Washington City Paper (September 15, 2017)

CITYPAPER Washington

Free Volume 37, No. 37 WAshiNgtoNCityPAPer.Com sePt. 15-21, 2017

Talk Shop Amy Saidman and the Story District team celebrate 20 years of confessional tale-telling. P.16

By Chris Klimek Photographs by Darrow Montgomery

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2 september 15, 2017 washingtoncitypaper.com

INSIDE 16 Talk Shop

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Amy Saidman and the Story District team celebrate 20 years of confessional tale-telling.

By Chris Klimek

Photographs by Darrow Montgomery

4 ChAtter distriCt Line 7 Concrete Details: Amy Weinstein is bringing Victorian exuberance back to D.C. at Eastern Market, where her buildings dominate.

8 Housing Complex: An abandoned building in Congress Heights is the keystone in a batte between tenants, developers, and the District.

10 Loose Lips: Conservative Channel 8 host Armstrong Williams talks mayoral politics, race, gentrification, and guns 11 Gear Prudence 12 Unobstructed View 13 Indy List 14 Savage Love

food 21 The Other Nam Viet: Clarendon’s Nam Viet is a restaurant built on best friendship, family, and a menu that’s endured more than 30 years.

23 Unwise Cracks: Some D.C. restaurants and bakeries casually play up their food’s addictive properties by naming them after crack.

23 Are You Gonna Eat That?: The Gyro at Meggrolls 23 What’s In Stein’s Stein: Dogfish Head Indian Brown Dark IPA

Arts 25 Rehatched: The Kreeger Museum, one of D.C.’s hidden gems, reemerges with a fresh look and feel.

27 Theater: The two best shows in D.C. right now tackle issues of race with compelling insight and nuanced precision.

28 Short Subjects: Olszewski on School Life and Zilberman on mother!

30 Curtains: Paarlberg on Aida

City List 33 33 38 40

City Lights Music Theater Film

9/30/

17

42 CLAssifieds diversions 43 Crossword

washingtoncitypaper.com september 15, 2017 3

CHATTER

Brick Wall

Responses to Loose Lips columnist Jeffrey Anderson’s explanation of how and why the D.C. Sustainable Energy Utility hasn’t delivered the cost savings it promised (“Power Outage,” Sept. 8) came in the form of numbers. Edward Yim, associate director of the District Department of Energy and the Environment’s Policy and Compliance Division, left a comment with statistics suggestCROWNSVILLE, MD ing that energy consumption has decreased significantly in the city, given population growth. Those figures weren’t enough to convince everyone, however. Commenter In Shock! wrote: “The city is getting reamed by the SEU, got reamed by solar contractors … what a joke.”

Responses to Andrew Giambrone’s article on developers’ efforts to register the Fannie Mae building on Wisconsin Ave. NW as a historic landmark (“Preserve Judgment,” Sept. 8) were also divided. Observers on both sides of the issue responded with passion.

“This fake-colonial building is strikingly ugly, and we would do a lot better putting up something attractive,” bohrer commented on our website. On Twitter, Greater Greater Washington’s Neil Flanagan (@jg_bollard) called the landmarking “an abuse of historic preservation laws.” In response, @OpulenceHazIt explained in jest that the building is “a contributing structure. In that it contrib-

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In which the aesthetics of colonial Williamsburg are hotly debated

utes to Ward 3’s suburban whiteness.” Flanagan also compared the Colonial Revival style to smooth jazz. (Does that make architect Leon Chatelain Jr. the Kenny G of D.C.?) One of the most scathing critiques came from City Paper’s own Concrete Details columnist, Amanda Kolson Hurley (@ amandakhurley). She tweeted: “Since when did warmed-over Colonial Revival from the 1950s get landmarked? If Ward 3 would rather keep a massive mediocrity bc it’s familiar than consider ANY new building, things are worse than I thought.”

Others offered a round of applause for the developer. “Bravo, Roadside Development, for not erasing a placemaking landmark, given how many landmarks that already have historic preservation ‘protections’ are sacrificed to the God of Development by the District government,” commenter aerie wrote.

Would that be a reference to the Spring Valley parking lot controversy of 2015? In a strange coincidence, the architecture of both the Fannie Mae HQ and the Spring Valley shopping center refers to the historic structures of Williamsburg, Virginia. We invite the readers who love Upper Caucasia’s retro, lily white vibe to drive south and see the real thing.

Here in D.C., the battle over boring brick buildings continues on Oct. 26 when the District’s Historic Preservation Review Board considers the petition.

—Caroline Jones

EDITORIAL

EdItOr: AlexA mIlls MANAGING EdItOr: cArolIne jones ArtS EdItOr: mAtt cohen FOOd EdItOr: lAurA hAyes StAFF wrItEr: AndreW gIAmbrone SENIOr wrItEr: jeffrey Anderson StAFF pHOtOGrApHEr: dArroW montgomery MuLtIMEdIA ANd COpY EdItOr: WIll WArren CrEAtIvE dIrECtOr: stephAnIe rudIg CONtrIbutING wrItErS: jonettA rose bArrAs, VAnce brInkley, erIcA bruce, krIston cApps, ruben cAstAnedA, chAd clArk, justIn cook, rIley croghAn, jeffry cudlIn, erIn deVIne, mAtt dunn, tIm ebner, jAke emen, noAh gIttell, elenA goukAssIAn, AmAndA kolson hurley, louIs jAcobson, rAchAel johnson, chrIs kelly, AmrItA khAlId, steVe kIVIAt, chrIs klImek, ron knox, john krIzel, jerome lAngston, Amy lyons, kelly mAgyArIcs, neVIn mArtell, keIth mAthIAs, j.f. meIls, trAVIs mItchell, trIcIA olszeWskI, eVe ottenberg, mIke pAArlberg, noA rosInplotz, beth shook, QuIntIn sImmons, mAtt terl, dAn trombly, kAArIn VembAr, emIly WAlz, joe WArmInsky, AlonA WArtofsky, justIn Weber, mIchAel j. West, AlAn zIlbermAn

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DistrictLine Great Renovations

tion—and windows that are taller and narrower than standard windows today. “You can always tell a true Victorian by its windows,” she says.

At 700 Penn, Weinstein used a type of corbelling to form the contemporary-looking slanted piers of the office building. As a postmodernist, she isn’t trying to recreate the buildings of the past, but translate their best features to suit current materials and forms. Sometimes the allusions are lighthearted. For example, she’ll apply columns and arches to a facade without trying to make them look structural.

A common criticism of postmodern design is that it’s two-dimensional, a “flat” approach that works better on paper than in reality. But Weinstein had to solve three-dimensional challenges here, reconciling different functions on the site and harmonizing 457,000 square feet of new construction with the old rowhouses of the Hill. She modulated the height and scale of her buildings as they reach back from Pennsylvania into the residential neighborhood. A Trader Joe’s and parking spaces are tucked un-

brick checkerboard panels so much that, years ago, she talked a manufacturer into producing a custom “in-out” brick that allows her to create them more easily. She used the technique on the National Association of Home Care & Hospice building, which is just down the street.

Another building of hers, 660 Pennsylvania SE, faces 700 Penn directly. It’s an existing Art Moderne building she made over and gave a colorful tile-clad addition. Weinstein has also designed the renovation plan for the area across from the new complex—the park around Eastern Market Metro. When it’s built (starting next year), she will have remade three out of the four sites on that corner. District architects used to call the corner of Connecticut Avenue and L Street NW downtown “Chloethiel’s corner,” after the late architect Chloethiel Woodard Smith, who designed three buildings there. Pennsylvania and 7th SE is Amy’s corner now.

Postmodernism dominated only from the 1970s through the 1990s, and the Victorians haven’t been in fashion for a long while. Today, minimalism rules, from Apple and Uniqlo products to glass-box buildings. But there are signs that that’s changing. Other architects are suddenly using materials like glazed terracotta and copper again. People who live in airy, white-walled apartments are filling them with houseplants.

Weinstein has always followed her muse,

derground, and the loading dock is inside the belly of the complex, which means there’s no unsightly back to 700 Penn, but rather an attractive street frontage on each side.

Weinstein and the landscape architecture studio Oehme van Sweden carved out the new plaza alongside C Street SE for one of Eastern Market’s weekend flea markets.

Aesthetically, brick is what ties the various pieces of the project together. Weinstein likes

regardless of trends; there’s a niche for everything in D.C., she says. But for all its deference to history, 700 Penn arrives looking surprisingly fresh. “I think people are getting tired of Neo-Modernism,” Weinstein says. She notes that she grew up in a midcentury-modern house—the kind many Millennials fantasize about—and her response was to rebel and go full Victorian. Maybe she isn’t out of step with the mainstream, but a step ahead of it.

CP

By Amanda Kolson Hurley Most architects working today cherish the purity of a clean line and a plain, smooth surface—but not Amy Weinstein. If you’re walking around Capitol Hill and you see a building with a multicolored facade, elaborately worked railings, or bricks arranged in bold patterns, chances are it’s hers. As opposed to the “less is more” credo of Mies van der Rohe and other modernists, Weinstein’s philosophy could be summed up in the words of her former boss, the famous postmodern architect Robert Venturi: “Less is a bore.”

Over her career, Weinstein has completed nearly 20 projects on the Hill, a neighborhood brimming with her favorite material, red brick.

The largest and probably most admired is the Townhomes on Capitol Hill, an affordable housing complex built under the Hope VI program.

Weinstein’s latest, though, is more complex and more prominent than her past projects on the Hill and stands six stories high. It’s a once-in-a-generation addition to the historic area around Eastern Market.

Opening next month, 700 Penn combines offices, apartments (market-rate and subsidized), and retail space on the block bounded

by Pennsylvania, 7th and 8th streets SE, and C Street SE. (It actually includes C Street SE itself, which has been reopened to traffic and given a new landscaped plaza.) The site used to be occupied by Hine Junior High School, which closed in 2008 and was demolished in 2015 after merging with the former Eliot Junior High.

Capitol Hill has few developable sites of this size, and opportunities to build up in the historic district are rare. Developers StantonEastBanc saw the site as a perfect candidate for dense, transit-oriented development.

A group of neighbors thought otherwise and filed a lawsuit, objecting to the project’s scale and density. This followed already lengthy negotiations between the developers and the local ANC, the Historic Preservation Review Board, and the Zoning Commission over how 700 Penn would look and what public benefits it would offer. The court eventually rejected the neighbors’ case, but Weinstein’s task was

concrete details

clear: to assuage fears that the new complex would be an alien invader.

What most people will see first, coming out of Eastern Market Metro across the street, is the office portion. It’s striking, with bands of red brick that jog in and out between twostory-tall windows, creating sharp profiles against the glass. “It’s a contemporary version of a Victorian warehouse or large office building,” Weinstein explains. She channeled her love of Victorian architecture (the style prevalent from roughly 1840 to 1900) into a form that looks up-to-date, even edgy, for a Class A urban office building in 2017.

In contrast, the five-story apartment building next to the offices, at 8th and Pennsylvania SE, is more obviously Neo-Victorian.

She used textured gray-brick panels in various patterns all over its exterior walls. Some sections resemble checkerboards and others look like stacks of pennies made with lozenge-shaped bricks. In a postmodern touch, parts of the exterior bear semblance to the outlines of “blind” windows.

Weinstein says she was inspired by the decorative brick panels that grace many Victorian houses in Washington, but also by the work of Anni Albers, the German textile artist who taught in the Bauhaus, the famous hub of modernism. The Victorians were known for their eclectic tastes; if interpreting Victorian architecture through the lens of Anni Albers isn’t eclectic, I don’t know what is.

Weinstein grew up in Montgomery County and has been working as an architect in the city since 1979. She ran her own practice for years, then joined the firm of her husband, Phil Esocoff, and is now an architect with the international design firm Gensler.

Take a walk around the Hill with her, and she’ll point out little clues to a home’s Victorian pedigree. These include corbelling—bricks that are pushed out from the wall to form a raised decora-

Darrow Montgomery

Amy Weinstein is bringing Victorian exuberance back to D.C. at 700 Penn SE, where her buildings dominate.

washingtoncitypaper.com september 15, 2017 7

DistrictLinE

Corner Zone

Darrow Montgomery

An abandoned building in Congress Heights is the keystone in a battle between tenants, developers, and the District.

By Andrew Giambrone A long-empty building in Ward 8 has become the linchpin in a redevelopment duel between D.C.’s most infamous landlord and its tenants, who are pushing to turn the building and their decrepit apartments into an affordable complex around the Congress Heights Metro stop.

What happens to the building and the rest of the two-acre site, however, depends on the actions of Mayor Muriel Bowser’s administration, which repossessed the property from a delinquent development company in January.

The building is on a piece of land critical for fully developing the two-acre site around the Metro, which is why developers covet it. Today it sits fallow, sealed with faux windows and enveloped by uncut grass. Across the street, plans are underway for a new Wizards practice arena and massive redevelopment on the St. Elizabeths East Campus.

housing complex

A dozen tenants remain in four adjacent buildings owned by Sanford Capital, a neglectful landlord that owns over 60 buildings across the city. These tenants have suffered through unreliable heat and air conditioning, pests, drug activity, squatters, and raw sewage leaks, among other issues endemic to the Bethesdabased company’s vast portfolio.

Now, after years of blight, the tenants are calling on Bowser to transfer the vacant property to them for use in a redevelopment plan that would create almost 200 affordable apartments and retail. The nonprofit National Housing Trust-Enterprise Preservation Corp. has collaborated with the tenants on the concept.

But the tenants, who live on low- or fixedincomes, have competition. Sanford and local developer CityPartners have sought to transform the site into more than 200 predominantly market-rate apartments, offices, and retail. D.C. zoning officials approved their plans in 2015. Those plans included the prized building on the corner of Alabama Avenue and 13th Street SE, even though neither company controlled it. Carter Nowell and

8 september 15, 2017 washingtoncitypaper.com

Patrick B. Strauss founded Sanford Capital a decade ago, and Geoffrey Griffis manages CityPartners.

The tenants and developers have previously met. In 2014, Strauss, Griffis, and the tenants congregated in the basement of a Congress Heights building to discuss the companies’ redevelopment plans. In 2015, both groups testified at a zoning hearing about the project. Later that year and again in July 2016, tenants fearing displacement protested against the project outside Griffis’ Cleveland Park home.

There’s no love lost between the two sides.

The tenants believe the developers have intended to remove them from the 47-unit property through neglect, as does D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine, who is suing Sanford over conditions there and at another 61-unit complex in Ward 8. The developers cannot begin demolition because of D.C.’s Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, which provides renters the right to buy their buildings when sales or redevelopments arise.

The vacant corner building presents a key choice for city officials as Sanford’s properties decay and its tenants suffer: Whose desires will they promote in awarding the building to a new owner? on Sept. 6, Robert Green took an Uber from his tumbledown apartment in Congress Heights to the Wilson Building and stood outside in the rain. Now in his late 60s, Green has lived above the neighborhood’s Metro station since 2010.

He told in shortened form the story he’s been telling for the past four years. “The place stinks,” he said. “My neighbor does not have a front door that locks. It’s never locked since I’ve been there.” He said he hasn’t relocated because he “cannot pay $3,000 for a studio.”

Sources say Nowell, Sanford’s principal, seeks to sell the complex for a hefty sum, perhaps two or three times greater than the $2.5 million Sanford spent to purchase it. Or he could pursue a bankruptcy sale, as he’s doing for his Terrace Manor property, which is also subject to a city lawsuit.

Bankruptcy cases void tenants’ TOPA rights.

This means Nowell, who didn’t answer a request for comment, could transfer the Congress Heights complex to his chosen buyer. That buyer could in turn bid on the empty building with a compelling case for assembling the lots.

The tenants’ preferred buyer, NHT-Enterprise, says it welcomes the opportunity to buy the Sanford complex either “through TOPA or a negotiated sale.” The nonprofit would raze the existing buildings and construct two new ones with approximately 175 apartments.

“The city gives away public land to developers constantly for no cost,” says Will Merrifield, the tenant association’s nonprofit attorney. “So our argument is that the tenants have gone through years of hell in these properties in order to do one thing, and that is ex-

ercise their TOPA rights.”

Under a previous plan, the building was supposed to become a home for youth exiting foster care, with help from a $920,000 government loan. But the borrower defaulted.

Bowser’s Department of Housing and Community Development says in took possession of the building in lieu of foreclosure. Public records show DHCD spent $175,000 to recover the property, located at 3200 13th St. SE. The agency says that before anyone can redevelop the property, a 2014 lawsuit over it must conclude. “Beginning the competitive bid process hinges upon the resolution of the civil action,” DHCD says.

That litigation is currently in the pretrial phase. Ward 8 political operator Phinis Jones and his business associate Monica Ray claim that their nonprofit, Congress Heights Community Training and Development Corporation, has a right to the property. Moreover, CHCTDC is entitled to receive $75,000 via a communitybenefits package under Sanford and CityPartners’ project. So too is the Congress Heights Community Association, which Ray also runs.

Both Jones and Ray are deeply involved in local election financing, having supported Bowser’s campaign and those of her D.C. Council allies. Ray didn’t respond to requests for comment. Jones couldn’t be reached.

Asked if he’s still interested in acquiring the property, Griffis, of CityPartners, says: “CityPartners is considering all options.” He didn’t respond to follow-up messages.

Just before Sanford tenants protested outside Griffis’ home last year, he told City Paper he understood the tenants were “terribly disappointed” with Sanford, but distanced himself from the company and insisted residents could return to the site after redevelopment.

The tenants’ leaders are wary of Griffis’ political clout. In 2015, he told The Washington Post he was a friend of Jones’ and Bowser’s. She appointed Griffis to the National Capital Planning Commission that year. Griffis’ family and CityPartners donated over $3,100 to Bowser’s mayoral campaign, the Post reported.

