first national tour, Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations opened a six-day run at the Kennedy Center on Tuesday, Feb 13. Certainly, the 2019 Broadway musical has one of the richest R&B songbooks a musical could hope for. It was also directed by Des McAnuff, who struck gold in 2004 directing Jersey Boys — a similar biographical musical about a 1960-born men’s vocal harmony group.

Intimate Apparel at Maryland Ensemble Theatre

Reviews February 13, 2024 Jamie & Ashley Gerhardt

Lynn Nottage’s Intimate Apparel has local origins; originally a co-production between Baltimore’s Center Stage and California’s South Coast Repertory in 2003, it went on to a 3-month Off-Broadway run starring Viola Davis. The material also has a direct link to Nottage’s family history and was inspired by her great-grandmother’s life as a seamstress in the early 1900’s. Nottage found that the narrative and stories of black women in the early 1900’s were largely absent by researching her great-grandmother’s life.

Hello, Dolly! at The St. Demetrios Suburban Players

Hello, Dolly! at St. Demetrios Suburban Players

Reviews February 10, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

Out there! There’s a world outside of Carney! Way out there beyond this suburb, Barnaby! There’s a theatre, Barnaby! Out there! Full of shine and full of sparkle! The Suburban Players of Saint Demetrios’ are glistenin’, Barnaby! Listen, Barnaby! Put on your Sunday clothes— or your Saturday clothes or your Friday clothes— and get yourself down to Hello, Dolly now appearing at The Suburban Players of St. Demetrios’ Greek Orthodox Church before that parade passes you by!

Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier at Street Lamp Community Theatre

Reviews February 9, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

No one mourns the Twisted.

No one cries they won’t return (…of Jafar, terrible movie. Just terrible.)

No one lays a Jasmin on their graaaave.

The good man scorns the Twisted.

Through their lives our children learn.

What we miss— when we misbehaaaave.

And goodness knows— the Twisted’s lives are zany!

Aparna Sri (left) as Lady Macbeth and Jaki Demarest (right) as Macbeth 📷 Constantia Rioux

Macbeth at The Rude Mechanicals

Reviews February 4, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

“Such welcome and unwelcome things at once ‘tis hard to reconcile.” Macduff, ActIVsc.iii

I spent hours trying to find the way I felt about the current Rude Mechanical’s production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth only to have Billy Bard having already wrapped it up for me more than halfway through the show. This particular production is a balancing act of strong performances, questionable conceptualizations, impressive technological inclusions, mismatched aesthetics, and a barrage of death,

I Will Eat You Alive at Interrobang Productions 📷 Kiirstn Pagan

I Will Eat You Alive at Interrobang Theatre

Reviews January 31, 2024 Angelica Peaco

As a plus sized person, I have spent many years wrestling with my self-confidence and sense of belonging in a world that condemns any body type that is not considered “normal”. Being a fat girl meant that I was different, an outcast, ugly and in certain spaces, unwelcome. I Will Eat You Alive, a new play written and directed by Katie Hileman, brilliantly tackles the societal, familial and personal pressures that fat women like me experience from early childhood through adulthood.

Rob McClure as Euphegenia Doubtfire in Mrs. Doubtfire 📷 Joan Marcus

Mrs. Doubtfire at The Hippodrome

Reviews January 31, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

Wanted: Heart-warming, feel-good, fun-loving musical to fill the aching hole in the hearts of Baltimore after Sunday’s devastating upset at Raven’s stadium.

Helloooooo, Poppets!

Mrs. Doubtfire is exactly what this city needs to wake up, feel good, laugh and cry a little, and be made whole again! Coming in hot off the boards of Broadway, Rob McClure and the sensational singing, rapping, hip-hop-happening Scottish nanny is hear to take Charm City by hilarious and heartfelt storm.

Kaitlyn Ruby (foreground) as Ruth and Amanda Harris (background) as Tillie in The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds at Spotlighters Theatre 📷Matthew Peterson

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews January 30, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

Some people were born to speak, others just to listen. And occasionally those of us that listen will report back on what we hear. Form an opinion, as it were. It’s me. I’m a listening opinion-former. And I’m forming an opinion on the current production of The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, now playing at The Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre through February 4th 2024. The midway point of their 61st season,

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.

