Midday

Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck joins Tom with another of her weekly reviews of the Baltimore regional stage. Today, she tells us about the new touring company production of Water for Elephants, the hit Broadway musical that's now onstage at Baltimore's Hippodrome Theatre.

The 2024 musical, which was nominated for seven Tony Awards including Best Musical, tells the story of young Jacob Jankowski who, after experiencing a family tragedy, moves on to find a new life with a traveling circus during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The show features exciting circus acrobatics, original music, and intricate puppetry to tell its tale of love and personal survival.

The musical's original direction is by Jessica Stone, with a book by Rick Elice and music by PigPen Theatre Co., based on the novel by Sara Gruen.

Water for Elephants continues at The Hippodrome Theatre through Saturday, October 4.

Reginald Moore, the Director of Baltimore City’s Recreation and Parks Department, joins Midday to discuss the wide array of facilities and resources he shepherds.

Moore oversees an ever-evolving list of 51 recreation centers, 4 dog parks, 3 skate parks and more than 4,700 acres of parkland in 262 parks. That portfolio includes everything from the Greenmount Recreation Center’s AI youth computer lab to Druid Hill Park, which has been under construction for a long time.

Moore discusses upgrades to several recreational centers and parks, and the latest on construction at Druid Hill Park and the opening of the pedestrian loop around Druid Lake.

Baltimore City's largest institutions of learning and medicine, such as Johns Hopkins University and University of Maryland Medical Center, make annual payments to the city.

PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) agreements allows Baltimore to recoup costs from massive nonprofits exempt from property tax. According to reporting from WYPR news partner The Baltimore Banner, the 14 institutions with which the city has PILOT agreements collectively own $4.8 billion of real estate; they currently pay $6 million a year under the PILOT.

Now, a new PILOT agreement sees these institutions pay more. But is the increase enough? Advocates say no and voiced disappointment that negotiations were conducted behind closed doors.

The Banner's Emily Opilo joins Midday to discuss the latest.

Last Friday, Ari Shapiro signed-off as a host of NPR's All Things Considered for the final time, ending a ten-year run in the host chair and a 24-year career that he began as an intern for Nina Totenberg.

Shapiro has appeared as a vocalist with the band Pink Martini for many years. He’ll be appearing with them Friday night at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall here in Baltimore.

Shapiro joined Midday to discuss his retirement from NPR and his plans to stay connected with his audience through his writing, his storytelling and his singing.

Veteran Democratic congressman Steny Hoyer joins Midday. He has represented Maryland's 5th District in the House of Representatives since 1981.

Congressman Hoyer discusses the likelihood of a shutdown of the federal government, the newly announced Trump proposal for an end to the Israel-Gaza war and the outlook for Russia's three-year-old war on Ukraine.

The Maryland state senator's candid new memoir describes how his work as a young apprentice electrician helped turn his life around.

The former Librarian of Congress and past head of Baltimore's Enoch Pratt Library discusses her new but familiar role at the Mellon Foundation: advancing public knowledge through libraries and archives.

It’s the Midday Newswrap.

It’s been quite a week. Yesterday, at the behest of the president, a federal grand jury indicted former FBI Director James Comey, alleging he lied to a Senate Committee in 2020. Comey posted a video on Instagram last night asserting his innocence.

Comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s late night talk show returned to the air on Tuesday after a week-long suspension by Disney, the parent company of ABC, which had bowed to pressure from the Trump administration. Kimmel's return was announced after Disney’s stock value plunged by more than 3% -- a loss of more than 4 billion dollars. ABC affiliates owned by conservative media companies Sinclair and Nexstar have not yet resumed carrying Kimmel’s show.

Hundreds of generals and admirals in the US military have been ordered by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to come to the Quantico Marine Corps base in Virginia next week. Hegseth has not stated the reason for the highly unusual meeting.

President Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. unveiled a new report this week that warns, without conclusive scientific evidence, that use by pregnant women of the pain killer acetaminophen is linked to autism in their developing children. Their remarks, and the new report, were condemned by many medical experts.

President Trump addressed the UN General Assembly’s annual meeting on Tuesday in a rambling, hour-long address. Later, in a post on Truth Social, he appeared to adopt a more supportive position on aiding Ukraine in its three-year long war with Russia.

Our news partner, The Baltimore Banner, has announced that Audrey Cooper will be its new Editor-in-Chief.   Cooper is the Editor-in-Chief and Senior Vice President of News at New York Public Radio. She previously led the newsroom at The San Francisco Chronicle, for nearly six years.  She begins her tenure at the Banner on October 13.

Alex Mann of the Banner reports that on Thursday, Annapolis elections officials audited the results of the primary election that took place September 16th, by hand-counting every ballot cast. Officials had incorrectly reported unofficial election day results for two candidates. Another race was decided by four votes,

And, like Americans across the country, federal employees in the Baltimore-Washington area are bracing for a partial government shutdown, as the Tuesday deadline fast approaches.

Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck joins Tom with another of her weekly reviews of the Baltimore regional stage. Today, she spotlights the new production of Suzan Lori-Parks' Pulitzer prize-winning play, "Topdog/Underdog," on stage at the Spotlighters Theatre.

The play, which premiered in 2001 off-Broadway in New York City, examines the troubled lives of two Black brothers named Lincoln and Booth, abandoned as teenagers and now struggling to survive their poverty and sibling rivalries, while trying to build a better future for themselves.

Produced in collaboration with Endangered Species Theatre Project, the play is directed by Rain Pryor, and stars Aaron Watkins as Booth and Jossan Robinson as Lincoln.

Baltimore artist Wordsmith is a hip-hop virtuoso, educator and activist known for crafting uplifting and thoughtful lyrics across genre-defying works.

His two new albums showcase his unique technique and add something new for returning listeners. Music for Mankind and Masterpiece Theater approach themes of identity, social strife and truth with distinct style.