Spotlighters Theatre – Baltimore Magazine

All The City’s a Stage

Jess Mayhugh — Wed, 06 Sep 2017 08:30:00 +0000

Curtain Classics

THE GLASS MENAGERIE
9/8–10/1: Vagabond Players, 806 S. Broadway. The work that propelled Tennessee Williams to fame and cemented his status as a premier playwright takes center stage in Fells.

THE CRADLE WILL ROCK
9/29–10/8: Iron Crow Theatre, 45 W. Preston St. In the reimagining of this 1937 musical (originally directed by Orson Welles), fiery class struggles ensue as townspeople challenge an affluent man’s exploitation of power.

TWO TRAINS RUNNING
9/8–10/8: Spotlighters Theatre, 817 St. Paul St. In this 1960s play, originally conceived by legendary playwright August Wilson, Memphis Lee’s coffee shop serves as a bastion of eclectic African-American characters.

Shakespeare Revisited

JULIUS CAESAR
9/29–10/29: Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, 7 S. Calvert St.
Corruption, deception, and murder are just some of the themes embedded in this Shakespearean classic.

I HATE HAMLET
9/8–10/1: Fells Point Corner Theatre, 251 S. Ann St.
A young television star, who bemoans the Bard’s title character, finds hilarious adventure when he’s offered the titular role.

New(ish) Acts

M. BUTTERFLY
9/6–10/8: Everyman Theatre, 315 W. Fayette St. The adage “love knows no bounds” is both tested and realized in this provocative play.

THE CHRISTIANS
9/7–10/8: Center Stage, 700 N. Calvert St. This new American play explores the ways differing values of the same faith can be as divisive as the ideals separating all religions.

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Encore, Encore

Jess Mayhugh — Wed, 31 Aug 2016 08:30:00 +0000

September means more than just buying school supplies and spending Sundays at Ravens games. It also marks the beginning of a new season of Baltimore theater, with everything from dark dramas to rock-and-roll musicals by Charm City’s many noteworthy companies.

9/2-10/2: THE ELEPHANT MAN
Fells Point Corner Theatre, 251 S. Ann St. 410-276-7837. Enjoy this witty, Tony Award-winning play inspired by a true story.

9/9-10/2: SMOKEY JOE’S CAFÉ
Arena Players, 801 McCulloh St. 410-728-6500. Hear the songs of legendary hit-makers Mike Stoller and Jerry Leiber—think “On Broadway,” and “Kansas City”—in Broadway’s longest-running revue.

9/16-10/9: OTHELLO
Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, 7 S. Calvert St. 410-244-8570. Follow themes of jealousy, pride, and revenge in the Bard’s classic tragedy.

9/7-10/9: WAIT UNTIL DARK
Everyman Theatre, 315 W. Fayette St. 410-752-2208. Watch this dark, gripping story unfold in the streets of New York City.

9/9-10/2: ALL MY SONS
Vagabond Players, 806 S. Broadway. 410-563-9135. Celebrate Vagabond Players’ 101st season with this Arthur drama about the all-American dream.

9/2-18: MARX IN SOHO
Spotlighters Theatre, 817 St. Paul St. 410-752-1225. Dive into this witty, insightful performance that chronicles the afterlife of Karl Marx.

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Wonder Women

Jess Mayhugh — Tue, 01 Mar 2016 09:55:41 +0000

With “women’s issues” at the forefront of the national debate, now is the perfect time to celebrate the accomplishments of fearless females throughout history. Whether learning about lives, commemorating contributions, or helping a cause, Baltimore has something for everyone this Women’s History Month.

MAR. 1-31 // B&O WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH
B&O Railroad Museum, 901 W. Pratt St. Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Free-$18. 410-752-2490. Learn about past and present women’s roles in the railroad industry.

MAR. 1-31 // MT. CLARE WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH
Mount Clare Museum House, 1500 Washington Blvd. Thurs.-Sat. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Free-$5. 410-837-3262. Examine the lives of women during the Colonial period in this 18th-century home.

