The Georgetowner: November 20, 2019 Issue

SINCE 1954

VOLUME 66 NUMBER 4

GEORGETOWNER.COM

NOVEMBER 20 - DECEMBER 3, 2019

RENAISSANCE SPIRIT Holiday Arts Preview T H E E VAN S I M BROGLI O SAVI N G GE ORGE TOWN R E TAI L CH R I S TM A S I N M I D D LE BU RG K I T T Y KE LLE Y O N ‘ E ROS I O N ’ POR TR AI T GAL A , D C CHA M B E R & MOR E

IN THIS ISSUE IN THIS ISSUE

ABOUT THE COVER

PUBLISHER Sonya Bernhardt

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Robert Devaney

Andrea del Verrocchio, Detail of “Madonna and Child,” c. 1465/1470

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Charlene Louis

COPY EDITOR Richard Selden

Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie. Courtesy the National Gallery of Art.

FEATURES EDITORS Ari Post Gary Tischler

Happy Holidays!

DOWNTOWNER · 7

FASHION & BEAUTY DIRECTOR Lauretta McCoy

EDITORIAL/OPINION · 8

GRAPHIC DESIGN Troy Riemer Dennis Belmont

NEWS · 4 - 6 Town Topics Crime Report

Downtown News

Editorial Letter to the Editor Jack Evans Report

PHOTOGRAPHERS Philip Bermingham Jeff Malet Neshan Naltchayan Patrick G. Ryan

THE VILLAGE · 9

250 Years of Reaching Out in Georgetown BRASSERIE LIBERTÉ’S OPENING PARTY DRAWS HUNDREDS

BUSINESS · 10 Ins & Outs

ADVERTISING Evelyn Keyes Richard Selden Kelly Sullivan

SENIOR CORRESPONDENT Peggy Sands CONTRIBUTORS Mary Bird Susan Bodiker Allyson Burkhardt Evan Caplan Jack Evans Donna Evers Michelle Galler Stephanie Green Amos Gelb Wally Greeves Kitty Kelley Rebekah Kelley Jody Kurash Shelia Moses Kate Oczypok Linda Roth Alison Schafer Mary Ann Treger

BY R OBERT D EVAN EY

HAUTE & COOL · 11

Brasserie Liberté owner Hakan Ilhan with his wife Margarita at the restaurant’s grand opening party on Nov. 15. Photo by Fritz Blakey of FritzPhotoGraphics.

Sweater Weather

FOOD & WINE · 12 The Latest Dish Dining Guide

NEVELSON STEALS THE SHOW AT THEATER J

COVER · 13 - 17

BY R IC H AR D SEL D EN

Holiday Arts Preview DC Artswatch

Susan Rome as Louise Nevelson in Edward Albee’s “Occupant.” Photo by C. Stanley Photography. Courtesy Theater J.

IN COUNTRY · 18

Christmas in Middleburg

Q&A CAFÉ WITH SUSAN PAGE

BY M ARY BIR D

CLASSIFIEDS · 20 Service Directory

Susan Page and Carol Joynt at the George Town Club. Georgetowner photo.

BOOK CLUB · 21

Kitty Kelley Book Club

1050 30th Street, NW Washington, DC 20007 Phone: (202) 338-4833 Fax: (202) 338-4834 www.georgetowner.com The Georgetowner is published every other Wednesday. The opinions of our writers and columnists do not necessarily reflect the editorial and corporate opinions of The Georgetowner newspaper. The Georgetowner accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs and assumes no liability for products or services advertised herein. The Georgetowner reserves the right to edit, rewrite or refuse material and is not responsible for errors or omissions. Copyright 2019.

Please send submissions of opinions for consideration to: editorial@georgetowner.com For advertising inquiries email advertising@georgetowner.com or call (202) 338-4833

“The Newspaper Whose Influence Far Exceeds Its Size” — Pierre Cardin

UP & COMING · 21 Events Calendar

GOOD WORKS & GOOD TIMES · 22 Social Scene Events

Photo of the Week

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Your number-one source for everything Georgetown subscribe to our newsletter georgetowner.com Jane Fonda Friday Nov. 9 participating in a march to the White House. Fonda, 81, has been leading protests at her “Fire Drill Fridays” for more than a month, and she has been arrested four times (though not this time).

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TOWN TOPICS

NEWS

Calls Mount for Jack Evans to Resign B Y G A RY T I S C H LER

For a considerable time, things were quiet in the ongoing investigations involving Ward 2 Council member Jack Evans, the District’s longest-serving lawmaker, who had also served on the Washington Metro board until this summer.

Evans has been the subject of a federal probe, an investigation by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and a probe by a Washington law firm, at the behest of the District Council.

Nothing much had happened since Evans declined to seek the WMATA chairmanship and left the board. He was fined $20,000 by the city’s ethics agency for using government resources and touting his influence as an elected official while soliciting employment from local law firms.

Washington was preoccupied by other matters in recent weeks — the impeachment process, for one, as well as the recent sports spectacle that led to a World Series championship for the Washington Nationals.

But nothing lasts forever.

In the space of three days, beginning Tuesday, Nov. 5, a not-so-confidential report of an investigation was released by the law firm of O’Melveny & Myers and

made public. The report dealt with the convergence of Evans’s private business and businesses with his public and legislative activities as a senior member of the Council, one of its most influential members.

That convergence was helped along by the fact that District Council members are allowed to have second jobs in the private sector, a law that the Council, with the support of Mayor Muriel Bowser, is now busily attempting to repeal and short-circuit.

The headline in the Metro pages of the Washington Post read: “Evans used office to aid clients, probe finds,” with a subtitle of “D.C. member disputes report, says he acted in public’s interest.”

When the scandal initially erupted this year, there were meetings and threats of Council action, even as Evans denied repeatedly that he had done anything wrong, saying that he broke no laws in his dealings representing or working with a signage company and a parking lot company vis-àvis his Council role.

Ordered up by the Council, the O’Melveny & Myers report was highly detailed, according to the Washington Post and other media sources. It is said to include

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allegations that Evans was paid thousands of dollars by private clients for services that constituted conflicts of interest.

Evans, who had his own consulting firm, previously worked for a prominent Washington law firm.

By Wednesday, Nov. 6, things had gotten worse. A majority of Council members indicated that they wanted Evans to resign.

That group included Brianne K. Nadeau (D-Ward 1), Brandon T. Todd (D-Ward 4), Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), Elissa Silverman (I-At Large) and Robert C. White Jr. (D-At Large). Also calling for his resignation were David Grosso (I-At Large), the Council member who was the first to call for Evans to step down, earlier this year, and Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3), who heads the Council’s internal investigation into Evans and his activities.

According to news reports at that time, Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) had not yet joined the chorus calling for resignation.

Then things took a further turn for the worse for Evans. The mayor, who had been a steady Evans supporter over the years, and had not delivered any judgment about him

previously, said on Wednesday that she found the news on Evans “troubling.”

Attorneys for Evans replied to the report with a lengthy report of their own, which included the statement that the report’s conclusions of rule violations are “simply wrong, misapply the law, make up new requirements and reflect a total misunderstanding of the permissibility of legislators with outside employment.”

On late Thursday afternoon, Ward 7 Council member Vincent C. Gray issued the following statement: “I have profound concerns about the conduct of Council member Evans, following the release of the O’Melveny & Myers LLP report. I encourage Council member Evans to consider what is best for the residents of Ward 2, his family and himself.

“At present, nine of my colleagues have called for Council member Evans to resign from the Council. However, I will not be calling for Council member Evans’ resignation at this time. I firmly believe in due process and can appreciate better than most what it feels like to not be afforded that.”

Visit georgetowner.com for updates.

TOWN TOPICS

Properties like Zara’s former home at the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and Prospect Street are being chopped up for small retail. Georgetowner photo.

Seeking Ways to Save Georgetown Retail

BY PEGGY SA NDS Over 200 Georgetowners gathered on Thursday evening, Nov. 14, in the spacious vacant retail space of the former Georgetown Park mall to discuss — what else? — the problem of vacant stores in Georgetown. Sponsored by the Georgetown Business Improvement District, the meeting was co-hosted by the Citizens Association of Georgetown, the Georgetown-Burleith advisory neighborhood commission and Georgetown Main Street.

Ward 2 Council member Jack Evans addressed the crowd, asking: “What do you want Georgetown’s commercial district along M Street and Wisconsin Avenue to look like? We used to be known as a night entertainment center and as a unique retail destination,” he continued. “But both are mostly gone now and, despite millions of dollars in infrastructure improvement, Georgetown’s main business thoroughfares are dead right now.”

BID Director of Planning and Economic Development Jamie Scott reported that there is currently about an 11-percent retail vacancy rate. “That’s up from seven percent in 2015,” he said. “But of those, nine percent are truly vacant. The others have tenants or pending contracts and are awaiting approvals and reconstruction.”

High occupancy costs are one factor driving vacancy rates in Georgetown, according to Scott. Age, condition and configuration of the retail space are others, as well as complex building ownership arrangements. But online business doesn’t seem to be such a big factor here. About 10 percent of sales are online, and some brandname internet retailers have opened up or

are looking to open up brick-and-mortar stores in Georgetown, including Amazon.

“The biggest need in Georgetown is for more keystone cultural and entertainment businesses,” said BID CEO Joe Sternlieb.

Such businesses are so popular and attractive that their overflow benefits other businesses nearby. In Northwest D.C., the Politics and Prose bookstore on Connecticut Avenue and Le Diplomat restaurant on Q and 14th Streets were cited as examples of keystone businesses that attract others.