Through his firm, Griffis has also worked with Bowser’s campaign treasurer Ben Soto, on four mixed-use projects in Southwest, including one that contains a D.C. fire station.

Soto heads Paramount Development. He also sits on the board of EagleBank, which has loaned Sanford over $46 million and is the main creditor in the Terrace Manor bankruptcy. As the owner of a title company and a notary, he personally signed many of Sanford’s original loan documents.

In yet another link with the Bowser machine, Earle “Chico” Horton III is listed as an agent for one of three active business entities associated with Griffis and his redevelopment plans.

Horton is a K Street attorney and lobbyist who chaired FreshPAC, the pro-Bowser political action committee that shut down in 2015 under public scrutiny. Horton confirms he and his firm

District

LinE

represent the entity, but doesn’t offer details.

Merrifield says Horton approached him to set up a meeting between Griffis and the tenants. “The tenants aren’t interested in that,” Merrifield says.

For some, the connections between Griffis, Bowser, and Sanford, which gave Bowser an illegal campaign gift that her election committee was fined for, are problematic.

“He thinks he’s going to win because he has Geoffrey Griffis and the mayor,” Ruth Barnwell, president of the tenant association, says of Nowell. “They have this building in the crosshairs.”

Barnwell, who is 73, has lived in her building for 33 years. “We’re not going anywhere,” she adds. “And [the mayor] can either come along and support us and give us this property, or she can continue to stand with the slumlords and the developers.”

Bowser spokesperson LaToya Foster deferred comment to DHCD. Following City Paper and Post investigations on Sanford earlier this year, Bowser ordered inspections of the company’s properties and called out Sanford in her State of the District Address. City inspectors assessed $539,500 in housing code violations, but Sanford’s attorneys have denied these in court.

In June, Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White signed a letter supporting the tenants’ request to get control of the corner building. during their Sept. 6 protest, tenants and advocates delivered a letter to Bowser’s office demanding she give 3200 13th St. SE to the tenants and the National Housing Trust. “We have seen their work and trust them completely,” Barnwell explains of NHT-Enterprise. “[Their plan is] what the tenants are saying, and that’s what will be done.”

Bowser was not in the Wilson Building during the demonstration, and a staffer for her office told the tenants she’d get their message.

Merrifield says the tenants have yet to receive any response from her office.

The tenants and advocates disbanded after a failed attempt to speak with Councilmember Mary Cheh, of whom Griffis is a constituent.

With the rain still pouring, Green again hailed an Uber, and returned home to Congress Heights. A few days later, he sent City Paper photos of a three-page memo he wrote on lined notebook paper about the protest and his living conditions.

Green has used his heart medication to kill rats that roam his abode, but he manages to maintain a sense of humor. “When it rains real hard and heavy,” he wrote, “the buildings have their own private lake in the basement, which I should stock with trout.”

CP washingtoncitypaper.com september 15, 2017 9

DistrictLinE Strongcharmed

Conservative Channel 8 host Armstrong Williams talks mayoral politics, race, gentrification, and guns rageous that she would accept that offer.

She said, “Are you kidding, that’s the president, of course I’m gonna go sit with the president.” I think that’s a good sign that Mayor Bowser was willing to go meet with him and they were able to develop a relationship.

Darrow Montgomery

JA: How does gentrification affect the public’s view of local leadership?

AW: I’ve lived in Washington, D.C. since 1981. I think what people wanted then was self determination. I think they wanted to see people who look like them.

But now I think the city is less concerned about the color of their leaders’ skin and they care more about who delivers for them in their communities.

By Jeffrey Anderson Like him or not, Armstrong Williams speaks from the heart. The veteran political commentator, entrepreneur, syndicated television and radio host—a confidant of presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson—is a conservative. But moral striving, he says, compels him to rise above partisan politics that have cleaved the nation.

So he has launched The Armstrong Williams Show, a one-hour primetime show on Saturday mornings at 10:30 on News Channel 8. The goal, says Williams, is to leaven public discourse and transcend the volatility that has the public’s faith in media at an all-time low, according to Gallup.

“What we want to do is get people away from stories that weigh them down, and talk about things that bring them together,” he says.

At age 55, Williams has more than 20 years in TV and radio programming. He owns a host of television stations and his guest credits include The Today Show, Good Morning America, Charlie Rose, and CNN. He has produced prime-time specials with Maya Angelou, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, former Vice President Dick Cheney, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Loose LIPs

His portfolio of local talk shows is equally expansive.

Loose Lips spoke with Williams last Thursday about issues common to national and local politics. Rocking a royal blue windowpane suit, glen plaid shirt, zigzag patterned tie, striped socks, and Hermes “Player” sneakers, he held forth on the media, gentrification, race, President Donald Trump, Mayor Muriel Bowser, and whether Ward 7 Councilmember Vince Gray should run for mayor.

(This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.)

Jeffrey Anderson: What’s the state of leadership in the country?

Armstrong Williams: Of course I respect the president. But when you don’t have a strong moral compass and you don’t feel as if there’s any authority above you, you can begin to believe that all things begin and end with you.

And his ascendency has ushered in something in people that has been lurking.

JA: Do our city leaders connect at the national level?

AW: Last winter, D.C. was about to face a snowstorm. The president reached out to the mayor, and a lot of people considered it out-

10 september 15, 2017 washingtoncitypaper.com

JA: Is the mayor delivering for the people?

AW: You want the trains to run on time, a Metro system that works, low crime, lower taxes, leaders that won’t embarrass you. With Muriel Bowser we can see our future, and we can see places like Barry Farm become a model community like we’ve done before in this city.

JA: How is the city reviving its communities?

AW: They’re not doing it through social programs, they’re doing it through [business] growth. The mayor understands that business creates jobs. She is a businesswoman.

Very corporate. That’s where she’s putting her resources.

JA: Should Vince Gray challenge her?

AW: I think Vincent Gray should run because of redemption, and I think he will. He should let the people decide, because they bring about different aspects of leadership, both of which are necessary.

JA: Hate is on the rise in America. Why? AW: What is on the rise is the role that media plays. The media decides what’s important.

It builds up [stories] with a few characters. To me, there is no difference between white nationalists and black nationalists. They both basically believe in the purity of their race; they have the same foundation.

JA: Is D.C. susceptible to the racial hatred and violence we have seen elsewhere?

AW: I think it would be rare to see the kind

of hatefulness you see elsewhere. D.C. had it’s moment with the riots, but it does a good job of policing and not overreacting. It’s such a multicultural place, so tolerant. You don’t have people running around beating people up because of their race or their lifestyles choices.

JA: We also don’t see as much civil unrest with the police.

AW: D.C. has the federal government here, and Congress. It is unique. When you have the president and Congress and the Judicial Branch, those issues will not arise.

JA: What is holding youth back in D.C.?

AW: I don’t think we understand how many of these kids are on opiates and heroin. They really don’t have any direction. Many don’t want to work and make sacrifices. Young people also have not embraced the [black struggle] because they aren’t connected to the civil rights era that their parents and grandparents came from. It’s evaporated.

JA: The social divide, is it based on race or class?

AW: It’s class. Everybody knows that D.C. is losing that Chocolate City [identity]. Those that can afford to live here will live here and those who can’t are pushed out to the suburbs.

I do think there’s a sense of pride that is lost and it will never come back.

JA: You’re a registered gun owner with a concealed carry license. Are you strapped?

AW: Not today. [Laughs] I’m usually strapped.

You can mention it.

JA: Is government doing enough to keep illegal guns off the street?

AW: Most people agree on a background check system to make sure guns are not purchased by people who are legally prohibited from owning one. But government has been stretched thin on its efforts to track guns and keep them out of the hands of would-be criminals, people with criminal backgrounds, people with mental disabilities, and those seeking to do harm.

There’s only so much they can do. One thing they should consider is to increase funding for public schools to have at least one staff member trained in how to handle a gun and deal with someone who is carrying a gun.

JA: Should MPD or the feds be responsible for keeping illegal guns out of the District?

AW: At the federal level, they give a lot of legroom to the local jurisdictions, because no one understands their communities more than the people who live there. We have to solve those problems ourselves. Because we have more to lose than they do.

JA: Last question: What is Fake News?

AW: It’s when you don’t agree with the reporting, especially when it’s about you. Listen, most journalists work long and hard checking out sources to get the story right. I think most journalists have integrity. You can always have situations like with CNN. But I think for the most part, 80 percent of what’s printed is accurate.

CP

Gear Prudence

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Then it can feel more like a broken ARM.

Gear Prudence: To teach my friend a lesson, I’m thinking about “stealing” his rear wheel. He’s pretty careless about how he locks up his pretty expensive bike, so I think pranking /educating him would be funny/useful. I’ve tried telling him how to lock it on multiple occasions, but I don’t think he’s going to learn until he feels the consequences of his carelessness. And better that I temporarily take it than it happen for real, right?

—To Help, I’m Educationally Filching Dear THIEF: This is so stupid. GP doesn’t even want to help you because you don’t deserve it.

You shouldn’t go around stealing bike wheels, much less stealing them for an unsolicited, didactic, and supposedly benevolent purpose.

Utterly asinine.

It sucks that your friend doesn’t lock his bike to your very high standards, but that hardly warrants the scared-straight treatment. Turning to crime to prevent crime is a great action movie trope, but wholly unnecessary and comes with potentially disastrous consequences (like you getting caught). It’s his bike. If he chooses to be cavalier with it, it’ll be his loss. Your duty as a friend is to text “aww, man that sucks” if it happens, not to actually cause it to happen. Should your friend wish to prevent your so-called prank, he’ll want a ulock that can fit snugly around both the rear wheel and the frame. Additionally, he should ditch quick-release skewers and replace them with bolt-ons, or even better, locking ones. As the name implies, quick-release skewers allow the wheel to be removed with minimal effort, which is great for fixing a flat but bad when you have crappy friends.

—GP Gear Prudence: One thing that always bothers me is when another bicyclist snaps at me for riding too close—especially when it’s not even that close.

Last week, this guy went off on me for “crowding” him, even though I was nowhere near him. I was flabbergasted. How are you even supposed to respond when another bicyclist is so irrational?

—You Eventually Learn Losers Enjoy Raving Dear YELLER: It’s tempting to jaw back, but just fake apologize (a mumbled, disingenuous “sorry” works) and drop back. At the next safe opportunity, ding your bell six to eight times, and loudly announce with your best TV anchor voice that you intend to pass. Then do that, and never look back.

Personal space when riding a bike is, well, personal. It’s hard to say when someone might take offense, but you can follow some basic rules. Never ever overlap wheels with someone you don’t know, and hovering a foot or two off someone’s rear wheel is still pretty aggressive.

Don’t linger there. If you find that you’re getting too close, either pass the person or drop back far enough that it’s obvious that you’re not going to pass. That should clear things up.

—GP

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12 september 15, 2017 washingtoncitypaper.com

Theoretically, the great thing about sports is that there’s no ambiguity. Or, more accurately, any ambiguity resolves itself in a concrete, objective fashion once a game is underway. Ball don’t lie. Scoreboard tells the story.

Which looks like a real problem for the local NFL squad.

Coming out of the offseason, it seemed that all they had were questions. Rather than offering their quarterback a reasonable long-term deal that would pay him like a top-tier starter, they used the franchise tag to pay a lot of money for a second-straight one-year commitment.

Faced with the departures of several key pieces of their mostly successful offensive attack— including top wide receivers and the risingstar wunderkind offensive coordinator Sean McVay—they used free agency and internal promotions to line up less-proven (and in some cases less-promising) replacements.

Even head coach Jay Gruden, who is not exactly in the proverbial hot seat, really needs to demonstrate that he’s anything more than a solid, mediocre NFL head coach with a 21-26-1 record in Washington.

The team headed into its regular season opener, at home against division rival Philadelphia, under a cloud of vague ennui. The Washington Post’s D.C. Sports Bog welcomed opening weekend with a post headlined “Is anyone actually excited for this [Pigskins] season?” Over at The Ringer, Bill Simmons, his writers, and podcast guests have been hammering on the even broader idea that the NBA has supplanted the NFL as the top driver of sports conversation in America.

I thought both of these theses, while not without validity, would be proven wrong once the regular season—with its “meaningful” games— got underway. The NFL has tons of problems, not least the ongoing question of just how fatal the game is for its players. The local team has all the NFL’s problems, plus the ongoing issue of its derogatory name, plus a quarter-century of mediocrity as the ceiling of success. (The situation is thrown even further into relief by the local baseball squad, which just clinched its fourth division title in the last six years, and has objectively removed any ambiguity around its status as one of the elite MLB teams.)

It’s very difficult to judge a season on the macro level after just one full day of games (although a cohort of interesting rookies and unexpected victories felt like a promising step toward reclaiming public interest in the league), but on a

micro, local level things were non-conclusive at best, and detrimental to the team at worst.

Gruden resolved none of the ambiguity around his status. If anything, he put his worst tendencies on display. The team again appeared unmotivated, out-hustled, and out-coached. The playcalling, now in Gruden’s bailiwick, was uncreative and nonsensical. The team has yet to win a season opener under Gruden.

The replacements for departed players, most notably the wide receivers, served mainly to highlight just how good last year’s guys actually were. The departed offensive coordinator led a maligned Rams team to a dominating victory, albeit over a depleted, moribund Colts squad that was missing its star quarterback.

But Kirk Cousins is yet again one of the most (perhaps the most) egregious examples.

Over the summer, a hot take posited that the only thing that could justify the team’s decision to do a one-year deal was for Cousins to regress.

But it was always presented as a joke, a way of saying “this team is so dumb that they don’t realize they’re betting against their own QB.” Instead, it appears to be the most pressing question of the season: What if the team was actually absolutely right not to commit to Cousins long-term? If Cousins resolved any ambiguity around his status, it was only toward confirming the negative. All of his worst traits were still present—questionable decision-making, streaky inconsistency, a baffling tendency to deliver the worst plays at the most crucial moments. His strengths, meanwhile, seemed diminished. It was impossible to ignore the Rams’ win, where a QB, coming off a terrible and viciously derided rookie campaign, appeared to flourish under McVay’s tutelage.

If owner Dan Snyder and GM Bruce Allen had given Cousins the long-term deal he sought, the storyline coming out of Sunday’s game would’ve been “LOL, typical job overpaying for mediocrity.”(In fact, it would be easy to make an argument that all of the team’s offseason moves were designed to emphasize Cousins’ mediocrity and retroactively justify the lack of a contract. That would be insane, of course, but also completely consistent with everything that showed up on-field on Sunday.)

In Week 2, Cousins and the team travel to Los Angeles to face McVay’s Rams head-on.

It’s a chance for the team to further address some of these questions, but it feels probable that they won’t like any of the concrete, objective answers they offer themselves.

CP

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SAVAGELOVE My teenage daughter just came out to us as gay. We told her we love her and support her. As a heterosexual, cisgender mother, how do I make sure she gets good advice about sex? I don’t want her learning from other kids or porn. Do you know of any good, sex-positive advice books for lesbian teens?

—My Inspiring Daughter Deserves Lesbian Education “I wish every parent felt this way about their child’s sexual development, regardless of the child’s gender identity or sexual orientation,” says Peggy Orenstein, author of Girls & Sex: Navigating the Complicated New Landscape.

“All young people—girls especially—need open, honest discussions about sexual ethics, including talking about pleasure, respect, decision-making, and reciprocity, or we are leaving them at the mercy of the messages they get from both the mainstream and ‘adult’ entertainment industries.”

Orenstein’s book—required reading for parents of girls and boys—drives home the need for comprehensive sex-education programs emphasizing the giving and receiving of pleasure. In the absence of sex-ed programs that empower girls to see themselves not just as instruments of another’s pleasure but as autonomous individuals with a right to experience sexual pleasure—with a partner or on their own—girls wind up having a lot of consensual but crappy sex.

That said, MIDDLE, one big takeaway from Orenstein’s research should come as a comfort to you: Bi and lesbian girls enjoy an advantage over their heterosexual peers.

“In some ways, MIDDLE can feel more confident about her daughter as a gay girl,” says Orenstein. “Lesbian and bisexual girls I spoke to for Girls & Sex would talk about feeling liberated to go ‘off the script’—by which they meant the script that leads lockstep to intercourse—and create encounters that truly worked for them. I ended up feeling that hetero girls—and boys, too—could learn a lot from their gay and bisexual female peers. And I don’t mean by watching otherwise straight girls make out on the dance floor for the benefit of guys.”

Since gay and bisexual girls can’t default to PIV intercourse, and since there’s not a boy in the room whose needs/dick/ego they’ve been socialized to prioritize, queer girls have more egalitarian and, not coincidentally, more satisfying sexual encounters.

“Young women are more likely to measure their own satisfaction by the yardstick of their partner’s pleasure,” says Orenstein.

“So heterosexual girls will say things such as, ‘If he’s sexually satisfied, then I’m sexually satisfied.’ Men, by contrast, are more likely to measure satisfaction by their own orgasm.

But the investment girls express in their part14 september 15, 2017 washingtoncitypaper.com

ner’s pleasure remains true regardless of that person’s gender. So the orgasm gap we see among heterosexuals (75 percent of men report they come regularly in sexual encounters versus 29 percent of women) disappears in same-sex encounters. Young women with same-sex partners climax at the same rate as heterosexual men.”

As for good, sex-positive resources for teens of all identities and orientations, Orenstein had some great recommendations.

“I’m a big fan of Heather Corinna’s S.E.X.: The All-You-Need-to-Know Sexuality Guide to Get You Through Your Teens and Twenties,” says Orenstein. “She also produces the scarleteen.com website, which is fabulous. Other inclusive, sex-positive, medically accurate websites include sexetc.org and goaskalice.columbia.edu. And MIDDLE could think about giving her daughter a subscription to omgyes. com, an explicit (but not tawdry) site that educates about the science of female pleasure.

