Articles Tagged With: Katie Sheldon

Arsenic & Old Lace at Vagabond Players 📷 Shealyn Jae Photography

Arsenic and Old Lace at Vagabond Players

Reviews February 21, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther

Do you long for a simpler time? A time when things weren’t so complicated? A time, perhaps, when simpler virtues— things like candlelight, good manners, and poisoned wine were on offer in every Old Spinster household? Vagabond Players has got just the show for you, my friends, but whatever you do— DO NOT DRINK THE WINE! That tried and true comedic classic, Arsenic and Old Lace, written by Joseph Kesselring, is now appearing at Vags under the direction of Katie Sheldon and it’s a doozy!

Evita at Silhouette Stages

Reviews October 19, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

What makes a city hum? Who gives it life? Evita! Evita! And Silhouette Stages’ current production of the Tim Rice & Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Evita will have the whole city of Columbia more than just humming. You’ll cheer. You’ll cry. You’ll be moved. Directed by Daniel Douek, with Musical Direction by Ginny Moses, and Choreography by Amie Bell, this tragically beautiful tale of Argentina’s first lady— the first ‘princess of the people’— is in gloriously capable hands under Daniel Douek’s direction and his production team’s innovative practices on stage.

Cats at Cockpit in Court

Reviews July 20, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

Turn your face toward Cockpit in Court…let your memory lead you…open up enter in (to the F. Scott Black Theatre inside the Robert & Eleanor Romadka College Center) you will find there…the meaning of what happiness is… and a new show…will begin. If it was mystical the first time, magical the second, it will certainly be memorable, magnificent— truly Jellicle— the third as Bambi Johnson (who has become synonymous with Andrew Lloyd Webber and T.S.

RETURN TO THE JELLICLE BALL: MEETING THE NEWEST 2024 ADDITIONS TO THE CLOWDER OF COCKPIT IN COURT’S CATS: Bustopher Jones

Interviews July 15, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

Different types who wear a day coat— pants with stripes and cutaway coat— perfect fits— or is it cats in spats? Man Mel Brooks is gonna come for me. What show is this again?

Hello, Wayne! Welcome back to the Jellicle Ball! Remind us who you are and what you’re doing here?

Wayne Ivusich: I’m still Wayne Ivusich. And I’m playing Bustopher Jones again— I like to call him Bustopher Version Two.

RETURN TO THE JELLICLE BALL: MEETING THE NEWEST 2024 ADDITIONS TO THE CLOWDER OF COCKPIT IN COURT’S CATS: Carbucketty

Interviews June 28, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

A knockabout cat. Rough and boisterous. If you delve into the source material for this particular kitty-cat, T.S. Eliot and his lovely book of poems will tell you that he made up the name Carbucketty! And so, are you ready today, dear readers, as we continue on with introductions in the clowder— to meet— Carbucketty?

Thank you for joining us! If you’ll tell us who you are, we can go ahead and get started!

Chess at Vagabond Players

Reviews October 23, 2023 Amanda N. Gunther

Throw the rulebook right out the window. It won’t help you anyway. And forget what you think you know about Chess as that won’t help you here either. Can’t even say “not your Grandfather’s Chess” because there are so many different variations on this concept album-turned-musical-come-concert-album that it’s hard to pinpoint which one is the one for a standard basis of comparison. Based on an idea by Tim Rice, inspired wholly if not incompletely by historical events.

Dr. Doolittle at The Salem Players

Reviews May 1, 2023 Mike Zellhofer

It is the trial of the century! Every juicy piece of gossip you could imagine is wrapped up neatly, just waiting to be unraveled. There are men, women, and a strange woman. There are cops, judges, bailiffs, and animals. What? Animals? Yes, animals! In fact, some can even talk to them. Curious? Then you must see Doctor Dolittle being presented by The Salem Players.

Director Jen Sizer takes the ball to direct her first musical and delivers a touchdown.

