Category Archives: The Features

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We Love Weekends
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We Love Weekends: Nov 15-17

H Street Festival - Eat More Beef - 09-17-11 mosley.brian

Esther: My ancestors are British.  I’m one of those rare people who isn’t a mixed breed of nationalities.  I’m almost pure bred British isles (7/8 to be exact, and 1/8 Swedish), so I would be remiss to not take advantage of the bloody good opportunities DC offers me to connect with my ancestry.  So I will begin my weekend with a Boddington’s and bangers & mash at The Queen Vic on H Street NE and soak in true British pub atmosphere.  Saturday afternoon will find me viewing the temporary exhibit, Here is a Play Fitted, at the Folger Shakespeare Library, where scripts, designs, letters, and reviews of productions over the centuries show how the Bard’s works have shifted over time.  Now William Shakespeare is certainly brilliant, but British poet William Blake is also worth honoring, which I will do Saturday night by attending There is Happiness That Morning Is, one of the shows playing the closing weekend of the DC fall Fringe Festival.  Sunday morning, I fancy a jaunt to the Virginia countryside to enjoy tea and scones at The British Pantry, located about 45 minutes outside DC in Aldie. And to make sure I show off my British pride, my final weekend stop will be back to H Street NE, where Brit tattoo artist Paul Roe, owner of Britishink, is going to tat me with my custom designed union jack, capping off my Anglophile-d weekend and paying tribute to those awesome relatives of mine who had bad teeth, yes, but spoke with a freakin’ cool accent.

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Rachel: My weekend started early with my last “big” solo acoustic full-set show at Ebenezers Coffeehouse in NW DC on Thursday night. That show featured fellow local ladies Brittany Jean and Jamie Kathleen as well as Philly-based Suzie Brown. The weekend continues with a stop at Iota in Arlington for the Deleted Scenes show on Friday followed by band practice with Jason Mendelson & the Open Doors in preparation for our show at The Dunes on November 20 (aka next Wednesday) with Two Dragons and a Cheetah and Star FK Radium. Lot’s of stuff on the plate these days. Hoping to see some of you at a show around town!

Red Apron butchers, Union Market, DC jacquesofalltrades

Tom: After spending last week amid the bustle and warmth of Southern California, I find myself craving, of all things, a run through H Street Country Club’s mini-golf course. I know it sounds crazy, but a night out on H Street sounds like what I need. Sadly, Charlie’s too young to join me on the links yet, so we may have to skip it. As we get closer to Thanksgiving, my mind is turning toward Turkey, and that means Red Apron Butcher’s delicious poultry. First up, though, is a community meeting about the Brookland Middle School construction progress. I know, I know, my weekends are just so full of awesome.

Chicago, Illinois. In the waiting room of the Union Station (LOC) The Library of Congress

Fedward:  Against every natural impulse I have to avoid the spotlight, I’m looking seriously at DC Startup Weekend.  I have an idea – a good idea, the sort of idea I could actually see getting funded – but I haven’t gone so far as to turn it into a pitch.  I’ve got until noon Friday to put my own $99 where my mouth doesn’t want to be. Other than that, we’re meeting friends for dinner at Casa Luca on Saturday, and we’ll have our usual brunch at the Passenger on Sunday.

Jenn: Tired, cranky, cold. That’s been my week so far, and I’m sick of my own whining. Time to pull up the bootstraps. That means getting my cold cyborg heart pumping at Tropicalia for Friday night’s Congo y Castro Pura Viba dance party. There’s even more steam at the Shakespeare Theatre these next few weeks as Mies Julie burns up the set with a forbidden love tale. Or is it hate? Either way, the temperature is almost unbearably hot in this re-telling of Strindberg’s ultimate battle of the sexes/classes, now set in South Africa. Believe me, you’ll debate the play for days. Another hot ticket (closing the 17th, so move on it) is Michael Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty, bringing this hot choreographer’s subversive artistic magic to the classic ballet at the Kennedy Center. Only a few years back DC missed out on his Swan Lake, considered too much for us. Prove ’em wrong this time around. Hell, we can handle even more now. To round it all out, I’ll be searching for the perfect hot chocolate, and I bet I’ll find it at the new Palena Cafe, which I hear serves Bicerin – my all-time favorite chocolate, hazelnut and espresso drink. I’ve longed for it ever since my first sip in Venice. Yes. Happy dance.