And finally, I think everyone who is a woman— or has had sex with a woman or ever hopes to— should read Emily Nagoski’s book Come As You Are. Even if you think you know it all, Nagoski’s book will transform your sex life.”

Follow Orenstein on Twitter @peggyorenstein.

—Dan Savage

My husband and I are currently separated on a trial basis. He took all our condoms when he moved out, and I want to ask him if he plans on having sex with other women. I don’t have any intention of sleeping with other people while separated, but I think he may be interested in doing so, in part since we have been sexually active only with each other and he is trying to “find himself.” If either of us were to have extramarital sex without the consent of the other, I would consider that cheating. We’ve also been having sex with each other throughout our separation.

But my husband refuses to discuss this aspect of our separation. He will discuss only co-parenting or financial issues. I would be okay with him having casual sex but not a romantic sexual relationship.

—Wondering If Fidelity Enforceable Taking the condoms + refusing to discuss the sexual terms of your separation = your husband is almost certainly fucking other women.

He probably figures it’ll be easier to get your forgiveness after the fact than to get your permission in advance—and if you don’t get back together, WIFE, he won’t even have to ask for forgiveness.

If your husband refuses to have a dialogue about the sexual aspect of your separation, then you’ll have to make him listen to a monologue. Tell him you assume he’s having sex with other people, and if that’s not the case, he’ll have to use his words to persuade you otherwise. If he sits there in silence, or his words are unpersuasive, tell him you now

feel free to have sex with other people, too.

And while you can ask him not to enter into a romantic sexual relationship with anyone else, WIFE, you ultimately can’t control how he feels about who he’s fucking while he’s out there finding himself. If you aren’t comfortable fucking your husband while he’s fucking other women—and he almost certainly is fucking other women—let him know that and cut him off.

—DS I’m a 32-year-old straight male. Back in April, I met this girl. She seemed interested, but before we went out, she told me that she is a demisexual. (I had to Google it.) After a few dates, she had me over to her place, we watched a movie and started making out.

But when I started to put my hand between her legs, she calmly said, “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

No problem, I told her, I wasn’t trying to rush her.

Fast-forward a couple months. We’re still going on dates, we hug and kiss, we hold hands, we cuddle on the couch and watch movies—but still no sex.

Is demisexuality real? Should I keep pursuing her?

—Is She Interested Totally Or Not? Demisexuals are real people who “do not experience sexual attraction unless they form a strong emotional bond,” according to the definition at asexuality.org. We used to call people who needed to feel a strong emotional bond before wanting to fuck someone people who, you know, needed to feel a strong emotional bond before wanting to fuck someone.

But a seven-syllable, clinical-sounding term that prospective partners need to Google— demisexuality—is obviously far superior to a short, explanatory sentence that doesn’t require internet access to understand.

You’ve shown respect for this woman’s sexual orientation, ISITON. Now it’s her turn to show some respect for yours. I don’t mean by putting out if she’s not ready or not interested, but by offering you some clarity about when or whether she’ll ever be interested.

You’re seeking a romantic relationship that includes sex—which is not unreasonable— and you’ve demonstrated a willingness to make an emotional investment before a relationship becomes sexual. You don’t (or shouldn’t) want her to consent to sex under duress, and you don’t (or shouldn’t) want her to have sex just to keep you coming over for cuddles, but if she doesn’t see you as a prospective romantic and sexual partner, ISITON, she should tell you that. If this relationship isn’t on track to become sexual, tell her you’re open to being friends—truly intimate friends—but you’ll have to direct your romantic attentions (and more of your time) elsewhere.

—DS Email your Savage Love questions to mail@savagelove.net.

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washingtoncitypaper.com september 15, 2017 15

C J S D

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Talk Shop Amy Saidman and the Story District team celebrate 20 years of confessional tale-telling.

When the oral storytelling organization now known as Story District started hosting open-mic events, Columbia Heights didn’t have a Metro stop. There were busboys and poets, but no Busboys and Poets. The 9:30 Club had moved from its original site but had only been in its current digs on V Street NW for about a year.

It was 1997, the year of Titanic (the movie, not the disaster). And though storytelling had been around since the dawn of language, the word was blighted by connotations of juvenilia.

“No one knew what storytelling meant,” says Amy Saidman. “I was half naked on these”— she gestures to a stack of postcards she’s just pulled from her purse, which notably bear no discernible nudity, unlike the ones from back in the day—”just so people would understand this wasn’t for kids.”

These days Saidman—the artistic executive director of Story District, formerly SpeakeasyDC, formerly Washington Storytellers Theatre, who started as the group’s program coordinator in 1999 and began running it in 2005—doesn’t usually need to drop postcards to fill seats. Story District’s two dozen annual performances bring in about 11,000 ticket buyers per year. She only has postcards tonight because the Sept. 23 show her organization is billing as its 20th anniversary celebration (with 20 performers in the lineup) will be at the 1,225-seat Lincoln Theatre. This will be the group’s sixth time in the storied venue, but some tickets are priced slightly higher than in the past, at $25 and $40. Saidman confesses to some nervousness about filling the place— the house is only about one-fifth sold, she says, though with 24 days until the show, that doesn’t seem like any cause for alarm.

16 september 15, 2017 washingtoncitypaper.com

Photographs by Darrow Montgomery

Courtesy of Story District

By Chris Klimek

On this particular Wednesday night in late August, she’s at the bar of a new French restaurant in Shaw, where a dozen students—11 women and one man, racially mixed and all looking to be in their twenties or thirties—have just had their raconteurial cherries popped. The sixth and final session of their five-week, 15-hour Storytelling 101 class has just ended. Their course finale takes the form of a seven-minute performance in front of their classmates, teachers, and whomever else they can persuade to show up.

The evening’s penultimate performer, Brittany Aguilar, regales all present with a story from when she was “a baby neuroscientist” working with dementia patients and charged with removing their brains for examination after they die. The only man in the lineup, Yoav Magid, closes the show with a story about how a cycling tour of Cambodia helped him get over his fear of traveling alone. After a short recess for hugs and congratulations, the performers reconvene with instructors Stephanie Garibaldi and Joseph Price for a debriefing.

Saidman and Ben Thomas, Story District’s Program and Communications Coordinator, form the entirety of its full-time staff. Client Services Coordinatior Vijai Nathan, who is also a storyteller and instructor, works part time, but everyone else is a contractor, including Garibaldi and Price.

Price started teaching in 2010, a little more than two years after stage storytelling gradually began to replace the snatches of a memoir he once wrote in emails to his friends. “For me, telling a story is about taking a moment in my life and putting a nice, neat package around it,” he says. “I feel like it becomes an object then—a little more than a memory. And it makes my life feel more well-lived.”

After telling dozens of seven-minute stories, he wrote and performed two feature-length monologues. He says these more ambitious, less formulaic tales are where his interests now lie. Next year, he’ll begin teaching an intensive workshop, with a maximum enrollment of six, aimed at helping his students create long-form solo shows.

Garibaldi, whose formal title is Education Director, has worked with Story District since 2005, the year Saidman took the reins. When she and I catch up by phone a few nights later, she’s just come from a long tech rehearsal for a story show she’s directing that features a halfdozen stories by breast cancer survivors and their spouses, commissioned by the Centers for Disease Control. Associations and professionals have begun to see storytelling as a practical skill. In 2007, Story District made its evolutionary leap from a monthly open-mic night to an outfit that offers classes in tale-telling while putting on an ever-growing number of story showcases at ever-larger venues.

“We used to high-five one another if we got 50 people,” says Garibaldi. Story District’s first shows took place at the old Black Cat space and initially attracted crowds of 25 or 30.

In those days, before the classes, the crowd was older, Garibaldi recalls. Saidman had asked her and some of their other friends from the improv scene to show up to give the event an infusion of youthful irreverence and energy. The more formal definition of storytelling as a firstperson account of one’s own experience hadn’t yet taken hold.

“A lot of them were telling folk tales instead of first-person stories, and there wasn’t as much humor,” Garibaldi says. “I just had no interest in that. I can read that. I thought, ‘If you’re not going to put something of yourself into it, if you’re just going to perform the voices, what’s the point?’”

Organizers didn’t ban folk tales, exactly. But natural selection took its course, and over time the ratio of once-upon-a-time to confessional testimony shrunk, then vanished. At the same time, Garibaldi and Saidman were reverse-engineering what seemed to work on stage into a kind of ethos. They had to figure out what distinguishes an anecdote from a story. Usually: a specific time and place. Always: some kind of transformation, profound or trivial, within the narrator. “You have to be vulnerable,” Saidman says.

Sure, some people are just more innately comfortable and magnetic in front of a crowd than others. But there’s still a blueprint for commanding a room that anyone can learn. Garibaldi believes it’s an essential skill. She teaches an elective storytelling class at the University of Maryland, but she thinks that making it a mandatory subject for high schoolers would give them a leg up in their careers and in life.

How to Talk About Yourself Without Being Boring, you might call it. the first rule of talking about yourself is that you have to talk about yourself.

“We get a lot of journalists and lawyers, people who are good at telling other people’s stories and trained to keep themselves out of it,”

Amy Saidman, Ben Thomas, and Vijai Nathan

says Garibaldi. That leads to plot-heavy tales with no emotional stakes. She’s used to having to slow her students down, and prodding them to insert moments of reaction or reflection. She says that even if you’re talking about someone more accomplished or interesting than yourself, the audience’s curiosity will incline toward the person standing in front of them. “It’s a self-indulgent art.”

Context can be a killer, too. You need a lot less than you think you do in general, and the Associated Press dateline format is not your ally when you’re trying to seize the audience’s attention.

“My great aunt Matilda would always start a story, ‘Was it 1931 or 1932?’” Garibaldi says, giving Matilda a cartoonish old-lady voice. “And you don’t care. You already want to kill yourself.”

Anyone can pitch a story for Story District’s monthly shows, which typically feature eight storytellers plus an MC, and are organized, à la This American Life, around a theme. (October’s theme is “If They Could See Me Now.” Themes on the docket for 2018 include “Beauty and the Beast—stories about mismatched partnerships, odd couples, or unlikely alliances,” per the published schedule, and “One and Done—stories about something you did once that you can’t or won’t ever do again.”)

Completion of a Story District class is not a prerequisite. Willingness to accept coaching is.

Participants must commit to attend a rehearsal, usually about three weeks prior to showtime.

Organizers need the time to offer more coaching—especially to shaky performers—or to find a substitute if it’s evident that someone whose pitch they liked isn’t going to work out. Most per-

formers get an individual coaching session by phone in addition to the in-person practice session with their fellow storytellers.

Saidman says this insistence on tutoring, even for experienced storytellers, is the main feature that distinguishes Story District from the diaspora of storytelling clubs it has spawned: Better Said Than Done in Fairfax, Storyfest Short Slam in Bethesda, Perfect Liars Club here in D.C. All were started by people who’ve performed at Story District events.

“I don’t care how many times you’ve told a story. I don’t care how amazing you think you are. I want you to have a coach. I want you to be part of this collaborative process” Saidman says.

“I one hundred percent believe it comes out better. I don’t always hear opportunities in what I’m saying. It’s an outside listener who will stop you and tell you, ‘Tell me more about that.’”

She rarely runs into trouble with egotistical performers any more, since Story District’s coaching model is widely known at this point.

“For 15 years there was no one but us,” she says.

“Now, if you want to get on stage and you think you don’t need coaching, there are other places you can go.”

One of those places is The Moth’s StorySLAM. The Moth is probably the world’s most famous oral storytelling brand, and it has expanded aggressively since its inception in New York 20 years ago. Its programs include a public radio show, popular podcast, and “story slams” in 25 cities, including D.C. It now has a monthly residency at The Howard Theatre, which is located less than a quarter-mile from Story District’s main venue, Town Danceboutique, and

holds three times as many people.

Saidman admits she was anxious when The Moth first came to town a couple of years ago, but she says it doesn’t seem to have cut into Story District’s audience.

“The Moth is a role model,” she says. “They have created this whole scene around live storytelling, so [I give them] absolute credit. I think it’s complementary. But what they do [at a StorySLAM] is very different from us. It’s five minutes, they pull names from a hat, people don’t practice in advance, they don’t have coaching.

For them, it’s a great, efficient model.”

She laughs, apparently out of exhaustion.

“Our model is so inefficient! We have to put in so many hours for every show.” The performers know they’ll be performing; they’ve rehearsed with one another, and the absence of competition results in a more collegial atmosphere, and a more close-knit community.

It’s also “a good fucking night out,” she says.

“People leave happy.”

(To be fair, The Moth’s “Mainstage” shows are more or less what Saidman is describing: Curated performances of longer stories by performers who have rehearsed and honed their material.)

Since 2009, Story District’s regular showcase has been held on the second Tuesday of each month at Town, which bills itself as D.C.’s largest gay nightclub. With chairs on the floor, the capacity is about 400, and they typically get at least 300.

It’s going to be a tough venue to replace when Town permanently shuts down next summer to make way for residential development. Midsize

washingtoncitypaper.com september 15, 2017 17

Courtesy of Story District Courtesy of Story District

At the finAl class of the Storytelling 101 session, everyone is in a good mood.

Casey John, the first to perform, recently relocated from New York. She’d wanted to try storytelling for a while, but was put off by the competitive element of The Moth. Story District seemed like a good fit.

Shafaq Choudry says her job as an urban planner requires her to speak in public sometimes, and she wants be better at it. She doesn’t like what she calls the “monotone” quality she hears in her voice in these engagements. But she also was attracted by the opportunity to tell “more creative, raw, vulnerable, personal stories.”

Chancellor Gaffney, who’s here tonight as an audience member, not a performer, made his storytelling debut in the 2014 installment of Sucker for Love at the 9:30 Club. He’s an auditor and his job doesn’t offer him a lot of oppor-

Courtesy of Story District

venues like that one are hard to come by.

Story District has moved confidently into bigger rooms for its annual showcases, the ones that Price thinks of as the organization’s Easter and Christmas Masses, when an expanded audience of curiosity seekers joins the faithful: In January there’s Top Shelf, the one competition show on the roster, featuring the year’s eight best stories as chosen by a panel of veteran storytellers and guest judges. (Disclosure: I’ve been one.) Sucker for Love, focusing on tales of sex and romance, follows around Valentine’s Day. Out/Spoken highlights stories from the queer community during Pride weekend.

And My So-Called Jewish Life, at Sixth & I Historic Synagogue is in December.

For these big shows, there are more rehearsals, sometimes as many as half a dozen. But it’s still possible for first-timers to make the cut.

Garibaldi says it’s been her experience that women are more likely to sign up for classes, while men tend to pitch stories for the Tuesday shows without training. “The feminist in me wants to say, ‘Well, women want to do things right,’” she says. “But the more cynical side of me says, ‘Maybe guys are just braver!’ Or more economical, because the class does cost.” Getting a pitch accepted for the Tuesday show gets you the benefit of coaching without the bill. (A six-week session of Storytelling 101 costs $395.)

Garibaldi encourages newbies to choose pieces set in a specific time and place with a clear progression of incident. But as your acumen increases, the need for a plot to hook the audience and create tension melts away. She cites humorist David Sedaris as a master who can spin an absorbing yarn in which almost nothing happens. “It’s a much more advanced skill, to make a story out of very little and have it all be in your head.”

Of course, few of us can be David Sedaris.

Stage storytelling—as distinct from standup— is a vocation, but it’s not a living. My childhood friend Jeff Simmeron won several Moth StorySLAM contests before deciding to shift his focus from storytelling to stand-up comedy.

He recorded his debut album at Black Cat last December. Comedy, he and Moth senior producer Jennifer Hixson tell me, is much more competitive, because there’s a chance—however remote—of actually making money at it.

tunities for creative expression, he says. He saw the benefit of the method when he told a story based on his experiences working as a nude model in college. “I had about ten seconds of material,” he says. At parties, it killed. He’d say

18 september 15, 2017 washingtoncitypaper.com

he’d been a model and people would laugh.

“And Stephanie was like, ‘And then what happened?’” he says. It was Garibaldi’s patient, probing interrogation that helped him turn 10 seconds into seven compelling minutes.

Derek Hills has performed on more than 100 occasions since he told his first story in 2009. He built up to No Sex, Please, a feature-length monologue in the 2013 Capital Fringe. (Hills, a pal of mine, wrote about the process of creating his show for City Paper that year.) In recent years, he’s channeled his creative energies into playwriting while continuing to serve on the panel that selects Top Shelf finalists, whittling roughly 40 candidates Saidman chooses down to 16, then to eight.

He says that when the competition gets toughest, the panel tends to favor performers who demonstrate the best understanding of storytelling structure, even if they’re not the most naturally gifted artists. “There are so many people who have amazing stage presence and who are super hilarious, that just don’t nail the beginning-middle-end arc that elevates the tale into something—and I don’t want to overstate this— transcendent,” he says. “So we might choose someone who told a less entertaining story, but who hit those marks that really embody the form in a fuller way.” Humor doesn’t necessarily trump every other consideration.

He recalls clearly that it was after his sixth performance that “I stopped feeling like I was the man, just for having done it.” Prior to that, each outing brought a sense of euphoria in the moment, even if a review of the video later revealed he hadn’t quite done as well as he believed he’d done at the time.

“I never get it back unless I have actually done a good job,” he says. As with exercising or learning an instrument, diminishing returns are a part of the struggle. “It’s really easy to become a mediocre-to-good storyteller,” says Hills. “It’s very hard to become a great storyteller.”

How to sustain their skills remains an ongoing challenge for veterans like him and Price.

Price says even his students are vulnerable to a sophomore slump. Their first story feels like a total triumph, so they go into their follow-up with inflated expectations. “It’s almost never as good as their first,” Price says. “And then they get discouraged and stop.”

