Reviews

The Taffetas in A Taffeta Christmas at Dundalk Community Theatre

Review: A Taffeta Christmas at Dundalk Community Theatre

Reviews December 12, 2015 Jason Crawford Samios-Uy

This time of year, it seems as though every theatre company is trying to take advantage of the holiday season by producing kitschy holiday shows full of traditional Christmas songs, gaudily decorated artificial Christmas trees, and folks dressed up like Eskimos. And you know what I say to that? BRING IT ON! This is one of my favorite times of year and I adore the kitsch! I had the honor and pleasure of attending Dundalk Community Theatre’s holiday offering,

Review: A Christmas Carol at WolfPack Theatre Company

Reviews December 12, 2015 Jason Crawford Samios-Uy

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is a staple during the holiday season and many theatre companies all over the world are cashing in on it with traditional productions as well as new adaptations. Directed and Adapted by William Leary with Music Direction by Lauren Giglio, this new adaptation produced by the Wolfpack Theatre Company out of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Prince George’s County is set in present day at a homeless shelter operating in a church.

Review: The Holiday Special at Baltimore Theatre Project

Reviews December 11, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Tell me everything you think you know about Santa Claus. Of course, the only truth that resonates 100% inside the legend, the myth, and the mighty man that is Kris Kringle, is that Santa Claus is giving directly from the heart without expecting anything in return. So what if he also happens to be a homosexual? That’s the first half of The Holiday Special now appearing live on stage at The Baltimore Theatre Project.

Review: Year of the Rooster at Single Carrot Theatre

Reviews December 10, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Nothing can hurt you when you’re a rooster. Except another rooster. A blood-thirsty, hormone-pumped, cock-fighting rooster who has defeated the sun. Fight night is tonight, sun! You bring your little chickadee on down to Single Carrot Theatre to see their regional premiere of Year of the Rooster, written by Eric Dufault. Directed by Dustin C. T. Morris, this provocative drama may be the most straight-forward piece of theatre to be mounted upon STC’s stage in years.

Review: A Very Pointless Holiday Spectacular at Pointless Theatre

Reviews December 10, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Ho! Ho! Holiday-mamma-freaking-ho! The Pointless Theatre is bringing their annual tradition, A Very Pointless Holiday Spectacular to the stage for 2015 and they’re going to sack it to you, Santa babies! It’s the North Pole’s 239th annual talent show and Mrs. Claus and the elves are ready to get down, boogie, and go to town on the one night a year that they get off— and holy holiday moly do they get off!

Review: Dead Ringer at Do or Die Mysteries

Reviews December 10, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Jingle bells! Elf feet smell! Santa’s lost his mind! The North Pole’s stuck in a mighty rut and there’s murder close behind! When Mrs. Jingle Claus up and died a decade ago, the elves of the North Pole never thought it would lead to a befuddled and depressed Santa signing away the rights to a greedy corporation whose sole interest was profitizing toy production in the happiest place on earth. With Christmas just days away and a hostile takeover eminent,

Review: Seussical: The Musical at NextStop Theatre Company

Reviews December 9, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

When the holidays are frantic or your Christmas is blue—

You should pack up the family and do what I do!

Head to NextStop Theatre Company this holiday season

Just keep on reading I’ll give you plenty of reason!

It’s their family production, suited for people of every age

It’s Seussical: The Musical now appearing live on the NextStop stage!

Directed by Jennifer Lambert with Evie Korovesis as Musical Director

These champions of family fun are this holiday season’s protector!

Review: The Gifts of The Magi at Maryland Ensemble Theatre

Reviews December 8, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther 1 Comment

You can’t tell Christmas from the Fourth of July without snow! And the snowflakes are falling on the Maryland Ensemble Theatre’s Main Stage with their musical and magical production of The Gifts of the Magi. Directed by Suzanne Beal with Musical Direction by Alison E. Shafer, this charming production is a perfect reminder of what the true spirit of Christmas is meant to feel like for the holiday season.

Review: A Cactus Christmas at Off the Quill

Reviews December 8, 2015 Rachel Zirkin Duda

What if Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol had a modern-day spinoff featuring Jacob Marley – only this time, Marley was a gumshoe? Okay, a “dead as a doornail” gumshoe? It might be called A Christmas Cactus, an Off The Quill production written by Eliot Byerrum and Directed by Leanne Dinverno at the Greenbelt Arts Center.

