Articles Tagged With: theatre

Gregory Burgess (center) as Scrooge and the cast of Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s A Christmas Carol 📷Kiirstn Pagan Photography.

A Christmas Carol at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company

Reviews November 30, 2025 Amanda N. Gunther

Tis the season of hospitality, merriment, and openheartedness! Come in and know them better, man! Tis the season— their 11th, in fact— for putting that timeless holiday classic, A Christmas Carol, upon their stage. Tis the season for uplifting spirits, for heartwarming festivities, and for radical, positive change. Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s A Christmas Carol is truly a cherished stage tradition, nestled right in the heart of Charm City and is bringing jubilation amid the bleakness that 2025 has turned out to be;

The Wizard of Oz (Youth Edition) at Theatreworks Live

Reviews November 28, 2025 Amanda N. Gunther

Wonderful… I’m callin’ it wonderful… it does sound wonderful, trust me, it’s fun! And while it may not be the GREEN v PINK everyone’s defying gravity over…remember a certain witchy-witch pair started off in their very own musical a long, long time ago— total reverse plot-twist that this is the original-origin of the ‘origin’ story! Are you ready to return to Oz? To the OG-Emerald City? Theatreworks Live has you covered with their adorable and talent-loaded production of The Wizard of Oz (youth edition.) Directed by Cathy Koncurat with Musical Direction by Megan Koncurat and Choreography by Leslie Perry,

1st National Touring Company of Some Like It Hot 📷 Matthew Murphy

Some Like It Hot at The National Theater

Reviews November 28, 2025 Steven Kirkpatrick & Charles Boyington Steven Kirkpatrick & Charles Boyington

author: Steven Kirkpatrick & Charles Boyington

Shimmying at the National Theatre through Dec 7th, Some Like it Hot! is a new stage musical version of the classic 1959 Billy Wilder movie. Thankfully, it offers most of what one would hope for in a musical theatre experience. To start with, there’s dancing— so much splashy, flashy, exquisite dancing— amid convoluted love plots and chase numbers with gangsters, guns, sparkling gowns, bellhops and revolving-doors,

That National Tour of 'How The Grinch Stole Christmas' 📷 Jeremy Daniel

How The Grinch Stole Christmas at The Hippodrome

Reviews November 28, 2025 Leonard Taube

author: Leonard Taube

“Every Who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot. But the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville did not”. Sound familiar? No? Then go back to sleep. Don’t read any more. But for those of you whose mother might have read the famed Dr. Seuss book How The Grinch Stole Christmas to you when you were a child (it was written in 1957 believe it or not),

Greg Burgess as Ebenezer Scrooge in the 2022 production of A Christmas Carol at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company

Bah! Humbug! Christmas Chatter with Greg Burgess on 11 years of playing Ebenezer Scrooge with Chesapeake Shakespeare Company

Interviews November 22, 2025 Amanda N. Gunther

Bah! Humbug! The Christmas season is upon us. Again. Already. (Baltimore’s local 101.9 even had flipped the switch to their Christmas music on Thursday 11/20/25 as I was driving home to ring up Greg Burgess and interview him!) The holidays are upon us whether you’re ready or not. And in a world of so much darkness and chaos, aren’t the holidays meant to be what spreads a little love, a little light, a little joy?

Pride & Prejudice at Compass Rose Theater

Reviews November 21, 2025 Amanda N. Gunther 2 Comments

A lady’s imagination is very rapid, and while this lady’s imagination is not jumping from admiration to love to matrimony the way some of the Bennet daughters do in Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice, it is certainly jumping from point to point trying to extrapolate the thoughts and opinions formulated upon viewing Compass Rose Theater’s current production, as adapted by Emma Whipday under the direction of Madeline Austin (of no relation to the playwright.) I am only resolved to write in that manner,

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever at St. Gabriel Miracle Players

Reviews November 16, 2025 Chris Pence

author: Chris Pence

Revenge at Bethlehem: “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” at St. Gabriel Miracle Players

Good lord, another Christmas show. Who does a Christmas show in November? I mean, really! At least wait until AFTER Thanksgiving! Yeah, I get it, there are tons of cute kids, and holiday cheer and whatnot, but still!

Do you know someone who feels like this? Can’t seem to get them into the Christmas spirit until about December 23rd?

