Monthly Archives: September 2013

The Daily Feed, The Features, We Love Arts
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In the House with dog & pony dc

Rachel Grossman and Jon Reynolds of dog & pony dc

Rachel Grossman and Jon Reynolds of dog & pony dc

In the House is a feature interview series about the theater-makers that keep our most precious institutions up and running. We want to know what artistic and executive directors love about their jobs, how they see their work affecting the city’s theater culture, and what they hope for the future of the craft.

Rachel Grossman, Jon Reynolds, and Lorraine Ressegger-Slone are the Ring Leaders of dog & pony dc, an ensemble of artists who devise innovative performances that incorporate new ways for audiences to experience theatre.

I sat down with Rachel and Jon to talk about their company’s unique production process and what it takes to integrate audiences in original and effective ways.

Joanna Castle Miller: How do you decide what shows to include in a season? 

Rachel Grossman: Well the first step is we don’t, because we don’t have a season, which is not to be dismissive. Twice a year we have what’s called a future projects meeting – the equivalent of a season planning meeting – with the entire ensemble.

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Entertainment
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Reaction: TheatreWashington Changes Helen Hayes Awards Rules, Splits Into Two Groups

Show_logo_web_hha13

In an announcement this past Tuesday, theatreWashington announced sweeping changes to the rules among which is a division of the awards into two groups. The biggest change is meant to divide professional productions apart from smaller shows.

The revisions come after a year-long study which was brought into the spotlight after the larger theatre companies in DC wrote a letter to theatreWashington asking for reform to the awards process or else they would, “rethink their future involvement.”

After combing through the details on theatreWashington’s site, here are the points the DC Theatre scene needs to know and my take on them.

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Music, The Features, We Love Music
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The Winning Ticket: The White Mandingos @ U Street Music Hall, 9/27/13

WhiteMandingosF

As a way to say thanks to our loyal readers, We Love DC will be giving away a pair of tickets to a 9:30 Club concert to one lucky reader periodically. (In this case, it’s actually a concert at U Street Music Hall presented by the 9:30 Club!) Keep your eyes open for opportunities at 9am once a week or so to find out what tickets we’re giving away and leave a comment for your chance to be the lucky winner!

Today we are giving away a pair of tickets to see The White Mandingos at U Street Music Hall on Friday, Sept. 27.

The White Mandingos is a bicoastal supergroup, featuring MURS, Darryl Jenifer from Bad Brains and Sascha Jenkins. The hip hop/rock fusion trio released their debut album, The Ghetto is Trying to Kill Me, on Fat Beats/Fontana on May 28.

For your chance to win these tickets, simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address between 10am and 4pm today. Feel free to leave any comment, but perhaps reveal your favorite composition by MURS, Bad Brains or Jenkins, or this new supergroup! One entry per email address please! Tickets for this show are also available through Ticketfly.

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 U Street Music Hall Guest List window after doors open 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.

The White Mandingos
w/ 301
U Street Music Hall
Friday, Sept. 27
doors @ 7pm
$20
All ages

The Daily Feed
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Nats Fall to Braves 5-2

Photo courtesy of MudflapDC
04.03.11 – Nats v Braves-6
courtesy of MudflapDC

It started off well for the Nationals. Ross Ohlendorf was perfect through three innings and had faced the minimum heading into the sixth, and that is where thing unraveled. First the Nats would take a two run lead in the bottom of the fifth on a Jayson Werth bases loaded walk that ignited a few fireworks. Alex Wood upset that a borderline call didn’t go his way marched off the mound towards umpire, CB Bucknor. Fredi Gonzalez would come out to make sure his pitcher stayed in the game and Gonzalez was indeed ejected instead.

Alex Wood still wouldn’t make it out of the inning. After the Werth walk Bryce Harper laced a sac fly to center that scored Denard Span. That would be all the Nationals would get. They could turn seven hits and three walks into no more than two runs. It has become a common theme for the Nationals and although the offense has been much improved in the second half these types of games still creep in, and the reason the Nats struggled to score is easy to deduce. All of their hits were singles. Not a single extra base hit was had to move runners around the bases more quickly, and that has been one of the key differences between the Nats and Braves when they play this season.

