Timoth David Copney

The movie, Some Like It Hot, has long been a favorite of mine. As a kid growing up in Dayton and then Cincinnati, Ohio, I loved seeing Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon don women’s clothing, outrun the bad guys, and the line that Lemmon says, ‘now look what you did – you tore off one of my chests!’ struck me then and now as hilarious.

Arts Centric is taking their turn at bat with a presentation of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom now playing through April 27th, 2025. Read our full review of the production here!

Theatre can be illustrative, informative, relevant, educational, emotional, edifying and useful as commentary on current events, past history, and predictive of the future. And sometimes, it’s just a damn funny good time with no redeeming social value whatsoever, and you don’t care because you’re so busy laughing your ass off. The latter is the case with “Shucked.”

Iron Crow has made a reputation for itself as the go-to theatre for queer productions on the East Coast. Fearless in its pursuit of cutting-edge theatre, it has once again tackled a tricky subject with a velvet glove in this light-hearted (though with a couple of somber edges) religious romp, An Act of God.

When I first learned about the movie Life of Pi, I confess I was less than curious, having neither heard of nor read the book. Several years later, when it was adapted into a movie and then a Broadway play—with stops along the way in London’s West End, where it racked up a slew of Olivier Awards (the British equivalent of our Tonys)—I became much more intrigued.

Agatha Christie has long been a fixture in our house for her fascinating and endlessly entertaining mysteries. She has transfixed reading and viewing audiences for decades, and her work has been presented in everything from books and plays to TV and movies, and it has inspired countless imitations.

Like so many great Broadway musicals, this one was also born somewhere else, getting its start in London’s West End like so many other imports to Broadway. With a book by David West Read, who writes some of the funniest dialogue I have heard in a while, this light-hearted romp through some weighty topics like feminine power, transgender rights and respect, toxic masculinity, never loses its sense of humor.

I remember trying to watch Moulin Rouge when the movie came out in 2001 and only getting about halfway through it. I have to confess I found the story rather trite and entirely predictable, only elevated by the inclusion of lots of catchy pop songs. So I was delightfully surprised when I saw the current iteration of this piece as a Broadway musical. Here I was all set to cast my weary, cynical eye on one more story of the ‘ho with a deadly disease (they do seem to be disproportionately prone to tuberculosis), but I was thoroughly entertained by this dazzling, dizzying, diamond of a show.

What did our critic think of FUNNY GIRL at The Hippodrome? When I was a kid, I wanted nothing so much as to be Barbara Streisand in Funny Girl. I mean, it literally shaped my career aspirations. And I desperately wanted to see the stage version, having practically worn out my LP of the Broadway musical.

Get ready to rock with SIX THE MUSICAL - a high-octane, award-winning stage sensation, telling the tale of the wives of Henry VIII in a queenly concert experience. Don't miss this must-see production, full of bright, catchy tunes and excellent harmonies.

What did our critic think of DON'T BOTHER ME, I CAN'T COPE at Bmore Broadway Live? Dance and Bmore, one of the newer players on the Baltimore theatre scene, has launched its inaugural program, Bmore Broadway Live, with a production of Vinette Carroll's award winning musical, Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope (I'm just going to set up the abbreviation right here, ok? DBMICC.) And what a production this is! I'll tell you, I was exhausted in the best possible way from all that hooting and hollering, swaying and stomping.

What did our critic think of THEATRE REVIEW: HURRICANE DIANE at Iron Crow?

Chesapeake Shakespeare Company is an absolute treasure

Phrases of praise like ‘tour de force’ and ‘vocal tsunami’ get bandied about so often that they can begin to lose their impact. In the case of Ms. Villanueva, they are not enough.

Five wise-cracking southern belles come to know way more about each other than they intended as bridesmaids.

For audience members of a certain age (like moi), jukebox musicals are much more than an evening’s entertainment. Sometimes they are a Soul Train dance down the days of our youth. Such is the case with Ain’t Too Proud, The Life and Times of The Temptations. Now playing in Baltimore at the Hippodrome, it is nothing short of spectacular.

Pretty Woman, The Musical has shimmered onto the stage at Baltimore's Hippodrome and landed squarely on it's Jimmy Choo'd feet. A bold and brassy tune fest, it's an homage to the 1990 film starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere and this version's cast is definitely up to the inevitable comparisons.