“No Mean City: Baltimore 1966,” his new play running through March 15 at the Baltimore Museum of Art, is the longtime scribe’s latest love letter to his adopted city — a correspondence that began 47 years ago with Rodricks’ first column for The Evening Sun.

The play takes place at the location with which Rodricks is most comfortable, which he has described as “the intersection of optimism and pessimism.” It tells the story of the Baltimore Orioles’ improbable trip to the World Series in 1966 and is set against the backdrop of the city’s Civil Rights Movement.

Like Rodricks’ previous two dramas, “Baltimore, You Have No Idea” and “Baltimore Docket,” his newest play is peopled with real-life Charm City characters, some famous (such as former Mayor Theodore McKeldin) and others less well-known (such as tavern owner Glenda Dickler).

Like his other shows, “No Mean City” (the title echoes a 1964 book of the same name that McKeldin wrote as mayor of his beloved city) is cast with performers Rodricks knows personally — an eclectic mix of professional and amateur actors, family members and friends — and at times the acting quality rises or dips accordingly.

Rodricks’ regulars include coproducer Kevin Richardson, a visual journalist and editor for The Baltimore Sun.

Because Rodricks is a friend and Richardson is a colleague, I thought long and hard before deciding to review this show. I asked myself if I could truly be objective.

I concluded — hesitantly, and with some trepidation — that I could; for better or worse, I know almost instantly whether something rings true for me, though it may take me a while to figure out why.

But I am counting on the readers of this review to keep me honest. Do you agree with my assessment? Did I help you figure out whether this play was a worthy investment for your hard-earned $35?

Let me know; my email is at the bottom of this article.

Besides, there’s only so long that it makes sense for a local arts journalist to ignore these quintessentially Baltimore-based plays.

Rodricks clearly has a following; this is his third play to sell out the BMA’s 363-seat Meyerhoff Auditorium for multiple performances within weeks of tickets going on sale. Most of the city’s small theater companies would kill for that kind of success.

And, I think I know why Rodricks’ work resonates with Baltimore audiences.

Like his columns, the tone of these plays ricochets between hope and despair. The writer can be famously grumpy to a degree that verges on the combative. But there’s never any doubt what Rodricks thinks should be done, or which historical figures he admires.

But it’s always because he cares so much, and that caring is the hook, the connection, the through line. Even when we disagree with the playwright about politics or some other issue, even if he occasionally annoys or exasperates us, we trust him. We can’t help being on his side.

And that passion goes a long way toward overcoming the occasional weaknesses that this production displays.

As I mentioned earlier, the acting levels and pace of the show fluctuate. There were some opening-night jitters when it appeared that the performers temporarily lost focus and dropped lines. But as the evening went on, most gained confidence and relaxed into their roles.

I especially enjoyed Larry Noto as Hirsh Goldberg, McKeldin’s quirky but charismatic press secretary; Brandon Dion Gregory, who exudes the effortlessness of a natural athlete as baseball superstar Frank Robinson; and Robert W. Heck as Democratic gubernatorial candidate George P. Mahoney — a candidate so slick that he practically oozes across the stage.

Unlike his earlier dramas, this is Rodricks’ first play that possesses a traditional narrative structure instead of weaving together vignettes. I think I prefer the latter, if only because that overall impact is less didactic.

While “No Mean City” contains a lot of fascinating information about Baltimore’s past, at times it comes across as a history lesson.

Though I could not be described as a sports fan, the play came most alive for me during the baseball scenes; that’s when these fascinating figures take center stage while the larger social issues recede ever so slightly into the background.

“No Mean City” is also the first play by Rodricks that isn’t based on his newspaper columns but on books and articles he didn’t write and on events he didn’t witness. It takes place a full decade before he moved to Maryland. Perhaps not coincidentally, this is also the first play in which Rodricks plays a minor character rather than the lead.

It’s a dirty little secret that art lovers visit museums, watch plays and listen to concerts less because they’re interested in the topics of those artworks than for the chance to look at the world through someone else’s perspective. It’s less about gazing at a watercolor of sheep than it is about engaging with an artist who can tell us something new about those sheep, something we’ve never before considered and wouldn’t have figured out on our own.

