Photo by Erin.FRIDAY
STORYTELLING: SpeakeasyDC—D.C.’s live storytelling series—is celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week with “After-School Special: A Night of True Stories By & About Educators.” Storytellers and poets from across the region will tell their best stories related to education at the Atlas Performing Arts Center (1333 H Street NE). There will be a pre-show reception and a post-show discussion, both sponsored by Teaching for Change. Starts at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $25.
PARIS HILTON: Is a real DJ, she swears! And she’s DJing tonight at Echostage (2135 Queens Chapel Road NE). So, go check that out, if that’s your thing. Starts at 9 p.m. Tickets are $29.
APP MOVIE: A film about a mysterious Siri-like app that downloads itself into the protagonist’s phone, causing her phone to “[send] scandalous texts” and [hack] into other systems,” gets the interactive treatment at the AFI Silver Theater. You can download the actual app while watching the movie to play along, creating a unique film-viewing experience. It’s also the only time it’s acceptable to pull out your phone during a movie. $12, starts at 9:30 p.m.
SAVOR AFTER-PARTY: SAVOR, the craft beer festival going on this weekend, may be sold out, but that doesn’t mean you still can’t partake in some after-parties. Like this one, tonight at the Black Cat. Smuttynose is hosting the party, which will feature $5 draft beers from the brewery along with performances from DJs Dredd and Grap Luva. $10, doors at 10 p.m.
DISTRICTLAND: The cast of Districtland, a new play by local local playwright Cristina Bejan that’s set to premier at this year’s Capital Fringe Fest, will be performing one scene from the anticipated play tonight. What’s it about, you may be asking yourself? Well, I’ll just leave this description here:
DISTRICTLAND is about using people. It’s about about making contacts at a Happy Hour instead of enjoying the company. It’s about a series of one-night stands as a substitute for intimacy. It’s about engaging with people on Twitter instead of the people standing beside you. It’s about losing sleep over who has not endorsed you for a skill on LinkedIn. It’s about a city full of transplant activists who cannot name DC’s mayor.
DISTRICTLAND is about yoga, slam poetry, your iPhone, your internship, your Mall kickball team, Law School, Rhodes Scholars, World Bankers, Peace Corps, getting high, first generation baggage, the lone DC native and how a cabbie from Kabul’s life is so much more interesting than yours. DISTRICTLAND is about how you may wake up one morning and find that you are married to someone with the perfect DC CV… but she is bad in bed and you are horny.
It’ll be shown during Openstage at The Fridge (516 8th Street SE, rear alley) tonight at 8 p.m. More info here.
SATURDAY
PROTECT-U: Local electronic duo Protect-U just put out their debut LP, Free USA, and are celebrating at Comet Ping Pong (5037 Connecticut Avenue NW) tonight with a release party. Also on the bill: Peaking Lights Sound System, and Maxmillion Dunbar. Show is $12 and starts at 10 p.m.
YOUNG RAPIDS: D.C.’s Young Rapids are calling it quits and having one last soiree tonight at the Rock & Roll Hotel. Big Hush, The Effects, and The Sea Life are joining in on the fun. $12, starts at 8 p.m.
FILM: The AFI Silver’s Burt Lancaster retrospective continues this weekend with one of his greatest performances, in The Leopard, even though he’s dubbed in Italian. Prince Don Fabrizio Salina (Lancaster) is the patriarch of a proud noble family in decline, with the advent of the modern world of 1860s Sicily. Director Luchino Visconti specialized in lush epics that are meant to be seen on the big screen, and this 1963 film is his masterpiece—a must-see on the big screen. I’m glad the AFI is showing the restored 202-minute cut, but it’s too bad it’s DCP. If the ornate scenery and graceful cinematography wasn’t pretty enough for you, the film also co-stars Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale. Screens today at 1:10 p.m. — Pat Padua
SUNDAY
FILM: The series Martin Scorcese Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema continues this weekend with offerings at the National Gallery of Art and the AFI Silver. Sunday afternoon, the Gallery screens director Jerzy Kawalerowicz’s 1982 film Austeria. At the start of World War I, a group of Polish Jews takes shelter at a roadside inn or austeria as an invading Cossack army approaches. Screens today at 4 p.m. at the National Gallery of Art, East Building Auditorium, Free. — Pat Padua
BLUE NOTE FESTIVAL: The Kennedy Center’s Blue Note at 75 Festival, which celebrates the 75th anniversary of the legendary jazz label, concludes today with a special gala, featuring performances from Wayne Shorter, Norah Jones, Jason Moran, and others. Starts at 7 p.m. More info here.
JAZZ: The folks at CapitalBop have an excellent lineup for the May 2014 edition of the monthly D.C. Jazz Loft at Union Arts. Charles Rahmat Woods will start things off with a sax/drums duo before Allyn Johnson takes to the keys for a solo piano set. Another duo featuring vocalist Akua Allrich and bassist Kris Funn will close out the night. 7 p.m. doors. $15 suggested donation. More info here. — Sriram Gopal
