Theatre Was Big News in Charm City in 2006

What a year it has been in Baltimore theatre circles at all levels!  2006 marked openings, closings, hits and misses.  Venues got substantial grant money and futures were set on new paths.  Here, in no particular order, are the ten biggest theatre related news stories in Baltimore in 2006. 

 

• A New Theatre Opens in Charm City!

 

The 2006 opening of Toby's Dinner Theatre of Baltimore adds more theatre for Baltimore to see.  Different than its Columbia sister, this version has a traditional proscenium style theatre.  Similar to its successful Columbia sister, the same high standard of quality that Toby Orenstein demands is fully intact – the shows are top-notch, the orchestra is live, and the buffet, catered by the Best Western Hotel and Conference Center, is sumptuous from the salad bar right through to the make your own sundae bar!  Haven't been there yet?  Make it a New Year's resolution!  Mid-January brings The Full Monty, and the rest of the season includes Fiddler on the Roof, Grease and Dreamgirls!

• Everyman Theatre to Move to the Westside!

 

Local Equity company Everyman Theatre announced that for just $1.00 they bought the old Town Theatre (on Fayette and Eutaw) from Bank of America.  The old theatre, just around the corner from the similarly renovated Hippodrome Theatre, was a vaudeville house, a theatre and a movie theatre.  And in the fall of 2009, after some $11.5M in renovations and upgrades, Everyman will have a new home in the heart of Baltimore's new arts center.

• Theatres Win Grants and Huge Donations!

 

CenterStage just announced its winning of a $45,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts for its upcoming production of Trouble in Mind, a thought to be lost play by Alice Childress.  Washington's Arena got a whopping $35M donation from long time benefactors.  And recently, actress Jada Pinkett-Smith (Class of 1989) donated $1M to the Baltimore School for the Arts, her alma mater.  As part of the school's expansion, a new theatre space will be built and named after her.

• The Show Must Go On: Understudies Flourish at the Hippodrome! And…

 

I'll admit that I am disappointed when I find understudy slips stuffed in my program, but this past year at the Hippodrome has made me seriously rethink that attitude.  It all started on Super Bowl Sunday, at the evening performance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. "The role of the Narrator, usually played by Amy Adams (of American Idol fame), will be played by Lisa Christine."  She went on with little advanced notice and wowed the crowd!  Now, an absence here or there happens pretty regularly in live theatre, or the occasional scheduled vacation (such as Mamma Mia's Laurie Wells, who had a scheduled leave the second week of its run here) adds those small inserts to the Playbill, but Baltimore had its share of understudies on for seriously injured regulars.  And congratulations to them all, as they were all pretty darned incredible!  Julie Voshell opened Movin' Out as the understudy to Judy.  Later that same week, original Broadway cast member Keith Roberts injured himself seriously enough that he had to be out for the rest of the run, causing his understudy (and Baltimore native) Michael Snipe, Jr. to take over.  Little Women opened with understudy Susan Spencer in the lead role of Jo, and she was astonishing!  Mamma Mia's vacationing Donna was replaced by both of her understudies – Anne Tolpegin and Marlene Hanrahan – and they proved that the role was deep enough to each play it completely and convincingly different than the "real" Donna, Laurie Wells! But the winner of the understudy game has to be Dana Steingold of The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, who went on for an obviously ill Sarah Stiles in MID-PERFORMANCE of the premiere of the ENTIRE National Tour.  Later, I found out that Steingold had rehearsed with the cast a mere 3 times prior!  What a bunch of pros!

…The Show Won't Go On!

 

The First National Tour of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels was originally scheduled to play in Baltimore for two weeks, but announced close to opening that it would be cancelling the first week of the run.  This, of course, caused a major scramble for ticket holders and the poor box office staff.  The good news turned out to be that the place was packed, and the show was awesome.  Even better, just before it got here, tour presenters announced that after December, the show would shut down for downsizing.  So I say we were lucky it came to town in all its upsized glory!

• First National Tour of Spelling Bee Opens in Baltimore!

 

As mentioned above, an understudy had to go on in mid-opening night performance of The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee!  Add to that, serious issues with the sound system, and the creation of an intermission, and you could have had a disaster.  But, the company had it so together, they were unflappable!  And so the rest is history.  The First National Tour opened here in Baltimore to a huge audience, including director James Lapine.  The reviews were terrific, too!

• Charm City Playwrights on the Rise!

 

The Baltimore Playwrights Festival celebrated its 25^th season this summer, with, by all accounts, its strongest season yet.  Standout plays included Mark Squirek's SOD, Rich Espey's Hope's Arbor, and Ira Gamerman's Split.  Both Hope's Arbor and Split went on to additional runs – a return engagement of Arbor at Spotlighters and a fund-raising run at Towson University for Split, hosted by TU alum and Tony-winner, John Glover.  And one of the hottest tickets in town in 2006 was Everyman's The Cone Sister, starring Vivienne Shub, and written by her own sister, Naomi Greenberg-Slovin.  The good news it that more dates have been added for this one-woman tour de force in 2007. (PHOTO: The Cast of Split.)

• Theatres Name New Directors!

 

Local theatre groups were abuzz when it was announced that Mobtown Players' founding member and artistic director Ryan Whinnem was leaving at the end of last season.  His successor, Alex Willis got things off to a smashing start with the critically acclaimed production of Edward Albee's The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?, which she directed.  RepStage's new director, Michael Stebbins let his presence be felt when he opened the RepStage season with the one-man show, Fully Committed, playing dozens of characters.  Later that same season, he pulled similar duty in the comedy Stones in His Pockets, co-starring with RepStage phenom, Bruce Nelson.  What a way start!

• 25 Years Good... 25 Years Bad…

 

25 proved to be a good anniversary for the Baltimore Playwrights Festival.  Nearly everyone agrees that this season was among their best ever, bringing great new works by local playwrights to local stages.  25 was a good anniversary for the Maryland Arts Festival, too, with a great summer of works by and about great women.  Sadly, 25 years will be it for the Maryland Arts Festival, as it was recently announced that the festival would be no more.  Towson University tells me that something is in the works to replace the event.  We shall see.

• Local Theatre Company Gets Big News in 2006 about 2007!

 

The Chesapeake Shakespeare Company got some great news in 2006, which will likely be on this list in 2007 as well.  The Howard County classics company was announced as a participant in the prestigious Shakespeare in Washington Festival in 2007.  And what company they are keeping!  Other participants include The Kirov Ballet, the Folger Shakespeare Library and The Kennedy Center!  CSC will be presenting As You Like It and Henry V in true repertory fashion this June at their Theatre in the Ruins venue in Ellicott City.  Congratulations to the entire company!

• BroadwayWorld.com Starts a Baltimore Page!

 

And finally, on January 1, 2006, the Baltimore theatre gained a voice on an international platform, BroadwayWorld.com.  BroadwayWorld.com is the fastest growing theatre site on the Internet, and the Baltimore page is the number one regional site on it!  Why is that?  You and your love for theatre + the huge amount of theatre this city has to offer = success for a local Website.  And we are still growing!  Every month more theatres are added to our family!  Every week, local theatres are giving substantial discounts to our readers, and every month, new tickets are being given away to contest winners!  Thank you all so much!

There you have it!  Ten of the biggest theatre news stories in Baltimore in 2006.  Let's hope 2007 brings us all good news, lots of great theatre, and bigger audiences!  Look for Year in Review articles all week, including articles about the 12 up and coming theatre folk in 2006 to watch for in 2007, those theatre folks in the area that seem to do it all, and of course, my picks for the best in Professional, Regional/Equity, College and Community Theatre in 2006!

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