FRIDAY: >> Do the right thing and head to 9:30 Club for a show hosted by the strange gathering of the likes of Gypsy Eyes Records, The Federal Reserve and haberdasherie Propper Topper for a benefit for the DC Public Library Foundation. Kitty Hawk, Vandaveer, Revival, These United States and many more make up the crowded bill. 7:30 p.m., $20. >> The Brunettes (pictured right) perform sickly sweet but addictive pop duets, and they'll be... more ›

>> Earl Cunningham's America, which opens this Friday at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, features 50 paintings by one of the foremost folk artists of the 20th century. Known for his use of space and brilliant colors, Cunningham juxtaposes the ordinary with the unexpected and puts familiar subjects in unfamiliar settings. The result is an insightful commentary on American life and culture. >> Those looking for something new will have the chance to make their... more ›

Drivers in Montgomery County, beware! The AT&T National golf tournament, hosted by the sport's superstar player, Tiger Woods, began today at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda. The tournament should to make your drive home today, and the rest of this week, hideous beyond reason. Of course, the event being here isn't all, or even mostly, bad news. For starters, D.C. was in danger of not having its own golf tournament at all. For 20 years... more ›

Memorial Day is this Monday, meaning a lot of Washingtonians have a three day weekend. With the extra day comes extra opportunity to take a day trip (or two) around the area. We polled our staffer for some good destinations in the area to share, so pump up the bike tires, get out the hiking boots or start the car (Zip, Flex, or your own). And if you have any other good suggestions, let us... more ›

Summer is coming and so is one of our favorite pastimes: compiling our summer reading list. Remember back when you were in middle school and you were required to read a certain number of books on the school's list by the time classes were back in session? Yes, we realize some of you saw this as a chore. But if it weren't for those lists, we may never have picked up books that have become... more ›

DCist is, collectively, having one of those Fridays. You know, one of those Fridays when your boss dumps a bunch of work on your desk and wants it done before you leave for the weekend (the sweet, sweet weekend) and your Internet keeps crapping out so you can't even check your email. The weekend is quickly approaching and we haven't yet had time to scour the best of the city's offerings. But, we think... more ›

In its first weekend, the Capital Fringe Festival turned downtown D.C. into a moveable feast of performance, as show after show made its Fringe debut. As we enter Day Five of the festival, it’s now time to go get a second helping—a show you want to see again or a show your friends have told you is a must-see. Even still, a handful of shows will get their start today. At DCist, we’d love to... more ›

Written by DCist Theater Reviewer Missy Frederick. more ›

July would be a dead time for theatergoers, if not for festivals. Thanks to them, we'll have more than enough to keep us in our cushioned seats (or fold-up chairs, depending on the venue) this month. Most noteworthy is the Capital Fringe Festival. The lineup, which we told you about earlier, features everything from out-of-town productions to local theatre groups. There are cabarets. There are fire-eaters. There's a One Man Star Wars Trilogy. In other... more ›

Today Curbed clued us into the many rivalries that exist in New York City, from the basic Manhattan vs. Brooklyn to the L train vs. the F train. This got us to thinking -- what rivalries exist in the Washington area? What really provokes heated debates? What, when mentioned on DCist, yields a flood of comments both pro and con? Today we present some of the basic rivalries that keep things interesting. Of course, this... more ›

FRIDAY: >> Please Hammer, don't hurt 'em. Landmark R&B radio station WPGC celebrates 19 years of playing 18 jams in a row with a concert at the Verizon Center that features LL Cool J, MC Hammer, Chuck Brown, EU, Naughty By Nature, Bow Wow, MC Hammer and Lisa Lisa. Apparently Cult Jam had previous commitments. $45 - $70, 7 p.m. (Kyle Gustafson) >> You may have missed La Didone last weekend, but if you... more ›

