Weekend Roundup

Georgetowner • June 27, 2014

Total Art: Contemporary Video

June 6th, 2014 at 12:00 PM | $8-10 | reservations@nmwa.org | Tel: 202-783-7373 | Event Website

Early videos were often single-channel shorts, made with experimental techniques and political content that critiqued mainstream media. A half-century later, video artists are attuned to popular media formats rather than critical of them. To create immersive, experiential works, today’s artists design elaborate stage sets, film at remote locations, incorporate digital technology and animation, and meticulously plan viewing spaces.

Address

National Museum of Women in the Arts; 1250 New York Ave NW

Volta Park Annual Fundraiser

June 6th, 2014 at 07:00 PM

Auction, live band and food and drink from 1789 Restaurant.

Address

Georgetown Visitation Prep, 35th Street and Volta Place.

Unlimited Wine at The Block

June 7th, 2014 at 01:00 PM | $30.00 | ilovebeer@drinkthedistrict.com | Tel: (202) 618-3663 | Event Website

It’s time for Drink the District and this time, it’s wine edition! For a limited time, tickets are just $30, so buy them while you can! Get out of the bars and into the sunshine to mingle with other young professionals, enjoy live music and try over 100 varietals of local, national and international wines. Buy now on LivingSocial, limited quantities available!

For more information check out our website, like us on Facebook at Drink the District and follow us on Twitter at @Drink_District

Address

The Block; 500 New York Ave NW

Les Papillons de Nuit

June 7th, 2014 at 05:00 PM | 125 per person, 200 per couple | cbaerveldt@iefusa.org | Tel: 1-240-290-0263 ext 118 | Event Website

An evening of tasting, music, and entertainment to save sight for a lifetime. Step back in time for a fun, festive one-woman Cabaret Theatre show written, produced and starring Robin Phillips. Evoking the bygone spirits of the Paris Music Hall scene from 1900s to the 1960s, you will be delighted and entertained. Wine and hors d’oeuvres prior to the show. Limited to first 75, reservations required.

Address

Carderock Falls Manor; 1323 Calder Road; McLean, Va. 22101

Sunday Supper

June 8th, 2014 at 05:30 AM | $250 | cpropsting@edens.com | Tel: 301-347-3492 | Event Website

D.C.’s acclaimed Union Market will be the setting for the third annual Sunday Supper to benefit the James Beard Foundation, specifically the Sunday Supper Union Market Scholarship, which helps fund a grant for up-and-coming women restaurateurs. Diners will share a communal table and enjoy the cooking of the chefs and food producers who make the evening possible. This year’s meal will feature three sit-down courses and dessert and will showcase Good Food Award ingredients.

Address

1309 5th St NW

A Rhapsodic Duo

June 8th, 2014 at 04:00 PM | $25 | musicinmclean@gmail.com | Tel: 703-356-0670 | Event Website

Pianist Thomas Pandolfi, known for his intensity and technical brilliance, along with cellist Doug Wolters, principal cellist of the Gettysburg Chamber Orchestra, present a variety of works for cello and piano. The program will include works by Schumann, Debussy, Bartok, and Chopin.

Address

Saint Luke Catholic Church; 7001 Georgetown Pike; McLean, VA 22101

The Reverend Joseph A. Fitzmyer, S.J. Institute on Sacred Scripture at Georgetown University

June 10th, 2014 at 04:30 PM

The 51st annual meeting of lectures on books of the Bible and Biblical themes.

Address

Reiss Science Building, 103, 37th and O St., N.W.

Georgetowner • June 23, 2014

“Form, Light, Line: Architecture in Print” Opening Reception

June 20th, 2014 at 05:00 PM | free | info@oldprintgallery.com | Tel: (202) 965-1818 | Event Website

The Old Print Gallery’s summer exhibit Form, Light, Line: Architecture in Print will open on Friday, June 20, 2014, with a free nighttime reception from 5-8pm, open to the public. This group show of 18 printmakers spans over 90 years of creative expression, with prints by 20th century American artists John Taylor Arms, Martin Lewis, and Armin Landeck coupled with works by cutting-edge, contemporary printmakers. Artists have long found beauty in the strength, durability, and utility of buildings.

Address

The Old Print Gallery; 1220 31st Street, NW

Soft Vengeance: Albie Sachs and the New South Africa

June 20th, 2014 at 05:30 PM | FREE | andrew@afj.org | Tel: 202-464-7361 | Event Website

Join us for a reception with award-winning filmmaker Abby Ginzberg and clips of the new film, Soft Vengeance: Albie Sachs and the New South Africa.

