Baltimore Center Stage Hosts First Ever Locally Grown Festival

Baltimore Center Stage has announced the first ever Locally Grown Festival, a celebration of Charm City's performers, artists, and makers. This inaugural event, a celebration of Baltimore's brilliant, eccentric, and thriving arts ecology, will take place at BCS October 21-22, 2023.

"The Locally Grown Festival delivers on BCS's mission in so many ways," noted Annalisa Dias, Director of Artistic Partnerships & Innovation. "The festival is truly inspired by our home city, Baltimore, and will catalyze compelling conversations through multidisciplinary workshops, makers' fairs, performances, and opportunities for fellowship. Guests will be able to enjoy theater in all its forms, including dance, puppets, drag, comedy, music, visual art, play readings, spoken word, burlesque, and more. There is truly something for everyone."

Over 150 artists from the region will take part in the two-day festival, representing a variety of disciplines, ages, backgrounds, media, and more. BCS audiences will recognize many of the programs, as a variety of partner organizations and artists familiar to the company will participate. A series of Anchor Events highlights the deep-rooted connection that BCS has in the community, and features projects by Inky Cap Artist Co-Op, Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi, String Theory Theater, Black Arts District, Blaq Equity, BLK ASS FLEA MKT, Bakari Jones, Maya Camille, Darius Christian, and The Baltimore Slam Team.

For one low price-$25 per day, or $40 for the weekend-patrons will be able to access dozens of events throughout the BCS space; all events are general admission and seated on a first come, first served basis. Guests can purchase passes by visiting https://www.centerstage.org/events/locally-grown/.

The roster of Locally Grown events is below; please note that artists and details of these programs are subject to change.

Saturday, October 21, 2023

Inky Cap Co-op Maker Fair, 1:00-5:30PM, Deering Lobby

Inky Cap Artist Co-Op is a collective of creatives that use their platform to help connect queer and trans artists, aiming to build community, share market leads, secure opportunities for artists, and curate events around Baltimore. The Maker Fair is free and open to the public for anyone to come in to shop.

Locally Grown Art Gallery, 1:00-8:00PM, Roche Chapel

Curated from the Open Call, the Locally Grown Art Gallery will feature stunning visual art from a variety of Baltimore artists. The gallery will be open both days of the festival and is a great space to visit between performances.

Staged Reading of Comfort/Woman by Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi, 1:00-3:00PM, Andrus Rehearsal Hall

Comfort/Woman: A Baltimore Cycle Play is a story about two lovers spanning 100 years as they and their family contends with their trauma, their choices, and the violence of the state. This staged reading of the latest play from Helen Hayes Award Winning playwright and actor Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi, will be directed by Goldie Patrick. Comfort/Woman: A Baltimore Cycle Play was commissioned by Baltimore Center Stage.

Baltimore Hip Hop Now!, 3:00-4:30PM, Head Theater

In celebration of Hip Hop's 50th anniversary, Baltimore Hip Hop Now! is a Hip Hop showcase featuring three of the city's most outstanding musical artists. This three-part performance features live, original music from Samoris Hall, Najee, and Eric Dixon that you won't want to miss. Samoris's "Wavez" highlights love and its importance in all our lives, Najee's "The Burden of Expectations'' focuses on the pivotal moments of breaking free from what others expect and require, and Eric Dixon's "Baltimore's Son" and "Tension" paint vivid pictures of our home city and love, respectively. Celebrate the present and future of Hip Hop in Baltimore during this milestone year!

Cake Walk : An Improvised Sitcom, 3:30-4:30PM, Smith Studio

Check out this improvised sitcom based on popular 90s TV shows featuring an all Black cast of performers. Cake Walk Comedy, an independent troupe based in Baltimore, performs their original form called "Sit-prov", a situational comedy format. Featured in improv festivals across the country, Cake Walk also teaches their signature form through their popular workshop entitled "Cake Mix." Using all of the typical sitcom tropes, Cake Walk is must see improv TV.

Storytelling Hour, 4:30-5:30PM, Deering Lounge

The heart of theater is great storytelling. In the Storytelling Hour, guests will hear a selection of monologues and stories from Baltimore story artists Brianna Anderson, Courtney Simmons, Aladrian Wetzel, and Ally Ibach, and an excerpt of Katie Hileman's I Will Eat You Alive, performed by Meghan Taylor, Betse Lyons, and Vicky Graham.