FRIDAY: >> There ain't nothin' remotely unfun about hanging out with North Carolina's trailer park heroes, Southern Culture On The Skids, who will be playing the 9:30 Club — or as it's more pretentiously known, "Nightclub 9:30" — tonight with Jumpin' Jupiter. If you're good enough to treat SCOTS to some fried chicken, maybe they'll indulge us locals with a Link Wray cover or two. $15, doors at 9 p.m. (Jason Linkins) >> Do your... more ›

FRIDAY: The Mozart Year is almost halfway over — the man's birthday was January 27 — but classical concert programming continues to celebrate it. Opera Lafayette gets in the game tonight and tomorrow (June 2 and 3, 7:30 p.m.) with a concert performance of Mozart's first important opera, Idomeneo, at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center in College Park. The vocal cast promises to be excellent, including an up-and-coming young singer named Millicent Scarlett, who... more ›

FRIDAY: >> There have only been a handful of actors in this world who are genuine badasses. Robert Mitchum. Robert Redford. Robert Loggia. Any of the Roberts, really. And then there's Kris Kristofferson. This is a guy who has hung out with both Sam Peckinpah and Janis Joplin, been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and oh, makes time to kill a few vampires on the weekends. Dude is so virile a gal could... more ›

NBC's political drama The West Wing comes to a close tonight at 8pm. While we haven't taken the time to plan elaborate viewing parties, a couple of us at DCist are feeling slightly nostalgic about the series. Since NBC wouldn't fork over the dollars for an hour long retrospective of the shows highlights, we decided to chime in with our own picks. Keep reading for our picks of the best episodes of the series and... more ›

DCist theater critic Missy Frederick contributed to this report. Signature Theatre's production of Urinetown took top honors at last night's Helen Hayes Awards, D.C.'s local theater awards ceremony, taking home 8 prizes including director of a musical (Joe Calarco), choreographer (Karma Camp), four different acting awards (Will Gartshore is pictured right accepting his award for lead actor in a musical, which he shared in a tie with Michael McElroy from Big River), and outstanding resident... more ›

FRIDAY: We like to think of Dame Edna as a sort of old-school Eddie Izzard, with only slightly worse eye shadow. The "glittering gigastar" is performing Dame Edna: Back With a Vengeance at the National Theater this weekend, and the title is probably somewhat telling -- it sounds a bit like a last hurrah to us. Still, how many chances in life does one really have to be verbally abused and assaulted with gladiolus by... more ›

This weekend is not only the last of January, but the last of the Chinese calendar year. We had some lewd jokes about fireworks and "The Year of the Rooster" prepared, but given that our last attempt at ethnic humor almost ended with us being chased out of D.C., we’ll play it safe this time and simply wish you all a Happy Lunar New Year. FRIDAY >>The key to a vibrant local music scene is... more ›

Editor's note: The following preview was written by Missy Frederick "Bard-37" ... What does this phrase bring to mind? A punk band? A brand of malt liquor? A series of all of Shakespeare's plays read in chronological order at a local Arlington playhouse? All snark aside, option C is correct. Washington Shakespeare Company has been performing each of the playwright's works as part of its Bard-37 Canon Cabaret. Tonight, they will read King Lear at... more ›

Editor's Note: In the coming months our contributor Jason Linkins (who recently completed acting in the Rorshach Theater Company's production Behold!) will be collaborating with new contributor Missy Frederick to cover D.C.'s vibrant local theater scene for DCist. Though several local companies use the summertime as a hiatus in production, July 2005 will nevertheless be an active period on the D.C. stages, with many well-regarded favorites from last month sticking around to a host... more ›

Editor's Note: This preview of the Olney Theatre Center's Summer Shakespeare Festival comes to us from Missy Frederick, who has joined our staff to write about theater. DCist appreciates, heck, even admires the egalitarian nature of the annual Shakespeare Theatre Free For All's ticket giveaway madness that went down last month. The getting up early, the waiting in line for hours, then the returning to the amphitheater well in advance of curtain time only... more ›