First, the bad news: Baltimore’s beloved Annex Theater was flooded recently, and a good deal of their equipment—that is lights, curtains, you know, the things that help make a theater a theater—was lost to flood damage. But since then, they’ve scrambled pretty hard to get things back up and running in time for the debut of R.M. O’Brien’s new play, The Golden Spike, which runs (come hell or high water, as they say) through March 2nd.
A perennial summer event in many places is outdoor Shakespeare. Most famously, New York’s Shakespeare in the Park brings Hollywood and Broadway A-listers into Central Park for free (good luck getting tickets) performances of the Bard’s works. Where I grew up, the local community theatre group still does their own take on Shakespeare every weekend from Memorial Day to Labor Day as well. This season, The Annex Theater company has decided to take on a summer Shakespeare production as well, but rather than performing outside, they’re settling into their new digs in The Chicken Box—a quaint new spot that used to house New York Fried Chicken on Charles Street, but which will now be the theatre company’s new home.
When a new film comes out, how long it stays in theaters depends completely on box office sales. If tickets are selling, you’ve probably got a couple of months to catch it. If it bombs, you’ll be lucky to find it still playing after three weeks. And plenty of blockbusters end up staying, and staying, and staying—to the point that eventually you start to wonder who could possibly still be buying tickets. But how often does this sort of thing happen in the world of theater? On Broadway, sure, ticket sales determine the length of a run. But usually, no matter how successful or beloved a production might be, the run ends when it ends. After all, the real live actors have to move on with their lives, the theater needs to get ready for the next show, and come on, how popular can a play really be? Answering that last question with a “VERY, VERY popular” is the Annex Theater’s production of Peter Shaffer’s modern classic Equus—which has extended its run through this weekend due to popular demand.
When NY Fried Chicken was still hawking greasy, battered poultry bits to drunks and insomniacs at the corner of North and Charles, I’m ashamed to say I patronized the place at least a few times a week. I even got bored enough with the standard options to try their mashed potatoes (awful) and their corn on the cob (worse). Well, they shut down and it has probably increased my life expectancy.
The former New York Fried Chicken building on the corner of North Avenue and Charles Street used to be a monument to late night bad-decision eating (oh, those little styrofoam tubs of mac n cheese!); but since it was shuttered over a year ago, it’s become a symbol of the precarious state of Station North, a neighborhood hovering somewhere between gentrification and neglect. So we were excited to hear about the recently-announced plans to redevelop the building and incorporate it into the area’s thriving arts community.
The Biblical story of Salome was adapted into a play by Oscar Wilde, an opera by Richard Strauss, and a film starring Rita Hayworth — but we’re willing to bet that the story has never quite been told in the way that Baltimore’s own Annex Theater will tell it this weekend.
As far as artistic subjects go, fracking — the process of extracting natural gas from shale rock — hasn’t yet had its Upton Sinclair moment. But maybe that’s just because no one’s used puppets and accordions to tell the story — until now, at least.
This week is your only chance to see Below and Beyond, a new offering from Philadelphia-based Ramshackle Enterprises, directed by occasional Baltimorean Donna Sellinger. Below and Beyond makes inventive use of puppets, pulleys, movements, maps, and a one-man accordion band to “explore the complications of what lies beneath our feet,” according to its director and creator. The play sold out its run of shows in Philadelphia, receiving plenty of positive feedback (“[Co-creators Beth] Nixon and [Sarah] Lowry manage a bit of scaffolding, scores of puppets and props and their own boundless energies to create a sprawling mythic journey. At turns surprising, hilarious, and earnest the piece is one that makes you stop and wonder about the workings of the city around (and below) you,” said Adrienne Mackey, the artistic director of Swim Pony Performing Arts.)
Now its cast and creators are taking it on the road, stopping in Baltimore for one night only (Saturday, May 5, 8:00 p.m.) at the Whole Gallery, with local openers Foot Talk and City Paper favorites the Annex Theatre. I’ve heard there will be an invasion of urban water buffalo. Highly recommended.
With the Threepenny Opera, Baltimore’s Annex Theater is moving into the big leagues… in a manner of speaking. The theater company is known for productions that charm through their creative use of salvaged materials, tongue-in-cheek pop culture parodies, and silly spirit. And while much of that heart will still be on evidence in this production of the 1928 hit musical by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, the Annex will — for the first time — be taking the stage on, well, a real stage. They’ve commandeered the long-vacant theater on the corner of Charles and 25th Streets, lined up some live musical accompaniment, and will be taking the production on the road for shows up and down the east coast once the Baltimore run is through.
The show — centering on the complex machinations of a group of prostitutes, criminals, and other lovable low-lifes — was directed by Evan Moritz (deemed Baltimore’s best director by the City Paper) with help from musical director Walker Teret.
And although plans for the play were well underway before the Occupy movement sprang up, it seems a serendipitous time to revisit a work where the villains are bankers. You’ve got both this weekend and next to check out the show. “Mack the Knife”! “Pirate Jenny”! This is a crowd-pleaser if ever there was one. Buy tickets here.
