Bay Theatre Company Goes to New York!

Perhaps you read my review of “The Goat or Who is Sylvia?” in the Entertainment Blog posted on www.WhatsUpMag.com in May 2008 and/or saw the wonderful production of Edward Albee’s Tony Award winning play, performed here in Annapolis. If not you have another opportunity, but you’ll have to make the trip to New York City. The show is being performed at The Players Theatre at 115 MacDougal Street, Monday evening on September 15th.
In “The Goat,” Edward Albee the same playwright who wrote the play “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf “ (first performed on Broadway in 1962) brings the portrayal of a dysfunctional family to a new level, as he challenges the audience to rethink the concept of what is love? To read the entire review go to

http://www.whatsupmag.com/blogs/entertainment-blog/08-05-12/_The_Goat_or_Who_is_Sylvia_–2002_Tony_Award_Winning_Play_Currently_at_the_Bay_Theatre_in_Annapolis.aspx

Tickets to the Off Broadway production directed by Lucinda Merry-Browne are $30. You can buy tickets on line at Theatermania.com. This tour staring Tom Gregory, Janet Luby, Bret Jaspers, and Lee Ordeman is for one night only.

Women, Song, Mother’s Day, and More

If you’re casting about for something to do with your Mom on Mother’s Day and she happens to love musicals and strong women, take her to see Vanishing Point. There’s only one more show left, Sunday afternoon May llth at the Annapolis Unitarian Universalist Church, a production of the Dignity Players and directed by Mickey Handwerger with music direction by Mark Hildebrand. The story is about three famous women who vanished—Amelia Earhart, Sister Aimee , and Agatha Christie. Or did they? Agatha Christie, one of my favorite early 20th century mystery writers vanished for eleven days in 1926. That same year evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson vanished for three weeks. In 1937 Amelia Earhart set out to fly around the world and disappeared on the last leg of her journey over the Pacific Ocean near Howland Island. How are their three disappearances linked?
All three actresses—Margaret Allman as Agatha Christie, Wendy Baird as Aimee Semple McPherson, Sheri Kuznicki as Amelia Earhart have lovely voices and incredible stamina as they perform this intense story that draws on historical record and the authors’ imagination.
Also opening this weekend is The Goat Or, Who is Sylvia by Edward ,Albee Winner of the 2002 Tony Award at the Bay Theatre Company in Annapolis directed by Lucinda Merry Browne., if you attend this Friday there is a Pre-Show reception.
Over at the Colonial Players in Annapolis is Hauptmann and you can read my review in the “Entertainment Blog” on the WhatsUpMag.com website.
And if you want to make a visit to Baltimore, The Color Purple is playing at The Hippodrome through May 18th and is excellent. Leading actress Jeanette Bayardelle has a phenomenal voice. While I loved the movie, the staged musical is completely different, equally as poignant and uplifting in a different way.
Yes, I am a theater junkie. Good live theater is inspiring and we have plenty of great opportunities to see a wide variety of plays within a small geographic area.
The May baskets around town are starting to wilt and fade, but many colorful azaleas and tulips are brightening up the Annapolis Historic District. My favorite time to walk downtown Annapolis is early morning, before it gets too crowded, but for those of you who may live further away, next time you’re planning a trip to your favorite downtown restaurant allow some time to stroll. Spring is a great time to soak up the local scenery.

Bay Theatre Glass Menagerie Brilliant!

There’s a reason they call a piece of literature “a classic”. No matter how many times you read a classic novel, poem, or play you learn something different. “The Glass Menagerie” is currently playing at The Bay Theatre Company in Annapolis through the month of March, and whether you’ve enjoyed previous play productions or one of the movie versions, it’s time to see it again.
First produced in 1944, “The Glass Menagerie” depicts a slice of time in the life of the Wingfield family. The three characters: mother, son, and daughter share a three-room apartment. They each have their means of escape. The mother, Amanda Wingfield–played brilliantly by Lucinda Merry-Browne, focuses on her social connections at the local Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) chapter and imagines her daughter will take on a career as a secretary/stenographer and then marry one of the handsome gentlemen callers lined up outside their apartment door.
Laura Wingfield– played skillfully by Kristen Calgaro, the painfully shy and crippled daughter, takes refuge from reality by listening to old records and tending her menagerie of tiny glass animals.
Son Tom– played by Ben Russo, finds his adventure after toiling long hours at the shoe factory to suppport the family, by constantly going to the movie theater, sitting through hours of double features and newsreels.
“Where are you going?” his mother constantly asks him. “The movies!” she repeats incredulously. “How can you spend so much time at the movies?”
In many respects, the role of Tom, who is both narrator and a pivotal member of the family, is the most challanging to create and Russo does an admirable job. Struggling to fulfill his mother’s expectations that he continue on as the selfless breadwinner replacing his absent father, he dreams of escaping from her smothering grasp by joining the Merchant Marine.
This is a play with many memorable lines. Here’s one of my favorites. “Rise and Shine. Rise and Shine,” calls out Amanda in her artificially cheery voice.
“I’ll rise,” says Tom. “But I won’t shine!” he tells her and the audience. The first time I read the play, over 25 years ago, my focus was on Laura and her inability to leave the dreamworld she had created. This time after seeing various versions of the play over the years, the tug and pull between Tom and Amanda demanded most of my attention.
Hope seems within reach, with the arrival of an actual “gentleman caller”– played suavely by Judson Davis, but the hope in short lived. Such an easy solution to solve the family problems is not obtainable when the strategy is based on a fantasy perpetuated by Amanda.
A few choice items: the old phonograph, rotary telephone, and photograph of the absent father on the wall, create the sense of place in this intimate theater, along with the sounds of the old records playing intermitantly in the background at strategic times.The fire escape stairs and the shelf of glass creatures that reside in Laura’s glass menagerie complete the set designed by Dave Buckler. Nancy Robillard came down from New York City to direct this third production of the Bay Theatre 2007-2008 season, and she describes her experience as, “a beautiful dream!” While the subject matter of the play is sad, the manner in which it is depicted is thought provoking. Thus, its popularity has endured.
Playwright Tennessee Williams, born in 1911 and the son of a shoe saleman, clearly drew heavily on his own life when penning “The Glass Menagerie”. His older sister Rose, was diagnosed with mental illness and ultimately became institutionalized after undergoing a lobotomy in 1938.
For information about tickets and performance times the theatre can be reached at 410-268-1333, email reserve@baytheatre.org. Their web site is www.baytheatre.org
Want to find out about other live theater performances in Annapolis, Baltimore, Washington D.C., and on Maryland’s Eastern Shore? Read the lastest issue of What’s Up? Annapolis or What’s Up? Eastern Shore www.whatsupmag.com