Monthly Archives: January 2013

We Love Weekends
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We Love Weekends – Feb 1 – 3

334/366 anokarina

Fedward: For our first mutual weekend off since approximately Thanksgiving, the Social Chair and I are getting by with a little help from our friends.  Friday night we’re helping one friend celebrate her birthday at Larry’s Lounge (people change; Larry’s never does).  Saturday we’re helping another friend clear out an overstock of beer, and since I have recently discovered that beer and I don’t get along, he’s a good enough friend he’s going to let me drink his whisky instead.  Sunday we’re going to a kickoff lunch for the upcoming Puppet Standup (produced in part by Your Mom), then the opening of The Sweary-Word With the Hat at Studio Theatre, and ending with Jenn’s birthday celebration at (where else) the Passenger.  No, not the fake one.

Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie

Rachel: I’ll be making my way to Iota on Friday night to support my friend and local rocker Alex Vans. He’s celebrating the release of his first LP and brand new music video so it should be a fun night. Alex is sharing the night’s billing with local-favorites The Weathervanes as well as Low Cut Connie. Then, fast-forward to Sunday, and I’ll hopefully be making the time to have a ukulele jam sesh with fellow We Love DC’er Tiff before celebrating one of our own’s birthday (**cough cough** Jenn, I’m talking about you **cough cough**). All in all, a good weekend. Though, I hear some big football game is going to be on as well? (I kid, I kid …  I know it’s Super Bowl weekend. Is it baseball season yet?)

Salmon bento box at Teaism Joe in DC

Katie: Are you guys sick of hearing my weekend running plans yet? No? Okay then. I’m going to take a little trot around the National Mall (protip: it’s about 2 miles in length) with a friend and then we’re going to detox with tea at Teaism. I’m a big fan of the Lavender-Lemon-Mint tisane, it’s a perfect nightcap. Saturday I’m headed to see RENT at the ARC DC, and then I’m going to try and get my noodle fix at Toki Underground. I went to Momofuku in NYC a few weeks ago, and I think Toki wins in the ramen battle, even taking loyalty out of the equation. But I need to go back to Toki to confirm. TBD.

Go Long Mylar Bono

Tom: Super Bowl Sunday! My beloved 49ers are in New Orleans to battle the Ravens, so I’m on the look for where to watch the big game. Neighborhood bar (read: Boundary Stone)? Big sports bar (read: Pour House or Nellie’s)? Home with chili? Hard to say. After 43 miles in the California countryside on Wednesday (http://bits.tombridge.com/post/41896645796/ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-awesome-awesome-awesome), I think I get the weekend off from physical activity.

Day 238: E Street Cinemas InspirationDC

Patrick: I almost forgot it was Super Bowl weekend. Mostly because I’ve tried to forget about football ever since Baltimore put the hurt on my Patriots. Sunday I will be starting the day with brunch at Ted’s Bulletin followed by a trip to Studio Theater to review the edgiest named show in DC this year: The Motherfucker With The Hat. Also in Oscar Watch news, West End & E-Street Cinemas already have the Oscar Nominated Shorts and will start screening them in February, so I’ll probably fit that in this weekend too. What am I doing for the big game? I don’t know yet, but I will tell you I’ll be rooting for SF. Sorry B’more fans.

20/31/365 anokarina

Don: Our plans are contingent on eventually emerging from the plague den that is currently our home and out into a not-too-soggy DC, but CWG seems to think it’ll be cold but clear on Saturday. Which sounds like a nice setting for a little outdoor walk, either on Roosevelt Island or perhaps another area along the Potomac. With Sunday turning grayer I think it’s a good day to watch my hometown teams faceplant themselves from the comfort of my sofa or a bar. Maybe they’ll surprise me…

Entertainment, The Features
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New DC Political Drama House Of Cards Premieres At Newseum

IMG_8863_1600x1067

A new show about Washington, DC will premiere on Friday except you won’t be able to find it on any network or premium cable channel. House of Cards starring Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright among others will be found exclusively on Netflix. The network reportedly spent $100M to produce the series which will release all 13 episodes of its first season this Friday. Netflix has already ordered a second 13 episode season. The remake of a 90’s BBC miniseries will revolve around Francis Underhill (Spacey), a Democratic majority whip who doesn’t get his promised cabinet position in a new Presidential administration. Knowing his way around the political game, he and his wife Claire (Wright), show their cunning, ruthlessness, and political prowess in their quest to achieve ultimate power.