To its detriment, Rodricks’ crotchety perspective in “No Mean City” is of necessity more muted than in his earlier plays. And yet — there’s no question that his voice still shines through.

If “No Mean City” doesn’t incorporate Rodricks’ firsthand recollections, it nonetheless reflects his preoccupations. And they are the same obsessions that have characterized his writing for 47 years.

They are questions about whether the arc of human history does in fact bend toward progress, or its opposite. They are questions about what it means to live a life of integrity. They are questions about whether change — in an individual, or a municipality — is possible, and if so, how it might be achieved.

“No Mean City” is an imperfect effort. Rodricks will never become a great American playwright like August Wilson or Edward Albee.

Chances are that none of his three plays would succeed outside Maryland, where audiences aren’t immediately familiar with references to Memorial Stadium, Natty Boh or da Birds.

I suspect that Rodricks couldn’t care less. And you know what?

Neither do I.

Have a news tip? Contact Mary Carole McCauley at mmccauley@baltsun.com and 410-332-6704.

Cummings, who wrote the memoir, “A Soldier’s Life: A Black Woman’s Rise from Army Brat to Six Triple Eight Champion,” will appear at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture at 1 p.m. Saturday. Her talk is included in the museum’s regular admission price of $12 for most adults.

“The military is a lifestyle with its own culture and jargon,” Cummings writes in “A Soldier’s Life.”

“I’ve always believed that if I survived the military, I could make it anywhere because nothing could be as hard. While stationed at assignments such as the Pentagon … a few of us staff members would chant: ‘We are above ground, we are not sleeping in a tent, no one is shooting at us.’ These chants helped us put our current situation in perspective and reminded us that others are sacrificing their lives and livelihoods in far worse conditions.”

But it wasn’t until Cummings retired in 2003 that she first read the story of 26-year-old Maj. Charity Adams, who led the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the only primarily Black, all-female U.S. Army unit to serve overseas during WWII.

The 850 women in the unit who were stationed in Europe overcame racism, sexism and a continent rocked by war to fulfill their assignment early, clearing a backlog of 17 million pieces of correspondence in only three months (half the projected time) and keeping mail flowing to nearly 7 million soldiers. The unit’s motto was “No mail, low morale.”

At the time, the accomplishments of these unsung heroes were relatively unknown, and Cummings decided to change that. Her efforts to bring attention to the corps were instrumental in the battalion being awarded a Congressional Gold Medal in 2022.

Once Congress took notice, so did the nation’s cultural tastemakers.

The actor Blair Underwood is executive producer of a Broadway musical about the 6888 that is under development.

The musical follows on the success of the 2024 Tyler Perry drama “The Six Triple Eight” on Netflix.

Have a news tip? Contact Mary Carole McCauley at mmccauley@baltsun.com and 410-332-6704.

ATHENS, Greece — Thrasivoulos Marakis grew up hearing stories about the grandfather he was named after but who he never met — about how the tall man was executed during Nazi reprisals in Greece during World War II.

For decades, the only image Marakis had of his grandfather came from a worn family portrait picture.

But last month another photograph emerged. An online auction contained a photograph showing his grandfather walking calmly toward a firing squad alongside other prisoners.

The image shook the Marakis family and has stirred powerful emotions across Greece, where the execution of 200 prisoners by Nazi occupation forces on May 1, 1944 remains one of the country’s most poignant symbols of wartime resistance.

For Marakis, the photographs carry a deeply personal meaning.

“They went to their deaths with their heads held high so that we could be free today,” he said.

On Thursday, the Culture Ministry presented the chilling photographs of the execution — the first verified images ever made public — after purchasing the collection from a private collector in Belgium.

‘It was deeply, deeply moving’

Marakis, who lives on the island of Crete, said he recognized the tall, broad-shouldered man at the front of one group — sleeves rolled up, striding forward with his head held high — as his grandfather, 40-year-old dairy farmer Thrasivoulos Kalafatakis.

He showed the image to elderly relatives and their friends, including a 97-year-old woman who lives locally.

“That’s when I got the final confirmation,” he told The Associated Press. “It was very moving for the family — deeply, deeply moving.”

