All stories by Dr. Mark Dreisonstok on BroadwayStars

Monday, September 11, 2023

Theater Review: ‘Lights Out’ by the Gotham Radio Players at the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention by Dr. Mark Dreisonstok

  The Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention at first presents a panoply of opportunity for the connoisseur of yesteryear—symposiums (histories of Wonder Woman and Captain Midnight); vintage f…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 09:14PM
Friday, September 1, 2023

Theatre Review: ‘Guys and Dolls’ at Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre by Dr. Mark Dreisonstok

“Guys and Dolls” is a popular musical based on several stories by Damon Runyan, a writer enormously popular in the first half of the twentieth century for his comic tales of gangsters, g…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 09:40AM
Wednesday, August 30, 2023

Concert Review: ‘Summer Sings 2!’ by Bel Cantanti Opera by Dr. Mark Dreisonstok

Bel Cantanti Opera was very active producing operas last season and is preparing an ambitious new season as well. Even in the summer, it seems the Montgomery County-based opera company does …

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 05:05PM
Sunday, August 13, 2023

Theatre Review: ’42nd Street’ at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts by Dr. Mark Dreisonstok

In the Hollywood-musical-turned-Broadway show ”42nd Street,” Peggy Sawyer, a young girl from Allentown, PA, dreams of being in a New York Broadway show in the theatre district of 42nd St…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 06:50PM
Tuesday, June 13, 2023

Opera Review: ‘H.M.S. Pinafore’ presented by the Victorian Lyric Opera Company at the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre by Dr. Mark Dreisonstok

  Victorian Lyric Opera Company (VLOC) is famous for producing a full spectrum of comic operas, some of them little performed and less widely known. Such is not the case with the “H.M.S. …

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 10:56PM

Concert Review: The RVA Big Band Weekend with the Royal Virginians and the Sound of Swing by Dr. Mark Dreisonstok

During the 1930s and 1940s, there were the famous Battles of the Bands. In these jazz performances, two swing bands would set up in the same ballroom and play rotating sets. Such a battle of…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 04:04PM
Saturday, June 3, 2023

Theatre Review: ‘Elvis: A Musical Revolution’ at Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre by Dr. Mark Dreisonstok

  “Elvis: A Musical Revolution” takes its audience on a nostalgic road trip (we like to imagine in a pink Cadillac) back to the 1950s. Staged at Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre in Lancaster,…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 06:52PM
Tuesday, April 25, 2023

Theatre Review: ‘Anything Goes’ at Catholic University of America by Dr. Mark Dreisonstok

The academic year is winding down at area universities, but before the summer break begins, Catholic University of America presented their production of the famed Cole Porter musical comedy,…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 02:24PM
Sunday, April 16, 2023

Theatre Review: ‘Ragtime’ at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts by Dr. Mark Dreisonstok

  Riverside Center for the Performing Arts in Fredericksburg, VA is celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary. It is including some very special shows this year, including the current produc…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 11:04PM
Friday, March 31, 2023

Opera Review: Handel’s ‘Serse’ presented by Catholic University of America’s Rome School of Music, Drama, and Art by Dr. Mark Dreisonstok

  Last weekend, Catholic University of America’s Rome School of Music, Drama, and Art produced a Baroque opera, Handel’s “Serse,” in a way which made it highly accessible to a moder…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 07:57PM
Tuesday, March 14, 2023

Theatre Review: ‘Sleeping Beauty” at The Puppet Co. at Glen Echo Park by Dr. Mark Dreisonstok

“The King’s daughter shall in her fifteenth year prick herself with a spindle and fall down dead.” Thus reads a frightening line in the Brothers Grimm fairy tale of “Little Briar Ros…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 02:36PM

Theatre Review, On the Road: ‘Sister Act’ at Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre by Dr. Mark Dreisonstok

Fans of “Sister Act” will be delighted to know that Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre has brought the musical version of the film to stage in Lancaster, PA. It is based on the 1992 film of the …

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 12:59PM
Wednesday, March 1, 2023

Operetta Review: Sigmund Romberg’s ‘The New Moon’ by Victorian Lyric Opera Company at the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre by Dr. Mark Dreisonstok

It is in Louisiana, just prior to the French Revolution, where we meet the nobleman Robert Mission who is himself on a “mission” to start a new life and a new society of a quality, frate…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 09:36PM
Tuesday, February 7, 2023

Opera Review:  Mozart’s ‘The Abduction from the Seraglio’ by Bel Cantanti Opera by Dr. Mark Dreisonstok

“It is a far greater pleasure to repay injustices suffered by good deeds than to compensate evil by more evil.” Thus speaks the voice of Enlightenment reason in Mozart’s “The Abducti…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 09:07PM
Tuesday, January 31, 2023

Concert Review: Joe Enroughty and His Royal Virginians at the Henrico Theatre in Highland Springs, VA by Dr. Mark Dreisonstok

“New Year’s Eve with Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians” was a long-standing hotel, radio, and television tradition for large swaths of the American public for some fifty years. The …

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 09:57PM
Friday, January 27, 2023

Theatre Review: ‘Peter and the Wolf’ at the Puppet Co. in Glen Echo Park by Dr. Mark Dreisonstok