Immersive Theater Toolkit Workshop with Submersive Productions, 4:30-5:30PM, Brown Education Center

Join Baltimore's Submersive Productions for a one-hour workshop in building and sharpening immersive theater performance skills. In this workshop, participants will dive into fundamental exercises and activities used in the devising process. The primary focus will be on movement, object work, and the performer-audience connection. All levels of experience are welcome and encouraged.

Voices of Carmen, 5:00-6:00PM, Andrus Rehearsal Hall

Voices of Carmen is a musical adaptation of the opera Carmen set in a High School. The show brings a contemporary spin to this iconic story that's filled with fresh yet familiar renditions of Georges Bizet's compositions and a dozen new songs, from Pop to Rap and R&B. Written and arranged by CJay and Winston Philip, this vibrantly staged piece examines escalating conflicts, crossroads, and the voices that influence the choices we make.

Fools and Madmen's Julius Caesar, 6:00-7:00PM, Andrus Rehearsal Hall

This Hip Hop adaptation of Julius Caesar is written, adapted, and performed by an ensemble of Baltimore BIPOC artists and musicians. Inspired partly by the film Moonlight, the adaptation focuses on Brutus and Cassius' relationship, showing a male friendship in a complex and intimate way to challenge the idea of Roman stoicism as a pillar of masculinity. Fools and Madmen's goal is to bridge hip hop and classical theater culturally and artistically, and to combat racial disparity in classical theater. The adaptations contain both Shakespearean text and original Hip Hop lyrics for a lyrical and rhythmic mash-up of classical and modern language, poetry, and music.

Tango Etudes with Duo Sila, 6:00-7:00PM, Deering Lounge

Duo Sila explores the infusion of international music traditions within 20th century music while showcasing the exciting and diverse stylistic capabilities created by the combination of flute and percussion. Since Astor Piazzolla's Tango Etudes were originally written for solo flute, the duo adds improvised cajon to accentuate the energy, motion, and dance-like feel of the etudes, with each etude highlighting a slightly different style and flavor.

Puppet Slam with String Theory Theater, 6:30-8:00PM, Smith Studio

String Theory Theater is a Baltimore based puppet troupe composed of artist Dirk Joseph and daughters Rose and Koi. Since 2016, String Theory Theater has been using various puppetry formats to create shows for children, families, and adults.

Immediate Art Workshop with Sharan Nixon, 7:00-8:00PM, Brown Education Center

Attendees of the workshop will be introduced to the world of fluid art using resin. Each participant will create either a wearable item or a usable item upon departure from the workshop.

Locally Grown After Dark Cabaret, 7:00-8:00PM, Head Theater

The Locally Grown After Dark Cabaret features a tantalizing multidisciplinary evening of theater in all its forms: burlesque, drag, music, comedy, aerial art and more, hosted by Baltimore's own comedian Big Fred.

Icon Marquis Revlon presents The Hype Ball, 8:00PM-1:00AM, Pearlstone Theater

The Hype Ball, Culture's Biggest Night, is hosted by Icon Marquis Revlon, Star Track Adolescent Health Program, Black Arts District and Black Equity Baltimore and powered by Amazon, ViiV Healthcare and Baltimore Center Stage. Free reservation is required by visiting this link.

Sunday, October 22, 2023

Locally Grown Art Gallery, 12:00-7:00PM, Roche Chapel

Curated from the Locally Grown Open Call, the Locally Grown Art Gallery will feature stunning visual art from a variety of Baltimore artists. The gallery will be open both days of the festival and is a great space to visit between performances.

Radical Cartography Workshop with The Arts Collective, 12:30-1:30PM, Brown Education Center

Join the Arts Collective for a workshop on radical cartography. Take your idea of what a map looks like and represents and then transform it. Come learn, explore, and create your vision of Baltimore through radical cartography. Open to all skills and levels.

