Dateline for May 2002

ONGOING EVENTS
Exhibition The Vogel Collection Works from the 40-year span of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s careers. Through June 23 at the National Gallery of Art. Free. Call 737-4215 or visit www.nga.gov.

Theater Stephen Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd” A sweeping tale of romance, vengeance, and murder, Sweeney Todd is a grand musical of comedy, tragedy, and thrills with riveting lyrics and a melodic score. Presented as part of the Kennedy Center’s Sondheim Celebration through June 30. Tickets cost $20–$79. For more information call 467-4600.

Exhibition “Technology as Catalyst: Textile Artists on the Cutting Edge” at the Textile Museum through July 28. The exhibit explores the interconnected role of hi-tech equipment and handwork in the creation of textiles. For more information, call 667-0441 or visit www.textilemuseum.org.

Exhibition “From Monastery to Marketplace: Tradition Inspired Modern Ethiopian Painting” will be on display until January 2003 at the National Museum of Natural History. Call 357-2700 or visit www.si.edu for more information.

$ Exhibition “Lois Mailou Jones: Imagining Africa” Lois Mailou Jones embraced her African ancestry during her long career as an internationally recognized painter and teacher at Howard University. Paintings, text, and film explore Jones’ creative interpretations of her heritage at the National Museum of Women in the Arts through May 19. For more information call 783-5000.

$ Event “Crucial Moments in Washington’s Early History” Sept. 11 is not the first time that a dramatic event has marked a major turning point in the fate of the capital and the nation. Philip Ogilvie surveys critical moments in the city’s history between the 17th and mid-19th centuries through May 23. Sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution. Tickets are $84 for resident members, $76 for senior members, and $129 general admission. For more information call 357-3030.

Exhibition The West Wing: A Chronology documents the history of the west wing of the Smithsonian Castle at the Smithsonian Institution building. Free.

$ Exhibition “Wondrous Journey: The Walters Collection from Egyptian Tombs to Medieval Castles” With a collection that spans 55 centuries of art, the Walters Art Museum is uniquely positioned to tell the story of past civilizations in its new permanent collection. Admission: adults $8, senior citizens $6, young adults (18–25) $5, children under 17, and museum members free. For information call 410/547-9000.

Exhibit “The Ancient West African City of Benin, AD 1300-1897” This exhibition presents the art of the royal court of the Benin Kingdom as it existed before British colonial rule. On display are cast-metal heads, figures and architectural plaques that depict kings and attendants. National Museum of African Art. For information call 357-4600 ext. 291.

TUESDAY / MAY 14
Today in History: In 1607 the first permanent British settlement
in North America was established at Jamestown, VA.

$ Exhibition “Bringing Beauty Back to Basics” The Center for Family Development’s 2002 Designers’ Showcase, through May 26, offers practical and affordable decorating tips for every budget and most rooms, including a children’s playroom, breakfast nook, garden room, boy’s bedroom, nursery, guest bedroom, sitting area, and many more. Showcase hours are Monday through Friday 10 am – 3 pm, Saturday 10 am – 5 pm. Tickets are $18 in advance or $20 at the door. For more information call 301/365-0612.

WEDNESDAY / MAY 15
$ Concert Argentine-born pianist Martha Argerich Recently named Musical America’s Musician of the Year, Argerich will be making her first DC appearance in 30 years at the Kennedy Center at 8:30 pm. Sponsored by the Washington Performing Arts Society. Tickets are $20. For more information call 785-9727 or visit www.wpas.org.

Exhibition “Kaho’olawe” The culture, spiritual practices, and political aspirations of Native Hawaiians are explored by focusing on the history of
the Hawaiian Island of Kaho’olawe. Developed by the Bishop Museum in Hawaii, the exhibit is sponsored by the Smithsonian’s Asian Pacific American Studies Program through Sept. 2 at the Smithsonian Institution’s Arts and Industries Building. Admission is free. For more information call 357-2700 or visit www.si.edu.

Theater “Modern Innovators” Montclair State University, University of Southern Mississippi, Sarah Lawrence College, and Western Michigan University captivate with the physical vocabularies of four living choreographers at the Kennedy Arts Center at 6 pm. Admission is free. For more information call 467-4600.

$ Lecture “Caravaggio: The Man and His Art” Renowned scholar Marius J. Zerafa explores Caravaggio’s astounding body of work within the context of his anguished life at the S. Dillon Ripley Center, 1100 Jefferson Dr., SW, at 6:30 pm. Gen. admission $25; members $20. For tickets and information, call The Smithsonian Associates at 357-3030.