The photograph shows prisoners walking under guard toward the Kaisariani firing range in Athens, where they were executed in groups of 20 in a reprisal for a resistance ambush that killed a German commander in southern Greece.

Chilling images show moment of death and resistance

The Greek government purchased the archive from a Belgian collector for 100,000 euros ($115,700). It includes 262 photographs taken by German Wehrmacht lieutenant Hermann Heuer, who was stationed in Greece in 1943–44, along with wartime banknotes and press clippings from the period.

Presenting the material in Athens, Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said the images provide powerful documentation of Nazi occupation policies and restore individual identities to victims long known mainly through written accounts.

“The value of this collection is immense,” Mendoni said. “The photographs…are priceless, because they give a face and a visual dimension to historical testimonies.”

“What matters is how the Greeks faced the Nazi system with courage,” she added.

Several photographs show the prisoners’ final moments.

One series depicts trucks transporting detainees along dirt roads from the Haidari prison camp outside Athens to the firing range east of the city center. Another image shows the men entering the shooting range, where piles of coats are stacked near the gate.

Valentin Schneider, a researcher at the University of Athens’ Department of History and Archaeology who helped verify the images, said the detail was significant.

“Most likely it was on the orders of the German army,” Schneider said. “To make the bullets penetrate more easily, they asked them to remove their coats and heavy clothing.”

Executions of hostages and civilians

Other photographs capture moments rarely documented: one shows the instant the shots are fired, while another depicts the executed prisoners lying on the ground, all fallen backward.

Historians say such visual records are extremely rare.

During the Nazi occupation of Greece from 1941 to 1944, German commanders frequently ordered executions of hostages or civilians after resistance attacks.

Many of the prisoners killed at Kaisariani had been arrested years earlier by Greece’s prewar authoritarian government for communist political activity and remained imprisoned when German forces occupied the country.

The 200 prisoners were shot in response to the ambush and killing of a Germany military commander in southern Greece by resistance fighters.

The archive also reveals another side of the German officer who took the photographs. Among the images are scenes from Heuer’s private life — including swimming near Athens, visiting the Acropolis and spending time with his family after returning to Germany.

Germans took photos as souvenirs

Stavroula Fotopoulou, the head of the Culture Ministry’s department of antiquities and cultural heritage, said the photographs reflected a broader system encouraged by the Nazi regime.

They “created a powerful propaganda machine, not only with professional photographers in the propaganda units, but by encouraging everyone — soldiers and their families — to take photographs,” she said. “Why? So these images could be sent back home and build the impression of the Wehrmacht’s successes.”

Mendoni said the official identification of people shown in the photographs will begin immediately. Digital copies will be provided to families of the victims as well as institutions and museums that request them.

“In that moment, the Greeks — and these people in particular — showed true greatness,” Mendoni said. “They reacted with bravery and dignity. That’s what we must hold on to.”

Marakis said the images show his grandfather “stood by his beliefs and his ideology. He never renounced them”

He added: “If he had renounced them, he would have lived longer.”

The 14th annual Annapolis Film Festival will roll out the red carpet later this month for its the opening night film “Power Ballad,” starring Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas.

The four-day movie fest — recently named “one of the coolest film festivals in the world” by MovieMaker magazine — includes more than 70 documentaries and narrative films, some short and some long, from established and emerging filmmakers. Many are organized around nautical and environmental themes or highlight films that showcase diverse ethnic, religious or female-centered perspectives.

The festival attracts an audience of around 10,000 movie buffs over four days, MovieMaker estimates.

During that extended weekend, “historic downtown Annapolis turns into a walkable, waterfront celebration of storytelling,” festival organizers wrote in a news release. The festival, they said, “honors the moments when audiences lean forward in their seats, filmmakers share their truths, and conversations spill out of theaters and into the streets, cafes and waterfront spaces of Annapolis.”

In addition to films, the festival features panel discussions, filmmaker Q&A’s, pre-film receptions and post-film parties.

The last weekend in March is also the unofficial kickoff of the Baltimore area’s 2026 film-fest season, which includes the Maryland Film Fest (April 8-12), the Columbia Maryland Film Festival (Sept. 7-13) and the New/Next Film Fest (Oct. 1-4).

