Washington City Paper (February 15, 2019)

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19 Spring Entertainm Arts and ent Guide

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SPRING ARTS GUIDE INSIDE

STATE OF THE UNION Food entrepreneurs gamble on whether Union Kitchen’s accelerator program will help or harm their budding businesses. P. 8

By Laura Hayes

Photographs by Darrow Montgomery

Inspired by the fairy tale of a true love’s kiss and the triumph of good over evil.

THE BALLET COMPANY OF THE NATION’S CAPITAL PRESENTS ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST ICONIC LOVE STORIES with soaring sounds from The Washington Ballet Orchestra

February 27 - March 3, 2019 at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Eisenhower Theater washingtonballet.org

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INSIDE

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COVER STORY: STATE OF THE UNION

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D.C.’s dominant food business accelerator has launched a few big brands, but some entrepreneurs report troubling practices at Union Kitchen.

DISTRICT LINE 4 Housing Complex: Residents living in nearly uninhabitable public housing units want fixes and answers.

5 Loose Lips: Who contributed big money to Bowser’s inaugural committee?

SPORTS 6

Changeup: Some of your favorite politics writers got their starts in sports departments.

ARTS 14 Theater: Ritzel on Folger’s Nell Gwynn at the Folger and Synetic Theater’s Cyrano de Bergerac 15 Curtain Calls: Thal on Mosaic Theater Company’s Shame 2.0 with Comments from the Populace and Klimek on Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Richard the Third 16 Short Subjects: Zilberman on Never Look Away and Olszewski on Isn’t It Romantic?

17 Sketches: Capps on OPEN: An Installation by Robin Bell at George Washington University’s Flagg Building

CITY LIST 19 22 22 22 24

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DIVERSIONS 25 25 26 27

Savage Love Gear Prudence Classifieds Crossword

On the cover: File photograph

by Darrow Montgomery

DARROW MONTGOMERY 6300 BLOCK OF ROSECROFT DRIVE, OXON HILL, FEB. 11

EDITORIAL

EDITOR: ALEXA MILLS MANAGING EDITOR: CAROLINE JONES ARTS EDITOR: MATT COHEN FOOD EDITOR: LAURA HAYES SPORTS EDITOR: KELYN SOONG CITY LIGHTS EDITOR: KAYLA RANDALL LOOSE LIPS REPORTER: MITCH RYALS HOUSING COMPLEX REPORTER: MORGAN BASKIN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER: DARROW MONTGOMERY MULTIMEDIA AND COPY EDITOR: WILL WARREN CREATIVE DIRECTOR: STEPHANIE RUDIG CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: MICHON BOSTON, KRISTON CAPPS, CHAD CLARK, RACHEL M. COHEN, RILEY CROGHAN, JEFFRY CUDLIN, EDDIE DEAN, ERIN DEVINE, CUNEYT DIL, TIM EBNER, CASEY EMBERT, JONATHAN L. FISCHER, NOAH GITTELL, SRIRAM GOPAL, HAMIL R. HARRIS, LAURA IRENE, LOUIS JACOBSON, CHRIS KELLY, STEVE KIVIAT, CHRIS KLIMEK, PRIYA KONINGS, JULYSSA LOPEZ, NEVIN MARTELL, KEITH MATHIAS, PABLO MAURER, BRIAN MCENTEE, BRIAN MURPHY, NENET, TRICIA OLSZEWSKI, EVE OTTENBERG, MIKE PAARLBERG, PAT PADUA, JUSTIN PETERS, REBECCA J. RITZEL, ABID SHAH, TOM SHERWOOD, MATT TERL, SIDNEY THOMAS, DAN TROMBLY, JOE WARMINSKY, ALONA WARTOFSKY, JUSTIN WEBER, MICHAEL J. WEST, DIANA MICHELE YAP, ALAN ZILBERMAN

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DISTRICTLINE Waiting Game

Thousands of people live in buildings that D.C.’s public housing authority has deemed nearly uninhabitable, and they want to know what will happen next.

In December, the DC Housing Authority released an audit showing that the vast majority of its public housing stock—roughly 7,000 of its over 8,000 units—has deteriorated in significant ways. Nearly one-third of its units are approaching uninhabitability, riddled with housing code violations that have prompted DCHA to classify them as “extremely urgent.” The other 4,500-odd units are in “very urgent” condition, the Authority says.

Two months later, public housing residents say they’re still wondering whether the Authority will move them into different units, or fix egregious maintenance issues in the meantime. Conditions include lead hazards, unstable infrastructure, faulty pipes, and infestations of rodents, cockroaches, and mold.

The Authority, at the direction of Executive Director Tyrone Garrett, has publicized these conditions, but has yet to present a plan–– or even a set of possible plans––for remediating the hazards in the long term. (At a meeting of DCHA’s board of commissioners in January, the body passed a resolution to consider privatizing some of the most poorly maintained buildings.)

Garrett estimates that the cost of conducting interim controls for its lead paint and lead dust hazards, among other immediate life safety issues, will cost over $340 million in fiscal year 2019, with the long-term cost of stabilizing the Authority’s housing portfolio being about $1.3 billion over 10 years. Garrett has increased that figure to $1.7 billion if the Authority does not receive the funding necessary to immediately begin repairs.

Because of application deadlines from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, DCHA has until the end of June to identify properties that it will select for demolition or disposition. The Authority is actively considering this option. (DCHA has already filed three demo/dispo applications with HUD for Ward 1’s Park Morton, Ward 7’s Richardson

HOUSING COMPLEX

Dwellings, and part of Ward 6’s Sibley Plaza.)

Until then, public housing residents––who were recently given letters detailing the results of DCHA’s lead inspections on their properties, most warning them of the presence of lead paint or dust hazards––are in the dark.

The unsafe conditions persist across DCHA’s portfolio, including in public housing complexes in some of the District’s more affluent wards. Valerie Schneider, for example, an attorney who supervises Howard University law school’s Fair Housing Clinic, tells City Paper that an ongoing plumbing issue in Ward 6’s Greenleaf Gardens leaches sewage into the apartments of some clients.

Andrew Glover, a resident of the LeDroit Apartments senior building on 4th Street NW in Ward 1, will turn 60 in May. He manages a number of health conditions, including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes. He uses a wheelchair because he needs a hip replacement—due to an accident caused when a drunk driver hit him.

Of his apartment, which he’s lived in since October of 2016, Glover says, “my pulmonary physician says I shouldn’t be in a place like this. I definitely don’t want to be in here if that’s going to cause me problems.”

DCHA has identified 14 of its 56 properties as being in “extremely urgent” condition, a fact Garrett related to the board shortly before its emergency January meeting. One of those 14 complexes, a spokesperson for the Authority told City Paper last month, is Glover’s.

An independent lead hazard assessment

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of Glover’s building, conducted between June 21 and July 11 of last year, found “deteriorated lead-based paint” and “elevated concentrations of lead in dusts,” including in tenants’ apartments. Two measures suggested to remediate the lead hazards include “HEPA vacuum and wet wash” and “make all floors smooth and cleanable.”

Glover tells City Paper he’s spent the better part of his time in public housing trying to contact local and national housing officials about the conditions in his unit, including DCHA’s legal counsel, deputy director, and director, and employees from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development’s D.C. field office. “This new guy [Garrett] they got, I made several complaints and it seems like I’m not going nowhere. It appears like they don’t want to do anything,” he says. City Paper asks Glover whether DCHA has communicated a redevelopment plan, or whether staff told him about its status as one of DCHA’s most deteriorated properties. “ They have Park Morton done none of t h at ,” G l o ve r says. “Each time I inquire, they tell me they’re going to come and fix the building up. When I first got the [lead] letter they were telling me that they would come and fix it, that it was because the building is so old.

But still you’re not telling me what you want to do about it [permanently].” Glover says he has no choice but to wait indefinitely, until DCHA decides how it will proceed with rehabilitating the building.

A spokesperson for DCHA sent City Paper an emailed statement in response to questions about residents’ frustrations, and said that its Darrow Montgomery/File

By Morgan Baskin

audit was conducted “with integrity, responsibility, and accountability to our customers.”

It continues: “Our current portfolio analysis is based on our environmental findings as well as the current physical needs assessment. Capital needs are consistently rising while current sources of funding decline. We will continue to be transparent as strategies are developed and discussed. Unequivocally, DCHA will continue to engage with our customers and stakeholders as we explore various options.”

North of LeDroit Park, past the McMillan Reservoir, Shonta High is growing more and more frustrated. The president of Park Morton’s resident council and an 18-year resident of the complex, long slated for redevelopment, High says tenants of the building “haven’t heard anything concrete yet. We don’t know what the relocation plan will be, we don’t know where people plan to be housed.

We don’t know anything.”

With the building’s redevelopment plans caught in a lengthy court of appeals proceeding, High and her fellow tenants feel stuck.

And in the meantime, she says they have heard little from DCHA about when, or whether, they will abate any of the building’s numerous housing code violations. High tells City Paper that she has been asking the Authority since 2017 to install new locks on residents’ doors, to no avail. “There are junkies doing things in the hallway and they’re right there in front of your door,” she says, but the answer “has been a flat out ‘no.’ They’re putting in brand new balcony doors, storm doors, on everybody’s apartments. You can spend money on cosmetic fixes, but not on safety?”

The notification tenants received last year of the lead hazards in their building was the first time in her 18 years at the building, High says, that the Authority notified tenants of lead hazards.

“We’re like books in a library. We’re stationed in one place, and Park Morton is our library. What you all see when you look at Park Morton is one category—crime, drama. That’s what you see. But we’re much more than that,” she says.

“We’re also do-it-yourself, and self help, and community, and entrepreneurship, but nobody want to see that,” High adds. “Take five minutes to talk to us to see where we are in our lives.

And if that book isn’t right for you, just return it to the shelf. Just be neighborly and say, ‘I’ll be seeing you around.’ We all have our story written between the pages. It’s up to the people around us to be a part of our story and write the next chapter. And right now DCHA is writing a real bad chapter for us.”

CP

DISTRICTLINE Pay Date

Darrow Montgomery

Mayor Muriel Bowser’s inaugural committee contributions raise questions about a perceived pay-toplay culture in D.C. politics.

By Mitch Ryals Mayor Muriel Bowser’s re-election was historic. In a city itching to bounce incumbent mayors from the executive’s office, Bowser was the first mayor to be re-elected since 2002, and the first woman ever to win re-election.

She did it with 76 percent of the vote, no less.

That certainly calls for a celebration. And a whole bunch of the mayor’s deep-pocketed friends were happy to pitch in.

According to her report recently filed with the Office of Campaign Finance, Bowser’s inaugural committee, DC Proud 2019, took in $955,098 during the seven weeks before Jan. 31. Twentythree of the contributions came in after Bowser’s Jan. 5 inaugural bash at The Anthem, including $150,000 that came directly from her own re-election campaign committee.

About $792,000 came from donors who, for the most part, are either lobbyists, developers, people who have contracts with the District government, or people seeking contracts. Sixtyeight donors shelled out the maximum amount of $10,000, which is five times the legal limit for campaign contributions.

Among them are: Dantes Partners, Deloitte,

LOOSE LIPS

Blue Skye Construction, JBG Smith, MCN Build, Four Points, and Microsoft.

Following two days of inaugural events, including an annual 5k, an interfaith service, and a swearing-in ceremony, Bowser capped the whole thing off with a swanky black tie party at The Anthem on the waterfront. The celebration was free, but attendees had to RSVP. The evening’s entertainment featured big names such as Ledisi, Mary McBride, and go-go favorites Backyard Band and E.U. featuring Sugar Bear.

LL was not able to attend, but a $200,000 catering bill and a reportedly open bar sounds like his kind of party. (It’s unclear from the committee’s finance report how much of that actually paid for food and drink at the Anthem party. The bill from RPM Italian was close to $20,000.)

Critics say inaugural committees are a prime example of D.C.’s “pay-to-play” culture, where political donors win lucrative contracts with the city—a practice the Council sought to eliminate last year.

In December, the Council passed the “Campaign Finance Reform Amendment Act of 2017,” which restricts corporations and their principles who hold contracts worth at least $250,000 from donating to political campaigns, including inaugural committees. The bill also reduces the max-

imum contribution to an inaugural committee from $10,000 to $4,000.

The lavish inaugural spending is reminding many of Bowser’s 2015 effort to create the political fund FreshPAC after her first election. The law then allowed her to raise unlimited funds.

The criticism of the legal money grab—even from the usually friendly Washington Post editorial page—forced Bowser to abandon that effort.

The mayor did not sign the most recent curbs on political and inaugural contributions and spending. The new law and limits will go into effect without her signature after standard congressional review.

“These inaugurals are really just one big soiree designed to allow those who have a lot of money to ingratiate themselves with the mayor,” says Craig Holman, a government affairs lobbyist for the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen. “Almost always they want something in return. They’re not donating to improve the quality of our elections. They already found out who won. It’s like placing your bet on a sure thing.”

Bill Lightfoot, who chaired the mayor’s inaugural committee and her re-election committee, sees the nearly $1 million in contributions a different way.

“I think it’s important for people who do business in the city to give back to D.C.,” he says. “They’re paying for an inaugural for the city’s mayor, which was open to everyone. It was an effort to bring the city together. It didn’t matter who you supported during the campaign. It was quite a bash.”

Another question hanging over Bowser’s inaugural committee is how the money is being spent. According to her committee’s Jan. 31 report, Bowser spent only about two-thirds of her total haul, including about $127,000 in payments to The Anthem ($50,000 for rental fees and the remaining $77,000 for consulting), $20,000 on advertising, and $177,000 to other various consultants.

Last week, City Paper contributor Tom Sherwood reported that some D.C. residents found a political mailer from Bowser in their mailboxes. Bowser’s inaugural committee paid for the mailer, leading to questions about whether the funds were spent appropriately.

Additionally, there is no expenditure on the Jan. 31 report that describes a mailer. There is, however, a $48,000 payment to Hart Research Associates for a “polling/mailing list” and a $20,800 payment for “postage.”

William Sanford, general counsel in the Office of Campaign Finance, couldn’t comment on specific expenditures, but says all inaugural committees undergo an audit after they’re terminated. Bowser has 45 days from her inauguration to terminate the committee.

“This one will definitely be audited,” Sanford says. “Every single receipt and expenditure will be reviewed to determine whether it was appropriate.”

LL couldn’t possibly lay out all of Bowser’s 102 inauguration contributions. So here are a few interesting donations. There must be a typo in this first one: • Smoot “Conatruction” donated $10,000 on Jan. 8, three days after the party at The Anthem. On Jan. 31, Bowser requested the company receive a $28 million contract.

The Council approved the contract earlier this week. The company has won other contracts with the District government in previous years.

• Medical Transportation Management Inc (MTM) donated $10,000 on Jan. 8. The company secured $41.6 million in contracts in 2017 and 2018 at the mayor’s request.

• MidCity Financial donated $10,000 on Jan. 11. In October 2018, Bowser requested up to $56 million in tax increment financing (TIF) for a redevelopment project along Rhode Island Ave. NE. MidCity is the developer, and is facing resistance from the Brookland Manor tenants’ association.

• DC09 donated $10,000 on Jan. 11 and is the local minority partner (known as a Certified Business Enterprise, or CBE) running the DC Lottery with the Greek company Intralot. DC09/Intralot are currently awaiting a Council decision that would clear the way for them to secure a no-bid contract to continue running the lottery and the District’s new sports gambling operation.

Although DC09 is supposed to be the local CBE, the address listed on Bowser’s committee report is in Duluth, Georgia—the same address as the one listed for one of Intralot’s U.S. offices.

• Monica Ray donated $10,000 as an individual on Dec. 14, 2018. Ray is the executive director for Congress Heights Community Training & Development Corporation, a nonprofit started by her business partner and frequent political operator and fundraiser Phinis Jones. In 2016, Ray was paid $125,000 through the nonprofit, according to tax records.

Ray owns the property located at the address she lists for her contribution, 3215 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE. That address appears three more times on Bowser’s financial report: under a $5,000 donation from Independent Holding Corp. and a $10,000 donation from a company called “Jacobs.” Bowser’s committee also paid Capitol Services Management, which is located at that address, $1,500 for “advertising.”

• Kerry S. Pearson LLC donated $10,000 on Dec. 21, 2018. Pearson is a well known lobbyist, who in 2018 worked for PHI Service Company, a subsidiary of Pepco Holdings Inc. PHI also donated $10,000 as a corporation.

• Venable donated $10,000 on Jan. 4. The firm’s lobbyists have been involved in a number of issues in the District last year, including sports gambling, ride-hailing, and medical marijuana.

