Review: R/J Fresh Alt Take On Shakespeare At StrandJune 22, 2023R/J Fresh Alt Take On Shakespeare At Strand: a poignant contemporary version of Romeo and Juliet blows apart the Sharks and the Jets. Gen Z is much more than man-woman, boy-girl, literally dying, often legislated to death, and this story must be told. Writers Aladrian C. Wetzel & Elizabeth Ung update both story and characters to great effect.
THE LADY WAS A GENTLEMAN is Fabulous Fun at Strand Theater in BaltimoreMay 9, 2023The year is 1858. Charlotte Cushman, renowned performer in the US and abroad, plays male roles onstage as often as female roles, and prefers them. Strand Theater Company produces Barbara Kahn's script, which is built for humor, and spotlights an underappreciated American heroine. This female-centric production is triumphant queer comic theater.
Review: GREASE at Toby's Is Slick ProductionApril 16, 2023GREASE, a perennial favorite for theaters and theater-goers, is quite the crowd-pleaser at Toby's Dinner Theater in Columbia, Maryland. It's full of fun songs you already know, excellent dancing and a tiny bit of plot. The cast is excellent and the staging is lively. It has many elements in common with the movie, but a PG rating isn't one of them.
Review: Brava, Bravo! Fall In Love With HUBBA HUBBA at Theatre ProjectMarch 25, 2023Brava, Bravo! For HUBBA HUBBA At Theatre Project: Don't miss the World Premiere! This new show by Alex & Olmsted, internationally acclaimed winners of multiple Jim Henson Award grants, is a pastiche of comedic scenes starring humans, puppets and an invisible fruit fly. Each carries a unique message spotlighting different facets of romantic love.
Review: SOMETHING ROTTEN! Reeks Of Hilarity At Toby's In ColumbiaFebruary 6, 2023Designed for fans of musicals, SOMETHING ROTTEN! is a Queen's farthingdale full of fun. It’s lighthearted, full of color and movement, funny, packed with references to amuse Broadway lovers and Shakespeare scholars, with familiar four-second musical riffs scattered through the show. Toby’s Dinner Theater delivers again with SOMETHING ROTTEN!
Review: Shakespeare's Tricky Dick RICHARD III Proves A Crooked Villain at The StrandNovember 12, 2022The Maryland Renaissance Festival and The Strand partner to present a one-weekend encore of the acclaimed RICHARD III by The Company Of Women. The Company are a force of craftswomanship the likes of which have not before been seen in Baltimore theater, and display a strong likelihood of becoming a major theatrical presence in the community.
Review: Happenstance Theater's POCKET MOXIE at Theater ProjectNovember 3, 2022In a tribute to Vaudeville, Happenstance Theater presents POCKET MOXIE. Structured as a Vaudeville show, it's also a show about Vaudevillians, a secret peek into their lives, and the arcs of their days. Infused with music and humor, artistic creativity and a dash of pathos, it's visually sumptuous, stylistically consistent and imminently watchable.
Stand Up, Dress Up And Show Up For THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW At DoodleHATCH in ColumbiaOctober 27, 2022THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW, book, lyrics and music by Richard O'Brien, is his homage to B movies of horror and science fiction. This fantastical romp of a musical is packed with archetypal characters, hackneyed tropes and references that should have no resonance with contemporary youth. It's been a cult favorite for its entire half-century existence.
Review: VARIATIONS, a Baltimore Constant, Ponders CHANGE in 2022October 3, 2022VARIATIONS ON CHANGE, the 2022 iteration of the longtime Baltimore VARIATIONS project, demonstrates diversity and inclusion in subject matter, participation, cast and production folx at Motor House in Baltimore's Station North Arts District. Audiences choose by vote the 2023 theme of VARIATIONS.
Review: Suspend Your Disbelief: See GHOST THE MUSICAL At Toby's In ColumbiaSeptember 26, 2022GHOST THE MUSICAL at Toby’s Dinner Theater in Columbia, based 1990's movie Ghost, starring Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze, offers romance, drama and retro vibes. The 1955 tune “Unchained Melody” strings the whole thing together. Cast and orchestra are harmonic and wonderfully watchable. Production values are excellent and dinner is delicious.
Review: THE SPONGEBOB MUSICAL at Toby's Dinner TheaterJune 28, 2022What did our critic think?If you don't have cable, watch SpongeBob Squarepants nor any clue why SpongeBob should be a Broadway musical, no worries. Everything is made clear for those entering Bikini Bottom for the first time. It's packed with family theater elements: bright colors, important themes, messages of friendship, catchy tunes and slapstick comedy. Best day ever!
BWW Review: ROCKY at Toby's Thinks Outside The BoxingApril 14, 2022New talent joins Toby's regulars to present ROCKY THE MUSICAL at Toby's in Columbia. Inspired by an actual 1974 boxing match, the unknown Rocky Balboa 'goes the distance' against superstar Apollo Creed, proving to himself, his lady love and all of Philly that an underdog can have teeth. Music and lyrics by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens.
BWW Review: SPAMALOT! Sizzles at Toby's In ColumbiaJanuary 23, 2022The members of Monty Python's Flying Circus are expert practitioners of this alternative therapy, producing ridiculosities that have spanned five decades so far. SPAMALOT! which originally was scheduled to play at Toby's in the summer of 2020, assures that the Python iconic silliness will continue amusing live audiences for many additional decades.