Category Archives: We Love Arts

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

Ian Merrill Peakes as King Henry VIII and Louis Butelli as his fool, Will Sommers, in Shakespeare’s Henry VIII (photo courtesy Folger Shakespeare Library)

When I first walked into Folger Shakespeare Library I was impressed with the authentic Elizabethan performance space. I also didn’t know what to expect from Folger’s season opening production of Henry VIII. Shakespeare falls outside my wheelhouse when it comes to plays, often we associate  the works of William Shakespeare with one of two things: fantastic, masterful prose or boring, hard-to-decipher material.

I know I’m not the only one who would have the same two assumptions about Shakespeare. Unless you are a theatre/Shakespeare buff, the idea of sitting through such a show might be a tough idea to stomach. I commend director Robert Richmond in doing everything possible to make the historical play of England’s Tudor Monarch accessible to the audience. He added two characters not in the original text in Will Sommers and Princess Mary, who add additional context into the historical piece. The widespread blocking of the show often places actors in the middle of center aisle, acting out to the audience who are only a mere inches away. The show can also thank The Other Boleyn Girl and The Tudors for bringing the story of King Henry VIII into the spotlight.

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Sports Fix, The Features, We Love Arts
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The Washington Legacy of Damn Yankees

If the court pleases, I’d like to enter Exhibit A into the record, the Venn Diagram that leads this post. In it, you’ll note two circles demonstrating a fairly obscure, but relevant point for the upcoming article: the population of baseball fans that intersects with those who are likely to read about Broadway musicals is not large. However, your honor, what I hope to show is that, while the overlap is obscure at best, there is a little something for everyone here in the following examination:

Later this afternoon, the Texas Rangers will take the field at Yankee Stadium for game five of the ALCS. They lead three games to one, and the long defeated franchise stands on the doorstep of the World Series, ready to wave the team’s first pennant. As written here late last week (partially to get a reaction, partially because the history is fun), this organization has some ties to DC, as they were once the Washington Senators, version 2.0. It wasn’t a comprehensive look at the history of the 2nd Senators to grace DC, nor other ties between the Texas Rangers and Washington baseball (notably, the fact that Texas Ace Cliff Lee was a prospect in the Expos’ system and traded away for little long before his rise of the last few years), but really just some fun thoughts to help find a rooting interest this postseason.

In that vein – and to give fair ink to all parts of the Washington baseball past – there’s one other part of Senators history from the first iteration of the franchise that also could be entertaingly relevant: the 1955 musical Damn Yankees.

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Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Sabrina Fair

Today’s formula for a romantic comedy is pretty clear: take two attractive actors and throw them in a highly unlikely situation. Maybe your Canadian boss needs to marry somebody in order to stay in the country or you have become the next target of your ex-husband who’s also a bounty hunter. As long as you pair up Jennifer Aniston with some hot guy (Matthew McConaughey is always a safe bet),  you’ll probably sell some tickets. Just make sure you include a series of obstacles and challenges on their journey that allow the pair to argue and bicker until the end where they fall in love.

The comedy in today’s RomComs usually come through slapstick and awkward situations. Whether it’s a grown man who still lives with his parents or a woman who’s been a bridesmaid in 27 weddings, the humor stems from a seemingly ordinary person thrown into extraordinary circumstances. Samuel A. Taylor’s “Sabrina Fair” is a product of the 1950’s and follows old conventions of subtlety in its humor and drama. The extremism of today’s comedy is replaced with dry wit. The journey and obstacles are replaced with a fairy-tale clash of social classes where a person of wealth falls in love with a someone from the working class. Continue reading →

Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven

(l to r): Patricia Penn, Sue Jin Song and Youngsun Cho in Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven by Young Jean Lee at The Studio 2ndStage. Directed by Natsu Onoda Power. Photo credit: Carol Pratt

“My work is about struggling to achieve something in the face of failure and incompetence and not-knowing. The discomfort and awkwardness involved in watching this struggle reflects the truth of my experience.”

