Hammerjacks

THEATER'Servant of Two Masters'Center Stage's anything-but-subtle approach to "Servant of Two Masters" elicits 20th century belly laughs from Carlo Goldoni's 18th century script. Under the direction of Irene Lewis, the production proves a delightful vehicle for one of the theater's favorite clowns, Robert Dorfman. The final performances of the run are at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. today and at 2 p.m. tomorrow, at Center Stage, 700 N. Calvert St. Tickets are $10-$35. For information, call (410) 332-0033.

Steeltown, the Dundalk entertainment complex that opened with a great deal of fanfare last May, has closed its doors.The club at 2401 North Point Blvd., which filed for bankruptcy in August and a month later scaled back its ambitious plans for regular bookings of nationally known acts, closed for business Saturday night."The income just wasn't there," general manager Larry Milburn said yesterday. "At this juncture, [the club is] better off being closed."Mr. Milburn, who said he was owed money by the club, said there was a possibility a new investor might come forward to reopen the facility but said he could not provide any details.

THE MUSIC OF Tony Berry and New Money gave partygoers a good aerobic workout at the Heart Ball Saturday night. Fitness was the theme of this annual fund-raiser, and Paul Wolhman's decorations were just what the doctor ordered -- high tech with lots of neon, black lighting and cutout dance figures in neon colors. And it's really amusing to see that the Electric Slide has made such a comeback and is one of the most popular dances at area galas.Even the guest of honor, Dr. Elijah Saunders, head of hypertension of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, spent a lot of time on the dance floor.

All summer, it seemed as if everyone in the music industry was singing the same song: the "Business Is Bad" blues. As the fall approaches, few expect to change their tune -- but they are changing their tactics.Those on the concert side are scaling back after a summer that saw ticket sales off by 20 percent and several major tours canceled. There are some stars hitting the road now -- soul crooner Luther Vandross, hard rockers Van Halen and dance idol Paula Abdul among them -- but many more will be sitting out the season in hope that the new year will bring better business.

A dispute over a stolen jacket sparked a shooting early yesterday outside a downtown Baltimore convenience store that left a teen-ager and a young man critically wounded, city police said.Michael Jason Wedington, 17, of the 400 block of Westhills Road in West Baltimore and Marcus Jefferson Waters, 20, of the 3600 block of Harlem Ave. in Baltimore were in critical condition yesterday afternoon at Maryland Shock Trauma Center, a hospital spokeswoman said.Police said the shooting occurred about 2: 40 a.m. outside a 7-Eleven store in the 200 block of N. Eutaw St., near Saratoga Street.

It's not unusual for area concert promoters to talk about a "soft" market or a lack of quality shows during the post-holiday season.But the problems in booking performances this season has extended beyond the run-of-the-mill weather related difficulties and lack of record sales after Christmas.One promoter said thinking about the future of live music in the Baltimore-Washington marketplace is "frightening."A quick glimpse at the concert calendar shows its obvious holes.The Capital Centre has four acts on its schedule: ZZ Top (Sunday and Monday)

Baltimore police have identified one of the victims of the multiple stabbings that occurred early Saturday inside the downtown nightclub Bourbon Street. Charles Johnson , 24, died of his injuries. The three other victims were transported to local hospitals and are expected to survive, according to spokesman Detective Jeremy Silbert. Police responded at 1 a.m. to Bourbon Street, on the 300 block of Guilford Avenue, to find four men stabbed inside the club, Silbert said.

A development plan that includes a tower to rival the city's tallest skyscrapers could mean the demolition of yet another vestige of downtown's historic architecture. Setting up what would be downtown Baltimore's third preservation face-off in less than a year, a Washington-area development team is in early talks with the city about building a mixed-use project near the end of the Jones Falls Expressway, including a tower that could rise as high as 60 stories. To make that happen, the developers would need to raze the Terminal Warehouse, an unimposing brick edifice that has stood on the Guilford Avenue site since 1894 - and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1975.

For Bret Michael, 2010 has been a year for surviving. First, the veteran frontman for the metal band Poison went on "The Celebrity Apprentice" and survived all the way to the end, winning the competition and raising more than $600,000 for diabetes research (he was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes in 1969, at age 6). During and after the show's filming, he survived several health scares, including an emergency appendectomy, a brain hemorrhage and diagnosis of a heart defect that will require surgery early next year.

With a name like Every Mother's Nightmare, image can be big problem."We're kind of viewed like some thrash heavy metal metal band -- death metal or something," said guitarist Steve Malone.It's an easy, yet false, assumption to make. The album cover is full of dark features and the band's gothic logo, featuring an angry skull, certainly don't help to sell it as anything even remotely mainstream.But all it takes is one listen to Nightmare's self-titled debut album -- just your basic Southern-influenced hard rock with a couple of power ballads thrown in -- to realize that this is one band that shouldn't be judged by its cover.