Refreshments will be served

Soft Vengeance: Albie Sachs and the New South Africa is a film about Albie Sachs, a lawyer, writer, art lover and freedom fighter, set against the dramatic events leading to the overthrow of the apartheid regime in South Africa.

Address

Alliance for Justice; 11 Dupont Circle NW; 2nd Floor

Pixar in Concert

June 20th, 2014 at 08:30 PM | $30.00 – $58.00 | philipc@wolftrap.org | Tel: 703.255.1900 ext. 1729 | Event Website

All your favorite animated Pixar films on the big screen including Finding Nemo, Up, Toy Story, and Monsters, Inc., paired with memorable scores played by the National Symphony Orchestra

Address

1551 Trap Road, Vienna, Virginia, 22182

Das- “Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony

June 21st, 2014 at 10:30 AM | contact@dasethiopian.com | Tel: (202) 333-4710 | Event Website

Experience an authentic tradition from the birthplace of coffee. Brought to you by Cervantes Coffee.

Address

Das Ethiopian; 1201 28th St NW

A Midsummer Day’s Reading

June 21st, 2014 at 2:00 PM | Free | julia.strusienski@dc.gov | Tel: 202-727-0232 | Event Website

Join the Georgetown Neighborhood Library as we celebrate D.C. Public Library’s Adult Summer Reading program by reading aloud the first three acts of the classic romantic comedy “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” on the summer solstice—the day on which the action within the play begins.

All are invited to participate as readers, and no prior experience performing or reading publicly is necessary.

Questions? Interested in participating? E-mail julia.strusienski@dc.gov

Address

3260 R St. NW

Cathedral Sings!

June 22nd, 2014 at 07:30 PM | $10 | myoung@cathedral.org | Tel: 877-537-2228 | Event Website

Experience Washington National Cathedral in a whole new way. Join a community sing-along and read through the Brahms Requiem with Music Director, J. Reilly Lewis. Scores provided. You choose your part.

Address

Washington National Cathedral; 3101 Wisconsin Ave. NW

Ice Cream Sunday

June 22nd, 2014 at 01:00 PM | $8 per child and adult | info@dumbartonhouse.org | Event Website

Bring the family and join us in the Dumbarton House gardens to make your own cool ice cream treat, as well as sample an ice cream flavor popular during the Federal period. End your visit with a tour of Dumbarton House to learn about the history of early Georgetown and First Lady Dolley Madison, a visitor to our historic home, who first popularized ice cream in America when she served it at the White House.

Address

Dumbarton House; 2715 Q ST, NW

Greenhouse Birthday Party

June 22nd, 2014 at 01:00 PM | free admission | Tel: 703-777-3174 | Event Website

Have you sung to a building lately?

If not, come on out to Oatlands between 1pm and 4pm on June 22 for this free and fun event.

Balloons and cake while supplies last. Check back for cake cutting and “Happy Birthday” singing time as the event gets closer.
Address

Oatlands Historic House and Gardens; 20850 Oatlands Plantation Lane; Leesburg, VA 20175

Brunch for a Cause

June 22nd, 2014 at 12:30 PM | $45.00 | adivastateofmind@gmail.com | Tel: 301-520-4036 | Event Website

After a successful inaugural event in February, Brunch for a Cause returns this summer! Guests will enjoy an enriching afternoon discussing ways to serve the homeless community in DC, while delighting in a 3-course brunch menu (including unlimited mimosas) and networking with peers. Proceeds will benefit Miriam’s Kitchen, an organization dedicated to combating homelessness in DC.

Address

M Street Bar & Grill; 2033 M Street NW

Georgetowner • June 11, 2014

This summer’s style turns back the clock and lands somewhere in the 70s. The quiet vibes and relaxed greenery of Sherwood Forest in Anne Arundel County make for a laid back weekend escape. Dig out your vintage suit or shop around for retro cuts and colors mixing old and new this season.

Photography Angie Myers

Styling Corrie Dyke

Hair & Makeup Jessica Ariane for T H E Artist Agency

Models Katie Andersen & Michael Ryann for T H E Artist Agency [gallery ids="101739,141974,141980,141978,141962,141967,141970" nav="thumbs"]

Robert Devaney • June 9, 2014

Great Falls on the Potomac River was at flood stage May 17 and looked wilder than usual. Streams on both side of the river broke their banks, and there were fatalities during the flood.

