Sitar Arts Center’s Paint the Town Benefit
• April 24, 2013

On Apr. 11, Sitar Art’s Center’s annual event gathered supporters at the Mexican Cultural Institute to fund high-quality arts education to underserved children and youth. The Kalorama-based facility offers afterschool, weekend and summer classes to over 700 students annually. Participating arts organizations include the Washington Ballet, Corcoran Gallery of Art and Washington performing Arts Society. In 2009, First Lady Michelle Obama presented Sitar with the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award. [gallery ids="119322,119295,119312,119304,119315" nav="thumbs"]

Washington Performing Arts Society Gala
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Tony Award winner Chita Rivera headlined The Washington Performing Arts Society annual gala at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel on May 8. Argentine Ambassador Héctor Marcos Timerman and Mrs. Anabelle Sielcki served as Honorary Diplomatic Chairs of the evening entitled From Broadway to Buenos Aires. The Children of the Gospel Choir opened the program. Ambassador Timerman quipped that “politicians and actors learn young to never share the stage with kids.” The event supports education programs for all ages. WPAS President and CEO Neale Perl noted that students with access to the arts do better in school. – Mary Bird [gallery ids="99332,99340,99339,99338,99337,99336,99335,99334,99333,99341" nav="thumbs"]

Franceesa Zambello Joins Washington National Opera
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Francesca Zambello, on the phone, at a table, in print, from a distance, and just from reading her resume, feels and sounds like a force of nature, a woman who isn’t daunted easily if at all.

She is in town now in her new role as Artistic Director of the Washington National Opera, directing the upcoming production of “Showboat”, which she created and directed at the Chicago Lyric Opera. As Artistic Director of the WNO, she succeeds Placido Domingo and still remains Artistic and General Director at the Glimmerglass Festival in upstate New York.

You could tell there was a fresh wind blowing just by dint of her personality, which is outgoing, forthright and direct. Earlier this year, she bounded onto the stage at the Kennedy Center Theater For Young Audiendces during the center’s annual season announcement for the media. With Zambello, it was as if she was opening up a rather large bag of Christmas presents: expanded roles for children’s theater, “The Magic Flute” in English, new commissioned American operas—there’s one in June—a never- in-Washington production of “Moby Dick”, an expanded role for the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists program, and the list went on consider- ably and still does.

Perhaps more significantly, during an opening night of one of the two earlier spring operas, you could see a woman greeting people as they came in past the ropes at the Opera House, an unusual sight at what is often considered the last bastion of tradition and decorum in American performing arts. It was Zambello acting very much like an enthusiastic greeter for the opera, there were hearty handshakes, hellos and even hugs amid introductions.

“I believe in putting yourself out there,” she said. “It’s not that unusual. We’re asking people to pay good money for what we’re putting on stage so we should make every effort to making that process a success, to be a part of this city and think about the audience for our work.”

There is in Zambello something of a populist streak, in the sense that while she’s worked on most of the great operas stages and companies which makes her a natural citizen of the world, she leans often toward American work, toward the unusual and cutting edge but also the accessible. She hasn’t always succeeded—there have been a few bumps in the road here and there— but her approach has always been an open armed stance, with which she hopes to capture larger and new audiences.

In that sense, “Showboat”, while familiar is in some way typical of that approach. “Some people will tell you its not really and opera, its some sort of hybrid, but it is an opera in the sense there’s continual music, and that music and the songs by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein III are world class. And, like many operas as we understand them have big themes, big subjects—race, gender, the role of women, even the business of show business, miscegenation and so on.”

When it suggested to her that opera has a culturally elitist reputation, she says, emphatically, “haven’t I made myself clear, that’s not what I’m about.” We were talking about perception, but even in a misunderstanding, we get a little closer to what she’s about. When it comes to the Washington National Opera, she’s interested in emphasizing all three words in that title.
“The WNO—and especially with being part of the Kennedy Center, is a national company and I want to emphasize that, because that makes it an American company, where American themes can breathe and resonate and we’re also a Washington company. To me that means we have to make a greater effort to be a part of the city, identify with the city, which is a city that’s about politics and great issues and history as well as all the people who live in it, ” she said.

