Arts & Society

Ari Post • February 8, 2012

Kay Jackson is a local artist whose paintings have garnered national and international acclaim, including a commission by President Clinton for the official White House holiday card in 1997. Working in an inspired sunroom-studio on the third floor of her Dupont Circle home, she has long focused her work on addressing environmental concerns, such as endangered species, pollution and the loss of animal habitat. Her current exhibition at Addison/Ripley Fine art, running through March 3, continues her decades-long pursuit and calls upon the near extinct artistic tradition of gilding to help communicate her vision.

Jackson has long employed gold leaf techniques in her work and for the exhibition has created gilded icons of endangered species, drawing parallels to the endangered crafts she employs in the work’s creation.

Jackson learned the art of gilding through her husband, William B. Adair, a master gilder, frame historian and owner and founder of Gold Leaf Studios in Dupont Circle. Adair is among a small handful of international authorities on frame fabrication, conservation and the nearly extinct art of gilding: applying fine gold leaf to the surfaces of paintings, wood, frames or anything else you could possibly conceive. He has employed his expertise extensively with every major museum in the city and consults with gallerists, architectural firms and private collectors throughout the world.

The oldest and most common form is a process called water gilding, Jackson explains. After first applying layers of gesso to linen or wood — for a painting or a frame — the gilder then applies a layer of clay and glue, called bole, to help the small thin sheets of gold leaf adhere. The applied gold is then burnished and can be lightly manipulated. For a textured, dynamic surface, such as embossed vines wrapped about a picture frame, warm gesso can be carefully ladled upon the surface to create the patterns before laying the gold leaf, a process called pastiglia.

Examples of gold leaf abound in museums and buildings around the District, perhaps most prominent displayed in the National Gallery of Art’s permanent collection of 13th and 14th century Italian paintings, which is all but overrun by brilliant gold leaf altarpieces.

But rarely is gold leaf seen employed in contemporary settings, and in these gilded icons of endangered species now on display, Jackson has drawn a remarkable and fitting parallel to the ancient, endangered craft of gilding.

A technically brilliant artist in every sense, Jackson has made more than just paintings in these gold leaf works. They are intricate, cryptic, glowing panels and boxes that Jackson has constructed entirely, encasing the endangered animals — from crayfish and salmon to the spotted owl — in armatures of gold and surrounded by symbols that span multiple time periods and iconologies.

Jackson custom designs the frames for each work, inspired by 14th century panel paintings. She herself observes that her boxes are like 16th century cabinets of curiosities, those assembled by wealthy European collectors to celebrate and catalogue their knowledge of the world. Yet despite these callings upon the past, the works look completely contemporary. Her pieces depict both the fragility and resiliency of our ecosystems and species, and they connect the vulnerability of our planet with the delicacy of our artistic culture. This is also echoed in the act of creating the work itself. “Creating art is an act of faith,” Jackson says. “With each passing year it takes an increasing commitment to continue what most people think is a spontaneous and blissful activity.”

More of Jackson’s series of gilded endangered icons will be on display at the Muscarelle Museum of Art, the museum for the College of William & Mary, in Williamsburg, Va., accompanying a historic frame exhibition by husband Adair on the history of frames from the Byzantine to modern period.

For information on Kay Jackson’s Addison/Ripley exhibit, visit AddisonRipleyFineArt.com. For information on her Muscarell Museum of Art exhibit, visit Web.wm.edu/Muscarelle. [gallery ids="100470,115891" nav="thumbs"]