After watching a series of slides on Georgetown retail, the crowd broke into three subgroups to share concerns and ideas about transportation and parking, regulations and retail. Preliminary summations found that the attendees were most concerned about the increasingly cumbersome, unpredictable and inconsistent review process of all projects by the Old Georgetown Board.

“Perhaps we need to prepare a white paper of obstructive cases by the OGB, as we did on the alcohol license moratorium, in order to foment change,” said BID Operations Director John Wiebenson.

But Hope Solomon, chair of Georgetown Main Street, suggested that rising BID fees from taxes, which had increased by 25 percent last year, were also detrimental to struggling small business.

The BID will be collating and analyzing notes and ideas garnered at the town forum to update its Retail Action Plan for Georgetown. Anyone wanting to add comments should email them to jscott@ georgetowndc.com.

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TOWN TOPICS

CAG Responds to C&O Canal Plans

BY PEGGY SA NDS “There is a lot of concern about the new plans for renovating Georgetown’s crown jewel, the C&O Canal,” Citizens Association of Georgetown President Cheryl Gray told The Georgetowner during a town meeting on empty storefronts on Nov. 14. “The proposed plans have canal residents worried about getting rid of green space, cutting down trees and of significantly increasing pedestrian and bus traffic along the canal.”

Those concerns propelled CAG to submit a four-page letter to the superintendent of C&O Canal National Historical Park, specifying concerns while referencing positive aspects of the plans, now under development by the National Park Service.

“While some of the proposals would have a significant impact on the canal and the historic district of Georgetown, the adverse impact is more than counterbalanced by the benefits,” the letter begins.

“CAG’s objectives are to maintain and enhance the site’s unique historic character,

authenticity and sense of place,” the letter continues. “Many of the proposals in the EA support these goals if executed carefully.”

CAG made specific comments on nine issues and locations: Towpath & Pinch Point Proposals, Accessibility and ABAAS Compliance, the Mile Marker, the Rock Creek Confluence next to the West Heating Plant, the locks by the West Heating Plant, the Obelisk Plaza on lower Wisconsin Avenue, the Canal Overlook, the Aqueduct and the Stone Yard. But pinch points — where the towpath width, which varies from six to 10 inches, is fairly narrow — is the one heard about most often from canal residents, according to Gray.

“CAG supports alterations to the towpath at pinch points provided they are designed to be compatible with the setting and are limited in length to the estimated 270’ — or less than 7% of the existing 4120’ of towpath,” the letter specifies. “CAG has reservations about cantilevering over the Canal prism and would like to see other

The decaying canal boat departs for good in 2016. Georgetowner photo. design options to accomplish this proposed widening.”

Regarding keeping the renovations historically authentic, the CAG letter notes: “We advise against construction of more than one pedestrian bridge over the Tide Lock, which in our view would detract from historic authenticity.” Similarly, “placing ‘lounge nets’ over any portion of the tidal lock would also be inconsistent with the site and its historic function.”

CAG also questioned the need for a kiosk with toilets at the Tide Lock location and for exercise equipment along the trail.

CRIME & SAFETY ‘POTOMAC RIVER RAPIST’ ARRESTED

Giles Daniel Warrick, 60, was arrested Nov. 13 by authorities in South Carolina for crimes committed in the 1990s.

Warrick is alleged to have killed Christine Mirzayan, a 28-year-old National Academy of Sciences fellow who was walking near the Canal Road entrance to Georgetown University when attacked on Aug. 1, 1998. (The Georgetowner reported on the heartbreaking murder in 1998.) At the time, Mirzayan, who arrived from San Francisco, had just married.

“He is to be detained there until he can be extradited to the District, where authorities said he will be charged with first-degree murder, in a rape in the District and in six rapes in Montgomery County,” reported the Washington Post. “Online records show he has been denied bail on a fugitive from justice charge but do not indicate whether he has an attorney. He was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service, accompanied by police from Horry County, S.C., the District and Montgomery County. Police attribute 10 attacks in all to the suspect; they have charged him in eight cases they say he’s linked to through DNA.” The first attacks in D.C. occurred in 1996 on MacArthur Boulevard. Speaking of the alleged “Potomac River Rapist,” Metropolitan Police Chief Peter Newsham said, “This man terrorized our community.”

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Suggested instead was that existing toilets in Thompson Boat Center be upgraded and made available to visitors to that site.

CAG supported construction of a new C&O Canal visitor center at the proposed gateway location south of M Street. But more information was requested about the scale of the proposed visitor center and the management of traffic.

The plans to renovate, rebuild and refurbish the C&O Canal were the focus of community meetings on Oct. 22 and Nov. 7, sponsored by CAG and the Georgetown Business Improvement District, respectively.

FIRE IN 30TH ST. TOWNHOUSE

A fire in a townhouse on the 1000 block of 30th Street NW on Nov. 16 was likely caused by an old fireplace. Tweeted D.C. Fire & EMS: “#DCsBravest have extinguished fire in wall behind fireplace.

There is no extension & incident is under control. Have your fireplace checked by a professional prior to seasonal use. Let’s keep that nice, warm fire where it belongs.”

DRIVER WHO KILLED 2 IN PARK PLEADS GUILTY

Giles Daniel Warrick, arrested for crimes in the 1990s in D.C. and Montgomery County.

Courtesy Horry County Sheriff’s Office.

FIRE IN 30TH ST. TOWNHOUSE

A fire in a townhouse on the 1000 block of 30th Street NW on Nov. 16 was likely caused by an old fireplace. Tweeted D.C. Fire & EMS: “#DCsBravest have extinguished fire in wall behind fireplace.

There is no extension & incident is under control. Have your fireplace checked by a professional prior to seasonal use. Let’s keep that nice, warm fire where it belongs.”

Jeoffrey Richard Williams, 57, has pleaded guilty to two counts of voluntary manslaughter for killing two people in a D.C. park. While driving a GMC Yukon SUV on the wrong side of Pennsylvania Avenue in July, Williams veered off through James Monroe Park, instantly killing 63-year-old Jesus Antonio Llanes-Datil and 42-year-old Thomas Dwight Spriggs, who were sitting on a park bench.

POPEYES STABBING SUSPECT TRACKED DOWN

Ricoh McClain, 30, of District Heights, Maryland, was tracked down, arrested and charged with murder for killing a man outside a Popeyes in Oxon Hill, Maryland.

McClain stabbed Kevin Tyrell Davis, 28, on Nov. 4 outside the fast-food restaurant.

Davis allegedly cut in line and had an altercation with McClain that moved into the parking lot, where McClain stabbed him in the upper body.

DOWNTOWNER

NPS DROPS PROTEST PERMIT PROPOSAL

The National Park Service has withdrawn a proposal to revise permit regulations for First Amendment protests near the White House and on the National Mall.

The changes would have included charging organizers for set-up and take-down, trash removal and repairs to the grounds.

Demonstrations like Occupy DC in 2012 are said to have cost taxpayers nearly a halfmillion dollars.

George Hemphill’s gallery is moving to Mount Vernon Square.

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HEMPHILL FINE ARTS LEAVING 14TH ST.

George Hemphill’s D.C. art gallery, which began in Georgetown, has been located at 1515 14th Street NW since 2004. The 14th Street corridor will lose its last gallery when Hemphill Fine Arts closes at month’s end.

But Hemphill is not retiring; instead, he is taking a gamble and opening a space in January in Mount Vernon Square.

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MAYOR, CHAMBER GO TO ETHIOPIA

In partnership with the DC Chamber of Commerce, Mayor Muriel Bowser led a diplomatic and trade mission to Ethiopia that aimed to renew the District’s sister-city agreement with Addis Ababa and promote D.C. as a destination for business and leisure travel. The mission established trade relations with firms in the transportation, education and health care industries.

BOWSER TAPS KENNER FOR EVENTS DC BOARD

Former Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Brian Kenner is set to join the Events DC board of directors.

Mayor Muriel Bowser proposed Kenner, who recently left the political arena to work for Amazon, to fill an empty seat on the board of the convention and sports authority. If approved, Kenner will serve a four-year term, until 2023.

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7

OPINION

EDITORIAL

JACK EVANS REPORT

Supporting Georgetown’s Retail Economy Send Your Feedback, Questions or Concerns, Tips and Suggestions to editorial@georgetowner.com or call 202-338-4833

A Marvelous Paradox: Art and the Holiday Season At its best, art helps us think and feel more clearly. It can bring moral and emotional order to the chaos of our lives, forge beauty from our conflicts and humanity from our politics. Art gives voice to our tragedies, flaws, weaknesses, superstitions and injustices in forms that radiate the triumph and wonder of humankind.

Art is a marvelous paradox.

Among today’s intellectual elite, the religion of logic and “practical” intelligence has eroded a lot of mystery and beauty from the world. I am not contending that modern medicine and electric cars are a blight on our collective spiritual experience. But it seems like the monolith of science and technology has become something of a de facto modern religious system.

Communities of people, like it or not, fundamentally require systems of belief in order to function: laws, traditions, moral and civic codes, strategies for collective aid and assistance. Whether they come from the Constitution, the Magna Carta or two stone slabs at the top of Mount Sinai, they are codes that societies live by. If we didn’t have fundamental belief systems, how could we come up with systems of education?

And in America today, we believe that math, science, basic literacy and history and an anemic squirt of art and philosophy produce an educated person (more or less).

To be sure, the primacy is placed on the math and science.

Of course, there are very good arguments for that, which I am considering as I type

these words into a glowing screen and send them across the city through a series of copper wires and satellites, setting off a miraculously engineered chain reaction that will terminate with you reading these words on a piece of paper delivered to your front door within 36 hours of my writing them.

However, as a society, I think we have championed the sciences at the expense of spirituality.

