This April, Shakespeare will be the talk of the town — at libraries, especially — courtesy of events celebrating the 400th anniversary of the First Folio, the publication that introduced the Bard and many of his greatest plays to the world.

This spring also sees the post-pandemic return of a whole variety of cultural events and oddities. This includes the return of two film showcases — FilmFestDC and Dan Savage’s Hump! Film Festival — and an increasing number of ABBA-themed dance parties. There are also a notable number of LGBTQ writers and authors at book discussions, plus all the drag and cabaret that any one person, entity, or venue could possibly hope for.

9:30 CLUB

815 V St. NW
202-265-0930
www.930.com

• BENT: Fools Around (4/1)
• Gimme Gimme Disco — A Dance Party Inspired by ABBA, so popular it’s become a monthly to-do (4/7)
• Straight Up with Stassi Live — The Mommy Dearest Tour featuring the Vanderpump Rules star and longtime podcaster (5/9)
• Brandon Wardell — L.A.-based Filipino-American comedian and actor (HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, Netflix’s I Think You Should Leave) who got his start doing standup in D.C. (6/2)
• Doughboys with Nick Wiger and Mike Mitchell — Comedians/podcasters/food fanatics review fast food/sit-down chain restaurants and perennially argue over food (6/8)

AMERICAN VISIONARY ART MUSEUM

800 Key Highway
Baltimore, md.
410-244-1900
www.avam.org

• Annual Event: Kinetic Sculpture Race — A human-powered, eco-happy race of artful contraptions built by ordinary people to travel over land, water, sand, and mud, culminating in two categories of Official Kinetic Awards, from the “Very Competitive Non-Competitive,” such as The Golden Dinosaur Award to the first Sculpture to “breakdown”, The Worst Honorable Mention bestowed on the Sculpture whose “half-baked theoretical ‘engineering’ did not deter its pilot from the challenge of the race,” and The Next To The Last Award, in service of making “the end of the race…pretty exciting,” to the “Very Very Competitive Competitive,” which go beyond the more straightforward type of awards for Speed, Engineering, Art, and People’s Choice to include the “Grand East Coast National Mediocre Champion” for the Sculpture and pilot finishing smack dab in the middle (5/6/23)

THE ALDEN

McLean Community Center
1234 Ingleside Ave.
McLean, Va.
703-790-0123
www.mcleancenter.org

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• Improv for Kids and Teens — Eight lessons per session each season, divided by age group, 8-11 Years and 12-16 Years (3/27-5/22)
• The Good Humor Men (4/1)
• Foreign Language Movie (4/6)
• Performing Arts Movie (4/20)
• Windmill Theatre Company of Australia: Hiccup! (4/23)
• Foreign Language Movie (5/4)
• (the) Unruly Theatre Project (5/5, The Old Firehouse, 1440 Chain Bridge Rd.)

BLACK CAT

1811 14th St. NW
202-667-4490
www.blackcatdc.com

• Safe Space 3: Safe Encounters of the Third Kind Dance Party — Billed as “a totally immersive, intergalactic, out of this world (another club no sleep) Queer Dance Odyssey” with grooves and jams, or “soundscapes,” by DJs, or “Motherboard Operators,” Babes, Lemz, Dvonne, and Jacq Jill (3/25)
• Depeche Mode Dance Party — FYM Productions presents “the largest DM dance party in the U.S.” with DJ Steve EP (4/22)
• Hump! Film Festival — The return of the annual showcase of quirky, bizarre, homemade porn curated by Dan Savage (4/29)
• Mortified Live — Popular podcast of regular folks reliving a moment from their childhood as documented in their diary (5/5)