Mary Bird •

This Legacy Season concludes Norman Scribner’s tenure as Artistic Director of the Choral Arts Society of Washington, which he founded in 1965. The Ambassador of the Russian Federation and Mrs. Sergey Kislyak were honorary patrons of the Annual Christmas Concerts, opening their residence for a Dec. 15 reception. “Holiday Treasures from Russia” featured Choral Arts’ 160-strong symphonic chorus accompanied by the Ural Philharmonic Orchestra under the artistic direction of Dmitry Liss and Russian mezzo soprano Irina Shishkova. Avid supporter and current Choral Arts chorister Kandy Stroud was honorary chair with her daughter Brooke Stroud Carnot and husband Stephane serving as benefit co-chairs for the 31st Annual Holiday Concert and Benefit in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall on Dec. 19. The sellout crowd enjoyed a post-performance reception, silent auction, dinner and dancing at the Roof Terrace. The evening’s proceeds help support Choral Arts’ annual season of concerts as well as its educational and community programs. [gallery ids="100461,115629,115601,115499,115573,115545" nav="thumbs"]

Georgetowner •

More at Shakespeare Theatre Company
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The Shakespeare Theatre Company continues its Bard’s Broadway series Jan. 27 – 29 at Sidney Harman Hall with a concert version of the Tony Award-winning musical ‘Two Gentlemen of Verona,’ subtitled a rock opera. Created by noted playwright John Guare, along with Galt MacDermot (of ‘Hair’ fame) and Mel Shapiro. Amanda Dehnert is directing with choreography by Terence Archie and a cast that includes Robin de Jesus, Javier Munoz, Danny Rutigliano and DC star Eleasha Gamble.

If that weren’t enough for a busy time, there’s the third installment of the STC’s and artistic director Michael Kahn’s Classic Conversations with noted theater and film actor James Earl Jones this Thursday at Sidney Harman Hall. Classic Conversations with Michael Kahn is a series of discussions with classically trained actors presented as part of the group’s 25th Anniversary Season and has already featured Patrick Stewart and Kevin Kline. Jones became a big star with his starring role in both the theatrical and film version of “The Great White Hope” and has been a powerful presence in the performing arts in America ever since.

For more information visit ShakespeareTheatre.org

‘Red’ and ‘Elephant Room’ at Arena Stage
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One of the more anticipated productions in Washington theatre is the mounting of ‘Red,’ the Tony-Award winning play by John Logan, which focuses on the brilliant, troubled American artist Mark Rothko at the height of his career, engaged in executing a monumental commission of paintings for the Four Seasons restaurant in New York.

The play was a big hit on Broadway, and now features Ed Gero, a four-time Helen Hayes Award winner who keeps getting bigger and better with age, as Rothko, and Patrick Andrews as Ken, a fictional assistant of Rothko’s who challenges the great artist. It is a battle of wills—not just Rothko VS a changing art world, but also the famous bouts of Rothko VS Rothko.

The production, which opens Jan. 20 and runs through March 4 in Arena’s Kreeger Theater, is much anticipated and has already engendered a weeklong extension. It’s directed by Robert Falls, the artistic director of the famed Goodman Theater in Chicago.

Not so famous, and quite a change of pace is ‘Elephant Room,’ which features magicians and semi-pro conjurers Dennis Diamond, Daryl Hannah and Louie Magic. (A magician named Magic, which should bode well). It’s coming to Arena’s Kogod Cradle Theater Jan. 20 – Feb. 26.

Billed as an absurdist magic show, ‘Elephant Room’ comes from the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival. What’s it all about? The press description goes like this:

“Combine the glory of a Styx reunion tour with the transcendental power of a 200-year-old Zuni shaman and add a dash of trailer park ennui, and you come close to describing the mystical pull of ‘Elephant Room.’”

I can get down with that.

For more information visit ArenaStage.org

Holly Twyford and Donald Margulies’ ‘Time Stands Still’ at Studio
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Holly Twyford, one of Washington’s most gifted actresses, stars as a globetrotting photojournalist who returns home from the wars in Iraq after being injured. At home the journalist, still missing the heat and thrill of covering a war, must choose between a real life and a professional one. Also featured are Laura C. Harris, Dan Illian and Greg McFadden. Susan Fenichell directs.

‘Time Stands Still’ is written by Donald Margulies and will run at the Studio Theatre.