The Book of Grace at Rapid Lemon Productions

Reviews January 16, 2024 Erin Tarpley

In a time in our history when yet again we are faced with a growing divide of “us” vs “them,” we are challenged to ask ourselves if the old proverb about how a “house divided against itself shall not stand” is indeed truth. Suzan-Lori Parks’ play The Book of Grace, making its Baltimore debut with Rapid Lemon Productions, tackles that notion.

Before continuing, a warning: this production contains depictions and descriptions of domestic violence,

Merrily We Roll Along at Greenbelt Arts Center

Reviews January 16, 2024 Stephen Duda

When Director Roy Hammond got the rights for Merrily We Roll Along in 2019, little did he know a pandemic and some Broadway wizardry would interfere. But it’s up! And it’s amazing! This 1981 musical covers the trials and tribulations of three artistic friends … backwards … starting with their ultimate breakup and ending with the hopeful youths staring up on a roof in October 1957. Being Sondheim, you’ll be hard pressed to whistle a melody on the way home,

Avenue Q at Small Town Stars Theatre Company

Reviews January 13, 2024 Daniel Plante

Small Town Stars Theatre Company, based at the Carroll Arts Center of Westminster MD, skillfully and confidently walks a fine, fine line in its short but hilariously fun run of Avenue Q (Robert Lopez & Jeff Marx, music & lyrics; book by Jeff Whitty). STS’s production, under the direction of Sean Olsson, effortlessly navigates mature themes of sexuality, racism, internet pornography, all in the oeuvre of network children’s educational programming, complete with custom-made puppets the Jim Henson Company would be proud to associate with.

Witness For The Prosecution at Vagabond Players

Reviews January 12, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? You can’t handle the truth! Though I might be mixing up my courtroom dramas as this one seemed to be skirting all around the truth, only revealing parts of the truth, and there was a lot of questionable truths floating in the ether. In true Agatha Christie style, Witness For the Prosecution splashes onto The Vagabond Players stage to kick of the 2024-leg of their 108th season.

Caroline Bowman (center) as Elsa and the North American tour of Disney's Frozen 📷Deen van Meer

Frozen at The Kennedy Center

Reviews December 24, 2023 Steven Kirkpatrick & Charles Boyington Steven Kirkpatrick & Charles Boyington

Currently playing at the Kennedy Center through Jan. 21st, 2024, Disney’s musical Frozen, a wintry fairytale loosely based on Hans Christian Anderson’s The Snow Queen, is a fabulous theatrical spectacle for all ages, a celebration of love, family, and self-acceptance that is visually spellbinding (if a little light on characterization).

Based on the phenomenally successful 2013 animated Disney film, the stage version is delivered by the same artistic team,

The cast of Girl From the North Country 📷 Evan Zimmerman for Murphymade

Girl From The North Country at The Kennedy Center

Reviews December 16, 2023 Amanda N. Gunther

Inspiration comes in dreams. Or maybe the answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind. Be it fever dream or disjointed wind that blows you into The Kennedy Center this December holiday season, you’re in for something a bit unusual when it comes to the National Touring production of Girl From the North Country. Now playing in The Eisenhower Theatre through new year’s eve, this ‘jukebox musical’ (and I use that term very,

The National Tour of Pretty Woman. 📷 Matthew Murphy

Pretty Woman at The National Theatre

Reviews December 15, 2023 Erin Tarpley

“Everyone has a dream… you’ll get lost without one”

The classic “Cinderella” story is an oldie but a goodie. No, really. Like really old. Like Ancient Egypt old! Bet you didn’t think you’d get a history lesson from a theatre review, huh? Regardless, it is an enduring classic for a reason. The general theme of a protagonist going from rags to riches is one that resonates with people and really appeals to their inner-dreamers.

