Maryland

An Interview with the National Orchestral Institute and Festival (NOI+F) Director Richard Scerbo: Thirty Years After It Began, NOI+F is Breaking Ground and Stronger Than Ever by Robert Lintott

When the National Orchestral Institute and Festival (NOI+F) began in 1987, its first director appealed to student musicians across the country by telling them that “participants will have the...

In the Moment: Interview with Theatrical Designer Deb Sivigny Part I

Deb Sivigny is one busy scenic and costume designer in the DC theater community. Just recently, she developed design elements for the Rorschach Theatre production of Forgotten Kingdoms. The 1st Stage...

Review: ‘The Little Mermaid JR’ at BRAVO Productions

Theater is a vital part of our culture. Imagination is discovered. History revealed. New ideas expressed. And the limitless lessons to be garnered from our fundamentally flawed human selves are...

Baltimore Center Stage Artistic Director Kwame Kwei-Armah Announces Departure at End of 2017/18 Season

The Board of Directors of Baltimore Center Stage and Kwame Kwei-Armah have jointly announced that Kwei-Armah will leave his position as artistic director at the end of his contract on June 30, 2018....

Review: ‘Alice in Wonderland’ at The Collaborative Theatre Company at Fells Point Corner Theatre

Delving into classic text with histrionic flair, The Collaborative Theatre Company (TCT) presents The Manhattan Project’s version of Lewis Carroll’s time-honored 1865 tale, Alice in Wonderland, which...

Review: ‘Junie B. Jones is Not a Crook’ at Adventure Theatre MTC

When I was about eight-years-old, I saw an irresistible set of Hello, Kitty pencils while shopping with my mom. She told me I couldn’t have them, so I slipped them into my pocket. Once home, my mother...

In the Moment: A Report on ‘How I Learned What I Learned’ at Round House Theatre

Reflections of a hard-headed son on the Round House Theatre production of August Wilson’s How I Learned What I Learned. As a theatrical production, August Wilson’s How I Learned What I Learned,...

Review: ‘Forsaken Angels’ at Wolf Pack Theatre Company

“Write what you know.” Attributed to Mark Twain, this advice is adhered to by many a playwright, including a local one, William Leary. His Forsaken Angels, a joint production of Wolf Pack Theatre...

Preview: Thunderous Productions’ ‘Murder on the Nile’ Opens on Friday, June 23rd at the Greenbelt Arts Center by Aref Dajani and Emily Canavan

Thunderous Productions’ Murder on the Nile is not your parents’ or grandparents’ version of Agatha Christie. Opening Friday, June 23, 2017, at the Greenbelt Arts Center – with a cast that screams...

Review: ‘Dreamgirls’ at ANKH Repertory Theatre and The Finest! Performance Foundation

Dreamgirls, with book and lyrics by Tom Eyen and music by Henry Krieger, was one of the very first shows I saw on Broadway, back in the 1980s. It was memorable then and it remains memorable now in the...

Review: ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ at Toby’s Dinner Theatre

“May I return to the beginning?” runs a beloved lyric to the song “Any Dream Will Do” from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, now back for the summer at Toby’s — The Dinner Theatre of...

Review: ‘Rebollar and Friends: 40 and Up!’

We’ve all heard the cliches about aging: Life begins at 40. You are not getting older, you are getting better. Age is just a number. Once a man, twice a child. The inspiring dance repertoire Rebollar...

Review: ‘Cry-Baby The Musical’ at Drama Learning Center

Baltimore’s John Waters takes another swipe at Eisenhower-era conformity in Cry-Baby: The Musical, making its area premiere now at the Drama Learning Center in Columbia. The show had a short Broadway...

Review: ‘The Tempest’ at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company

Shakespeare in the park is a long-held American tradition. From venues in places such as New York City’s Central Park and Washington, DC’s Carter Barron Amphitheater, watching the Bard’s works under...

Single Carrot Theatre Announces Additional Performances of Sold-Out ‘Promenade: Baltimore’

In response to continued demand for tickets, Single Carrot Theatre will be extending the sold-out Promenade: Baltimore for three performances. The production, which is already the highest-grossing...

Review: ‘Godspell JR’ at Bravo Productions

BRAVO Productions Theatre for Young Artists strives to nurture young, local talent and offers the opportunity for those budding entertainers to perform both mainstream and classic shows on the stage....