— Young Jean Lee, playwright

It would be easy to write about Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven as a play about racist stereotypes, the culpability of bigotry that we all share regardless of personal race. Certainly there is a great deal of that theme on display at The Studio 2ndStage’s production, playing now through October 24. But essentially, to me this is a play about failure – the failure to understand one another, to communicate, to believe, to love oneself. It’s a powerful piece with a core of deep self-hatred and the awful humor that comes from knowing one’s weakness, and giving in to it. 

Raw emotion like that is not easy to watch, so the pre-set tricks the audience into false sense of tranquility. Shepherded behind the seats through an incense-filled temple walkway, glowing with candles and red paper lanterns, you might think you’re in for a lovely spa evening.

Then three women in beautiful traditional Korean costumes reveal a video of playwright Young Jean Lee, her tear-streaked face puffy from repeated hard slaps, her eyes wounded and staring at you, her audience – her tormenters and conspirators.

You probably wouldn’t expect to laugh after that opening. But you do. Continue reading →

Alexandria, Entertainment, Interviews, People, Special Events, The Features, We Love Arts
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Dance Preview: Bellydance Superstars

The Bellydance Superstars in Bombay Bellywood. Photo courtesy of Bellydance Superstars.

The Bellydance Superstars will be at The Birchmere this month for two shows – October 27 and 28 – with a new production called Bombay Bellywood. I last saw BDSS perform at the Lisner in March 2009, and it was an infectiously fun performance that had the audience shimmying in their seats. For those of us studying dance, it’s always fascinating to watch and learn from professional touring companies. I’m looking forward to seeing what they’ve come up with this time around, in a production that’s mixing Bollywood and Bhangra into the usual line-up of Egyptian Cabaret and Tribal Fusion styles.

One of the highlights for me last year was the whirling veil work of Petite Jamilla, and I was thrilled to get a chance to talk with her about the new production and what DC area audiences can expect later this month.

“We are really leaving our hearts on the stage,” she said. Continue reading →

Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: King Arthur

Ben Cunis as King Arthur, Vato Tsikurishvili as Lancelot, and Ensemble in Synetic Theater's "King Arthur." Photo credit: Graeme B. Shaw

I’m fast running out of superlatives to describe Synetic Theater productions. They operate in a riveting crossfire where power meets grace, muscle meets sinew. And this time, for King Arthur, they do it all in ankle-deep water.

That’s right, the brutally complex swordplay, the exquisite dancing, the emotional physicality – all take place on a stage filled with water. Sometimes it even rains.

Superb.

Synetic is often described as presenting “physical theater” – to denote its wordless style. But I like to think of it more as “psychological theater.” Director Paata Tsikurishvili and choreographer Irina Tsikurishvili tease out character’s deep motivations into the physical realm, like taking micro-expressions and elongating them. As their brilliant foray into the shattered psyche of a triple-headed Iago in Othello showed, they are masters of the psychological nuance. One might not immediately think the King Arthur legend lends itself to that approach (isn’t it just a love triangle? you might initially think) but they mine the depths of betrayal to make what could be cardboard characters truly live.

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Entertainment, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown

With an original debut in 1967, You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown wowed audiences long before it became fashionable to bring successful franchises of any kind onto the stage (Harry Potter: The Musical anyone?) Ever since it’s original production, Charlie Brown has become one of the great classic musicals that have been put up time and time again with numerous revivals, regional productions, and tours under it’s belt. The District now can get a taste of CB, Snoopy, Lucy, and the gang over at H-Street Playhouse where the show opens the second season of the No Rules Theatre Company.

The Peanuts franchise has become an American institution thanks to comic series with over 17,000 strips and a series of television specials that still run every holiday season. In fact any minute now we should be expecting It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown to fill the airwaves on ABC.

