Weekend Roundup February 23,2012

March 8, 2012

Arthur Phillips: The Tragedy of Arthur

February 24th, 2012 at 07:00 PM | FREE | Event Website

Phillips discusses The Tragedy of Arthur, his novel about about a newly discovered — and fictional — play by Shakespeare.

Address

Folger Shakespeare Library

201 East Capitol Street SE

Washington, DC

20003

Free Computer Tune-Up

February 24th, 2012 at 07:00 PM | FREE | Event Website

Bring your computer in for a Free Tune-UP.

Optimize your hard drive

Remove unnecessary start-up programs

Clean up junk files

Provide free upgrade recommendations

Blow the dust out of your computer and clean the screen

Address

2010 P St NW,

Washington, DC

2012 DC Design House Bare Bones Tour

February 25th, 2012 at 10:00 AM | Event Website

From 10-3PM, DC Design House Bare Bones Tour benefits the Children’s National Medical Center. $5 (can be applied to the purchase of a $20 ticket for the DC Design House, April 14-May 13).
Last chance to see the 5th Annual DC Design House spaces BEFORE the 23 designers begin transforming the rooms. In 37 days, the spaces will be stunning, reflective of the top DC design talent in the DC area.

Address

4951 Rockwood Parkway, NW,

Washington DC (in Spring Valley)

FREE Puppy Playtime!

February 25th, 2012 at 10:00 AM | Event Website

FREE puppy socialization class with our Certified Dog Trainer. Please bring proof of vaccination (first round of puppy shots required.)

Address

855 Wisconsin Ave NW,

Washington, DC 20007

Blast at Bibiana

February 27th, 2012 at 06:30 PM | Event Website

Join Washington Women and Wine at Bibiana Osteria- Enoteca with NBC 4 Anchor, Angie Goff for dinner

Address

Bibiana Osteria- Enoteca

1100 New York Avenue NW

Hardy PTA Fundraiser at Town Hall

February 27th, 2012 at 05:00 PM |

Join the Hardy PTA for a fundraiser, Monday, Feb. 27 at Town Hall Restaurant.

Town Hall Restaurant – located at 2340 Wisconsin Avenue, just up the hill from Hardy – will donate 15 percent of the night’s proceeds to the PTA. Bring your friends and neighbors, meet other Hardy parents, enjoy a great meal, and support the Hardy PTA! Come anytime between 5 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.

Address

2340 Wisconsin Ave NW,

Washington, DC 20007

Theater Here and Now


The Georgetowner just previewed what the Washington theater scene is bringing us in its upcoming spring season, but here are a few plays and shows running in the here and now that are worth a look:

Red

If you have a passion for art and the mind of the artist, this is the play for you. “Red,” at Arena Stage through March 11, stars Edward Gero, a local star who seems to be just hitting his peak, as the troubled, intense abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko as he struggles with a series of murals while taking on a new assistant. Smart and powerful, the play, written by John Logan and directed by Robert Falls of Chicago’s Goodman Theater, is a must-see.

ArenaStage.org

Peter Pan, the Boy Who Whated Mothers

Just by the title alone, you know you’re not quite in Disney’s Never Never Land. Adapted and directed by Michael Lluberes from J. M. Barrie’s original play, it is being called “a dark re-telling,” another edgy piece from the No Rules Theater Company now at H Street Playhouse at 1365 H Street NE through March 3.

HStreetPlayhouse.com

The Gaming Table

Written by Susanna Centivre with additional material by David Grimm, this Folger Theater offering centers around elegant long-ago English ladies at the gambling and card tables. It also features an all female design team and is directed by Elizabeth Holdridge in the Folger’s Elizabethan Theatre through March 4.

Folger.edu

The Water Engine

Spooky Action Theatre is bringing us David Mamet’s play about an inventor who created an engine that runs exclusively on water. The play is set during Chicago’s 1933 – 1934 World’s Fair and Century of Progress Exhibition, with veteran character actor Ian LeValley playing inventor Charles Lang. The play is being performed through March 11 at the Universalist National Memorial Church 1810 16th St NW.