Mary Poppins at The St. Demetrios’ Suburban Players

Reviews February 11, 2023 Amanda N. Gunther

If you reach for the stars, all you get are the stars, but The Suburban Players of St. Demetrios have found a whole new spin! They have reached for the heavens— and they got the stars thrown in! Their current production of Mary Poppins is heartwarming, impressive, loaded with love and with talent, and above all it’s— Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! That fantastical nonsense word which means great joy, fantabulosity, and all things wonderfully excellent! Produced by Smaro Cook &

Spit Spot & Practically Perfect: An Interview with Suzi Eldridge & Jim Gross on Mary Poppins at Suburban Players

Interviews February 7, 2023 Amanda N. Gunther

Illusions may shatter, but memories stay… important lessons learned are all along the way! No strangers to Poppins, they’re giving their thanks! It’s Jim Gross and Suzi Eldridge— playing Mr. and Mrs. Banks! In a tale of what almost was once upon a time, these two area actors finally get to play opposite one another— this time for St. Demetrios’ Suburban Players— as the matriarch and patriarch of the Banks’ family in Mary Poppins.

Spit Spot & Practically Perfect: An Interview With Erin, Nora, Evelyn, and Maeve Acerno on performing together in Mary Poppins

Interviews January 23, 2023 Amanda N. Gunther

S-u-p-e-r…

c-a-l-i-f…

r-a-g-i-l…

i-s-t-i-c-e-x-p-i-a-l-i-d— o-d-i-o-u-s!!!

Everybody now! Okay, well, not everybody— but a fantastic group of four ensemble members— for sisters, to be exact. It isn’t very often that one is fortunate enough to get to a show with one family, let alone get to be in the same show with all four siblings! How very— Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious is that!? We took some time, continuing on after speaking with the young actors who play Jane &

Mister Roberts at The Salem Players

Reviews November 12, 2022 Amanda N. Gunther

As the Christmas season runs rampant, many, many weeks before it’s really even Christmas season, a particular song from Irving Berlin’s White Christmas comes to mind. And yes, while White Christmas is no doubt on a theatre somewhere this early November weekend, it’s not at The Salem Players, and I promise, I’m making a point. It’s a ditty that the soldiers sing, “…we’ll follow the old man wherever he wants to go…” and it swells the heart a little because it showcases the loyalty (albeit humorously at first) of men in service to their leader.

Sweet Charity at Cockpit in Court

Reviews July 27, 2022 Mark Briner

Most shows feature a tried-and-true pattern of opening with a traditional “I Want” song, which details the leading character’s hopes and wishes for the rest of the story. Sweet Charity, currently playing on the main stage at Cockpit In Court at CCBC Essex, Directed by Cockpit veteran Eric Potter, is an entire show full of hopes and dreams and wants and desires, most of which are quickly dashed for the taxi dancers at the Fandango Ballroom,

The Sound of Music at St. Gabriel Miracle Players

Reviews May 12, 2022 Amanda N. Gunther

St. Gabriel Miracle Players is alive!! With The Sound of Music! After two long years of waiting (and growing up!) the seven sweet von Trapp children are ready to sing their hearts out, and while they’ve grown a little taller and a little older (waiting for that pesky Covid to die down and let live musical theatre safely return to the stage) they’re bringing all the iconic songs of stage and screen to heartwarming life,

Noises Off at Players On Air

Reviews October 1, 2021 Amanda N. Gunther

Doors and sardines! On and off! That’s farce. That’s theatre. That’s life! And it’s farcical live theatre at Players On Air this October with their production of Noises Off directed by Michael Livingston. It’s a madcap comical farce of actors acting, drama being highly over-dramatized, and bloody sardines pulling a spectacular Houdini act! It’s a barrel of laughs, a bucket of fun, and a show you won’t want to miss.

Anyone familiar with Michael Frayn’s iconic play Noises Off will immediately recognize the set as a chaotic character and law onto itself.

Newsies at Mount Saint Joseph High School

Reviews April 24, 2021 Amanda N. Gunther

Now is the time to seize the day! After over a year of live-theatre being suspended due to the Covid-19 Global Pandemic, the world is slowly starting to open up again and that includes the stage. And the stage at Mount Saint Joseph High School with their three-performance production of Disney’s Newsies. Directed by Michael V. Hartsfield with Musical Direction by Susan Esserwein and Choreography by Katie Sheldon and Brook Urquhart, this energizing tale of Newsboys on strike for their rights as working members of society is a fantastic way to welcome audiences back to the stage after such long,

Ruthless! at The Heritage Players

Reviews October 25, 2019 Amanda N. Gunther

Talent. Either you’ve got it. Or you don’t. Luck for you,
The Heritage Players production of Ruthless! has got it. And they’ve got
it pouring out of their wazoos in spades. Directed & Choreographed by
Ashley Gerhardt with Musical Direction by Michael Clark, this zany and
uproarious musical send-up will have your gut aching with laughs. Nobody’s in
the mud, nobody’s in distress in this production— except the characters
themselves— and it’s a madcap scream from simple start to diabolical finish.

