November 2010 Archives

Kimpton's Palomar Arlington, at 1121 N. 19th St., in Arlington, is hosting A Taste of Virginia's Own, a wine tasting event on Thursday, Dec. 2, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. to benefit the Northern Virginia AIDS Ministry (NOVAM), which provides comprehensive HIV prevention education to local youth and direct services to people living with HIV/AIDS in Northern Virginia. Several of Virginia's top winemakers will be represented, including Chateau O'Brien, Horton Cellars, Tarara Winery and Boxwood Estates. The event is part of the Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants' Red Ribbon Campaign. Admission is $30 in advance, $35 at the door with all ticket proceeds benefiting NOVAM. Call 703-533-5505, ext. 13 or e-mail agranger@novam.com.

Canadian jazz-pop singer Michael Buble continues to win over fans with his easy-to-please music and charming personality, even widely acknowledging his sizable gay fan base, most recently while accepting an American Music Award. If you haven't met him yet, well, to paraphrase his two most recent hits, you just may find he has what it takes. Tuesday, Nov. 30, at 8 p.m. Verizon Center, 601 F St. NW. Tickets are $70.85 to $113.90. Call 202-628-3200 or visit verizoncenter.com.

Now in its 10th anniversary season, Synetic Theatre presents the first of two shows at the Lansburgh Theatre as pat of a special alliance with the Shakespeare Theatre Company. The Master and Margarita reunites Paata and Irina Tsikurishvili in an adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov's novel about the devil's visit to Stalin's Moscow -- a powerful tale about the juxtaposition of good and evil, sacrificing for love, and artistic struggles in a repressive society. To Dec. 12. Lansburgh Theatre, 450 7th St. NW. Tickets are $40 to $55. Call 202-547-1122 or visit shakespearetheatre.org.

Sisters Shelby Lynne and Allison Moorer perform together in only five cities on this fall's Side by Side Tour. Area alt-country fans, consider yourselves lucky. Monday, Nov. 29, and Tuesday, Nov. 30, at 7:30 p.m. The Birchmere, 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria. Tickets are $35. Call 703-549-7500 or visit birchmere.com.

White House Diary is based on the 5,000 pages of notes Jimmy Carter kept while in office, enhanced by his current reflections on the past (and present). This signing-only event has been re-scheduled from September. Tuesday, Nov. 30. Doors open at 9 a.m., and the first-come, first-served, one-hour-only signing begins at 11:30 a.m. Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. Call 202-364-1919 or visit politics-prose.com.

Levi Kreis and Eric Himan are joined by a third, Jason Antone, for a special unplugged "SideXSide Tour" concert. Kreis won a Tony this year for his portrayal of Jerry Lee Lewis in Million Dollar Quartet, though here he'll focus on his own singer/songwriter work. And the totally do-it-yourself folk-rocker Himan returns to the area for what's sure to be another electric -- so to speak -- engagement. Monday, Nov. 29, at 7:30 p.m. Jammin' Java, 227 Maple Ave. E. Vienna. Tickets are $15. Call 703-255-3747 or visit jamminjava.com.

Arcimboldo, 1526-1593: Nature and Fantasy features 16 examples of the fantastic composite heads painted by Arcimboldo in their first appearance in the United States. Through Jan. 9, 2011. National Gallery of Art, Third Street at Constitution Avenue NW. Call 202-737-4215 or visit nga.gov.

Folding Unfolding: Collider is an interactive exhibition/installation, featuring 3D replications of basic seed crystals, such as borax, gypsum and quartz, from the collaborative team of lesbians Sarah Strauss and Lia Halloran. The pair was inspired by 500,000-year-old natural crystals discovered a decade ago in Mexico. On display through Jan. 12. Artisphere, 1101 Wilson Blvd. Arlington. Call 703-875-1100 or visit artisphere.com.

Formed nearly 40 years ago in Bethesda, the progressive bluegrass band Seldom Scene remains especially popular in its hometown region. They appear tonight in a joint jam with fellow decades-old bluegrass band Dry Branch Fire Squad from California. Saturday, Nov. 27, at 7:30 p.m. The Birchmere, 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria. Tickets are $29.50. Call 703-549-7500 or visit birchmere.com.

The feisty and fun Cyndi Lauper? She's got the blues? Well, yes, of sorts. On the all-covers Memphis Blues, her 11th studio set released earlier this year, the irrepressible New Yorker acquits herself rather nicely with locals of the Mississippi Delta. Lauper recorded the set in March at Memphis's Electraphonic Studios, and she corralled a dozen or so of the genre's greatest living legends to offer support, from B.B. King to Ann Peebles to Allen Toussaint to Charlie Musselwhite. It'll be interesting to see how she brings the music to life when she stops at the 9:30 Club. Saturday, Nov. 27. Doors at 6 p.m. Nightclub 9:30, 815 V St. NW. Tickets are $45. Call 202-265-0930 or visit 930.com.