CP

washingtoncitypaper.com february 15, 2019 5

Darrow Montgomery

SPORTS

Frances Tiafoe is still waiting for LeBron James to text him. It’s going to happen. The recent Australian Open quarterfinalist feels sure of it. washingtoncitypaper.com/sports

Changeup

Stephanie Rudig

Readers balk when sports writers become political reporters. Journalists don’t.

By Kelyn Soong No oNe Needs to explain the rules of baseball to Chelsea Janes. She played the sport growing up in Massachusetts, and competed for the softball team at Yale University.

But shortly after being named the Washington Nationals beat reporter for the Washington Post, Janes would occasionally receive emails from concerned readers. They doubted she was qualified for the job. It made her feel like she had something to prove, Janes says, especially as a young, female sports reporter on a male-dominated beat.

She recently thought about those emails.

After four years on the Nats beat, Janes joined the newspaper’s national politics staff in early January to cover the 2020 presidential campaign.

By deciding to switch the focus of her coverage, Janes became the latest prolific sports journalist to transition into political reporting, a move that critics view with skepticism.

“I understand it on one level,” she says.

“I have not proven that I know how to write about policy or that I can understand an election or understand voters. I haven’t proven any of that. I think I was confused by someone assuming that I wouldn’t be able to … You just have to give everyone a chance before you decide what they can and can’t do.”

(Full disclosure: I worked with Janes during my five years in the Post’s sports department.)

The urge to try something else had been on her mind for a while. She wanted to grow as a journalist, and that meant jumping into unfamiliar situations.

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But the perception that sports is somehow beneath other beats still exists. Journalists have derisively referred to the section as the “toy department” of newsrooms for decades.

And some sports fans assert that sports and politics should never mix.

“I do think anyone who makes this jump has something to prove,” Janes says. “It’s like doubting a female sports reporter in general.

I think it’s sort of similar to me, like, ‘What do you know?’ It doesn’t offend me in any way. It exists and that’s fine, but certainly I want to dispel the notion that sports reporters can’t make that jump and not contribute to it.”

HistoriaN Bruce Bartlett tweeted out a link to Janes’ job announcement in early January to his 60,000-plus followers to criticize the

paper’s decision to assign a sports reporter to cover the presidential campaign. The responses to the tweet came swiftly and with varying degrees of exasperation and eye rolls. “Hilariously naive,” one person called Bartlett’s tweet. “Embarrassingly simplistic,” said another. Others used profanity.

Bartlett later clarified that his tweet “had absolutely nothing” to do with Janes or her skills as a reporter, but rather the “widely-critiqued problem of horse race-style reporting” that is too focused on the results and getting a particular piece of information first.

But Bartlett wasn’t the only one who doubted the wisdom of Janes’ move. “Stick to sports” is a common refrain sports journalists hear from readers. It implies that the sacred world of sports should exist separately from the rest of society and reinforces the misconception that sports reporting is just fun and games.

“The problem is people associate sports with leisure and as a result, people who cover just the quote unquote game, that they don’t have the skill set to cover other things,” says longtime sports reporter and broadcast journalist Jemele Hill, who now writes about the intersection of sports, race, politics, and culture for The Atlantic. “I love sports, but the reason that I’m in this profession is because I love journalism. People unfortunately don’t conflate the two.”

Adds Megan Greenwell, Deadspin’s first female editor-in-chief: “People want to think of sports as their escape where they don’t have to think of the real world, want to think that sports reporters are only trained to keep score in baseball games, and not think critically about the world. It’s insulting but is certainly something that is out there.”

Sports reporters are still journalists, much to the dismay of armchair critics. You don’t have to look very far to find other high-profile examples of reporters who have made similar moves. Just within the Post, White House reporter David Nakamura, national news staff writer Eli Saslow, and Rome bureau chief Chico Harlan worked for years in the sports department. Longtime sports writers like Sally Jenkins and Kent Babb have occasionally been tapped to cover politics, as well.

And then there’s David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker. He started his career in sports, too. He covered anything, and everything, for the Post’s sports department under George Solomon: the NBA, boxing, the Super Bowl, baseball playoff games, and the United States Football League.

“I wasn’t planning to be a sportswriter, but after a couple of internships at the Post, hanging on by my fingernails, the editors offered

SPORTS me the job and I grabbed it,” Remnick writes in an email. “‘Do you know anything about sports?’ What could I say but ‘yes’?”

“Writing is writing,” he continues. “There is the good stuff and there is the other stuff … Why should you have to write about only one thing?

Why can’t someone interested in sports read Jane Austen or Ralph Ellison or Tolstoi? Why traffic in dopey stereotypes? And I guess the stereotype here is that if you’ve ever written about sports you are a blinkered nitwit and incapable of writing about intellectual matters, like—what?— Donald Trump? Tell it to William Hazlitt.”

Nakamura Never thought he’d leave the sports department. He remembers getting kicked out of a photography class at James Madison High School in Vienna because he would spend time in the dark room reading the sports pages.

But after covering college sports at the Post for a few years, Nakamura felt an itch to see different parts of the world and wanted to be a foreign correspondent. At the time, the newsroom was expanding its local bureaus, so he applied there. The editors, he says, made him take a writing test.

“Which I was sort of offended by,” Nakamura says. “There was a chip on my shoulder for many years … My sense was that they were trying to discourage me, honestly, from making that jump because they didn’t know technically why I wanted to go and maybe I wasn’t as clear as to what my interests were.”

His Metro colleagues would remark on his speed. “Oh you can write fast,” Nakamura remembers them saying. It’s something that sports journalists are used to hearing.

“The deadline, that’s something people recognize, that you can do it fast,” Nakamura says. “But it’s far from the only thing.”

If anything, having a sports background only helps a potential applicant, according to Tim Marchman, the special projects editor at Gizmodo Media Group and former editor-inchief of Deadspin. It gives him a vote of confidence. Sports reporters, he says, “deal with the nuts and bolts of reporting.”

“Police reports, public records, taking care of all that, having a really fast turnaround, and more generally, looking at sports, dealing with things that impinge on everything in broader coverage, technology, gender issues, the use of public money, any kind of big picture issue you can name ramifies in sports,” Marchman says. “There’s a broad spectrum of issues there and having the grasp of working mechanics of how to report it, I think is really directly applicable to anything you want to do.”

Michael S. Schmidt, a two-time Pulitzer winner, started at the New York Times as a news clerk on the foreign and sports desks in 2005.

Two years later, he joined the sports staff as a reporter covering performance-enhancing

drugs and legal issues in sports. He says his time on the beat has been invaluable to his current role covering national security and federal investigations.

“In many ways the Trump story is a story of federal investigations,” Schmidt says. “Instead of baseball, it’s the president. But I learned a lot. I had a very up-and-down and contentious relationship with the commissioner’s office and the players’ union and that sort of gave me an enormous amount of experience.

I had some incredible throwdowns, especially with the commissioner’s office … I often remember those fights that I had. And well, if I can get through that, then I get through this.”

But the transition, as Janes learned recently, is not without challenges and potential for missteps. Political reporting is competitive, and while covering the 162-game baseball season is considered one of the toughest grinds in journalism, understanding the different players in politics can be just as, if not more, complex.

Access to the candidates is also often limited, and every issue can be divisive.

While covering a book event for presidential candidate Kamala Harris, Janes tweeted that members of Harris’ sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, “screeched” when Harris mentioned her time at Howard University. They were actually doing AKA’s traditional “skee wee” call.

The tweet, which Janes eventually deleted, earned plenty of criticism and a call for more diversity among the journalists covering the 2020 campaign. (Janes is white.)

“I was stupid. I didn’t understand that was what was going on and tweeted something I thought conveyed enthusiasm but instead conveyed my ignorance and I felt awful about it,” she tells City Paper. “There’s no way to talk around it.

I felt terrible but at the same time, it’s a reminder that I have to remember my blind spots. There are cultural things I should be aware of and I’m not. In baseball it’s a pretty limited world of people and knowledge, and when you get out there, there are things you are expected to know.” the move from sports to politics has been “really natural” for Hill, who worked for ESPN and wrote about sports for several publications, including The Undefeated, ESPN’s sports, race, and culture website. “A lot of things we discuss in politics are discussed in sports as well,” she says. “It’s so intertwined.”

At ESPN, Hill gained both ardent fans and notoriety for her criticism of Trump. The company suspended Hill for two weeks after she violated its social media policy and the White House insisted Hill be fired after she called Trump a “white supremacist.”

But now, Hill isn’t worried about wading into political waters. The Atlantic encourages it. She laughs at the irony.

“For the first time in a couple years,” Hill says, “I’m being told not to stick to sports.” CP

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STATE OF THE UNION D.C.’s dominant food business accelerator has launched a few big brands, but some entrepreneurs report troubling practices at Union Kitchen.

File

By Laura Hayes Photographs by Darrow Montgomery

When Krishna Matturi was growing up in a small South Indian village he couldn’t know that decades later he’d be in D.C. selling chips and dips that draw upon the flavors of his childhood. The avid runner craved preservative-free

post workout snacks, and saw the opportunity to start a business called Sasya Foods.

But how does someone who also works full time at the World Bank find and afford commercial kitchen space, get stores to stock his

8 february 15, 2019 washingtoncitypaper.com

product, handle distribution, and grow quickly enough to make the venture worth it? Competition in Consumer Packaged Goods (CPGs) is fierce because grocers have limited space and consumers’ pantries are overstuffed. Entrepre-

neurs are ravenous for guidance and an edge.

For Matturi, Union Kitchen was the answer.

The company, founded in 2012 as a shared commercial kitchen in NoMa, has evolved into a vertically integrated beast with a more ad-

vanced commercial kitchen in Ivy City, distribution capabilities, branded grocery stores, and its latest venture—a food business accelerator.

After carefully considering a complex operating agreement for eight months, Matturi joined the accelerator in July 2017. “I wanted to tell myself that I tried everything that I could before I sought support,” he says. “Union Kitchen takes 10 percent equity, which is on the higher end. The inherent value they provide, the distribution service, the hand-holding, I think it’s worth it.” Sasya Foods is now available in eight states and on Amazon.

Union Kitchen’s accelerator program claims more success stories and satisfied entrepreneurs than Matturi, and City Paper spoke with several of them. Union Kitchen has been involved with more than 400 companies since it launched; more than half of them have been minority-owned and more than half have been woman-owned. The company largely put D.C. on the map as a city to launch a food business and helped spark the made-in-D.C. movement.

But some entrepreneurs who have worked with Union Kitchen say that it exerts excessive control over budding businesses. They say that Union Kitchen doesn’t quite have the level of business expertise accelerator programs typically boast. A handful of its participants aren’t willing to comment on their experience, even off the record.

When entrepreneurs join, they agree to give Union Kitchen 10 percent of their company, plus a board seat, which lets Union Kitchen weigh in on critical business decisions. For this reason, it’s paramount that each entrepreneur’s goal matches Union Kitchen’s vision for its accelerator.

“The pie in the sky is we want them to be $100 million companies,” says Union Kitchen co-founder and CEO Cullen Gilchrist. “It might mean they make a lot of money or they sell the company … We’re very clear about that being everyone’s mission when we get started.”

With the stakes so high, the more information an accelerator can provide, the better.

Competitors in the food space such as FoodX in New York, The Food Foundry in Chicago, and TERRA in San Francisco have robust websites replete with information such as equity requirements, biographies of mentors, program timelines, and guidelines on who the program is best suited for—brand new businesses or ones that have already captured a slice of the market.

Union Kitchen’s accelerator website is barren by contrast. There’s little more than a button to sign up for a tour. With such limited immediate transparency, and a growing number of prospective food entrepreneurs like Matturi risking the odds to join, City Paper dug into how the program is performing and the issues that entrepreneurs weigh before and after signing up.

BUSineSS acceleratorS are popular across many sectors. According to Jeff Reid, founding director of the Georgetown Entrepreneurship Initiative, an accelerator is an intensive, short-term gauntlet to help a startup get from one stage to the next. Entrepreneurs are typically grouped into cohorts and perks

can include cash, support from peers and accelerator staff, opportunities to pitch investors, education based on real experience, and mentorship. Reid says accelerators typically take a percentage of equity for these services and benefit when there’s an exit event, such as a sale.

Every food-related accelerator is different in terms of set-up, duration, mentor network, and give and take. City Paper spoke with program leaders at competing programs. Food-X provides entrepreneurs with $65,000 in cash and values its programming at $50,000 in exchange for 8 percent equity. The Food Foundry takes 3 percent equity in exchange for an investment package it values at $100,000.

TERRA in San Francisco takes zero equity because of its strategy that pairs startups with corporations, which foot the bill.

By comparison, Union Kitchen asks for 10

ing away equity, I would want to know what is the value I’m getting in return.”

But in return for its programming, expertise, and network, Union Kitchen asks for more than equity. When the company onboards accelerator participants, they must sign a Limited Liability Company agreement full of protective provisions, some of which give Union Kitchen noteworthy control over business decisions. One in particular gives experts pause.

According to interviews with current participants and a version of the contract from 2016 that City Paper reviewed, a five-member board governs each accelerator member. The entrepreneur gets two seats, Union Kitchen gets one seat, and the other two seats are held by “food or marketing industry related” professionals to be unanimously selected by the other three members.

percent equity, does not provide any cash upfront, and does not publish the estimated value of its total programming. Most accelerators have a hard end date, but Gilchrist says Union Kitchen stays on past three months of launch programming in order to support participants as they continue to grow their businesses.

“We’ll keep selling the product, telling investors about it, and pushing the brand forward indefinitely,” he says. “At its core, we’re coming on as a founding partner. We want to bring a lot of knowledge to the table, resources to the table. We want to be a great person to have in your corner.”

Reid cautions, “Generally entrepreneurs should be very careful about giving equity up of their business or signing contracts with anyone. While entrepreneurs don’t want to spend money on legal fees, this is an example of where a lawyer could help you. Before sign-

Shavon Smith, a lawyer who represents small business owners in D.C. and Maryland, read the operating agreement. “It’s obviously a complicated document and Union Kitchen is trying to protect themselves,” she says.

“The thing that I flagged the most were the protective provisions where there’s essentially a board making decisions … The way I read this is you came to them with an idea that’s probably great and now you work for them as opposed to a partnership working together to grow something.”

The director of student entrepreneurship programs at George Washington University, Lex McCusker, agrees. “If you were one of the student teams from GW and you were asking me about going to this accelerator, I would say don’t give up a board seat,” he says. “A board seat is precious and not something you give up that early on for good advice.”

McCusker adds that 10 percent equity is on the higher end for a program involving no cash. “I like to see 5 percent with a $20,000 to $50,000 contribution,” he says. “That’s a rule of thumb, but it varies widely.”

Food-X program director Peter Bodenheimer explains how governance works at his accelerator. “We are here to share our experience, tell you what we think, and connect you with smart people, but we can’t make anybody do anything,” he says. “That’s not the business we’re in. We don’t take board seats. I don’t know how you can successfully be on more than one or two boards at any given time.”

A second attorney, Keith A. Rosten, of Berliner Corcoran & Rowe LLP doesn’t find the agreement as concerning. “A five-person board with one manager representing Union Kitchen—there’s nothing freakish about that,” he says. “They’re putting money in, they want some control. It’s an agreement heavily weighted in favor of the investors, but that’s not particularly unusual.”

Gilchrist doesn’t deny that this is how the boards are constructed, but asserts that Union Kitchen isn’t in control. “We’re not the founders, we can’t run the business,” he says. “We don’t have the passion that they deploy.” He would not discuss the agreement further, citing confidentiality.

While Rosten reiterates that “nothing looked outlandish” in the agreement, he suggests that if you were an attorney representing the entrepreneur, you would want to “negotiate away some issues.” But accelerator members and others, including Danielle Vogel, characterize the operating agreement and equity percentage as non-negotiable, which Gilchrist doesn’t dispute.

Vogel owns Glen’s Garden Market in Dupont Circle where she stocks many Union Kitchen-made products. She says she has served as one of the accelerator program’s informal mentors, working closely with participants. (There was a second Glen’s Garden Market in Shaw, which closed in 2018. Union Kitchen Grocery took over the space.)

“Even on Shark Tank every entrepreneur gets their own deal,” she says. “In the accelerator, every entrepreneur has to sign on to essentially the same exact terms, and Union Kitchen will not negotiate details. The problem is they’re finding these entrepreneurs at an early stage when they’re not necessarily versed in the nuances of business management and Union Kitchen is making those decisions for them.”

She believes decisions like how much entrepreneurs can pay themselves and how much debt they’re allowed to take on should be made by the entrepreneur based on their specific intentions for their company, not by Union Kitchen. “Union Kitchen is making big promises about what they can deliver and expertise they can lend, but doing it at an excruciatingly high cost to these seed-stage businesses.”

