Category Archives: Entertainment

Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: American Utopias

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Photo: Ursa Waz

If there were any concerns that Mike Daisey’s infamous This American Life scandal that rocked both the tech and theater worlds last year would leave any lasting marks on Daisey’s ability to draw an audience, they disappeared the minute I walked into the packed lobby of the Woolly Mammoth Theatre. Instead of doubt there was a palpable energy of anticipation among patrons waiting to see his latest piece, American Utopias. The buzz was heightened by the club-like atmosphere of the decorated lobby. I stood  next to a carousel horse with a sign that said, “Ride Me”. In fact almost everything in the lobby had instructions for patrons like, “Tweet Me” and “Feel Me.” Also there was fur. So much fur.

There was one reminder of the events of last year. In the program Woolly Mammoth disclosed the following: “The management also wishes to remind you that this is a true story, and like every story told in every medium, all stories are fiction.”

However, the past was out of sight and out of mind as Mike Daisey performed in front of a packed house and not only delivered the brand of thought-provoking and comedic storytelling that he is known for, but also managed to take his monologue game up a level — something I did not think was even possible until now. Continue reading →

Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Mary T. & Lizzy K.

Sameerah Luqmaan-Harris and Naomi Jacobson in Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater’s production of Mary T. & Lizzy K. Photo credit: Scott Suchman.

Sameerah Luqmaan-Harris and Naomi Jacobson in Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater’s production of Mary T. & Lizzy K. Photo credit: Scott Suchman.

It’s hard to imagine in these days of cheaply manufactured clothes that there was once a time when getting a new outfit was a laborious and artistic process. Only in the worlds of high fashion or in the theater is the art of dressmaking still practiced to that level (and even there, machines have almost eradicated the particular craft of hand sewing). In the prudish Victorian era, no one knew your body more intimately than your dressmaker, from the crafting of a muslin mock-up perfectly fitted to your body to the execution of a dress that suited you alone.

Giving yourself that intimately to another person requires absolute trust, and that ultimately is the subject of Tazewell Thompson’s new play Mary T. & Lizzy K. The world premiere of a work commissioned between Thompson and Arena Stage, as the first production of Arena Stage’s American President’s Project its primary subject is the relationship of Mary Todd Lincoln (Naomi Jacobson) and her dressmaker Elizabeth Keckly (Sameerah Luqmaan-Harris). It can’t entirely escape the long shadow of the president, but it attempts to give two women who both suffered from marginalization (in two very different ways) their due.

It’s both gorgeously written and acted with a cool intellectualism that counterpoints the deep emotions that permeate any work to do with the Lincolns. Though the overall conceit – a prelude to that dreadful assassination night at Ford’s Theatre – may feel contrived, so indeed is a beautiful dress. Continue reading →

Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Voodoo Macbeth

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(Photo: Johannes Markus)

There’s something awkward about referring to the name of American Century Theater’s latest production, Voodoo Macbeth. The first half of the title is perfectly fine; however the second half is a word that is taboo to many theater people. Common theater superstition dictates that one should avoid referring to the title of “The Scottish Play” or else disaster will strike. I find it weird to think that the superstition can simply be remedied by adding another word to the title.

Or maybe I’m not supposed to say Voodoo Macbeth either and I’ve cursed myself for eternity.

Continue reading →

Entertainment, Music, Night Life, The Features, We Love Music
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The Winning Ticket: David Wax Museum @ 930 Club, 4/4/2013

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Today We Love DC is giving away a pair of tickets to see David Wax Museum at the 930 Club on Thursday, April 4th! Their music blends roots-rock, Americana, folk, and Mexican influences, for a sound they call “Mexo-Americana”. Boston-based Kingsley Flood open the night!

To purchase tickets online, click here. Tickets can also be purchased in-person at the 930 club box office. (#DWM930)

For your chance to win a pair of tickets to see David Wax Museum & Kingsley Flood, 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: 4000 Miles

Grant Harrison and Tana Hicken in Studio Theatre's production of 4000 Miles. Photo credit: Scott Suchman.

Grant Harrison and Tana Hicken in Studio Theatre’s production of 4000 Miles. Photo credit: Scott Suchman.

Some generational theorists say that you can be closer to your grandparents’ world views than to those of your parents. Perhaps that’s true (my grandmother was a cocktail drinker), perhaps it isn’t (those arguments about religion!). I suspect that the kind of relationship you had with your grandparents will strongly inform your reaction to Amy Herzog’s generational drama, 4000 Miles, now playing at Studio Theatre under the direction of its former founding artistic director Joy Zinoman.

