The Power of Her Song: Remembering Bernice Johnson Reagon
Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon knew the power of song. She learned it singing in her childhood Baptist church. Later, as an activist in the civil rights movement, her songs helped to change the world. “Song was a way of giving people courage,” says Karen Spellman, who first met Reagon in Atlanta in 1967 and remained…
Best of D.C. 2024: Arts & Entertainment
Highlights of the D.C. arts and entertainment scene include a jewel of a movie theater, creative uses of driftwood, and a new music venue.
Back to the Future: The Musical Is Cinema Onstage—For Good and Not So Good
For the next few weeks, the first thing audiences will see in the Kennedy Center’s palatial Opera House is a projected “curtain” bearing the iconic Back to the Future title card. It’s the perfect backdrop for a preshow photo, not to mention a clear indication that fans (some of them in cosplay) are going to…
Stories of the African Diaspora Light up the Silver Screen
If you crave good films, compelling stories, and a challenge, Reinaldo Barroso-Spech, the co-founder of the African Diaspora International Film Festival, promises there’s something for you at the 17th annual event taking place Aug. 2 to 4. “We don’t want to feel that you’re being insulted or disrespected, but we want to challenge you,” says…
Swing Beat: A Thriving Jazz Subscene in Mount Pleasant
The richest jazz scenes are those that comprise a bunch of subscenes—the smaller jazz communities that operate around a specific geographic hub. Capitol Hill is a strong subscene these days, and some argued that in its day, the late, lamented venue HR-57 on 14th Street NW constituted a scene all its own. Often, the subscene…
It’s the Jack, Man
Two dozen years and five presidential administrations ago, Hugh Jackman, in his first appearance as the feral, fast-healin’ Wolverine, cracked wise about the black leather togs he and his fellow X-Men wore into battle. “What would you prefer,” James Marsden’s Cyclops clapped back. “Yellow spandex?” I’m not as ancient as the two centuries claimed by…
Joan Baez, Reyna Tropical, and Maurice James Jr., Oh My!: City Lights for July 25–31
Opens Friday: Maurice James Jr.’s New Negro at Art of Noize Graphic artist Maurice James Jr. is reimagining Black history through art. Although his career only started in 2021, he’s become quite prolific during those three years. By March of 2023, he was displaying his work at three overlapping exhibits, and this year he was…
Made in England: An Insightful Love Letter to (Arguably) Britain’s Greatest Filmmakers
In a flourish of brilliant counterprogramming, Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger opens at AFI Silver on the same day as Deadpool & Wolverine, the latest Marvel movie, hits theaters. The director of this documentary may be David Hinton, but it clearly belongs to Martin Scorsese, whose indifference to the superhero genre…
Travelin’ Light Illuminates Renee Butler’s Ongoing Artistic Evolution
The Washington Color School is, understandably, a point of pride in the creative history of D.C., and there has been fresh interest in the work of many of its artists in recent years. Aside from the most famous entities who now command millions of dollars at auction, the community around the movement was a rich…
Kate Versus the Tornadoes
Twisters feels like the accretion of several alarming trends: the acceleration of the climate emergency; the rapidity with which indie auteurs get sucked up into franchise world (Minari writer-director Lee Isaac Chung, in this instance); and the coronation of Glen Powell. Okay, that last one isn’t so bad. Powell has a more cocksure vibe than…
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