Columbia Orchestra going strong at 40
The Columbia Orchestra was born in 1977 with a handful of string musicians playing a smattering of performances. Today, it’s a full orchestra with 100 members with a robust schedule of sold-out performances. How has the orchestra grown and thrived in an age crowded with digital opportunities and pop music? Credit a breadth of programming, strong community outreach, and devotion by the... READ MORE
Recalling the heyday of Baltimore theaters
When photographer Amy Davis began researching Baltimore’s forgotten movie theaters nine years ago, she had no idea how many of these structures were still standing.Her new book, Flickering Treasures: Rediscovering Baltimore’s Forgotten Movie Theaters, celebrates 72 of the more than 240 theaters that have existed in Baltimore since 1896. Only 11 of the movie houses... READ MORE
Community group welcomes new artists
When Jody Primoff moved to the Charlestown retirement community five years ago, she hoped to connect with others who shared her love of art and passion for painting.It turns out she didn’t have to look far. Before she even settled into her new home, Primoff was welcomed into the Fireside Artists — a group of Charlestown neighbors who gather every Friday to paint, draw and... READ MORE
Local authors master diverse genres
The National Capital region is in the news as the focus of politics, diplomacy and world events. It is also the home of talented writers. Be it a guidebook to the streets of Georgetown, a thriller about murder and mayhem in and around the Potomac, or a love story set in a suburban retirement home, you’re sure to enjoy reading about the familiar locales that serve as the backdrop of... READ MORE
Dreamgirls sparkles and shines at Toby’s
Dreamgirls, the musical melodrama, is glittering again at Toby’s Dinner Theater in a production that is scintillating, exhilarating and, finally, exhausting — though not in a bad way.This is Toby’s third production of the multiple Tony Award-winning play. And the cast, both newly minted and repeat performers, puts heart, soul, guts and more soul into the almost-always... READ MORE
Strong performances in fragile Menagerie
On the surface, it would seem that Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie is out of step with our modern, take-charge, do-it-yourself times.A young woman, suffering from a permanent limp, lives like a hot house plant in a self-made purgatory. Meanwhile, her mother sees men as walking financial plans. Isn’t that sexist?Tom, the soon-to-be-prodigal son, seems like a stereotype... READ MORE
‘Camp’ pumps up music lovers
Marie Celano, of Clarksville, was a newcomer to the Piano at Peabody program this summer. The intensive one-week “piano camp” for adults brings together experienced and beginning pianists for a full slate of daily music lectures, master classes, classical and jazz recitals and performances. But most of all, it forges a community spirit among the participants, some of whom have... READ MORE
Sondheim at Signature is musical magic
The best theater creates a sort of air-tight chamber in which you are totally isolated from the world of reality. Indeed, your only “reality” for a time is the world conjured up before you, enveloping you with words, the music, in this case, and the physical aura of the actors.Those elements combine with the skill and technical expertise of artists and craftspeople to release... READ MORE
Inside PBS’s ‘Antiques Roadshow’
A few years ago, a coin shop owner in Vienna, Va., had a customer who coveted a few of the coins in the store. In exchange, the customer offered a set of 15 posters made for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Each poster was signed by the artist, including such modernist luminaries as Roy Lichtenstein and Robert Rauschenberg. The shop owner figured the coins he exchanged were worth about... READ MORE
Rep Stage begins its 25th theater season
Rep Stage, the professional regional theater at Howard County Community College, will mark its 25th anniversary season with three award-winning contemporary American plays —The Heidi Chronicles by Wendy Wasserstein, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill by Lanie Robertson, and True West by Sam Shepard — along with a world premiere about two eccentric sisters from... READ MORE