Twentysomething Leo (Grant Harrison) turns up at his ninetysomething grandmother Vera’s Greenwich Village apartment in the middle of the night, fresh (or rather, rank) off a cross-country cycling trip that’s ended in tragedy. He’s lost, existentially, but like a homing pigeon has ended up at a haven he considers safe. Vera (Tana Hicken) may still cling to independence, but her speech is peppered with “what do you call it?” forgetfulness, and she’s in just as much need.

The simple moments when they embrace are the most true. Continue reading →

Entertainment, Music, Night Life, The Features, We Love Music
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The Winning Ticket: DC Music Download Anniversary show @ Rock & Roll Hotel

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Today We Love DC is giving away a pair of tickets to DC Music Download‘s 1 year anniversary show at Rock & Roll Hotel this Friday, March 15th! Playing on Friday will be alt-psych-rockers Paperhaus, who are celebrating the release of their EP before they leave DC for a two-month US tour. Also on the bill are Drop Electric, The Silver Liners and The North Country. Advanced tickets are available for $10 through ticket alternative. Tickets will be $12 at the door on the night of the show.

For your chance to win these tickets 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 in 24 hours or they will forfeit their tickets and we will pick another winner.

Tickets will be available to the winner at the ticket window of the Rock & Roll Hotel 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, Music, Night Life, The Features, We Love Music
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The Winning Ticket: Hot in Herre dance party @ 930 Club, 3/8/2013

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Today We Love DC is giving away a pair of tickets to the 2000s dance party “Hot in Herre”, this Friday, March 8th at 930 club. DJ Will Eastman and Brian Billion (whose ’90s dance night No Scrubs has sold out the club before) will spin their favorite hits of the 2000s. Tickets can be purchased through Ticketfly or in-person at the 930 club box office. (#HIH930)

For your chance to win a pair of tickets to the Hot in Herre dance party, 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 party. 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, Interviews, Music, Night Life, The Features, We Love Music
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Q&A with GEMS

photo courtesy of GEMS

photo courtesy of GEMS

GEMS is the newest creative vehicle for Clifford John Usher and Lindsay Pitts, formally formed in August of 2012. Their sound is dreamy, lush, hypnotic, melancholic pop. Previously the duo went by the name Birdlips, and had a more acoustic driven, organic, though equally gorgeous sound. Both incarnations feature beautiful vocals and highlight harmonies, nestled in layers of lush sounds. GEMS will be playing this Wednesday, March 6th, at Rock & Roll Hotel along with Ex Cops and Dead Professional, before hitting the road to SXSW. (* note- due to inclement weather, this show has been canceled.* )We Love DC got the chance for a brief chat with Cliff this past week, and here’s what he had to say.

Alexia Kauffman: So how did you you first start playing music?

Clifford John Usher: Well Lindsay and I met in Charlottesville, Virginia, I guess it was in 2007, and started playing in a college band that we had, and that band broke up after school, and we started Birdlips then, just the two of us. And then this new band was started this past August. We had known that we wanted to start a new band for a while, so it was kind of a progression.

Alexia: So what brought about the whole metamorphosis into GEMS?

Cliff: It was really a variety of factors, I guess. We did Birdlips for over five years, and I think the last year and a half of Birdlips we were pretty certain we wanted to do something else. I think we just wanted a clean break. We wanted to kind of start over in a lot of different areas, and not feel like we were obliged to keep playing old material. We didn’t want to feel constricted by what we had done in the past, I guess. We knew we wanted to do something louder, more electric. We wanted to get away from the whole folk association that we kind of had in Birdlips. It was hard, you know, even at the end of Birdlips we were doing something that I don’t think was really folk at all, and we still felt kind of trapped by the folk or psych-folk genre. So that was a big part of it. And we just had been playing more with electric guitars and with different recording techniques, so it kind of just made sense to us to start a new band. We’ve also been playing with a drummer. Which all the shows we’ve done as GEMS so far we’ve done with a drummer. Although the string that we’re getting ready to do- going down to South by Southwest we’re just going as a duo. Continue reading →

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

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Photo: Scott Suchman

Danai Gurira’s The Conert opens in 1895 Southern Africa where Nancy Moricette’s character Jekesai runs onto the Woolly Mammoth stage wearing nothing but some Zimbabwe tribal neckware and a small animal hide skirt. The image is striking and reminiscent of a photo you would perhaps see in an old issue of National Geographic.

