Friday: Zine Workshop at People’s Book

Even as the world becomes increasingly digital, zines (small-circulation magazines) persist as a common method of information dissemination and storytelling. In recent years, political movements have used zines to counter online disinformation and surveillance tactics and people across the globe have turned to zine creation to document their experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic. They’re not all serious though, zines can also be silly and creative. For whatever purpose you have, zines are there for you as a medium to explore and Takoma Park’s People’s Book is hosting a free workshop for adults to do exactly that. Local educator and zine aficionado Julia Hainer-Violand will lead attendees in making their own zines. There’s no wrong way to make a zine. Playful and guerrilla in nature, this freeform approach to art-making is something overworked and lonely adults could benefit from trying out and maybe carry back into other parts of their daily D.C. lives. Zine Workshop starts at 6:30 p.m. on May 10 at People’s Book, 7014-A Westmoreland Ave., Takoma Park. peoplesbooktakoma.com. Free. —Serena Zets 

Saturday: BANDportier’s All Tomorrows at Dance Place 

Some argue that green is the fourth primary color on the spectrum—alongside red, blue, and yellow—but the definitive answer denotes green as a secondary color since it’s a blend of blue and yellow. It’s even more telling of the way our worlds have mingled with shades of this hue. From the color of our U.S. currency to the grass brightening parks that people set their picnic blankets on, the shade forms around us and facilitates connectivity between others. It’s also one of the colors dance artist and choreographer Kendra Portier has selected to center and explore at this weekend’s performance of All Tomorrows at Dance Place. The main show will be a septet, with Portier, the main choreographer and director of the project-based dance collective BANDportier, performing a snippet of her own. The show’s design was born out of collaboration between dancers involved, educators and interdisciplinary artists: Brit Falcon, Daniel Miramontes, Rebecca Steinberg, MK Ford, Emilia Bruno, Bree Breeden, Chris Brusberg, and Zoe Walders. Through the Pantone project, a series of choreographic variations that began during the pandemic to continue dancing and stay connected, Portier was thinking about how each of her dancers brings out a color unique to the other performers. But she was also thinking about how these colors play out among their dance sequences and how it affects their rhythm and synchronicity between each other. Portier explores this connectivity in All Tomorrows, admitting that dance serves as both a collective and personal endeavor. “The kind of listening required to truly dance with one another and the trust you have to have in your own voice,” she says. These dynamics are also on display through rehearsal videos Portier has shared on her Instagram ahead of this weekend’s performance. One snippet shows the seven dancers moving in sync while paired with someone else, in another they sway all together. It’s the energy that keeps them alongside each other. All Tomorrows starts at 7 p.m. on May 11 at Dance Place, 3225 8th St. NE. danceplace.org. $30. —Heidi Perez-Moreno

Opens Saturday: IN Series Opera’s The Return of Ulysses at Source Theatre

“Through Westerner’s eyes, encountering my work is a state of defamiliarization,” shares Bangkok-born Jitti Chompee, the artistic director of Thai dance company 18 Monkeys. A classically trained dancer and choreographer, Chompee has contributed his talents to IN Series Opera’s newest show The Return of Ulysses—Song of My Father. “Creating space between tradition and a new interpretation challenges familiarity, which drives creativity, and provokes the audience to rethink traditional literature in a new light,” Chompee says. In this opera, the familiar story of Homer’s The Odyssey is reimagined as a response to the Vietnam War. Odysseus, the great tactician of ancient mythology, outsmarted his foes with the infamous Trojan Horse after 10 years of bloody war but was delayed from returning to his home and long-suffering family for another decade as he fought sea monsters and cozied up with demigoddesses. The Return of Ulysses—Song of My Father views Venetian composer Claudio Monteverdi’s 1640 opera Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria (“The Return of Ulysses to his Homeland”) through the signing of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which marked the official use of U.S. military force in Vietnam, and interweaves popular Vietnam-era songs arranged in the style of Monteverdi madrigals. IN Series artistic director Timothy Nelson dug deeper into his own family history for the heart of the work, interviewing his father Charles, a Vietnam veteran, as well as other Vietnam veterans. The very word “nostalgia” is Greek for “the pain for home,” the idea that trauma and a prewar past can continue to haunt veterans even when they have returned to their loved ones. As Nelson says in a press release, “I wove, perhaps not unlike Penelope in Homer’s story, these threads into a new work that rejoices in the musical worlds of 1640s Italy and 1970s America equally, all in service of a profound story of what coming home from war means to soldiers and to the families, as well as our nation’s role in their wounds and in their healing.” (The Memorial Day performance is free to all Veterans.) The Return of Ulysses—Song of My Father runs from May 11 to 27 at Source Theatre, 1835 14th St. NW and May 31 to June 2 at the Baltimore Theatre Project, 45 W Preston St., Baltimore. inseries.org. $30–$65. —Colleen Kennedy

Tuesday and Wednesday: 2024 New York Dog Film Festival and 2024 New York Cat Film Festival at Arlington Drafthouse 

This is what the internet used to be like! Really! Before social media run by social outcasts did everything it could to divide us and monetize hate and vitriol, the internet was pretty much just a place to share dog and cat videos. Ask anyone over the age of 40, it actually was better back in the day. While it’s not possible to get in a time machine, you can get out of your house and head to a movie theater to watch some dog and cat videos (well, short films in this case). The 2024 New York Dog Film Festival and the 2024 New York Cat Film Festival at the Arlington Drafthouse is a chance to enjoy two hours of short films, animation, documentary, and narrative featuring our furry four-legged friends. To make a very adorable evening even more appealing, all proceeds from both screenings will benefit the Animal Welfare League of Arlington. The high cost of the ticket ($38!) is at least somewhat justified by knowing who benefits from these showings. In a time when vice presidential hopefuls are bragging about killing their innocent dog, maybe a night of shorts featuring happy pets will make you feel a bit more optimistic. The Dog Film Festival starts at 7 p.m. on May 14; the Cat Film Festival starts at 7 p.m. on May 15, both at Arlington Drafthouse, 2903 Columbia Pk., Arlington. arlingtondrafthouse.com. $38. —Brandon Wetherbee

Opens Wednesday: “I’ll Have What She’s Having”: The Jewish Deli at the Capital Jewish Museum

This summer, the Capital Jewish Museum is bringing a special exhibit to its halls. Organized and curated by Los Angeles’ Skirball Cultural Center, “I’ll Have What She’s Having”: The Jewish Deli chronicles the American Jewish experience in the 20th century through food, specifically the deli. “There’s a story here about people and place in immigration, and Jewish life in America,” says Cate Thurston, one of the exhibit’s curators. Delis were places for immigrants to earn a living,  conduct business, build community, and more. “It serves a lot of different functions for a lot of different people across a range of Jewish identities,” says Thurston. The Jewish Deli will feature signs, menus, and other deli-related artifacts from across the country, including those from Capital Jewish Museum’s own collection of local items. But the curators have also made a point to integrate in pop culture deli moments, as evidenced by the title (for the uninitiated, a cheeky reference to When Harry Met Sally…). “We wanted to be playful,” Thurston says. “Jewish creatives returned to delis in movies again and again. It’s a place where people meet, it’s a place where a writer can showcase a character or characters Jewish identity without doing a lot of interpretation around it.” And while the exhibit explores the past of Jewish delis, the concept obviously still lives on today.  “The delicatessen is not a dead food way,” Thurston says. “It’s a vibrant food way that is still alive and still thriving.” “I’ll Have What She’s Having”: The Jewish Deli opens May 15 and runs through August 20 at the Capital Jewish Museum, 575 3rd St. NW. capitaljewishmuseum.org. $10–$15. —Hannah Docter-Loeb

Tonight: Marc Masters on High Bias at Rhizome

Search for “cassette tape revival,” and you’ll find dozens of news reports—some corny, some skeptical—about the scrappy audio format’s surge in popularity at record stores and on merch tables. The cassette’s six-decade saga is worthy of a deep dive, though, and music journalist Marc Masters lovingly embraces the task in High Bias: The Distorted History of the Cassette Tape. The D.C.-area native, who moved to a Phoenix ’burb a few years ago, is stopping here as part of his book tour. His goal is to make sure “these events are like celebrations of the cassette tape as much—or more—than being about the book itself,” he says. His writing has appeared in publications that stretch back to the cassette’s heyday (the Washington Post, Rolling Stone, The Wire, and elsewhere), and his first book, No Wave, chronicled the ’70s New York music and art scene of the same name. Masters’ D.C. event is at Rhizome, a Northwest nonprofit and DIY space where he’s been a regular over the years. In addition to a discussion with filmmaker Jeff Krulik (Heavy Metal Parking Lot, Led Zeppelin Played Here), there will be music from Nice Breeze (two of the band members played with Masters in the band Plums years ago) and Canandaigua (led by musician/filmmaker/artist Raul Zahir De Leon). Surely someone will tape it? The book talk begins at 7 p.m. on Oct. 26, with bands to follow, at Rhizome, 6950 Maple St. NW. rhizomedc.org. Free. —Joe Warminsky