It is possible to have spirituality without religion in a well-educated and scientifically progressive society. And the best example of this is in the way that art has flourished among the world’s most elite circles over the past century. In fact, it has flourished so immensely that the art market has become downright vulgar. A Modigliani sold last year for over $170 million. That defies both scientific and spiritual logic.

We need art in our lives because it connects us to our spirituality, to the part of us that is not sated by logic and science and order. Art is important, necessary and quite possibly programmed into our cognitive foundation at an evolutionary level.

This holiday season, let’s not pretend that we don’t believe in Santa Claus, the virgin birth or how a single drop of oil burned for eight days. Let’s just admit that we conjure them with different names. And with that, go to a museum or a play. Go see the National Symphony Orchestra. And revel in it as if your soul were at stake, since it probably is.

BY JAC K EVAN S It’s no secret that Georgetown’s commercial business corridors are experiencing a departure of businesses both large and small. This historic neighborhood was one of the few areas in the city where people from the region and tourists would go to shop and spend time at restaurants.

Yes, restaurants, retail and mom-andpop businesses still exist, and many people still come to Georgetown, but the opening of other retail destinations has definitely impacted the foot traffic in Georgetown.

Last week, I attended a Georgetown Retail Community Meeting to discuss how we can bring businesses back and attract customers.

The Citizens Association of Georgetown, the Georgetown Business Improvement District, Georgetown Main Street and Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E hosted the meeting on Thursday, Nov. 14. It was amazing to see over 200 people, both residents and business owners, come together to address the many issues facing Georgetown’s economy.

Georgetown needs to start marketing itself to attract new retail and restaurants, especially in the new era of online shopping. There are currently 53 spaces that appear vacant and 37 that are truly vacant — with no lease whatsoever.

Many brands that only have an online presence are now looking to open brickand-mortar stores. We should be able to bring these businesses to the neighborhood with retail incentive programs, but we also need to make Georgetown more attractive for visitors.

Businesses in Georgetown depend on tourists and on people traveling from Virginia, from Maryland and from other

parts of the District. We should make it easier for people to visit by prioritizing public transportation and make it easier for tour buses to drop off visitors. We can also test ride-share pick-up and drop-off zones, similar to those tested in Dupont Circle and Adams Morgan, to decrease congestion.

Government agencies, businesses, community organizations and residents need to work together to come up with solutions to support our local economy. We love Georgetown and want it to thrive. The Georgetown Retail Community Meeting was a great first step to address these issues. I have helped and am currently helping small businesses navigate convoluted and slow government agency processes. We need to make it easier for businesses to join our community, not harder. I am here to help.

There are a few housekeeping notes.

Ward 2 leaf collection is underway.

The Department of Public Works will come through Georgetown this week.

For those of you who live west of 23rd Street to Wisconsin Avenue and south of Whitehaven Street to the Potomac River, have your leaves ready for collection from Nov. 18 to 23. The last stage of the first wave of leaf collection will stop by homes west of Wisconsin Avenue to GloverArchbold Park and north of Canal Road from Nov. 25 to 30.

Finally, as cold and freezing temperatures hit Washington, please check on your neighbors and the elderly. Call 911 if there’s an immediate emergency or call 311 if you see someone in need of shelter.

D.C. hypothermia shelters are open when the temperature is or will be below 32 degrees.

Jack Evans is the District Council member for Ward 2, representing Georgetown and other neighborhoods since 1991.

New Trees for Montrose

BY AL ISON SC H AFER

The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali.

What is your favorite Thanksgiving side dish?

YOUR OPINION MATTERS. Post your response.

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Carrying shovels and wire mesh, wearing slim-cut suits with carefully knotted scarves, the diplomats of the European Union joined Casey Trees and Friends of Montrose Park in a large-scale tree planting project on Friday, Nov. 15.

Teams from Germany, Slovakia and Romania, among others, planted tulip poplars and white oaks in two loosely defined arcs from the Montrose Park restrooms to the baseball backstop and toward the rose garden.

“Because this was private land and then a national park, it was pretty well preserved. Sometimes we just see monocultures in parks, but this has a nice diversity,” said Douglas Rowley of the National Park Service. “And Montrose has a lovely roll to the landscape, down toward Rock Creek.”

The Park Service was working off plans from the 1980s for the new planting. Rowley says he’d also like to replant the allée of Osage orange trees running down Parrott Walk, but it is hard to find nurseries growing them. He hopes Casey Trees, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting and planting trees in D.C., might be able to grow some from seedlings.

But for the new tulip poplars and oaks in Montrose, the next two years are critical.

November is the best time of year to plant trees, Rowley says, because the trees can get established before the ground freezes.

But once spring comes, they’ll start to leaf and need watering. The biggest threats to young trees are drought, vandalism and hungry deer. These new trees have a snug wire mesh protecting them from animals, and it is up to us humans to do the rest.

THE VILLAGE

250 Years of Reaching Out in Georgetown

BY PEGGY SA NDS Quick — do you know which church is the oldest in Georgetown still performing its pastoral mission full-time on the same property?

It’s Georgetown Lutheran Church, which, as of this year, has been reaching out to diverse parishioners and community members for two and a half centuries. The 250th anniversary celebration was held on Oct. 20.

Georgetown Lutheran’s first log structure was built in 1769 on the corner of what is now Volta Place and Wisconsin Avenue, then known as Fourth and High Streets.

That was just three years after the Old Stone House — the oldest surviving structure on its original foundation in what is now Washington, D.C. — was constructed.

At that time, 21 years before Washington became the capital of the young nation, George Town (two words) was an emerging trading port. In 1829, the Supreme Court confirmed the congregation’s ownership of the land and burying ground.

The grey brick edifice of the present Georgetown Lutheran Church is its fourth building, built in 1914. It includes space for offices and basement rooms for meetings and events — all places where the local Lutherans have fed and sheltered the needy for well over a century. It is the site, as well, of the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts.

But some people know the church as the most picturesque in Georgetown, with its almost storybook-looking bell tower, stained glass windows, arched doors and entrances and flower-filled gardens, with

Congregation President Charles Bushman and Pastor Brett Davis at 250th anniversary celebration. Georgetowner photo.

benches and a mini-steeple that houses the church’s original — though cracked — bell.

“Often on a sunny day, I sit on the bench in the garden at the corner to greet people and welcome them to visit our sanctuary,” said full-time pastor Brett Davis. The smiling and energetic 38-year-old says she finds many people are surprised to see her wearing a clerical Roman collar. “We didn’t know the Catholics had women clerics,” some say.

Davis loves to tell them about the history of the denomination. Martin Luther had been a pious German Catholic who nevertheless ended up breaking off from the Church of Rome in 1517, demanding that it halt the abuse of indulgences. “He was a man of his day, a humanist,” Davis related. “We don’t put him on a pedestal.

But he formed a new, very humane church that inspires us to this day.”

Davis was also born Catholic, but her family converted to Lutheranism after moving to Virginia, where she grew up.

She points with some awe at the large bible from the 1760s that lies under glass in the back of the sanctuary, next to the church’s original organ. “We’re not sure from what part of Germany the first Lutherans to Georgetown came, by way of Pennsylvania.

But this bible, written in Gothic German script, was theirs.”

The church has seen various ups and downs since its founding. “It had a German identification and a German school its first 75 years,” Davis said. After the Civil War, when the sanctuary served as a hospital, it became English-speaking. By the late 1880s, documents show that church parishioners came from eight different countries, including several in Asia. It’s been actively multinational and multicultural ever since.

In 1894, a new, charismatic pastor, the Rev. Stanley Billheimer, encouraged participation of young men and women in particular and organized the church’s first Sunday school and mission band.

The walls of the entrance hall leading to the sanctuary are filled with dozens of unique crosses, collected from countries around the world and donated over the years

The Georgetown Lutheran Church at 1556 Wisconsin Ave. NW — half of its congregation is made up of millennials. Georgetowner photo. by parishioners. They reflect the church’s new life in the second half of the 20th century “as it evolved into a community of outreach, social justice and hospitality,” according to the church history, which continues: “That’s when the church began to see the community and the world outside its doors and welcome people of all ages, backgrounds and experiences.”

“We welcome everyone and want everyone to feel comfortable,” Davis said.

“We are not color blind, but we are not color amazed either. We seek a balance.”

The church’s 22nd annual Community Thanksgiving Eve Dinner, a free event open to all, will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 27, at 6 p.m.

THANKSGIVING FOR ALL

GARDENING WITH THE GARDEN MINISTRY

COMMUNITY CALENDAR THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21

MONDAY, DECEMBER 2

Dumbarton at Dusk, with live music, pop-up exhibits, light refreshments and a cash bar, will take place at Dumbarton House, 2715 Q St. NW, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Admission is free. For details, visit dumbartonhouse.org.

The Georgetown-Burleith-Hillandale Advisory Neighborhood Commission will meet at 6:30 p.m. at Georgetown Visitation School, 1524 35th St. NW, second-floor Heritage Room. For details, visit anc2e.com.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5

DUMBARTON AT DUSK

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

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OLD GEORGETOWN BOARD

Volunteers are needed to help with the M The Old Georgetown Board – Commission Street Thanksgiving brunch for the homeless of Fine Arts will meet at 9 a.m. at 401 F St. and less fortunate from 6 to 11 a.m. Contact NW, Suite 312. For details, visit cfa.gov.

Beatris O’Connor at RiRa Restaurant at beatrisoconnor@rira.com or 202-802-1776.

Please fill a reusable grocery bag with the items on the Thanksgiving Food Drive 2019 shop list and return at all Masses (with the exception of 5:30pm Sunday) . The McKenna Center will distribute the meals we collect to families in need.

Fall gardening continues! Those interested will be meeting at 9am by the shed to the right of the Chapel. Please bring gardening gloves, tools, and a bottle of water.