MAR. 6 // QUEER QUEENS OF QOMEDY
Magooby’s Joke House, 9603 Deereco Rd., Timonium. 5 p.m. $25-40. 410-252-2727. Laugh along with this lesbian trio’s comedy show.

MAR. 7 // CELEBRATE GREAT WOMEN & GIRLS
Enoch Pratt Free Library, 6310 Reisterstown Rd. 4 p.m. Free. 410-396-0948. Bring your kids for an afternoon conversation about historical women and girls achievements.

MAR. 10- APR. 2 // WOMEN’S WORK: CHANGING THE SUBJECT
New Door Creative, 1601 St. Paul St. Tues.-Sat. 12-5 p.m. Free. 410-244-8244. Consider female artists as printmakers at this all-new, international exhibit in Station North.

MAR. 12 // QUILTER JOAN GAITHER
Reginald F. Lewis Museum, 830 E. Pratt St. 1 p.m. Free-$8. 443-263-1800. Hear this local artist discuss her documentary quilts, which tie together stories of our state’s history and communities.

MAR. 18-APR. 3 // LADY DAY AT EMERSON’S BAR & GRILL
Spotlighters Theatre, 817 St. Paul St. Times vary. $10-20. 410-752-1225. Explore one of the last performances of famed jazz singer Billie Holiday’s life, set in a bar in Philadelphia—just four months before her death.

MAR. 26 // PORTRAITS IN SONG
Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Ave. 8 p.m. $17-23. 410-276-1651. Hear local musician Ellen Cherry perform songs inspired by historical women, accompanied by artist Liz Downing’s portraits.

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Spotlighters Theatre Hopes to Relocate to Historic Read’s Drug Store Building

Lauren Cohen — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 17:23:00 +0000

For 54 years, audiences have packed into Spotlighters’ intimate theatre-in-the-round productions to experience everything from Shakespeare’s soliloquies to modern musical numbers.

Now, as The Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre nears the end of its lease at its longtime home in Mt. Vernon, its staff hopes to relocate to the historic Read’s Drug Store building on Howard Street—the site which saw one of the country’s first lunch counter sit-ins in 1955 and ultimately sparked the desegregation of multiple establishments across Baltimore during the Civil Rights era.

“Not only did Read’s not want any blacks at their lunch counter, but it was a whites-only drugstore, so the only way a black woman could even go in there was if she was a white lady’s maid,” says Fuzz Roark, Spotlighters executive managing and artistic director. “It was such a heroic event that was important in turning the tide across the Southeast.”

The former Read’s building is one of 16 vacant Westside properties that are being remodeled by the Baltimore Development Corporation (BDC). Spotlighters is currently working on a proposal that will be submitted to the BDC in mid-January, and, if all goes well, construction could begin as early as 2017.

Roark says that Spotlighters has exhausted every spare inch of space at its current 6,800-square-foot home on St. Paul Street, and that the expansion will provide a more comfortable audience environment as well as help to further the theatre’s education and community outreach programs.

Renovations of the 20,000-square-foot Read’s building will eventually yield a 22-by-24-ft. arena-style main stage accommodating an audience of 120 (Spotlighters’ current theatre only seats 65), a traditional proscenium-style stage to be used for rehearsals and community events, more accessible dressing rooms and backstage space for actors, and plenty of much-needed office and classroom areas for Spotlighters’ Young Actors Academy.

In addition, Roark says that commemorating the historical significance of the Read’s sit-in will be a top-priority during the remodel. Specifically, plans call for a mezzanine level café off of the lobby, which will showcase a replica of the lunch counter and museum-like photo exhibitions revealing detailed information about each of the Morgan State University students who participated.

Although the Read’s building provides much more room to breathe, Roark is confident that Spotlighters will maintain its reputation of connecting the actors with the audience on an intimate level.

“I’m sad that we’re going to have to leave our little theatre with nine-foot ceilings. It’s the stage where [founder] Audrey Herman herself directed and appeared for 40 years,” Roark says. “But we’re going to take her history and her legacy with us. She was all about audiences and actors sharing each moment. For her, theatre wasn’t just something you went and sat and looked at, it provoked you and had an effect on your life.”

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