For more information visit StudioTheatre.org

Scena, Carrie Waters, Brian Frield, Henrik Ibsen and Hedda Gabbler
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That’s the mix as Scena Theatre Artistic Director Robert McNamara directs noted Irish Playwright Brian Friel’s translation of Ibsen’s ‘Hedda Gabbler,’ featuring one of the most challenging roles for an actress ever written.
Carrie Waters, a long-time veteran of Washington, and a mightily underrated talent, is likely to handle the challenge with great power if her track record in such productions as ‘Happy Days’ and ‘The Persians’ are any indication.

Also starring are Eric Lucas (Waters’ husband), Rena Cherry Brown and Danielle Davy.

‘Hedda Gabler’ runs Jan. 12 – Jan. 29 at the H Street Playhouse at 1365 H Street, NE.

For more information visit HStreetPlayhouse.com

Lincoln and Douglass Meet at Ford’s Theatre
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Continuing its successful exploration of theater about Abraham Lincoln, Ford’s Theatre will present ‘Necessary Sacrifices,’ by Richard Hellesen, about the two documented encounters between Lincoln and the great African American abolitionist Frederick Douglass in the middle years of the Civil War.

‘Necessary Sacrifices,’ in which Douglass challenges Lincoln’s views on slavery and African Americans, will once again feature David Selby as Lincoln, a role he performed with astonishing power in Ford’s production of ‘The Heavens Are Hung in Black,’ a play about Lincoln’s White House years. David Emerson Toney stars as Douglass and Jennifer Nelson directs.

‘Necessary Sacrifices’ coincides with Ford’s opening of its Center for Education and Leadership, which will explore the lasting effect Lincoln’s presidency has had on our country. The show will run Jan. 20 – Feb. 12.

For more information visit FordsTheatre.org

Mary Bird •

Belgian Ambassador Jan Matthysen and Mrs. Matthysen recently celebrated the 20th season of the Institute for Education’s Public Policy Roundtable (INFO) at their residence. Two hundred past INFO speakers, more than 20 ambassadors, several senators, representatives and Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer heralded 20 years of civility, collaboration and problem solving. IFE and INFO Founder Coach Kathy Kemper reflected on how INFO led the way for more “spin-off” roundtables on the forefront of issues facing the capital city, our nation and the world. Ambassador Matthysen presented Ina Ginsburg with the 2011 IFE International Diplomacy Award for her efforts to promote civility and collaboration between D.C. and world leaders. Her acceptance remarks in three languages captured the global spirit of the event. [gallery ids="100462,115602,115575,115548" nav="thumbs"]

Mary Bird •

With a tongue-in-cheek invitation to “vote once, drink often,” Janet Donovan gathered media pals at chef Enzo Fargione’s newly opened and already much acclaimed Elisir restaurant in the Penn Quarter Jan. 4 to rehash the Iowa caucuses. Mixologist Stephen Oshana had prepared a special cocktail primary “Libation Without Representation” menu of politically incorrect cocktails, encouraging imbibers to vote for a favorite GOP candidate in a cocktail straw poll with no political certainty. Selections included “Uh, The Uh, Um, Um …” which featured clove infused cognac and orange foam and “New Hampshire Or Bust” with vodka peach blossom tea and pomegranate liqueur.” This is reason enough to get out the vote. [gallery ids="100463,115630,115604,115578,115552" nav="thumbs"]

Ari Post • February 7, 2012

That galleries are still standing in Washington, and in relative abundance, is a remarkable thing. They have become symbols of economic stability: arts venues are the first to be impacted by financial troubles in a struggling economy and among the slowest to recover. Over the last few years, the number of art galleries in Dupont Circle has dropped by nearly half. But though this city’s art scene has taken some recent blows, the community is still alive and strong and that the work is as powerful as it ever was.