Since Union Kitchen doesn’t contribute any upfront cash to its accelerator participants (Gilchrist notes they have made some targeted investments) or place a monetary value on its total programming, the accelerator’s worth is

washingtoncitypaper.com february 15, 2019 9

tied up in its connections, methodology, reputation, and results.

Gilchrist says about 60 businesses have participated in the accelerator since it kicked off in 2016. About 50 have launched or are about to launch in some capacity, he adds, though some entrepreneurs come to the accelerator with existing brands. Most make products that grocery stores can stock or online retailers can sell. Each quarter, the program brings on a new cohort that goes through a launch program lasting approximately three months. Gilchrist won’t disclose details, but says the curriculum includes pricing, packaging, licensing, design, accounting, and financing all designed to bring products up to industry standards.

He explains that Union Kitchen also invites in innovation and investment teams from major companies like Nestlé, General Mills, and Coca-Cola for consultation events; leverages its relationships with buyers at Whole Foods, MOM’s Organic Market, Yes! Organic Market, Streets Market, and Compass Coffee; and plugs

Kitchen has a $2.5 million commercial kitchen in Ivy City, a built-in distribution service, and three grocery stores with four more on the way, it effectively boasts its own local ecosystem to help brands obtain feedback and adjust.

Elena Rosenblum, who has been with Union Kitchen for four years, directs the accelerator program. She comes to the food incubator and accelerator space from international development and also describes the accelerator as one big learning experience. “What do retailers want? What do customers want?” she says. “It comes down to a lot of the little details you might not think about.”

Gilchrist’s reasoning for not giving his accelerator participants cash is tangential to this setup. “Cash doesn’t solve problems,” he says. “It never does. It makes existing problems worse.”

He argues that his money is better spent investing in infrastructure that helps its members enter the market. “If we have money, I want to build a resource that’s going to kick serious butt,” he says. “We want to open a warehouse

is the fact that they are such a controlling partner while also a significant vendor and customer for most of the accelerator businesses,” says Kathleen Tozzi. “Union Kitchen holds considerable rights within our agreements including a seat on our board of directors and equity share, while also being the landlord and distributor. I found that conflict of interest and potential for risk to be unnerving.”

Tozzi joined the accelerator because, having worked for Whole Foods, she knew exactly how hard it is to infiltrate major grocers.

Her company, The Fancy Schmancy Co., made crackers in flavors like “Butter + Oat” that could be eaten alone or on a cheese board.

She liked that she didn’t have to make a capital investment for kitchen space and was looking for help hooking investors.

“Getting launched happened pretty fast,” she says. “They had some good resources on packaging and things like that that were helpful.” But, she says, “I quickly realized the actual team there didn’t have a ton of experience.”

past half a million dollars in sales.

He’s looking for entrepreneurs whose aspirations match Union Kitchen’s vision for its accelerator. “We’re not trying to build the next small farmers market business,” he says.

“We’re trying to build a company that can withstand the pressures of small business and last 30 years.”

If not every entrepreneur is a fit for the accelerator because some may be targeting more modest goals, it would follow that Union Kitchen be particularly discerning when selecting businesses for its accelerator. Most accelerators have a low acceptance rate. According to a 2019 Forbes article that explains how accelerators work, typically only 1 to 3 percent of startups get accepted to programs. Gilchrist pins their acceptance rate at closer to 10 percent.

Despite it sounding like Union Kitchen has a host of applicants to choose from, some of the kitchen’s “members” report feeling pressured to join.

accelerator members in with large distribution partners such as UNFI, KeHE, and Rainforest.

Gilchrist describes the accelerator’s mentor network as “broad ranging and informal” and also something Union Kitchen doesn’t disclose.

He does note that they have advisors in design, distribution, brokerage, and investment.

He considers Union Kitchen’s staff the most valuable resource. “We have 80 team members across three stores, a distribution team, a kitchen team, and our accelerator team all focused on launching and growing brands.”

His last point gets at the heart of how Union Kitchen’s accelerator is run. Because Union

and get trucks. I want to open stores.”

He says Union Kitchen sold more than $2 million in accelerator member products through their local distribution system in 2018 and notes they’re shooting for three times that in 2019. Several companies have gone national, including Swapples, Snacklins, and Eat Pizza.

While this system may help products launch quickly because there’s a safe space to experiment and correct issues before going regional or national, one accelerator member who closed her business sees an inherent problem with it.

“The part of Union Kitchen’s business model that I became the most uncomfortable with

Tozzi ultimately called it quits after examining her company’s finances. “We had accounts that were interested, but the cost to scale didn’t make sense” she says. She asserts that the closure wasn’t tied to anything Union Kitchen did or didn’t do. “That said, I would not recommend that someone go through the accelerator. I do not feel like they have the capability to help support scaling a business well.”

When Union Kitchen launched as a shared commercial kitchen, Gilchrist and co-founder Jonas Singer set out to solve a problem— finding and affording space to cook was holding people back from launching professional food businesses.

Union Kitchen referred to entrepreneurs who joined as members and gave them designated spaces to work. There was everyone from kettle corn poppers to ice cream makers and full-on caterers. Union Kitchen described itself as an incubator; rent payments included opportunities to serve food events, marketing assistance, and product distribution.

10 february 15, 2019 washingtoncitypaper.com

In lookIng for potential accelerator members, Gilchrist says Union Kitchen scouts companies that need help scaling a wall they’ve hit—whether that means launching or getting

City Paper interviewed Union Kitchen members in the summer of 2016, right around the time Singer left the company and right before the accelerator launched. Feedback was mixed at this time.

Emma Shaver of Chompz Cheese Crackers joined in April 2015 and said that, without Union Kitchen, she “wouldn’t have been able to wade through all the legal red tape of opening a business.” She adds that they were generous with both their time and knowledge. Later, though, she said the company spread itself too thin and she eventually left because of a rent increase.

Reached last week, Shaver says she closed her cracker company when she left Union Kitchen. She was frustrated that they didn’t provide any guidance on how to close down an LLC. She failed to notify the right agencies and received a summons a year later asking her to pay $4,000. With the high failure rate in the food space, Shaver thinks the company should be more forthcoming with advice when

You have to be a squeaky wheel.”

Reached last week, Kamara explains that she remained on as an “associate member” at Union Kitchen to utilize their distribution.

She didn’t sign a contract to continue this past December because she was dissatisfied. She says Union Kitchen cut the number of products they were making available to stores without informing her, and that they weren’t supplying her with sales reports or paying her on time. “I have to show up there and demand a meeting to get money for products that have been sold,” she says.

Kamara ponders whether she would have received different treatment if she was in the accelerator. “Probably, if they owned part of my business” she says. “Cullen did reach out to see if I wanted to be an accelerator member this summer.”

V Orvan, who is still a Union Kitchen member and produces raw organic tonics and cleanses through her company, Goûter, also took issue with distribution. “I not only didn’t

She heard them out. “They made it seem like if I wouldn’t go into their program, I would soon be treated like a second-class citizen in the kitchen because they were restructuring their business and would only be offering ‘perks and benefits’ to accelerator members as opposed to all members paying rent there.”

Orvan was confident in the knowledge she gained running her business and didn’t want to relinquish 10 percent equity in a deal she describes as “strongly skewed in their favor” and without too many “tangible benefits.”

“I think we give preferential treatment to our accelerator members in terms of they get the majority of our time,” Gilchrist says. “I do not think that has any negative impact for folks that use our kitchen otherwise.” When it comes to distribution, Gilchrist says: “People have products that aren’t built properly.”

Accelerator products, in contrast, are more likely to check the right boxes because the purpose of the program is to make them attractive to buyers.

year and notes they were interested in her carrot cake. After Grams left, Lijinsky dropped off samples for Compass Coffee co-founder Michael Haft. When she didn’t hear back, she reached out to Gilchrist to close the loop.

Gilchrist reported that Compass Coffee liked her products. Getting them into the coffee shops seemed imminent. Then Gilchrist called a meeting to pitch her on the accelerator. She wasn’t interested. “I told him I’m building slowly and steadily within my means at the moment and, with a full-time job, this is where I am comfortable.”

Lijinsky says Gilchrist assured her that getting into Compass Coffee wasn’t contingent on being in the accelerator. “But the email I got from Compass afterwards just didn’t add up, especially after the history of our discussions,” she says.

The email from Haft read, “We are not currently looking for these products, however in the future we would be willing to revaluate [sic].

The best avenue to get in touch with us [is] via the

things don’t go well.

Rabia Kamara joined Union Kitchen two months after Shaver because she felt marketing and distribution would be value-added services for her ice cream company, Ruby Scoops. By September of that year she was in four grocery stores, two of which she says she got in herself. That wasn’t enough.

“They’re telling people that we’re going to have all these things to help you grow your business and none of those things are actually there,” Kamara told City Paper in 2016. “If you don’t harp on them like a parent to a kid that hasn’t done their homework, they won’t do it.

get into more stores, but I ended up losing accounts,” she says. “It killed me to get phone calls and emails from managers of retail shops asking what was going on with Goûter … I got so many complaints that I eventually pulled out and went back to delivering myself.”

Union Kitchen was insistent on pitching Orvan about the accelerator. “When they were starting their accelerator program, I was in a vulnerable position, having just lost my business partner and unsure of what direction I wanted to take my business in,” Orvan explains. “Jonas and Cullen kept on pushing for a meeting.”

Gilchrist also wouldn’t characterize his recruitment techniques as putting on pressure.

“I’m excited about what we do,” he says. “Anyone I care about, I want to talk to them about being a part of what we’re doing.”

A second woman experienced pressure to join the accelerator through a different approach. Keri Lijinsky founded the gluten-free company Sweet Crimes. She bakes carrot cake, macaroons, doughnuts, cakes, and pies.

While she was still a Union Kitchen member, Lijinsky wanted to get her products into Compass Coffee. She says she had been in talks with their buyer, Nicolette Grams, for about a

Union Kitchen Accelerator. We have had the best success with companies that are involved in the program.” Reading it, Lijinsky says she felt that “being a part of the accelerator was going to give me access to these retailers and if I wasn’t there, I wouldn’t have that access.”

Haft says Compass Coffee plays a small role in the accelerator program and refutes that you have to be in the accelerator to be sold in one or more of the company’s nine D.C.-area locations. “It’s about getting the best products,” he says. “We’re not going to carry something just because it’s made at Union Kitchen.”

Haft and his partner, Harrison Suarez, say

washingtoncitypaper.com february 15, 2019 11

Daniel Berg is one of the accelerator’s satisfied, enthusiastic participants. The maker of Berg Bites—oat-based, gluten-free snacks with complex carbohydrates, essential fatty acids, and prebiotic fiber—says the teams at Compass Coffee and Union Kitchen Grocery helped him refine the size and shape of his product.

“Ours is a good example of how their program works,” he says. “Of improving a product through customer feedback, using distribution, and the stores. We’ve gone through so many changes and iterations of the product. They’re really smart and helpful, especially for me with no previous experience in the industry.”

Berg Bites are in Compass Coffee, Whole Foods, VIDA Fitness, Equinox Sports Club, and a host of other locations. Berg says he enjoys the camaraderie of being part of a cohort. “We started doing meetings every month where the members gather and discuss growing pains.”

He also appreciated the chance to meet the president of nutrition at Pepsi and representatives from Nestlé. “They said they were going to accelerate our business and they certainly did,” he says. “[Union Kitchen] is continuing to grow themselves, they’re only an eightyear-old company.”

Gilchrist, who came to Union Kitchen from the hospitality industry, admits growing his company has been a learning experience with some missteps. “We make so many mistakes,” he says. “I’ve gotten so many things wrong the

last few years. I’ve said, ‘How do we learn?

How do we leverage this to be better?’”

Four other entrepreneurs report good experiences with the accelerator, including Janalee Redmond. After a career in IT and biotech she suffered a health crisis that forced her into a new diet. Through this experience she discovered the benefits of bone broth. Her company, Brainy Belly, makes beef- and poultry-based bone broths and soups. She joined Union Kitchen as a regular member in 2015 then pivoted to become one of the accelerator’s first entrepreneurs.

Early on she recalls that they were all “finding their way through” at the same time. “That can be frustrating, but they’re a bunch of very smart people,” she says. “I know people have

Sasya Foods, David Knowles is having an encore career in food with his company, Lord of the Pies. The former television news reporter began selling pie by the slice at festivals and realized he had a knack for baking. Knowles was a regular Union Kitchen member first and joined the accelerator in spring 2018.

“I joined in order to develop new products and to grow my distribution to more stores outside of the D.C. region,” Knowles says. “In the past several months I have been able to greatly increase the number of stores that offer our products, and I am in talks with regional and national distributors who could enable significant growth.” He’s been impressed by Gilchrist, Rosenblum, and accelerator assistant

File

they talk to each cohort about their experience getting Compass off the ground. “We come to it from both the, ‘Hey, we’re interested in your product and buying it,’ and, ‘This is how we started and our process for getting Compass off the ground,’” Haft says.

They do regularly stock accelerator products. “The best thing we can do is give a product a chance and get that feedback from our customers and staff,” Haft says. “For these young brands, if they listen to it, it can be amazing. It can change the trajectory of what they’re doing.”

Haft says he and Suarez befriended Gilchrist six years ago at Blind Dog Cafe. But their relationship is more than a friendship.

They sit on the board of Union Kitchen. “Yes, we’re on the board, but it’s not a super formal thing,” Haft says. “We mostly just get barbecue and talk about what’s going on in the D.C. food scene and business challenges that we’re facing. The board sounds a little too serious for what this is to be honest.”

Vogel from Glen’s Garden Market characterizes their involvement differently when she talks about how the accelerator seeks out participants. “It feels like Cullen, Michael, and Harrison are playing monopoly with the D.C. food scene,” she says. “It seems to be a game of relentless empire expansion, but the fact is, the playing pieces are real people with real small businesses.”

There was a drink on the Compass Coffee menu called the “Cullen Gilchrist” over the summer.

had different experiences with it, but personally being a part of several startups, I feel positive overall.”

Redmond says she was comfortable with the terms, value of the programming, and connections. Her products are at Yes! Organic Market, MOM’s Organic Market, Union Kitchen Grocery, and other small stores. She produces under USDA inspection, which allows her to sell her products across state lines. She’s already in Philadelphia and New Jersey is coming down the pike. She’s targeting further expansion in the Mid-Atlantic region.

She believes that unless you have broad, deep experience with business, it’s lonely launching a company by yourself. “[Union Kitchen] provide[s] you with the pressure in a kinder, gentler, structured manner than what you’d find in the marketplace,” she says. “They press you to hone business skills, get your pitch together, and focus your vision.”

Like Redmond and Krishna Matturi of

12 february 15, 2019 washingtoncitypaper.com

manager Emily Paciulla. They worked with him on developing pie snacks that customers can eat on-the-go.

While he acknowledges that it’s a major step to bring in a partner, he would recommend the accelerator to others. “For someone in my situation, needing some guidance and expertise to grow in the retail space, I recommend people take a close look at it.”

Matturi is more specific about who he thinks the accelerator can benefit. “If you have no knowledge of the food industry, definitely go with them,” he says. “I don’t think it’s worth it for an advanced-stage start-up.”

He says while he was not able to negotiate how much equity Union Kitchen takes, he was able to push back on decisions. “There were so many times I had quandaries and they pushed me towards this or that and I was able to say no,” he says. “They were OK with it.” Matturi appreciates opportunities to interject because he notes that Gilchrist isn’t coming

from a background of “being highly successful at General Mills or Kellogg’s.”

The biggest accelerator advantage, Matturi says, is Union Kitchen’s local connections to stores like Whole Foods and Yes! and how quickly they were able to expedite the process of getting onto their shelves. “I wouldn’t say they’re an expert in everything, but they’ve matured quite a lot in terms of the accelerator program,” Matturi says.

A Union Kitchen representative approached Myles Powell while he was serving food at the DC Brau holiday market. He mainly makes mac and cheese through his company 8 Myles. “The accelerator was a fit for what I was looking for because I wasn’t familiar with the frozen food industry,” he says.

He joined in February 2018. His various flavors of frozen mac and cheese can now be found at Yes! Organic Market, MOM’s, Glen’s Garden Market, Union Kitchen Grocery, and Streets.

“I signed up because connections to buyers was a big one for me,” he explains. “It’s a pretty crowded industry. Buyers get pitched 1,000 times a month. Union Kitchen already had a footprint in the marketplace.”

He notes that equity was a concern when he was considering his options. “That was the biggest point when I was reviewing the proposal,” he says. “It was one of those situations where I could potentially own 90 percent of a milliondollar business. I decided to give it a shot.”

Entrepreneurs’ success rate depends on when they come into the program, according to Powell. There seems to be a sweet spot—entrepreneurs that have some market experience, but not too much. “I had an established brand and knew how the industry worked to a degree,” he says. “I would just say to be careful on what your goals are and make sure they align with what Union Kitchen’s goals for you might be.”

