FRIDAY: >> Attention all nerds: This is like our Lollapalooza or something. First Person: Stories from the Edge of the World is an event being held tonight by National Geographic Live, which features some sort of “collaboration” between NPR’s Neal Conan and Liane Hansen, the Celtic/early music crossover group Ensemble Galilei, and actor Bill Pullman. Together this crew will narrate excerpts from the journals of great explorers such as Jacques Cousteau, George Mallory, and Charles…

Although it may seem unnecessary to say so, sometimes opera can be fun. Italian comic opera can be musically formulaic, simplistic in plot, and even thin on entertainment. However, the best examples, when presented well, are irresistibly light-hearted. Washington National Opera’s production of Gaetano Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore is just that. Yes, it’s a silly story and the characters are flimsy, the staging is a reprise of Stephen Lawless’s 1997 version — altered in minor ways…