Troupe

You can't beat Bob Fosse. The dance moves created by the late, legendary Broadway choreographer are so definitive that their interpretations by local choreographer Lori Struss are reason enough to see "Chicago," now being revived by Columbia's Silhouette Stages. The production, which runs at Slayton House until the end of the weekend, has more to offer than spiffy dance moves, however. There's also some fine acting, powerful singing and a story that's, well, pretty strange, but nonetheless interesting and very provocative.

The closet of an empowered female stretches further than a gray pantsuit. For Hamilton resident Ruby Rockafella, female empowerment includes fake eyelashes, wigs, drag makeup and even waist cinchers. Rockafella, 31, is a burlesque performer and one of the founding members of Baltimore's newest burlesque troupe, Bawdy Shop Burlesque. Contrary to social construction, burlesque is a raw art form that allows women to explore and celebrate themselves, explained Rockafella. "As girls, we grow up being told what length of skirt is appropriate, when it's OK to speak up, that we have to be 'proper,'" she said.

On March 13, 2005, THELMA TROUPE of Decatur, GA, formerly of Baltimore, MD. Funeral Services will be held on Friday, March 18 at 10:30 A.M. at Dulaney Memorial Gardens, 200 E. Padonia Rd, Timonium, MD 21093

After three successful seasons, the Annapolis Shakespeare Company is completing its final production as a resident theater company at Bowie Playhouse with a fine production of Shakespeare's "The Tempest," continuing weekends through Aug. 17. Annapolis Shakespeare was founded in 2009 by Sally Boyett as a workshop group and quickly rose to become an accomplished performance company at Bowie Playhouse. Nevertheless, when the troupe made its Bowie debut in 2011 with "Twelfth Night," one could hardly have anticipated it outgrowing this venue in just three years.

The Annapolis Middle School Dance Company next year will become the state's first middle school to perform in a college football bowl game when it takes the field at halftime of the Orange Bowl in Miami on Jan. 3. The 12-member dance company will be among 1,000 student performers in the sporting event known for its halftime entertainment. The Orange Bowl game will be played at the 75,000-seat Sun Life Stadium, which is also the home of the Miami Dolphins and Florida Marlins. "We are very proud and excited to represent our school and all of the dancers in our country," Annapolis Middle dance company director Kendra Smith said in a statement Friday.

Eggs, cabbage, celery, beets - not great ingredients for an omelet, perhaps, but ideal for a multimedia genre defined as "puppet cinema. " Welcome to "Planet Egg," a show taking over the Baltimore Theatre Project for the weekend with a mix of edibles, found objects, puppetry, music and live-feed video. It's the brainchild of Zvi Sahar, an Israeli-born, New Jersey-based actor, director and puppeteer. At his parents' home in Israel a few years ago, Sahar was watching his father working on a phone and his mother making sunny-side-up eggs.

It's a little-known fact now, but when the musical "Chicago" made its Broadway debut in 1975, it wasn't much of a hit, running less than a thousand performances. It only became a smash musical and movie when it was revived decades later. That's because it was way ahead of its time, said Conni Ross, who is co-directing a revival of the play for Columbia's Silhouette Stages that opens Friday, May 24. "In the director's notes, one of the things I wrote was, 'This show is as relevant now as it was when it was written,' " said Ross, who is sharing directorial duties with her frequent collaborator Debbie Mobley.

Over the past decade or so, Baltimore has experienced a boom in small theater companies founded by young college grads dedicated to producing adventurous, contemporary plays. The boom continues. Making its debut this week is the Interrobang Theatre Company, formed by recent alumni of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, all of them in their early 20s. "I graduated from UMBC in 2012 with a theater degree," says Katie Hileman, Interrobang's artistic director. "I was sitting at home realizing that all my talented friends were sitting at home, too. We hadn't found theater work that offered pay in Baltimore.

Abby Trader, 22, of Anneslie, used to perform in competitions as a member of the Rebounders Gymnastics Club in Timonium. This week, though, the University of Maryland student and daughter of Anneslie residents Chuck and Miriam Trader is performing on a slightly larger stage — on national television as a member of the Gymkana team on the NBC television show "America's Got Talent. " And the stakes are slightly higher: $1 million. Gymkana was slated to be one of 12 acts competing on the talent show on Tuesday, Aug. 29. After that performance, votes from viewers via phone and the Internet would determine if the team made it into the top 10 round.