SpookyActionTheatre.org

Civilization (All You Can Eat)

Woolly Mammoth Theatre is continuing its apocalyptic season with this new play by Jason Grote, which follows the trail of six ambitious and very hungry city dwellers. With a play described as a vaudevillian romp of corruption, consumption and enterprise at the dawn of the Obama age, and featuring Sarah Marshall (as a character named Big Hog), as well as Danny Escobar and Naomi Jacobson, you know you’re in Woolly territory. Through March 11.

WoollyMammoth.net

Astro Boy and the God of Comics

Good words have gotten out about this new show, created and directed by Natsu Onoda Power, receiving its intergalactic premiere at the Studio Theater, now through March 11, kicking off Studio’s 2nd Stage Season. The show is based on the 1960s animation series “Astros Boy” and the life of its creator Osamu Tezuka. Director Power also helmed last season’s haunting “Songs of The Dragons Flying to Heaven.”

StudioTheatre.org

Spring Music Highlights


The Music of Budapest, Prague and Vienna Festival at the Kennedy Center

This umbrella festival is a little like taking a musical cruise on the Danube River, which runs through three of Europe’s major capitals of romantic and classical music. The Festival runs from February 25-March 29

First stop: Budapest, headquarters of the eastern part of the old Hapsburg Austro-Hungarian empire and the source of a host of musical creativity. The National Symphony Orchestra is slated to perform Bela Bartok’s “Romanian Folk Dances” and the one-act opera “Bluebeard’s Castle,” as well as music by Franz Liszt and Zoltan Kodaly and his lively waltzes. There is also a chamber performance by Budapest’s Takacs Quartet as well as a performance of “Gypsies,” a play with music from the Hungarian theatre company “Katona Jozsef Theatre.”

From Prague, we’ll get the NSO performing Antonin Dvorak’s cantata “Stabat Mater.” The Prague Philharmonica will be on hand to perform Leos Janacek’s Suite For String Orchestra. And the Eben Trio will perform chamber works by Peter Fiala, Bedfich Smetana and Dvorak.

From Vienna, there will be programs by the NSO, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, (by way of the Washington Performing Arts Society), the NSO’s Christoph Eschenbach on piano with violinist Dan Zhu, and Matthias Goerne singing Schubert’s “Winterreise.” The WNO”s performances of Mozart’s “Cosi Fan Tutte” is also part of the festival.

For a complete breakdown of the festival and dates visit Kennedy-Center.org.

WPAS

The Washington Performing Arts Society will present the Choral Arts Society and the National Symphony Orchestra performing Brahms’ “A German Requiem.” The piece is a personal favorite of Norman Scribner, the Choral Arts conductor, who will be conducting his final concert in a remarkable 47-year-career. April 22 at the Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall.

Looking much further ahead—but it’s worth doing so—is a performance by master violinist Itzhak Perlman with Rohan de Silva on Piano May 14, also at the Concert Hall.

And let’s not forget, March means St. Patrick’s Day, so we’ll be having a listen to the great, six-time Grammy award winning Chieftains, headed by founder Paddy Moloney, on a 50th Anniversary Tour also at the Concert Hall on March 16.

For more information visit WPAS.org.

Strathmore

At the Music Center at Strathmore, Max Raabe Und Das Palast Orchestra will present its own style of music from the Roaring 20s and 30s. As you might guess, Raabe and his ensemble and cohorts bring a dusky, European Berlin-ish flavor to the proceedings March 1.

Jazz and pop vocalists John Pizzarelli and Kurt Elling will pay tribute to Sinatra and Ellington with riffs on the great American Songbook May 10.

Joshua Bell and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields come to the Music Center April 13 in an already sold out program in an all-Beethoven Program April 13.

And its bluegrass and fiddle time April 17, with “The Music of Bill Monroe,” featuring Peter Rowan, Tony Rice and the Traveling McCourts.

And did you know Kevin Costner was in a band? Well, he is and its his own group called Modern West—and he’ll be at Strathmore April 5.

For more information visit Strathmore.org.

The Embassy Series

The Embassy Series, the most unique and original musical entity in the Washington area, continues another season offering top-notch classical and international music in the city’s embassies, ambassador’s residences and international cultural centers.