For one week only, the American Film Institute's Silver Theatre screens a new 35mm print of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho in honor of its 50th anniversary. Starring Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh, the movie has lost none of its power to shock. Hitchcock set out to make a film like none of his others -- and Psycho, made for a paltry budget using the crew of Hitchcock's popular TV show of the time, lacks the glamour and glitter of big-ticket items like North By Northwest. Yet Psycho wound up being one of his biggest hits -- and, to a certain extent, hobbled the director's later works. As a legacy piece, Psycho helped spawn a legion of horror imitators for decades to come. What those imitators lack are Perkins and Leigh, who give performances of tremendous artistry and, yes, grace. And then there's that shower scene, set to the shrieking strings of masterful composer Bernard Herrmann. At least one showing every day starting today, Friday, Nov. 26, at 9:30 p.m, through Thursday, Dec. 2. AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring. Tickets are $10 general admission. Call 301-495-6720 or visit afi.com/Silver. (Randy Shulman)

Here's the original 6-minute trailer, almost as famous as the movie itself.

Marvin Hamlisch conducts the pops in a concert with Jennifer Holliday, the mammoth-voiced Tony Award winner performing hits from Dreamgirls -- yes, including that song, her signature -- along with other audience favorites. Are you going? Yes, yes, yes, yes way. Friday, Nov. 26, and Saturday, Nov. 27, at 8 p.m. Also Friday, Nov. 26, at 1:30 p.m. Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Tickets are $20 to $85. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

Check out this breathtaking, legendary performance from the 1982 Tonys.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company's first musical theater performance at Sidney Harman Hall comes with this magnificent comic operetta, boasting music by Leonard Bernstein (West Side Story) and lyrics by Richard Wilbur, with additional contributions from Stephen Sondheim and Dorothy Parker. Songs include "Make Our Garden Grow" and "Glitter and Be Gay." Hugh Wheeler adapted the book from the original Voltaire satire, about an optimistic young man who faces many hilariously exaggerated misfortunes but clings to his belief that "all is for the best, in this best of all possible worlds." Mary Zimmerman directs this adaptation, whose book adheres more closely to Voltaire's original. A co-production with Chicago's Goodman Theatre. Opens in previews Friday, Nov. 26, at 8 p.m. Runs through Jan. 9. Sidney Harman Hall, Harman Center for the Arts, 610 F St. NW. Tickets are $20 to $108. Call 202-547-1122 or visit shakespearetheatre.org.

Under the banner I Love the '80s, local songwriters Todd Wright, Anthony Fiacco, Shane Hines and Luke Brindley play hits and share stories of the '80s, including how the decade influenced their own music-making. Sunday, Nov. 28, at 7 p.m. Jammin' Java, 227 Maple Ave. E. Vienna. Tickets are $15. Call 703-255-3747 or visit jamminjava.com.

Based on a song by Harry Connick Jr., the musical The Happy Elf tells the story of Eubie, a North Pole elf who hopes to bring Christmas joy to the sad town of Bluesville as part of Santa's sleigh team. John Rando (Broadway's Urinetown) directs this Adventure Theatre production, starring Tony Award winner Michael Rupert (Sweet Charity), along with students from Montgomery College. Closes this Sunday, Nov. 28. Montgomery College's Robert E. Parilla Performing Arts Center, 51 Mannakee St., Rockville. Tickets are $20. Call 240-567-5301 or visit montgomerycollege.edu/PAC.

The prolific and uniquely gifted Scott G. Brooks unveils an exhibit of all-new paintings. "We the People" is more blatantly political than typical Brooks, reflecting the political and economic turmoil that takes up the head space of those who are paying attention in today's troubled times. Final two days. Closes Sunday, Nov. 28. Long View Gallery, 1234 9th St. NW. Call 202-232-4788 or visit longviewgallery.com.

As part of a 10-film retrospective of pioneering film director Victor Fleming, the American Film Institute's Silver Theatre offers screenings over Thanksgiving of the classic, The Wizard of Oz. (Also on tap in the coming month: Gone With The Wind, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde -- starring Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman and Lana Turner -- and Captains Courageous.) Wizard of Oz made a star out of Judy Garland, at the time merely a young, relatively innocent 16-year-old under studio contract. It's a timeless classic that one never tires of watching. Thursday, Nov. 25, at 7:15 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 28, at 12:45 p.m. AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring. Tickets are $10 general admission. Call 301-495-6720 or visit afi.com/Silver.

The classic timelessness of Wizard of Oz notwithstanding, the movie has always been ripe for parody. And nobody -- truly nobody -- parodied it better than MadTV. Here's an alternate ending -- with a gay twist -- as presented by MadTV during its later years.

With a voice reminiscent of Maxwell and musicianship influenced by the likes of Prince and Stevie Wonder, singer-songwriter-pianist V. Rich meshes neo-soul, R&B and hip-hop. And he'll give a free concert on Thanksgiving Day at the Kennedy Center, which will be dark otherwise -- well, except for a certain whodunit comedy that'll never die. Thursday, Nov. 25, at 6 p.m. Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. Tickets are free. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker's documentary Kings of Pastry focuses on a prestigious three-day competition, which occurs only every four years, among France's best pastry chefs. The chefs risk their reputations and sacrifice family and finances in pursuit of winning the title Meilleurs Ouvriers de France, bestowed on them by President Nicolas Sarkozy. Opens today, Wednesday, Nov. 24. West End Cinema, 2301 M St. NW. Call 202-419-FILM or visit westendcinema.com.