Laura Richards Bakin (left) as Grandma with Amanda Thomas (center) as Amelia and Christopher Leatherman (right) as Thomas in Dressing Amelia with Red Hill Theatre Group 📷 Ben Cushwa

Dressing Amelia at Red Hill Theatre Group

Reviews November 14, 2025 Amanda N. Gunther

Sometimes the right dress makes all the difference. I’d be hard-pressed to find a more relatable statement, particularly when it comes to going out to the theatre. In the industry for nearly 15 years a reviewer, with the reputation of ‘that one who dresses up to the theme of the show’ the right dress can make all the difference. Knowing nothing about Red Hill Theatre Group (a true shame as they’ve been around since January of 2020— getting one solid production under their belt before that pesky little problem of the global pandemic halted all theatre in person) and producing mostly in the Frederick area,

Isaiah Bailey (left) as The Phantom and Jordan Lee Gilbert (right) as Christine Daaé in The Phantom of the Opera North American Tour 📷 Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman

The Phantom of the Opera at The Hippodrome

Reviews November 14, 2025 Amanda N. Gunther

You have come here! In pursuit of your deepest urge— in pursuit of that which till now has been silent…silent. It’s here— the music of the night— it’s here— truly, this time— The Phantom of the Opera. To launch the North American tour, after what feels like an eternity of missing-in-action, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s iconic and most infamous musical has returned to the stage, and what better a stage to return to than Baltimore’s own Hippodrome Theatre at The France-Merrick Performing Arts Center?

Brady Fiol (left) as Oliver and Jessica Preactor (isn't really there...right) in Oliver! 📷 Kevin Clasing

Oliver! at Third Wall Productions

Reviews November 13, 2025 Amanda N. Gunther

Missed opening weekend? That’s your funeral, that’s your funeral!

Don’t have tickets yet? That’s your funeral, that’s your funeral!

But luckily for you— you can still get tickets to see the 10-year anniversary production of Oliver! at Third Wall Players, running through the 23rd of November in their resident play-space at Chestnut Grove Presbyterian. Directed by Andi Rudai, in her directorial debut (after playing the titular role in the TWP original production of Oliver!

Godspell at Stand Up For Theatre

Reviews November 8, 2025 Chris Pence

author: Chris Pence

Thou That Humble Themselves: Godspell at Stand Up For…Theatre

Prepare Ye The Way! Stand Up For…Theatre presents a fresh, upbeat take on the Gospel of Matthew with Godspell, a Broadway classic for the ages. Director Ed Higgins & Producer Grant Myers bring the story of Jesus to a new generation of theatregoers with a production that will have even the most doubting of Thomases dancing,

Web Of Murder at Bowie Community Theatre

Reviews November 7, 2025 Cybele Pomeroy

author: Cybele Pomeroy

Web of Murder of Bowie Community Theatre: Killer comedy? Or comedy killed?

Really, this show should slay you in your seat. It’s a cozy little Victorian scenario, with all the tropes you’d expect, including lots of doors for popping in and out of, a set decorated to within an inch of its two-by-four life, an eight-member multi-generational cast, dogs, secret passageways, supernatural trances and enough villainous intent to fill an Orient Express.

Tartuffe at Silver Spring Stage

Reviews November 4, 2025 Leonard Taube

author: Leonard Taube

Few plays in world history are mired in as much controversy as the one being currently produced by Silver Spring Stage (Silver Spring, MD). In 1664 France, a delightfully funny yet extremely controversial three-act play by French playwright Moliere was performed titled Tartuffe. While received well by the public, it immediately sparked conflict amongst certain groups who did not take too well to the portrayal of someone who is outwardly pious but fundamentally deceitful.

The Hollow at Laurel Mill Playhouse

Reviews November 3, 2025 Chris Pence

author: Chris Pence

The Worshipper: The Hollow at Laurel Mill Playhouse

Love is murder, though who’s the killer? The Queen of Mystery reigns supreme as Laurel Mill Playhouse presents Agatha Christie’s The Hollow, a weekend romp through the countryside that brings love, lust, intrigue, and murder. Produced by Laurel Mill’s own Queen of Mystery, Maureen Rogers, The Hollow is one of Christie’s lesser-known stories, though it still packs all the same classic twists and turns that made Christie one of the world’s most famous writers.