Saturday: The Shreking Ball at Union Stage

Want to celebrate Halloweekend Shrek-style? This Saturday, Union Stage’s Shreking Ball: A Green Tie Affair returns to Southwest. The aptly named DJ Farquaad and DJ Puss in Boots will be playing some Shrek-based tunes—and the bar will be serving special swamp-themed cocktails. Costumes are encouraged, and the best dressed will win Shrek-themed prizes and a pair of tickets to a Union Stage show of their choosing. As Jake Diamond, one of the organizers, explains, Shreking Ball is a celebration of not just the beloved DreamWorks movie franchise, but absurdity too. “Life is so serious, and to have a space and time where you can just scream ‘All Star’ with friends while in Shrek costumes is something I think everyone needs.” The Shreking Ball starts at 10:30 p.m. on Oct. 28 at Union Stage, 740 Water St. SW. unionstage.com. $10. —Hannah Docter-Loeb 

Ends Sunday: LYRICS TO GO at VisArts

LYRICS TO GO, an exhibition at VisArts in Rockville, featuring text-based artworks by Ebon Heath and Tahir Hemphill, was curated by the VisArts 2023 mentor Dr. Fahamu Pecou, an Atlanta-based artist known for dynamic self-portraits. The exhibition celebrates the 50th anniversary of hip-hop with artworks atypical for exhibitions on the culture. This exhibition doesn’t focus on the four pillars of hip-hop: rapping, breaking, graffiti, and DJing. Instead, LYRICS TO GO expands the conversation on hip-hop by using sculpture and technology to investigate rap music, as Pecou’s goal was to think beyond what a hip-hop exhibition could be. Employing visual art in an exhibition about hip-hop, Heath and Hemphill conceptually use language to transform words into artistic objects. Heath, a trained graphic designer and art director, originally created packaging for hip-hop music, creating a relationship between the visual and the music. He uses his expertise with hip-hop and text to create two-dimensional sculptures that fabricate the sentiments of classic hip-hop songs. The use of lyrics generates word clouds, which are not meant to be read, but felt. They are made of wood and acrylic to resemble metal in silver and gold. Hemphill, creator of Rap Research Lab, a community-based creative technology studio, makes art that visualizes rap lyrics, revealing indirect patterns and trends in hip-hop music. Trained as an engineer, he uses his industrial know-how to create one-dimensional representations of individual MC’s lyrics, and then casts them into three-dimensional objects using 3D printing. He also created “The Hip-Hop Word Count,” a database containing more than 50,000 rap songs, to investigate the complexity of the words used by MCs and turn them into visualizations. LYRICS TO GO is on view through Oct. 29 at VisArts, 155 Gibbs St., Rockville. Friday, noon to 8 p.m.; Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. visartscenter.org. Free. —Shantay Robinson

Sunday: El Alfa at EagleBank Arena

Dominican performer El Alfa can rap in a conversational or lilting tone but what he’s best known for is spitting cartoon-esque, rapid-fire rhymes like a bully taunting a kid on the playground. El Alfa is no bully though and not a novelty act either. The 32-year-old, born Emanuel Herrera Batista, is an energetic, often comedic, sometimes profane lyricist whose vocal agility in Spanish has impressed listeners on both his solo efforts and collaborations with the likes of Bad Bunny, Cardi B, and Kali Uchis. He’s known as the “King of Dembow,” and “Legend of Dembow” for his intonation over the Dominican genre’s speedy beats with roots in dancehall reggae. Thanks to working with clever producers such as Chael Produciendo, El Alfa occasionally varies from his favorite fast beats per minute pace, and displays his wordplay, his horror movie-like chanting, and his playful rendition of the title “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” on slightly slower tempoed songs that musically draw elements from all over the Caribbean and Latin America. El Alfa packed Madison Square Garden last week, so expect a large crowd here—ready to enjoy his joyful loquaciousness. El Alfa plays at 8 p.m. on Oct. 29 at EagleBank Arena, 4500 Patriot Cir., Fairfax. eaglebankarena.com. $35–$195.99. —Steve Kiviat

Ongoing: Reflection Unknown by Fred Zafran at Multiple Exposures Gallery

Fred Zafran acknowledges that his current one-person exhibit at Multiple Exposures Gallery is an “unusual” one. It’s an “allegory of doubt and inquiry,” he says, in which the works should be “considered symbolically or metaphorically.” Not surprisingly, Zafran’s photographs—a mixture of natural scenes and portraits of anonymous figures—are pensive and moody. In fact, Zafran’s works are intensely personal to the point of opacity, with brief titles like “Beckoning,” “Deepening,” and “Far Beyond,” explaining little. Fortunately, their visual vocabulary makes many of Zafran’s photographs compelling. One image of sky reflected in water is pleasingly multilayered, with a water surface splotchy with algae yet coexisting with a dreamy cloud-and-branch-dappled sky. In another, fog swirling within a brambly forest tricks the eye into wondering whether one is looking straight ahead or straight down; in a third, lily pads in bright sunlight take on an unusual, ghostly yet reflective sheen, sharply contrasting with an impenetrably inky aquatic backdrop. If one image successfully marries the natural and the human worlds, it’s “Presence,” in which a man sits, trancelike, on a park bench as tendrils of water dance from a nearby fountain; the image presents a concise embodiment of the yin-yang of motion and stasis. Reflection Unknown runs through Nov. 19 at Multiple Exposures Gallery at the Torpedo Factory Art Center, 105 N Union St., Alexandria. Daily, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. multipleexposuresgallery.com. Free. —Louis Jacobson

It’s also Halloween weekend and if you want more events in keeping with the holiday, check out our Spooky Best Bets for October 27-31, courtesy of Colleen Kennedy.

Jewish people have been living in the District as long as there’s been a D.C. But it wasn’t until 1876 that the first synagogue was built at 3rd and G streets NW. In the years since, that original building has served multiple purposes—ironically, once as a pork barbecue—and, in 1969, was relocated to where it now sits, just a block away at the corner of 3rd and F streets NW. Today, the building finally has a new purpose too: It’s part of the Lillian and Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum.

Opening to the public on June 9, the free museum is the city’s first to explore Jewish life in the region. While the synagogue is the museum’s most prominent artifact—an intentional decision by the museum’s architects, who carefully integrated the old building into the design of the two-building space—it’s not the only thing on display. “If it’s Jewish, we have it,” a neon sign in the permanent exhibition reads. This is an apt description of the museum’s collection. 

The telling of Jewish Washingtonians’ stories has been years in the making. In some ways, the museum is an outgrowth of the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington, a nonprofit founded in the 1960s devoted to recounting Jewish life in the nation’s capital. (The society was responsible for organizing efforts to save and relocate the synagogue.) Many of the museum’s artifacts, including items related to the Soviet Jewry movement and the photos from the Giant Food archive, come from the original society’s collection. But as the museum’s executive director, Ivy Barsky, says, “this is the first public facing iteration of these stories.”

The museum is a diverse and interactive chronicling of the history of Jewish Washingtonians. It feels distinct from other museums in the area, including the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 

“The Jewish story is about more than the Holocaust,” curator Sarah Leavitt tells City Paper. Instead, the Capital Jewish Museum spotlights a local lens on Jews, be it a shoemaker who served presidents, Supreme Court justices in synagogue congregations, or debates among leading economists in Jewish Community Center multipurpose rooms. It’s what curator and historian Eric Yellin likes to call “a capital twist” on stories that may otherwise feel familiar.  

“We’re not just adding Jewish people to what you already know about Washington, we’re telling a story in this museum in a Jewish way,” Leavitt says. 

This is quite evident throughout the gallery. Located in the bottom floor of the old synagogue, the orientation exhibit, which is meant to serve as an introduction to the museum, features a non-exhaustive timeline of Jewish D.C. Up the stairs, in the historic sanctuary, is a film scape—a combination of projected videos and sounds—that paints a picture of what services looked like in the late 19th century. 

But Jewish history isn’t just relegated to the 19th century. A bridge unites the old synagogue with the newer part of the museum space, literally and figuratively connecting “the past and present,” says museum president Esther Safran Foer.

The second floor exhibition explores the more recent past. One section of the room features plush cubes of 100 prominent Jewish Washingtonians—ranging from late disability activist Judith Heumann to Washington Wizards player Deni Avdija. “It’s multi-sided characters on multi-sided cubes,” Leavitt says. The section also features artifacts donated by locals, such as a hand mixer from renowned Jewish chef Susan Barocas and a mezuzah from Rep. Jamie Raskin.

Another section explores “Tikkun Olam,” the Jewish idea of repairing the world, which considers social justice movements such as abortion rights and climate change through a Jewish lens. One corner of the exhibit is devoted to the physical signs of the city’s Jewish storefronts over the years along with an animated map of local Jewish-owned businesses over the years. There’s also an interactive seder table, accompanied by a section on liberation movements, such as the Freedom Seder where Jewish and Black activists came together in solidarity a year after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. 

