Tap Dancing

Despite its title, the current Baltimore Symphony SuperPops program - "A Star-Spangled Salute with Marvin Hamlisch" - isn't just a flag-waving, Yankee Doodle, born on the Fourth of July patriotic spectacle. Sure, the program boasts patriotic songs aplenty, and ends with a red-white-and-blue salute to Old Glory itself. But there was also ample time allotted for other forms of Americana, and that, ultimately, was what made yesterday's performance at the Meyerhoff so thoroughly entertaining.

Andy MacPhail is meticulous. And deliberate. And slooooooooow. If he were a financial adviser, he would be the guy whose portfolio was made up mostly of low-risk, long-term bonds. He labors over every detail, leaving no single stone unturned before giving the go-ahead. Often, as with the Erik Bedard trade, it appears to work in his favor. With Nick Markakis, however, I feel as if he's tap-dancing around the obvious for no good reason. ( For more, go to baltimoresun.com/lifeofkings)

Musical extravaganza -- Howard County Players, a musical theater group of adults and Howard County high school students, will present Cole Porter's tap-dancing musical extravaganza Anything Goes at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Long Reach High School, 6101 Old Dobbin Lane, Columbia. Above, Karice Parada is Bonnie LaTour, and Roger Schulman portrays Moonface Martin, Public Enemy No. 13. The production is directed by Howard County drama teacher Mo Dutterer. Tickets, which can be reserved in advance or purchased at the door, are $10; $7 for senior citizens and students.

Dundalk Community Theatre. Auditions for the musical Sugar Babies 1 p.m.-3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and 7 p.m.-9 p.m. Monday at the theater, 7200 Sollers Point Road. Most roles require comic timing, singing and dancing (two roles require tap dancing). Performance dates are Oct. 25-27 and Nov. 1-3. For more information, call Tom Colonna at 410-285-9889 or send an e-mail to tcolonna@ccbcmd.edu. Merely Players. Auditions for a production of Raggedy Ann and Andy will be held at 7 p.m. Aug. 29 and noon Aug. 31, at the Chesapeake Arts Center, 194 Hammonds Lane in Brooklyn Park.

A theater normally reminds its audience to be quiet during the show, but a program note for Theatre Project's latest production states: "Audience interaction is essential to pantomime, so forget all the normal rules of behavior." Considering how many lively children were in the audience for a recent performance of the British pantomime-style Puss in Boots, this served as an invitation for kids and parents alike to abandon theatrical etiquette. It's a family-oriented show that openly courts giggling, cheering, hissing, clapping, whistling, prancing and tap dancing.

Martha Hill, 94, a modern dance pioneer and educator who founded programs that trained several generations of top American choreographers, died Sunday in New York. She founded dance programs at the Juilliard School in New York, Bennington College in Vermont and Connecticut College, whose American Dance Festival was moved to Duke University in North Carolina in 1978.Tommie Baker, 70, a child actor from Hollywood's golden age, died Saturday in Lumberton, N.C. A tap-dancing whiz, he was discovered at age 8 in an amateur talent show.

Life is complicated and stressful, which is why we have TV to make us feel smart, and to help us sleep. CBS' "Diagnosis of Murder" is for those who find CBS' "Murder, She Wrote" too subtle. "Diagnosis" takes a basic three-suspect, two-clue "Murder" plot and stretches it out over two hours (Sunday at 9 p.m. on Channel 11), filling in the dead spots with obvious hints and a lot of footage of Dick Van Dyke tap-dancing.Mr. Van Dyke plays Dr. Mark Sloan, a fatherly internal medicine specialist with the proverbial penchant for sleuthing.

Harford Dance Theatre will perform The Little Mermaid in Harford Community College's Chesapeake Theater Thursday and Friday, May 16 and 17 at 7p.m., Saturday, May 18 at 3 and 7 p.m., and Sunday, May 19 at 1 and 4 p.m. Based on the magical tale by Hans Christian Andersen, the stage comes to life with colorful fish, sparkling seahorses, a wicked sea witch and evil sea monkeys in a fun-filled retelling of the story of a young mermaid who gives up...

Keri Burneston knows fun. As co-founder of the Baltimore-based performance art group Fluid Movement, she's planned and directed a variety of successful and light-hearted productions, including a 1999 water ballet at the Patterson Park pool and last spring's Go-Go Pirate Show aboard the Constellation. So it's only natural that her side project, a neo-burlesque revue, would also have equal amounts of creativity, humor and tomfoolery. Trixie Little Goes to Outer Space, which showcases the performance talents of both Burneston and her boyfriend, Adam Krandle, is a combination of comedy and theatrics, with a little va-va-voom thrown into the mix. And though their act is classified as burlesque, it doesn't have the seed of a back bar tease or the vamp of a traditional Sally Rand style fan dance, she said.

Betty Davis, 86, a former tap dancing champion and a fellow of the Royal Academy of Dancing, died Saturday in London. She worked for the academy for more than 30 years until her retirement in 1968. She was made a fellow nine years ago.Scott Smith, 46, the former lover of slain San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, died of pneumonia Saturday night at San Francisco General Hospital. He moved to San Francisco from New York in 1972 to live with Mr. Milk, and their relationship endured until 1977, a year before Mr. Milk, the first openly gay supervisor in San Francisco history, was assassinated.