Arts & Society

Georgetowner • September 26, 2014

The Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts hosted its annual ball Saturday, Sept. 13. The soiree was held on the stage of the Filene Center and was presented in partnership with the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates. The night’s entertainment, décor and cuisine paid tribute to Emirati culture, with guests smoking hookahs in a makeshift lounge and sporting henna art painted on-site. The event raised more than $1 million for the foundation’s arts and education programs and was well attended by members of the area’s political class, including Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) and Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe.

Photos by Neshan H. Naltchayan [gallery ids="101866,137639,137636" nav="thumbs"]

Mary Bird •

On Sept. 10, D.C.’s Dancing Stars Gala hosted a pre-event launch party to kick off its first annual black-tie dancing challenge taking place on Oct. 25. Event chair Maria Coakley David, executive director Susannah Moss and presenting sponsor Fred Astaire Dance Studio D.C. welcomed over 200 guests to the Huxley. The gala will generate thousands of dollars to support local charities. Eleven local celebrities will compete to be crowned the first D.C.’s Dancing Star Champion. [gallery ids="101869,137601,137597" nav="thumbs"]

Mary Bird •

Judy A. Greenberg, director of the Kreeger Museum, welcomed neighbors for a glass of wine and a stroll through the Sculpture Garden on Sept. 7 to view the museum’s newest works. They included sculpture by Emile Brzezinski, whose exhibit, “The Lure of the Forest,” will be on display Sept. 16 to Dec. 27. Guests gathered by the reflecting pool to learn about the museum’s capital campaign to develop five acres of land. They were warmly told “don’t make this your first and only visit. We want you to think of this as your museum.” The sculpture garden is open free to the public. [gallery ids="101867,137631" nav="thumbs"]

Mary Bird •

On Sept. 4, the Fairmont hotel toasted the near completion of a five-month project of exterior resurfacing. Guests in the hotel’s courtyard enjoyed signature lemon honey highballs, barbecue, a photo booth and raffles on free stays at Fairmont resort hotels. All proceeds from the event will go towards Team Fairmont participating in the Best Buddies Challenge. The walk, run and bike ride raises funds for Best Buddies International, a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Robert Devaney • September 25, 2014

DBGB Kitchen and Bar kicked off its opening with a Sept. 12 food party that will be tough to top. The great food and good, Gallic cheer did not subside. Chef Daniel Boulud, who got his start in Washington, said he was happy to welcome to D.C. The casual French-American restaurant DBGB marks the New York-based chef’s first restaurant in D.C. and is at CityCenter on H Street, NW. On hand were hundreds of Boulud’s friends and admirers — and, of course, his family and his famous chef pals. Boulud said of his D.C. mentor and pioneering chef Jean-Louis Palladin: “He was the finest chef Washington ever had.”
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Robert Devaney •

The entire Behar family was on hand Sept. 18 for a grand opening party for the new Ike Behar store at 2900 M St., NW. The shop has been open for a few months. Founder Ike Behar along with Regina, Steven, Alan and Lawrence Behar greeted friends and clients. [gallery ids="101865,137642" nav="thumbs"]

Gary Tischler • September 18, 2014

It’s already evident that the recent crop of new cultural and art institution leaders who have taken over the reigns at the region’s biggest and most revered institutions are striking some common themes.

You could hear them from Arvind Manocha, who took over as President and CEO at the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, as he spoke at the Georgetown Media Group’s second Cultural Leadership Breakfast at the venerable George Town Club Sept. 11.

Manocha came to Wolf Trap from a long career in California at the Hollywood Bowl, the “Best Major Outdoor Venue in America,” according to the industry. Additionally, he served previously as the CEO of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Asssociation. Over breakfast, Manocha stated his aim and desire to cooperate with other cultural institutions with regard to both the performing arts and museums.

Wolf Trap and its Filene Center—an outdoor and indoor performance center which began operations in 1971– is the brain child and amazing creation of philanthropist Catherine Filene Shouse. As a performing arts center, it has become an institution in the traditional sense of the word, providing a huge array of performing arts events and concerts, ranging from opera to symphony concerts to recitals to jazz, classic rock and pop concerts. The venue has expanded its interests and that of its audience over the years. It now features the Barns, a more intimate venue that allows Wolf Trap to be a year-round performance arts center.

