Articles Tagged With: Centerstage

The Hot Wing King at Baltimore Center Stage

Reviews April 15, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther Leave a comment

Lessons can be blessings. Mistakes can be good. Finding a way to learn the lessons and take the ‘Beyoncé’ approach to making lemonade when life won’t stop raining fiery hot lemons down on your head is exactly what the Pulitzer Prize-Winning play The Hot Wing King, by Katori Hall is serving up in the Pearlstone Theatre of Baltimore Center Stage. It’s a limited engagement, playing through the end of the month of April but it’s a powerhouse piece that’s equal parts funny and heartfelt,

Mexodus at Baltimore Center Stage

Reviews March 22, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther Leave a comment

Todos estamos juntos en esto.

We’re all in this together.

Changing the face of musical theatre, changing the soundscape of our nation’s narrative— Mexodus is the story of the Underground Railroad that led south; a story that they will have to pass down by word of mouth. It’s a moment omitted from the history books— but it’s a story of thousands worth a second look— rapture and release, visceral emotions and peace— this is one for the ages splitting time on two stages— but you get to be in the room where it happened first— The Head Theatre at Baltimore Center Stage.

Looping Live: A Real-Time-Now-Transcribed Conversation with Director David Mendizábal on Mexodus’ debut at Baltimore Center Stage

Interviews March 1, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

Theatre is forever reinventing itself; telling stories, telling tales and expanding itself. New formats and phases, growing and showing— there’s so many new ways that the theatre keeps going. And this new format of a two-person, live-looping musical telling the story of the Underground Railroad and how it ventured south into Mexico is one of those new innovations. Appearing first at Baltimore Center Stage before it travels over to Mosaic Theatre in DC, Mexodus— a blended hip-hop history musical,

Ensemble of Cinderella (Enchanted Edition) at ArtsCentric & Baltimore Center Stage📷J Fannon

Cinderella at ArtsCentric & Baltimore Center Stage

Reviews December 2, 2023 Amanda N. Gunther

Glass Slipper? ✔

Pumpkin Carriage? ✔

Lousy step-family, prince and princess, big ol’ ball? ✔✔✔

But if you think you know the story of Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, think again. To quote my 63-year-old mother (who at the time of this review, we’re now 12 hours post leaving the theatre and she’s still telling me things she discovered and was awestruck by and enjoyed), “that was the best,

Thoughts of a Colored Man at Baltimore Center Stage

Reviews October 24, 2019 Amanda N. Gunther

“Who is the colored man? Is he a king or is he a slave?” Profound
question contained within Kennan Scott II’s Thoughts of a Colored Man,
now playing at Baltimore Center Stage in the Pearlstone Theatre. Directed by
Steve H. Broadnax III (as a co-production with Syracuse Stage in association
with Brian Moreland and Ron Simons), this evocative dramatic theatrical
experience presents the inner monologues of men of color to the audience in a
series of loosely interconnected vignettes,

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at Baltimore Center Stage

Reviews September 27, 2018 Amanda N. Gunther

Mendacity is all around us. Just listen to the news. The fictitious fabrications of Tennessee Williams’ world know only two ways out from underneath it. Liquor is one. Death is the other. Known for works played in memory, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof makes a strike against the memory play in Tennessee Williams’ book and is debuting now at Baltimore Center Stage as the harbinger of the 2018/2019 season. Directed by Judith Ivey this aching classic harkens back to a moment that somehow outsteps time,

Shakespeare In Love at Baltimore Center Stage

Reviews November 1, 2017 Cybele Pomeroy

If you love Shakespeare, you are likely to love SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE as a stage production even better than the movie by the same name. There’s more Shakespeare in it. In fact, it opens with a song version of a popular sonnet, just in case you don’t quite remember all 14 lines. Throughout the show, there are nods and references to a number of The Bard’s works, great swaths of quotations,

The Christians at Baltimore Center Stage

Reviews September 15, 2017 Amanda N. Gunther

Can I get an amen? Can I get a hallelujah! Join Baltimore Center Stage for worship starting now through October 8, 2017. Seven times a week, most evenings and Sunday afternoon too, Baltimore Center Stage is bringing to you a powerful message of hope, a powerful message of faith, and a powerful message of love! Making its Baltimore area debut, Lucas Hnath’s The Christians gets the 2017/2018 season at Baltimore Center Stage underway downstairs in the Pearlstone Theatre.

Review: Les Liaisons Dangereuses at Centerstage

Reviews December 6, 2016 Mark Briner

Only flirt with those you intend to refuse.
A poor choice is less dangerous than an obvious choice.
Never write letters.
Always be sure they think they’re the only one.
Win or die.