In Georgetown, the flood gates were up at Washington Harbour over the weekend.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Potomac River at K Street in Georgetown crested around midnight, May 18. On Sunday morning, the river was at 8.8 feet, which is 2.8 feet above flood levels.

In April 2011, flood gates at Washington Harbour during springtime flooding. Water from the Potomac flowed into the riverside complex, shutting down businesses for months. The complex was renovated and upgraded and is more popular than ever.

Gary Tischler •

When you hear a couple of guys, great actors both, talk about William Shakespeare, you immediately start thinking about: Shakespeare.

In the case of listening to the conversation that swirled around actors Ed Gero and Stacey Keach and moderator John Andrews, the president of the Shakespeare Guild at the Woman’s National Democratic Club recently, you particularly started thinking about the great “Seven Ages of Man” speech in the Bard’s “As You Like It,” which begins thusly:

“All the world’s a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;

They have their exits and their entrances,

And one man in his time plays many parts,

His acts being seven ages . . .”

Shakespeare being a man of the stage often referenced the stage—the play within a play in “Hamlet” and Hamlet’s instructions to the players, Prospero’s farewell speech in “The Tempest.” The “Seven Ages of Man” speech is direct and precise, and it’s about theater as well as life its own self.

This resonated when you heard Gero and Keach — who could and probably have given master classes on acting — started talking about the roles they were playing at Harman Hall in the two parts of “Henry IV.” Gero played the king of the title role, and Keach took on Falstaff, the boisterous boon companion to Prince Hal, the future Henry V.

The professional lives and trajectories of Gero and Keach have been different. Keach, although he is one of our finest Shakespearean actors, has taken a few detours into movies and television, not always choosing wisely, as he has acknowledged, Nevertheless, he has played his characters memorably. Gero has spent a lot of time on the stage in Washington (and elsewhere), assaying 60 Shakespearean parts along the way. Whatever stage of man they may be in now, rich in family life, children and so on, the roles they have played brought them together on stage—notably in a Chicago-Goodman-Theatre-based production of “King Lear,” in which Gero was Gloucester to Keach’s Lear—but the roles themselves have criss-crossed and bumped into each other.

“I played Falstaff once when I was in my twenties,” Keach said. “I had to gain some weight and wisdom I think to play him then. I didn’t have to do that this time around. I need to lose some weight now.”

Gero’s experience with the history plays and the paths of the Henry’s in particular seems like an alternative life lived inside the theatre. He played the lead in “Henry V” at the Folger, when he too was much younger. Then, he performed in “Richard II” as the rebellious Bolingbroke who usurps the crown of Richard II, not once but twice, opposite Philip Goodwin and Richard Thomas. Bolingbroke would become a troubled and often guilt-ridden Henry IV, fending off rebellions and uprising, trying to separate his son Henry from Falstaff.

“Things can get circular, but I think all of that helps you bring the virtue of experience to the parts,” Gero said. “I’m the father, I was the son, I was the usurper and now the king. Henry IV has become a master politician. He knows how to manipulate people, hold and exercise power, like a modern politician. He’s a modern man and that resonates today.”

“I’ve tried not to play Falstaff like a buffoon, which is often done,” Keach said. “There is a huge amount of comedy in the part, but he sees himself as a serious man. You not only have to get the laughs, you have to get the audience not just to like Falstaff but to respect him. His biggest audience is Prince Hal, and when he becomes king in the second play, the comedy stops. Things become more like an elegy. You should take into account that now Hal has to be Henry. He has to act like a king, and he can’t embrace Falstaff, who has some hopes. You can see that again in “Henry V”, when he has to approve of the execution of one of his old companions for desertion.”

Keach is associated with many screen roles, big and little, and is therefore better known. For anybody who goes to the theater a lot in Washington, he has performed brilliantly here as “Richard III.” For this writer’s money, he played the best Richard III ever: dangerous, mocking, self-aware and funny. He also played Lear and Macbeth. But then, there’s a woman who comes up to him after the talk and says ,“You’re my favorite Jesse James.” It was a reference that means a lot to Keach obviously but very little to anyone who hasn’t seen Walter Hill’s “The Long Riders,” a wondrous, stylized, banjo and guitar-driven Western about the outlaws Jesse and Frank James and the Younger boys, robbing banks, one step ahead of a fatal bullet. If you watched television and the “Mike Hammer” private eye series, where Keach was tough and slick with a mustache and a cocked hat, well, there you are. You remember.

