Aug 01, 2007
Popcorn & Candy: Once Upon a Time…
DCist’s highly subjective and hardly comprehensive guide to the most interesting movies playing around town in the coming week. Repertory: Labyrinth Jim Henson continued to indulge the darker doors of his mind that he’d thrown wide open with The Dark Crystal in this, regrettably his last feature film. How a film made by Jim Henson and George Lucas, and starring David Bowie managed to tank as badly as this did upon release is a mystery,…
Jun 07, 2007
About Tonight
>> Sheffield’s The Long Blondes, often called a female-fronted version of the Arctic Monkeys, are at Rock and Roll Hotel tonight with Nicole Atkins and the Sea and Five Four. $12, 8 p.m. >> Latin jazz legend and Grammy winner Eddie Palmieri begins a four-night stint at Blues Alley tonight, with 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. sets through Sunday. Tickets are $35. >> John Updike will be at Temple Sinai to read from his book…
May 07, 2007
Jenůfa at Washington National Opera
On Saturday night, the Washington National Opera opened its best production of the season, with David Alden’s modernized staging of Leoš Janáček’s Jenůfa. Washington is the last of the three cities co-producing this version to see it on the stage, after a well-received 2004 premiere at Houston Grand Opera and an overwhelming critical success last fall at English National Opera, where it won the Laurence Olivier Award for best new opera production. Janáček adapted the…
May 03, 2007
Opera Preview: Jenůfa
This Saturday evening, the Washington National Opera opens its highly anticipated production of Leoš Janáček’s Jenůfa. This is only the second Janáček opera in the history of the WNO, with one Cunning Little Vixen done in English translation in 1993. This new production directed by David Alden premiered at Houston Grand Opera in 2004: after it played to critical success last fall at English National Opera, it won the Laurence Olivier Award for best new…
Apr 28, 2007
Classical Music Agenda
There is little doubt that the main event this week is the opening of the final part of the Washington National Opera’s season. The company’s penultimate production, Leoš Janáček’s Jenůfa in a staging by David Alden, won the Laurence Olivier Award this year for best new opera production. For reasons beyond understanding, not a single performance has sold out, although this is likely to be the high point of the WNO season. Some people may…
Apr 24, 2007
Round House’s Director Too One-Dimensional
This review was written by contributor Chris Klimek The Director: The Third Act of Elia Kazan, now in its world premiere run at Round House Theatre in Silver Spring, takes a few more liberties with its subject than did Orson’s Shadow, another recent Round House production about titans of the stage and screen. The latter play imagined what Orson Welles and Laurence Olivier might have talked about during their real-life collaboration on Eugene Ionesco’s Rhinoceros,…
Feb 05, 2007
Reader, Meet Author
MONDAY Kenneth Brannagh’s Hamlet. Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet. Bob and Doug MacKenzie’s Strange Brew. All fine examples of Shakespeare on film. Got questions? Well, pepper Simon Crowl, author of Shakespeare and Film: A Norton Guide, with them. Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 East Capitol St. SE., at 7:30 p.m. $12. TUESDAY According to the Wikipedia, Ralph Nader’s father “owned a bakery and restaurant where he engaged customers in discussions of political issues.” That bakery? The “Ugh…I Mean,…
Jan 03, 2007
Arts Agenda: Your Resolution
It’s that time of the year again, when people make resolutions they do not plan on keeping. Join DCist in resolving to see more art in 2007, but let’s mean it. You could get started this week. >> Studio Gallery will have an invitational show featuring artists from the greater D.C. metropolitan area (January 3 to 28). This will include Suzanne Quinlan, whose work is shown at right. Open Wednesdays to Sundays, 2108 R St….