Events/Things To Do

Adrienne Arsht Chair

Honorary Chairs: Representative Kevin McCarthy and Representative Steny Hoyer

Invite You To A Gala Evening

KEVIN SPACEY IN CONCERT

To Benefit The Kevin Spacey Foundation and Youth Arts Programs

Monday September 29, 2014

Shakespeare Theatre in the Harman Center

 This exclusive one-night-only concert will be an entertaining evening of stories and song by the two-time Academy Award winner and star of the Netflix hit series, House of Cards, Kevin Spacey. It is a unique opportunity to hear this gifted artist perform standards from the swing era, and popular classics from the Great American Songbook accompanied by the Kevin Spacey Orchestra.

[Current $104 ticket allocations have now sold out. Further tickets will be released shortly. VIP tickets are still available. Email info@kevinspaceyfoundation.com to receive future updates.]

Tickets are available via the following link: http://www.shakespearetheatre.org/events/details.aspx?id=384&source=l

The Bentzen Ball Comedy Festival
Opening Night

Oct 1st, 7pm Doors
@ Lincoln Theatre
1215 U Street NW
$30 tickets
On Sale Now

Featuring
Tig Notaro
(Conan / This American Life / The Sarah Silverman Program / In A World… / Professor Blastoff)
Jeff Garlin
(Curb Your Enthusiasm / The Goldbergs / WALL-E)
Kyle Kinane
(Comedy Central Presents / Drunk History)
Kate Berlant
(IFC Comedy Drop / Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival)
Ben Kronberg
(Ted & Gracie / Last Comic Standing)
& your Host
Brandon Wetherbee
(BYT / YMTE)
+ more TBA

Art Buzz Rooftop Soiree to Support the DC Collaborative: On October 15th, Cher Castillo Freeman will host an Art Buzz @ Sunset rooftop soiree at the Embassy Row Hotel (2015 Massachusetts Avenue)  from 6 to 9 p.m. Join on the rooftop for drinks for a great cause, munch on select appetizers and vie for raffled goodies with a beautiful view of the DC skyline. This event supports the D.C. Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative’s efforts to provide DC public and chartered schools with access to cultural opportunities throughout the Washington metropolitan area. Each year 30,000 students from DC public schools attend 500 + free performances at our nation’s world-class cultural institutions through their efforts. $1 from every draft beer and glass of wine ordered will be donated to the organization. A suggested donation of $10 is requested at the door and you can purchase in advance at http://bit.ly/ArtBuzzDC 

David Sedaris has leveraged his sardonic wit and incisive social critiques to become one of America’s preeminent humor writers. Beginning with his wildly popular “Santaland Diaries,” the great skill with which Sedaris slices through cultural euphemisms and political correctness proves that he is a master of satire and one of the most observant writers addressing the human condition. He visits his D.C. “home away from home,” the Music Center at Strathmore, on Friday, October 17, 2014 at 8 p.m. Says the San Francisco Chronicle: “Sedaris belongs on any list of people writing in English at the moment who are revising our ideas about what’s funny.” For more information or to purchase tickets, call (301) 581-5100 or visit www.strathmore.org.

In addition to “Barrel Fever,” Sedaris is the author of “Holidays on Ice,” as well as collections of personal essays, “Naked,” “Me Talk Pretty One Day,” “Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim,” “When You Are Engulfed in Flames,” and his most recent book, “Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls,” each of which became an immediate bestseller. The audio version of “Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls” was a 56th Annual Grammy nominee for Best Spoken Word Album. He is the author of the New York Times bestselling collection of fables entitled “Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary.”

Sedaris’s pieces appear regularly in The New Yorker and have twice been included in “The Best American Essays.”  There are a total of seven million copies of his books in print and they have been translated into 25 languages.

He and his sister Amy Sedaris have collaborated under the name “The Talent Family” and have written half-a-dozen plays which have been produced at La Mama, Lincoln Center, and The Drama Department in New York City. These plays include “Stump the Host,” “Stitches,” “One Woman Shoe,” which received an Obie Award, “Incident at Cobbler’s Knob,” and “The Book of Liz,” which was published in book form by Dramatists Play Service.

David Sedaris’s original radio pieces can often be heard on This American Life.  David Sedaris has been nominated for three Grammy awards for Best Spoken Word and Best Comedy Album.  His most recent audio recording of new stories (recorded live) is “David Sedaris: Live for Your Listening Pleasure.”

A feature film adaptation of his story “C.O.G.” was released after a premier at the Sundance Film Festival (2013).

Project Create will host its 20th Anniversary Celebration, “Home is where the ART is” on Thursday October 23, 2014 from 6:00pm-9:00pm

at Paul Hasting LLP(875 15th Street NW, Washington DC 20005). The evening will feature an art exhibition by Project Create teaching artists and students, as well as a live dance performance by the Washington Ballet at THEARC. Guests will enjoy hors d’oeuvres, an open bar and music by DJ Trevor Martin.

Proceeds from ticket and art sales directly support arts education and programming at Project Create’s new artspace opening Winter 2014 in Anacostia, SE, DC. Tickets are available for purchase online at http://projectcreate.brownpapertickets.com.

