Chesapeake Center

If the mission of the Chesapeake Center for the Creative Arts is to encourage artistic expression, the center's opening gala certainly set a good example. Some 250 guests were treated to tours of the old Brooklyn Park High School -- newly converted to hold classes in arts like dance, theater, painting and ceramics. The building's main gallery offered a feast for the eyes, displaying not only the work of some of the country's top artisans but also a bounteous hors d'oeuvres buffet. It all helped whet the appetite for music and dance performances in the building's main theater.

AEGIS STAFF REPORT KC & The Sunshine Band will appear in concert at the APG Federal Credit Union Arena at Harford Community College on June 15 at 7:30 p.m. North Point, comprised of former Baltimore band members and fresh local musicians, will open for the band, playing classics from the '60s, '70s and '80s. Dance the night away on the Arena's state-of-the-art dance floor under what must arguably be the East Coast's largest disco ball. KC & the Sunshine Band burst onto the music scene more than 35 years ago, racking up some of the biggest dance hits including "Get Down Tonight," "That's The Way (I Like It)

The Chesapeake Center for the Creative Arts is looking for professional artists from northern Anne Arundel County, including Pasadena, to exhibit their work during the center's opening celebration Jan. 10 at the old Brooklyn Park High School.The celebration also will include performances by Jay Kishor, a master sitar player; the Ballet Theatre of Annapolis; the Gospel Praise Dance Group; and a one-act play called "This Is a Test" by local high school students.To apply, call Bob Nichols at 410-691-9725.

Harford Dance Theatre will perform The Little Mermaid in Harford Community College's Chesapeake Theater Thursday and Friday, May 16 and 17 at 7p.m., Saturday, May 18 at 3 and 7 p.m., and Sunday, May 19 at 1 and 4 p.m. Based on the magical tale by Hans Christian Andersen, the stage comes to life with colorful fish, sparkling seahorses, a wicked sea witch and evil sea monkeys in a fun-filled retelling of the story of a young mermaid who gives up...

LATELY, LIFE HAS been hectic at Chesapeake Center for the Creative Arts - its three full-time staff members are busy making sure the grand opening week that started yesterday runs smoothly. They've booked the performers, arranged for art to be displayed in the gallery, tested the lighting and sound systems, and made sure the studios are ready for the first day of classes. It's not as easy as having Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney say, "Hey, kids, let's put on a show!" And it takes more than the efforts of the full-timers, who have had a small army of volunteers behind the effort to get this show on the road.

A SNEAK preview of the offerings at Chesapeake Center for the Creative Arts will be available Tuesday at Baltimore- Washington International Airport. Chesapeake Center will sponsor a day of entertainment and the arts, celebrating the unveiling of an airport collage saluting "A Century of the Arts in Maryland." From 10: 45 a.m. to 3: 30 p.m., the center will present singing and dancing and an artisans' exhibit featuring members of the Maryland Poetry and Literary Society, painters and Clayworks artists.

The opening celebration of the Chesapeake Center for the Creative Arts on Saturday turned into north county's version of "Field of Dreams." "If you build it they will come," said the voice in the movie. And come they did.More than 1,000 people packed the old Brooklyn Park High School auditorium on Hammonds Lane for a lengthy -- the first half lasted two hours -- program of speeches, singing and dancing organized by Wayne Shipley.Democratic Del. Joan Cadden, whose district includes the high school, was joined by Republican County Executive John G. Gary, State Sen. Philip C. Jimeno, a Brooklyn Park Democrat; Del. Michael W. Burns, a Glen Burnie Republican, and Democratic state Comptroller Louis L. Goldstein.

As the Chesapeake Center for the Creative Arts prepares to celebrate its first anniversary, everyone who helped bring the project to life in Brooklyn Park should take pride in a year of outstanding and innovative performances, even as they look to work out a few bugs and increase attendance. The organization will mark its first year with a gala dinner Saturday at the hall. And while some say any state-of-the-art facility goes through a learning period as theater groups get used to working with technical staff, it is clear that the center, at the site of the old Brooklyn Park Middle School, has already succeeded on an artistic level.

For the first time, the Chesapeake Center for the Creative Arts will premiere a play in the Baltimore Playwrights Festival season. With the opening of Theodore Groll's Run Past the Sun at 8 p.m. tomorrow, the theater will join the festival's 20th season, during which six plays will be premiered. Other theaters in the festival are the Vagabond Players, Fells Point Corner, Arena Players, and Spotlighters theaters, all in Baltimore, and Kittamaqundi Center in Columbia. Groll's play was selected for a reading at the Baltimore Playwrights competition in Fells Point and was later sent to CCCA Executive Director Wayne Shipley.

Phones have been ringing constantly at the Chesapeake Center for the Creative Arts as the facility nears completion and schedules of coming shows and "mini-mester" course samplers were mailed, board member Joan Maynard said. Maynard, who is also chairwoman of the opening gala in January, anticipated that the center will be "a focal point of the community that will reach out to the whole county." She noted that with a staff of three, everything is being pulled together largely through the efforts of "a cadre of volunteers that is unequaled."

