All posts by Amanda N. Gunther

A full-time theatre reviewer in the Baltimore, Washington, and surrounding areas; Amanda holds a BFA in Acting from the University of Maryland Baltimore County as well as a minor in Creative Writing. Having spent two of her five years at college studying abroad at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, she has learned a great deal about improv, devised work theatre, and interpretive movement pieces. Striving to promote theatre of all types, she can often be found in a theatre of some type, even on her nights off.

The Divine Sister at Vagabond Players

Reviews June 5, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther Leave a comment

All religion is a mania. And the maniacs are going to be coming after Charles Busch (the farce-loving playwright) for The Divine Sister. How do you solve a problem like Maria? Or a problem that you— ‘can’t face’? (Put that one in a British accent while you’re at it) well…take a hearty dose of holy high hilarity down at Vagabond Players to close out their 110th season. Whoever greenlit this one as the season closer has got a bone to pick with the big guy upstairs… or big girl?

Something Rotten! at Theatreworks Live

Reviews May 29, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther Leave a comment

It’s… a… musical! A Mus-i-cal! Theatreworks Live is doing an amazing musical! With song and dance and sweet romance and happy endings by happenstance! They’re giving you bright lights— stage fights— and a razzle-dazzle ensemble…oop! Nothing rhymes with ensemble! But it’s still… a… musical! Yes! A Musical! In fact, it’s Something Rotten! on their stage, that’s the musical! That’s right, they’re fancy! And they are bringing you moments of culture and art and a whole lot of talented young performers who just can’t wait to show you all of their singing,

Monica Tulia Ramirez (center on horse) as Inez Milholland and the company of Suffs 📷 Joan Marcus

Suffs at The Hippodrome

Reviews May 27, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther Leave a comment

Lifting as we climb, onward and upward we go! The rallying cry of Suffs— women on the march! Women on the move! And these women will show you who they are as they march for justice, for freedom, for equality! And they’re bringing that march right through the heart of Charm City— to Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre! The First National Tour of Suffs plays a limited week-long engagement at The Hippodrome and it’s playing in one of the most crucial moments in history.

Emma at Everyman Theatre

Reviews May 26, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther Leave a comment

You can’t control everything, Emma! But isn’t it fun to watch her try!? Yes! Yes it is! And far more than fun— it’s practically a divertissement of the most jubilant nature; it’s a rather uproarious, madcap enjoyment! Emma, the Jane Austen classic— as recently adapted by Kate Hamill for maximum rom-com tomfoolery— is situating itself onto the Everyman Theatre main stage as the final production of the 2025/2026 season. Directed by Laura Kepley,

American Vamp at Baltimore Rock Opera Society

Reviews May 25, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther Leave a comment

Welcome to Plasma Corp.

What happens here stays here.

And rots.

Because the world is murder. People just see what they want to see. They don’t care. And BROS enthusiasts who come out to see this show are going to have a field day, a blast, a rockin’ good time— because they will see what they want to see in American Vamp. (Concept and Original Pitch by Hanna F.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Just Off Broadway

Reviews May 22, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther Leave a comment

How now, summer spirit? Have you brought us hot ice and wondrous strange snow? Or a mess of Athenian lovers, a Faerie Brawl, and some Rude Mechanicals all dusted up in one moonlit spell? All of that, says you? Then you must be alluding to A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Just Off Broadway! The first of the Bard’s ilk to tread the boards at JoB and it’s a sensational production under the keen and goodly direction of Mistress Kelly Williams Carlson,

(L to R) Gillian Shelly as Martha, Steven Todd Smith as Nick, Maureen O'Neal as Honey, and Aaron Angelo as George in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf at Ardeo Theatre Company 📷Michael Mason Studios

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf at Ardeo Theatre Company

Reviews May 21, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther Leave a comment

We all peel labels. The most innocuous, seemingly mundane line to not only land but stick indefinitely from a production that has arguably thousands of lines to choose from or resonate with. Edward Albee and Betty Brevity are not besties (spoiler: neither are she and I!) but there’s a reason his verbose textual structure has garnered him the success and accolades that it has through the decades of his works’ existence. But that one line— “we all peel labels” is the most brutally exacting descriptor for what’s happening in this current production of Who’s Afraid of Virigina Woolf?