Review: ‘A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline’ at Infinity Theatre Company

Patsy Cline’s spirit inhabited the theater when Laura Stracko sang some of Cline’s later and best known songs including “Sweet Dreams,” “She’s Got You,” “I Fall to Pieces” and “Crazy.” Directed by...

Review: ‘How I Learned What I Learned’ at Round House Theatre

August Wilson was a high school dropout who went on to receive two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama and he’s regarded as one of the five most celebrated playwrights in the history of American theater. After...

Review: ‘Flying V Fights: The Secret History of the Unknown World’ at Flying V Theatre

It was a day for the un-stuffy. I wanted to engage with something new and ambitious. I hoped to be left agog. Well, Flying V Fights: The Secret History of the Unknown is an overwhelming success in my...

Review: ‘The Mikado’ at The Victorian Lyric Opera Company

From the moment the curtains opened, we knew we were not going to see a traditional version of The Mikado. The Victorian Lyric Opera Company’s production, directed by Helen Aberger, at the F. Scott...

Review: ‘Sister Act’ at Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre

Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre’s production of Sister Act, directed by Clare Shaffer, is a funny spectacle of a musical. Based on the movie starring Whoopi Goldberg, with music by Alan Menken, lyrics...

Review: ‘BootyCandy’ at Iron Crow Theatre

You need to take up some sports. This weekend, Iron Crow Theatre (“Iron Crow”) opened the final show of its 2016-17 Season of Dark Play – the Baltimore premiere of Robert O’Hara’s Lambda Literary...

Review: ‘The Curious Savage’ at Laurel Mill Playhouse

The Curious Savage by John Patrick, directed by Nick Cherone and produced by Maureen Rogers, is a comedy which premiered in 1950, and it provides much laughter and warmth. The story seems simple. Mrs....

Review: ‘Something’s Afoot’ at The British Players

A musical murder-mystery who-done-it is a strange bird indeed. But it can work if expertly executed. Something’s Afoot, with book, music and lyrics by James McDonald, David Vos and Robert Gerlach—and...

Preview: Toby Orenstein Tailors ‘Dreamcoat’ for a Dream Cast at Toby’s Dinner Theatre

To help mark its 45th year in business, Toby’s — The Dinner Theatre of Columbia is serving up something special in its new revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. No less than five...

Review: ‘Inheritors: The Nature of Keys’ at Howard Community College’s Arts Collective

Inheritors: The Nature of Keys is an original collaborative drama by Howard Community College’s Art Collective, directed by S. G. Kramer, that opened at the HCC’s Horowitz Center Studio Theatre on...

Preview: Columbia Festival of the Arts Come Home to the Lakefront, Celebrating Columbia’s 50th Anniversary

Under new Director David Phillips, the Columbia Festival of the Arts will be back at the Lakefront in Town Center Columbia this year. Phillips, who has a background as Associate Dean for the Visual,...

Interviews with Cohesion Playwrights Fellows, Part 2 of 2: Utkarsh Rajawat, Playwright of ‘Here Be Dragons’

After its award-winning Trans* Voices Workshop Series in Season 2, Cohesion Theatre Company (Cohesion) introduced a Playwrights Fellowship for Season 3. Cohesion’s Playwrights Fellowship aims “to...

Review: ‘Promenade: Baltimore’ at Single Carrot Theatre

“We’re all stories, in the end. Just make it a good one.” – The Eleventh Doctor Have you ever been driving in a car or riding on the subway and seen a tussle on the street? A group of people all...

Review: ‘Men on Boats’ at Cohesion Theatre Company

MANifest Destiny, or Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls Cohesion Theatre Company (Cohesion) is closing its third season with playwright Jaclyn Backhaus’s historical adventure-with-a-twist, Men on Boats. It’s...

Review: ‘Mary Poppins’ at 2nd Star Productions

A show that’s “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” on every level. There has never been a nanny quite so magical – or musical – as Mary Poppins, a character created by author P.L. Travers in eight...

Interviews with Cohesion Playwrights Fellows, Part 1 of 2: Jen Diamond, Playwright of ‘Porn: A Love Story’

After its award-winning Trans* Voices Workshop Series in Season 2, Cohesion Theatre Company (Cohesion) introduced a Playwrights Fellowship for Season 3. Cohesion’s Playwrights Fellowship aims “to...

