Articles Tagged With: Spotlighters

Fag Gods at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews April 15, 2024 Jamie Gerhardt Leave a comment

author: Jamie Gerhardt

Fag Gods is a mythic camp comedy making its worldwide performance debut at Spotlighters in their 61st season in Baltimore, and it truly couldn’t have had a better opening. Written by John Bavoso and presented at the Baltimore Playwright’s Festival last year, it was the highest-rated selection of that season, and Spotlighters (very thankfully!) decided to give this wonderful little show its debut. The show is highly representative of the LGBTQIA+ community— as you might be able to discern from its title— and as someone who came out as transgender myself within the past year,

Laughing Stock at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews March 2, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

Madness does not run through the theatre family; it gallops. With sardines. And while you’re certainly not going to get a gargantuan house on the postage stamp stage at The Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre, you can definitely get a hilariously good time with their current production of Charles Morey’s Laughing Stock. Mild to moderate insanity with a dash of ‘WTF’ all balled neatly into the nonsense that is the lifestyle we choose when we jump into the world of theatre.

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,

Outward Bound at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews October 31, 2023 Amanda N. Gunther

“…to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave…”

Christmas starts in October for everyone else, so why not use a lesser-recognized Dickens’ quote to welcome in the latest show of Season 61 at Spotlighters? (And if you need more Dickens in your life, beyond this hook-quote, be sure to book your tickets for the cherished annual performance of Phil Gallagher’s one-man A Christmas Carol coming this December) But this particular quote feels apropos for Outward Bound,

Circle Mirror Transformation at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews September 21, 2023 Amanda N. Gunther

For a season of harmony and balance, nurture and compassion, Circle Mirror Transformation seems an odd choice, especially as the kick-starter for said season. Annie Baker’s esoteric theatrical exercise-come-stage-play is now appearing at Spotlighters Theatre through October 1st 2023 under the direction of Nick Cherone.

The play itself is deeply problematic— not because it hits on any hot-button issues or is outdated/outmoded or offensive but rather because it feels unfinished. There’s sort of a beginning,

What Was Done at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews July 20, 2023 Amanda N. Gunther

It’s never an easy task to tackle a difficult subject, particularly when attempting to speak about a narrative that isn’t necessarily your own. What Was Done, a world-premiere play by Jack L. B. Bohn currently being produced for the Baltimore Playwrights Festival by Miriam Bazensky and Directed by Barry Feinstein as a co-production with Spotlighters Theatre, is a play that leaves the audience with more questions and awkward comments than anything else.

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews April 19, 2023 Angelica Peaco

Growing up as an only child, I often imagined what it would be like to have siblings and to be able to grow older with them. After seeing Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at Spotlighters Theatre I no longer need to imagine what that type of life might look like. Written by Christopher Durang and Directed by Erin Klarner, this play encapsulates the ups and downs of sibling dynamics and proves that even as adults’ siblings will always have a unique and indescribable bond.

Hillary Mazer as Lillian in Do Not Go Gentle. 📸Matthew Peterson

Do Not Go Gentle at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews March 4, 2023 Amanda N. Gunther

Everything that happens to you is your story. How you choose to tell it? And who you let tell it? That’s up to you. A surprising drama with heart and emotional heft, Suzan Zeder’s Do Not Go Gentle is a rarely produced play— at least in these parts— and is currently making its way onto the stage at Spotlighters Theatre. An estranged son? A moody granddaughter? A spastically over-the-top estate agent? And a ghost.

[Title of Show] at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews January 24, 2023 Angelica Peaco

Fierce! Original! Hysterical! All adjectives that one could use to describe [title of show] at Spotlighters Theatre. Written by Jeff Bowen and Hunter Bell with Music & Lyrics by Jeff Bowen, and the Book by Hunter Bell, this show creates a world in which a theater patron can see the time, blood, sweat, and tears that it takes for an original musical to make it all the way to the Great White Way.

Twelfth Night at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews November 4, 2022 Joshua Bermont

In a modern context, the production of William Shakespeare’s works largely hangs upon the performers’ ability to voice these verses in such a way that the audience not only instantly and instinctually understands their meaning, but may also benefit from their specific notes of humor, tragedy, etc. In this sense, Spotlighters Theatre’s Twelfth Night – the classic gender-bending romantic comedy – is a decidedly mixed bag.