Another word might be added, and that would be family. “I know many of us who love opera passionately first felt that way when we were taken to operas by our parents as children,” she said. “One of the things I intend to do is expand our family programs. We hope to make a tradition of a holiday opera for children and the whole family—we are doing “The Magic Flute” in English, next spring, we will also increase the use of and involvement our artists in the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists program.”

Almost anybody who’s familiar with Zambello’s artistic and professional history knows change is coming with her arrival—is already here in fact. But there is method to her changes. “Opera isn’t immune to that,” she said. “For me, change is about the audience, finding out who your audience is and what it wants to see and hear,” she said. “I believe in new operas, in staging operas that haven’t been done often or not at all, without abandoning traditions, the classic and great staples of operas. But what’s surprising is how often you find echoes of our times in Verdi, in Puccini, in Wagner and Bizet and Strauss. I do not believe there is one way to do a particular opera.”

Zambello’s connection to family opera and her passion to expand the audience comes in part from her connection to the American musical theater—she’s directed “The Littlest Mermaid” on Broadway. “American musicals are a true and popular American art form, much as opera was the European popular art form in the 18th and 19th century,” she said.

In the 2013-14 season, there will be a Verdi and Wagner celebration right off with Zambello directing Verdi’s “The Forces of Destiny” (La Forza del Destino”)which comes to the Opera House for the first time in 25 years, while the great soprano Deborah Voigt” will star in Wagner’s “Tristan and Isolde,” which kicks off the season. Zambello will also direct a world premiere production of “The Lion, The Unicorn and Me” in December, with a production of this family-friendly world premiere in the Terrace Theater.

The new American Opera Initiative begins with the promising “Approaching Ali”, a new opera by composer D.J. Sparr and librettists Mark Campbell and Davis Miller about a reporter’s meeting with boxing legend Muhammad Ali June 8 and 9, in the Terrace Theater, which is also an example of Zambello’s search for new American work and using all the available spaces in the Kennedy Center, not just the Opera House.

She’s already making her presence felt: young performers amid the stars and veterans, great operas rarely seen, the rise of a Washington company that’s a larger part of its setting—the Kennedy Center, the city, the country—than before and oh yes, lions and unicorns, and Tristan and Mozart, oh my. You could be forgiving for thinking that Francesca Zambello could be something of a forza del destino herself at least when it comes to the WNO.
“Showboat” runs May 4 to 26 at the Kennedy Center Opera House

Washington Performing Arts Society GalaApril 24, 2013
• April 23, 2013

Ruth and Arne Sorensen were Gala Chairs and Ambassador of Ireland Michael Collins and Mrs. Collins were Diplomatic Chairs as WPAS held its 2013 Gala and Auction at the Ritz-Carlton, Washington, DC, on Apr. 13. WPAS Children of the Gospel Choir entertained in a program headlined by Broadway star Mathew Morrison, well known for his portrayal of Spanish teacher Will Schuester on Glee. Founded in l965, WPAS is a nonprofit arts presenter of approximately 100 public engagements and arts education activities each year. It also runs or helps coordinate a variety of education programs for children and adults including Concerts in Schools and the Embassy Adoption program.

Ballet’s ‘Moveable Feast’ Gala Gets Everyone Moving
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The Washington Ballet celebrated the world premiere of Septime Webre’s “Hemingway: The Sun Also Rises” with the Moveable Feast: Hemingway in Paris Ball at the Library of Congress in the Jefferson Building April 12.

One of D.C.’s premier fundraising events, the annual gala celebrated ballet’s deep ties with the community and raises critical funds for the ballet’s training and outreach programs. Moveable Feast: The Hemingway in Paris Ball was chaired by Jackie Clegg Dodd and former Sen. Chris Dodd with honorary chair Mariel Hemingway and the Washington Ballet’s board of directors. Among the thanks was a big one for Councilman Jack Evans who made sure ballet programs got D.C. government funding.

