Jack L. B. Gohn - Page 13

But there are deeper and more troubling dimensions to Norman: an irritability that hints of the total dessication of soul, a wildness that mingles a strong self-defeating quality with a degree of menace. You can never tell what Norman will do next, which makes him fascinating to watch.

Baltimore theatergoers may be pardoned for not being familiar - yet - with the Atlas District in North East Washington, but this emerging arts-and-entertainment area, focused on about four blocks of H Street, is well worth getting to know. The core is the Atlas Performing Arts Center, an Art Deco movie house that was impeccably redeveloped in 2006 after 30 years as a derelict. And surely there could hardly be a better way of making the Atlas' acquaintance than seeing the Washington Savoyards' revival of the 1879 Gilbert and Sullivan hit, The Pirates of Penzance playing there now.

So there it is: great show, great performers, hot new company. Go see.

Potter directs Sweeney (Edward J. Peters) in such fashion that he seldom becomes such a ghoul he ceases to be human. Freddy Kreuger has a back story, but he's not a tragic hero because of it; Sweeney is.

A tasteful performance Shaw afficionados will love does raise the question whether the passé quality of the ideas sets practical limits to the play's appeal

Great performances, challenging issues, iffy sound. If you know the show, great. If you're a newbie, come, but bone up on the lyrics first.

And the Critics Fare Almost As Badly As The Corpses!

Part character-driven drama, part intellectual whodunit, Proof depends upon a heroine who is both engaging and enigmatic. Julia Heynen delivers.

Tiffany Walker Porta presents a Patsy Cline who can deliver a knockout broken-heart ballad perhaps closer to the diva's live performances than her records.

Lesley Malin and Michael P. Sullivan nail the maturity, wit, sad wisdom, and rueful self-awareness of Shakespeare's immortal 'merry warriors'

When you get past the inconsistencies in the book, this Flaherty and Ahrens musical which evokes the Commedia dell'arte is lavish, tuneful, well-acted, and well-sung

Southern Belle pokes fun at Tennessee Williams' old-fashioned metaphorical approach to discussing homosexuality. An Actor's Nightmare suggests you can accumulate lethal bad karma in your theater-obsessed dreams. Go. You'll laugh all evening.

The almost-universal experience of life in alcoholic and/or abusive families can be hilarious. Christopher Durang's play, well-staged at FPCT, takes us into the heart of savagely-rendered darkness, and maybe even a few steps out again.

It seemed an unlikely concept: whip up an evening of delight largely on the strength of a love of modern slang and consumer culture. Yet this froth of logophilia works just fine, in a champagne flute of a show.

Center Stage could have made a better programming choice than this overrated agitprop, but turns in a creditable performance

New love that ends in tears, tears that begin in new love, beautifully written, intelligently sung and acted.

Lee Blessing's 1985 play challenges with poor exposition, unbelievable and underdeveloped characters, and a conclusion that has not been dramatically earned. Fells Point Corner Theater confronts these handicaps in creditable fashion, with a standout performance by Jenn Mikulski.

Kimberly Schraf is endlessly impressive as 19th Century superstar actress Fanny Kemble, looking back over an impressive life onstage and off.

New plays for college-age actresses provide a varied evening of impressive performances at University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Their mission is to yearn and rut. The women lie and the men fall into hopeless fits of jealousy, the centrifugal force that guarantees an unhappy ending for all. The play is more about the dance of destruction than it is about the dancers - well, the dance and the Pinteresque dialogue.