Baltimore Sun readers voted for the area’s best businesses, from wedding venues and roofers to pediatricians and hair salons, and this year’s winners include individuals and businesses recognized for exceptional service and customer satisfaction over the past year.
Voting selected more than 700 winners in nearly 200 categories across six categories: Activities & Arts, Home & Garden, Food & Drink, Lifestyle & Shopping, Personal Services, and People & Media. More than 75,000 votes were cast to produce a list of favorite museums, pizza places, boutiques, TV hosts, radio presenters and more.
Theatre Company: Hippodrome Theatre at the France Merrick Performing Arts Center
12 N. Eutaw St., Baltimore. 800-343-3103. baltimore.broadway.com
By all accounts, the past 12 months have been monumental for the 110-year-old Hippodrome Theatre, a former vaudeville venue that presents touring Broadway musicals and plays.
The Hippodrome Theatre received a new $2 million state tax credit to mount its first Broadway production in at least 20 years: a revival of “The Wiz” had its world premiere in Baltimore in September, embarked on a six-month national tour, and opened on Broadway this spring.
Additionally, the Hippodrome has significantly enhanced its second performance space, which is smaller, more flexible and state-of-the-art, and the newly renovated M&T Bank Exchange provides local performing arts and community groups with the opportunity to work and perform to a diverse audience, while generating significant rental income for the historic and expensive performing arts center.
“The new space has become an instant hit,” says venue president Ron Legler, “with 40 events held in the space in just two months.”
And while performing arts organizations have lost large numbers of audiences since the pandemic began, the Hippodrome has miraculously held on to its season-ticket holders.
“We’ve only lost 1% of our subscribers during the pandemic,” Legler said, adding that most shows on Broadway tours are sold out. “It’s incredible.”
He expects the streak to continue, noting that next season subscribers will be the first audiences anywhere to see two new national tours: “& Juliet,” a girl-power jukebox musical featuring songs by Swedish hitmaker Max Martin that gives Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” a happy ending, and “Life of Pi,” an acclaimed musical about a teenage boy, a tiger, an orangutan, a zebra and a hyena all stranded on the same life raft.
“Our audiences love seeing a Broadway show in their own backyard,” Legler said, “and we feel like we’re hitting our stride right now.”
Mary Carol McCauley
Bowling: Greenmount Bowl
Honorable Mention:
Parkville Bowling Alley
Mustang Alley
Stratosphere Social
Casino: Live! Casino & Hotel Maryland
Honorable Mention:
Hollywood Casino Perryville
Horseshoe Casino Baltimore
Charity/Non-Profit: Chesapeake Bay Association Inc.
Honorable Mention:
Harford County Public Library
American Visionary Art Museum
Burks
University: Towson University
Honorable Mention:
Loyola University
Johns Hopkins University
University of Maryland, College Park
Dog Park: Best Friends Fur Ever
Honorable Mention:
Paw Point Dog Park, Lake Roland
Patterson Dog Park
Locust Point Dog Park, Latrobe Park
Gallery: American Visionary Art Museum
Honorable Mention:
Walters Art Museum
Baltimore Museum of Art
Crystal Mall Gallery
Golf Course: Mountain Branch Golf Club
Honorable Mention:
Bullock Golf Club
Maryland Country Club
Elkridge Club
Museum: American Visionary Art Museum
Honorable Mention:
Baltimore Museum of Art
Walters Art Museum
Baltimore Museum of Industry
Park: Patterson Park
Honorable Mention:
Cromwell Valley Park
Patapsco Valley State Park
Cylburn Arboretum
Private School: Loyola Breakfield
Honorable Mention:
Calvert Hall College High School
Baltimore Catholic High School
John Carroll School
Public Schools: Hereford High School
Honorable Mention:
Baltimore School of the Arts
North Harford High School
Eastern Technical High
Suburb: Bel Air
Honorable Mention:
Towson
Lutherville-Timonium
Parkville
Theatre Company: Hippodrome Theatre at the France Merrick Performing Arts Center
Honorable Mention:
Everyman Theatre
Centre Stage
Fluid movement
Landmark: American Visionary Art Museum
Honorable Mention:
National Aquarium
Oriole Park at Camden Yards
Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Site
Wedding Venue: American Visionary Art Museum
Honorable Mention:
Montague Meadows
George Peabody Library
Rockfield Manor
Editor’s note: Winners and honorable mentions were determined by public vote. Readers nominated and voted online from April through June. Ballots and results are determined solely by readers’ votes. The Baltimore Sun is not responsible for services offered or advertised by anyone featured on the list.
