Cybele Pomeroy - Page 5

If you've an interest in the unusual, if you have sampled traditional theatre and avant garde theatre and found them both not quite what you wanted, if you'd like to gather a few of your friends and your favorite '50s fancy duds, if you'd like an evening out that isn't clubbing and isn't pizza, do consider HOAX.

If you belong to a particular subset of music aficionados, you may love this show. Vocally and instrumentally, the performers do an excellent job of animating beloved legends.Their musicianship is impressive and Musical Director Amy Jones has done a terrific job creating authentic-sounding renditions of well-known songs. JP Coletta's athletic interpretation of Jerry Lee is absurdly fun to watch. As Elvis, Travis Artz is enthusiastic and delivers excellent footwork. Adding some feminine energy to the show, Elvis' girlfriend 'Dyanne,' portrayed by Bella Muller in a saucy, sultry performance, blows the audience away singing 'Fever.'

The performers of Happenstance Theater engage, intrigue, cavort, emote and display both physical precision and a remarkable range of organically produced sound effects. BROUHAHA's story, insofar as there is a story, lies in the development of the relationship between this cadre of classical clowns and the newcomers- that is to say, us, the audience. We become conspirators in the greatest of comi-tragic secrets: even in the direst of times, there is yet opportunity for playfulness and joy.

Center Stage, though undergoing renovations, presents DETROIT '67 at Towson University's Mainstage Theatre. The full-scale production, which features familiar characters and witty, realistic dialogue, includes excellent technical effects, a clever, accurately detailed set and snappy pacing.

MOTOWN the Musical could've been a hokey disaster that tried to cobble great hits together in some strained reach of a storyline, but it isn't. MOTOWN's plot is not contrived but completely realistic and heart-warmingly human. Baltimore and Motor City may be more like strained siblings than kissing cousins, but in some deep sense, Detroit IS Baltimore and this musical will resonate most particularly here, most particularly now. MOTOWN deserves to be not just a Broadway phenomenon but a part of our collective culture. It's fun, it's funny, it's sexy and it's full of the sort of hopeful commitment to brighter futures that used to be part of the American Dream.

The tech and scale of this North American touring production of PHANTOM OF THE OPERA are, in a word, magnificent. It is a spectacle of spectacles, and set designer Paul Brown deserves his own ovation. The sound, brilliantly executed by the Hippodrome techs and cleverly imagined by designer Mick Potter, creates an immersive environment which gives the unseen title character location and substance.

Let's say you like farce. Let's say you like Hitchcock films. Let's say you want a posh production for a shoestring budget. Let's say you need a cast of thousands but only have four actors. Let's say it's a long shot. But it might work. It could work. And THE 39 STEPS, now playing at Fells Point Corner Theatre, does work, very well.

If you like THE SOUND OF MUSIC, do go see it at the Hippodrome. You won't be disappointed. If you don't like THE SOUND OF MUSIC, (hard to imagine, but some folk don't), there's no reason to think that this production will change your mind.

If you enjoyed CABARET MACABRE, you'll be pleased by CABARET NOIR. Imagine a favorite musical artist releasing a new album: it's familiar but fresh. The Cabaret is a series of film-like clips, presented possibly in chronological order… or perhaps not. It's hard to tell. There is a glimmer of story, a hatful of characters, a whisper of atmosphere, a smorgasbord of music and a scent of mystery. Those who love Film Noir will be delighted, those who don't care for it will be charmed and amused, and those who don't know about it will never hereafter be able to take it seriously. Those who have never heard of Happenstance Theatre and its current show CABARET NOIR are seriously missing out on a wonderful thing.

Once again, Vagabonds produces a heartwarming show full of laughs, props and loveable, resplendently costumed characters. If you're in the mood for a happy, snappy little musical with a measure of murder in the mix, SOMETHING'S AFOOT is your cosy cup of tea.

POE'S LAST STANZA is presented in two acts, and features Poe's works, quotations, foibles, proclivities and unhinged outbursts. Kelso and Thompson as Poe and the Barmaid confidently carry the audience through a gamut of emotions while bringing Baltimore's Bard to vibrant, flawed, beautiful human life. If you've ever felt that you'd like to sit down to have drinks with Edgar Allan Poe, please treat yourself to this show, as you'll be doing just that.

PIPPIN does what musical theatre ought to do: hooks you with a great opening number, gives you characters to love and hate, treats your senses with song, dance, costuming, sets and lights and offers fresh perspective on a timeless theme.

THE WELL OF HORNINESS, the current production playing at Theatre Project, has madcap motion, familiar characters, sexy action sequences/active sex sequences and clever, punny wordplay for ninety minutes front to back. It's funny, raunchy, ridiculous and insubstantial. Go. Take your popcorn.

For some reason, people have brought a great many little girls to see WICKED. It didn't seem to me a particularly child-friendly novel, but since the musical stage production shares about as much with Gregory Maguire's novel as Disney's Little Mermaid did with the story written by Hans Christian Andersen, that's probably fine.

I rather wanted to call Glass Mind Theatre's THE DUM DUMS a weird little piece of experimental theatre, but it is, in fact, a plot-driven story, with regular people characters and a beginning middle and end, so not all that 'experimental' after all. It FEELS experimental, but in a good way.

Rich Espy's THE REVELATION OF BOBBY PRITCHARD is a fine example of non-linear storytelling with personable, quirky characters who explore traditional values and non-traditional relationships with snappy dialogue, brisk action, shifting timelines and a story that should touch the heart of anyone who's ever loved anyone. Join Marta, who, with her family, dances with ghosts of her past, striving for a brighter present.

Author's Note: The posting of this review was delayed due to family circumstances. CHICAGO! has moved on from Baltimore. It is my hope my review will be of use to audiences in other cities on CHICAGO!'s tour.

In its first flirtation with dinner theatre, the Sunset Restaurant in Glen Burnie presents POE'S LAST STANZA, offering the Baltimore area an evening with Edgar Allen Poe in his native environment: a tavern.

If you're often delighted at the large casts Spotlighters and director Fuzz Roarke regularly parades across its carport-sized stage, you'll be delighted again. If you're a fan of the musical direction of Michael Tan and the soaring nuanced vocals he coaxes from these large casts, anticipate another treat. If you admire sparse sets that become multiple settings with a word and a lighting shift, you will find praiseworthy versatility and smooth transitions. If you like theatre in the round and practically in your lap, prepare to catch an actor or two.

Local playwright Mark Scharf debuts a new show at Theatre Project. A small fragmented family works at dealing with the inevitabilities of life, finding joy and humor in unexpected moments.