Caged Don Whiteside

Don: Most of my weekend is going to be sucked up with the continuing effort to block off the chaos that darned baby from certain sections of our home, so the leisure time will be a little sparse and need to serve dual purposes. Namely shoveling food into our faces. So in that vein I thought we’d maybe finally see what the fuss is about and go by SUNdeVICH on Saturday when the weather is supposed to be kinda nice.

Music, The Features, We Love Music
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Hot Ticket: 80s Dance Party@Black Whiskey, 11/16/13

80sdanceparty

It’s been pretty darn cold these past few days but DC is expected to warm up considerably this weekend! What better way to celebrate the warmth than to get out and dance?

And if you want to get out and dance, you might as well go for the gold and dance to some good synthpop. And that just happens be the theme of this month’s 80s Dance Party @ Black Whiskey, which this month presents Secret Circuits, a new recurring theme night.

The affable and capable DJ Neal Keller and I were once brainstorming after he was no longer hosting events in Adams Morgan. We hatched a concept for another dance party that he could spin somewhere–and to differentiate it from the pack of other 80s parties, we thought to focus it specifically on bands like OMD, Ultravox, Erasure, Soft Cell, Heaven 17, New Order, Yazoo, the Eurythmics and others!

To my delight, Neal (aka The Angel) has run with the idea, and he has recruited an extremely knowledgeable guest to assist in the form of DJ Bill Mallison, who hosted his own Kids in America party for a few years not too long ago. Monsieur Mallison is the master of pinpointing electronic and new wave music, breaking out everything from Book of Love to Tones on Tail. And I’m going to attempt to put up a video playlist at the Secret Circuits Tumblr to make the party interactive. (This is a *video* dance party after all!)

See you there!

80s Dance Party: Secret Circuits
Black Whiskey
Saturday, Nov. 16
doors @9pm
$5
21+

Featured Photo
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Featured Photo

Untitled Ernest Baroni

I spend a lot of time on Flickr wandering aimlessly around looking here and there, seeing what new and interesting work people have come up with. A few weeks ago, while looking through photos with Washington, DC tags I came across some shots by Ernest Baroni. The photos were very distinctive in their appearance. In fact I thought they were film. But they’re not, they were actually taken with the Leica M Monochrom digital camera. You can see in this wonderful shot what I mean. The lights and darks, the grays in between, and the grain. Let’s not forget the grain. It doesn’t hurt that he managed to capture such a great moment. Awkward on land, sea lions are amazingly agile underwater. They can glide without effort, averaging 11 mph with a top speed of 25 mph, and are able to hold their breath for 8 to 20 minutes, looking almost like dogs with flippers. They certainly sound like them.

I’m not a gear head, and I don’t own any Leicas, but the Monochrom makes some great pictures especially when in the hands of someone with a good eye like Ernest. Well done sir.

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

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The cast of Signature Theatre’s production of Crossing. Photo credit: Teresa Wood.

There was so much to like about Crossing at Signature Theatre, the world premiere musical written by the extremely talented writing team, Grace Barnes and Matt Connor, whose Nevermore was premiered at the theatre in 2006. From Eric Schaeffer’s beautiful, yet simple set design, the spectacular rain effects orchestrated by lighting designer Chris Lee, the lovely underscoring of the orchestra led by music director Gabriel Mangiante, to the phenomenal acting and vocal prowess of nine incredible actors, Barnes and Connor created moments of theatrical magic, punctuated by uncomplicated dialogue and enchanting melodies.

