All stories by Tim Smith on BroadwayStars

Saturday, May 28, 2016

BSO brings back 'Hairspray' -- and John Waters by Tim Smith

Edna Turnblad will be arnin' some more clothes and her likewise well-fed daughter, Tracy, will be trying out again for a spot on a TV dance show when the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra brings …

SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun Subscription at 02:24PM
Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Everyman Theatre invites public to observe 'Streetcar'-'Salesman' set changeover by Tim Smith

It was ambitious enough of Everyman Theatre to tackle two classics of the American stage, "Death of a Salesman" and "A Streetcar Named Desire," rotating in repertory. But the company upped t…

SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun Subscription at 08:02PM
Saturday, May 21, 2016

Rep Stage 2016-2017 lineup includes musical premiere by Tim Smith

How do you follow up a remarkable season devoted solely to works by female playwrights? Well, you could try one that includes the world premiere of a musical about a female impersonator and …

SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun Subscription at 03:45PM
Monday, May 16, 2016

Opera review: Vivid voices propel 'Romeo et Juliette' at the Lyric by Tim Smith

If you've been hesitant to give Lyric Opera Baltimore any attention (and from the empty seats Friday night, I'd say that means a whole lot of you), the company's season-ending presentation o…

SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun Subscription at 10:36AM
Thursday, May 12, 2016

'Beauty and the Beast' returns to the Hippodrome, more or less effectively by Tim Smith

Being mocked for one's looks or unconventional point of view; stirring up crowds against a perceived threat to society — sounds like just another day in contemporary politics. But such edg…

SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun Subscription at 01:17PM
Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Lyric Opera will salute Shakespeare milestone in French with 'Romeo et Juliette' by Tim Smith

When it comes to tragedy, it's still hard to beat the one about "a pair of star-crossed lovers" named Romeo and Juliet, who defy their feuding families and are denied happiness by a dreadful…

SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun Subscription at 08:16PM

National tour of 'Hamilton' coming to Kennedy Center in D.C. by Tim Smith

Are you among the zillions of people trying desperately to get tickets to "Hamilton" in New York? Now you can be among zillions more who will no doubt be trying to get tickets when the natio…

SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun Subscription at 08:16PM
Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Wagner fans eager for Washington National Opera's first-ever 'Ring' Cycle by Tim Smith

From the astounding prelude -- 136 measures of orchestral music swirling through an E-flat major chord evoking the river Rhine-- to the profound close, when that river overflows and Valhalla…

SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun Subscription at 10:38PM
Friday, April 22, 2016

Incisive cast, problematic direction for 'Streetcar' by Tim Smith

Few guests arrive with as much baggage as Blanche DuBois when she alights from a New Orleans streetcar named Desire, transfers to another called Cemeteries and rides six blocks to reach an a…

SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun Subscription at 08:58PM
Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Postcard from New York weekend with the BSO, the Philharmonic and the Met by Tim Smith

There is never a shortage of reasons to head off to New York, but last weekend's musical activities there proved particularly enticing. I always like to see the hometown team play Carnegie H…

SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun Subscription at 08:54PM
Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Center Stage gives 'Detroit '67' sterling production by Tim Smith

As Baltimore marks the first anniversary of the Freddie Gray riots, Center Stage presents a rewarding opportunity for people to examine the familiar issues — race, justice, family, poverty…

SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun Subscription at 08:35PM

Delving 'All the Way' into LBJ's civil rights legacy at Arena Stage by Tim Smith

The weighty chapter of American history that stretches from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy to the struggles by his successor to push civil rights legislation through a recalc…

SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun Subscription at 08:35PM
Saturday, April 16, 2016

Maryland salutes Shakespeare, 400 years after his death by Tim Smith

It has been 400 years since William Shakespeare "shuffled off this mortal coil" ("Hamlet"). We don't know if he had "immortal longings" ("Antony and Cleopatra") as he departed, but the world…

SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun Subscription at 02:20PM
Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Chesapeake Shakespeare's 15th season will include company's first musical by Tim Smith

To mark its 15th season, Chesapeake Shakespeare Company will stage its namesake's "Othello" for the first time, and add some musical theater for the first time with a production of "The Fant…

SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun Subscription at 08:32PM

Wild time traveling with Harriet Tubman at Strand Theater Company by Tim Smith

A plantation owner with the pop-culture-reference-loaded name Orry Main Scarlet looks out over his domain: "It's a beautiful day," he says, with great warmth of feeling. "A beautiful day to …

SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun Subscription at 03:21PM
Friday, April 1, 2016

'The Illusionists' conjures up modest amount of magic by Tim Smith

If your idea of a great Broadway show includes Las Vegas and cruise ship revues, "The Illusionists" should provide abundant satisfaction during its run at the Hippodrome Theatre. For some of…

SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun Subscription at 09:37AM
Tuesday, March 22, 2016

