Top Picks: New & Renovated Cultural DC
"Washington's intellectual life has been supercharged during the Bush years, despite the Decider's aversion to ideas." So sayeth The Economist in "Capital of Culture: An Intellectual and Artistic Renaissance." And while no one is confusing George W. Bush's Washington with the Medici's Florence, the area's offerings have improved of late. No longer are dirty movies playing in small booths at the back of a newspaper stand-cum-tattoo parlor the sole cultural attraction off the National Mall. Now, theater (of the legitimate variety), music, and art thrive in the area. And more venues are set to open soon. The Newseum, the media's 250,000-square-foot museum dedicated to itself, is expected to open in the first quarter of 2008, bucking the downward trend for masturbatory venues. Also, the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History is slated to re-open that summer after a much-needed renovation. Here's a guide to some of the revitalized venues The Economist mentioned, as well as some that it missed.
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Signature Theatre
4200 Campbell Ave
Arlington, VA 22206
The Signature is a nonprofit professional theater that features contemporary productions. Its 2006 season was its first in a new $12.5 million two-house complex in … Arlington's Shirlington neighborhood. The area is a little soulless and contrived but offers good eating and drinking options nevertheless. The 2007-2008 mainstage season features a hefty eight productions, including one world premier. (photo) [link]
Strathmore
5301 Tuckerman Ln
Rockville, MD 20852
Located half a mile outside the Beltway (which means many Washingtonians consider it inaccessible), Strathmore opened a 1,976-seat concert hall in 2005. The Music Center … at Strathmore is a beautiful glass building that serves as the second home for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Clearly the venue doesn't want to pigeonhole itself to a particular type of performance: In the next three months, it hosts the Ebony Fashion Fair, the New Klezmer Quintet, and Jethro Tull. (photo) [link]
Studio Theatre
1501 14th St NW
Washington, DC 20005
The Studio Theatre is a contemporary house in the up and coming oops you missed it U Street neighborhood. In 2004 it opened two new theaters and, most importantly, an … expanded lobby. It has a beautiful glass atrium that offers a sweeping view of a new condo building across the street. Bonus: It's just a few blocks from Busboys and Poets, one of DC's best coffeeshops. [link]
Woolly Mammoth Theatre
641 D St NW
Washington, DC 20004
In 2005, after 26 seasons, the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company moved into its first permanent residence, a new 265-seat courtyard theatre in downtown DC. … The New York Times has called Woolly Mammoth "Washington's most daring theatre company." And while the first word of that quote could be considered a heckuva caveat, of Woolly Mammoth's five productions this season, two of them are world premiers (including Current Nobody, which runs October 29 to November 25). [link]
National Portrait Gallery
8th St NW & F St NW, Washington, DC 20004 [tags: Washington DC, Sightseeing, Art, Museums, "Top Picks: New & Renovated Cultural DC"
In July 2006, the National Portrait Gallery re-opened after a whopping six-year renovation (research how much that job cost the taxpayers on your own time). Amongst the highlights is the American Presidents exhibition -- "the nation's only complete collection of presidential portraits outside the White House" -- including a painting of … Bill Clinton that's got to be one of the least flattering portrayals of him outside of the Starr Report. (photo) [link]
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
2700 F St NW
Washington, DC 20037
The Economist says the Kennedy Center "is by some measures the busiest performing arts complex in America." It doesn't say what those measures are, however (attendance, … kilos, girth?). The Kennedy Center's website explains the criterion; it's performances per year, of which the facility has over 3,000 (several hundred of which are free). The Opera House, where the Kennedy Center Honors are held (the show where they pay tribute to those entertainers your mom likes) was renovated in 2004. (photo) [link]
Sidney Harman Hall @ Shakespeare Theater Company
610 F St NW
Washington, DC 20004
This complex was the centerpiece of The Economist's write-up. On October 1, the theater company unveiled this new 775-seat theater in downtown. Coupled with its existing … 451-seat house, it now can host simultaneous performances of Henry IV, Parts I and II. Or not. It does plan to have up to five performances a day starting next month though. Bonus: It's near several good Spanish tapas restaurants for pre- or post-performance consumption. [link]