A community action lab sits in another room. The interactive maker space is where “inspiration becomes action” through various guided activities meant to help visitors apply what they’ve learned in the exhibits to their own life. 

The third floor features a gallery that will house rotating exhibitions. The inaugural exhibit, Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, will examine the life and career of the late Supreme Court justice and occupy the gallery through Nov. 30. 

The project has been more than a decade in the making; its opening was pushed from 2021 to 2022 to this year, largely because of the pandemic. The space and its opening were funded primarily by major gifts from individuals, families, and foundations, but the museum has also received additional support in the form of local and national grants including from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, National Endowment for the Humanities, and Events DC. 

“There isn’t a book on the history of Washington Jews,” Yellin says when explaining why it took a decade to open the museum. Doing so meant learning how to tell this story while covering Judaism in all four quadrants of the city.

Local Jews—including yours truly—will certainly enjoy seeing community members they recognize in the museum, whether it’s someone from Jewish day school featured on a plush cube, or learning that your local liquor store was Jewish-owned. But the museum’s audience isn’t just relegated to local Jews. 

“We want to make sure everyone understands they’re part of the story,” Barsky says. “Whoever you are, whether you’re a Jewish Washingtonian, whether you’re Jewish, whether you’re a Washingtonian, regardless of where you come from, you have something to say and contribute to the story.”

And as she and many other staff emphasized, the story is always changing.

“We’re continuing to collect because this museum is about the present and future too,” Barsky says. “History goes on. We have more stories to tell, and we want to tell all of them.” 

The Lillian and Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum opens Friday, June 9 at 575 3rd St. NW. Wednesdays, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Thursdays through Sundays, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. capitaljewishmuseum.org. Free–$12.

DC Black Pride returns Friday, May 26, for its 32nd anniversary. Events—from workshops and panels to parties and drag brunches—run through Monday, May 29. The weekend-long festival of sorts, which has been organized by the Center for Black Equity since the late 1990s, is meant to be a time of fellowship, networking, and—of course—celebration.

“DC Black Pride and all the Black Prides around the world are important to maintain that safe space where folks can come and network and be authentic to who they are without fear of judgment or harassment,” says Kenya Hutton, deputy director of the Center for Black Equity. “I know in some states, people are very scared and unsure about what’s going to happen tomorrow. I want them to come to D.C. and shed away those worries and be free, be proud and unapologetic about who they are, and show up as their truest selves.” 

Our city has been a mecca for Black queer and trans folk since the late 1970s, thanks to the Club House, a space that nurtured the local Black LGBTQIA community and attracted others from across the south. DC Black Pride stems from the legendary Memorial Day parties thrown by the Club House, which closed in 1990 after several staff members died of AIDS. A year later, Welmore Cook, Theodore Kirkland, and Ernest Hopkins started DC Black Pride, according to a 2015 WCP article, “to educate their peers on HIV/AIDS prevention and provide a once-a-year safe space for mid-Atlantic and Southern black queers, many of whom were not out in their communities.” 

Today, especially in light of the nearly 500 anti-LGBTQIA bills proposed in legislatures across the country, Black Pride is a much welcoming space where Black queer and trans southerners can find refuge and community. And, in keeping with the one of the two original goals of keeping the community healthy, there will be a Health and Wellness Pavilion at the host hotel at 999 9th St. NW, where community health organizations will be offering HIV and STI testing, overdose prevention kits, PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis, which helps prevent HIV/STI transmission if used within 24 hours after unprotected sex), and much more. 

There’s a lot happening and a lot to keep track of. We’ve rounded up some of the standout Pride events spanning the next week. A full schedule of official events, including the countless parties happening each night and day that we didn’t have space to include here, can be found at dcblackpride.org. As Hutton tells City Paper, there’s a little something for everybody.

You can also visit our events calendar’s LGBTQ page for our listing of queer prides popping off for Pride starting now through the end of June. 

Thursday, May 25

Kicking off the celebration is the 4th Annual DC Black Pride Unity Ball, organized by the Capitol Ballroom Council in collaboration with Icon Charles West, Legends Twiggy Garcon, Duante’ Balenciaga, and Domo Alpha Omega. The party starts at 8 p.m. at the Renaissance Hotel, 999 9th St. NW. capitolballroomcouncil.org. Free.

Sin City Kick Off starts at 9 p.m. at metrobar, 640 Rhode Island Ave. NE.

Friday, May 26

On both Friday and Saturday, there will be an expo featuring organizations and vendors that sell products specifically for the LGBTQIA community. The Rainbow Row: Organization and Vendor Expo runs Friday, 5 to 9 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m at the Renaissance Hotel, 999 9th St. NW. Free. 

Ring in the weekend with the DC Black Pride Opening Reception Talent Showcase. The event—a celebration of Black LGBTQIA artists from the area—will feature comedians, singers and more local artists, including Brandon Kanion, Rebekah Laur’en, Violet Gray, and more. The reception is complimentary—and attendees get two free drink tickets with registration—but advance tickets are required for entry. The reception and showcase starts at 6 p.m. at the Renaissance Hotel, 999 9th St. NW. Free; tickets required.

All Black Party starts at 10 p.m. at KOI, 1413 K St. NW.

Saturday, May 27

Bright and early Saturday morning, local dancer and choreographer Gabriel Sanchez will lead “PrideFit,” a hip-hop dance class and “warm up” for Black Pride Weekend. This PrideFit class will include musical performances from Marck Angel and Ruepratt. Class starts at 10 a.m. at Howard Theatre, 620 T St. NW. Free; RSVP requested. 

Throughout the day, there will be workshops on pronouns, kink and BDSM, and faith in Blackness, among other topics. All workshops will have ASL interpreters. Workshops run from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Renaissance Hotel, 999 9th St. NW. Free. 

On Saturday afternoon, pay homage to the Club House, the space that basically birthed what we know now as the city’s Black Pride weekend. The event will celebrate the rich history and culture of the space and its impact on the city’s Black queer and trans community. There will also be a performance by DJ Suspense. The celebration starts at 3 p.m. at Renaissance Hotel, 999 9th St. NW. Free, but registration required. 

Thee Ultimate Day Party starts at 4 p.m. at Throw Social, 1401 Okie St. NE.

Local poets will have a chance to compete for more than $1,000 in prizes at this year’s annual DC Black Pride Mary Bowman Poetry Slam, hosted by four-time slam winner Kenneth Something. The slam starts at 6 p.m. at Renaissance Hotel, 999 9th St. NW. Free. 

Sunday, May 28

On Sunday, sip on mimosas while enjoying Brunch & Babes: The Second Annual Black Pride Iconic Drag Brunch. Sophia McIntosh hosts and performers include Stasha Sanchez Garcon and Raquell Lord Balenciaga, Exotic Lord Mugler, Syria Synclaire, Paris Brooks-Bonet Ebony, and Haven Garcon. Brunch runs noon to 4 p.m. at Hook Hall, 3400 Georgia Ave NW. $20–$60. 

Project Briggs, Inc. and Butler’s Kitchen host the third Pride By the River. This community outreach event features a number of musical performances and speakers. Attendees are encouraged to bring grills, blankets, umbrellas, and chairs to make a gay day along the Anacostia. Pride By the River runs noon to 8 p.m. at Anacostia Park, 1500 Anacostia Dr. SE. Free. 

The African-American Collective Theater joins the celebration by hosting OUT with IT! This one-day, two-performance festival includes short plays written by founding artistic director Alan Sharpe. Stories mix drama, comedy, and romance, all while exploring LGTBQIA issues. Performances start at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m at Mount Vernon Place Methodist Church, 900 Mount Vernon Place NW. a-act.org. $20–$30.

On Da Roof starts at 5 p.m. at SpaceDC, 1355 U St. NW.

Monday, May 29

Spend Memorial Day at Royce and MC Boom’s Pride Festival in the Park! The celebration promises free food, games, ax throwing, and performances by a lineup of local performers, including Reesa Renee. The party starts at noon at Fort Dupont Park, Minnesota Ave. SE. Free. 

Wednesday, May 31

Sure, the official celebration ends on Monday, but you can keep the celebration going with translator Jess Oliveira, who will discuss and read from the collection of Black trans erotic poetry that Oliveira helped translate: Tiely’s Transpoethicalbody. The event starts at 6:30 p.m. at Little District Books, 737 8th St. SE. Free.

For more Pride events, check out our calendar.