Coming up for founder Jerome Barry’s institution is a performance by violinist Bella Hristova, First Prize Winner in the 2008-2009 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, at the Embassy of Bulgaria March 23.

Next it’s the Mendelssohn Piano Trio at the Embassy of Austria, with Peter Sirotin on violin, Ya-Ting Chang on Piano and Fiona Thompson on cello with guest artists Michael Stepnia on viola playing a program of Austrian chamber music, including works by Haydn, Mahler and Schubert. (April 20)

April 27 brings pianist Paulius Andersson, the winner of the “Music Without Limits” competition in Lithuania playing works by Mozart, Liszt, Scarlatti, Beethoven and other at the Embassy of Lithuania.

EmbassySeries.org

Our Daydream Believer, Davy Jones


The death of Davy Jones, the most popular member of the singing group, the Monkees, at age 66 was shocking.

Who knew he was 66?

Who knew that even Monkees could age and become vulnerable to all the dangers of old age, like the heart attacked that felled Jones?

The Monkees — Jones, Mickey Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork — were in their brief time absolutely huge, and they were unique. In the time of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, the Doors and the Beach Boys, the Monkees were a totally manufactured — after much auditioning — rock group made for television — literally. “The Monkees” was a quirky, big-hit, half-hour television show, right in the middle of the glory days and haze of 1960s’ rock and roll.

In a way, the Monkees, who looked like very early unscruffed Beatles, adorable as panda bears, were antidotes to the hippie-blues world of drugs, sex and rock and roll that prevailed during their two-year stay on television from 1966-1968. “We don’t like to put people down” was part of their anthem sound, nor, apparently did they have truck with groupies (thousands of screaming girls were part of their live act), drugs, booze or politics. They were energized, electric, nice guys with nice voices, whose energy was infectious, it had a sweet delirious quality to it that was reminiscent of the Richard Lester Beatle films like “Help!”

Hardcore rock-and-roll critics, who found the boys wanting in seriousness, content and rebelliousness, pretty much dumped on them, although hordes of fans embraced them. It should be noted that in one year, the Monkees had record sales that topped the combined efforts of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, a considerable achievement.

The Monkees rolled out hit after hit, including “Hey, Hey We’re The Monkees,” the theme song of the show, “I’m a Believer” and “Daydream Believer.”

Jones, easily the best known of the quartet, never stopped performing, without or without his mates. Although the group as a whole had a faintly British trope to them, Jones was the only actual Englishman, who once played the Artful Dodger in a Broadway production of “Oliver.” Story has it that the cast played the Ed Sullivan Show the same night that the Beatles rocked the American world.

Jones was born in Manchester, England, which eventually became a title for a rock song. The Monkees may not have been great singers, but they achieved great and huge pop status, with their own inimitable combo of personalities. They were the softer side of rock and roll in the 1960s and 1970s, much like Herman’s Hermits, with impossible to get-out-of-your-head songs (“I’m Henery the Eight, I am” in the Hermits’ case).

We interviewed Peter Noone, the Herman of the Hermits, once when he toured with a production of “Pirates of Penzance” at the National Theater. In one of those unaccountable moments of sheer blank stupidity, I asked him “what was it like being a Monkee?” After what seemed like a very long no-place-to-hide silence, Noone, with good humor, acknowledged that he was in fact a Hermit, not a Monkee.

John Stewart, a former member of the legendary folk group, the Kingston Trio, wrote “Daydream Believer,” when he was living in Marin County outside San Francisco in the 1960s. A rugged singer with Kristofferson charisma, he recorded his own version, which was rueful, romantic, a paen to loving and living young and hardscrabble; it sold few copies, The Monkees turned it into a huge hit, transforming it instantly into a “Sweet Caroline” of memory. They’re the reason most remember the lyrics: “Cheer up, sleepy Jean. Oh, what can it mean. To a daydream believer and a homecoming queen.” Stewart made a nice career for himself singing about regular American folks around the country, including on Bobby Kennedy’s campaign trail, until his death a few years ago. Stewart probably didn’t complain much, given the royalties.

Stewart and Jones were both daydream believers and both gone now.

It’s Over: Romney Is Still the Winner


Even as the Michigan and Arizona Republican primaries have gone into the record books, I’m going on the record to say what I’ve been saying pretty much since around the primary days of Iowa and New Hampshire.