After dinner by Susan Gage Caterers, guests enjoyed performances by the ballet’s professional dancers and students of TWB@THEARC and joined in for some dancing themselves as DJ Pitch One got everyone out on the dance floor in the central hall of the beautiful Jefferson Building.
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Annual Celebration of Spirits of the Americas
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On April 19, 2013, Organization of American State hosted an amazing event in called Spirit of the Americas. Ambassadors, representatives from the diplomatic community, international organizations and government officials are brought together at the OAS headquarters to celebrate the culture and people of the Americas. This year’s goal was to raise $250,000 through donations and silent and live auctions to reconstruct an operating theater at Maternite Hospital for women in Cite Soliel, Haiti. [gallery ids="101251,147544,147531,147538" nav="thumbs"]

Dvorak and Burleigh at Ellington
• April 22, 2013

When Antonin Dvorak, Czech-born, came to America he had as his assistant the African American composer, Harry T. Burleigh. Burleigh would have an influence on Dvorak’s “New World Symphony,” composed in 1893, through introducing him to African American spirituals. A concert at Duke Ellington School of the Arts played by students from Ellington and Georgetown University will present music by Dvorak and Burleigh at Ellington conducted by Angel Gil-Ordóñez of the PostClassical Ensemble.

Speaking with Gil-Ordóñez, who also teaches at Georgetown University, about the upcoming concert I asked him about the collaboration and what he enjoyed the most about it. He replied, “the Duke Ellington students are younger than those of the Georgetown Orchestra students. You would think there would be less maturity in their approach to this music. Not the case. From the first rehearsal they had the same level of commitment and understanding than the Georgetown students. When I work with an orchestra I don’t make any difference between professionals, students or amateurs. There are only good or bad orchestras.”

I asked him as well about the Dvorak story in America. Gil-Ordóñez emphasized that it was “fascinating, Dvorak arrives in New York and feels immediately attached to the African American spirituals and to the dances and chants of the Native Americans. All this transpires in the ‘New World Symphony.’ Even without an explanation of this, when you play the work as an American you recognize yourself in it.”

The not-to-be missed performance of “Harry T. Burleigh meets Antonin Dvorak” including “Harry T. Burleigh and Plantation Song” will be presented at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Friday, April 19, at 7:30 p.m. 3500 R St. NW, Tickets: $15 (Georgetown University and Ellington students will be admitted free with ID.)

Book Hill Art Gallery Walk
• April 19, 2013

There is more to see as spring rears its head than most people can take in, artistically speaking, let alone the blossoming outdoor wonderland. As our spirits and energy thaw after preserving itself through the winter, it is an all-encompassing blessing of April to be suddenly surrounded by great beauty at ever corner. Within Washington’s art galleries, the work is vibrant, robust and very much alive, bolstering the rejuvenated spirits of the city. The galleries on Book Hill, nestled together on Wisconsin at the top of Georgetown, have arranged a collection of unforgettable exhibits to welcome in the spring season. Here is a look at what they are offering.

Addison/Ripley Fine Art
1670 Wisconsin Ave., NW
Through April 27, Addison/Ripley will be featuring the work of Amy Linn, an artist whose distinctive, vibrant and ambitious drawings balance precision with an elegant chaos. The works explore cultural diffusion, inspired by time Linn spent in Singa- pore and Russia. Her pencil marks fly and flare on pristine white surfaces, constellations of lines and points that pulsate like microscopic organisms or the Northern Lights. The growing complexity of her compositions and her deep commitment to her task, expanding weaves of tiny points of colored pencil in exuberant arrangements, can barely be contained on the paper. There is a lightness and balance that grounds her work, that can only be described as a soul. www.AddisonRipleyFineArt.com