“Let me tell you, living and working in Los Angeles as I did, you can feel like you’re a little spoiled,” said Manocha, who displayed both enthusiasm for the arts and a sense of humor. “Los Angeles is this huge sprawling place, and I worked at very visible institutions. But I have to say, I was amazed at what a great urban arts community this city and this area has, and we’re so glad to be a part of it.”

To Manocha, the summer programming at Wolf Trap is like a summer festival, and a unique one at that. “It functions like a festival, because it’s a festive atmosphere, and it has this ongoing celebratory nature, but no festival – not Tanglewood, Lalapalooza, the opera festival in Santa Fe – offers such a variety and scale of concerts and events. There is literally something for everybody, for every taste, and it changes every day. Nobody does this in this country on this scale, which, of course, is what we all love about Wolf Trap. It’s a challenge to put this together, to do the kind of programming we do. It never ceases to amaze me. I come from the world of music. So, some of my interests and expertise obviously lie there.”

Manocha was proud of Wolf Trap’s long-standing opera company and opera series, and the fact that it is basically comprised of young artists, who vie to perform, learn and master their craft at Wolf Trap. “The thing that we do that nobody else does is that we guarantee that people in our program will be singing lead roles, not just being a part of the chorus or smaller parts. And it has worked. You should have seen ‘Carmen.’ It was astonishing, and we used a lot of new technology there.”

“We’re also proud of our early education program, the Early Childhood Institute for the Arts, which brings children to Wolf Trap, and lets them be exposed to the arts at an early age.”

Manocha noted that the Filene Center and the Barns hold more than 200 events every year, and that each not only bring regulars back time and time again, but events also attract new audiences.

“That’s the challenge for every institution,” he said. “To bring in new audiences, to continue our regular audiences. I’ve seen and talked with a lot of people who tell me they and their friends and families have been coming here for years, and that’s what we want to continue. We’ve changed some things – there have been pop musicians that seem to come every year, they’re traditions, so sometimes we’ve tried to shift the focus just a little to newer kinds of music, more of this, less of that. We have some advantages – while you have to commit to come out there, it’s a beautiful place, there’s no other arts and cultural experience like it. Our prices are lower for one thing, what with lawn seats and all, it’s accessible. We’re proud of our educational components and you can’t find a more family friendly place anywhere.”

“ ‘Carmen’ is an opera for people who might not go to opera,” he said. “I know lots of people who brought their kids to Wolf Trap this summer, and then the kids had their first experiences with classical music or opera.”

“With ‘Carmen,’ we saw a lot of young people on the lawn, lots more than we’ve ever seen before,” he said. “That’s an encouraging sign. They’d never been there before.

“Of course, you can always spot newcomers. They’re the ones that didn’t bring blankets, wine or food. What a concept—you can picnic on the lawn.”

Manocha said that, in the end, professionals in his business, “try to make things better—our own product, but also the experience that people carry with them after a concert or an event. We want to engender love and trust. We want to have the kinds of programs where everybody—myself included—has at least one to five events at Wolf Trap per year that feel like they’ve been planned especially for them.”
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Peter Murray •

The Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts hosted its annual ball Saturday, Sept. 13. The soiree was held on the stage of the Filene Center and was presented in partnership with the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates. The night’s entertainment, décor and cuisine paid tribute to Emirati culture, with guests smoking hookahs in a makeshift lounge and sporting henna art painted on-site. The event raised more than $1 million for the foundation’s arts and education programs and was well attended by members of the area’s political class, including Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) and Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe. [gallery ids="101854,138212,138208" nav="thumbs"]

Gary Tischler • September 15, 2014

That little big show at the National Theatre with the cumbersome title of “Dirty Dancing, the Classic Story on Stage” might just surprise you.

It’s been hanging around a number of years now, touring all over the world, tapping some wellspring of fandom that maybe the world didn’t know existed. That would be the huge following for the original movie in the 1980s, which to date has cleared close to $250 million.