Orvan creDits Union Kitchen with being an integral part of growing the local food community.

That said, she argues the startup food landscape has changed dramatically since she started Goûter. “It used to be about doing something local in D.C., your hometown, your community, having pride in where you live, wanting to create something great in your city and to contribute positively to your city’s growth,” she says. “Everyone knew there wasn’t big money in food, but you did it because you were passionate.”

Eight years later, she says, the food community feels much more profit obsessed.

“Having a food business in D.C. has become trendy, and Union Kitchen has placed themselves in such a way that newcomers with a food business idea and some upfront capital go to them and don’t mind giving them part of their business upfront in exchange for their business network.”

“But I think it’s important to be transparent and talk not just about successes but also the failures that haven’t made it out of Union Kitchen,” she says. “Getting into food is a risky and expensive business, and people should do their research and know what they’re getting themselves into.”

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Love on Top

Two 17th-century tales pay tribute to women who want to be adored.

By Rebecca J. Ritzel

Nell Gwynn

Nell Gwynn

By Jessica Swale Directed by Robert Richmond At the Folger Theatre to March 10

Cyrano de Bergerac

By Edmond Rostand Adapted by Nathan Weinberger Directed by Vato Tsikurishvili At Synetic Theater to March 10 In a typIcal 17th century romance, the action proceeds thusly: “Some gallant falls for a wilting, waifish woman without a bean of personality or a single funny line, but hey, it doesn’t matter, ’cause she’s pretty.”

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And the women being admired in these plays? Two stars of the early modern stage who are easy for audiences to love.

17th century heartthrob Charles Hart (Quinn Franzen) first coaches Nell Gwynn (Alison Luff) in the art of onstage romance.

In the opening scene of Jessica Swale’s 2015 play based on historical characters, Hart is on the hunt for a woman who could be the first on Drury Lane’s stage. Charles II has reclaimed the throne, and London’s theaters are flourishing after years of Puritanical negligence. Nell has found work as an orange girl, selling citrus fruits that can serve as either refreshment or ammunition for theater patrons. Under Hart’s tutelage, she’s soon learning to act herself, with “eyebrows raised and nostrils drawn up” to convey terror, forehead “furrowed” for anger. His advice on romance is more subtle, and includes the aphorism on love quoted above. By this point in the lesson Hart has developed feelings for Nell, and the audience is falling hard for Luff.

In a heroic casting coup, the Folger nabbed a rising Broadway star to play Nell. Luff was last seen wasting away in Escape to Margaritaville, a jukebox musical of Jimmy Buffett hits that ran in New York for less than four months. Luff played a suc-

THEATER

14 february 15, 2019 washingtoncitypaper.com

cessful environmental scientist who falls for an underachieving Florida bartender. Working at the Folger likely required taking a pay cut, but it sure seems like a step up in the world to play a working mother who achieves success onstage while simultaneously serving as a mistress to the king.

The role requires everything: sex appeal, singing, dancing, comedic timing, and tragedy-surviving. Like Nell, Luff is a natural who revels in her character’s pluck. When the Drury’s inhouse dramatist, John Dryden (Michael Glenn), struggles to write his next romance, Gwynn goes on her tear about passive “waifish” heroines who were previously played by male actors.

“Please, Mr. Dryden. You can write for a real woman now.

No one has done that before. Write from here [indicating her guts] and write me a character! With skin and heart and some sense in her head!”

She goes on to call Juliet “a noodle” and wonders aloud, “Who wrote that show?”

“Shakespeare,” Dryden dryly replies, and the audience chuckles. Swale’s script is littered with insidery jabs and anachronistic dick jokes, as if she wants us to simultaneously laugh and pat ourselves on the back.

Some critics have faulted Nell Gwynn for being so self-congratulatory. But at the Folger, a replica of an indoor Elizabethan theater, with actors dashing about the aisles, the play feels akin to being the guest of honor at a celebration of the Western canon. With a “real woman” for a heroine and a racially diverse cast, there’s not much more you can ask for from a theater devoted to the classics.

Why not be swept up in this suspenseful story about a woman who risked having her head chopped off in order to have it all: family, money, a successful career, and of course, love.

201 East Capitol St. SE. $42–$79. (202) 544-7077. folger.edu.

If the plotlIne of suitors fawning for stars of the 17th-century stage doesn’t sync with your memories of Cyrano de Bergerac—which has endured many film, TV, and stage adaptations since its 1897 premiere—that’s because Synetic made a few tweaks to the story about a French poet-soldier with an elongated proboscis. The Crystal City-based company specializes in Eastern European movement theater. Like its famed “wordless Shakespeare” productions, there’s no dialogue in this retelling of the famous drama by Edmond Rostand.

To keep Roxanne from falling into that “pretty but without a bean of personality” trope that so irked Nell Gwynn—and to use the talents of star Maryam Najafzada—Synetic has recast Roxanne as a prima ballerina.

This Roxanne is not only popular because she’s rich and pretty—more beautiful than “Venus in her shell,” prettier than “Diana marching through broad, blossoming woods!” as the original Cyrano opined.

Once the lights go dim, Najafzada wows the audience with her performance of “The Dying Swan” set to music by Camille Saint-Saëns. She’s intentionally melodramatic, but to balletomanes in the crowd, the scene remains an obvious homage to Maya Plisetskaya, a Soviet dancer who made the “Swan” her calling card.

Choreographer Irina Tsikurishvili trained as a ballerina in the Republic of Georgia and has long cited Plisetskaya as an inspiration for her at Synetic; a prime example of a performer who compensated for imperfect technique with sincere passion. That’s an appropriate mantra for this Cyrano, which lacks the overall cohesion and polish of some previous Synetic productions. Tonal shifts are awkward for a variety of reasons, including a worsethan-usual score by Konstantine Lortkipanidze. It’s also challenging to wedge a serious war scene into a clown comedy. Add a first-time director stepping into the leading role at the last minute, and this Cyrano deserves forgiveness and sympathy.

Director Vato Tsikurishvili replaced Justin J. Bell, who left the show during tech due to illness. That’s unfortunate, but it’s difficult to imagine anyone else but Vato in this role so dependent on both physical comedy and empathy-inducing melancholy. Directorially, Vato displays the same genius as his father, company founder Paata Tsikurishvili. Cyrano still pens Roxanne’s love letters for Christian (Matt R. Stover), an attractive young soldier; that’s easily conveyed with flourishes and feather quills. But to stage the famous balcony scene, where Cyrano whispers eloquent words of love into Christian’s clueless ears, the Tsikurishvilis instead have both lovers attempt to woo Roxanne through dance.

When Christian starts clumsily thrusting like a drunk frat boy, Cyrano steps in to waltz back-to-back with Roxanne, allowing her to imagine she’s dancing with one man but partnered with another. In the aftermath, Roxanne weds Christian, eager to avoid arranged marriage to a churlish count (Synetic company member Philip Fletcher), but war soon tears the couple apart.

Some Cyrano adaptations avert Rostand’s bittersweet ending. Synetic’s decision to preserve the tragedy is a beautiful one, and in keeping with a sacrificial definition of love as “complete and utter indifference to everything, except the one you admire.” Cyrano prizes Roxanne’s happiness far above his own, and if that’s not an ideal lesson for a date night drama, there are no longer reasons for lovers to visit the theater.

CP 1800 South Bell St., Arlington. $20–$50. (703) 824-8060. synetictheater.org.

THEATERCURTAIN CALLS decessors. Weizman becomes a convenient excuse to exercise her ministry’s “freedom of funding” by cutting off theaters and festivals that present artists she regards as “disloyal.”

Shame 2.0 is a messy play with a messy development process that shows on stage—early press credited Mosaic Artistic Director Ari Roth with the adaptation and he freely admits he had to surrender that role to the original artists over the course of the workshop—but it is also fitting with the unfinished subject at its center. As with much documentary theater, its value is the potentially heated debates that occur after leaving the auditorium. Non-profit theaters in America may be free from the political interference Weizman and Hassan describe, but our cultural economy creates its own fulcra of leverage.

—Ian Thal

CULTURE SHOCKS Shame 2.0 with Comments from the Populace

By Einat Weizman with Morad Hassan Directed by John Vreeke At Atlas Performing Arts Center to Feb. 17 Mosaic TheaTer coMpany’s production of Shame 2.0 begins when its co-author, the actor Morad Hassan, walks onto an unadorned stage. Behind him is a photographic projection (the first of many by Dylan Uremovich) displaying the sign for Al-Midan, Israel’s state-funded Arabic-language theater. The surrounding architecture is distorted in the reflective glass of the shopping mall where the theater makes its home — perhaps this is a metaphor for the relationship between art and society.

Hassan then describes the night in 2015 when, an hour before a performance of the play A Parallel Time, protesters surrounded Al-Midan. The play was based on the life of Walid Daka, a Palestinian with Israeli citizenship currently serving a life sentence for his involvement in the abduction and murder of an Israeli soldier, Moshe Tamam. Daka claims to be a pacifist and peripheral to the plot for which he was convicted, but without seeing the play, protesters contended that it celebrated terrorism, and government funding was yanked from the production.

Shame 2.0’s authors take Daka at his word but do not seek to re-adjudicate his trial; he is largely peripheral to Hassan and his Jewish-Israeli co-author Einat Weizman’s experiences as artists in a country whose political culture has lurched to the right.

Hassan did not set out to be an activist; he was simply a young man from Galilee who, instead of joining the family business mak-

ing sweets, decided to study acting. At his day job as a bartender, he might deliver a favorite monologue by Israeli absurdist Hanoch Levin to his bar patrons. Later, he recounts his experience as a Palestinian-Israeli actor playing Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, concluding that the Palestinians “are the Jews of the Jews.”

The second half of this play is Weizman’s story. In 2006, Weizman, portrayed on stage

by Colleen Delany, was photographed wearing a yellow “Free Palestine” T-shirt that her sister picked up on a lark while traveling in India. Years later, Weizman, now working as a documentary playwright, wonders if her decision to leave the house in the shirt can be attributed to naïveté, irony, or impulsivity. Comments come in harassing phone messages and hate mail—some graphically describing sexual abuse at the hands of terror cells she allegedly sympathizes with. The photo resurfaces on social media after she criticizes Israeli conduct during the 2014 Gaza Conflict and so does the harassment. Where Hassan seems to relish his stage persona, Delany’s performance appears more constrained. Perhaps because Weizman was present for the workshopping process at Mosaic, her section comes across as more of a lecture with theatrical elements than a play.

Shame 2.0 (the version presented at Mosaic significantly expands upon the original play) is structured as a diptych. The stories of its two authors run parallel, sharing an antagonist in Minister of Culture and Sport Miri Regev, played by Lynette Rathnam (and often accompanied by a video projection of the real Regev), a retired brigadier general who served as a spokesperson for the IDF during the 2006 Lebanon War. American artists are often envious of their counterparts in countries that have a stronger tradition of public funding for the arts. Israel, due to its founders’ socialist leanings, has a long history of state and municipally funded theaters — but as Regev demonstrates, that funding comes with leverage. International attempts to boycott Israeli culture alarm her and Regev takes a more militant line than her pre-

1333 H St. NE. $15–$65. (202) 399-7993. mosaictheater.org.

DEATH BECOMES HIM Richard the Third

By William Shakespeare Directed by David Muse At Sidney Harman Hall to March 10 Drug kingpins anD theater directors who take on Richard the Third face the same problem: How to dispose of all the bodies.

When Robert Richmond staged the play at the Folger five years ago, he temporarily converted the playhouse into an in-the-round venue and built an elevated stage where the audience usually sits, with trapdoors and tunnels beneath so Richard’s victims could get sucked under the floorboards. Studio Theatre Artistic Director David Muse, returning to the Shakespeare Theatre Company, has opted for a more economical approach, setting this parade of seductions and assassinations in what looks like a decaying high school gym that’s been repurposed, perhaps by some mass casualty cataclysm, into a morgue.

It’s too bad that Debra Booth’s dank, cavernous, industrial set, with mildewy concrete walls and a menacing surgical lighting rig suspended from the ceiling, is the most memorable element of this inspiration-starved production.

Lindsay Jones’ original score covers the scene changes with ersatz hair-metal shredding that in a post-Wayne’s World world can conjure laughter but never tension or dread. More successful is the onstage rhythm section: Muse has ordered his sprawling cast to do enough stomp-

ing and clapping to fill a dozen Freddie Mercury biopics. Ancillary characters clap-stomp (and sometimes leather strap-stomp) a simple rhythm in the background as Matthew Rauch’s Richard bends his sycophants to his murderous will; more characters begin to clap along as he speaks, suggesting that Richard’s amorality is infectious. Watching powerful men abandon whatever pretense of scruples they once had to prop up a purely self-serving head of state who shows no reciprocal loyalty to them is so obviously timely you almost feel stupid for thinking it. And of course, the playwright was thinking of the political climate in the 1590s, when he was writing this play set in the 1480s. His queen was descended from Henry VII, who’d deposed Richard III, so it was in his interest to demonize the latter.

Muse is working from what he terms “a fairly radical cut” of one of Shakespeare’s longest plays, though including intermission, it still clocks in just shy of three hours. He’s eliminated Richard’s deformity save for a limp that comes and goes, and like Drew Cortese in that 2014 Folger production, Rauch — conventionally, symmetrically handsome — is an unlikely candidate to play a “rudely stamp’d, deform’d, unfinish’d cripple.” The notion that Richard’s malformed body reflects his corrupt nature isn’t one that plays any more, but it’s still disorienting when Richard is the most dashing dude on the stage.

Muse manages some variety in the mode of dispatch: Richard subjects his enemies and potential enemies to stabbing, lethal injection, and drowning; Christopher McFarland’s Duke of Buckingham rates merely a bullet in the head. When Richard’s victims return to haunt his dreams on the last night of his reign, Muse stages it, as others have, as a zombie attack, with Richards’s youngest victims, Prince Edward and the Duke of York, emerging from a freezer where they’ve been hung from meat-

hooks. It’s a little grand guignol to feel tragic, but it’s livelier than most of the preceding couple of hours. When Richard III goes to sleep, this Richard III, if only for a moment, wakes up.

—Chris Klimek 610 F St. NW. $44–$125. (202) 547-1122. shakespearetheatre.org.

washingtoncitypaper.com february 15, 2019 15

FILMSHORT SUBJECTS patience to watch the master’s method in exacting detail. Richter gives few interviews in that film, but he does say he knows a painting is complete when “there’s nothing wrong in it.” By that same standard, Never Look Away is woefully unfinished.

—Alan Zilberman Never Look Away opens Friday at The Avalon Theatre.

BAD LOOK Never Look Away

Directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck Never Look AwAy is the rare film that manages to be both pompous and glib. Directed with heavy-handed earnestness by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, this drama goes through the checklist for a historical epic: romantic gestures, political upheaval, moments of tragedy/ triumph. More importantly, you know it’s an epic because of its length. At just over three hours, Donnersmarck’s film somehow manages to insult his audience, misunderstand his subject, and reduce German history into the trappings of turgid melodrama. Only a talented filmmaker is capable of such a blunder.

Beginning in the late 1930s and continuing through the 1960s, Never Look Away is based on the life of the painter Gerhard Richter. The film takes many liberties with Richter’s life, so Donnersmarck’s stand-in is Kurt (Tom Schilling). Kurt shares some basic biographical details with Richter: After the War, he was forced to make Socialist Realist art in Sovietcontrolled Berlin before escaping to the West.

Of Donnersmarck’s film, Richter has said it, “grossly distorts [his] biography.”

Indeed, there are many embellishments, like the connection between Kurt’s family and his eventual father-in-law (Sebastian Koch), a former member of the SS. The weighty script uses the backdrop of war to give each contrivance the illusion of depth. When Donnersmarck worries his audience is not sufficiently moved, he will cut away to a sex scene, or superfluous footage of destruction and pain— most of it involving women.

After Kurt escapes to the West with his wife Ellie (Paula Beer), the biography attempts to make sense of Richter’s genius. Even if you’re unfamiliar with Richter’s work—he is famous for colorful abstracts and “blurred” photorealistic portraits—reducing his creativity to a series of biopic cliches is no way to celebrate him. It is true that

Kurt is not literally Richter, and yet Schilling’s performance is unaffected, a blank canvas (pun intended) that invites the mind to wander elsewhere. In one of the film’s final sections, Kurt’s stroke of genius is a complete accident: He cannot finish a painting until a trick of light distorts his vision. No artist, especially one widely considered the world’s greatest painter, should have their process reduced in such a way.

