& Dining

WASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA’S “BLUE”

In Harlem, a couple celebrates the birth of their firstborn—a boy, Black and beautiful. As the mother worries for her son’s future in today’s America, the father wrestles with his role as a police officer, a “Black man in blue.”

When the unimaginable happens years later and a white officer kills the son, their deepest fears come true. Tony Award–winning composer Jeanine Tesori and NAACP Theatre Award–winning librettist Tazewell Thompson’s new opera is inspired by contemporary events and Black literature, including Ta-Nehisi Coates’s “Between the World and Me” and James Baldwin’s “The Fire Next Time.” By giving voice to the joy and pain of families that are often unheard, “Blue” places timely issues at the forefront of modern opera and invites audiences to the emotional epicenter of their impact. $35 to $179. “Blue” is at the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater for six performances from March 11 to 25. kennedu-center.org.

AOIFE O’DONOVAN PLAYS NEBRASKA AT THE BIRCHMERE

On Wednesday, March 15, 7:30 p.m., Aoife O’Donovan will perform Bruce Springsteen’s album Nebraska solo in its entirety. It has been described as saluting Springsteen’s songcraft with clear, pitch-perfect articulation and affable delivery. Tickets are $39.50. (The live album is available digitally only via aoifeodonovan.bandcamp.com.) The Birchmere is at 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria. birchmere.com.

A savvy and generous collaborator, Aoife is one third of the group I’m With Her with bandmates Sara Watkins and Sarah Jarosz. I’m With Her earned a Grammyaward in 2020 for Best American Roots Song.

CUMBERLAND, MARYLAND’S DELFEST

DelFest was born from the desire to create a familyfriendly music festival celebrating the rich legacy of McCoury music by providing a forum for world-class musical collaborations while also exposing fresh new talent. On-site you’ll find music all day long on their Grandstand Stage, intimate Artist Playshops, late night shows, a funfilled kids area, an art and craft fair, food and drinks, plentiful camping space and RV hookups. Cumberland, MD is a charming Victorian town nestled in the Potomac River Valley in Western Maryland amidst the lush landscape of the Appalachian Mountains. DelFest, May 25 to 28, is at the Alleghany County Fairgrounds, 11410 Moss Ave., Cumberland, MD (about 140 miles from DC). Tickets are on sale now at delfest.com.

LARKIN POE @ THE 9:30 CLUB

The latest full-length from Larkin Poe, Blood Harmony is a wholehearted invitation into a Southern landscape so precisely conjured you can feel the sticky humidity of the warm summer air. In bringing their homeland to such rich and dazzling life, Georgiabred multi-instrumentalist sisters Rebecca and Megan Lovell fortify their storytelling with a blues-heavy sound that hits right in the heart. Blood Harmony affirms Larkin Poe as an essential force in shaping the identity of Southern rock-and-roll, breathing new energy into the genre with both forward-thinking perspective and a decidedly feminine strength. $30. Larkin Poe is at the 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW, on Thursday, March 9, 7 p.m. 930.com.

THEATER ALLIANCE’S “THIS GIRL LAUGHS, THIS GIRL CRIES, THIS GIRL DOES NOTHING”

Triplet sisters are left in a forest by a woodcutter father and forced to find their own way in the world. From this fairytale beginning, three resolutions are made—one sister walks one way to find purpose, one the other to find adventure and the third stays right where she is, to create a home. This moving and irresistibly charming modernday fairytale by Finegan Kruckemeyer with music by Nate Weida is appropriate for all ages. “This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing” is at the Anacostia Playhouse, 2020 Shannon Pl. SE, from March 1 to 25. theateralliance.com.