The older generation of performers seem to know exactly what they’re doing here,

Hoodoo Love at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews September 30, 2022 Joshua Bermont

Set in Memphis during the Great Depression, Hoodoo Love – written by Katori Hall, directed by Rain Pryor, and currently playing at the Spotlighters Theatre – exists at the seamy and sultry crossroads where superstition, the blues, and matters of the heart converge… the sort of crossroads where Tommy Johnson, referenced in this piece (along with a great many other blues legends), might well have stood at midnight and sold his soul for his music.

The Mousetrap at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews April 16, 2022 Amanda N. Gunther

The wonder.

The mystery.

The Mousetrap.

While the ending may be the world’s best-kept secret, there’s no wonder or mystery that it is London’s longest-running performance in The West End. This Agatha Christie stage play is loaded with intrigue, deception, suspense, and— of course— mystery. And it’s now appearing on The Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre stage, directed by Paul Saar. With edgy moments of suspense, thrilling moments of spine-tingling terror,

Puffs at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews March 9, 2022 Mike Zellhofer

Puffs is certainly written for serious fans of a certain young wizard. You pretty much have to be well versed in the wizardly world of J. K. Rowling (all seven years and then some) to have every joke land. However, Director Alanna Kiewe and her Spotlighters’ cast deliver an evening of entertainment whether you are a Potter novice or you bleed butter beer. I mean come on; these are Puffs we are talking about.

A Christmas Carol at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews December 14, 2021 Amanda N. Gunther

There have been songs, dances, parodies, and even Muppets. But in all my travels— these 35 and a half years upon this earth— making merry and keeping the spirit and tradition of Christmas alive in my heart not only during the season but all the year, I have never heard of a visit to a lighthouse during the travels of The Ghost of Christmas Present with Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

Scharf’s Shorts at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews October 26, 2021 Mark Briner

Friday night, October 22, 2021, was a very big night for a small but important theatre, one of a select few that are the very soul of Baltimore theatre history. After nineteen months of darkness thrust upon them due to Covid-19 lockdowns and mandates, The Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre, that diminutive little workhorse in the step down basement on St. Paul Street, opened again with a light fanfare and a comfortable crowd of faithful patrons to kick off their 59th Season.

Sweat at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews September 16, 2019 Mike Zellhofer

As Bodhi (Patrick Swayze) said in
Point Break, “It will sting a bit,
but, uh, it’s for your own growth, bro.” Sweat
written by Lynn Nottage, playing at Spotlighters Theatre, is the slap in the
face that we need. It does what we all too often fail to do when it comes to a
political or social issue; it humanizes the situation. We read the paper, watch
the news, scan social media,

Greg & Michele Guyton on their wedding day, July 21, 1990.

Love Letters: Spelling Marriage One Married Couple At A Time- Greg & Michele Guyton

Interviews July 31, 2019 Amanda N. Gunther

“Someday I’ll meet someone whose heart joins with mine—
aortas and arteries all intertwined! They’ll beat so much stronger than they
could apart, eight chambers of muscle to hustle the love in our heart!” Greg Kotis
& Mark Hollmann this time, weighing in on love as TheatreBloom talks shop—
love and marriage, that is— with the next married couple appearing in Love
Letters during the benefit fundraiser production run at Spotlighters
Theatre. Delivering their rendition of Love Letters on Friday August 9th,

Steel Magnolias at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews June 25, 2019 Joseph R. Kennedy

I wasn’t sure what to think about
seeing a play I had only ever heard of as an acclaimed movie. Director Fuzz Roark assuaged those fears by
allowing us to experience the story in a setting not only made more intimate by
being kept in the same room as Alan Zemla’s set designs, but also brought to
our senses by virtue of Spotlighters Theater being a cozy space. Being so very close to the action made you
not an audience member at a play,

Vinegar Tom at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews May 30, 2019 Mark Briner

Sometimes, it’s all in the
timing. When the circles of life coincide with your best efforts, everyone
wins. There is a history of shows that premiered to little or no hoopla, but
when revived later in a different political or social climate, felt way more
relevant and meaningful. The most popular example is Kander & Ebb’s classic
musical Chicago. Opening in 1975
under the direction of Bob Fosse and starring dual leading legends Gwen Verdon
and Chita Rivera,