Highlights of the Annapolis Film Festival include:

•  The opening-night film, “Power Ballad,” which is described as a “feel-good” film about a wedding singer (Rudd) whose career is unexpectedly revived following a late-night jam session with former boy-band heartthrob Danny (Jonas.) “Power Ballad” is scheduled to open in theaters nationally June 5.
• “Caroline, Caroline,” a road movie about a small-town woman (Samara Weaving) who abandons her dutiful life for a career as a bank robber after she falls in love with a handsome grifter (Kyle Gallner). It’s being produced by the hometown duo of Tim and Trevor White.
• “Poetic License” is a romantic comedy about two male college students who become rivals for the affection of an older woman who audits their poetry class. It’s also actress Maud Apatow’s directing debut.
• The festival concludes with the closing-night film “Run Amok,” an expanded version of the writer/producer NB Mager’s short film with the same title. A high school student comes into conflict with the adults in her community when she attempts to stage a musical inspired by a recent tragedy.

Tickets to individual films go on sale Friday at annapolisfilmfestival.com. All-access premium passes are on sale now on the website for prices ranging from $125 to $350.

Have a news tip? Contact Mary Carole McCauley at mmccauley@baltsun.com and 410-332-6704.

The show, which is being mounted by the for-profit Education Hub Edutainment, is one of the “immersive” exhibits that have sprung up worldwide. These exhibits marry the conventions of museum exhibits with live theater by using lights, video, music and virtual reality technology to plunge viewers directly into the experience.

Though immersive exhibits have been immensely popular with audiences, critics have questioned the authenticity of some shows.

The website for the “Titanic” exhibit says it features “numerous artifacts, dramatic room recreations, never-before-seen 3D views, video animations, and cutting-edge technology.”

The exhibit includes life-sized replicas of some of the ship’s parts, a “lifeboat” into which visitors can step and a virtual submersible craft that will allow audience members to travel underwater to explore the wreck of the Titanic.

Likely to be of particular interest to Maryland residents will be the story of Lucile Polk Carter, a Baltimore-born socialite who was among the approximately 700 people who survived the ship’s maiden voyage. Far more people — about 1,500 — perished after the ship collided with an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean shortly before midnight on April 14, 1912. The Titanic sank less than three hours later.

Ticket prices range from $24.90 to $44.90 for adults and from $18.90 to $36.90 for children aged 4 to 12. The website notes that there is a limited supply of virtual reality headsets and that this technology is included only for purchases of the more costly VIP tickets.

For details, visit https://expo-titanic.com/baltimore/.

Have a news tip? Contact Mary Carole McCauley at mmccauley@baltsun.com and 410-332-6704.

She also worked with director John Waters on “Hairspray” (1988), David Fincher on “House of Cards” (2013-18), and was on set with Meryl Streep during the filming of “Silkwood,” which gave Flaisher her first film credit in 1983. Her other credits include “Failure to Launch,” “La Fortuna,” “Snowden,” “State of Play,” “Philomena,” “United 93,” “Transformers,” “On the Basis of Sex,” “Mission: Impossible II,” “G.I. Jane” and “Murder at 1600.”

The Baltimore Sun interviewed Flaisher, 79, about her entrance into the entertainment business.

Flaisher splits her time between the nation’s capital and Richmond, Va.

Her job requires detailed knowledge of the Washington-Baltimore region and a knack for navigating bureaucratic channels to obtain federal location permits.

It helps that she loves movies. “I am very lucky,” she says.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

How did you get into this business?

That’s a long story. I worked at the Kennedy Center. I volunteered. I did the Kennedy Center Honors and a couple live shows. So that was my beginning.

I was a young mom with two kids, and I was out of the house. I was the happiest girl in the world. I started meeting people. I remember saying, ‘What can I do? You want me to babysit your kids? What can I do to get a foot into the door here?” I had a girlfriend I did this with. We did props for TV commercials. I did casting. And so one thing led to the other, and then I got offered a movie. I had never been on a movie before.

What was the movie?