THURSDAY / MAY 16
$ Concert “Leo Kottke Returns!” Acoustic guitar virtuoso Leo Kottke has found a devoted fan base that has elected him and his six- and 12-string guitar to cult level. He’s at the Smithsonian Institution for one night, so don’t miss the chance to see the witty and charming musician in live performance at 7:30 pm. Kottke’s style will make you laugh; his playing will knock you out. Tickets are $19 for resident members, $17 for senior members, and $23 general admission. For more information call 357-3030.

$ Event “Janet and Jackie: The Story of a Mother and her Daughter” Slide lecture/book signing/exhibition viewing. Author Jan Pottker presents a fresh perspective on Jacqueline Kennedy’s relationship with her mother during her White House years. 7 pm in the Hammer Auditorium at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Admission is $18 members, $22 non-members. Call 639–1700 or visit www.corcoran.org.

$ Theater “This is our Youth” Kenneth Lonergan’s first major work, the Pulitzer Prize-nominated play is a living snapshot of the moment between adolescence and adulthood. Presented by The Studio Theatre through June 9. Tickets are $25. For more information call 332-3300.

GW Sports Baseball Atlantic 10 Tournament in Norwich, CT.

$ Film “Angano Angano… Tales from Madagascar” This French and Malagasy film with English subtitles will be screened as part of Art Night on the Mall, 7 pm. Angano recounts the fantastic and often humorous tales of the founding of Malagasy culture and celebrates the role of oral tradition in culture. Sponsored by the National Museum of African Art. For information call 357-4600 ext. 291.

FRIDAY / MAY 17
Norwegian Constitution Day

$ Theater “Company” The smart, bittersweet portrayal of five married couples as seen through the eyes of a bachelor friend. 7:30 pm, The Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater. Tickets cost $20–$79. For information call 467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

Theater Yuqin Wang and Zhangli Xu, puppeteers present the ancient art form of Chinese rod puppetry, combined with music, humor, and special effects at the Kennedy Arts Center at 6 pm. Admission is free. For more information call 467-4600.

Concert “Armed Forces Day Concert” The United States Navy Band performs at the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts in Annapolis, MD at 8 pm. Under the direction of Commander Ralph M. Gambone, the program features John William’s “Midway March,” Hector Berlioz’ “Le Corsaire Overture,” Robert Jager’s “The Wall,” and “Inchon,” by Robert W. Smith. Admission if free. For more information call 433-2525.

SATURDAY / MAY 18
Today in History: In 1896 the Supreme Court ruled in Plessy v. Ferguson that separate-but-equal facilities were insufficient to satisfy the 14th Amendment.

$ Theater “Where The Wild Things Are” Recreated with extravagant beauty and impeccable stagecraft, this remarkable collaboration between famed author/illustrator Maurice Sendak and Septime Webre is a monster show where creatures jump from page to stage at the Warner Theatre through May 19. Sponsored by the Washington Ballet. Tickets are $27–$45. For more information call 362-3606 ext. 135.

$ Seminar “Secret Spycraft of the Cold War” Two Cold War intelligence and spycraft experts offer an unparalleled experience, featuring recently declassified information and a private viewing of espionage devices never before seen publicly, as they reveal the way spies steal and communicate secret information, from 10 am to 4:30 pm. Sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution. Tickets are $75 for resident members, $68 for senior members, and $120 general admission. For more information call 357-3030.

$ Concert The New York Philharmonic Conductor Kurt Masur’s farewell season with the orchestra. Sponsored by the Washington Performing Arts Society at the Kennedy Center. Tickets are $20. For more information call 785-9727 or visit www.wpas.org.

$ Concert “Carmen” Opera’s most famous femme fatale, Carmen, lives by her own rules, free to love and leave as she pleases. 7 pm, Kennedy Center Opera House. Also playing June 1 and 3. Tickets are $41–$255. For information call 467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

$ Seminar “A Day at the British Museum” Learn about the significance of the Rosetta Stone and admire the beauty of Parthenon sculptures, at the Ring Auditorium, 7th & Independence Ave., SW, from 10:30 am through 3:30 pm. Gen. admission $130, members $85. For tickets and information, call 357-3030.

$ Event As part of The Smithsonian Associates, Musica de las Americas series, modern jazz, soprano, sax player, and flautist Jane Bunnett performs. She has made a career of showcasing Cuba’s rich diverse musical legacy and attempting to capture Afro-Cuban music’s rich history. Gen. admission $26, members $21. For tickets and information, call 357-3030.

$ Seminar “UNESCO World Heritage Cities: Saving the Past” Experts focus on three cities: Venice, Bath, and Lyons, and explore the towns’ histories through time, areas of cultural significance, and problems and successes related to their preservation. At the S. Dillon Ripley Center, 1100 Jefferson Dr., SW, from 9:30 am through 4:30 pm. Gen. admission $120, members $75. For tickets and information, call 357-3030.

