In Richard Hellesen's Necessary Sacrifices, making its world premiere at Ford's Theatre, the fight to end slavery is boiled down into a dry, declamation-heavy script that rarely jumps off the historic stage. more ›

Virginia has won out over a few other Southern states to be the home of Steven Spielberg's production of his film about Abraham Lincoln. Starring Daniel Day Lewis, the movie will be filmed in Richmond and Petersburg. more ›

Robert Redford's film version of the trial of Mary Surratt, for her part in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, makes a run at complete historical accuracy. It's success in that pursuit probably depends on how stringently you define historical accuracy, but its success as a drama requires it to meet entirely different standards. Is it up to either task? more ›

The idea that the Nationals might be a cursed franchise is hardly a revolutionary thesis. After all, they were birthed from the embers of a somewhat cursed team, the Montreal Expos. (The long sequence of events that began with that team's potentially epic 1994 season being cruelly wiped away by the players strike and ended with the franchise being owned by the league and drawing crowds in the low four-digits just had to be guided by the hand of something more devious than man.) You could make the argument that there's a young pitching curse right now at the Park, considering that 2010 is the second straight season when the team's most promising young pitcher is set for a long-term stay on the shelf with arm surgery. Well, all you Nationals fans should feel free to blame John Wilkes Booth, apparently. more ›

It's Black History Month, and plenty of our museums are celebrating with a variety of activities for young and old. Lincoln-lovers also have it made, as this month marks the 200th birthday of America’s 16th president, and the city's museums and cultural centers have seized the opportunity to celebrate the man and his presidency. more ›

DCist's guide to lectures and discussions in the D.C. area more ›

>> It's the first night of Hanukkah, so if you're not celebrating with family and friends at home, consider catching the Sinai Mountain Boys, a Maryland combo that melds the speedy strumming and twanging of bluegrass with Orthodox Jewish melodies. They'll be offering an hour of unique sounds for free beginning at 6 p.m. at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. >> The Washington Jewish Film Festival presents Diane Crespo and Stefan Schaefer's Arranged, the... more ›

MONDAY: Cass R. Sunstein will be at Politics and Prose to discuss the book Worst-Case Scenarios. No, it's not one of those books that gives you tips on how to survive if you wake up next to someone whose name you don’t remember or how to retrieve a candy bar stuck in the lunchroom vending machine. It's actually about scary stuff, like nuclear bombs in suitcases or avian flu. We prefer learning how to jump... more ›

One of these guys might be the next president, so it's good to try and parse where they stand on District voting rights. At least that was the thinking over at D.C. Vote, who recently recorded and sent in a number of videos of District residents asking the presidential candidates from the Republican Party where they stood on D.C. voting rights. The videos, eleven in all, were submitted to CNN for the upcoming CNN/YouTube... more ›

Written by DCist contributor Morgan Hargrave These days, we are not used to seeing reminders of war in our everyday lives. With a new exhibit that opened this weekend, the Smithsonian American Art Museum takes us back to a time when it would have been hard to forget, even for a moment, that we had soldiers dying overseas. Over the Top is a collection of American posters created during World War I to advertise so-called... more ›

>> The Blow, Saturday Looks Good to Me and Karl Blau are all at the Black Cat. 8 p.m., $12. >> The songs of Neil Young will be honored by the collective of local musicians known as Ragged Glory at the Velvet Lounge. Check out our full preview here. >> The aforementioned DieYuppieKickball.com is hosting its first initiation meeting tonight at Cosmos, the upstairs of Chief Ike's, at 7 p.m. Reads the email: "What?!... more ›

We first heard about the creepiest media stunt we could possibly imagine yesterday: The soon to open Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in D.C. planned to purchase a ticket on a Delta Shuttle flight from New York to DCA for their wax statue of President Abraham Lincoln. This morning, after tossing and turning all night with nightmares about being seated next to the slain leader, we have press photos waiting for us in our inbox. We hope you already ate breakfast. more ›

After letting us all enjoy a good summer break, next week the U.S. Senate will start debating legislation that would grant the District a voting seat in the House of Representatives. And in preparing for what is sure to be a spirited battle, big-name voting rights activists have recently stepped up the pressure with two back-to-back op-eds in Washington papers. Yesterday Maryland's former Lt. Gov. Michael Steele and former Oklahoma Republican Rep. J.C. Watts penned... more ›

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone may be an unusual name for a band, but it makes sense: basically a solo project by Owen Ashworth, the band uses mostly battery powered keyboards and electronics recorded on a four track. The results on his first three albums were intimate, ethereal electronic pop songs. On the most recent disc, "Etiquette," Ashworth decided to expand his sound to include guitars, strings, pianos and so on, especially on songs like... more ›

>> Tragedy strikes the best little bar in Arlington! According to a MySpace bulletin, some miscreant has run off with Galaxy Hut's kareoke equipment, effectively squashing DCist Amanda's favorite way to spend a Thursday night. Why would someone do such a thing? Especially since wherever they take it is sure to have an inferior beer selection to the equipment's original home. Do your part and go spend some money at G Hut so they can... more ›

