Arts & Entertainment
Baltimore arts news in brief: through Nov. 29
Tenors in Baltimore Friday night, Alliance plans AIDS Day cabaret and more
The Canadian Tenors — easy on the eyes and ears. (Photo courtesy BSO).
Canadian Tenors here for holiday show
BSO SuperPops presents the Canadian Tenors to the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (1212 Cathedral St., Baltimore) tonight (Black Friday) at 8 p.m.
The group has taken its blend of classical and contemporary repertoire across the globe, performing with stars such as Sting, Sheryl Crow, Neil Young and Paul McCartney. Their holiday album “The Perfect Gift” went gold in Canada within three weeks and has since gone platinum.
Tickets are $28 to $63. For more information, visit bsomusic.org.
Festival of Trees this weekend
Kennedy Krieger Institute’s annual Festival of Trees starts today (Friday) at 10 am at the Maryland State Fairgrounds and goes until Sunday evening at 6 p.m.
The festival includes a fairyland forest featuring 600 decorated trees and wreaths. The weekend will also feature a train garden, live entertainment, crafts, carnival games, silent auction and 100 different gift boutiques.
Tickets are $13 and $7 for children and seniors. For more information, visit festivaloftrees.kennedykrieger.org.
World AIDS Day cabaret benefit
The Creative Alliance will host a cabaret to benefit AIDS Action Baltimore and honoring World AIDS Day with music. The event takes place at 8 p.m. on Nov. 30 at the Creative Alliance at the Patterson (3134 Eastern Ave.)
Adam Cooley, star of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” directs and sings in an evening of Broadway, pop, rock and original tunes sung by some of Baltimore’s most talented vocalists. Also included are readings from the pandemic. Cast includes Mink Stole, Sunrize Highway, Alexis Holzer, Quae Simpson, Queen Earth and more.
AIDS Action Baltimore founder Lynda Dee joins Johns Hopkins Hospital’s AIDS researchers in discussing the options moving forward in a dialogue with the audience. Tickets are $20, $15 for members of the Creative Alliance. For more information, visit creativealliance.org.
Glimpses behind closed doors
The Baltimore Symphony Associates hosts its annual fundraiser “Symphony Homes for the Holidays” beginning on Thursday morning at 10 a.m. It runs through Dec. 1 at the Monkton Mill (2019 Monkton Road).
To benefit the orchestra, attendees will get tours of historical and elegant private residences in the area.
Tickets are $30. For more information, visit bsomusic.org.
Celebrity News
Madonna announces release date for new album
‘Confessions II’ marks return to the dance floor
Pop icon Madonna on Wednesday announced that her 15th studio album will be released on July 3.
Titled “Confessions II,” the new album is a sequel to 2005’s “Confessions on a Dance Floor,” an Abba and disco-infused hit.
The new album reunites Madonna with producer Stuart Price, who also helmed the original “Confessions” album. It’s her first album of new material since 2019’s “Madame X.”
“We must dance, celebrate, and pray with our bodies,” Madonna said in a press release. “These are things that we’ve been doing for thousands of years — they really are spiritual practices. After all, the dance floor is a ritualistic space. It’s a place where you connect — with your wounds, with your fragility. To rave is an art. It’s about pushing your limits and connecting to a community of like-minded people,” continued the statement. “Sound, light, and vibration reshape our perceptions. Pulling us into a trance-like state. The repetition of the bass, we don’t just hear it but we feel it. Altering our consciousness and dissolving ego and time.”
Denali (@denalifoxx) of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” performed at Pitchers DC on April 9 for the Thirst Trap Thursday drag show. Other performers included Cake Pop!, Brooke N Hymen, Stacy Monique-Max and Silver Ware Sidora.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Arts & Entertainment
In an act of artistic defiance, Baltimore Center Stage stays focused on DEI
‘Maybe it’s a triple-down’
By LESLIE GRAY STREETER | I’m always tickled when people complain about artists “going political.” The inherent nature of art, of creation and free expression, is political. This becomes obvious when entire governments try to threaten it out of existence, like in 2025, when the brand-new presidential administration demanded organizations halt so-called diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programming or risk federal funding.
Baltimore Center Stage’s response? A resounding and hearty “Nah.” A year later, they’re still doubling down on diversity.
“Maybe it’s a triple-down,” said Ken-Matt Martin, the theater’s producing director, chuckling.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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Madonna announces release date for new album
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An effort to increase the number of psychiatrists of color
Comings & Goings
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Minimal version of ‘Streetcar Named Desire’ heading to Dupont Underground
