This is the busiest week for the arts so far this semester! By far the biggest Baltimore arts event, Artscape, will be storming the streets starting Friday, and there are too many exhibits and performances to mention in a single article! We, the Editors of the Arts section of The News-Letter, urge you to attend at least one of the Artscape events. It is a crazy fun experience and will serve as a grand introduction to what the arts culture is like here in Baltimore.
But don’t let major events like Artscape make you forget about student group performances such as the Peabody Symphony Orchestra! If you prefer to stay inside and consume art alone, though, you still have plenty of options. Check out Song of the Bandits on Netflix, or a contemporary fiction novel, such as A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid. If you’re a music fanatic, you have a busy week coming up! From Doja Cat’s long-awaited return to Kylie Minogue’s new album, this week is as good a time as ever to embrace the arts!
To watch...
Song of the Bandits, directed by Hwang Joon-Hyeok — Sept. 22
Song of the Bandits is a Korean Netflix drama series centered around the Japanese occupation of South Korea in the 1920s. It follows various men and women as they gather in Gando, China to fight for Korean independence.
It Lives Inside, directed by Bishal Dutta — Sept. 22
Debuting at the 2023 South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival, It Live Inside is a horror film that follows Sam, an Indian-American teen struggling at the crossroads between her family’s traditional attitudes and the progressive culture around her. One day, in a fit of anger, she breaks her friend Tamira's mason jar, which releases a demonic force that feeds on Sam’s loneliness.
Expend4bles, directed by Scott Waugh — Sept. 22
The latest addition to The Expendables series, Expend4bles features returning actors Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren and Randy Couture, as well as new actors such as Curtis “50 cent” Jackson and Megan Fox. In a revitalization of Cold War themes, the plot shows the Expendables fighting to prevent a terrorist organization from smuggling nuclear weapons, which would cause war between the U.S. and Russia.
To read…
A Study in Drowning, by Ava Reid — Sept. 19
In Ava Reid’s third published work, Effy Sayre, fairy tale fanatic and devoted fan of Angharad, an epic written by the late Emrys Myrddin, finds herself in a contest to design Myrdinn’s new estate. While interrogating the crumbling building, she meets Preston Héloury, a young scholar who is bent on labeling Effy’s hero as a fraud. Effy must now fight to maintain Myrddin’s legacy in the face of dark, magical forces.
Bright Young Women, by Jessica Knoll — Sept. 19
Based on real events, Bright Young Women is a historical thriller that takes us back to Jan. 1978, when a serial killer threatens women's lives across the Pacific Northwest. Pamela Schumacher, president of a sorority at Florida State University, finds her sisters maimed and killed. A victim of past such events herself, Tina Cannon travels from her home in Seattle to investigate the tragedy in Tallahassee with Pamela, as they both uncover the horrors of these violent acts.
Starter Villain, by John Scalzi — Sept. 19
In this science fiction novel, we follow Charlie, a divorced substitute teacher living alone who dreams of owning his own pub. These dreams get delayed when he is pulled into the supervillain business, instigated by the death of his long-lost uncle Jake, who leaves his “lair” and all other belongings to his nephew. Picking up his uncle’s past aspirations of defeating the league of supervillains, Charlie is thrust into a world of thrilling warfare and imaginative landscapes.
To listen…
Scarlet, by Doja Cat — Sept. 22
Rumors that have floated all around the internet that Doja Cat’s new album Scarlet would be a complete return to rap and hip hop have been confirmed by her recent singles, most notably “Balut,” which was released just this past Friday. The track list was released this past Tuesday, which interestingly had no listed features. Doja Cat has always been one of the more subversive artists in the mainstream and looks to further prove her dominance this Friday.
Tension, by Kylie Minogue — Sept. 22
Being the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, Kylie Minogue’s return has been much anticipated. This project will be Minogue’s first new long-playing record since her 2020 album, Disco, and looks to bring her fully back to the mainstream. The two singles already released — “Padam Padam” and the title track — are dance-pop hits that show Minogue is still going strong in her already illustrious career.
Live events…
Artscape — Sept. 22-24
From art exhibits to live concerts to a full-blown film festival, Artscape has too many events to cover here in a short synopsis, so please navigate to the main website to find the events that interest you the most, and check here for the performance schedule. Locations for the various performances will be all around Baltimore: The main stage is at 1400 Cathedral Street, the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) stage is at 1500 Mt Royal Ave., the Station North stage will be on Lafayette Avenue and Maryland Avenue, and North of North stage will be right here in Charles Village on 2000 N. Charles Street at W. 20th Street. This is the biggest art event of the year, so don’t miss out!
Peabody Symphony Orchestra at Miriam A. Friedberg Hall — Sept. 23 at 7:30 p.m.
In the first performance of the year, Joseph Young and the Peabody Symphony Orchestra will be performing Brian Nabors’ “Pulse,” Gustave Mahler’s “Totenfeier” and Louise Farrenc’s Symphony No. 2. The free event is an amazing opportunity to witness the best of the best!
The Wiz at the Hippodrome — Sept. 23 at 8 p.m.; Sept. 24 at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
The Hippodrome welcomes the touring, Tony Award-winning musical The Wiz to the city of Baltimore! Originally a musical adventure fantasy film directed by Sidney Lumet back in 1978, the play reimagines the famed film The Wizard of Oz set in Harlem, N.Y., with various comedic references to N.Y. politics and daily life. Check out the first performance of The Wiz at the Hippodrome on Saturday, Sept. 23, or the two subsequent performances on Sunday, Sept. 24.
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