Cirque du Soleil’s ‘Totem’ Splashes and Soars
• September 21, 2012

Cirque du Soleil’s latest extravaganza, “Totem,” burst onto The Plateau at National Harbor Aug. 15. The international troupe of Olympic stature defied gravity in breath-stopping feats conveying the “Totem” theme that life is born of water. The production traced evolution through myths that bridge earth and sky. First night attendees enjoyed complimentary circus treats as well as edible mini orchids holding chicken salad and platters of omnipresent cupcakes at intermission. The must-see wonderment continues through Oct. 7. [gallery ids="102475,120576,120558,120568,120583,120597,120590" nav="thumbs"]

Third Annual Green Fair at Fairmont Touts Local Efforts
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On Aug. 17, Fairmont Washington, D.C. held its third annual Green Fair in the hotel’s Colonnade Room showcasing the eco-efforts of many DC-based organizations as well as the hotel’s own green program. Exhibitors included Capital Bike Share, EcoFriendly Foods, U.S. Green Building Council and World Wildlife Fund and Zipcar. There were honey tastings from the rooftop hives of the hotel, which is committed to waste management, energy and water conservation. [gallery ids="100950,130384,130380" nav="thumbs"]

The Beltway of Giving: Following Your Dollars
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As August draws to a close, fundraising drives are sprouting up across the U.S. targeting old and new individual donors for support. As donors, we have hard decisions to make with more than 1.5 million tax-exempt organizations in the United States vying for our dollars. In fact, individual giving increased by 3.9 percent last year, according to Giving USA’s Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2011, accounting for nearly $218 billion in contributions to organizations.

Despite this positive influx in giving, nonprofits nationwide have struggled during difficult economic times leading to reductions in programs, cuts in staffing and sometimes shutting their doors for good. This can result from funding cutbacks and often lack of stringent financial oversight. Nonprofits are witnessing firsthand the struggles that come with budget shortfalls, and many are now in “the red”, carrying significant debts. It is a precarious situation that staff and boards of directors must quickly address so that future donors, foundations and corporations can have confidence in an organization and continue supporting programs without hesitation. As donors, we sometimes waver in our support of organizations for fear that our money may not be spent wisely or that we can truly solve a social problem.

“No one wants to give their hard-earned money to an organization that isn’t financially sound,” says Barbara Harman, president and editor of the Catalogue for Philanthropy of Greater Washington. “We all want our gifts to have impact, but it isn’t just a question of financial stability. Donors should want to know whether the organization they are giving to is worthy, whether it’s doing a good job, whether it’s effective in meeting the needs of the community.”

Supporting a non-profit that is truly in need can mean your dollar stretches father. “If donors only invested in healthy organizations, there would be very little nonprofits out there to support,” said Brett Norton, director of development for Fair Chance – a Washington D.C. based organization that works to identify promising community-based youth and family organizations in Wards 5 through 8 and increase the sustainability of their programs. “Donors should have realistic expectations for what their dollars can accomplish and realize they are only one piece of the solution.” Authors Thomas Tierney and Joel L. Fleishman in the book, “Give Smart,” address this same issue. They argue that a donor’s good intentions can lead to wishful thinking that they can solve complex problems with only a few dollars.

Assuaging your fear as a donor is achievable. Donors can invest their dollars fully informed and to align themselves with causes where they then make a difference – both big and small. It is important to research the potential impact of your investment and the stability of a non-profit. You owe it to yourself and your hard-earned money to do your due diligence. With just a few clicks through online resources, donors can research potential organizations and understand how their dollars are utilized. A number of resources are ready for your use, for example:

•Guidestar: Donors can track down financials and nonprofits’ annual Form 990 which they are required to submit to the Internal Revenue Service each year. Form 990 provides information on the organization’s mission, programs, and finances – such as employee salaries and annual revenue. However, these forms are often more than a year old. Visit www.guidestar.org

•Charity Navigator: Analyzes financial data from Form 990 for organizations that acquire at least $500,000 in giving from individuals and have a total annual revenue of more than $1,000,000. Visit www.charitynavigator.org

•Catalogue of Philanthropy: Working with Raffa auditing firm, audits nearly 250 metropolitan D.C. nonprofits each year for cost-effectiveness, sustainability, and financial transparency. They then select 70 who are featured in the Catalogue, a publication that enables donors to choose and donate to nonprofits by theme (i.e. education, human services, nature, etc.), region and the donors overall interest. Visit www.catalogueforphilanthropy-dc.org

•Twitter & Facebook: Nonprofits use social media networks to keep in contact with their supporters and attract new ones. Consider sifting through their posts, photos and tweets to learn more about programming, events and what messages they portray to the outside world.