Friday: Kiko el Crazy at Diamond Lounge

On Dominican vocalist Kiko el Crazy’s recent second album, Pila’e Teteo, the artist born Jose Alberto Rojas Peralta keeps his foot on the gas and sticks with motor-mouthed Dominican slang Spanish over his home country’s relentless dembow beats. Joined by guest vocalists on most tracks, the fluorescent pink-haired Kiko raps and sings about lust, sex, and partying, and while the phrases may not wow on paper, his distinctive pronunciation and stretching of words, clever intonation changes, and use of humor gives the phrases sparkle and punch coming out of a speaker. No wonder Bad Bunny sampled him and Rosalía quoted his catchphrase, “La Pámpara.” This second album offers a bit of a change in approach from Kiko’s debut, Llego el Domi, where he tried to reach multiple audiences by mixing in pop reggaeton, traditional Caribbean elements, and EDM club rhythms in addition to the dembow, which, like reggaeton, is descended from reggae dancehall. On Teteo, Kiko’s producers don’t offer mainstream crossover flavorings, just 15 fast-tempoed numbers in just under 38 minutes. They keep this single-minded intensity from tediousness by contrasting the staccato beats with Kiko’s vocals and guest voices from the likes of Angel Dior and Mala Rodriguez that similarly sing, shout, spit, and converse with him at supersonic speeds. On one album highlight, “Pichirry,” Kiko’s fast but conversational flow alternates with veteran vocalist El Alfa’s high-pitched, cartoonish delivery. While Kiko’s guests won’t be with him live, expect his DJ to help him convey these duets. Kiko el Crazy plays at 9 p.m. on May 19 at Diamond Lounge, 7203 Little River Tpke., Annandale. tickeri.com. $50. —Steve Kiviat

Saturday and Sunday: Georgetown Rare Book Fair at City Tavern Club

Whether you’re looking for one last volume to complete your book collection or just want to browse, Georgetown is the place to be this weekend. The Georgetown Rare Book Fair is returning for a second year at the City Tavern Club and will host 30 antique booksellers from across the U.S. Organized by Fine Book Fairs, a new organization designed to create a bespoke, multicity rare book-buying experience, the event is designed to offer collectors a show that brings the community together to celebrate books and booksellers in historical buildings. What does that mean for you? It’s an opportunity to purchase books you simply cannot get anywhere else. And you won’t find a more appropriate venue for a rare book fair—the City Tavern Club is one of the oldest buildings in D.C. Constructed in 1796, the venue originally hosted the Founding Fathers as they chilled during the Capitol’s construction. The Club is also hosting a ticketed, $50-entry preview on May 19 with hors d’oeuvres and cocktails the night before the official event. If you just can’t wait to see the rare books, make sure to sign up. Otherwise, you can drop by at any time this weekend. The Georgetown Rare Book Fair runs 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on May 20 and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on May 21 at the City Tavern Club. 3206 M St. NW. finefairs.com. Free. —Tristan Jung

Sunday: Take Me to Town at AFI Silver 

“I certainly believe that happiness exists, if only by the simple fact that it can be destroyed.” Director Douglas Sirk sums up his stark sensibility in a way that seems more suitable to German new wave director Rainer Werner Fassbinder, whose fevered, prolific output in the 1970s was frequently inspired by Sirk. But Hollywood’s master of tear-jerking melodrama had a lighter side, too, and that’s on view in one of the rarer titles in the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center series Magnificent Obsessions: The Films of Douglas Sirk. In the 1953 film Take Me To Town, Ann Sheridan stars as the deliciously named Vermillion O’Toole, a Wild West saloon singer (read: sex worker) on the lam for a crime she didn’t commit. Hiding out in a small frontier town, she makes the acquaintance of three young boys whose widowed father (Sterling Hayden)—who happens to be the local preacher—might just be looking for a wife. Sounds like a straightforward slice of Americana, right? But all is not so straight in Sirk. For a film from the presumably innocent 1950s, there’s some hair-raising innuendo, as the boys assure Vermillion that Pop likes her because of “the way he looks at your meat pies.” And the highly artificial sets culminate in a chase scene set in a mountain pass that’s a barely disguised soundstage. What do you get when you cross Hollywood cliches and Sirk’s ironic distance? Camp, and in a 35mm print, glorious camp in colors that may or may not exist in nature. Of course, this series offers Sirk’s greatest hits too, like the 1956 masterpiece Written on the Wind (June 24, 26, 28, and 29). But don’t miss your chance to see seldom-screened titles like this strangely uncomfortable romantic comedy. It’s lesser Sirk, but it’s still fascinating. Take Me to Town screens at 5:10 p.m. on May 21 at AFI Silver, 8633 Colesville Rd., Silver Spring. silver.afi.com. $13. —Pat Padua

Tuesday: A Night on the Farm at Common Good City Farm

Every year, Common Good City Farm puts together A Night on the Farm to raise money for the farm’s educational programming and general operations. This year, in honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the farm is partnering with two new vendors—Kam & 46 and Chinese Street Market—that will integrate in farm produce to truly offer a farm-to-table experience. “This is a great opportunity for people to see directly the farm, eat dinner at the farm, and have that farm-to-table experience,” Deputy Director Josephine Chu tells City Paper. Organizers see the event as a great way to introduce Washingtonians to Common Good City Farm. And it’s not often you get to see a farm right in the middle of the city—Common Good is one of the few urban farms in D.C., and very accessible to residents. “You don’t have to go out to the boonies, you don’t have to go an hour away,” Kailasa Aqeel, communications and events manager says. “You can take the Metro, you can walk there, you can bike there.” As Chu put it, it’s a little oasis in the city. A Night on the Farm takes place from 5 to 8:30 p.m. on May 23 at Common Good City Farm, 300 V St. NW. commongoodcityfarm.org. $100–$150. —Hannah Docter-Loeb 

Through May 28: Beetlejuice at National Theatre

The classic horror comedy Beetlejuice is now old enough to run for president, and a long-awaited sequel was recently confirmed, giving Tim Burton fans a reason to break into song and dance. What better time for the touring Broadway production of a musical theater version of the tale to come to town? The Beetlejuice musical originally had a D.C. tryout before moving to Broadway, and the tour is landing right back where it started. The demonic ghoul who only appears when you say his name three times may seem a peculiar choice to emcee a musical theater production, but the show recognizes the silliness of the situation and calls it out, along with the departures from the original film. In this tale, teenage Lydia is mourning the death of her mother and moves into a new house that happens to be haunted by the souls of recently deceased married couple Adam and Barbara Maitland and the titular trouble-making demon. Lydia wants out of this house, so she teams up with the Maitlands to scare off her father, his girlfriend, and his business investors. Unfortunately, the promise of a haunted house with genuine ghosts is too good for real estate investors to pass up, and it quickly becomes a moneymaker. Speaking of moneymakers, it’s fair to be skeptical of art that relies on leveraging existing intellectual property, and to wonder what value add there is in seeing it in a different permutation. The madcap energy of the original film is well suited to being seen afresh, with cheeky songs and clever lyrics, a fun-house set full of trap doors, and some truly spectacular puppets. Legally Blonde: The Musical isn’t going to deliver on the threat of “the scenery is fake here, but there’s a giant snake here,” but Beetlejuice sure will. Beetlejuice runs through May 28 at the National Theatre, 1321 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. thenationaldc.com. $45–$200. —Stephanie Rudig

Laura Colgate has heard all sorts of excuses for why people don’t highlight women composers.

Frequently, people will tell her classical music written by women is not being played because it’s not worth wasting time on and that it’s not “as good” as the traditional canon. “But it’s just not true,” Colgate, the executive and artistic director of the Boulanger Initiative, tells City Paper. “There’s so much good music.”

When it comes to composers, a handful of big names come to mind—Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Frédéric Chopin—but that’s often where general knowledge ends. 

This lack of a musical awareness was the inspiration for the Boulanger Initiative. In 2018, Colgate and Joy-Leilani Garbutt, both locally trained and acclaimed classical musicians, created the organization—named for French composer Lili Boulanger—to provide resources and representation for women, nonbinary, and transgender composers. Throughout the year, Boulanger is involved with research and educational programming via organizing residencies and workshops with schools in the D.C. area. In March, they launched a database with access to thousands of works by composers who don’t identify as cisgender men, to serve as a hub of information and education for the general public. But Boulanger’s premiere event is their fifth annual multiday concert, the Women Composer’s Festival. This year’s event, dubbed WoCo Fest 2023: Awaken, takes place May 5 and 6 at the Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda and is meant to be both a celebration of gender-marginalized composers and an educational opportunity.

For the artists taking part in this year’s festival, the hope is that these performances will spark curiosity so that people will want to learn more about women and nonbinary composers and start larger conversations about the composition of classical music. 

“My idea was to highlight a lot of different styles so people would walk away and think ‘Wow, I had no idea Black women had been contributing to classical music for such a long time’ and [to know] that Black women are still contributing today,” pianist Dr. Leah Claiborne, who will be part of Saturday’s lineup at this year’s WoCo Fest, says. “I hope that people will walk away and be blown away with how much women have impacted our industry and classical music in terms of how much music is out there and the different styles.”

The festival kicks off with an opening concert featuring sets from chamber jazz ensemble Arco Belo, bassoonist Bryan Young, accordionist Simone Baron, among others. On Saturday, people will get a chance to enjoy more performances (including headliner Room Full of Teeth), peruse educational booths, and even get free headshots. There will also be a panel discussion exploring resources and tools to learn more about the lives of those who’ve been historically excluded from concert halls and classrooms. Panelists will address how curious listeners can find marginalized music and how archival research can help performers build programs with meaning and impact?