Seeking refuge from becoming a wife to her Uncle (Erik Kilpatrick), Jekesai reaches out to her aunt Mai Tamba (Starla Benford) who is a maid at the home of Chilford (Irungu Mutu), a Christian missionary. Jekesai is taken in and given a job, schooling, and the opportunity to convert from her pagan religion to Catholicism. Grateful for her newfound situation, we see Jekesai slowly shed her native identity (which includes changing her name to Ester) and turn into a devout missionary. Her new faith however will find her in the middle of rising tensions between the Zimbabwe natives, the European settlers, and the converted missionaries in the middle.

It is a powerful story and the latest piece by Gurira, who you may know from her role in AMC’s Walking Dead. She is no stranger to Woolly Mammoth, she performed on stage in 2006’s Continuum and premiered her play Eclipsed at Woolly back in 2009. A child to Zimbabwean parents, Gurira has been deeply interested in telling the story of her native homeland and delivers the first of a trilogy of plays about Zimbabwe in the form of a moving drama that is new and refreshing.

Continue reading →

Entertainment, Night Life
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Your Cheat Sheet To The 85th Academy Awards

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It may not be the Super Bowl, DC’s Super Bowl (Election Night or State of the Union), or even Nerd Prom but this weekend will be a big weekend for Hollywood and I’m sure a lot of you will be tuning into Sunday’s Academy Awards. Washington old and new is well represented within this year’s nominees: Argo, Lincoln, and Zero Dark Thirty make up the leading contenders for Best Picture.

I’ve prepared myself by watching as many Oscar nominated films as I could and after devouring 50 out of the 53 nominated films I’m ready to tell you who to pick in your Oscar pool as well as where to watch in DC if you want to get dressed up (or not).

Continue reading →

Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Spring Awakening

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Photo: Stan Barouh

In  2006 Spring Awakening was the sensation of Broadway. The new rock musical featured catchy tunes by Duncan Sheik, a smart book and lyrics by Steven Sater, career launching performances from Lea Michele and John Gallagher, Jr. I still can’t get over the fact the original Mortiz is now Jim Harper on The Newsroom. The show dominated the Tony awards that year including a Best Musical win.

The show returns to the Washington, DC area over at the Olney Theatre Center in Maryland. The show rings true to its Broadway predecessor yet includes subtle touches from Director Steve Cosson that sets the show on its own.

The coming of age story of Wendla (Alyse Alan Louis) and Melchior (Matthew Kacergis), two school children in 19th century Germany who explore a number of topics including sexuality and religion was heavily censored as a play in 1906. 100 years later the story is still relevant in showing the consequences of a sexually-oppressive culture and opinions.

Continue reading →

Entertainment, The Features
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House of Cards: Today’s Best Show About DC

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I don’t watch a lot of TV. It’s hard to keep up when your schedule is packed with shows to review. A lot of my friends often tell I me I need to start watching shows like Homeland or The Walking Dead. The problem is I know that if I start watching a show, I’ll want to watch as many episodes as possible. I’ll start binge watching with a Marco Rubio-like thirst. That’s what happened when I decided to watch The Newsroom and Girls. I pretty much ignored all other priorities in life and watched Jeff Daniels spout Sorkinisms and Lena Dunham prance around New York without clothes on.

Ain’t Nobody got time for that.

Well along came Netflix’s House of Cards and I just had to watch it. When I saw the trailer back in November I knew I would be watching the series when it came out this month. Like 99% of people that live around here, I couldn’t help but get excited about a show all about Washington, DC.

And so when Netflix released all 13 episodes of the first season of House of Cards on February 1st I watched the first three episodes without stopping. Three days later I finished the entire series. Smart move for Netflix to release the series on a Friday. Then again they always knew what they were doing.

After reportedly paying $100 Million to land the show away from other Premium Cable networks, Netflix saw the series as a move towards more original programming. Knowing its customers often catch-up on shows through marathon viewing sessions, the service decided to release the entire first season at once.

The move has paid off, the show is now Netflix’s most-watched program.

It’s been both a blessing and a curse. I was able to consume all of it at once but now I find it hard to talk about it with my friends. The show is available to be watched as fast (or as slow) as one wants. You can’t talk about it on social media in fear of spoiling it for others. You can’t talk about it with your friends since everybody is watching it at different rates- more so than a regular TV series. As a result you struggle to find somebody to dish about the show. I’m not the only one with that problem.

