Weekend Round Up May 31, 2018
By • May 31, 2018 0 834
June’s about to bust out with festivals. Saturday only: One Journey Festival at the National Cathedral. (Note: The Chinatown Community Festival has been postponed due to anticipated inclement weather.) On both Saturday and Sunday: the Dupont Kalorama Museum Walk, Jazz ’n Families Fun Days at the Phillips Collection and DanceAfrica’s closing performances at Dance Place. Top all that off with more jazz, gospel, orchestral works by Polish composers and Americana in Volta Park. For more June events, visit The Georgetowner’s online calendar.
Conor Bagley: ‘An Iliad’
Directed by Conor Bagley — son of Georgetowner Elizabeth Bagley — “An Iliad” is a modern retelling of Homer’s classic about the horrors and glories of the Trojan War, performed in Lab 1 of the Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE, by the lone Poet (Iason Togias), accompanied by a single musician. Performances are: Thursday, May 31 (preview), Friday, June 1, and Saturday, June 2, at 8 p.m.; Sunday, June 3, at 5 p.m.; Wednesday, June 6, Thursday, June 7, and Friday, June 8, at 8 p.m.; and Saturday, June 9, at 2 p.m. Tickets are $25, $15 for under 30 and military. For details, visit atlasarts.org or call 202-399-7993.
Jazz in the Garden
This series in the National Gallery of Art’s Sculpture Garden, Constitution Avenue at 7th Street NW, continues on Friday, June 1, from 5 to 8:30 p.m. with a free performance by the U.S. Army Blues, an 18-piece ensemble that became an official part of the Army Band “Pershing’s Own” in 1972. For details, visit nga.gov or call 202-737-4215.
Opening Reception: Botanical Art at Glen Echo
Glen Echo Park, 7300 MacArthur Boulevard in Glen Echo, Maryland, will hold a free opening reception for “Inside the Garden Walls: Botanical Art by Anne Clippinger and Joan Ducore” on Friday, June 1, at 6 p.m. Drawing inspiration from their gardens and beyond, Clippinger and Ducore strive to capture the delicacy, complexity and vibrancy found in the plant world using watercolor, colored pencil and graphite. For details, visit glenechopark.org or call 301-634-2222.
Nat King Cole Tribute
Also on Friday, June 1, at 8 p.m., AMP by Strathmore, 11810 Grand Park Ave. in North Bethesda, Maryland, hosts local award-winning jazz pianist and vocalist Mark G. Meadows, who will pay homage to the one and only Nat King Cole. Son of a gospel and jazz vocalist, Meadows unifies R&B, hip-hop, funk, jazz and gospel into a captivating and contemporary harmonic blend. Tickets are $25 ($18 standing). For details, visit ampbystrathmore.com or call 301-581-5100.
Chinatown Community Festival *POSTPONED*
On Saturday, June 2, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Mayor’s Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs presents the 2018 Chinatown Community Festival in Chinatown Park, Massachusetts Avenue and 6th Street NW. The free festival will include performances, rice-flour drawing, kimono dressing, screen painting and other cultural activities and demonstrations. For details, visit eventbrite.com.
One Journey Festival
The Washington National Cathedral, 3101 Wisconsin Ave. NW, will host One Journey Festival on Saturday, June 2, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. This free festival aims to shift the narrative about refugees and create more welcoming communities. The day will include a live cooking show with José Andrés and a local refugee chef, performances by refugee and immigrant musicians and dancers, a full-360 VR experience hosted by the United Nations Foundation’s Nothing But Nets anti-malaria project and a dedicated tent for children to engage with refugee dolls and books, multi-language calligraphy, welcome-card making, henna tattoos and a build-your-own-kite station. For details, visit onejourneyfestival.com.
Children of the Gospel Choir
Washington Performing Arts’ own Children of the Gospel Choir — which has appeared with Sara Bareilles at a White House state dinner, at the inaugural prayer services for President Barack Obama and on NBC’s “Today” show — will close out the 2017-18 season with a performance at GW Lisner Auditorium, 730 21st St. NW, on Saturday, June 2, at 4 p.m. Tickets are $20, $30 and $40. For details, visit gwutickets.com or call 202-994-6800.
100th Anniversary of Polish Independence
Poland regained its independence 100 years ago. The National Philharmonic will celebrate this milestone with a performance of the music of Polish composers Frédéric Chopin, Karol Szymanowski and Krzesimir Dębski conducted by Miroslaw Jacek Blaszczyk at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane in North Bethesda, Maryland, on Saturday, June 2, at 8 p.m. Featured performers will include pianist Brian Ganz, soprano Esther Heideman, mezzo-soprano Magdalena Wór and baritone Tyler Duncan. Tickets are $23 to $76. For details, visit nationalphilharmonic.org or call 301-581-5100
Dupont Kalorama Museum Walk Weekend
On Saturday, June 2, and Sunday, June 3, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., the five museums in the Dupont Kalorama Museum Consortium — Anderson House, Dumbarton House, the National Museum of American Jewish Military History, the Phillips Collection and the Woodrow Wilson House — will welcome the public with free admission and special programming. For example, visitors to Anderson House, the American Revolution Institute of the Society of the Cincinnati, 2118 Massachusetts Ave. NW, can try on a regimental coat and take a picture with a life-size Alexander Hamilton figure, then take a smaller “Flat Hamilton” home and share his travels on social media. For details, visit dupontkaloramamc.com.
Jazz ’n Families Fun Days
The DC JazzFest’s free Jazz ’n Families Fun Days — Saturday, June 2, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, June 3, from noon to 7 p.m. — celebrate jazz and the visual arts with performances by more than a dozen artists and ensembles, an instrument petting zoo, workshops, gallery talks and storytelling at the Phillips Collection, 1600 21st St. NW. For details, visit dcjazzfest.org or call 202-387-2151.
DanceAfrica 2018
Dance Place, 3225 8th St. NE, will conclude this year’s DanceAfrica festival on Sunday, June 3, with mainstage performances at 2 p.m. by Usuthu Arts Production, Sankofa Dance Theater and Soul in Motion Players and at 7 p.m. by Ezibu Muntu African Dance and Cultural Foundation and Bambara Drum and Dance Ensemble. Tickets for mainstage performances are $30 ($15 for college students and under 17) and there are also free performances on the outdoor stage beginning at 12:30 p.m., along with an African marketplace. For details, visit danceplace.org or call 202-269-1600.
CAG Concert in Volta Park
Also on Sunday, June 3, from 5:30 to 7 p.m., TTR Sotheby’s International Realty presents the Citizens Association of Georgetown’s first concert of the summer. The Walkaways, an Americana band, will give a free performance in Volta Park, Volta and 34th Streets NW. Food trucks will be on hand and there will be complimentary Sprinkles cupcakes and Häagen-Dazs ice cream. Attendees can also pre-order a picnic basket from Via Umbria at viaumbria.com. For details, visit cagtown.org.
Looking Ahead …
Author Talk at City Tavern Club
Joseph Rodota, author of “The Watergate: Inside America’s Most Infamous Address,” will speak and sign copies of the book on Wednesday, June 6, at 5:30 p.m. at the City Tavern Club, 3206 M St. NW. Tickets are $10. RSVP by emailing membership@citytavernclubdc.org or by calling 202-337-8770. Click here to read Kitty Kelley’s review in The Georgetowner.