CAPITAL ONE HALL

7750 Capital One Tower Rd.
Tysons
703-343-7651
www.capitalonehall.com

• Bored Teachers — We Can’t Make This Stuff Up! Comedy Tour with the funniest teacher/comedians in the world, all on one stage (4/1)
• McLean Community Players: The Thirty-Nine Steps (4/14-16)
• Ancient Aliens Live: Project Earth — A 90-minute live experience that celebrates the long-running program on the History Channel featuring leading theorist Giorgio A. Tsoukalos, investigative mythologist William Henry, aerospace engineer and intelligence experts Dr. Travis Taylor, U.K. government UFO investigator Nick Pope, and real-life Indiana Jones David Childress discussing thought-provoking extraterrestrial theories (4/29)
• Leanne Morgan — Just Getting Started tour from late-blooming stand-up comedian who has her own sitcom in development with ABC and a writer/producer of Rosanne and Home Improvement (5/6)
• The Psychology of Serial Killers: And Why They Captivate Us — Feat. Scott Bonn, Ph.D., expert criminologist, best-selling author, and podcaster (5/10)
• John Crist — The Emotional Support Tour from one of today’s fastest-rising stand-up comedians and social media sensations, creator of viral videos “Honest Football Coach” and “Every Parent at Disney” (6/4)
• Blippi — The Wonderful World Tour from character and special guest, his best friend Meekah, who inspire curiosity in preschoolers around the world (6/17)
• Jinkx Monsoon — Two-time RuPaul’s Drag Race winner and Broadway breakout star presents her biggest concert tour to date, Everything at Stake, alongside her musical main squeeze Major Scales and a full rock band performing covers, originals, and new songs from her upcoming three-part album The Virgo Odyssey (7/6)
• Karlous Miller — At The End of the Day Tour featuring edgy and boisterous comedian/actor/rapper, a veteran cast member on MTV’s Wild ‘N Out w/Nick Cannon and alum of NBC’s Last Comic Standing (7/22)

THE CLARICE

University of Maryland
College Park, Md.
301-405-ARTS
www.theclarice.umd.edu

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• Maryland Day 2023 — Annual campus-wide open house features artistic and creative performances, experiences, and activities at The Clarice and across the University of Maryland campus (4/29)

CRAZY AUNT HELEN’S

713 8th St. SE
202-750-8140
www.crazyaunthelens.com

• Synergy Sunday: An Our Space Experience — “LGBTQIA+ and allies after brunch social gathering with dinner extension option” (3/26)
• La Ti Do – DC — Music and spoken word showcase (3/27, 4/24)
• Foxxy Moron Comedy Hour Open Mic — Hosted by Andy Waterworth and Bailey Vogt (3/29)
• Musical Mondays — A “curated open mic” with live piano accompaniment plus sing-a-longs to showtunes all hosted by Tula, every 1st and 3rd Monday of the month (4/3)
• Drag Queen Story Time with Tara Hoot — “DC’s only drag story time brunch for the kids and the kids at heart” (4/8)
• Glass House: A Drag Variety Show — Expect live music, comedy, lip-syncing ,and so much more (4/8)
• Sultra Sunda Presents: JMB Music (4/9)
• Curtain Call Open Mic Night — “DC’s newest and coolest open mic,” presented by Capital Cabaret the 2nd Monday of the month (4/10)
• Confessional Cabaret — Musical improvisers will turn stories from those guests willing to share into a musical on the spot (4/13)
• Shi-Queeta-Lee’s Drag Gospel Brunch — Ticket includes entree and “fabulous entertainment with Shi-Queeta-Lee and Her Praise Sisters” (4/15)
• Song Birds: Live Music Drag Cabaret (4/15)
• A Night of Improv Comedy with Sistine Robot & Friends — Every 3rd Wednesday (4/19)
• Working Blue — “An Adult Swim non-Disneyfied show for the grown folks” (4/27)
• Homo Stanzas — A Spoken Word Extravaganza of Comedy & Poetry hosted by Regie Cabico & Casey Catherine Moore feat. comedian Kenny Rooster with a poetry slam (4/28)
• Gift of the Gab — Highlighting women and non-binary performers (5/3)
• Sultry Sundae Presents: Living Room Special — Starring Erika Reign (5/7)
• Boy Meets Pearl and Charming Disaster — An evening of alt-cabaret featuring “post-steampunk pirate pop meets post-steampunk goth-folk” (6/2)

DC9

1940 9th St. NW
202-483-5000
dc9.com
www.dc9.club

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• Funk The Facts — Free Trivia Night at DC9 presented by Hunter & Gabby (3/28)
• Who’s That Local Legend??: April Fool’s Night — “An April Fool’s Drag Party dripping in jaggery, twists, and buffoonery” hosted by Domingo “and a surprise cast” (4/1)
• Vroom Vroom… A DC Dyke Night Tea Party — Rooftop Tea Dance by Dykes, for Dykes (4/2)
• Sleaze — Hosted by Jane Saw and featuring DJs Keenan Orr & Lemz (4/6)
• Hey! Ho! Let’s Go! (4/8)
• Funk The Fundraiser — Free Trivia Night & Drag Show to benefit the Transgender Law Center and ACLU of Tennessee (4/25)
• Family Valuez — A Nü Metal DJ Night with YMTE, Leninstomb (5/18)
• Indie Rock Karaoke — Karaoke.Sexy presents Smells Like Teen Presidents Edition with karaoke.sexy host Jonathan (5/28)