There was also much about Crossing that was problematic. Although it has enjoyed readings and a workshop, this is the first full production of Crossing and, like all new shows, it felt like it was still trying to find its footing. The challenge of producing new work is that the premiere production is part of the continued refining and improving of a show, which means that the initial audience is witness to some of the kinks and challenges that eventually are worked out until a show is a masterpiece. Understanding this, I applaud the writing of Barnes and Connor, who have a very solid framework in place, and am confident that Crossing will achieve the same success that their Nevermore and Connor’s The Hollow and Night of the Living Dead are enjoying.

Set in a train station in anytown and anytime USA, Crossing follows the personal intimate emotional journeys of travelers as they wait for a train, highlighting the concerns and fears that they can’t share with loved ones, but choose to share with strangers to whom they feel a kinship, in the same way many people do with others they are seated next to on an airplane or a neighboring bar stool. Although the characters are living in different decades of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, they interact with one another beyond time and comprehension, listening to, supporting, and uniting with one another, giving the audience the impression that regardless when or where we live or have lived, each human soul has a journey they have to make alone, but are afraid to do so. Continue reading →

Weekend Flashback
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Weekend Flashback: 11/08-11/10

Bicyclist vpickering

Whether you’re reading this from the comfort of home on your Veteran’s Day holiday, or while slaving away in the office at your job, I hope you had a great weekend. I know our photo contributors did because we got some amazing photos. Some are of the fall colors peaking, some of Washingtonians going about their routines, and some are of the oddities that make this area so great. Please take a few minutes to check them out; it’s always a great start to the week. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, We Love Drinks
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Friday Happy Hour: Lion’s Share Cider at Tryst

Lion's Share Cider at Tryst Paul Allen

I was asked recently what I consider my guilty pleasure drink. I didn’t know what to say. Most of the time I’m drinking rather straightforward drinks. I like to get a little extravagant sometimes and experiment a bit, but I wouldn’t consider that a guilty pleasure. That I reserve for marshmallow vodka or whiskey from a plastic jug. I thought about it and decided that the closest thing I have to a guilty pleasure is day drinking. Even when I had a more traditional 9 to 5 style job I had a tendency to mix up a sherry cocktail before I made my way into work. It was how I got my morning OJ.

Before brunch cocktails became a weekend staple, I had such a hard time cajoling my friends to commit to serious day drinking. Bottomless Bloodies, Mimosas and Bellinis are some of the greatest things to happen to recent cocktail culture. Now it’s suddenly trendy and it’s not just me and Hemmingway drinking Daiquiris at ten in the morning. And thankfully cocktails for brunch are such a big thing in DC. Working as much as I do, I’d never get a chance to go out for a nice cocktail if it wasn’t for brunch. Which is exactly why I hoofed it across town to Tryst on a Sunday morning, to get my day drinking on (the food was good too).

Continue reading →

The Features, We Love Arts
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In the House with Howard Shalwitz

Howard Shalwitz

Howard Shalwitz of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

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.

Howard Shalwitz is the co-founder and artistic director of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, which is currently in its 34th season of producing and developing contemporary new plays that “defy convention.”

Joanna Castle Miller: What does your job as an artistic director involve, and what is its purpose?

Howard Shalwitz: I used to say that my job was the guardian of the soul of the institution – and now I hate the word “institution” so I don’t say that anymore. You would think you’d define the job according to what plays we select, and the artists who work here, and the character of the work, and that’s all true; but I actually think more of my time goes into the long-term vision of the organization: What is the mission? How are we expressing our mission right now? I think I have an important role – because I’ve been here so long – as a kind of guardian of the institutional memory of the organization.

It’s really those long-term mission and vision parts of the job that I think are most important; and if you neglect that, then the theater’s really in trouble.

Continue reading →

We Love Weekends
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We Love Weekends: Nov 8-10

Fall on New Hampshire Avenue || Washington, DC kenudigit

If you can make it through the rain we’ve been promised a sunny weekend. We’re not going to waste it if we have a choice, though some of us don’t. Sorry Brian!

Mosley: Sadly, I’m working all weekend. But if I had the time to myself, I’d be going to as many of the Fotoweek DC events as I could; after Sunday most are over. Also photo related, I would want to get out and get as many photos of the Fall foliage as I could. It seem particularly good this year. If you’re interested in doing the same, my photography group is meeting up on TR Island on Saturday; all are welcome and it should be fun times and a great nature walk!