In this holiday comedy, it is not Ebenezer Scrooge, but Cactus O’Riley (Shannon Riley) who owns the business,

Review: It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play at Annapolis Shakespeare Company

Reviews December 8, 2015 John Nunemaker

This time of year there is one story that always puts me in the holiday spirit and that’s It’s a Wonderful Life. The story of George Bailey giving everything for the people of Bedford Falls only to have everything he has done come crashing around him when Uncle Billy loses the business’s $8,000 while heading to deposit it in the bank— and on Christmas Eve none-the-less! It is because of this moment that George intends to end his life but when Clarence the angel is assigned to help him;

Review: Christmas Belles at Bowie Community Theatre

Reviews December 7, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

The holidays are all about second chances, and Lord knows the Futrelle sisters are going to need a God’s honest Christmas miracle to make it to the New Year without killing each other and half of Fayro, Texas. Frankie’s overdue with a brand new set of twins, Honey Raye is trying to save the Christmas Eve program at the Tabernacle of the Lamb from going to hell in a holiday decorated handbasket, and Twink’s out of the clink for one night only on a count of good behavior at Christmas.

Review: The Christmas Revels at Washington Revels

Reviews December 6, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther 1 Comment

Christmas comes but once a year, but when it comes it brings good cheer! Celebrating its 33rd year in marvelous merriment the Washington Revels are proud to present The Christmas Revels of 2015, a medieval celebration of the winter solstice in music, dance, and drama. Directed by Roberta Gasbarre with Musical Direction by Elizabeth Anne Fulford, this wondrous seasonal tradition is filled with fun for the whole family. Featuring performers that span generations upon the stage,

Review: It’s a Wonderful Life at Toby’s Dinner Theatre

Reviews December 5, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Teacher says every time a bell rings an angel gets its wings! Holiday bells are ringing at Toby’s Dinner Theatre of Columbia as they welcome the holiday season with their very own original musical production of It’s a Wonderful Life. With Music and Lyrics by David Nehls with Book and Adaptation by Michael Tilford, this feel-good holiday classic is carefully crafted with love specifically for the intimate in-the-round staging at Toby’s Dinner Theatre and fits like a favorite holiday sweater.

Review: Circle Circle Dot Dot at BOOM Theatre Company

Reviews December 4, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

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.

Review: The Zoo Story & Pullman, WA Double Feature at CCBC Academic Theatres

Reviews December 3, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

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,

Review: Horatio Dark’s Between the Lines November Broadcast at Yellow Sign Theatre

Reviews December 1, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther 2 Comments

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.

Review: West Side Story at Milburn Stone Theatre

Reviews December 1, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

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.

Review: A Christmas Carol at Twin Beach Players

Reviews November 30, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

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?

Review: Junie B. Jones in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells at MET’s Fun Company

Reviews November 30, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

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,

Review: Mornings at Seven at Colonial Players

Reviews November 29, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

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.

Review: Sons of the Prophet at Theater J

Reviews November 25, 2015 Rebecca Speas

Nothing seems to be going Joseph Douaihy’s way. His body is racked with mysterious chronic pain, he desperately needs health insurance, his disgraced publisher boss is certifiably nutso, and his father has just died in the wake of a freak accident involving a plastic deer decoy, leaving him as the primary care-giver for both his younger brother and his ailing uncle. This sets off Theater J’s stellar production of Stephen Karam’s award-winning play Sons of the Prophet,

Review: Impassioned Embraces at Annex Theatre

Reviews November 24, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

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.

Review: A Tuna Christmas at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews November 23, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

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.

Review: Cock at Fells Point Corner Theatre

Reviews November 22, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

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,

Review: X’s and O’s at Centerstage

Reviews November 21, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

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?

Review: Voracious at University of Maryland Baltimore County

Reviews November 20, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

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.

Review: Pericles at Folger Theatre

Reviews November 19, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

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,

Review: A Little Bit Not Normal at Cohesion Theatre Company

Reviews November 18, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther 1 Comment

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,

Review: The Secret Garden at Centerstage

Reviews November 10, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

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.

Review: Rebel Yells at Woodbrook Players

Reviews November 10, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

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.