It’s over.

I don’t know how many times I have to say it. The GOP primary race is over.

Romney will win, has won even as he muddles on. He’ll win even if he loses Ohio on Super Tuesday tomorrow.

I don’t pretend to be a seer here by any means. I mean, even when Romney wins, he loses or ties. If anyone could screw up a sure thing, it’s the honorable Mitt Romney of BYU, Utah, Michigan and Massachusetts.

But still: it’s over.

Why? Because nobody among the rag-tag band of survivors from the original rag-tag band of announced candidates can win.

The media loves to talk about members of the Republican establishment — Bob Dole, a lobbyist or two in New York and Fred Thompson perhaps — who are panicking with almost every vote cast for, at first, Newt, now fading faster than a silver bullet gone astray, and now Rick Santorum, who was unceremoniously booted out of the Senate seat he had in Pennsylvania when last he ran for office.

Santorum has become the defender of true conservatism, and certainly typical of the 2012 crop of GOP candidates suffering from terminal foot-in-mouth disease. Just recently, when he called President Barack Obama a “snob” for insisting that everyone should go to college, GOP governors were reduced to defending Obama. Of late, he picked a fight with President John Kennedy over the issue of separation of church and state, which the former senator apparently doesn’t believe in much.

Santorum, avoiding the jobs issue, has gone all in with no chips on the values issues: abortion, contraceptives, gays and religion. Which is why I repeat: it’s over.

Santorum is heading into Super Tuesday hoping to win Ohio, Gingrich hopes to win in Georgia, and Romney is going to win . . . period. Santorum got swamped in Arizona where he did badly in the debate but got a split of delegates in Romney’s home state of Michigan. So, he figures a tie is not like kissing your sister, of which he would disapprove vehemently in any case.

This GOP race for the nomination has been a farce. As that great political sage and seer Stephen Sondheim wrote, “Send in the clowns, don’t bother they’re here.”

You gotta admit: Romney is a fighter especially with a bunch of opponents that hardly resemble murderer’s row. More like doofus row. He flustered Perry, ignored Bachman, was nice to the pizza guy, shot Newt out of the water in Florida, and now has Santorum by way of Obama in his sights. Romney is like the Harlem Globetrotters who routinely are matched with designated loser teams, which they dispatch with ease after much hilarity. Romney’s opponents have been somewhat similar —they’re not in his class. Yet Romney appears to have trouble winning and winning over the GOP base. This allows him to be the front runner and the comeback kid at the same time, a neat trick come to think of it.

Along the way, the former governor of Massachusetts has shed almost every shred of what could tag him as a moderate to court the party’s base, otherwise known as the Tea Party and Christian right. He’s accepted the endorsement of Donald Trump and, most recently, the governor of Arizona who appeared to notice, after yelling nose to nose at Obama, that Romney had a double-digit lead and made her endorsement on Meet The Press.

Nevertheless, he has failed to seal the deal. The right is suspicious of him, the independents and moderates are aghast every time he says stuff like how nice the trees are in Michigan, that his wife drives two Cadillacs or that $350,000 isn’t a lot of money.

So, why does the Republican Party seem so fragmented, so ill at ease, united on hardly anything except “We don’t like Barack Obama, the lying elitist socialist Muslim from Kenya who’s going to destroy the American way of life”?

The trouble with Romney is nobody really knows what he stands for, what his core principles are — except that what’s good for business is good for America . . . so let’s cut taxes. When you get his slogans — drop Obama care, stay in Afghanistan, lower taxes, you get bromides which sound with every telling a little closer to Tea Party rhetoric.

He’s the spitting image of a presidential candidate — those teeth, that hair, those boys, those blue jeans ensembles. His wife is the perfect candidate’s wife: she’s funny, blonde, gorgeous, smart and down to earth. It’s a wonder Gingrich hasn’t proposed to her.

Nothing sticks to Romney. He has turned detachment into a plus, minus the irony that usually accompanies it. Most importantly, he’s detached from the lives of most Americans. If the nomination process has done anything, it’s to expose that detachment, that disconnect.