EAST CITY BOOKSHOP

645 Pennsylvania Ave. SE
202-290-1636
www.eastcitybookshop.com

• L.S. Stratton: Not So Perfect Strangers — A tense domestic thriller offering a twist on Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train that flips the script on race and gender, as a fateful encounter between two women fleeing their marriages propels the plot forward; Maryland-based NAACP Image Award-nominated author will be in conversation with author L. Penelope, author of historical fantasy The Monsters We Defy (3/29)
• F.T. Lukens, Jessica Spotswood & Robin Talley— Spellbound is a lively, sorcery-filled young-adult romantic adventure from North Carolina-based YA speculative fiction author Lukens, a four-time nominee and one-time winner at the Bisexual Book Awards, among other accolades, in conversation with fantasy author, feminist anthologist, and DC Public Library employee Spotswood, one of three authors of Great or Nothing, a World War II-era reimagining of Little Women, and Talley, the Virginia-reared, D.C.-based queer author whose latest romantic comedy is The Love Curse of Melody McIntyre (4/3)
• Neil King, Jr. — American Ramble is a stunning, revelatory memoir documenting former Wall Street Journal writer and editor’s 26-day, 330-mile walk from D.C. to NYC, resulting in an unforgettable journey across some of the nation’s oldest common ground (4/5)
• Leigh McMullan Abramson: A Likely Story — First novel from writer and former lawyer, in conversation with A Special Place for Women author and writer Laura Hankin (4/11)
• Sarah Cypher: The Sky and Its Girl (4/25)
• Jon Ward with Peter Wehner: Testimony — Subtitled Inside the Evangelical Movement that Failed a Generation from Yahoo News senior political correspondent and “The Long Game” podcast host, in conversation with The Atlantic‘s Peter Wehner, a leading conservative critic of Trump and today’s Republican Party and author of The Death of Politics (4/26)
• Brianna Craft: Everything That Rises — A memoir blending the political with the personal, diving into what it means to advocate for the future, and for the people and places you love, all while ensuring your own voice doesn’t get lost, written by a young climate change activist now with the London-based International Institute for Environment and Development (4/27)
• Laura Hankin: The Daydreams — Local novelist of A Special Place for Women celebrates the launch of what is described as a deliciously entertaining novel about the stars of a popular teen show from the early aughts, in conversation with Jill Santopolo, author of Stars in an Italian Sky (5/2)
• Chloe Angyal: Pas de Don’t — In conversation with Andie J. Christopher (5/4)
• Tania Malik with Tania James (5/12)
• Taj McCoy and Lane Clarke (6/1)
• John West with Sandra Beasley (6/6)
• Steven Rowley: The Celebrants (6/8)

FILMFEST DC

Various Locations
202-234-FILM
www.filmfestdc.org

• Filmfest DC, the Washington, DC, International Film Festival, returns as a fully-fledged in-person event. “Movies are made to be watched on big screens with other audience members watching with us,” as organizers frankly put it. FilmFest DC 2023 will present roughly 65 films representing 30 countries. Tickets to all screenings will be available March 31, but a few confirmed events are on sale now, including the opening night film and reception for Chevalier, Stephen Williams’s opulent historical drama inspired by the incredible true story of composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, the illegitimate son of an African slave and a French plantation owner, who grew up to become a celebrated violinist/composer who had an ill-fated affair with Marie Antoinette (4/19, Embassy of France, 4101 Reservoir Rd. NW)

FOLGER SHAKESPEARE LIBRARY

202-544-7077
www.folger.edu

• Shakespeare’s They/Thems — “What are Rosalind’s pronouns? And Viola’s? This illustrated talk from Gail Kern Paster, Folger Director Emerita, will explore ideas about transgender identity among Shakespeare and his contemporaries, who, after all, wrote for the theater when all women’s roles were played by young men, making them comfortable with the performativity of gender and nonbinary characters; special focus on the cross-dressed female protagonists of As You Like It and Twelfth Night (3/29, Virtual-Zoom)
• Searching for Shakespeare — To celebrate 400 years of Shakespeare’s First Folio, the Folger has organized a citywide festival featuring a number of events at branches of the DC Public Library all over town all throughout April (4/1-4/30)
• Teacher Conversation w/Dr. Ian Smith: Black Shakespeare (4/22, DCPL – MLK Memorial)
• Shakespeare’s Birthday Lecture: Ian Smith on “Making Blackness” (4/22, DCPL – MLK Memorial)
• Cutting and Performing Scenes — Put Students in the Driver’s Seat” (4/26, Virtual – Zoom)
• Folger Book Club: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow (5/4, Virtual – Zoom)
• Poetry Workshop with Naomi Shihab Nye (5/8, Virtual)
• Folger Poetry Board Reading: Naomi Shihab Nye (5/10, Lutheran Church of the Reformation, 212 E. Capitol St. NE)
• Explore Shakespeare’s World — “One more diverse, compelling, and surprising than we thought” (5/18, Virtual – Zoom)