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BUSINESS SOON: FOXTROT MARKET

Hailing from Chicago, Foxtrot Market is coming to 1267 Wisconsin Ave. NW. It will be setting up at the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and N Street, where the Jonathan Adler store once stood. Foxtrot, which offers a delivery service, carries beer and wine, prepared foods, grab-and-go sandwiches, ice cream, pastries and, of course, coffee.

OUT: DYLLAN’S RAW BAR GRILL

INS & OUTS

BY RO B E RT DEVA NEY

IN: CHASE BRANCH TO OPEN AT P CORNER

Another bank is getting ready to open in a building that once housed a classic Georgetown business, beloved by residents and seen in movies. JPMorgan Chase will hang out another Georgetown shingle at Wisconsin Avenue and P Street. The property, at 3217 P St. NW, comes with a parking lot.

Across from the Thomas Sweet ice cream parlor, the building housed the famed Neam’s Market for decades. Marvelous Market opened there in 2000 and closed in April of 2014. Except for the occasional pop-up store, the building has been empty for more than five years.

The largest bank in the U.S., JPMorgan Chase & Co. announced last year that it would open 70 consumer branches in and around Washington, D.C.

The new JPMorgan Chase branch at Wisconsin Avenue and P Street. Georgetowner photo.

IN: WISCONSIN NAILS & WAXING

Now open in the former Nails Chic space, the new Wisconsin Nails & Waxing at 1519 Wisconsin Ave. NW offers a multitude of beauty-enhancing services: manicures, pedicures, eyelash and eyebrow treatments, facials, waxing and massages. “We are full-service spa, right on Wisconsin Avenue,” says Tony Phan, owner with his wife Lorraine of the second-floor oasis.

The owners, who also have a place in Arlington, Virginia, said they love being in Georgetown and want to get to know the community better.

IN: TARGET NOW IN TENLEYTOWN

Target opened in Tenleytown at 4500 Wisconsin Ave. NW on Nov. 6. The location is a small-format store with 26,000 square feet of sales space. Focusing on the family and student demographics, it carries basic groceries (including some fresh fruits and vegetables), home décor, tech accessories, large TVs, mini-refrigerators, clothing for children and adults and lots of toys.

About 75 percent of the staff is made up of temporary workers, many recruited from nearby American University.

Dyllan’s Raw Bar Grill — which opened in August of last year — closed suddenly on Nov. 12. It had replaced Sea Catch, a seafood favorite of many years, in Canal Square at the C&O Canal. The revamped spot, created and owned by Amy and Donald Carlin of Good Apple Hospitality, was at 1054 31st St. NW. As of press time, management had offered no explanation of the restaurant’s closure.

OUT: KICKK SPOTT SHUT DOWN; DIDN’T PAY CONSIGNERS

The consignment shop Kickk Spott at 3236 P St. NW, which resold high-end sneakers, was cited by the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs last month. The D.C agency, which first fined the place $5,000, later closed it down due to nonpayments and complaints. In an I-Team investigation, NBC News4 had brought the store’s failure to pay consigners to light, also catching manager Vic Montano lying about a shoe purchase. Anyone who left sneakers at the store and has not been paid should file a police report.

IN 2030, I WILL START COLLEGE.

AND CHANGE EVERYTHING. Start saving with just $25.

dccollegesavings.com Before you invest, consider whether your or the beneficiary’s home state offers any state tax or other state benefits such as financial aid, scholarship funds, and protection from creditors that are only available for investments in that state’s qualified tuition program. For more information about The DC College Savings Plan (“the Plan”), call 800-987-4859, or visit dccollegesavings.com to obtain a Program Disclosure Booklet, which includes investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses, and other important information; read and consider it carefully before investing.

The Plan is administered by the District of Columbia Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Office of Finance and Treasury. Ascensus College Savings Recordkeeping Services, LLC (“ACSR”), the Program Manager, and its affiliates, have overall responsibility for the day-to-day operations including recordkeeping and administrative services. Ascensus Investment Advisors, LLC serves as the Investment Manager.

10 NOVEMBER 20, 2019

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HAUTE & COOL

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SWEATER WEATHER

BY A LL Y S ON B UR K H A R DT The first chill of the season has arrived and we are reaching for soft, warm knits to keep us cozy. After all, sweaters are the essentials of a cold-weather closet.

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Today’s collections come in quite a range. Keep in mind: the finer the gauge, the higher the price. So it’s important to be thoughtful when making your selection.

The most popular designs trending showcase function and style; even sustainability has come into play.

But who says a girl can’t have it all?

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VICTORIA BECKHAM SOPHISTICATED STAPLE

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Ribbed Cardi $990

Oversized V-Neck $130

This unique chevron pattern is knitted in Italy with fine merino wool. The result is a clean structure, a body-contouring fit and a luxuriously soft handle.

Think big! This super-soft sweater has a deep, rounded V-neck and a slouchy, oversized fit. Plus, it’s made from premium Italian cashmere that’s been recycled, producing half the carbon footprint.

RACHEL PARCELL ROMANTIC WRAP Belted Sweater $89

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BROCHU WALKER

There is a layered, poplinshirting effect to this soft, woolcashmere popover. Wear it as a minidress or over jeans and leggings.

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A fluffy creation with a combined sportif-chic look, this soft, white sweatshirt is cut from cotton and embellished with feathers at the hem.

TIMELESS TREND Mulberry Sweater Dress $398

MSGM GRAPHIC & CHIC Striped Turtleneck $820 This black-and-white, woolblend jumper encaptures a youthful spirit. Designed for your comfort, it features a roll neck, a striped pattern and a ribbed hem and cuffs.

DEREK LAM 10 CROSBY FEATHERED FLAIR Sweatshirt With Feather Trim $250

A classic wrap style gets a romantic twist with its belted detail and Juliet sleeves.

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EVERLANE ETHICAL LUXURY

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JW ANDERSON FASHION FORWARD V-Neck Cardigan $550 Here we have bold, artistic designs and contemporary influences. This blue, fitted wool knit features front buttons, ribbed cuffs, a striped pattern and slits to the front of the hem.

Allyson Burkhardt is the owner of Let’s Get Dressed, DC! Image & Style. Visit her on the web at letsgetdresseddc.com.

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FOOD & WINE

Dining Guide

WASHINGTON DC’S FINEST RESTAURANTS

CLYDE’S OF GEORGETOWN 3236 M ST., NW 202-333-9180 | clydes.com

This animated tavern, in the heart of Georgetown, popularized saloon food and practically invented Sunday brunch. Clyde’s is the People’s Choice for bacon cheeseburgers, steaks, fresh seafood, grilled chicken salads, fresh pastas and desserts.

ENO WINE BAR

2810 PENNSYLVANIA AVE., NW 202–295–2826 | enowinerooms.com HAPPY HOUR: Offered nightly Tuesday - Thursday from 5 - 7 PM & Sunday from 4 - 7 PM. Enjoy select $7 wines on tap. Join us on Wednesday’s for College Nights from 9 - 11 PM and Sunday’s for 30% off bottles. Our delightful wines are best enjoyed with local charcuterie, cheese and small plates.

COCKTAIL OF THE MONTH:

SACHER CUVÉE GOLD THE OCEANAIRE SEAFOOD ROOM 1201 F ST., NW 202–347–2277 | theoceanaire.com

The Oceanaire blends a sophisticated atmosphere with simple, seasonal and regionally-inspired cuisine – the result is “the ultra-fresh seafood experience”. From our wines and cocktails to our seafood, steak and desserts, our commitment to sustainable and locally-sourced ingredients is apparent in everything we do. Reserve your table today for an extraordinary dining experience.

BY JU D Y KU R ASH

FILOMENA RISTORANTE

1063 WISCONSIN AVE., NW 202–338–8800 | filomena.com A Georgetown landmark for over 30 years featuring styles and recipes passed through generations. Balanced cuttingedge culinary creations of modern Italy using the fresh ingredients and made-from-scratch sauces and pastas.

Seen on The Travel Channel, Award-winning Filomena is a favorite of U.S. Presidents, celebrities, sports legends, political leaders. “Don’t miss their bakery’s incredible desserts” - Best in D.C.

ROCKLANDS BARBEQUE

2418 WISCONSIN AVE., NW 202-333-2558 | rocklands.com This original location has served barbecue since 1990.

We now have more space for you to sit down with family and friends at our new dining room Driving or walking up Wisconsin Avenue, you ask “mmmm, what’s that aroma??”

That’s pork, beef and chicken coming out of our wood-only smoker, falling off the bone and ready for a dousing with our Original Barbeque Sauce.

CAFE BONAPARTE

1522 WISCONSIN AVE., NW 202–333–8830 | cafebonaparte.com Captivating customers since 2003, Cafe Bonaparte has been dubbed the “quintessential” European café, featuring award-winning crepes and arguably the “best” coffee in D.C.! Other can't-miss attractions are the famous weekend brunch every Saturday and Sunday until 3 p.m. and our late-night weekend hours serving sweet and savory crepes until 1 a.m.

MARTIN’S TAVERN

1264 WISCONSIN AVE., NW 202-333-7370 | martinstavern.com Fifth generation Lauren Martin learns the family business from her dad, Billy Martin, Jr. Since 1933, the warm atmosphere of Martin’s Tavern has welcomed neighbors and travelers looking for great food, service and years of history within it’s walls. Fourth generation owner Billy Martin. Jr. continues the tradition of Washington’s oldest family-owned restaurant.