It was “Silkwood” [in 1983]. I was the snack girl, doing breakfast and snacks. I mean, was I hooked or what? I’m standing next to Meryl Streep. It was in an office on Pennsylvania Avenue. And don’t you know, in the middle of the scene, here comes a parade. I forgot what the cause was, but the location manager didn’t know about the parade. I thought they were going to have a heart attack.

But the first movie I did locations on was something for PBS, the story of Andrew Mellon and the founding of the National Gallery.

Some of the “Wedding Crashers” scenes were quintessential Eastern Shore. How did you find them?

On “Wedding Crashers,” the description of what they wanted existed at the Inn at Perry Cabin (in St. Michaels). I had been to the Inn at Perry Cabin, and I knew it was perfect. However, they wanted to be sure that they had the right place, and so they scouted. They had scouts all over the East Coast. And I said, ‘But you’re going to come right back to the inn.”

So they filmed the wedding scenes there?

Yes, for I don’t remember how many days, two or three days? But there were many more scenes, and we needed more filming days. They didn’t have time for us. So they took a field, and we built corners and walls and doorways. It was all fake. We built a fake Perry Cabin on a field nearby.

And where was the touch football scene that includes the line, “Crabcakes and football. That’s what Maryland does!”?

The Ellenborough Estate in Easton. And a funny story: The owner of (nearby) Wye Heights said we could film on his property if we put his herd of black sheep in the film. And we did! They are seen along the side of the road that Owen (Wilson)  and Rachel (McAdams) are biking on.

“House of Cards” was filmed extensively in the Baltimore-Washington area. Any particular challenges?

One of the locations they wanted was along the Tidal Basin, the FDR Memorial. And they’d been told, ‘You can’t film there.’ And  I said, ‘Yes, you can, but it’s very restrictive.’ You can’t have a camera sit on the ground, you can’t have any equipment sit on the ground. You can’t have any sound. What you can do is you could have your actor, which would, of course, have been Kevin (Spacey), start at the beginning of the monument and walk. And it’s a very pensive and quiet scene.

You found a prominent, temporary location for the protest statue of President Donald Trump holding hands with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.  The organizers wanted their identities kept secret, right?

We did an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) and all that. It was on the National Mall on Third Street between Independence and Constitution. You look in one direction, and you see the Capitol. You look the other direction, you see the Washington Monument. I thought the project was worthy. I didn’t mind lending my name or my time to it.

You worked with Baltimore native John Waters on “Hairspray.” What was that like?

I ran the production in Allentown, Pennsylvania, at Dorney Park (which appeared in the film as Tilted Acres amusement park). I prepped it, put it together with the hotels and the logistics.

Everybody just loved (Waters) to death. No matter what your image is of John, he’s a gentleman, and he’s charming, and he’s funny and smart. He’s wonderful.

Have a news tip? Contact Jeff Barker at jebarker@baltsun.com

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Cambodian officials on Friday received more than six dozen historic artifacts described as part of the country’s cultural heritage that had been looted during decades of war and instability.

At a ceremony attended by Deputy Prime Minister Hun Many, the 74 items were unveiled at the National Museum in Phnom Penh after their repatriation from the United Kingdom.

The objects were returned under a 2020 agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the family of the late Douglas Latchford, a British art collector and dealer who allegedly had the items smuggled out of Cambodia.

“This substantial restitution represents one of the most important returns of Khmer cultural heritage in recent years, following major repatriations in 2021 and 2023 from the same collection,” the Culture Ministry said in a statement. “It marks a significant step forward in Cambodia’s continued efforts to recover, preserve, and restore its ancestral legacy for future generations.”

The artifacts were described as dating from the pre-Angkorian period through the height of the Angkor Empire, including “monumental sandstone sculptures, refined bronze works, and significant ritual objects.” The Angkor Empire, which extended from the ninth to the 15th century, is best known for the Angkor Wat archaeological site, the nation’s biggest tourist attraction.

Latchford was a prominent antiquities dealer who allegedly orchestrated an operation to sell looted Cambodian sculptures on the international market.