One media writer who supports Romney nonetheless admitted he was “a dork” and that he would present himself as the brainy doctor who would cure the economy. Good luck in convincing the middle class of that one.

But the GOP race?

It’s over. Don’t say a word, Yogi Berra.

Washington D.C. To Host High Speed Rail Summit

March 5, 2012

The Federal Highway Act of 1956 changed the lives of Americans. Thousands of jobs were created, cars were purchased and suburbs emerged. Our economy thrived and revitalized our nation. Trains were no longer needed as automobiles were affordable and all the rage.

56 years later, it is 2012. Cars are not as affordable. Gas prices are through the roof. Our carbon footprints are larger than life. And our economy, well, we all know how that is.

To help with job creation and get America moving again (and fast), many are in support of bringing the High Speed Rail to the United States. The HSR will connect major cities together with a 17,000 mile national high speed rail system with an estimated completion date by 2030.

The trains are revolutionizing the world as they speed across countries at 220 miles per hour. They currently operate in more than 20 countries worldwide including the UK, France, Spain, China and Germany. In Japan, 9 billion passengers have been riding the trains for over 45 years without a single fatality. Ten more countries are under construction including Saudi Arabia and Italy. Turkey, Morocco, Russia, Poland, Brazil and Argentina are among the 14 countries currently under development.

The High Speed Rail Summit, an independent, nonprofit trade association focused on advancing the speed rail in the country, will be meeting in Washington, D.C. on February 28- March 1 where supporters and opponents of bringing the trains to our nation can voice their opinions. Numerous highlighted speakers who will be in attendance include U.S. Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, U.S. Congressman John Mica, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and U.S. Congressman Jim Oberstar. They’ll inform the public and continue to gain popularity and support to begin building the trains that could reshape our country’s transportation system and kick our economy back in to full gear.

The speakers will discuss the many challenges with launching a major new infrastructure project as large as this, such as the high cost to begin the project (just $98 billion in California alone), but will also stress the importance of bringing the high speed rail to the United States. The High Speed Rail Summit said the project will not only revive our economy and add millions of new jobs, but it will reduce our dependence on oil, reduce congestion and provide safe and affordable transportation. These trains have the ability to take 18.6 million cars off the road, said Peter Calthorpe for the New York Times. “This type of development means less air pollution, fewer respiratory diseases, less water consumption, efficient local infrastructure and lower costs to local governments,” he said.

With the pros and cons piling up across the country, it might be difficult to decide to stand for or against the High Speed Rail. Join others this Tuesday- Thursday at Alion Conference Center, 1100 New Jersey Ave S.E., directly across the street from Navy Yard metro station, for speeches, networking events and programs to establish an opinion on the project that could quite possibly change the way Americans travel. Again.

Register here:

YouTube Video: High Speed Trains Around The World

Weekend Roundup March 1, 2012


Young Innovators Seminar and Exhibition

MARCH 2ND, 2012 AT 10:00 AM | EVENT
WEBSITE

Learn more about how to support and promote young innovators at this event with speakers including White House Director for Youth Engagement, Ronnie Cho, and Sweden’s Minister for Enterprise, Ms. Annie Loof, who are helping to get the youth’s ideas to market

Address

House of Sweden

2900 K Street NW

Tilar Mazzeo & Stacy Schiff

MARCH 2ND, 2012 AT 07:30 PM | $15 | TEL: (202) 675- 0342 | EVENT WEBSITE

Mazzeo is a New York Time best-selling author of books on wine, travel, French culture, and the history of luxury, including The Secret of Channel No. 5: The Intimate History of the World’s Most Famous Perfume. Schiff is the author of Vera, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and most recently, Cleopatra: A Life, named one of The New York Times’ 10 Best Books of 2010. Reception and boook signing to follow.

Address

Folger Shakespeare Library

201 East Capitol Street SE

Washington, DC 20003

Family Day 2012: Up, Up, and Away!

MARCH 3RD, 2012 AT 10:00 AM | TEL: (202) 639- 1700 | EVENT WEBSITE

Inspired by themes of space and travel as seen in Are We There Yet? featuring special hands-on art workshops, performances and more

Address

500 17th Street NW

Washington, D.C. 20006

The Art and Words of John Paton Davies, Jr.