•Annual Reports: Review annual reports from the non-profits you are considering, and speak with the executive director and board president to learn more about the accomplishments, goals, funding needs and challenges the organization is facing.

D.C. Arts Preview: Fall 2012
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Fall—inevitably, surprisingly—is coming. Do you want to know how we can tell?

No, it is not all the training camp stories about the Redskins, tres banality. It’s not all the back-to-school commercials. It’s fall preview time. As in, it’s August we’ve got to put together a fall preview issue (or two).

It’s that time of year when the media which cover such things notice that they’ve run out of comic book movies and that “The Addams Family” has left town. It’s almost September, which must mean that fall is coming, which must mean that its fall arts—performance, visual, and many other categories—preview time.

So, to that end, this is the Georgetowner fall preview issue—the first of two—which, in addition to the visual side of the arts, concerns itself with Washington area theater.

Back in the day, theaters and performing arts venues used to do what everybody else did: they closed pretty much for the whole month of August which meant the end of summer and that fall was coming. People went to the beach, or to the Hamptons or on an educational trip to the Galapagos Islands. They packed their white navy jackets and unfiltered Gitanes and went away.

Nowadays, the performance arts and theater seasons do not fold themselves into the four seasons as neatly. Nowadays, it’s basically one long season with not much let-up. We noticed this trend, especially this year. Companies are starting their seasons earlier and earlier so that you can’t just leave town for fear of missing something. And with theater, there is no premium channel to catch up.
We’re giving you a peek on the theater head-starts. Signature Theater has already started its season with a production of “The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas,” a terrific musical that mixes sex with politics and big boots and hats, a revival of a musical that refuses to date. In addition, we’ll take a closer look at what’s becoming a godsend for Washington theatergoers and bard acolytes, the annual Shakespeare Free For All, which this year gives us a production of the ironically titled “All’s Well That Ends Well,” in which a smart, beautiful young girl is smitten with a prince who’s blind to her charms because she’s not to the manor born, among other sundry things. It’s at the Harman Theater until Sept. 2. Tickets? They’re free.

Last, but not least, we have among us the presence of two larger-than-life, by-God big personality and big gift women—the one, being the brimming with magnetism and unforgettable voice actress Kathleen Turner, and the other, being the brimming with sharp, pointed and passionate opinion and humor political columnist Molly Ivins. On stage at Arena, they are one and the same in “Red Hot Patriot: The Kick Ass Wit of Molly Ivins,” a play by Margaret Engel, in which Turner manages the not inconsiderable feat of bringing Ivy, who died of cancer several years ago, back to life. “Patriot” runs through Oct. 28.

We had occasion to talk with Turner on the phone and to witness her in action at a special, full-house event at the Newseum that gave us an opportunity to give you both a preview and a flashback.
In addition, we’ve selected as many theaters—and there are many theaters here—and previewed their season-openers which occur late this month, through September.

Look carefully at this list and see what you like, choose and go. Go to all of them, if you can. Everything you will see, if you let it, will stay in your mind forever, because really, that’s the way you remember an evening or afternoon at the theater. There is no adequate video, no rerun, no recreation, and if you go back, well, it will not be the same. That’s the special part of plays in performance, it’s why they make you shut off your smart phones, and open up your heart and mind. No need to multi-task. Let the words wash over you like fresh, clean water.

Plays, it should be noted over and over again, are not movies. If you see a movie over again, it will be the same thing: blue people in “Avatar,” people who get the blues in a Woody Allen movie, the sharks in the “Deep Blue Sea.”

