News & Politics

Gary Tischler • March 5, 2012

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.

Ari Post •

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.

Jeff Malet • March 1, 2012

Every four years, Americans elect a president, and candidates and reporters face off on the campaign trail. On Feb. 17, just in time for Presidents’ Day weekend, the Newseum is opening a new election year exhibit, “Every Four Years: Presidential Campaigns and the Press” featuring 120 artifacts from elections past. The exhibit will be open through the next inauguration day and will close Jan. 27, 2013. It is sponsored by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and The Washington Examiner. A 250,000-square-foot interactive museum of news, the Newseum is located at the intersection of Pennsyvania Ave. and Sixth St., NW, in Washington, D.C. View our photos of the exhibit by clicking on the photo icons below. [gallery ids="100494,117933,117945,117956,117961,117969,117977,117985,117993,118001,118009,118017,117924,117913,117901,118053,117829,118045,117840,118039,117852,118033,117861,117869,117880,117891,118025" nav="thumbs"]

Gary Tischler •

Serendipity isn’t always what it’s cut out to be.

But the death of Whitney Elizabeth Houston at the age of 48, her body found in a bathtub the afternoon before the Grammy Awards Show, in the same hotel where a gala honoring mega-legendary record producer Clive Davis, who discovered and promoted the singer from her teens onward, was a trainload of serendipity that couldn’t help but put a ghost in the machine of the always slickly fueled awards show.

Houston’s death sent a shock wave through the proceedings, through the land of music videos, and the gathering of pop, rock, hip hop, rap, country music stars and anybody (and is there anybody that hasn’t) who ever heard the first thrilling surge of “I Will Always Love You.”. The song and the images of Houston at her youthful, stunning, energetic peak were everywhere by Sunday and Sunday news time. Houston with a pedigree and a gift that fast-tracked her to super-stardom in the music world hadn’t had a major hit or album in years, but she got one almost instantly when news of her passing burst out like baleful thunder, as a compilation album streaked to the top of the lists like a rocket. Such is the death of music stars: the same happened to Elvis, John Lennon and Michael Jackson.

In the news — in spite of the Rev. Al Sharpton’s admonition to celebrate the life of Houston, to concentrate on the joy her music and charisma brought to people — it was a split and inevitable decision, a rise-and-fall story of extreme proportions.

Here was this gifted young girl — a teen who led her church choir in New Jersey—with a mother who was a famous gospel singer, a godmother who was the queen of soul and a cousin that was in some ways the perfect interpreter of pop music as written by Burt Bacharach. That trio would be Cissy Houston, Aretha Franklin and Dionne Warwick, and they would provide the musical influences that were the essence of her singing. Producer Clive Davis, after hearing her sing backup with Chaka Khan and other singers, guided her career and signed her to a contract.

She was almost perfection: thin and slender, she was on the cover of Seventeen magazine, she spawned hits with a voice that could break chandeliers and she hit incredible notes that lasted longer than Michael Jordan’s hang-time. She had the best combination of all — an effusive, charismatic personality, a voice nobody could top nor has anyone since, an astonishing beauty made for the age of music videos. In the 1980s and 1990s, she was arguably the biggest female star in the pop music firmament, rolling out a string of hits like “How Will I Know,” “The Greatest Love of All,” “Saving All My Love For You” and the infectious “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” where Houston, with a rich, birds-nest Afro, danced with everybody that saw the video.

Then came “The Bodyguard,” a classy trashy, perfect formula movie that critics disdained and predicted a quick departure. Let’s see: There was Houston, no actress but able to do a world-famous diva star, there was Kevin Costner with a brand new rough-butch haircut and only the biggest male movie star in the world at the time, there was a pop crossover soundtrack that sold millions maybe billions, there was crossover romance and there was “I Will Always Love You,” which Houston managed to sing twice. What’s not to like?

That was followed by a part in “Waiting to Exhale,” a serious black-chick flick and a big hit, cementing her bonafides as superstar, Hollywood-style.

And if the story had stopped there, it would be perfect.

But it didn’t.