So are the Libertine Commandments recounted by the aristocratic temptress Marquise de Merteuil for her cohort in conspiracy the Vicomte de Valmont. Her credos just scratch the surface of the perverse dance in which the two engage in Christopher Hampton’s 1985 play,

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: 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: Pride And Prejudice at Centerstage

Reviews September 19, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Country life is so exhausting. All of the never-ending balls and assemblies, the constant need to be dancing the night away into irretrievable states of fatigue; all of these tiresome chores which fall into the laps of brooding and grim single, terribly handsome young gentlemen, as they have their pick of beautiful, albeit dowerless, eligible young girls. It is truly the classic framework of one of the simplest Austenian storylines in romantic literature. Adapted to the stage by Christopher Baker,

Review: Marley at Centerstage

Reviews May 15, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Life is only important if you can help plenty of people. And Centerstage is helping plenty of people by jammin’ and jammin’ and jammin’ and jammin’ to the groovy heartfelt love that can only be Bob Marley. With Music and Lyrics by the Reggae legend himself and a Book written by Centerstage’s Artistic Director Kwame Kwei-Armah, this intricate examination of Marley’s life and his work to help the masses is a moving experience that shakes the soul with the chords of justice,

Review: 4,000 Miles at Centerstage

Reviews April 9, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

It’s a long road, but a good one; the journey through The Herzog Festival at Centerstage this spring. At least, the back end of the road is worth the journey. Debuting as the second half of the repertory cycle, 4,000 Miles, makes a more lasting impression and is overall more tolerable and enjoyable as a production than its counterpart, After the Revolution. This work, though it is unclear as to where it sits in time in regards to the aforementioned play,

Review: After the Revolution at Centerstage

Reviews March 26, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

You can’t fight for change and be nice. But how will you feel at the end of your days when you look back to see how your time was spent? Will you be proud, or will the blanket coverall statement of “we did what we had to do” come to mind? An evocative, albeit esoterically focused, drama kicks off The Herzog festival at Centerstage this spring. After the Revolution, written by Amy Herzog and Directed by Lila Neugebauer,

#WEIRDFRANCE: An Interview with the Three Leading Actors

Interviews March 3, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Whet your appetite a little further on this curious cuisine of surrealist normalcy in an absurdist reality. In Part 2 of #weirdfrance, TheatreBloom continues its quest to learn about all the crazy things happening in the Cohesion Theatre Company production of 13 Dead Husbands. This time we’ve gathered the three leading men, Thomas Sinn, Bobby Henneburg, and Matthew Payne, to hear their take on #weirdfrance.

If you fellas can give us a quick introduction,

Review: One Night in Miami

Reviews January 22, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Everyone that has a soul has the ability to have that soul touched and moved. Whether you’re black or white, into music or sports, are religious or not, Centerstage is bringing a soul-gripping performance that crackles with spirit and blazes a path straight to the heart as they present the regional premier of Kemp Powers’ One Night in Miami. Directed by Artistic Director Kwame Kwei-Armah, this powerful and provocative play of the soul brings four legendary men together under one roof for one night to witness the struggles of their careers,

Pondering Playwrights: An Interview with Mark Scharf on Fortune’s Child

Interviews January 16, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Everyone dies; it is a fact of life. Fortune’s Child, a new work by Baltimore area playwright Mark Scharf has made its debut at the Baltimore Theatre Project this winter season of 2015. In a TheatreBloom exclusive interview, I’ve sat down with the playwright to discuss the work and what it is meant to tell the audiences who see it about living life.

Thank you for taking the time to sit down with the readers of TheatreBloom for this interview,

Review: Next to Normal at Centerstage

Reviews October 16, 2014 Amanda N. Gunther

Life is insane but crazy can be done. Crazy is oft the norm when normal can’t be found. Centerstage is taking crazy to the next level with their fall production of the Tony and Pulitzer Award-Winning musical Next to Normal. The emotionally poignant musical is a groundbreaking work that infusing real life dysfunction into musical theatre in a jarring but exhilarating fashion. With music by Tom Kitt and Book and Lyrics by Brian Yorkey,

Review: Amadeus at Centerstage

Reviews September 19, 2014 Amanda N. Gunther

A note of music is either right or wrong; not even time can change that. Centerstage is hitting notes of marvelous perfection as they launch their 52nd season with a resplendent production of Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus. Directed by Artistic Director Kwame Kwei-Armah, the epic masterpiece of one man’s struggle against God comes to Baltimore in time to welcome in the autumn days. The tale is invigorating; a stunning exposure to the raw humanity that drives mortal men to unspeakable sins all spurned from jealousy.

Requiem of Genius: An Interview with Bruce Randolph Nelson on Playing Salieri in Amadeus

Interviews September 18, 2014 Amanda N. Gunther

What a story. What a scandal. What does he cry? Amadeus! But it is Salieri’s tale to tell. And what better a way to hear it than in an exclusive interview with Baltimore area actor Bruce Randolph Nelson, playing the lead role of Salieri in Centerstage’s production of Amadeus. The first production of their 2014/2015 season is underway and in a sit down interview Bruce gives us the real deal on what it’s like to play the lesser genius to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.