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Downtown, Entertainment, Fun & Games, Penn Quarter, Special Events, The Features, The Mall, We Love Arts
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October’s Best at SAAM & NMAI

Derek A. Bencomo, Hana Valley, First View from the Peaks and Valleys Series, 1997, milowood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Fleur and Charles Bresler in honor of Kenneth R. Trapp, curator-in-charge of the Renwick Gallery (1995--2003); photo courtesy Smithsonian American Art Museum

Some great stuff’s going on this month at the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum (SAAM) and the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI). While there’s a ton of events and exhibits happening at both locations, I’ve highlighted some of the more interesting things you may want to check out. Got a free afternoon or in need of some weekend inspiration this month? Well, there’s something here for everyone.

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Entertainment, Music, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Improbable Frequency

John Tweel and Madeleine Carr in Solas Nua's "Improbable Frequency." Photo credit: Dan Brick

A spanking new office building behind Union Station’s train tracks is a strange place to find oneself for a night of theater. Ushered through a blindingly white lobby, up the elevator to the sixth floor, greeted by a charming Irish lass asking you, “What’s the password?” Well, that’s the sort of night it was – equal parts improbable, uncomfortable, delightful, and unfinished.

Solas Nua is one of my favorite theater companies in DC. Known for their fearless dives into the Irish underbelly, Improbable Frequency is their first musical foray. There’s an enthusiastic cast backed by a live band in a space best described as cavernous. Sadly, preview night was unable to deliver the promised atmosphere of Todd Thrasher cocktails, vintage costumed extras and burlesque dancers working the crowd to create a 1940’s speakeasy – but when these elements are added (cross your fingers on that liquor license) it could help immeasurably to liven up what’s essentially a concrete skeleton.

Our guide through the musical action is Tristram Faraday, a cruciverbalist whose enthusiasm for and ability to solve crossword puzzles lands him a position as an unlikely spy in Ireland. He’s British, it’s World War II, and though the Irish are professed to be neutral there’s some suspicious codebreaking to be done. That alone could cause serious mayhem. But even stranger things are afoot – people randomly acting out bad puns, songs played on the radio weirdly affecting the weather. Throw in a mysterious double agent, a mad Austrian scientist, and the IRA!  Tangling out the plot beyond that would spoil the big reveal, so suffice to say it all begins to resemble a parody of a Doctor Who episode. Continue reading →

Adventures, Entertainment, Essential DC, Fun & Games, Night Life, Special Events, The Features, We Love Arts
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National Geographic Live: October 2010

Diving Bahamas Caves by Wes C. Skiles; courtesy National Geographic

It’s fall and the National Geographic Museum has one heavy lineup ready for DC. National Geographic Live! is a series of dynamic lectures, live concerts, and compelling films presented at the Society’s headquarters on M Street between 16th and 17th Streets. We present to you the complete October lineup AND a chance to win a pair of tickets to one of the listed events!

National Geographic has provided us two pairs of tickets to give away; all you need to do for a chance to win our random drawing is comment with what two events you’d most like to see, using your first name and a legitimate email address by noon on Monday, Oct 4. We’ll draw the winners that afternoon!

NOTE: All programs will be at Grosvenor Auditorium at 1600 M Street, NW. Tickets can be purchased online, by phone at (202) 857-7700, or in person at the National Geographic ticket office between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Free parking is available in the National Geographic underground garage for all programs that begin after 6 p.m.

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Adventures, Entertainment, Media, Special Events, The Features, We Love Arts
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NatGeo’s 2010 All Roads Film Festival

Dear Lemon Lima; photo courtesy filmmakers and National Geographic Museum

The National Geographic Society kicks off its All Roads Film Festival on Tuesday, Sept 28, launching a jam-packed fall programming schedule. The six-day event will screen nearly 30 films, an outdoor photography exhibit, a Basement Bhangra Dance Party, and a panel of indigenous filmmakers discussing their art and careers.