From 1970 to the 1980s, during Cambodia’s civil wars and the communist Khmer Rouge ’s brutal reign, organized looting networks sent artifacts to Latchford, who then sold them to Western collectors, dealers, and institutions. These pieces were often physically damaged, having been pried off temple walls or other structures by the looters.

Latchford was indicted in a New York federal court in 2019 on charges including wire fraud and conspiracy. He died in 2020, aged 88, before he could be extradited to face charges.

Cambodia, like neighboring Thailand, has benefited from a trend in recent decades involving the repatriation of art and archaeological treasures. These include ancient Asian artworks as well as pieces lost or stolen during turmoil in places such as Syria, Iraq and Nazi-occupied Europe. New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the prominent institutions that has been returning illegally smuggled art, including to Cambodia.

“The ancient artifacts created and preserved by our ancestors are now being returned to Cambodia, bringing warmth and joy, following the country’s return to peace,” said Hun Many, who is the younger brother of Prime Minister Hun Manet.

NEW YORK — He’s British. She’s American. He’s a wide-eyed optimist. She’s world-weary. He loves Christmas songs. She loathes them. Naturally, they’re perfect for each other.

That classic opposites-attract setup is the basis for the new Broadway musical “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York).” It’s one of a clutch of popular new romantic comedies warming hearts this winter across various media.

There’s the HBO Max hockey show and word-of-mouth sensation “Heated Rivalry” and the Netflix agnostic-falls-for-a-rabbi series “Nobody Wants This,” while the see-you-next-year movie “People We Meet on Vacation” has become a huge Netflix hit.

There’s also “My Oxford Year,” the upcoming “Reminders of Him” and the dependable “Bridgerton,” now in Season 4. “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)” lands on Broadway beside the Tony-winning android rom-com “Maybe Happy Ending.”

“They’re all the same story, really,” says Kit Buchan, who, with Jim Barne, wrote the “Two Strangers” musical. “How do two people inextricably drawn together but separated by an overwhelming obstacle melt into one another?”

‘There are waves’

Paul Eastwick, a psychology professor at the University of California, Davis, and author of “Bonded by Evolution,” studies romantic attraction and says the burst in rom-coms is welcome.

“I definitely get the sense that there are waves and this is the time of year when we get usually one or two surprise, probably streaming, hits in this genre,” says Eastwick, who also co-hosts “Love Factually,” a podcast that uses science to explore the biggest rom-coms.

He says the genre no longer gets the respect it should, recalling that rom-coms used to be big movie events that garnered awards — like “Ghost,” the highest-grossing film of 1990, which earned five Oscar nominations and won two.

“It feels a little marginalized these days in the critic spaces and in the box-office spaces,” he says. “I hope that people don’t stop making these because people clearly want them.”

Some in the bumper crop of rom-coms this winter take the formula and twist it slightly. “Heated Rivalry,” which had an average of 10.6 million viewers per episode in the U.S., makes the lovers same-sex. “Nobody Wants This,” whose second season garnered 8.6 million views in its first four days of streaming, explores religious conversion. “People We Meet on Vacation,” which drew 17.2 million views over its January launch weekend, flips the gender of the partner who is usually the wisecracking agent of chaos.

“I think that’s often what makes some of these very compelling is where you’re able to wink and nod a little bit at the genre and have fun with it while conforming to people’s expectations at least somewhat,” Eastwick says.

As sweet as cake

“Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)” has opposites attract in the very rom-com-friendly setting of New York, but makes the would-be lovers quite ordinary. She’s a coffee store server and he’s a movie theater sweeper.

“Rom-coms tend to be rich white people with time on their hands. And that’s OK. We love it. We love watching them,” says Buchan. “‘But what if you’re shut out of that?’ was part of the question that we were asking when we set out to write it.”

The musical also winks about its adoration of rom-coms. “If this was a movie,” says the smitten British character, “we’d go ice-skating.” In another scene, he decides there should be a montage of her coming in and out of a dressing room in a parade of fabulous outfits. Later, she does.

The creators are admitted huge fans of rom-coms — their gold standard is “When Harry Met Sally” — even as they gently skewer the genre, out of love.

“I think our greatest ambition of all was to write something that not only parodies and questions the mores of that genre and the stereotypes, but also slots into that genre in its own way,” says Buchan.

