Arts Archives - Page 32 of 40

Watkins Mill High School Theater and ESOL Teacher, Sharon Faber, Wins $4,900 Grant From Wolf Trap

Published November 3, 2022 at 5:57AM

Sharon Faber, theater and ESOL teacher at Watkins Mill High School, has won a $4,900 grant from the Wolf Trap Foundation. Faber’s project, called Theater to Heal, is focused on Emergent Multilingual Learner (EML) students. Theater to Heal will nurture a sense of community and connectedness, make students feel more anchored in the present, and let their stories and voices be heard in a culminating presentation or reflection piece.

Students will take part in a drama residency or master classes that speak to their cultural perspectives and personal beliefs, such as Signature Theater’s program in Contemporary Immigration Issues. They will also attend a live professional show at a local theater, where they will see the many aspects that go into a full-fledged production and explore how to incorporate their own voices and aesthetic sense into a performance.

Ben Feigin, MoCo Native and Emmy-Winning Producer of Schitt’s Creek, Has Died at 47

By MCS Staff

Published October 28, 2022 at 6:18AM | Updated October 28, 2022 at 7:58AM

Award-winning producer and Silver Spring native Ben Feigin, who served as an executive producer on Schitt’s Creek, died at his home in Los Angeles on October 24 following a battle with pancreatic cancer, according to E! News. He was 47 years old.

Per IMDB, Ben Feigin was the Executive Producer behind the Critically Acclaimed Series, Schitt’s Creek, which made history at the 2020 Emmys with its clean sweep, garnering Ben an Emmy Award for “Outstanding Comedy Series.” Ben was nominated in 2019 as well. In 2021 Feigin Won the prestigious Producers Guild Award for “Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Comedy,” and was nominated in 2020 as well for the Golden Globe Winner. Prior, Ben worked in representation for over two decades.

‘Certain Party or Parties Unknown’ Art Exhibit in Silver Spring to Open on Wednesday, Nov. 2, and Be Available Through Jan. 13

By MCS Staff

Published October 28, 2022 at 5:17AM

The Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County (AHCMC) is presenting the social justice projection art initiative raising awareness of three African American men who fell victim to racial terror lynchings in Montgomery County in the 1880s. Those victims were John Diggs-Dorsey, George Peck and Sidney Randolph. The Silver Spring Civic Building is located at 1 Veterans Plaza in Downtown Silver Spring.

An opening reception for the Certain Party or Parties Unknown gallery exhibition will be held from 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 2. Visitors will experience the new indoor exhibition and an original outdoor installation projected onto the face of the Silver Spring Civic Building throughout the evening by award-winning editor, video journalist and multimedia artist Robin Bell. Tickets can be reserved at https://cppugalleryexhibition.eventbrite.com.

MCPS Marching Band Showcase Rocks the Field

By MCS Staff

Published October 27, 2022 at 7:14AM | Updated October 27, 2022 at 7:39AM

For the first time since 2019, James Hubert Blake High School hosted the MCPS Marching Band Showcase. During the Oct. 22 event, nine high school and 10 middle school bands performed everything from disco and Latin music to Billy Joel music and ‘80s hits. Performing high schools were: Clarksburg, Seneca Valley, Watkins Mill, Paint Branch, Col. Zadok Magruder, Damascus, Albert Einstein, Montgomery Blair and Blake (video below).

All the middle school bands performed together, playing the national anthem to kick off the event. Students from Parkland, Silver Spring International, Francis Scott Key, Takoma Park, Robert Frost, Thomas W. Pyle, William H. Farquhar, White Oak, Sligo and John Poole middle schools participated. The grand finale included all bands performing Thriller by Michael Jackson.

The Blair Witch Project: Created by Wheaton High School Graduate and Filmed Primarily in MoCo

By MCS Staff

Published October 26, 2022 at 7:31AM

With Halloween almost here, it’s the perfect time to watch some scary movies. Did you know that the first installment of the Blair Witch franchise, The Blair Witch Project (1999) was primarily filmed right here in Montgomery County?

In the indie supernatural horror, three film students camp in the fictional Black Hills Forest of Burkittsville, Maryland in October of 1994 to film a documentary on the local legend of the Blair Witch. Mysteriously, the trio vanishes, leaving behind hours of footage to be discovered a year later by University of Maryland anthropology students. What the viewer witnesses is this purportedly real home video style footage.