Eric Jones (center) as Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Show at MET & FCC

The Rocky Horror Show at Maryland Ensemble Theatre & Frederick Community College

Reviews November 1, 2025 Amanda N. Gunther

It’s astounding. Time is fleeting. Madness…takes it’s toll. But listen closely— not for very much longer— literally a performance tonight and three next weekend— they’ve got to keep control! Do you remember— doing the Time Warp!? It’s that time of year again! And the Maryland Ensemble Theatre has partnered with Frederick Community College to reprise their annual tradition of mounting Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show to the stage of the Jack B.

Dracula A Comedy of Terrors at Colonial Players

Reviews October 30, 2025 Amanda N. Gunther

I am all in a sea of wonders…I think strange things, which I dare not confess to my own soul…so instead I’ll confess to you— the folks of readerland— this Halloween spoof-spectacular is unhinged, off-the-hook, and absolutely the must-see, laugh-out-loud 95-minute thriller of the season. Forget about Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr., Christopher Lee, Adam Sandler, and whoever else you’ve seen don the cape on the silver screen through the years— they can’t hold a garlic-scented candle to Colonial Players and their present production of Dracula A Comedy of Terrors,

Art at Everyman Theatre

Reviews October 28, 2025 Amanda N. Gunther

It’s often said that death brings out the worst in people; you see family’s tear one another apart over left-behind possessions in the wake of someone’s passing. But what happens when the death of a friendship is eminent? How do friends behave when the threads that bind them are no longer frayed but thinly grizzled and hardly friends at all? So much so that a singular choice— one might even say a matter of personal taste and opinion— or a disagreement over said choice,

Jekyll & Hyde at Just Off-Broadway

Reviews October 22, 2025 Amanda N. Gunther

author Leonard Taube

In 1886 Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson penned a Gothic horror novella titled Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange occurrences between his old friend, Dr. Henry Jekyll, and a murderous criminal named Edward Hyde. Becoming one of the most famous pieces of English literature, it also played a part in pop culture with the expression “Jekyll and Hyde” being used to refer to people that appear good but have an evil nature inside.

Hair at Vagabond Players

Reviews October 20, 2025 Mike Zellhofer

author: Mike Zellhofer

“I’m doing it for you, man.” – Claude

In a world saturated with “me” it is refreshing to hear those words. After a brief off-Broadway run Hair opened in April 1968. The country was in turmoil, divided, at war, just as it is today. In 1968 they tried to divide us black and white. Now they try to divide us blue and red.

Vesper: Luu Pham being lifted, L to R: Alix Fenhagen, Ally Ibach, Chelsea Thaler, Matthew Williams, Parker Matthews, Hailey Withrow 📷 Kiirstn Pagan

Vesper at The Voxel

Reviews October 18, 2025 Amanda N. Gunther 2 Comments

Do you know the feeling when day turns to night?

A question posed in the ethereal menagerie that is Vesper, a dream play, a new work premiering at The Voxel in Baltimore’s Remington neighborhood. Conceived and Directed, or dare I say dreamed, by Jarod Hanson (with a co-productive assist from The Acme Corporation and assistant directorship from Brandice Thompson) this masterfully articulate and evocative work of living theatricality encapsulates the essence of the rich,

Kong’s Night Out at UpStage Artists

Reviews October 16, 2025 Wes Dennis

author: Wes Dennis

In Jack Neary’s Kong’s Night Out, the current production from UpStage Artists, Myron Siegel (Neil Swanson-Chrisman) has a problem. Once a big name among Broadway producers, Siegel longs to recapture the fame and reputation he’s lost following a string of flops — most of which failed due to the meddling machinations of one Carl Dennam (Peter Rouleau), a rival producer known for traveling to exotic locales to obtain thrilling on-site footage.

The Wild Party at Other Voices Theatre

Reviews October 15, 2025 Amanda N. Gunther

It always pays to raise the roof. No limits. No boundaries. No compromise. Other Voices Theatre is certainly pushing their boundaries, breaking their limits, and giving it their all for their current production of Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party. Directed by Diane Causer with Musical Direction by Sheila Melendez and Choreography by Amanda Patten, this musical is one heck of a bumpy and wild ride, so buckle up, put your bugle beads on and get ready for one intense evening of theatre.