Donnersmarck won an Oscar for his Cold War drama The Lives of Others, and here he shows none of that film’s restraint. Never Look Away is a broad film, one that’s more interested in grand gestures than granular details. That’s fine for a epic about war and romance, except Kurt and Ellie remain together for most of the film, and the film’s most important details involve Kurt’s interiority. The cumulative effect is like hurling buckets of paint at a small canvas. At least the film looks great: cinematographer Caleb Deschanel veers between rich colors and evocative night scenes, so parts of the film have a palette recalling lush technicolor from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

If Kurt represents postwar Germany’s capacity for greatness, then his father-in-law is a specter of its greatest horrors. Unlike his playwright character from The Lives of Others, Koch’s character here is controlling and severe. He always reenters Kurt’s life at moments that strive for maximum poignancy, and his ability to fail upward—despite his background in the SS—is a grim joke. It is no surprise that Koch also gives the film’s best performance. Like his Nazi character in the World War II thriller Black Book, Koch conveys complexity underneath his steely exterior. But by tying his ideology to personal failures, the film lets him off the hook. In the end, Koch’s character is little more than another “good German.”

Part of what makes Never Look Away so frustrating, aside from its running time, is that better films have handled identical material. In melodramas like Phoenix and Barbara, Christian Petzold explores postwar Germany with sensitivity and suspense (he also does this in a much shorter running time). The 2012 documentary Gerhard Richter Painting has the

16 february 15, 2019 washingtoncitypaper.com

GENRE NOPE Isn’t It Romantic

Directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson IsN’t It romANtIc is the Scream of romantic comedies. While criticizing formulas, it follows a formula: enumerating all the boxes that a certain genre of film ticks while then proceeding to tick those boxes itself in the name of parody. Though no longer original, the approach is still clever and offers the opportunity for a smart critique when done right.

Todd Strauss-Schulson’s film only sometimes gets it right. Written by a trio of women— Erin Cardillo, Dana Fox, and Katie Silberman— Isn’t It Romantic stars Rebel Wilson as Natalie, a New York City architect who’s treated like an underling by her office mates. She’s single, ostensibly the reason she hates romantic comedies, which her assistant Whitney (Betty Gilpin) likes to watch instead of working. When Whitney tries to get some more time to finish one, Natalie launches into a multi-day screed about why they’re “toxic,” starting with the relatively benign, “This ends like all stupid romcoms do!” (Yes, it’s a montage. See what they did there?) She’s friends with co-worker Josh (Adam Devine), whose invitations to karaoke she nonetheless repeatedly turns down.

One day, Natalie is mugged on a subway platform and knocks herself unconscious when she runs into a column. She wakes up in a hospital with a handsome doctor who tells her how beautiful she is. She’s given a couture outfit to leave the hospital in (somehow, her clothes

were ruined in the collision). And she immediately meets Blake (Liam Hemsworth), a rich businessman who’s also taken by her—after his limo hits her. Unfortunately, it’s not the last time Wilson will be subject to a violent pratfall.

Natalie also discovers that she has a fabulous apartment and a gay best friend who doesn’t have a job. In other words: Her life has turned into a romantic comedy. It’s at this

point that the film indulges in a bit of sentimentality: “People are treating me like I’m special,” she confesses to Blake. “And I’m not special.” Of course, everyone from that point onward begs to differ, and Natalie ends up with not just one romantic interest but two, because that’s what the formula dictates.

Isn’t It Romantic is often funny but ultimately forgettable. On one hand, the filmmakers are to be commended for casting the plus-size and wonderfully expressive Wilson in the starring role (her first turn as a leading lady). On the other, however, it gives the movie a Shallow Hal feel: Just as Gwyneth Paltrow in that film was only deemed attractive when her “inner beauty” was seen—i.e., when Gwyneth looked like Gwyneth, no longer in a fat suit—the message of Isn’t It Romantic seems to be that Natalie can get the guy only when her life is orchestrated to be a rom-com. (Indeed, she’d already met Blake in a meeting to which she brought coffee for herself but he took it, saying, “Oh, thanks, hon.”)

The scripters try to circumvent the tropes and inject a little feminist spirit into the plot development, though it turns out to be somewhat of a cheat. In the meantime, you’ll laugh at Natalie’s cynicism and probably agree with her that romantic comedies are the worst.

When she realizes what has happened to her, she moans, “How do I get to the end?” You may not want to rush to the cheery conclusion of Isn’t It Romantic, but you won’t be sad when you get there, either.

—Tricia Olszewski Isn’t It Romantic opens Wednesday in theaters everywhere.

GALLERIESSKETCHES

SWAMP THINGS OPEN: An Installation

by Robin Bell

At George Washington University’s Flagg Building to March 31.

Robin bell neveR asked for permission to project onto the front of the building as part of his solo show. Administrators at George Washington University should have seen it coming.

“IF YOU CAN READ THIS FROM YOUR OFFICE, YOU MIGHT BE PART OF THE PROBLEM,” read the broadcast on the façade of the former Corcoran Gallery of Art, now home to the university’s arts school. While the light projection was only active briefly during

the show’s opening, it served to link the work inside the gallery with the work happening across the street (at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building)—momentarily recruiting the college to his campaign against the White House.

Another achievement unlocked for Bell: The artist has mounted dozens of anti-government projections across every corner of federal Washington, from the Trump International Hotel to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. His light-show graffiti is direct, even confrontational: all caps, sans serif, and to-thepoint. OPEN is the culmination of the artist’s Guy Fawkes Night-like spree of guerrilla demonstrations, and the opening-night installation offered the same meme-like punch that viewers have come to expect in his protests. OPEN is also something else: an attempt to slow down and ground his work in the context of art. This time, Bell’s outing is a partial success.

“The Swamp” (2019), the centerpiece of Bell’s exhibit, is a showstopper: a composite video projection onto four pillars that take the form of stacks of blocks. Each cube’s surface serves as a screen. Faces of familiar politicians materialize then disappear, sometimes in moving portraits that span multiple blocks so that smiling, blinking mugs break like jagged Cubist paintings. (The video mapping is slightly off, so the effect is sometimes unintentional.) At times, upward of 80 different swamp creatures appear before the projection sum-

mons a new horde of politicos. “The Swamp” offers a who’s-who guide to Washington. Visuals that complete the video, including word clouds and infographic treatments, place the piece somewhere between an MSNBC election special and a Illuminati mood board.

At times, Bell’s contempt for his subjects is unequivocal: His “Swamp” portrait of former White House aide Sebastian Gorka possesses burning demonic eyes. But the broader narrative thrust in “The Swamp” involves bothsidesism—“the almost pathological determination to portray politicians and their programs as being equally good or equally bad, no matter how ludicrous that pretense becomes,” according to the New York Times’ Paul Krugman. This conviction explains how Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar winds up in the same criminal cloud as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Bell is having it both ways, ridiculing the Trumpian meta-commentary about “the swamp” but also indulging in the populist impulse to condemn everyone with the same broad brush.

Other artworks might as well be #resistance posters. Projections at either end of the Corcoran’s atrium read “The President Is Closed” and “Jamal Khashoggi Was Murdered and the President Did Nothing”— no closer reading necessary. (Although it’s worth noting that one of Khashoggi’s daughters attended school at the Corcoran.) Another projection across the balustrade landing between the first and second gallery floors declares the president “canceled.”

There are two sculptures on view: both screens bearing text (“It Is Happening Here”) attached to glowing light strips. On one end of the gallery, the lights are red; at the other, of course, they’re blue.

OPEN borrows plenty from Jenny Holzer, an influential text artist whose aphorisms take the form of every medium imaginable. Bell also has an eye for finding new ways to pull off his projections—on the face of the U.S. Department of Justice, for example. Sometimes these experiments fall short, as in the projection running along the stairs leading up to the Corcoran’s Rotunda, a video that is unwatchable under ambient light, at least during the daytime.

Arguably, OPEN ought to be limited to just “The Swamp” alone. A small-scale presentation of a sculptural installation, one that queues up visions of sculptor Nam June Paik’s towering walls of televisions, would have given viewers a taste of Bell’s artwork outside his protests. The message in “The Swamp” is more nuanced than the other projections on hand (or at least, there’s a lot going on there).

These projections are the post-minimalist equivalent of political cartoons: punny, compact, and pointed. In “OPEN,” they don’t add up to an exhibition, like an album that wants to be an EP, or even a single. Bell’s work is still best seen in its original context: as a transgressive gesture.

—Kriston Capps

Say What?!

Friday Night with Reese Waters featuring Nore Davis

Friday, February 22 at 9 p.m. | KC Jazz Club Reese Waters, comedian, DC native, and host of Get Up DC! on WUSA 9, curates a new comedy series in the KC Jazz Club. On the fourth Friday of every month, Reese will headline and present an evening of stand-up comedy and intimate conversations with his friends from the comedy community. Additional dates in this series are March 22 & April 26.

Kennedy-Center.org (202) 467-4600

Groups call (202) 416-8400 For all other ticket-related customer service inquiries, call the Advance Sales Box Office at (202) 416-8540

Comedy at the Kennedy Center Presenting Sponsor

500 17th St. NW. Free. corcoran.gwu.edu. washingtoncitypaper.com february 15, 2019 17

18 february 15, 2019 washingtoncitypaper.com

CITYLIST

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 ay ne's D Valenetictacular Sp

Music 19 Books 22 Dance 22 Theater 22 Film 24

The Peacock Room Revealed at the Freer Gallery of Art, to April 2019

feat. Angie Pontani, Murray Hill, & more!

Feb 16 Daryl Davis Presents: Thanks For The Memories – 2018

A tribute to the musicians we loved and lost in 2018.

Featuring DC area's finest musicians!

21

Bonnie JAMES McMURTRY Whitmore

24

JEFFREY OSBORNE

27&28 Mar 1

MARSHALL CRENSHAW & THE BOTTLE ROCKETS

Empty BOB SCHNEIDER ThePockets 3 SWEET HONEY IN THE ROCK 7 MADELEINE PEYROUX & PAULA COLE

2

Music FRIDAY BLUES

WARNER THEATRE 513 13th St. NW. (202) 783-4000.

Tedeschi Trucks Band. 8 p.m. $67.50–$190. warnertheatredc.com.

CLASSICAL

KENNEDY CENTER CONCERT HALL 2700 F St. NW. (202) 467-4600. Gianandrea Noseda and Ben Folds. 9 p.m. $25–$39. kennedy-center.org.

KENNEDY CENTER TERRACE GALLERY 2700 F St. NW. (202) 467-4600. James Francies. 7 p.m.; 9 p.m. $20. kennedy-center.org.

MUSIC CENTER AT STRATHMORE 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. (301) 581-5100. Gregory Porter.

8 p.m. $58–$108. strathmore.org.

POP

SONGBYRD MUSIC HOUSE AND RECORD CAFE 2477 18th St. NW. (202) 450-2917. Madeleine Moran. 9 p.m.

Free. songbyrddc.com.

STATE THEATRE 220 N. Washington St., Falls Church.

(703) 237-0300. The Stranger: A Tribute to Billy Joel. 9 p.m. $17–$20. thestatetheatre.com.

ROCK

THE ANTHEM 901 Wharf St. SW. (202) 888-0020.

Interpol. 8 p.m. $40–$55. theanthemdc.com.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS COOLIDGE AUDITORIUM First Street and Independence Avenue SE. (202) 7075507. Mnozil Brass. 8 p.m. Free. loc.gov.

BARNS AT WOLF TRAP 1635 Trap Road, Vienna. (703) 255-1900. 1964 The Tribute. 8 p.m. $38–$42. wolftrap. org.

ELECTRONIC

FILLMORE SILVER SPRING 8656 Colesville Road, Silver Spring. (301) 960-9999. Metric and Zoé. 7 p.m. $38–$114. fillmoresilverspring.com.

FUNK & R&B

THE HAMILTON 600 14th St. NW. (202) 787-1000.

Donavon Frankenreiter. 8 p.m. $20–$45. thehamiltondc.com.

SOUNDCHECK 1420 K St. NW. (202) 789-5429. Spencer Brown. 10 p.m. $15–$20. soundcheckdc.com.

BIRCHMERE 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria.

(703) 549-7500. Eric Roberson. 7:30 p.m. $59.50. birchmere.com.

THE HAMILTON 600 14th St. NW. (202) 787-1000.

Speakers of the House. 10:30 p.m. Free. thehamiltondc.com.

HIP-HOP

SONGBYRD MUSIC HOUSE AND RECORD CAFE 2477 18th St. NW. (202) 450-2917. DaniLeigh. 8 p.m. $14– $55. songbyrddc.com.

U STREET MUSIC HALL 1115 U St. NW. (202) 588-1889.

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

JAZZ

JAMMIN JAVA 227 Maple Ave. East, Vienna. (703) 2551566. Chuck Prophet. 8 p.m. $20. jamminjava.com.

U STREET MUSIC HALL 1115 U St. NW. (202) 588-1889.

Graves. 10:30 p.m. $15. ustreetmusichall.com.

UNION STAGE 740 Water St. SW. (877) 987-6487.

Thursday. 8:30 p.m. $35–$49. unionstage.com.

SATURDAY BLUES

9:30 CLUB 815 V St. NW. (202) 265-0930. Galactic ft.

Erica Falls. 8 p.m. $30. 930.com.

BIRCHMERE 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria.

(703) 549-7500. Daryl Davis Presents: Thanks For The Memories 2018. 7:30 p.m. $29.50. birchmere.com.

BLUES ALLEY 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW. (202) 3374141. Marion Meadows. 8 p.m.; 10 p.m. $30–$35. bluesalley.com.

WARNER THEATRE 513 13th St. NW. (202) 783-4000.

Tedeschi Trucks Band. 8 p.m. $67.50–$190. warnertheatredc.com.

CLASSICAL

AMP BY STRATHMORE 11810 Grand Park Ave., North Bethesda. (301) 581-5100. BSO Music Box. 10 a.m.; 11:30 a.m. $12. ampbystrathmore.com.

8

THE MANHATTANS

KENNEDY CENTER CONCERT HALL 2700 F St. NW. (202) 467-4600. National Symphony Orchestra: Romeo & Juliet. 8 p.m. $15–$89. kennedy-center.org.

9

SUGAR SAMMY

MUSIC CENTER AT STRATHMORE 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. (301) 581-5100. BSO: Ravel Bolero. 8 p.m. $35–$90. strathmore.org.

14

KINKY FRIEDMAN & DALE WATSON "Long Tales & Short Songs

COUNTRY

15

HYLTON PERFORMING ARTS CENTER 10960 George Mason Circle, Manassas. (703) 993-7759. Maybe April.

8 p.m. $25–$30. hyltoncenter.org.

FOLK

THE HAMILTON 600 14th St. NW. (202) 787-1000.

Sierra Hull. 8 p.m. $19.75–$45. thehamiltondc.com.

HILL COUNTRY LIVE 410 7th St. NW. (202) 556-2050.

Bella’s Bartock. 9:30 p.m. Free. hillcountrywdc.com.

FUNK & R&B

EAGLEBANK ARENA 4500 Patriot Circle, Fairfax.

(703) 993-3000. Valentine’s Love Jam 2019. 8 p.m. $59–$125. eaglebankarena.com.

SONGBYRD MUSIC HOUSE AND RECORD CAFE 2477 18th St. NW. (202) 450-2917. Dante Pope. 8 p.m. $15– $17. songbyrddc.com.

JAZZ

9:30 CLUB 815 V St. NW. (202) 265-0930. Galactic ft.

Erica Falls. 8 p.m. $30. 930.com.

BLUES ALLEY 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW. (202) 3374141. Marion Meadows. 8 p.m.; 10 p.m. $30–$35. bluesalley.com.

KENNEDY CENTER TERRACE GALLERY 2700 F St. NW. (202) 467-4600. Pedrito Martinez and Alfredo Rodríguez. 7 p.m.; 9 p.m. $20–$35. kennedy-center.org.

ROCK

THE HAMILTON 600 14th St. NW. (202) 787-1000.

Brent & Co. 10:30 p.m. Free. thehamiltondc.com.

JAMMIN JAVA 227 Maple Ave. East, Vienna. (703) 2551566. Killer Deluxe. 8 p.m. $15–$25. jamminjava.com.

16 18

featuring Gerald

alston

DEL & DAWG

(Del McCoury & David Grisman)

TOM RUSH Reed TODD SNIDER Foehl

Cash Cabin Sessions Vol. 3, Album Release Tour!