While Price says that storytelling has been a boon to him personally, he’s not sure where Story District can go from here. Actors and comedians have some kind of career track.

Storytellers don’t. His own observation is that D.C.’s performing community is becoming more siloed, with less cross-pollination than when he got involved.

Saidman used to think she eventually wanted to buy a building, the way theatre companies announce their permanence, sometimes after decades as tenants. But now she’s not so sure.

To her, Story District’s legacy will be the thousands of stories that have been told and heard on their stages, even if those stages have had no fixed address. Her current lease runs through 2019. It’s a good space for classes and can accommodate up to 50 for performances.

After all, there was a time when 50 would’ve been a triumph. But things have changed. CP Story District’s 20th anniversary show, “I Did It For The Story: A Tribute to 20 Years of Storytelling,” takes place Saturday, Sept. 23 at The Lincoln Theatre. 7:30 p.m. $25–$40.

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DCFEED

Japanese tasting menu restaurant Nasime in Old Town, Alexandria isn’t a spot you should sleep on. For $48 you get a five-course tasting menu that changes daily. A recent meal included fried oysters, sashimi, broiled Chilean sea bass, pork cheek ramen, and miso ice cream. Find it at 1209 King St., Alexandria.

The Other Nam Viet Clarendon’s Nam Viet is a restaurant built on best friendship, family, and a menu that’s endured more than 30 years.

Darrow Montgomery

Crispy spring rolls

By Laura Hayes You could saY that Orson Swindle, the former Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission, is a regular customer at Nam Viet in Clarendon. “At one time I think I calculated I may have had over a thousand dinners there,” says the two-time Purple Heart recipient who served with the U.S. Marines.

But that’s not the whole story. The Vietnamese restaurant has been in business for more than 30 years, and it is built, in part, on the friendship of two men—Swindle and late Nam Viet owner Nguyen Van Thoi. Both men were held captive in Vietnam.

Thoi served as an interpreter for the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, but after Saigon fell the North Vietnamese captured him and he spent two years in a re-education camp. “He had suffered terrible hardships for his loyalty to

Young & hungrY

the American armed forces in South Vietnam,” Swindle says. Meanwhile, Swindle’s plane was shot down over North Vietnam in 1966. The North Vietnamese also captured him, and held him as a Prisoner of War in Hanoi until 1973.

The two didn’t meet overseas. They met in Arlington.

Thoi and his wife Ngoc Anh Tran immigrated to Arlington from Can Tho in southern Vietnam in 1979 with the help of Catholic Charities. “They worked odd jobs in the D.C. area,” says Richard Nguyen, Thoi and Tran’s son. He serves as the general manager of Nam Viet, and his mother is head chef. “Dad was a gas station attendant and a carpenter’s assistant on the weekend, and mom was a sous chef and babysitter.”

In 1983, the couple opened their first restaurant, My-An, on North Highland Street in Arlington. At the time, the neighborhood was Northern Virginia’s Little Saigon. “It had fabric stores, stores that sold luggage, jewelers—defi-

nitely not the Clarendon you see now,” Nguyen says. “You had an Asian market where the CVS is now and a few pockets of Asian stores.” The area Vietnamese community gradually relocated to Eden Center in Falls Church.

When Swindle moved to D.C. in 1985, he went looking for a Vietnamese restaurant where he could revitalize a dwindling tradition—“Tet” dinners. When POWs came home in 1973 many of them settled in the D.C. area to attend war colleges, and during the Vietnamese new year, known as Tet, they’d come together to break bún and talk. The tradition waned when POWs began leaving the District for new assignments.

Swindle came knocking after reading a positive review by former Washington Post critic Phyllis Richman. “As I walked in the door— keep in mind I’m about 6’2’’—a very small Vietnamese gentleman came up to me and said, ‘Can I help you?’” Swindle inquired if the restaurant could accommodate twenty people for a POW dinner. “Yes,” Thoi said, even though My-

An only sat 12 people. “From that brief meeting, he and I became lifelong friends,” Swindle says.

“When we met it was a bond that I have seldom experienced with others.”

Their Tet dinner tradition continued when Thoi and Tran moved the business from Highland Street to Hudson Street in 1986, naming their much larger restaurant Nam Viet.

“The one thing that kicked off the family business is paying homage to the POWs,” Nguyen says. “It’s been humbling at times … as time progresses, it’s sad because some of them are dying off. The parties that used to be 80 or 90 people are down to 30 or 40.”

Swindle now lives in Colorado, but his picture is the first thing you see when you enter the newly renovated Nam Viet. “Orson is the greeter,” Nguyen says. His photo is next to one of Thoi with Senator John McCain. Relocating the framed photos of war heroes, most of them posing with Thoi, was a priority when Nguyen and his mom closed the restaurant for a month, reopening Aug. 31 with a modern aesthetic.

“It looked like your typical ’80s restaurant but in the 2000s,” Nguyen says. Now it has new tables, chairs, lighting, cabinets, tiles, bathrooms, fresh paint, and a terrarium display.

For the first time since 1997, there is only one Nam Viet. The Cleveland Park location, which Nguyen’s parents opened when he was 13, closed in June after twenty years on Connecticut Ave. NW. The family was staring down the decision to sign a fresh five-year lease. They opted to fold. “The customer never sees it,” Nguyen says. “They think the restaurant will be here forever.” The daily pull for lunch had gone from $800-$1,100 down to $300-$350, and from $2,300-$2,400 to $1,110-$1,200 for dinner.

“The people we named in our goodbye letter came a dozen times a month, but there’s only so much they can hold down,” Nguyen says. “It wasn’t anything we were doing service-wise, people just weren’t flocking to the area.” Trendy new dining neighborhoods made for stiff competition. Ripple closed next door, its owner citing similar rationale.

Despite closing one location, spirits are high at Nam Viet in Clarendon. Enter the eatery and hear regulars who have been coming since 1986 compliment Tran on the revamp. Diners affectionately call the 65-year-old woman “Mrs. Thoi.” “If I mention retiring, she says I’m an ungrateful son,” Nguyen jokes. “For an Asian woman, she’s still in her prime … I think retiring at 65 is a Western concept.”

While Nguyen keeps operations running smoothly, Mrs. Thoi is the lifeblood of the restaurant. “I’m just the assistant,” Nguyen says.

“If this were a crime family, I’d be the consigliere. I’m the yes man.”

washingtoncitypaper.com september 15, 2017 21

DCFEED Say yes to Nam Viet’s signature dish: deep fried crispy spring rolls with pork, chicken, crab, carrots, onions, and vermicelli. “People travel far and wide to get the crispy rolls or the grilled pork dishes,” Nguyen says. “One person asked if I could put the spring rolls on dry ice so they could get them home to Oregon.” They’re impeccably fried.

While Mrs. Thoi introduces seasonal specials, the Nam Viet menu, to its credit, hasn’t evolved much. It spans fried pleasures, fresh salads dressed in house-made fish sauce, comforting pho, grilled meat and fish served with rice or noodles, appetizers, stir-fries, and other entrees.

“You’re not going to find an amuse bouche here,” Nguyen says. He lets the local dining scene change around him, his restaurant remaining a constant. “Clarendon has gone through nine or ten metamorphoses since I was in middle school,” he says.

This year alone, the neighborhood saw a

While Nam Viet hasn’t been approached yet, Nguyen expects it to happen. History makes him hard to tempt. “This area has welcomed my family. We went to school here, live here, my brother raises his kids here,” he says. “This is the only area my mom knows. That weighs more than any monetary incentive. We’ve lasted 31 years. I hope to exceed that.”

Mrs. Thoi visits every table for hugs and small talk during dinner service. “She’ll make you feel at home,” says Nguyen. “This is her kitchen, this is her living room.” It’s as if Mr. Thoi, who his son describes as “the jolly man in the shortsleeve dress shirt and suspenders,” passed the hospitality torch to his wife when he died in December 2005.

“My dad had lung cancer but wasn’t a smoker,” Nguyen says. He describes a scene where his father was receiving a system-ravaging chemotherapy treatment in the hospital while fumbling with his notepads and two Nokia phones.

Courtesy Richard Nguyen

Nguyen Van Thoi

www.wagtimedc.com 1232 9th St., NW Washington, DC 20001 202-789-0870 | 900 M St., SE Washington, DC 20003 202-269-2765

22 september 15, 2017 washingtoncitypaper.com

rash of splashy openings including Spanishthemed sangria-pourer Pamplona and next door Bar Bao from the same owners. Wilson Hardware, a 7,000-square-foot restaurant, opened on Sept. 8. There’s still more to come, including The Lot beer garden and a 350-seat bar called G.O.A.T. The acronym stands for “Greatest Of All Time,” even though it hasn’t opened yet.

The millennials Nguyen sees frequenting these bars may not come to Nam Viet at night, but he sees them first thing in the morning for a hangover cure. “Bros who need a pick-meup after a night at Don Tito’s are banging on our windows at 10:30,” he says. The restaurant opens at 11.

Nguyen has seen some of Clarendon’s older businesses cave to irresistible offers. “These developers come in here and throw you such a beaucoup amount of money, and I’m like, ‘When am I ever going to see that chance again?’ It’s like a lottery ticket. Should I cash that in?”

“I never asked him why he had two phones, but he was always talking to people and checking in while he was in treatment,” Nguyen says.

Nguyen overheard him coaxing a customer to come to the restaurant for soup because he was feeling sick. “Dad, you have cancer and you’re worried about someone’s cold!” Nguyen recalls saying. At the time, Thoi was still waking up at 7 a.m. to make fish sauce.

“Delivering his eulogy was one of the toughest things I have ever done,” Swindle says. “He was jovial, had a great sense of humor, he was smart, and we had many occasions to laugh and share stories.” While Swindle was the Assistant Secretary of Commerce, the pair even traveled to the Philippines to visit Thoi’s brother. “It was a heck of an experience, just the two of us.”

Swindle calls his grief the day of the funeral overwhelming. “He was one of the best friends I ever had, and to this day his family and I and my wife are very, very close. They are a wonderful American and Vietnamese family.”

CP

DCFEED Grazer

what we ate this week: everything cream cheese doughnut, $3.75, District Doughnut. Satisfaction level: 5 out of 5. what we’ll eat next week: Pig frites with deep fried sous vide bacon, smoked spicy mayo, and scallions, $6.50, Balo Kitchen in Annandale’s The Block. Excitement level: 4 out of 5.

Unwise Cracks

Stein’s Stein

By Laura Hayes

Maybe you’ve heard someone refer to the palak chat at Rasika as “spinach crack” or seen a food blog describe Bonchon’s Korean-style fried wings as “crack chicken.” But what about eateries that go so far as to call something crack-like on their menus? It’s curious that so many D.C. restaurants and bakeries casually play up their food’s addictive properties by comparing it to a drug. Here are six of them.

Chocolate Matzoh Crack at Ice Cream Jubilee 301 Water St. SE #105 & 1407 T St. NW Description: “Inspired by a nontraditional but familiar Passove r dessert, we coated pieces of mat zoh with chocolate and caramel britt le and mixed it with our rich vanilla ice cream.”

Price: $8.95 per pint

you Bakery Crack Cookies at Ba ad, Arlington Ro use ho urt Co 1515 N e, chewy, lat Description: “Choco s.” ou lici de ely and addictiv .25 $2 Price:

d ed & Wire ck at Bak ra C W ie N p t.

Hip on S as Jeffers granola is 1052 Thom “Our homegrown on: hen. A mix Descripti in our kitc t lh a g d ri e h c s li e nd s cooked fr ed oats a erasted roll ricots, ch p a , s ie ture of to rr e b n h ra it c w ried etened monds, d , and swe ts n o a N rr t. u u c on ries, and y and coc m h of hone traight fro s it g n just a das ti a e ty il u g l e need to fe the bag.”

5 5 to $11.9 Price: $4.9

The Dish: The Gyro Where to Get It: Meggrolls, 107 N. Fayette St., Alexandria; (571) 312-0399; meggrolls.com

Are You Gonna Eat That?

Price: $6.75 What it is: A gyro wrapped inside a Chinese takeout staple food.

Components of the traditional Middle Eastern sandwich—a lamb patty, feta cheese, and diced onion—are chilled separately, wrapped in thin dough, and deep-fried.

“We put each of the ingredients into the wonton strategically so the cheese melts great and

What’s in

Co Co. Sala Co Co. Crack at NW .

929 F St addicting Description: “An tter malt, bu ut mix of pean d pretzels, chocolate covere caramel on peanuts, cinnam umble, & cr am ah popcorn, gr white, milk, sea salt amidst ate. Just one and dark chocol hooked!” be l u’l bite, and yo Price: $8

Chesapeake Salmon Salad at Chef Brian’s Comfort Kitchen 1020 19th St. NW Description: “Oven broiled salmon mixed with chopped green onions, California golden raisins, fresh tarragon, mayonnaise and special seasonings served on a bed of arugula. Served with side of golden fried tortilla chips (aka ‘Crack Chips’).”

Price: $13

Crack Pie at Milk Bar 1090 I St. NW Description: “Toasted oat crust with a gooey butter filling.”

Price: $46

the proteins don’t overcook,” says Meggrolls founder Meghan Baroody. After its trip to the fryer, the giant Meggroll is sliced in half and topped with lettuce, tomato, and housemade tzatziki sauce.

What it tastes like: A crispy, greasy delight. Equal parts crunchy and creamy, the gyro marries the satisfying bite of a deep-fried wonton with the distinc-

tive, gamey taste of lamb, slightly offset by the trademark tzatziki tang. It’s a worthy pick for a late night snack.

The story: Ever since Baroody made her first chicken parm wonton for her bartender boyfriend eight years ago, she has been tinkering with her original recipe to make it even better. “You’re never fully perfectly happy with your product,” she says. “I’m still [thinking], ‘What can I do to make this perfect?’” The gyro was one of the outcomes of her experiments. “Each Meggroll is basically your favorite meal wrapped in a hand-held package.” Other popular flavors include Buffalo wing and chorizo poblano.

—Regina Park

Beer: Dogfish Head Indian Brown Dark IPA Person: Amanda Petro, Off-Centered Brewer Hometown: Tamaqua, Pennsylvania Price: $11.99 per six-pack Taste: Indian Brown carries an aroma of candied figs, roasted malts, and a soapy twang imparted by dry-hopping the beer with Vanguard hops. A juicy hop character first presents itself on the tongue. The mid-palate is sweet and segues into a mild roast accompanied by a crisp, clean finish—the work of organic brown sugar added to the kettle.

Though it comes in at 7.2 percent alcohol by volume, this dark ale drinks more like a 5 percent ABV beer. It’s an ideal transitional beer for the warm days and cool nights ahead.

Story: Amanda Petro has brewed at Dogfish Head for more than three years.

One of three women in her 30-student Master Brewers Program at UC Davis, Petro spent more than five years in the pharmaceutical industry before she found her calling. When asked about diversity in the industry, Petro says it’s “heading in the right direction. I think we’re broadening our consumer base and employing different genders, different races.” But craft beer is “still lacking in areas like advertising, that is still behind in the overall industry.”

She calls Indian Brown an “underrated brew,” but the beer she’s most excited about is Siracusa Nera, a beerwine hybrid, which will debut in bottles in November. An imperial stout, Siracusa Nera, is three quarters imperial stout and a quarter Syrah, according to Petro.

“Syrah grape must is thrown in during fermentation so it maintains the jammy character of the grapes,” she explains. It then rests with American oak cubes for two months.

Where to try: Rodman’s, 5100 Wisconsin Ave. NW; (202) 363-3466; rodmans.com —Michael Stein

washingtoncitypaper.com september 15, 2017 23

24 september 15, 2017 washingtoncitypaper.com

Rehatched

The Kreeger Museum, one of D.C.’s hidden gems, reemerges with a fresh look and feel.

By Kriston Capps For the First time in umpteen years, the Kreeger Museum looks brand new, inside and out. Of all the people who need to visit it—of all the people who have likely never stepped foot inside—the person who needs to see the Kreeger most may be Utah Senator Orrin Hatch.

Late in 2015, the Senate Finance Committee issued letters to 11 art museums scattered across the country. Private art collections in Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Miami, and other cities received the inquiry, signed by Sen. Hatch, which asked for details about museum attendance, outstanding loans, acquisitions, and other figures. Two letters arrived in the D.C. area: at the Kreeger Museum in Foxhall and Glenstone in Potomac, Maryland. “[R]ecent reports have raised the possibility that some private foundations are operating museums that offer minimal benefit to the public while enabling donors to reap substantial

galleries

tax advantages,” reads the letter.

Since then, Sen. Hatch seems to have let the matter drop.

Nevertheless, Glenstone has since taken pains to ensure that its growing museum—which shares a campus with the home of Mitchell Rales, a billionaire and trustee for the National Gallery of Art—runs more like a legitimate art institution than it has in the past. That was never much of a problem for the Kreeger, an above-board museum that got caught in a dragnet for alleged tax shelters.

Yet a number of changes at the Kreeger make it more accessible—and a better destination—than ever before. On September 19, the museum opens the first phase of its renewal, a rehang of half of the museum space. Harry Cooper, the National Gallery of Art’s senior curator for modern art, has reinstalled the Kreeger’s turn-of-the-century permanent collection, finding new places for old favorites and promoting several lesserknown gems from the archives.

First, though, an introduction may be in order. Tucked away in transit-inaccessible Foxhall, the Kreeger is unknown even to self-professed D.C. art lovers. Arguably, the museum’s most formidable asset is its building. The former residence of Carmen and David Kreeger, this jewel-box house museum was designed by Philip Johnson in 1963. That same year, the famed architect designed the museum pavilion for Dumbarton Oaks, another lesser-known art museum in Georgetown.

