Welcome to City Paper’s 2024 Fall Arts Guide. This year’s roundup of recommended events began the usual way, but it ended up very different.
As we grow more accustomed to being an online-only publication, we’ve learned to do away with (some) print traditions. We no longer put out a weekly issue, so why contain an entire guide to an entire season in one massive delivery? Instead, this year’s guide will roll out over the course of September.
During that time, you’ll get our typical critics’ picks, albeit in a new format—film critic Alan Zilberman will share the big screen events he’s most excited for this fall; art critic Stephanie Rudig will shed some light on the exhibits she can’t wait to see. We’ll look at what plays are making our theater critics buzz. You can expect several concert roundups from a dozen music writers—40 show recs, plus metal, hip-hop, and world/roots/jazz. And, of course, as arts editor I couldn’t run an arts guide without highlighting some of the events on my fall calendar, too.
But all this planning and plotting got me thinking: What are D.C.’s artists and musicians looking forward to? What shows are on photographer Soomin Ham’s calendar? What does Bad Moves‘ David Combs already have tickets to? What’s former Rare Essence keyboardist Darrin X Frazier psyched for? What’s GALA Hispanic Theatre’s Rebecca Medrano going to see? So we asked. More than a dozen local creators shared their fall arts recommendations, not just with us, but with all of you, too.
So dig in, bookmark, and come back tomorrow and the next day—we have plenty of answers for the inevitable question: What are you doing this fall?
Follow our monthlong coverage here:
Read Me: Thrilling and Spine-Chilling Lit Events For Spooky Season
All book lovers know the sweet bliss that accompanies the first days of fall. Gone are the days of FOMO; it’s time to cancel plans, stay in, and read guilt-free. Say goodbye to the beach reads and hello…
The Show Goes On: Rebecca Medrano Shares Her Onstage Fall Favorites
You’ve probably seen the titan spirit behind GALA Hispanic Theatre during a show night. She’s the ginger-haired woman strutting down the halls and across the stage—usually in a sparkling dress and heels. Rebecca Medrano has been running one…
Eight Artsy Event Recs From RIYL’s Brandon Wetherbee
Singing, dancing, crafting, face painting, very old cinema, and British people cracking wise about Americans are some of the best ways to spend autumn in D.C. In a very political town at the most political time of year,…
Feel the Blues: DJ Dr. Nick Johnson Recommends Southern Soul, Blues, and Jazz
For 20 years, Nick Johnson, under his radio sobriquet of Dr. Nick, has charismatically and creatively brought the sounds of blues and soul, new and old, popular and obscure, to listeners via a trio of outlets. An Anacostia…
She Got the Beat: Claudia A. Lawrence Knows Where to Go When You’re Craving Cumbia, Chicha, and More
Leon City Sounds is the DJ team made up of married couple Claudia A. and Charles Lawrence. The duo plays Latin American genres such as cumbia, chicha, salsa, and boogaloo—mainly on vinyl—at monthly parties and one-off gigs throughout…
Primary Trust Is a Welcome Friend, Right on Time
“Welcome, friend: You’re right on time.” This is the motto of Cranberry, a small town in upstate New York, 40 miles from Rochester and worlds away from the bright lights of Manhattan. It’s a motto that seems to…
Round House’s Sojourners Is an Intimate Epic
I’d be doing Round House Theatre’s stirring new production of Mfoniso Udofia’s stranger-in-a-strange land drama, Sojourners, no favors by telling you the play is but the first entry in Udofia’s nine-part saga surveying the experiences of a family…
Dance With Death: The Comeuppance Gives DMV Natives of a Certain Age Their Due
Because they could not stop for Death,He kindly stops for them. “Them” being the five onstage characters in The Comeuppance, the newest dark comedy by MacArthur Fellowship winner Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. At key moments throughout the play, the lights…
Louis Jacobson’s Must-See Fall Photography Exhibits
The National Gallery of Art is usually a reliable source for first-rate photography exhibitions. In recent years, it has mounted thoughtful retrospectives on Dorothea Lange, Robert Adams, and Sally Mann, as well as British photography from the 1970s…
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