GMU CENTER FOR THE ARTS

4373 Mason Pond Dr.
Fairfax, Va.
703-993-2787
www.cfa.gmu.edu

• The Adventures of Harold and the Purple Crayon — A delightful adaptation of the beloved children’s book from Enchantment Theater Company combining life-size puppets, pantomime, dance, magic, and original music (3/26)
• Cirque FLIP Fabrique — Another Quebec-based circus arts troupe, one featuring acrobats donning high heels and football shoulder pads, and performing Muse, which playfully pirouettes around and tackles the perennially complicated questions of gender archetypes, circus-style, set to an original score by beatmaker Millimetric with live onstage vocals by Flavia Mascimento (3/31-4/1)
• The Passing Zone — With their latest show The Passing Zone Saves the World!, the dynamic duo of Owen Morse and Jon Wee, two-time finalists on America’s Got Talent, deliver a pulse-pounding and riotously funny performance, combining juggling, comedy, and daredevil stunts (4/23)

HILLWOOD MUSEUM & GARDENS

4155 Linnean Ave. NW
202-686-5807
www.HillwoodMuseum.org

• Gardener’s Focus Tour: An Orchid-Filled Greenhouse — Hillwood orchid expert Andrew Bedenbaugh and horticulturist Drew Asbury take turns leading tours through Hillwood’s working greenhouse on many weekdays in March, otherwise known as Orchid Month at Hillwood (3/29)
• Onsite Orchid Repotting Workshop — Hands-on help from Hillwood’s horticulture heroes Bedenbaugh or Asbury (3/24, 3/31, 4/1)
• Determined Women: Wilfried Zeisler, Megan Martinelli & Jason Speck — Hillwood curators Zeisler and Martinelli are joined by the venue’s head of archives and special collections for the final discussion related to its current exhibition focused on the influential women featured in the collection of founder Marjorie Merriweather Post (3/29)
• Guided Forest Bathing Walks — Inspired by the Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku, or to absorb the forest atmosphere, this health- and wellness-promoting immersive stroll through the gardens at Hillwood is led by a Certified Forest Therapy Guide for five to 15 participants each (4/1, 4/21, 5/13, 5/19, 6/10, 6/23)
• Gardener’s Focus Tour: Spring Designs — See magnificent displays featuring tens of thousands of of cheerful bulbs with Hillwood’s director of horticulture Jessica Bonilla (4/4, 4/7, 4/11, 4/14)
• Determined Women: Dinnertime Documentaries — Named after Hillwood’s current temporary exhibition, this meal and a movie series of early seated dinners in the Merriweather Café followed by screenings of cinematic portraits of pioneering women throughout history in the visitor center’s Dina Merrill Pavillion, including A Ballerina’s Tale, director Nelson George’s 2015 look at breakthrough Black ballet dancer Misty Copeland and the disgraceful lack of women of color featured at major ballet companies (4/12); Yellow is Forbidden, Pietra Brettkelly’s 2018 documentary about Chinese dressmaker Guo Pei, dubbed “a modern-day Cinderella story where the brave, diminutive, and daring heroine’s dream doesn’t end at the ball”(4/19); and Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict, Lisa Immordino Vreeland’s 2015 feature documentary providing a rare look into the abstract, the colorful, the surreal, and the salacious life of its namesake art collector, which was as swirling as the design of her uncle’s museum (4/26)
• Virtual Floral Design: Welcome Spring! — A glorious arrangement of tulips, daffodils, and other beauties of the season could be blooming in your home garden with guidance from Hillwood’s floral and event decor designer Ami Wilber (4/14)
• Onsite Salad Bowl Container Workshop — Vegetable gardening is possible without the garden, as long as you have some sun, as revealed through this session (4/15)
• Earth Day — Members of Hillwood’s Environmental Action Team, or HEAT, will detail the property’s environmental stewardship initiatives (4/21)
• Gardener’s Focus Tour: Woodland Path — A stroll through the property’s rustic and winding woodsy path, constructed in 2016, by Marshall Paquin, the senior gardener responsible (5/3, 5/5)
• Onsite Native Plant Container Workshop — Create a fun pot full of summer perennials (5/6)
• Light Up the Night: 2023 Annual Gala — A black-tie cocktail gala that doubles as the opening of Hillwood’s newest temporary exhibition, Glass: Art. Beauty. Design. (6/6)