Pygmalion at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews February 28, 2019 Mark Briner

In
ancient Greek mythology, the shy artist Pygmalion expressed no interest in
women, but when he created a statue of Galatea so fair he fell in love with it,
he made sacrifices to the goddess Aphrodite to give him a woman as beautiful as
his sculpture. She does him one better by bringing the marble Galatea to life
as his reward. In 1912, master Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw used that metaphor
of taking the basest elements of the earth and sculpting them into a real lady
in a very literal sense in his masterpiece Pygmalion.

Songs For a New World at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews November 9, 2018 Amanda N. Gunther

A new world calls across Charm City! A new world calls across street. A new world whispers through Mt. Vernon— time to see— time to see…it is time to see Songs For a New World at The Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre. Co-Directed by Andrea Bush and Michael Tan, and Musical Direction by Michael Tan, four talented voices come together on the stage to sing songs of love and hope. Fitting well into the Season57 theme of ‘Strong Voices’,

Lysistrata at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews September 27, 2018 Amanda N. Gunther

War! Huh! Good God! What is it good for? The age old question that is as relevant now as it was 2400 years ago when Aristophanes took words to parchment and penned Lysistrata. The classic Greek comedy where women hole themselves up in the Acropolis and refuse sex to the men until they end the war finds a retooling with a new translation by Sarah Ruden. Opening the 57th Season— A Season of Strong Voices— at The Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre,

She Kills Monsters at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews June 1, 2017 Amanda N. Gunther

The epic quest for epic theatre in Baltimore City has been going for as long as theatergoers have been seeking it out: since the dawn of theatrical time! The holy grail of theatrical mother-loads has landed at The Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre and it’s slaying— literally! She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen and Directed by Stephanie Miller, is exactly what thespians of Charm City have been seeking! Under-produced and rarely seen productions?

The Wiz at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews April 11, 2017 Amanda N. Gunther

Come on and— ease on down, ease on down the road! Pick up your left foot when your right foot’s down, and head to the Mt. Vernon side of Charm City Town. You’ve got to— ease on down, ease on down the road! It’s time to ease on down, ease on down the road! Pick up your tickets— for this show that is— come on down to Spots and see their show of The Wiz!

Three Penny Opera at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews January 19, 2017 Amanda N. Gunther

The line forms, on the right, babe— now that Macheath is back in town! The Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre is sending scarlet billowing all over the stage, kicking off 2017 with a flash of those pearly white sharks teeth as they bring the iconic Bertolt Brecht adaptation, The Three Penny Opera to the stage. Directed (with new editing, adapting, and translating) by Michael Blum with Musical Direction by Erica Rome, this poor man’s opera is certain to put the tingles up your spine.

On Holiday! An Interview with an American Idiot, or The Director Thereof at Milburn Stone Theatre

Interviews June 11, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

Don’t want to be an American Idiot? Then you’re going to have to travel up to Milburn Stone Theatre to see their visceral production of Green Day’s American Idiot. But before you do, we’ll put you in the know and keep you informed by presenting you with a TheatreBloom exclusive interview with the show’s Director Lance Bankerd. Hear what Lance has to say regarding the production and what it means to today’s audiences.

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: Zombie Prom at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews October 20, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Atomic adolescent angst rears its radioactive righteousness in a teenage nuclear zombie! Not a catchy enough hook? Think Grease meets The Walking Dead, but with more dancing and you’ll have the hysterically campy and hell of a good time musical, Zombie Prom now shambling onto the stage of the Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre just in time for the spooktacular season of Halloween. Directed by Kristen Cooley with Musical Direction by Michael Tan,

The Enlightening of Billie Dawn: An interview with Anne Shoemaker

Interviews June 12, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Gin! When a woman sets her mind to it, she can accomplish great things, like beating Harry Brock at gin rummy for example. In a TheatreBloom exclusive interview, we sit down with Baltimore area actress Anne Shoemaker to discuss her first major lead role in Born Yesterday at Vagabond Players.

If you could give us a little introduction and familiarize the readers with who you are and what you’ve been up to as of late,

#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,