One of the groups performing Saturday is Sound Impact, a Virginia-based nonprofit uniting a collective of musicians working to improve music education in schools and juvenile detention centers in the DMV, New York, California, Costa Rica, and beyond. Sound Impact’s goal is to show how music can be a point of connection and how it can “ignite positive social change when employed as a tool for community engagement,” according to their website. Tiffany Richardson, a violist and co-founder of Sound Impact, emphasizes how WoCoFest aligns with the nonprofit’s values.

“Sound Impact is really big on elevating voices that have been traditionally marginalized and historically left out of the narrative,” Richardson explains. “Being able to be a part of a festival that is fully dedicated to changing that for the future is really important to us.”

Britton-René Collins, who will perform a piece combining percussion and spoken-word poetry on Saturday, also notes how excited she is to be included in this year’s festival. As a Black women percussionist, she strives to program works by composers who are not cisgender men in order to feature the diversity in the field, which is not often explored in traditional programming. Like Richardson, Collins sees WoCo Fest as an extension of her work to spotlight women, trans, and nonbinary composers. 

“This initiative is really empowering people from all different backgrounds to write music and to not only express themselves through composition, but connect with audiences and listeners all around the world through their music,” she tells City Paper. 

Colgate hopes audiences will walk away from the festival feeling inspired to learn more about the various composers, music, and musicians highlighted during the weekend. As she notes: There is so much to explore.

“I still get the question ‘How is there enough music from women composers to do an entire day of programming?’” she says. “But we could do this every day, every year. There’s so much out there.”

WoCo Fest 2023: Awaken runs May 5 through 6 at the Strathmore Music Center. strathmore.org. $10–$130.

Thursday, Saturday, Sunday: Marsha Gordon Book Tour in the DMV

Can women have it all? This comment, disguised as a question, is not only fraught with judgment and condescension, it’s ultimately pointless, as there is no answer that pleases everyone (or anyone). Even worse, those women who do try to answer it with candor or self-awareness are more likely to be redacted from the historical record than elevated as a prophet of modernity. Case in point: Ursula Parrott, the subject of Marsha Gordon’s Becoming the Ex-Wife: The Unconventional Life and Forgotten Writings of Ursula Parrott (University of California Press, 2023). The life and works of novelist and essayist Parrott (1899–1957) provide a glimpse into the eras that shaped her: the Victorian, the flapper, and the postwar. Best known as the foremost American expert on divorce, Parrott also wrote about reproductive rights, extramarital affairs, and single motherhood, all subjects she knew intimately. On paper, she might sound like a feminist “ahead of her time,” but in fact, she disavowed the feminist movement for tricking women into giving away their security for a set of false freedoms. Sex and the single girl? More like sex and the single paycheck. Right or wrong, Parrott led a scandalous, glamorous, sometimes lonely life in the public eye, and Gordon, professor and director of the film studies program at North Carolina State University, has done the world a great service by bringing her back into the spotlight. For the next few days, the author will be in the D.C. area for various events, including this afternoon’s lecture at the University of Maryland, College Park. On April 27, Gordon introduces the 1936 film Next Time We Love, based on a Parrott story and gives a post-screening discussion at 7 p.m. at the Old Greenbelt Theatre, 129 Centerway, Greenbelt. greenbelttheatre.org. Free. On April 29, Gordon hosts a book talk and introduces the 1956 film There’s Always Tomorrow at 2 p.m. at the National Gallery of Art, 4th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. nga.gov. Free. On April 30, Gordon hosts a book signing and introduces a double bill of There’s Always Tomorrow and The Divorcee (1930) at 1 p.m. at AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Rd., Silver Spring. silver.afi.com. $13. —Annie Berke

Friday through Sunday: The Giz at the Lincoln Theatre

When Lovial Long and Salahuddin Mahdi debuted The Giz in 2018, their achievement was truly remarkable. Both had been incarcerated in a Georgia prison—Long on drug trafficking charges, Mahdi on aggravated assault—when they originally conceived a go-go adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz four years earlier. The premiere at MGM National Harbor featured multiple stars in a new musical celebrating go-go culture with a distinctly DMV feel. Young Dottie, who lives in North Carolina and yearns to attend Howard University, is whisked away by a tornado and lands in Landover. There, she and her traveling companions seek a Chocolate City—not an emerald one. And Dottie’s glittering red sneakers that the Wicked Witch of Waldorf wants so badly? New Balance, of course. With an abundance of humor, The Giz relays the go-go community’s struggle for acknowledgment and support; at the same time, the displacement of Black families who have lived in D.C. for generations is a crucial theme. This weekend, Long, who has been awarded an honorary doctorate for his work in the community, presents a weekend-long revival of The Giz, performed for the first time within the District, at the Lincoln Theatre. For this production, the cast is led by Duke Ellington School of the Arts alumni Hilary Daniels and Rayshun LaMarr, familiar for his stint on television’s The Voice. Fox 5 anchor Marissa Mitchell plays herself, appearing on the station’s real-life LION Lunch Hour. As with the original production, several go-go stars join the cast: Ms. Kim makes a cameo appearance as her glamorous self, and other artists include TOB’s “Lil” Chris Proctor, ABM’s RoZae, and Kimmise Lee, best known for Suttle Thoughts and Vybe Band. Pulling it all together is music director Frank “Scooby” Marshall, whose Sirius Company serves as the production’s house band. Expect to hear some classic go-go hits, including Rare Essence’s “King of the Go-Go Beat” and Backyard Band’s “O-Cup,” as well as new originals by Scooby, RoZae, and Scooby’s son, the talented Jru Anthony. The Giz plays April 28, 29, and 30 at 7 p.m. at the Lincoln Theatre, 1215 U St. NW. dcblackbroadway.com. $60–$125. —Alona Wartofsky

Saturday and Sunday: I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky at Atlas Performing Arts Center

Ripped from the headlines is not a phrase often associated with opera, but it applies to many of those written by John Adams. Adams—the contemporary American composer, not the second president—has rendered in vocal musical form U.S.-China diplomacy (Nixon in China), the Achille Lauro hijacking (The Death of Klinghoffer), the Manhattan Project (Doctor Atomic), and 9/11 (On the Transmigration of Souls), among other events. He is prolific enough that some of his works can fall through the cracks. This is the case with I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky, his third, little-performed opera about the 1994 Northridge earthquake in Los Angeles. One could attribute its obscurity to faded memories of the event itself, which killed 60 people, or to Adams’ peculiar score—he deemed it a “songspiel,” not an opera, and it incorporates elements of rock, R&B, gospel, and blues, instrumentalized for an ensemble with non-opera-traditional instruments such as electric bass and saxophone. June Jordan’s libretto for Ceiling/Sky, as it’s commonly abbreviated, follows seven Angelinos who, over 22 musical numbers, perceive the earthquake as part of a self-discovery voyage. Were it a Paul Haggis movie and not a John Adams songspiel, it would be Hollywood Oscar bait. But it’s not, and that’s probably for the best. IN Series presents I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky at 7:30 p.m. on April 29 and 3 p.m. on April 30 at Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. atlasarts.org. $35–$55. —Mike Paarlberg

Sunday: Fresh Talk at Planet Word 

On Sunday, the National Museum of Women in the Arts’ Women, Arts, and Social Change initiative hosts another one of its signature Fresh Talk events. These talks, which happen throughout the year, are discussions between leading artists, designers, activists, and social innovators. April’s program will explore the power of art and language to express emotion and ideas. Through conversations with muralists, mixed-media artists, graffiti artists, and filmmakers, the event will explore how art can communicate complex ideas and how it can be a driver for social change. Artists featured include the local, independent art director and muralist Cita Sadeli (aka MISS CHELOVE), visual artist and filmmaker Michelle Angela Ortiz, and mixed-media artist Nekisha Durrett. According to Melani Douglass, director of NMWA’s public programs, the talks seek to be an “inspiring and empowering conversation with leading women muralists as they share their stories of breaking barriers in a field traditionally dominated by men.” The museum is specifically bringing together several women who work internationally but are based right here in the District. “These women in the area are making waves in the art world and have gained the support of large companies and foundations to do phenomenal work,” Douglass tells City Paper. Fresh Talk starts at 4:30 p.m. on April 30 at Planet Word, 925 13th St. NW. nmwa.org. $20–$25. —Hannah Docter-Loeb

