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Georgetowner • July 13, 2011

According to an article in the Atlanta Business Chronicle, Washington DC ranks 3rd in the nation as a city with the best opportunities for young people ages 20 through 30. The research methods looked at 65 metro cities (over 800,000 in population) and used a 10-part system to mark areas with large amounts of young people with careers, strong grow rates and a reasonable cost of living. The top ten for this year are:

1.Austin

2.Houston

3.Washington

4.Raleigh

5.Dallas-Fort Worth

6.Boston

7.Oklahoma City

8.Salt Lake City

9.Seattle

10.Baton Rouge, La

A fair guess to Washington’s success is all the internships available which can provide great networking opportunities, open doors and lead to employment offers. Politico estimates that DC had over 20,000 interns in 2009 and that the numbers are continuing to rise.

Cities that did not land high on the list include Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif, Detroit and Atlanta due mostly to the lack of employment opportunities.

Georgetowner •

Tudor Place Historic House and Garden’s expansion plans moved a step forward this week as new preliminary building plans were reviewed by ANC2E and the Old Georgetown Board.

At this Tuesday’s ANC2E meeting, Tudor Place Executive Leslie Buhler presented changes made to the site’s preliminary plans for expansion. These changes were made in response to recommendations made by the National Park Service, which holds an easement on the 5.5 acre property. First, the proposed education center on the North side of the property has been moved off of the easement line. Second, the proposed gatehouse to be built at the 31st Street entrance has been moved from the North side to the South side of the entrance.

Neighbors of Tudor Place, a group of about sixty neighboring homeowners, still oppose the current preliminary plans. One of these neighbors, Outerbridge Horsey, voiced a number of concerns at the meeting, including the height of the buildings and the number of trees that would be cut down in the construction process. The property is covered by 75 percent canopy.

The Neighbors have proposed alternative plans that would minimize the visual impact of the buildings.

On Thursday morning, the preliminary plans were reviewed by the Old Georgetown Board. Leslie Buhler says that the Board’s criticism was “very constructive,” and that Tudor Place is eager to move towards the design phase.

Suzanna Nelson •

According to The Washington Examiner, and following blogs, the Brown Line proposal is getting more attention from Metro Officials. The Brown Line proposal would connect Georgetown to the rest of Washington via the Metro. The plan is to connect Friendship Heights to downtown, then to Silver Spring and White Oak.

While the plan has caught some officials’ eyes, nothing too serious has been planned: no funding, no engineering, no construction, yet. The goal is, by 2040, to have efficiently expanded the Metro to accommodate the vast growth of Washington and make travelling throughout the city much easier. Metro officials are not very interested in opening completely new lines; they would rather expand current ones in order to be more efficient and cost effective. Officials last Wednesday proposed the plane to regional officials, and are going to survey riders’ opinions during the month of July.

On estimation, the Brown Line would add about 20,000 more daily trips on the Metro, and increase Washington and Arlington residential travel from 70 percent to 74 percent, according to the Georgetown Metropolitan.

A different plan for adding Georgetown to the Metro map calls for splitting the Silver Line, another line that is in proposal status. Studies concluded that this proposal would have fewer riders than the Brown line, especially from Arlington residents because of the few stops that it would have in that area.

However, even with all this talk, there is no need to worry about up-coming delays; the goal deadline is 2040, so proposals are still in infancy. Metro officials are trying to consider every option possible first before beginning projects so that they will be cost efficient and least stressful for riders during construction.

Suzanna Nelson •

Need something more exotic in your meat life? Tired of the same old, steak, ribs, hamburgers, and chicken breasts? How about half-pound ostrich burger with figs and elderflower jam or rattlesnake fritters? Have some kangaroo slider hop right in your mouth because every Wednesday at Georgetown’s rock-n-roll burger joint, Thunder Burger and Bar is offering some avante-guard options for the meat-adventurer.

“Wild Wednesdays at Thunder Burger and Bar” has officially started and taking burgers to new and exotic places by offering a new meat-opening items each Wednesday to try. Rumors of kangaroo, rattlesnake, and antelope will grace Wednesday menu each week, changing up the status-quo burgers and fries combo.

Don’t worry Georgetown, they are not letting the wild animals loose on M Street; chefs have found specialized exotic animal food farms to get their meat from. Excited about the variety, Thunder Burger and Bar keep pushing diners to try something new.

So no more 50’s roller-skating waitresses and double-straw milkshakes. Burgers are now about hardcore rock-n-roll: black leather, studs and exotic meats. No fear in Thunder Burger and Bar about but, still they have some of the best tasting burger in Georgetown… Just with a more wild side.

Robert Devaney • July 11, 2011

Whether you attended the reading of the Declaration of Independence at the National Archives or the parade along Constitution Avenue, the hometown parade along MacArthur Boulevard is also a favorite of Georgetowners. Add to that list the Citizens Association of Georgetown’s July 4th celebration at Rose Park, kicked by a sidewalk parade of toddlers around the block. The Image Band provided music and opened with a reggae “Star-Spangled Banner.” Sprinkles cupcakes, Häagen Dazs ice cream, a pie-eating contest and tug-o-war: what’s not to like? Later, many a Georgetown rooftop held groups cheered by the fireworks from the National Mall for America’s 235th birthday. [gallery ids="100224,106399,106425,106421,106404,106417,106413,106409" nav="thumbs"]

Courtney Overcash •

The Georgetown BID sponsored the re-opening of the Georgetown Waterfront Sunday, after last April’s rain caused flood damage. The celebration consisted of food, live music, games, and a watery war.

