Nominations sought for volunteer awards
Montgomery County’s Montgomery Serves Awards Ceremony will take place on Monday, April 24 at Imagination Stage in Bethesda, Md. The annual event will honor some of Montgomery County’s most outstanding community leaders and dedicated volunteers.“Montgomery County is the very special place it is today in large part because many extraordinary public citizens work every day to ... READ MORE
Stoppard at Studio: intellectual acrobatics
A 30-ish male tutor and his 22-year-old female student at an English university are debating the prosaically labeled “hard problem,” which concerns how biological brain tissue creates complex feelings, thought and action.Of course, it’s obvious they’re lovers, too. He’s all ego, much less id. She’s a believer that absolute morality is the innate quality... READ MORE
Exhibit looks at Howard’s Jewish settlers
For the Howard County history books: Even before early Israeli settlers established collective agricultural communities (kibbutzim) there in 1909, Russian Jews attempted something similar in the early 1900s along the Patapsco River outside of Ellicott City.The evidence is in the exhibit being put together at the Howard County Historical Society museum by Dustin Linz, the museum manager,... READ MORE
Baltimore celebrates Black History Month
Black History Month — created in 1926 by Carter G. Woodson, a renowned African American historian, scholar, educator and publisher — began as “Negro History Week.” It became a month-long celebration in 1976, and the month of February was chosen to coincide with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. Baltimore actually began its Black History Month... READ MORE
A titanic, yet intimate triumph at Signature
Signature Theatre has packed a big experience into a small space with their stunning production of Titanic, in performance at their 330-seat MAX Theatre through Jan. 29. The effect is to concentrate the impact of the familiar encounter with historic tragedy, to make it richer and dazzlingly vibrant.The focus here is on the human dimension of this tale of hubris, hope and heartbreak. The... READ MORE
Still smokin’ after all these years
When William “Smokey” Robinson, Jr. was a young boy, his godfather Claude nicknamed him “Smokey Joe” since they both loved cowboy films. In his early teens, he shortened it to “Smokey.” Though his dreams of the Wild West had faded, he still loved the nickname.Now 76, the singer, songwriter and producer was recently in Washington, D.C. to receive the... READ MORE
Photographers get creative with images
“Photography is more than a medium for factual communication of ideas. It is a creative art.” — Ansel AdamsThose words of the great American photographer seem to be the motivating force behind the exhibition of some 40 photographs by the Creative Imaging Workshop, a group of eight local photo-artists, which opens Jan. 5 ... READ MORE
Area comics live for the laughter
Stand-up comedian Jeff Hysen is at D.C. Improv performing a short routine on an open mic night. “I’m the oldest comedian of the evening,” begins the 58-year-old attorney from Silver Spring, Md. “I had a show recently, and before it began the other comics were asking each other about the effects of drug use on comedy. They asked me my opinion, and I said, ‘Lipitor has no... READ MORE
An artistic exploration of the Deep South
“Laying-by time” is the term used in rural agricultural communities to describe the summer period when farmers have completed their preparation of the crops and anxiously await the harvest.It is also the name of the current exhibit at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), “Laying-by Time: Revisiting the Works of William Christenberry,” a survey of work by the ... READ MORE
City Choir and director celebrate 10 years
Almost 50 years since he started conducting, Robert Shafer is still waving his baton. The former Washington Chorus director, 70, is now leading the City Choir of Washington into its 10th anniversary season.Shafer’s 35 years of work with the Washington Chorus included more than 400 concerts that he conducted or helped prepare for the Kennedy Center. During that time he had six... READ MORE