Because Houston met and married Bobby Brown, a volatile R&B singer with a record — and it wasn’t hit singles but a rap sheet. They loved and battled, and pretty soon you could read all about Houston every time you stepped into a supermarket checkout line about fights with Brown, alleged abuse and drug abuse of all kinds. When given a litany of drugs on national television of drugs she abused, there were many, many, a shocking admission by a major public entertainment figure of her stature.

Nothing was ever the same. There were more fights with Brown, separation and a divorce, and Houston got custody of their only child. There were shoddy live concerts and cancellations. It seemed as if her life had become one big train wreck, in spite of the emotional support of friends and family. There were comeback attempts, but her voice and her great, natural beauty had taken a beating.

The sadness is that it’s a familiar story, sans details and particulars — those great soaring rises to fame and wealth, and the long fall down. The music industry especially is full of such stories. The surprise was not that her sudden death Saturday was a shock, but that the shock was not a shock of surprise.

The cause of her death was not announced officially by the Los Angeles County coroner’s officer, awaiting results of an autopsy, but rumors of drug use and instances of recent erratic behavior once again were the talk of the blogosphere.

Watching the Grammy Awards show was to see an example of a world of which for a long time she was the queen, but it’s a kingdom that has rashly changed since her reign. It was full of fireworks, huge production numbers by the like of Ms. Perry, and Rhianna, mismatched to Cold Play, and voices that couldn’t match Houston’s on a good day. It was full of old-timers, the Beach Boys saddled up, and sometimes saddled with old band-mate and genius Brian Wilson who sat like a tree at the piano, Paul McCartney needing a hundred violins or so to bring off his number, mixed with another controversial Brown named Chris, and the impeccably wispy and dull Taylor Swift, whose pouty “Mean.” which she sang forever, seemed to be the best that country music had to over this year.

When an oh-so-brief clip of Houston singing you know what or “the Star-Spangled Banner” appeared, you knew there was no one there who could match or let alone top her. Her gifts were so apparent, her voice such a gift, that they needed little embellishment. It should be said that Jennifer Hudson, no slouch in the big voice department, honored her well with her rendition of Houston’s greatest hit in a respectful, tear-producing tribute to Houston at the end of the program.

The rest, unfortunately, will not be silence, but endless blogging, rumors and tweeting. Once again, Houston will rule the checkout line.

We would all be better off to turn aside from the roar and gossip of the fame machine. Better yet, find somebody to dance with. And that song will always be there, in your head and heart, when all the Enquirers and Access Hollywood reporters run out of breath.

Georgetowner •

Random Acts of Kindness Day

February 17th

Did you know that this week is Random Acts of Kindness Week? Take a moment this week to do something nice for others…

Take a look at how some of Georgetown’s businesses will be celebrating Random Acts of Kindness on February 17th:?

Sprinkles Cupcakes: 1 free mini cupcake per customer?

The Dog Shop: free dog treats and 10% off sales donated to Lucky Dog Animal Rescue?

Vineyard Vines: free shipping and gift wrap?LUSH: complimentary facials/hand treatments?

Alchimie Forever: a customer will be randomly selected from Facebook for one gift certificate?

Bangkok Joes: show your Facebook post to receive a free spring roll

Where: Georgetown Businesses

CAG Georgetown ARTS Show 2012

February 16th-20th, 11am-5pm

The talent of Georgetown resident artists will be on view at the 3rd Annual Georgetown Arts Show.

Address

House of Sweden

2900 K St, NW

Admission: Free

Contact: 202.337.7313

Out of Sight

February 18th, 2012 at 10:30 AM | $5

Life and Works of Enslaved and Domestic Servants at Tudor Place — Come tour and explore the changing nature and routines of domestic service from 1816- modern times.

Address

Tudor Place Historic House and Garden

1644 31st Street, NW

Washington | DC | 20007

National Eating Disorders Association’s 2nd Annual Washington D.C. NEDA Walk

February 19th, 2012 at 11:00 AM | $20 | Event Website

National Eating Disorders Awareness week’s 2nd annual Washington DC NEDA 5k Walk

Address

The National Mall across from the Smithsonian Castle

St. Jude Gourmet Gala

February 21st, 2012 at 05:30 PM | $350 | daniela.romero@stjude.org | Tel: (703) 351-5171 | Event Website

The Heisley Family Foundation will be hosting the 14th annual St. Jude Gourmet Gala featuring a cocktail reception and silent auction from 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM followed by a program and restaurant tasting 7:00 PM – 9:30 PM. Business attire requested.

