It seems fitting that I would attend Just Off Broadway's thrilling performance of JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR on the 41st anniversary of the classic Andrew Lloyd Webber show. Their production was the perfect way to celebrate the beauty and importance of the piece. You could say that I was predisposed to love it since it is my all-time favorite show, but I don't think it's that. JOB's pared down production perfectly captures the story and allows this fantastic cast to shine.

A musical comedy starring a very funny leading lady winning her prince simply by being herself, is the perfect anecdote for these stressful times. That's why it's perfectly fitting that Artistic Synergy of Baltimore (ASoB) chose to present ONCE UPON A MATTRESS as the opening show to their 2018-2019 season. ASoB's production, which opened October 5 is a fun and funny musical romp back to medieval England. Prince Dauntless needs a wife, yet his overbearing mother only wants the perfect girl for her perfect son. Cue Winnifred, princess of the swamps. She's loud, brash and fun. In other words, a terrible match for Dauntless, who falls quickly head over heels in love with her. Chaos and comedy ensue.

Everyman Theatre traveled to Ireland for their first show of the 2018-2019 season, producing the Brian Friel work DANCING AT LUGHNASA. The piece revolves around a family living in 1930s Ireland, and the memories of one little boy and one particular summer. The cast, which included many members of the repertory company of Everyman and a few new additions are top-notch. They presented a work that was both beautiful and heartbreaking.

The word legend is tossed around a lot when talking about pop singers. Many times the term is not warranted, but in the case of pop diva superstar Diana Ross the word legend is an understatement.

Fats Domino once sang, 'I found my thrill, on Blueberry Hill.' He might have been channeling little Sal, the central character in Robert McCloskey's 1948 picture book, Blueberries for Sal. The book which in its almost 70 year existence, has been cited in many best of lists and was an award a Caldecott Honor in 1949. And finally, Adventure Theatre MTC has turned it into a delightful stage adaptation which is now playing through October 21, 2018 at Glen Echo Park.

The 2018-2019 season at Everyman Theatre starts this month with the Irish play "Dancing at Lughnasa." The play written by Brian Friel is set in a small village in Ireland in the 1930s. The story is one of five unmarried sisters and is filled with memories of days gone by. Just before this Tony-award winning play opened on September 4, I had the chance to chat with two of the show's stars. Labhaiose Magee is making her Everyman debut in the role of Rose, while Tim Getman, a member of the Everyman company plays Michael.

Unexpected Stage Company's Be a Good Little Widow is a tear-jerking and heartbreaking to watch, but there are moments of humor brings a bit of relief from the intensity.

For all the bad in this country right now, there are still things that bring us happiness and joy. The musical You're a Good Man Charlie Brown is a prime example of how innocent children and their pets can make you remember that not everything is bad in the world. How many times have we thought that Snoopy would catch the Red Baron or that Charlie Brown would win that baseball game? Yes, You're a Good Man Charlie Brown is the type of show we need to see right now to give us something to root for in this country.

Tony Award-nominated actress Eva Noblezada has had a kind of meteoric rise to stardom over the last few years. She was discovered at age seventeen by a New York casting agent at the Jimmy Awards and won the role of Kim on the West End in the Cameron Mackintosh revival of Miss Saigon. She went on to reprise the role on Broadway and received a Tony Award nomination for her performance.

Adventure Theatre MTC (ATMTC), recipient of 8 Helen Hayes awards, including its most recent win for Outstanding Original Play or Musical Adaptation, 2018, brings to the stage familiar friends, new and old, as they learn to navigate the world in its action-packed 67th season. A season of classic and beloved stories featuring the wonderful imaginations of children, this season promises to be one of Adventure Theatre MTC's biggest adventures yet.

A musical like Priscilla is a big endeavor for any theatre company to take on due to its well-known songs and extravagant costumes. Kensington Arts Theatre's (KAT) production, directed by John Nunemaker, fell short of reaching diva status due to its poor production quality. Despite all of this, KAT manages to pull off an entertaining second half.

Adventure Theatre's visionary Artistic Director Michael J. Bobbitt has, for many years, pushed the boundaries of Theater for Young Audiences (TYA).  For example, out of its location at Glen Echo Park, Adventure Theatre has created original productions of the popular comic strip Garfield, Big the Musical and a two character The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. Those are only a few examples of the company's vast repertoire.

