MOVIES
-- Tom Hanks once again stars as scientific “detective” Robert Langdon in Angels & Demons, the sequel to The DaVinci Code. Hanks re-teams with director Ron Howard, who adapted Code for the screen in 2006.
-- The Story of Anvil is a documentary about two childhood buddies making one, last ditch effort at heavy metal fame.
ON STAGE-- We begin by offering a hearty congratulations to Signature Theatre in Arlington. It has been selected as the 2009 recipient of the Antoinette Perry Award -- better known as the Tony -- as the nation’s Outstanding Regional Theater.
Signature’s already on a pretty impressive streak of good fortune, having won 10 Helen Hayes Awards last month. The Tony Awards will air from New York on CBS in early June.
-- The Kennedy Center has just extended the run for the musical The Color Purple -- and it hasn’t even opened yet. The acclaimed stage adaptation of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel opens its first national tour at the Kennedy Center on June 30. Originally scheduled to close on August 2, robust advance ticket sales have pushed the closing date to August 9.
-- The Shakespeare Theatre Company has just opened a new production of Noel Coward’s sly and dryly humorous comedy, Design for Living. Performances continue at the company’s Landsburgh stage on Seventh Street, N.W. in downtown Washington through June 28.
-- Arena Stage has just opened a new play, a world premiere of a work called Legacy of Light. The plot centers on the efforts of a renowned physicist to complete work on a technology that will secure his future. Legacy continues at Arena’s Crystal City venue on South Bell Street through June 14.
-- The Washington Ballet performs a program of works by George Balanchine, Edward Lang and their artistic director Septime Webber at Sidney Harmon Hall in the District, now through Sunday. You can get 50% off prime orchestra and mezzanine seats for the 2 p.m. performance on Saturday and the 1 p.m. and 6 p,m. performances on Sunday.
Use code 6098 when ordering tickets by calling (202)-547-1122 or visit harmoncenter.org.
-- The Studio Theatre opens its production of the late August Wilson’s Radio Golf on May 20. The last of Wilson’s 10-play cycle examining the course of African American life in the United States during each decade of the 20th Century, Radio Golf looks at such issues as neighborhood gentrification and the role of race in elections. It continues at Studio through June 28.
-- Closing on Sunday are the Washington Shakespeare Company’s production of Small Craft Warnings at the Clark Street Playhouse in Arlington and Monday Evening, 1942 ,presented by Quotidian Theatre Company at the Writer’s Center in Bethesda.
CLUBS/CONCERTS
-- The Kennedy Center plays host to the annual Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival, starting Thursday. The four-day celebration of women’s role in what has been described as America’s only authentic musical genre, features performances by a number of leading lights.
-- The same night, guitarist Mike Stern begins a weekend stand at Blues Alley in Georgetown with drummer Dave Wechl. They’re on stage through Sunday.
-- National Harbor in Maryland continues its Sunset Concert series with the Gin Blossoms and Tonic on Thursday.
The Ten Tenors’ voices ring through the Music Center at Strathmore Hall on Thursday, as well.
Bluegrass legends The Seldom Scene perform at the Rams Head Tavern in Annapolis on Thursday, followed by rocker Michelle Schocked on Friday. The English Beat perform at the Tavern on Saturday and the Proclaimers (“500 Miles” from the Benny and Joon soundtrack) play there on May 20. Enjoy!
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