Now, a freshly minted, new-cast version has started its North American tour at the National Theatre, and you know what: it’s a lot of fun.

You remember the old tale. It’s camp time in the summer of 1963—and the irrepressible “Baby,” the youngest of her clan, is at a family camp with her folks and her snooty older sister. Hormones are running wild up here, and the news is very much in the news. Baby is set to join the Peace Corps, and the son of the camp owner is going to Mississippi to join the Freedom Riders.

They’re learning dancing and acting and singing from a crew of pros, chief among them the hot stuff, very buff and cool-named Johnny Castle, a not overly educated working-class guy who’s got the moves of a catnip-for-the-ladies-of-all-ages guy but the wistful heart of dreamer who wants to move up and out. Naturally, Baby is smitten, big time, and a summer romance ensues. Baby’s dad is suspicious of the lower-class Johnny, and then there’s Penny, Johnny’s dance partner and friend, and pregnant by a summer waiter.

This is the stuff of melodrama and soap opera, but just the kind of peppery ingredients, complete with schmaltz, that made a star out of Patrick Swayze as Johnny.

This is a show all about the dancing. The music is provided like a soundtrack with two terrific singers warbling. Jenlee Shallow and Doug Carpenter belt out with big emotion, voice and heart hits, such as “I Had the Time of My Life,” “In The Still of The Night,” “Love Is Strange,” “This Magic Moment” and “Do You Love Me,” backed up by a hard-driving band.

A number of things make this show work: some inventive back projections, an energy and enthusiasm on the part of the whole cast that’s infectious and the three principals.

On that note, let’s hear it for Samuel Pergande, who has the unenviable task of dancing with the ghost of Swayze. He’s no Swayze, but he’s definitely his own Johnny Castle. Ballet-trained (the Joffrey), Pergande can act well enough, but its his own move and stage presence, something on the order of a caged cat, that counts for a lot. The guy has his very own charisma, plus he brings subtle litheness and athleticism to the part, the kind that add grace to grit.

This is a show about dancing, after all, and Jenny Winton, also ballet-trained, in her first road and Broadway-type show, knocks herself and us out with elan, high kicks and struts and blonde elegance.

As “Baby,” Jillian Mueller is by now a natural Broadway baby. She comes from the world of hundreds of auditions, starring in a similar (but not so effective) film-into-show effort, “Flashdance,” of which she was easily the standout. She has a kind of sweaty energy. She’s never going less than all out and full-tilt boogy. Small in build, she’s a giant out there.

You have to remember, too, that Mueller and Pergande—whose Johnny wants to become a legit ballet dancer—have to pretend that they can’t dance certain dances, not an easy thing to bring off.

There’s another factor, and that’s the audience, which seems to be made up of movie fans, the majority of which are women, girls, millennials mixed in with baby boomers and all points in between. Somewhere along the way, they’ve got it all covered with memory, every song, every move, every line, and most of all, they kind of go crazy with the big lift, when Johnny lifts Baby way up high, and the audience erupts. They had the time of their lives, that’s for sure.

“Dirty Dancing” runs through Sept. 14 at the National Theatre.

Georgetowner •

The 66th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards was held Aug. 25 at the Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles to salute the best in prime television programming. Comedian Seth Myers was the host. Elizabeth Webster of the District Council attended the show and the L.A. parties. On her own dime, she mixed business with pleasure, seeing her California friends and talking up film production in Washington, D.C. Webster works for At-Large Councilmember Vincent Orange, who is an advocate for small business as well as bringing more film production jobs to the District.

For Webster, one of her favorite moments at the Emmys was Billy Crystal’s tribute to Robin Williams for his many decades in TV. “It was so touching,” she said. At the same time, she said, “I was sorry not to see “House of Cards” and Kevin Spacey win more awards, as they had been nominated in 13 categories.”

Webster and her friends — one of them, Joyce Chow said she just “loved the humor of Sofia Vergara” — checked out most of the parties before and after the awards show, including Entertainment Weekly at Fig & Olive, BAFTA Tea, the post-Emmys Governor’s Ball, the very exclusive Netflix party at Chateau Marmount and the after after VIP Netflix party with the Emmy winners.