If the show sounds dark then I don’t need to tell you that David Fincher (Social Network, Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) and Beau Willimon (Farragut North) have a hand in the show as director and writer. At the show’s Washington, DC premiere at the Newseum I got a chance to talk with Willimon, who was nominated for an Oscar two years ago for writing the Ides of March, and he told me that he actually has a positive outlook on DC despite the dark nature of the show. He also expressed his support for the local theatre scene, describing it as “inspirational.”

Spacey also commented on Netflix’s exploration into the next waive of TV viewing, saying that they will have a chance to do what the music industry should have done.

Take a peek below at Willimon’s and Spacey’s remarks at the Red Carpet premiere from last night. Will House of Cards fall nicely into the current DC TV spectrum of Homeland, Scandal, and Veep? We’ll find out this weekend.

Continue reading →

Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Henry V

King Henry (Zach Appelman) leads his men in the Battle of Agincourt. Folger Shakespeare Theatre. Photo credit: Scott Suchman.

King Henry (Zach Appelman) leads his men in the Battle of Agincourt. Folger Shakespeare Theatre. Photo credit: Scott Suchman.

As lean as the rough-hewn timbers that populate its set, Folger Shakespeare Theatre’s production of Henry V is more intimate than you might expect from a play set mostly in the hell of combat. It’s quietly dominated by the thoughtful performance of Zach Appelman as the young king. We watch the cruel necessity of his transformation to absolute monarch, losing friends to betrayal and waging the dirty business of war as he seeks to join England and France. This is a Henry V painfully rooted in psychological truth, and it works brilliantly.

Director Robert Richmond wisely sets this production as straight-up Elizabethean, free from flashy thematic restaging into some other era. That’s a relief to see, placing the text properly front and center. As our captive guide the Chorus (a wonderfully melancholy Richard Sheridan Willis) begins to tell the king’s tale, we become his complicit contemporaries as he attempts to impart some wisdom to his misguided country. The message of Shakespeare’s play? The road to being king isn’t easy, being a subject is worse, and the results of war are always inconclusive.

Appelman delivers familiar speeches anew with an extraordinary intimacy (most notably the famous “Once more unto the breach, dear friends,” pitch-perfect as an exhortation from a leader who will always go over the top first), and the small cast transforms themselves with lightning efficiency through multiple characters and locations. It’s all very trim and tight, showcasing the text with refreshing clarity. Continue reading →

The Mall
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That Day Molly Smith Led a Protest on Gun Control

Molly Smith at Gun March on DC

It wasn’t hard to spot the gun control crowd marching on Washington last Saturday. They were the ones all the tourists were pointing at.

OH: “Who are all those people over there?”
OH: “You think something’s wrong?”
OH: “Oh it’s one of those anti-gun groups.”
OH: “Get out of the picture, Fred!”

In fact, the March on Washington for Gun Control was not one group but a few – groups like One Million Moms for Gun Control and folks from the mayor’s office, plus Arena Stage’s Molly Smith, who organized the whole thing (unaffiliated with the theater).

I ran into the march while headed toward the National Gallery of Art for my birthday. So obviously I took a detour; because nothing says celebrate like partisan politics and national tragedy.
Continue reading →

Entertainment, Music, Night Life, The Features, We Love Music
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The Winning Ticket: Bebel Gilberto @930 Club, 2/28/2013

bebel gilberto

Today We Love DC is giving away a pair of tickets to see Brazilian chanteuse Bebel Gilberto at the 930 Club on Thursday, February 28th! Escape from the bleak winter with an evening of tropical tunes and sultry sambas. To purchase tickets online, click here! Tickets can also be purchased in-person at the 930 club box office. (#BebelG930)

For your chance to win a pair of tickets to see Bebel Gilberto, simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address until 4pm today. One entry per email address, please.