Elton John conceived of his new album The Union as a vehicle to reassert Leon Russell's place in the rock firmament. Russell, who duets with John on the album, on both vocals and piano, helped pioneer the bluesy piano rock sound that John made his stock in trade. Russell was even instrumental in launching John's career in the U.S. In the intervening decades, John's career skyrocketed, making him the third best-selling pop act in the land, after only the Beatles and Madonna. Russell, meanwhile, toiled in relative obscurity, and suffered from failing health. Certainly things are looking much, much better for the legend these days. Expect a festive Thanksgiving Eve concert. Wednesday, Nov. 24, at 8:30 p.m. The State Theatre, 220 N. Washington St., Falls Church. Tickets are $25. Call 703-237-0300 or visit thestatetheatre.com.

Yes, it's that time of year already -- Nutcracker season. And this Chicago ballet company is first at bat, dancing to namesake Robert Joffrey's version of Tchaikovsky's family classic, The Nutcracker, featuring charming Victorian scenery and costumes. The company performs with several area school choirs and the Opera House Orchestra for this Kennedy Center tradition. Wednesday, Nov. 24, and Friday, Nov. 26, through Sunday, Nov. 28, at 7:30 p.m. Also Friday, Nov. 26, through Sunday, Nov. 28, at 1:30 p.m. Kennedy Center. Tickets are $45 to $150. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

Founded over 40 years ago at the Juilliard School of Music, the Tokyo String Quartet's original members trained at the Toho School of Music in Tokyo. Acclaimed pianist Jeremy Denk joins to perform the Dvorak Piano Quintet, in addition to works by Mozart and Barber, in this Washington Performing Arts Society performance. Today, Sunday, Nov. 21, at 4 p.m. Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. Tickets are $35 to $85. Call 301-581-5100 or visit strathmore.org.

A must-see for Wolf Hall groupies (and HBO Tudors hoi palloi), the Washington Shakespeare Company's Mary Stuart is spare, measured and unadorned. For director Colin Hovde, it is more about the language of faces than anything else. Whether caught in the bare-bulbed light of center stage or veering close to our seats, the emphasis here is on what face tells us of secret desire, fear and revelation. In this intimate space, it is like the theatrical version of HD -- we don't miss a flicker of emotion nor a moment's loss of concentration. It's demanding and highly effective in Hovde's hands. In rep with Richard III to Dec. 12. Artisphere Black Box, 1101 Wilson Blvd. Arlington. Tickets are $26.50 to $51.50. Call 703-875-1100 or visit artisphere.com or washingtonshakespeare.com.

Read Kate Wingfield's full review here.

In House of Gold, Sarah Benson directs a first-rate cast including Mitchell Hebert and Michael Russotto in a darkly funny story, written by young playwright Gregory S. Moss, about the fate of a six-year-old beauty queen. This funhouse ride into the American psyche conjures up the picture-perfect child -- but can she ever be safe from the adults who created her? To Nov. 28. Woolly Mammoth, 641 D St. NW. Tickets range from $30 to $65. Call 202-393-3939 or visit woollymammoth.net.

Following on the success of last season's "The Essential Puccini," The Washington Chorus presents "The Essential Rachmaninoff," featuring instrumental and choral music by the Russian master Sergei Rachmaninoff. Selections include his crowning achievement, the monumental Vespers and Symphonic Dances for Two Pianos, featuring Maestro Julian Wachner and Grace Cho, both on pianos. Sunday, Nov. 21, at 5 p.m. Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Tickets are $15 to $65. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

Scena Theatre's production of Orson Welles's War of the Worlds takes audiences into the CBS radio studios where an ensemble of actors, a soundman and Welles himself are performing that Halloween-eve radio play, which apparently drove some listeners to the frantic belief that a Martian invasion was indeed taking place. The spotlight and attention rightly goes to Regen Wilson's Orson Welles and the wholly organic and brilliantly spontaneous company of actors who portray the Mercury Theatre crew. They joke and tease and engage in the kind of juvenile horseplay one can easily imagine really did take place when sound was all that mattered to an audience. There is something completely engaging about War of the Worlds. Maybe it's that Scena leads us to believe that we're in on the greatest Halloween prank of all time. And maybe, just maybe, it's because they're showing us just how easily such a trick could be pulled again. What a treat. Now to Nov. 28. H Street Playhouse, 1365 H St. NE. Tickets are $25 to $40. Call 703-683-2824 or visit scenatheater.org.

Read Tom Avila's full review here.

Grammy-winning vocalist and pianist Diane Schuur embraces not only the jazz of her parents' generation -- she's a longtime disciple of Dinah Washington -- but also the pop music of her youth in the late '50s and '60s. Saturday, Nov. 20, and Sunday, Nov. 21, at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. Blues Alley, 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW. Tickets are $35, plus $10 minimum purchase. Call 202-337-4141 or visit bluesalley.com.

Violinist Timothy Fain joins the FSO and guest conductor Eckart Preu in music from the first half of the 19th Century and the second half of the 20th -- music, including Rossini's mischievous Overture to La Cenerentola, Mendelssohn's introspective Symphony No. 3 and Adams's unpredictable, intense Violin Concerto, that is sparkling, clean and clear. Saturday, Nov. 20, at 8 p.m. George Mason University Center for the Arts, 4373 Mason Pond Drive, Fairfax. Tickets are $25 to $55. Call 888-945-2468 or visit fairfaxsyphony.org.

