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CITY LIGHTS
City Lights
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McPherson, Logan, McClellan, Joan: One of these is not like the others. The circles and parks of D.C. are sprinkled with bronze men of stature looking valiantly ahead while on horseback, traditionally a sign of military prowess, but there is only one place to pay respects to an equestrian woman. It’s fitting that she was presented by the Society of French Women of New York to honor all the women of the United States. Today, Joan of Arc presides over Malcolm X Park with her sword raised above her head—but that’s not always been the case, as sword thieves have made off with it several times since she arrived in 1921. (She went nearly two years without it recently, from 2016 to 2018.) Joan of Arc was not exactly the oversized white man with bad politics you usually see looking down over the city. She was a teenaged farmer who, through her fierce commitment to the French cause and her claims of divine revelation, captured the attention of the son of the king, who deferred to her; she then led a 15th-century battle against the English. Stroll the shaded gravel lanes of the park and, as you approach the center, enjoy the presence of Jeanne D’Arc, libératrice. The statue is located in Malcolm X Park near 15th and Belmont streets NW. Free. —Ellie Zimmerman
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U Hall TV U Hall TV provides a more intimate club experience than could ever be imagined in the middle of a global pandemic. Just two days away from celebrating its 10th anniversary in March—a celebration that usually involves a week of back-to-back dance parties and live performances—U Street Music Hall closed its doors to the public due to the pandemic. When D.C. entered an indefinite quarantine, owner Will Eastman created U Hall TV as a way to connect with the club’s loyal patrons. U Hall TV currently broadcasts live DJ performances via Twitch, where the audience can also connect directly to the artist through the chat feature, something that was near-impossible in real life. “The livestreams are the only way to fulfill our mission to present great music to our audience,” says Eastman over the phone. The livestreams also provide a means to raise money for the club’s staff through sales of U Street Music Hall merchandise. By the fall, Eastman plans to expand its offerings to include live bands, panel discussions, and artist interviews. Eastman says the ultimate goal “is to create a 24/7 full-service entity that melds community outreach with the best freeform new genre bookings with our no-attitude ethos.” The weekly schedule and livestreams are available at twitch.tv/uhalltv. Free. —Casey Embert Did you know there’s a large population of Palestinians throughout Latin America? There were several waves of Arab migration from Palestine between the 19th and 20th centuries, and many immigrants settled throughout countries such as Honduras, Colombia, and Chile. The latter country is home to half a million Palestinian-Chileans to this day, boasting the largest Palestianian community outside the Arab world. To learn more about this community, join the Museum of the Palestinian People on Aug. 21 for a discussion about the diaspora in Chile and Colombia. The discussion will be hosted by two community leaders: Marcelo Marzouka, a Palestinian-Chilean lawyer and scholar who promotes investment in Palestine, and Odette Yidi, a Colombian-Palestinian scholar on the Palestinian diaspora in the Caribbean. The talk begins at noon on Aug. 21. Registration
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The Joan of Arc statue
is available at eventbrite.com. Free. —Kaila Philo
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We Don’t Know Either Live
Before the pandemic, District Trivia had become a mainstay of the D.C. post-work drinking scene, hosting events at more than 80 bars and restaurants. But while in-person trivia is still on hold, the folks at the We Don’t Know Either podcast, a show featuring District Trivia question-writers, have filled the void with thrice-weekly trivia events streamed via Facebook Live. We Don’t Know Either Live is free to play and features three rounds of trivia. The questions cover a wide range of knowledge, including music, pop culture, sports, history, movies, and zany fun facts. The format matches the old in-person trivia nights, with 10 questions that ramp up in both difficulty and value, as well as two do-it-yourself puzzle rounds. “Although there’s no substitute for the excitement and sense of competition you feel at a live venue, I thought the online District Trivia event was a fun, well-run quarantine activity,” frequent player Olivia Fritz noted. “It was basically a shortened version of what you would experience at an in-person trivia night.” We Don’t Know Either Live runs on a different schedule every week, which you can find on the Facebook group (which has 2,723 members as of writing, in case you were wondering how popular these games are). We Don’t Know Either Live generally runs on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, as well as on sporadic weekends. Games kick off in the evenings and run less than 90 minutes. Feel free to play along with friends or test your mettle by yourself! Information and schedules are available at facebook.com/groups/wedontknoweitherlive. Free. —Tristan Jung
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The Orpheus Project
One of few American opera training programs to occur in-person this summer took place not at a renowned music conservatory, but at a mid-priced hotel near Dulles Airport. The Wolf Trap Opera 2020 summer residency program got underway in June, when more than 30 singers took over two floors of a hotel. Artists got their own suites, Wi-Fi, and occasional visits from a masked pianist. “The hotel lifted their noise restrictions for us so they could practice, which was wonderful,” says Lee Anne Myslewski, Wolf Trap’s vice president for opera. Once two weeks of quarantine were complete, the singers bubbled up and began rehearsing in both indoor and outdoor spaces at Wolf Trap. During non-pandemic summers, the fellows typically perform two chamber operas at The Barns and one major production at the Filene Center. This year, Myslewski and her staff focused on performing opera for film, producing four thematic concerts. The second in the series, The Orpheus Project, can be streamed on demand this weekend, and features D.C. soprano Chanae Curtis (as well as five other singers) performing songs from various settings of the Orpheus myth, the tragic tale of the Greek hero who follows his lover Eurydice into the underworld. Although Wolf Trap was unable to give the singers the live performances they hoped for, director David Paul staged eerie scenes throughout Wolf Trap’s restored 18th-century barn. The resulting films should be timely: What is 2020 if not a strange, otherworldly hellscape? The opera is available beginning Aug. 23 at 3 p.m. at wolftrap.org. Free. —Rebecca J. Ritzel