Robert Brown Gallery
1662 33rd St., NW
Robert Brown Gallery’s current exhibit, “Window on Weimar,” on?display through May 24, includes etchings, lithographs, woodcuts, drypoints and char- coal drawings by some of the most renowned German artists of the early 20th century: Max Beckmann, Otto Dix, George Grosz, Kathe Kollwitz, Lea Grundig, Max Pechstein and William Sharp. Many German artists in the 1920s valued content above form, using printmaking as an expression of immediacy, intimacy and a wider means of communica- tion with their audience. With the rapidly evolving political landscape as a backdrop, each artist offered their unique view of the human experience as effected by the Weimer era in Germany after WWI. With first hand experience of the destruction and suffering of war, artists in the Weimar Republic became distinguishable as advocates for social justice in addition to artistic creativity. www.RobertBrownGallery.com

Susan Calloway Fine Art
1643 Wisconsin Ave., NW
Causality is the relationship between events, where the second event is understood as a consequence of the first. This concept is explored within the boundaries of color and space in Washington-based artist Shaun Rabah’s exhibition Color Causality, through May 4 at Susan Calloway Fine Art. Each painting is composed of minimal layers of color, each a response to its predecessor, in an overall pursuit of beauty and purity. To truly see one of Rabah’s pieces, one must look beyond the surface layer to the numerous sub-layers and textures that together compose the final vision of the artist. In every piece, it is his intention to expose the life-cycle of each work, from the first brush stroke to its final manifestation. There will be an opening reception for the exhibit on April 12. www.CallowayArt.com

Heiner Contemporary
1675 Wisconsin Ave., NW
Heiner Contemporary is exhibiting “Concrete Abstract,” a group exhibition curated by Matthew Smith that explores the confluence of abstraction with the everyday, through April 20. Featuring work by a group of nine artists, the works in the show cultivate?a non-representational?visual language that?emerges from familiar?ready-made objects,?whether they are found?or alluded to compositionally. These ultimately balance the functional with the abstract, pushing and pulling out of context with the real, concrete world. Highlights include the Joseph Albers-like, neatly color-woven paintings of Jeremy Flick, and the real and suggested quilted surfaces of Matthew Smith and Becca Kallem. There is a discussion with the curator on April 20, open to the public. www.HeinerContemporary.com

Maurine Littleton Gallery
1667 Wisconsin Ave., NW
Maurine Littleton Gallery has been exhibiting and represent-?ing leading contemporary artists in glass, metal and ceramics?since 1984. Their current exhibited work includes the work of Washington-based artist Drew Storm Graham, whose mixed media paintings composed on stacked layers of wood extend off the walls by as much as a foot. Inspired by the countercultural movements of graffiti and tattoo art, his work aims to embody the bold and impetuous attitudes rooted in these cultures. Despite their unruly exterior, the artist notes, this type of art is itself impermanent and ephemeral, existing within a frame of time before its canvas is painted over by city officials or deceased. By creating a solid three-dimensional reality, Graham’s art reinvents its subject with physical permanence. www.LittletonGallery.com
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…Now for the Helen Hayes Awards
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If you wanted diversity in the theater and in theater awards, then that’s what you got at the 29th Annual Helen Hayes Awards before a couple thousand theater pros, actors, designers, company members, fans, supporters, and, oh yes, scribes at the Warner Theater Monday.

No theater company took home a wagon-load of awards—the prestigious best resident play award went to the Folger Theatre production of old-time writ- er William Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew,” set in a western saloon, no less. It was the only award the production received but numbers probably don’t matter in this long-running celebration of Washington.

It’s what separates this?awards show, named after America’s enduringly?beloved stage legend Helen ?Hayes, from the Tonys or the Oscars or any other awards show. Here, members of nominated company’s cheer and whistle loudly when names are announced, appear on a screen, or walk up to the podium in person as winners. It’s all celebratory and personal all at the same time, a big stage rocking to the best of a pretty big world of stages. “Where are the celebrities?” somebody asked me at the Washington Post’s crowded pre- awards reception. I looked around and couldn’t find one. Or rather, I found everybody, because at the Helen Hayes awards, more often than not, everybody’s a celebrity, or a winner, for that matter.