SUNDAY / MAY 19
Commencement

$ Concert “The Sweet Adeline International Competition” The quartet Fanatix, winner of the 2002 Sweet Adeline International Competition, performs a program of a capella harmonies. At the Ring Auditorium, 7th and Independence SW, at 4 pm. Gen. admission $20, member $16. For tickets and information, call The Smithsonian Associates at 357-3030.

MONDAY / MAY 20
$ Lecture “Guarding the Tower of London” Participants enjoy a slide-illustrated tour of the Great Tower and its components and learn how it has served as a palace, fortress, royal prison, place of execution, arsenal, royal mint, and home to the Crown Jewels. The event also features a firsthand account of the daily activities of protecting it from Yeoman John Keohane. At the Ring Auditorium, 7th & Independence Ave., SW, at 6 pm. Gen. admission $15, members $12. For tickets and information call 357-3030.

TUESDAY / MAY 21
Concert Pianist Jonathan Biss, a regular with the prestigious Musicians from Marlboro tours, performs Beethoven’s op. 57; Chopin’s ops. 60, 61, and 59, nos. 1–3; Debussy’s “Les Estampes,” and Janácek’s “In the Mists,” at the Smithsonian Institution’s Freer Gallery of Art. Admission is free. For more information call 357-2700.

$ Event “Mike Wallace Discusses the Medal of Honor” In a conversation with co-author Allen Mikaelian, acclaimed 60 Minutes reporter Wallace tells the stories of 11 award recipients from the Civil War to Vietnam, and examines what drove them to go so far beyond the call of duty. Mikaelian and Wallace will sign their book, Medal of Honor: 140 Years of American Courage, after the program. At the Baird Auditorium, 10th St. and Constitution Ave. at 8 pm. Gen. admission $15, members $12. For tickets and information, call 357-3030.

$ Theater “Anansi Knows Best” Kofi and Kwame of Anansengromma once again bring the spirit of Africa to Discovery Theater in a show featuring percussion, dance, and stories. Laugh out loud at the mayhem and mishaps that befall this miniature hero on his way to learning about life. At the Discovery Theater, Arts & Industry Building, 900 Jefferson Dr., SW, at 10 am and 11:30 pm through May 23. Young associates and members $3.50, gen. admission: adults $5, children $4. For tickets and information, call 357-3030.

$ Lecture “Orthodox Icons, Timeless Presences” In a richly illustrated lecture, Natalia Himmirska, art teacher at Bemidgi State University, guides participants through the stylistic branches of iconography as it evolved in Constantinople, Bulgaria, and Russia. The lecture also discusses the works of such 15th-century masters as Theophanes the Greek and the Russian Andrey Rublev. At the Dillon Ripley Center, 1100 Jefferson Dr., SW at 6 pm. Gen. admission $14, member $11. For tickets and information, call 357-3030.

WEDNESDAY / MAY 22
Today in History: In 1802 Martha Dandridge Custis Washington died.

$ Event “Champagne Reception at the Botanic Gardens!” Spend an exclusive evening in the beautifully renovated US Botanic Garden savoring the glories of spring-sparkling lights at dusk, fountains flowing, and luminous flowers blooming. Sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution. Tickets are $25 for resident members and $35 general admission. For more information call 357-3030.

$ Concert Broadway star Bernadette Peters will perform at Whitman-Walker Clinic’s Annual Gala at the Mayflower Hotel. All proceeds from the concert will benefit Whitman-Walker Clinic and its health programs. For information call 585-1320.

THURSDAY / MAY 23
Today in History: In 1865 the Army of the Potomac paraded down Pennsylvania Avenue, in Washington, DC, celebrating the conclusion of the Civil War.

$ Event Golden Globe and Academy Award nominee Julian Schnabel. At the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Schnabel discusses his artwork and films at 7 pm. Tickets are $15 for members and $20 for non-members. For more information call 639-1771.

Lecture “Battle Chargers, Nags and Nomad Ponies: The Horse in Chinese Painting.” In conjunction with the Freer Galley of Art exhibition “Year of the Horse: Chinese Horse Paintings,” Robert E. Harris, author and Columbia University art historian, examines the many guises in which horses have appeared in Chinese paintings and the ways they embody human values. Admission is free. For more information call 357-2700.

FRIDAY / MAY 24
$ Event “Bartholdi Park in Late Spring” Tour through Bartholdi Park and gather ideas for your home garden and share ideas with other gardening enthusiasts. US Botanic Gardens at noon. Free, space is limited, pre-registration required. For information call 225-8333.

$ Film “The Piano Teacher” This Austrian/French film (in French with English subtitles) follows a piano teacher at a prestigious music school in Vienna who lives with her overprotective and controlling mother. Lonely and alienated, protagonist finds solace by visiting sex shops and experimenting with masochism. Visions Cinema Bistro Lounge, 1927 Florida Ave. NW. For screening times call 667-0090, or visit www.VisionsDC.com.

