Arts and Culture (All)

Article - Theatre Reviews; by Davina Grace Hill and Jane Elkin - 11/1/12

Dignity Players’ Crimes of the Heart

It will make good memories for the months the company revamps

With Crimes of the Heart, Dignity Players closes a season devoted to love conquers all and adds a new dimension to its billing as “theatre for change.” After wowing audiences for eight years without technical smoke and mirrors, Dignity Players is upgrading its theatrical infrastructure. Crimes of the Heart, a family drama, makes good memories to carry through the six months when the theater goes dark. Beth Henley won a Pulitzer Prize for her...

Article - Theatre Reviews; by Jane C. Elkin - 11/1/12

The U.S. Naval Academy Masqueraders’ Titus Andronicus

Plenty of gore and breathtaking power, but at 2¾ hours, it demands staying power

The online gore-ometer measuring gallons of blood spilled in The U.S. Naval Academy Masqueraders’ production of Titus Andronicus reached five gallons after opening night. With nine onstage murders, one rape, six dismemberments and one incidence of cannibalism, the midshipmen were determined to milk Shakespeare’s bloodiest play for every drop. On Halloween weekend — as the players competed with the Academy’s annual Halloween concert and new Haunted...

Article - Theatre Reviews; by Michelle Steel - 10/25/12

Twin Beach Players’ Frankenstein

Yes, it’s scary. My nails prove it.

Twin Beach Players works Gothic magic recreating Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in North Beach Boys and Girls Club’s gymnasium. On opening night, the 14-year-old community company sent a full house back in time to 1816, into Dr. Frankenstein’s madness and Arctic ice. From the front row, I watched every detail, biting my nails. I’d have none were it not for Tyschka’s hilarious Grandmother, a welcome relief from the sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 10/25/12

Paranormal Activity 4

The scariest part of this movie is its lack of creativity

Five years ago, Katie Featherston killed her boyfriend, sister and sister’s family, sparing only her infant nephew Hunter. Katie and Hunter’s whereabouts are still unknown. Since the murders were all caught on tape, you’d think there would be an active investigation, at least a manhunt and a lot of news coverage aimed at finding the woman who brutally murdered three people and absconded with an innocent child. But when a woman and her...

Article - Books; by Ann H. Wolfe - 10/25/12

The Reader: 2012 General Election Voters’ Guide

by League of Women Voters of Anne Arundel County

The Voter’s Guide is a superb primer to the Maryland and Anne Arundel County ballot questions on which we will vote November 6. The League of Women Voters is a well-known nonpartisan political organization. In its own words, the League “encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues and influences public policy through education and advocacy. The League does not support or oppose any...

Article - Food and Drink; by Margaret Jane O’Brien - 10/25/12

Ripening on the Vine

From my vineyard, I can see the thriving growth of Maryland wine

Late this summer, my son and I finished the fifth harvest from our vineyards in Southern Maryland. At the same time, Slack Wine and Vineyards also finished our second showing at the Maryland Wine Festival in Westminster, along with 39 other licensed Maryland wineries. Both events were deemed great successes. The 2012 grape harvest ranks as our favorite harvest to date, due to the extraordinary dry growing conditions and the lack of hurricanes. Last year’s Hurricane...

Article - Theatre Reviews; by Davina Grace Hill - 10/18/12

To Kill a Mockingbird

Compass Rose Studio Theatre sets a new standard for a classic

Now playing at Compass Rose Studio Theatre is a powerful, moving production of an American classic. The Pulitzer Prize went to Harper Lee in her first and only novel, and Oscars for the 1962 film went to Gregory Peck and to Horton Foote for his screenplay adaptation. It takes guts to present To Kill a Mockingbird because Gregory Peck is seared into the role of Atticus Finch. When the American Film Institute ranked movie heroes of the 20th century, Atticus Finch ranked...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 10/18/12

Argo

A story so crazy it has to be true

A mob is terrifying: throngs of people massing together to chant, brandish firearms and burn effigies, promising violence at every turn. In 1979 Iran, these mobs are becoming a daily occurrence outside the U.S. embassy. Though the danger is palpable, the workers have their orders and try to ignore the daily threats. One day the threats turn to action. A wave of furious Iranians storms the embassy, taking 52 people hostage. Six workers in the only building that has direct...

Article - Books; by - 10/18/12

Books Fit for Halloween

Haunted Annapolis: Ghosts of the Capital City reviewed by Sandra Olivetti Martin We are not alone. Other feet have stood in the spot our lively toes now wiggle. Other lives have occupied the place we now call home. Historians may strain an ear to hear reverberations of their passing; most of us are deaf. Until Halloween, when their calls stir the air around us, raising our hackles. Mike Carter and Julia Dray listen all year long. They are career historians of the ghosts of...

Article - Theatre Reviews; by Jane C. Elkin - 10/11/12

Bay Theatre’s Master Harold ... and the Boys

The consequences of a moment last a lifetime

Remember the worst thing you ever said, the words you wish you could take back? The worst thing you ever, the act you wish you could undo? Of course we do, which is why Athol Fugard’s award-winning Master Harold … and the boys is so riveting. The tragicomedy is an autobiographical dramatization of a moment the playwright was “trying to exorcise from his soul.” Under Richard Pilcher’s direction, this moment of decision has consequences so potent...