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

(left to right) Tim Getman, Gabby Fernandez-Coffey, Danny Gavigan, Emily Townley. Photo: Stan Barouh

(left to right) Tim Getman, Gabby Fernandez-Coffey, Danny Gavigan, Emily
Townley. Photo: Stan Barouh

For a show that’s not set in wartime or a musical it’s odd to find myself writing about the wonderful special effects in Woolly Mammoth‘s production of Lisa D’Amour’s Detroit. However I’d be remiss to not point out the notable use of grills that appear as if they are sizzling burgers, blood that looks real enough to cause concern, vomit that looks real enough to disgust, and a fire that’s climatic enough to make Michael Bay spin in circles. The pizzazz factor in this production of the Pulitzer Prize finalist (it lost out in 2011 to Clybourne Park, another show Woolly produced) is certainly noteworthy.

But the show is more than just a spectacle of stagecraft details. It is a smart, dark comedy that’s well written and well directed (John Vreeke, of The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity fame). D’Amour explores the downfall of the idyllic neighborhoods of the 50s, closely knit communities that declined alongside the manufacturing industries that supported them. Through her prose, D’Amour skims the surface of changing suburbia but does so with a fresh story that is truly entertaining and endearing.

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The District
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DC State Fair Photography Contest & More

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This year’s DC State Fair has a bunch of great contests: from pie making, to knitting and crocheting, to homebrewing, and even fermenting veggies (mmmmm…sauerkraut…). But the one that’s near and dear to my heart is the photo contest. I won third place two years ago (with this photo) and I’ve been wanting to enter again; but I can’t, because I’m living in Maryland now. However, if you’re living in the District, and you take great, Featured Photo quality photos, then this is the contest for you! And we all know the photo contributors of this site take some amazing photos. So, be sure to enter by midnight this Saturday, September 21st. Good luck! And if someone wins with sauerkraut, could you please send me a big container of it?

Featured Photo
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Featured Photo

A Reflection In A Crosswalk In A Crosswalk Raymond Bryson

“Objects in mirror are closer than they appear” or something like that. I am a fan of photographing reflections. I especially like that kind that give you a hint about what’s not included in the photo as in this wonderful shot by Raymond Bryson. At first glance you notice the striking white lines of the crosswalk and when you follow those back you notice the mirror (two actually, with one turned at a 90 degree angle) and the corner of something. It isn’t until you take a closer look at what’s reflecting in the mirror that you start to make out a headlight and front grille. Of course it’s at this point that you start wondering what kind of vehicle it could be. A delivery van of some kind? Maybe an ice cream or food truck. Luckily Raymond is nice enough to tell us it’s a USPS mail truck but it’s still fun to imagine the possibilities.

Entertainment, Interviews, Music, People, She/He Loves DC, The Features
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He Loves DC: Jonny Grave

Photo by Rachel Levitin

She/He Loves DC is a series highlighting the people who love this city just as much as we do.

It’s no easy feat pulling off a performance in honor of late Blues guitar legend Stevie Ray Vaughn but that’s exactly what Jonny Grave and his band The Tombstones did this past Saturday night at Iota Club in Arlington, VA. The performance was part of the 1983 Classic Albums Concert featuring three other DC area acts and Jonny’s job was to close out the night.

Despite being a bundle of nerves, Jonny executed the performance with precision and passion. He went into the project knowing what musical challenges lied ahead and came out victorious on the other side by the night’s end.

Jonny was first introduced to American folk music at an early age by his very musical family while growing up in the DC area. By fifteen, he started learning slide guitar techniques by listening to old Blues records. By seventeen he was performing them live. Since then, he’s become a staple of the DC Blues scene.

What is it about DC that makes it home to you?

Well, for starters, I’ve lived in the area my whole life. I was born in Silver Spring, very close to Sligo Creek. I spent a lot of time going downtown, seeing museums and galleries. When I was a teenager, I started venturing on my own into DC, away from the large attractions, and into the neighborhoods. Adams Morgan fascinated me. Eastern Market was like a dream. Michael Jantz got me to start playing at Wonderland, and the folks at Nanny O’Briens finally got me on their stage. When I was 21, I moved to 10th and S st., and that’s when I really fell in love with the city. I made friends with a lot of musicians, artists, bohemians, Hill staffers, and bartenders. I started playing more. The city kind of opened up for me. They say that home is where the heart is, and mine is right here.