THE HOWARD THEATRE

620 T St. NW
202-803-2899
www.thehowardtheatre.com

• Broadway Rave — “The Musical Theatre Dance Party” (4/8)
• Dancing Queen: ABBA Glitter Disco — Harder Better Faster Stronger presents another ABBA-themed dance party (4/14)
• Daft Punk: The Dance Party — 10 Years of Random Access Memories, a Dance Party Tribute (4/15)
• The Biggest Open Gem Part 2 w/Ché Noir — From its humble beginnings as an open mic showcase in a D.C. bar to a national platform providing singers, rappers, poets, comedians, instrumentalists, and dancers a safe and welcoming place to express themselves, and featuring emcee and producer Noir as the headliner (4/21)
• The Sweet Spot Burlesque (5/5)
• Sisters In Law: Live — A live appearance featuring the brilliant team of political and legal masterminds behind this popular podcast, Joyce Vance, Jill Wine-Banks, Barb McQuade, and Kimberly Atkins Stohr (5/21)
• Shannon Fiedler — Former competitive figure skater and now stand-up comedian on tour (6/16)

KENNEDY CENTER

202-467-4600
www.kennedy-center.org

• RIVERRUN FESTIVAL: Opening: Armstrong by the Delta — A special appearance by eight-year-old conservationist Aneeshwar Kunchala from Britain’s Got Talent kicks off the month-long festival celebrating the world’s great waterways and highlighting efforts to protect and preserve them, as part of opening night multimedia extravaganza and tribute to Louis Armstrong also featuring vocal group Moipei, the Netherlands’ Special Envoy for International Water Affairs Henk Ovink, and a full concert featuring a 12-member band led by Grammy-winner Nicholas Payton exploring Satchmo’s formative years spent on Mississippi riverboats with bandleader Fate C. Marable (4/4, Eisenhower Theater)
• RIVERRUN FESTIVAL: Scott Silven — In Wonders, the illusionist, mentalist, and performance artist demonstrates breathtaking illusions as he relates childhood memories growing up near the ancient rivers of Scotland, a region full of myths and mysteries that he taps into through “an indelible performance far beyond a traditional magic show,” one that has captivated audiences and critics in New York (4/5-9, Studio K)
• RIVVERRUN FESTIVAL: River Club: Vintage Vltava: Czech Wine Tasting & Sounds of the Bohemian River — Wine industry speaker and sommelier David Furer will lead a tasting of eight wines from the Czech Republic along with Drew Hairston, beverage director of Maydan DC, followed by a short concert of Czech piano music featuring Katelyn Bouska performing jazz and classical selections (4/13, Studio K)

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Coolidge Auditorium
Library of Congress
Thomas Jefferson Building
10 First St. SE
202-707-8000
www.loc.gov/concerts

• Symposium: New Musical Discoveries from the Era of Madame Pompadour (1745-1764) — The Library, in collaboration with Opera Lafayette, presents French and American scholars involved with the rediscovery, completion, and premieres of two significant 18th-century opera-ballets, Jean-Philippe Rameau’s lo and Pierre de la Garde’s Léandre et Héro (5/5, Room 119, Jefferson Building)
• Anna Sokolow, Alex North, and the Reimagined Roots of Anti-Facist Dance — A lecture by Artistic Director Samantha Géracht of the Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble introducing performances of two newly restored works by American choreographer Sokolow, followed by a panel discussion (5/10)
• Mo Willems: SLOPERA — The best-selling author and illustrator reads from his books Because and I Really Like Slop!, plus a recent performance of his opera for young audiences will also be screened (5/20)
• How Do You Measure a Year? Jonathan Larson and the Creation of the Musical Rent — A lecture, co-presented with the American Musicological Society, by Alex Bádue discussing his research based on lyric sketches, letters, and scripts held in the Library’s Jonathan Larson Collection (5/24, Montpelier Room, James Madison Building)
• Salute to Strayhorn Celebration — A series devoted to the gay composer Billy Strayhorn, a frequent collaborator and assistant to Duke Ellington, featuring: Screening of Anatomy of a Murder — The music of Strayhorn and Ellington plays an important role in this film, nominated for seven Oscars (6/9, Mary Pickford Theater, Madison Building); Screening of Paris Blues — A classic love story about American expatriate jazz musicians in Paris with memorable performances by figures including Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Sidney Poitier, and Louis Armstrong (6/10, Pickford Theater, Madison); Symposium: Strayhorn Known and Unknown — A keynote lecture from David Hajdu, author of Lush Life: A Biography of Billy Strayhorn, followed by a panel discussion with Robert G. O’Meally of Columbia University, Lisa Barg of McGill University, and A. Alyce Claerbaut of Strayhorn Songs, Inc. (6/10, Room 119); Big Band Evening: Strayhorn Known and Unknown — Saxophonist and conductor Loren Schoenberg, senior scholar at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, has delved into the Library’s archives to design a standout evening of Strayhorn classics, including “Take the A Train,” “Satin Doll,” “Lost in Meditation,” and “Chelsea Bridge,” and rediscovered works, such lesser-known gems as “Overture to a Jam Session,” “Orson,” and “Boll Weevil Ballet; joining the program is Russell Malone, sharing his new electric guitar-enhanced interpretations of Strayhorn songs (6/10)

