News & Announcements
Showing items 31 – 37 of 37.
Simone Ellin, associate editor, takes a look at our 100+ year long history:
“Keeping the lights on in a community theater is no easy feat. It takes talented actors, directors and designers willing to work for nothing or next to nothing; a cadre of dependable donors; a venue in which to stage performances; and, of course, theater-loving audiences to buy tickets and fill seats.
It’s something Vagabond Players has been doing for the past 103 years…”
The Vagabonds Players is pleased once again to be offering Baltimore area audiences the very best that Broadway has to offer in comedy, drama and musical entertainment.
Twelve Angry Jurors
September 6—29
Adapted by Sherman L. Sergel, based on the Emmy Award-winning television movie by Reginald Rose
Directed by Lindsey R. Barr
Tempers get short and arguments grow heated in this electrifying drama as a dozen men and women gather to determine whether an accused murderer will live or die.
“Twelve Angry Jurors is a taut, nuanced and gripping exploration of how the irrational prejudices of the human mind can threaten the integrity of the American “justice” system.” –DC Metro Theatre Arts
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
October 18—November 17
Music and Lyrics by William Finn, Book by Rachel Sheinkin, Conceived by Rebecca Feldman, with additional material by Jay Reiss
Directed by Eric C. Stein
This sharp and witty Tony Award winning musical once again proves that a trip to Vagabond Players is always spelled F–U–N!
“Great news! The American musical comedy is alive and well … The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a treat and a half.” –Theatremania.com
Brighton Beach Memoirs
January 10—February 9
By Neil Simon
Directed by Steve Goldklang
Broadway’s comic master, Neil Simon, takes us back to depression-era Brooklyn where his young alter-ego, Eugene Jerome, navigates puberty and family angst with hilarious finesse.
“… brings a fresh glow to Broadway … In many respects his funniest, richest and consequently the most affecting of his plays.” –N.Y. Daily News
Constellations
February 28—March 22
By Nick Payne
Directed by Mike Byrne
This haunting romantic journey begins with a simple encounter between a man and a woman – what happens next defies the boundaries of the world we think we know.
“Who knew that higher physics could be so sexy, so accessible – and so emotionally devastating? Nick Payne’s gorgeous two-character drama … may be the most sophisticated date play Broadway has seen.” –N.Y. Times
The Fantasticks
April 10—May 10
Music by Harvey Schmidt, Book and Lyrics by Tom Jones
Directed by Jimi Kinstle
There’s always time to remember this legendary musical about a boy, a girl, their two fathers and a love that transcends all boundaries and expectations.
“From “Try to Remember,” the show’s best-known tune, to “Soon It’s Gonna Rain” to the haunting “They Were You,” the songs are reminders of what make this little musical so hypnotic.” –Associated Press
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
May 29—June 28
By Ken Kesey, Dale Wasserman
Directed by Audra M. Mullen
Renegade criminal Randle P. McMurphy wages a titanic battle against his arch nemesis, Nurse Ratched, and the state-sanctioned tyrannies of the American psychiatric system in the not-so-distant 1960’s.
“The play is an emotional button-pusher, wringing tears and cheers with precision.” –Variety
Check out our first review of the season from April Forrer at MD Theatre Guide:
I went into this production knowing nothing about it. I knew it was based on William Shakespeare’s “Romeo & Juliet” and that this classic story is reimagined by Joe Calarco and it is set a modern Catholic Boys School but in an unspecified time. Vagabond’s production, directed by Jennifer M. Spieler, contains a cast of only 4 exceptional young men that, to me, is one of the main reasons that live theatre can be so beautiful and exhilarating because young people are invested in producing great theatre.
It is true that these young men need words to achieve this goal, and Calarco’s words do intertwine with Shakespeare’s well, but these actors opened themselves to a level of vulnerability that transcended the words on the page.