Susan Calloway Fine Arts (1643 Wisconsin Ave., NW) is currently hosting an exhibition of landscape painter and local favorite Ed Cooper through June 11. Cooper, who carries an easel as a constant companion, has become a regular around the Washington area and Georgetown art community, with a number of exhibitions in Georgetown galleries under his belt. He has been known to paint around here rather frequently, and one past show even focused on scenes from around the neighborhood and the canal.

His current exhibition reveals an old-fashioned master craftsman in top form. The paintings, which from the titles seem to have been produced largely throughout this region, from the Potomac to the Shenandoah to the Chesapeake, have a natural and cumulative resonance that speaks to Cooper’s love of the landscape genre. The scenes of barns and wheat fields, misted rivers and autumn sunsets, rolling hills and billowing clouds, are vague but precise, everywhere and nowhere at the same time. They are sensitive and specific to the moment, much like impressionism, but together they reveal something much larger, more encompassing, like a collection of American short stories.

And Cooper is such a good painter that his nostalgic, Hopper-esque style, which might otherwise be cheeky or kitsch, just works. This is a man who was born to put paint down on canvas, and as an audience this is impossible to ignore. Like listening to Miles Davis play the trumpet, there is an inevitable beauty in these works that comes from the soul of a pure artist. In a time of endless conceptualization, banter and speed, it’s refreshing to see an artist with a simple mission: to paint something beautiful, and to paint it really well. (CallowayArt.com)

Opening Friday, May 20, the Parish Gallery in Canal Square (1054 31st St., NW) is hosting an exhibition of works by members of the visual arts faculty of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, titled “Elements and Principles.” There is a reception from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. on Friday, May 20th, and the show will run through June 14. The featured artists/teachers are Melchus Davis, Mike Easton, Bill Harris, Rod Little and Jacqueline Maggi.

Among the artists, Davis, who teaches painting and drawing, has a wide and diverse style. From landscapes and cityscapes to figurative compositions, all in a variety of media, Davis’ work has an untamed beauty about it, with heavy influences drawn from impressionism and expressionism. The work is fragmentary and expertly composed, with figures and spaces blossoming from a joyous abstraction.

As a whole, the exhibition is an enlightening and inspiring experience, and a very worthy project. For a school that nurtures so many creative and artistic students, it is important that the teachers get their due. (ParishGallery.com)

A series of drawings by artist Carlotta Hester are currently on display at Govinda Gallery (1227 34th St., NW) through June 11. During the summer of 2010 Hester attended the world’s largest traditional Irish music festival in County Cavan, Ireland, “Fleadh Cheoil na hÈireann.” She observed and documented this age-old event with countless drawings, and the gallery alights with flowing images of musicians, singers and dancers, created in the presence and spirit of musical gatherings, theaters, dance classes, pub sessions and outdoor concerts. The life and movement within the drawings capture rare and intimate moments between artists that shouldn’t be missed. (GovindaGallery.com)

“Contain, Maintain, Sustain” just opened at the Artisphere in Rosslyn, right across the Key Bridge, through July 17. This joint exhibition explores sustainability’s influence on contemporary art, with participation from Washington Project for the Arts and Washington Sculptors Group. A group of 24 international and local artists were selected to present work that activates and complicates the local and global dynamic that has historically framed ideas about reuse and conservation of environmental resources. This innovative and original show is not to be missed. (Artisphere.com)

Adrian Loving • January 18, 2012

By Adrian Loving

Miami, Fla. – recently, scores of Washington, D.C., curators, collectors, dealers, artists and art enthusiasts descended on the Sunshine State for the 10th Annual Art Basel Miami Beach Fair. This international event draws a broad audience of hundreds of thousands and presents a significant sample of creatively brilliant painting, sculpture, photography, video and installation art, with works presented by affluent-to-upstart galleries and museums. Independent artists and street muralists are invited to make the city their canvas in the Wynwood area.

Basel’s larger tented satellite fairs include: Pulse, Scope, Art Miami, Red Dot and Design Miami. Works may also be found in alternative spaces across the beaches, hotels, pop-up galleries, bars and building facades throughout the Miami-metro area. It is physically impossible to see everything in the four days, including live performances, gallery talks, art openings and the onslaught of after-parties that rage until five-o’clock in the morning.

