By Frankie Kujawa 
Honey, let's get one thing clear: Charm City's iconic Queen of Drag - Brooklyn Heights - is a legend! As both a fierce performer and host, Brooklyn dazzles audiences each week throughout the Baltimore area.   We recently chatted with Brooklyn regarding the upcoming final drag brunch of the 2022 season at Power Plant Live!, her biggest accomplishment, and what makes for the best drag experience!

By Frankie Kujawa
Proud, queer, Brazilian actor and musician Darwin Del Fabro shines in the newly released, spine-tingling "THEY/THEM" now streaming on Peacock. Written and directed by Oscar-nominated and Tony Award-winner John Logan, the horror film is a queer empowerment story set at a gay conversion camp. Along with Del Fabro, the stellar cast includes Kevin Bacon, Anna Chlumsky, and Carrie Preston.  Del Fabro recently chatted about the new film, his journey from Brazil to New York City and the importance of celebrating uniqueness in the world.

By Frankie Kujawa
The ferociously funny Mean Girls brings all things fetch to Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre.  Running through Sunday, July 17th, the musical is the iconic story of Cady Heron, who may have grown up on an African savanna but was completely unprepared for the wild and vicious ways of her strange new home: suburban Illinois. By taking on The Plastics, a trio of lionized frenemies led by the charming but ruthless Regina George, Cady learns the hard way that you can’t cross a Queen Bee without getting stung.  We sat down to chat with cast member Samuel Gerber regarding the upcoming performance. 

By Frankie Kujawa
​The gregarious laughter continues to fill the theatre at Toby’s this month as THE SPONGEBOB MUSICAL runs through Sunday, July 31st in Columbia, MD. Adapted from the iconic Nickelodeon series and nominated for 12 Tony Awards, this dynamic stage musical finds SpongeBob and all of Bikini Bottom facing the total annihilation of their undersea world. Just when all hope seems lost, a most unexpected hero rises and takes center stage. Kyle Dalsimer, who plays SpongeBob in the production, recently chatted about role.

By Frankie Kujawa
​HAIRSPRAY, Broadway’s Tony Award-winning musical phenomenon, is back on tour! Running through Sunday, June 19th at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre, HAIRSPRAY is the story of 16-year-old Tracy Turnblad who sets out to dance her way onto the most popular TV’s show in 1960’s Baltimore - The Corny Collins Show. Performer Billy Dawson plays Corny Collins in the Charm City-set musical.  The Indiana-native, whose artistic talents catapulted them to perform as far as Japan, chatted about the upcoming performance.

By Frankie Kujawa
Creative Alliance's Gregory Smith is like a kid in a candy store!  Since becoming the third-ever Executive Director in the 26 year history of beloved arts organization back in January 2022, Smith follows in the footsteps of Creative Alliance founder Margaret Footner and Gina Caruso.  The North Carolina-native arrived in Charm City from Minneapolis-St. Paul, where he worked at the Minnesota Public Radio and the Fitzgerald Theater.  Smith recently chatted with us about the Creative Alliance's new Creativity Center (opening Fall 2022), upcoming events celebrating Pride, and the role of the arts in the community. 

By Frankie Kujawa
Local playwright and author R. Eric Thomas helps to close out Everyman Theatre’s 2021-2022 season with his world premiere comedy CRYING ON TELEVISION. Running through June 26th, the performance wrestles with one of life’s great mysteries – how do you make friends as an adult in today’s modern, often dystopian, world? The Baltimore-based Thomas, who was named in the May/June issue of The Advocate as one of 50 LGBTQ+ Champions of Pride, recently chatted about his hilarious new play, his newly-released young adult novel KINGS OF B’MORE and his fascination with Charm City.

By Frankie Kujawa
Actor Christopher Sears returns to Baltimore Center Stage this month as Pentheus in Anne Carson’s BAKKHAI (running Wednesday, June 1st – Sunday, June 19th). Based on the Greek tragedy from Euripides, this new version is a cautionary tale about the consequences of a civilization’s fear of the unknown. Fresh from his phenomenal performance at Baltimore Center Stage in THE FOLKS AT HOME by R. Eric Thomas earlier this spring, Sears is excited to be back in Charm City to share this new role and production with Baltimore audiences.

By Frankie Kujawa
‘This isn’t your English teacher’s Greek tragedy,’ boasts Baltimore Center Stage’s upcoming production of BAKKHAI by Anne Carson.  Based on the Greek tragedy from Euripides, this new version has been described as ‘Burning Man in a theatre.’ Running from Wednesday, June 1st – Sunday, June 19th, BAKKHAI is a cautionary tale about the consequences of a civilization’s fear of the unknown. Featuring original music from the incomparable Diana Oh, debauchery, and a whole lot of wine, BAKKHAI will have audiences partying like it’s 399 BC. 

​Having created and channeled the music of BAKKHAI, Diana Oh also performs in the production as the voice of the Bakkhai.  Oh recently described the process that went into creating music for BAKKHAI, what Center Stage audiences can look forward to, and how this is the type of Greek play that will not make you want to ‘gouge your eyes out.’

By Frankie Kujawa
​The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines gentrification as “the process in which a poor area (as of a city) experiences an influx of middle-class or wealthy people who renovate and rebuild homes and businesses and which often results in an increase in property values and the displacement of earlier, usually poorer residents.” This idea of gentrification is explored in Baltimore Center Stage’s production of DREAM HOU$E by Eliana Pipes which runs through Sunday, May 15th.