All of Baltimore's a Stage

Actor Laurence Olivier once said that in a great city, a great theater is the "outward and visible sign of culture."

That's good news for stage hams and audiences who credit Baltimore for having several great theaters. Most people are familiar with the Broadway musicals performed in the 2,200-seat opulent Hippodrome Theatre. But you can see some of the same performances at the 13-by-15-foot stage at the 70-seat Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre.

Baltimore can lay claim to a quirky assortment of small theater companies. Spotlighters Theatre and Vagabond Players are among the long-established community theaters in Baltimore, but the city's eclectic theater landscape includes an ever-growing number of avant-garde young companies like Single Carrot Theatre.

The founders of Single Carrot chose Baltimore for its home in 2007 because of its thriving arts scene, including theater, music and galleries, Managing Director Elliott Rauh says.

It also found a welcoming theater community.

“We received the message along the lines of ‘yes, bring your energy and bring your art,’” Rauh says.

And here’s an inside look at some of that art.

Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre
Mount Vernon
Upcoming shows: "The Fantasticks," "Ain't Misbehavin'," “Hello Dolly.”

Founded by the late Audrey Herman in 1962, Spotlighters is preparing to mark its 50th anniversary as an in-the-round theater tucked into the basement of an apartment building in Mount Vernon.

It recently renovated its backstage dressing rooms and just constructed a new box office and concessions' area within its lobby. It has also embarked on the planning for a $127,000 capital project that will create larger, handicap-accessible restrooms, wheelchair seating in the theater and a wheelchair elevator at the theater's entrance on St. Paul Street.

"Audrey had a vivacious personality and a sense that the show must go on," observes Spotlighters' executive director Fuzz Roark. Indeed, the show often went on with Audrey Herman in the starring role, including her signature performance in "Hello Dolly."

Herman was known for her generosity to novice performers and staging new productions year-round almost every month.

Vagabond Players Baltimore
Fells Point
Upcoming productions: Joseph Kesselring's "Arsenic and Old Lace," Neil Simon's "California Suite," Peter Morgan's "Frost/Nixon."

If Spotlighters is justifiably proud of reaching age 50, it's a mere youngster next to Vagabond Players, which was founded in 1916.

Shirley Bell, the longtime local theater publicist who serves as the official historian for Vagabond, claims it’s the oldest theater in continuous operation in the country.

This theater performed plays by the likes of H.L. Mencken and Zelda Fitzgerald in its early years and today hosts both classic and contemporary productions. After eight previous homes in downtown Baltimore, it settled into its current home in Fells Point in 1974.

Bell cites its stability and seriousness of purpose as reasons why so many actors, directors and audience members have been coming to this community theater for years.

Single Carrot Theatre
Station North Arts and Entertainment District
Upcoming shows: Joshua Conkel's "Milk Milk Lemonade," Charles Mee's "Hotel Cassiopeia.”

You don’t come to this theater to see a Neil Simon play.

Founded by recent graduates of the University of Colorado in Boulder, the ensemble-oriented Single Carrot considered 50 cities before choosing Baltimore.

And it doesn't regret the move. It started as an all-volunteer organization with a $4,000 annual budget and today has five salaried members and a $250,000 budget. To accommodate its growth, the theater company is looking for larger space.

"The ensemble is at the core of all our decisions," explains artistic director Nathan Cooper, who, like the other company members, shares in both acting and administrative roles on every production. "We are developing deep and meaningful relationships with each other that can extend into the work we do."

Located in the Station North Arts and Entertainment District, Single Carrot epitomizes the neighborhood’s experimental spirit.

"We're extremely proud of Station North and what it has become and is going to be," Cooper says.


Strand Theater Co.
Station North Arts and Entertainment District
Upcoming shows: Alison Luterman's"Glitter and Spew," Sheila Callaghan's "That Pretty Pretty; or, The Rape Play," Jacqueline E. Lawton's "Blood-bound and Tongue-tied.

A storefront that formerly housed a fortune teller is now into its fourth season as the home of the Strand Theater. This company is devoted to producing work by female playwrights.

"I don't think women's voices have been heard enough in theater," says Strand Artistic Director Jayme Kilburn. "I think it's really important to do new work and give those opportunities to playwrights. I also like to work with plays that have not been done before."


The Theatre Project
Mount Vernon
Upcoming shows: “Brooklyn: The Musical,” “Generous Company’s Gumbo,” and “Feet First in the Water With a Baby in My Teeth.”

Across from the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Theatre Project has become a cultural anchor in its own right. Founded 40 year ago, the Theatre Project’s current season serves as a stage for recently formed independent arts troupes like Iron Crow Theatre Co., Chesapeake Chamber Opera, Generous Company, Factory Edge Theatre Works and DNA (Daydreams and Nightmares Aerial Theatre.)

"It's certainly helping these companies keep going by giving them a reliable venue that lets people know where to look for their work," says Theatre Project Producing Director Anne Cantler Fulwiler. "Our job is to be there for the creative companies that need a space to do their work. We really want to be their home."

Michael Giuliano is an arts journalist in Baltimore and an assistant professor of film at Howard Community College in  Columbia. He reviews movies and theater for Patuxent Publishing.

Photos By Arianne Teeple
-- Jayme Kilburn, the Strand Theatre
-- Pictures of previous shows done at the Strand Theatre
-- The Strand Theatre
-- Fuzz Roark runs the Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre
-- Previous shows at the Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre
-- The Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre