Category Archives: Entertainment

Entertainment, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs

Photo: Stan Barouh

Mike Daisey wants to start an epidemic, a mind virus as he describes it.

The man behind last year’s The Last Cargo Cult and 2009’s How Theatre Failed America is back at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre with his latest monologue, “The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs“. The show is already in high demand with Woolly Mammoth already extending the show after a week of production. The show has local roots, Daisey developed and previewed the show at Woolly Mammoth during the summer of 2010.

However I didn’t know any of this previously.

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Downtown, Education, Entertainment, Special Events, The Features, We Love Arts
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National Geographic Live: April 2011

Hidden Alaska, ©Michael Melford; used with permission by National Geographic

April brings another full month of programs at NatGeo for their popular National Geographic Live! series. If you’re looking for something to do in the evenings, we highly suggest you check out some of their offerings this season. And to provide further incentive, we are providing two lucky readers with a pair of tickets to an event of their choice this coming month!

To enter the drawing, simply comment below using your first name and a legit email address, listing the two events from the following program list you’d like to attend. (Note that there is one event not eligible and we’ve noted it for you.) Sometime after noon on Friday (April 1) we’ll randomly select two winners to receive a pair of tickets (each) to one of their selections. You’ve got until 11 am on Friday to enter!

(For ticket information, visit online or call the box office at (800) 647-5463.)

Hidden Alaska ($18)
April 5, 7:30 pm
Michael Melford, veteran National Geographic photographer, has documented some of the world’s most pristine places. For a magazine story and new National Geographic book Hidden Alaska, he traveled to Bristol Bay, Alaska—both an important salmon breeding ground and location of enormous copper and gold deposits—where residents are being forced to choose between incompatible futures.
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Entertainment, Fun & Games, Music, We Love Music
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The Winning Ticket: Kylie Minogue

As a way to say thanks to our loyal readers, We Love DC will be giving away a pair of tickets to a concert to one lucky reader each week. Check back here every Wednesday morning at 9am to find out what tickets we’re giving away and leave a comment for your chance to be the lucky winner!

This week we are giving away a pair of tickets to see Kylie Minogue live at the Patriot Center at George Mason University on Saturday, April 30th. Whether you are a fan of Ms. Minogue’s music or not, there is no denying that she is one of the premier spectacle performers on the planet right now. I have heard absolutely insane things about the stage set, costumes, and sheer theatrical hugeness of her current tour, “Aphrodite Live 2011”. We’re talking walls of water (you can purchase “splash zone” seats), Kylie emerging from a giant clam (ala Botticelli), and later riding a freakin’ Pegasus (yes, a freakin’ Pegasus)!

For your chance to win these tickets simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address between 9am and 4pm today. One entry per email address, please. If today doesn’t turn out to be your lucky day, check back here each Wednesday for a chance to win tickets to other great concerts. Tickets for this concert are available on Ticketmaster.

For the rules of this giveaway…
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Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: King Lear

Irakli Kavsadze in Synetic Theater's production of King Lear. Photo credit: Graeme B. Shaw.

There’s a point in the life cycle of a theater company when its style is well-established and admired. Audiences get it, enamored of the new elements that it brings to the city’s art scene. Awards are achieved, a new home is granted. That’s the tipping point, when its time for the critic to stop focusing so much on the uniqueness of the company’s innovation, and for the artists to start thinking about the next direction. In other words – let’s stop looking at the dress, and examine the body underneath.

I am at that point with Synetic Theater, a company I dearly love, and whose success I feel strongly about. But after seeing King Lear, I wonder if it’s time to pause the still well-deserved accolades for their physical style, and highlight where they could use some growth.

It isn’t quite a case of the Emperor’s New Clothes yet. Certainly there’s a ravishingly sick beauty to this production, with its Fellini meets Tim Burton inspiration, and the usual haunting images and moments of physical power we’ve come to expect and indeed demand from Synetic. But, it’s just that – usual. Now that this style is the baseline expectation for Synetic, and because we expect that level of brilliance in the conceptual presentation, the holes with plot interpretation are starting to show.

And with next season full of repeats of popular productions past before debuting a winter program called New Movements: New Directors, New Voices, I wonder if the company itself is beginning to feel its time to take stock.

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Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Miami Horror @ U Street Music Hall, 3/26/11


courtesy of Miami Horror.

Guest reviewer Alexia Kauffman of The Torches was at the show for We Love DC.

Melbourne’s electro-disco-pop outfit Miami Horror rocked out to a packed U Street Music Hall Saturday night.

I first heard Miami Horror last summer and was fortunate enough to catch their first DC show at U Street Music Hall last year. For that show the hall was probably only 1/3 full, but the audience was super enthusiastic and the band clearly had fun. I bought their album “Illumination” at that show and I couldn’t stop listening to it for the rest of the year. It is definitely one of my favorite albums of 2010. I had the pleasure of interviewing Ben Plant, the group’s founder, last week, and you can check that out here. Now on with the show.

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Adventures, Entertainment, Essential DC, Fun & Games, Life in the Capital, News, Special Events, The Daily Feed, The District
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Blossom Kite Festival Rescheduled to Sunday, April 10

Photo courtesy of
’44th annual Smithsonian Kite Festival’
courtesy of ‘cruffo’

Last weekend’s postponed kite festival has been rescheduled for Sunday, April 10th from 10am until 4pm. Check the event’s official website for updates on the day’s  activities. If you’re looking for a kite, Sullivan’s Toy Store and Art Supplies (3412 Wisconsin Avenue NW) store has plenty in stock.

Entertainment, Music, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Royksopp @ 9:30 Club, 3/23/11

Photo courtesy of
‘Röyksopp 03’
courtesy of ‘Max Cook’

Guest reviewer Alexia Kauffman of The Torches was at the show for We Love DC:

Norwegian electronic duo Royksopp brought jubilant energy to their sold out show at the 930 club Wednesday night. When I arrived, fifteen minutes before doors opened, there was a line stretching down the block of dedicated admirers waiting in the cold rain for a good spot inside.

I must say that I have been eagerly anticipating this show for some time. This was my first time seeing Royksopp. I heard and loved their song “Remind Me” years ago (yes, before the Geico commercial), and then fell in love with their remix of Beck’s “Missing” on his 2005 remix EP(the best Beck remix ever, IMO). It wasn’t until their 2009 album Junior, though, that I fell hard for them. That album spent the entire summer/fall in my car stereo, and on repeat through my headphones at work.

Since then I have been dying to see them live. And finally, to DC they came. Continue reading →

Entertainment, The Daily Feed
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Frank Warren Teams Up With Bluebrain For Artisphere Show

We love Frank Warren (the man behind PostSecret) and we love BlueBrain. This Saturday they are teaming up for a special show and fundraiser at Artisphere benefiting Hopeline. The shows are already sold out but we have two tickets for a lucky We Love DC reader, find out how you can enter to win below!

I’ve had the wonderful fortune to get to know Frank over the past few years and when I heard his PostSecret Tour was heading to Rosslyn’s Artisphere I thought it was a good opportunity to catch up with our old friend and see what’s in store for this weekend and what’s on the horizon for the PostSecret project.

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Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Blue Man Group at Warner Theatre

Photo compliments of the Blue Man Group

Don’t let the blue body paint and vow of silence deter you from the Blue Man Group’s mission. There’s more to the chaotic and childish stage show than one might think. In actuality, Blue Man Group’s intentions are anthropological in nature.

When entering Warner Theatre for opening night of the Blue Man Group’s touring show on Wednesday night, patrons were greeted by a blue screen with the following text projected upon it:

“When meeting people from a foreign culture, offer a few gifts that reflect your interests as a gesture of friendship. Better yet, give things you’ve created yourself. Also, explore their interests and their culture. Ultimately, the best way to forge a lasting friendship is to create something together. Whether it’s a meal, an art project or a spontaneous dance party, when you create something with others, you build a connection that lasts a lifetime.” – International Diplomacy Guidebook

Blue Man Group, as a stage show experience, is a real-time lesson that teaches its audience members that using your imagination isn’t just for little kids. It’s okay to act like a goof. It’s okay to play with your food. It’s okay to make a mess. And, most importantly, it’s okay to have fun. Continue reading →

Adventures, Entertainment, Essential DC, Fun & Games, News, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Cherry Blossom Kite Festival Postponed

Photo courtesy of
‘National Kite Festival’
courtesy of ‘soulfotography’

Due to pending inclement weather, the Blossom Kite Festival, originally scheduled to take place on Sunday, March 27, has been postponed. Stay tuned to the festival’s website for further updates; the kite festival’s new date will be announced on Monday, March 28.

Downtown, Entertainment, Essential DC, Interviews, People, Special Events, The Features, They Make DC
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As Blossoms Arrive, a Moment with Diana Mayhew

DSC_2585

The National Cherry Blossom Festival kicks off tomorrow, commemorating Japan’s gift of 3,000 Yoshino cherry trees to the city 99 years ago. The Festival is a grand two-week affair that draws over a million people annually, with a diverse range of events all across the District.

Key to the success of this yearly event for the last decade has been NCBF President Diana Mayhew, who took over the helm in 2000 as Executive Director and then in 2007 as President. When she arrived, the Festival was an all-volunteer organization (begun in 1927) and its vision was to ensure that there was year-round, consistent staffing to ensure the growth, quality, and consistency of events. “We also help show the world that Washington, DC is synonymous with spring,” Mayhew told me. “There was a need to provide consistent services to residents and visitors interested in attending Festival events and there was no central communication.” The Downtown DC Business Improvement District (BID) donated the salary of an Executive Director for three years until the Festival got up on its feet, implementing fundraising and sponsorships to support itself and the cost of programming, which is offered free to the public.

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Entertainment, Interviews, Music, We Love Music
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Q&A with Alex Frankel of Holy Ghost!


courtesy of Girlie Action.

If you don’t know Holy Ghost! by name yet, there is a good chance that you’d know one of their many remixes if you heard it on the dance floor. Alex Frankel and Nick Millhiser have been best buds for twenty years, going all the way back to the 2nd grade (talk about old school)! Music has played a big part in their friendship in that time. Most recently and successfully as a DJ/Remix duo and live band Holy Ghost!. Their disco-inspired originals and retro-synth remix style has them in high demand as both producers and as an opening act.

Holy Ghost! are opening for Cut Copy at two sold out shows at 9:30 Club next week. Alex Frankel took some time out from the studio to answer a few questions about the band and his life-long friendship with his band-mate.

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Adventures, Entertainment, Life in the Capital, We Love Weekends
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We Love Weekends: March 26-27

Photo courtesy of
‘(081/365)’
courtesy of ‘kimberlyfaye’

Marissa: I’m stretching my birthday out for as long as possible and celebrating a new job by kicking off Friday night with a party hosted by my best friend, Jennifer. We’ll probably all end up at either Madam’s Organ or Marvin. Saturday, an old friend from my high school fencing team (you read that right. Fencing.) is in town and I’m hoping we can catch up at Pound The Hill. Then it’s off to check out Nana, a neat clothing boutique, which reopens this week.

Patrick P.: I will be heading down to Miami this weekend to expierience the ever expanding Ultra Music Festival with Michael Darpino and my brother. I got some sun block with the special SPF to protect my body from free radicals caused by the sun. I also will be packing anti-crazy touchy raver repellant to ward off those that feel they can touch whoever they want while using illegal narcotics. My goal is to stay hydrated, excited, and dance myself into size 29 skinny jeans. I also plan on saying “Hello to my little friends” when I bust out some glow sticks and start jumping up and down till the sun goes up and down. Continue reading →

Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Agalloch @ Sonar (Baltimore), 3/21/11

ag1
All photos courtesy of Agalloch

On Monday, I drove up to Baltimore to check out Agalloch, rising stars in the American black metal scene. You know, I try to defend DC’s metal scene, but what does it mean when a critically acclaimed band passes us by? Are we not metal enough for a band from Portland? Are our local venues discriminating against the longhairs?

Anyway. I usually scoff at black metal as being too Satanic, too repetitive, or too grim – but Agalloch bring something unique to the genre, mixing in elements of folk (including acoustic and orchestral instruments), psych metal, and post-rock. It coalesces into something heavy and complex, something that rewards multiple listens. Despite some weak opening bands and a late set (running past 1am), I left the show sold on their vision for the future of black metal.
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Entertainment, Interviews, Music, We Love Music
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Q&A with Benjamin Plant of Miami Horror

Our guest writer Alexia Kauffman of The Torches enjoyed Miami Horror’s show so much the first time they played DC that we asked her if she’d like to interview the band’s creator for us in advance of their return this weekend.

Miami Horror is the electro/disco-pop creation of Australian DJ/producer/artist/musician, Benjamin Plant. Originally a solo endeavor by Plant, Miami Horror has grown into a full band and has done remixes for Gorillaz, The Presets & Bloc Party to name a few. Miami Horror is currently on an extensive world tour promoting their 2010 EMI release “Illumination”.

These charming gents played U Street Music Hall last year and their show was super fun, energetic, and a little goofy. They are returning to U Street Music Hall this weekend. If New Order and Air met at Studio 54 and had a torrid affair, Miami Horror would be their futuristic disco love-child. We Love DC was lucky enough to catch up with Ben for a chat amidst the band’s insane tour schedule; fresh off a week that included shows in Mexico City and Austin’s SXSW music festival.

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Entertainment, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: The 2011 Fighting Improv Smackdown Tournament


Photo courtesy Washington Improv Theatre

In a month where the words “seeds”, “upsets”, and “winners” are tossed around like a Rebecca Black music video, I found myself in room where several players were gearing up for their own big game in another big tournament.

No I’m not talking about the College Basketball Invitational. I’m talking about Washington Improv Theatre’s Fighting Improv Smackdown Tournament, otherwise known as FIST.

Starting back on March 10th WIT kicked off their 5th annual tournament where teams of Improvisers face off against each other for the ultimate title. Over the course of 31 days, 47 teams made up of 141 performers will face-off in head-to-head matches as well as several “grand slam” matches where four teams compete.

Each match consists of a 12-minute performance from each team. The improv will be fast and furious and won’t be like what you may know from the days of “Whose Line Is It Anyways”. The rules forbid short games, making teams opt for longer forms of improv.

After the each team performs the audience votes for the winner, who then moves one step closer to the FIST title. While the votes are tallied the audience enjoys a performance from one WIT’s six house troops. It makes for a night of comedy that’s guaranteed to be something you’ve never seen before.

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Dupont Circle, Entertainment, Food and Drink, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Liquid Lessons: Hotel Cocktails

Photo courtesy of
‘Glasses Half Full’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

There’s something about the combination of historic grand hotels and cocktail culture that absolutely enchants me. Judging from the crowd waiting to get into the seminar on great hotel cocktails last night at Tabard Inn, I’m not alone. Hosted by Philip Greene of the Museum of the American Cocktail, Better Drinking‘s Derek Brown, and Tabard’s own Chantal Tseng, it was a fascinating evening both informative and funny on the phenomenon of the American hotel cocktail.

The three witty hosts mixed up drinks and dispensed history, from the Prohibition days of revolving bars and secret staircases, to the fabled round table of the Algonquin, to Hawaii’s pink palaces on the sea. We even got to shake up our own Ramos Gin Fizzes (the two minutes of vigorous shaking resulting in the beautiful meringue top of this delicate drink? well worth the effort) while hearing about shady Huey Long bringing that glorious New Orleans cocktail to New York City as a PR stunt. It worked. Continue reading →

Entertainment, Fun & Games, Music
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The Winning Ticket: M3 Rock Festival

As a way to say thanks to our loyal readers, We Love DC will be giving away a pair of tickets to a concert to one lucky reader each week. Check back here every Wednesday morning at 9am to find out what tickets we’re giving away and leave a comment for your chance to be the lucky winner!

This week we are giving away double trouble with a sweet two-part M3 Rock Festival Prize Pack. That’s right, one lucky winner gets a pair of tickets to the M3 Rock Festival Kix-Off Party on Friday, May 13th AND a pair of tickets to the day long 80’s rock extravaganza M3 Rock Fest on Saturday May 14th!

Between these two epic parties you’ll catch the likes of Kix, Whitesnake, Lita Ford, Tesla, Slaughter, Warrant, L.A. Guns, the one and only Sebastian Bach, and many more! That’s more hair metal than you can shake a can of Aquanet at! So enter to win tickets to this insane event that celebrates the days when Metal meant crushing a beer can on your forehead, driving donuts in a Firebird in the High School parking lot, and playing air guitar to music made by men who had spent more time on their hair than the ladies! This one’s going to be be balls to the wall, wicked awesome, and seriously bitchin’!

For your chance to win these tickets simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address between 9am and 4pm today. One entry per email address, please. If today doesn’t turn out to be your lucky day, check back here each Wednesday for a chance to win tickets to other great concerts. Tickets for this concert are available on Ticketfly.

For the rules of this giveaway…
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Entertainment, Special Events, The Features, We Love Arts
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Backstage with the Washington National Opera

Photo courtesy of
‘Kennedy Center – JFKC Opera – 03-08-11’
courtesy of ‘mosley.brian’

Touring the backstage of the Opera House at the Kennedy Center for me was rather like being a very small mouse in a very large cheese shop. I’ve been backstage at many theaters, but never one as massive as this one. Photographer Brian Mosley and I joined a private press tour minutes before a Washington National Opera performance of Madama Butterfly earlier this month, and there was an eerie quiet backstage. We were in the proverbial calm before the storm. Technical professionals in black were moving about, readying the stage, and it reinforced just how much goes into a production of that caliber and size.

First off, the stats. When I say the Opera House is massive, I’m not exaggerating. The house seats 2,219 patrons. The stage is 100′ wide by 70′ deep by 100′ tall, with wing space of 50′ on each side – you are also dwarfed by the backstage stage space as two huge fire doors the width and height of the stage, located stage left and upstage, allow for enormous pieces of scenery to be moved on and offstage.

I am going to run out of adjectives to describe size, so just trust me when I say, um, it’s big.
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Entertainment, Special Events, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love (Irish) Arts: Penelope

Niall Buggy, Aaron Monaghan, and Karl Shiels in Druid's Penelope by Enda Walsh. Directed by Mikel Murfi. Photo credit: Robert Day

Madly poetic men in speedos, trapped with a broken grill in an abandoned swimming pool. Above them is an unobtainable beauty in a blue dress. While waiting for her to say yes or no to their proposals of love, they’ve gotten fat and old. Now her husband is coming back to barbecue them all.

Did I mention speedos?

The initial sight gag that opens Penelope had the packed theater giggling. An overly bronzed man in an orange speedo grilling up a tiny sausage instantly telegraphs this is an absurd world ripe with comedy. Or is it? There’s a suspicious blood spatter stage right…

Playwright Enda Walsh is brilliant at pulling you through laughs to a sucker-punch of a tragic conclusion. It’s the gift of the Irish bard, perhaps, that superlative facility at weaving language into tales, leading an audience from laughter to tears. Galway’s Druid has brought his genius to Studio Theatre as part of the New Ireland Festival through April 3, and it’s a deservedly hot ticket this St. Patrick’s Day with Walsh speaking after tonight’s performance.

A re-imagining of Homer’s Odyssey from the point -of-view of faithfully waiting wife Penelope’s suitors, it explores what happens to the men when action is thwarted and purpose diverted. Do they gang up together and storm the castle to take Penelope by force? No. They sit around sunning themselves, drinking fruity cocktails. Then they turn on each other like a pack of dogs. Continue reading →