An elevated rom-com

Director Brett Haley had never made a rom-com before adapting “People We Meet on Vacation” from Emily Henry’s novel. To craft the film, he reached back to ones he adored, like “Jerry Maguire,” “My Best Friend’s Wedding” and “When Harry Met Sally.”

“They’re incredibly elevated. You care about the characters, the writing is impeccable, the performances are impeccable, the filmmaking is incredible,” he says. “To me, we just sort of lost some of that elevation. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong, by the way, with your Hallmark movies or other rom-coms that are a little fluffier, a little lighter. They’re just sort of meant to be put on and enjoyed and not taken really art.”

He took his two star-crossed lovers — Emily Bader and Tom Blyth, playing will-they-or-won’t-they friends — and earned the viewer’s trust: “It was all about grounding the comedy, the romance, the yearning, in reality.”

Haley, too, argues that rom-coms aren’t respected by critics these days. The genre that kicked off with now-classics like “It Happened One Night” and “Bringing Up Baby” is too easily dismissed in 2026.

“If an action movie is elevated and checks all the boxes, you’ll find that critics go, ‘Hey, yeah, this did it. This was great,’” he says. “But when a romance does it and checks the boxes and does everything right, they go, ‘Oh, we’ve seen this before.’”

Haley says despite the critical reaction to rom-coms, he believes the average viewer yearns to sit on the couch or go to the theater and share the experience of falling head over heels.

“It’s especially dark right now. And I think that people want to believe in love,” he says. “I think there’s real value in a film that can genuinely make you feel good, even just for an escape for two hours. There is true worth in that.”

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Michelangelo’s “The Last Judgement” is getting a facial, with restorers removing a chalky white film of salt that has accumulated over the Renaissance masterpiece since its last major renovation three decades ago.

The Vatican on Saturday gave the media a sneak peak to the cleaning operation, which is taking place on a floor-to-ceiling scaffolding that has obscured the imposing fresco of heaven and hell that dominates the front of the chapel.

The cleaning operation is expected to be completed by Easter, in the first week of April. The public can continue to visit in the meantime, but will have to settle for a reproduction of “The Last Judgment” superimposed on a screen that covers the scaffolding.

Vatican Museum officials on Saturday described a simple but important cleaning operation to remove the white film of salt that has accumulated on the fresco thanks to the nearly 25,000 people who pass through the Vatican Museums each day.

“This salt is created because, above all, when we sweat, we emit lactic acid, and unfortunately lactic acid reacts with the calcium carbonate present on the wall,” said Fabio Moresi, in charge of the scientific research team at the Vatican Museums that is overseeing the cleaning.

Climate change also has a role to play, since the visitors who do come tend to sweat more, creating even more humidity that reacts with the fresco, he said.

Vatican Museums chief Barbara Jatta described the film as a “cataract” that is easy enough to remove: Restorers dip sheets of Japanese rice paper into distilled water and apply them to the fresco, and carefully wipe away the salt film.

Viewed up close on Saturday on the scaffolding, the difference between before and after is remarkable: Sections of the fresco that haven’t been cleaned look as if they are coated in a chalky dust; the cleaned sections show the vibrant colors and detail of the original. On the figure of Jesus, for example, at the center of the fresco, a privileged visitor can see how Michelangelo painted his hair and the wounds of his crucifixion.

The Sistine Chapel is named after Pope Sixtus IV, an art patron who oversaw the construction of the main papal chapel in the 15th century.

But it was a later pontiff, Pope Julius II, who commissioned Michelangelo to paint the famous ceiling, the “Creation of Adam” showing God’s outstretched hand, between 1508 and 1512. A later pontiff, Pope Clement VII, commissioned Michelangelo in 1533 to return to paint “The Last Judgment.”

The other frescos of the Sistine Chapel, where Pope Leo XIV was elected in May, undergo yearly cleaning with restorers working at night on cherry-pickers that can be removed each morning before the public arrives.

But such machines can’t access all of “The Last Judgement,” since the fresco is located behind the altar, which is itself raised up marble steps. That logistical impediment required the mounting of a fixed scaffolding to access the full fresco to clean it.

