It was just last year that the Washington Ballet premiered Septime Webre's magical, inventive production of Alice in Wonderland at the Kennedy Center. Now, Lewis Carroll's famous story returns to the venue, this time a version by choreographer Christopher Wheeldon that was a hit in 2011 when the U.K.'s Royal Ballet and the National Ballet of Canada joined forces and ... [Read]

Commissioned by Carnegie Hall, acclaimed young Italian composer Paola Prestini's folk opera Oceanic Verses is a multimedia opera concert event with scenic installation. Julian Wachner (pictured) leads the The Washington Chorus and several soloists, not to mention a filmmaker and video designer, in this New Music for a New Age performance. Saturday, June 23, at 7:30 p.m. Kennedy Center Terrace ... [Read]

If you missed her namesake cabaret shows last Friday, fear not. You can at least see why Barbara Cook, a 2011 Kennedy Center honoree, is a national treasure when it comes to the vocal arts. The original Marian the librarian in The Music Man and Cunegonde in Candide, Cook will offer guidance as pre-professional artists perform for her in this ... [Read]

Barry Manilow, Jewel, Peter Cincoitt and Chris Botti will all serenade the 16-time Grammy Award-winning composer and producer David Foster at the Kennedy Center's 2012 Spring Gala. They'll perform a sampling of Foster's many pop hits, accompanied by the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra. Sunday, May 6, at 8 p.m. Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Tickets are $35 to $150. Call ... [Read]

Singing to recorded music signals that you can't afford live musicians. What Twyla Tharp has done in Come Fly Away, putting a big band onstage to accompany recorded vocals by Frank Sinatra, signals that she couldn't afford not to have live musicians. Not if she wanted a commercial product that could justify hefty ticket prices, anyway. But it's a superfluous ... [Read]

Virginia-based Wonder Woman and staunch supporter of the LGBT community Lynda Carter returns to the Kennedy Center this Friday to offer a new concert, “Body & Soul.” Supported by a smokin’ band and singers, Carter offers unique and personal takes on rock classics, jazz standards, country tunes and even some original songs. Friday, March 30, at 7:30 p.m. Kennedy ... [Read]

After helping kick off the National Symphony Orchestra's season last fall, the classical music superstar Joshua Bell returns to the Kennedy Center for a Washington Performing Arts Society concert. Pianist Sam Haywood accompanies the virtuoso violinist in a program of Mendelssohn, Brahms, Ravel, Ysaye and Gershwin. A presentation of WPAS. Monday, Jan. 23, at 8 p.m. Kennedy Center Concert Hall. ... [Read]

Writer Lee Hall, director Stephen Daldry and choreographer Peter Darling reprise their responsibilities adapting the popular 2000 film Billy Elliot, with Hall also penning the lyrics for a catchy score by Elton John. The result is moving material set into brilliant motion. If some of the mechanics of the stage form feel a bit forced -- the team favors early ... [Read]

On seeing Holland Taylor's portrayal of former Texas governor Ann Richards for the first time, Don Temples cried. "It was as if someone I love very much, who I know is dead, was suddenly there again," says Temples, who used to work for Richards as well as the Human Rights Campaign. For Taylor, the Emmy Award-winning actress who plays the ... [Read]

Named Washington's "Artist of the Year" in 2003, this roots-rock band -- part rock, part blues, part bluegrass -- has since relocated to Nashville, but its roots are still here, so any local performance promises to be sweet. And how could it get any sweeter than free? They return for what's become an annual concert on the Millennium Stage. Tuesday, ... [Read]

'Tis the season for ballet companies to perform versions of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker. The American Ballet Theatre offers a new version by the company's Alexei Ratmansky, considered one of the leading choreographers in contemporary ballet. His take, complete with sets and costumes by Tony Award winner Richard Hudson (The Lion King) won rave reviews at its debut last season in ... [Read]

No, this ain't about Jesus -- it's about Handel's Messiah. Specifically the various versions of the more 260-year-old classical classic, as ubiquitous this time of year as ballet presentations of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker. The National Symphony Orchestra's Yvonne Caruthers explores the history of the piece -- from Handel's original oratorio, to Mozart's adaptation, to the sing-along edition, to even a ... [Read]

The National Symphony Orchestra conductor Christoph Eschenbach reunites with renowned violinist Midori for Britten's Violin Concerto in D Minor. Also on the program is is Osvaldo Golijov's Sidereus and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 1 in F Minor. Tonight, Friday, Dec. 2, and Saturday, Dec. 3, at 8 p.m. Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Tickets are $20 to $85. Call 202-467-4600 or visit ... [Read]

Alexandra Silber is Barbara Cook's latest performer in the Spotlight cabaret series, highlighting those singers Cook considers among Broadway’s best today. Silber, with her sweet soprano voice, has performed alongside Tyne Daly in Kennedy Center’s recent staging of Terrence McNally's Master Class, and has also performed in Carousel and Fiddler on the Roof on London's West End. Friday, Dec. 2, ... [Read]

The 2009 Tony-winning musical and winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Next to Normal is a tour de force examination of contemporary life. For its first national tour, the show -- which D.C.'s Arena Stage helped retool before it first went to Broadway -- features a cast that includes Alice Ripley, reprising her Tony-winning role as the original ... [Read]

Led by artistic director Nikolaj Hübbe, the world-renowned Royal Danish Ballet returns to the Kennedy Center for the first time since 2004 to offer new productions of August Bournonville's A Folk Tale and his signature and enduring masterpiece Napoli. A Folk Tale runs Tuesday, June 7, through Thursday, June 9, at 7:30 p.m. Napoli runs Friday, June 10, and Saturday, ... [Read]

Smokey Robinson hosts the Kennedy Center's annual Spring Gala that this year also honors Michael Kaiser's 10 years at the helm. The gala features such cultural powerhouses as Joshua Bell, Barbara Cook, Renee Fleming, Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Megan Fairchild as well as the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra. Sunday, April 3, at ... [Read]

In "Take a Deep Breath," Jane Franklin Dance company performs pieces including "Branch," "Same Place at the Same Time" and "Leroy," with musical accompaniment. Wednesday, Feb. 16, at 6 p.m. Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. Tickets are FREE. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org. ... [Read]

Gianandrea Noseda makes his NSO debut conducting renowned pianist Radu Lupu in a performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3. Also on the program is Smetana's Overture to The Kiss and Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony. Thursday, Feb. 10, through Saturday, Feb. 12, at 8 p.m. Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Tickets are $20 to $85. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org. ... [Read]

Michael Krajewski conducts the NSO Pops in Disney in Concert, an evening of musical selections from Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Mary Poppins, The Lion King and more. Thursday, Feb. 3, at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 4 and Saturday, Feb. 5, at 8 p.m. Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Tickets are $20 to $85. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org. ... [Read]