A natural storyteller with a fantastic sense of humor and spontaneity, Cheryl Wheeler performs many songs in concert that haven't even been recorded on one of her engaging folk-based pop albums. Saturday, Nov. 20, at 7:30 p.m. The Birchmere, 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria. Tickets are $29.50. Call 703-549-7500 or visit birchmere.com.

Special Agent Galactica, DC's "Chanteuse of Sync," presents an intimate cabaret performance at ACKC tonight for two half-hour sets of "Galactica and the Chocolate Factory." Tonight, Thursday, Nov. 18, at 7:30 p.m. at ACKC, 1529 14th Street NW. Admission is free, but you're likely to walk out having bought a bag of the store's ungodly good chocolates. Visit ganymedearts.org.

Equal parts revival and outright rave, there is something slightly bizarre about mounting Hair in the red velvet box that is the Kennedy Center's Opera House. That's not to perpetuate the false mythology that pegs the Kennedy Center as some stuffy, hot house. But, truly, one has not experienced an evening at this most famous of performance halls until you have done so with a largely undressed man in a fringed buckskin thong crawling his way over the heads of audience members. The tribe of performers are enthralling -- a stunning must see. To Nov. 21. Kennedy Center Opera House. Tickets are $25 to $115. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

Girlyman, a sweet and sensitive queer quartet of three girls and a boy creates its own soaring three-part harmony in the acoustic-leaning folk-pop manner of the Indigo Girls and Paul Simon. Last year's live album, Somewhere Different Now , captures the banter that makes the trio an engaging presence on stage. Their music is just about flawless. Friday, Nov. 19, at 8 p.m. The Barns at Wolf Trap, 1645 Trap Road, Vienna. Tickets are $20. Call 703-255-1900 or visit wolf-trap.org.

New York theater troupe Tectonic Theater stops at the brand new Arena Stage as part of the national tour of both the original Laramie Project and the revision The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later by Moises Kaufman. The play examines the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, which focused attention on hate crimes against the LGBT community. Scott Barrow and Jeremy Bobb star along with original cast members Mercedes Herrero, Greg Pierotti and Kelli Simpkins. The Laramie Project is staged Friday, Nov. 19, at 8 p.m., and Saturday, Nov. 20, and Sunday, Nov. 21, at 2 p.m. 10 Years Later is staged Saturday, Nov. 20, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 21, at 7:30 p.m. Arena Stage, 1101 6th St. SW. Metro Weekly's Sean Bugg will lead a panel discussion in between the Saturday performances. Tickets are $35 to $55. Call 202-488-3300 or visit arenastage.org.

Part of GALA Theatre's ArteAmericA series in collaboration with the Washington Performing Arts Society, the Flamenco Festival explores the diversity and depth of flamenco and its contemporary expressions. This year's attractions include the the world premiere of Alma Flamenca by the Flamenco Aparicio Dance Company, plus free family workshops in flamenco zapateo, castanets and fans on Saturday, Nov. 27. But it all begins Thursday, Nov. 18, with the Washington premiere of Por si acaso amanece/ If It Should Dawn by the acclaimed Jose Barrios and Company. Festival runs through Dec. 5. GALA Theatre at Tivoli Square, 3333 14th St. NW. Tickets are $30 for each performance. Call 202-234-7174 or visit galatheatre.org.

Yep, the sun'll come out tomorrow -- in a manner of speaking -- as Olney christens its new main stage with Annie, the popular musical about the little red-headed orphan. Opens Wednesday, Nov. 17, at 8 p.m. Runs through Jan. 2. Olney Theatre Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney, Md. Tickets are $26 to $54. Call 301-924-3400 or visit olneytheatre.org.

The Suzanne Farrell Ballet returns to The Kennedy Center with two mixed-repertory programs featuring works of Balanchine, Robbins and Bejart. Plus, the company performs its first work by Paul Mejia. Choreographed for Suzanne Farrell, Eight by Adler is full of the kind of Broadway bravado that wins over audiences and critics. Wednesday, Nov. 17, through Sunday, Nov. 21, at 7:30 p.m. Also Saturday, Nov. 22, and Sunday, Nov. 23, at 1:30 p.m. In the Eisenhower. Tickets are $29 to $84. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

Luka and the Fire of Life revisits the magic-infused, intricate world Salman Rushdie first brought to life in the modern classic Haroun and the Sea of Stories. Luka, Haroun's younger brother, must save his father from certain doom by traveling to the Magic World and stealing the Fire of Life. Wednesday, Nov. 17, at 7 p.m. Sixth & I Historic Synagogue. 600 I St. NW. Tickets are $12, or receive two free tickets with $25 book purchase. Call 202-408-3100 or visit sixthandi.org.

Superior Donuts is a delicious new comedy from Tracy Letts, the Pulitzer- and Tony-winning playwright of August: Osage County. Donuts focuses on an offbeat friendship between a cantankerous white shop owner and an ambitious black teenager with something to hide. Serge Seiden directs. To Dec. 19. Studio Theatre, 14th & P Streets NW. Tickets are $44 to $57. Call 202-332-3300 or visit studiotheatre.org.

