Arts

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery director is stepping down at the end of May due to health reasons.

The museum announced Monday that Martin Sullivan will take on the new role of senior scholar at the Smithsonian beginning June 4. Sullivan has led the National Portrait Gallery since 2008. Previously he led Historic St. Mary's City Commission in Maryland.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Smithsonian American Art Museum is retracing the tremendous changes the 20th century brought to African Americans through a new exhibit in Washington.

"African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era and Beyond" features works from 43 black artists. It includes paintings, sculpture, prints and photographs exploring the struggle for equality, the power of music and images of rural and urban life.

The museum brought together 100 works from its collection of African American art. More than half are being exhibited by the museum for the first time, including paintings by Benny Andrews and Jacob Lawrence and photographs by Gordon Parks and Marilyn Nance.

BALTIMORE (AP) — The historic Senator Theatre in north Baltimore will be closed for several months to undergo $3 million in renovations.

The landmark 1939 movie house on York Road closed Thursday for the work. James "Buzz" Cusack, who runs the theater with his daughter, tells The Baltimore Sun (http://tinyurl.com/7n748yk ) that the theater will be closed for six to nine months.

Cusack says the theater will reopen with three screens and a restaurant.

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Information from: The Baltimore Sun, http://www.baltimoresun.com

PRINCESS ANNE, MD--The Eastern Shore Fan Con, a comic book convention and more, is coming to UMES April 28, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Student Services Center.

The event focuses on comic books, anime, video games and "all things geeky," said organizers.

Special guests Greg LaRocque, Douglas Draper, and Buz Hasson & Ken Haeser will be on the scene to meet attendees.  LaRocque is best known for his work on "The Flash" and has worked for Marvel and DC comics, Draper on such titles as "Termites in Your Smile" and "The Phantom," and Hasson and Haeser as co-creators of "The Living Corpse."

WASHINGTON (AP) — Broadway cast members from Larry Kramer's play "The Normal Heart" are returning to the production as it opens a national tour this summer in Washington.

Arena Stage announced Wednesday that Luke MacFarlane of TV's "Brothers & Sisters" and Patrick Breen from "The Good Wife" will return to the show after it closed last year on Broadway. They are joined by Christopher Hanke, whose credits include "Big Love" and "Brothers & Sisters."

The Tony Award-winning play runs June 8 to July 29 at Arena Stage. It's set at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic when a group of gay men turned into activists grappling with the disease and public denial.