MARCH 3RD, 2012 AT 12:00 PM | TEL: (301) 581- 5100 | EVENT WEBSITE

Monoprints by the celebrated diploment turned artist, John Paton Davies, Jr. will be on display

Address

Strathmore

10701 Rockville Pike, North Bethesda, MD

Preparing for the Ball: Dancing

MARCH 6TH, 2012 AT 07:00 PM | 10-12 | TEL: 202-337-2288 | EVENT WEBSITE

Second in a series of four 19th-century skills & etiquette workshops, with the “American Ladies,” Pat Sowers and Jackie Geschickter. Become immersed in Jane Austen’s world at Dumbarton House’s annual Spring Ball on March 24. To prepare for the festivities, attend one or all four classes on period games and dances. Series includes: Feb. 28, Gaming; March 6, Dancing; March 13, Gaming; and March 20, Dancing. Classes are held in the Belle Vue Room. Each class $12; Members $10.

Address
Dumbarton House

2715 Q Street, NW,

Washington, DC, 20007

Dalton Pratt hosts a trunk show for Kara Ackerman Jewelry

MARCH 8TH, 2012 AT 06:00 PM | $45.00-$2000.00 | DALTONPRATTDC@GMAIL.COM | TEL: 202-333-3256 | EVENT WEBSITE

Dalton Pratt invites you to a trunk show featuring Kara Ackerman fine and fashion jewelry. Thursday, March 8th 6:00 to 8:00 pm cocktails, Friday March 9th and Saturday March 9th 10:00 am to 5:30 pm.

Address

1742 Wisconsin Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20007

Checking Over the Helen Hayes Nominations


As usual, as always, the Helen Hayes Awards nomination announcements give great joy to those individual artists who have been nominated and generate a lot of grousing, head scratching and more than a little controversy.

The folks at the Helen Hayes Awards, which tally up the work of a hierarchy of judges to arrive at their nominations, have been at it for 28 years now, and, as with all awards processes, you’re not going to make everybody happy. This is true for the HHs, as well as the Oscars, Grammys, Tonys and so on. But the Helen Hayes Awards have always had a kind of ebb and flow throughout their history, almost a celebratory duty to reveal the depth and breadth, the true size and variety of the talented groups and individual artists that comprise the Washington theater community.

Theaters come and go, and those that stay are eventually rewarded. It took Joy Zinoman, founder of the Studio Theater, a number of years to receive an outstanding director, while her successor David Muse is up for two this year (and deservedly so) for “The Habit of Art” and “Venus in Fur.” Small theaters often struggle for years to get recognized, but look what’s happened in recent times to Toby Orenstein at Toby’s Dinner Theater and Adventure Theater, the surging children’s theater in Glen Echo that is starting to be recognized.

Others have instant success: take note of Signature Theater’s instant blowout with “Sweeney Todd,” which debuted under Eric Schaeffer and seemingly never stopped. And Synetic Theater, the Georgian (as in Russia) troupe that specializes in mounting silent Shakespearean works and classical theater by way of movement, choreography and silence, is popular with judges and critics every year, often walking away with outstanding ensemble, direction, choreography and design awards.

But 15 nominations for Synetic’s version of “King Lear”? Really?

The nominations, including several for acting, raise questions about the nominations that are showered on Synetic. The problem with the group — headed by the husband and wife team of Pata and Irina Tsikurshvilli — is a kind of contradiction. I think it’s a remarkable group, and there is no argument with the fact that the troupe is a Washington treasure. Its style is unique, original and often downright astonishing. There’s no other company doing work like Synetic except perhaps major dance companies. Synetic is in a category all its own for which there is no real competition. It seems to me at least that matching actors, for instance, who don’t have to memorize lines or speeches, or deal with the niceties dealt with by actors in even the most cutting edge new plays seems unfair to both. Just saying.

Traditionally, the awards constitute a combination of old and new, and honor both resident and non-resident plays. But those distinctions sometimes blur. For instance, the Kennedy Center, which imports much of its theatrical offerings, including highly anticipated national tours of Broadway shows, has also been a successful producer under its president Michael Kaiser. Last year’s ground-up production of Stephen Sondheim’s “Follies,” which starred Bernadette Peters and was directed by Schaeffer, could be expected to get a few nods. It did, competing with the award for “Best Musical” with “Liberty Smith,” a popular family take on the American Revolution, at Ford’s “Pop,” a musical about Andy Warhol at Studio, “Hairspray” at Signature and “Side by Side with Sondheim” at Signature.