Looking at the plays that are being performed, we can say that we’ve seen “Whorehouse” at least once on stage with Ann Margaret in the role of a madam, and the movie version featuring—Lord, have mercy—Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds. We know for darn sure that the Signature version won’t be anything like either. We’ve seen “All’s Well That Ends Well” a number of times and as happens so often with Shakespeare, each time is different, something emerges that was lost before, and someone, a Marsha Mason here, a Philip Goodwin there, brings out a different queen, a different Parolles than I saw in Teresa Wright or Floyd King.

Looking forward to things on that list, we know someone and some thing some word or whisper will surprise you, even in a familiar way. Perhaps they’ll do the Texas two-steps in three steps. Or one of playwright Annie Walker’s (she has two plays upcoming in town) characters will move in an unexpected way. Look: there’ll be a Hamlet from the Globe, wrestlers, Russians, a strangely silent Dr. Hyde, Scots in Iraq, a toilet seat made of gold, World War II, modern super heroes, a French balladeer. On and on it goes.

These are our players, and our plays, and directors and theaters and the hours we will spend with them. Get out and enjoy.

Kennedy Center—2012 Page to Stage Festival, Sept. 1-3. It’s the 11th annual such festival, in which theater artists show off their upcoming wares in various stages of development. It’s a three-day event of free readings, open rehearsals of plays and musicals developed by local, regional and national playwrights, librettists, and composers.

War Horse, Oct. 23 to Nov. 11, in the Opera House. The Broadway play about a boy and his horse and World War 1, which won the Tony Award for best play and features stirring, magical life-size puppets.

The Druid Theatre Company—Oct. 17 to 20, “Plays By Tom Murphy.” One of the most admired and critically acclaimed Irish theatre companies return with “Conversations on a Homecoming,” “A Whistle in the Dark” and “Famine” by Tom Murphy, one of today’s best playwrights.

Round House Theatre Bethesda—4545 East West Highway. Season opener: “Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo,” Sept. 5-30. A new play by Rajiv Joseph, in what is a growing literature of our Middle Eastern wars (see “Black Watch”). It is directed by Jeremy Skidmore and involves “the intertwined lives of a quick-witted tiger, two homesick U.S. marines and a troubled Iraqi gardener as they roam the streets of war-torn Baghdad in search of meaning, redemption and a toilet seat made of gold. A Broadway hit and Pulitzer Prize finalist.

Shakespeare Theatre Company—Sidney Harman Hall, 610 F St., NW. “Black Watch,” Sept. 19 to Oct. 7. A special event, this riveting, blood-pounding, energetically choreographed play about a group of restless, tough members of an elite Scottish unit in Iraq sold out its run at Harman last year and remains a must-see.

At the Lansburgh Theatre—450 7th St., NW. The Shakespeare Theatre Company begins its season with “The Government Inspector,” a satiric comedy by Nikolai Gogol, the first Russian play to be a part of an STC season, directed by Michael Kahn, with an all-star cast of Washington actors, including Floyd King, Nancy Robinette, David Sabin and Sarah Marshall. Sept. 13 to Oct. 28.

Forum Theatre—Roundhouse Silver Spring, 8641 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, Md. Season opener: “Holly Down In Heaven” by Kara Lee Corthron, a story about a 15-year-old born again Christian who becomes pregnant and banishes herself to her basement. Sept. 27 to Oct. 20.

Olney Theatre Center—2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney, Md. “Over the Tavern” by Tom Dudzick, directed by John Going. The line: “Sometimes, a boy just wants to have a little fun.” Sept. 26 to Oct. 21.

Theater Alliance—H Street Playhouse, 1635 H St., NE—opener: “Reals,” a hip, tough new play about superhero wannabes in a world premiere by Gwydion Suilebhan, directed by Shirley Serotsky, Aug. 27 to Sept. 16. (Watch also for Christmas co-production with Hub Theatre “Wonderful Life” and Alliance’s own “Black Nativity.”)

Spooky Action Theater—1810 16th St., NW. Season opener: “Reckless” by noted playwright Craig Lucas involving Christmas Eve, “a cheery suburban mom thrust into a a looking glass journey to a place where it is always Christmas Eve.” Oct. 4 to 28.