Monday: May Day Festival and March at Malcolm X Park

The DC May Day Committee hosts its annual May Day Festival and March in celebration of the accomplishments of the global working class. The May 1 holiday is recognized internationally as Labor Day, and this year’s event puts a special focus on supporting the unionization of Amazon and Starbucks workers. “We wanted to center working people in the DMV and really just put that front and center,” says committee member Chase Zaslannya. “We’re signaling support for workers rights and workers.” The event recognizes what the global working class has achieved, while looking for ways to continue the push for change and the construction of more positive communities. The DC May Day Committee is made up of local unions, student groups, mutual aid groups, and other justice organizations. Its makeup has shifted over the past 50 years, but the committee has maintained its collaborative approach to organizing. In the past decade, Zaslannya says, there has been a greater push to make May Day a community event. Prior to the march, attendees can enjoy the festival in Malcolm X Park. Participating organizations will have speakers and information booths for people interested, and musical acts will perform before the group marches to the White House. Zaslannya says the goal is to ultimately create a space for people to “come out and meet others in the community. It’s a chance for different people involved in labor, housing, and justice work to get together to talk about what we want to accomplish.” DC May Day Festival and March begins at 4 p.m. on May 1 at Malcolm X Park, 16th & W Streets NW. eventbrite.com. Free. —Camila Bailey

Tuesday and Wednesday: Io and Léandre et Héro at the Kennedy Center

Ballet is one of the most complex artistic (and athletic) systems in the world. So it might be hard to believe that, centuries ago, ballet was not a stand-alone art form—at least not as we understand it today. King Louis XIV popularized ballet in the 16th-century French courts; these dances were political, building up a mythology around the monarch. Italian operas came to France in the 17th century and merged with Louis’ ballet system, with dance taking the supporting role. The result? Opera-ballets, multifaceted productions that brought together singing, dancing, and orchestral music. By the 19th century, ballet had begun developing into its own form. This spring, however, the Kennedy Center will honor the intertwined history of opera-ballets with Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Io and Marquis de Brassac’s Léandre et Héro; the latter premiered back in 1750. Opera Lafayette is bringing the singers, with baroque soprano Emmanuelle de Negri and tenor Maxime Melnik in the title roles; the dancers hail from the New York Baroque Dance Company and the Sean Curran Company. This double bill of opera-ballets starts at 7:30 p.m. on May 2 and May 3 at the Kennedy Center, 2700 F St. NW. kennedy-center.org. $30–$105. —Mary Scott Manning

Thursday: Curtis Sittenfeld with Martine Powers at Sixth & I

One of the principles of improvisational comedy is “yes and,” meaning that performers should never negate or undermine their scene partners. Always agree, always build on what the other person said. It’s harder, in love, to be so agreeable; easier to say, “yes but,” “maybe,” or “what do you mean by that?” And who better than Curtis Sittenfeld, literary queen of the what ifs—what if Hillary never married Bill? What if Laura Bush was, like, cool?—to “yes and” her way through a charming love story between a witty sketch comedy writer and a sexy pop star. The twist? What if the writer was the woman and the star was the guy? Yes, and then what if COVID happened? More than a romance novel, Sittenfeld has written the story of a woman and a moment in her latest novel Romantic Comedy (published April 4). “Girl writer” Sally Milz steers clear of all the adorable ingenue cliches. Instead of perky, she is prickly, and while she is appealing, she’s not exactly endearing. (Comedians rarely are.) It makes sense that Sally would respond to attention from a hunky superstar with suspicion and bitterness; it also makes sense that, in the locked-down days of the pandemic, that she’d be the girl a man like Noah Brewster couldn’t forget. Comedy fans and gossip hounds will recognize Sittenfeld’s lightly veiled treatments of guys like Colin Jost and Pete Davidson, while romance fans will appreciate the epistolary interludes, not to mention the sweet and sexy times between the leads. Several gender-swapped Notting Hills have been making the rounds as of late, including Annabel Monaghan’s Nora Goes Off-Script, Katherine Center’s The Bodyguard, and the genuinely laugh-out-loud funny HBO Max series Starstruck, created by and starring Rose Matafeo; but it’s no question that Sittenfeld’s novel is one of the best of its kind. Curtis Sittenfeld joins Martine Powers to discuss Romantic Comedy at 7 p.m. on April 13 at Sixth & I, 600 I St. NW. sixthandi.org. $20–$35. —Annie Berke

Thursday, Friday, Saturday: Ferry Tales at Kennedy Center

The Potomac River, despite being ever-present in the backdrop of D.C., isn’t talked about that much, except for that time pop singer Lorde took an ill-advised swim in it. A series of performances, presented as part of the Kennedy Center’s RiverRun festival, puts the Potomac in the spotlight and makes the river its stage. People who are invested in the river, such as biologists, Indigenous stewards, and researchers, were interviewed about their passion for the Potomac and the intricacies of its ecosystem, and playwrights Robert Duffley and Jan Menafee have translated these answers into a series of parables. Animals that make their homes in and around the river like kingfishers, scad fish, mussels, and dolphins are celebrated, and the often overlooked history of the river is explored, along with potential future outcomes for the river’s environment. Each story is told at a different stop along the riverfront and the audiences can follow along for the duration, or passersby and impromptu visitors can drop in at various points along the route. The show is performed multiple times most evenings, so check the schedule to time a visit. Reserved tickets are required to board a ferry for a special performance on April 13 that will float down the route of the performance and stop on the water to take in the stories—talk about showboating. Performances take on April 13, 14, and 15 at various venues. Free, tickets required for April 13 performance. globallab.georgetown.edu/projects/ferry-tales. —Stephanie Rudig 

Friday: Jumpin’ Jupiter and Oil City Confidential at Hank Dietle’s Tavern

Thanks to streaming services, YouTube, and the vast expanse of the internet, one can explore virtually any musical genre from any era on a computer or phone while sitting at home. However, seeing musicians perform live still conveys energy and charisma that might not come through on a screen. The rockabilly of Jumpin’ Jupiter and the pub rock and R&B of Oil City Confidential are a case in point. Both local groups feature the potent range and passion of vocalist Jay Jenc. With Jupiter, Jenc can power through verses or slow things down with some “baby, baby, baby” Southern-drawled verbiage. Jenc has been rocking with Jumpin’ Jupiter’s alternately twangy and buzzing guitar and bass on originals and late 1950s covers such as Eddie Cochran’s “Twenty Flight Rock” and Elvis Presley’s “Baby Let’s Play House” since 1992. More recently, Jenc has added his voice to Oil City Confidential, a side project band that play tribute to the mid-1970s sound of U.K. outfit Dr. Feelgood and especially their guitarist, the recently deceased Wilko Johnson, whose percussive and staccato finger-picking style and intense demeanor influenced many a punk band. Named after a 2009 film documentary about the British combo, the DMV group are led by guitarist Abaad Behram, who is best known for playing in the 1970s D.C. band Razz (who themselves will be the subject of a film showing at AFI Silver on April 29). With Oil City, Jenc delivers rugged vocals that match up with the muscular straight-ahead riffs. Behram told City Paper that he’s not generally a fan of tribute bands but says Wilko Johnson, one of his top three favorite guitarists, was so “visceral” when he saw him in Dr. Feelgood at a Baltimore gig in the 1970s that he felt inspired to do this when he heard Johnson was dying of cancer. Jumpin’ Jupiter and Oil City Confidential play at 9 p.m. on April 14 at Hank Dietle’s Tavern, 11010 Rockville Pike, Rockville. hankdietles.net. $10. —Steve Kiviat

Saturday: What About Us?

Today Debbie Allen is legendary; in 2020, she received one of the nation’s highest artistic achievements, a Kennedy Center Honor. But as a young performer, she had to fight for success. Allen grew up in Houston in the 1950s and 1960s; segregation meant the best dance training wasn’t available to her. But she eventually got a break in the 1980 movie Fame and the TV series that followed, portraying a dance instructor at a New York performing arts school. Since then, Allen has performed on Broadway, directed and produced television, had a recurring role on Grey’s Anatomy, and starred in a Shondaland-produced documentary. But that first role in Fame is the one that presaged a primary part of her work today: running the Debbie Allen Dance Academy in Los Angeles. This weekend, Allen is bringing her company of “Red Bird” dancers to the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage as part of the season-long RiverRun Festival. These dancers, ages 8 to 18, will present What About Us?, a performance of spoken word, dance, and music meant to celebrate nature. What About Us? starts at 11:30 a.m. on April 15 at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, 2700 F St. NW. kennedy-center.org. Free. —Mary Scott Manning

Tuesday: Black Belt Eagle Scout at Songbyrd

Queer Indigenous musician Katherine Paul, better known as Black Belt Eagle Scout, will perform her acclaimed February 2023 album, The Land, The Water, The Sky, to D.C. on April 18 at Songbyrd Music House. Paul’s music is influenced by her Indigenous heritage and Pacific Northwest roots, drawing inspiration from eclectic influences such as the riot grrrl movement, Hole, Nirvana, indigenous Coast Salish music, and Swinomish traditions. The album this tour is centered around tells a story of the beauty that emerges from returning home to ancestral lands. The journey may be challenging and winding, but Paul’s music shows that it’s one worth taking because it leads one to the place they not only come from, but belong. “When you stand on ancestral lands it is impossible to be alone. You feel the arms and hands that hold you up, unwilling to let you fall into sorrow or abandonment. In her songs Paul has channeled that feeling of being held. In every note she has written a love letter to indigenous strength and healing,” a promotional note on her website reads. Paul’s music is a reimagining of these lineages we come from; she views our histories as plural, communal, and queer. Her work envisions our future as being the same–abundant and full of love. I saw Paul perform in Ohio in 2019 and have thought about her work constantly ever since. I am excited to return to her work, just like she returns home on the album. A homecoming for us both. Our paths have led us to where we both belong. The show starts at 7 p.m. on April 18 at Songbyrd Music House, 540 Penn St. NE. songbyrddc.com. $15–$18. —Serena Zets 

