A PAINFUL INHERITANCE
The Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture takes over the National Museum of American History's Carmichael Auditorium on Saturday to present a screening of "Traces of the Trade." For this documentary, filmmaker Katrina Browne and nine of her relatives delve into their family's painful history, tracing their ancestors, the DeWolfes, back to the 18th and 19th centuries, when they were active in the slave trade, possibly transporting as many as 10,000 West Africans across the Middle Passage in exchange for rum. The film screens for educators only on Saturday (reserve at Nmaahceducation@si.edu) and for the public on Nov. 28.
» National Museum of American History, 14th Street & Constitution Avenue NW; Sat., Nov. 21, 2-5 p.m.; Nov. 28, 1-3 p.m., free; 202-633-1000.
FILM WITH A CHARMING LILT
Solas Nua branches out from mounting some of the most compelling Irish plays around to showing some of the most compelling Irish-themed films around. As part of its Monday-night "Irish Popcorn" series, the arts organization screens Martin Duffy's family drama "The Boy From Mercury."
» Flashpoint, 916 G St. NW; Mon., Nov. 23, 7 p.m., free. (Gallery Place-Chinatown/Metro Center)
Photo courtesy NMAAHC
THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY'S "Portraiture Now: Communities" is not laid out to indicate a starting and ending point. That makes sense, because the show is is as conceptually open-ended and accessible as it is physically.
"Communities" features the works of three painters, all thematically bound by a blending of old techniques and new, democratically rendering American subjects from almost every walk of life.
A leveling of the social playing field in the age of online dating, social networking and virtual identity, Jim Torok's 23-piece "A Colorado Family," for instance, maps underlying features that unite its three generations, broaching a profound question: What indelible human traits bind us as a people? An inversion of Chuck Close's photo-enlargement techniques, it's no quaint irony that his 5-by-4-inch oil-on-panel portraits, each of which can take a year to complete, are little larger than Polaroids.
Continue Reading "A Picture of a Nation: 'Portraiture Now: Communities'" »
SUNDAY: On Sunday, the Verizon Center hosts its third ever pay-per-view event. The Survivor Series features World Wrestling Entertainment excitement kicked up with hometown fervor — WWE star Dave "The Animal" Batista, above, is a D.C. native and one heck of a closely shaved bruiser. He fights Rey Mysterio to the cheers of a local crowd.
» Read our interview with WWE superstar Chris Jericho, who will also be at Survivor Series.
» Verizon Center, 601 F St. NW; Sun., Nov. 22, 7:45 p.m., $30-$300; 800-551-7328. (Gallery Place-Chinatown)
Photo courtesy WWE
ONGOING: Shakespeare's comedies can be a little jarring — when the Greek gods show up, the newbies tune out — but "As You Like It" offers some of the Bard's most famous speeches and most intriguing and three-dimensional female characters.
As with all Elizabethan comedies, there's a lot of cross-dressing, people falling rapidly in and out of love, and similarly ridiculous plot twists.
» Sidney Harman Hall, 610 F St. NW; through Dec. 20, $20- $82; 202-547-1122, Shakespearetheatre.org. (Gallery Place)
WWE SUPERSTAR CHRIS JERICHO knows how to work smart, telling stories inside the ring that make both him and his competition shine.
He's also an enormous smart ass, delivering withering insults to fans and his fellow grapplers from his heel character's perspective of a self-absorbed elitist with a predilection for large words.
This combination of athletic ability and verbal jousting is what Hulk Hogan was referring to when he recently called Jericho the "complete wrestler," and one of the main reasons why he's one of the few superstars to appear regularly on WWE's two biggest TV shows, "Smackdown" and "Raw."
Jericho, 39, will put all his skills on display in a headlining match for the WWE's "Survivor Series" pay-per-view, which takes place at Verizon Center on Nov. 22. Unified tag-team champ Jericho will face his partner The Big Show and current world heavyweight champion Undertaker in a Triple Threat to determine who will hold the strap.
