BILL BERLONI'S REMARKABLE CAREER stretches from the first versions of "Annie" in the mid-70s through the current long run of "The Wizard of Oz," hitting the Warner Theater through Dec. 7. The animal trainer and memoirist (the charming "Broadway Tales: Heartfelt Stories of Rescued Dogs Who Became Showbiz Superstars") has rescued scores of strays, trained them to appear onstage and then found them loving homes, eventually bringing many into his own menagerie.
» EXPRESS: Tell me a little about "Oz" and the dogs you've trained for it.
» BERLONI: The tour just began a month ago. It's going to be a three-year tour across the country. "Wizard of Oz" doesn't get revived very often, because it's such a huge technical show: pyrotechnics, flying witches, dogs, fire and scarecrows — you know. … The dog starring is named Princess. She has an understudy named Snickers.
Princess is about 8 years old. She's done productions the last four or five years of her life, so now she's just locked in. She's in this tour for a while.
Continue Reading "Your Little Dog, Too: Bill Berloni Talks Stage Pups" »
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."
D.C. IS A cultural mecca, and that's hard on those of us who have to budget tightly to stay afloat. All these restaurants and concerts and plays are there for the taking — if you have the money.
So, it's nice that one of D.C.'s best restaurants, Ceiba, has a happy hour. And even better, for those of us who get off work late, that their happy hour caters to night owls. None of this ends-at-6:30 silliness here: Ceiba offers $5 cocktails and $5 appetizers from 9:30 p.m.-11 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Mojitos and empanadas for everyone!
» Ceiba, 701 14th St. NW; 202-393-3983. (Metro Center)
Photo by Dayna Smith/The Washington Post
IT'S WELL AND truly winter, and short of free cupcakes, nothing will get you to venture outside. These days, rather than tromping from bar to bar seeking a clientele not composed of Republican staffers crying into their $2 beers, you want to go somewhere warm and stay there for a few hours. There are reasons Oscar-winning movies tend to come out at the end of the year, and one of them is that people want to curl up in a dark theater and forget that the weather outside is frightful.
But sometimes popcorn isn't enough. There are few D.C. theaters where you can get a stiff drink before your friend drags you to "Twilight," but here are some nearby watering holes where you can snag a cheap drink and maybe a snack before embarking on your cinematic adventure.
If you're catching a show at Gallery Place, take a tiny stroll down H Street to Matchbox, the claustrophobic upscale pizza joint. On weekdays between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., sit at the bar for $4 martinis, $2.75 pints of Yuengling and $2 off small pizzas. Yes, it's dark and cramped, but it'll get you in the mood for a movie theater.
Continue Reading "Cheap Drink and a Movie: Pre-Movie Happy Hours" »
AT 41, LOUIS C.K. has seen his body change, his thoughts shift and his comedy evolve. Where he once riffed on sex — and mostly sex — he now focuses on growing old and raising his two kids.
"Well, raising kids is a high-stakes job ... and it's a very all-consuming, full-time job that's going to be your primary function until you die," C.K. said. "I think when I was younger, the only thing I thought about was sex, like everybody else in the world, so I talked about that a lot. ... Now, my kids are at the front of my brain."
And the Washington native will hit on those themes — with a self-deprecating and vulgar touch — when he returns to the Warner Theatre Friday night.
ALTHOUGH EVERYTHING pales beside the National Book Festival, that's over for the year now that the chilly weather has set in. To fill the void, we have the National Press Club, whose book fair is thoughtfully located indoors.
D.C. luminaries such as Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and White House correspondent Helen Thomas will be there — and so should you.
» National Press Club, 14th and F streets NW; Tue., Nov. 18, 5:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m., free; 202-662-7516. (Metro Center)
Photo by Fayez Nureldine/AFP/Getty Images
HERE'S WHAT YOU USUALLY READ whenever the name "Brian Wilson" is mentioned in regards to an upcoming show. "Beach Boys" + "Pet Sounds" + "mental illness" + "cocaine" + "Smile" + "musical genius" + "comeback." Consider that done.
Next, you're told where (Warner Theatre) and when (8 p.m.) you can see the 66-year-old legend. Done and done. And of course there's the plug about the kudos he received on his last album, "That Lucky Old Sun." Check.
Continue Reading "Still Feeling 'Vibrations': Brian Wilson" »
DURING NOVEMBER, Oceanaire Seafood Room chef Rob Klink is featuring a heart-healthy version of its beef barley soup, all the proceeds from which will support the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. The soup is $5.95 for a cup and $7.95 for a bowl. And, come on, it’s for a good cause! Oceanaire has a long-standing relationship with JDRF, the leading nongovernmental funder of juvenile diabetes research. Chef Klink hopes the effort will raise awareness as well as money.
» Oceanaire Seafood Room,1201 F St. NW; 202-347-2277. (Metro Center)
Written by Suemedha Sood for Express
BRUCE CAMPBELL DOES NOT LIVE in a beat-up trailer, nor does he drive a rundown hatchback. He is neither newly divorced nor a raging alcoholic. He does not have a contentious relationship with his fans, who in real life may be disappointed that he is not actually filming "Cave Alien II."
The character Bruce Campbell, played by Campbell in his new movie, "My Name Is Bruce,"is an obvious exaggeration. "Idiots are funny,"says Campbell. "As long as idiots get their comeuppance and are punished for being idiots, that, to me, is very entertaining."
In fact, the B-movie icon has little in common with his onscreen incarnation. The real Bruce Campbell is a quick-witted married guy who lives on a ranch in Oregon and has turned a string of low-budget flicks like "Maniac Cop"and "Moontrap"into a thriving career.
Continue Reading "Staying True to Himself: Bruce Campbell" »
MOST WOMEN WOULD know better than to answer a personal ad promising "sex to change the course of the world." Those always end in disappointment.
Even more so for Jo (Kimberly Gilbert), the potty-mouthed student who answers Jules' (Aubrey Deeker) fateful ad in Woolly Mammoth Theatre's new staging of Peter Sinn Nachtrieb's comedy "Boom."
Unfortunately for Jo, Jules is a virgin and gay and has spent much of the last several years in total isolation, and has the social skills to prove it. A literal-minded marine biologist who studies the sleep patterns of fish in his underground lab, Jules lost all his family through a series of freak accidents.
Addison Road