Address

National Building Museum

401 F Street NW

Washington, DC

Marit Fosso •

Albrecht Muth, a 47-year-old Georgetown resident, was charged in the murder of his 91-year-old wife, Viola Drath. He is now being hospitalized.

According to the Associated Press, his doctors are calling him delusional. Muth claims that he sees Archangel Gabriel who gives him instructions on what to do.

While in jail, he had been starving himself, but has begun eating again. He says he does want to continue with his 40-day fast soon, however.

“He thinks that he is chosen like Moses and Jesus, that he will be protected in his 40-day fast,” said Maria Amato, lawyer for the D.C. Department of Corrections.

On Tuesday, Muth was ruled temporarily incompetent for trial by Washington, D.C. Superior Court Judge, Russel F. Canan and was moved to St. Elizabeths psychiatric hospital in Washington, D.C. where he will receive a full mental evaluation, according to the Huffington Post. After the doctors at St. Elizabeth Hospital have evaluated Muth, the D.C. Superior Court judge will revisit his ruling.

Michelle Kingston •

The Dutch outfit Suitsupply, known for its quality suits at reasonable prices, will be opening its doors at 2800 Pennsylvania Avenue at the Four Seasons. The only other US location is in New York.

Move over Einstein’s Bagels, Noodles and Company is taking over Einstein’s Bagels old location by the Safeway building at 1855 Wisconsin Avenue. Dine in or take out a wide array of menu options, all containing noodles of course.

Campari as told to Karen Feld •

My mom loves both dogs and dog art -– there’s little better than that combination for us. So, she took me to the Barkfest annual charity brunch at Bonhams Auction House on posh Madison Avenue in Manhattan Feb. 12. It was fun for a Georgetown pup to sniff out the buffet brunch which included dog treats on the tables with the bagels and mini muffins. The event benefited a worthwhile cause: the American Kennel Club’s Humane Fund, a charity which promotes responsible pet ownership.

While the 130 humans, many of them collectors or breeders, checked out the prized dog art collection, I met a canine celebrity, London, the reigning AKC/Eukanuba national champion, whose show name is Grand Champion Jaset’s Satisfaction, as in the Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” He’s a black standard poodle and competed at this year’s dog show at Madison Square Garden. He is much larger than I am and among the 50 dogs at the brunch. He strutted around me and was primping and posing on the eve of his Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show appearance. We also met Clare, a four-month old Havanese, closer to my size, with owner Joan Ambrose, who had her father, P.J., the number one of the breed.

Richard Vulliet, a veterinarian and professor at University of California at Davis, attended the brunch without Magnum, his Canaan, the reigning national champion. “He’s in ‘doggie jail’ because he’s showing tomorrow,” Vulliet explained. He described his dog as “a coyote crossed with a Holstein cow.” The Israeli government uses the breed as bomb sniffers. Vulliet shared with us the exciting potential of his extensive research in California using stem cell technology to extend dogs’ lives. That deserves a big “woof.”

Bonhams annual “Dogs in Show & Field: The Fine Art Sale” of dog-related objects and art coincides with Westminster week. “The AKC has the largest and best collection of dog art in the world,” said Alan Fausel, director of fine art at Bonhams NY.

And, yes, you might have heard about this year’s winner of the 136th Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show: Malachy, the Pekingese, is more my size but with a lot more fur. [gallery ids="100495,118041" nav="thumbs"]

Robert Devaney •

While you may have missed former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton strolling around 36th and Prospect Streets near his alma mater Georgetown University, after dining at 1789 Restaurant Feb. 17, you can tune into public television tonight for the start of a two-part documentary on Clinton, just in time for Presidents’ Day.

Public Broadcasting Service’s “American Experience” takes on the Clinton years in a four-hour, two-part treatment, which airs 9 p.m., tonight and tomorrow (locally, WETA and WHUT).