So without giving too much away, indulge me as I get off my chest what I knew after watching those first three episodes: House of Cards is the best show about Washington, DC since The West Wing.

Continue reading →

Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Black Comedy

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Most farces, especially British faces, are essentially the same: frenetic energy, physical humor, and mistaken identity. There’s little you can change besides the names, sets, and costumes… right?

Peter Shaffer finds another way to spice up the genre with lighting. Or should I say without lighting?

When it comes to the characters in Shaffer’s Black Comedy, they are in dark when the stage is lit and vice versa. As the show starts, the lights go out and we hear the entire opening scene done in complete blackout. While it is funny to hear actors speak and move about without being able to see, it is more amazing to realize they are navigating a stage without any light. As someone that’s worked on stage before, it’s quite the task. After a “blown fuse” the lights finally go up, but the characters act as if the opposite has occurred. It results in a zany twist for No Rules Theatre’s first show at the Signature Theatre in Shirlington, where the company will reside for the next three years.

The result is a show packed with non-stop laughs that will have you rolling in the aisles by the night’s end.

Continue reading →

Education, Entertainment, Special Events, The Features, We Love Arts
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National Geographic Live Giveaway – Feb/Mar 2013

Photo courtesy of BurnAway
Essick discussing his photo in the special Nat Geo exhibit upstairs
courtesy of BurnAway

The National Geographic Live series began a couple weeks ago, so our apologies for getting this to you a little late. Nonetheless, the good folks over at the NG Museum are giving away two pairs of tickets to our readers for (almost) any one of their great programs over the next few weeks. Entering is easy: in the comment field below, give us your name and two of the programs from the following list you’d like to see. We’ll randomly draw two commenters and provide each with a pair of tickets to one of the programs they selected! The drawing will occur around noon on Tuesday, 2/19 and winners notified that afternoon.

All events are at the Grosvenor Auditorium at the National Geographic Museum, located at the corner of 16th and M Streets, NW. Parking is free for programs starting after 6 pm. If you’d like to attend and don’t win, you can contact the box office to purchase tickets.

Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness ($22)
Feb 20, 7:30 pm
Spend an evening with Alexandra Fuller, an award-winning writer and National Geographic contributor who has converted the experience of growing up amidst war and revolution into a powerful literary voice. Raised in Zimbabwe by English expats, Fuller’s coming-of-age experience during that country’s independence struggle provided material for two compelling memoirs, Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight and Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness. Join us for a moving exploration of Africa—and beyond—in a conversation hosted by National Geographic Traveler editor at large Don George.

Continue reading →

Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Good People

Johanna Day as Margie, Francesca Choy-Kee as Kate and Andrew Long as Mike in Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater’s production of Good People. Photo credit: Margot Schulman.

Johanna Day as Margie, Francesca Choy-Kee as Kate and Andrew Long as Mike in Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater’s production of Good People. Photo credit: Margot Schulman.

A woman struggling as she slides further into poverty meets a former boyfriend whose life has taken the opposite trajectory, and the powder keg of class, gender and race is ignited. If David Lindsay-Abaire’s play Good People were a 1940s film, Barbara Stanwyck would star, martyring herself for her man and her child, and many handkerchiefs would be wrung wet by the end. Corset her up and we’ve got Dickens or Hardy. It’s not intentionally a “weepie,” however, it’s the playwright’s well-meaning attempt to honor the working class neighborhood of his childhood: South Boston. But he can’t escape the conventions other writers have fallen into time again when trying to make sense of the cruelty of chance and circumstance, the razor’s edge that separates rich and poor.

Does that matter? After all, it’s well-awarded, and the most produced play of American theater’s 2012-13 season. The essential story is told repeatedly because, sadly, it’s still relevant.

The success of Arena Stage’s production of Good People hinges on its lead actor, Johanna Day, whose bravura performance as Margie is electrifying, and true. We all know someone who ends badly through a combination of coincidence, choice, and misplaced pride. Lindsay-Abaire chooses to end with a hope-delivering deus ex machina that certainly resonated with the audience the night I saw it – the raucous laughter and standing ovation proves that everyone wants to believe there’s always a way through. No matter how bad things get, a good person always gets bailed out. We can laugh at life’s punches, right?

