Maryland Theatre

Patricia Weber Wolford, former executive director of the Maryland Theatre, died early Wednesday at her home in Ocala, Fla., said her husband, Ted Wolford. She was 71. Wolford led the Maryland Theatre for nearly 10 years before retiring in 2006, and is credited by some with saving it from financial troubles. She also made waves as executive director of Potomac Bend Medical Center in Hancock, where her involvement in the firing of three doctors in 1987 led to months of controversy, culminating in the center shutting down and reopening under new management as Tri-State Community Health Center.

“There's never anything to do around here.” It's a refrain uttered by many teenagers and young adults in the Hagerstown area. Well, for those who have longed for new or different entertainment options, here is one: a fresh, new multi-venue film festival that brings a bit of Hollywood to Hagerstown. The inaugural Maryland International Film Festival-Hagerstown begins today and runs through Sunday, offering us the chance to choose from 50 films at three venues: The Maryland Theatre and Bridge of Life church, both in downtown Hagers-town, and Leitersburg Cinemas on Leitersburg Pike.

Maryland Ensemble Theatre is holding open auditions from 7 to 10 p.m. Monday, June 27, and Tuesday, June 28, for its upcoming season (September 2011 to June 2012) Auditions will be held at Maryland Ensemble Theatre, 31 W. Patrick St., Frederick. The MET will be looking for all types of non-union actors 18 and older. Actors are asked to prepare two contrasting one to minute monologues. All roles are paid.    For more information, contact the MET at 301-696-4744, ext. 1, or info@marylandensemble.org .

Let’s remember our heroes on Memorial Day To the editor: Many confuse the meaning of Memorial Day. It is to honor our war dead; those who died in battle in defense of our nation. We do well to remember them. Gen. George S. Patton Jr. once said, “It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.” However, I do believe it is proper and just to honor our living troops as well as the dead, particularly in the day in which we live.

Maryland Ensemble Theatre is holding open call auditions for "West Side Story" noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 21, and 7:30 to 10 p.m. Sunday, May 22, at Vista Shopping Center-Hillcrest, 1080 W. Patrick St., Suite 4, Frederick, Md. The production is looking for actors, singers and dancers. Rehearsals will be held in the evenings over the summer. The performances will go on from Friday, Aug. 12 through Saturday, Aug. 20. Singers should bring music with them if possible. Music will also be provided.

Opera fans or not, the audience at the Maryland Symphony Orchestra’s last concert of the season Sunday afternoon was enjoying the show. The Maryland Theatre had an almost-packed house, which gave tenor William Davenport and soprano Elisabeth Turchi a standing ovation and “bravos” after hearing the love duet from the Act One finale of “La Boheme.” Gay Ludington of Calvert County, Md., said she wasn’t really an opera fan, but Sunday’s...

Arlo Guthrie will “Journey On” into Hagerstown for his second concert of the new year. The folk musician has booked a March 4 concert at The Maryland Theatre, according to Caitlin Nicoll, a publicist with Guthrie’s label, Rising Son Records. The Hagerstown stop is part of Guthrie’s “Journey On” tour, which according to a schedule Nicoll provided, began in October 2010 as an exploration of the myth of Orpheus. During the show, Guthrie will be accompanied by The Burns Sisters and will be backed by a full band.

The wrestlers heading to The Maryland Theatre's first-ever wrestling match want to body slam their way into the crowd's hearts. And if ticket sales are any indication, it might be love at first smack. Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, better known as TNA Wrestling, will host four bouts during a two-hour event at the historic downtown Hagerstown theater Sunday, Jan. 16. Marci Howes, who handles publicity for The Maryland Theatre, said tickets for ringside seats, perched on stage around the ring, sold out weeks before the match.

The Top Five Three Nutcrackers • The City Ballet School will perform “The Nutcracker” 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 12. The Maryland Theatre, 21 S. Potomac St., downtown Hagerstown. Tickets cost $25 to $31. Call 301-790-2000 or go to www.mdtheatre.org . • Shepherdstown School of Dance will perform “The Nutcracker” 7 p.m. Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 12. Shepherd University’s Frank Arts Center, off W.Va. 45, Shepherdstown, W.Va.