All Roads Film Festival Director Francene Blythe is especially excited about this year’s theme, “Inspiring Stories Connecting Cultures.” “Whether the stories are comic or tragic, they will resonate with audiences because they involve characters and stories that are relatable and told with charm, wit and wisdom.” There promises to be something for everyone to enjoy. Continue reading →

People, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Laurel Hausler

Laurel Hausler. Photo credit: Tory Pugliese

The ghosts of the past are always with us, brushing past in layers of time, like veils in a dance being pulled away. They haunt us with both pain and humor, and to reveal their presence takes honesty and sensitivity as an artist. Not to mention, a bit of detective work.

Every so often an artist’s work hits me with a visceral force, and I knew when I saw a few pieces by Laurel Hausler at the Small Works on Paper exhibit at Morton Fine Art that I needed to see more. Luckily, you can too. Hausler has a full exhibit at MFA showing now through October 14, and I highly recommend a visit to view these wickedly beautiful oil paintings. Heavily layered both by paint and meaning, alternately revealing and concealing, the exhibit is titled Debutantes & Feral Children.

Aren’t we all a bit of both?

Hausler, a native of the DC area now based here as well, paints with a subtractive process – in other words, she begins by covering canvas or paper with many layers of paint which she then removes to reveal the subject. Actually, she first begins with research. Let’s take a closer look. Continue reading →

Entertainment, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Circle Mirror Transformation

Jeff Talbott, MacKenzie Meehan, Kathleen McElfresh, Jennifer Mendenhall and Harry A. Winter in Circle Mirror Transformation at The Studio Theatre. (Photo: Carol Pratt)

Finding humor in the mundane lives of others has been one of the key reasons why shows like The Office and Community are hits. A show about the 9-5 of a workplace is something we can all relate to. Community created a small-town, village feel within the student body of a community college. Annie Baker’s Circle Mirror Transformation plays along similar lines except for one key difference: characters.

While Steve Carrell and Joel McHale play larger than life characters on their respective shows, the ensemble cast of Circle Mirror Transformation wouldn’t draw a glance if they were next to you on a Metro car or in line with you at Safeway.

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We Love Arts: All’s Well That Ends Well


Miriam Silverman as Helena and Tony Roach as Bertram in the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of All’s Well That Ends Well, directed by Michael Kahn. Photo by Scott Suchman.

With only a few minor exceptions, The Shakespeare Theater Company’s production of All’s Well That Ends Well hits every note and does so with beauty and style. The question is, is that going to be enough to make it work for a modern audience?

If you’re not familiar with the work – which, to borrow a joke from the hosts at Filmspotting, is “Minor Shakespeare” – All’s Well tells the story of a woman of common birth who loves a nobleman. Through plucky resolve she gets the King to grant her a boon – her choice of husbands. When she picks the object of her affection he rejects her, fleeing France to fight in a foreign war and vowing not to return so long as he has a wife to return to. There’s a very Shakespearean bit of shenanigans along the way and in the end he sees the error of his ways and he accepts her.

So we’ve got a stalker, forced nuptials, class divisions, a sleazy hymen-chaser, a sort of rape by substitution, and, as such things usually lead to, eventual love and happy marriage. How’s that working for you?

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Downtown, Entertainment, Media, Penn Quarter, Special Events, The District, We Love Arts
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September at SAAM

Photo courtesy of
‘Kogod Courtyard’
courtesy of ‘BrianMKA’

So now that the tourists are (mostly) gone, time to get out and hit our various museums and their great programs and exhibitions! There’s a lot going on this month at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) and we’re going to run down the list for you. Programs are free and open to the public unless otherwise indicated; the SAAM is located in Penn Quarter at 8th and G Streets, NW. Note that some programs are at the Renwick Gallery at 17th and Pennsylvania and are noted accordingly.

Intersections/Intersecciones (Sept. 10, 6:30 p.m.)
Artists Kathy Vargas, María Martínez-Cañas, and Martina López discuss the intersection of Latino culture and gender identity in their work. Moderated by Muriel Hasbun, associate professor of fine art photography at the Corcoran College of Art + Design. No tickets required; seating available in McEvoy Auditorium on a first-come, first-served basis.