Both buildings mark a transitional moment in Johnson’s shift from the International Style to Postmodernism. Built in handselected travertine, the Kreeger expresses itself through a series of cube-shaped galleries, each one capped by ribbed ceiling vaults. From the outside, the building looks like a series of linked modular domes.

About a third of the late-19th century and early-20th century paintings going on view are hanging for the first time in years— or even longer. Cooper has teased out new pairings in the collection, including Pierre Bonnard’s “Voiliers sur la Mer” (1936) and Max Beckmann’s “Sunny Beach with Bathers” (1937), both recently retrieved from storage. Kreeger habitués will notice that the Great Hall looks all new: It’s now home to a suite of six shimmering stunners by Claude Monet, including “Bras de Seine près de Giverny, brouillard” (1897). Five of the seven remaining paintings in the Great Hall are new arrivals.

Where the Monets used to hang, in the Kreeger’s Terrace Gallery, visitors will now find a wild and woolly selection of Surrealist and Cubist paintings by the likes of Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Joan Miró, and Arshile Gorky. This room is animated, a crash course in mid-century funk. The highlight is “Vase, Palette, and Skull” (1939), one of Braque’s most metal paintings, a

Darrow Montgomery

CPArts

theatreWashington to celebrate the upcoming theater season with its inaugural theatreWeek kickoff party at Woolly Mammoth on Saturday.

washingtoncitypaper.com september 15, 2017 25

distant cousin to his masterpiece run of early Cubist works (and maybe the sickest depiction of a skull in art history).

In the Atrium Gallery (formerly the Salon) hangs a set of paintings that, taken together, make up a puzzle. On one side of the gallery’s central fireplace, viewers will find two floral still-life paintings by Vincent van Gogh from 1886. On the other, two similar still-lifes by Paul Cézanne (1907–09 and 1879– 82). Hanging between them over the mantle is Picasso’s “At the Café de la Rotonde or L’Hippodrome” (1901), an early work that appears to neatly combine aspects of both the other painters’ brushstrokes. (If there were a fan formula for this hard-toplace Picasso, it would be CZ + VG = PP.) Cooper is also curating phase two of the Kreeger’s reopening, planned for this fall or next spring. The lower-floor galleries will showcase the museum’s 20th-century holdings. With any luck, the museum will rehang its paintings by Elmer Bischoff and David Park, two Bay Area figurative painters whose works are hard to find in D.C. anywhere but the Kreeger. One Washington Color School painting is already on view in the stairwell: “Universal Joint” (1967) a shaped rainbow chevron

by Thomas Downing.

The newest addition to the Kreeger Museum family is Richard Deutsch’s “Against the Day” (2007), an outdoor sculpture set that previously occupied the Chevy Chase Center plaza in Chevy Chase, Maryland. The piece comprises five white granite benches that surround three Isamu Noguchi–inspired sculptures in white, red, and black granite. It’s a leftover and a letdown, a piece made to serve as a public gathering place—the kind of public art that often goes as an afterthought.

26 september 15, 2017 washingtoncitypaper.com

Darrow Montgomery

CPArts

As a sculpture, “Against the Day” doesn’t stand up to a smart triptych of outdoor works by Wendy Ross, George Rickey, and Foon Sham. Kendall Buster’s “Garden Snare” (1998)—an enclosure of two intersecting torus forms made in steel and shadecloth, a quietly sinister object that looks like a trap sourced from a hardware store—is the best contemporary work in this sculpture garden or anywhere else in the city.

However, “Against the Day” is a good reuse for the Kreeger’s north lawn, which used to be home to the family’s tennis courts.

Over the last few years, the Kreeger has made moves to convert the last vestiges of the Kreegers’ house into the future of the Kreeger Museum. This includes filling in the swimming pool to make it a reflecting pond and enlisting the courts as an extension of the sculpture garden.

The last parcel is the old family garage, which D.C. sculptor Dan Steinhilber used to great effect in 2012. For Marlin Underground, Steinhilber repurposed all the crap that was still stashed

in the garage to create a ballet mécanique: an automated soundscape arising from things like smoke alarms, garbage cans, and space heaters.

The Kreeger’s self-reinvention over the last few years has involved a lot of contemporary art. There’s not much left that still needs repurposing (although that garage would make a great kunsthalle, an hermitage for an artist residency). But if Sen. Hatch still needs any convincing, then he should keep a watch out for the Kreeger’s future plans—which are in keeping with the house-museum’s history. Back when it was the Kreegers’ home, it was always a venue for lively experiments in art and sound, set against a stately backdrop of patronage and prestige.

“We’re going to continue our focus on contemporary exhibitions,” says new museum director Helen Chason. “It’s part of what the Kreegers wanted to do. It’s exactly what I want to do.”

CP

TheaTer

Wake Up

The two best shows in D.C. right now tackle issues of race with compelling insight and nuanced precision.

Skeleton Crew

Word Becomes Flesh

Skeleton Crew

By Dominique Morisseau Directed by Patricia McGregor At Studio Theatre to Oct. 8

Word Becomes Flesh

By Marc Bamuthi Joseph Directed by Psalmayene 24 At Anacostia Playhouse to Oct. 8

By Chris Klimek Sweat, the play that snagged Lynn Nottage her second Pulitzer Prize, opened its pre-Broadway run at Arena Stage last year just a couple of weeks after Dominique Morrisseau’s Skeleton Crew had its world premiere at the Atlantic Theatre Company in New York City. The two dramas share more than a casual resemblance: Both were written by women of color, both are set at least partially in 2008, both are about factory workers desperately clinging to the jobs that afford them a dwindling standard of living, both count sympathetic (and black) mid-level managers who worry they’re betraying their subordinates among their dramatis personae. Sweat takes place in Reading, Pennsylvania. Skeleton Crew takes place in Detroit.

It’s the third play Morrisseau has written about her hometown. As with August Wilson’s Pittsburgh-set Century Cycle, each entry in Morrisseau’s Detroit series unfolds in a different era.

Along with that Pulitzer, Sweat got a Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and three Tony Award nominations and transferred to Broadway before closing earlier this summer. But Skeleton

Crew has been produced in more cities, for an eminently sound reason: It’s a better play.

It’s a more naturalistic, more contained, more absorbing, less yell-y play. It’s a more persuasive play. Sweat, contrary to dramaturgical advice, tells more than it shows. But Skeleton Crew lets its observations about the winnowing of America’s manufacturing base and the implosion of the communities it once supported emerge organically from the rich soil Morisseau has seeded. It speaks its arguments softly enough for us to hear them.

And it would be tough to imagine a more confident production than the one Patricia McGregor has brought to Studio Theatre, featuring an allkiller, no-filler cast that with the exception of Shannon Dorsey, who appeared in Tarell Alvin McCraney’s In the Red and Brown Water in 2010, has never performed there before.

First among equals is Caroline Stefanie Clay.

As Faye, the shop steward with 29 years in and just months to go before she can retire with a full pension, she rules the break room where the play is set like it’s her own kingdom, smoking and playing cards in defiance of the rules and signs posted by manager Reggie, played

by Tyee Tilghman. (The set, by Tim Brown, is believably lived-in, and welding sparks tickle the margins of the stage over the scene changes.) There’s a bond between them that’s usually strong enough to bridge the gap between labor and management—Reggie’s mother was Faye’s partner before she died.

Faye has survived heartbreak and lung cancer and the alienation of her own son and the slow leak of the labor movement for as long as she’s

been paying her union dues, but she bears these burdens stoically. As rumors that management will begin big layoffs as a prelude to a permanent shutdown of the plant seem to grow more credible, she has a tougher time swallowing her agita.

She seems to view the younger generation of workers, Shanita and Dez, played by Dorsey and the charismatic Jason Bowen, respectively, with paternal affection. Dez, a skilled worker with a short fuse, is trying to hold on to his job long enough to put together a down payment on his own garage. He’s enough of a hustler to complain that the union is just another scam, and pragmatic enough to keep an unlicensed Beretta semiautomatic in his locker.

When an increasingly brazen series of burglaries begins at the plant, suspicion falls on him.

Shanita is a rule-follower beloved by the managers upstairs, but she’s also pregnant and on the outs with the baby’s father. She dismisses Dez’s chaste romantic overtures as sexual harassment, but doesn’t like it when he’s not around to walk her to her car at the end of the shift. And the way Dorsey’s face lights up when she’s scanning over a list of baby names Faye brings in shows us a tenderness that her character mostly keeps covered up. Reggie’s pride in having moved his family to a neighborhood where his kids can safely play outside brings its own kind of desperation—a terror of falling off the ladder. Everyone has their secrets, but they are secrets mandated by dignity, not venality or malice.

That would be another advantage Skeleton Crew has over Sweat: There’s no villain. Everyone is right. And on the infrequent instances when Morisseau gives somebody an aria—like Shanita’s road-rage monologue at the top of the second act about how people just need to learn how to merge—this cast makes you believe it.

They craft a compelling illusion the way Johnny Cash described stealing himself a car direct from the factory in one of the few songs he ever set in Motown, “One Piece at a Time.” the tragically brief life expectancy for black men born in America is one of the subjects of Word Becomes Flesh, a piece that poet

Marc Bamuthi Joseph first performed as a solo play nearly 15 years ago. Initially conceived as a series of letters to his unborn son, Word has evolved over many subsequent productions, splitting Bamuthi’s monologue into parts for five performers and incorporating contributions by some of these additional cast members. Theater Alliance’s Helen Hayes Awardwinning production incorporates material from Khalil Anthony and Dahlak Barthwaite, who were in a touring version of the show that came to the Atlas Performing Arts Center in 2013. (That cast also included future Hamilton standout Daveed Diggs.)

All of which is to say: Check out the five ringers doing this show now, while you can still see them for a double-digit ticket price. Theater Alliance and director Psalmayene 24 have reunited the full company from their celebrated 2016 run—Louis E. Davis, Chris Lane, Clayton Pelham Jr., Gary L. Perkins III, and Justin Weaks, who was so, well, haunting in his video-only role as the ghost in Kathleen Akerley’s Whipping, or The Football Hamlet—for another month at the Anacostia Playhouse, with an eye toward sending the production to high schools thereafter. That’s a superb idea. Word Becomes Flesh aggressively confronts stereotypes of young black men as irresponsible and violent, and of theater as bloodless and boring. (Okay, there’s some substantiation for the latter.)

The show compresses the full emotional panorama of youthful exuberance giving way to parental obligation in 65 breathless minutes, its five messengers dancing all the while. (The choreography is by Tony Thomas II.) There’s a particularly powerful passage that breaks down the etymology and consequence of a vicious epithet unforgettably. This is black masculinity, surveyed with sensitivity and insight.

If you slept on it last year, wake up.

CP 1501 14th St. NW. $20-$85. (202) 332-3300. studiotheatre.org.

2020 Shannon Place SE. $30-$40. (202) 2902328. theateralliance.com.

washingtoncitypaper.com september 15, 2017 27

FilmShort SubjectS School Life

School’S out School Life

Directed by Neasa Ní Chianáin and David Rane The logline for School Life focuses on the impending retirement of John and Amanda Leyden, teachers at an elementary boarding school in Kells, Ireland. But the trajectory of their careers is peripheral to the definition of the title: the students, their strengths and weaknesses, their interactions with their instructors, their misbehavior, and the initial difficulties of being away from their parents, likely for the first time.

Sometimes the kids are not all right.

Neasa Ní Chianáin and David Rane’s documentary starts at the Leydens’ home, which is on the Headfort School’s grounds and owned by the institution. As they mull calling it quits, Amanda says, “I would be wasting [the students’] time if I was no good.” Yet once we transition to the school itself, it’s apparent she has nothing to worry about. She’s the bleeding heart of the couple, once telling her husband, “You don’t understand their lives. They don’t laugh.” (There’s only occasional proof of this.) In contrast, we once see John sitting quietly in a classroom and then remark, “Sounds like children. Fuck.” One imagines that, after a 46-year tenure at the school, he’s mostly joking. But in general he doesn’t bother to soften any blows he deals to the kids.

Amanda, who wears a barbell in her eyebrow, teaches literature, while John focuses on math and music, particularly rock ’n’ roll. Because the documentary is rather scattershot, we also see the headmaster, Dermot Dix, a former student of the Leydens’, teach and interact with students. He’s startlingly left-leaning: During a classroom discussion about same-sex marriage, one student argues that God says homosexuality is wrong. Dix counters, “But we don’t know if God exists.” Whoa. Another student counters her peer by saying, “Sometimes it’s better to be gay than to be single.” She doesn’t expand on the thought, which is clearly misguided, even if

it shows a mindset of inclusivity. Dix also asks if marriage is natural.

School Life, on the whole, captures a world in which the attitude and approach of teachers are crucial to the responsiveness and success of their students. In equal measure, the kids are obedient, jubilant, and rowdy. They form strong friendships and cry on the last day of school. One girl, Eliza, remains stubbornly quiet and looks miserable everywhere she goes. John’s sarcastic toward her—a dicey tactic—but later in the year he tells Amanda, “She was terribly chatty and full of fun and was behaving badly in the dormitory last night. I think it’s completely brilliant.”

He’s also relatively soft toward a new girl, Fleury, who plays the drums in his music class rather well, but soon starts crying because she lacks confidence. He tells her to take five to sort herself out and later questions whether she’d rather be painting. Clearly there’s a heart beneath the crustiness.

Headfort seems impossibly idyllic: The students have plenty of free time outdoors to build forts, play cricket, and chalk sidewalks. There’s even a young music instructor who talks to some boys about acceptable pranks. Taking part in the school’s production of Hamlet actually seems fun, with Amanda reassuring her actors that even famous thespians are a jumble of nerves before their performances.

You can’t imagine Headfort without the Leydens, and luckily for the school, neither can they. John says about retirement: “[We’d] just sit around doing less and less and getting more and more decrepit.” This may not be the focus of the doc, but it’s a crucial component nonetheless.

—Tricia Olszewski School Life opens Friday at West End Cinema.

Mother of God mother!

Directed by Darren Aronofsky There’s a good chance that Darren Aronof-

28 september 15, 2017 washingtoncitypaper.com

sky’s mother! was greenlit by mistake. It boggles the mind that a major studio would sign off on a film this audacious, cynical, and pitiless. Aronofsky is hardly a timid director; his style often reflects the frayed trauma of his characters. His latest takes that trademark and follows it until he literally critiques the foundations of Western Civilization. The audience for such a film is small, since large swaths of the people who see it will be confused or angry—or both. Its final stretch elevates metaphor and subtext so they become literal; this is a hammy technique, with all the subtlety of a megaton warhead. Still, there is a fearless quality to mother! that pushes it beyond mere provocation—Aronofsky challenges us, going so far as to abandon the foundations of allegory and basic storytelling along the way.

Before there is any dialogue, Aronofsky hints that supernatural elements govern what happens. It’s like Raiders of the Lost Ark, except in reverse: a man (Javier Bardem)—who we soon learn is a renowned poet—places a valuable jewel into its display case, which then causes his idyllic countryside mansion to transform from disrepair to renovated bliss. The man’s wife (Jennifer Lawrence) is eager to finish the repairs, while he works on an unnamed writing project. Ed Harris turns up as an unannounced guest, one who is unknown to the couple: Using a thin pretense, the poet welcomes him, anyway. This section of mother! is an awkward social comedy: The wife tries to be accommodating, ignoring her instinct that her husband is too tolerant and gregarious.

Shortly after the guest’s wife (Michelle Pfeiffer) also arrives, the tension between Lawrence and everyone else, including her husband, is practically hostile.

Aronofsky leaves plenty of room for us to pore over his film’s meaning . The opening scenes in particular have a mother! repetitive, claustrophobic quality to them: Nearly every shot is from Lawrence’s point of view, with the camera whipping around her shoulders or peering around the next corner. This is a technique usually found in horror— the rickety old house is a familiar setting in the genre—and yet Aronofsky mostly avoids the jump scare. Instead, the camera’s subjectivity puts us into the wife’s mental space: we have as much information as she does, and so we share her bewilderment.

Parts of mother! are maddening, even obtuse, and yet Aronofsky plays it fair. He is withholding details from his hero and his audience in equal measure, but then a funny thing starts to happen: characters start slipping in superfluous details.

Some of them are distractions, and others are clues. As mother! continues, adding more characters beyond the initial two guests, Aronofsky’s

taut screenplay stacks the information in the audience’s favor. It helps that no characters in the film have names; at first, it is strange how the poet will not offer his name to the guests, and yet the pronouns tilt the dialogue toward broader resonance. Aronofsky draws from foundational texts, and so every chaotic plot twist follows familiar paths of myth and history.

Depending on your sensibilities, the final sections of mother! are even funnier than the tension of unwelcome, needling houseguests. The hints are oblique for a while, and then the script abandons subtlety entirely. Aronofsky wants to be absolutely clear that these characters, in this situation are metaphors for something else. The sooner you start thinking about the script on its terms, the funnier mother! may become.

To be clear, “black” is not adequate word to describe this strain of comedy. It’s more like staring into a black hole, or a gaping maw. The final half hour is frenzied, leading to a jampacked orgy of chaotic bloodshed, and yet Aronofsky avoids the queasy, exaggerated realism of Black Swan and Requiem for a Dream.

Like Luis Buñuel’s The Exterminating Angel, another film set entirely within a large household, Aronofsky prefers to follow through on his surrealist premise.

If Lawrence’s character starts as an audience surrogate, then the others in mother! abandon communicating with her altogether. Supporting characters seem to address the audience directly, with a needling sense of urgency. This might have been a better film if Aronofsky trusted us

more, and yet this direct engagement creates an opportunity to consider what each character— indeed, most objects—represent. Lawrence convincingly goes through a ringer, suggesting she is the victim of pervasive patriarchy, and Bardem’s effortless narcissism only exacerbates it (the age difference between them is a significant plot point).