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WTF?!
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Manned Flight Takes Off At National Harbor

 Flug Tag!

Leonardo da Vinci may not have mastered manned flight the way the Wright Brothers did, but his initial sketches of ornithopters from the late 15th century were structurally sound, if not necessarily possible in his day. Fortunately, we have the National Red Bull Flugtag to help us determine if man can fly using nothing but creativity and basic materials. This weekend at the Southpoint Waterfront at National Harbor just south of the city, teams will attempt to defy gravity as they leap off the tower built over the Potomac.
 
Teams competing this weekend include West Virginia’s Yaeger Bombers, who appear to be building a model of the famous Bell X-1 for the event, Parliament Flug-a-delic from DC, who carry an endorsement from Bootsy Collins, and the definitely awesome Club Echa Panza, defined by their sigil, “Slim”, the debauched and disowned uncle of D.C. United’s mascot Talon. This is going to be a riotously funny event, worth your time, amid a weekend packed with other events.
 
This is definitely an awesome, crazy event, and we’ve got four tickets to give away – in two pairs – for our awesome readers. Just add a comment below with a valid email address and we’ll pick a winner Thursday at 5p and get in touch. 
News
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As day concludes, death toll at Navy Yard rises to 13

Navy Yard Area Map

Thirteen lie dead in a Navy Yard office building, victims of a mass shooting, purportedly committed by Aaron Alexis, a 34-year old avionics engineer. The Southeast DC community, and the city as a whole, are shocked by the blatant act of violence committed against uniformed personnel and civilian personnel working side by side at the Navy Sea Systems Command on the base of the Navy Yard.

At times, the information situation was very fluid today, as the media and others attempted to make sense of the situation. Death and casualty tolls varied throughout the day, but have peaked at twelve dead, with a “dozen or more” additionally injured.  Three wounded in the attack are being cared for at Medstar Washington Hospital Center, including one Metropolitan Police officer who was shot in his lower extremities. One victim was shot in the head, but the bullet did not penetrate her skull. All three are stable and expected to survive. 

There is still an ongoing investigation at the Navy Yard, as the MPD, Military Police and FBI search the Navy Yard from stem to stern, looking for a person of interest described as a black male, around 5’ 10”, between 40 and 50 years with a medium complexion and graying sideburns. If you have seen this individual, please call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI.  An additional person was identified as a person of interest or subject, but he was cleared.

The FBI would also like anyone with knowledge of Aaron Alexis in the last few days to please get in touch.

The area around the Navy Yard is still largely blocked off from traffic, with M Street SE blocked from South Capitol Street to the 11th Street SE.

Tonight’s Nationals game was postponed, with the team releasing a statement, “All of us here in the Nationals organization were deeply saddened to learn of the tragic events that occurred this morning only a few blocks from Nationals Park.”

Public transportation running through the area is also affected, with buses unable to transit the area, which will cause delays across a number of bus lines affecting the area.

As you leave today, please re-route around the Navy Yard unless you have to be down there, as the area is still an active crime scene and investigation is still in progress.

It’s been a hard day for the District. Our Federal and Military workforce are a special group of people, a group with dedication to service of country and community, and attacks against them are particularly enraging. Our thoughts are with all those affected by today’s tragedy.

News
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Active Shooters at Navy Yard, Multiple Victims

The Blue Castle caroline.angelo

An active shooter situation on the grounds of the Navy Yard this morning has brought the Southeast Waterfront to a halt this morning. IAFF broke the news this morning shortly after 8:15am with a tweet alerting followers to the incident. As the situation developed, the US Navy confirmed the incident is ongoing. The number of injured is not fully know at this time, but is at least 5 people (including one police officer), with one victim found as far away as New Jersey Avenue SE and M St SE, which is six blocks from the Navy Yard entrance.

Workers on site are reportedly sheltering in place at this time, and some tweets are reporting the arrival of the SWAT team to search the Sea Systems Command building for the shooter.

Descriptions of the shooter, or their motivations, are not yet known.

Our thoughts are with all those near this horrific tragedy.

Update 1, 10:22am: The Navy is now saying that there are 3 shooters involved in the incident, with 12 victims, four of which are dead.

