Articles Tagged With: Suzanne Beal

(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?

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,

The Thanksgiving Play at Maryland Ensemble Theatre

Reviews November 8, 2025 Amanda N. Gunther

“Facts are facts. They don’t loosen or tighten. They just are.” ~The Thanksgiving Play; Larissa FastHorse.

Opinions, however, can be loose, tight, and all over the place. Popular or unpopular, we all have them, and we all share them. And that’s an important notion to keep percolating just at the back of the brain as you settle in for this 90-minute, no-intermission, genre-questionable work that is Larissa FastHorse’s The Thanksgiving Play at the Maryland Ensemble Theatre as the second offering of their 2025/2026 main stage season.

Jane Anger at Maryland Ensemble Theatre

Reviews April 8, 2025 Amanda N. Gunther

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Shakespeare, ammiright? WRONG. Like so many of those popular “of the times” lines attributed to the plagiarizing bastard, this one also doesn’t belong to Billy Shakes. (It’s actually a deeply distorted misquote from William Congreve’s The Mourning Bride, 1697 but that’s a tale for another time.) But the sentiment is definitely there. Famous. Timeless. Universal appeal. All percolating up and out of the Jacobean Era of England from that historically renowned master of page and pen,

Miss Bennet Christmas At Pemberley

Reviews December 9, 2022 Amanda N. Gunther

Is there anything more shocking and wonderful than a true literally classic done up and decked out for Christmas? I jest not; Jane Austen never had the chance to show us the festive holiday season in her romances, but Lauren Gunderson & Margot Melcon have done exactly that! Miss Bennet Christmas at Pemberley, now playing on the main stage of the Maryland Ensemble Theatre, nestles itself in the cozy bosom of three days before Christmas…two years after the conclusion of Pride &

Rapture, Blister, Burn at Maryland Ensemble Theatre

Reviews April 8, 2018 John Nunemaker

Is the grass really greener on the other side? Ever wonder what life would be like if you chose to take the opposite path? What if you could live whatever life you wanted what would it be, and do you really think that would be the key to eternal bliss or end in eternal sorrow? Rapture, Bliss, Burn written by Gina Gionfriddo, directed by Suzanne Beal and on stage now at the Maryland Ensemble Theatre in Frederick,

Top Girls at Maryland Ensemble Theatre

Reviews February 17, 2017 Amanda N. Gunther

If you could sit down to dinner, or better yet a dinner party, with any five influential women in history, who would you choose? Well-behaved women seldom make history, as Laurel Thatcher Ulrich says. Wouldn’t you want to choose radical women, the movers and shakers of their time? Those that simply refused to live the life of a lady and broke through the gender barrier that so often held them in place, wouldn’t those be your choice invitees to a dinner party in a completely absurdist and fictitious dream sequence?

MET Marches On: An Interview with Artistic Director Tad Janes about the 2016/2017 Season at Maryland Ensemble Theatre

Interviews June 8, 2016 Amanda N. Gunther

It’s that time of year when all the theatres start making their big announcements for what’s coming to their stages in future seasons! After a roaring successful season of new works, fun shows, area premieres, and much, much more, the Maryland Ensemble Theatre is ready to roll straight into their 2016-2017 season. In a TheatreBloom exclusive interview, we’ve sat down with Artistic Director Tad Janes to talk about the company’s rich history, how they continue to fight the good fight of professional theatre in Frederick and what’s next for them as the new season gets underway.

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.

Love, Loss, and What I Wore at Arts Collective @ Howard Community College

News October 3, 2015 Amanda N. Gunther

Has a singular article of clothing from somewhere in your life ever moved you? Maybe it was your prom dress. Your first bra? A black sweater or your favorite t-shirt? It is a universal thread over which women bond: their clothing. Presented for a three-weekend limited engagement, the Arts Collective @ Howard Community College brings a treasured time capsule of women’s life, relationships, and their wardrobe to the stage with Nora and Delia Ephron’s Love,

Review: A Revolutionary Christmas at Maryland Ensemble Theatre

Reviews December 8, 2014 Amanda N. Gunther

At this festive time of year when everyone is presenting their decorated version of Dickens’ holiday classic (and yes, even MET is doing that in their family series) it comes as a revitalizing surprise to see the Maryland Ensemble Theatre producing a Christmas original on their main stage. Written by company member Reiner Prochaska, this quaint tale is richly populated with local flavor and all the right notions to tug gently at the heartstrings for this spirited time of year.