WEDNESDAY / MAY 29
GW Book signing GW Professor Emeritus Edward Weismiller will read from his latest book “Walking Towards the Sun,” at Barnes & Noble of Georgetown at 7:30 pm. For more information call 965-9880.

FRIDAY / MAY 31
$ Event “An Evening with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg” Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg speaks about famous wives of Supreme Court Justices, at 6:30 pm. Sponsored by The Smithsonian Institution. Tickets are $12 for resident members, $11 for senior members, and $15 general admission. For more information call 357-3030.

Event “Fire and Ice: A tour of the Summer Terrace Exhibit” US Botanic Garden gardener Wally Reed leads a tour through the eight different gardens in a discussion of the plants and their cultural requirements. Admission is free but space is limited and pre-registration is required. For more information call 225-8333.

Concert “Jazz in the Garden” The National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden every Friday evening through Aug. 30 from 5–8 pm. Free.

SATURDAY / JUNE 1
$ Event “The Beatles: The British Musical Invasion” Join Keith Davies, Liverpool’s city council tourism chief, and Sid Bernstein, the fabled New York music agent and promoter who brought the Beatles to the US as they take a trip down Abbey Road and past strawberry fields to consider the phenomenal effect the Beatles had on Liverpool and the world, beginning at 1pm. Sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution. Tickets are $30 for resident members, $27 for senior members, and $35 general admission. Call 357-3030 for more information.

TUESDAY / JUNE 4
Today in History: In 1919 Congress approved the women’s suffrage amendment.

$ Lecture “The Fall of Berlin” Antony Beevor, presents a lecture on the harrowing days of 1945 when the Red Army and beleaguered German forces clashed brutally for the final time. Presented by the Smithsonian Institution at 6 pm. Tickets are $11 for resident members, $10 for senior members, and $14 general admission. For more information call 357-3030.

Concert The winners of the National Symphony Orchestra Young Soloist’s Competition, Jason Saxon and Emely Phelps, make their National Symphony Orchestra debuts at the Kennedy Center for the Arts at 6 pm as part of the Millennium Stage’s free daily performance series. For more information call 467-4600.

THURSDAY / JUNE 6
$ Concert “An Evening with Marvin Hamlisch” Legendary composer, conductor, and arranger Hamlisch, in conversation with popular Smithsonian music lecturer and National Symphony Orchestra cellist Yvonne Caruthers at 7 pm. Sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution. Tickets are $20 for resident members, $18 for senior members and $25 general admission. For more information call 357-3030.

Concert “City Sounds,” a series of free evening concerts of jazz and Latin jazz outdoors, will be presented weekly through Aug. 22 at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Independence Avenue at 7th Street, SW. For more information call 357-2700.

SATURDAY / JUNE 8
Today in History: In 1867 Architect Frank Lincoln [Lloyd] Wright was born in Richland Center, WI.

$ Concert The Baltimore Museum of Art continues its Saturday Summer Jazz Series with Grammy-award winning saxophonist and Baltimore native Gary Bartz. Bartz burst on the scene in the late 1960s and has since taken his rightful place in the pantheon of jazz greats with his straight-ahead, strongly blues-oriented, post-Coltrane style. Tickets are $15 per person, $10 for BMA members. For more information call 410/396-6314.

$ Concert “Spirituals and Celebration” This performance presents authentic spiritual and celebratory dances. Starts 8 pm, The Walters Art Museum. Admission $16 members and seniors; $18 non-members; $5 students. For information call 410/547-9000 or visit www.thewalters.org.

SUNDAY / JUNE 9
Exhibition “Sacred Sites: Silk Road Photographs by Kenro Izu” Japanese-born New York photographer Kenro Izu is best known for his photographs of the ancient Buddhist temples at Angkor, Cambodia, and his still-life images of decaying flowers and nudes. This exhibition, featuring 25 large-format platinum prints, runs through Jan. 5 at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. For more information call 357-4880.

TUESDAY / JUNE 11
Today in History: In 1927 Charles Lindbergh was awarded the first Distinguished Flying Cross.

$ Ballet “The Bolshoi: An Evening of Opera and Ballet” Russia’s world-famous ballet is joined by The Bolshoi Chorus for a special evening of performance. 7 pm, Kennedy Center Opera House. Also playing various times through June 16. Tickets cost $45–$85. For information call 467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

WEDNESDAY / JUNE 12
$ Lecture “Country Music Legend Loretta Lynn” Country music legend Loretta Lynn, in an interview abouther life and illustrious career. Sponsored by The Smithsonian Institution. Tickets are $20 for resident members, $18 for senior members and $25 general admission. For more information call 357-3030.