Clinton began his presidential run in autumn 1991, giving his “New Covenant” speeches at Georgetown University’s Gaston Hall. At the time, Georgetowner editor and publisher David Roffman gave an assignment to one of his editors to cover the address by the Arkansas governor who was seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. Roffman had thought it a minor local event as he believed Clinton did not have a chance to beat Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.).

Gary Tischler •

David Selby is not related to Abraham Lincoln, nor is he a Lincoln impersonator. He has been Lincoln, often, on stage, and he has written about Lincoln, most notably in a novel. He has undoubtedly dreamed about him.

On the phone, Selby sounds like Lincoln, which is a funny thing to think since nobody living actually knows what Lincoln sounded like. Selby has a kind of warm, gruff, down-to-earth voice that also makes him a good listener, the voice has a regional identity not far removed from the Midwest and points just below. He was born and raised in Morgantown, West Virginia, a border state somewhat like Kentucky, from which people moved west, meaning Illinois and Missouri.

“I know, you have nothing really to draw on when you’re saying his words or words that have been written for him,” Selby said. He was in the final week or so of “Necessary Sacrifices,” a new play which ended its run at Ford’s Theatre Feb. 18. The play, by Richard Hellesen, imagines, very effectively by all accounts, meetings between the country’s most beloved and haunting president and Frederick Douglass, the fiery, intense African-American abolitionist and civil rights leader of the period. “I’ve read an uncommon amount about Lincoln and written some, too, and from all accounts he actually had something of a high-pitched voice. I imagine most people imagine it otherwise.”

Lincoln moved in and out of Selby’s life almost from the beginning of his adulthood. “I went to school in Illinois, and because I was tall and kind of lanky, like Lincoln, I often got asked to portray him in plays, and such. There was Salem, a town where he spent his youth, and its Lincoln museum. So, I did a lot of Lincoln work there,” Selby said. “He kind of haunts you. The man dripped melancholy. He was inspiring — he had this quality of being preternaturally eloquent — and down to earth. For a man who was often acutely sad he had a wonderful sense of humor. He told those salty stories and jokes just about everywhere he went.”

Selby also portrayed Lincoln in unforgettable fashion four years ago at Ford’s when, after a major renovation, it re-opened with “The Heavens Are Hung In Black,” a long, compelling play about Lincoln’s White House years. Selby, it seemed to me, embodied the man and the president, the husband, the father who suffered a loss as great as any in the country, the theater buff.

“Wasn’t that a wonderful scene? I loved playing that,” Selby said, referring to a scene in which the restless Lincoln wanders into a theater and encounters a group of actors rehearsing “Henry V” and debated the issue of which were the best lines in the play. “He loved the theater, he saw all the Booths, including his assassin.”

Selby doesn’t really need Lincoln to have an outstanding performing career. His stage career includes “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” Broadway and road companies of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” and “Much Ado About Nothing” when he and Kelly McGillis provided memorable performances in the Shakespeare comedy which opened the Shakespeare Theatre Company move to the Lansburgh Theatre.

But on television, he’s got enduring pop culture fame, as one of the principals in “Dark Shadows,” the cultishly popular daytime vampire soap opera, as well as being a regular on night time hits “Falcon Crest” and “Flamingo Road.”

He’s got a part in the highly anticipated Tim Burton movie version of “Dark Shadows,” which stars Johnny Depp. “They took me on the set in London,” he said. “They’ve created a whole world ground up, it’s a huge set. It was a delight being there.”

“Necessary Sacrifices” was warmly received here, although it had its troubles, with the actor initially playing Douglass dropping out and being replaced by Craig Wallace. “Craig did a terrific job, I have to tell you,” Selby said. “We got things going quickly, it was a smooth transition.”

All other credits and multi-tasking, multi-talented qualities aside, though, Selby has Lincoln with him always. “Playing him is a challenge, and I guess a responsibility,” he said. “You never get to the bottom of him. The balancing of man and myth, legend and human being, that’s the challenge. But I never get tired of playing Lincoln.”

It may be Lincoln who brings Selby home, to his better angels, as he does for everyone. From everything written about him — the poetic books by Sandburg, the poems by Whitman, the histories and biographies, never stopping like a factory — you get the sense that Lincoln wore and played the president’s role well without ever having to put on a mask that hid his humanity. Selby’s voice in that sense sounds like Lincoln’s.