‘Miracle’ at Toby’s parades holiday spirit
It all started when Robert Biedermann did his regular “warm-up” routine at Toby’s Dinner Theatre, dressed in a sparkling Santa suit with a twinkle in his eye. Who else of Toby’s coterie of actors could better play Kris Kringle in the musical version of Miracle on 34th Street and bring such sincerity and warmth to the role? The show, directed superbly by Shawn Kettering and... READ MORE
Remembering East Baltimore in the 50s
Those who’ve ever lived in a Baltimore row house may remember scrubbing the front steps with a strong brush and brown soap or Ajax until the stone brightened and the white marble gleamed. “There was something about the cleanliness of the vestibule,” author Janet Vanik Divel remembers. “It was pride in ownership, maybe old-fashioned thinking,” but owning a home “was the end ... READ MORE
How to say farewell to a dear friend?
Friends die. No escaping that. Some die suddenly, but many do not. They linger. So does this question: How do you say goodbye to a close friend without being maudlin, and without defeating the friend’s sense of hope? So it has gone over the last few months with a very dear amigo of four decades. He has a form of brain cancer that is usually fatal within two years. He is just... READ MORE
Cookbooks for creativity in the kitchen
The Bibliophile Relax and rest easy this season. Here’s expert advice on preparing your holiday feasts. Delicious Gatherings: Recipes to Celebrate Together, by Tara Bench, 260 pages, Shadow Mountain hardcover, 2022 This cookbook offers 105 recipes for brunch, dinner, cookout and buffet-style meals. Occasions such as Thanksgiving feast, mezze dinner party and Tex Mex fiesta are... READ MORE
Former lobbyist lampoons his profession
“He was a morally vacuous human being, but he came by it naturally. As a descendent of a long line of grifters, [he] was perfectly suited for a life in politics.” And away we go in the satirically realistic novel about Capitol Hill, A Feeding Frenzy in Washington, published in September by former longtime Bethesda resident George Franklin. This is Franklin’s fourth... READ MORE
‘Fat Ham:’ A joyful, intense spin on ‘Hamlet’
Time’s a-wasting; get thee to Fat Ham, James Ijames’ Pulitzer-prize winning party of a play, at the Studio Theatre through January 14. Taylor Reynolds, an OBIE-award winner, directs a stellar cast with a special shoutout to Marquis D. Gibson as Juicy and Thomas Walter Booker as Cousin Tio. If you know Hamlet, you might imagine that you know where this multi-Tony- nominated play is... READ MORE
Jewelry store keeps family tradition shining
Diamonds may be forever, but neighborhood jewelry stores have been fast-fading — except, perhaps, for those generationally owned, like St. John’s Jewelers. The Ellicott City store is celebrating its half-century as a family business this year. “I started working in the store when I was 16, a student at Randallstown High School,” said Linda Miller, 62. She now owns and operates... READ MORE
Innate creative urge drives late-life artist
Fantasy, surrealism and whimsy infuse the paintings, drawings, prints, storybooks, YouTube videos and soon-to-be-released films of Baltimore artist Craig Haupt. Haupt, 74, whose exhibition of oil paintings opens November 2 at the Katsea Gallery in Towson, said his art is influenced by masters like Salvador Dali, Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky and Pablo Picasso. “These artists gave me... READ MORE
You can take your senior discount and…
Senior privilege is all around us. Dedicated seating on buses and subways. Discounts at the movies. Youngsters who offer to walk us across the street — well, sometimes, anyway. This old guy has always been ambivalent about such tilts. On the one hand, we oldies have earned them. On the other hand, we should be the ones who say “no, thanks,” because younger people often need the... READ MORE
Experts provide sound advice on aging
The Bibliophile Here are several helpful books that focus on health and wellbeing as we age. Keep Sharp: Build a Better Brain at Any Age, by Sanjay Gupta, MD, 336 pages, Simon & Schuster paperback 2022; 12 Weeks to a Sharper You: A Guided Program, by Sanjay Gupta, MD, 190 pages, Simon & Schuster paperback, 2022 Many of us are familiar with the reassuring, no-nonsense approach ... READ MORE