Review: ‘She Kills Monsters’ at Spotlighters

“My party is a leather-clad dominatrix and an Elvin supermodel?” Shimmy into your chainmail and grab a broadsword, there’s an awesome campaign starting at Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre...

HCC’s Arts Collective Presents ‘INHERITORS: The Nature of Keys’ June 8 – 18, 2017

HCC’s Arts Collective Presents “INHERITORS: The Nature of Keys” June 8 – 18, 2017, An Original Play Devised by The Company. Howard Community College’s Arts Collective concludes its 22nd season with...

Review: ‘Jazz’ at Baltimore Center Stage

In its latest quest to create and present a diverse array of bold, innovative and thought-provoking contemporary theater, Baltimore Center Stage (BCS) unveiled the world premiere production of...

Review: ‘See How They Run’ at Vagabond Players

We all need a good laugh these days – not a snicker or a snarky smile. A series of side-splitting belly laughs that leave you exhausted and smiling. See How They Run aptly named for the nursery rhyme...

Review: ‘A Chorus Line’ at Tantallon Community Players

Packed with pizazz, energy, and downright sizzle, A Chorus Line, as performed by Tantallon Community Players (TCP) and directed by Christopher Gerken, is the MVP of musicals on DC area stages this...

Review: Audra McDonald at Strathmore

Returning to the DC area, Audra McDonald gave a concert at Strathmore on May 26, 2017, full of her signature charm and joy. Her powerhouse soprano that transitions smoothly and easily between Broadway...

In the Moment: Interviews with Flying V’s Jason Schlafstein and Sydney Moore

With monikers like, Become Awesome and The Theatre for People Who Don’t Think They Like Theatre, Flying V burst onto the DC-metro area theater scene. In 2015, Flying V received the Helen Hayes Award...

Film Review: ‘On the Map’ Appearing at the Washington Jewish Film Festival

Everybody loves an underdog story, especially in the world of sports. Some of these stories are well-known likes The Miracle on Ice. But, sometimes, the best stories can be the ones you’ve never heard...

In The Moment: A Report on ‘ReBirth of a Nation’ at The Kennedy Center

It was an evening like few others in the company of of hundreds at The Kennedy Center on a recent evening. What took place was a performance meant to strike a hot chord for cultural and political...

Review: ‘The King of Howard Street’ at Annex Theater

We are human beings, right? We were at one point in our lives. There was an excited energy in the air on opening night of The King of Howard Street. Not only was it the World Premiere of this powerful...

Review: ‘Richard III’ at Annapolis Shakespeare Company

Annapolis Shakespeare Company’s production of Richard III is a darkly compelling piece of theater. Directed by Donald Hicken, it strips the stage of all but a few props, allowing great acting and...

Interview: Dawn Ursula and Vincent Lancisi on ‘Trouble in Mind’ and Everyman Theatre’s Salon Series

Everyman Theatre of Baltimore is nearing the end of its season with the opening of Noises Off on May 19th, and soon the performance of their last Salon Series staged reading, Trouble in Mind on June...

Review: ‘Movie with the BSO: ‘E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial’ in Concert’ at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) honored the 35th anniversary of Steven Spielberg’s classic family adventure E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall with a uniquely immersive...

Film Review: ‘Cloudy Sunday’ Appearing at the Washington Jewish Film Festival

In most wartime films, the plot lines tend to not feature one thing: a romantic story. This is done to keep more emphasis on the action scenes. Director Manousos Manousakis attempts to combine these...

Review: ‘Silent Sky’ Reprised at Silver Spring Stage

Friday marked the reprisal at Silver Spring Stage of a very timely Silent Sky, by Laura Gunderson. Produced by Seth Ghitelman and directed by Bill Hurlbut, it is the fascinating story of Henrietta...

Review: ‘Proof’ at Olney Theatre Center

Who wants to go see a play about math? That could be a typical dialogue when people are perusing the paper wondering how to spend their Saturday night. In the case of David Auburn’s Tony Award-winning...

Review: ‘Noises Off’ at Everyman Theatre

It is always a good time seeing a production of Noises Off, but Everyman Theatre (Everyman) took it to another level last night. If you are a regular theatregoer, it is quite likely you have seen...

Review: ‘Psycho Beach Party’ at Stillpointe Theatre

If you’re looking for an escape, there’s a thoroughly entertaining performance of Charles Busch’s perennially popular parody of 1960s beach-blanket cinema that’s just what you need. Busch’s script...