Jeffrey Shankle

Review: Your Family, My Family, THE ADDAMS FAMILY MUSICAL At Toby's In Columbia

Toby’s supports sharing the love of theater with young people. Despite, or perhaps because of, its macabre nature, the embedded message of THE ADDAMS FAMILY is about radical acceptance and inclusion, and always has been, from long before “inclusion” was a buzzword. Every member of your family, weird or not, can enjoy this positively creepy show.

Oh What A Night! My Eyes Adore JERSEY BOYS at Toby's in Columbia

Toby's in Columbia presents the ‘origin story’ of New Jersey natives who became The Four Seasons. The script of JERSEY BOYS is tight, the pace rapid: this script and these songs - the Four Seasons’ catalog, plus others- form a stellar example of a really GOOD jukebox musical. I recommend you go immediately to see this terrific show. 

Stephanie J. Block, Rob McClure, and More Receive 2024 Helen Hayes Awards

On May 20, 2024, the 40th Helen Hayes Awards took place at The Anthem on the District Wharf, with over 1,600 theatre-makers and theatre supporters in attendance. Learn more about the winners here!

Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST at Toby's in Columbia Invites Everyone to “Be Our Guest.”

The fairytale magic of Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST The Musical is on opulent display at Toby's Dinner Theatre in Columbia, directed by Mark Minnick. This family favorite, packed with stunning performances and resplendent costumes, delivers the enchantment of live theater through June 16th, 2024

SPAMALOT, SWEPT AWAY And More Nominated for 2024 Helen Hayes Awards

Tonight, at a celebration honoring outstanding theatre on stages across the Washington area, theatre artists, administrators, patrons, and special guests gathered at the ATLAS Performing Arts Center for Theatre Washington's announcement of nominees for the 40th Helen Hayes Awards.

MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET - Join In Live on a Holiday Tradition At Toby's In Columbia

Toby’s Dinner And Show in Columbia, MD, presents Meredith Wilson’s Miracle On 34th Street, the Musical through January 7th, 2024, and it’s a fun holiday outing that gives the feel of New York City in December. Dress up for the occasion if you wish, and step into a traditional holiday favorite, live and in full color. 

Review: GREASE at Toby's Is Slick Production

GREASE, 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: SOMETHING ROTTEN! Reeks Of Hilarity At Toby's In Columbia

Designed 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: THE SPONGEBOB MUSICAL at Toby's Dinner Theater

What 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: SPAMALOT! Sizzles at Toby's In Columbia

The 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.

Last Chance To Vote For The BroadwayWorld Baltimore Awards; Cumberland's RING OF FIRE Leads Best Musical!

This is the last chance to vote for the 2021 BroadwayWorld Baltimore Awards! The 2021 Regional Awards honor productions which had their first performance between October 1, 2020 through September 30, 2021.

Final Weeks To Vote For The BroadwayWorld Baltimore Awards; Cumberland's RING OF FIRE Leads Best Musical!

Time is running out to vote for for the 2021 BroadwayWorld Baltimore Awards! The 2021 Regional Awards honor productions which had their first performance between October 1, 2020 through September 30, 2021.

BWW Review: IRVING BERLIN'S WHITE CHRISTMAS FLURRIES INTO TOBY'S IN COLUMBIA

In the tradition of ‘40s musicals, WHITE CHRISTMAS tugs heartstrings and brightens spirits. The timeless music of Irving Berlin combined with the dedication and talent of Toby’s yields a family-friendly show sure to give you cocoa-and-fireplace feelings no matter the weather

BWW Review: ELF - THE MUSICAL at Toby's Dinner Theater

Attending the musical ELF in July, (and August) in the air-conditioned comfort of Toby's, which is featuring reduced capacity pod seating until further notice, is a sweet novelty, and a community-supportive way to emerge from seventeen months of dormancy. You're in for holiday sweetness with heart and soul and singing and dancing and sparkle and jolly and a side of cheese. It's delicious food for the soul.

BWW Review: It All Comes Down To A CHRISTMAS STORY at Toby's

Hang your stockings, mull your beverage of choice and light up your leg lamp, then go to Toby's in Columbia to see A Christmas Story, The Musical, music and lyrics written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, book by Joseph Robinette. It's a sweet series of youthful holiday escapades full of quirky characters, brought to you with a wealth of warm fuzzies, in Toby's usual heartwarming style.

BWW Review: THE BODYGUARD Protects Toby's Superstar Reputation

There's much to like about this production of THE BODYGUARD, story aside. It's predictable, superficial and just barely passes the Bechdel-Wallace test. The script is measurably better than the story and the performance is even better than the script. Ross Scott Rawlings' accompanying mini-orchestra is flat-out terrific, and there are some extremely interesting tech things happening. Overall, a strong thumbs-up.

BWW Review: Sing Along With GREASE at Toby's In Columbia

Ready for some young energy at Toby's in Columbia? Here's a whole high school musical of less-frequently featured faces! The company dances Mark Minnick's fun choreography like they go together forever, bedecked in rolled denim jeans, wiggle skirts, saddle shoes, Chuck Taylor sneakers, product-heavy hair and pink satin jackets- in short, just what you expect of GREASE.

BWW Review: Hear The Bells In Toby's HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME

Victor Hugo's 1833 love letter to an old cathedral is set in 1482, and it's curious to note that in the nearly six hundred intervening years, there is much that is unchanged regarding social injustice, racial persecution and sexual abuse by religious leaders. Production values are high, while fancy choreography steps aside in service to imaginative vertical and distance movement sequences. The whole production relies on human-centric theatrical artifices THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME plays at Toby's through May 19th, 2019

BWW Review: Take Time To Smell, See, And Especially Hear The Roses In GYPSY At Toby's In Columbia

Cathy Mundy as Momma Rose creates a faceted character with depth, backstory and motivation. The Ensemble is full of experienced leading men and women who blend beautifully and as Louise, MaryKate Brouillet manages to look about fourteen years old for most of the show before her Act II transformation. Full of catchy tunes, powerhouse vocalists, lively choreography and adorable children, Toby's Dinner Theatre in Columbia's production of GYPSY is an impressive crowd-pleaser.

BWW Review: High-Tail It To Toby's To Catch THE LITTLE MERMAID

Toby's Dinner Theatre Of Columbia presents Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID through March as its holiday show. THE LITTLE MERMAID is lively, fun, and a genuine kid-pleaser. It's packed full of A-list Toby's veterans, with technical trappings that are dazzling to behold. Director Mark Minnick puts top-notch talent to work with energetic staging that's clean and inclusive of the in-the-round audience. THE LITTLE MERMAID will ring true for parents, teens, and anyone who has felt like a fish out of water. It's a story of acceptance, which is the best of gifts, at the holidays and always.