Art à la Cart (Sept. 12, Noon – 3 p.m.)
Travel throughout the galleries to find interactive carts where kids can handle brushes, palettes, bison hide, bottle caps, and quilt squares. Ages 7-12. Pick up your Art à la Cart map and passport at information desks located in the F Street and G Street lobbies.

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We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Something You Did

Theater J’s Something You Did is a perfectly serviceable little production of a little play that revolves around very little personal growth and revelations that aren’t very revelatory.

Update, 3:08p: If you’ve seen the play – or don’t intend to – and want the spoiler-ific version of this review, absent the deliberate efforts at avoiding revealing plot, you can check out my comment.

When City Paper wrote about Theater J subbing in this production for the original contender they quoted Artistic Director Ari Roth. He spoke about filling “a very particular slot – that of our High Holiday season-opener, hop-scotching the Days of Awe, a period of personal and collective reflection.”

Which makes it so odd that the one thing this play absolutely lacks is any hint of reflection from any of the characters.

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Entertainment, Penn Quarter, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: In the Next Room or the vibrator play

Eric Hissom and Katie deBuys in “In the Next Room or the vibrator play.” Photo credit: Stan Barouh.

Ah, the Victorians! Always keeping the naughty bits tightly corseted. Such control freaks. At least, that’s our view of them now. It might come as a shock to learn about such inventions as the “electric massager,” on the scene in the 1870’s to relieve the frayed nerves of delicate housewives suffering from mysterious bouts of anxiety. Even more of a shock to learn before the dawn of the electrical age, physicians alleviated such symptoms of their patients the um, old-fashioned way, through manual manipulation. Yet somehow the resulting “paroxysms” and the accompanying relief were seen as strictly therapeutic and not erotic. Masters of keeping the physical and the sexual realms separate, those Victorians. One side Health, the other Damnation.

MORE: The history of humans sexual fantasies and exploration is a rich subject. The use of sex toys has been recorded hundreds of years ago, which makes dildos and vibrators available today on local stores and even online from sex shops like Plug Lust is not surprising. Read more on the topic with articles published by Fiona Petree.

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company‘s 2010-2011 season is titled “A Striptease for Your Subconscious” – and if the first play out of the gate is any indication, this is going to be one wild ride. In the Next Room, or the vibrator play explores this acutely private dance between the physical and the sexual, between control and release. Yes, it’s a play about a male scientist/physician using a primitive vibrator on his female patients (and one male) to bring them to orgasm in order to restore the bloom in their cheeks, and yes there are several scenes depicting this, but there’s a lot more going on. Playwright Sarah Ruhl dances on the edge of fairy tale, weaving the mythology of feminine awakening with just enough sweetness to win over any prudish audience member. The final moment of reveal and revelation might still shock some, but its daringness is rather beautiful.

In the Next Room or the vibrator play presents us with a seemingly ill-matched couple – the practical man of science Dr. Givings (a briskly authoritative Eric Hissom) and his wife, the charmingly impulsive Catherine (a radiant Katie deBuys). Sense and sensibility, these two. The doctor plies his trade in the next room, protecting his wife from his work and denying her the deeper affection she craves. The love they share is blocked, just as the unseen walls separate the doctor’s operating room from the drawing room, as the society separates the physical from the erotic. Into their circle weave other blocked lives, some comical, others heart-wrenching. Continue reading →

We Love Arts
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We Love Theater… don’t we?

Photo courtesy of
‘Main auditorium of Regent Theatre, Melbourne, 1929’
courtesy of ‘Powerhouse Museum Collection’

Some months ago – after what felt like the millionth press screening that I’d left disappointed – Jenn and I were chatting about what we’d seen that day and in recent memory. At one point I said something like “I feel like I spend a lot of time wondering lately why did this need to be up on stage? Or maybe I’m wondering why I should come see it rather than something on television or at the movies. Is the fact that it’s live enough reason by itself?”

Jenn, ever mindful of the bottomless article monster that is WeLoveDC.com, answered without answering by saying “maybe that’s something you should write about.”