The Crucible at Silhouette Stages

Reviews October 14, 2025 Leonard Taube

author: Leonard Taube

Intense. Thought provoking. Suspenseful. Relevant. Those are just some of the adjectives I can think of to describe the powerful piece of theatre that is Silhouette Stage’s (Columbia, MD) current production of The Crucible by American playwright Arthur Miller. This dramatization of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay from 1692-1693 may be part fiction, but one thing is for sure. While the play was written as an allegory for McCarthyism (when the US government persecuted people accused of being communists),

Murder on the Nile at Artistic Synergy of Baltimore

Reviews October 13, 2025 Kenny Sigal

author: Kenny Sigal

Was it the husband? The Ex-Girlfriend? The Steward? The only way to find out is to come to Artistic Synergy of Baltimore and check out this 1940s classic Whodunnit mystery that is Murder on The Nile. Written by Agatha Christie, and directed by Jim Morgan, this classic follows a newlywed couple on their honeymoon cruise filled with relaxation, refreshments, and murder. With a perfectly selected cast of experienced actors,

Murder On The Orient Express at Manor Mill Playhouse 📷 Zoe Leonard

The Second Conductor: Murder On The Orient Express at Manor Mill Playhouse

Reviews October 7, 2025 Chris Pence

author: Chris Pence

It was the one case that kept Poirot awake at night, the one that had more twists and turns than a rail line through the mountains, the Murder On The Orient Express. Agatha Christie’s timeless mystery finally comes to the stage, roaring into the station at Manor Mill Playhouse.

Based on the novel of the same name by the Mistress of Murder herself, Dame Agatha Christie,

The Hot L Baltimore at Greenbelt Arts Center

Reviews October 5, 2025 Steven Wilson

author: Steven Howell Wilson

When an ensemble cast meshes seamlessly, hitting every cue, overtalking in the right places,
quipping and bickering, interweaving a dozen diverse life stories, it’s uniquely satisfying. It’s as
impressive as watching the coordinated dives and catches of a troupe of aerial acrobats. Well,
maybe the audience’s blood pressure stays lower with the actors than with the acrobats.
Greenbelt Arts Center’s production of The Hot L Baltimore hits this satisfying mark.

Water For Elephants National Tour 📸 Photo by Matt Murphy for MurphyMade

Choose The Ride: Water For Elephants at The Hippodrome

Reviews October 1, 2025 Amanda N. Gunther

You wanna see something to set your spine tingling? Something that blows Ringling out of the ring? It’s coming around the bend— arrived just before the month did end— it’s something better than the rest— feast your eyes, your eyes, and your senses on the best— it’s Water For Elephants at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre. Launching from Charm City’s beautiful Hippodrome Theatre as one of three brand-new touring productions to launch their Broadway-Across-America season here in the heart of Baltimore,

Will Pullen as Morris in Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress at MET Fun Company 📸 Spence Photographics

Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress at MET’s Fun Company

Reviews September 29, 2025 Amanda N. Gunther

“I am loved. And I am strong. If I can dream it then I can do it.”

There are few more important words that children (and children at heart) need to hear right now in this topsy-turvy, upside-down world that no longer makes a lot of sense. And you can hear them, feel them reinforced, and live them as the MET Fun Company kicks of their 2025/2026 season with Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress by Juliany Taveras (based on the book by Christine Baldacchino &

Oleanna at WFB Productions

Reviews September 25, 2025 Amanda N. Gunther

Everybody needs to expose themselves to different points of view. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s essential. But what happens when the viewpoints are so skewed there’s no good side to take? What happens when no matter whose viewpoint you see a scenario through you’re in the wrong? It’s exactly that type of dialogue that WFB Productions is attempting to encourage with their production of David Mamet’s Oleanna. Referred to as ‘not-your-mama’s’ Oleanna,

Craigslisted at Nu Sass Productions

Reviews September 15, 2025 Steven Kirkpatrick & Charles Boyington Steven Kirkpatrick & Charles Boyington

author: Steven Kirkpatrick & Charles Boyington

Nu Sass Productions’ production of Sharai Bohannon’s Craigslisted is best described as a dramedy even as early smiles lead toward fear and possible disaster. The play presents an engaging, though psychologically murky, narrative and is well-suited to younger adult audiences, as its protagonist utilizes social media while searching for straightforward solutions to a prevalent concern among today’s students. This production is well acted and deftly produced in an intimate setting.