Callas

NEW YORK -- Coffee prices surged more than 25 percent yesterday, the largest one-day rise in more than seven years, as a damaging frost struck much of the coffee-growing areas of Brazil."

There's been a resurgence of interest in Oscar Wilde lately - from the off-Broadway hit "Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde" to the Stephen Fry movie "Wilde." Not to be left out, Washington's Shakespeare Theatre is producing one of the playwright's less frequently revived comedies, "A Woman of No Importance," currently in previews and opening Tuesday.Under Michael Kahn's direction, designing woman Dixie Carter stars as Mrs. Arbuthnot, a woman with a secret. Most recently, Carter appeared on Broadway as Maria Callas in Terrence McNally's "Master Class."

RILEY ATTENDS CONFERENCEColleen Riley, executive director of the Howard County Tourism Council, attended the National Tour Association's 1991 Annual Convention from Oct. 27 to Nov. 1 in Cleveland, Ohio.Riley met with more than500 group tour operators, who bring escorted tour business to Maryland.SIX DESIGNATED AS CRPSSix associates in the office of RE/MAX Columbia have earned CRP designations as a result of passing the Certified Relocation Professional exam in September.They include Norma Jean Marsho, Donna Campagna, BetsyCallas, Joan Brunett, Valerie Smith and Frona Dubin.

WE SPED down to Washington Monday night to hear the local girl make good."This will be something special," I confided to Wife as we cruised down the parkway. "Keyontia Hawkins of Baltimore will one day be recognized as our fair city's fairest bequest to the grand opera houses of the world.""You are talking like a libretto," Wife complained. "And besides, you have a tin ear."That hurt my feelings. Didn't Wife know perfectly well that I had been struggling diligently for years to overcome the limitations of a tin ear by practicing Gilda's aria from "Rigoletto," Il caro nome, in the shower each morning?

On October 31, 2004, ANNA LORETTA (nee Sullivan), age 93, formerly of Elkridge, Ellicott City, Hyattsville, Charlestown Retirement Community and most recently St. Joseph's Nursing Home in Catonsville, MD. Beloved wife of the late William T. Howell; loving mother of Jean and husband Robert Nichols of Ellicott City, Nancy and husband Thomas Bateman of Catonsville, Ellen Howell and friend Mary Gavin of Ocean City, MD; cherished grandmother of Janet and...

There's a scene in the second act of "The Lisbon Traviata" when an opera aficionado tries to explain the appeal of the genre to a skeptic. "Opera is about us, our life-and-death passions -- we all love, we're all going to die," he says.That, in a nutshell, is what this Terrence McNally play -- receiving its Baltimore premiere at Everyman Theatre -- is all about.Actually the play is more like two operas. Act One is comic opera; Act Two, tragic. But both are savage, and although the humorous first act is the one for which the play is better known, at Everyman it is the serious second act that succeeds best.

Karen Conklin promoted to MNB vice presidentKaren Conklin has been promoted to vice president in the Northeast/Harford County Region by Maryland National Bank.She will continue as branch manager and commercial lender for the Tollgate Road branch in Bel Air. The 1982 graduate of Loyola College is an eight-year MNB employee.Eight members of the Harford County Chamber of Commerce have been nominated to serve on the or ganization's board of directors for the 1993 through 1996 term.First term nominees are: Bronson Shanahan, Shenango Industries; Shirley Rockwood, Maryland National Bank; Don Lynch, Lynch Construction; Chris Callas, a CPA; Jim Martin, the Clorox Company and Jeannie Quinn, Quinn's Hair and Skin Care.

WASHINGTON -- Terrence McNally's time has come.Winner of the 1995 Tony Award for "Love! Valour! Compassion!" he had a new play produced even before he won the award.The new play, "Master Class," opens on Broadway tonight after sold-out runs in Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Washington.In addition, the touring production of McNally's previous Tony Award winner, the musical "Kiss of the Spider Woman," opens at the Morris A. Mechanic Theatre on Wednesday. And many of his two dozen other shows are being revived at theaters across the country.

Somewhat surprisingly, "The Queen's Throat," a book that examines the affinity of some gay men for opera, has been getting a lot of attention in the mainstream press.I say surprisingly because books about opera don't ordinarily get this kind of attention.The heavy interest is surely due in part to the fact that the book, written by Yale English professor Wayne Koestenbaum, is an undeniably original piece of work, a book whose tone is a blend of semischolarly detachment and juicily personal confession.

Luckily, summer offers more than the uncomfortable heat. A surprising number of flowers thrive in the hot sun. Among them: angelonia, zinnia, sunflower, black-eyed Susan, cleome, purple coneflower, gomphrena, lilies, orange cosmos, salvias, torenias and pentas. And all are suitable for cutting to enjoy indoors in arrangements. To supplement what lies beyond the back door, flower stands, florists and food markets are filled with huge assortments -- from callas to liatris to exotic tropicals -- for every vase and space in the home.