Top Stops

Symphonic Splendor: 'Trumpet of the Swan'

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 01:00:28 -0500

IF YOU ENJOY musicals — and who among us does not? — you might know of Jason Robert Brown. He's a young composer who has taken the young man angst that made Ben Folds so popular, otherwise known as "I'm a vaguely dissatisfied, self-absorbed young white guy who plays the piano really well," and translated it into musicals. But now he's writing orchestral music for a new adaptation of "Trumpet of the Swan," the beloved children's story.

The script is by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Marsha Norman and Kathy Bates stars, but the real draw should be Brown's music.

» Kennedy Center, 2700 F St. NW; Thu.-Sat., Dec. 4-6, 7:30 p.m., $18-$35; 202-467-4600. (Foggy Bottom)

Image courtesy Kennedy Center

Very Spacial People: Jane Franklin Dance

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 01:00:53 -0500

IT'S SOMETIMES hard to snap out of the daily routine. Too often it's only when something beyond our control intervenes in our lives that we change course.

That's the conundrum explored in "Incidence," the Jane Franklin Dance company's multimedia dance performance at the Mead Theatre Lab at Flashpoint through Dec. 14.

The experimental work, a collaboration between the Arlington-based dance troupe and local sculpture and sound artists Howard Connelly and Gina Biver, builds from an evolving script that can never be performed the same way twice.

The performance centers on a life-size, movable art apparatus that serves as the catalyst for the dancers' movements. The sculpture inadvertently directs the dancers depending on how they interact with it and affect its position within the space.

Wait — That Was Funny: Todd Barry

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 01:00:51 -0500

TODD BARRY'S stand-up is laid back but angry, rooted in everyday life but not observational, and always completely surprising. Barry, best known as the "third Conchord" on HBO's "Flight of the Conchords," performs at the Improv this weekend.

If you can't wait for the funny, toddbarry.com is a worthy collection of randomness, including his "receipt museum" and photos of the comic with and without squirrels.

» EXPRESS: What's it like inside your brain? Is there a hamster on a wheel or melting clocks or what?
» BARRY: There are several hamsters on several wheels looking at several melting clocks.

» EXPRESS: Do you create your material in terms of your delivery, or are you just a laconic guy?
» BARRY: I don't really go, "Oh, this would be funny, especially with my delivery." It's not that calculated.

True Indie: 'Smoke Signals'

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 01:00:49 -0500

"SMOKE SIGNALS" was the first movie written, directed and produced by American Indians. See the 1988 award-winner Sunday.

» National Museum of the American Indian, 4th Street & Independence Avenue NW; Sun., Dec. 7, 2 p.m., free, 202-633-1000. (L'Enfant Plaza)

Written by Express' Nathan Martin
Photo courtesy Miramax

The Quiet Queen: Iris Dement

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 01:00:38 -0500

EVEN IF YOU haven't heard the voice, you've heard its influence.

Iris Dement's scraggly, soulful brand of folk-country quietly holds its own place in the musical landscape. She makes her way to the Birchmere on Sunday.

» Birchmere, 3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria; Sun., Dec. 7, 7:30 p.m., $35, 703-549-7500.

Written by Express' Nathan Martin

Blame Canada: Christmas Revels

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 01:00:30 -0500

THIS YEAR, the Christmas Revels draw inspiration from French-speaking Canada. The party starts on Saturday night at Lisner.

» Lisner Auditorium, 730 21st St. NW; Dec. 6-7 & 12-14., $12-$45, 800-595-4849. (Foggy Bottom-GWU)

Written by Express' Nathan Martin

A Classic Rocks: 'A Christmas Carol'

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 01:00:18 -0500

IF HE WERE a) not fictional and b) not living in the 19th century, Tiny Tim wouldn't miss Ford's Theatre annual production of Dickens' cautionary "A Christmas Carol."

Yes, you know the story, but no, it won't hurt you to hear it one more time, and even if your heart is two sizes too small — so to speak — you might just feel a twinge of Christmas cheer.

» Lansburgh Theatre, 450 7th St. NW; through Dec. 28., $33-$65, 202-547-1122. (Gallery Place)

Written by Express' Nathan Martin
Photo courtesy Ford's Theatre

Pretty Trippy: 'Multiverse'

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 01:00:05 -0500

FOR THE NEXT year the concourse between the East and West buildings of the National Gallery of Art will be home to "Multiverse," a 41,000 LED-node exhibition filling the 200 feet between buildings. It's an ever-changing, shimmery display that just might keep you riding the moving walkway all day.

» National Gallery of Art, 4th Street & Constitution Avenue NW; 202-789-3044. (Smithsonian)

Written by Express' Nathan Martin

Growing Up on Camera: 'War Child'

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 13:43:24 -0500

EMMANUEL JAL BRIMS with the sort of charisma that only stars possess. But it's telling that his magnetism still showed when he was a 7-year-old child soldier in Southern Sudan, not just now as an adult hip-hop artist and international activist.

The footage of Jal in a late-1980s refuge camp in Ethiopia was shot by a French journalist who was documenting the exodus of people from war-torn Sudan, whose southern area then was what Darfur is now. But the video almost didn't make it into the documentary "War Child" by D.C. filmmakers C. Karim Chrobog (director and producer) and Afshin Molavi (producer).

"We were nearly done with the film," Chrobog said, "and we had one still image of him as a child. And toward the end, Emmanuel called me from London and said, 'Karim, I have this DVD that somebody just gave me on the street; a Sudanese buddy of mine. And apparently I'm in the [40-minute] film — and I'm 7 years old."

Dutiful Update: 'Call of Duty: World at War'

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 09:34:00 -0500

LAST YEAR, ACTIVISION and Infinity Ward reinvented their popular World War II first-person shooter franchise "Call of Duty" by tossing aside the familiar (and overdone) WWII setting and delving into a gritty fictionalized present-day war zone with "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare."

The update was met with resounding applause from critics and players, and raked in awards and sales. This year, Activision handed the developer reins to Treyarch, the team responsible for the less well-regarded "Call of Duty 3," which promptly shifted the timeline back to WWII with "Call of Duty: World at War."

But to call this game a simple retread doesn't quite do it service, as there are plenty of twists and tweaks that elevate it from the dozens of clones on the market and make it a worthy follow-up to last year's smash hit.