'Marjorie Prime' at Olney Theatre Center conjures future with hologram helpers by Tim Smith

At 85, Marjorie sometimes forgets to eat, or just doesn't bother — especially since even taking a spoonful of peanut butter means having to confront the type with "the oil slick at the top…

SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun Subscription at 10:38PM
Thursday, March 17, 2016

Chesapeake Shakespeare revives 'Wild Oats' in style by Tim Smith

In 1791, the year we ratified our Bill of Rights and Louis XVI tired to escape revolution-rattled France and Mozart died in Vienna, a sprawling comedy titled "Wild Oats" premiered in London.…

SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun Subscription at 11:35PM
Sunday, March 13, 2016

Sara Jobin will become first woman to conduct an opera at Baltimore's Lyric Opera House by Tim Smith

The Lyric Opera House has been galvanized by the voices of some extraordinary women during its 122-year history, starting with Nellie Melba on opening night and going on to include such lumi…

SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun Subscription at 07:19PM

'Motown the Musical' rolls into Baltimore by Tim Smith

The message was loud, clear and irresistible: "Calling out around the world: Are you ready for a brand-new beat?" That opening line from the Martha and the Vandellas 1964 single "Dancing in …

SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun Subscription at 07:19PM

'The Normal Heart' receives telling revival from Vagabond Players by Tim Smith

The more distance we get from the appalling early days of the AIDS crisis, you might think that "The Normal Heart," Larry Kramer's tense play about that time and its seemingly unstoppable to…

SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun Subscription at 07:19PM

'Motown the Musical' delivers the hits at the Hippodrome by Tim Smith

"Motown the Musical," a hearty, hefty celebration of Berry Gordy and the downright revolutionary record label he built from scratch, reached Baltimore this week. From the sound of things ope…

SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun Subscription at 07:19PM

Kennedy Center's 2016-17 season will mark JFK centennial, introduce hip-hop artistic director by Tim Smith

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will honor the 100th anniversary of its namesake's birth during the 2016–2017 season, which will also see the arrival of three new "artis…

SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun Subscription at 07:19PM

Shades of Kurt Cobain haunt Cohesion Theatre Company's gender-blind 'Hamlet' by Tim Smith

The brooding Danish prince looks like Kurt Cobain, reads "Trainspotting" and clearly has issues in Cohesion Theatre Company's staging of Shakespeare's "Hamlet." That this grunge-evoking char…

SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun Subscription at 06:10PM
Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Signature Theatre delivers welcome revival of Sondheim's 'Road Show' by Tim Smith

It really isn't a spoiler to quote the last line of Stephen Sondheim's "Road Show," which is enjoying a rare and welcome revival at Signature Theatre: "Sooner or later we're bound to get it …

SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun Subscription at 09:46PM

Rep Stage offers visually striking journey through Antigone myth by Tim Smith

The ancient Greeks had an enviable knack for understanding human nature and, especially, human misjudgments, the kind that can set off wave after wave of tragedy. A multilayered case in poin…

SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun Subscription at 07:42PM
Friday, February 19, 2016

'Hick' at Theatre Project tells the love story of Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok by Tim Smith

On March 4, 1933, the day Franklin Delano Roosevelt took his first oath of office as president, his wife Eleanor wore a ring she had recently been given by journalist Lorena Hickok. A couple…

SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun Subscription at 10:02PM
Thursday, February 11, 2016

Peabody Chamber Opera ready to ride 'Ghost Train' at B&O Railroad Museum by Tim Smith

Now arriving at the B&O Railroad Museum: "Ghost Train," an opera about a mysterious, dangerous vision that rides the rails. British-born American composer Paul Crabtree intended this work to…

SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun Subscription at 12:37AM
Tuesday, February 2, 2016

BSO president Paul Meecham heading to Utah Symphony/Opera by Tim Smith

Paul Meecham, who became president and CEO of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra a decade ago after a period of high deficits and rocky morale, and quickly corrected its course, is stepping do…

SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun Subscription at 09:10PM
Friday, January 29, 2016

A diverting all-female production of 'As You Like It' by Tim Smith

No wonder all the cool people are in Arden, the forest at the heart of Shakespeare's "As You Like It." That's where you're free to be who you are and where you can find a helping hand, maybe…

SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun Subscription at 10:39PM
Wednesday, January 27, 2016

An effective play at Everyman that can get 'Under the Skin' by Tim Smith

Raina, the 30-ish single mother at the heart of Michael Hollinger's intriguing play "Under the Skin" receiving its Baltimore premiere at Everyman Theatre, finds herself struggling with an un…

SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun Subscription at 10:34PM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes Theatre
Jul 11, 2024: Oh, Mary! - Lyceum Theatre
Jul 30, 2024: Job - Hayes Theater
Sep 12, 2024: The Roommate - Booth Theatre
Nov 14, 2024: Tammy Faye - Palace Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 17, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre
TBA: Titanic
TBA: Ragtime