But these actors portray something bigger than characters. What they ultimately signify takes a willingness to offend, or genuine reserves of courage. mother! is too alienating to be controversial, and could be celebrated on those terms alone.

—Alan Zilberman mother! opens Friday at the Angelika Pop-Up at Union Market, Regal Gallery Place, and AMC Loews Georgetown.

AIDA

FREE SIMULCAST at Nationals Park

HIRE AN INTERN.

CHANGE A LIFE.

43 % of DC youth graduate from high school *

100 % of Urban Alliance interns graduate from high school To sponsor an intern, contact Jetheda Warren, jwarren@theurbanalliance.org, 202-459-4308

Saturday, September 23, 2017 at 7 p.m.

Arrive early for family fun!

Gates open at 5 p.m. for pre-opera activities ® M&M’S Ms. Brown • Photo Ops for kids of all ages Costume Dress-up Trunk • Face Painting & Craft Table The Warner Bros. cartoon “What’s Opera, Doc?” Performances by local artists • Chances to win amazing prizes Open Playground • And much more!

For more info, visit OperaintheOutfield.org

Urban Alliance empowers under-resourced youth to aspire, work, and succeed through paid internships, formal training, and mentoring. www.theurbanalliance.org

Major support for WNO is provided by Jacqueline Badger Mars.

WNO’s Presenting Sponsor

David and Alice Rubenstein are the Presenting Underwriters of WNO.

Generous support for WNO Italian Opera is provided by Daniel and Gayle D’Aniello.

*www.doublethenumbers.org

WNO acknowledges the longstanding generosity of Life Chairman Mrs. Eugene B. Casey.

Mars, Incorporated Opera in the Outfield is brought to you by the M&M’S® Chocolate Candies and AMERICAN HERITAGE® Chocolate Brands; Louise Austin Remmey Trust, by JD Katz, P.C.; and the Washington Nationals.

washingtoncitypaper.com september 15, 2017 29

DON’T MISS THE LAST SHOWS OF THE SUMMER!

SEP 16 GIPSY KINGS FEATURING NICOLAS REYES AND TONINO BALIARDO

Educating the public and empowering the homeless one newspaper at a time.

Street Sense

Where the Washington area’s poor and homeless earn and give their two cents

SEP 17 DADDY YANKEE

Pick up a copy today from vendors throughout downtown D.C. or visit www.streetsense.org for more information.

FREE MUSIC, ART AND MORE THIS SEPTEMBER! MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER PRESENTS

1215 U Street NW, Washington, DC FREE ADMISSION

Hosted by Wendy Rieger and featuring performances by Pan American Symphony Orchestra, Rasheed Copeland and SOLE Defined.

RSVP TODAY! | DCARTS.DC.GOV | 202-724-5613

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 | 7:00 PM HISTORIC LINCOLN THEATRE

FOR OTHER 202CREATES SEPTEMBER EVENTS, VISIT WWW.202CREATES.COM

30 september 15, 2017 washingtoncitypaper.com

TheaTerCurtain Calls

Aida

By Giuseppe Verdi, libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni Directed by Francesca Zambello Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center Opera House through Sept. 23 Call it Austerity AidA, a budget production of the most extravagant opera in the canon. Verdi’s grand opera (and Elton John’s superior musical) about a made-up war between ancient Egypt and Ethiopia is meant to be a lavish affair, best staged outdoors with a cast of hundreds and a menagerie of animals. I’m told some productions include live elephants, but for all the times I’ve seen Aida, I’ve never seen any damn elephants.

Instead of armies of pachyderms, D.C. audiences get RETNA. Née Marquis Lewis, the onetime graffiti artist’s career trajectory has taken him from bombing walls in L.A. to designing ads for Louis Vuitton and Vistajet, all while retaining his crucial tag name that lends that whiff of street cred to stuffy corporate clients that lack it. That urban art sensibility also interests stuffy nonprofits like the Washington National Opera, which commissioned him to design some set backdrops with his trademark calligraphy style that borrows from, among other things, Egyptian hieroglyphics.

The designs are cool, if not particularly congruous with anything. RETNA’s pattern prints (which to me look more like Korean hangeul than anything Egyptian, but whatever) decorate the stage, curtains, and soldiers’ banners, and give the proscenium the look of a war between rival skateboard companies— Element vs. Zoo York would be my guess.

But that’s kind of it. There aren’t any hugely famous names among the cast, though it includes many of WNO’s best regulars including Carl Tanner, Gordon Hawkins, and Soloman Howard. Nor is there much in the way of set design. In lieu of any pyramids or other architecture, there’s a lot of empty space, while the cast frequently looks off in the distance to suggest there’s something big and impressive happening somewhere else—a trick pioneered by Michael Bay (seriously, just watch any Transformers movie).

Costumes, from designer Anita Yavich, evoke a Nasser-era Egypt setting, though this is

confusing because the Ethiopians wear Cuban military fatigues.

In any case, we don’t get any actual battle scenes, though Saturday’s opening had one painfully clumsy knife fight in which performers kept dropping the knife. Director Francesca Zambello writes in the program notes that “I am still convinced Aida is a chamber opera,” a signal to keep your expectations low. She pads the action with some cute kids doing tumbles and genuinely impressive ballet dancers, but during some awkward post-intermission set changes, there’s nothing going on at all. Overall it’s pretty humble.

That being said, WNO’s singers are still able to do a lot with what they have. Saturday’s cast, the first of two that rotate, featured a superb trio of Tamara Wilson in the title role, Yonghoon Lee as Radamès, and Ekaterina Semenchuk as Amneris. Wilson’s fluttery soprano is flexible enough to be coquettish at first and appropriately anguished by the end, displaying good vocal and emotional range for an opera famous for its lack of character development. Lee, a shouty tenor, is mostly just loud, but manages to tone it down for a tender “O terra addio,” the last of the opera’s signature, multi-part duets. Semenchuk, a mezzo, is the most impressive of the bunch; she does a syrupy take on the spurned princess, the only complex character in the whole story.

Conductor Evan Rogister leads the orchestra with confidence and warmth through Verdi’s rich score. Listen for recurring themes: high notes from the strings, representing Aida lower register scales representing the priests, staggered and sometimes overlapping. Given the many layers of Verdi’s musical ideas, the libretto is kind of a letdown: Likely cribbed from earlier operas, it purports to be a war epic but is really a standard doomed love triangle. The war part is a conceit to force choices between patriotic duty and love.

This Aida is nothing special, but season openers are usually designed to be nothing special. You need to kick things off with a familiar repertory piece that will pack the seats before you can do any weird contemporary stuff later in the season. You don’t want to be boring but you don’t want to be too experimental either. Some vaguely street art-inspired set backdrops do exactly what they’re designed to do: reassure subscribers you’re keeping with the times without scaring them off. But they’re not much of a draw on their own. Those duets by themselves might be. Then again, you’ll likely have more chances to hear them elsewhere, maybe even with some critters on stage.

—Mike Paarlberg

washingtoncitypaper.com september 15, 2017 31

32 september 15, 2017 washingtoncitypaper.com

CITYLIST

1811 14TH ST NW

www.blackcatdc.com @blackcatdc

Music 33 Theater 38 Film 40

SEPTEMBER SHOWS

Native Gardens at Arena Stage, Sept. 15 to Oct. 22

THU 14 FRI 15

FRI 15 AND

WILD BELLE WE BOLDLY GO:

A CABARET WHERE NO ONE HAS GONE BEFORE (21+)

TED LEO AND THE

SAT 16

PHARMACISTS

SAT 16

RIGHT ROUND

SUN 17

THE NRIS

80S ALT POP DANCE PARTY CD RELEASE SHOW

MON 18

THE BAGGIOS

TUE 19 FILM SCREENING:

L7: PRETEND WE’RE DEAD

WHISKEY SHIVERS & BILLY STRINGS THU 21 GABY MORENO WED 20

FRI 22

SAT 23 u street Music Hall 1115 U St. NW. (202) 588-1889.

Bruno Martini. 10:30 p.m. $10. ustreetmusichall.com.

Music

Folk BircHMere 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria.

(703) 549-7500. Karla Bonoff. 7:30 p.m. $29.50. birchmere.com.

opEra

Vocal

tHe HaMilton 600 14th St. NW. (202) 787-1000.

Chris Smither. 8 p.m. $20–$40. thehamiltondc.com.

Howard tHeatre 620 T St. NW. (202) 803-2899.

Andres Cepeda. 8 p.m. $49–$99. thehowardtheatre.com.

Black cat 1811 14th St. NW. (202) 667-4490. Ted Leo & The Pharmacists. 8 p.m. $20. blackcatdc.com.

Funk & r&B BetHesda Blues & Jazz 7719 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda. (240) 330-4500. A Tribute to the Music of Motown. 8 p.m. $35. bethesdabluesjazz.com.

World

Gypsy sally’s 3401 K St. NW. (202) 333-7700. Kendall Street Company. 8:30 p.m. $13. gypsysallys.com. kennedy center concert Hall 2700 F St. NW. (202) 467-4600. NSO Pops: Blue Suede Tunes with Frankie Moreno. 8 p.m. $24–$89. kennedy-center.org.

country

MerriweatHer post pavilion 10475 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia. (410) 715-5550. Sturgill Simpson. 8 p.m. $40-$59.50. merriweathermusic.com.

ElEctronic

dc9 1940 9th St. NW. (202) 483-5000. Frenship. 7 p.m. $15. dcnine.com. rHizoMe dc 6950 Maple St. NW. Sonic Circuits Festival of Experimental Music. 8 p.m. $15. rhizomedc.org. sonGByrd Music House and record cafe 2477 18th St. NW. (202) 450-2917. Xiu Xiu. 8 p.m. $13–$15. songbyrddc.com.

capital one arena 601 F St NW, DC. The Weeknd.

7:30 p.m. $39–$250. capitalonearena.monumentalsportsnetwork.com.

Hip-Hop Jiffy luBe live 7800 Cellar Door Drive, Bristow.

(703) 754-6400. Ms. Lauryn Hill & Nas. 6:30 p.m. $27–$932. livenation.com. u street Music Hall 1115 U St. NW. (202) 588-1889.

MHD. 7 p.m. $30. ustreetmusichall.com.

Jazz Blues alley 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW. (202) 3374141. Yellowjackets. 8 p.m.; 10 p.m. $47–$52. bluesalley.com. twins Jazz 1344 U St. NW. (202) 234-0072. Eugenie Jones. 9 p.m.; 11 p.m. $27. twinsjazz.com.

3 KINGS DANCE PARTY

PRINCE/ MJ / STEVIE WONDER

kennedy center opera House 2700 F St. NW. (202) 467-4600. Washington National Opera: Aida.

7:30 p.m. $45–$300. kennedy-center.org.

Friday rock

FRANKIE COSMOS

tropicalia 2001 14th St. NW. (202) 629-4535.

Underground System. 8 p.m. $10–$12. tropicaliadc.com.

FRI SEPT 15 & SAT SEPT 16 TED LEO & THE PHARMACISTS

Saturday rock

Black cat 1811 14th St. NW. (202) 667-4490. Ted Leo & The Pharmacists. 8 p.m. $20. blackcatdc.com. capital one arena 601 F St NW, DC. Arcade Fire.

7:30 p.m. $26–$275. capitalonearena.monumentalsportsnetwork.com Gypsy sally’s 3401 K St. NW. (202) 333-7700. The Skip Castro Band. 8 p.m. $20. gypsysallys.com. kennedy center concert Hall 2700 F St. NW. (202) 467-4600. NSO Pops: Blue Suede Tunes with Frankie Moreno. 8 p.m. $24–$89. kennedy-center.org.

MerriweatHer post pavilion 10475 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia. (410) 715-5550. Young The Giant. 6:30 p.m. $35-$100. merriweathermusic.com.

FRI SEPT 22 FRANKIE COSMOS

TAKE METRO!

WE ARE LOCATED 3 BLOCKS FROM THE U STREET/CARDOZO STATION

TO BUY TICKETS VISIT TICKETFLY.COM

washingtoncitypaper.com september 15, 2017 33

Sturgill Simpson at Merriweather Post Pavilion, Sept. 15

sonGByrd Music House and record cafe 2477 18th St. NW. (202) 450-2917. Less Art. 8 p.m. $12–$15. songbyrddc.com.

country

Jiffy luBe live 7800 Cellar Door Drive, Bristow.

(703) 754-6400. Sam Hunt. 7 p.m. $61–$250. livenation.com.

dJ nigHtS

Black cat BackstaGe 1811 14th St. NW. (202) 6674490. Right Round with DJ lil’e. 9:30 p.m. $7. blackcatdc.com. dc9 1940 9th St. NW. (202) 483-5000. Peach Pit: DJ Matt Bailer. 10:30 p.m. $5–$8. dcnine.com. flasH 645 Florida Ave. NW. (202) 827-8791. Sundown: SecondCity. 4 p.m. $10. Brawther, Benoit. 8 p.m. $8–$15. flashdc.com.

ElEctronic

dc9 1940 9th St. NW. (202) 483-5000. Gavin Turek.

7:30 p.m. $12–$14. dcnine.com. rHizoMe dc 6950 Maple St. NW. Sonic Circuits Festival of Experimental Music. 3 p.m. $20. rhizomedc.org. u street Music Hall 1115 U St. NW. (202) 588-1889.

Astrid S. 7 p.m. $15. Feed Me Disco ft. Eau Claire. 10:30 p.m. $10. ustreetmusichall.com.

Folk

aMp By stratHMore 11810 Grand Park Ave., North Bethesda. (301) 581-5100. Stephen Wade. 8 p.m. $25–$35. ampbystrathmore.com.

Funk & r&B

BircHMere 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria.

(703) 549-7500. Maysa. 7:30 p.m. $65. birchmere.com.

Jazz

Blues alley 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW. (202) 3374141. Yellowjackets. 8 p.m.; 10 p.m. $47–$52. bluesalley.com. twins Jazz 1344 U St. NW. (202) 234-0072. Eugenie Jones. 4:59 p.m.; 11 p.m. $27. twinsjazz.com.

opEra

kennedy center opera House 2700 F St. NW. (202) 467-4600. Washington National Opera: Aida. 7 p.m. $45–$300. kennedy-center.org.

Vocal

Hylton perforMinG arts center 10960 George Mason Circle, Manassas. (703) 993-7759. Under the Streetlamp. 8 p.m. $32–$54. hyltoncenter.org.

34 september 15, 2017 washingtoncitypaper.com

World

wolf trap filene center 1551 Trap Road, Vienna.

(703) 255-1900. Gipsy Kings. 8 p.m. $40–$65. wolftrap.org.

Sunday rock

Black cat BackstaGe 1811 14th St. NW. (202) 6674490. The NRIs. 7:30 p.m. $10. blackcatdc.com. dc9 1940 9th St. NW. (202) 483-5000. Ryan Sheridan and Ronan Nolan. 8 p.m. $12. dcnine.com.

Gypsy sally’s 3401 K St. NW. (202) 333-7700.

Drewcifer. 8 p.m. $13–$15. gypsysallys.com. tHe HaMilton 600 14th St. NW. (202) 787-1000. Paul Kelly. 7:30 p.m. $25–$45. thehamiltondc.com.

ElEctronic

flasH 645 Florida Ave. NW. (202) 827-8791. Benoit & Sergio, Ian Pooley. 2 p.m. $5–$8. Goldie. 8 p.m. $20–$30. flashdc.com. rHizoMe dc 6950 Maple St. NW. Sonic Circuits Festival of Experimental Music. 4 p.m. $15. rhizomedc.org.

Folk

iota cluB & café 2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington. (703) 522-8340. Parsonfield. 7:30 p.m. $15. iotaclubandcafe.com.

Funk & r&B

BetHesda Blues & Jazz 7719 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda. (240) 330-4500. Soul Revival. 7:30 p.m. $20. bethesdabluesjazz.com.

Hip-Hop

wolf trap filene center 1551 Trap Road, Vienna. (703) 255-1900. Daddy Yankee. 8 p.m. $45–$115. wolftrap.org.

Jazz

Blues alley 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW. (202) 3374141. Yellowjackets. 8 p.m.; 10 p.m. $47–$52. bluesalley.com. sonGByrd Music House and record cafe 2477 18th St. NW. (202) 450-2917. The JuJu Exchange. 8 p.m. $16–$18. songbyrddc.com. twins Jazz 1344 U St. NW. (202) 234-0072. Levon Mikaelian. 8 p.m.; 10 p.m. $22. twinsjazz.com.

opEra

kennedy center opera House 2700 F St. NW. (202) 467-4600. Washington National Opera: Aida. 2 p.m. $45–$300. kennedy-center.org.

SEPTEMBER 19-21 WARNER THEATRE washingtoncitypaper.com september 15, 2017 35

Vocal

tropicalia 2001 14th St. NW. (202) 629-4535. Pretty Boi Drag. 4 p.m. $10–$15. tropicaliadc.com.

3701 Mount Vernon Ave. Alexandria, VA • 703-549-7500

For entire schedule go to Birchmere.com Find us on Facebook/Twitter!