So three months later we’ve made it through most of the summer, all of Fringe, and are standing on the cusp of a new theater season in the District. Seems like a good time to think generally about the year ahead and reflect on my general reaction from last season.

If you’re a theater enthusiast I’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re not then I’d particularly like to hear them. If you’ve never thought of a single reason why you should go see a live show then I’d really love to hear why. Theater is not for everyone but maybe the reason it doesn’t call to you is an issue for all of us.

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Featured Photo, Life in the Capital, We Love Arts
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Mod Madness at the Textile Museum


All photos by Max Cook

When the hustle and bustle of the modern world has a stranglehold on our sanity, we are quick to look for an escape maneuver.  Between the demands placed on us from all angles, the constant task of making ends meet, and the humdrum of our daily routines, we long for something different to speed up or slow down the tick-tock of the invisible metronome.  This is why we jump out of airplanes on purpose, take trips to faraway places, lose ourselves in books and movies, and find other creative ways to exercise the right side of our brains.

Along with this instinctive desire for escape, we often long for the days of the past, for a time when life seemed simple and had fewer complications.  Perhaps we covet the lifestyle of our parents’ generation or the days of our youth, the days before global warming, STD’s, and high fructose corn syrup.  We are nostalgic by nature which is why vintage clothing has always been (and always will be) so popular, why we buy classic cars, watch black and white movies, and collect antiques.  This is why we smile when we see a girl ride by on a 3-speed Raleigh bicycle, carrying flowers or groceries in the wicker basket, why we indulge in cheeseburgers and malts at silver roadside diners, and why we love the intangible feel of old grainy photographs.  This is why Mad Men is one of the hottest shows on TV today, and why Frank Sinatra songs will always make us want to slow dance with our partner.  While we can’t wait to see what the future holds, we will always keep one foot in the past.

I often think it would be great if for just one week, or even one day, we could all stop typing, stop texting, stop Twittering, and stop e-mailing.  Instead, write a letter, have a formal dinner party, go on a picnic, read the newspaper, and discuss things over coffee.  It appears that I’m not alone in my thinking, as last week hundreds of dreamers, escapists, and exhibitionists descended upon the Textile Museum for the second PM at the TM, an event called MOD MADNESS.  Presented in partnership with The Pink Line Project, well-dressed attendees were treated to interactive gallery tours by WE ARE SCIENCE, DYI silk screening by the Washington Printmakers Gallery and Kristina Bilonick, and live jazz by the Pete Muldoon Quartet.  I was there with my camera and for three short hours, the metronome stopped.

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Entertainment, Interviews, People, The Features, We Love Arts
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Theater Spotlight: Eleanor Holdridge

Eleanor Holdridge, director of Theater J's "Something You Did" by Willy Holtzman. Photo courtesy of Eleanor Holdridge.

First in a series of interviews with the many theater professionals who call DC their artistic home.

Eleanor Holdridge had been freelancing as a director for twenty years. It can be a grueling profession, on the road sometimes for eight months at a time to make a living. She was ready for a home.

“Welcome to DC! Now, direct a play that’s political,” she jokes.

Having recently moved here to head the directing program at The Catholic University of America, Holdridge is out of the gate directing Theater J’s season opener, Something You Did. Playwright Willy Holtzman has updated the piece from its 2008 incarnation to reflect the current polarized political climate. Replacing the controversial Imagining Madoff with a play about 1960’s idealist turned imprisoned radical facing off against a neo-conservative media pundit prone to conspiracy theories may seem a bit out of the frying pan, but that kind of daring choice is what makes me admire Theater J.

With warm enthusiasm and infectious humor, Holdridge graciously shared a rehearsal coffee break with me to talk about her move to DC, her impressions of theater here, and what’s in store for audiences when Something You Did opens with previews beginning August 28.

As a Baltimore area native, Holdridge grew up coming to DC to see plays at Arena Stage. So perhaps it was inevitable that one day DC theater would call her back. Continue reading →