The tale of Robin Hood has provided source material for several famous screen adaptations over the years, including the classic Hollywood film with Errol Flynn and the Disney animated feature that portrayed all the characters as animals. With the exception of Young Robin Hood at Round House Theatre a few years back, there really hasn't been a good stage treatment for the guy who steals from the rich to give to the poor...until now.

OKLAHOMA! was not a show that I new much about before seeing it performed this week by the lovely cast and crew of Artistic Synergy of Baltimore. It's one of those classic 40s musicals that doesn't get revived much these days, but a classic becomes a classic for a reason. And while the show itself wasn't my idea of a great musical, the performances of this cast made me smile and dance along in my seat, which is always an indicator of a delightful evening.

Last season on Broadway there was a play called Time and the Conways presented at Roundabout Theatre Company. The play hadn't been seen on Broadway since 1937 and after seeing it I understood why. That said, the production had a great look and a very good cast so you could forget about the stodginess of the script. Bethesda, Maryland-based Quotidian Theatre Company's current production of Hobson's Choice bears a resemblance to Time and the Conways because you don't ever see it performed. Unfortunately, the production values – a result of a limited budget – and some questionable casting can't hide all the warts of Harold Brighouse's over 100-year-old script.

We all have bad days; it's inevitable. Something happens to us every once in a while that turns our day from good to bad. However, nothing can top the day that twelve-year-old Alexander has in Adventure Theatre's latest offering, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

While the script is not the most engaging, the acting work is exceptionally strong.

Imagination Stage's The Princess & the Pauper, written by Anu Yadav and directed by Janet Stanford, successfully captures the ambience and energy of Bollywood in a show which is excellent for both kids and adults alike.

Theatre has always been a lens through which to view the current world. Productions such as RENT, illuminated issues like the AIDS crisis in ways that hadn't been seen before on a stage. Audiences confronted these issues in a very real way, and one would hope that they learned and grew from the experience. We're in another turning point in time right now, in the midst of the #MeToo and Time's Up movements. Women are standing up and resisting in droves. It's a powerful statement on the endurance and the drive of women. So it seems only fitting, that for the third year, Everyman Theatre is producing a SALON SERIES of readings of plays written by women, and directed by women, allowing the women of the company to "stretch that directing muscle" and take a step outside of their comfort zone.

It's not often you have the chance to preview a show that's shrouded in such mystery, that even the cast doesn't know the full story. But that's exactly what happened in the case of WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT. This solo play written by Nassim Soleimanpour, follows a simple, yet possibly terrifying formula. A different actor is scheduled to perform each evening. That actor is finally given the script the moment the curtain rises. They have no idea of the plot or the story until they're standing in front of an audience. Fittingly, most of the audience isn't sure what the show is about either.

Ebenezer Scrooge is a distinctive character in literature; one of those characters every great actor wants to tackle. He's a redeemable grump, whom you hate but by the end of the story you kind of love. I suppose that's why Leslie Bricusse chose to write SCROOGE, a musical version of this wonderful character's memorable Christmas Eve. What's a better way to expand on this curmudgeon than with song? And even though I call myself, a huge fan of musicals, I was not aware that this Holiday-themed musical romp existed, until Artistic Synergy of Baltimore decided to bring it to life.

Under Ryan Rilette's excellent direction, a uniformly marvelous cast gives one of the best ensemble performances I've seen this season of a very strong play.

E. B. White's Charlotte's Web has been adapted in many ways. There was an animated movie musical back in the 70s, a live action film a few years back, and a stage adaptation that Theatreworks USA toured around the country for years. Imagination Stage in Bethesda is currently presenting the latter as its holiday attraction. The creative team takes a very heavy-handed approach to material that isn't that light to begin with, unfortunately.

Gene Autry's famous song, Frosty The Snowman (written by Jack Rolling and Steve Nelson) first the radio in December of 1950 and since then there have been many incarnations of Frosty: from famous recordings like The Chipmunks or The Jackson 5 to the beloved 1969 animated special, which airs on TV every year. A new version of this holiday classic written by William Francis is currently playing at Adventure Theatre MTC in Glen Echo Park.

Dickens' A CHRISTMAS CAROL has been a considered a classic almost since the time when it was written. The story of Scrooge's haunted Christmas Eve is composed of everything that makes a story grand supernatural visions, likeable characters, heart and redemption. It's the perfect tale to read during the holidays, as well as throughout the year. So it only makes sense that Sally Boyett and Donald Hicken at Annapolis Shakespeare Company (ASC) decided to adapt a version of this classic during the Christmas season.