For the rules of this giveaway…

Comments will be closed at 4pm and a winner will be randomly selected. The winner will be notified by email. The winner must respond to our email within 24 hours or they will forfeit their tickets and we will pick another winner.

Tickets will be available to the winner at the will-call window of the 930 Club on the night of the concert. The tickets must be claimed with a valid ID. The winner must be old enough to attend the specific concert or must have a parent’s permission to enter if he/she is under 18 years old.

Comment away!

 

Featured Photo
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Featured Photo

Industrial winter morning Pianoman75

One of the interesting things that I’ve noticed, as a photographer, is that I see the different qualities of light around me. This is particularly interesting when you notice it at different times of the day and year. At sunrises and sunsets it is, of course, easy to see the fascinating shades of color that can play. But what can be really interesting is the light an hour or two after sunrise and how it can make a scene look, especially at different times of the year.

Let’s take Kai’s picture above. If we were to add the scene up by it’s parts, there’s nothing remarkable; just some trees, clouds, and a hill. But once we add the light of a winter sun, which is just a little further after magic hour sunrise, a beautiful photo is created. Suddenly those trees are nicely silhouetted; the power lines help break the shot into pleasing thirds; and the steam of the smoke stacks is lit up perfectly. And most of this is done with just the right amount of light.

Entertainment, The Features
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29th Helen Hayes Awards Nominees Announced

Helen Hayes Rebecca Sheir Bob Magadan

Last night Theatre Washington announced the nominees for the 29th annual Helen Hayes Awards. The DC Theatre community watched from both the Helen Hayes Gallery at the National Theatre as well as online, a first for the organization. The webcast was beautifully hosted by two darling voices of DC radio: WAMU’s Rebecca Sheir and WTOP’s Bob Madigan.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company led the board with 19 total nominations. Among the nominees for Outstanding Resident Play included Shakespeare Theatre Company’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company’s The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity; Studio Theatre’s Invisible Man; Theater J’s Our Class; and Folger Theatre’s The Taming of the Shrew.

Ford’s Theatre’s 1776; Toby’s Dinner Theatre’s The Color Purple; Signature Theatre’s Dreamgirls; MetroStage’s Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris; and Keegan Theatre’s Spring Awakening rounded out the slate in the Outstanding Resident Musical category.

Dizzy Miss Lizzies Roadside Revue will also be recognized with the John Aniello Award for Outstanding Emerging Theatre Company.

Looking at the list, the most notable snub this year is Synetic who earned 15 nominations last year and did not get a single one this year. On Twitter the group remarked that it was a, “Disappointing night.” Woolly’s Chad Deity and Folger’s Taming of the Shrew are both the most nominated show with nine, but did anybody see the show with the second most nominations: The Color Purple at Toby’s Dinner Theatre in Columbia, MD? MetroStage in Alexandria should also be thrilled this morning after earning seven nods.

There’s usually some star power in the non-resident production nominations but there isn’t much this year. The most well-known name among the nominees is Kathleen Turner for her performance in Arena’s Red Hot Patriot. Will she show up to accept a possible award in April?

The full list can be found below, the winners will be announced on Monday April 8th, 2013 at The Warner Theatre.

Continue reading →

Sports Fix
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Nationals add to the Presidential roster, spark rivalry

Taft

Photo by Luis Albisu, special to We Love DC

If the Nationals ever move from racing presidents, to racing supreme court justices, they’ve made a huge swing pickup.

On Saturday, the Nationals unveiled their latest signing: 27th President (and 10th Supreme Court Chief Justice) William Howard Taft, unveiled before a packed hall of fans and friends at the Washington Convention Center. The singular highlight of the day-long fan fest, the addition of a fifth racing president promises to provide some interesting rivalry options for the mid-game “main event” along the warning track.