A few of the works I found to be most notable are listed here.

Design Miami (DesignMiami.com), a satellite fair of the Art Basel umbrella featured a broad collection of design-focused functional works such as tables, cabinets, lighting, jewelry and chairs. A favorite of mine was the work of London-based artist Tom Price. His collection of meticulously fabricated chairs appears to smash the conventional boundaries of furniture design. Each were made of deconstructed materials, melted plastic, ropes, rubber, fabric and other found objects. Works by Price included Pink SE Meltdown Chair, Cable Tie Chair and Blue Rope Chair, which were among a collection of 10 on display at Washington, D.C.-based Industry Gallery’s booth at Design Miami. Visit the gallery locally at 1358 Florida Ave., N.E., Suite 200. IndustryGalleryDC.com.

A favorite among collectors looking to acquire edgy, conceptual art is Scope Art Fair (Scope-Art.com), which continues its popularity as a “must-do” during the already overwhelming week of sightseeing.

Major artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and Andy Warhol often have a presence here. On display at the Kiwi Arts Group Booth was the exhibit entitled “Before They Were Famous: Behind the Lens of William John Kennedy,” a collection of lost rare silver gelatin prints made in 1964, but recently printed from discovered negatives in 2010.

Artist Robert Indiana is shown holding his original 1966 LOVE painting, and pop art icon Warhol is shown hard at work at his Silver Factory. Most alluring to me was the photograph “Warhol Holding Marilyn Acetate I” (The Factory, New York City, 40 x 30 inches), which gives the viewer a unique glimpse of the master hard at work. For more Warhol, visit the retrospective exhibition, “Warhol: Headlines,” on display until Jan. 2, 2012, in the National Gallery of Art’s east building. NGA.gov/Exhibitions/WarholInfo.shtm.

The Miami Beach Cinematheque (MbCinema.com) entered the art foray as an unlikely player by presenting an impromptu feature-length performance film entitled “Gray: Live At The New Museum.”

Approximately 80 minutes in length, this film documents and shows the historic performance of the legendary art-noise band Gray, started by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Michael Holman in 1979. This current partnership of Holman and band mate Nicholas Taylor finds the duo creating avante garde sounds, blips and jazz riffs amidst projected art and video of their New York 1980s art scene contemporaries, such as Glenn O’Brien, Suzanne Mallouk and Basquiat. In attendance of this private screening were Don and Mera Rubell of the Rubell Family Collection Museum and several downtown New York scenesters. More of the inspiring visual work of Jean-Michel Basquiat, courtesy of the Rubells, can be found in the exhibition “30 Americans” at the Corcoran Gallery of Art until Feb. 12, 2012. Corcoran.org/30americans. [gallery ids="100434,114328,114319,114267,114310,114301,114293,114277,114285" nav="thumbs"]

Ari Post • January 4, 2012

Georgetown’s gallery scene is a lot like the neighborhood itself: contemporary but historic, friendly and intelligent, beautiful and resonant. And with the holidays just around the bend, no gift is more powerful or more personal than a work of art.

Paintings and sculptures carry us through time. They stay with us through the years, encouraging us to think and to feel, offering perspective and adding color to our lives. You should buy a work of art because you love it. To find a connection with a painting is a remarkable and unique experience. But art also has the potential to work as an investment; it is one of the only commodities that historically go up in value.

This season our local galleries are filled with a wide and brilliant variety of artwork to suit any palette. From new local talent, to renowned glasswork and historic maps, it’s well worth a Saturday afternoon to see what’s out there.

The Old Print Gallery

Walking into the Old Print Gallery on 31st Street feels like reaching a cross-section of history. To the right of the shop are amassed thousands of original historic prints, from early 19th century Audubon bird prints and botanical studies, to Civil War battle scenes and equestrian illustrations from bygone eras.