Win tickets to Superior Donuts. Enter below:

Still more a buddy show than a romantic comedy, Neil Simon's The Odd Couple explores issues far more complex and ultimately satisfying than the weekly personality clash comedy of the '70s television series adaptation. In director Jerry Whiddon's new production of Simon's three-act comedy Rick Foucheux and J. Fred Shiffman make for a memorable mismatched pair and play the same-sex couple aspects with just enough weight and texture. Foucheux seems to be having a great deal of fun as the affably grouchy sportswriter Oscar while Shiffman transforms Felix's eccentricities into some sharp stage work. To Nov. 28. The Aaron & Cecile Goldman Theater, Washington, D.C.'s Jewish Community Center, 1529 16th St. NW. Tickets are $35 to $60. Call 800-494-TIXS or visit theaterj.org.

Read Tom Avila's full review here.

Win Tickets to The Odd Couple. Fill out the form below.

Dutch soprano Judith van Wanroij sings with the D.C.-based company Opera Lafayette, which is focused on performing French operas from the 17th and 18th Centuries. On the bill: La Muse de l'Opera by Clerambault and Telaire's "Tristes apprets" from Rameau's Castor et Pollux. Monday, Nov. 15, at 7:30 p.m. Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. Tickets are $60. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

Local film critics Joe Barber and Bill Henry host Coming Attractions Trailer Night, a D.C. Film Society event, in which the audience gets to watch -- and vote on -- the preview reels of this season's potential Hollywood blockbusters. Exactly which film trailers will be screened wasn't set at press time, but among the possibilities: Oscar winner Jeff Bridges in the Coen Brothers True Grit remake; Disney's continuation of a cult favorite with TRON: Legacy (also with Jeff Bridges); Julie Taymor's The Tempest starring Helen Mirren; Colin Firth in The King's Speech; Cher and Christina Aguilera in Burlesque; and of course the latest Harry Potter and Narnia installments. Tuesday, Nov. 16, at 7 p.m. Landmark's E Street Cinema, 555 11th St. NW. Tickets are $8. Visit dcfilmsociety.org for more information and updates on the trailers to be shown.

Like Lily Allen before her, the British-bred but wholly Irish Kate Nash launched her career on MySpace (remember MySpace? It was kinda like Facebook, only clunkier). In fact, Allen was an early champion of Nash's piano-driven pop. Nash's latest album is My Best Friend Is You. Monday, Nov. 15. Nightclub 9:30, 815 V St. NW. Tickets are $20. Doors at 7 p.m. Call 202-265-0930 or visit 930.com.

At the 18th Annual World Team Tennis Smash Hits AIDS Benefit, you get the likes of Anna Kournikova, Stefanie Graf, Andre Agassi and Martina Navratilova playing matches to benefit the Washington AIDS Partnership and the Elton John AIDS Foundation. And your co-hosts are Billie Jean King and Elton John. And all this year right here in your own backyard. What more could a D.C. gay tennis fan ask for? Monday, Nov. 15, at 7 p.m. American University's Bender Arena, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Tickets remain in the $100 to $120 range. Call 202-552-5999 or visit wtt.com.

For a chance to win tickets to this event, click here.

Kristofferson plays solo with no backing band in this intimate Evening with Kris Kristofferson in which he sings the songs that made him famous, from "Help Me Make It Through The Night" to "For the Good Times" to "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down." Tonight, Saturday, Nov. 13, at 8 p.m. Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. Tickets are $32 to $72. Call 301-581-5100 or visit strathmore.org.

Organized in 1987 by a group of Capitol Hill staffers and featuring about 80 members from all over the region, The Congressional Congress performs works from PDQ Bach and Randall Thompson in a concert titled "From Silly…to Sublime: Reflections on Life, Love and Laughter." Tonight, Saturday, Nov. 13, at 8 p.m. Church of the Epiphany, 1317 G St. NW. Tickets are $25 at the door. Call 202-399-7993 or visit chorusmarket.org/tickets.

Reel Affirmations presents the Italian film Different From Whom? as the first of five RA Xtra films this season. The farcical comedy focuses on a gay man (Italian sex symbol Luca Argentero) whose life becomes complicated when he runs for office in an unnamed right-wing Italian town. In Italian with English subtitles. Friday, Nov. 12, at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. The Aaron & Cecile Goldman Theater, Washington, D.C.'s Jewish Community Center, 1529 16th St. NW. Tickets are $12, or $50 for all five monthly RA Xtra films through March. Call 800-494-TIXS or click here for ticket information.

different from whom
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Chely Wright's first area performance since she came out and energized this year's Capital Pride -- which happened right after she became the first major country artist to come out as gay, a milestone in a genre known for its conservatism, in both artists and fans. But if anyone can win 'em over, it's the charming, beautiful Kansas-born Wright. Friday, Nov. 12, at 8 p.m. Rams Head On Stage, 33 West St., Annapolis. Tickets are $35. Call 410-268-4545 or visit ramsheadonstage.com.