WE THREE 20 LUNASA 22 OHIO PLAYERS 23 THE FOUR BITCHIN' BABES 24 JIM"Share BRICKMAN The Love" 19

THE RIPPINGTONS RUSSfeaturing FREEMAN 27 DAVID ARCHULETA 25

APRIL 2, 2019 - 8PM TICKETS ON SALE NOW AT TICKETMASTER.COM/800-745-3000. presents

washingtoncitypaper.com february 15, 2019 19

Boyz II Men at The Theater at MGM National Harbor, Feb. 17

LIVE MUSIC | BOURBON | BURGERS

FEBRUARY TH 14 WIL GRAVATT FR 15 BLUES & SOUL NIGHT FEATURING FAST EDDIE & THE SLOWPOKES FR 22 DANNY BURNS w/ BELLWETHER BAYOU SA 23 GOOSE SURPRISE ATTACK SU 24 SOUTHWEST SOUL SESSIONS w/ ELIJAH BALBED & ISABELLE DE LEON TH 28 ROCKABILLY NIGHT FEATURING KITI GARTNER & JAY JENC (FROM JUMPIN’ JUPITER)

MARCH FR 1 SU 3

TU 5

BENCOOLEN SWIFT TECHNIQUE GRAMMY NOMINATED FOR BEST CONTEMPORARY BLUES ALBUM DANIELLE NICOLE BAND w/ ASHLEIGH CHEVALIER A MARDI GRAS CELEBRATION ON THE WHARF FEATURING THE CRAWDADDIES

TH 7

WIL GRAVATT

FR 8

PSYCH NIGHT FEATURING PYSCHEDELIC PORN CRUMPETS FRANKIE & THE WITCH FINGERS

SU 10 THUMPASAURUS TH 14 BLUES SPEAKEASY NIGHT AT THE WHARF FEATURING MOONSHINE SOCIETY FR 15 ANDY FRASCO & THE U.N. SA 16 ST. PATRICK’S DAY CELEBRATION FEATURING ICEWAGON FLU TH 21 THE JACOB JOLLIFF BAND (OF YONDER MOUNTAIN STRING BAND) FR 22 AN EVENING WITH THE NIGHTHAWKS

pearlstreetwarehouse.com

FOLLOW US @PEARLSTREETLIVE 33 PEARL ST SW DC •THE WHARF

SONGBYRD MUSIC HOUSE AND RECORD CAFE 2477 18th St. NW. (202) 450-2917. It Looks Sad. 9 p.m. Free. songbyrddc.com.

STATE THEATRE 220 N. Washington St., Falls Church.

(703) 237-0300. Gin Blossoms. 9 p.m. $30–$99. thestatetheatre.com.

UNION STAGE 740 Water St. SW. (877) 987-6487.

Thursday. 8:30 p.m. $35–$49. unionstage.com.

WORLD

BARNS AT WOLF TRAP 1635 Trap Road, Vienna. (703) 255-1900. Masters of Hawaiian Music. 8 p.m. $25– $30. wolftrap.org.

DC9 1940 9th St. NW. (202) 483-5000. Dante Elephante. 8 p.m. $12. dcnine.com.

UNION STAGE 740 Water St. SW. (877) 987-6487.

Deerhoof. 7:30 p.m. $15–$30. unionstage.com.

WORLD

BARNS AT WOLF TRAP 1635 Trap Road, Vienna. (703) 255-1900. Masters of Hawaiian Music. 8 p.m. $25– $30. wolftrap.org.

MONDAY CLASSICAL

SUNDAY

KENNEDY CENTER CONCERT HALL 2700 F St. NW. (202) 467-4600. Music Celebrations International 2019 Capital Orchestra Festival. 2 p.m. Free. kennedy-center.org.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART WEST GARDEN COURT 4th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. (202) 8426941. Lara St. John and Matt Herskowitz. 3:30 p.m.

Free. nga.gov.

ELECTRONIC

CLASSICAL

PHILLIPS COLLECTION 1600 21st St. NW. (202) 3872151. Alban Gerhardt and Cecile Licad. 4 p.m. $5–$45. phillipscollection.org.

COUNTRY

JAMMIN JAVA 227 Maple Ave. East, Vienna. (703) 2551566. The Dead Tongues. 7:30 p.m. $15–$25. jamminjava.com.

ELECTRONIC

9:30 CLUB 815 V St. NW. (202) 265-0930. The Knocks.

7 p.m. $25. 930.com.

FUNK & R&B

HOWARD THEATRE 620 T St. NW. (202) 803-2899.

Marsha Ambrosius. 8 p.m. $59.50–$125. thehowardtheatre.com.

GOSPEL

KENNEDY CENTER CONCERT HALL 2700 F St. NW. (202) 467-4600. Washington Performing Arts’s Gospel Choirs. 7 p.m. $25–$75. kennedy-center.org.

JAZZ

BLUES ALLEY 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW. (202) 3374141. Marion Meadows. 8 p.m.; 10 p.m. $30–$35. bluesalley.com.

THE HAMILTON 600 14th St. NW. (202) 787-1000. The Hot Sardines. 7:30 p.m. $19.75–$29.75. thehamiltondc.com.

ROCK

BIRCHMERE 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria.

(703) 549-7500. Three Dog Night. 7:30 p.m. $69.50. birchmere.com.

BLACK CAT 1811 14th St. NW. (202) 667-4490. Daughters. 7:30 p.m. $18–$20. blackcatdc.com.

20 february 15, 2019 washingtoncitypaper.com

UNION STAGE 740 Water St. SW. (877) 987-6487. Robert DeLong. 8 p.m. $17–$30. unionstage.com.

ROCK

DC9 1940 9th St. NW. (202) 483-5000. The Glorious Sons. 7:30 p.m. $15. dcnine.com.

TUESDAY BLUES

DC9 1940 9th St. NW. (202) 483-5000. Adia Victoria. 8 p.m. $13–$15. dcnine.com.

CLASSICAL

CLARICE SMITH PERFORMING ARTS CENTER Stadium Drive and Route 193, College Park. (301) 405-2787.

Pamela Frank and Stephen Prutsman. 8 p.m. Free. theclarice.umd.edu.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS COOLIDGE AUDITORIUM First Street and Independence Avenue SE. (202) 7075507. Renaud Capuçon and Guillaume Bellom. 8 p.m.

Free. loc.gov.

FOLK

BARNS AT WOLF TRAP 1635 Trap Road, Vienna.

(703) 255-1900. Cherish The Ladies. 8 p.m. $25–$30. wolftrap.org.

JAZZ

BLUES ALLEY 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW. (202) 3374141. David Binney’s Angelino Quartet. 8 p.m.; 10 p.m. $25. bluesalley.com.

JAMMIN JAVA 227 Maple Ave. East, Vienna. (703) 2551566. VA Music Adventures Presents: Love Is In The Air. 7:30 p.m. $15. jamminjava.com.

POP

LINCOLN THEATRE 1215 U St. NW. (202) 888-0050.

LP. 8 p.m. Sold out. thelincolndc.com.

ROCK

BIRCHMERE 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria.

(703) 549-7500. Matt Nathanson. 7:30 p.m. $45. birchmere.com.

FILLMORE SILVER SPRING 8656 Colesville Road, Silver Spring. (301) 960-9999. Switchfoot. 7:15 p.m. $36. fillmoresilverspring.com.

WEDNESDAY CLASSICAL

AUSTRIAN CULTURAL FORUM 3524 International Court NW. (202) 895-6714. Duo Guschlbauer. 7 p.m.

Free. acfdc.org.

ELECTRONIC

SOUNDCHECK 1420 K St. NW. (202) 789-5429. Bailo.

10 p.m. $10–$15. soundcheckdc.com.

FOLK

BARNS AT WOLF TRAP 1635 Trap Road, Vienna.

(703) 255-1900. Cherish The Ladies. 8 p.m. $25–$30. wolftrap.org.

JAZZ

BLUES ALLEY 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW. (202) 3374141. Kayla Waters. 8 p.m.; 10 p.m. $25. bluesalley. com.

POP

JAMMIN JAVA 227 Maple Ave. East, Vienna. (703) 2551566. Aaron Carter. 7:30 p.m. $20–$30. jamminjava.com.

UNION STAGE 740 Water St. SW. (877) 987-6487.

MNEK. 7:30 p.m. $17–$35. unionstage.com.

ROCK

9:30 CLUB 815 V St. NW. (202) 265-0930. LP. 7 p.m. $25. 930.com.

THURSDAY CLASSICAL

CLARICE SMITH PERFORMING ARTS CENTER Stadium Drive and Route 193, College Park. (301) 405-2787.

Bach Cantata. 1:30 p.m. Free. theclarice.umd.edu.

KENNEDY CENTER CONCERT HALL 2700 F St. NW. (202) 467-4600. NSO Pops: Star Wars: The Force Awakens. 7 p.m. $34–$149. kennedy-center.org.

MANSION AT STRATHMORE 10701 Rockville Pike, North Bethesda. (301) 581-5100. Verona Quartet. 7:30 p.m. $30. strathmore.org.

ELECTRONIC

THE ANTHEM 901 Wharf St. SW. (202) 888-0020.

James Blake. 8 p.m. $48.50–$78.50. theanthemdc. com.

Merriweather Post Pavilion • Columbia, MD JUST ANNOUNCED!

JASON ISBELL AND THE 400 UNIT & FATHER JOHN MISTY

w/ Jade Bird ..................................................................................................... FRI JUNE 21

Heart

* w/ Joan Jett and The Blackhearts & Elle King ... AUGUST 13

THIS WEEK’S SHOWS

Bob Mould Band w/ Titus Andronicus ................................................. Th FEB 14 Galactic feat. Erica Falls (F 15 - w/ High & Mighty Brass Band • Sa 16 - w/ Aztec Sun) ..................F 15 & Sa 16

The Knocks w/ Young & Sick • Blu DeTiger ................................................. Su 17 Jacob Banks w/ Abir .................................................................................... Tu 19 FEBRUARY

MARCH (cont.)

Michael Ray w/ Ryan Griffin ...Th 21 Cherub w/ Mosie ........................F 22 You Me At Six w/ Dreamers & Machineheart ....Su 24 Pat Green and Aaron Watson ...............W 27 Big Head Todd & The Monsters w/ Blue Water Highway ..............Th 28

Sabrina Carpenter ...............Su 10

MARCH

AEG PRESENTS

Cole Escola This is a seated show.

Early Show! 6pm Doors ........................F 1

STEEZ PROMO PRESENTS

Manic Focus Late Show! 10pm Doors ......................F 1 Deerhunter w/ L’Rain Early Show! 6pm Doors ......................Sa 2 BASS NATION PRESENTS

Dirt Monkey Late Show! 10pm Doors ....................Sa 2 WET and Kilo Kish w/ Hana Vu ...................................Tu 5 ALL GOOD PRESENTS

JJ Grey & Mofro w/ Southern Avenue ....................Th 7 ALL GOOD PRESENTS

BoomBox w/ Late Night Radio ...F 8 ALL GOOD PRESENTS

The Motet w/ No BS! Brass Band .................Sa 9

MANY MORE SHOWS ON SALE!

9:30 CUPCAKES

BECK & CAGE THE ELEPHANT *

w/ Spoon & Sunflower Bean .................................................................... AUGUST 22

PENTATONIX

* w/ Rachel Platten ............................................... AUGUST 26

On Sale Friday, February 15 at Noon

M3 ROCK FESTIVAL FEATURING

Whitesnake • Extreme • Warrant • Skid Row • Vince Neil • Kix and more! .....................................................MAY 3-5 For a full lineup, visit m3rockfest.com

ALL GOOD PRESENTS

J Boog w/ EarthKry & Eddy Dyno .M 11 ALL GOOD PRESENTS

Trevor Hall w/ Dirtwire & Will Evans ............Tu 12 Smallpools ...............................W 13 ALL GOOD PRESENTS

Mike Gordon ............................F 15 Teenage Fanclub w/ The Love Language ...............Sa 16 Jonathan McReynolds ........Su 17 ALL GOOD PRESENTS

Railroad Earth Two-night passes available. ..F 22 & Sa 23 AN EVENING WITH

Nils Frahm .............................Su 24 TRILLECTRO PRESENTS

Lil Mosey w/ Polo G .................W 27 Failure & Swervedriver .....Th 28

Slayer w/ Lamb of God • Amon Amarth • Cannibal Corpse ................................... MAY 14 Jason Aldean w/ Kane Brown • Carly Pearce • Dee Jay Silver ..................... MAY 17 Florence + The Machine * w/ Blood Orange ................................. JUNE 3 Brandi Carlile ........................................................................................ JUNE 14 Phish ........................................................................................................ JUNE 22 & 23 Third Eye Blind & Jimmy Eat World * w/ Ra Ra Riot ...... JULY 19 The Chrysalis at Merriweather Park

LORD HURON w/ Bully ....................................................................... JULY 23 Ticketmaster • For full lineup & more info, visit merriweathermusic.com • impconcerts.com *Presented by Live Nation

Capital One Arena • Washington, D.C.

Disturbed w/ Three Days Grace .........................................................................FEB 21 MUSE .................................................................................................................. APRIL 2 Ticketmaster

STEEZ PROMO PRESENTS

Boogie T.rio w/ Mersiv & Vampa ...................Sa 30

On Sale Friday, February 15 at 10am

APRIL

Let’s Eat Grandma ..................M 1 BASS NATION PRESENTS

Getter ........................................Tu 2 Patty Griffin ...............................W 3 Emily King .................................Th 4

930.com

The best thing you could possibly put in your mouth Cupcakes by BUZZ... your neighborhood bakery in Alexandria, VA. | www.buzzonslaters.com

9:30 CLUB PRESENTS AT U STREET MUSIC HALL

Gang of Four ...........................Th 21 MadeinTYO w/ Thutmose & Key! ................M FEB 18 The Suffers w/ Jeremie Albino ......Sa 23 Julia Holter w/ Jessica Moss ........Tu 19 Donna Missal w/ Samia ..............Su 24 9:30 & TRILLECTRO PRESENT

Lincoln Theatre • 1215 U Street, NW Washington, D.C. JUST ANNOUNCED!

AN EVENING WITH

G L E N H A N S A R D ...................................................................... JUNE 3 On Sale Friday, February 15 at 10am AEG PRESENTS

BIANCA

DEL RIO - IT’S JESTER JOKE .................. FRI OCTOBER 18 On Sale Friday, February 15 at Noon

THIS THURSDAY!

Spiritualized ............................APR 16 Story District’s Sucker For Love ................... FEB 14 Citizen Cope .............................APR 17 ALL GOOD PRESENTS AN EVENING WITH

D NIGHT ADDED!

FIRST NIGHT SOLD OUT! SECON

The Mavericks ........................ MAR 8 Alice Smith ................................. MAR 9 Whindersson Nunes .......... MAR 23 Meow Meow + Thomas Lauderdale (of Pink Martini) .............................. MAR 25

Imogen Heap with special guest Guy Sigsworth of Frou Frou ............... MAY 4

JOHNNYSWIM .........................MAY 15 Josh Ritter & The Royal City Band w/ Penny & Sparrow ............MAY 17 Yann Tiersen (Solo In Concert) .........................MAY 24

• thelincolndc.com • U Street (Green/Yellow) stop across the street!

• Buy advance tickets at the 9:30 Club box office • 930.com

TICKETS for 9:30 Club shows are available through TicketFly.com, by phone at 1-877-4FLY-TIX, and at the 9:30 Club box office.

9:30 CLUB BOX OFFICE HOURS are 12-7pm on weekdays & until 11pm on show nights, 6-11pm on Sat, and 6-10:30pm on Sun on show nights.

HAPPY HOUR DRINK PRICES impconcerts.com AFTER THE SHOW AT THE BACK BAR!

PARKING: THE OFFICIAL 9:30 parking lot entrance is on 9th Street, directly behind the 9:30 Club. Buy your advance parking tickets at the same time as your concert tickets!

930.com washingtoncitypaper.com february 15, 2019 21

Adia Victoria at DC9, Feb. 19

U STREET MUSIC HALL 1115 U St. NW. (202) 588-1889.

Downlink. 10 p.m. $17–$20. ustreetmusichall.com.

moreland Street, No. 101, Arlington. Feb. 21. 7 p.m.

Free. (703) 300-9746.

the audience. Atlas Performing Arts Center. 1333 H St. NE. Feb. 21. 8 p.m. $35. (202) 399-7993. atlasarts.org.

FOLK

SUSAN ORLEAN Bestselling author, journalist, and essayist Susan Orlean’s newest work, The Library Book, is an exploration of the history, power, and future of these endangered institutions told through the lens of Orlean’s quest to answer the question of who set fire to the Los Angeles Public Library in 1986, destroying 400,000 books. Arlington Central Library.

1015 N. Quincy St., Arlington. Feb. 20. 7 p.m. Free. (703) 228-5990.

NATIONAL BALLET OF CHINA: RAISE THE RED LANTERN In 2005, the National Ballet of China presented the D.C. premiere of Raise the Red Lantern—a ballet which tells the haunting tale of a concubine sold by her mother in rural 1920s China. Now the renowned company returns with the award-winning ballet, performed with full orchestra, as the main event of the Kennedy Center’s 2019 Lunar New Year celebration.

