Tap Dogs
Dein Perry’s global dance sensation Tap Dogs hits the road on an international tour of jaw-dropping new surprises. Experience the thrill of a revitalized genre of dance, with 75 action-packed minutes of part theater, part choreography, part rock concert, and part construction site. An adrenaline-pumped cast turns traditional tap dancing upside-down and into the ultimate night out.
Tickets: $29–79
Say What?! Friday Night with Reese Waters
Reese Waters, comedian, D.C. native, and host of Get Up DC! on WUSA 9, curates a new comedy series in the KC Jazz Club. On the fourth Friday of every month, Waters will headline and present an evening of stand-up comedy and intimate conversations with his friends from the comedy community.
Tickets: $20–35
The Washington Ballet presents The Sleeping Beauty
The romantic and timeless tale of a magical kiss and the beloved story of Princess Aurora, her handsome prince and the evil Carabosse. A quintessential classical ballet inspired by the fairy tale of true love’s kiss and the triumph of good over evil.
Tickets: $25–160
On Friday Night, March 8, 2019, the “Greatest Live Art Competition in the Known Universe”, Super Art Fight, returns to the Nation’s Capital for an evening of live art entertainment unlike any other.
Returning live to the Black Cat for the first time in nearly two years, Super Art Fight will present their trademark “art fights”, a mixture of live art competition a’la Pictionary, combined with the bravado, character work, and (of course) tight pants of Professional Wrestling!
Founded in 2008, Super Art Fight has performed all across the United States, and even into Canada, and on March 8th, they bring a brand new event to the Black Cat stage – the GOLDEN GAUNTLET, a 5 artist, 4 match competition. Two artists will start, the winner stays on, and the battle continues until the last artist is eliminated in this crazy and unpredictable matchup.
To the winner will go the spoils, a ‘Golden Opportunity’ Marker, allowing the victor a Super Art Fight Championship opportunity at the show of their choosing.
The Super Art Fight roster is made up of average work-a-day artists, graphic designers, painters, illustrators and tattoo artists, who each have created crazy rock-star-esq personas, such as the anime-themed magical girl Shoujo-A-Go-Go, the European fashionista Baron Von Sexyful, the face painted dictator General Stormsketch, or the punk rock brawler, Killer Colleen. The audience is encouraged to cheer their favorites to victory – in fact, it’s necessary, as the artist with the most cheers at the end of each booth picks the winner.
Come see for yourself, live and in person what Super Art Fight is all about.
WHAT: Super Art Fight – Live at the Black Cat
WHERE: Black Cat, 1811 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20009
WHEN: March 8, 2019, Doors at 8pm, Show at 9pm
WHO: All Ages Event
HOW: Tickets are $15, Available in Advance at Ticketfly.com or at the door.
FOR MORE DETAILS: Head to SuperArtFight.com
#1 bestselling author Alyson Richman will be visiting Washington, D.C. to promote her new release, THE SECRET OF CLOUDS (Berkley Hardcover; February 19, 2019).
Alyson Richman is known for her sweeping, poignant works of historical fiction like The Lost Wife. Now, Richman pens a story of love and loss about a Ukrainian immigrant family living in New York following the 1986 disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear plant.
Saturday, March 9, 2019
In Conversation with Pam Jenoff
3:30 PM
Politics & Prose
5015 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington, D.C. 20008
Free and open to the public
In THE SECRET OF CLOUDS, Katya, a rising ballerina, and Sasha, a graduate student, are young and in love when an unexpected tragedy befalls their native Kiev, Ukraine. Years later, after the couple has safely immigrated to America, the consequences of this incident cause their son, Yuri, to be born with a rare health condition that isolates him from other children. Maggie, a passionate and dedicated teacher, agrees to tutor Yuri at his home, even though she is haunted by her own painful childhood memories. As the two forge a deep and soulful connection, Yuri’s boundless curiosity and unique wisdom inspire Maggie to make difficult changes in her own life. And she’ll never realize just how strong Yuri has made her—until she needs that strength the most.
Early Music Seminar: Tastes of the Mediterranean
Led by Robert Eisenstein, this lively seminar offers a sneak peek at the upcoming concert Tastes of the Mediterranean: Music of 16th-Century Spain and Italy. Wine reception included.
Location: Folger Haskell Center
Hours: 6pm
Tickets: $20
Info: www.folger.edu/events or (202) 544-7077
O.B. HARDISON POETRY
Vinegar and Char: Verse from the Southern Foodways Alliance
Three poets from this culinary anthology, Sandra Beasley, Sean Hill, and Atsuro Riley, read work that delves into the shaping influence of history, culture, and identity—and celebrates the glory of food itself. This evening is in conjunction with Before ‘Farm to Table’: Early Modern Foodways and Cultures, a Mellon initiative in collaborative research at the Folger. Reception and book-signing to follow the reading.
Hours: 7:30pm
Tickets: $15
Info: www.folger.edu/poetry or (202) 544-7077
Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Artistic Director Michael Kahn invites theatre-lovers to a series of intimate conversations about life in the D.C. theatre scene as he prepares to retire from the STC stage. Open, unrehearsed, and off the record, invited speakers will swap anecdotes and share memories about Michael Kahn’s 33-years at Shakespeare Theatre Company. Following his career trajectory, the discussions will focus on three distinct eras in STC’s history by mapping D.C.’s changing theatre scene. The first Michael Kahn and Friends: Off the Record will focus on the formation of The Shakespeare Theatre Company in its first location: Folger Theatre (1986-1992).
