FRIDAY:
>> Seattle singer-songwriter Rosie Thomas is recording a new album with Sufjan Stevens, has toured with both James Mercer and Sam Bean, and we wouldn’t be shocked if she had “Sub Pop” tatooed on her butt. There’s no arguing she’s got the street cred to draw a crowd tonight at Jammin’ Java in Vienna. But Thomas also has a penchant for exploring topics (and melodies) that seem to place her more in the “sometimes it’s tough being a girl” set, especially when she’s writing parables called “Pretty Dress.” Witness her identity crisis in person at 7:30 p.m., $10.
>> We’ve also heard good/weird things about The Old Ceremony, Chapel Hill’s “Pop-Noir Musical,” whatever in the world that means. Any readers out there have the skinny? Sounds like cabaret to us, but who can tell. With No Second Troy and Buddahead at IOTA, 9 p.m., $10.
SATURDAY:
>> Bel Air, MD native Kimmie Meissner didn’t come away from the Winter Olympics in Torino with a medal, but she sure made a statement by heading straight to the World Championships in Calgary and walking away with gold after landing a total of 7 triple jumps. Say what you want about figure skating — it’s not a real sport, the outifts are ugly, etc. — there’s a reason why Meissner and her fellow skaters in the Champions on Ice Tour get huge endorsement deals and rate the most viewers of any Winter Games: People eat this shit up. Catch figure skating’s most adorable stars (Irina Slutskaya and Michelle Kwan included) at the Verizon Center at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and quit pretending you’re too cool for it. $30 to $175.
>> A celebration of of the return of Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party to the Phillps Collection has the museum offering free admission all weekend along with a number of special events. Between apparently being able to “mingle with the famous characters” from the painting, to a plan to have “street performers create a Parisian-style boulevard atmosphere,” the Phillips looks to be a Francophile’s dream on Saturday between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Let’s just pray there are no mime-related fatalities.
>> Black Cat goes fully native with talented local Exit Clov, Soft Complex and a second outing for Georgie James. At a mere $10, that’s less than the cost of a cover for most bars in the city on Saturday. Here at DCist, we like to see our local rock ‘n’ roll with perceived added value. 9:30 p.m.
SUNDAY:
>> Retelling a purely symbolic myth like that of Orpheus and Eurydice in the midst of Carnival in Rio sounds impossibly artsy and pretentious, but Marcel Camus’ 1959 film Black Orpheus won the Palm d’Or at Cannes for good reason — it is a lush, hypnotic, Technicolor explosion of a film that also finds a way to tell its story of ill-fated lovers in a highly effective manner. The celebration of Carnival, after all, is a narrative in and of itself, so the Orpheus myth is able to unfold within the context of role-playing on one of the grandest of stages. A rich and moving score by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Luis Bonfa makes the experience of this film a true feast for the senses. At the AFI Silver Theater and Cultural Center at 1 p.m. and 7:40 p.m.