But recently Jericho was in a less combative environment: riding around Phoenix, Az., doing press alongside WWE Diva Kelly Kelly.
"We're riding in an expensive, high-class limousine right now — that she paid for," Jericho said. "I actually had a Taurus."
Express spoke with the athlete/actor/comedian/entertainer/vocalist/author also known as Christopher Irvine, born to former NHL player Ted Irvine, about the follow-up to his 2007 New York Times best-seller "A Lion's Tale: Around the World in Spandex," his hard rock band Fozzy, professional burnout, life on the road with WWE and how his chatty, chatty mouth sometimes gets him in big, big trouble.
Continue Reading "The Mouth That Roared: Chris Jericho, WWE Superstar" »
MONDAY: Unless you were following Chicago politics back in 2003, you probably didn't hear of the charismatic new senator with the funny name till a few years later. Chances are, you hadn't given much thought to the 2008 presidential race yet. But that was the year that veteran campaign manager David Plouffe partnered with David Axelrod to plot Obama's historic journey to the White House.
Plouffe will discuss his management tactics, the five year plan, and his new book, "The Audacity To Win," at the Politics & Prose event held at the Sixth & I Synagogue.
» Sixth & I Synagogue, 600 I St. NW; Mon., Nov. 23, 7 p.m., $8; 202-408-3100. (Gallery Place)
Written by Express' Anne Polsky
Photo courtesy Penguin Books
MONDAY: We're not sure why simulcasts have become so popular — but people still go to movies in theaters, and it's not so different.
Tonight, the Shakespeare Theater will be simulcasting an interview with Stephen King about his latest novel, "Under the Dome." Go find out what's behind the master storyteller's creative process — and hey, make friends with some fellow King fans while you're at it.
» Lansburgh Theatre, 450 7th St.NW; Mon., Nov. 16, 7 p.m., $14; 202-547-1122. (Gallery Place)
Photo by Dick Dickinson/Scribner
ONGOING: Video games as art? Huh.
The latest exhibit at Flashpoint features artist Kenny George's amalgam of Pac-Man and himself: Pacguy! Along with a playable video game, the show includes a "computerized pogo stick" and other gizmos that blur the line between art and time-wasting.
Sure, it's about mainstream consumerism, competition, fleeting glory, whatever — it's an awesome excuse to play Pac-Man, and we call it art. You can't beat that.
» Flashpoint, 916 G St. NW; opening reception, Thu., Nov., 12, 6 p.m.-8 p.m.; through Dec. 19, free; 202-315-1310, Flashpointdc.org. (Gallery Place-Chinatown)
Written by Express' Janice Leary
Photo courtesy Kenny George
ONGOING: Woolly Mammoth Theatre morphs from a polite (and often not-so-polite) sit-down theater space into a raucous all-the-building's-a-stage with "Full Circle," Charles Mee's play about a struggle of wills in postwar East Germany. The audience moves from the rehearsal room to the lobby and even the theater itself to experience this exploration of fealty and ideology fully in the round.
» Woolly Mammoth Theatre, 641 D St. NW; through Nov. 29, $40-$62; 202-393-3939. (Gallery Place)
Photo by Stan Barouh
CHOCOLATE AND SPA TREATMENTS have been paired together before, but the combo has never been quite as enticing as "Sweet Spa," a series of pampering parties co-hosted by Co Co. Sala and Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spas. The first is Nov. 17 at the patisserie/cafe/lounge (6 p.m.-8 p.m., 929 F St. NW; Cocosala.com, register by today at Events@coco-dc.com).
For $85, customers can down desserts and sip champagne while aestheticians give fall makeup tips and manicures in autumn colors such as reds, browns and jewel tones.
"These are two indulgences that women really enjoy," says Kelly Bigel, regional spa sales specialist for Red Door (Reddoorspas.com). "There's a definite therapeutic element [with both]. Whether you're treating yourself to a manicure or you're having something sweet that just melts in your mouth, it just is a good feeling."
Continue Reading "Better Than Chocolate: 'Sweet Spa' Pampering Parties" »
Addison Road