Maryland Hall is rebranding its outdoor concert series again, launching it this summer with a jazz duet.
What started as the Front Stairs concerts during the pandemic in 2020 — with groups staged atop the stairs at the main entrance — morphed into first the Front Lawn series and now BloomHaven.
The change reflects an expanded concept of Live on the Lawn, the name now given to outdoor events. BloomHaven is the theme for the 2025 series, with vendors like Anastasia’s Flowers and Dandelions Flower Stand matching the aesthetic.
“We envision having a different theme each year to build anticipation and keep the series fresh,“ said Tolu Soniregun, a marketing specialist for the arts center. “Each theme will tell a story and reflect what we feel the community is calling for that season.”
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Dominique Bianco, a Washington D.C.-based jazz vocalist who won the 2023 Wammie Award for Best Jazz Artist, will perform standards and original songs in the first concert. She released a new EP, “Walk Right Out,” in May.
Bianco will be accompanied by her frequent collaborator, guitarist Tommy Holladay.
Other groups in the series:
Dirty Grass Players, July 19. A Baltimore-based bluegrass band currently touring the East Coast.
Black-Eyed Suzies, Aug. 9. Five women from Maryland and Pennsylvania make up the vocals-driven bluegrass group. Folk singer-songwriter Gage Rhodes, from the Eastern Shore, also performs.
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Stephen Arnold & Sea Change, Aug. 17. The D.C.-based bassist and his group perform jazz with folk, rock and soul influences.
General admission is $10, children under 12 admitted free. Bring your own chairs and blankets.
Here are some other great things to do in the week through July 16.
The bard returns
7:30 p.m. Thursday
The busiest theater company in Annapolis is having a typically busy summer.
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Classic Theatre of Maryland returns to Shakespeare for the opening of its main summer production, “Much Ado About Nothing.”
This is classic theater at its best, a screwball comedy relationship between Beatrice and Benedick. It’s got sexual tension, flirtation, verbal zingers and clowns.
Thursday-Sunday performances run through July 27. Tickets are $58-$85, plus taxes and fees.
Classic Theatre is also staging “Swing Time” as part of its cabaret series Monday and Tuesday, plus its outdoor show this summer at Reynolds Tavern on select Tuesdays, “The Imaginary Invalid.”
Independence Day, part deux
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday
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The French Quarter of Annapolis is very, very small.
But every year, a handful of businesses in Clock Tower Plaza put on a celebration of Gallic pride for Bastille Day.
Kristen D’Angelo-Rowell, owner of Sweet Hearts Patisserie, joins with Patrick Bouculat, owner of Grapes Wine Bar and Wine Cellars of Annapolis, and Stacey Adams of Tastings Gourmet Market for a mini celebration of French Independence Day.
The day includes samples of French pastries and cheeses, special menus, wine tastings, grape stomping in the wine garden and painting by artist Linda Luke.
The festival continues from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, with The Daily Crepe food truck onsite from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
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The national French holiday, Bastille Day marks the storming of a notorious prison at the start of the French Revolution in 1789.
Admission is free.
Scooting along
2 p.m. Saturday
The Electric Scooter Guide Group is hosting its first ride in Annapolis, inviting anyone with a personal electric vehicle or an interest in them to join along.
A collaboration between Baltimore PEV organizer Michael Brown and Chesapeake PEV clubs, the tour will start at Choptank Restaurant and loop 20 miles around the city.
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This is the first of a planned series of rides around the region, with the next planned in Washington, D.C. Free.
Speak your truth
6-10 p.m. Saturday
Speak Your Truth, an open mic night for art, song and performance about mental health and arts, started in 2017.
The nonprofit behind the program has expanded to other cities and events, but the original night and its of five- to 10-minute presentations still pack a punch. There will be a variety of displays and information from outside groups.
Tickets are $15, with a 50% discount for presenters.
Another anniversary
11 a.m. Sunday
When did movie anniversaries become such a thing?
This year, it’s been 50 years since “Jaws,” 40 since “Back to the Future” and 30 since “Toy Story.” You can argue about significance, but this week, the only one shot on the Chesapeake Bay is celebrating 20.
“Wedding Crashers” stars Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn as two guys who crash weddings to party and seduce women, and features the Schooner Woodwind as the lovely sailboat of a Kennedy-like Cabinet secretary and father played by Christopher Walken.
The Annapolis charter company will mark the milestone with four special cruises, starting with a themed brunch and lecture on the ship’s role in the film.
Tickets are $103 for the brunch, $75.25 for other talks and moving trivia cruises.
Film screening
7 p.m. Wednesday
“Reading Lolita in Tehran” is the story of a courageous professor in post-revolutionary Iran who forms a secret book club for her female students.
Based on the best-selling memoir by Azar Nafisi, the 2024 movie gets a screening at the Bowen Theater in Maryland Hall.
Sponsored by the Annapolis Film Society, tickets are $20 plus taxes and fees.
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