Woolly Mammoth—641 D St., NW. “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity” by Krisoffer Diaz, directed by John Vreek, kicks off Woolly’s Season 33, “My Roots, My Revolution.” Diaz’s play explores the volatile, testosterone world of professional wrestling with a fall guy named Macedonio “Mace” Guerra and the charismatic champ Chad Deity. Sept. 3 to 30.

Keegan Theatre—1742 Church St., NW. “Osage County” through Sept. 2. Traci Letts’s Pulitzer Prize-winning and quite savage family saga. Beginning Sept. 21: “A Couple of Blaguards,” the McCourt (Frank and Malachy) brothers’ entry into wonderful Irish blarney and remembering.

Metro Stage—1201 North Royal St., Alexandria, Va. “Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris,” directed by Serge Seiden, Aug. 30 to Oct. 21. The area’s liveliest cabaret and musical stage company does the Frenchman who embodied the spirit of cabaret.

Synetic Theatre at Crystal City, 1800 S. Bell St., Arlington, Va. Opener: “Jekyll and Hyde,” Sept. 20 to Oct. 21. The gifted, mostly silent movement theater group, headed by Paata and Irina Tsikurishvili, takes on Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic horror story of conflicted identity in its own inimitable fashion. Look also for Jules Verne’s “A Trip to the Moon” on Dec. 6.

Signature Theatre—4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington, Va. “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” is a tried and true musical about social shenanigans and political bull in a Texas town where politics and sex get together in a little house but not on the prairie. Directed with new verve by Eric Schaeffer, based on a true story, a Broadway hit musical and a movie, it runs through Oct. 7. “Dying City,” a contemporary new drama about Americans and Iraq, by Christopher Shinn; Oct. 2 to Nov. 25.

Theater J—at the Jewish Community Center, 1529 16th St., NW. Opener: “Body Awareness” by the rising young playwright Annie Baker, whose “Circle Mirror Transformation” was a big hit at the Studio Theater two seasons ago. It is part of Theater J’s “Beginnings, Belonging, Becoming and Breaking Through” season and is directed by Eleanor Holdridge; Aug. 25 to Sept. 23. Arriving on Nov. 8 is “Woody Sez: The Life and Music of Woody Guthrie.”

Ford’s Theatre—514 10th St., NW. Season opener, “Fly” by Trey Ellis and Ricardo Khan and directed by Ricardo Kahn, is the story of four African American officers and fighter pilots in World War II, based on the experience of the famed Tuskeege Airmen; Sept. 21 to Oct. 21. The season also includes the traditional “A Christmas Carol,” “Our Town” and a co-production with Signature Theater, “Hello Dolly.”

Folger Theatre—in the Folger Elizabethan Theatre at 201 East Capitol St., SE Its opener is direct from London and a stripped down, mean and lean version of “Hamlet” from Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, directed by Dominic Dromgoole and Bill Buckhurst; Sept. 8 to 22.

The Studio Theatre—1501 14th St., NW. Opener: “Invisible Man” (begins Sept. 5), adapted by Oren Jacoby, based on the landmark, lyrical novel of identity in America by the great African American novelist Ralph Ellison (“Juneteenth”), co-produced with the Huntington Theatre Company. An upcoming highlight: “The Aliens” by Annie Baker (See “Body Awareness” at Theater J), Nov. 14.

Arena Stage—1101 6th St., SW. “One Night With Janis Joplin”, written and directed by Randy Johnson, starring Mary Bridget Davies; Sept. 28 to Nov. 4. Upcomer to watch: “My Fair Lady,” directed by artistic director Molly Smith; Nov. 2.

Gala Hispanic—3333 14th St., NW—“In Spite of Love” from Spain’s Golden Age, a romantic comedy about reluctant lovers by Agustin Moreto, directed by Hugo Medrano; Sept. 13 to Oct. 7.

Teatro de la Luna—Gunston Arts Center, 2700 South Lang Street, Arlington, Va.—The 15th International Festival of Hispanic Theater, the best of the Americas and Spain; Oct. 9 to Nov. 17.