I couldn’t join in, and I can’t explain why without spoiling a major plot point. Doesn’t that prove the play’s successful, if it affects me so much I can’t be objective? When theater actually makes you angry in a complex way? Given the play’s theme, the economic question about whether it adds anything to the debate that’s worth its ticket expense seems even more valid. Is there anything here you couldn’t get from watching one of those old weepies (or Good Will Hunting, as a friend pointed out afterwards), or reading Hardy? Continue reading →

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

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Photo: Carol Rosegg

We could all use a friend like the Night Clerk in Eugene O’Neill’s Hughie. Played by Randall Newsome, the Clerk is a great listener- the kind that doesn’t interrupt your train of thought or dominate a conversation. He is the perfect person for venting, complaining or revealing your inner most secrets.

He’s also the equivalent of talking to a brick wall. The hotel clerk is pretty much checked out for most of the play’s duration.  O’Neill could have replaced the character with a dead white guy propped up in a chair ala Weekend at Bernie’s and you wouldn’t notice a difference. The Night Clerk is simply trying to get through his graveyard shift with as little effort as possible. An omniscient narrator who continuously commentates on the state of the Clerk’s wandering attention span is received by the audience with many laughs.

That doesn’t matter for “Erie” Smith though. He’s looking for anybody that will listen to him, even if he’s not really listening to him.

And thus you have the makings of a beautiful relationship in the latest production at the Washington Shakespeare Theatre:  a two-man, one-act play that is essentially a one-man monologue and character study.

Continue reading →

Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Kafka on the Shore

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Michael Wong as Kafka and Dane Figueroa Edidi as Crow in Spooky Action Theater’s production of Kafka on the Shore. Photo credit: Franc Rosario.

“I think I just felt my crown chakra open,” my friend mused at intermission. A fan dancer in a white kimono had hypnotically moved across the stage to background narration of a rather graphic sexual nature. It was a fitting reaction to the crazy surrealism inherent in a Haruki Murakami novel. Entering his world through reading is intense enough, but as an audience member at a theatrical adaptation, prepare not so much to watch as to swim. Talking cats, walking brands, mass hallucinations – Kafka on the Shore is a risky choice for any theater company to tackle. Spooky Action Theater has just debuted the second professional production of Frank Galati’s adaptation of Murakami’s riddle-infused book, and the company’s ambitious choice is certainly to be admired.

Teenager Kafka Temura (Michael Wong) is on the run. Is he just another misfit or is there something more sinister in his past? Mr. Nakata (Al Twanmo) is on the hunt – for the kidnapper and murderer of local cats. Though touched in the head, he’s the perfect detective for the job, as the cats actually talk to him. Caught up in Nakata’s quest is truck driver Hoshino (an engaging Steve Lee), while (overly) helpful Sakura (Jennifer Knight) and enigmatic librarian Oshima (Tuyet Thi Pham) assist Kafka, as his crush on Miss Saeki (MiRan Powell) delves into the more darkly elemental realms of the psyche.

These twisting plot lines operate almost as alternate time waves, and you should be prepared to meander along with them without quite making sense of it all. Our wry spirit animal, Crow (a mesmerizing Dane Figueroa Edidi), bridges the worlds of theater and audience, adding to the breaking of realities. It all might be the melding of an Oedipal hero’s quest and descent into the Underworld, saturated with the gradual stages of initiation into the sexual mysteries – but there’s no need to crack that metaphorical code. Just let it work its quirky spell. Continue reading →

Entertainment, Music, Special Events, The Features, We Love Music
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The Winning Ticket: Win before you can buy: Sweetlife Festival 2013!

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The lineup for the 2013 Sweetlife Festival was announced yesterday, and features internationally acclaimed acts Phoenix, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Passion Pit, as well as up-and-coming artists, including DC’s own Shark Week! Today We Love DC is giving away a pair of GA lawn tickets to the festival, before you can buy them! The festival will be held at Merriweather Post Pavilion on May 11th. (#sweetlife2013)

For your chance to win a pair of tickets to the 2013 Sweetlife Festival, 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 Merriweather Post Pavilion on the day of the festival. 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: The Motherfucker With The Hat

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When the WeLoveDC crew previewed this year’s theatre season, Jenn made note that Studio Theatre’s production of The Motherfucker With The Hat would surely stand out due to its R-rated name. I can assure you that the adult content doesn’t stop with the title, during the show you can expect the F-word to be tossed about like a football. There’s also an entire scene that features character Ralph D (Quentin Maré) in full frontal nudity. But the show is more than just shock value, it is actually a raw and jarring exploration of addiction, ambition, and recovery.

Continue reading →

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

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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 →