Ongoing: Sandy LeBrun-Evans at Multiple Exposures Gallery

Sandy LeBrun-Evans has been photographing since the late 1980s and early 1990s, initially using black-and-white and infrared film, and more recently digital equipment. During her career, she’s taken photos in Cuba, in ghost towns in the Western U.S., in the coal mining region of West Virginia, and most recently, at a working ranch in Wyoming. Last year, a friend asked her to join her on a visit to southeast Asia. “It was not a photography tour, so I had to look for opportunities as they arose and be ready to shoot when I found myself in the right place at the right time,” LeBrun-Evans tells City Paper. She photographed the colorful but fragile “floating” houses of Tonlè Sap Lake in Cambodia as well as in the Mekong River delta. But her most impressive images are the moody, misty seascapes from an overnight cruise to Ha Long Bay in Vietnam. “I had to quickly jump on opportunities when I saw them and figure out a way to photograph around crowds of people,” she says. If there’s a common thread between these and her earlier works, LeBrun-Evans says, it’s fragility, both environmental and social. “An unspoken theme is the need to protect natural resources while also preserving cultural heritage,” she says. Sandy LeBrun-Evans’s Waters of SE Asia runs through April 23 at Multiple Exposures Gallery at the Torpedo Factory, 105 N. Union St., Suite 312, Alexandria. multipleexposuresgallery.com. Free. —Louis Jacobson

Plan Ahead: State of the Arts Night at the Hirshhorn

Spring is prime time for D.C. embassies, with Passport DC and other activities and tours hosted by the various envoys. But for the first time ever, this year’s festivities will be precluded by another event: the EU State of the Arts Night. Presented in partnership with the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and in cooperation with various embassies, State of the Arts Night will feature artists from various EU nations. In addition to exhibits, music, and interactive performances, attendees will also get the opportunity to hear from artists and how their work explores issues critical to the EU. Although from different countries, many of the artists explore similar themes of climate change, democracy, war, and gender. And although showcasing the art is part of the event, organizers hope that attendees will engage in conversation about the work presented. “It’s an evening that’s really dedicated to fostering relationships and dialogue between Europeans and Americans through the arts on the big issues of our time,” EU Senior Cultural Affairs Officer Christine Vest says. “Each of the artists comes not just to present their work, but to interact with the local community on the values and concerns shared by both sides of the Atlantic.” State of the Arts Night will take place April 21 at 6 p.m. at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Independence Avenue and 7th Street SW. Free. hirshhorn.si.edu — Hannah Docter-Loeb

After a week away, City Lights is back with a roundup of things to do and people to watch. However, if it looks a little slim today that’s because so much good stuff was already highlighted in last week’s Spring Arts Guide, which includes tonight’s book talk at Little District Books with Dr. Jake Newsome, author of Pink Triangle Legacies: Coming Out in the Shadow of the Holocaust; Friday’s Betty Who show at the Anthem; and Rio street band Monobloco at the Spanish Ballroom at Glen Echo Park on Saturday. Not to mention, RIOT! Funny Women Stand Up, Margaret Cho, and Black Violin.

Friday: SHE:DC Art Show Opening Party at La Cosecha

In honor of Women’s History Month, Shop Made in DC is back with SHE:DC. The monthlong initiative, now in its third year, is meant to illuminate women identified makers. SHE:DC kicks off with an art show opening party at La Cosecha on March 10, but there will be curated art shows throughout the month featuring more than a hundred local artists, panel discussions, and pop-ups with emerging businesses. All proceeds of the initiative go to the SHE:DC microgrant, which will be awarded to the winners of the final pitch competition at the end of the month. Shop Made in DC founder Stacey Price emphasized that, like their stores, SHE:DC is a way to gather and invest in local artists. And, despite the “She” in the title, Price noted that your pronouns don’t have to be “she” to be a part of the initiative. SHE:DC Art Show Opening Party runs from 5 to 9 p.m. on March 10 at La Cosecha, 1280 4th St. NE. shopmadeindc.com. $18.92–$24.57. Additional events scheduled throughout the month. shopmadeindc.com. —Hannah Docter-Loeb

Friday: Native Sun and Cinema Hearts at the Runaway

Brooklyn rockers Native Sun are rolling through D.C. this weekend, bringing their quintessential early aughts-esque thrills to the Runaway. Sources (mainly the band’s bio) say that you simply can’t talk about New York’s rock scene without talking about Native Sun, and anyone wanting to return to those Meet Me in the Bathroom days will get a nostalgia boost with their sound. But equally exciting for Friday’s lineup are Cinema Hearts. The local ex-pageant queen meets power-pop band fronted by the former queen herself, Caroline Weinroth, put on an enthralling show full of high-energy theatrics and tiaras. Melding ’60s girl-group sounds with surf guitar riffs and pop punk, Cinema Hearts grow bigger by the show, so don’t miss the chance to be able to say you saw them when. The show starts at 8:30 p.m. on March 10 at the Runaway, 3523 12th St. NE. therunawaydc.com. $14.64–$17.85. —Sarah Marloff

Saturday: National Hip-Hop Museum Induction and Opening Ceremony at 1919 18th St. NW

New York City might be the birthplace of hip-hop music, but the nation’s capital is making a significant contribution to the culture with the creation of the new National Hip-Hop Museum located in the heart of Adams Morgan. The museum will officially open their brand-new, 6,000-square-foot facility on March 11 with a Grand Induction Ceremony for legendary rappers CL Smooth, Special Ed, and Dres of Black Sheep, as well as the grand opening of the museum’s flagship retail and event space. “Watching the museum grow from pop-up experiences to induction ceremonies to an art gallery to a retail space and dispensary is truly a thing of wonder!” Master Gee of the pioneering rap group Sugarhill Gang and NHHM’s executive director, tells City Paper. “Our dispensary, the Orbit Shop, will release limited edition cannabis strains in honor of each inductee.” The hip-hop museum is the brainchild of now CEO Jeremy Beaver, aka DJ Boom, who also owns Listen Vision Studios, the renowned production studio on Georgia Avenue NW. In the works since 2019, the official NHHM location will contain the largest selection of hip-hop memorabilia on the East Coast including vintage apparel, sneakers, toys, and records. “Our new location serves as the place where all aspects of the museum come together,” says Beaver. “Events, inductions, cannabis, art, and, most importantly, a lot of fun!” The opening ceremony kicks off Saturday with a special red carpet hosted by Grandmaster Caz and  NHHM historian Jay Quan, and featuring VIP guests DJ Doo Wop, DJ Kool, D.C. Deputy Mayor John Falcicchio, Events DC President and CEO Angie Gates, Rock the Bells Radio, and other music industry luminaries and media outlets. Inductee Special Ed and DJ Akshun Love will perform. The National Hip-Hop Museum’s Grand Induction Ceremony and Opening Party starts at 4 p.m. on March 11 at the National Hip-Hop Shop, 1919 18th St. NW. hiphopmuseumdc.org. $108.55–$188.58. —Sidney Thomas

Ongoing: Prayer and Transcendence at GWU’s Textile Museum 

Prayer rugs in the Muslim faith are the physical dawn for daily prayer, offering safe, clean spaces for worship and involving religious iconography for spiritual connection with God. The George Washington University Textile Museum’s exhibition Prayer and Transcendence explores prayer rugs from across the Muslim world, drawing parallels between rugs of different origins and spotlighting thematic emblems. Over centuries through Hajj (religious pilgrimage), Muslims curated a global identity. Prayer and Transcendence displays rugs dating back to the 16th century through the 19th century and takes visitors through the distinct and bridged regions of Ottoman Türkiye, Safavid Iran, and Mughal India. Muslims across these years and lands practiced prayer while compassed by prayer rugs connected by motif iconography—archways leading to the botanic, idyllic kingdom expressed in the Quran; lamps to light the path and affinity to God and community; and trees and pitchers to symbolize fruits of virtue. Idols of crescent moons and stars, composed by contemporary day iconography to represent knowledge, date back to Ottoman Türkiye rugs, as shown in the exhibition. Prayer and Transcendence demonstrates how prayer rug iconography remains a thread connecting modern-day Muslims to God and a centuries-old community. Prayer rug motif icons represent the theology, culture, and history of the Muslim faith, transcendent of time and territory. On Saturday, March 11,  present-day calligraphy masters Aishah Holland and Nihad Dukhan will lead a daylong workshop with a tour, artist talk, and Islamic calligraphy workshops. Prayer and Transcendence runs through July 1 at the Textile Museum at the George Washington University, 701 21st St. NW. Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. museum.gwu.edu. Free.—Anupma Sahay