CHILDREN’S THEATER

Adventure Theater—7300 MacArthur Blvd, Glen Echo, Md.—“If You Give a Moose a Muffin,” based on the popular series of books by Laura Numeroff, starring Michael Russotto; through Sept. 2. Beginning Sept. 21, “Big”, the much-anticipated Theater for Young People-Adventure Theater musical production of the popular Tom Hanks comedy, with a book by John Weidman, music by David Shire and lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr., and directed by artistic director Michael Bobbitt; through Oct. 28.

Imagination Stage, 4908 Auburn Avenue, Bethesda, Md. “P. Nokio: A Hip-Hop Musical” marks the return of a hugely popular musical, written by hip-hop theatre artist and playwright Psalmayene 24, a show that updates the Pinocchio story with a brand new and flamboyant beat; Sept. 29 to Oct. 18. It was a world premiere at Imagination Stage and was recommended by the Helen Hayes Award. Upcoming on Nov. 14: “Seussical.”

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Jerry Seinfeld at the Kennedy Center
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The guy in the really spiffy and expensive looking dark suit practically bounded onto the stage of the Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall while close to two thousand people cheered.

The man offered up that his name was Jerry Seinfeld and that he was 58 years old.

Seriously? Jerry Seinfeld? Fifty-eight years old?

Wow. This guy looked like he had more energy than Kramer busting through Jerry’s apartment door.

It was a funny—funny ha ha, very much, and funny strange, too—experience watching Jerry Seinfeld doing standup at the Kennedy Center. One of the neat things about it was that Seinfeld was cooly aware of it without beating his audience over the head with it. It’s fair to say that there were lots of people who watch Seinfeld re-runs—ka-ching for Jerry. Whenever we stumble across them, as we did recently with catching the infamously funny episode about being “master of your domain” and laughed helplessly once again as Kramer was the first to throw his money down.

We laughed helplessly again, as Seinfeld expertly speared contemporary pop culture, the smallest and therefore biggest human foibles we all share, with a somehow garrulous, almost hysterical approach. One of Seinfeld’s more obviously charming attributes is his ability to notice the obvious and point it out, as in taking on erectile dysfunction ads which have run rampant on the airwaves like bats flying out of a cave. Seinfeld took on one such ad, in which a couple is shown luxuriating in separate, stand-alone bathtubs in anticipation or remembrance of sex. It’s hard to tell which. “Who has two bathtubs?”, he screamed. “Do you know any couple that has two bathtubs and takes them to the beach with them? If they wanted to get turned on, wouldn’t it be better if they were in one bathtub?”

You’d think, but only Seinfeld managed to see the obvious flaw in the ad. And we laughed and laughed.

Seinfeld is famous for periodically returning to the stage to do stand up comedy, and going to clubs after he refused millions to take up the series he and Larry David created once more after the last one in 1998. No question, he’s a standup genius, talking about things we immediately recognize, us regular folks out there—teaching our kids to bust piñatas, playing the marriage Jeopardy Game and losing, noting how marriage instantly causes you to lose all your single friends, and vice versa.

We got our money’s worth, but even as we watched—and noticed that men are more restrained in their laughter than women, who snort and giggle with high-pitched abandon while poking the guys in the ribs, a fact Jerry might be able to use in a routine—the old Seinfeld shows slip in under your chin where the laughter starts.

If you check out a title list of old episodes sometimes, they’re not so much about “nothing,” but about the pre-ordained failure of the characters trying to make something out of “nothing.” They scheme big with little things—Kramer’s famous coffee table book with legs, for instance—and fail spectacularly, making the embarrassment hall of fame every time out.

Seinfeld himself has gone way beyond that, of course, but keeps up too, a fish in rarefied waters, still polishing his game, like Michael Phelps diving into the neighborhood pool unannounced. It’s a joy, really, to watch him and to recognize Seinfeld from “Seinfeld”.

Seinfeld was and remains a master wordsmith, knowing all the magic and power of words when you start bouncing them around like competing yo-yos, as in his start-up routine using the word “great” and bouncing it off “sucks” as in “you say life is really great”, but you know “life sucks,” which leads him right to the invention of pop tarts, which of course, changed everything. Seinfeld, in the show and maybe in the here and now, was always the gleeful ironist, the competitive nice guy, for whom irony can be used like a knife. He hasn’t lost his edge. He’s kind of intensely manic, in fact. As if these things, these small things make you roil, makes things matter, as opposed to the big things.