In real life, Taft and Roosevelt were rivals that split the Republican Party in the 1912 election, leading to the election of Woodrow Wilson. Taft and Roosevelt split over the firing of Gifford Pinchot from the top of the Forestry Service at the USDA. A conservationist, Pinchot was canned when he opposed the Taft policies at USDA which he felt were an attempt to shutdown the conservation movement that Roosevelt had begun. Roosevelt had initially backed Taft as a good successor, but the divisions between the two men grew with the 1910 Pinchot-Ballinger affair, and then the 1912 prosecution of U.S. Steel split the party in half. Roosevelt would best Taft, but neither could assemble a majority. The rift that followed split the Republican party, formed the Bullmoose Party, and sunk the reelection chances for President Taft.

Nine years after the electoral disaster, Taft would accept President Harding’s nomination to the Supreme Court as Chief Justice, where he was approved 60-4 by the Senate.  Taft would push for the Supreme Court to get their own office space – a building immediately recognizable to all DC residents – instead of using the old Senate Chamber in the Capitol. In addition, he would reorganize their docketing structure to give the court more flexibility in modern scheduling and control. 

Taft wouldn’t live to see the new Supreme Court building built, though, as he would pass on in 1930.

He is buried at Arlington Cemetery, one of two presidents to bear that honor, and one of four chief justices.

Oh – and just to cut one off at the pass – Taft is not the inventor of the Seventh Inning Stretch, despite the anecdote of a seventh inning stretch inspired by Taft’s restless attendance at a Senators game, the practice predates his term by 50 years.

Sports Fix, The Features
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It’s Time To Pay Attention To The Wizards, Washington DC

John Wall Geoff Livingston

If you are like some of my Twitter followers, you may have noticed there hasn’t been a lot of Wizards talk lately. That’s because they were terrible. Heading into 2013 they only had four wins and were the butt of jokes around the league. Even perennial basement dweller Charlotte had a better record than the Wiz on January 1st, 2013 despite going on an 18 game losing streak at the end of 2012.

How can you lose 18 games in a row and still have a better record than the Wizards?

Continue reading →

Weekend Flashback
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Weekend Flashback: 1/25-1/27

Where you going? theqspeaks

That weird weekend just before the Superbowl is over. Now we all get to spend the week trying to figure out where we’re going to watch all those commercials on Sunday…I mean, eat all that food…now that you mention it, I think there’s a game on Sunday too. Huh, they add something new every year.

Anywho, we survived cold, protesters, and snow this weekend, so I’m feeling confident we’ll get through the week. But if you’re not feeling so confident, here’s another installment of Weekend Flashback to keep work at bay. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, We Love Drinks, WTF?!
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Brooklyn Is the New Black

The Passenger: God Save the District Kevin H.

They say imitation is the sincerest form of copying. At least somebody said that. I said it on my tumblr a while back and I didn’t think I was being original at the time, anyway. It should thus come as little surprise that there is now another bar called Passenger. What does come as a surprise is that it’s in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, whose hipsters are known for dismissing anything remotely unoriginal. Brooklyn’s Passenger is train-themed (obviously) although it substitutes a small upstairs space for the DC original’s narrow railcar.

The Back Room at the Passenger Kevin H.

The Brown brothers reacted on Twitter, with Derek tweeting, merely, “Ahem” and Tom asking, “Have you ever heard of this thing called ‘Google’?” Tom added the #FakePassenger hashtag, which I think sums the whole thing up rather well.

Hey, Brooklyn? We knew the Passenger before it was cool.

capitals hockey, The Daily Feed
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Caps Surge Late, Tie Devils

Photo courtesy of Dan4th
Michal Neuvirth
courtesy of Dan4th

For a bit, it looked like the monkey was coming off the Caps’ back. Two late goals in the third period by Mike Ribeiro and Mike Green – the first in the season for both – tied up the game and sent it into overtime. The New Jersey Devils were having none of it, though. With just under twenty seconds left in the extra period, Ilya Kovalchuk slammed the puck past goalie Michal Neuvirth. The Devils preserved their undefeated start to the season with the 3-2 win.

Washington is the last NHL team to register a point for this season; they are now 0-3-1 and last in the Southeast. Neuvirth was the bright spot in the game, registering 32 saves on 35 shots. Despite the loss, coach Adam Oates was optimistic. “I think tonight was an example of we did [work]. And it was great to see,” said Oates.