The closest person to the title was Oscar- winning and legendary actress Ellen Burstyn, who, with Actors Equity Association president Nicholas Wyman, accepted the Helen Hayes Tribute award sponsored by Jaylee Mead, the much-beloved and much-missed philanthropist and theater super fan and giver who passed away last year. Burstyn—she starred in “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” “The Last Picture Show” and “The Exorcist” among many films— did her part with graceful glamour and brevity while the audience watched a mini-documentary about the birth, rise and importance of Actors Equity as an institution that protected actor’s rights in a long drawn-out struggle. Many actors, including Burstyn, were seen proclaiming their equity membership, including Georgetowner Dorothea Hammond, a long-time member of Arena’s repertoire company going back to the 1950s.

Lots of familiar and less familiar folks showed up, among them Ward 4 councilwoman and mayoral candidate Muriel Bowser, at-large council member David Grosso, dancer and acting legend Maurice Hines, blue-dress glamorous WRC anchor Wendy Rieger and radio host Kojo Nnamdi.

The Capital Fringe Festival—which comes around again this summer with hordes of new plays, new playwrights, new companies many of which are beyond category—received the Washington Post award for innovative leader- ship, which is putting it mildly, and gave all due glory to Fringe executive director and founding member Julianne Brienza, who accepted the award. And speaking of innovation, there was the company called Dizzy Miss Lizzie’s Roadside Revue, which won the John Aniello Award for outstanding emerging troupe and apparently combines burlesque, dance, theater, and unusual music to come up with one-of-a- kind productions.

Here are some highlights of winners, the good, the better and best as well as unusual, and the most unusual of all was the fact that the mostly silent and unusual theater group Synetic Theatre, which usually has heaps of nominations and awards, had none.
Children’s theater—as represented this time with Imagination Stage in a collaboration with members of the Washington Ballet—scored big with wins for outstanding ensemble and in the new category of outstanding Production, Theatre for Young Audiences with “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” Studio’s powerful adaptation of Ralph Ellison’s novel “Invisible Man” won best resident play ensemble.

As already told “Shrew” won the best resident play category, but best resident musical production honors went to Signature Theatre’s dreamy “Dreamgirls,” while best non-resident production honors went to the Theater of Scotland’s second-go-around of “Black Watch,” the astoundingly original and power play about an English regiment in Iraq at the Shakespeare Theatre Company.
Top performers: Steven Epp for “The Servant of Two Masters” at the Shakespeare Theatre Company, Francesca Faridany in Michael Kahn’s sterling four-hour adaptation of O’Neill’s “Strange Interlude” at the Shakespeare Theatre for top resident actress; Natascia Diaz, outstanding lead actress in a resident musical in Metro Stage’s “Jacques Brel is Alive And Well and Living in Paris” which also got top director honors for Serge Seiden, and a best actor in a resident musical award for Bobby Smith.

Perennial favorite E. Faye Butler snared a best supporting actress in a resident play for “Pullman Porter Blues. The Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play or Musical was garnered by Paul Downs Colaizzo for “Really, Really” at Signature Theatre.?

Youth Orchestra of the Americas Spring Benefit 2013
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Youth Orchestra of the Americas held its Spring Benefit on April 5 at the Organization of American States. The dinner program began with a video presentation narrated by YOA artistic advisor Placido Domingo. Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero spoke of “healing the world through music” and enchanted her listeners with a classical improvisation of “When the Saints Go Marching In.” She donated a private recital, with the caution of “Don’t make me wash the Dishes,” which raised an additional $7,000 for YOA’s Global Leaders Program, a tuition-free year-long fellowship program empowering the next generation of social entrepreneurs. [gallery ids="101229,145362,145357,145337,145351,145344" nav="thumbs"]