Every Brilliant Thing at Maryland Ensemble Theatre

Reviews May 19, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther Leave a comment

13. Being wholly in the moment with that one companion who just sees you no matter which you that you are in that moment, feeling loved, seen, and appreciated by that whole person and their whole being as you are being your whole self.

28. Face Glitter.

422. Home-grown Nasturtium blossoms

649. Not understanding how time can move so quickly and so slowly all at once and not at all.

Maya Keleher (center) as Alice Paul in the First National Tour of Suffs 📷 Joan Marcus

Finishing The Fight: An Interview with Maya Keleher on leading the charge in the First National Tour of Suffs

Interviews May 18, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther Leave a comment

They’re merely soldiers in petty coats? Right? Think again, Mary Poppins, these are not your grandma’s suffragettes. I mean, technically, from a timestamp point they’re you’re grandma and maybe even your great-grandma’s suffragettes, but this is a whole new spin on the movement and after its critical success on Broadway, it’s currently touring its way across the nation as a part of the Broadway Across America series. What show? Suffs, of course!

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at The St. Gabriel Miracle Players

News May 15, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther Leave a comment

In the end, there’s quite a prize if you can see with more than your eyes. And you’ll have to bring more than just your peepers along for the ride if you truly want to experience Charlie & The Chocolate Factory at St. Gabriel’s Miracle Players. You’ll need to bring your— IMAGINATION! Based on the novel by Roald Dahl, this newer musical theatre adaptation has more grizzly outcomes for the children as they traverse their way through Wonka’s chocolate factory and The Miracle Players are doing the best they can to bring you wonder,

Shakespeare Bites with Theatre Students of Brooklyn Park Middle School (Apex Arts)

To Play Or Not To Play: An Evening of Performance with Apex Arts

News May 15, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther Leave a comment

Shakespeare is a thief. Theatres are haunted. Live theatre is best served with comedy. This year’s spring showcase for the Theatre Students of Brooklyn Park Middle School (Apex Arts program) has a bubbly mixed-bag of topics presented in two parts— the sixth graders performing Live Theatre and the seventh and eighth graders performing Shakespeare Bites, both written by CJ Crowe, a teaching artist working with theatre students as a part of the Apex Arts program.

Salome at The Rude Mechanicals

Reviews May 11, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther Leave a comment

Theatre is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.

If you’re feeling a little nostalgic checking in with that opening line then you’re on the right path.

How you doin’? Betcha you’ll be da bomb after you hit up the current production of Salome with The Rude Mechanicals at Greenbelt Arts Center. Conceptualized and directed by Wes Dennis, this Oscar Wilde…adaptation doesn’t seem like the right word here,

The Mouse That Roared at Salem Players

Reviews May 8, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther

Has your country gone broke? Are you about to have to go back to the ‘dark times’ where only one pomegranate per household per year? Are you on the verge of total extinction in your five-mile by three-mile country that NATO likely doesn’t recognize? Then have we got a solution for you! Why, declare war, of course! On the United States! Because there’s no conceivable universe— past, present, future, or otherwise— where you could win that war,

Hadestown (Teen Edition) at Children’s Playhouse of Maryland

Reviews May 5, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther

They will make you see how the world could be, in spite of the way that it is. They will sing you a song so beautiful that it brings the world back into tune. And where are you going? You’re going way down— Hadestown (Teen Edition) – way down under the ground. 21 young performers, one old, sad song— and they’re gonna tell it. They’re gonna tell it again. Children’s Playhouse of Maryland is living it up on top with their stellar and sensationally charged production of Hadestown (Teen Edition) and it will move your heart,

Livin’ It Up On Top: The Graduating Seniors of 2026 from Children’s Playhouse of Maryland Chat About Their Final Show- Hadestown

Interviews May 2, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther

Way down… Hadestown… way down under the ground. And it’s the show that has swept the nation, captivated the hearts of my generation and their generation and the graduating seniors (class of 2026) at Children’s Playhouse of Maryland could not be more enthusiastic and passionate about getting to perform in it as their final production with CPM. In the fourth annual “Graduating Seniors Interview” we’ve sat down with this year’s group— a total of five individuals,

Shakill Jamal (top) as Trinculo, with Vince Eisenson (center) as Caliban, and Matt Harris (below) as Stephano in Chesapeake Shakespeare Company's The Tempest 📷 Kiirstn Pagan Photography.