A Christmas Carol at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews December 12, 2023 Amanda N. Gunther

Of all the blithe sounds you’ll hear this holiday season, tis none merrier than that of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, performed in near-entirety by Phil Gallagher as a one-man endeavor at Spotlighters Theatre. For its third year running, this solo-performer adaptation of the iconic Christmas classic holds its own against the 400 other productions of the Dickensian money-maker this time of year. Adapted for the stage by Sherrionne Brown and Phil Gallagher,

Elf at Tidewater Players

Reviews December 9, 2023 Amanda N. Gunther

If you find yourself short on cheer just think about that special year (no, not 2019 that was a different year…same story) that Tidewater Players reached up on their shelf…and put up on their stage a musical called Elf! It’s sparkle-jolly-jingle-twinkly! Or however it goes (this Christmas Grinch over here still hasn’t finished writing out her Christmas cards…) but however it goes— it goes with lots of razzle-dazzle seasonal pizzazz! Elf at Tidewater Players is a heart-warming,

Moulin Rouge! at The Hippodrome

Reviews December 6, 2023 Amanda N. Gunther

Hello, Chickens!!! Are you ready to experience the epicenter of your passions? The apogee of your desires? Of course you are, you radiant reprobates and rascals!

Truth

Beauty

Freedom

Love

They’ve got it all in Montmartre— it’s all there to titillate the senses, tease the mind, sway the heartstrings— it’s all there inside The Moulin Rouge! And Moulin Rouge has landed itself grandly at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre for a limited two-week engagement just in time for the holiday season.

Neverland: A New Musical at Children’s Playhouse of Maryland

Reviews December 5, 2023 Amanda N. Gunther

What if you can’t remember the last time you were able to let go, have fun, and just be yourself? Well isn’t that exactly what theatre is for? A place to let go, have fun, and just be yourself! And Children’s Playhouse of Maryland has always been that place for all of the up-and-coming theatrical talents that pass through their doors over in Essex. Celebrating the holiday season with a very special, brand-new-production (written and conceived by their musical director and her father) Children’s Playhouse of Maryland is thrilled to present Neverland: A New Musical.

L to R, Front to Back - Alix Fenhagen, Britt Olsen-Ecker, Molly Margulies, Hailey Withrow, Jem Creuzter; Meghan Stanton, Heather Morrison 📷 Kiirstn Pagan

The Lights Went Out Because of a Problem: A Found Opera at The Acme Corporation

Reviews December 4, 2023 Amanda N. Gunther

Merriam-Webster defines the word Opera as a noun— “…a drama set to music and made up of vocal pieces with orchestral accompaniment and orchestral overtures and interludes.” Merriam-Webster also defines theatre as— well, a whole lot, see here for yourself, but the one I like the best is definition 5b— Spectacle sense— 1a (dramatic or theatrical quality or effectiveness) followed by 5c— entertainment in the form of a dramatic or diverting situation or series of events.

Elf at Third Wall Productions

Reviews December 4, 2023 Leonard Taube

In 2003 actor/comedian Will Ferrell oozed his way into the hearts and minds of people worldwide as Buddy the Elf in the Christmas smash motion picture Elf. So popular was the film that, worldwide, it grossed $223.9 million…quite a feat for a film with a production budget of $33 million! A few years later it was turned into a musical with a score by Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin, and book by Bob Martin and Thomas Meehan.

Little Women at Strand Theater Company

Reviews December 4, 2023 Erin Tarpley

“That when I come back to them I may be fonder and prouder than ever of my little women”

Ever since its first publication in 1868, Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women has captured the hearts of millions of readers all over the world. But considering at its face value the story of Little Women seems to be a mere fictional story focused on the 19th century domestic lives of four young American women living in genteel poverty,

The Pirates of Penzance at Artistic Synergy of Baltimore

Reviews December 4, 2023 Chris Pence

The Very Model of a Modern Major Musical: Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance at Artistic Synergy of Baltimore

W.S. Gilbert & Arthur Sullivan’s classic comedic opera comes to life at Artistic Synergy of Baltimore! The Pirates of Penzance follows hopeful orphan Frederic in his mistaken apprenticeship with a wild band of singing, dancing pirates! Frederic’s story takes a drastic turn when he falls in love with Mabel,