Make sure to read the full review here:
Theatre Review–R & J at Vagabond Players
Shakespeare’s R&J
September 7 – 30, 2018
Written by Joe Calarco
Directed by Jennifer M. Spieler
A rigid boys boarding school becomes the setting for a powerful and unorthdox reenactment of Shakespeare’s immortal tale of doomed lovers breaking tradition, seeking forbidden desires, and painfully coming of age. This high-voltage, all-male adaptation of Romeo and Juliet becomes a provocative examination of adolescents declaring war on all the “thou shalt nots” in their stifling world.
“Hot-blooded … wrenching … [it] pulsates with an adolescent abandon and electricity of which Romeo might approve.”
–The New York Times
Cabaret
October 19 – November 18, 2018
Book by Joe Masteroff, Music by John Kander, Lyrics by Fred Ebb
Directed by Eric C. Stein
“There was a cabaret, and there was a Master of Ceremonies, and there was a city called Berlin, in a country called Germany … and it was the end of the world.” This legendary Tony and Oscar winning musical, both sensuous and exhilarating, has roused audiences for the past 50 years with its unforgettable score and explosive depiction of a nation on the brink of self-destruction.
“One of the most remarkable and ground-breaking shows in the history of American musical theatre!”
–Variety
And Then There Were None
January 11 – February 10, 2019
Written by Agatha Christie
Directed by Eric C. Stein
Ten seeming strangers with suspicious pasts are brought together on a remote island that turns into a deathtrap where an unknown assassin executes them one by one. The Queen of Mystery (whose The Mousetrap thrilled Vagabond Players’ audiences five seasons ago) once again delivers a compelling puzzle with enough twists and turns to keep you gripped in your seat until the very, very end.
“A perfect combination of thriller and detective story … This is Christie’s greatest technical achievement.”
–The Guardian
Crimes of the Heart
March 1 – 24, 2019
Written by Beth Henley
Directed by Anne Hammontree
The McGrath sisters are all having a bad day: Meg is out of the loony bin, Lenny is celebrating her 30th birthday alone in the kitchen, and Babe has just shot her husband. In Beth Henley’s acclaimed Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy you’ll meet a memorable family of women who will rock you with laughter, even if you should be crying.
“All the pieces came together to create a funny and touching play about sisterhood, family, and the deep ties that bind.”
–MD Theatre Guide
Blithe Spirit (An Improbable Farce in Two Acts)
April 12 – May 12, 2019
Written by Noél Coward
Directed by Steve Goldklang
A mystery writer’s seemingly happy home life with his second wife is uproariously disrupted when his first wife is inadvertently summoned back from the spirit world during a disastrous séance. Coward’s sublimely entertaining, otherworldly comedy is a spook-tacular laugh-filled masterpiece.
“There’s a reason Blithe Spirit has endured: it’s almost a perfect comedy.”
–Minneapolis Star Tribune
To Be Announced!
May 31 – June 30, 2019
Stay tuned … we’re negotiating to obtain the production rights for a popular show (to be directed by Stephen M. Deininger) that you won’t want to miss!
Subscriptions and individual performance sales for our 103rd season will be available later this summer.
It is with great sorrow that Vagabond Players has learned of the passing of our President Emeritus, Ann Mainolfi. Ann was a much beloved member of our theatre and served as Board President from 2002 until her retirement in 2016. Her love of the theatre kept her involved with the entire Baltimore theatre community for decades. Ann’s many years of leadership and guidance, as well as her warmth and generosity, has made Vagabond Players the success that it is today. Although she will be missed, her energy and spirit will be with us always.
Marylee Barnes
President, Vagabond Players
The City has installed new, reserved parking spaces for handicapped drivers. Parking in them, however, is not free; meters must be fed by all parkers. Your handicapped license tag/placard no longer gets you free parking in Fell’s Point.
“Chuck” Bainder (1916-2014) was a long-time Vagabond who spent many years serving on the Board of Governors. He also was an actor and all-around friend of the Theatre, dating back to the 1950’s.
Bainder was a major force in Vagabonds Players move to Fell’s Point in the mid-1970’s, lending the Theatre money for lighting equipment for the new Vagabond Theatre.
The renovation of the auditorium was financed in large part by a generous financial legacy from Mr. Bainder.