“Who are you voting for?” somebody from the audience shouted.

Much to the chagrin of the ghost of Mort Sahl, who would have spent two hours answering that question, Jerry shrugged it off with a wave.

“Who cares,” he says, and moved on to the next small-big thing we remember.

Studio’s ‘Bloody Jackson’ Rocks at 2nd Stage
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There is always one sure sign of summer in Washington. Besides the four horsemen of the weather apocalypse we are experiencing: 100-degree heat, falling trees, power outages and sopping humidity.

That would be whatever contemporary sounding outrageous theatrics coming out of the Studio Theater 2nd Stage summer production—usually a musical—make. In years past, it’s taken the form of high-and-very-low opera about Jerry Springer, the rhythm of beat poetry, Droogs singing in the rain, the squeals of “Reefer Madness,” and the boys and girls from “Hair.”

And now—in a mad election summer no less—we have a rock musical about Andrew Jackson, our seventh president, the populist leader who created Democrats, invited the people to the White House en mass, fought duels, led the expulsion westward of Native American tribes, national bank, and had, for all his populist bent, a thoroughly autocratic way about him.

All of the stories and qualities of Andrew Jackson are on display in “Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson,” the off-Broadway rock and emo-rooted musical which poses Jackson in the role of loud, angry and very sexy rock star. And let’s not forget: it is a 2nd Stage show.

“It fits right in with our summer criteria,” said Keith Alan Baker, the Studio Theater’s managing director and 2nd Stage artistic director. “For our summer shows, we usually try to have a production that was a successful show Off-Broadway the season before or so, often a musical. At 2nd Stage, we have given ourselves the latitude and mission of putting on plays and shows that are different, unusual, and attractive to all sorts of theater audiences. I’d say ‘Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson’ fits the bill.”

The bill at 2nd Stage has hardly been uniform—the summer musicals and usually a fare of three other plays including “new plays by new, young and up and coming American or English playwrights,” and “some things that would appear to have no category which this year included the Japanese-comics sourced “Astro Boy and the God of Comics” as well as “The Big Meal.”

Baker, who just celebrated his 50th birthday, hardly looks or acts his age. He carries a genial curiosity about him like some loosely-worn, very cool t-shirt. Looking back, it seems more like the distance, the journey, the volume of work and plays, being part of the rise, and rise of the Studio Theatre, under founder Joy Zinoman and now artistic director David Muse still has the power to amaze him.

Like 2nd Stage itself, Baker seems like a good mix of the expression of the Studio Theatre history and image, a combination of straight ahead determination, intellectual curiosity and eclecticism, a streak of veering off often into the road least traveled and ending up with the shining and successful theatrical enterprise that exists today.

Baker, who hails from east Texas—a good place to be from without living there, he says—combines a solid work ethic with a bit of a bad boy attitude, trying out material that’s not necessarily safe. In this he had the cooperation of Zinoman who “basically left us alone.” Baker and Kathi Lee Redmond, wife of actor Larry Redmond, started 2nd Stage up in the 1988-1989 season with two plays—“Hard Times” and “Love Suicide at Schofield Barracks”, then hit a mother lode with the irascible playwright Christopher Durang’s “Laughing Wild”. “It was a big hit, and money wise, one of the big successes in Studio history.

Since 1986, Baker has been a presence at Studio Theatre in one form or another in almost every aspect of the workings of the theater, including the journey from a small space on Church Street to the new complex on 14th and P Street, which became one of the major engines for the revitalization of the neighborhood. “I did everything here,” Baker said. “Tickets, box office, house manager (one of the guys with walkie talkies), fund raising, which was an enlightening experience.” We were talking at a window seat at the theater where you could look out at the bustling street and see the condos now occupying the theater’s old site. “You probably remember what it was like around here way back in the 1980s,” Baker said, thinking about it. “If you came to see a play here, you made a commitment, the neighborhood was still dangerous, undeveloped. Look at it now.”