Gero, too, has had his share of parts—on the stage—where he’s delivered memorable performance and been rewarded with Helen Hayes Awards. He’s been Scrooge at Ford’s Theater and the artist Mark Rothko. Now, he’s taking on the part of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Scalia for Arena Stage next season.

“Interesting, fascinating,” Gero said of his preparation for the man and the role.

The world remains the same: a stage for a man to play many parts.

— “Henry IV” parts one and two will be playing at the Harman Theatre through this weekend. Check the Washington Shakespeare Company for tickets, dates and times.

Sarah Bryen • June 4, 2014

Summer’s coming up quickly here in the Virginia countryside. The last of the fox hunters have gone to ground and it’s time for the rest of the sporting season: from the steeplechase races to polo, to the horse show season taking off, to fresh country fare at our local restaurants and farmers markets (yep, we’ll truck some of that in for y’all).

The Upperville Colt & Horse Show, the country’s oldest, began on Monday. Now in its 161st year, the show runs through Sunday, June 8, and features more than 2,000 horse-and-rider competitions. Set on the beautiful grounds of the historic Salem and Grafton Farms, “under the oaks,” Upperville combines everything from the finest show hunters in the country to Olympic-level jumper riders.

For me, personally, some of the best events are the Ladies Sidesaddle Hunters, where attire, or “turn out,” must be perfect down to the sandwich in the sandwich case (judges have been known to take a bite); the famous Upperville Grand Prix; and the leadline division, where tots on ponies are led by their parents.

A little bit more about that. Leadline is held on Saturday following the sidesaddle. Children ages 1-6 will be dressed in their own twee finery, in full-on adorable mode. The Grand Prix, featuring some of the best horses and riders in the world, is held on Sunday.

My suggestion: make a day of it. Pack up your coolers with some tailgate-style foods and beverages (preferably adult, but don’t overdo it), grab some chairs and sit on the hill to watch the jumpers go. There will also be an antique auto show, a petting zoo, a moon bounce and – the most fun – Jack Russell Terrier Races!

One note about Grand Prix day. While it’s not specified in the program, many people will be in “afternoon attire.” Fancy dresses and large hats are not out of place. So if you’ve got it, wear it.

If you discover that you enjoy watching the horses jump around while you sip a cold one, Great Meadow is bringing back its Twilight Jumper Series this year. Held June 27, July 18 and August 29, all Fridays, this event in The Plains brings out both local and professional talent for a Friday evening with dancing and wine tasting. Great Meadow encourages you to pack a tailgate, but note that nearly every event at Great Meadow is to be free of glass bottles, lest one injure a horse.

Great Meadow’s Twilight Polo Series has also begun, continuing on Saturday nights through September. There is dancing as well as polo, and – with the Aspen Dale Winery at the Barn on hand – everyone will have a great time. Check the Great Meadow website for this year’s themes: from Military Appreciation Night to Pirate Night.

Make sure you pop back to Great Meadow for the rest of their events on the card for the summer, including a Fourth of July celebration and, later that month, the WEG selection trials. (Ever want to see someone play high jump on a horse without a saddle? Now’s your chance.) The Virginia Scottish Games are at the end of August, the Wine Festival is in September and the International Gold Cup Steeplechase in October.

I know I’ve encouraged tailgating, but you don’t always want to do the prep before the weekend. So, my other best suggestion is to enjoy some local food. (And wine. Always wine. Especially Virginia wine.) Breaux Vineyards in Purcellville will hold its 17th annual Cajun Festival and Crawfish Boil on June 14, with live music and lots of treats. Then Morven Park in Leesburg will host a NOVA Summer Brewfest on June 21-22, so you can do one weekend of wine and another of beer, both with live music and vendors.

There are other notable wine tours in the area – a quick Google search will bring up plenty. If you go to (www.virginiawine.org), there is a list by date of events for the entire summer. With at least one, and often many, every weekend, you can cherry-pick (grape-pick?) your own tour.