LOYALTY BOOKS

827 Upshur St. NW
202-726-0380
www.loyaltybookstores.com

• Lee Mandelo & Alix E. Harrow: Feed Them Silence — Mandelo, a Kentucky-based writer of speculative and queer fiction, dives into the minds of wolves in new book dubbed “a novella of the near future,” in conversation with Virginia-based former academic and author of The Once and Future Witches (3/21)
• Janelle M. Williams & Jamila Minnicks: Gone Like Yesterday — Williams’s debut novel is a lyrical work that asks what we owe to our families, our ancestors, and ourselves and employs magical realism to explore the majestic and haunting experience of being a Black woman in today’s America (3/23)
• Clint Smith & Elizabeth Acevedo: Above Ground — Staff writer at The Atlantic and author of bestselling narrative nonfiction book How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America, discusses his latest poetry collection examining the vast emotional terrain of fatherhood, in a discussion with a D.C.-based author and National Poetry Slam Champion (3/28, MLK LIbrary, 901 G St. NW)
• Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai & Eric Nguyen: Dust Child — A suspenseful and moving saga about family secrets, hidden trauma, and the overriding power of forgiveness, set during the Vietnam War and present-day Việt Nam, from critically acclaimed author in conversation with a D.C.-based author and critic and past Lambda Literary fellow (4/1, DC Public Library)
• Terry J. Benton-Walker & Roseanne A. Brown: Blood Debts — A fiction writer who lives in Atlanta with his husband son, Benton-Walker discuss his debut novel, a contemporary fantasy debut about magic, families, and deadly drama in New Orleans, with a Ghana-native novelist of A Song of Wraiths and Ruin (4/5)
• Nicole Chung & Kat Chow: A Living Remedy — A searing memoir of family, class, and grief from the Korean-American author of the bestselling book All You Can Ever Know, in conversation with a writer and former reporter at NPR (4/6, MLK Library)
• Monica Brashears & Reggie Bailey: House of Cotton — A sly stunning contemporary Black southern gothic novel about what it means to be a poor woman in the God-fearing South, the debut novel from a Tennessee-based writer in conversation with co-founder of the talk show Books Are Pop Culture (4/11)

MGM NATIONAL HARBOR

101 MGM National Avenue
Oxon Hill, Md.
844-346-4664
www.mgmnationalharbor.com

• Chris Tucker (4/21)
• Bill Maher (4/22)
• Steve Trevino (4/28)
• Chico Bean (4/29)
• Nick Offerman (5/26)
• Jess Hilarious (6/10)
• Penn & Teller (7/30)
• Russell Peters (8/5)
• Theresa Caputo (8/18)
• RuPaul’s Drag Race Werq The World — Asia O’Hara, Daya Betty, Gorgeous, Kandy Muse, Naomi Smalls, Plastique and select finalists from Drag Race Season 15 will appear this summer in the world’s largest drag production, presented by Voss Events in collaboration with World of Wonder and MTV (8/26)

