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IT HAS ALL the potential for a campy affair: flowing blood, human meat pies and a supposedly expert barber with incredibly tragic hair.
But "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" is nothing if not a full-fledged tragedy at its very core, especially in the hands of Signature Theatre and Eric Schaeffer, whose production of Sondheim's classic celebrates the company's 20th anniversary.
"We try to go for the dark side of the play," said Edward Gero, the D.C. stage veteran who portrays the titular antihero. "We try to find a new way to tell the story."
It's a dark musical, indeed, whose titular protagonist is an insane, vengeful murderer who (with his landlady) converts his victims into meat pies. But such is the world of 19th-century London and "Sweeney Todd."
Continue Reading "Bloody Good Fun: 'Sweeny Todd,' Signature Theatre" »
JOHN BALDWIN GOURLEY of the band Portugal. The Man never wanted to make a concept album, but some things just can't be skirted.
"It definitely became a concept record in itself, which I always wanted to avoid," Gourley said of the psych-pop group's fifth LP, "American Ghetto."
"I have this really, really bad habit of writing lyrics all at the same time, so the themes end up carrying through, which is good, I think. It's always great to have consistency in the albums. We never put focus on one track over another — we're all about making albums."
Continue Reading "A Journey to the 'Ghetto': Portugal. The Man" »
IT'S TOUGH TO imagine Leni Riefenstahl — the woman behind Nazi Germany's propaganda films and the infamous "Triumph of the Will" — as someone with a heart and soul. But Forum Theatre's intense production of "Amazons and Their Men" manages to do just that: paint Riefenstahl as a human — just a conflicted, manipulative, self-serving one.
Written by 32-year-old Jordan Harrison, the play takes a fictional look at Riefenstahl's attempt to make an epic film based on the beautiful and vicious Amazon warrior queen Penthesilea, who shared a love affair with Achilles before he killed her. As World War II unfolds, her film unravels — and the Frau is shown struggling with what will most benefit her versus what will help her at-risk Jewish, Gypsy and gay actors.
Continue Reading "The Bold and the Conflicted: 'Amazons and Their Men,' Forum Theatre" »
"THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA" is a postcard for 1950s Italy, when you could walk around the city without being mowed down by a scooter, and , apparently, when handsome men were just waiting to catch your hat and propose marriage.
The 2005 Tony-winning musical, currently produced by Arena Stage, centers on a naive young American named Clara (Margaret Anne Florence) who is in Florence with her seemingly overprotective mother, Margaret (Hollis Resnik). When Clara meets Fabrizio (Nicholas Rodriguez), Margaret balks at the whirlwind romance, for reasons more complicated than ordinary suspicion of charming Italian men.
Continue Reading "The Course of Twisted Love: 'The Light in the Piazza,' Arena Stage" »
LONG, LEGGY AND both loved and feared, the communal table has probably already landed in a neighborhood near you. This oversized piece of furniture has been steadily gaining territory in area restaurants for the past decade, popping up at uptown neighborhood haunts, downtown hot spots and suburban bakeries alike. If you haven't yet experienced one, allow us to provide an introduction.
The communal table is a lengthy slab seating eight to 20-some people, be they small groups of strangers or one large party. Restaurants prize them for their versatility, and also because they evoke a sense of community and sharing — plus, they're striking. They hark back to the days when eating was more of a family or community affair; conjure images of spring picnics and fall farmhouse dinners; and borrow a page from the Tuscan book on entertaining (the more the merrier).
Continue Reading "And One Table for All: Communal Tables Fill D.C. Restaurants" »
IN LATE 2006, Fruit Bats leader Eric D. Johnson's musical career took on a much higher profile when he was asked to join the indie institution the Shins, just before the band's tour for its big-selling "Wincing the Night Away" CD. Playing in two bands might seem like a daunting task, but to hear Johnson tell it, the career move actually made his life easier.
"I've had a ton of time because I haven't really had to go back to a real day job," the Seattle-based singer-guitarist says. "I had made money off of [the popular Fruit Bats song] 'When You Love Somebody,' but I still had to augment. I had my own catering company. It was a flexible job because I was my own boss, but I still had to do it."
SURE, THE FRENCH love Jerry Lewis, but for homegrown physical comedy, they turn to actor/director Jacques Tati's signature character, Monsieur Hulot. The symbol of French provincialism clumsily navigates encroaching modernity in the AFI Silver's contributions to the Environmental Film Festival.
The opening credits to Tati's Oscar-winning masterpiece "Mon Oncle" (1958) are first overlaid on an ugly urban construction site, then quickly shift to Hulot's gorgeously rendered small town of cafes, outdoor markets and kids who make adults bump into lampposts. (Trust us, it's really funny.)
THE TIMES KEEP changing in Kansas. The onetime blood-drenched Civil War border state has seen the rise of occasional radicals and an evolution into a staunch home of conservatism. "What's the Matter With Kansas?" traces the state's political and ideological waves through the eyes of two conservative families and one very non-traditional farmer. Don't expect a Michael Moore polemic, though, as director Joe Winston takes Thomas Frank's best-selling book and lets the characters speak for themselves, without editorial comment. Rated one of the top 10 documentaries of 2009 by Roger Ebert, "Kansas" shows at E Street Cinema this weekend with Winston and Frank appearing at the 7:30 & 10 p.m. shows on Friday.
» E Street Cinema, 555 11th St. NW; $10; 202-452-7672. (Metro Center)
WITH WARM WEATHER comes fired grills, but you don't have to lift a finger for your charred-meat fix — Rocklands is turning up the heat at its locations with "Grills Gone Wild" week. From March 22 to 28, a unique, completely wood-grilled menu — including dishes such as wild boar sausages served with collard greens and honey mustard; Guinness-marinated bison steak; and ostrich burgers — brings smoked perfection to daredevil foodies. The eccentric menu will be available at all four area Rocklands restaurants. Patrons can also take a piece of the action home with "Grills Gone Wild" T-shirts, selling for $7 each.
Help to Bring Water, Water Everywhere
A glass of H2O is a staple for each place setting at most restaurants, but clean drinking water is far more scarce in some underdeveloped countries. Now, you can help out with that. To celebrate World Water Week next week, Bourbon Steak and Seasons restaurant are asking their guests to donate at least $1 to the UNICEF Tap Project — an effort that provides clean drinking water to those around the globe who need it.
Photo by Stephanie K. Kuykendal/For The Washington Post
FRIDAY: Those Black Lips — they are a mess. But deliberately so. The ferociously badly behaved garage-rock fuzzsters are known for indecent onstage behavior and nasty devil's music softened with trippy psychedelia.
» Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW; Fri., March 19, 9 p.m., $15; 202-667-4490. (U St.-Cardozo)
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