Weekend Flashback
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Weekend Flashback: 9/13-9/15

Eyes on the ball jlgriffiths

Is everyone enjoying this preview of late fall we’re having? Except for that brief two days of summer last week, it seems we’ve only had fall days since July. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining because they’re always appreciated. In fact, let’s hope these types of days continue well into December!

Our trusty photogs certainly took advantage of the weather, capturing a great slice of this fall life we’re living. So please, sit back, ignore your boss screaming for your attention, and enjoy the sights of the weekend. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Ramos is A Hit Machine, Nats Beat Phillies 11-2

DSC_5681
DSC_5681
courtesy of MudflapDC

By the ninth inning of Sunday afternoon’s 11-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, the Washington Nationals fielded eight players who spend time at Triple-A Syracuse this season. It was a day where most everything went right for Washington, allowing Manager Davey Johnson to give some of the call-up kids a little playing time.

Right-handed starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann pitched seven strong innings and gave up seven hits and two runs while walking two, striking out seven and hitting a batter on 102 pitches (65 strikes).

For as solid as Zimmermann once he got into a groove, the player of the game was catcher Wilson Ramos who made his 23rd consecutive start behind the dish. Ramos went four-for-four with three singles and a homerun. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Washington Loses to Green Bay 38-20

283/365
283/365
courtesy of BrianMKA

Being 26/40 with 320 yards and three touchdowns and one interception look like good numbers, but it was once again the tale of two halves for RGIII and Washington. All that has to be known about the first half is that Washington trailed 24-0. They couldn’t run, they couldn’t pass, and they couldn’t keep Green Bay from running or passing. In total Aaron Rodgers ended up with 480 yards passing and James Starks 132 yards rushing, and it is hard to win football games giving up that type of yardage, but the defense can almost be excused, almost. Green Bay ended up leading the time of position battle by 32:29 to 27:27 but it was much worse than that in the first half.

Washington cannot continue getting down big and trying to comeback. They have to put two good halves together in order to win. The biggest negative early in the season is that the running game can’t get going. That could be because they aren’t yet able to run the read option with a limited RGIII or it could be that teams have figured out Alfred Morris. It is probably the former. Last season defenses never knew who was going to have the ball and that helped Morris. This season they know when it is a run it is going to be Morris and Washington’s offensive line just isn’t good enough for a traditional running attack.

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Week in Review
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Week in Review: 9/09-9/12

Gone But Not Forgotten Frankie Kenneth

Our roving band of photographic contributors did a great job capturing some of the moments relating to the 12th anniversary of 9/11 this week but they also managed to catch some of the more lighthearted moments as well. Take a look back at all the things this week had to offer. And, as always, keep your finger on the shutter and make sure you post your photos to our Flickr group so we can show the world what you saw through your viewfinder, too. Continue reading →

Music, The Features, We Love Music
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The Winning Ticket: El Ten Eleven @ U Street Music Hall, 9/21/13

ElTenElevenF

As a way to say thanks to our loyal readers, We Love DC will be giving away a pair of tickets to a 9:30 Club concert to one lucky reader periodically. (In this case, it’s actually a concert at U Street Music Hall presented by the 9:30 Club!) Keep your eyes open for opportunities at 9am once a week or so to find out what tickets we’re giving away and leave a comment for your chance to be the lucky winner!

Today we are giving away a pair of tickets to see El Ten Eleven at U Street Music Hall on Saturday, Sept. 21.

The post-rock duo have an unusual story for the today’s world of electronic music. Bassist Kristian Dunn and drummer Tim Fogarty formed the band in 2002. They say they’ve been influenced by their life experiences, including having divorces and child(ren). And they got known partly by lending their talents to documentaries about graphic design, like Helvetica. (One awaits the examination of the rise corporate mass design, Calibri. Kidding.)

Anyway, El Ten Eleven put out a new album, Transitions, last year, so they have fresh instrumental goodness to share in their performance at U Street Music Hall next week!

For your chance to win these tickets, simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address between 10am and 4pm today. Feel free to leave any comment, but I would be curious as to your favorite composition by El Ten Eleven? (This is how I learn things!) One entry per email address please! Tickets for this show are also available through Ticketfly.

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 U Street Music Hall Guest List window after doors open 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.