Tix @ Ticketmaster.com 800-745-3000

SEPTEMBER F 15

S 16

A TRIBUTE TO THE MUSIC OF MOTOWN JOE CLAIR & FRIENDS COMEDY SHOW 2 SHOWS 7/10PM

SU 17 SOUL REVIVAL

MYCAH CHEVALIER: A CELEBRATION OF LIFE & PREVIEW NEW CD THE CREOLE BUTTERFLY TH 21 MICHAEL HENDERSON & CHERRELLE STARSHIP LANDING F 22 MARCUS JOHNSON S 23 BE’LA DONA SU 24 A TRIBUTE TO THE MUSIC OF THE O’JAYS FEAT. FOREVER YOURS W 27 COCO MONTOYA + VINTAGE 18 F 29 DEXTER WANSEL PRESENTS SOUNDS OF PHILADELPHIA W 20

JUST ANNOUNCED 10/1

11/3

BRICLYN ENT. PINK ALIVE BREAST CANCER CONCERT W/ MAIMOUNA YOUSSEF, THE AMOURS & VICTORIA SKIE JESSE COLIN YOUNG BAND

http://igg.me/at/bethesdablues 7719 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda, MD

(240) 330-4500

www. BethesdaBluesJazz.com Two Blocks from Bethesda Metro/Red Line Free Parking on Weekends

Sept 14

15 16 17

PENNY & SPARROW KARLA BONOFF MAYSA RALPHIE MAY

Lowland Hum

18&19

An Evening with

RANDY NEWMAN 20 BRAND X REUNION TOUR with THE JANE GETTER PREMONITION Alan Holzman, Mark Egan, Rocky Bryant, Alex Skolnik

VALERIE JUNE 22 JOHN McCUTCHEON 23 RED MOLLY 24 AVERY*SUNSHINE 26 CHRIS HILLMAN & HERB PEDERSON with JOHN JORGENSON 27 JESSE COOK Amythyst Kiah

21

Beyond Borders Tour 2017

28

THE RIPPINGTONS featuring Russ

Freeman

HERE COME THE MUMMIES 30 LEO KOTTKE 29

In the

Oct 1

!

MASHROU’ LEILA All Standing Doors 6pm

3

HERMAN’S HERMITS starring PETER NOONE In the

4

!

THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS with Bash & Pop All Standing Doors 6pm

the

METERS W/ 7COME11

THURSDAY SEPT

SMITHER W/ MILTON FRIDAY

SEPT 15

36 september 15, 2017 washingtoncitypaper.com

Jazz

Blues alley 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW. (202) 3374141. Dave Kline Band. 8 p.m.; 10 p.m. $39. bluesalley.com.

opEra

kennedy center opera House 2700 F St. NW. (202) 467-4600. Washington National Opera: Aida. 7 p.m. $45–$300. kennedy-center.org.

Vocal

BircHMere 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria.

(703) 549-7500. Randy Newman. 7:30 p.m. $93.75. birchmere.com.

9:30 cluB 815 V St. NW. (202) 265-0930. Broken Social Scene. 7 p.m. $36. 930.com.

STICKY FINGERS

AND TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS

DAMN THE TORPEDOS SUN, SEPT 17

rock Folk

dc9 1940 9th St. NW. (202) 483-5000. CAAMP. 9 p.m. $12–$14. dcnine.com.

Hip-Hop

u street Music Hall 1115 U St. NW. (202) 588-1889.

Kari Faux. 7 p.m. $15. ustreetmusichall.com.

Jazz

PAUL KELLY

W/ SPECIAL GUEST JESS CORNELIUS

Blues alley 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW. (202) 3374141. Peter Cincotti. 8 p.m.; 10 p.m. $57. bluesalley.com.

TUES, SEPT 19

Vocal

SEUN KUTI & EGYPT 80 W/ SAHEL

BircHMere 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria.

(703) 549-7500. Randy Newman. 7:30 p.m. $93.75. birchmere.com.

WED, SEPT 20

World

RADNEY FOSTER

A SPECIAL ACOUSTIC CD/BOOK RELEASE PARTY

W/ CHAD ELLIOTT

FRI, SEPT 22

THE STEELDRIVERS SAT, SEPT 23

WILL HOGE W/ DAN LAYUS THURS, SEPT 28

GOGO PENGUIN W/ THE MATTSON 2

tHe HaMilton 600 14th St. NW. (202) 787-1000.

Sean Kuti & Egypt 80. 7:30 p.m. $17.25–$22.25. thehamiltondc.com.

WEdnESday rock

9:30 cluB 815 V St. NW. (202) 265-0930. Broken Social Scene. 7 p.m. $36. 930.com.

Black cat BackstaGe 1811 14th St. NW. (202) 6674490. Whiskey Shivers + Billy Strings. 7:30 p.m. $15. blackcatdc.com. dc9 1940 9th St. NW. (202) 483-5000. The Mynabirds. 8:30 p.m. $12–$15. dcnine.com.

ALL GOOD PRESENTS

rock & roll Hotel 1353 H St. NE. (202) 388-7625.

Middle Kids. 8 p.m. $15–$18. rockandrollhoteldc.com.

W/ MIDNIGHT NORTH

country

ERIC KRASNO BAND SAT, SEPT 30

AN EVENING WITH THE

BAD PLUS

SUN, OCT 1

AN EVENING WITH

tHe HaMilton 600 14th St. NW. (202) 787-1000.

Radney Foster. 8:30 p.m. $15–$40. thehamiltondc.com. sonGByrd Music House and record cafe 2477 18th St. NW. (202) 450-2917. Paul Caution. 8 p.m. $15–$18. songbyrddc.com.

CLASSIC ALBUMS LIVE: RUSH 2112

dJ nigHtS

WED, OCT 4

ElEctronic

W/ MARY BRAGG

flasH 645 Florida Ave. NW. (202) 827-8791. Martin Jensen. 10 p.m. $10. flashdc.com. u street Music Hall 1115 U St. NW. (202) 588-1889.

Jax Jones. 10:30 p.m. $10. ustreetmusichall.com.

Jazz

BircHMere 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria.

(703) 549-7500. Brand X. 7:30 p.m. $39.50. birchmere.com.

SATURDAY NOV. 25, 7:30PM

TICKETS ON SALE NOW AT TICKETMASTER.COM OR CALL 800-745-3000

sonGByrd Music House and record cafe 2477 18th St. NW. (202) 450-2917. Loi Loi. 8 p.m. $10. songbyrddc.com.

THE ROLLING STONES

NEWMYER FLYER PRESENTS DREAM DISCS:

THE REBEL THE SOUL & THE SAINT TOUR

DAR CONSTITUTION HALL

ElEctronic

tuESday

KIRK FRANKLIN w/PJ Morton

Black cat BackstaGe 1811 14th St. NW. (202) 6674490. The Baggios. 7:30 p.m. $10. blackcatdc.com.

SAT, SEPT 16

THE SECRET SISTERS

LEDISI

14

CHRIS

TERRI CLARK 6 EUGE GROOVE 7&8 THE WHISPERS 9 WYNONNA & THE BIG NOISE 10 BUDDY GUY 11 EMILY SALIERS (of Indigo Girls) Murmuration Nation Tour

rock

FUNKY

FRI, SEPT 29

5

Monday

THEHAMILTONDC.COM

Blues alley 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW. (202) 3374141. Marcus Mitchell, Marcus Young, Marcus Canty. 8 p.m.; 10 p.m. $39. bluesalley.com.

LIVE SEPTEMBER 22-24 WARNER THEATRE washingtoncitypaper.com september 15, 2017 37

Patti Smith at Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, Sept. 18 Howard tHeatre 620 T St. NW. (202) 803-2899.

Lizz Wright. 8 p.m. $39.50–$75. thehowardtheatre.com. twins Jazz 1344 U St. NW. (202) 234-0072. Endless Field. 8 p.m.; 10 p.m. $22. twinsjazz.com.

Vocal

BetHesda Blues & Jazz 7719 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda. (240) 330-4500. Mycah Chevalier. 8 p.m. $20. bethesdabluesjazz.com. u street Music Hall 1115 U St. NW. (202) 588-1889.

Gabrielle Aplin. 7 p.m. $20. ustreetmusichall.com.

World

state tHeatre 220 N. Washington St., Falls Church.

(703) 237-0300. Alejandro Lerner. 8 p.m. $59–$99. thestatetheatre.com.

tHurSday rock

aMp By stratHMore 11810 Grand Park Ave., North Bethesda. (301) 581-5100. John Waite. 8 p.m. $30–$40. ampbystrathmore.com. ecHostaGe 2135 Queens Chapel Road NE. (202) 503-2330. STS9. 5:59 p.m. $25–$35. echostage.com.

Gypsy sally’s 3401 K St. NW. (202) 333-7700. Polyrhythmics. 8:30 p.m. $10–$12. gypsysallys.com.

ElEctronic

AREYOUAWINNER?

PROvEIt!

u street Music Hall 1115 U St. NW. (202) 588-1889.

Sinjin Hawke & Zora Jones. 10 p.m. $10. ustreetmusichall.com.

Folk

Black cat BackstaGe 1811 14th St. NW. (202) 6674490. Gaby Moreno. 7:30 p.m. $15–$18. blackcatdc.com. sonGByrd Music House and record cafe 2477 18th St. NW. (202) 450-2917. The 9 Songwriter Series with Justin Trawick. 8 p.m. $10–$12. songbyrddc.com.

Funk & r&B

BetHesda Blues & Jazz 7719 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda. (240) 330-4500. Michael Henderson & Cherrelle. 8 p.m. $45–$75. bethesdabluesjazz.com.

Blues alley 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW. (202) 3374141. Trina Broussard. 8 p.m.; 10 p.m. $44.50. bluesalley.com.

Hip-Hop

dc9 1940 9th St. NW. (202) 483-5000. Grieves. 9 p.m. $15. dcnine.com.

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38 september 15, 2017 washingtoncitypaper.com

Howard tHeatre 620 T St. NW. (202) 803-2899.

Digable Planets. 9 p.m. $37.50–$77.50. thehowardtheatre.com.

opEra

kennedy center opera House 2700 F St. NW. (202) 467-4600. Washington National Opera: Aida.

7:30 p.m. $45–$300. kennedy-center.org.

Vocal

rock & roll Hotel 1353 H St. NE. (202) 388-7625.

VÉRITÉ. 8 p.m. $13–$15. rockandrollhoteldc.com.

Theater

tHe arsonists Woolly Mammoth Theatre presents a new production and translation of Max Frisch’s reflection on Nazism and Communism. The themes in this classic comedy remain relevant today and Woolly’s production stars company members Colin K. Bills, Michael John Garcés, Tim Getman, Kimberly Gilbert, Misha Kachman, Jared Mezzocchi, Ivania Stack, Emily Townley, and outgoing artistic director Howard Shalwitz. Woolly Mammoth Theatre. 641 D St. NW. To Oct. 8. $20–$59. (202) 393-3939. woollymammoth.net.

Blue caMp Set on an army base in 1964, prior to the Gulf of Tonkin incident, this drama by Tim Caggiano and Jack Calvin Hanna follows homosexual soldiers, kept in one barrack, and soldiers accused of criminal actions, kept in a separate one, in the moments leading up to the Vietnam War. DC Arts Center. 2438 18th St. NW. To Sept. 18. $15. (202) 462-7833. dcartscenter.org. tHe devil’s Music: tHe life & Blues of Bessie sMitH Mosaic Theater Company opens its third season with this chronicle of Bessie Smith’s final performance, after being tirned away from a whites-only club. Actress Miche Brandon channels Smith’s pain in this musical revue directed by Joe Brancato. Atlas Performing Arts Center. 1333 H St. NE. To Sept. 24. $20–$65. (202) 399-7993. atlasarts.org. don Juan tenorio, tHe infaMous seducer of all tiMes Nando López adapts the story of the legendary lothario in this world premiere production directed by José Carrasquillo. When the famous and suave Don Juan is felled by the love of a woman, his entire worldview changes in this sensual and poetic drama. GALA Hispanic Theatre. 3333 14th St. NW. To Oct. 1. $25–$55. (202) 234-7174. galatheatre.org. tHe Heidi cHronicles Rep Stage opens its season with Wendy Wasserstein’s Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy about an acclaimed art historian who struggles to find her place in the rapidly changing world and within the women’s movement. Set in the 1980s, when women were battling for recognition in the workplace, this play wonders out loud whether women can ever have it all. Rep Stage at Howard Community College. 10901 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia. To Sept. 24. $10–$40. (443) 518-1500. repstage.org. i killed My MotHer Erica Chamblee stars in the D.C. premiere of this drama about a woman who survives abandonment, abuse, and societal pressure to find hope in life. Natalia Gleason directs this searing rumination on the human spirit by Hungarian-Roma-

LIVE SEPTEMBER 25-27 WARNER THEATRE washingtoncitypaper.com september 15, 2017 39

TRIVIA E V E RY M O N DAY & W E D N E S DAY

$12 BURGER & BEER MON-FRI 4 P M -7 P M

600 beers from around the world

Downstairs: good food, great beer: all day every day *all shows 21+

SEPTEMBER 15TH

DCWEIRDO SHOW

D O O R S AT 8 P M , S H OW AT 9 P M SEPTEMBER 16TH

SMASHED:NERDYAND DIRTY COMEDY AT 8 P M

BIER BARON’S FALL SOUR SHOWCASE SEPTEMBER 17TH

SCIENCE COMEDY

P R E S E N T E D BY KA S H A PAT E L SEPTEMBER 18TH

DISTRICTTRIVIA AT 7 : 3 0 P M COMICSAND COCKTAILS SPONSORED BY FANTOM COMICS 6:30PM

SEPTEMBER 19TH

CAPITAL LAUGHS OPEN MIC AT 8 : 3 0 P M

SEPTEMBER 20TH AT 7 : 3 0 P M

DISTRICTTRIVIA

SEPTEMBER 21ST

TALES FROMTHE ROUNDWORLD: THE LOG OFTHE SALTY PEARL, BURLESQUE OFTHE HIGH SEAS

DOORS AT 7:30PM, SHOW AT 8PM SEPTEMBER 23RD

NOTYOUR MOM’S SEX ED SHOW! PRESENTED BY MANIC PIXIE NIGHTMARES

DOORS AT 8PM, SHOW AT 9PM SEPTEMBER 24TH

SUNDAY COMICS

HOSTED BY RUDYWILSON SEPTEMBER 25TH

DISTRICTTRIVIA AT 7 : 3 0 P M COMICSAND COCKTAILS SPONSORED BY FANTOM COMICS 6:30PM 1523 22nd St NW – Washington, DC 20037 (202) 293-1887 - www.bierbarondc.com @bierbarondc.com for news and events

40 september 15, 2017 washingtoncitypaper.com

nian playwright Andras Visky. Spooky Action Theater.

1810 16th St. NW. To Sept. 30. $25. (202) 248-0301. spookyaction.org. in tHe HeiGHts Olney Theatre Center and Round House Theatre collaborate on a new production of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first musical. Set in New York’s Washington Heights neighborhood, the play follows the neighborhood residents as they try to make their fortunes in the neighborhood. Tony nominee and original Broadway cast member Robin de Jesús stars as Usnavi. Olney Theatre Center. 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney. To Oct. 8. $37–$84. (301) 9243400. olneytheatre.org.

Jesus Hopped tHe “a” train As a bike messenger waits on Rikers Island for his murder trial, he meets a born-again serial killer who challenges the way he looks at the world and changes his life forever in this emotional drama. Directors Alex Levy and Juan Francisco Villa kick off 1st Stage’s 10th anniversary season with their take on Stephen Adly Guirgis’ play about redemption and friendship. 1st Stage. 1524 Spring Hill Road, McLean. To Oct. 8. $15–$33. (703) 854-1856.

1ststagetysons.org.

Julius caesar Scena Theatre presents a modern retelling of Shakespeare’s classic drama about power and ambition that makes connections between ancient Rome and contemporary Washington. Director Robert McNamara stars in this production, leading a cast of American and Irish actors. Atlas Performing Arts Center. 1333 H St. NE. To Sept. 24. $30–$40. (202) 399-7993. atlasarts.org. lela & co. Factory 449 presents this spooky drama about a woman’s struggle for survival and the small changes that put on edge. Helen Hayes Award-nominee Felicia Curry stars in this production directed

by Rick Hammerly. Anacostia Arts Center. 1231 Good Hope Road SE. To Sept. 30. anacostiaartscenter.com. a little niGHt Music Set in Sweden over the course of one magical night, this classic musical from Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler chronicles the love affairs of an aging actress, a married virgin, a student, and a count. Signature artistic director Eric Schaeffer leads this production that features favorite songs including “A Weekend in the Country” and “Send In the Clowns.” Signature Theatre. 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington. To Oct. 8. $68–$101. (703) 8209771. sigtheatre.org. native Gardens Local playwright Karen Zacarias takes on neighborhood disputes in her latest play, which follows the conflict between pregnant couple, the couple next door, and one very contentious fence. Blake Robinson directs this comedy, a co-production with Minneapolis’ Guthrie Theatre. Arena Stage. 1101 6th St. SW. To Oct. 22. $56–$91. (202) 4883300. arenastage.org. neverwHere Rorschach Theater brings back its adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s spooky novel about a man who stumbles into a lively world that exists below London. Occupied by angels, monsters, and beasts, this land welcomes newcomers who know where to find it. This remounted production is directed by Jenny McConnell Frederick. Atlas Performing Arts Center. 1333 H St. NE. To Oct. 1. $20–$30. (202) 399-7993. atlasarts.org. skeleton crew Set in one of Detroit’s last autostamping plant, this play follows a close-knit family of workers who must figure out the lengths they’ll go to to survive as rumors start to echo through the factory. Patricia McGregor directs this drama written by Detroit native Dominique Morisseau. Studio Theatre.

1501 14th St. NW. To Oct. 8. $20–$85. (202) 332-3300. studiotheatre.org. to reacH tHe unreacHaBle star Open Circle Theatre, a local company that provides opportunities for disabled and able-bodied performers, spreads its mission with this 90-minute cabaret show full of song and dance. Led by performer Rob McQuay, this production is directed by Suzanne Richard. Silver Spring Black Box Theatre. 8641 Colesville Road, Silver Spring. To Sept. 17. $50. tHe wild party Enter a den of debauchery and passion while watching this musical about love affairs and alcohol set in Prohibition-era New York.

