A Page From Her Own Book
Mary Page Evans is without question one of Delaware’s most beloved painters. See a retrospective exhibition of her work in “Painted Poetry: The Art of Mary Page Evans,” at Delaware Art Museum through July 15. The show displays about 50 paintings that show Evans’ deft use of color and form in figure painting, as well as subjects and scenes taken directly from nature—gardens here and abroad, the Florida Coast and the Shenandoah Valley. You’ll see her influences—the impressionists, post-impressionists and abstract expressionists, as well as music, dance and writing. You’ll also see why her artist friends and critics have always been impressed. 571-9590, delart.org
Speaking of Poetry
Delaware Poet Laureate JoAnn Balingit will read from her work at the Lewes Library on April 5. Author of “Forage” (Wings Press, 2011) and “Your Heart and How it Works,” which received the 2010 Global Filipino Literary Award for poetry. Ballingat is also winner of the Whitebird Chapbook Prize. Don’t miss this rare opportunity. 645-2733, leweslibrary.org
More Poetry
Visit the opening of “As the Poet Paints: E. Jean Lanyon” at the Biggs Museum of American Art in Dover April 6. The exhibition features the literary and visual artworks of Lanyon, who was Delaware’s poet laureate from1979 through 2001. “As a fine artist I paint what I cannot write, and I write what I cannot paint,” Lanyon has said. She’ll also do a brief reading during the reception, with a tour by curator Ryan Gover. 674-2111, biggsmuseum.org
Could There Be Even More Poetry and Painting?
Indeed, there is. On April 6, visit the opening Reception for “Object Poetry” at Dover Art League, where watercolorist Susan S. Johnston will present a show of her paintings. In celebration of National Poetry month, the show will partner with writers for a special evening April 25, when the writers will read works inspired by the paintings. See “Object Poetry” through April 29. 674-0402, doverartleague.org
Classical Gas
Classical lovers, its time again for “Music Masters: Baroque, Brahms & Beyond,” presented by The Music School of Delaware on April 4 at The Wilmington Branch. Instructors will perform Brahms String Quintet No. 2, Telemann “Paris” Quartet, and works by contemporary composers Ingrid Arauco, Peter Flint and Chuck Holdeman. The concert features the Serafin String Quartet, with guest violist Esme Allen-Creighton, and baroque chamber ensemble Melomanie. It promises to be a unique evening. 762-1132, wilmingtonmusic.org
A Second Shot of Comegys
If you missed “Fred Comegys: Through the Lens—A Photographic Journey” at the Delaware Art Museum last year, there is good news. You can see selections from it at the Rehoboth Beach Museum through April 22. For more than 50 years, native son Comegys has captured celebrities and local folks for the The News Journal, producing some photos we’ll never forget. 227-8408, rehobothartleague.org
Masters, Indeed
“American Masters Art of the 19th and 20th centuries” at Sommerville Manning Gallery in Greenville April 13-June 2 shows works by contemporaries of the Wyeth family. You’ll see works by N.C., American Impressionists Childe Hassam, Mary Cassatt and John Henry Twatchtman, Ashcan School artists Maurice Prendergast, Everett Shinn and William Glackens, and masters John Singer Sargent and Thomas Anschutz. There’s more, and you get to see them up close during the opening reception April 13. 652-0271, somervillemanning.com
Fair is Fair
When professor Henry Higgins tries to transform cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle into a proper lady, the relationship evolves into something more. Find out what as Clear Space Theatre Company stages the classic American musical “My Fair Lady” at The Schwartz Center for the Arts in Dover April 13-14. Erin Williams stars as Eliza Doolittle. That’s her in the photo. 678-5152, www.schwartzcenter.com
Crowning Achievements
What is hat-titude? Find out when Delaware Theatre Company presents the musical “Crowns” April 11-29. As a young woman who moves to the South quickly learns, there’s a hat for every occasion, and everyone has a unique meaning. Hear Mother Shaw and her Hat Queens relate the significance of everything from turbans to pill boxes in this heart-warming charmer. It will put your head in a good place. 594-1100, delawaretheatre.org
Looking Ahead
Plan now to see First State Ballet Theatre’s “Giselle” April 14-15. The beautiful and haunting romantic work is a premiere for Delaware’s only professional ballet company. See it at The Grand Opera House in WIlmington. 800-37GRAND, firststateballet.com
Vox Populi?
Congratulations to The DuPont Theatre on its 100th anniversary season, and a thank you for a century of introducing us to such cutting-edge performance as Vox Lumiere’s “Metropolis.” Critiques of capitalism never looked so cool. See Vox’s eight singers and eight-piece band rock new moves and music to Fritz Lang’s classic silent film as it plays in the background. Upon its release in 1927, “Metropolis,” with its futuristic setting, flying cars and The Machine, seemed destined for such a high-tech treatment. See for yourself why The Los Angeles Times calls the show “absolutely riveting” April 13-15. 656-4401, duponttheatre.com
A Wedding Zinger
You loved the movie with Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore. Now you can see “The Wedding Singer” on stage in a musical at The New Candlelight Theatre. As the good people there say, party like it’s 1985. We promise lots of laughs. See it through May 20. 475-2313, nctstage.org
A Fond Farewell
Delaware Theatre Company will soon say goodbye to executive director Mary Ann Ehlshlager, who leaves after four years for the Seattle Children’s Theatre. “It’s difficult to leave, having developed so much admiration and affection for DTC’s artists, staff, supporters and volunteers, but the Seattle Children’s Theatre is an opportunity for me to professionally synthesize two of DTC’s hallmarks—a passion for the transformative power that theater can have in young lives and high production values on stage,” Ehlshlager says. We wish her all the best.
