Opens today: Flying V’s Monstress at Silver Spring Black Box Theatre

The manananggal belongs to a particularly horrifying subset of creatures from Filipino mythology known as aswang—shape-shifters. It was once speculated that Andrew Cunanan, the notorious spree killer whose victims included designer Gianni Versace, may have been an especially treacherous aswang. A manananggal doesn’t disguise itself as a mild-mannered preppy; this vampire-like nightmare has the ability to separate its torso from the lower half of its body, flying out to attack with giant fangs and intimidate by the sheer terror of their broad, infernal wings. For its first mainstage performance since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic—and after a two-year development arc—Flying V rings in the spooky season with an immersive program, Monstress, that brings life to something unimaginable: a real female manananggal, exhibited in captivity. It’s perfectly safe! Bring the family! If you dare! See the visualization of Monstress: An Audio Visual Novel by writer navi here. Monstress opens Oct. 19 and runs through Oct. 28 at the Silver Spring Black Box Theatre, 8641 Colesville Rd., Silver Spring. flyingvtheatre.com. $25. —Pat Padua

Saturday and Sunday: Rock the Park Wkndr

The third annual Rock the Park Wkndr offers a well-curated two-day roster of longtime DJs and musicians who can keep people dancing  and warm well into nightfall. Longtime Detroit house and funk DJ Moodymann, born Kenny Dixon Jr., headlines this free event on Saturday. Moodymann, who rarely gives interviews, has since the 1990s released his own records that garnished him acclaim in Europe, but less mainstream attention here in the U.S. His own efforts and remixes often have soulful passion for R&B fans, the pounding beats beloved by clubgoers and roller skaters, and spoken-word excerpts that appeal to music nerds. Los Angeles’ Dam–Funk, born Damon Riddick, is best known for his polished, rhythmic synthesizer playing that he has employed on his own albums including 2009’s Toeachizown, and 2021’s Above the Fray, and on collaborations with the likes of Snoop Dogg and rocker Todd Rundgren. Riddick’s also a music fanatic who hosted a DJ night in Los Angeles called “Funkmosphere.” On Saturday, he’ll perform a hybrid set, playing the synth while DJing. Trouble Funk will bring D.C.’s own polyrhythmic go-go funk to the party. Since the 1970s, the local band have utilized synths, percussion, stringed instruments, and call-and-response vocals to keep folks shaking on dance floors and at parks alike. Both nights will open with local DJs, Saturday with DJ Miss Her, and Sunday with Keenan Orr. For those into dance music tinged with old-school hip-hop, Sunday’s performers include turntablist J. Rocc, who’s skilled at beat juggling from vinyl records, and music scholar Rich Medina, who ran New York City’s Lil’ Ricky’s Rib Shack from 2001 to 2009. Rock the Park Wkndr runs from 3 to 10 p.m. on Oct. 21 and 22 at Franklin Park, 1332 I St. NW. downtowndc.org. Free. —Steve Kiviat

Sunday: Lift screening and discussion at National Gallery of Art

Steven Melendez has had a life trajectory just begging to be made into a movie, and now it has been. Lift, executive produced by superstar ballerina Misty Copeland, is a documentary centered around Melendez’s life and outreach work. When Melendez was 7 years old, his family was evicted from their home in the Bronx and went to live at a homeless shelter for three years. There, he encountered the LIFT program run by the New York Theatre Ballet, which served as a springboard for his rich dance career. He’s traveled the world, performing and choreographing for several ballet companies. Melendez is now the artistic director for the New York Theatre Ballet and has offered a dance workshop to children living at the very shelter he spent time in as a child. The documentary was filmed over the course of 10 years and follows Melendez as he confronts his traumatic feelings of being back in the shelter. He uses his own difficult history to connect with his young students and help both them and himself channel their pain into dance. As the kids grow up, they navigate the challenges of being homeless and being a kid generally, and come into their own as dancers. From the trailer alone, the young dancers are a charismatic and compelling bunch, particularly the witty and chatty Yolanssie Cardona. Melendez is not only a mentor to them, but someone who knows intimately what they’ve been through and who wants to make the arts accessible to all so that they might reap the same benefits he has. Melendez and director David Petersen will be on hand for a discussion following the film. Lift screens at 2 p.m. on Oct. 22 at the National Gallery of Art East Building, 4th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. nga.gov. Free, registration required. —Stephanie Rudig

