Editor’s Picks: Brooklyn, NYCB, Red Baarat, Translations

THE QUEER QUEENS OF QOMEDY

L.A. comedian Gloria Bigelow headlines a night of “high octane, high caliber” comedy also featuring Poppy Champlin — named America’s Funniest Real Woman on The Joan Rivers Show — and Michele Durante. The show is an official Baltimore Pride event, with some proceeds benefiting the GLCCB, Baltimore and Central Maryland’s GLBT Community Center. Tickets are $25 for general admission and $40 for VIP, which includes prefered seating and a meet and greet before the show with wine and cheese. Sunday, March 25, at 5 p.m. Magooby’s Joke House, 9603 Deereco Road, Timonium, MD. Call 410-252-2727 or visit magoobysjokehouse.com.

BROOKLYN: THE MUSICAL

The title character in Mark Schoenfeld and Barri McPherson’s musical is on a journey to find her father, as told by a group of people suffering out on the streets led by the Street Singer. Briana Taylor is Brooklyn and DeCarlo Raspberry the Street Singer, in a cast also including Taylor Washington, Amana Leigh Corbett, Jonathan Helwig, Ashley K. Nicholas, Topher Williams, and Marika Countouris. The mostly sung-through show is directed by Michael Windsor and choreographed by Patricia “Pep” Targete. To March 31. Ainslie Arts Center in Episcopal High School, 3900 W. Braddock Rd., Alexandria. Tickets are $40. Call 703-933-3000 or visit monumentaltheatre.org.

TRANSLATIONS

British army engineers arrive in 19th-century rural Ireland to draw new borders and translate local place names into the King’s English in a work dating to 1980 from celebrated Irish playwright Brian Friel (Dancing at Lughnasa). “Born out of a contested cultural moment,” says Studio’s David Muse, “Friel’s classic about language and all of its limits will have particular resonance in this town at this time.” Directed by the company’s Belfast-born Associate Artistic Director Matt Torney and starring Caroline Dubberly, Megan Graves, Martin Giles, Molly Carden, Matthew Aldwin McGee, Jeff Keogh, and Joe Mallon. In previews. Runs to April 22. Metheny Theatre, 14th & P Streets NW. Call 202-332-3300 or visit studiotheatre.org.

HILLWOOD’S FABERGE EGG FAMILY FESTIVAL

The former estate of Marjorie Merriweather Post hosts an annual two-day festival in which guests can take part in a traditional Russian egg-rolling game, decorate their own Fabergé-inspired egg, take in performances from the Samovar Russian Folk Music Ensemble and Kalinka Dance Ensemble, and hear stories of Russian Easter traditions in a fun family play produced by Happenstance Theater. All that in addition to admiring all of the finer things Post collected, including many exquisite Russian imperial eggs and other fanciful Fabergé creations. You can also take a tour of Hillwood’s working greenhouse most days in March, also known as Orchid Month. Saturday, March 24, and Sunday, March 25, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Hillwood Estate, 4155 Linnean Ave. NW. Suggested donation is $18. Call 202-686-5807 or visit HillwoodMuseum.org.

RED BARAAT WITH ZESHAN B, WOMEN’S RAGA MASSIVE

Jazz artist Sunny Jain conceived of and leads the bhangra-rooted party band Red Baraat, an ensemble returning to D.C. on their annual Festival of Colors tour. This year’s party, which celebrates spring rites as well as the South Asian Diaspora in America, also features as opening acts Zeshan B on Friday, March 23, and Women’s Raga Massive on Saturday, March 24, both starting at 8 p.m. The Hamilton, 600 14th St. NW. Tickets are $20 to $25. Call 202-787-1000 or visit thehamiltondc.com.

NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: VERDI’S REQUIEM

No one brings out all the sweeping drama and passionate intensity of Verdi’s great masterpiece quite like Gianandrea Noseda, a critic in The Guardian noted, saying the NSO’s Music Director “has Verdi in his system…electric from start to finish.” The Requiem is an oratorio, an opera, and a religious work all at once, and to give it full force, the NSO is joined by the Washington Chorus, the Choral Arts Society of Washington, and soloists from Washington National Opera’s Don Carlo — namely, Eric Owens, Russell Thomas, Leah Crocetto, and Veronica Simeoni. Thursday, March 22, at 7 p.m., and Friday, March 23, and Saturday, March 24, at 8 p.m. Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Tickets are $15 to $109. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

BIG APPLE CIRCUS AT NATIONAL HARBOR

National Harbor is celebrating its 10th anniversary by hosting the Big Apple Circus, now in its 40th year of presenting shows in a one-ring, intimate, and artistic style, including a full lineup of global artists and acts — but never exotic or wild animals, only rescue dogs, horses and ponies. From Nik Wallenda and the Flying Wallendas’ seven-person pyramid on the high wire to daredevil roller skating, a flying trapeze act to a master juggler, contortionist Elayne Kramer to comedian Grandma the Clown, the nearly two-hour show, directed by Mark Lonergan, has a little something for everyone. To April 1. Intersection of Waterfront Street and St. George Boulevard, National Harbor, Md. Tickets are $27.50, or $109 for VIP Ringside. Call 855-258-0718 or visit BigAppleCircus.com.

NEW YORK CITY BALLET

The acclaimed company brings two distinct programs for this year’s annual visit to the Kennedy Center, and accompanied throughout the run by the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra. First comes Works by Balanchine, Martins & Peck, featuring three classic works by the company’s George Balanchine, including Divertimento No. 15, a work for 16 dancers set to Mozart’s score that Balanchine considered the finest ever written. The first program also features Peter Martins’ Zakouski, plus a new work from Resident Choreographer and Soloist Justin Peck, Pulcinella Variations. Tuesday, March 27, through Thursday, March 29, at 7:30 p.m. Opera House. The second program is an all-Robbins affair, celebrating the centennial of Jerome Robbins, the company’s co-founding choreographer and still one of its most influential dance-makers. The evening nods as well to the centennial of Leonard Bernstein, chiefly through the frequent collaborators’ first-ever work together, the ballet Fancy Free, which would go on to inspire the musical On The Town. Robbins’ postmodern dance elements set to Philip Glass and his quartet of frolicsome divertissements to Verdi’s The Four Seasons round out the program. Friday, March 30, at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, March 31, at 1:30 and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, April 1, at 1:30 p.m. Opera House. Tickets are $29 to $99. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

TOM MEYER: NARRATIVE VISIONS

The president of Clyde’s Restaurant Group, a Culinary Institute of America alum, has cooked up something wholly unexpected with his latest project. And it’s one that has esseone that has nothing to do with food. In his spare time, Meyer has been studiously brushing up on his strokes and blobs as he steps closer attempting creating a personal universe of ghosts, devils, aliens, and demons flirting with everyday objects, animated trees, and an array of animals. All of that is on display in the self-taught painter’s first exhibition of his artwork at a gallery in Georgetown. Now to April 7. Addison/Ripley Fine Art, 1670 Wisconsin Ave. NW. Call 202-338-5180 or visit addisonripleyfineart.com.