Yesterday the National Park Service quietly announced that Ford's Theatre, the site of President Abraham Lincoln's assassination and one of D.C.'s most popular tourist destinations, will close today for 18 months as it undergoes a massive renovation. The planned $8.5 million upgrade will include improvements to the heating, air conditioning, lighting and sound systems, the addition of an elevator and new restrooms, the Park Service said. As the WaPo points out, in addition to being... more ›

Home is a pretty subjective concept. Where you hang your hat? The place you can always go back to? Where your love lies waiting silently for you? But what about where you spend the largest part of your waking hours? We may like to keep a firm separation between office life and "home" life, but let's look at the facts: who do you spend more hours awake and in the same room with than that... more ›

By DCist Contributor Matt Pelkey On the Fourth of July you light fireworks, on Memorial Day you grill hunks of meat, and on Labor Day you grill more hunks of meat. But how should you celebrate Emancipation Day this Monday? The voting rights march leaves little excuse for perverting another holiday into reason for a meaningless leisure activity. But if for some reason you can't be at the march, make up for it by heading... more ›

It was almost three weeks ago that Republicans helped derail legislation that would finally grant the District a voting seat in the House of Representatives. The Democratic leadership has promised to bring the legislation back to the floor next week, but even if it passes, it faces an uphill battle in the Senate and an almost assured veto from President Bush. Short of giving up and moving en masse to Virginia and Maryland, what can... more ›

People have been asking us: What's that big film crew doing downtown today? Why must my commute be ruined by greedy Hollywood movie producers? The answer: Why it's National Treasure: Book of Secrets, the sequel to the polarizing Nicholas Cage swashbuckler, of course. Here's the details on the filming for today, though circuses of production vehicles will likely be popping up elsewhere around the city for a while longer. The D.C. Department of Transportation (DDOT),... more ›

When legislation granting the District a voting seat in the House of Representatives came before the House Judiciary Committee last Thursday, all but two Republicans voted against it. One, Rep. Chris Cannon (R-Ut.), would see his state gain an additional seat, so his support was a given. The second, Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), was the surprise. Pence has always been a conservative's conservative, a former leader of the Republican Study Committee (a conservative caucus within... more ›

> > Pour one out for Coach Janky Spanky. Clinton Portis will receive surgeries for his bum shoulder and broken hand, which means he's headed to the IR for the rest of the season. It'll be up to Ladell Betts to carry the rock, though, who knows? Maybe the coaches will remember their costly impulse-buy TJ Duckett, mouldering on the bench. [Washington Post] > > The U.S. House of Representatives is filled stem to stern... more ›

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all persons held to service or labor within the District of Columbia by reason of African descent are hereby discharged and freed of and from all claim to such service or labor; and from and after the passage of this act neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except for crime, whereof the party shall be duly convicted, shall hereafter exist in said District.

It was on April 16, 1862 that President Abraham Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act, effectively freeing 3,100 slaves in the District some nine months before a similar step was taken nationwide. While the District officially recognized the day from 1866 to 1901, it wasn't until 2002 that it was once again elevated to a historic celebration and until last year that it became a citywide holiday. more ›

If any DCist readers happen to see someone like the character at right running around the Lincoln Park area of Capitol Hill, they'd be advised to get on the horn and inform police as quickly as possible. DCist sources are reporting that an unknown number of inmates housed at the Oak Hill youth detention facility escaped today while on route to court appearances, most in the vicinity of Lincoln Park. WJLA is reporting that while... more ›

That's exactly what you'll see if you frequently come upon Massachusetts Avenue and 20th Street NW. Otherwise, the word "Kossuth," which we read somewhere was pronounced "co-shoot," might not be a familiar one. The word refers to Lajos Kossuth, one of several Eastern European champions of liberty and democracy celebrated within a few city blocks northwest of Dupont Circle, and arguably the most quarrelsome and conflicted of them all.... more ›

Local singer-songerwriter Andy Zipf calls himself "a mood pop artist who sings songs for the lonely," but with his popularity on the rise, we can't imagine he'll stay solitary for too long. Zipf took the time to chat with DCist about his music, taping a segment with the Today Show, and what the hell "pod-jacking" is. VITALS: Full Name: Andrew Zipf Age: 24 Hometown: Indianapolis How long have you lived in Washington: 4 or 5... more ›

According to the Post, PNC Bank -- the Pittsburgh-based financial corporation that recently bought Washington's own troubled Riggs Bank -- announced yesterday that it plans on hitting the District ground running in early May with extended service hours, no ATM fees, and a series of new branches. This plan comes amidst increasing bank competition in the Washington region and in the wake of last month's purchase of Riggs' 51 local branches for roughly $650 million.... more ›

Everybody knows that one of Johnny Cash's malevolent alter egos shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die, but it's less frequently remembered that another of his gritty creations was overtaken by the authorities -- after snorting cocaine and shooting his unfaithful woman -- down in Juarez, Mexico. (He made a good run but he run too slow.) And few probably take much time to note that the namesake of El Paso's... more ›

OK, here we go for the final installment of the happy hour trivia question. We'll get to that in a second. Whoever can figure out this last part -- the part that really counts -- and finds this DCist first at the happy hour gets a free drink. And if you can tell us where we partially screwed up the first part, that'll earn you another. In Thursday's installment, we asked you for a sum.... more ›