The Sistine Chapel underwent a complete restoration between 1979 and 1999, when centuries of smoke, grime and wax buildup was removed. The Vatican has left small patches of the pre-restored fresco intact to show the difference, which are now visible on the upper floors of the scaffolding and show a nearly blackened wall.

Rather than radically reduce the number of visitors who can access the Sistine Chapel, the Vatican is studying ways to address humidity levels, through filtration systems and other technologies, so that the salty film doesn’t form again.

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Flowers will take part in a muskrat skinning demonstration, a skill steeped in local cultural history that has become a hallmark of the festival.

Flowers has difficulty speaking because of complications related to oral cancer, but her daughter, Rhonda Aaron, 72, spoke with The Baltimore Sun about how the annual event has become an important part of preserving a local way of life.

Aaron said the community of Golden Hill is small and close-knit. The local school serves prekindergarten through eighth grade and has 168 students enrolled.

“The school, the firehouse and the church – you’re involved in one are all three of them, usually. That’s how this community stays connected. And thrives,” she said.

Aaron said her mother was just 10 years old when she skinned at the first National Outdoor Show. At the time, she competed alongside her 8-year-old sister, Edith, and 4-year-old brother, Thomas. All three were paid 50 cents.

“The reason why they skinned is because of the farmers and the trappers,” Aaron said. “If you were a farmer, more than likely you were a trapper also, because you farmed in the warm months and in the winter you hunted and you did the trapping.”

She said children participated in staged competitions because “the trampers and the farmers wanted the audience to know that their children were involved in what they were doing.”

Aaron said those skills were learned out of necessity. Her mother quit school in the third grade to help on the family farm and was one of nine children — six brothers and three sisters — although one died in the war and another died at age 2.

Aaron said that rural life continued when she was a child growing up in the same region.

“My father and his family were all watermen. They would do duck hunting and goose hunting, but they were watermen, and they crabbed and they fished and they oystered,” Aaron said. “My mother’s side were all farmers and trappers – so I felt like I had the best of both worlds. I was proud of it.

“We never had a TV. We never had a telephone – we never had a bathroom. My father never put a bathroom in until I was getting ready to go to high school. But we lived within our means,” she said.

Aaron remembers her uncles bringing in muskrats in the winter, laying cardboard on the floor and getting to work skinning by the wood stove.

“They would put cardboard down on the linoleum floor, and they would skin by the wood stove,” she said. “It would take them hours and hours, because they had hundreds of them.”

Today, Aaron said, the National Outdoor Show serves as a way to preserve that rural heritage and showcase it for others.

The show is entirely run by volunteers and many of her family members are involved. Her nephew and niece, Dusty and Dakota Flowers, are the current world champion skinners — and Aaron is a five-time world champion herself.

The event features scores of pageants, including the “Miss Outdoors Pageant” on Friday night.

There is a children’s pageant Saturday morning, followed by a muskrat skinning demonstration and duck, goose and turkey calling competitions. At 6 p.m. Saturday, the main event begins, featuring competitions in trap setting, muskrat and raccoon skinning, and oyster shucking. The headline event is the men’s and women’s international world championship muskrat skinning competition.

The show also includes wildlife taxidermy displays, artisan vendors and local food — including fresh muskrat stew.

Aaron said her mother is excited to return to the stage Saturday night.

“Mom is still trucking, let me tell you,” Aaron said. “Her sister’s 96 and she drove them to town today. They go on Fridays and get their hair done.”

Aaron said her mother is not a speed skinner, but instead skins for “quality, not quantity.”

She said there is strong local anticipation for her mother’s return after 79 years.

“Oh, it’s gonna be emotional, I’m telling you,” Aaron said. “A lot of people are coming just to see her. Everybody loves her.

“She’s very excited to get up there. Now, she will not skin really, really fast, of course. But she will skin. And when she gets done, it is so clean, there is no fur left on that meat – and that’s the way she was taught,” Aaron said.

For more information on the National Outdoor Show, visit nationaloutdoorshow.org.

Have a news tip? Contact Josh Davis at jdavis@baltsun.com or on X as @JoshDavis4Shore.