Their collection of historic maps is a candy shop for history buffs and enthusiasts of all things Americana. You can find Virginia’s county lines from the beginning of the 18th century, explore the Chesapeake Bay circa 1747, or try your hand deciphering nautical and celestial maps.

The left side of the gallery is devoted to showcasing contemporary printmakers, often highlighting local and regional talent. Currently on display is the work of local printmaker Jake Muirhead. A stunning draftsman, Muirhead employs his mastery of line and value in the sharp angularity of printmaking, using aquatint techniques to edit and layer his works through multiple printings upon the same image. These textured, atmospheric depictions of trees, parcels, figures and unique artifacts are captivating and elusive, like sensory memories, leaving the audience contemplating a strong and immediate intimacy with the works. 1220 31st St., N.W. For more information, visit OldPrintGallery.com.

Susan Calloway Fine Arts

Susan Calloway has a discerning eye; the work on view at her Wisconsin Avenue gallery is always rich and ethereal. The collection is always a must-see on any local gallery walk. Currently on display is the exhibition “Half Light,” the work of landscape artist Brad Aldridge. His renditions of American and European terrain rival the inquisitive wonder of early American landscape paintings, as if Aldridge is discovering the land for the first time in his paintings.

“Overgrown streams, winding roads … the hovering cloud, a solitary tree … all have double meanings for me,” says Aldridge. “I’ve used these symbols to tell the viewer how I feel about the world.” His rolling hills and forests are serene escapes, which nourish the viewer on a spiritual, as well as sensory, level. He applies this same sense of wonder to urban scenes, revealing the calming effect of a crisp sunrise in even the most frenetic environments. 1643 Wisconsin Ave., N.W. CallowayArt.com.

Heiner Contemporary

Heiner Contemporary has mounted a laudable exhibition of three young contemporary artists, “In Line / Out of Line,” all bound loosely but powerfully by a common thread: the structure of pattern against the tenuous fallibility of the human touch.

Chip Allen, a New York-based painter, has what can only be described as an effusive hand. Throughout his works, there is a back-and-forth between violence and delicacy, as if the artist lay harm to his canvas only to go back in and tend the wounds with his paintbrush. Repeated motifs come in and out, interrupted at every turn. Like setting rules only to break them, the work rebels against itself, and the effect is resplendent.

Kate Sable’s paintings resemble the structure of honeycombs, with hexagonal and pentagonal shapes fitting neatly into each other on the canvas. They speak of life and harmony, much like the ever-expanding patterns of Islamic architectural calligraphy. Yet there is an unusual sidestep in the works — a bleed of paint that breaks the shape or a color’s slight change in hue. The intimacy and warmth of the work lets you in to see its flaws, which are entirely and wonderfully human.

The work of Camilo Sanín is compulsive and calming in the same breath. Strips of color move across the canvas, sometimes broken, sometimes continuous, sometimes loose, sometimes rigid. These clean, thin plains of pastels and neon look like internal patterns or brain waves, the static of a creative mind. The graphic nature of the work brings viewers in with its aesthetic acuity, only to be mesmerized by the wavelike constancy of the compositions. 1675 Wisconsin Ave., N.W. HeinerContemporary.com.

Parish Gallery

Painter Luba Sterlikova is on view at the Parish Gallery. Russian-born Sterlikova’s works bridge influences from both Russia and America, as colors from the motherland work their way into a Western sense of structure and composition.

There is a romance and sexual charge within the work, which reference patterns found in biology and astrology, and it even hints vaguely at symbols from ancient cultures, from Egypt to Islam. Detailed brushstrokes combine with the explosive character of the images to create a resonating and deeply felt contrast and energy — such as an immigrant must feel when acclimating to a new country. 1054 31st St., N.W. ParishGallery.com

Maurine Littleton

Maurine Littleton Gallery is known throughout the country for its collection of glassworks and ceramics. Established in 1984, the gallery exhibits and represents among the world’s leading contemporary artists in glass, metal, and clay, including Dale Chihuly, Harvey K. Littleton and Albert Paley.

