Sheer

Here are some of the props that crop up in Center Stage's exuberant production of the 1971 rock musical Two Gentlemen of Verona: a giant inflatable pink heart, a minimotorcycle, a sofa shaped like huge red lips, a tree with bright green balloons as foliage, a laptop computer, a skateboard, a "Believe" sign and a pair of inflatable dolls with the faces of Richard Nixon and George Bush. If this seems a far cry from Shakespeare, it should. The musical - with a score by Hair's Galt MacDermot, lyrics by John Guare and a libretto by Guare and Mel Shapiro - is an uninhibited, multicultural, summer-of-love, anti-war, flower-power adaptation of the early Shakespearean comedy.

There's more buzz about pop star Britney Spears, and this time it's about a buzz of her own making -- a buzz cut, that is. Britney's gone bald. At a Los Angeles salon this past weekend, the singer apparently decided to shave off her locks, causing many observers to debate the state of her mental health. Some have called the spontaneous shearing a cry for help. Others say the move might indicate the onset of a nervous breakdown. Then there are those who say the sudden baldness might be positive for Spears -- a step toward redefining herself and taking control of her seemingly unstable life.

Be tall. Be thin. Be young.Alas, that's what one fashion director recommended when asked for tips on how best to coordinate hose with fall's new outfits.Well, if you're all of those things, you've got it made. If not, applaud her honesty. . . . and remember, she also said that there now are so many options for legwear that you're sure to find something flattering.And she's right: Driven by a combination of innovation, technology and pure marketing, women's hosiery is available now in a truly bewildering array of shades, weights and styles.

Would you rather be loved or respected? The Mo's group of seafood restaurants and markets gets a lot of the former and not much of the latter. When Anthony Bourdain chose Mo's to represent Baltimore dining on a 2009 "No Reservations" episode, Baltimore foodies were annoyed. Why Mo's, of all places? Mo's might not be where you'd send someone to form a lasting impression of Maryland seafood. But two locations near the Inner Harbor have outlived a number of highfalutin seafood restaurants that weren't as smart about catering to tourist tastes.

In state-of-the-art homes teeming with technological toys, the notion of a daybed is almost anachronistic. Even the word seems oddly old-fashioned. But despite its quaint label, the daybed has been inching its way back into the design lexicon and retail stores for the last few years. Often deeper than a sofa, or slim as a twin bed with or without sides, it's more a generous settee than a one-sided chaise. Designed for more than sitting, it beckons. Whether you sit, sprawl or flat out nap on it, the daybed is the ultimate piece of cocooning furniture.

Even after a century of abstract art, the viewer tends to try to find suggestions of representation in abstract work. Jon Isherwood's fine stone sculptures at the C. Grimaldis Gallery serve as a good case in point.The sculptures don't depict anything. The artist leaves some of the sides of his stone slabs in their natural state, smooths and polishes others, makes striation-like cuts, often hollows them out so that one can peer into a vertical interior space but not penetrate it.As worked pieces of stone, they fully satisfy the demands of sculpture.

For many who spent yesterday at the Preakness infield, the hangover won't be the worst part of this morning. It'll be the YouTube video. For years, the Preakness infield was described as a drunken bacchanalia with a horse race encircling it. But for those who didn't attend, the best sense they could get of the rowdy spree came after the crowd had cleared out, as TV videos and newspaper photos showed tons of garbage being collected. The mainstream media - produced for a family audience - couldn't adequately describe the debauchery of the infield.

It's beach season. In these parts, that means negotiating traffic to the other shore with friends and coolers in tow. Memorial Day weekend, summer's first official three days of downtime, is a chance to unwind and frolic, so there's no place in the duffel bag for head-to-toe outfits. Glamour looks are for luxury hotel vamps who wear their diamonds and pearls at poolside.Beach togs should be water-friendly, comfortable and inexpensive, because they take sand-and-sun abuse and seldom survive more than one season of playtime.

From the opening electronic tickertape messages, relaying birthday greetings and instructions on audience behavior, to the deliriously multisensory finale, the Blue Man Group show at the Hippodrome Theatre packs a wallop. It's a big, loud, funny, silly, visually arresting production. There's no point in trying to classify what these performers, with their trademark blue faces and bald, earless heads, do onstage for the better part of 90 minutes. It's much easier to go with the flow — and duck down in your seat when those guys start roaming the aisles.

Amtrak trains had empty seats. Cab drivers at Baltimore's Penn Station were standing around wondering where everyone was. Traffic on local highways chugged along for much of the day. And through midafternoon, the lines never seemed more than 20-deep at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. The lost-baggage offices were nearly empty, and the Starbucks had two more workers than customers. Yesterday was an oddly drama-free day for many travelers, who had braced for a wild, woolly Thanksgiving rush but found themselves ahead of schedule and far less harried than they expected.