Entertainment

Anyone who thinks WWE officials don't view Daniel Bryan and Kane as key players in the company obviously didn't watch Friday night's Smackdown. The Tag Team Champions were featured on the show from top to bottom and brought some humor and light-hearted fun to the show. Many have questioned the decision to hot-shot this team to the titles ahead of other teams who were being built up, ala the Prime Time Players, but I personally applaud WWE for striking when the iron was hot. A comedy-based gimmick like the one Bryan and Kane are doing could just as easily flop as succeed, but these two have embraced the situation and created gold -- as well as bronze.

In "Bloody Murder," 2nd Star Productions offers a parody of British murder mysteries with surprising twists and turns. Charles Maloney, director of more than 20 plays for 2nd Star, is introducing Bowie Playhouse audiences to this amusing 2009 mystery written by his longtime friend, Ed Sala. Here a stock set of characters — including the wealthy lady of the manor, her loyal maid, a retired army major mired in his past, a mysterious countess, a fading, often-inebriated actor, an ingenue, a worthless nephew, an inscrutable Chinese man and a bumbling inspector — play out their roles, aware they are playing characters in a developing mystery story.

Anne Arundel's three regional concert series offer entertainment bargains to county residents in search of live musical performances by classical, folk and jazz artists. Societies that have been around for at least 30 seasons hold the concert series at convenient locations, with two at local high schools and one at an arts center. Anne Arundel Community Concert Association, the 61-year-old organization based in Severna Park, has a reciprocal arrangement with South County Concert Association, which is opening its 37th season at Southern High School in Harwood.

In recent years, the debate on whether WWE superstars should be classified as "wrestlers" or "entertainers" has raged on across television, social media and casual conversation. At times, it's been used as part of storylines, with performers like CM Punk and Chris Jericho mocking the use of the words "sports entertainment. " But on tonight's Raw, fans saw the semantics at play in a different manner. Look at the careers of Shawn Michaels, who was being recognized in his hometown of San Antonio, and Brock Lesnar and there's a world of difference.

Hampden Hi-Fi wrapped up its Roosevelt Park outdoor concert series last Friday, July 27, with what looked to be one of the biggest crowds of its eight-week run, despite the heat. And while nothing official has been announced, here's hoping organizers bring it back again next year, as everyone I spoke to who attended all of the concerts enjoyed the series. It's a great opportunity for neighbors to get together, hang out outside, have a couple drinks and hear some tunes. After all, the more options for music and live entertainment we have in the neighborhood, the more fun Hampden is. In fact, when Forbes magazine recently ranked America's top 20 "coolest cities," Baltimore came in 14th (above Philadelphia.

A disappointing trend has been developing in WWE in recent months. Rather than actually using television programs like Raw and Smackdown to build undercard matches for pay-per-views, the company has been announcing minimal matches and then having "surprise" contests on the monthly showcases. This strategy wouldn't be so bad if the surprise additions were matches of any consequence or interest. Instead, they wind up being standard-fare squash matches. just as fans see for free on weekly television.

Willie Alexander Harry, a well-known Baltimore barber whose York Road shop catered to figures from the world of sports and entertainment, died July 5 of complications from leukemia at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson. The longtime Northeast Baltimore resident was 81. The son of a railroader and a seamstress, Mr. Harry was born in Lynchburg, S.C. When he was young, his family moved to a home on Portland Street in Pigtown. Mr. Harry was a 1949 graduate of Carver Vocational-Technical High School, where he studied shoe repair.

A casino is an entertainment business, and slots players are customers who visit to be entertained. Slots and card players know full well that the odds are against them leaving a casino with more dollars than they brought to play with. A slot player's entertainment is in the time spent playing, and that time is directly related to a casino's slot payout percentage. Casino state taxes are an expense that directly impacts operations and customer charges. Casinos in Nevada offer the longest playing slot times by providing customers with a 95 percent slot payout made possible by a 7.75 percent casino tax rate.

Hello dear readers, Will we see you tonight (Friday) at the free concert in Tydings Park at 7:30 p.m? Bring chairs and picnics. There is no rain location for the Gloucester City String Band, a unique mixture of Mummers music and other selections. No concert is scheduled for June 29. Have a real blast Saturday, which is Let It Go Day. First, let's go to the Saturday Havre de Grace Farmer's Market, 450 Pennington Ave., from 9 a.m. to noon. The market is sponsored by Main Street Inc. Contact Rory White, 410-939-5270.

Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown used his 18 tickets to the state skybox at FedEx Field to entertain business leaders, union officials, state politicians, lobbyists, friends and family, according to records requested by The Baltimore Sun. Guests included a number of prominent African-Americans, including Democratic Party Chairwoman Yvette Lewis, former Democratic Party treasurer Kenneth R. Banks, Podesta Group partner Paul A. Brathwaite, lobbyist...