In the post-COVID world there are many organizations that come back to life as Maryland and most of the rest of the country, slowly and carefully emerge from this catastrophic pandemic. And perhaps the most welcome of those are the Mid-Shore’s remarkable collection of community theater groups in Chestertown, Church Hill, Cambridge and Oxford. All of whom had to scrape almost two years of indoor performances as local and state shut-down orders were put into place.

The granddaddy of these volunteer-run theater companies, which first appeared on the Oxford Community Center stage in 1981, is the beloved Tred Avon Players. Now going on 40 years old, the TAP has somehow attracted some of the best talent this side of New York City to take community theatre productions to an entirely new level of professionalism.

And that tradition continues as TAP, under the direction of John Perkinson, presents F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic The Great Gatsby starting on October 28. Using playwright Simon Levy’s highly-praised adaptation, this gripping drama is set in and around New York City during the Roaring Twenties and tells the tragic story of Jay Gatsby, a self-made millionaire, and his pursuit of Daisy Buchanan, a wealthy young woman whom he loved in his youth.

Considered to be F. Scott Fitzgerald’s best work, The Great Gatsby examines America at the peak of the Jazz Age, exploring the ultimate impracticality of the American Dream.approved by the Fitzgerald Estate. The Great Gatsby is produced by John Norton and the cast cast includes Greg Allis as Nick Carraway, Iz Clemens as Daisy Buchanan, Weston Anderson as Tom Buchanan, Alex Greenlee as Jay Gatsby, and Cavin Alexandra Moore as Jordan Baker. Also appearing are Jaclyn Royer, Bob O’Boyle, Herb Ziegler, Lindley Bounds, Matt Rovine, Francesca Rendell, Mara Abrams, Barrie Abrams, and Marianne Petschke.

The Spy sat down with director John Perkinson for a short chat about this remarkable story and how this American classic is the perfect production for TAP’s long awaited return to the stage.

This video is approximately one minute in length. For more information about the Tred Avon Players and purchase tickets please go here

It is pretty clear after talking to Fred Hughes, the founder, and president of Jazz Alive, that he was fed not only a diet of baby food but also side dishes of Jazz and classical music as an infant.

With a father having a successful career as a jazz pianist, Fred grew up in a household where music was a daily part of family life, including joining his dad’s gigs, and quickly picking up both tuba and keyboard as his preferred instruments.

Indeed, Hughes later choose a career in the armed services to not only serve his country but take advantage of the army’s long-standing tradition of supporting musicians among its ranks. With overseas assignments that allowed him to visit and perform in jazz clubs all over the world, Fred continued this passion after his discharge with a full, seven days a week, as a jazz pianist in some of the Mid-Atlantic’s most popular venues, including a long-running gig at the famed Willard Hotel in Washington.

While Fred’s career has come with great satisfaction, it didn’t escape him that his audiences were getting older and greyer every year. And with that observation in mind, he began to worry that Jazz would be destined for extinction without some organized intervention, particularly with young students.

In response to this severe threat, Hughes created the Jazz Alive organization from his studio in Royal Oak in 2019. With a particular emphasis on youth programming, including creating the DelMarVa Youth Jazz Orchestra and an exciting new concert series to help fund those programs, Fred and his board are now in full swing as the Eastern Shore slowly emerges from the dark days of the Covid pandemic.

We talked to Fred earlier this week in the Spy studio about his new mission of keeping Jazz alive for generations to come.

This video is approximately three minutes in length. For more information about Jazz Alive, and to make reservations for its concerts at Easton’s Waterfowl Building, please go here.

Normally, the first program of any art festival is the least popular and perhaps the dullest part of those events. That is for the simple reason that these are orientation meetings that provide the nitty-gritty logistics, dos and don’ts, and timetables for the rest of the festival. And that was true with Plein Art Easton this afternoon as artists were welcomed with a catered lunch at the Avalon’s new pavillon.

Nonetheless, the Spy was interested in capturing the mood as the Avalon Foundation prepares to host the 17th annual Plein Art Festival since it was such a positive sign that our community was recovering from the loss of some fifteen months COVID pandemic.

And positive it was as over 56 artists began an international competition for the next ten days with eventually lead to some substantial awards for the best of year titles. Those awards will be handed out this year by none other than Daniel Weiss, CEO of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, to provide a perspective of how this modest idea of local artist Nancy Tankersley almost two decades ago has grown in stature.

This video is approximately one minute in length. For more information about Plein Air Easton please go here.