Kennedy Center Opera House. 2700 F St. NW. Feb. 15, 7:30 p.m.; Feb. 16, 1:30 p.m.; Feb. 16, 7:30 p.m. $39– $129. (202) 467-4600. kennedy-center.org.

JAMMIN JAVA 227 Maple Ave. East, Vienna. (703) 2551566. Lowland Hum. 8 p.m. $15. jamminjava.com.

JAZZ

BLUES ALLEY 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW. (202) 3374141. Kim Waters. 8 p.m.; 10 p.m. $45–$50. bluesalley.com.

ROCK

BIRCHMERE 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria.

(703) 549-7500. James McMurtry. 7:30 p.m. $35. birchmere.com.

BLACK CAT 1811 14th St. NW. (202) 667-4490. Pinegrove. 7:30 p.m. Sold out. blackcatdc.com.

SONGBYRD MUSIC HOUSE AND RECORD CAFE 2477 18th St. NW. (202) 450-2917. Liz Cooper & The Stampede. 8 p.m. $12–$15. songbyrddc.com.

Books

DAVID SWINSON The mystery writer and decorated member of the Metropolitan Police Department reads from his latest detective thriller, Trigger, about a good cop whose burgeoning addictions to alcohol and cocaine force him into retirement from the D.C. Metro police. One More Page Books. 2200 N. West-

Dance

FARRUQUITO Farruquito, who has been hailed as the greatest flamenco dancer of the century by The New York Times and who made his Broadway debut at age 4 and had his own show in London at 15, captivates audiences with his mastery of the art form, theatrical flair, and fusion of guitar, singing, and dance. Music Center at Strathmore. 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. Feb. 21. 8 p.m. $38–$68. (301) 581-5100. strathmore.org.

MOVEIUS CONTEMPORARY BALLET D.C.-based climate change policy expert and dance professional Diana Movius directs GLACIER: A Climate Change Ballet, which depicts a world effected by climate change by placing a changing Arctic environment in front of

22 february 15, 2019 washingtoncitypaper.com

SECOND GLANCE Second Glance, presented at Alexandria’s Athenaeum and performed by Jane Franklin Dance, features excerpts from recent repertory and new work in cooperation with fine art photographer Fax Ayres, who combines they styles of photography and painting. The work is designed to mix photography with movement and sound, leading to a greater comprehension of both visual art and dance. The Athenaeum. 201 Prince St. , Alexandria. Feb. 15. 7:30 p.m. $15. (703) 548-0035. nvfaa.org.

URBAN BUSH WOMEN Dance Place hosts an evening of music, history, and celebration for Urban Bush Women, performing Hair & Other Stories, a piece crafted out of personal narratives from communities, kitchens, living rooms, and social media. Hair & Other Stories blends dance, theater, and conversations to challenge existing American values and celebrate women’s choices. Dance Place. 3225 8th St. NE. Feb. 17. 4 p.m. $15–$30. (202) 269-1600. danceplace.org.

Theater

ADMISSIONS When the Ivy League ambitions of their successful son are jeopardized, white progressives Bill and Sherri, the headmaster and admissions dean at a New England boarding school, must reconcile their public-facing credo with their private actions.

Studio Theatre. 1501 14th St. NW. To March 10. $20– $101. (202) 332-3300. studiotheatre.org.

AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’ Signature Theatre transforms into Harlem for this swing-filled, Tony-winning celebration of the songs of legendary jazz pianist, composer, singer, and entertainer Thomas “Fats” Waller.

Signature Theatre. 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington. To March 10. $40–$84. (703) 820-9771. sigtheatre.org.

AMONG THE DEAD Three time periods come together in a small Korean hotel room: A Korean American travels to Seoul in 1975 to retrieve her father’s ashes, a young American soldier fights in the Burmese jungles in 1944, and a Korean comfort woman awaits the return of her father’s daughter in 1950. Spooky Action Theater. 1810 16th St. NW. To March 10. $20–$40.

(202) 248-0301. spookyaction.org.

ARSENIC AND OLD LACE Chock-full of homicidal maniacs, the Brewster family must dodge the local Brooklyn police as protagonist and drama critic Mortimer navigates their criminal plots and his relationship to the minister’s daughter. The classic black farce features spinster aunts, a Teddy Roosevelt

VOTING IS OPEN! Cast your vote for all your favorite local stuff by March 3. washingtoncitypaper.com/bestofdc2019 For advertising opportunities contact your Account Executive or call 202-650-6937

washingtoncitypaper.com february 15, 2019 23

Cecily at Songbyrd Music House, Feb. 20

earth. Rorschach Theatre at Atlas Performing Arts Center. 1333 H St. NE. To March 3. $50–80 for a season subscription. (202) 399-7993. rorschachtheatre.com.

RICHARD THE THIRD This Shakespearean tragedy depicts the Machiavellian tactics employed by the ruthless Richard of Gloucester to attain the crown at any cost. A penetrating account of megalomania. Sidney Harman Hall. 610 F Street NW. To March 10. $44– $125. 202-547-1122. shakespearetheatre.org.

SHE A GEM Krystin, Jaleesa, and Amber, three teenagers from a Philadelphia neighborhood, form a Double Dutch team in order to win a psychic reading and glimpse their future. Then they meet a pregnant Double Dutching teen from North Philly and learn something about their past that affects them all. Kennedy Center Family Theater. 2700 F St. NW. To Feb. 24. $20.

(202) 467-4600. kennedy-center.org.

TAP DOGS In a performance that The New York Observer called “positively electrifying,” the Tap Dogs combine elements of theater and dance, while pulling from the aesthetics of a rock concert and a construction site, to deliver a high-energy spectacle of live music and tap dance. Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater. 2700 F St. NW. To Feb. 24. $49–$99. (202) 467-4600. kennedy-center.org.

THREE SISTAHS Inspired by Anton Chekhov’s play, this musical blends gospel, rhythm & blues, bebop and funk to portray three women who reflect on the past, present, and future during the height of the civil rights and anti-war movements of 1969. MetroStage.

1201 N. Royal St., Alexandria. To Feb. 24. $55. (703) 548-9044. metrostage.org.

TWELVE ANGRY MEN After hearing what all but one deem damning testimony, 12 jurors—all with their own biases and perspectives—comb over evidence and debate the concept of reasonable doubt as the life of a teenager accused of murder hangs in the balance.

Ford’s Theatre. 511 10th St. NW. To Feb. 17. $20–$62.

(202) 347-4833. fords.org.

delusion, and devious plastic surgery. Thomas Jefferson Theater. 125 S. Old Glebe Rd., Arlington. To Feb. 16. $15–$25. (703) 532-5479. arlingtonarts.org.

BLKS Friends Octavia, June, and Imani attempt to party their cares away over the course of one long New York night in this radical centering of black sisterhood and queerness from poet/playwright Aziza Barnes. Woolly Mammoth Theatre. 641 D St. NW. To March 3. $20–$69. (202) 393-3939. woollymammoth.net.

THE BROTHERS SIZE Written by Tarell Alvin McCraney, an Academy Award winner for the 2016 Best Picture Moonlight, The Brothers Size follows the reunion of two estranged brothers in the Louisiana bayou. The Chicago Tribune calls it “the greatest piece of writing by an American playwright under 30 in a generation or more.” 1st Stage. 1524 Spring Hill Road, McLean. To Feb. 24. $15–$39. (703) 854-1856.

1ststagetysons.org.

CYRANO DE BERGERAC The long-nosed soldier/ poet Cyrano de Bergerac teams up with his betterlooking friend Christian to win the heart of his lady love in Edmond Rostand’s celebrated play. Expressive movements replace Rostand’s couplets in this wordless adaptation at Synetic Theater. Synetic Theater. 1800 South Bell St. , Arlington. To March 10. $10– $50. (866) 811-4111. synetictheater.org.

THE DOYLE AND DEBBIE SHOW A musical by Bruce Arntson, The Doyle and Debbie Show is a parodic send-up of country music’s tradition of iconic duos and their battle of the sexes. DC Arts Center.

2438 18th St. NW. To March 30. $50. (202) 462-7833. dcartscenter.org.

THE HEIRESS Reserved and ordinary, Catherine Sloper has languished for her entire life under the critical eye of her bitter father. When an earnest suitor rekindles Catherine’s hopes for love and life, a betrayal soon compels her to reclaim agency over her destiny. Arena Stage. 1101 6th St. SW. To March 10. $41–$99. (202) 488-3300. arenastage.org.

HUCKLEBERRY FINN’S BIG RIVER This hour-long, PG-rated adaptation of the Tony-winning musical based on Mark Twain’s novel follows Huck Finn and Jim, an enslaved teen escaping bondage, as they travel down the Mississippi River and prove that kids can change the world. Adventure Theatre MTC. 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo. To March 10. $20. (301) 634-2270. adventuretheatre-mtc.org.

KLEPTOCRACY From director Jackson Gay comes this fictional play inspired by historic events, a worldpremiere drama by Kenneth Lin (House of Cards) about U.S.-Russia relations following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Arena Stage. 1101 6th St. SW. To Feb. 24. $56–$115. (202) 488-3300. arenastage.org.

Theater. 2700 F St. NW. To Feb. 16. $35–$49. (202) 467-4600. kennedy-center.org.

Film

ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL A female cyborg is revived without her memory and goes on a journey of selfdiscovery. Starring Rosa Salazar, Mahershala Ali, and Christoph Waltz. (See washingtoncitypaper.com for venue information) COLD PURSUIT Based on the 2014 Norwegian Stellan Skarsgård-starring film In Order of Disappearance, Liam Neeson stars as a snowplow driver who seeks revenge against the drug dealers he believes killed his son. Co-starring Laura Dern and Tom Bateman. (See washingtoncitypaper.com for venue information) EVERYBODY KNOWS A Spanish woman living in Buenos Aires has her trip to her hometown outside Madrid for her sister’s wedding interrupted by unexpected events that bring secrets out into the open.

Starring Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, and Ricardo Darín. (See washingtoncitypaper.com for venue information) HAPPY DEATH DAY 2U A young girl discovers that reliving the day she died over and over again was nothing compared to the new danger that befalls her in this sequel to Happy Death Day. Starring Jessica Rothe, Ruby Modine, and Israel Broussard. (See washingtoncitypaper.com for venue information) ISN’T IT ROMANTIC Rebel Wilson stars as a young woman who finds herself trapped inside a romantic comedy film. Co-starring Liam Hemsworth and Priyanka Chopra. (See washingtoncitypaper.com for venue information)

Ganja & Hess at Suns Cinema, Feb. 21

THE LIGHTNING THIEF: THE PERCY JACKSON MUSICAL Based on the best-selling, series-starting novel

by Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical focuses on normal teen Percy, the son of Poseidon, and his quest to find Zeus’ lightning bolt in time to prevent a war between the gods. Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater. 2700 F St. NW. To Feb. 17. $39–$139. (202) 467-4600. kennedy-center.org.

THE MASTER AND MARGARITA When the Devil arrives in Bulgakov’s classic 20th century novel, Moscow is thrown into chaos as death and supernatural events besiege the city. Constellation Theatre Company presents a subversive take on the events that follow the titular Master (locked up in a mental institution) and Margarita (his brave lover) as they race to end the ungodly phenomena. Constellation Theatre at Source. 1835 14th St. NW. To March 3. $15–$45.

(202) 204-7741. constellationtheatre.org.

NELL GWYNN Former Drury Lane orange seller Eleanor Gwynn was a prolific comic celebrity figure of the Restoration period, King Charles II’s favorite mistress, and one of the first actresses on the English stage.

Much lauded for its London run, Nell Gwynn, a portrait of this amazing woman, premiered at Shakespeare’s Globe and won the 2016 Olivier Award for Best New Comedy. Folger Shakespeare Library. 201 E. Capitol St. SE. To March 10. $42–$79. (202) 544-7077. folger.edu.

ONCE This Tony-winning musical with music and lyrics by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, based on the 2006 film which won an Oscar for Best Original Song, follows a street guitarist who is about to give up on his dreams when he meets a curious pianist who wants to know all about him. Together, the pair embark on a remarkable music-making journey. Olney Theatre Center. 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney. To March 10. $37–$84. (301) 924-3400. olneytheatre.org.

REYKJAVÍK In the 24-hour darkness of Reykjavík’s bitter winter, James becomes enmeshed in a strange, supernatural world of menacing strangers, threatening romance, and the enigmatic Huldufólk in this genre-bending tale of suspense at the edge of the

24 february 15, 2019 washingtoncitypaper.com

VAMPIRE COWBOY TRILOGY Landless Theatre Company presents this live comic book anthology of three comedies that skewer three genres: hard-boiled crime fiction, the war story, and monster fantasy. DC Arts Center. 2438 18th St. NW. To March 30. $50. (202) 462-7833. dcartscenter.org.

VIRGINIA OPERA: THE ELIXIR OF LOVE Peasant Nemorino buys a potion in hopes it will secure socialite Adina’s affections in Gaetano Donizetti’s comedic bel canto opera. Boasting one of the most celebrated tenor arias of all time, “Una furtva lagrima,” the opera is sung in Italian with English subtitles. George Mason University Center for the Arts. 4373 Mason Pond Drive, Fairfax. To Feb. 17. $54–$110. (888) 9452468. cfa.gmu.edu.

WORLD STAGES: NEOARCTIC By way of classical voice, electronica, dramatic staging, and NASA photography, NeoArctic addresses the Anthropocene, a new geological age characterized by humanity’s impact on earth’s natural systems. Twelve soundscapes represent twelve landscapes to tell the story of our planet and its future. Kennedy Center Terrace

THE LEGO MOVIE 2: THE SECOND PART After the five years since the events of The LEGO Movie, in which everything was awesome, the citizens now face a huge new threat—the LEGO DUPLO invaders from outer space who wreck everything faster than they can rebuild. Starring Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, and Will Arnett. (See washingtoncitypaper. com for venue information) NEVER LOOK AWAY When male and female German art students fall in love, the woman’s father vows to destroy the relationship as he harbors a devastating secret. Starring Tom Schilling, Sebastian Koch, and Paula Beer. (See washingtoncitypaper.com for venue information) WHAT MEN WANT A woman gains a leg up on her male coworkers when she develops the ability to read men’s thoughts. Taraji P. Henson, Josh Brener, and Max Greenfield. (See washingtoncitypaper.com for venue information)

SAVAGELOVE I am a 56-year-old heterosexual man, and I have lived with ALS for the past six years. I am either in a wheelchair or in a hospital bed, and I have very little motor ability in my limbs. Like most or all male ALS patients, I still have full sensory ability, including a fully functioning penis. Are there safe websites or groups I can connect with that deal with helping paralytics like me find people who are interested in hooking up? I’m talking about people who have a fetish for paralytics. I know that some people have a thing for amputees; I imagine there’s a fetish for any number of diseases or afflictions. When I was healthy, I was into light bondage. That seems like a redundancy now, but I can still get into dress-up and role-play. I would be cool if someone was into the whole bathing, grooming, dressing thing, and whatever baby-doll fantasy they might have. Hell, I’d be happy if someone just wanted to give me a pity fuck!

—Realistic About Getting Dominated Or Lustfully Laid

“I struggled to find any specific online groups with respect to ALS and sexuality,” says Andrew Gurza, a disability awareness consultant and the host of Disability After Dark, a terrific podcast that explores and celebrates the sexual agency and desirability of people with disabilities. “But what RAGDOLL is looking for might not be directly related to his specific disability. It sounds like he is looking to engage with a community of people called ‘devotees.’

These individuals are attracted to people primarily because of their disabilities, and that might be what he is looking for. I know a couple who used a devotee website to find each other, who dated and eventually married.”

If you’re open to playing with a devotee, RAGDOLL, Gurza suggests checking out Paradevo (paradevo.net), a website for “female devotees and gay male devotees” of disabled men.

“Many disabled people have also set up profiles on sites like FetLife to explore not only their fetishistic sides, but also how their disabled identities can complement and play a role in that,” says Gurza.

Now, many people, disabled and otherwise, look down on devotees, who are often accused of fetishizing disability and objectifying disabled people. But people who are exclusively attracted to the able-bodied and/or the conventionally attractive are rarely accused of fetishizing the able and ambulatory or objectifying the facially symmetrical. Which is why it has always seemed to me—and Gurza agrees with me on this point—that if being with someone who is turned on by your whatever-thefuck is good enough for the able-bodied, it’s good enough for people with disabilities. Provided of course that, able or disabled, we’re appreciated for everything we bring to the table or the chair or the bed.

You can’t find someone if you aren’t willing to put yourself out there.