Upperville’s classic eating stops include Hunter’s Head Tavern – where your dog can dine on the patio, incidentally – and the Blackthorne Inn, with its beautiful bar. Another of my personal favorites is The French Hound in Middleburg, where the menu changes in accordance with the “whims of the chef.”
[gallery ids="101753,141570,141553,141558,141575,141577,141562,141566" nav="thumbs"]

Gary Tischler • June 2, 2014

If you watched the news or read it in the slim holiday editions of the dailies, you might think the world was moving on with its usual mixture of tragedy, farce, shock and awe.

But weather, and time off, can be beguiling and almost make you forget that in Ukraine, there was a winner in the election, followed by an attack on an airport, and so the crisis remained. You could almost—almost—forget the terrible words of the young killer in his bitter lack-of-a-valentine to the world, before he began knifing and shooting people in the normally bucolic, essence-of-California-dreaming Santa Barbara area.

In a long weekend suffused with the joy of everyday things like sunshine, the really red readiness of tomatoes at a market stall, finding the perfect rhubarb pie, you could even almost forget the wretched excess of a let-them-eat-cake wedding of a Kardashian progeny to a rapper named West, who had named their child North and spent a couple of million on their nuptials.

In a weekend like that, you almost forgot the scandal that had reached its tipping point in the Veterans Administration and its care and the availability of care for our wounded veterans of wars going on for more than a decade now in the terrible, blasted landscapes of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Except, of course, this being Memorial Day Weekend in Washington, D.C, you couldn’t forget that—not when there was the annual presidential wreath laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, nor when there are so many men in old uniforms in town. These men with often fragile, thin bodies of what is left of the Greatest Generation made their way to the World War II Memorial—ten years old now—their ranks thinning, accompanied by family and accepting salutes. The tanned, often tattooed men of Viet Nam were there, roaring in with Rolling Thunder, or touching the names on the wall. None of them could quite ignore the lack of care, the careless caregiving that emerged like a reproach in the media. The president noticed, and so did we all.

In this town, on Memorial Day, we noticed them—from the wars of the last century and this one. Honors bestowed on the passed and fallen soldiers, the survivors, their families, made the weather-perfect day, not only ideal but somber and big with feeling. On the wall, at the memorial wreaths, at the white-crossed cemetery, and at the parade, it was about them—and about us, too.

The parade was quiet in some ways, not loaded with thousands of spectators, but enough to fill the hot-cement sidewalks from 7th Street to 17th Street, as high school marching bands came along, the twirlers, the trombones, the drum majors, bright in their uniforms and energy, from all over the country, playing America and patriotic themes, followed by facsimiles or the real ones from all of our wars—those fife and drum corps from the Revolutionary War, ladies in crinolines and old men in long white bears, the flags of the United States and the Confederacy marching oddly side by side. One time, everyone stopped and someone played “Taps.”

Down at the National World War II Memorial, there was a group gathered around a thin man in a brown uniform, family it was, and he was in a wheelchair and his name was Philip Adinolfi. He was there with family and his wife of 60 years, Grace. He wore corporal stripes and had served in distant Egypt in the Army Air Corps, when America’s newly minted army took on the armies of Field Marshall Erwin Rommel in North Africa. A young captain with his son walked up to him and saluted him, and the boy shook his hand, and a tanned Viet Nam vet shook his hand in respect. He had been there the year before, talking with a D-Day veteran of the Omaha Beach landing in Normandy 70 years ago.

On this day, the school bands came on in rolling notes of music, signaled by the brass. They had come from Adamsville, Tenn.; Bryan, Texas; Rayland, Ohio; Cape Coral Fla; a place called Kahoka, Mo.; Coventry, Conn.; Tarpon Springs, Fla; Gaffney, S.C.; Hazelton, Pa; China Grove, N.C.; Pomeroy, Ohio; North Platte, Neb.; Franklin Lakes, N.J.

There were all sorts of people along the way, the family of man, and their children, and grandchildren and pets. In the parade, was a band of the Hero Dogs, honoring the canines who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and had made it home, too—mostly labs and goldens who loved the attention and marched in little soft boots to protect their paws from the hot cement.

On this day, there were Miss America Nina Davuluri, other beauty and prom queens and astronauts and a veteran of the Doolittle Raid over Tokyo. Lt. Colonel Richard Cole, Jimmy Doolittle’s co-pilot in April 1942, served as the parade’s grand marshall. There were Lion Clubs and large photographs of the long-ago youthful soldiers. There was a mother and her three daughters, whose father had been killed in Afghanistan.

