All the ingredients are there, or at least a reasonable, sometimes delightfully campy, facsimile. The Tin Man. The Scarecrow. The Cowardly Lion. Dorothy Gale. And Toto, too? And Toto, too.

Women artists will be showcased throughout the state this spring with thousands of special events and programs.

By Phyllis Johnson
Correspondent
WESTERN BRANCH
It takes a lot of practice to rank 11th in the Southeastern USA Irish step dancing competition.
Western Branch High School senior Maggie Wilcox has gone beyond that - to a championship level. She got that ranking in regionals in Dallas where she competed against 40 girls.

The Virginia Opera and the Hampton Jazz Festival have announced plans for upcoming offerings.
Celebrating 36th years, the Virginia Opera will open its 2010-2011 season with a traditional production of Verdi's "Rigoletto" from Oct. 2 to 10 at the Harrison Opera House in Norfolk.

Arts managers breathed easier Monday after learning that the Virginia Commission for the Arts had not been erased entirely from the state budget. "I'm very relieved," said John Dixon, director of the Academy of Music in Norfolk. "Still apprehensive about the next year or two, but it's going to be a lot easier knowing the state arts commission will be in existence."

The classic Jules Verne adventure story has been adapted for the stage and is a wild, wacky, unbelievably creative, 90-miles-an-hour, hilarious journey.Page redirect: The link you clicked didn't take you to the page we intended it to take you. Please click here for the proper Web page. Thank you!

NORFOLK A sign on the columned portico read "Making Dreams Come True," in case any of the performers or their parents weren't sure they were in the right place. It was late January, and the curtain was about to rise on the first auditions for a Hurrah Players musical in the group's new home.

NORFOLK It's good to be the king. Especially when you're king of the box office. A six-week-long return of "The Lion King" will be among the three shows that will make up the new "Broadway" touring season at Chrysler Hall in Norfolk. The other shows will be "Burn the Floor" and "Fiddler on the Roof," starring Harvey Fierstein.

By Melanie Barker
Correspondent
VIRGINIA BEACH
Kimberly Sawyer has friends who are artists and musicians. She also has a friend, Kary Ann Nixon, who is a special education teacher at Pembroke Elementary School.

By Lee Teply, Correspondent As part of "Minds Wide Open: Virginia Celebrates Women in the Arts 2010." the Virginia Chorale offered a concert of music by female composers Friday night. "Ears Wide Open" at Norfolk's First Presbyterian Church was an a cappella program that featured music of the last 45 years, and thus was a survey of contemporary compositional practices.