The annual visit of the Mariinsky Theater's traveling opera troupe from St. Petersburg came a little early this year. The themes that unite the Kennedy Center double-bill of Verdi's Otello and Tchaikovsky's Queen of Spades are self-destructive obsessions and tenor heroes who become villains. Who better to perform The Queen of Spades than the Mariinsky Theater, which hosted the world premiere of The Queen of Spades on December 19, 1890? The opera is thoroughly Russian,......

It's December, which means that much of the classical music concert schedule is devoted to some holiday that apparently occurs near the end of the month. Consult our Holiday Concert Agenda and our Handel's Messiah Agenda, if that is the sort of thing that interests you. Let's try to keep the regular agenda free of that stuff. There is plenty to talk about without it. VOICES: >> The annual residency of the Kirov Opera, the......

FRIDAY: >> In case you missed Chapel Hill's The Old Ceremony (pictured) last time they were in town, they'll be at the Rock and Roll Hotel tonight with Junior League, Unwed Sailor and John Pringle. We've raved in the past about lead singer Django Haskins' Nick Cave-meets-Ben Folds stage presence, and since then we've picked up their 2006 release Our One Mistake. If you can't make the show, we highly suggest giving them a listen......

The last time DCist reviewed a Morrissey concert -- in September of 2004 -- the Mighty Mozzer had canceled two shows in California the week before taking the stage at D.A.R. that night. As you might know, Morrissey was forced to postpone four shows last week due to a chest cold, proving once again that the more things change, the more they stay the same. And for Morrissey, that's not a bad thing at all.......

The early part of the week is looking a little light for shows, but after the Fourth things really get rolling through Sunday night. MONDAY >> After coming down with a case of "David Letterman throat" last week, Morrissey was forced to reschedule three shows, including his gig at Madison Square Garden in NYC. Right now it looks like NYC's loss is our gain, as we just recieved an email from the staff at Wolf......

>> Ward 1 council member Jim Graham hopes the residents of Ward 5 won't mind if he moves some strip clubs displaced by the new Nationals stadium into their neighborhood. Here's a tip to make sure there's no local resistance: Ward 5 residents get in for free! [Examiner] >> Don't miss Tamara Jones and Roxanne Roberts' merciless ribbing of President Bush for almost accidentally suggesting Queen Elizabeth II was over 200 years old. The......

Welcome back to work, Washington. It's the Monday after a jam-packed weekend of fun for many of us, and we understand as well as you do that there's nothing so disheartening as reporting to your desk knowing that good times won't be in sight again for another five full days. It is therefore in the spirit of distraction that we present to you the weekend's funniest, and yet saddest headline for you to mull over......

>> The Queen of England is coming for a visit next week to the region, presumably with plans to retrocede the colonies. If it ever happened, at least the entire country would finally understand what it feels like to have taxation without representation. [WaPo] >> The Dow Jones Industrial Average passed 13,000. [AP] >> "Gay-larious!,", billed as D.C.'s only monthly gay and lesbian comedy show a new monthly gay and lesbian stand up comedy show,......

Hosting live webcasts of some of the most critically acclaimed artists that come through D.C. — that's something DCist can get behind. We've been fans of NPR's Live Concert Series for a while now. Their home base is the 9:30 Club and they make partaking in sold out shows without selling your soul to a scalper an actual possibility. Recently they've covered Ted Leo, Nellie McKay, The Good The Bad and The Queen, and tonight......

It's going to be 73 degrees today Washington, and we can hardly think straight for the giddyness associated with the possibility that it's time to put our winter coats away. But don't worry, we're not too drunk with sunshine to forget that Sweet 16 action in the NCAA mens basketball tournament starts today -- so don't forget to check in on your standings in the DCist pool. The only problem of course being the......

FRIDAY: >> Friends 'o DCist Middle Distance Runner have had quite a ride since playing our special Unbuckled/Anniversary concert last September. Despite a few bumps on the road, they've gone from little band that could to having their first headlining slot at 9:30 club tonight. We'll say we knew them when. With The Dance Party. 10 p.m., $10. >> Akron/Family impressed the pants off of critics in 2005 with their self-titled neo-folk stylings. They'll be......

It must be hard out there for a Washington film critic. You've got big-city cinema dreams, but you're stuck in a town where politics is usually the order of the day. The number of people who turn to you as the last word in quality filmmaking is probably frustratingly small considering the size of the media market you're working in. So what are our humble D.C. area film critics to do? Well, as we've noted......

We have been plugging the excellent production of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess all week, and it is worth your time and effort to see it, as we did this past Wednesday. However, all remaining performances have apparently been sold out. This means that your best and only remaining chance to experience this great American opera will be later today, when a live simulcast from the Kennedy Center Opera House will be shown on a huge......

FRIDAY: >> The First Ladies DJ Collective hits the Black Cat for Girl Friday: the I Love the 90s version. As their site says, join them to "go back in time to the decade that brought us the Real World, Sassy magazine, babydoll dresses, our first war in Iraq, and not one but three Amy Fisher made-for-tv movies." Ah, Sassy magazine. How we miss it. 10 p.m., $5, backstage. >> Monopoli headlines tonight at Club......

Oscars, Oscars, Oscars! That's the main event going on this weekend (care to leave your picks in the comments?) but there's tons of other fun things out there. Check out this week's Arts Agenda and Music Agenda for some suggestions, like the opening of the Modigliani exhibit at the Phillips Collection on Saturday (a portrait of his is at right), or the continuation of the Teenbeat reunion tonight (check out shesbitter.com for some pictures of......