A professional -- and always out -- standup comedian for going on 30 years, Kate Clinton never seems to have a shortage of jokes about her life and current politics. And right about now, gays and lesbians especially could use some laugh therapy. Friday, Nov. 12, at 7:30 p.m. The Birchmere, 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria. Tickets are $45. Call 703-549-7500 or visit birchmere.com.

After signing his first record deal as a teenager with British record producer Clive Caulder's Jive Records, Jonathan Butler's premiere single became the first by a black artist to be played on white radio stations in South Africa. That early success was his ticket out of the apartheid country. The R&B/jazz guitarist and vocalist now lives in Southern California. Thursday, Nov. 11, through Sunday, Nov. 14, at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. Blues Alley, 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW. Tickets are $43, plus $10 minimum purchase. Call 202-337-4141 or visit bluesalley.com.

Furious Dancing: The Art Exhibit is a group exhibit featuring 18 artists curated by Simone Jacobson and Sonja Kubota Johansson celebrating Alice Walker's new book, Hard Times Require Furious Dancing. Artists represented include Iana Cohen-Matteini, Tanekeya S. Word, Carrie Shiffrin and J. Ford Huffman. Through Jan. 9, 2011. Busboys & Poets, 1025 5th St. NW. Call 202-387-POET or visit busboysandpoets.com.

Politics and Prose brings back John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, authors of the riveting best-seller Game Change, about the 2008 presidential campaign. The book has just been released in paperback. Wednesday, Nov. 10, at 4 p.m. Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. Call 202-364-1919 or visit politics-prose.com.

Arena Stage's Molly Smith sets her production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's great American musical Oklahoma!in the robust world of territory life filled with a dynamic cast as rich and complex as the great tapestry of America itself. "Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin'," "People Will Say We’re In Love" and of course the title tune are all on tap in this ode to America's pioneer spirit, the first to christen Arena Stage's new complex. To Dec. 26. The Fichlander at Mead Center for American Theater, 1101 6th St. SW. Tickets are $75 to $105. Call 202-488-3300 or visit arenastage.org.

If there's one consolation for Valerie Plame being exposed as a CIA operative, it's that Naomi Watts was cast to play her in Fair Game. Sean Penn stars as husband Joseph Wilson in this adaptation of the events that became a huge scandal for the Bush administration. Doug Liman directs. Now playing in area theaters. Visit fandango.com.

The 35-year-old Jonsi launched his solo debut Go with the same giddy sense of joy and wonder you may remember from your first carnival -- or better, your first big pride festival. It's certainly not anything you could have expected from the ambient rocker, lead singer of the Icelandic band Sigur Ros, with the ethereal, even elfin countertenor voice and penchant for making dazzling, sprawling music with a gloomy, cloudy sheen. Go on the other hand, is much clearer and less mysterious, moving at a brisker clip. And he plans to give it a full cinematic treatment in concert, with projected images responding to the music. Tickets remain for the concert Tuesday, Nov. 9, doors at 7 p.m. Nightclub 9:30, 815 V St. NW. Tickets are $35. Call 202-265-0930 or visit 930.com.

Here's our weekly contest roundup. We have four currently active with more on the way this week.

To win a pair of tickets to Signature Theatre's A Fox on the Fairway, enter by Monday, Nov. 8 at 11:45 p.m. Click here to enter.

To win a pair of tickets to Kathy Griffin at the Lyric Opera House, enter by Thursday, Nov. 11 at 11:45 p.m. Click here to enter.

To win a pair of tickets to Girlyman at The Barns at Wolf Trap, enter by Monday, Nov. 15 at 11:45 p.m. Click here to enter.

To win a pair of tickets to Paul Oakenfold at the 9:30 Club, enter by Tuesday, Nov. 16 at 11:45 p.m. Click here to enter.

Good luck!

"Organic" and "vegan" may not be phrases that fire up the appetite like "deep fried" or "golden brown." But they might once you've tried Cafe Green. Who wants spinach flax and kelp noodles when humanity has invented chili cheese fries? At Cafe Green, you get both. It may be vegan chili and cheese, but you're not likely to feel deprived. Actually, along with the range of traditional raw and vegan fare, the uninitiated can indulge in all sorts of favorites, from a "steak and cheese" sub to "mac n cheese" to gelato. All this, and brunch on Sundays! Located at 1513 17th St. NW in Washington, D.C. Call 202-234-0505.

Pictured: Mango Kale Salad. Photography by Todd Franson

A 2004 inductee into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame, Don McLean is still singing about that "American Pie," so the levy's clearly not dry. Sunday, Nov. 7, at 7:30 p.m. The Birchmere, 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria. Tickets are $49.50. Call 703-549-7500 or visit birchmere.com.

Xian Zhang conducts the NSO and violinist Gil Shaham, whom the New York Times calls "a highly physical player," in a program that includes Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2. Also on the program are works by Debussy, Stravinsky and Bartok. Final performance today, Sunday, Nov. 7, at 1:30 p.m. Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Tickets are $20 to $85. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

With special permission from Samuel Beckett's estate, Spooky Action Theater presents a re-imagined staging of The Lost Ones, a Dantesque story first staged in the '70s using miniature figures. Richard Henrich directs actor Carter Jahncke, who narrates a tale about a unique Beckett character prodding and endlessly searching for a way out of prison -- the confines of his own skull. To Nov. 14. The Space at Universalist National Memorial Church, 1810 16th St. NW. Tickets are $15 to $20. Call 301-920-1414 or visit spookyaction.org.