POLITICS AND PROSE

5015 Connecticut Ave. NW.
202-364-1919
www.politics-prose.com

• Michael Denneny: On Christopher Street — Life, Sex, and Death after Stonewall from the founder and editor of the wildly influential magazine Christopher Street and later the first openly gay editor at a major publishing house, sharing the three decades of queer history, in conversation with Dr. Stephen Forssell, founding director of the graduate program in LGBT Health Policy & Practice at GWU (3/26)
• Diana P. Parsell: Eliza Scidmore — The Trailblazing Journalists Behind Washington’s Cherry Trees from a former journalist at National Geographic and The Washington Post (3/27)
• Alexandra Petri: Alexandra Petri’s US History — Important American Documents (I Made Up) is a witty, absurdist satire of the last 500 years dubbed “historical fan fiction” from the humorist and columnist for The Washington Post, in conversation with journalist and author Robert Samuels of The New Yorker (4/10)
• Joan Biskupic: Nine Black Robes — Inside the Supreme Court’s Drive to the Right and Its Historic Consequences from CNN’s Senior Supreme Court Analyst, with CNN anchor and author Jake Tapper (4/19)
• Panel Discussion with William Robin, Kerry O’Brien, and Chris Richards, and a Musical Performance by Jeff Barsky: On Minimalism — Documenting a Musical Movement moves from the style’s beginnings in psychedelic counterculture through its present-day influences on ambient jazz, doom metal, and electronic music, looking beyond the major figures to highlight crucial and diverse voices, especially women, people of color, and LGBTQ musicians, that have shaped the genre, edited by two musicologists, here in conversation with the Washington Post‘s pop critic Chris Richards, and with a performance by a Silver Spring musician and teacher affiliated with Queering Sound among other festivals (4/26, Politics & Prose-Union Market, 1270 5th St. NE)
• Kyla Sommers: When The Smoke Cleared — The 1968 Rebellions and the Unfinished Battle for Civil Rights in the Nation’s Capital is a riveting account of activism, urban reimagination, and political transformation from a D.C.-based author and editor at American Oversight and previously editor-in-chief of the History News Network (4/26)
• Elizabeth Winkler: Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies — How Doubting the Bard Became the Biggest Taboo in Literature is a work of literary detection that sets out to probe the origins of this literary taboo, whisking readers from London to Stratford-upon-Avon to D.C., written by a D.C.-based journalist and book critic whose The Atlantic essay “Was Shakespeare a Woman?” was selected for The Best American Essays 2020 (5/11)
• Landon Jones: Celebrity Nation — How America Evolved into a Culture of Fans and Followers is the latest from the former managing editor of People magazine who coined the term “baby boomer,” in conversation with author, writer, and editor Evan Thomas (5/12)
• Angela Tucker: ‘You Should Be Grateful’ — Stories of Race, Identity, and Transracial Adoption from the executive director of the Adoptee Mentoring Society (5/17)
• Rachel Louis Snyder: Women We Buried, Women We Burned — A piercing account of the author’s journey from teenage runaway to reporter on the global epidemic of domestic violence and a memoir that embodies the transformative power of resilience from D.C.-based novelist and American University professor (5/20)
• Keith Ellison: Break the Wheel — Ending the Cycle of Police Violence (5/24)
• Stephen Vladeck: The Shadow Docket — How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic, with Mark Joseph Stern (5/31)
• Michael Waldman: The Supermajority — The Year the Supreme Court Divided America (6/6)
• Dana Rubin: Speaking While Female — 75 Extraordinary Speeches by American Women, with Lissa Muscatine (6/7)

SIXTH & I HISTORIC SYNAGOGUE

600 I St. NW
202-408-3100
www.sixthandi.org

• Ari Shapiro: The Best Strangers in the World — The longtime NPR correspondent and All Things Considered host, in conversation with Audie Cornish, a former colleague of Shapiro’s at NPR now with CNN (3/27)
• Michelle Zauner: Crying in H Mart — Celebrating the paperback release of this best-selling memoir about family, food, grief, love, and growing up Korean American by the author and Japanese Breakfast pop star, in conversation with Kat Chow (4/10)
• Curtis Sittenfeld: Romantic Comedy — Latest novel from author of Rodham in conversation with the Washington Post‘s “Post Reports” podcast host Martine Powers (4/13)
• Rep. Katie Porter: I Swear — Subtitled Politics Is Messier Than My Minivan, memoirs of the California Democrat from Orange County (4/19)
• Andy Cohen: The Daddy Diaries (5/11)
• Chasten Buttigieg: I Have Something to Tell You (for Young Adults) — To celebrate the release of the young adult adaptation of his memoir, the memoirist and teacher will speak with author/playwright/television writer R. Eric Thomas about his experience coming out and how he’s healed from the painful responses and isolation (5/16)
• Stacey Abrams: Rogue Justice — A follow-up to the best-selling suspense novel While Justice Sleeps comes this intricately plotted thriller in which a blackmailed federal judge, a secret court, and a brazen murder may lead to an unprecedented national crisis, written by the trailblazing political leader and voting rights advocate (5/23)
• Sasha Velour: The Big Reveal — Gender-fluid queen, known for winning the 9th season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, brings an immersive evening of drag, storytelling, and live art, presented by Washington Performing Arts, in celebration of her forthcoming book of the same name plus the subtitle An Illustrated Manifesto of Drag, nodding to her non-drag work as a visual and graphic artist (6/1)

