SATURDAY: Learn the secrets of potions, powders and elixirs when the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum in Alexandria lets visitors go behind the counter. Saturday's tour through the museum's collection, its building, history and the development of pharmaceuticals from the time of the shop's founding in the 18th century. Behind the Counter tours take place every every third Saturday of the month and include a light breakfast.
» Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum and Gift Shop, 105-107 S. Fairfax St., Alexandria; Sat., Nov. 21, 9 p.m., $25, reservation required; 703-838-4242.
Photo courtesy Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum
D.C. IS KNOWN FOR for having its share of talking heads, but politics and punditry aren't the only ways to put your money where your mouth is.
Voice acting can be a fun — and lucrative — way to earn a living or extra spending money, says David Bourgeois, president and creative director of Voice Coaches, a Schenectady, N.Y.-based company that's bringing its expertise to Alexandria with "Getting Paid to Talk: An Introduction to Professional Voice Acting."
"One of the great positives of it is it's something you don't have to quit other things you're doing to do. You can build this around other things that are priorities," he says.
» The Basics
John Gallogly, the company's senior creative director and a voice actor since age 9, will teach the course, which is open to 20 students.
Participants will listen to examples of demos by professional voice actors and record a practice script of their own at the end of the class, such as a voice-over for an ad. The idea is to give students the chance to see what it's like to be on the microphone and take directions, Bourgeois says.
Continue Reading "It's How You Say It: Voice Acting Classes Teach a Lucrative Side Gig" »
WHERE ARE THE HARMONIES, sweet harmonies?
Turns out they're on "Under the Covers Vol. 2," the second collection of classic rock covers by the mock duo Sid 'n' Susie, aka power-pop maven Matthew Sweet and former/current Bangle Susanna Hoffs. While "Volume 1" mixed '60s pop staples with obscurities such as baroque-poppers the Left Banke, "Volume 2" "leans more toward the well-known," according to Sweet.
Indeed, the 16 songs on "Volume 2" almost make up a best-of-'70s-radio compendium, if that's not an oxymoron. Sweet does a nice Tom Petty cadence on "Here Comes My Girl" with some gorgeous harmonies from Hoffs on the line "She is all I need tonight." Hoffs' vocals have always been more suited to harmony/duets (check out Fleetwood Mac's "Second Hand News"), but she takes a suitably raspy gender-bending lead on Rod Stewart's "Maggie May."
"Plus, we've got the girl singing 'Go All the Way,' which is awesome because that's what the lyrics are doing," Sweet beams, noting that the Raspberries' Eric Carmen told Hoffs he'd always wanted to hear a girl sing that.
The only real misfire here is John Lennon's "Gimme Some Truth"; the sensitive Sid 'n' Susie just aren't cut out for angry anti-authority rants.
Continue Reading "A Harmonic Convergence: Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs Are Sid 'n' Susie" »
THIS WEEKEND: The father of the modern detective story and author of timelessly unsettling short fiction is claimed by his hometown of Baltimore. But Edgar Allan Poe visited Virginia in 1849.
Actor David Keltz re-creates Poe's visit with a reading of stories and poems on Friday and Saturday. As it's the 200th anniversary of the author's birth this year, expect an enthusiastic crowd ready to get spooked by the great man himself — and perhaps his ghost will drop by as well.
» Lyceum, 201 S. Washington St., Alexandria; Fri. and Sat., Oct. 30 and 31, 8 p.m., $15, 703-838-4994, Alexandriahistory.org.
Photo courtesy Tom Radcliffe
THAT COLLEGE TRIP to San Juan may have convinced you that Puerto Rican cuisine consists mainly of flan washed down with umbrella-laden pina coladas. But there's more to the cooking of the U.S. territory than just rum drinks (more about those later) and fried plantains.
Indeed, when you drive around Puerto Rico, you'll see signs for "cocina criolla," which literally translates as "Creole kitchen" (but has nothing to do with the Creole cuisine of Louisiana). Rather, it refers to typical Puerto Rican fare, with its influences from both Spanish colonizers and Caribbean Indian natives: the prevalence of plantains and rice; the rich flavor base called sofrito; and adobo, a combination of spices used to perk up meats and add tang to sauces.
Continue Reading "A Taste of San Juan: Cook a Puerto Rican Feast" »
TUESDAY: Keb' Mo' (who was born Kevin Moore, in case you were confused) is a blues guitarist. Well, sort of. His music combines blues, jazz, calypso — in short, everything but the kitchen sink. And he could probably get some sweet sounds out of a kitchen sink if you provided one.
Check out his show at the Birchmere — if you like it, pick up his new album, "Live and Mo'," a just-released collection of live recordings and studio tracks.
» Birchmere, 3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria; Tue., Oct. 27, 7:30 p.m., $60; 703-549-7500.
Photo by Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post
FRIDAY: This time of year, creepiness lurks around every shadowy corner and in every swirl of dead leaves. But there's no horror like Belly Horror, the bellydance/Halloween variety revue at the Birchmere on Friday. Part theater, part horror show, part sexy entertainment, Belly Horror is not the only way to do the holiday right while wearing black lipstick and a skirt covered in gold coins, but it's the most fun.
» Birchmere, 3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria; Fri., Oct. 23, 7:30 p.m., $29.50; 703-549-7500.
Photo courtesy Stero Vision Photography
MOST KIDS LOVE to dress up, but going door-to-door begging strangers for candy is a lot of work. There's the walking and, worse, the wait: All that sugary sweetness screaming your name, and there always seems to be a few more houses to go. (Not to mention enduring the endless Mom-dictated candy inspection.) But many local eateries offer a chance for little and big sweets fans alike to get their treats now with Halloween-themed foodie events. No trick.
The Horror: Rock Out at EatBar
At EatBar, dress as you are — unless you want to win the best costume contest — to jump to the left and step to the right at a screening of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." This one-night-only event features cocktails such as the "Poisoned Apple" and "The Zombie Punch," and chef Barry Koslow will be stirring up scary eats including deviled eggs, blood sausage and tongue tacos.
» 2761 Washington Blvd., Arlington; Oct. 31, 8 p.m., free; 703-778-9951. (Clarendon)
Continue Reading "Ghoulish Goods: Halloween Treats to Die For" »
BREWMASTER GARRETT OLIVER and Brasserie Beck chef de cuisine David Ashwell team up to bring beer lovers a diabolically delicious food-and-drink event. A special beer-based dinner features not only a menu of Ashwell's rich, autumnal dishes, but also such magical-sounding suds as the bacon-infused Brooklyn Reinschweinsgebot and a cocktail-mimicking Manhattan Project brew.
» 1101 K St. NW; Tue., 7 p.m., $85 per person; reservations at 202-408-1717.
ON THE NIGHT Bryan Yeary planned to propose to DeAnna Bumstead, he realized he'd forgotten something: her folks' blessing.
They were at dinner, celebrating DeAnna's recent promotion, and he had the ring sneakily concealed on his pinky. DeAnna — whose interest was piqued in Bryan five years ago when the Georgetown students talked cars ("He had me at, 'My first car was a '67 Mustang,'" she says) — didn't suspect a thing until dessert. That's when Bryan excused himself to go call her parents. Did DeAnna realize something was up? No, "she thought I wasn't feeling well, since I was gone for so long," Bryan says. After dinner, he wordlessly popped the question and she, of course, accepted.
DeAnna, 30, is an attorney recruiting coordinator. Bryan, 30, works for the D.C. government. Their wedding is Oct. 31 (no costumes allowed) in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. They live in Alexandria.
Written by Express contributor Rachel Kaufman
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