Stephanie M. Troupe, a retired real estate agent, died Monday of respiratory illness at Stella Maris Hospice. The Rodgers Forge resident was 69.Services for Mrs. Troupe were being held today at St. David's Episcopal Church, 4700 Roland Ave.The former Stephanie Murphy was a native of Baltimore. She was a granddaughter of Ned Hanlon, manager of the pennant-winning Orioles of the 1890s.She is survived by her husband, Baker Hull Troupe; four sons, James Patrick Graham IV of Annapolis, Michael Hanlon Graham and Daniel Kelly Graham, both of Baltimore, and Stephen Murphy Graham of Columbia; three brothers, Clarke Murphy Jr. and E. Hanlon Murphy, both of Baltimore, and John T. Murphy II of Charlotte, N.C.; two sisters, Jane M. Kearns of Milwaukee and Celestine M. Hoffman of Wyckoff, N.J.; and eight grandchildren.

Tom Sankey has had an ace up his sleeve for over a year, and he's about to play it. On Wednesday, the 40th season of Howard County Summer Theatre will commence, and the longtime director and his all-volunteer cast and crew will present the first of eight performances of "Les Miserables. " Sankey, who is also a math teacher at Mount Hebron High School, was one of the first in the country to obtain the licensing rights for a live performance of the full-length stage version of Victor Hugo's classic tale of redemption, which were granted to the summer theater troupe in February 2013.

If most of us consider it an accomplishment to walk and chew gum at the same time, the Peking Acrobats are way beyond the human norm when it comes to physical dexterity. They'll demonstrate their extreme feats when appearing at a Columbia Festival of the Arts event on Saturday, June 21 at 8 p.m. at the Jim Rouse Theatre at Wilde Lake. These jugglers, tumblers, cyclists, gymnasts and contortionists do things so difficult that you wonder how in the world they're able to do some of them.

This month, Compass Rose founding artistic director Lucinda Merry-Browne offers an ambitious finish to the theater's third season, bringing to Annapolis a play that she also directs. The show is Frank Anthony Polito's "Another Day on Willow Street," which received a New York City Fringe Festival workshop presentation in August 2007. Merry-Browne welcomes the challenge, noting that "producing a new play is vital to the future of theater. New works are crucial for the theater, actors and audiences to experience.

"Brief Encounter," David Lean's 1945 movie based on a Noel Coward play about a thwarted romance, has long been spoken of with great reverence and routinely accorded four-star status. Personally, I'd shave off a half a star, if only because the soundtrack is so overstuffed with Rachmaninoff's surging, sighing Piano Concerto No. 2. Still, count me among those who treasure the film. Count me, too, among those who find much to savor in the theatrical version of "Brief Encounter," created by the U.K.-based troupe called Kneehigh in 2008.

Over the past decade or so, Baltimore has experienced a boom in small theater companies founded by young college grads dedicated to producing adventurous, contemporary plays. The boom continues. Making its debut this week is the Interrobang Theatre Company, formed by recent alumni of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, all of them in their early 20s. "I graduated from UMBC in 2012 with a theater degree," says Katie Hileman, Interrobang's artistic director. "I was sitting at home realizing that all my talented friends were sitting at home, too. We hadn't found theater work that offered pay in Baltimore.

Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" is perhaps the world's best-known love story - a tragic tale of forbidden love between teenagers from warring families. Consequently, any producer offering his or her own presentation must bring new insight and a fresh approach, a tough act for a story that has withstood the ages. Aware of this daunting challenge, Compass Rose Theater founding artistic director Lucinda Merry-Browne, who serves in its production of "Romeo and Juliet" as producer and director, noted the necessity of "creating a production that would tell the story in an authentic and powerful way. " Convinced that "Romeo and Juliet" is suited to Compass Rose's teaching mission, Merry-Browne cast very young actors in the title roles - 14-year-old Sydney Maloney as Juliet and 17-year-old Eli Pendry as Romeo.

"Hop. One, two, three, four. Back. One, two, three, four. " In the basement at St. Pius X Catholic Church at 6428 York Road in Rodgers Forge, 12 girls and one boy practiced Irish dance for Baltimore's upcoming St. Patrick's Day parade. "What do you do if someone in the crowd waves at you?" their teacher and director of the Egan School of Irish Dance Becky Egan Hogg asked them. Thirteen small faces stared back at her. They knew their steps, but for many, this was their first parade experience.

Howard County theater students from several schools showcased their acting chops last weekend at the 2014 Maryland State Thespian Festival in Calvert County. During the two-day event, more than 800 students from high schools across the state traveled to Huntingtown High School to perform on stage, compete for college scholarships and participate in workshops to hone their talents. Hunter Richardson, a junior at Oakland Mills High School, acknowledges that she was nervous before her troupe's performance before a judging panel of professionals.