"My passion for the group grows every time I'm with them," says Joe Bello of D.C.'s Different Drummers. Bello is not the only one. Tonight the group's director heads up a gala concert celebrating the organization's three decades of making music. That's 30 years of passion. Roby Chavez of Fox 5 News will serve as guest emcee at the concert, a kickoff to the new season, and it will showcase all ensembles in the group: the DCDD Marching Band, DC Swing!, Capitol Pride Winds and the Capitol Pride Symphonic Band. The concert will close with "On Wisconsin," which may be best known as the Badger State's official song, but it was also the very first march ever played by DCDD. Talk about an encore. Saturday, Nov. 6, at 7:30 p.m., Bell Multicultural High School's CHEC Auditorium, 3101 16th St. NW. Tickets are $20. Visit dcdd.org.

Two-time Tony Award winner Tammy Grimes is the latest Broadway star to get Barbara Cook's Spotlight treatment. In honor of her 75th birthday, Grimes will treat fans to a program of her favorites, which will surely include selections from her starring turns in The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Private Lives and 42nd Street. Saturday, Nov. 6, at 7:30 p.m. Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. Tickets are $45. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

Sarah Benson directs a first-rate cast including Mitchell Hebert and Michael Russotto in House of Gold, a darkly funny story, written by young playwright Gregory S. Moss, about the fate of a six-year-old beauty queen. This funhouse ride into the American psyche conjures up the picture-perfect child -- but can she ever be safe from the adults who created her? To Nov. 28. Woolly Mammoth, 641 D St. NW. Tickets range from $30 to $65. Call 202-393-3939 or visit woollymammoth.net.

For his adaptation of the classic Prokofiev ballet Romeo + Juliet, the Washington Ballet's Septime Webre has Mercutio taunt Tybalt sexually -- even kissing "the classic bully" on the lips at one point. He also has his company's dancers convey Mercutio's deeper feelings of love toward his best friend Romeo. Those are just two of several subtle twists that Webre has made to the tragedy. Thursday, Nov. 4, Friday, Nov. 5, and Saturday, Nov. 6, at 8 p.m. Also Saturday, Nov. 6, at 2:30 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 7 at 5:30 p.m. Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater. Tickets are $20 to $125. Call 202-467-4600 or visit washingtonballet.org.

The performance troupe UNIVERSES is raising its brilliantly woven voices on social issues, from basic civil rights to access to healthcare to earning a living wage, in the heart-pounding rush that is Ameriville, currently at Bethesda's Round House Theatre. An inspiring and potent mix of gospel, spoken word, beatbox, call-and-response, monologue, video and brilliantly crafted choreography, Ameriville starts in post-Katrina New Orleans and quickly spirals out across the country. With Ameriville, UNIVERSES shows that problems we face are problems we all face; connected through a network of roots that neither started nor stopped with Katrina. The floodwaters simply laid them all bare. Closes this Sunday, Nov. 7. Round House Theatre, 4545 East-West Highway, Bethesda. Tickets are $50 to $60. Call 240-644-1100 or visit roundhousetheatre.org.

The Washington Savoyards offer their lively and fast-paced take on one of Gilbert & Sullivan's most famous operettas, Pirates of Penzance. "I Am The Very Model of A Modern Major-General" and "A Rollicking Band of Pirates Are We" are just two of the several dozen songs from the show, which the Savoyards first staged in 2008. Closes this Sunday, Nov. 7. Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets are $15 to $45. Call 202-399-7993 or visit atlasarts.org.

Kitted out like the slightly mad mix of a children's theater production of a tale by the Brothers Grimm and a fantasy conjured by Tim Burton, Constellation's Women Beware Women is a risky project that stumbles occasionally but ultimately succeeds. Mixing an adulterous May-December affair, some incest, a plot to murder a holy man and some deadly drama within a drama and what you have is a sexy, tragic morality play. To Nov. 14. Source, 1835 14th St. NW. Tickets $25 to $30. Call 202-204-7741 or visit ConstellationTheatre.org.

Read Tom Avila's Four Star Review here.

CityDance presents its only fall evening-length stateside engagement. Returning home to the newly enhanced CityDance black box, Studio 405, the company presents Paul Taylor's masterpiece, "Esplanade." The evening also celebrates the return to the stage of Kate Weare's extraordinary "Drop Down." Saturday, Nov. 6, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 7, at 7 p.m. Studio 405 in the Education Wing at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. Tickets are $25. Call 301-581-5100 or visit strathmore.org.

A celebration of gay culture, Fag Life: A Conversation with Fred Phelps mixes thoughts from "gay -- but not gay" comedian Brent Sullivan about his experiences in the gay community with surprisingly hilarious quotes from America's homophobe-in-chief Fred Phelps. The show is a celebration of gay culture, though reportedly "very critical of certain aspects of the LGBT community that are outdated, stereotypical and offensive," whatever that means. Dave Hill and Eliot Glazer direct. Saturday, Nov. 6, at 7:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. Artisphere, 1101 Wilson Blvd., Arlington. Tickets are $20. Call 703-875-1100 or visit artisphere.com.

