Daniel Collins

What did our critic think of FROZEN at Hippodrome Theatre?

What did our critic think of TO KILL A MOCKING BIRD at Hippodrome Theatre? Chances are, if you're a product of the American education system, you read Harper Lee's 1960 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, in high school or college. And if you didn't, you've likely seen the 1962 film of the same name featuring Gregory Peck in perhaps his most famed role, lawyer and bastion of decency, Atticus Finch. The plot involving Atticus and his children, Scout and Jem, is in some ways, quite 'straightforward.' Atticus is asked to represent Tom Robinson, a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman. It's deep South, Alabama, 1934. It's not going to end well. However, it's what happens along the way, and afterwards, that makes this novel so worth reading, and this play, so worth watching.

What did our critic think of PLAY IS THE THING FOR GUESTS OF CSC’S CAPULET COSTUME BALL, HONORING THEATER COMPANY’S 20TH at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company?

Chances are, as America is an increasing book-abhorrent culture, most folks familiar with THE WIZARD OF OZ know only of the 1939 Judy Garland film, versus author L. Frank Baum's children's 1900 book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. While the book and the film are fairly well aligned as children's entertainment, author Gregory Maguire's 1995 spin on the story, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West is most definitely for the adults. Political upheaval, adultery, multiple murders, family dysfunction, betrayal, it's downright Shakespearean. All three serve as fantastical fodder for Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman's Broadway production of Wicked, a sort of Oz-ian 'Odd Couple,' were Neil Simon a fan of J.R.R. Tolkein and J. K. Rowling: 'On Ozmember the 13th, Elphaba was asked to remove herself from her place of residence; that request came from her father. Deep down, she believed he was right, but knew that someday she would return. With nowhere else to go, she appeared at university and meets Galinda, fresh off an off-Broadway run of LEGALLY BLONDE. Can two strange women share a dorm room together without driving each other crazy?'

Unless you've been living under a (Plymouth?) rock, chances are you are acquainted with the Tony Award winning Broadway phenomenon known as 'HAMILTON,' the innovative, ground-breaking musical written and composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Miranda masterfully blends hip hop, blues, jazz, and R&B in telling the tale of one of our nation's most intriguing founding fathers, George Washington's 'right hand man,' first Secretary of the Treasury and loser of one of the world's most infamous duels, Alexander Hamilton.

Aubergine, by American playwright and television writer of Korean descent, Julia Cho, is a didactic play, heavy on pathos, but not without humor, that finds its origins in Cho's own life, specifically, the death of her father. Similarly in this play, protagonist Ray, played by Tony Nam, cares for his dying father (Glenn Kubota) at home, with the help of nurse Lucien (Jefferson A. Russell), girlfriend Cornelia (Eunice Bae) and his Uncle (Song Kim).

Long Day's Journey Into Night takes an audience on a foggy trip into the dysfunction of the Tyrone family.

Only in the magical land of Broadway can you take a 1994 animated Disney movie thinly based on Shakespeare's HAMLET and possibly based on a 1960s Japanese anime series and transform it into a 6-Tony-Award-winning and highest grossing Broadway production in history. Yes, it's 'The Lion King,' which has reached more than 19 million theater goers in its North American tour, playing more than 70 cities across the continent, including Baltimore-'The Lion King' performs on Baltimore's Hippodrome stage now through Sunday, Dec. 10th.

If you've seen the Johnny Depp 2004 film, 'Finding Neverland,' you're aware of the story of playwright J. M. Barrie and how his relationship with widow Sylvia Llewelyn Davies and her four boys, George, Jack, Peter and Michael, inspired him to write the classic play, 'Peter Pan.' If you haven't, you can find the whole movie online, or just Google it like everything else these days.

Audiences are in for a magic journey both on and off stage as Center Stage, now unveiled after a $28 million renovation, presents award-winning playwright Mary Zimmerman's adaptation of the Chinese fable, 'THE WHITE SNAKE.'

Baltimore's Everyman attempts a pre-Halloween scare with WAIT UNTIL DARK now through Oct. 9th.

How characters view life and the value they place on it is at the core of Arthur Miller's ALL MY SONS, directed by Michael Byrne Zemarel at the Vagabond Players Theater in Baltimore.

Evita was one of Andrew Lloyd Webber's more controversial shows, depicting Argentina's beloved Eva Peron as a swindler, cheat, and power-hungry woman, willing to sleep her way to the top. Even when they made the movie almost 50 years after Eva's death, drastic rewrites and additional songs were made simply to film in Argentina. It's interesting to me how the attitude towards women in power have, in some respects, changed, but words like conniving, manipulating, whore, and the like still get tossed around; during intermission, I enjoyed a poignant, and a little heated, discussion of the parallels of this play in our current presidential race. Good theatre provokes discussion, and Spotlighter's Theatre put on a powerhouse of a musical that is very topical today.

Perhaps you're a fan of the new dramatic TV series, 'The Royals,' about a fictional British royal family who face struggles like the death of the heir to the throne, conniving children and assorted romances.

It's clear to me that Everyman Theatre company actor Megan Anderson knows her craft and performs it exceptionally well, given how she brought her character, Raina, to life in playwright Michael Hollinger's 'Under the Skin.' That's because I had to restrain myself, several times, from shouting from my seat that she was an ungrateful, affected, pretentious, New Agey, annoying Millennial (expletive), a particular demographic for which I have a Saudi-Arabian-oil-reserve-size dislike.

I recall a story where a pastor spoke to his congregation about the 10 commandments. To paraphrase, the pastor said, 'About that commandment about not having any false idols--not applicable for today, right? Nobody praying before golden calves today, right?' Then, he held up a football.

The Book of Mormon comes back to Baltimore by popular demand, and its not hard to understand why. The brainchild of South Park's Trey Parker and Matt Stone and Avenue Q's Robert Lopez is the hottest ticket on Broadway. While definitely not for the easily offended, this show is uproariously funny and fun, surprisingly touching and poignant, and the touring company gracing the Hippodrome Theatre does not dissapoint. In truth, I haven't enjoyed myself so much at a musical in a very, very long time.

Classic story of fathers and sons, direams and disappointments and challenging the realities of the American Dream now at the Everyman

Audience has 'the time of their lives' with performance of DIRTY DANCE at Baltimore's Hippodrome Theater

Noted playwright Amy Herzog's AFTER THE REVOLUTION tells the tale of three generations of the Joseph family, shaken by moral and political views and a shocking family secret revealed.