JOIN THE DINING GUIDE! EMAIL ADVERTISE@ GEORGETOWNER.COM OR CALL 202-338-4833

12 NOVEMBER 20, 2019

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Vienna, much like Paris, is one of the most cultural and refined cities in Europe. Also like the City of Light, Vienna very much has a café culture boasting elaborate pastries along with coffee. While Paris leans toward macarons, mousse and napoleons, many of Vienna’s delicacies — such as tarts, strudels and pancakes — are fruit-based.

As a die-hard chocoholic, I had little interest in Austrian desserts until I read about one of the most famous Viennese culinary specialties: the Sacher-Torte, a decadent, double-layer, rich chocolate cake with apricot jam and dark chocolate icing, served with unsweetened whipped cream.

The description left my mouth watering. So when I found myself wandering the streets of Vienna this summer, I decided I must find this magnificent creation.

It was easy to uncover, as its moniker gave its birthplace away. The Sacher-Torte was invented at the posh Hotel Sacher.

According to the hotel’s website, in 1832 the court of Prince Metternich had requested a dessert for a special occasion, but the chef was ill at the time. So 16-year-old apprentice Franz Sacher filled in and concocted this mesmerizing treat. To this day, the SacherTorte is still handmade using Sacher’s original recipe.

As I entered the elegant café on the ground floor, I was met by a glamorous Art Deco aura with plush rose-velvet chairs. It was reminiscent of a seductive scene from a spy thriller; I imagined a suave Sean Connery as James Bond seated in a corner scouting out his nemesis.

I was most pleased to find out that, in addition to its famous cake, the hotel also had a signature cocktail — one as lavish as my surroundings.

The Sacher Cuvée Gold is an extravagant take on the traditional champagne cocktail.

Its main component is Sacher Cuvée Champagne, a bubbly specifically bottled

1 teaspoon sugar 0.5 ounce Grand Marnier 5 ounces Brut Champagne Put sugar and Grand Marnier into a coupe Champagne glass. Top with Brut Champagne. Sprinkle with gold flakes (optional). for the hotel from a vineyard in France. A touch of sugar is added along with Grand Mariner, a blend of cognac brandy and distilled essence of bitter orange. Lastly, it’s sprinkled exquisitely with pure gold flakes.

Maybe Bond was lurking in one of the booths as I was about to have a drink with Mr. Goldfinger.

While sipping pure gold made me feel dazzling, I can’t say it added much flavor to the drink. However, the Champagne itself was excellent and the Grand Marnier added an orange twang that perfectly complemented the semisweet flavor of the cake. The subtle citrus in the drink and the diminutive apricot in the cake paired well together. A bite of cake … a sip of a glittering Champagne … it was a perfectly balanced ritual that I indulged in until both were devoured.

If you would like to replicate this experience without flying to Vienna, you should be aware that Dec. 5 is National Sacher Torte Day in the U.S. The hotel has trademarked their cake; when you are served a slice in Vienna, it comes with a circular chocolate disk with a seal proclaiming its exclusivity as the Original Sacher-Torte.

If you fancy yourself being both a pastry chef and a bartender, an “approximate” recipe is given on the hotel’s website: sacher.com.

Recreating the flavor of the Sacher Cuvée Gold cocktail at home is fairly easy.

However, it’s up to you if wish to splurge on the pure gold topping.

HOLIDAY ARTS PREVIEW

Performing Arts

BY GARY T ISCHL ER AN D R I C H A R D S E LD E N

SCROOGES AND NUTCRACKERS

The granddaddy of all Scrooges remains “A Christmas Carol” at Ford’s Theatre, with acclaimed actor Craig Wallace inhabiting the part on America’s classic stage (Nov. 21 to Jan. 1). “An Irish Carol,” in which Scrooge becomes a Scrooge-ish Dublin pub owner, is returning to the Keegan Theatre, directed by founder and Producing Artistic Director Mark Rhea (Dec. 12 to 31).

Annapolis Shakespeare Company has its version of “A Christmas Carol” with Dexter Hamlett in the title role (Nov. 29 to Dec. 29). The company is also presenting its festive “A Broadway Holiday” by

Claire Stallman and Jonah Hooper in the Atlanta Ballet’s production of “The Nutcracker.” Photo

by Charlie McCullers.

Artistic Director Sally Boyett (Dec. 12 to 28). Likewise in Maryland, there’s Paul Morella’s one-man version of the Dickens tale at the Olney Theatre Center (Nov. 29 to Dec. 29).

Finally, “Hard Times,” originally a novel

by Charles Dickens (of Scrooge fame), has been adapted by Stephen Jeffreys as a play in which Dickens characters strive to make their way through the Industrial Revolution.

It is being presented by Washington Stage Guild at Mount Vernon Place Methodist Church (through Dec. 8).

As for Nutcrackers, there are quite a few.

Locally and foremost and most enduring and familiar is “The Nutcracker” as staged by The Washington Ballet under Artistic Director Julie Kent, creating again Tchaikovsky’s world of sugarplum fairies, princes and princesses, in the world framed by the likes of George Washington, King George III and Georgetown, at the Warner Theatre (through Dec. 29; Nov. 23 and 24 at THEARC).

More to choose from: the Atlanta Ballet production of “The Nutcracker” at the Kennedy Center Opera House (Nov. 27 to Dec. 1) and, at Strathmore, Moscow Ballet’s “Great Russian Nutcracker” (Dec. 15 and 16) and “The Hip Hop Nutcracker” (Dec. 17 to 19).

OPERA, CHORAL AND VOCAL

Washington Concert Opera will present Ambrose Thomas’s “Hamlet” — with soprano Lisette Oropesa as Ophelia, baritone Jacques Imbrailo as Hamlet, mezzo-soprano Eve Gigliotti as Gertrude and tenor Jonas Hacker as Laertes — in George Washington University’s Lisner Auditorium (Nov. 24).

The Berlioz oratorio “L’Enfance du Christ” will be presented by the In Series at Foundry United Methodist Church (Dec. 7, 8 and 14). The Washington Revels — a very Washington tradition — brings us “Celestial Fools,” a large-cast celebration of the season in Lisner Auditorium (Dec. 7, 8, 13, 14 and 15).

For the holidays at Washington National Cathedral: Handel’s “Messiah” (Dec. 6, 7

and 8); “Christmas at the Cathedral (Dec. 15); and the Cathedral Choral Society’s “Joy of Christmas” concert and singalong (Dec. 21 and 22). Sir Andrew Davis will conduct a performance of Handel’s “Messiah” by the National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington Chorus in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall (Dec. 19 to 22).

Also in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, the Choral Arts Society of Washington will present “Songs of the Season: Christmas with Choral Arts,” featuring mezzo-soprano Kristina Lewis (Dec. 16, 21 and 24), and “A Family Christmas” (Dec. 24).

More singing: British vocal ensemble Voces8 will give a holiday candlelight concert at St. John’s Episcopal Church

O N TH E COVE R

Verrocchio: Sculptor and Painter of Renaissance Florence Andrea del Verrocchio (c. 1435–1488) was an innovative artist, painter, sculptor and teacher whose pupils included Leonardo da Vinci. This first exhibition devoted to Verrocchio in the United States examines the wealth and breadth of his extraordinary artistry by bringing together some 50 of his masterpieces in painting, sculpture and drawing, allowing viewers to appreciate how his work in each art form stimulated creativity in the others. In addition, groundbreaking technical research into Verrocchio’s materials and techniques offers revelations about his artistic choices.

Verrocchio: Sculptor and Painter of Renaissance Florence “Madonna and Child,” c. 1465/1470. Andrea del Verrocchio. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie. Courtesy NGA.

National Gallery of Art Through Jan. 12

Aidan Fuller as Tiny Tim and Gregory Maheu as Bob Cratchit in “A Christmas Carol” at Ford’s Theatre.

Photo by Scott Suchman.

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HOLIDAY ARTS PREVIEW

“Newsies” is at Arena Stage through Dec. 29. Courtesy Arena Stage. in Georgetown (Dec. 5). Vocal Arts DC will present the Washington debut recital of soprano Michelle Bradley in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater (Dec. 11). The following evening, the Russian Chamber Art Society will offer a tribute to Tchaikovsky at the French Embassy, with tenor Fanyong Du singing a dozen art songs and a performance of the composer’s Trio in A Minor, Op. 50.

CLASSICAL

Leonard Slatkin will conduct the National Symphony Orchestra in a program of Aaron Copland’s Symphony No. 3 and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with soloist Olga Kern in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall (Dec. 5 and 7). A few days later, the NSO will give a casual “Ugly Sweater Holiday Concert” at the Anthem (Dec. 11).

Folger Consort will bring us a baroque “Gloria!” at St. Mark’s Church on Capitol Hill (Dec. 13 to 28). Adventurous chamber orchestra the Knights will pay homage to Bach at Dumbarton Oaks (Dec. 1 and 2). Also in Georgetown, as part of the Dumbarton Concerts season, Irish ensemble Danú will perform Celtic music at “An Emerald Isle Christmas” at Dumbarton United Methodist Church (Dec. 7).

JAZZ, POP, ROCK AND HIP HOP

“A Charlie Brown Christmas” at The Hamilton Live? Why not? The Eric Byrd Trio will do the honors (Dec. 1). Three

top jazz pianists will give holiday-themed performances at Blues Alley in December: Freddy Cole’s “For the Holidays” (Dec. 12 to 15), Marcus Johnson’s “Holiday Jam” (Dec. 19 to 22) and, right up to New Year’s Eve, Cyrus Chestnut (Dec. 26 to 31).

On the Kennedy Center calendar: NPR’s “A Jazz Piano Christmas” (Dec. 7), “A Holiday Pops! with Leslie Odom, Jr.” (Dec. 13 and 14), the Art Ensemble of Chicago’s 50th anniversary (Dec. 14), hip-hop crew the Roots (Dec. 29) and “A Jazz New Year’s Eve” with Branford Marsalis (Dec. 31).

