For those who mistakenly thought spooky stories and gore were only for Halloween season, The National Edgar Allan Poe Theatre is here to correct the record. With a summer of radio dramas, mind-reading, and cabaret, the season offers a steady diet of mysterious fun.
On Thursday, July 10, Poe Theatre joins forces with Landless Theater for a performance at the Ottobar combining the cheerily gory songs of Tom Lehrer (he is still alive, and 97 years old!) and the not-too-bad mindreading act from Alexander the Pretty Good! “Tom Lehrer Is Alive and Well and Has Given Away All Rights to His Music,” created and performed by Andrew Lloyd Baughman, sold out every performance at the 2024 Capital Fringe Festival. It’s a dark satirical review of Lehrer’s music (is there any other way to perform his songs?) and Baughman is taking it on the road for the Summer 2025 Economic Blackout Tour.
Here’s a twist to an already twisted Lehrer repertoire: each city on the Economic Blackout Tour will feature local guest stars, invited to perform a Tom Lehrer song live on stage. Singers of all backgrounds and genres are invited to audition, and the link to register to audition is here. Can you dance to the “Masochism Tango?” Are you a fan of “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park?” Now’s your chance, friend. Hold your friend’s hand in yours and take the leap.
Alexander the Pretty Good! is the special guest, and he really is a decent mind reader — one of the top 1,000 mind readers in all of Charm City, according to literature he put together himself.
Tickets for the July 10 performance are $21.02 and available at this link. Doors open at 6 p.m. for this 21-and-over show at the Ottobar.
On Sunday, July 20 at 5 p.m. at Guilford Hall Brewery, Alexander the Pretty Good! is the main event. In “Magic of Words,” Alexander manages expectations and presents barely explainable phenomena in his mentalism show. An Edgar Allan Poe-themed evening of fun, mystery, and education all rolled into one, “It’s like a whole big thing,” the press release gushes. It’s even family friendly!
Tickets for the “Magic of Words” show are $20 and available at this link.
On Saturday, Aug. 23 at 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., the National Edgar Allan Poe Theatre is back at the Poe Room of the Enoch Pratt Free Library for a radio drama production of “The Spectacles.” Recorded live in front of a studio audience, this adaptation was written by Poe Theatre board member Jade Greene.
“The Spectacles” tells Poe’s tale of a vain young man who changes his name to inherit a fortune from a distant relative. He falls in love with a seemingly beautiful woman at the opera, but his refusal to wear his glasses results in a case of mistaken identity. Tickets to be in the audience for this radio production are free but limited. Click the following links to register: here for the 11 a.m. performance or here for the 2:30 p.m. performance.
Alex Zavistovich, founder and artistic director of Poe Theatre, is gearing up for the busy summer of Poe events and beyond.
“I’m happy that so many events, from radio to mind-reading — are gathering steam for the second half of our year,” Zavistovich told Baltimore Fishbowl. “We’re looking forward to our July 20 show at Guilford Hall Brewery, which is a really beautiful space to sit and relax. The Ottobar event this Thursday opening for the Tom Lehrer cabaret show makes more sense than it might seem. Poe has been a musical muse for bands from Blues Traveler to the Alan Parsons Project to The Beatles. And our August live recording of our newest radio drama on August 23 marks our return to the Poe Room of Pratt Library. Later this year we’re bringing the mind-reading show to New York, and in January to Richmond for Poe Museum’s annual birthday bash for Edgar.”
Enjoy a very youthful Tom Lehrer perform “The Masochism Tango” below!
