Snow White

TEACHER GEORGIANN Carlson has a valid literary criticism.She says that fairy tales such as Cinderella and Snow White are sexist because both young ladies don't find happiness until some macho prince comes along.They also lack independence and self-worth. Snow White, she points out, is content to cook and clean for a gang of dwarfs.There's much more that bothers Carlson: The emphasis on good looks, the idea that being old means being ugly and women being portrayed as competitive and jealous.

Walt Disney has taken over my daughter's brain. She's not even two, but she's already obsessed with the Disney cartoon versions of "Snow White," "Cinderella" and "Sleeping Beauty," all of which have the same plot: The heroine is beautiful, but sad. Or in a coma. But wait! Here comes a handsome prince! He kisses her! She's happy! Everybody's happy! Even the woodland creatures are dancing! I have big problems with this. For one thing, if you see a squirrel dancing, you are looking at the final stages of rabies.

Do the locomotionHear them chug and see them tug at the Great Scale Train Show this weekend at the Maryland State Fairgrounds. See the Mason-Dixon Large Scale Railroad Society's garden layout, the Western Maryland Modular Layout, the huge Baltimore NTrak display and other detailed train layouts in all scales.Fine tune your own models with new and rare equipment, model trains and related items from over 700 tables of dealers. Sit in on demonstrations and clinics offered for those wanting to create more complex modeling techniques.

While an engaging work, Artistic Director Edward Stewart's "Snow White," wasn't always theatrically coherent. Several dramatic questions were left hanging in this new ballet, presented as the second act of Ballet Theatre of Annapolis' spring program, yet there were enough solid dancing and winsome performances by this personable company to offset any flawed logic or unique interpretation of the fairy tale.Mr. Stewart's enjoyable one-act ballet in six scenes with a lengthy prologue benefited from sophisticated staging, clever costuming (with more than a passing nod to Disney)

This week's featured adaptation is "Mirror, Mirror," the humorous retelling of the Grimm fairy tale about Snow White and the jealous Queen, and reviews are encouraging. Of course, it won't have a chance of beating the debut of "The Hunger Games," which brought in more than $150 million in its opening weekend. But it looks like an entertaining treatment, and the cast has some star power with Julia Roberts and Nathan Lane. Here are excerpts from "Mirror, Mirror" reviews.

Edward Stewart, artistic director for the Ballet Theatre of Annapolis, has, with his newest ballet, "Oriental," created a wonderfully expressive abstract dance for his very talented company. The ballet evokes all the mystery, sensuality and bustle of the Orient. It premiered last weekend at the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts in Annapolis.The secret to the ballet's success is Mr. Stewart's fine sense of musicality, which adhered to and illustrated the evocative music by John Adams and Colin McPhee.

If a dorky looking guy with a bad perm and a "Vote for Pedro" T-shirt shows up at your door Monday night, don't be alarmed. Napoleon Dynamite costumes are among the most popular flying off the shelves as kids young and old get ready for Halloween. We checked with several stores in the area to see what else you can expect on your doorstep this year. Target in White Marsh Men: Napoleon Dynamite Women: Daisy Duke Children: Disney characters (especially Mickey, Minnie, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White)

Bruce E. Williamson's successes in the business world certainly could fill that book he wants to write about what it takes to make it.But ask him for the key to success, and he'll boil it down to just one sentence."

Train and toy showGet on track for the holidays as Greenberg's "Great Train and Collectible Toy Show" rolls into the Maryland State Fairgrounds Saturday and Sunday. See operating layouts from local model railroad clubs, attend informative workshops, browse the holiday market with its selection of toy and model trains, train parts and accessories, action figures and other collectible toys. See the Cactus Valley Railroad, built by modeler Dave Frary, featuring authentic desert scenery. And you'll think you're in New York City as you examine Baltimore artisan Roy Insley's Radio City Music Hall in miniature.

IF OLIVER STONE produced children's classics:* "Three Little Pigs" -- Weird vibes in Pigland. Two-thirds of the population has mysteriously chosen to live in inferior housing. Now there's a renegade Wolf on the loose, Cuban-trained, a veteran of four years with the mujahedeen in Afghanistan.When the Wolf creates an unearthly wind tunnel that destroys the flimsy straw and stick houses of two terrified Pig brothers, they flee to the home of a third brother, an ex-Vietnam vet and low-level aide in the Nixon White House.