Snow White

The relationship between the Christmas season and children grew even closer last weekend when the Children's Theatre of Annapolis presented a cute, charming, funny production of "Snow White Goes West" at the Pascal Theater of Anne Arundel Community College.In this version of the Grimm brothers' tale, Snow White leaves Disney behind and heads to California with her Pappy to cash in on the gold strike of the 1840s.When Mr. White marries the dubious Queenie and dies suddenly, his daughter is left in the clutches of that devious saloonkeeper.

More than 200 artisans will be on hand for the Glen Burnie High School annual winter craft fair, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.The fair, sponsored by the Class of '97, the Key Club and the Interact Club, offers one-stop holiday shopping.To accommodate the increased number of craftsmen and women and shoppers, the fair site has been expanded to include the cafeteria, math wing and the industrial arts building.Coordinator Mary Huey has recommended a route that will allow visitors to "see it all."

The stage is set for 'Miss Saigon's' three-month run at 0) Kennedy CenterHow do you follow up a mega-hit musical adaptation of the epic novel "Les Miserables"? That show's composer, Claude-Michel Schonberg, and lyricist, Alain Boublil, turned to Puccini's "Madama Butterfly" and came up with a Vietnamized version called "Miss Saigon," which begins a three-month engagement at Washington's Kennedy Center on Tuesday.Set in Saigon in 1975, the musical -- currently in its fifth year on London's West End and its third year on Broadway -- re-casts the main characters as a GI and a Vietnamese bar girl.

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.

WE ARE here to say goodbye to Pablo Escobar, otherwise known to those who loved him as "El Snow White."He lived a short but fruitful life distributing joy and cheer wherever he went. Just after his 44th birthday he was gunned down by vicious, cruel Colombian troops who were jealous of his looks and power.El Snow White was a good man, and because of that he had his detractors. Many people said that he was a murderer, an assassin, an arsonist, a smuggler and the person responsible for blowing up a Colombian airline with 107 people on board.

LOS ANGELES -- Once upon a time, there was a girl named Snow White, two brothers named Grimm and a guy named Walt Disney.Snow was having a bit of trouble with her evil stepmother. The Brothers Grimm picked up on the story. Disney turned it into a Technicolor wonder of animation.Fifty-six years later, the re-release of Disney's popular film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" invites comparisons to the Grimms' 19th-century version of the tale.Disney did not stray too far from the Grimms' rendition, according to one expert.

Seven harsh truths about "Snow White":1.) The dwarfs aren't really that great.2.) The prince? A geek.3.) Snow's singing voice gets on your last nerve.4.) Dopey? You'd lock up your kids if he moved into the 'hood.5.) No, they didn't have to re-upholster all 5,000 seats in Radio City Music Hall after the movie had played because of all the "accidents" but . . . isn't it pretty to think so?6.) How overrated is "Some Day My Prince Will Come"?7.) The little bump on the witch's nose was the scariest thing about her and probably cost a generation of grandmothers millions of kisses and hugs.

Md. intrastate calls now less expensiveThe cost of intrastate phone calls in Maryland plunged by 19.8 percent in the past year, but remains slightly above the national average, a new survey says.National Utility Service Inc., a consulting firm, looked at the cost of a three-minute, 25-mile call within a "local area," in telephone terms. Maryland's cost fell from 86 cents in 1992 to 69 cents, compared with a U.S. average of 66 cents.National Utility Service attributed the drop, the second-largest in the country, to increased competition here.

Remember the movie ''The French Connection''? Gene Hackman and the New York City P.D. break up an international heroin ring.Well, listen. Those guys in the Big Apple have got nothing on us. Why, right here in Westminster, Maryland, the mighty Carroll County drug task force has just smashed a narcotics empire headed by the notorious ''Snow White.'' I hear Hollywood's going to make a movie about the raid. It'll be called ''The Disneyland Connection.''Here's the plot. A crack team of investigators got this tip from the narcs in California that a big load of dope would arrive at a farm outside Westminster.

Take a ride on a "Carousel."The North Carroll High School drama club will present Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Carousel" as its annual spring musical at 7 p.m. Thursday and 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday.For $3 each, audience members will be treated to the touching story of "diamond-in-the-rough" Billy and his wife, Julie."It's a really heartbreaking story," said North Carroll's drama teacher and the play's director, Roberta Rooney. "It has beautiful music.""It's a classic," said Becca Raub, who plays Julie.