Washington Performing Arts will present “Holidays with the String Queens,” whose members have performed alongside Ariana Grande, Janelle Monae and Common, at the Heurich House Museum (Dec. 12).

Other December highlights: the Brian Setzer Orchestra’s 16th Annual Christmas Rocks! Tour (Nov. 26) and Bob Dylan (Dec. 8) at the Anthem; Judy Collins (Dec. 6 and 7) at the Birchmere; Andrea Bocelli (Dec. 15) and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra (Dec. 23) at Capital One Arena; and Etienne Charles Creole Christmas at City Winery (Dec. 18).

(through Dec. 8). It’s nothing like “Keep,” Daniel Kitson’s one-person play about “stuff in my house, thoughts in my head” (through Dec. 1).

New Artistic Director Simon Godwin keeps things non-Shakespearean but sort of classic at the Shakespeare Theater Company with “Peter Pan and Wendy,” directed by Alan Paul, with role doubling in J. M. Barrie’s classic tale (Dec. 1 to 12), and again with a truly ghostly story that’s been a West End hit, “The Woman in Black” (Dec. 4 to 22).

Round House Theatre, back in Bethesda, is bringing us the Victoriansounding “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” (Nov. 20 to Dec. 22).

And at Folger Theatre, Peter Shaffer’s “Amadeus” is onstage, with Mozart, played

by Samuel Adams, and Salieri, played

by Ian Merrill Peakes, clashing over art, genius, temperament and music (through Dec. 22).

Arena Stage is about to open “Dear Jack, Dear Louise.” Playwright and Broadway success Ken Ludwig (“Lend Me a Tenor”) delivers an affectionate tribute to how his parents began a romance by mail during World War II and prevailed to an enduring marriage (Nov. 21 to Dec. 29).

Edward Albee’s “Occupant,” directed by Aaron Posner and featuring an exceptional portrayal of sculptor Louise Nevelson by Susan Rome, is at Theater J (through Dec. 8). Mosaic Theater Company will present “Eureka Day,” Jonathan Spector’s comedy about a Berkeley, California, day school, directed by Serge Seiden, at the Atlas Performing Arts Center (Dec. 4 to Jan. 5).

Factions of the famed Chicago comedy troupe The Second City are finding their way to Washington. In the Kennedy Center Theater Lab, it’s “Love, Factually,” which sends up the ever-popular holiday film in satiric blasts (Dec. 3 to 29), while an allfemale troupe returns to Woolly Mammoth with its roast of the patriarchy, “She the People” (Dec. 1 to Jan. 5).

FOR KIDS

Now playing at Glen Echo Park: Adventure Theatre MTC’s production of “The Velveteen Rabbit” (through Jan. 1). Now playing at Imagination Stage: “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” (through Jan. 5). In Columbia Heights, GALA Hispanic Theatre will celebrate Three Kings Day with its annual “Fiesta de los Reyes Magos” (Jan. 5).

Continues at Georgetowner.com

Visual Arts

BY AR I POST Chiura Obata: American Modern Smithsonian American Art Museum Opens Nov. 27 Born in Okayama, Japan, Chiura Obata (1885–1975) immigrated to San Francisco in 1903. In 1942, when World War II fears and Executive Order 9066 forced Obata and more than 100,000 West Coast Japanese Americans into incarceration camps, he created art schools in the camps to help fellow prisoners cope with their displacement and loss. Today, Obata is

best known for majestic views of the American West, sketches based on hiking trips to capture what he called “Great Nature.” Every work is grounded in close observation, rendered with calligraphic brushstrokes and washes of color. Teaching and community engagement are part of Obata’s legacy as an American artist. A professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and a founder of the East West Art Society, he facilitated cross-cultural dialogue despite widespread prejudice

MUSICALS

“Come from Away,” a musical about what happens when 7,000 people are stranded in a small town in Newfoundland in the aftermath of 9/11, will be presented in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater (Dec. 10 to Jan. 5), while a Lincoln Center revival of “My Fair Lady” will take up residence in the Opera House (Dec. 17 to Jan. 19).

The pleasurable musical play in praise of news and newspapers, “Newsies,” continues at Arena Stage (through Dec. 29). As for classics with a fresh touch, there’s “A Chorus Line” at Signature Theatre (through Jan. 5). For classic movie-musical fun, try “Singing in the Rain” at the Olney Theatre Center (through Jan. 5).

THEATER Rhett Guter, Amanda Castro and Jacob Scott Tischler as Don, Kathy, and Cosmo in “Singin’ in the Rain” at Olney Theatre Center. Photo by Stan Barouh Photography 14 NOVEMBER 20, 2019

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“White Pearl” is both very much in the here-and-now but not necessarily in season in a play by Australian Thai playwright Anchuli Felicia King on the dangers of building a modern online business — skin care, in this case — at Studio Theatre

“Grand Canyon,” 1940. Chiura Obata. Courtesy Smithsonian American Art Museum.

HOLIDAY ARTS PREVIEW

“The Lute,” 1904. Thomas Wilmer Dewing. Courtesy Freer Gallery. against Asian Americans. The more than 150 paintings and personal effects in this retrospective will take visitors on an epic journey in which peaks, valleys, storms and sunlight may reflect universal challenges to becoming a successful artist, as well as the particular struggles and dreams of America’s minority and immigrant communities.

Dewing’s Poetic World Freer and Sackler Galleries Opens Nov. 27 Best known for his tonal compositions featuring solitary female figures lost in thought, Thomas Wilmer Dewing (1851– 1938) was part of an active social network of collectors, painters and art dealers at

Dumbarton Concerts

the turn of the 20th century, the nascent era of America’s artistic maturity. His life was a whirl of comingling dinner parties, dances, salons and theater, yet the women in Dewing’s paintings appear to be passive sitters, locked in quiet isolation. Why? This exhibition — part art exhibition, part window into the cultural milieu of America’s Gilded Age — will explore Dewing’s social life and connections, revealing how his art was influenced by his community, particularly Charles Lang Freer, who encouraged him to pursue Japonisme, and Stanford White, the preeminent architect of what has been called the American Renaissance. Archival photographs will provide further insight into his dynamic lifestyle at the Cornish,

New Hampshire, art colony he established with his wife, artist Maria Oakley Dewing, a far cry from urban high society.

Rosa Parks: In Her Own Words Library of Congress Opens Dec. 5 Rosa Parks (1913–2005) is often mischaracterized as a quiet seamstress, with little attention paid to her full life story. “Rosa Parks: In Her Own Words” will reveal the real Rosa Parks as a seasoned activist with a militant spirit forged over decades. This will be the first exhibition of the Library of Congress’s Rosa Parks Collection, immersing visitors in Parks’s words, reflections, handwritten notes and photographs from throughout her life. Born and reared in Alabama during the Jim Crow era of legally mandated segregation, she married Raymond Parks, a charter member of the NAACP branch in Montgomery, in 1932. Together, they were early activists for racial equality, organizing to free the Scottsboro Boys. In 1943, Parks became the secretary of the Montgomery branch, which focused on voter registration and cases of racial violence and discrimination. After the famous bus incident of 1955, she was punished with death threats, unemployment and poverty, but remained committed to the struggle for social justice, advocating for civil rights, workers’ rights, women’s rights, prisoners’ rights and black youth while speaking out against apartheid and other injustices abroad.

Richard Mosse: Incoming National Gallery of Art Opened Nov. 17 Seeking a new way to shed light on the refugee crisis, artist Richard Mosse and cinematographer Trevor Tweeten captured fragments of events along two major pathways leading into Europe using a surveillance camera, originally designed for military use, that produces images by detecting thermal radiation. The camera can register the heat of a human body from as far as 18 miles away. Mesmerizing and

Rosa Parks: In Her Own Words opens at Library of Congress December 5.

MUSIC BY CANDLELIGHT 2019–2020 SEASON

FALL CONCERTS 2019

Saturday, October 19 at 8pm

Quartetto di Cremona: Italian Journey Program to include works by Boccherini, Respighi, Verdi, and Puccini.

Saturday, November 9 at 8pm

Mark G. Meadows & The Movement, featuring Rochelle Rice

Open every weekend

Saturday, December 7 at 4pm & 8pm

Danú: An Emerald Isle Christmas Celebrate the holidays with Danú — tickets on sale now!

Hours more information: www.glenechopark.org/exhibitions

ORDER TICKETS AT DUMBARTONCONCERTS.ORG 3133 Dumbarton Street NW Washington, DC 20007 • 202.965.2000

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HOLIDAY ARTS PREVIEW

unsettling, the immersive video installation “Incoming” presents viewers with the sights and sounds of mass migration. Mosse aimed the camera from the Turkish border into Syria, documenting the roar of American fighter jets and the urgency of first responders on shore. Along the second route, leading north through Africa and across the Mediterranean, Mosse shows glimpses of the migrants’ journey and the struggle to secure a spot aboard overloaded transport vehicles traversing the Sahara. Scenes from the emergency shelter at Berlin’s Tempelhof Airport and the notorious Jungle refugee camp in Calais, France, suggest the migrants’ bleak and tenuous circumstances.

Mosse walks a tightrope, exposing the intimate stories of these refugees while providing a veil of privacy, isolating the plight of individuals while underscoring their interconnectedness with all humanity.

Dr. Jane Goodall’s life and work is the subject of the exhibition “Becoming Jane.” Courtesy National Geographic.