Sunday: A Marvelous Black Boy Art Show at Longview Gallery

Traveling art exhibition A Marvelous Black Boy Art Show makes its fourth stop in D.C. this Sunday, where it will display the works of more than 50 Black men DMV artists. Since Joshua Love launched the concept in 2019, BBAS has centered its mission on “celebrating the unparalleled talents and voices of Black male artists,” the press release explains. In the past three years, the show has given more than 1,000 black men artists a platform in over 20 cities. The event elevates Black male artists and honors their invaluable, and often under-recognized, contributions to the art world. This year’s D.C. exhibitors span a range of mediums and styles for a lineup that highlights the region’s rich and diverse arts space. The exhibitors include Chadd Dorsey, a Baltimore-based sculptor who works with salvaged wood and Legos; Meka Iyke-Azubogu, whose catalog is largely ceramic vase work that varies so much in style and color you just might overlook his anime-inspired pieces; and Woodbridge’s Terry Owens, a neurographic painter merging art and psychology on the canvas. In addition to exhibited works of art, BBAS will feature live demonstrations and narrative unveilings. Attendees can hear the story behind the pieces displayed as artists speak on the identity, heritage, spirituality, and personal experiences that have come to shape their work. BJay Thee DJ opens the event, with additional performances throughout the evening, and there will be refreshments and giveaways throughout the event. Black Boy Art Show runs from 3 to 9 p.m. on Oct. 22 at Long View Gallery, 1234 9th St. NW. blackboyartshow.com. $30. —Camila Bailey

Wednesday: Gremlins 2: The New Batch at Suns Cinema

Growing up, I had a VHS of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that my parents taped off Pay-Per-View. Like a pint-size mansplaining Ken, I loved extolling its innumerable virtues to anyone who’d listen, bragging that I had watched it exactly 36 times by the time I hit middle school. If this admission doesn’t exactly set the world on fire now, I assure you it did even less to excite my fellow 8th graders in 1997. Who remembered, never mind revered, the sequel to Gremlins? Largely dismissed at the time of its release in 1990, Gremlins 2: The New Batch has gradually acquired a cult following of fans who have come to appreciate director Joe Dante’s handling of the material—he famously only agreed to make the film if he retained full creative control—treating it less like an esteemed major studio property and more like his own anarchic homage to the pop culture of yesteryear. And while my 11-year-old self didn’t yet understand the Ted Turner parallels and Brain Gremlin’s reference to Susan Sontag, it’s easy to see how the movie’s zaniness would resonate with middle schoolers. It’s loud, goofy, and doesn’t just resemble Looney Tunes, it prominently features them. Gremlins 2: The New Batch screens at 7 p.m. on Oct. 25 at Suns Cinema, 3107 Mount Pleasant St. NW. sunscinema.com. Sold out. —Matt Siblo

Wednesday: Genesis Owusu at Union Stage

Genesis Owusu’s sophomore album, Struggler, began as a short story about a roach running from God. Unlike the Australian singer’s award-winning debut album, Smiling With No Teeth (which he created with ease during the pandemic as a relative unknown writing about his experience with racism), this one required fresh inspiration while also touring. Owusu found himself reading works like Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, and Kentaro Miura’s Berserk, about a man battling forces more powerful than himself but persevering win or lose. “Those books and plays and manga came at the right time and spoke to things that I was experiencing in life and feeling,” Owusu says. “So they ended up influencing me more than any of the music I was listening to.” The singer penned his short story with a roach—small but fast and resilient—representing humanity, and the God figure serving as a metaphor for the imposing, uncontrollable horrors it faces. The pandemic, Australian bushfires that almost burned down Owusu’s home, and the deluge of TikToks depicting war on a daily basis came to mind. “We’re living in such chaotic and absurd times,” Owusu says. “And I feel like we underappreciate our own strength and how we’re able to just get up every morning and make it to the next day despite everything around us.” The artist then imagined how his story would sound, a new way of creating for Owusu that gave birth to Struggler. References to the “roach” and “pest” abound, including on punk-funk banger “Stay Blessed,” which has recently found its way into the 9:30 Club’s between-set playlist rotation. Like Smiling With No Teeth, Struggler blends the punk and hip-hop genres while nestling in asides like the more soulful “See Ya There” and reggae-rap track “What Comes Will Come.” Asked if we might eventually see his short story in print, Owusu says, “It’s not far-fetched at all.” The singer returns to the U.S. fresh from a two-month break, after his first arena tour of the country with Paramore and Bloc Party, no less. Both bands were a big part of Owusu’s childhood, and he never dreamed of playing Madison Square Garden so soon in his already quite accomplished career. While the singer doesn’t like describing his music for those who’ve never heard it, preferring to let listeners draw their own conclusions, that’s not true of his shows. “The show is going to be theatrical, fire and brimstone, the end of the world, and the beginning of a new world,” Owusu says. “I hope you come.” Genesis Owusu plays at 8 p.m. on Oct. 25 at Union Stage, 740 Water St. SW. unionstage.com. $22–$40.—Dave Nyczepir