There we were on May 24, 2014, in the bright sun, cheering, saluting, shaking hands, giving respect, united in our awe and love for them, their respect painfully earned and deserving of the best. We stood and sat under trees or on curbs. We watched and whistled and remembered neither Kanye nor Kim nor somewhere in Ukraine nor a demented killer in California. We remembered, instead, history marching by.

Georgetowner •

Cuban + World Graphics Art Open House + Mayan Textiles & Vintage Magazines

May 30th, 2014 at 10:00 AM | $19 to $199 | CubanPosterGallery@msn.com

You’re invited to our Open House 10 am to 4 pm on Friday and Saturday (May 30-31) at 3319 O Street NW.

200+ Cuban silk-screened movie posters plus 100+ Cuban political and solidarity posters. Most $29 to $129.

Global social cause posters. Kitschy Chinese MAO posters. Hand-woven Guatemalan Mayan textiles. Vintage Time and Foreign Service Journal magazines.

For collectors, interior designers and gift seekers: For every five items you select, you’ll get the lowest priced free. No limits.

Address

3319 O Street NW

Four Seasons: Project Gravitas Pop Up Shop

May 31st, 2014 at 11:00 AM | Aba@taapr.com | Event Website

The Four Seasons in Georgetown will be hosting Project Gravitas’s first D.C. Pop-Up shop Saturday, May 31st and Sunday, June 1st. Project Gravitas founder and CEO, Lisa Sun will be showcasing “the perfect dress” and the team will be offering personalized fittings for the dress collection that empowers through luxury tailoring made in NYC, Italian fabrics, and a hidden shape wear secret. This exclusive opportunity provides a chance to touch, feel and try on the dresses which are typically only available for purchase online. Click here for more details.

Address

Four Seasons in Georgetown; 2800 Pennsylvania Ave NW

A Toad-ally Awesome Prince – Outdoor Children’s Theatre

May 31st, 2014 at 01:00 PM | $12 Adults, $10 Children ages 2-12 | aeddington@oatlands.org | Tel: Aimee Eddington (703) 777-3174 | Event Website

Join us May 31st and June 1st at 1 pm for a ribbiting adventure in this un-frog-ettable original tale. Git-it! Git-it! Is a kiss all it takes for a real transformation to take place? Don’t be a tadpole – come to the show and find out. This is a kinder, friendlier story of “The Frog Prince”.

http://stagecoachtc.com/ for tickets and more information

Address

Oatlands Historic House and Gardens; 20850 Oatlands Plantation Lane; Leesburg, VA 20175

Tom Goss Album Release Party

May 31st, 2014 at 07:00 PM | $15-20 | info@kendrarubinfeldpr.com | Tel: 202-681-1151 | Event Website

Guitar-toting, power-pop musician Tom Goss returns home to D.C. after his recent international tour supporting his fourth album, “Wait.” Root rock band, North Country, is the opener.

Goss’s earnest, thoughtful lyrics have propelled him to a serious singer-songwriter status. Goss’s music has been featured on ABC and HBO; his videos, often in support of the LGBT community, have received millions of hits worldwide.

Address

600 I St NW, Washington, DC 20001

Survive DC

May 31st, 2014 at 07:00 PM | info@survivedc.com | Event Website

For one night, drop your family and your work, forget your responsibilities and obligations and… Run for Your Life! SurviveDC is capture the flag, tag, trivial pursuit, and Carmen Sandiego all rolled up into one. The new mission awaits players 7 p.m., May 31, starting at Stanton Park. Follow @SurviveDC for hints.

Address

Stanton Park; Washington, DC 20002

Spotlight on Design: SHoP Architects

June 4th, 2014 at 06:30 PM | $12 Member & Student; $20 Non-member | Tel: 202-272-2448 | [Event Website]

Over the past two decades, New York-based SHoP Architects has set the standard of creative innovation in the field and modeled a new way forward with its unconventional approach to design. Coren Sharples, AIA, presents the firm’s recent work, including Brooklyn’s new Barclays Center arena and the Botswana Innovation Hub in Gabarone, Botswana. Signed copies of the firm’s latest monograph SHoP: Out of Practice (Monacelli, 2012), will be available for sale in the Museums Shop. 1.5 LU HSW (AIA)

Address

National Building Museum; 401 F Street NW

Georgetowner • May 27, 2014

The Capital Wheel Opening

May 23rd, 2014 at 10:00 AM | info@thecapitalwheel.com | Tel: 1 (877) NATLHBR | Event Website

The Capital Wheel at National Harbor is poised to become a must-see destination when it opens to the public on Friday, May 23 in time for Memorial Day Weekend. Soaring 180-feet above the Potomac River, The Capital Wheel will join a roster of large-scale observation wheels around the globe.