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Becoming Jane: The Evolution of Dr. Jane Goodall National Geographic Museum Opens Nov. 22 Dr. Jane Goodall, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and a United Nations Messenger of Peace, braved the unknown to give the world a remarkable window into humankind’s closest living relatives: chimpanzees. In this hands-on, transportive multimedia exhibition, visitors will explore Goodall’s early years through iconic images and a multiscreen experience and venture on a 3D exploration of Tanzania’s Gombe Stream National Park, where she did her famous behavioral research on chimps. Also on view will be a replica of her research tent and features about her current role as a leader in community-centered conservation and youth empowerment.

Lucid Motion Artechouse Through Dec. 1 Daito Manabe is a Tokyo-based artist and innovator who merges data analysis with interactive and visual experiences.

He founded Rhizomatiks in 2006 to foster collaboration between media art, industry and business. His current exhibition at Artechouse, “Lucid Motion,” is an immersive experience that features three installations exploring human motion through dance-based digital installations.

Daito Manbe’s immersive experience “Liquid Motion” is at Artechouse through Dec. 1.

Courtesy Artechouse.

While Manabe’s mission as an artist/ innovator reads like a tech-head with a messiah complex (“to discover and elucidate the essential potentialities inherent to the human body, data, programming, computers, and other phenomena, thus probing the interrelationships and boundaries delineating the analog and

digital, real and virtual”), “Lucid Motion” is an unsettling, powerful and truly avantgarde 21st-century experience. Through sound design and immersive, large-scale digital projections, the installation is a feat of high-wire virtual “nonreality,” melding technology and music with performance art.

HOLIDAY ARTS PREVIEW

Stars Align for the American Portrait Gala

BY RO BE RT DEVA NEY The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery attracted more than 700 to its spectacular American Portrait Gala Nov. 17. The red carpet event shimmered with cultural icons, celebrities and artists—and raised more than $2 million to support the museum. Awardees were Frances Arnold, scientist, engineer and Nobel Laureate; Jeffrey P. Bezos, tech entrepreneur and philanthropist; Earth, Wind & Fire (Maurice White [posthumously], Philip Bailey, Verdine White, Ralph Johnson), award-winning American band;

Lin-Manuel Miranda, composer, lyricist and actor; Indra Nooyi, business executive; and Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue, U.S. artistic director and global content advisor of Condé Nast. They received the museum’s “Portrait of a Nation Prize” for significant contributions to America’s shared history, development and culture.

Their portraits compose the museum’s “Recent Acquisitions” exhibition on view through Aug. 30, 2020.

Lin-Manuel Miranda of “Hamilton” and Michelle Obama. Photo by Paul Morigi, courtesy NPG.

Lauren Sánchez, Jeff Bezos and Gayle King. Photo by Paul Morigi, courtesy NPG.

DCArtswatch WOOLLY GETS MANAGING DIRECTOR

Emika Abe, former associate managing director of the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, became managing director of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, succeeding Meghan Pressman, last month. Abe, who has a B.A. in theater from UCLA, also earned master’s degrees at Yale’s School of Management and School of Drama and worked at Yale Rep, Berkeley Rep and Palo Alto Children’s Theatre.

HONORARY GU DEGREE FOR KAHN

Michael Kahn, founding artistic director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company, originally based at the Folger Shakespeare Library, received an honorary degree from Georgetown University on Oct. 15 in Gaston Hall.

Kahn, also a longtime faculty member in the Juilliard School’s drama division, where he served as director, held the STC position from 1986 until his retirement earlier this year.

BUNCH INSTALLED AT SMITHSONIAN

On Nov. 1, Lonnie G. Bunch III, founding director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, was installed as the 14th secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. presided at the ceremony, held in the

Gala co-chairs Susanna Quinn and Kristin Cecchi. Photo by Ryan Kobane, courtesy NPG.

Annie Leibovitz and Anna Wintour.

Photo by Ryan Kobane, courtesy NPG.

B Y R IC H AR D SEL D EN

Arts & Industries Building, handing Bunch a brass key to the “Castle,” the original Smithsonian building.

NEW ANACOSTIA MUSEUM DIRECTOR

The new director of the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum is Melanie Adams, who managed 26 historic sites and museums as the Minnesota Historical Society’s deputy director of learning initiatives. Her degrees include a bachelor’s in English and African American studies from the University of Virginia, a master’s in education from the University of Vermont and a doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies from the University of Missouri–St. Louis. She succeeds Lori Yarrish, who passed away last year.

By the master playwright of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

KREEGER MUSEUM SPEAKER SERIES

The Kreeger Museum announced the launch of the Marilyn Lichtman Distinguished Speaker Series. Baltimore Museum of Art curator Katy Siegel, a Stony Brook University faculty member, and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art curator Sarah Roberts will give the inaugural talk, on Joan Mitchell’s 1965 painting “Untitled,” on Dec. 4. The series’ namesake is a retired Virginia Tech professor and longtime docent at the Corcoran and the Kreeger.

INSIDE THE GENIUS OF SCULPTOR LOUISE NEVELSON NOVEMBER 7 – DECEMBER 8, 2019

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IN COUNTRY

Christmas in Middleburg

BY KATE OCZ Y P OK If you’re looking for a holiday experience straight out of a Hallmark movie, Christmas in Middleburg is a truly magical treat. Over 10,000 visitors make their way to Middleburg, Virginia, at Christmastime for the idyllic scenery and festive atmosphere.

Choosing Middleburg to spend a weekend in the countryside is a picturesque way to get away from city life. The town’s Christmas celebration starts the evening of Friday, Dec. 6, with caroling around the tree lighting at 5 p.m.

Before the Christmas Parade — on Saturday, Dec. 7, at 2 p.m. — warm up with a soup and ham biscuit lunch and hot chocolate at Middleburg United Methodist Church. Once the parade goes by, the Spirit of Middleburg unfolds, with food, wine tastings and samplings of cider and distilled spirits.

PATRICKSWELL

Marshall, Virginia • $10,000,000

Especially during the holiday season, Middleburg is overflowing with nostalgia and 18th-century charm. It’s the anchor of Virginia’s wine region, full of great shops to go antiquing and wonderful places to stay, like Salamander Resort & Spa. Salamander Resort & Spa has deluxe rooms and amenities and is pet-friendly.

Pop in to eat at Salamander’s many dining options, including Harrimans Virginia Piedmont Grill, Gold Cup Wine Bar and Market Salamander, which offers boxed lunches and sandwich trays.

The resort has lots of holiday offers, too, like the Gift of Salamander, which gets you a $100 gift card for each night of your stay.

The gift cards can be used toward relaxing at the spa, a cooking class, dinner, outdoor adventures and more.

CATESBY

Middleburg, Virginia • $9,950,000

308 acres of spectacular land | Extensive renovation and expansion by premier builder | Immaculate home and beautiful land on Atoka Road in 3 parcels | Two large stables | Multiple ponds | Incredible views | Charming guest house | Tennis court | Stunning setting

Gracious Georgian Manor home, 11,000 sf, built in 1930 | Updated and suitable for large scale entertaining | 7 BR, 7 1/2 BA, 7 FP | High ceilings, formal gardens & private setting | Stable w/30 stalls & 2 apartments | 4 BR guest house/entertainment complex, 4-car garage w/office |4 restored tenant houses, skeet range, pool & tennis court | 241 acres | Land mostly open & rolling w/ bold mountain views, numerous ponds & vineyard

Helen MacMahon

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The Middleburg Christmas Parade is a must-see for the season.

SPRING GLADE

Middleburg, Virginia • $3,500,000

French Country home, recent renovations | 4 BR, 5 full & 2 half BA, 5 FP, hardwood floors, flagstone terrace | Beautiful drive to hilltop setting overlooking lake & mountains | Improvements include pool, 2-car garage, 2 BR guest house & apartment | Lovely boxwood gardens | 79.89 acres

17 acres of rolling pasture land in the village of Rectortown | Convenient to both Routes 50 & 66 | Newly renovated | Private setting with magnificent mountain views | 4 bedrooms, 4 full baths, 1 half bath, 2 fireplaces | Heated pool & spa | 2 bedroom guest house | Large shed & 2-car garage

Paul MacMahon Helen MacMahon

Paul MacMahon Helen MacMahon

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BUST HEAD ROAD

WINCHESTER STREET

Hilltop setting with beautiful distant views | Farm house circa 1920, completely restored and enlarged | 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2 fireplaces, wood floors, large country kitchen | 129.15 rolling & useable acres | 3-bay equipment shed/work shop, guest house, 4-stall barn complex, riding ring, spring-fed pond and stream

82.69 acres | Mostly wooded, mountain views, bold stream in very protected area | Conservation easement | Can not be subdivided | Prime Orange County Hunt location | Halfway between Middleburg and The Plains

Very private home with 3 BR and 3 1/2 BA | Lots of light - All brick colonial home surrounded by mature plantings and extensive hardscape | Located in the Warrenton historic district | Detached 2 car garage, inground pool & fenced patio | Fully finished basement with separate entrance | Master bedroom balcony over looks pool

Paul MacMahon

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Hume, Virginia • $1,650,000

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The Plains, Virginia • $1,100,000

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HALCYON HILL

Rectortown, Virginia • $2,250,000

Warrenton, Virginia • $629,000

Margaret Carroll Ann MacMahon

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MAPLE DALE LANE

The Plains, Virginia • $514,900

Immaculate home in quiet neighborhood | Convenient to Marshall and The Plains | 3 bedrooms and an office | Lovely kitchen opens to family room with fireplace and large deck for entertaining | Large lot - all open usable space

Helen MacMahon

(540) 454-1930

110 East Washington Street Middleburg, Virginia 20117

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KITTY KELLEY BOOK CLUB

‘Erosion: Essays of Undoing’ IN SEARING PROSE, THE AUTHOR LAMENTS THE DESTRUCTION OF THE NATURAL WORLD REVIEW E D BY KIT T Y K E LLE Y If you’re reading Terry Tempest Williams for the first time, you are meeting an impassioned conservationist who can take her place in the environmental pantheon alongside Rachel Carson, Henry David Thoreau, John Muir and Rebecca Solnit.