Based on a poem by Joseph Moncure March and written by Andrew Lippa, the musical is directed at Constellation Theatre Company by Allison Arkell Stockman. Constellation Theatre at Source. 1835 14th St. NW. To Oct. 29. $25–$55. (202) 204-7741. constellationtheatre.org. tHe wizard of Hip After nearly 30 years, this musical coming-of-age tale from Thomas W. Jones II returns to MetroStage. As the central character tries to figure out what’s “hip,” he learns to find his place in

Ted Leo & The Pharmacists at Black Cat, Sept. 15 and 16 the world as he explores issues related to class, gender, and race. MetroStage. 1201 N. Royal St., Alexandria. To Sept. 17. $55–$60. (703) 548-9044. metrostage.org. word BecoMes flesH As a father waits for his son to be born, he begins communicating with the child and chronicling his emotions. Theater Alliance opens its 2017/2018 season with a remounting of its awardwinning production of this Marc Bamuthi Joseph.

Anacostia Playhouse. 2020 Shannon Place SE. To Oct. 8 $30–$40. (202) 290-2328. anacostiaplayhouse.com.

Film

after love What happens to a romantic relationship when the couple falls out of love? Bérénice Bejo and Cédric Kahn play a man and a woman facing this dilemma in this drama, presented as part of the Avalon’s French Cinémathèque series. (See washingtoncitypaper.com for venue information) aMerican assassin After losing his parents in a car accident and his girlfriend in a terrorist attack, a young man seeks revenge and joins the CIA as a black ops recruit. Partnered with a Cold War veteran, the two work together to stop another world war from breaking out in the Middle East. Starring Dylan O’Brien, Sanaa Lathan, and Michael Keaton. (See washingtoncitypaper.com for venue information) HoMe aGain Reese Witherspoon plays a single mother who takes in three young men as roommates in this comedy from Hallie Meyers-Shyer. Co-starring Reid Scott, Michael Sheen, and Lake Bell. (See washingtoncitypaper.com for venue information) it A murderous clown terrifies the children of a small Maine town in this adaptation of the 1986 Stephen King novel. Directed by Andy Muschietti, the film stars Bill Skarsgård and Jaeden Lieberher. (See washingtoncitypaper.com for venue information) MotHer! Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem star in Darren Aronofsky’s creepy psychological thriller about a couple who find their status quo disrupted by a group of unexpected guests. Also featuring Michelle Pfeiffer, Ed Harris, and Domhnall Gleason. (See washingtoncitypaper.com for venue information) reBel in tHe rye Nicholas Hoult plays the reclusive author J.D. Salinger in this biopic from director Danny Strong. Co-starring Kevin Spacey, Sarah Paulson, and Zoey Deutch. (See washingtoncitypaper.com for venue information)

LIVE SEPTEMBER 28-30 WARNER THEATRE washingtoncitypaper.com september 15, 2017 41

Judge Clingman

Contents: Adult . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Auto/Wheels/Boat . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Buy, Sell, Trade Marketplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Health/Mind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Body & Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Housing/Rentals . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Legal Notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Music/Music Row . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Pets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Real Estate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Shared Housing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Diversions Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

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CITYPAPER WASHINGTON

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Legals CITY ARTS AND PREP PCS solicits proposals for related services to students with 504s or IEPs, such as therapy, PT, OT and speech. Proposals shall be received no later than 5:00 p.m. EST on Tuesday, October 3, 2017. For full RFP and to submit proposals please email bids@cityartspcs. org.

STATE OF NEW MEXICO IN THE DISTRICT COURT FIFTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT LEA COUNTY No. D-506-CV-2017-00528 Judge Clingman EAU ROUGE LLC, Plaintiff v.

TRACY LYNN SERETEAN; SCOTT ALAN SERETEAN; AMANDA MARIE SERETEAN, ALSO KNOWN AS AMANDA GROSSMAN; PATRISHIA SHANE SERETEAN; BURL JACKSON BANDY, ALSO KNOWN AS B. JACK BANDY; BURL JACKSON BANDY, AS TRUSTEE UNDER THE WILL OF SARAH AGNES BANDY; BURL JACKSON BANDY III; BURL JACKSON BANDY III, TRUSTEE UNDER THE WILL OF SARAH AGNES BANDY; MURRAY W. BANDY; MURRAY W. BANDY, TRUSTEE UNDER THE WILL OF SARAH AGNES BANDY; TANA BANDY HARLAN; TANA BANDY HARLAN, TRUSTEE UNDER THE WILL OF SARAH AGNES BANDY; JOHN W. MASON; MARGARET ANN WILLOUGHBY MASON, ALSO KNOWN AS ANNIE MASON; FREDERICK H. PRINCE, ALSO KNOWN AS FREDERICK H. PRINCE IV; AND DIANA C. PRINCE; and THE UNKNOWN HEIRS OF THE FOLLOWING DECEASED PERSONS: MARTIN B. SERETEAN, ALSO KNOWN AS M. B. SERETEAN AND AS BUD SERETEAN; FAROL FAYE FINKELSTEIN SERETEAN; AND SARAH AGNES BANDY, ALSO KNOWN AS AGGIE BANDY; and ALL UNKNOWN CLAIMANTS OF INTEREST IN THE PREMISES ADVERSE TO THE PLAINTIFF; Defendants.

NOTICE OF SUIT PENDING

EAU ROUGE LLC, Plaintiff v.

TRACY LYNN SERETEAN; SCOTT ALAN SERETEAN; AMANDA MARIE SERETEAN, ALSO KNOWN AS AMANDA GROSSMAN; PATRISHIA SHANE SERETEAN; BURL JACKSON BANDY, ALSO KNOWN AS B. JACK BANDY; BURL JACKSON BANDY, AS TRUSTEE UNDER THE WILL OF SARAH AGNES BANDY; BURL JACKSON BANDY III; BURL JACKSON BANDY III, TRUSTEE UNDER THE WILL OF SARAH AGNES BANDY; MURRAY W. BANDY; MURRAY W. BANDY, TRUSTEE UNDER THE WILL OF SARAH AGNES BANDY; TANA BANDY HARLAN; TANA BANDY Legals HARLAN, TRUSTEE UNDER THE WILL OF SARAH AGNES BANDY; JOHN W. MASON; MARGARET ANN WILLOUGHBY MASON, ALSO KNOWN AS ANNIE MASON; FREDERICK H. PRINCE, ALSO KNOWN AS FREDERICK H. PRINCE IV; AND DIANA C. PRINCE; and THE UNKNOWN HEIRS OF THE FOLLOWING DECEASED PERSONS: MARTIN B. SERETEAN, ALSO KNOWN AS M. B. SERETEAN AND AS BUD SERETEAN; FAROL FAYE FINKELSTEIN SERETEAN; AND SARAH AGNES BANDY, ALSO KNOWN AS AGGIE BANDY; and ALL UNKNOWN CLAIMANTS OF INTEREST IN THE PREMISES ADVERSE TO THE PLAINTIFF; Defendants.

NOTICE OF SUIT PENDING TO: UNKNOWN HEIRS OF THE FOLLOWING DECEASED PERSONS: •Martin B. Seretean, also known as M.B. Seretean and as Bud Seretean; •Farol Faye Finkelstein Seretean •Sarah Agnes Bandy, also known as Aggie Bandy TO: UNKNOWN CLAIMANTS OF INTEREST IN THE PREMISES ADVERSE TO THE PLAINTIFF YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that the above-entitled action was filed in the above-entitled Court on April 19, 2017 by EAU ROUGE LLC. This lawsuit is a quiet title action that involves a controversy over title to oil, gas and other mineral rights previously owned or claimed by the following deceased persons: Martin B. Seretean, also known as M.B. Seretean and as Bud Seretean; Farol Faye Finkelstein Seretean; and Sarah Agnes Bandy, also known as Aggie Bandy, located in Lea County, New Mexico, and more particularly described as: Parcel 1: An undivided 16.55274% of the oil and gas operating rights (being the aggregate of interests formerly owned of record by Martin B. Seretean, B. Jack Bandy, Frederick H. Prince, and John W. Mason) in, to, and under United States Oil and Gas Lease NM 4312, insofar as it covers depths between the surface and 13,529 feet below the surface in the following described land: Township 19 South, Range 33 East, N.M.P.M. Section 1: Lots 1, 2, S½NE¼, SE¼ Parcel 2: An undivided 14.20899% of the oil and gas operating rights (being the aggregate of interests formerly owned of record by Martin B. Seretean, B. Jack Bandy, Frederick H. Prince, and John W. Mason) in, to, and under United States Oil and Gas Lease NM 4312, insofar as it covers depths between the surface and 13,500 feet below the surface in the following described land: Township 19 South, Range 33 East, N.M.P.M. Section 12: E½

•Farol Faye Finkelstein Seretean •Sarah Agnes Bandy, also known as Aggie Bandy

Parcel 3: An undivided 5.98231% of the oil and gas operating rights (being the aggregate of interests formerly owned of record by Martin B. Seretean and Frederick H. Prince) in, to, and under United States Oil and Gas Lease NM 4314, insofar as it covers depths between the surface and 13,245 feet below the surface in the following described land:

TO: UNKNOWN CLAIMANTS OF

Township 19 South, Range 34

TO: UNKNOWN HEIRS OF THE FOLLOWING DECEASED PERSONS: •Martin B. Seretean, also known as M.B. Seretean and as Bud

42 September 15, 2017 washingtoncitypaper.com Seretean;

on April 19, 2017 by EAU ROUGE LLC. This lawsuit is a quiet title action that involves a controversy over title to oil, gas and other mineral rights previously owned or claimed by the following deceased persons: Martin B. Seretean, also known as M.B. Seretean and as Bud Seretean; Farol Faye Finkelstein Seretean; and Sarah Agnes Bandy, also known as Aggie Bandy, located in Lea County, New Mexico, and more particularly described as: Parcel 1: An undivided 16.55274% of the oil and gas operating rights (being the aggregate of interests formerly owned of record by Martin B. Seretean, B. Jack Bandy, Frederick H. Prince, and John W. Mason) in, to, and under United Legals States Oil and Gas Lease NM 4312, insofar as it covers depths between the surface and 13,529 feet below the surface in the following described land: Township 19 South, Range 33 East, N.M.P.M. Section 1: Lots 1, 2, S½NE¼, SE¼ 2: An undivided Parcel 14.20899% of the oil and gas operating rights (being the aggregate of interests formerly owned of record by Martin B. Seretean, B. Jack Bandy, Frederick H. Prince, and John W. Mason) in, to, and under United States Oil and Gas Lease NM 4312, insofar as it covers depths between the surface and 13,500 feet below the surface in the following described land: Township 19 South, Range 33 East, N.M.P.M. Section 12: E½ Parcel 3: An undivided 5.98231% of the oil and gas operating rights (being the aggregate of interests formerly owned of record by Martin B. Seretean and Frederick H. Prince) in, to, and under United States Oil and Gas Lease NM 4314, insofar as it covers depths between the surface and 13,245 feet below the surface in the following described land: Township 19 South, Range 34 East, N.M.P.M. Section 6: Lots 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, S½NE¼, SE¼NW¼, NE¼SW¼, N½ Parcel 4: An undivided 5.98231% of the oil and gas operating rights (being the aggregate of interests formerly owned of record by Martin B. Seretean and Frederick H. Prince) in, to, and under United States Oil and Gas Lease NM 6869, insofar as it covers depths between the surface and 13,245 feet below the surface in the following described land: Township 19 South, Range 34 East, N.M.P.M. Section 6: Lot 7, SE¼SW¼, S½SE¼ A default judgment may be entered against you for the relief requested in the Complaint if a written response is not filed with the Lea County District Clerk, 100 N. Main Ave., Box 6C, Lovington, New Mexico 88260, within thirty (30) days from the last date of this publication. A copy of your answer or responsive pleading must be mailed to the attorneys for EAU ROUGE LLC.: Bill B. Caraway, Kelly Hart & Hallman LLP, 508 West Wall Street, Ste. 444, Midland, Texas 79701, Tel. (432) 683-4691.

WITNESS my hand and Seal of Court this 24th day of August, 2017 Nelda Cuellar CLERK OF THE DISTRICT COURT By: /s/ Sandy Long, Deputy Clerk

of the oil and gas operating rights (being the aggregate of interests formerly owned of record by Martin B. Seretean and Frederick H. Prince) in, to, and under United States Oil and Gas Lease NM 6869, insofar as it covers depths between the surface and 13,245 feet below the surface in the following described land: Township 19 South, Range 34 East, N.M.P.M. Section 6: Lot 7, SE¼SW¼, S½SE¼ A default judgment may be entered against you for the relief requested in the Complaint if a written response is not filed with the Lea County District Clerk, 100 N. Main Ave., Box 6C, Lovington, Legals New Mexico 88260, within thirty (30) days from the last date of this publication. A copy of your answer or responsive pleading must be mailed to the attorneys for EAU ROUGE LLC.: Bill B. Caraway, Kelly Hart & Hallman LLP, 508 West Wall Street, Ste. 444, Midland, Texas 79701, Tel. (432) 683-4691.

WITNESS my hand and Seal of Court this 24th day of August, 2017 Nelda Cuellar CLERK OF THE DISTRICT COURT By: /s/ Sandy Long, Deputy Clerk

Homes for Sale

HOUSE FOR SALE. Gorgeous 4 BD 3.5 BA in the great community of Hillcrest.

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Condos for Rent Adams Morgan/Petworth First Month ‘s Rent free. 1BR with den condo, fully renovated, secure building, granite kitchen, new appliances, W/D, DW, CAC. Metro 1 block away, Safway across the st, assigned parking, $1775/mo.

Ready now. NO PETS. If properly maintained rent will not increase (ask for details). 941 Randolph St. NW. 301-775-5701.

Rooms for Rent Capitol Hill - H St. NE Corridor - Furnished Rooms Available: Short-term or Long-term.

The space includes: free utilities, free WiFi, W/D, and Kitchen use. Rental amount is just - $1,100/month! Near major bus lines, Trolley, and Union Station - visit my website for details and pictures www.TheCurryEstate.com and/or call Eddie @ 202-744-9811.

Clean Spacious Rooms Furnished, Rhode Island Ave Metro, New carpet and paint, Full size bed, closet, 2 windows, cable, internet, washer and dryer, parking included, clean quite house, clean quite neighborhood, 160/wk, or 640/mo, 350 security deposit, 510 to move in, Derek 202-3677003 Rooms for rent in SE DC near Pennsylvania and Branch Ave. Furnished/unfurnished, Nonsmoking. Metro accessible. Includes W/D, internet, off-street parking and utils. $700-800/mo.

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Business Opportunities PAID IN ADVANCE! Make $1000 A Week Mailing Brochures From Home! No Experience Required.

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Career Instruction/ Training/Schools AIRLINE CAREERS begin here – Get started by training as FAA certified Aviation Technician. Financial aid for qualified students. Job placement assistance. Call Aviation Institute of Maintenance 800-725-1563

Education Education: The Howard University in Washington, DC seeks Lecturer, Design f/t to teach grad & undergrad courses w/in Art & Design curriculum. Req’s Master of Fine Arts or frgn equiv degree w/major in Graphic Design or closely rel fld. Email resume to HU-recruitment@howard.edu & ref 17-179.

Restaurant/Hospitality/ Hotel

JINYA RAMEN BAR DC 1336 14th St NW Looking For Experienced SERVERS & BARTENDERS (Part-Time/Full-Time) APPLY IN PERSON Monday-Friday 10am-4:30pm or EMAIL RESUME TO: jinyajobs@harvesteats.com

Home Services Dish Network-Satellite Television Services. Now Over 190 channels for ONLY $49.99/mo!

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25 Grp. that can lower your Sprint bill 26 Cheese ball brand 27 ___Lanka 30 Vermin 31 Tip jar bills 32 ___a manger (“ready to eat�)

33 With 36-Across, showstopper?

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48 Of note 51 Carp cousin 53 Ten: Pref.

55 Fiddle with 56 Kinda drunken 57 One with a handle on the road?

58 Wonderfilled cookie 59 A Doll’s House mother 61 The Buckeye state 62 Lie about 63 ___buco 65 Rio hello 66 Berlin Airlift grp.

1 Bridge to Notre Dame 5 Bubble up?

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16 Like humor that’s not humor 17 Their website says “The Fight Is On�

18 Mystical kneecap?

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32 Org. that recruits at the start of the school year 35 See 29-Across 36 See 33-Down 39 Most ready for picking 41 Super Bowl III winning coach Weeb 43 Continuously 44 Uses a Norelco 49 Talented

50 Totally not good for you 52 Utah city 53 Times when action is required 54 Drink made by steeping Indian bread?

57 Eat up 60 Renaissance man Machiavelli 64 Axiom that emphasizes your male friends over pity?

67 Designer Saarinen 68 Modern Family actor Gould and namesakes 69 Masseuse’s stuff 70 Brownish horse 71 Not airtight 72 Caramel candy

Down

Across

1 Insects in their cocoons 2 Its website can be reached on flychicago.com 3 Off 4 They off 5 Has a cold 6 Chris Sale’s stat.

7 Spreadable eggs 8 ___Arbor, Michigan

9 Uncomfortable movement 10 Chorus-like effect 11 Bamboo eaters 12 When the office scenes of Glengarry Glen Ross occur 13 Hard rain 14 Like faulty beer taps 19 Team that plays in the Coliseum 20 Never before seen 24 Stat on car stickers

LAST WEEK: THE FALL 2 / ' 6 $ / 7

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Furniture & Home

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Moving Sale: High quality kitchen set, Glass coffee table, framed decorative prints, rugs and other household items for sale. For detail information and picture please call: 202-841-8733

The Greenbelt Jazz Festival is 1:00 - 11:30 PM at Roosevelt Center and the New Deal Cafe this October 14th. Come hear Big Band Tradition, Brilliant Corners, Funkis Omnibus, and headliner 4ThaGruv . Free (tips requested).

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