Address

165 Waterfront St.; National Harbor, MD 20745

8th Annual Potomac River Waterfowl Festival

May 23rd, 2014 at 06:00 PM | $75 per person | gretchen@cfsomd.org | Tel: 240-670-4483 (GIVE) | Event Website

Cattails and Cocktails Reception and Dinner

Mingle with artists from the region as they show off their fine art photography, wildfowl carvings, hand carved decoys, oil paintings,jewelry, birdhouses, miscellaneous wood carvings, antique and collectible decoys and more.

Bring your decoys to get free decoy appraisals and identifications. Sportsman Pavilion. Live Auction preview. Bourbon, Rye and Wine Tastings.

Address

42455 Fairgrounds Rd; Leonardtown, MD 20650

The National Memorial Day Parade

May 24th, 2014 at 02:00 PM | Event Website

the National Memorial Day Parade will commence at the corner of Constitution Avenue and 7th Streets, NW. It will proceed west down Constitution, past the White House, ending at 17th Street. Participants will pass by the nation’s monuments, museums, and hundreds of thousands of spectators waving their flags and cheering for our country’s heroes – the men and women who wear the uniform of our armed forces.

Address

Corner of Constitution Avenue and 7th Streets, NW

ViVa! Vienna!

May 24th, 2014 at 10:00 AM | info@vivavienna.org | Event Website

a family and community oriented celebration of Memorial Day and the greater Vienna Community spirit. Amusement rides, food, crafts, vendors and entertainment – fun for all ages!

Vendors include handcraft artisans, retail vendors, professionals, political parties and candidates, and community and non-profit organizations.

100% of proceeds go to charitable, community and humanitarian organizations.

Address

245 Maple Ave W; Vienna, VA 22180

55th Annual Hunt Country Stable Tour

May 24th, 2014 at 10:00 AM | $25.00/children 12 and under free | Betsy@trinityupperville.org | Tel: (540)592-3711 | Event Website

Many of the beautiful stables and equestrian properties of Middleburg and Upperville will open their gates to the public as part of the 55th Annual Hunt Country Stable Tour. The tour is self-guided with an easy-to-follow map and booklet provided with ticket purchase.

Address

Trinity Episcopal Church; 9108 John Mosby Highway; Upperville, VA 20184

Sunset Celebration

May 24th, 2014 at 06:00 PM | $18, adults; $12, children ages 6-11; and free for five and under. | info@mountvernon.org | Tel: 7037802000 | Event Website

Mount Vernon invites visitors to an unforgettable evening experience. Sunset Celebration at Mount Vernon, an event over Memorial Day weekend, offers a rare opportunity to visit Mount Vernon after the daytime crowds have departed. Visitors may take evening tours of the Mansion, relax and enjoy wine and desserts available for purchase, and delight in 18th-century music, dancing, games, and wagon rides.

Address

George Washington’s Mount Vernon; 3200 Mount Vernon Memorial Highway; Mount Vernon, VA 22121

Memorial Day tours of Soldiers’ Home National Cemetery

May 26th, 2014 at 10:00 AM | Free | LincolnsCottage@savingplaces.org | Tel: 202-829-0436 | Event Website

Commemorate Memorial Day with guided tours of the United States Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Home (USSAH) National Cemetery, the first National Cemetery created during the Civil War and the predecessor to Arlington National Cemetery.

10:00 am: Wreath-laying at the USSAH National Cemetery, with brief remarks from the Armed Forces Retirement Home and President Lincoln’s Cottage

10:45 am: Guided tour of USSAH National Cemetery

12:30 pm: Guided tour of USSAH National Cemetery

Address

President Lincoln’s Cottage; Upshur St NW at Rock Creek Church Rd NW

Memorial Day Weekend at the Navy Memorial

May 26th, 2014 at 10:00 AM | Free and open to the public | julia@lindarothpr.com | Tel: (703) 417-2709 | Event Website

Memorial Day Weekend events featuring commemorative wreath laying ceremonies with Rolling Thunder, the Fleet Reserve Association and the Navy Band and Ceremonial Guard, author presentations from the Veteran’s Writing Project, and musical performances at the United States Navy Memorial.
Saturday, May 24 and Sunday, May 26.