“Laughing Wild” was followed in later years by other 2nd Stage successes, most notably in terms of the theater community, a production of “Hair” that was electric, intimate, and perfectly captured the iconic heart of the 1960s paean to the rock and roll counter culture. It also won the Helen Hayes award for best resident musical which Baker gleefully, giddily and profanely accepted.

When 2nd Stage hit its strides and marks, it could be memorable: “Kerouac,” for instance, managed to inhale and embrace the world of the beat artists and poets with perfection. “We had a little help there,” Baker said. “There was a bar in Georgetown which had closed and had a sale of its stuff and we carted most of it over and used it for a set.”

Other highlights: “Jerry Springer: The Opera,” a disturbing set-to-music event where audiences where often became swept up in the crazed talk show host’s world; “Reefer Madness,” a wild musical version of a 1930s cautionary film about the dangers of, well, reefers, and most recently, in 2010, the passing strange, evocative “Passing Strange.”

There is an iconoclastic quality to the plays that are part of the 2nd Stage history, obviously shared by Baker. It is about surprises and doing surprising things, entertaining the next thing before they happen. “2nd Stage has always been about the process, not the space,” Baker said.

“Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson,” already a hit, has been extended through Aug. 19 — www.studiotheatre.org. ? [gallery ids="102468,120691" nav="thumbs"]

THE BELTWAY OF GIVING: From the Classroom to the Kitchen
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Washingtonians are no stranger to
fine dining. Travel + Leisure and
Food & Wine have both given the
city’s food scene notable accolades, and a
number of chefs have joined the ranks of James
Beard Foundation finalists, including Cathal
Armstrong of Restaurant Eve, Johnny Monis
of Komi, Peter Pastan of Obelisk, and Vikram
Sunderam of Rasika. Yet these chefs weren’t
always on top. They all started somewhere—
perhaps in the back kitchen cleaning dishes as
a teenager, or mirroring their mentor just out of
culinary school. Throughout the District, youth
are being groomed to take the reins of the next
great eatery gaining critical skills to succeed in
the workforce.

Cohn’s Kitchen, founded by Elizabeth
Scott and Paul J. Cohn’s of Georgetownbased
J.Paul’s, Paolo’s and Neyla, is part of
Cohn’s Culinary and Hospitality Management
Academy. Working with local chefs, restaurateurs
and local business leaders, Cohn’s partners
with the District of Columbia’s Department of
Employment Services (DOES) and the Summer
Youth Employment Program (SYEP) to provide
students exposure into the industry.

“Local chefs and restaurants recognize the
need for well-trained employees. Cohn’s Kitchen
youth are educated and empowered by the
opportunity to learn about kitchen management
and leadership, preparation and cooking, recipe
and menu development and restaurant management,”
Co-Founder and Executive Director Elizabeth Scott explains.
“We teach the kids to work their way up and a set of skills that go well
beyond the kitchen. They learn responsibility.”

Like Cohn’s Kitchen, D.C.-based Brainfood
provides after school and summer programs that
allows youth to spread their culinary wings.
Brainfood first opened its doors with the goal of
using food and cooking to provide high school
students with supervised and structured after
school activities.

For two days a week, the All Star Program
introduces participants to life and leadership
skills through food and cooking workshops at
their Chinatown, Columbia Heights and Mount
Vernon Square locations. Graduates of the program
have thrived and gained the opportunity to
work with guest chefs and food industry professionals
like Chef Teddy Folkman of Granville
Moore’s and Chef Sina Molavi of Occasions
Caterers who is also a Brainfood alumnus.

“While driving youth toward a culinary
career has not been our primary goal, it does
certainly happen,” said Executive Director Paul
Dahm. “We have had some participants go to
culinary school, including the Culinary Institute
of America. But the skills we are teaching are
those that translate to and beyond the kitchen.”
Dahm touts the program’s success in teaching
the students reading, math, science and how to
communicate with others and to demonstrate
their creativity. “These are all skills necessary
to do well in school and to compete in the job
market,” he said.

However, the opportunity to learn doesn’t
always start in the kitchen, it can be rooted in
local community gardens. Kid Power has provided
nutritional and service-learning programs for
more than 1,000 youth throughout the D.C. area.
Founded by Max Skolnik nearly a decade ago,
Kid Power tackles issues around food insecurity
and creates budding entrepreneurs one farmers
market at a time.

