Celebration of the Arts contest to return
The Beacon Newspapers has announced that its popular amateur art competition for adults over 50, the Celebration of the Arts, will return in 2020. First launched in 2018, the Celebration of the Arts was inspired by moving stories from Beacon readers who have either turned to the arts for the first time in retirement, or have returned to an earlier passion for art later in life. The... READ MORE
Exhibit highlights Marian Anderson’s life
Singer Marian Anderson is perhaps best remembered for her most famous performances. On April 9, 1939, because segregationist policies denied her access to the DAR’s Constitution Hall, Anderson sang at the Lincoln Memorial. She performed from the steps of the monument before an integrated audience of 75,000. In 1942, the DAR changed its policy and invited Anderson to sing at... READ MORE
Sophia Loren comes to town
Take one look at Sophia Loren, who was born in 1934, and it’s clear she knows the secret of aging well. “There is a fountain of youth,” Loren once said. “It is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age.” Loren, 85, is still bringing her passionate... READ MORE
Illuminating life by making light of death
Death is in the air this fall at the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of Everybody. In fact, Death is even in the theater. But Death, played by Nancy Robinette, is a far cry from the creepy, cloaked Grim Reaper who usually comes to mind. Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Death is amicable, even funny. Like a stand-up comedian, Death heckles the cast’s five other members ... READ MORE
Howard County arts venues present a wide variety
If you live in Howard County, there’s no need to drive to Baltimore or Washington, D.C. to hear top-quality classical music or see a play that ran on Broadway. For more than four decades, Howard County has been building a robust arts scene that rivals big-city venues. One mark of its progress will be the county’s new cultural arts center, whose construction is set to begin in the... READ MORE
Dracula offers dark humor with its gore
Theatrical productions of Dracula are a sure sign that autumn and Halloween are upon us. The famed vampire tale is playing now through Nov. 2 at the downtown Baltimore location of the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company (CSC). The production, adapted by Steven Dietz, mingles the bloody Bram Stoker novel of 1897 with its 1927 adaptation for Broadway, which starred Bela Lugosi. It has its... READ MORE
Jazz promoter opens new club
Baltimore’s new jazz club, tucked between Fell’s Point and Harborplace, has been hopping since it opened last April. In its first week, Keystone Korner Baltimore featured legendary bassist Ron Carter. During the summer, lines snaked around the block as people waited to hear smooth-jazz-neosoul Godfather and vibraphonist Roy Ayers. The iconic Blood, Sweat and Tears keyboardist Larry... READ MORE
All about homegrown pumpkins
Nothing says October better than pumpkins, gourds and jack-o’-lanterns. Add a few to your doorstep, front porch or even a planter. Shocks of corn stalks and baskets of mums or asters can complete an attractive autumnal display. If you’re shopping for a pumpkin, select one that is blemish-free and firm all over. If you’re going to carve a jack-o’-lantern, look for a pumpkin that... READ MORE
Dance club channels Elizabethan era
When Linda Macdonald was an undergraduate more than 40 years ago, she became enamored with Scottish dancing. Fast-forward to 1980: Macdonald had moved to Scotland, married a Scotsman, returned to Virginia and had a child. Hoping to dance again but looking for a less vigorous form, she joined the Colonial Dance Club of Richmond. The club, dedicated to the preservation and promotion of... READ MORE
No memories are better than HS football
Open a can of memories and old guys will rush in to say they were there. Business. War. Politics. Travel. But perhaps more poignantly than most, football. As the calendar flips to the fall months, a young man’s fancy often turns to his gridiron glories of yesteryear. As the saying goes, they get more glorious with each passing decade. It can be very hard for younger people to... READ MORE