A first-of-its-kind event, the Worldleaf Cinema Festival showcases the highest caliber of deaf film from around the world. Among the festival's 17 films, organized into award categories including Best Narrative, Best Documentary and Best Film about the Deaf Experience by a Hearing Filmmaker, is Laura Harvey's Deaf in Pink: 3-Day Breast Cancer Walk in San Diego. The film, nominated in the festival's Best Short category and made with Harvey and her wife Aline, follows seven deaf women in the Susan G. Komen Walk. Festival runs to Sunday, Nov. 7, but the awards ceremony is Saturday, Nov. 6. Worldeaf Cinema Festival, Elstad Auditorium, Gallaudet University, 800 Florida Ave. NE. Tickets are $10 each screening. Visit wdef.gallaudet.edu for a full schedule and tickets.

Xian Zhang conducts the NSO and violinist Gil Shaham, whom the New York Times calls "a highly physical player," in a program that includes Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2. Also on the program are works by Debussy, Stravinsky and Bartok. Thursday, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 6, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 7, at 1:30 p.m. Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Tickets are $20 to $85. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

Gross National Product, whose aim is "making headlines hilarious," offers a parody of the mid-term elections, highlighting the lowlifes and issues of the Tea Party. The revue combines sketches, improv and musical parodies. Closes Saturday, Nov. 6. Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets are $30. Call 202-399-7993 or visit atlasarts.org.

As early as 1955, Anna Sokolow refused to alter her choreography with a gay sequence for a concert. "She was a Jewish, straight white woman. There was really no reason for her to take that [gay-affirming] stance," says Daniel Phoenix Singh. "She could have easily said, 'Okay, I'll change it.' It wouldn't have affected the dance much. No one would have known."

The 38-year-old Singh has admired the late choreographer since before his days at the University of Maryland. Tonight, Nov. 4, and Friday, Nov. 5, Singh returns to his alma mater with his six-year-old company Dakshina. The company will perform a full program of works by Sokolow, including the 1955 piece "Rooms," which features a duet with two men amongst several choreographed pairings. --Doug Rule

Dakshina performs Thursday, Nov. 4, and Friday, Nov. 5, at 8 p.m. Clarice Smith Center's Ina and Jack Kay Theatre, University of Maryland, University Boulevard and Stadium Drive. College Park. Tickets are $30. Call 301-405-ARTS or visit claricesmithcenter.umd.edu or dakshina.org.

To win a pair of tickets to DC Different Drummers 30th Anniversary Gala Concert, this Saturday, Nov. 6 at 7:30 p.m., please fill out the entry form below or by clicking this link. For more information on the concert, visit dcdd.org.

Signature Theatre presents A Fox on the Fairway, a world premiere comedy from D.C. playwright Ken Ludwig, which pays tribute to the great English farces of the 1930s and 1940s. Recalling the Marx Brothers classics, A Fox on the Fairway stars Broadway’s Jeff McCarthy and local favorites Holly Twyford and Andrew Long as it focuses on the stuffy denizens of two competing country clubs. John Rando directs. To Nov. 14. Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington. Tickets $50 to $76. Call 703-820-9771 or visit signature-theatre.org.

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Paul Barrere and Fred Tackett make their debut as an acoustic duo at the Barns at Wolf Trap, offering stripped-down versions of Little Feat treasures ("Two Trains," "Dixie Chicken," and if everyone's lucky, "Spanish Moon"), plus newer originals, all supported by a healthy dose of slide guitar, mandolin and instrumental improv. Wednesday, Nov. 3, at 8 p.m. The Barns at Wolf Trap, 1645 Trap Road, Vienna. Tickets are $25. Call 703-255-1900 or visit wolf-trap.org.

Sarah Benson directs a first-rate cast including Mitchell Hebert and Michael Russotto in the darkly funny House of Gold, written by young playwright Gregory S. Moss, about the fate of a six-year-old beauty queen. This funhouse ride into the American psyche conjures up the picture-perfect child -- but can she ever be safe from the adults who created her? Pay-What-You-Can performance tonight, Tuesday, Nov. 2, at 8 p.m. Through Nov. 28. Woolly Mammoth, 641 D St. NW. Tickets range from $30 to $65. Call 202-393-3939 or visit woollymammoth.net.

Vivat Rex! Commemorating the 500th Anniversary of the Accession of Henry VIII" features rare books, manuscripts, handwritten letters and prints offering an in-depth look at the real Henry and the machinations of his court in a time of extraordinary change for England. On display through Dec. 30. Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 East Capitol St. SE. Call 202-544-7077 or visit folger.edu.

In a University of Maryland-hosted dialogue "How Do We Know What We Know?" the celebrated choreographer Liz Lerman joins physics experts Dr. Lawrence Krauss, Dr. David Devorkin and Dr. William Dorland to discuss how scientific thought and performing arts experience intertwine in her new work, The Matter of Origins. WAMU's Kojo Nnamdi moderates. Monday, Nov. 1, at 7 p.m. Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center’s Dance Theatre, University of Maryland, University Boulevard and Stadium Drive in College Park. Tickets are free. Call 301-405-ARTS or visit claricesmithcenter.umd.edu.