“Kid Power works with students from lowperforming,
under-served public and charter
schools that typically reside in food deserts. Too
many of our students and their families did not
have access to fresh food, nutritional information,
or cooking classes,” said Skolnik. “We
created VeggieTime to attack the root causes of
food insecurity. Youth and their families manage
city-wide gardens, incorporate high-quality
produce into their daily lives, raise funds through
market sales and support food-related service
projects and advocacy initiatives.”

More than 50 Veggie Time gardens are located
throughout D.C. where students sell a portion
of their harvest at farmer’s markets in Columbia
Heights and Petworth, partake in weekly cooking
classes and local schools harvest sales that
target the surrounding communities and donate
to families in need.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Cohn’s Kitchen: The 2nd annual Battle of the
Bistros takes place July 30th at Clyde’s Gallery
Place. Battle of the Bistros challenges teams of
students to put their summer job training and
education to the test in a friendly competition
for the “Best New Restaurant Concept.” Tickets
are $10 a person at http://battleofthebistros.
eventbrite.com

Kid Power: Visit the Kid Power table at the
Columbia Heights Farmer’s Market on August
4th or donate a greenhouse, gardening equipment
or irrigation systems for their larger garden
sites. Email katie@kidpowerdc.org for more
information.

Brain Food: The 6th annual Brainfood Grill-
Off fundraiser hits D.C. September 13th.
Sponsorships are still available and guests can
purchase tickets at http://brain-food.org/brainfood-
grill-off ?

Jade Floyd is a managing associate at a
D.C.-based international public relations firm
and has served on the board of directors for
several non-profits. She is a frequent volunteer
and host of fundraising events across the
District supporting arts, animal welfare and
education programs. Follow her on Twitter @
DCThisWeek. [gallery ids="100919,129145,129121,129139,129127,129135" nav="thumbs"]

Ris Hosts Femivore Awards
•

In conjunction with Eat Local First, a campaign to make locally-grown food more accessible to the D.C. community, on July 16 Ris restaurant hosted a happy hour reception celebrating women leading the local food movement. Three finalists vying for a $1,000 award spoke of their initiatives. Lauren Biel and Sarah Bernardi of DC Greens, which promotes school gardens, won the prize. Mitch Berliner, co-founder of Central Farm Markets, generously donated $500 to runners up Allison Sosna of PINES and MicroGreens and to Kathryn Warnes and Lisa Jordan of Taste of Place. [gallery ids="100920,129161,129154,129142,129150" nav="thumbs"]

Sharon Stone and Kiehl’s Life Riders Add Moto-Chic to M Street
•

You know you are special when the police hold parking spaces for you on M Street during rush hour. The Kiehl’s store in Georgetown was the conclusion of Kiehl’s LifeRide for amfAR (American Foundation for AIDS Research), where riders for the motorcycle charity pulled up July 20. Off the noisy bikes leapt actresses, actors, chefs and Chris Salgardo, president of Kiehl’s USA. Salgardo welcomed the crowd as they posed for photos in the store. Also there was actress Sharon Stone, the top fundraiser for amfAR, who accepted a $115,000 check to amfAR from Kiehl’s along with the non-profit’s CEO Kevin Robert Frost — all nicely timed for the International AIDS Conference, which began in D.C. July 22. (The after party was at Mike Isabella’s Bandolero one block away; Sharon Stone dined at Cafe Milano.) [gallery ids="102469,120683,120694,120676,120689" nav="thumbs"]

Red Carpet DC at the Embassy of the Czech Republic
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The weather may have been steamy but so was the gala vibe as Ambassador of the Czech Republic Petr Gandalovi? welcomed guests on July 19 for a “Red Carpet DC” event showcasing work by photographer Patrick Ryan and insider comments from legendary movie critic Arch Campbell. The evening was a prelude to Mutual Inspirations Festival 2012—Miloš Forman celebrating the accomplishments of the transatlantic film industry. Arch shared stories of waiting for stars to arrive, and Patrick hailed his own work as “a fun gig.” There was lots of glam. [gallery ids="100921,129198,129192,129157,129186,129166,129181,129174" nav="thumbs"]