Jenn: Art exhibits at the friendly gallery curated by Amy Morton are always something to look forward to, and that makes this Friday a double pleasure with the opening party of Laurel Hausler’s new exhibit, Ghost Stories, from 6-8pm. Hausler’s multi-layered work is haunting, disturbing, and simply beautiful. Her current exhibit is inspired by Old Hollywood mysteries, spirit photography, and ghost stories, so it’s perfect for the season. Please stop by Morton Fine Art to see for yourself. As MFA has the added benefit of being next door to Locolat, get some Belgian beer and savory waffles too. Afterwards I’m heading to a Scorpio’s birthday party, which might just be one of the most dangerous outings you can join. Send bail money. If I survive, Saturday I’ll search for the perfect boudoir chair at the District Flea (I need something to faint on), no doubt indulge my latest sandwich obsession, the Istanbul, at SUNdeVICH, and finally, help save the Chesapeake Bay by downing oyster backs (oyster shooters as pickle backs, how awesome is that) at Eat the Rich – $1 from every oyster shooter sold goes to the Oyster Recovery Partnership! Sunday I’ll repent at Pekoe Acupuncture and Wellness with a Mindful Epicurean Brunch from 2-4pm, featuring a healthy cooking demonstration and wholesome brunch. Sigh.

Continue reading →

Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Pride In The Falls Of Autrey Mill

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Photo credit: Margot Schulman

After Really Really sold out and wowed crowds at Signature Theatre last winter, up-and-coming playwright Paul Downs Colaizzo is back with another new play. This time instead of dissecting millennials, Colaizzo sets his sights on a more affluent crowd in Pride in the Falls of Autrey Mill. Starring Golden Globe and Emmy winner Christine Lahti, Autrey Mill is a powerful character-driven dramedy that explores conventional human needs in an unconventional setting: a luxury community where only the elite of the elite reside.

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Featured Photo
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Featured Photo

Clouded Leopard J Sonder

Cute, cute, cute! John submitted this excellent, and unorthodox, animal shot of a clouded leopard at the National Zoo. Typically when shooting animals or wildlife I advise that the photographer should aim for the eyes. However, John made the smart choice of focusing on the leopard’s paw and pelt, completely avoiding the face, and forcing the viewer to look at this feline in a different way. Notice the large size of the paw, relative to the rest of the body. Also, look at the ear; even though the cat is sleeping or lounging, it still has one ear up for alerting it to danger. Of course, there is the fine detail of the cat’s fur and markings, as well as the very fine detail of the pads on the bottom of its feet. It’s a great shot all around!

Entertainment, Get Out & About, Life in the Capital, Music, Night Life, The District, We Love Music
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We Love Music: The Head And The Heart @ 9:30 Club – 11/04/13

The Head And The Heart

Last night, despite a 10pm set time, a frigid Monday night and a developing cold, I bundled up and hit the 9:30 Club to check out the Seattle group The Head And The Heart (THATH).

Had THATH been some sort of electronica, disco-pop, techno-ish band, then I would have been tucked away in my apartment downing Nyquil, but as I was familiar with the group, I knew to expect country/indie folk ballads with a kick of ELO’s “Mr. Blue Sky,” The Beatles “A Day in the Life,” and Dexy Midnight Runner’s “Come On Eileen.”

The band took the stage shortly after 10pm, played about an hour and 15 minute set and produced a show identical to their recorded albums. Now when I see someone, I don’t expect a group to sound incredibly different or even “better,” but I do expect something – a tone, a sound, an energy, a vibe, a connection – that differentiates the performance from what I can listen to in my living room. Personally speaking, this show was a bit of a let down.

Continue reading →

We Love Arts
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Don’t tell mama, but Cabaret is opening tomorrow

If you’re at all a fan of the musical Cabaret – and why wouldn’t you be? – you have a shot at catching it live on stage with the Georgetown G&S Society. Goldstar has half-price tickets available for shows running from tomorrow through Saturday. They’re at the GU Law Center, not the main campus, so you have a variety of metro stops to choose rather than dealing with hell Georgetown traffic.