Schaeffer, Peters and other artists did not make the list, although Jan Maxwell did.

“Best Resident” play nominations were given to Folger’s mounting of “Cyrano!,” Synetic’s “King Lear”, Arena’s “Ruined,” the haunting, stark “A Bright New Boise” at the Woolly Mammoth and “Venus in Fur” at Studio.

My favorites for actors and actresses: Ted van Griethuysen playing W.H. Auden in “The Habit of Art” at Studio Theater, and the remarkable Erica Sullivan for her quick-silver turn in “Venus in Fur.” I’d also give the nod for best performer in a musical to the immensely appealing and energetic Geoff Packard, who made “Liberty Smith” as good as it could possibly be. And I’ll still take “Follies” as best among the musicals, and “A Bright New Boise” in a tie with “Venus in Fur.” (They often have ties at these things).

Winners will be announced in the annual gala at the Warner Theatre April 23. For a complete list of nominees, go to www.TheatreWashington.org.

End Glover Park’s Liquor Moratorium


After a long standoff between citizens, business owners and community organizations, the Glover Park ANC has voted to raise the cap of its 16-year-old moratorium to bring in more bars and restaurants—by two.

Two more liquor licenses for beer, wine and spirits have been brought into the commercial strip that has been struggling to attract commerce for years. Empty storefronts and underwhelming establishments run up and down the blocks of Glover Park, with retail scarce and new businesses almost nonexistent—unless you can’t the new Chipotle, which sticks out like a very fancy weed.

The neighborhood has long struggled with revitalization efforts, caught between lifting the moratorium altogether to bring in more bars and restaurants, and its residents resisting for fear of their neighborhood turning into a raucous bar crawl avenue and party scene every weekend. As Washington City Paper pointed out, “It’s a familiar debate: Places like H Street, Barracks Row, and U Street have all flirted with the idea of turning off the taps.”

This is the first increase in liquor licenses for the neighborhood since 2008, when three new licenses were released and all but devoured by the already-existing Surfside, Breadsoda and Rocklands.

Still, the Glover Park Citizens Association (GPCA) is fighting to lift the moratorium entirely. “By not recommending to end the [liquor license] moratorium completely the last time this debate happened, the ANC missed a chance to promote growth and diversity in our neighborhood eateries… Liquor licenses are necessary for Glover Park restaurants to compete with restaurants in other nearby areas,” GPAC said in a joint statement on their petition website, [GPMoratorium.com](http://www.gpmoratorium.com/#!).

The next GPCA meeting to discuss the moratorium is Tuesday, March 6, at 7pm at Stoddert Elementary on Calvert St. For more information visit [GPAC](http://www.gpcadc.org/) online.

Annual Flamenco Festival


Experience a bit of Spanish culture in Washington, D.C. from February 29 to March 7 at the annual Flamenco Festival at the GW Lisner Auditorium. Performances range from traditional gypsy flamenco to contemporary and Spanish classical dance. The Flamenco Festival will also be presented at venues in New York, Miami and Boston.

The festival kicks off with Gala Flamenca on February 29, where three of flamenco’s leading female dancers – Rafaela Carrasco, Olga Pericet and Carmen Cortés – will share the stage.

On March 2, Olga Pericet will combine different dance-styles, challenging technique and impressive athcleticism in her performance Rosa, Metal, Ceniza.

The following night, March 3, award-winning dancer, Manuela Carrasco, will show-case the essence of gypsy flamenco in her new show Suspiro Flamenco.

To round up the festivities, Rafaela Carrasco will perform the show Vamos al Tiroteo on March 7, together with four male dancers, a live band and two flamenco singers, to a selection of popular Spanish songs.

For more information, please visit www.spainculture.us or www.flamencofestival.org

Coming up in our next issue, look for more information on the Spanish Cultural Program for Spring/Summer 2012, including an interview with the Ambassador of Spain!
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