Now is your last chance to see the current collection as it is before the gallery changes out its works in January for the new year. And there is much worth seeing.

Michael Janis’s two-dimensional glassworks are small worlds within themselves. Like poems, you might find a bird atop a branch, or the face of a woman looking down into nothing as a red polka-dot wall climbs up behind her. Janis uses a technique of layering glass sheets on top of one another, with different images on each sheet fused together to create the composition. This lends the work a certain freshness and compositional spontaneity that must be experienced.

Therma Statom is another standout artist in the current collection, whose plate glass still lifes and miniature glass houses are odes to the quirk and fragility of our daily lives. No stranger to large-scale projects, these are Statom’s more intimate works, giving her greater range to experiment and play with her materials, to whimsical and endearing results.

Along with the gallery’s collection of other decorative and functional glass art, it’s always worth stopping into the Maurine Littleton Gallery for a look around. 1667 Wisconsin Ave., N.W. LittletonGallery.com. [gallery ids="100430,114236" nav="thumbs"]

Mary Bird •

The presence of so many ambassadors at the Turkish Ambassador’s residence on Dec. 6 for The Ertegun Jazz Series was assurance that jazz is an international language. The Embassy of Turkey is presenting the series in collaboration with Jazz At Lincoln Center in memory of Ahmet Ertegun, the founder and chairman of Atlantic Records and the son of the second Turkish ambassador to the United States. Ambassador Tan welcomed guests calling Mica Ertegun, who came from New York for the evening, “our princess,” along with Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) and other congressmen, “great friends of Turkey.” During the racially segregated period of 1934-1944, the Turkish Embassy was considered a refuge for African Americans as it hosted racially mixed jazz performances. Gretchen Parlato, an inventive modern jazz singer whose work has been hailed as “utterly, unfailingly mesmerizing,” enchanted the audience. She was accompanied by Taylor Eigsti on piano, Justin Brown on drums and Harish Raghavan on bass. [gallery ids="100437,114378,114337,114369,114361,114354,114347" nav="thumbs"]

Gary Tischler •

‘Ann’: An Original Played by an Original

I thought I knew Holland Taylor.

She was a lawyer, a judge, a WASP, somebody who drank martinis and complained if they weren’t done right, an East Coaster, main liner, bossy, Charlie Sheen’s mother in his unreal life, the kind of upper crusty, attractive woman around whom you tried to hide your minuscule repertoire of good manners. She had been all those things in acting roles on Broadway, in movies and big and little hit television series.
Talking to Taylor on the phone, I allowed that I had read her resume and felt like I should be a little scared. She laughed. “Maybe you should,” she said.

Actually, what really impressed me was what she was doing now, the reason we were talking at all. Ann Richards.

If you should ever be in awe of or be intimidated by a woman you’d never met, it would have been Ann Richards, the late and former governor of Texas before it turned into a puddle of Bushes and Perrys. Ann Richards, a liberal icon who once taunted Bush senior for having been born with a “silver foot in his mouth,” a woman with an elongated white hairdo who thrived as a Texan politician, who was famous for her straight talk, compassion, and the kind of sense of humor which let her play with the big boys sometimes with one hand tied behind her back. People I admired — the creators of the “Tuna” plays, the acerbic Texas political writer, the late Molly Ivins, who would always refer to Bush II as “shrub” loved Ann Richards unto death.

And here was Holland Taylor, as far removed from shrubs and bushes, and Amarillo and Armadillos as you can be, starring in “Ann,” in which she was not only the star but the author. “It is very, very different from anything that I’ve ever attempted,” Taylor said. “And it’s strange, you know, I met her exactly once, over lunch in New York, and she was the kind of woman, the kind of person, who haunts you, she’s so impressive.

