Troupe

Those attending the debut of Baltimore's newest theater troupe will find a sign in the lobby reading: "Depending on how things are going, this performance might or might not contain a brief intermission." Welcome to the weird and wacky world of 9 Imaginary Cows Theater Collective. These four current and former members of the Towson University graduate theater program revel in unpredictability and make an art form of keeping the audience off-balance. "A couple of years ago, I attended a performance at Arena Stage during which the lead actress developed a nosebleed while on stage," says Tom Shade, a playwright and founding member of the troupe.

Scrutinize your salad. Peruse the parsnips. Better yet, concentrate on the carrots. Do you see one - and only one - vertical orange veggie brandishing a playbill and a miniature AK-47? Baltimore's newest theater troupe takes its name from a quote by the painter Paul Cezanne: "The day is coming when a single carrot, freshly observed, will set off a revolution." Single Carrot Theatre's opening salvo will be fired tonight at the company's official debut at Theatre Project, when Single Carrot opens a two-week, 11-performance run of Adam Rapp's Red Light Winter.

Taunting Frenchmen and a killer rabbit are at the gates of Baltimore. The touring company of Monty Python's Spamalot begins its 16-show run tonight at the Hippodrome Theatre. Spamalot, which opened on Broadway two years ago, is "lovingly ripped off" from the British comedy troupe's 1975 movie, Monty Python and the Holy Grail - with other brave and strong bits thrown in. Spamalot runs today through March 18, times vary, Hippodrome Theatre at the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center. Tickets, $30-$75, at BroadwayAcrossAmerica.

Growing up in Westminster, young Andy Sapora dreamed of navigating the stars as an astronaut. Today at 29, he is working with the wildest of stars, juggling and joking on stages around the world. A performance by the Flying Karamazov Brothers 16 years ago altered the direction of Sapora's life. So impressed was he, that joining the troupe became a driving ambition. "I saw them and said, `That's for me,'" he said. It took 16 years, but in January, after days of rigorous tryouts, Sapora was called to the brotherhood by the renowned stars of catch and kitsch.

Eat your veggies, quit smoking and get some exercise - sage advice for staying healthy and fit. But a Howard County group credits something else for sustaining vim and vigor - theatrical involvement, which they get as members of the Fabulous Fifty-Plus Players. A new study supports what they and the arts community have suspected all along - that singing, dancing and acting can be good for your health. At a time in life when many people start slowing down, these folks, ranging in age from 50 to 80-somethings, do the opposite.

Before the music started, they could have been anybody - just another group of mostly teen-age girls chattering about their lives, adjusting their hair, sizing up Britney, stretching. But then someone pushed play on the mini-boombox, and the crew of 10 became stars, no longer subject to the rules of gravity. As War's funky "Slippin' Into Darkness" filled the rehearsal room, they leapt, twirled and flew through the air, fluidly becoming one body with seemingly superb control of its 40 limbs.

When Lt. Mike Subelsky transferred from a base in rural Japan to Fort Meade, he looked forward to joining a comedy group here. But, after several months of searching for one, he came up short. So he improvised. "I started my own," said the 27-year-old National Security Agency cryptologist, who can't talk much about his day job. Last January, Subelsky printed fliers and posted messages on Internet forums looking for prospective members. Eight months later, he had settled on a core group of 13 people, and the Baltimore Improv Group held its first public show.

What could be more fitting than a musical about senior citizens trying (albeit in bizarre fashion) to shake off the doldrums of old age -- brought to the stage by a group of older players with their unique brand of vim and vigor? That ensemble is Howard County's own Fabulous Fifty Plus Players, a troupe of actors known for bringing plays, revues and vignettes to nursing homes and retirement communities in the area. The show the troupe will present over the next two weekends at Howard County Center for the Arts in Ellicott City is "70, Girls, 70," the quirky 1971 musical by John Kander and Fred Ebb, the pair responsible for such mega-hits as "Cabaret," "Chicago" and "Kiss of the Spider Woman."

In the theater, often you have to make your own breaks. That's what Rebecca Kotraba is doing by forming her own troupe, the Long Reach Players. Kotraba, 23, explored some of the area's established community theaters. "They were really not open to new people," she says. "It was like banging my head against a brick wall." As she met other people who said they'd had a similar experience, Kotraba decided to create a new outlet for would-be theater artists. The Players held its initial interest meeting last month - another is scheduled for Oct. 19 - and will present its first production, "As It Was," on Nov. 11. As the name implies, the company is based in Columbia's Long Reach Village Center, where Kotraba has been working as a program coordinator with the Long Reach Community Association for nearly a year.

When Amanda Yuan of Clarksville was 3 years old, she would often hide under the tables at preschool, too shy to play with the other kids. Her parents decided to get her involved in anything that would bolster her social skills, and signed her up at a drama learning center. Now, you would never know that the 11-year-old budding actress ever struggled to assert herself . On Thursday, she will be one of the youngest among a group of child performers - including three from Maryland - to take part in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade finale in New York City.