Shaking the rafters in Toby’s ‘Sister Act’
This fall, the beloved Toby’s Dinner Theatre in Columbia, Maryland, is presenting Sister Act. Featuring engaging characters and songs by the Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken, the show will please most any theater-goer. Based on a popular 1992 film starring Whoopi Goldberg, the plot revolves around one Deloris Van Cartier, a rebellious singer living in the 1970s disco... READ MORE
SpongeBob musical is great for families
Okay, full disclosure: Before I stepped into Toby’s Dinner Theatre to see the current production of The SpongeBob Musical, I didn’t know anything about the wildly popular animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants. Not one thing. I figured I’d learn about it soon enough. And so I did. One thing is for sure: I am now better able to answer the question posed to me many times... READ MORE
Godspell revival at Toby’s now a tradition
The musical Godspell opened off Broadway half a century ago, in May 1971. It became a motion picture in 1973, and there were a few revivals along the way, including Broadway. Godspell also happened to be the first musical ever performed at Toby’s Dinner Theatre when it opened in Columbia in 1979. Later, Toby’s revived the show for its 25th anniversary. This year, to celebrate the... READ MORE
Shakespeare group adapts to the times
All went well during the regular 2019-2020 season of the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, which included stage productions in its downtown Baltimore theater of Measure for Measure and Hamlet as well as A Christmas Carol. But this summer, the theater hit a glitch, otherwise known as the pandemic. Normally, the company’s educator program includes both an extensive matinee series, camps, ... READ MORE
Slapstick Shakespeare parodies the Bard
“Dying is easy. Comedy is hard.” Whether it was 20th-century actor Peter O’Toole, 18th-century thespian Edmund Kean, or a host of others who may have said it, this quip refers to the challenge of making audiences laugh. It could also be a reference to the amount of physical energy expelled, given the many pratfalls, quick changes and assorted wild goings-on required for any... READ MORE
Enjoy belly laughs at Hitchcock parody
Try this recipe: Take 3 parts Alfred Hitchcock thriller, stir in 1 part Monty Python and mix well. Half-bake at a high temperature for 1 hour 45 minutes. Yields: Patrick Barlow’s theatrical spoof, The 39 Steps, now onstage at Hanover Tavern. Serves: 150 hysterically laughing theater patrons. The play is a parody of the 1935 Hitchcock movie of that name, a murder mystery, which in turn... READ MORE
A dutiful depiction of veterans’ reality
It’s 1945. Men dressed in camouflage — different uniforms for different military branches — approach their front doors with a bag in tow. Family members fling themselves at the tired, skinnier versions of their husbands, brothers and sons, sobbing in gratitude that their loved one made in home when so many didn’t. Those men may appear strong, but they’re not whole. When they... READ MORE
From rich to poor and from love to hate
Timon of Athens is the much-anticipated first production by Simon Godwin since he joined the Shakespeare Theater Company as artistic director last year. It is a restaging of the play performed in 2018 under his direction at the Royal Shakespeare Company and earlier this year off Broadway as a co-production with Theatre for a New Audience. In this play, which Shakespeare originally... READ MORE
Joyful musical Kinky Boots at Toby’s
When I first heard the term “kinky boots,” I expected to see boots with X-rated comments on them. I mean, what else could it mean? As it turns out, plenty. Seems as if there was a 2005 British film called Kinky Boots that I missed. It wasn’t until 2013, when a musical by that name opened on Broadway, that I finally got it. I recall seeing the musical at the Hippodrome some... READ MORE
Play’s characters grapple with life’s end
As we age, we all face mortality — our own, that of a parent, a friend, a lover…someone close to us. Some face the reality head on. Others avoid it, ignore it, make bargains with it. In actor Michael Cristofer’s play The Shadow Box, each character provides a unique perspective on death in ways that are neither judgmental nor maudlin, but ring true as distinctly human. The play... READ MORE