In 2006, Richards was diagnosed with esophageal cancer and died that same year and that was probably when Taylor first started thinking about a work about Richards. “She was an original, she affected so many people, she was funny, she helped others, and there was nobody, nobody like here,” Taylor said. “So, I spent a lot of time researching, I spent some time in Austin and Texas, and, eventually, it and we came to life and here we are.”

For my money, it takes an original to play an original. Taylor was always a fine actress, especially on stage but also in soaps, television series and films, always, it seemed, playing strong-minded women of one sort or another but never in the same way. When she finally won an Emmy for playing “a rapacious judge” on David Kelley’s hit series “The Practice,” she gave an unforgettable speech in which she thanked Kelley for “giving me a chariot to ride up here on: A woman who puts a flag on the moon for women over 40 — who can think, who can work, who are successes and who can COOK!”

We don’t know about the cooking part, but that could be Ann Richards. That could be Holland Taylor.
“Ann,” written and performed by Holland Taylor, will be performed at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater, Dec. 17 through Jan. 15.

. . . And the Music of ‘Billy Elliott’

There’s more than Ann and Holland at the Kennedy Center. There’s a kid named Billy Elliott.

“Billy Elliott the Musical” isn’t about Christmas but may warm up some hearts anyway, and it’s bound to please. This Broadway smash — 10 Tonys — is based on a critically acclaimed film in which one Billy Elliott, a would-be-kid boxer, stumbles into a ballet class and changes his life and that of everyone around him.
The show features music by Elton John, book and lyrics by Lee Hall, choreography by Peter Darling and direction by Stephen Daldry.

“Bill Elliott the Musical” runs Jan.15 at the Kennedy Center’s Opera House.

Romeo, I Can’t Hear You

And of course, there’s the eternal Shakespeare play of “star-crossed lovers,” Romeo and Juliet. “Romeo, Romeo Wherefore Art Thou?”

At the Synetic Theater in Crystal City, Romeo’s not saying. Synetic, as we all know, is the great beyond-category theater company where words — even and especially Shakespearean words — are secondary. In Synetic’s unique acting style —combining movement, dance and mime— it’s not the rest that’s silence but everything. Synetic is in the midst of its Silent Shakespeare Festival, “Speak No More,” and its production of “Romeo and Juliet” had six Helen Hayes nominations and two Helen Hayes awards for outstanding director and ensemble.

This production runs through Dec. 23.

History Being Made and Acted at Arena Stage

At Arena Stage, history plays a big part in both Amy Freed’s “You, Nero” and Bill Cain’s “Equivocation.” The latter concerns Shakespeare, the infamous Gunpowder Plot and the relationship between artists and kings. It comes from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Cain’s play will run through Jan. 1 with the cast of the original Oregon Shakespeare Festival production.

“You, Nero” is part of Arena’s American Voices New Play Institute, with Freed continuing to work on a play which first opened at South Coast Rep and Berkeley Rep in 2009. Making its D.C. debut, it runs through Jan. 1. Danny Scheie stars as Nero, an emperor who may have been the first emperor-as-public-celebrity.

Off the Beaten Track at the Studio

If you’re in the mood for something in a completely non-holiday spirit and different, head over to the Studio Theater where there’s still time to see Lauren Weedman, a correspondent on the Daily Show who brings “Bust” her acidic, tough and funny autobiographical one-woman show about her experience as a volunteer advocate in a Southern California prison for women to Studio’s Stage 4 through Dec. 18.

Spoiler Alert: Second City is Back

For something perhaps a little more fun but still dark, there’s the wonderfully titled “Spoiler Alert: Everybody Dies,” whereby Chicago’s famed comedy troupe Second City returns to Woolly Mammoth Theater in a collaboration with D.C. artists, including actors Jessica Frances Dukes, and Aaron Bliden and designer Colin K. Bills. Here’s the way the press release describes the proceedings: “the most gleeful anti-holiday celebration of doom ever”.

God bless us every one.

(Dec. 6 through Jan. 8). [gallery ids="102431,121593,121596" nav="thumbs"]