Contemporary Dance Showcase featuring Uhwachi-Reh Dance Troupe, Jamal Abrams, and Xing Dance Theater, 12:30-2:00PM, Andrus Rehearsal Hall

Featuring Native American dance troupe Uhwachi-Reh, Modern and Chinese dance stylings of Xing Dance Theater, and solo dance by Jamal Abrams, guests will leave inspired by the theatricality of the moving body.

Locally Grown All-Generations Cabaret, 1:00-2:00PM, Head Theater

The Locally Grown All Generations Cabaret is a family friendly intergenerational showcase celebrating joyful theatricality. Guests will be inspired by Lil Reggie, Maurice Kendall, Elder Ensemble, and Reggie Webb. The event is hosted by Baltimore's own comedian Big Fred.

The Palovations, 2:00-3:00PM, Deering Lounge

Inspired by early Motown legends of the '60s and '70s and R&B artists of the 70s and 80s, The Palovations grew up in the rapture of the music from that time. They have cultivated their silky-smooth vocals to bring guests the best sounds in Baltimore.

Panorama with Nino McQuown, 2:00-3:00PM, Smith Studio

Panorama is a multi-temporal vacation slide show about memory, loss, and reparations. Nino's grandparents fled Austria in 1937 and refused to set foot there again. In 2007, Nino sat down with their grandmother to record her memories of Austria before setting out on a solo trip. In 2023, they're in the process of applying for EU citizenship, offered as an act of reparations by the Austrian government to descendants of Holocaust survivors. In Panorama, they use shadow puppetry, 33mm vacation slides, and archival audio, to stitch together a meditation on memory, belonging, and the question of repair.

BLK ASS FLEA MKT, 2:00-7:00PM, Deering Lobby

BAFM was created for BLK artists, creatives, and business owners to prioritize, encourage, and sustain BLK buying power and BLK business equity through its MKTplaces and events.

Empathy Works! How Empathy Can Change Every Aspect of Your Arts Practice, 2:30-3:30PM, Brown Education Center

In this interactive workshop, panelists will examine how the power of empathy can shape and transform artists and organizations to impact social justice, community work, teaching artistry, and pay equity.

Maya Camille Presents, 3:00-4:30PM, Head Theater

BCS's Arts Entrepreneur in Residence, Maya Camille, presents a special concert featuring some of Baltimore's brightest musicians. Maya manages talented local artists including Ray Winder and Randi Withani, and returns to Center Stage after curating our breathtaking We Will Rock You concert at last year's Gala.

Atomic Artist Workshop with Bakari Jones, 4:30-6:00PM, Brown Education Center

Atomic (or micro) goals are small, achievable steps that can help us reach our larger goals. They are a great way to break down a big project into smaller, more manageable tasks. In this workshop, guests will explore the concept of micro goals and how they can help us reach objectives.

Baltimore Slam Team, 4:30-5:30PM, Andrus Rehearsal Hall

The Baltimore Slam Team is one of the most accomplished slam teams in the history of slam poetry. After winning the international poetry slam for the second time in 2021, they are taking slam poetry around the country. This dynamic group of poets has mastered the art of making difficult conversations memorable and exciting.

Reading of Bootprints by Dr. Latonia Valincia-Moss, 5:30-7:00PM, Smith Studio

Bootprints is a compelling tale of a woman's personal journey to return home and lay her grandmother to rest. Throughout the narrative, audiences will witness the healing process of three generations of women, each grappling with their own life challenges. This poignant story of self-discovery and resilience is sure to captivate and inspire, directed by Nate Couser.

Darius Christian Album Release, 5:30-7:00PM, Head Theater

Baltimore raised and LA-based, Darius Christian is a genre bending force of nature with fresh brassy and agile trombone stylizations, rich vocals. spoken word, and insatiable jubilant energy. He has been featured with Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Miley Cyrus, Gwen Stefani, Jonas Brothers, Solange, Andrea Bocelli, Rihanna, DNCE, Bastille, Ricky Martin, Macy Gray, and Andy Grammar. Christian has also appeared on America's Got Talent, The Tonight Show with Jay Rock, Good Morning America, Saturday Night Live, and CMT Music Awards. He has appeared on Vice and in campaigns for Nike, Adidas, Tommy Hilfiger, MasterCard and Cadillac.

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