A comic send-up of mysteries and critics
With The Real Inspector Hound, celebrated playwright Tom Stoppard has either crafted an incisive deconstruction of society’s sense of order and individual identity or, perhaps, just whipped together a sometimes funny lampoon of hidebound murder mysteries. You can judge for yourself, as performances of the 1968 work continue through most of May at Alexandria’s MetroStage. Oh, by... READ MORE
Kathleen Turner’s recent roles are divine
Kathleen Turner is as confused as anyone about the heavenly detour her roles have taken lately.She’s making her first appearance as a Roman Catholic nun in the play High, which opened last month on Broadway. And, in a divine bit of coincidence, the actress best known for Body Heat and Romancing the Stone also stars as a suburban mom striving to be named Catholic Woman of the Year in a ... READ MORE
Suspend disbelief to enjoy Toby’s 42nd St.
Let’s be clear. Musicals aren’t for cynics, which might explain why Jerry Seinfeld’s character in the classic comedy that bore his name didn’t like them. “People just don’t suddenly burst into song…they start to sway, it’s embarrassing,” Jerry tells sidekicks George and Elaine.When it comes to appreciating a musical, the same skill... READ MORE
Enjoy the wildlife! Visit decoy arts festival
On the banks of the historic Susquehanna Flats is the Havre de Grace Decoy Museum, housing one of the country’s most extensive collections of working and decorative Chesapeake Bay decoys.The museum was established in 1986 as a private, non-profit institution dedicated to preserving the historical and cultural legacy of waterfowling and decoy-making on the Chesapeake Bay.Tours,... READ MORE
Revisit Richie and the Fonz in Happy Days
It’s fitting that, prior to the performance of Happy Days, A New Musical at Toby’s Dinner Theatre in Columbia, a buffet of steaming entrees and vegetables occupies the same middle-of-the-room space as the actors later fill.That’s because the show, based on the old TV sitcom “Happy Days,” is the theatrical equivalent of the comfort food served up by Toby’s ... READ MORE
Helen Mirren relishes revitalized career
Helen Mirren is a shape-shifter, says director Julie Taymor, and the actress has extended her metamorphosing talents to changing the gender of not one, but two, well-known authority figures.First, Mirren starred in Taymor’s film adaptation of The Tempest, released in December, playing sorceress Prospera rather than the traditionally male Prospero of Shakespeare’s play.This... READ MORE
Cirque du Soleil plays under the big top
Cirque du Soleil will bring its unique blend of music, dance, acrobatics and visual effects to Baltimore when its new traveling show, Totem, sets up under the characteristic blue and yellow big top on April 7 at Westport Waterfront.The waterfront is located about 2 miles south of the Inner Harbor, along the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River, and is under development. The show runs through ... READ MORE
Never-before-displayed photos at BMA
Picking up where it left off in its 2008 exhibition “Looking Through the Lens: Photography 1900-1960,” the Baltimore Museum of Art is bringing us up to date with its new exhibition, “Seeing Now: Photography Since 1960.”The exhibition features individual photographs and photographic series by such renowned artists as Diane Arbus, William Eggleston, Lee Friedlander and ... READ MORE
Great songs and singing carry Waters’ bio
She’s really a force of nature — a charismatic singer with a richly powerful and expressive voice. She’s Bernardine Mitchell, a Helen Hayes Award winner who has generated quite a following for herself through a series of outstanding performances at area theater companies in recent years.Now she’s back at MetroStage in Alexandria, Va., starring in a musical... READ MORE
At 90, Dave Brubeck continues to swing
Dave Brubeck gingerly made his way to the bandstand through a packed Blue Note jazz club in New York, and a smile lit up his face after he sat down at the piano and began playing a Duke Ellington medley he dedicated to “my favorite jazz composer, pianist, musician and friend.”Brubeck mixed standards and originals drawn from his nearly 70-year career in a 90-minute set that left... READ MORE