I mean, how many times can you hear Liza Minnelli sing those songs? Okay, all the times. But live is its own magic.

Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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Local Community Theatre Takes The Leap Into The Pros: The Transformation of NextStop Theatre

Emily Levey and James Finley in NextStop Theatre's Production of -The 39 Steps- (Photo; Rebekah Purcell, VSION)_1600x1067

(Photo: Rebekah Purcell)

This fall the doors opened at the DC area’s latest theatre company, the NextStop Theatre Company, out in Herndon, Virginia.

However this isn’t the first rodeo for the group located out in the Dulles Technology Corridor. Known for over 25 years as the Elden Street Players, the former community theatre is setting out to do something that is rarely ever done when it comes to Community Theatre: go professional.

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Weekend Flashback
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Weekend Flashback: 11/01-11/03

Washington Monument Last Light 2.jpg JasonianPhotography

With the days getting shorter and nights getting longer it’s the perfect time of year to try some long exposure photography. If you’ve never done it before a little Google sleuthing will provide a lot of information. Essential (but not required) tools include a tripod and a shutter release cable or remote. Don’t have either? Try a park bench or brick wall or some other sturdy surface in lieu of a tripod. Find the timer setting on your camera and set it for 2 or 10 seconds (or whatever it offers) if you don’t have a shutter release. Does your camera have the ability to lock the mirror to reduce in camera shake? Grab the owner’s manual and find out! Play around with shutter speeds, apertures, and even ISO to see what kind of images you can create. Then post them to our Flickr group so we can be blown away by your creative genius.

Our Weekend Flashback is full of all sorts of great photos this week, not just long exposure shots. Let’s wander through the memories together, shall we? Continue reading →

Food and Drink, We Love Drinks
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Friday Happy Hour: Mezcal, Los Spirits de Muertos

Halloween2 Fotos_Gratis

As a native New Englander there’s no time of year that I enjoy more than autumn and, hands down, the best part of the season is Halloween. No question about it. When you’re young, you get to dress up like a monster and get free candy for it. How amazing is that? Then, when you’re an adult, you get to use it as an excuse to go out drinking at inappropriate times–got work on Friday morning? Who cares!–and dress as ridiculously as you can financially and imaginatively afford. That being said, I’ve always had a fascination with the Day of the Dead too. Maybe it’s because my mother was a Spanish teacher for over twenty-five years, and each year she would set up her little sugar skulls and Catrinas around Halloween. I’ve always been intrigued by the holiday and wished that more people celebrated it. So this week we’re doing a tribute to seasonal cocktails and Dia de Muertos. And to me that means we’re doing mezcal (whoops!).

If you’ve never had it, mezcal is a little spirit that comes from the Oaxaca region of Mexico. Similar to tequila, it’s distilled from agave (albeit a different species, but that’s a bit too wonky for now), the primary difference is that the hearts of the agave plants are roasted for three days in ovens dug into the ground, which imparts this beautiful, earthy, smoky flavor. Continue reading →

Music, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Gary Numan @ Black Cat — 10/27/13

Gary Numan Jason Persse

I quite like Gary Numan — the musician and the man.

His new album Splinter (Songs From a Broken Mind) undeniably shows influences of his association with Nine Inch Nails — but to be fair, Nine Inch Nails have long been admiring Numan. So it perhaps is only fair that the two musical acts would commingle. Nine Inch Nails guitarist Robin Finck played on some of Splinter’s tracks and joined him live on several recent tour dates.

The influence clearly was felt in the show at the Black Cat on Sunday, Oct. 27. Numan was energetic and in good form with a strong band that handled their goth guitar pretty well. They were very tight on “Everything Comes Down to This,” a new song from Splinter, demonstrating impressive range. The song is at times sparse and ethereal and at other times full and frenetic. Numan’s voice was strong and his physical flourishes added a great deal to his performance.