The story of “Peter and the Wolf ”—Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev’s program music fairy tale introducing instruments of the orchestra for children—is told effectively by the Pup…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 04:07PM
Saturday, January 14, 2023

Audio Review: ‘The Gift of the Magi’ and ‘Three Christmas Trees’ at the Mutual Audio Network by Dr. Mark Dreisonstok

“Post Christmas” is how the Mutual Audio Network describes its January offering of a dramatized version of O. Henry’s classic Christmas tale, “The Gift of the Magi.” This story is …

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 08:24PM
Wednesday, January 4, 2023

Audio Review: ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas’ presented by Sole Twin Audios by Dr. Mark Dreisonstok

This holiday season we were presented with a unique take on “A Visit from St. Nicholas.” The classic Christmas poem by Clement C. Moore is the new audio drama by Sole Twin Audios called,…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 06:44PM
Saturday, December 31, 2022

Concert Review: The Olney Big Band at The Washington D.C. Temple Festival of Lights by Dr. Mark Dreisonstok

The Olney Big Band is a Maryland jazz orchestra which plays in many venues in the Maryland suburbs around Washington, D.C. We had an opportunity to see them on the lawn of the Potomac campus…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 11:43AM
Thursday, December 29, 2022

Concert Review: ‘A Stan Kenton Christmas’ by Capitol Bones All-Brass Big Band at The Carlyle Room by Dr. Mark Dreisonstok

The Capitol Bones All-Brass Big Band has presented “A Stan Kenton Christmas” for over 15 years at various venues in Washington, D.C. A few days before Christmas 2022, they performed thei…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 11:10AM
Friday, December 16, 2022

Theatre Review: ‘The Nutcracker’ by The Puppet Co. at Glen Echo Park by Dr. Mark Dreisonstok

“Call to mind the table covered with your last Christmas gifts […] You will then be able to imagine the astonishment of the children, as they stood with sparkling eyes, unable to utter a…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 11:02AM
Thursday, December 8, 2022

Theatre Review: ‘Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins’ by the Puppet Co. at Glen Echo Park by Dr. Mark Dreisonstok

Hershel of “Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins.” Photo by  Elizabeth Dapo. “Hershel just wants to celebrate Hanukkah with the community,” states the Puppet Co.’s description of “H…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 11:52AM
Thursday, November 3, 2022

Opera Review: Richard Strauss’ ‘Elektra’ presented by the Washington National Opera at Kennedy Center by Dr. Mark Dreisonstok

  “It is so terrifying that my soul wants to be extinguished.” So sings Klytämnestra on stage. The same might be said of Richard Strauss’ ability to bring the “pity and fear” (ca…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 11:39PM
Friday, October 7, 2022

Theatre Review: ‘Witch Wartsmith’s Halloween Spooktacular’ at the Puppet Co., Glen Echo Park by Dr. Mark Dreisonstok

  “Witch Wartsmith’s Halloween Spooktacular”at The Puppet Co. is a fun, delightfully eerie Halloween event being presented the entire month of October. It can be best described as an …

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 09:26AM
Wednesday, October 5, 2022

News: The 2022 Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention in Hunt Valley, MD by Dr. Mark Dreisonstok

When Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention organizer and cultural historian, Martin Grams, invited me to this year’s convention that was held September 15-17, 2022 in Hunt Valley, MD, he told …

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 08:39PM
Monday, August 29, 2022

Theatre Review: ‘Chicago’ at Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre by Dr. Mark Dreisonstok

Travelers to Pennsylvania Dutch Country will find an entertaining, top-notch production of the musical “Chicago” at the Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre in Lancaster, PA. In this highly popula…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 05:21PM
Thursday, August 11, 2022

Theatre Review: ‘Spamalot’ at Toby’s Dinner Theatre by Dr. Mark Dreisonstok

  “You don’t need to know about Monty Python to enjoy the show,” director and choreographer Mark Minnick tells us. “Monty Python’s Spamalot’ is fun on its own.” This is likely…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 12:32PM

Theatre Review: ‘The Drowsy Chaperone’ at Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre by Dr. Mark Dreisonstok

Directed by Jason Vellon, “The Drowsy Chaperone” is a stunning outdoor production at Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre. It is both a satire and a celebration of 1920s musicals. Part of the…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 12:21PM
Wednesday, August 3, 2022

Theatre Review: ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner’ at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts by Dr. Mark Dreisonstok

Many dinner theatres run primarily on popular musicals. Patrick A’Hearn, producing artistic director of Riverside Center for the Performing Arts in Fredericksburg, Virginia, challenges thi…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 06:31PM
Sunday, July 31, 2022

Audio Review: ‘Short Order’ and ‘2462’ from Sole Twin Audios by Dr. Mark Dreisonstok

Many of us travel to vacation destinations during the summer months. Audio plays are a wonderful way to pass the time, and two excellent, full-cast audio dramas from Sole Twin Audios fit the…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 11:58PM
Monday, July 25, 2022

Theatre Review: ‘Cinderella’ at the Puppet Co. in Glen Echo Park by Dr. Mark Dreisonstok

  One day a prince was out disguised as a hunter. He found himself hungry and knocked on the door of a home in which a girl, who appeared to be a household servant covered in dust, kindly s…

SOURCE: mdtheatreguide.com at 03:46PM