All posts by Ted Ying:

Ted Ying DCTS Reviewer Ted Ying has been active in Maryland community theater for the last 10 years including producing, directing and performing in over 20 productions. He and his wife attend, subscribe and support theater throughout the Baltimore-Washington metro area. Ted is also an avid tournament bridge player, teacher and director. He is a silver life master and certified director who runs one of the largest weekly bridge games in the country. By day, he is an IT Security Engineer for NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (reviewing shows is definitely NOT rocket science).

Rumple Who?

Today I bake, tomorrow I sew,
And then off to Annapolis we will go

What for?  To see the delightful production of Rumple Who?  That’s what for!  Bay Theatre has brought this cute family theater production to Annapolis where it is sure to entertain.  Unlike pure children’s theater, Rumple Who? adds several “Wink, wink, nudge, nudge” asides for the adults chaperoning the younger audience members  to make for an enjoyable hour for all. [Read more...]

Fuddy Meers

Life is already chaotic and amusing enough when your life is somewhat normal.  Add in a peculiar twist and your day can really take a left turn into the Twilight Zone.  “Good morning.  How are you?  How would you like to get dressed.  You really like this dress.  Would you like to have some breakfast?”  “Yes, thank you.  Oh, what an awful dress.  Do I really like this dress?  By the way, who are you?  And…who am I?”  How would you like it if your day started this way?  What if every day started this way? [Read more...]

The Foreigner

Blazny blit hitski.  Oh sorry, don’t understand?  Well, translated that means “The Foreigner is a hit!”  Bay Theater’s second show of the season is Larry Shue’s hilarious comedy, The Foreigner, and all you need is a sense of humor, not a linguistic degree, to appreciate it.  Bay Theatre has invited Vincent Lancisi, Artistic Director of Baltimore’s Everyman Theatre, to direct this welcome heart-warming respite from the cold. [Read more...]

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

How do you spell The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee?  H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S.  In 2005, Spelling Bee, beat out blockbusters Spamalot and The Light in the Piazza for the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical.  And the Maryland Ensemble Theatre in Frederick does this clever book justice in their wonderfully entertaining production. [Read more...]

Play Nice!

The intimate Venus Theatre performance space has been cleverly transformed into an old attic by Joe Musemeci. The seemingly low hanging rafters make you feel like stooping. The space is filled with the castoffs of the Diamond family of Ridgwood, NJ: old books, maps, a wardrobe with clothes, even your seats are their mismatched chairs, set along three sides of the room. [Read more...]

Nunsense

The nuns from The Order of the Little Sisters of Scaggsville who we meet in Toby’s Dinner Theatre’s production of Nunsense are anything but the stern, strict, knuckle-rapping, humorless disciplinarians  you may have heard about. [Read more...]

Forever Plaid

If theaters renamed their shows to fit their productions, then Olney Theater Center’s should rename their current production of Forever Plaid to be Forever Fun.  The team at Olney have put together a foot-tapping, seat-rocking, summer spectacular show. [Read more...]

A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur

A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur is a tough play to produce, and for that reason most theaters leave it alone. Williams wrote it in 1979, four years before his death, and like many of his later pieces, it studies character across a limited event horizon. Notwithstanding the work’s challenges, Quotidian Theatre Company delivers an excellent production notable for the sparkling quality of the performances. [Read more...]

How I Became a Pirate

“Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me!”  Arrr–what kid hasn’t wanted to be a pirate?  Well, kids are going to love Imagination Stage’s latest family production, How I Became a Pirate.  Walt Disney understood the attraction of pirates when he created the Disneyland ride Pirates of the Caribbean nearly 50 years ago [Read more...]

In the Goldfish Bowl

Sometimes you have to shine the light of day into the dark crevices of our society to expose problems that we try to hide.  With In the Goldfish Bowl, Venus Theatre focuses that light on four women on Death Row and exposes some of the injustices of the criminal justice system.  [Read more...]