Address

United States Navy Memorial; Naval Heritage Center; 701 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Gary Tischler • May 21, 2014

The old saying or song is wrong: it’s not always fair weather. Once again, the world is on fire and drowning. Once again, it takes a change in the air, and a song or two to come with it, to make the next week seem promising again.

During the week, the news was again full of streams overflowing, rivers running through it and by it, with yet another local outburst of storms and flooding here and there along the Potomac as in the days before.

This time, the misery was shared by the world, where floods tore through the Balkans, otherwise known as Serbia, Croatia and other places that once made up the no-longer-in-existence nation of Yugoslavia.

Out in California, wildfires raged and destroyed in one of the more affluent pieces of real estate in the state, down in San Diego, burning homes in the arid countryside and hills.

It made me think of the old James Taylor song—“I’ve seen fire, and I’ve seen rain…..”

Taylor made music, and it was music—and a horse and another lyric—that soothed if not the savage beasts, at least the savage weather.

Because spring once again was in high dudgeon of blue-sky good feeling, outdoors and indoors.

At Georgetown’s Volta Park, the Citizens Association of Georgetown kicked off its annual Concerts in the Parks series bouncing the air with children, snow cones and balloons as always, resounding with the sounds and smells of picnics on a Sunday afternoon. There was—oh, my sorrow—free Haagen Dazs ice cream, and complimentary Sprinkles cupcakes.

Best of all, musically and in any way, there was Georgetown treasure Rebecca McCabe, singer-songwriter, blonde and lovely as always, singing with Human Country Jukebox, who had foraying with high voice and spirits into classic Johnny-Cash-style country music before she raced in from the airport. At concert’s end, a special delight: the kids singing “Let It Go” from the film “Frozen,” up on stage with McCabe.

That was Sunday, yesterday, all our sorrows seemed so far away.

On Saturday, there was the horse and the City Paper’s female jazz vocalist of the year of 2013, not all together, but sounding similar confident tones and tunes. At the Preakness—after sitting in on the Adams Morgan Summer Concert Series at Columbia Road and Calvert and 18th streets—you got a chance to see that California Chrome, that winner of a three-year-old once again scoot to a first place finish, this time with a smart position and a sprint at the end, seeming hardly to work up a sweat. He is now king of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness.

This means that Chrome, the horse of little pedigree — with the working class owners, a jockey who admits that his horse might be just as smart as he is and a trainer who’s never been in the inner circle of the Triple Crown sorts – can now become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.

If California Chrome wins the Belmont, the endurance and heart tester of a race which has foiled a few speedsters in its day. That could happen unless the mini-controversy of the nose guards worn by Chrome to help his breathing turns into a cut-off-your-nose-to-spite-the-Triple-Crown kind of thing.

Meantime, Rochelle Rice, a local jazz singer of some renown sang with a trio on a perfect kind of Saturday afternoon in Adams Morgan. On this corner, where there are empty bike racks, and you’re only 100 feet away from the site of the latest condo development where there used to be the Exxon station, you can feel change. But you can also feel the things that don’t change, come what may, as traffic and connector buses swerve around the turn, and just about all the little kids that live in Lanier Heights showed up to try their little selves on hula hoops.

Rice had her way about her too: she sang Satchmo’s soothing celebration of everything, “Wonderful World,” and there was nothing you could brood or say to that, because she infuses pop with jazz, and leaves the left-overs to both. She can stretch an entire line of lyric into meaning, or caress and make putty out of vowels and make you love it.

That was Saturday.

On Friday, at the Embassy of Hungary, the Embassy Series under founder Jerome Barry, resurrected the middle-brow art of operetta vocals, with the presence of soprano Krisztina David from Hungary and Austrian tenor Michael Heim to engage in romantic musical duels and courtship, accompanied by George Peachey on piano.

They played the songs and music of Franz Lehar and Emmerich Kalman, masters of the form of music which once lathered Broadway and MGM musicals, with waltzes and romances and comedy from “The Merry Widow” to “The Gypsy Princess.”

This was the kind of music and performances which, done with gusto, verve and elan, was an antidote to weather and war, any evening. Heim sang with ebullience and exuberance, and David soared with high notes and the charm of a natural, beautiful coquette.

So, James Taylor did that song: “I’ve seen fire, and I’ve seen rain…

And then: “I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end.”

And that was the weekend that was.
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