Thursday, Friday, Saturday: Aida Rodriguez at DC Comedy Loft 

Aida Rodriguez has captured our attention. She recently became the first Latina to appear in two specials airing in one month on both HBO and Showtime. She’s appeared on Comedy Central, hosted the PBS Imagen Awards five times, made it to the finals of NBC’s Last Comic Standing, and was featured in the stand-up anthology Tiffany Haddish Presents: They Ready on Netflix. The fact that she’s also a podcaster, writer, and speaker who has worked as a commentator on The Young Turks should indicate that she’s not your garden-variety comic—nor is she your garden-variety political comic. When asked how to do political comedy well, she tells City Paper that her tactics are grounded in an understanding of the difference between “the people who do it well” and “the people who care.” She continues, “I write comedy with humanity in mind … I try to talk about things that are complicated and bring the humor out of them.” Rodriguez’s work—about the darkest pits of the human experience, such as suicide and rape—manages to be touching, sharp, and therapeutic, literally. “Right now I’m talking about death and suicide in my set. I get people emailing me after the show, thanking me for talking about it. One guy in L.A. told me that he was thinking about killing himself, and then came to my show and went to a therapist afterward.” Rodriguez believes comedy has the power to humanize enormous, often abstract issues, and transform them from massive concepts, foreign in their bigness, to feelings anyone can empathize with. “Most of the stuff that happens to people, you can find the funny or the sadness. I tend to find the irony,” Rodriguez explains. “It tends to resonate with most people when you do it that way. When you get on CNN and say that racism is wrong, that’s one thing, but when you give people a story, they can visualize it … what connects me to other people is lived experience. Not just people of color or women, but I want a man to see the ridiculousness of things that happen to women.” She’s hoping to make a practical impact on how people see the world and feedback suggests she’s already been successful: “When I talk about sexual assault in my Netflix special, women came and talked to me about that.” Unlike those who suggest “unity” comes from diminishing racial and sexual trauma, Rodriguez wants to bring people together under a common understanding of what it feels like to be mistreated, dismissed, and denied fundamental respect as a human being. “I like to talk about the things that we all have in common. You want the audience to walk away with something.” Aida Rodriguez performs at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 16; 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. on Feb. 17; and 7 and 9:30 p.m. on Feb. 18 at the DC Comedy Loft, 1523 22nd St. NW. dccomedyloft.com. $25–$35. –Alexandra Bowman

Friday: Awkward Sex… and the City at Black Cat

There are so many ways for things to go wrong when you’re naked and bodily fluids are involved. And Awkward Sex… and the City chronicles just that. The show, which returns to D.C. just after Valentine’s Day, features sets from five comedians that will tell sex, dating, and relationship stories, leaving no awkwardness unturned. Creator and headliner Natalie Wall says the show was created to chronicle some of these inelegant stories in order to help others realize—and laugh at—the inherent awkwardness in intimacy. “These are very human and horrifying moments that make you want to crawl up in your skin and die,” Wall says. “But as time goes on, you get to see how silly and funny it was and how great of a story it is. I want [the audience] to know that whatever happens to them is very normal and to feel safe to talk about it and laugh about it. It’s happened to all of us in some shape or form.” While the event is part of a nationwide tour, Wall says the Black Cat—and D.C. in general—is her all-time favorite place to perform. “It’s a very funny and liberal and smart city and audience members seem to really get the show.” She’s hopeful that this year will be the same. “You’re gonna have a good time,” she promises, and: “You’re not going to hear any stories that are similar.” Awkward Sex…and the City starts at 8:30 p.m. on Feb. 17 at Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW. blackcatdc.com. $20. —Hannah Docter-Loeb

Ongoing: Gail Rebhan: About Time and Eastern Front – Western Front at the American University Museum

The American University Museum’s retrospective of photographs by D.C.’s Gail Rebhan, About Time, is small yet sprawling. Rebhan, born in 1950, has focused her art on such issues as family history, feminism, and aging, with special attention to the Washington area. In early works, Rebhan documented close family, including some extreme close-ups of her young baby, and made time-hopping still life images of domestic scenes. In her more recent work, Rebhan has leveraged large scale to great effect. In one wall-size piece, she skillfully layered historical images, clippings, and documents into a monumental exploration of one city street corner at 1st and M streets NE, weaving in the hyperlocal history of Native Americans, slavery, an ice cream factory, and a bus depot at that location. The other large-scale work consists of brutally honest images of aging women’s body parts, appended by a stream of printed descriptors, from “grandma,” “dowager,” and “woman of a certain age” to “battleaxe,” “babushka” and “harridan.” The museum’s other photography exhibit, Eastern Front – Western Front, pairs the World War II photojournalism of the Jewish Russian Georgi Zelma and the English-born South African Constance Stuart Larrabee. The exhibit, smartly curated by Laura Roulet, frames the photographers’ works within the era’s gender constraints. Larrabee, barred from combat zones, photographed on the edges of the conflict, documenting the survivors and the troops, including less familiar subjects such as Black South African soldiers. Zelma, meanwhile, bravely documented the combat in Stalingrad, but for Russian propaganda outlets. Their separate oeuvres prove satisfyingly complementary. Gail Rebhan: About Time runs through May 21; Eastern Front – Western Front runs through March 19 at the American University Museum, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. american.edu. Free. —Louis Jacobson

Starts Feb. 23: Mother Tongue Film Festival at the Smithsonian

What does New York City have to do with endangered languages? That’s one question that will be asked on opening night of this year’s Mother Tongue Film Festival, which has been organized by the Smithsonian’s Recovering Voices program since 2016 and is returning to in-person screenings along with selected streaming titles. This year’s lineup, which features 27 films in 23 languages, focuses on the theme of “Coming Home,” which encompasses a spectrum of concepts about migration and assimilation. The opening night program, on Feb. 23 at 6:30 p.m. at the Hirshhorn’s Ring Auditorium, includes the documentary short “New York, Just Another City,” which follows Brazilian filmmaker Patrícia Ferreira Pará Yxapy on a visit to the Manhattan’s Museum of Natural History, where she’s concerned about the institution’s display of sacred objects from her people, the Guarani Mbya. This is followed by the feature documentary Daughter of a Lost Bird, Brooke Swaney’s film about Blackfeet/Salish woman Kendra Potter, who was raised far from Native American culture but longs to understand her heritage. But this isn’t just a documentary film festival. On Feb. 26 at 2 p.m. at the National Museum of American History’s Baird Auditorium, you can see the sci-fi drama Night Raiders, about a Cree woman who tries to rescue her daughter from an oppressive military regime. The Smithsonian’s Recovering Voices initiative is a collaboration between Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of the American Indian, the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, and the Asian Pacific American Center. Mother Tongue Film Festival runs Feb. 23 through 26 at various locations. Advanced registration is required for in-person events. mothertongue.si.edu. Free. —Pat Padua

Opens Feb. 23: Into the Woods at the Kennedy Center

I’m finally starting to feel less sad about being a Broadway fan who lives in D.C. The new, critically acclaimed production of Into the Woods is the latest show to make a major stop (its first stop outside of Manhattan) at the Kennedy Center Opera House from Feb. 23 through March 19, direct from the Great White Way. The Washington Post has called this production of the late Stephen Sondheim’s classic “more popular than anyone anticipated.” For those who’ve never seen Into the Woods, or have only seen the Disney movie adaptation—that was an entirely different story thanks to all the time cuts—this musical, by one of the greats, explores what happens when fairy-tale characters have to grow up. The fables of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack (that guy with the beanstalk), and Rapunzel intertwine when a humble baker and his wife strike a deal with a witch in order to have a child. What follows is a tale revealing the importance of simultaneous optimism and acceptance of moral complexity. This show stars all four actors reprising their roles from the recent NYC production: Montego Glover as the witch, real-life married couple Stephanie J. Block and Sebastian Arcelus as the baker’s wife and baker, and Gavin Creel as Cinderella’s prince and the wolf. (Thank goodness Block is under a magic spell that prevents her from leaving the Kennedy Center, lest she be cursed for all eternity.) Under the direction of Lear deBessonet, who directed the Public Theater’s production of Hercules, this rendition of Into the Woods has captured critical and popular attention. The production’s cast recording, which was digitally released in September, earned a Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album. The New York Times called it “superb,” and noted that the original production’s “cast changes, humor, wonder, and humanity remained intact” in its transfer to Broadway, so it feels safe to assume the same is true of the Broadway show’s transition to the U.S. national tour. Sure, it’s going to be hard for this touring show to beat Signature Theatre’s recent production of Into the Woods, but let’s see these Broadway bigwigs try. Into the Woods runs from Feb. 23 to March 19 at the Kennedy Center, 2700 F St. NW. kennedy-center.org. $45–$179. —Alexandra Bowman