Claudine

Revenge, lust and great music in 'Rigoletto'Verdi's "Rigoletto" is one of the high-water marks of the operatic genre: tuneful, full of sentiment and structured so that it drives to its tragic conclusion with the force of a river rushing to a precipice. This classic tale of lust and revenge opens the Baltimore Opera Company's current season at the Lyric Opera House with performances Oct. 15 (8:15 p.m.), Oct. 19 (7:30 p.m.), Oct. 21 (8:15 p.m.) Oct. 22 (8:15 p.m.) and Oct. 23 (3 p.m.). The cast for the Oct. 15, Oct. 19, Oct. 21 and Oct. 23 performances will feature Mark Rucker as Rigoletto, Jane Thorngren as Gilda and Stuart Neill as the Duke.

A common thread runs through shops in West Annapolis, where the owner likely will be the person behind the counter, a nearby resident and a woman.Owners of the couple of dozen specialty boutiques in wood-frame former homes lining Annapolis Street couldn't say for sure why."It's just the nature of the beast," surmised Claudine Hawkins, a 25-year-old who opened The Red Balloon, a children's consignment shop, last month. "Black-Eyed Susan is needlepoint, and Papagallo -- you wouldn't expect a man to run them, not the type of shops we have."

They should move you, no matter who you are. The documentary, drama and action movies featured in the William and Irene Weinberg Family Baltimore Jewish Film Festival are filled with political, social and cultural issues. Organizers hope the eight films will captivate and resonate with audiences of all backgrounds and ages. "That's almost the mission of the film festival: To really bring people together, but people from everywhere -- not just Jewish people," said Claudine Davison, the assistant director for arts and culture at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Baltimore.

More than 20 local theater companies ranging from avant-garde ensembles to dinner-theater musical troupes will help Center Stage launch its new season with a free theatrical block party from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. today.Theater Streetfest '93 will offer backstage tours, live music, discounted tickets and theater activities for children in the Center Stage building as well as on the 700 block of North Calvert Street. The festival also gives theater fans a chance to buy theatrical props and costumes.

The Talent Machine Company's summer production of Cole Porter's "Can Can," showcasing its 14- to 18-year-old cast members, ran two weekends, Aug. 5 to 14, at St. John's College Key Auditorium. As in past TMC summer shows, this event could be compared to a major talent competition and graduation ceremony for exceptional teens who have become disciplined, polished professionals. Developing raw talent is a Talent Machine tradition dating back to the company's founding in 1987 by Bobbi Smith.

Leave it to Russell Edgington to liven things up. Finally. Captured by Eric and Bill (finally) at the Asylum of High School Student Horror House and brought back to the Authority, Russell seemed done for. He's outfitted with one of those helpful iStakes and brought before Roman for execution that night. Because Roman wants to play golf. Sidenote: Earlier, Roman celebrates Russell's capture with a bottle of 18th century Austrian hemophiliac blood. For the record, I enjoy 19th century Austrian hemophiliac.

The feud among members of the Haft family over the control of their holdings in the Dart Group could well be a plot for the kinds of books Robert M. Haft promotes in television and newspapers advertisements for Crown Books, one of Dart's companies.Mr. Haft, 40, founded the Crown Books chain in 1977 and made it the nation's third-largest bookseller after Waldenbooks and Barnes & Noble, with reported sales of about $241 million. He was expected soon to succeed his 72-year-old father, Herbert H. Haft, as chairman and chief executive of the Dart Group.

For years, old Halloween candy containers, cards and decorations were the wallflowers of holiday collectibles.That tacky orange and black just didn't go over; neither did those goofy pumpkins and cackling witches.Collectors snapped up antique Valentines, with their elegant rose and lace motifs, or old Christmas decorations, with shining tinsel and smiling St. Nicks.Even Labor Day postcards stirred more interest than Halloween cards, because of their scarcity.But, in recent years, prices for old Halloween souvenirs have soared higher than the Wicked Witch on her broomstick; prices are up 30 percent this year, and Halloween is now the holiday, collectors say."

Shwikar Gamalabdelnasir Abdelrahman, Ismaeel Ola Abiwa, Matthew William Acquard, Temitope Oluwayemisi Adebekun, Vijay Bhasker Adipudi, Joshua Boakye Adjei, Ashley Afua-Pokuwaa Affum, Ufuoma Oghenerume Agarin, Furqan Ahmed, Mubashir Ajaz, Arhim Asfand Aleem, Talha Ali, Richard Emerson Allen, Hector Aloras Flores, Essence Dominque Alston, Paloma Rayane Alves, Osei-Poku Amoh, Kayline Anantua, April Marie Anlage, Krystal Aida Arevalo-Martinez, Jerome Arnold...