“Erosion: Essays of Undoing” is her 16th book. In it, Williams writes of how the world is splintering and crumbling because of those who plunder public lands for oil, gas and other fossil fuels.

She is particularly inflamed about what has happened to two national monuments in her home state of Utah: Bears Ears (1.3 million acres) and Grand Staircase-Escalante (1 million acres). Both had been designated national monuments — and thus permanently protected — by Barack Obama, but months after Donald Trump took office he ordered an 85-percent reduction in federal protections, opening both areas to private development.

Williams writes: “The fury to strategically undo decades of environmental regulations and laws passed on behalf of ecological integrity and human health has been unleashed inside the Department of Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency.”

Believing the life of the planet is now at stake, Williams marshals dazzling prose to summon activists to resist and revolt. She believes that “to belong to a place and a group of people saves our lives,” and that each of us must fight for salvation, which means waging war against all disrupters of public lands.

From 1987 to 1992, she engaged in acts of civil disobedience to protest against nuclear testing in the Nevada desert. More recently, she and her husband formed a legal entity to purchase a gas-and-oil lease from the Bureau of Land Management for 1,120 acres near their home, in order to keep the resources in the ground forever.

NOVEMBER 25

CARR/KEYS PROJECT AT BLUES ALLEY Blues Alley will welcome the Carr/Keys Project, a soulful collaboration between soprano and alto saxophonist Marshall Keys and tenor saxophonist Paul Carr, along with Allyn Johnson on piano, Quincy Phillips on drums and Michael Bowie on bass. Tickets are $22. For details, visit bluesalley.com.

1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW.

NOVEMBER 28

DEGREES BISTRO THANKSGIVING BRUNCH The Thanksgiving brunch menu at Degrees Bistro at the Ritz-Carlton will feature traditional favorites, including a roast turkey carving station, a selection of local seafood

“Our purchase was more or less spontaneous, done with a coyote’s grin, to shine a light on the auctioning away of America’s public lands to extract the very fossil fuels that are warming our planet and pushing us toward climate disaster,” she writes.

Their clever ruse made front-page news in the Salt Lake Tribune. Two weeks later, Williams lost her job at the University of Utah as the Annie Clark Tanner Scholar in the environmental humanities graduate program.

Professionally crushed by the fossil-fuel interests in her state, she excoriates fellow Utahan Orrin Hatch, the longest-serving Republican senator in history, who, for 42 years, championed drilling in his state’s public lands. After reading her case against the 85-year-old politician, one may be relieved to know that he’s now retired.

and artisanal sides. Tickets are $110. To reserve, email lauren.k.puttini@ritzcarlton. com. 3100 South St. NW.

NOVEMBER 29

NATIVE AMERICAN FAMILY FUN This free event includes interactive dancing, games, storytelling, hands-on activities and make-and-takes, as well as music and dance presentations by Dineh Tah Navajo Dancers. For details, visit americanindian. si.edu. National Museum of the American Indian, Fourth Street and Independence Avenue SW.

NOVEMBER 30

SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY Area residents can shop small at more than 30 Georgetown small businesses that

Williams’s zealotry is understandable considering that atomic testing in Nevada between 1951 and 1962 exposed her and her family to radiation, which, she believes, is the reason so many of them have developed cancer. Nine family members have had to have mastectomies, prompting her to write an essay in 1991 titled “The Clan of One-Breasted Women.”

“Erosion” is not a book you drink in one gulp; you take a few sips and savor the skill of a talented writer who fuses soul to scholarship.

For some, the essays will be a conservationist’s creed, with too much information about redwinged blackbirds and sandhill cranes, while others will be impressed by the depth and detail of the author’s avian expertise.

I confess a raised eyebrow when I read that “the sage grouse is the most powerful individual in the American west right now.”

However, after reading page after page about this bird with a spiky fan and golf ball-sized eyes, I found myself rooting for a feathered creature I’d never heard of before.

Williams extols the natural beauty of the Colorado Plateau and the red-rock wilderness of the Four Corners Monument, the quadripoint that connects Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. She pays homage to the Endangered Species Act and schools you in all its dimensions — geological, geographical and geopolitical.

Then she swerves into her personal life and the effects of “erosion” on her evolution into a fierce feminist.

Raised a Mormon in Salt Lake City, Williams rails against that church and its beliefs that proclaim African Americans are not worthy to become priests and indigenous people are Lamanites, cursed and cut off from the Lord. She states that the greatest trauma of living in Utah is “the religiosity of the Mormon patriarchy that says you have no authority to

speak — women, Indians, black people, brown people. Gay people, trans people.”

The heart-stopping moment of the book comes toward the end in a searing chapter she titles “The Erosion of the Body.” Williams means this literally, referring to her brother’s inability to conquer his addictions and his subsequent suicide.

Sparing no details, she gives us the ticktock of how he hanged himself, and how she and her surviving brother identified his body, placed sunflower petals on the raw sores of his neck and then slipped a red-tailed hawk feather in one dead hand and an owl feather in the other. She leads us to the crematorium, where she and her younger brother sit for six hours in front of the furnace that burns their brother’s remains.

They never flinch, even when the coroner comes to turn the corpse as one might turn a quesadilla. Waiting for his ashes, which will be released into the wilderness, Williams recalls how, shortly before he took his life, he had told her, “I am eroding.”

At that point, the title of this book, dedicated to her dead brother, takes on its deepest dimension.

Georgetown resident Kitty Kelley has written several number-one New York Times best-sellers, including “The Family: The Real Story Behind the Bush Dynasty.”

Her most recent books include “Capturing Camelot: Stanley Tretick’s Iconic Images of the Kennedys” and “Let Freedom Ring: Stanley Tretick’s Iconic Images of the March on Washington.”

are celebrating with in-store promotions, giveaways and discounts. Shoppers will receive a Small Business Saturday bag with purchase at any of the participating businesses, while supplies last. For details, visit georgetowndc.com.

visit rrbitc.com. Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW.

DECEMBER 6

OPENING: ‘GEORGETOWN GLOW’

DECEMBER 3

HOLIDAY COOKIE DECORATING Baked & Wired will host a festive holiday cookie decorating party with professional cookie elves on hand to offer assistance and inspiration. Each participant will get three cutout cookies and plenty of frosting and sprinkles to create their masterpiece. 1052 Thomas Jefferson St. NW.

The region’s only curated outdoor public light-art experience, “Georgetown Glow” will be illuminated from 5 to 10 p.m. nightly through Jan. 5. Programs and promotions will complement the 11 installations throughout the Georgetown commercial district. For details, visit georgetowndc.com.

DECEMBER 6 AND 7

ST. ALBANS SCHOOL HOUSE TOUR

DECEMBER 5

WINTERNATIONAL EMBASSY SHOWCASE This free festival features a bustling global marketplace with more than 50 embassies promoting their countries through vibrant and interactive displays of visual art, food, handcrafts and attractions. For details,

The Christmas House Tour includes a walkable tour of beautiful residences in the Cleveland Park neighborhood and features Sayre House, residence of the Dean of Washington National Cathedral.

There will also be a holiday luncheon and a vendor boutique. Tour tickets are $40 and luncheon tickets are $25. For details, visit stalbansschool.org.

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GOOD WORKS & GOOD TIMES

‘Neverland’ at Shakespeare Theatre Gala

DC Chamber Seizes ‘the Moment for Success’

BY MARY BIRD

BY R OBERT D EVAN EY

On Nov. 4, the Shakespeare Theatre Company hosted its 27th annual gala, “A Journey Through Neverland,” at Sidney Harman Hall, preceded by dinner and a silent auction at the National Building Museum. The evening raised over $1.15 million in support of STC’s arts education and community engagement programs, under the leadership of new Artistic Director Simon Godwin, who succeeded

Michael Kahn. Dame Eileen Atkins received the William Shakespeare Award for Classical Theatre (Will Award). Board Chairman Michael R. Klein was honored with both the Sidney Harman Award for Philanthropy in the Arts and the renaming of the Lansburgh Theatre. Sen. Christopher Coons (D-Delaware) and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-New York) were also award recipients.

Photos by Kevin Allen.

Simon Godwin, Joan I. Fabry, Michael R. Klein and Chris Jennings.

Rep. Elise Stefanik with Jane Harman.

Chamber President & CEO Vincent Orange greeted more than 800 guests at the DC Chamber’s Choice Awards and Gala —”Seizing The Moment For Success”—at the National Building Museum Oct. 26 to honor some of the city’s most prominent names in the D.C. business community.

Master and Mistress of Ceremonies, Paul Wharton and Miss D.C. Katelynne Cox, charmed and entertained throughout the evening. The soulful sounds of jazz

superstars Marcus Johnson and Brian Lenair accompanied the awards presentation and dinner portion of the evening. Sponsors included CareFirst and RCN. This year’s honorees were Economic Impact, DC United-Audi Field; Community Impact, Events DC; Business of the Year, Kith / Kin; Business Leader, Mark Ein, Lifetime Legacy Award, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton; Chamber’s Choice Award, Brittany Osazuwa.

Chamber President Vincent Orange with Mark and Sally Ein. Courtesy DCCC.

Dame Eileen Atkins.

Miss D.C. Katelynne Cox and Paul Cohn. Courtesy DCCC.

Derek Smith as Captain Hook and children from the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s education program.

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Mayor Muriel Bowser and Paul Wharton. Courtesy DCCC.

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