SOLID STATE BOOKS

600 H St. NE
202-897-4201
www.solidstatebooksdc.com

• Connie Briscoe — You Never Know is the first domestic suspense novel from this established author who will be in conversation with fellow bestselling Black novelist Victoria Christopher Murray (3/27)
• Tara Schuster — Glow in the F*cking Dark has to be the best new book title of the season, and best since this former Comedy Central executive-cum-self-care-focused author’s last gem, 2020’s Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies; the new book, subtitled Simple Practices to Heal Your Soul, will be discussed in conversation with author and Obama White House senior speechwriter Sarah Hurwitz (3/31)
• Poets Reading Poetry Podcast: Live — A live recording of podcast hosted by poet, educator, and activist Dwayne Lawson-Brown and featuring artists of various styles, experiences, and status (4/4, 5/2)
• John Whitworth Kropf: Color Capital of the World — Subtitled Growing Up with the Legacy of a Crayon Company, book tells the story of the crayon as viewed through the eyes of descendants of one of the founding families of the American Crayon Company (5/4)
• Mariana Alessandri: Night Vision — Subtitled Seeing Ourselves through Dark Moods, this powerful and disarmingly intimate book and personal meditation from an existentialist philosopher invites readers to consider a different approach to life from either the ancient philosophers or modern psychology and the self-help industry, “one in which we stop feeling bad about feeling bad”; the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley professor will discuss the book in a conversation moderated by Ian Rhoad of the Department of Philosophy and Religion at American University (5/23)
• Anne Berest: The Postcard — One of the most acclaimed and beloved French novels of recent years, whose bestselling French author will discuss the work with moderator Michael Reynolds of Books Across Borders (5/17)
• Understatedc — An occasional open-mic night hosted by Solid State Books (5/25)

WARNER THEATRE

513 13th St. NW
202-783-4000
www.warnertheatredc.com

• Sam Morril — Comedian on The Class Act Tour (3/31)
• Sarah Millican: Bobby Dazzler (4/1-2)
• Stuff You Should Know Podcast (5/4)
• Kountry Wayne — Help Is On The Way Comedy Tour (5/12)
• Girls Gotta Eat — Snack City Tour with the podcasting duo (5/13)
• Franco Escamilia – Show Gaby — A night of comedy (7/29)

WEINBERG CENTER FOR THE ARTS

20 W. Patrick St.
Frederick, Md.
301-600-2828
www.weinbergcenter.org

• David Sedaris — The gay satirist and preeminent humor writer returns to the Weinberg Center, but if you want to go, hurry, tickets are in “limited availability” as of presstime (3/30)
• East of Eden (1955) — Enjoy the classic on the big screen, presented by Wonder Book Classic Film Series (4/13)
• Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour — “America’s first Black female combat pilot” as well as author former Marine, cop, and Black gay woman and single mom takes the stage courtesy of the Frederick Speaker Series (4/20)
• Show People (1928) — The silent film era returns to the big screen accompanied by the mighty Wurlitzer with this classic (4/22)
• Tom Jones (1963) — Wonder Book Classic Film Series selection (4/27)
• Ladies of Laughter: Funny & Fabulous Tour — Women’s comedy programming with the sole purpose of highlighting, celebrating, and furthering the careers of women in stand-up (5/12, New Spire Arts, 15 W. Patrick St.)
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1935) — Wonder Book Classic Film Series selection (6/8)

WOLF TRAP

Filene Center
1551 Trap Road
Vienna, Va.
877-WOLFTRAP
www.wolftrap.org

• 34th Annual Evening of Comedy — Three shows full of laughs with stand-up by Good Times star Jimmie “JJ” Walker — yes, Mr. Dyn-o-mite himself — Dry Bar Comedy performer Lucas Bohn, and filmmaker Maija DiGiorgio (4/14-15, The Barns)

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