The Tempest at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company

Reviews April 30, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther

Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a Duke o’er-thrown

That ended him and his daughter dear, on an island all alone.

Though not so alone as they thought they were— among spirits of earth and air

And then a conjured-magic sea-spun storm that brought their en’mies there.

The plot then thickens there, my friend, and there’s so much more to say

About the entities and denizens that populate this play

Magic.

Ann Morrison (left) as Kimberly and Marcus Phillips (right) as Seth in the National Tour of Kimberly Akimbo📷 Joan Marcus

Kimberly Akimbo at The Hippodrome Theatre

Reviews April 29, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther

It’s Saturday night— in Baltimore City— and there’s parties everywhere— but we’d rather be at Kimberly Akimbo! Which is in Baltimore City, at The Hippodrome Theatre, through Sunday evening, truth be told! And this is the ugly-cry-feel-good musical that you didn’t know you needed. Evocative and tender, filled with the mots profound emotional expression of laughter-through-tears, this stunningly realistic musical that highlights familial and life-living dysfunction without glorifying it or shying away from it is exactly what the world needs right now;

4am Friends at Endangered Species Theatre Project 📷 Michael Mason Studios

4a.m. Friends at ESP Theatre

Reviews April 24, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther

We’ve all got our crew. Our people, our peeps, our “I need help moving a body”— Grey’s Anatomy defined it as “our person.” And several of us have a small army or contingency, but we’ve all got our ‘4a.m. friends’ as the tile of Endangered Species Theatre Projects’ newest work blatantly states. The takeaway from the play is that friends are important. The relationships that you cultivate over the years (and not all good friendships take decades to cultivate) are the ones that float you through life.

Arthur and Friends Make a Musical at MET Fun Company

Reviews April 24, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther

Hold onto your socks!! Because the MET Fun Company knows how to rock!! And they are ready to rock your socks right off with their adorably nostalgic production of Arthur and Friends Make a Musical. Based on the Arthur book series by Marc Brown, this quaint little kids show, which is wholly appropriate for both the youngins and those of us that grew up in the 90’s watching Arthur on PBS,

Jagged Little Pill at Scottfield Theatre Company

Reviews April 18, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther

You’ve already won me over, in spite of me, and don’t be alarmed if I fall, head over feet. The album I played so many times in middle school I scratched the CD and had to ask for it for Christmas. Twice. ANd then it became a stage musical. And now it’s making its area debut at Scottfield Theatre Company in Havre de Grace. And isn’t it ironic– don’t you think? It’s a ferocious piece of theatre that is evocative and visceral and way too relevant for the world we live in;

Remember The Ladies at Hood College & Arts@FCC

News April 17, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther

“I desire that you would remember the ladies…” ~Abigail Adams, March 31st 1776 in a letter to John.
And sure, Abigail Adams is easy enough— she’s one of just two female roles in 1776 the musical. But what about Sybil Ludington? The 16-yo female Paul Revere, and maybe she gets more of a notice because she had a male-counterpart to be compared to, but I bet most of you coming out to this wonderfully new devised piece called Remember The Ladies (written and directed by Suzanne Beal) won’t recognize most of the other names dropped into the piece,

Emily Koch (center) as Debra and the cast of the National Tour of Kimberly Akimbo 📷 Joan Marcus

A Great Adventure: Interviewing Emily Koch on Kimberly Akimbo

Interviews April 17, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther

Tie the fishline.

Open the mailbox.

Drop the glue trap.

And maybe you’ll pull back— a pair of tickets to see Kimberly Kimbo, currently touring the nation, and making a pit-stop in Baltimore later this month! In the meantime, we’re having a good-old-fashioned phone-interview (feels appropriate for a show set in the 1990’s, right?) with Emily Koch, playing Debra, and she’s got lots to say about just how excited she is to see you at the show!