Continue reading →

Featured Photo
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Featured Photo

Whacha gonna doooo? Plantains & Kimchi

Hulkamania is running wild, Brother! I never realized it until I saw this photo by R Lopez but what this world needs is more Hulk Hogans. Not the current soft-spoken Hulk Hogan doing his reality tv thing but the 1980s Hulk Hogan, leader of the Hulkamaniacs, overly tanned, overly blond, overly oiled, and with a voice so strained that you’re waiting for the moment when all the muscles in his neck pop. Though most likely dressed up for a Halloween party I’m going to hold out hope that we’ll see more of these guys around town on a regular basis. Maybe some Macho Man Randy Savages too. OOOOH YEEEEAH!

Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Love in Afghanistan

Love in Afghanistan

Khris Davis and Melis Aker in Love in Afghanistan at Arena Stage. Photo credit: Teresa Wood.

It could have been the perfect modern-day Cinderella story—rich and handsome boy meets oppressed but beautiful girl, the attraction is immediate, they fall in love, and despite the multiple barriers that ensue, he eventually rescues her from her oppressive situation, they get married and live happily ever after in his world of fame and fortune, never to look back on her former life of injustices. Real life and love, of course, are much more complicated, and thankfully, the lovers’ relationship in Arena Stage’s production of Love in Afghanistan reflects life and love’s complexities. It doesn’t fall prey to the fairy tale ending.

Playwright Charles Randolph-Wright’s modern tale of love in war-torn Afghanistan is the story of Duke (played by Khris Davis), a young, successful American hip-hop artist performing for the US troops at the military base in Kabul, whose language interpreter, Roya (Melis Aker), is a beautiful and smart Afghan woman who, when she’s not utilizing her skills as a polyglot for the US military, is secretly helping run an underground rescue organization for women. Intrigued and impressed by the other person, an immediate and intimate friendship between Duke and Roya develops. Although the transition from friendship to love is predictable, the relationship between the two characters is not. Theirs is a love complicated by the intricacies of two separate cultures that, in many ways, are not compatible with one another. He is from the ‘land of the free and home of the brave’ where playing the proverbial hero on the white horse rescuing the damsel in distress is considered noble and romantic, while she is from a land where, although fear permeates every facet of life and bomb explosions are regular occurrences, women do not want to be rescued by men but, rather, are rescuing themselves from the oppression of a male-dominated society. Continue reading →

Music, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Sparks @ 9:30 Club – 10/27/13

Ron and Russell Mael (photo courtesy Sparks)

Ron and Russell Mael (photo courtesy Sparks)

Sparks are certainly an acquired taste. The brothers Ronald and Russell Mael have been touring their Two Hands, One Mouth show for several years now. In so doing, Ron Mael (two hands on keyboards) and Russell Mael (one mouth on vocals) have condensed their catalogue into a vaudevillian presentation of their efforts to deconstruct pop music.

It’s not music for the masses, so its reception in any given venue is going to be a bit of a mystery. The Maels openly wondered if they would be well received at the 9:30 Club on Sunday evening after a long absence from D.C. At the end of the show, they seemed quite pleased with the comfortably half-full club, which contained quite a few admirers of Sparks’ clever word play and occasionally theatrical posturing.

Continue reading →

Weekend Flashback
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Weekend Flashback: 10/25-10/27

arm in mouth philliefan99

It’s one of my favorite weeks of the year: the week of Halloween! When the sun is noticeably setting early; when the wind takes on a spooky feel; and when I give myself multiple cavities because I MUST HAVE ALL THE PEANUT BUTTER CUPS!!! Or the Almond Joys…or the Kit-Kats…or the…you get the idea: I must have the GOOD candy. While I am now too old to go trick-or-treating, the trade off is I am now old enough to buy my own candy and not share with the neighborhood kids. I’m sure many of our loyal readers would agree with, and follow, this notion.

There was certainly a ghostly vibe in our Flickr pool, which I think means more scary things in store for the week to come. So enjoy this Flashback and be sure to get all your ghoulish pics in for the end of the week’s Review. Enjoy the photos…if you dare! Continue reading →