Essentially a series of comic vignettes underlined by tragedy, the farce traces the European odyssey of sister and brother Anna and Carl.

They are in search of hedonistic pleasure and a cure for her terminal illness, the fictitious ATD (Acquired Toilet Disease) she contracted by using the bathrooms at the elementary school where she teaches.

Knowing her life is nearing its end, Anna is driven by a lust that compels her to have casual sex with as many men as possible during their travels, a passion shared by her gay brother.

Assisting the pair is the mysterious Third Man, a reference to the classic suspense film starring Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles, to which Vogel frequently alludes in detail.

Once in Paris, the pair visit the Eiffel Tower and Anna notices a man in a trench coat and beret carrying an identical stuffed rabbit that Carl has.

[2] The play was Vogel's response to the 1988 death of her brother Carl, who died from complications due to AIDS before they were able to enjoy a long planned European vacation.

The Baltimore Waltz premiered Off-Broadway at the Circle Repertory Company (Tanya Berezin, artistic director), running from January 29, 1992 to March 15, 1992.

Set design was by Loy Arcenas, costumes by Walker Hicklin, lighting by Dennis Parichy and sound score by John Gromada.

[8] It was staged at the Yale Repertory Theater, New Haven, Connecticut in May 2003, directed by Stan Wojewodski Jr. By then it had become one of the most popular plays for regional theatres throughout the United States.

[9] An Off-Broadway revival produced by the Signature Theatre Company and directed by Mark Brokaw opened on December 5, 2004 at the Peter Norton Space, where it ran through January 2005.

Gradually, the truth about the disease, the European tour and even the identity of the patient begins to impinge on the wacky, offbeat tone..."[11] Malcolm L. Johnson in his review for the Hartford Courant of the 1992 Off-Broadway production wrote: " "The Baltimore Waltz" sounds like one of those cutesy, self-indulgent, even tasteless new plays that can make theater-going a dreaded experience.

"[12] Ada Calhoun wrote of the 2004 revival in The New York Magazine: "...the show succeeds as a loving tribute and political statement, as theater it's stuck in an odd realm between rollicking farce and whimsical melodrama.