Boeing Boeing at The Heritage Players

Reviews May 4, 2019 Amanda N. Gunther

It’s all about the time tables! You’ve got to get yourself a
time table! Check your time tables and you’ll see that they’re telling you it’s
time to board Flight-519 on Heritage Airlines and enjoy their in-flight
entertainment: Boeing Boeing by Marc
Camoletti. Directed by Ryan Geiger, this flight-based French farce will whisk
audiences away to Paris, France circa 1962 and give them an inside look at an
American bachelor in Paris who has landed himself a fiancée.

La Cage Aux Folles at HDYLMN’s Stand Up for… Theatre

Reviews October 31, 2018 Mike Zellhofer

Every holiday season I search the idiot box for that feel-good show of the year. Little did I know that this year I would find it at the Chesapeake Arts Center, in Stand Up For…Theatre’s La Cage Aux Folles. Like Macy’s, Best Buy, SUFT brings Christmas early; only instead of a big box they use a black box.

Before I dive into the cast, crew, and show itself,

James and The Giant Peach at Heritage Players

Reviews July 6, 2018 Amanda N. Gunther

Close your eyes and try to conceive, the most outrageous story to ever be believed! If you can just believe, it’s beautifully bizarre, a story about a boy— and a giant peach, and that’s just the way things are! Right before your eyes— James and The Giant Peach is now appearing on stage at The Heritage Players as their summer engagement. Directed by Elizabeth Tane Kanner with Musical Direction by Emily Taylor &

Steel Magnolias at Heritage Players

Reviews March 27, 2017 Amanda N. Gunther

Wouldn’t you rather have 30 minutes of wonderful than a lifetime full of nothing special? Well, you’re in luck because Truvy’s beauty shop, where the gossip’s going non-stop in Chinquapin Parish, has more than just 30 minutes of wonderful. They have almost five times that tucked away for an evening’s escape in a heartfelt, inspirational, and truly touching coming of age tale that the masses knows well. Co-Directed by Kevin James Logan and Katie Sheldon,

Review: Damn Yankees at Heritage Players

Reviews October 17, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Take me out to the ballgame! Take me out to the crowd! Buy me some peanuts and crackerjacks! I don’t care if I ever come back! And it’s root— root! Root for The Heritage Players as they pitch a wild one onto their stage at the Rice Auditorium with their production of Damn Yankees. Directed by Michael Hartsfield with Musical Direction by Stephen Michael Deininger, this classic musical with a time stamp of fond nostalgia slides into home plate under these two dedicated men and the company they plant onto the stage.

Review: Mary Poppins at September Song

Reviews August 1, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Anything can happen if you let it! And often times all you need is just a spoonful of sugar, because it turns water into tea and cakes or in this case transforms ordinary people in a simple theatre into an extraordinary characters in a fantastical musical. Floating in for their annual summer musical, September Song welcomes 2015 with their production of Mary Poppins. Directed by Debbie Mobley, with Musical Direction by Rachel McCusker,

Review: Godspell at Silhouette Stages

Reviews May 18, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Come sing about love! And build a better city, not a city of angels but a city of man. The message is clear and in this particular moment in time it couldn’t be more relevant than what’s rolling out to the audience from Silhouette Stage’s production of Godspell. Directed by Stephen M. Deininger, with Musical Direction by Robin Trenner, this reimagined take on Stephen Schwartz’ music and John-Michael Tebelak’s original conception is exactly what the world needs in this time of destruction and man-wrought chaos.

Review: Rumors at The Heritage Players

Reviews March 15, 2015 Lauren Beward

The Go-Go’s may have had their lips sealed, but The Heritage Players are letting theirs loose in their latest production of Neil Simon’s “Rumors.” Directed by Damien Gibbons, with Assistant Director Katie Sheldon, “Rumors” tells the story of a group of wealthy socialites who gather for the anniversary party of their good friend Charlie Brock, Deputy Mayor of New York, and his wife Myra. Unfortunately, the poor guests show up to find that Charlie has attempted suicide and Myra has gone missing.