“The first question was, we haven’t played for 60 minutes. Well, we did tonight. It was a lot of growing pains, if you will, but the guys did their job. You obviously want the win, but we did a lot of good things.”

Next game is Sunday against Buffalo at the Verizon Center.

Entertainment, Music, The Features, We Love Music
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DC represents at Coachella 2013! Lineup announced.

the evens

My jaw dropped when I looked at the Coachella lineup this morning and saw The Evens on there! The Evens are a DC-based duo consisting of hometown hero Ian MacKaye (founder of Dischord Records, Fugazi, Minor Threat…) and his wife Amy Farina (formerly of The Warmers). The Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival is a big, three-day music & arts extravaganza that happens outside of Palm Springs, California every April. It is a strange event to imagine the super-DIY/indie duo appearing at, but kudos to them! That’ll be something to see!

Also representing our nation’s capital at the Coachella Festival will be the recently reunited Make-Up. Frontman Ian Svenonius (formerly of Nation of Ulysses, Weird War, currently in Chain & the Gang) is well-known for his style and crazy southern-revival-type stage antics. The group reunited in 2012 for the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival (along with a couple DC shows). (Svenonius also has a book out right now titled Supernatural Strategies for Making a Rock ‘n’ Roll Group, which is awesome- laugh-out-loud funny, smart, artfully written and educational at the same time. I highly recommend it.)

Hooray for DC bands representing the District at Coachella!

We Love Weekends
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We Love Weekends: Jan 25-27

Yoga on the mall Blinkofanaye

Rebecca: Friday I’m destressing from a long and hectic work week with a 90 minute sweat-fest at Down Dog Yoga in Bethesda. If you’re interested in checking out hot yoga, I highly recommend this studio. Be sure to hydrate before and after. Saturday mornings I’ve been playing pick up, small sided soccer in Glover Park, but with this week’s freezing weather and snow, I’ll likely take a break from that and instead grab a cup of solid coffee at Peregrine and window shop at the home furnishing shops along 14th. Saturday night, I think American Ice Company is calling my name from some chill drinks, relaxed atmosphere and solid tunes. Sunday I’ve got some errands to run and I think an early-ish trip to IKEA in College Park is on the docket. Love me those Swedish meatballs and you can’t beat the price!

Yoga in Dupont Circle2 starbuck77

Katie: I’m actually really jealous of Rebecca’s plans at Down Dog, I adore them (especially Beth, she’s one of my favorite teachers ever!), but I’ll be finding my yoga on the Hill this weekend, either at Capitol Hill Yoga or Yoga District on H. I’d practically pay Down Dog to build a studio on my side of the National Mall. It’s an exercise-ful weekend, because my training for the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile officially kicks off, but I’ll still take some time to hit up Union Market to check out the new Red Apron Butchery stand. I haven’t gotten my grubby little hands on their beef jerky in probably over a year, and so I’m going to make a beeline straight to them and buy it all.

Amazing Rosslyn specimenlife

Rachel: I’m tucked away in Crystal City working for the majority of this weekend but come Saturday I’ll be out and about in Rosslyn with a likely stop over at one of my favorite Irish pubs Four Courts. Then Sunday, I’m finishing my prep for a last minute show at IOTA which will be this coming Monday night (1/28). I look forward to breaking out a few acoustic 90’s boy band covers including this one. So if that’s up your alley, I’d love to see you at the show! Music starts at 8 p.m. and admission is $10.

sesame street comes to capitol hill philliefan99

Patrick: I’m really excited to have a somewhat quiet weekend. After that Inauguration I think I’ll be staying off the sauce for sometime. By sometime I probably mean three days. Dominion Stage in Arlington is performing one of my favorite musicals: Avenue Q. I hope to catch a show before it closes this weekend so I can sing along to The Internet is for Porn. I’m also continuing my Oscar Watch by catching the The Master at AMC Shirlington.