Bus Buddies at Endangered Species Theatre Project

News April 14, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther

You ever ridden a bus? Taken it just because it was there? Or maybe you’re one of those regulars who depends upon the bus route for your day-to-day operations? Maybe you get to know the people on the bus as a part of your community, they become like your family, and are woven into your story as much as your daily cup of coffee? That’s the notion or at least the essence that playwright Nancy Luse is aiming for with her new work Bus Buddies,

The Minutes at Keegan Theatre

Reviews April 14, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther

Just what kind of community do you want to live in? Ask yourself that the next time you think about running for town council or stepping up to attend a city hall meeting. It’s a valid question. What kind of community do you want to live in? It’s a surface level question that could have a surface level answer. It could also be a fathomless question with a bottomless answer that really gut-checks reality for you.

The Heidi Chronicles at Vagabond Players

Reviews April 11, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther

You either shave your legs or you don’t. Radical, albeit limited, that approach to feminism circa the 70’s. And we’d like to think we’ve come so very far from that myopic viewpoint and the circumstances that forced it into existence in the first place. We’d like to think. And there’s plenty to think about— drink in, really— when you catch the penultimate production of the Vagabond Players 110th season— Wendy Wasserstein’s The Heidi Chronicles.

We Are Such Stuff As Dreams Are Made On: An Interview with Christopher Marino on Playing Prospero at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company

Interviews April 10, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther

O’ wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! And it takes just one goodly creature, in this case, an actor, to sit down with us and chat all about Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s upcoming production of The Tempest. In a TheatreBloom sit-down exclusive, we’re talking to Christopher Marino, currently playing Prospero in The Tempest, which opens on April 24th as the final show (on the indoor mainstage) of the 2025/2026 season.

The Crucible at Maryland Ensemble Theatre

Reviews April 6, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther

We are here to discover what no one has ever seen.

And The Maryland Ensemble Theatre’s penultimate mainstage production of 2025/2026— Arthur Miller’s The Crucible— is unlike any Crucible you’ve ever seen before. It’s a disquietingly innovative hot-take on the production that universally presents it as an everyman tale, wholly investing the ensemble in the story’s narrative burden whilst simultaneously reflecting the harsh reality of the present-day world in which we live— but subtly,

Assassins at Laurel Mill Playhouse

Reviews April 6, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther

Free country: means your dreams can come true here. Right?

Not exactly an accurate reflection of the country in which we currently live. And if anyone tries to tell you that politics don’t belong in theatre and you believe them? I’ve got some oceanfront property in Nebraska to sell you. Once belonged to Abraham Lincoln too. It’s a fiery, unprecedented world in which we currently live and Laurel Mill Playhouse is stepping up to the plate with their current production of Stephen Sondeheim’s Assassins,

Megan Anderson (left) as Sonia, with Bruce Randolph Nelson (middle) as Vanya, and Beth Hylton (right) as Masha in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at Everyman Theatre 📷 Teresa Castracane Photography

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at Everyman Theatre

Reviews March 31, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther

You must always get your hopes up— it’s wise but scary— though not in this case! If you’re getting your hopes up for a fantastic evening of theatrical entertainment, then you’re winning at life and Everyman Theatre is the place to be! They will delight you, they will tickle your funny bone, they will enchant you with their penultimate production of the 25/26 season (celebrating 35 years in Baltimore), and they will remind you that life is beautiful,

Rapunzel (A Rock ‘n’ Roll Fairytale) at Stand Up For…Theatre

News March 25, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther

So you think you know Rapunzel, huh? Fairytale about the princess trapped in the tower with the really long hair and the prince and the witch? Betcha didn’t know she had two other village girls trapped up there with her. Or that the evil witch had a good twin. Sounds like Fractured Fairytles gone goofy, right? Sort of! And it’s got music! It’s Stand Up For…Theatre and their production of Rapunzel (A Rock ‘n’ Roll Fairytale) and while calling it ‘rock-n-roll’ may be a bit of a stretch,