Weekend Round Up August 17, 2017
By • August 17, 2017 0 517
This weekend: two opportunities to experience the flavors of Italy, two nights of comedic storytelling and two encounters with plucked-string instruments. Other entertainment options include a musical, a one-man show, something for the kids and something for the adults.
Dinner at the Chef’s Table
Buon Appetito! Tonight, Thursday, Aug. 17, at 7 p.m., is a Dinner at the Chef’s Table at Via Umbria, 1525 Wisconsin Ave. NW. These thrice-weekly gatherings are experiences in conviviality with fellow food lovers. Dinner at the Chef’s Table includes a complimentary glass of Prosecco upon arrival and a four-course meal at the communal table in the demonstration kitchen — with commentary by the chef, naturally. Tickets are $75. For details, visit viaumbria.com or call 202-333-3904.
Great Tomato Harvest & Sauce Fiesta
Saturday, Aug. 19, from 2 to 4 p.m., is the Great Tomato Harvest & Sauce Fiesta at Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture, 9000 Richmond Highway in Alexandria, Virginia. This is the second in Arcadia’s summer series on preserving the harvest. Participants (who should wear work clothes, closed-toe shoes and a sunhat) will harvest armfuls of tomatoes from a farm that used to belong to George Washington. Next, in the shade, the class will turn those red, juicy beauties into a snappy sauce to take home — along with a pile of tomatoes for further experimentation. Admission is $20, including freshly harvested tomatoes and a pint of homemade sauce. For details, visit eventbrite.com.
Three Virginia-based comedians will take the stage in D.C. on Friday. Then, on Saturday, Wolf Trap will welcome David Sedaris.
‘Go Get My Mom’ Improv
Erik Beringer, John Barnes and David Vaughn Straughn are three Virginia-based comedians with distinct and unique performance styles. “Go Get My Mom,” a comedy-storytelling performance, will bring them together under one roof to share personal experiences and help D.C. audiences find humor in life’s darker moments. The show is one night only, Friday, Aug. 18, at 8 p.m., at DC Arts Center, 2438 18th St. NW. Tickets are $12. For details, visit dcartscenter.org or call 202-462-7833.
David Sedaris at Wolf Trap
Also one night only, Saturday, Aug. 19, at 8 p.m., David Sedaris’s storytelling will come alive on stage at Wolf Trap, 1551 Trap Road in Vienna, Virginia. Thanks to his sardonic wit and incisive social critiques, Sedaris is one of NPR’s most popular commentators, a frequent contributor to the New Yorker and a two-time Grammy nominee with more than seven million copies of his books in print. Tickets are $25 to $100. For details, visit wolftrap.org or call 703-255-1900.
Are you a uker? A sitarist? There will be a plethora of pluckers in the Washington area this weekend.
Uke & Guitar Summit
Starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 19, Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane in North Bethesda, Maryland, will host its ninth annual Uke & Guitar Summit, a five-day, all-star celebration of “the little instrument that brings people together in harmony.” Performing at the grand finale: Benny Chong, Craig Chee, Sarah Maisel, Sam Marchuk, Maureen Andary, Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer, plus the Strathmore Uke Orchestra. Registration for the full summit is $400. For details, visit strathmore.org or call 301-581-5100.
Alif Laila & Sitar Niketan
This free sitar recital on Sunday, Aug. 20, at the Kennedy Center, 2700 F St. NW, will feature Bangladesh-born Alif Laila, accompanied on tabla by Nitin Mitta. A master class with Sitar Niketan students at 5:30 p.m. will precede the 6 p.m. performance, at which images of Laila’s watercolor paintings will portray the emotions of the ragas played. For details, visit kennedy-center.org or call 800-444-1324.
Concluding this weekend are the musical “Children of Eden” at Theatre Lab and the one-man show “Thurgood” at Olney Theatre Center.
‘Children of Eden’
The epic musical “Children of Eden” starts with the very beginning: the creation of the universe. Drawing from the Book of Genesis, its authors have examined the familiar stories of Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel and other figures through a family lens. With music that is at turns soaring, foot-stomping and deeply moving, Stephen Schwartz (“Wicked”) and John Caird (“Les Misérables”) created a musical that is joyful, inspiring, poignant and full of humor. Performances are: Thursday, Aug. 17, Friday, Aug. 18, and Saturday, Aug. 19, at 7:30 p.m.; and Saturday, Aug. 19, at 2 p.m. at the Theatre Lab School of the Dramatic Arts, 733 8th St. NW. Tickets are $15. For details, visit theatrelab.org or call 202-824-0449.
‘Thurgood’
“You do what you think is right and let the law catch up.” So said Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, who changed the face of American jurisprudence. He argued and won the Brown v. Board of Education decision, ending racial segregation in the schools after a long and strategic journey that began with ending the “separate but equal” mandate in Maryland law schools. Performances of this one-man show starring Brian Anthony Wilson at Olney Theatre Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road in Olney, Maryland, are: Wednesday, Aug. 16, Thursday, Aug. 17, Friday, Aug. 18, and Saturday, Aug. 19, at 7:45 p.m.; and Saturday, Aug. 19, and Sunday, Aug. 20, at 1:45 p.m. Tickets are $47 to $70. For details, visit olneytheatre.org or call 301-924-3400.
Something for the budding engineers in your life…
Engineering 101
The College Park Aviation Museum, 1985 Corporal Frank Scott Drive in College Park, Maryland, offers an introduction to engineering for kids age 8 and older on Saturday, Aug. 19, at 2 p.m. Participants will learn the basics of engineering through an interactive, hands-on design challenge, creating their own designs from drawing to prototype. Admission is $5. For details, visit mncppcapps.org or call 301-864-6029.
And finally, something that isn’t geared to the kids, future engineers or not…
World Beer Awards Celebration
On Sunday, Aug. 20, at 3 p.m., Procurus, USA, and the World Beer Awards present a beer tasting at Jack Rose Dining Saloon to benefit Project Welcome Home Troops, a local nonprofit that seeks to improve the quality of life for returning veterans and their families. Attendees will choose from many different tastings of U.S. craft beers submitted to the World Beer Awards. Tickets are $35. For details, visit eventbrite.com.