MoCo Native and Lead Guitarist of Hootie and The Blowfish, Mark Bryan, Will Perform With His Band “The Screaming Trojans” (Nod to Seneca Valley and Gaithersburg) in Frederick This Saturday

By MCS Staff

Published October 19, 2022 at 12:23PM

Half of Hootie and The Blowfish, Mark Bryan and Dean Felber, are graduates of Seneca Valley High School in Germantown. Mark Bryan, lead guitarist of Hootie and The Blowfish, will […]

8th Annual Bernard/Ebb Songwriting Awards is Accepting Applications; Finalists Will Perform Their Songs at Bethesda Concert For a $10,000 Grand Prize

By MCS Staff

Published October 18, 2022 at 5:35PM | Updated October 18, 2022 at 6:32PM

The eighth annual Bernard/Ebb Songwriting Awards is searching for the best songwriters in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. The competition, founded by Cathy Bernard, is named in honor of Fred Ebb, one of the great American songwriters and creator of Broadway hits such as Cabaret and Chicago and iconic songs including New York, New York. Applicants must submit three original songs. Each song must have lyrics. Therefore, instrumental compositions are not accepted. All genres are accepted. Maximum song length is 4:30 min.

The contest will be a multi-staged, adjudicated competition. Jurors will include professional artists, venue operators, booking agents and music academia. The jury will select the finalists who will perform their original songs during a concert in Bethesda, Maryland on Friday, April 1, 2022 at the Bethesda Blues and Jazz Club. Each finalist will perform two of the songs they submitted for the competition. The Grand Prize Jury will attend the concert to select the winners. The winning songwriter and young songwriter will be announced at the close of the show. Judging criteria below:

MCPS 2022-2023 Fall Productions

By MCS Staff

Published October 10, 2022 at 7:28AM

Per MCPS: The curtain is rising on fall theater productions throughout the school system, at middle and high schools. Plan now to see these great performances, which run into early 2023. From “Once Upon a Mattress” and “The Hallelujah Girls to “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Marie Antoinette,” there’s something for everyone. See the schedule below:

Winston Churchill, “Matilda” Nov. 4, 5, 11 and 12, 7 p.m. Nov. 6, 2 p.m.

MoCo Connection in Hocus Pocus; Sequel Set to Release on September 30

By MCS Staff

Published September 29, 2022 at 9:40AM

With Hocus Pocus 2 being released on Disney’s streaming service, Disney+, we wanted to revisit the [not so strong] MoCo connection from the popular original 1993 film– Bethesda native Sean Murray in his role as Thackery Binx.

Hocus Pocus follows teenager Max Dennison (Omri Katz), who after moving to Salem, Massachusetts, explores an abandoned house with his sister Dani (Thora Birch) and their new friend, Allison (Vinessa Shaw). After dismissing a story Allison tells as superstitious, Max accidentally frees a coven of evil witches (Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy) who used to live in the house. Now, with the help of a magical cat (Binx) the kids must steal the witches’ book of spells to stop them from becoming immortal.

Multimedia, Interactive Spy Adventure to Debut at Imagination Stage

By Patrick Herron

Published September 29, 2022 at 9:27AM

S.P.I.E.S. 2: Flight of the Hawk is the follow-up to S.P.I.E.S. & The Lost Treasure of Atlantis, which was an online hit for Imagination Stage in the winter of 2021. DC Theatre Arts praised it as “a fantastically entertaining conglomerate of action, adventure, suspense, and pure silliness.”

The new adventure (which doesn’t require any knowledge of the first one) is now in-person, with the live audience of children ages 5+ taking on the role of spy cadets being taught by the hilariously bungling live facilitator, Pat. During the cadet training, Pat is contacted and told that an award ceremony for Spy Team 7 has gone awry with the villainous Winnifred Veil putting in motion her plan to dominate the world. It’s Pat and the cadets to the rescue, providing key information and making crucial decisions to assist the spies, who are beaming in on the big screen.

Local Middle School Teacher Has Spread Message of Love and Healing Through Thousands of ‘Meeps’ She Has Made Over the Last Four Years

By MCS Staff

Published September 26, 2022 at 3:09PM

Every week, Takoma Park Middle School teacher, Maura Moore, highlights one student in each of her classes that has done something noteworthy (kind to a classmate, shown perseverance with an academic struggle, exemplary work, etc.) by giving them a raffle ticket that could win the a students a “meep” to keep. A meep (photos below) is a crocheted emotional support orb. Moore started making the meeps in March of 2018 when she was going through a difficult time in her life and wanted to show that you could turn a tough time into something beautiful.

She made over 1,000 maps in a little over 6 months (approximately 250 of them were for staff and students). In the last 4 years she had made several thousand meeps, spending her own time and money, so that she can brighten other’s day. When she made her first meep, before it had a name, it was just a gesture to say to someone “I see you struggling, and I want you know I am here and I care.” Just this summer she made 600 of them and recently she has made meeps available for purchase through her website, AllYouMeepIsLove.com