El Ten Eleven
w/ Eliot Lipp
U Street Music Hall
Saturday, Sept. 21
doors @ 6:30pm
$14
All ages

Entertainment, Interviews, Music, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: A Q&A with Bleu

Photo Credit Casey Curry

He’s served as co-writer and producer for chart-topping acts like The Jonas Brothers, Hanson, Selena Gomez, and Demi Lovato but before all of that, Bleu started as a solo singer-songwriter out of Boston. A big break of sorts came in 2002 when the song “Somebody Else” off his upcoming 2003 major label album Redhead was released as part of the Spider-Man soundtrack.

When relations with his label were severed, Bleu took to new musical projects. Over the past few years, Bleu has worked hard to garner support from his fans through crowd-funding campaigns like Kickstarter (he won their 2010 award for Best Music Project) and most recently Pledge Music. And now, he’s embarked upon the first-ever Pledge Music sponsored tour with Will Dailey as of this week in anticipation of his newest album To Hell with You being released.

You can check out one of his two DC area tour stops by visiting Ramshead Onstage in Annapolis, Md. on Monday September 16 or Jammin’ Java in Vienna, Va. on Tuesday September 17.

On your last album Four, the themes ranged from death to God to the afterlife and even your legacy. For your upcoming release To Hell with You, what would you say the themes are and why?

I’m not sure if I’m sad or happy to say that the themes haven’t veered that much. I’m just as obsessed with self-obsession, mortality and spiritual-pitfalls as ever…but I think the musical-settings are quite different on this record, and I’m personally excited about the new juxtapositions that have come out of that.

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Music, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Blondie w/ X @ 9:30 Club — 9/9/13

Chris Stein, Exene Cervenka and Debbie Harry (Photo by Mark Weiss)

Chris Stein, Exene Cervenka and Debbie Harry (Photo by Mark Weiss)

Maybe it’s true that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but sometimes there is remarkably more to be found in those old tricks than you might think.

Such might be said to be the case with Blondie, the iconic new wave group that now refuses to go away despite a 15-year break in the 80s and 90s. Recharged and on a roll, the band is back with a 10th studio album dropping this fall–Ghosts of Download–which comes only two years after their last album, Panic of Girls. The group took to influences from the current world of electronic dance music (EDM) when coming up with songs for the new album. And the EDM-flavored material blends very well with a group that was equally comfortable putting out disco smashes and space-punk rockers. In that way, Blondie were well ahead of the game when it came to adapting to the times.

To prove the point, Debbie Harry and her cohorts opened their super sold-out show at the 9:30 Club on Monday night with the crowd-pleasing “One Way or Another” from their very excellent third album Parallel Lines, released in 1979. They then rolled into a song from the new album called “Rave,” a dance number that with a crisp upbeat tempo that pairs well with Harry’s voice. The discoesque number melded very well with Blondie classics and also sounded like it would be a welcome new song to mix in with new EDM beats.

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Featured Photo
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Featured Photo

Untitled ekelly80

Double exposure photographs can produce some fascinating and unpredictable results. But Erin’s shot above is aligned so well I’m suspicious that she planned this shot (which is possible, though quite difficult). In her shot, the viewer’s eye is drown to the statue centered in the picture, nicely framed in the black strip. Then the graffiti on both sides of the statue gives the photo a level of texture as well as more material for the viewer to explore. These two exposures, though very different, were well chosen to complement each other. It’s also a very complicated shot, with a great deal of material for the viewer to take in. Great work!

The Daily Feed
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Washington Drops Opener 33-27 to Philadelphia

The opener of Washington’s defense of their 2012 division title was a study in frustration. It started off with Philadelphia driving down the field and looking like they were going to score easily. It did not look like the Washington defense knew what to expect or how to defend Chip Kelly’s fast paced offense. After nine plays Philadelphia was on the Washington four yard line and then Vick attempted a backwards pass and DeAngelo Hall returned it all the way for the first touchdown of the game. It felt like not only the bullet had been dodged but it had been turned back on the one who followed it.

But it got no better. The Philadelphia offense continued to ram the ball down Washington’s throat eventually jumping out to a 33-7 lead. Washington had no offensive points until Alfred Morris ran up the middle for a five yard touchdown run with eleven seconds left in the third quarter.

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