Lady Day

It's going to be a song-in-your-heart theater season in Baltimore, and chances are, the shows that don't leave you humming will leave you laughing.With five musical presentations, the Baltimore Center for the Performing Arts is host to one of its most song-laden seasons, highlighted by the Tony Award-winning "The Will Rogers Follies" (May 4-23, Lyric Opera House). Keith Carradine is expected to re-create his Broadway role.The Houston Grand Opera's revival of "Annie Get Your Gun" (March 9-April 4, Mechanic Theatre)

The brash and unexpurgated tongue of David Mamet will be heard at Center Stage next season. The theater will produce its first play by the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright in April. Director Irene Lewis - who was still deciding between a Mamet play and a pair of Arthur Miller one-acts when she announced the 2003-2004 season this spring - has committed to producing Mamet's Speed-the-Plow. A blistering account of the film industry, the 1988 Broadway hit is about "Hollywood, but it's more than that," said Lewis.

The sun's a demon, school's out and there's nothing on TV but reruns. So now that summer's officially here, you can use all that downtime to get lost in music. This week's playlist column is devoted to recent reissues: a deluxe edition of a rock masterpiece, two volumes of unearthed soul, an overlooked jewel of a record by a celebrated pop stylist and a newly discovered jazz album by a diva supreme. The Allman Brothers Band Eat a Peach Call me a young fogey if you want, but I'm a bit tired of the noisy, snarly garage punk sound that many rock critics seem to favor these days.

A copy of Kendel Ehrlich's private schedule came across my fax the other day, with all the stuff you'd expect to fill a busy first lady's day. A speech. A visit to the Ronald McDonald House. A dinner. And in between, some notes showing which state employees were baby-sitting the kids. From 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. one day - Monday, May 2, 2005 - it says "House coverage," meaning Government House staff watched the Ehrlichs' two young sons. The next day, from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m., it says, "Liz covering."

Samuel H. Wilson Jr. died Sunday. He was 73. He was one of the founders and guiding spirits of Arena Players, Inc., the oldest continuously operating African American theater in the country. He was a Baltimore institution. The city is the poorer without him.And so, on a blue Monday, I pushed my way through the winter chill to see Baltimore attorney Edward Smith Jr., Arena's chairman of the board."We're at a crossroads right now, we're teetering on the brink of something totally unknown and it's scary," Mr. Smith is saying.

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is offering a limited number of 'pay what-you-can" seats for a concert at 8:15 p.m. Friday in the Friedberg Hall of Peabody Conservatory.As part of the orchestra's Discovery Series, David Zinman will conduct a program of works by living composers Lawrence Moss, Michael Torke, James Willey and HK Gruber. Mr. Moss, Mr. Torke and Mr. Willey will discuss their works on stage with Mr. Zinman.The limited number of first-come, first-served concert tickets are available for as little as $1 per person at the BSO ticket office at Meyerhoff Hall.

IN THE PLAYLIST of new releases, we have Canadian singer-songwriter Wade O. Brown, taking us back to the days right before R&B became so juvenile and obsessed with artless thuggery. California session guitarist Jason Sinay colors his debut with vibrant bluesy rock tones and haunting shades of folk. And marvelous jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon returns with yet another stunning collection that showcases her fresh and criminally underrated interpretative skills. Wade O. Brown, All Night, All Love: In a sense, Brown is refreshing.

The museum of the Jewish Historical Society of Maryland has won accreditation by the American Association of Museums, the society announced recently.An agency of the Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore, the Jewish Historical Society operates the Jewish Heritage Center at 15 Lloyd St. in East Baltimore. The center includes two historic synagogues, a museum and a research center.AAM accreditation certifies that a museum operates according to the highest standards set by the profession; that it manages its collections, finances and educational programs responsibly,and that it provides quality public service.

Center Stage's recent production of August Wilson's "Two Trains Running" has become the theater's top show in terms of attendance and single-ticket income, according to the theater.The play, which had 46 performances from Nov. 10 until Dec. 18, attracted an audience of 23,160. Its sale of single tickets -- a figure which excludes subscribers -- was more than $151,000.The previous attendance record-holder was last season's production of "Othello," which attracted 21,183 people. The theater's production of "Lady Day" held the former record for income from single-ticket sales by grossing more than $147,000 two seasons ago.*Artists are invited to submit proposals for a statue commemorating the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court.

A Broadway tryout starring Ben Gazzara and four musicals, including "The Who's Tommy," will highlight the Baltimore Center for Performing Arts' 1994-1995 season, general manager Steve Goldstein has announced.The pre-Broadway show, "Flowers and Photos, An American Romance" (Morris A. Mechanic Theatre, April 4-23, 1995), is about the marriage of artist Georgia O'Keeffe and photographer Alfred Stieglitz, who will be played by Gazzara. "We are very excited to be presenting another pre-Broadway attraction," Goldstein said, referring to the BCPA's reputation as a host for tryouts.