On March 11, audiences are invited to join Michael and STC Affiliated Artists Edward Gero, Stacy Keach, Derek Smith, and Franchelle Stewart Dorn as they discuss their favorite performances onstage, backstage antics, and offstage tales. In 1986, shortly after The Shakespeare Theatre at the Folger was formed as a newly incorporated, not-for-profit institution separate from the Folger Shakespeare Library, Kahn became Artistic Director and guided the theatre into national prominence. The first three seasons included several landmark productions and garnered many Helen Hayes nominations. STC changed the cultural landscape of the nation’s capital with its first Free For All in 1991. More than 2,500 theatregoers watched each performance of The Merry Wives of Windsor under the stars at Carter Barron Amphitheatre. This annual tradition of free Shakespeare continues to this day and over 630,000 people have attended a performance during Free For All.
Future Michael Kahn and Friends: Off the Record events will focus on the Lansburgh Years (May 15) and the Harman Years (June 5). More details will be released soon.
Former President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund, daughter of the late Governor Ann Richards, and a “heroine of the resistance” (Vogue), Cecile Richards has spent a lifetime fighting for social justice and women’s rights. After years of advocacy, resistance, and progressive leadership, she shares her story in her New York Times bestselling memoir, MAKE TROUBLE: Stand Up, Speak Out, and Find the Courage to Lead (Gallery; Trade Paperback; March 26, 2019; $16), featuring a *NEW AFTERWORD* in which Richards proposes a Women’s Declaration of Independence and calls for a new movement to transform our politics.
In MAKE TROUBLE, Richards presents a timely and important message: To make change, you have to make trouble. In her book, she illuminates the people and the lessons that have gotten her through good times and bad and the experiences that taught her how to stand up, speak out, and find the courage to lead. In the “powerful and infinitely readable” (Gloria Steinem) MAKE TROUBLE, Richards reflects on the people and lessons that have gotten her through good times and bad, and encourages the rest of us to take risks, make mistakes, and make trouble along the way.
Cecile Richards will be in conversation with Congresswoman Lauren Underwood, the youngest African American woman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, on:
Wednesday, March 27
7:00 PM
Sixth & I
600 I Street NW, Washington, DC 20001
For more information, please visit https://www.sixthandi.org/event/cecile-richards-2.
Washington Performing Arts hosts its 2019 annual Gala & Auction on March 30, 2019 at the National Building Museum (401 F St. NW). Tickets begin at $750; Young Sponsor tickets (for guests 40 and under) start at $200. Tables start at $15,000.
This year’s Gala, “Sizzle & Swing,” is a grand celebration of the art of jazz, from the classic big-band era to today’s up-to-the-minute expressions, fitting perfectly with Washington Performing Arts’ stellar spring lineup of jazz programming from Chucho Valdés and Cécile McLorin Salvant to an all-star tribute to Glenn Miller.
Gala performers include:
- Vocalists Veronica Swift (familiar to Washington Performing Arts audiences through her work with Chris Botti and Wynton Marsalis) and Stephen Scott Wormley (an alumnus of the Washington Performing Arts Children of the Gospel Choir, recently seen in the D.C. area as one of the stars of Signature Theatre’s The Scottsboro Boys);
- Mars Urban Arts Initiative Ensemble-in-Residence DuPont Brass;
- The Washington Performing Arts Children of the Gospel Choir under the direction of Michele Fowlin; and
- The Sizzle & Swing Band
Gala guests will also be treated to a special preview of a newly commissioned transcription of a big band chart by Hazel Scott, the luminary American pianist, cultural icon, and civil rights advocate. This premiere anticipates Washington Performing Arts’ commemoration of Scott’s 100th birthday in 2020.
The Gala kicks off at 6:30 pm with cocktails and the Silent Auction, sponsored by Urban Winery, with the dinner and performance program starting at 8:00 pm. Stage, television, and film actress Tamara Tunie serves as the Master of Ceremonies for the evening. The Afterparty Speakeasy with DJ Dimmy is co-sponsored by Daimler and the Washington Performing Arts Junior Board.
“Washington Performing Arts has a long legacy of presenting both emerging and leading jazz musicians and amplifying jazz as a vital American art form,” said Washington Performing Arts President and CEO Jenny Bilfield. “Whether it is through our Capital Jazz program in partnership with D.C. Public Schools, master classes with artists like Cécile McLorin Salvant, or commissions by Wynton Marsalis and now this new arrangement of a Hazel Scott chart, Washington Performing Arts remains committed to spotlighting this vibrant genre in every dimension of our programs, onstage and off.”
All proceeds raised at the Annual Gala and Auction will support Washington Performing Arts’ arts education initiatives. These include Capital Arts Partnerships and the Embassy Adoption Program (both in partnership with the DC Public Schools); In-School Artist Residencies; the Washington Performing Arts Men, Women, and Children of the Gospel Choirs; master classes and lectures; and stipends for professional development teachers and Washington Performing Arts teaching artists.
The 2019 Gala Co-Chairs are Lyn & Barry Chasen and Tom Gallagher & Barbara Myers. The Junior Board Gala Chairs are Rebecca Allen, Cassidy Grunninger, and Wesley Thomas. The Washington Performing Arts Women’s Committee Gala Chair is Denise Rollins, and the Women’s Committee Silent Auction Chair is Njambi. The Gala Committee comprises Paul Ashe, C. Wallace DeWitt, Adam Farra, Jay and Robin Hammer, Susan Hepner, Jordan Hepner and Nina Damato, Margaret Hurwitz, Angela C.Y. King, Grace Lin, Christina Co Mather and Gary Mather, Haley Morrison, Michelle Nelson, Ami Scott and Lucius Outlaw, Jan and Marike Paulsson, Kerrien Suarez, Ebony Thomas, Lindsey Woody, and The Washington Performing Arts Women’s Committee.
For more information about Washington Performing Arts and the Annual Gala and Auction, visit www.washingtonperformingarts.