National Gallery of Art - To Scale - 01-08-13 mosley.brian

Joanna: It’s my last weekend in DC for a month so I’m hoping to spend it well. Everything starts with an (un)healthy portion of my other half’s gourmet mac & cheese, based on the Martha Stewart masterpiece. I’d also like to visit Jack Rose and L’Enfant Cafe for some fancy food and drink, but I might have accidentally spent all my money on cheese already… And the National Gallery of Art’s Shock of the News exhibit is closing this weekend, so I’m sure to catch that while making a second visit to Michelangelo’s David-Apollo (what treasures are free in this city!). Then it’s back to prepping my travel journal for Oz.

Macarons jsprig

Jenn: I’m still in post-surgery recovery mode (hey, I have a cool cyborg heart!) but if I can muster the energy to hit the New Order/Duran Duran dance party Friday night at the Black Cat, and the ARTpocalypse closing party at The Dunes Saturday night, I will. Look for me being a wallflower. Otherwise, it’s a weekend with lots of comfort. I may venture through the cold to enjoy a macaron at Le Caprice (who am I kidding? I need a whole box, people!), and perhaps a plate of pasta at Posto (ok, I just had to go with the alliteration there) – though what I am really craving is my favorite dish of tartare at Fiola. Maybe one of Jeff Faile’s bitter cocktails is just what this heart of glass needs.

2012-08-06 11.44.51 shalommama

Don: We’ve just finished our obligatory you-have-a-baby-show-him-to-us parental visit so we’re likely going to take it a little easier this weekend and enjoying the peace and quiet around the house. Or as p&q as it ever is when you have an infant. But we’ll make the usual bougie outing to the farmer’s market and maybe a little casual dining. We’ll save our outdoor outings till next week and the odd warm snap, though we’ll also be sure to see Rachel at Iota on Monday. Never too young to introduce the boy to some quality guitar work.

Talkin' Transit
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A Longterm Vision for Metro

Metro Station pablo.raw

If there’s an agency that could use some good news, it’s beleaguered WMATA.

This morning, in an attempt to show they’re thinking about more than just the years and years of capital repairs they’ve embarked upon, the transit agency this morning unveiled a plan to carry Metro past 2025 and to 2040 with clear goals that include the separation of the Orange and Blue, and the Yellow and Green, lines underground through the center of the District of Columbia, as well as push the boundaries of rail further out to as far as Centreville, Bowie and Potomac Mills. 

The agency won’t be able to do that, though, without raising at least an additional $1.24B in revenue – per year – between 2015 and 2040. 

This wish list is divided into two buckets: 2025 (+$500M/yr) and 2040 (+$740M/yr). The 2025 list includes the money to run 8-car trains throughout the system during peak periods, new pedestrian connections between Farragut North and Farragut West, and Chinatown/Gallery Place and Metro Center, and some transit coordination between regional powers.  The 2040 list is far more ambitious, and includes new tunnels along M Street NW through Georgetown, and along 10th St NW from the river up to Thomas Circle, which would allow the yellow and green line to split through the core, as well as the orange and blue lines to split through the core.

I think, before most jurisdictions agree to outlay significant monies to boost Metro’s longterm vision, a clear path forward is necessary to the end of a system that is so delays as to be useless on the weekends, and full of consistent nagging problems on the weekdays.

Metro has an image problem – backed up by a failure to deliver problem – that it will need to combat in the public eye before the metro area will be willing to add $1.25B to the WMATA coffers.

You can read their press release or the Executive Summary (PDF), or check out the Post’s info graphic on the new plan.

Music, Night Life, The Features, We Love Music
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The Winning Ticket: Kishi Bashi @930 Club, 2/3/2013

Today We Love DC is giving away a pair of tickets to see Kishi Bashi at the 930 Club on Sunday, February 3rd! Plume Giant will open the night. To purchase tickets online, click here! Tickets can also be purchased in-person at the 930 club box office.

For your chance to win a pair of tickets to see Kishi Bashi, simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address until 4pm today. One entry per email address, please.

For the rules of this giveaway…

Comments will be closed at 4pm and a winner will be randomly selected. The winner will be notified by email. The winner must respond to our email within 24 hours or they will forfeit their tickets and we will pick another winner.