The highlight of the festivities was the water balloon toss. Teams of two attempted to throw their balloons back and forth without getting soaked. After many rounds of toss matches, the joyful crowd made a splash, grabbing the reaming balloons and turning it into an all-out water balloon battle.

Georgetown BID Executive Director, Jim Bracco, believes the event will successfully bring guests back to the waterfront area. “This really was a great event, just a great day, and I’m happy,” he siad. “I’m dry.”

To watch a video recap of the revelries, click here.

Robert Devaney •

Attention, commercial real estate agents: The District is seeking space for a new Department of Motor Vehicles location. Georgetown Park landlord Vornado Realty Trust is renovating part of the M Street mall, and its plans may include the DMV offices on the lower level.

The DMV is hedging its bets (though its lease continues for two years) with this announcement:
The District of Columbia’s Department of Real Estate Services (DRES) is seeking offers of buildings or space to be occupied by the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). This solicitation reflects the immediate need for a 6,000 to 7,000 square-foot replacement of the current Georgetown DMV, currently located at 3222 M Street, N.W.

Offered space must be located within the Northwest or Northeast quadrants of the District, and within 1,500 feet of District of Columbia Metrorail Station. DMV requires easy access for the public with preference being given to first floor retail space with entry from the street. Offered space must be contiguous within the building. The full Solicitation for Offers (SFO) with detailed instructions is posted on the DRES website under “Solicitations”. RFO responses are due by 4 p.m., EDT, June 23.

Questions regarding this SFO should be submitted via email only to Sheryl Ponds, Department of Real Estate Services.

Gary Tischler •

If you want to look at a show that’s a true picture of the creative and commercial engines that run mainstream Broadway, you don’t have to go any further than “Wicked,” the road show juggernaut now sitting pretty and green (in more ways than one) at the Kennedy Center’s Opera House.

That is, if you can get a ticket.

“Wicked,” the super-spectacular show, is a kind of adult-ish back story of what goes on in the wonderful world of Oz. The show is getting big audiences, a good chunk of them adolescent girls who imagine themselves with green skin putting on a black witch hat, holding a wizard’s wand, bonding with the popular girl.

How big is “Wicked?” It’s the main musical heavyweight on Broadway, there are currently seven world-wide touring companies, including two in North America, it sells out everywhere it lands. And you know what? It’s terrific entertainment. Big and splashy in sets and spectacle, but also heart, not to mention voice. It’s got music and lyrics by Broadway veteran Stephen Schwartz (“Godspell” and “Pippin”), it’s directed by veteran Joe Montello, and it has a wonderful seasoned cast who could probably do this in its sleep, but makes it seems as fresh as opening night on Broadway.

And it has the practically universal national memory of “The Wizard of Oz.” A memory, thanks to novelist Gregory Maguire, which it turns completely upside down and inside out in a way that doesn’t destroy the Judy, Dorothy, Toto MGM fable, but adds an adult and somewhat dark, contemporary edge and depth to it.

Even Dorothy might have enjoyed this tale, a kind of origin story of Glinda the Good and Elphaba, the outsider with emerald green skin and a secret power. As a story, its strongest element is its unlikely bonding story, as Elphaba, the ultimate outcast with her sickly green looks and monotone black and grey style ends up having to room at an Oz prep school with Glinda, the perfect popular posh girl, blonde, radiant, condescending, shallow and proud of it.

But this is a very strange Oz, where munchkins are a joke, animals talk, the wizard is a cynical manipulator who rules with the aid of Madame Morrible, a full-blown maliciously wonderful macabre personality played with unabashed high dudgeon by Randy Danson, the former Arena Stage star who’s making a triumphant homecoming.

In addition to flying monkeys, an Oz that looks more like a sometimes sinister, sometimes splendid New York club, there is tragedy aplenty, there’s Elphaba’s beautiful, wheelchair-bound sister, there is, of course a prince, for whose affections the witches vie, there’s a wonderful professor who’s a goat who becomes a scapegoat, there is revolution and conflict, as Elphaba becomes a very active protector of animals and foe of conformity.

I’ve seen this show in its first – and blockbuster – go around, and for the life of me, I didn’t remember much about it. This version, however, is, if not unforgettable, certainly a wowser, and a big Broadway show that manages to engage heart and mind, maybe not in a Shakespearean way, but in an old-fashioned way.

Some—heck a lot—of the credit goes to Dee Roscioli as Elphaba (she’s performed the role more than any other actress) who not only sings the part with a remarkable rangy and powerful voice, but plays the part in a way that’s engaging, tart, intelligent and entirely convincing. She’s well matched with Amanda Jane Copper as the bright-eyed, high-energy Glinda who becomes—ruefully—Glinda the Good Witch.

Schwartz’s songs and music—including “No One Mourns the Wicked,” “Popular” (which is a showcase for Glinda and which Cooper deftly knocks out of the park) and the signature “Defying Gravity,” the breath-taking act-one number which Roscioli owns, lock-stock-and-lungs—move the story along, without necessarily being the kinds of songs that will, decades later, find their way into a karaoke bar.
I have to say that I’m not that big a fan of songs like “Gravity,” which are showcases for lung power and sound awfully like an Olympic competition for So-You-Wanna-Be-an-Opera-Star or Who-Can-Hold-This-Impossible-Note-the-Longest rally. They’re becoming increasingly a part of Broadway musicals, it’s the kind of thing where the audience holds its breath for as long as the note holds, then jumps out of its collective seats.

That being said, it’s the whole package that counts here, and if you get to go, you get your money’s worth, which, we hear, is quite a bit of money for many of the seats.

“Wicked” is here for an extended run through August 21 at the Opera House.