 Tickets are:

General admission tickets ($50), student tickets ($20 with a valid student ID), and VIP tickets ($100 includes an art print and Project Create Tee

About Project Create:

Project Create provides accessible arts education to promote positive development in children, youth and families experiencing homelessness and poverty.  Our goals are to:
Create art. Students discover their natural talents, skills and potential for achievement through professionally-led visual and performing arts courses.
Create opportunity. We offer consistent, comfortable and safe after-school options that nurture the healthy development of skills such as problem-solving, communication and cooperation, and instill self-esteem, confidence and pride.
Create community. Children explore and connect to their local environment through artistic & cultural experiences while developing a sense of belonging and positive identity through artistic collaboration. We promote mentoring relationships between competent, caring adults and young people in need of positive role models.

An Evening Benefit with Concert and Cabaret Star Karen Akers
Concert and cabaret star Karen Akers will receive the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) Award for Excellence in the Performing Arts at an evening benefitevent. Akers’s voice has been lauded by the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner as “…great…an instrument with the power of Streisand’s, the dark passion of Piaf’s and the lean irony of Dietrich’s, but a voice uniquely her own, because it’s coupled with an intelligence that creates moments of riveting theatricality.” She has performed all over the world and has won a Theatre World Award as well as a Tony Award nomination.

The cabaret-themed evening will feature a cocktail reception, a seated dinner by Occasions Catering and a performance by Akers. Proceeds from this annual fundraiser support the Shenson Chamber Music Concerts, led by Artistic Director Gilan Tocco Corn, education programming, and the groundbreaking exhibition, Picturing Mary: Woman, Mother, Idea.
 
CO-CHAIRS:
Sally L. Jones and Irene Natividad

WHEN:
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Cocktails 6:30 p.m.; Performance 7:15 p.m.; Dinner 8 p.m.

WHERE:
National Museum of Women in the Arts
1250 New York Avenue, NW
Two blocks north of Metro Center (13th Street entrance)
Valet parking available

TICKETS:
Individual: $350
Tables: $5,000 and up
Dress: Business attire

Noche de Pasión: The Tango Soirée

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Organization of American States

Join me, the members of The Washington Ballet’s Women’s Committee, Jeté Society and Latino Dance Fund Host Committee for Noche de Pasión: The Tango Soirée on Saturday, November 8, 2014. This inaugural event will benefit TWB’s scholarship programs and the Latino Dance Fund as well as celebrate TWB’s fall repertory program “Masterworks,” showcasing 5 Tangos by world-renowned choreographer, Hans van Manen, among other works.

Noche de Pasión: The Tango Soirée will take place at the stunning Organization of American States, which will be transformed into a sultry Buenos Aires Tango club, full of drama, passion and intrigue. At the VIP reception hosted by TWB’s Artistic Director Septime Webre and members of the diplomatic community, patrons will sip signature “Evita” champagne cocktails and have an opportunity to mix and mingle with dancers who have benefited from the Latino Dance Fund. Following the VIP reception, guests attending the main party will enjoy an exclusive performance by The Washington Ballet, sample the finest in South American wines and spirits, savor delectable Argentine-inspired cuisine, bid on “Super Silent Auction” items and be part of the best dance party to hit Washington, DC in decades. The event will bring together a dynamic group of hundreds of leaders across business, arts, politics, community and culture.

To purchase tickets, click here: http://www.washingtonballet.org/contribute/special-events/noche-de-pasion-the-tango-soiree_copy

Her Aim Is True tells the incredible story of Jini Dellaccio, the first woman photographer of rock ‘n’ roll in its early years. For the first time in 50 years, Dellaccio shares her story and stunning archive, reuniting with musicians and rock photographers for a riveting voyage tracing the roots of her avant-garde artistry and fearless life. Screening and discussion with filmmaker Karen Whitehead.

“Jini’s photos are the template for cool. Any rock band since Jini’s photos were released has wanted to look exactly like that.”
—Bon Von Wheelie (Girl Trouble)

On Thursday November 20, at 7:30 at Gala Theater (3333 14th St NW), join local filmmakers, boxing stars and musicians for a benefit film screening and after party featuring stories from the world of Lime Lite Boxing and Fitness, a Columbia Heights based non-profit gym and youth program that trains champions and mentors young people.

Into the Lime Lite follows two-time USA Boxing National Champion Malik Jackson as he prepares for a tough match in the Belfast Beltway Classic. Out of the Basement follows Greg Newby as he embarks on a pro-boxing career after a fall from grace. Jackson and Newby train at Lime Lite Boxing and Fitness, a small gym in the heart of Columbia Heights DC that is 100% fueled by local volunteers, grassroots fundraisers and community support. Both films (documentary shorts) feature music from local musicians including Brendan Canty (Fugazi, DeathFix) The Evens and Buildings. The films were made by possible by the Documentary Center at GW and The DC Arts and Humanities Commission.

The after party features food generously donated by The Coupe (Lime Lite Boxing’s neighbor) and music from local DJs. Doors at 7:30. Tickets are $10 and all proceeds will benefit Lime Lite’s boxing and mentoring program.