Harford Community College presents an "Evening of Jazz" featuring jazz vocalist Giacomo Gates with John diMartino, piano; Craig Thomas, bass; and Tom Cohen, drums, on Friday, April 19 at 8 p.m. in Joppa Hall, Room, J108, Recital Hall 1. Gates has five heavily acclaimed CDs, including "The Revolution Will Be Jazz - Songs of Gil Scott-Heron" that reached number one for six weeks on the National Jazz Week Chart. Tickets are $1 to $10 and are available at tickets.harford.edu, the Harford Community College Ticket Office in the Chesapeake Center, by calling 443-412-2211, or at the door.

"The True Story of The Three Little Pigs" will be performed by the Dallas Children's Theater on Friday, April 26, at 7 p.m. at the Amoss Center in Bel Air. Hear the wolf's side of the story in this hilarious musical courtroom dramedy: Alexander T. Wolf is accused of deplorable crimes and he's about to face a jury of his piggy peers on trial. The audience will determine the ending of the play in this fun musical that will blow the hair off your chinny chin chin. Tickets are $10 to $20 and are available at tickets.harford.edu, the Harford Community College Ticket Office in the Chesapeake Center, or by calling 443-412-2211.

Chesapeake Urology Associates, P.A., one of the nation's largest urology groups, has announced Dr. Sankar Kausik, M.D., F.A.C.S., has been named Chief of Urology for the Upper Chesapeake Medical Center, part of Upper Chesapeake Health, an affiliate partner with the University of Maryland Medical System. Kausik has practiced at the Bel Air facility for more than 10 years. Kausik is the 11th Chesapeake Urology physician to serve as Chief of Urology at a major Baltimore area hospital.

The Harford Community College Actors Guild is planning a performance of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" on April 26-28 and May 3-5 at the college's Blackbox Theater in Joppa Hall. Shakespeare's masterful comedy features as main characters two pairs of soul mates, the deliciously clever Beatrice and Benedick, always throwing jibes in a "merry war" of wit, and the sweet but foolish Claudio and Hero, whose innocent trust nearly undoes their love. Charming Princes, vile brothers, bumbling fools and sizzling coquettes fill this comedy, set amid the romantic heat of Renaissance Spain.

Hundreds of illegal immigrants lined an alley wall in Southeast Baltimore on Thursday night, each with a dream in mind. One saw a medical career, another a life in fashion. All said they were eager to take the first step toward their goals: filling out a federal application asking the government for a reprieve from deportation. The event, sponsored by the organization Casa de Maryland, was designed to assist immigrants with compiling the documentation and filling out the paperwork needed to apply for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, launched Wednesday under an executive order issued by President Barack Obama.

HCC Actors Guild will present "Elephant's Graveyard" May 4 through 6 at Harford Community College's Black Box Theater in Joppa Hall. Performances are at 8 p.m. on May 4 and 5 and Saturdays and at 3 p.m. on May 6. "Elephant's Graveyard" by George Brant is the true tale of the tragic collision of a struggling circus and a tiny town in Tennessee that resulted in the only known lynching of an elephant. Set in September 1916, the play combines the historical fact and legend, exploring the deep-seated craving for spectacle, violence and revenge.

It all began on Jan. 8, 1998 - when lavender invitation leaflets blanketed Brooklyn Park and people who found makeshift parking along Hammonds Lane slogged through mud to reach the auditorium - the night when Del. Joan Cadden's dream of a performing arts center in the community was publicly announced. Supporters filled just about every seat in the old Brooklyn Park High School auditorium to hear words of greetings from an assortment of politicians, among them Maryland Comptroller Louis L. Goldstein, who pronounced the school site "a real gem - all you have to do is polish it."

Je'nell Scroggins, 20, points proudly to the computer-generated signs and graphics that deck the walls of the Hollywood Diner on Saratoga Street, near City Hall. "I did all those on my computer," she says, smiling. Scroggins' love of working with computers grew out of her boss' assigning her to create a poster. She is in her second semester at Baltimore City Community College, studying computer programming. Scroggins is one of thousands of youths who have benefited from Chesapeake Center for Youth Development, which has provided educational, vocational, counseling and recreation activities for troubled youths since 1974.

Nonprofit organizations looking for the "Rx for Success" should consider attending the Annual Nonprofit Conference on Thursday, March 15, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Chesapeake Center at Harford Community College. The day begins with a keynote presentation by Upper Chesapeake Health President/CEO Lyle Sheldon. Workshops by topic experts from a variety of business areas include ideas for organizing fundraising efforts and making use of emerging technologies. The nonprofit conference is designed for board members, directors, staff, volunteers and other service providers affiliated with nonprofit organizations.

After a brief hiatus, the Hollywood Diner is back in business — but the city has other plans for the downtown eatery. Baltimore City, which owns the property, has terminated its lease with the Chesapeake Center for Youth Development, the nonprofit organization that has run the diner since 1991. In April, the comptroller's office will issue a request for proposals for a new operator of the property, made famous as a filming location for the Barry Levinson film "Diner. " "It is our goal to obtain an experienced restaurant operator that will provide quality, reasonably priced hot and cold food to the downtown patron," city Comptroller Joan M. Pratt said.