Tickets will be available to the winner at the will-call window of the 930 Club on the night of the concert. The tickets must be claimed with a valid ID. The winner must be old enough to attend the specific concert or must have a parent’s permission to enter if he/she is under 18 years old.

Comment away!

Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Zorro

Zorro Constellation Theatre

Photo: Andrew Propp

In Constellation Theatre’s new retelling of Zorro co-playwright and director Eleanor Holdridge cuts straight to the action. Unlike other hero tales which place emphasis on backstory and the journey towards a fully realized superhero, Holdridge spends minimal time before we see the iconic black mask of Zorro. Instead the 100 minute, single act production is packed with lots of swashbuckling that played out very well in the confined spaces of The Source Theatre. Fight director Casey Kaleba’s choreography is worthy of praise for it is one of the highlights of show. When swords aren’t drawn, barbs are exchanged through Holdridge & Janey Allard’s script. Audiences will see a familiar hero in Zorro (Danny Gavigan). When the mask is on Gavigan is charming, witty, and leaves his mark with three fell swoops of his sword.

However it is when our protagonist does not have his mask on that we see Holdridge and Allard’s new vision in this classic tale.

Continue reading →

Entertainment, Inaugupocalypse, Life in the Capital, Night Life, Special Events, The Features
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Inaugural Ball Flashback: The We Love DC Crew Hits The Town On Inauguration Night

The Dance Fedward Potz

We all know Washington, DC is a city that likes to drink and party. Add The President and you have a good reason to grab a tux or gown and brave the cold. That’s what many of our We Love DC crew did as they hit up the Official and Unofficial parties celebrating the  Inauguration of Barack Obama. Here’s what they saw and heard.

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Music, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: 80s Parties Revisited

Music 80's - Ãngela Mara Rios Alejandro Pinto

Not long after I wrote an update on various dance parties focusing on 80s music last year, several of them closed down — or at the very least went on hiatus. A personal favorite party, called Kids in America, is no longer keeping everything moving on a Friday night at Dahlak. And the long running 80s Dance Party hosted its last Michael Jackson Thriller danceoff at Chief Ike’s — for now.

The remaining parties have experienced enough changes that it’s time to come running… “back from the past,” to borrow a phrase from the Information Society. I’m going to tackle these parties in the order in which you can see them chronologically.

Party: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

The Scene: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is going surprisingly strong at Little Miss Whiskey’s Golden Dollar (1104 H St. NE) on every other Wednesday (or so). The first one of the year, two weeks ago, offered one of the largest crowds ever for a KKBB party that wasn’t a special event of some sort, suggesting the force is strong with this one. KKBB, named for a glammy goth song by UK band Specimen, specializes mostly in post-punk crowd-pleasers like the Psychedelic Furs, Modern English, Adam Ant, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and of course The Cure.

One half of the regular DJ team (The Machine) left last year, leaving Devolutionary to take over as the full-time DJ. Earlier this month, he was joined by the founding dj, DJ Kangal, who played really awesome stuff. Perhaps he’s going to guest regularly? This week, Devolutionary is joined by DJ Addambombb, a regular guest at KKBB and its parent party Spellbound. Hostess Lori Beth and the rest of the KKBB team are promising to make “a very special announcement” this week as well, so turn up to find out what it’s all about.

A personal favorite song I’m likely to hear: Did Kangal really play A-ha’s “The Swing of Things” last time? That’s why that guy needs to come back asap.

Your next chance to go: Wednesday, Jan. 23, at 9pm. KKBB happens every month on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month. Free admission.

Continue reading →

Featured Photo
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Featured Photo

All in a Day's Work dcemmy

“Cookie cutter” can be a critique with modern architecture; truth be told, I think it can be rather boring to look at. But repetition can also make a fascinating photo when done correctly. Take Emily’s photo here. Catching this apartment building at just the right spot created a series of eye catching repeating of windows and balconies. In fact, there is next to no variation. Removing the color from the shot adds to effect, forcing the viewer to look for variation, and finding none. Truly fascinating.