Ryan Honick, a disability advocate and public speaker, doesn’t think you should limit your search to websites aimed exclusively at the disabled community.

“It’s estimated that one in five people have a disability,” says Honick. “And when I think about how challenging dating can be anyway—disability notwithstanding—my immediate thought is that RAGDOLL shouldn’t exclude 80 percent of the population from his search. So I would encourage him to use some of the mainstream apps—like Tinder, OkCupid, Bumble, or Match—and put what he’s after front and center.”

Honick would caution other disabled people that putting your disability front and center—even on mainstream dating apps—is likely to attract the attention of devotees.

“RAGDOLL doesn’t seem like he would mind being with a devotee,” says Honick.

“But those of us who do mind need to be a little more discerning. I’ve inadvertently attracted a fair number of people with a devotee fetish, and it honestly squicked me out.”

Zooming out for a second: Safety is always a concern when inviting a stranger over for sex, RAGDOLL, even for the non-disabled. In addition to attracting the attention of a few good and decent people, devotees or not, your relative helplessness could attract the attention of a predator. So before inviting anyone over, get their real name and their real phone number. Then share that information with a trusted friend—someone who can check in with you before and after a date—and let your potential new fuck buddy know you’re sharing their info with a trusted friend.

Second to last word goes to Honick: “Another option, if it’s available to RAGDOLL and he’s open to it, would be hiring a sex worker.”

And the last word goes to Gurza: “RAGDOLL shouldn’t resign himself to the idea that he’s a ‘pity fuck.’ His desires as a disabled man have full value and worth. And I want him to know, as a fellow disabled man, that he can have a fulfilling sex life and that someone out there does find him attractive.”

Follow Andrew Gurza on Twitter @AndrewGurza, and follow Ryan Honick on Twitter @RyanLHonick.

—Dan Savage I’m interested in mummification—being covered

in layers of plastic wrap and duct tape—but I am not interested in sexual activity. I created an account on what I have been told is the most popular hookup app for kinky gay men. I am not interested in sex with any gender. How can I determine if someone who agrees to mummify me can be trusted not to initiate sexual activity?

—Wannabe Rare Aspie Perv I assume the app you’re using is Recon, WRAP, as it’s the most popular hookup app for kinky gay and bi men. There are “FRIENDS” listings in the lower right-hand corner of each profile.

Contact the friends of anyone you’re interested in playing with and ask for a reference. Is this guy skilled, can he be trusted, does he respect limits, etc. If the answers are yes, yes, and yes, you can most likely trust him. —DS I’m a 44-year-old woman living in the D.C. area.

I divorced my husband last year, and I haven’t had sex in seven years. Despite my premenopausal age and daily antidepressant, I’m horny as fuck.

How do you recommend I find someone to do me?

I am a BBW and ready to get fucked. But I also want to protect my privacy and I’m reluctant to post pics online. I’m aware I am a fetish for some, and I’ve been something of a “crazy-person magnet” in the past, and that’s a concern. I’m not looking for love. I just want to get done without meeting a psycho.

—Like A Virgin Again You can’t find someone if you aren’t willing to put yourself out there, LAVA, which these days means putting some pics up on dating apps.

There are lots of dating and/or hookup apps and websites for bigger folks, some more fetishizing than others. (I did a little digging, and WooPlus.com seems to be legit and not overrun with feeders.) And who cares if someone spots your photo on a dating site? If Jeff Bezos refuses to be shamed by his dick pics— or blackmailed with them—you don’t have to be ashamed to show your face on a dating or hookup app. As for avoiding “psychos,” LAVA, there are shitty, toxic people everywhere.

Learn to recognize the signs and take those red flags seriously. If you have a terrible track record—if you’ve found yourself with (or married to) a lot of shitty/toxic people—then you need to make sure you’re not the problem. Because if everyone you’ve ever dated was shitty or toxic, LAVA, there’s a better than even chance you were the shitty or toxic common denominator in a lot of failed relationships. Do the work—risk being introspective and selfcritical—and if you’re not the problem and you are incapable of spotting red flags, confide in a friend whose judgment you trust when you’re screening potential FWBs. —DS

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

Gear Prudence Gear Prudence: That recent Onion article about pedestrians and eye contact got me thinking about how bicyclists can more safely interact with drivers, so I’m putting a new approach to the test. Rather than make eye contact with drivers, which in my experience only seems to result in angry glares, I’m going to make it seem like I don’t see them at all—like I’m totally oblivious. Faced with this uncertainty, my theory is that they’ll act way more cautiously around me and I’ll be much safer. And since I’ll only be pretending to be not paying attention, the risk seems pretty low. What do you think?

—Entreating You: Effective Strategy?

Dear EYES: Almost every pedestrian and bicyclist safety campaign harps on the importance of making eye contact with drivers. The prevalence of this advice makes it a ready target for lampoon, and “Pedestrian Crossing Street Makes Sure To Look At Approaching Car So Driver Will Feel More Guilty If They Run Him Over” in The Onion is the satirical apotheosis.

Before tackling whether feigned obliviousness will prove beneficial, it’s worth looking (no pun intended) at how well eye contact with drivers works for pedestrians and cyclists.

Studies suggest that staring is good. “A pedestrian’s stare and drivers’ stopping behavior: A field experiment at the pedestrian crossing” in Safety Science and “Analysis of the Influence of Pedestrians’ eye Contact on Drivers’ Comfort Boundary During the Crossing Conflict” in Procedia Engineering reach similar conclusions with similar experiments. Drivers felt compelled to slow down and stop for the pedestrians who glared at them. Eye contact was shown to be a nonverbal cue that creates social pressure to comply with traffic laws. The problem with this paradigm, though, has less to do with its effectiveness than where it places the burden. Is it fair that the vulnerable pedestrian or the put-upon bicyclist must compel drivers to uphold their legal responsibilities? That rankles.

And given the growing volume and popularity of in-car distractions, it is increasingly unlikely that penetrating gazes will continue to work.

Nevertheless, your theory intrigues GP and he wishes to subscribe to your newsletter. Demanding attentiveness by faking cluelessness might indeed cause a certain subset of drivers to react more cautiously around you. If you’re perceived to be unaware, maybe you’ll benefit from their inclination toward treating you better, as if you were a helpless puppy or kitty cat. Putting yourself in this seemingly vulnerable position could work, but just as often, will probably fail. You might get through the intersection safely, but you might also get yelled at for being careless and self-involved. Plus, pretending to be not paying attention while actually paying attentions sounds way more risky than just plain old paying attention. Deception is a tangled web and all that.

—GP

washingtoncitypaper.com february 15, 2019 25

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Contents:

FRIENDSHIP PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL NOTICE OF REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL Friendship Public Charter School is seeking bids from prospective

SUPERIOR COURT

OF THEat DISTRICT OF Search classifieds COLUMBIA PROBATE DIVISION washingtoncitypaper.com 2019 ADM 000076 Name of Decedent, Doris J. Holman. Notice of

Classified Ads Print & Web Classified Packages may be placed on our Web site, by fax, mail, phone, or in person at our office: 734 15th Street, NW Suite 400 Washington, D.C. 20005 Commercial Ads rates start at $20 for up to 6 lines in print and online; additional print lines start at $2.50/ line (vary by section). Your print ad placement plus up to 10 photos online. Premium options available for both print and web may vary.

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All unknown heirs PARTMENT OF CONSUMER and heirs whose whereAND REGULATORY AFFAIRS abouts are unknown FILE NUMBER 271941) HAS shall enter their appearDISSOLVED EFFECTIVE NOVEMance in this proceedBER 27, 2017 AND HAS FILED ing.

Objections to suchOF ARTICLES OF DISSOLUTION appointment shall beCORDOMESTIC FOR-PROFIT filed withWITH the Register PORATION THE DISTRICT of D.C., 515 5th OF Wills, COLUMBIA CORPORATIONS DIVISION N.W., Building Street, A, 3rd Floor, WashingAton, CLAIM TRAVISA D.C. AGAINST 20001, on or OUTSOURCING, INC. MUST before 8/14/19.

Claims INCLUDE THE NAME OF THE against the decedent DISSOLVED CORPORATION, shall be THE presented to THE INCLUDE NAME OF the undersigned a CLAIMANT, INCLUDE Awith SUMMAcopy to the Register of RY OF THE FACTS SUPPORTING Wills or toAND theBERegister THE CLAIM, MAILED TO 1600 INTERNATIONAL of Wills with a copy DRIVE, to SUITEundersigned, 600, MCLEAN, VAon 22102 the or before 8/14/19, or be ALL CLAIMS WILL BE BARRED forever barred. Persons UNLESS AtoPROCEEDING believed be heirs or TO ENFORCE THE CLAIM IS COMlegatees of the MENCED WITH IN 3decedent YEARS OF who do not OF receive a PUBLICATION THIS NOTICE copy of this notice by IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION mail within 25 DISTRICT days of OF 29-312.07 OF THE its publication shall so COLUMBIA ORGANIZATIONS ACT. inform the Register of Wills, including name, Two Rivers PCS is soliciting address relationproposals toand provide project manship. of for first publiagementDate services a small concation: 2/14/2019 struction project.

For a copy of the RFP, please email procurement@ Name of Newspaper tworiverspcs.org.

Deadline for and/or periodical: submissions is December 6, 2017.

Washington City Paper/ Daily Washington Law Reporter Name of Person Representative: Monique Holman-Smalls TRUE TEST copy Anne Meister Register of Wills Pub Dates: February 14, 21, 28.

DC International School Invitation for Bid ELA and Math Coaching

Print Deadline The deadline for submission and payment of classified ads for print is each Monday, 5 pm.

You may contact the classifieds rep by emailing classifieds@washingtoncitypaper.com or calling 202-650-6941.

For more information please visit www.washingtoncitypaper.com

26 february 15, 2019 washingtoncitypaper.com

Plan Legals RFP for ELA and Math Coaching: DCI invites DC SCHOLARS PCS REQUEST written proposals from FOR PROPOSALS – Moduqualified firms interested lar Contractor Services - DC in helping DCI’s leaderScholars Public Charter School ship develop an solicitsteam proposals for a modular ELA andtoMath contractor providecoaching professional plan for ourand Middle Years management construction services to construct a modular IB program this spring. building to house four classrooms Please send estimated and onecosts facultyand offi ce daily ansuite. The Request of for your Proposals (RFP) outline services. specifi cations can be obtained on Please email bid to rfp@ and after Monday, November 27, dcinternationalschool.

2017 from Emily Stone via comorg. Proposals are due munityschools@dcscholars.org. no later than 12:00PM All questions should be sent in on Friday, February, writing by e-mail.

No phone22, calls regarding this RFP will be ac2019. cepted. Bids must be received by 5:00 PM on Thursday, December SUPERIOR COURT 14, 2017 DC Scholars Public OF THEatDISTRICT OF Charter School, ATTN: Sharonda COLUMBIA Mann, 5601 E. Capitol St. SE, PROBATE DIVISION Washington, DC 20019. Any bids 2019 ADM 000116 not addressing all areas as outName ofRFP Decedent, Shirlined in the specifi cations will leybeB.considered.

Cooper. Notice of not Appointment, Notice to Creditors and Notice to Apartments for Rent Unknown Heirs, Reginil Cooper, whose address is 931 Still Pond Drive, Glen Burnie, MD 21060 was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Shirley B. Cooper who died on January 10th, 2019, with a Will and will serve without Court Supervision. All Must see! Spacious semi-furunknown heirs and heirs nished 1whereabouts BR/1 BA basement whose apt, Deanwood, are unknown$1200. shall Sep. entrance, W/D, kitchenter W/W theircarpet, appearen, fireplace near Blue Line/X9/ ance in this proceedV2/V4. Shawnn 240-343-7173. ing. Objections to such appointment shall be Rooms for Rent filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., 5thfurHoliday Special-515 Two Street, N.W., nished rooms forBuilding short or long A, Floor, term3rd rental ($900Washingand $800 per ton, D.C. month) with20001, access on to or W/D, WiFi, Kitchen, and Den. Utilibefore 8/14/19.

Claims ties included.

N.E. location against theBest decedent along H St. Corridor.

Call Eddie shall be presented to 202-744-9811 for info. or visit the undersigned with a www.TheCurryEstate.com copy to the Register of Wills or to the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 8/14/19, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent

who do not receive a Construction/Labor copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address and relationship.

Date of first POWER DESIGN NOWpubliHIRcation: 2/14/2019 ING ELECTRICAL APPRENTICES of OFNewspaper ALL SKILL LEVName ELS! periodical: and/or Washington City Paper/ aboutWashington the position… Law Daily Do you love working with Reporter your hands? Are you interName Rep-and ested of in Person construction resentative: in becoming anReginil electrician?

Cooper Then the electrical apprentice TRUE TEST position couldcopy be perfect for Anne you! Meister Electrical apprentices are able to a paycheck Register ofearn Wills and Dates: full benefiFebruary ts while learnPub 14, ing28. the trade through first21, hand experience.

SUPERIOR COURT what we’re looking for…

OF THE DISTRICT OF Motivated D.C. residents who COLUMBIA want to learn the electrical PROBATE DIVISION trade and have a high school 2018 ADM 001458 diploma or GED as well as reliableoftransportation.

Name Decedent, D. Devarajan aka Dhara little bit about us… malingam Devarajan.

Power of Design is one of the Notice Appointment, top electrical contractors in Notice to Creditors and the U.S., committed to our Notice Unknown values, to to training and to givHeirs, Naseer Azeez aka ing back to the communities Naseer Azeez, in whichMohamed we live and work. whose address is 11604 more details…

Hourglass Way, GermanVisit MDpowerdesigninc.us/ town, 20876 was careers or Personal email careers@ appointed Reppowerdesigninc.us! resentative of the estate of D. Devarajan aka Dharmalingam Devarajan who died on Services August Financial 9th, 2018, with a Will Denied Work to Reand willCredit?? serve without pair YourSupervision.

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Wills or to the Register Auctions of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before August 7, 2019, or be forever barred.

Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its publication shall so inform the Register of Foods Wills,Commissary including Whole Auctionaddress and rename, DC Metro Area lationship. Date of first Dec. 5 at 10:30AM publication: 2/7/2019 1000sofS/S Tables, Carts Name Newspaper & Trays, 2016 Kettles up and/or periodical: to 200 Gallons, Urschel Washington City Paper/ Cutters & Shredders inDaily Washington Law cluding 2016 Diversacut Reporter 2110 Dicer, 6 Chill/Freeze Name Person Cabs, of Double RackRepreOvens & Ranges, Naseer (12) Braising sentative: Azeez Tables, 2016Mohamed (3+) Stephan aka Naseer VCMs, 30+ Scales, Azeez Hobart 80 copy qt Mixers, TRUE TEST Complete Machine Shop, Anne Meister and much more! View the Register catalog atof Wills Pub Dates: February 7, www.mdavisgroup.com or 14, 21.

412-521-5751 SUPERIOR COURT Garage/Yard/ OF THE DISTRICT OF Rummage/Estate Sales COLUMBIA PROBATE DIVISION Flea Market every Fri-Sat 2019 ADM5615 000060 10am-4pm.

Landover Rd. Name of Decedent, Cheverly, MD. 20784. Can buy Rickey Recardo Pharr Sr. in bulk. Contact 202-355-2068 Notice of Appointment, or 301-772-3341 for details or if intrested a vendor.and Notice in tobeing Creditors Notice to Unknown Heirs, Anthony Baker, whose address is 202 37th St., SE, Washington, DC 20019 was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Rickey Recardo Pharr Sr. who died on 12/13/18, without a Will and will serve without Court Supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, 3rd Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or

before 8/7/19. Claims against theMiscellaneous decedent shall be presented to NEW COOPERATIVE SHOP! the undersigned with a copy to the Register of FROM EGPYT THINGS Wills or to the Register AND BEYOND of Wills with a copy to 240-725-6025 the undersigned, on or www.thingsfromegypt.com before 8/7/19, or be thingsfromegypt@yahoo.com forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or SOUTH AFRICAN BAZAAR Craft Cooperative legatees of the decedent 202-341-0209 who do not receive a www.southafricanbazaarcraftcoo copy of this notice by perative.com mail within 25 days of southafricanba z a ar @hotmail. its publication shall so com inform the Register of Wills, FARM including name, WEST WOODWORKS address and Furniture relationCustom Creative ship. Date of first publi202-316-3372 info@westfarmwoodworks.com cation: 2/7/2019 www.westfarmwoodworks.com Name of Newspaper and/or periodical: 7002 Carroll Avenue Washington City Paper/ Takoma Park, MD 20912 Daily Washington Law Mon-Sat 11am-7pm, Reporter Sun 10am-6pm Name of Person Representative: Anthony Motorcycles/Scooters Baker TRUESuzuki TEST TU250X copy for sale.

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