Editor’s Picks: Oyster Festival, Venom, Summerland and more!

LEGAL SEA FOODS: 10TH ANNUAL OYSTER FESTIVAL

The Massachusetts-based seafood chain celebrates all things bivalves. Fried oysters are available in the following styles: Buffalo with blue cheese, celery hearts, and radish; BBQ with coleslaw and BBQ mayo; Sriracha Lime with roasted corn salsa and crispy shallots; or as an “Oyster BLT” with chipotle mayo. Baked Oysters are prepared as a Lobster Spinach Oyster bake with cheese and herbed crumbs; Oyster Scampi with shrimp, garlic butter, and white wine; Crab & Cheese Oyster with Jonah crab, horseradish, cheddar, and cream cheese; or Roasted Oyster with smoked chorizo, butter, and fresh herbs. A variety of oysters will also be available raw, served on the half shell, with selections and prices changing daily depending on what’s available. Wash it all down with this year’s official festival drink, the Deadrise, a concoction of Tito’s vodka, muddled cucumber, lime, and grapefruit bitters. Available at lunch and dinner daily now through Oct. 10. All three area locations: 704 7th St. NW, 2301 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, and 2001 International Drive in Tysons Galleria, McLean. Visit legalseafoods.com.

VENOM

We last saw Venom in 2007’s Spider-Man 3, and after ten years of rumors and development, the character finally has his own film. Tom Hardy steps into the role as journalist Eddie Brock, who becomes the host of an alien symbiote that transforms him into the horrific Venom and grants superhuman abilities. Sony intends this film to start an adjacent Marvel universe to the MCU we all know and love, and Venom will apparently be darker, scarier, and more violent than the usual Marvel fare. Don’t expect to see Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, though — director Ruben Fleischer said there’s no cameo planned. Now playing at area theaters. Visit Fandango.com. (Rhuaridh Marr)

MEASURE FOR MEASURE

Shakespeare’s classic becomes a mirror of modern society in a dexterously crafted adaptation by U.K. theater company Cheek By Jowl and the Pushkin Theatre Moscow. The production offers a fresh take on Shakespeare’s dissection of the nature of justice, mercy, and virtue. Director Declan Donnellan and designer Nick Ormerod originally developed the work for the Moscow stage. Part of the Kennedy Center’s World Stages series. In Russian with projected English titles. Opens Wednesday, Oct. 10. To Oct. 13. Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater. Tickets are $19 to $75. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

SUMMERLAND

The Washington Stage Guild presents Arlitia Jones’ drama relaying the mysterious but true tale of William H. Mumler, a spirit photographer with a talent for capturing haunting images from the world beyond the veil. Set in the years after the Civil War, Summerland focuses on Mumler’s booming business of contacting the dead for mourners, and the city marshal who wants to prove the photographer is a fraud. Starring Yury Lomakin, Rachel Felstein, and Steven Carpenter. Kasi Campbell directs. To Oct. 21. Undercroft Theatre of Mount Vernon United Methodist Church, 900 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Tickets are $30 to $60. Call 240-582-0050 or visit stageguild.org.

ADAMS MORGAN PORCHFEST

A eclectic and eccentric festival showcasing the rhythms that make the city’s legendary, multicultural neighborhood move. Launched in 2013, PorchFest features more than 30 local musicians and musical acts in mix of ages and expertise, performing everything from brass to R&B, folk to rock, and Latin to reggae in pop-up venues on porches and patios of historic homes and local businesses throughout the neighborhood’s leafy residential streets. Each location hosts three 45-minute sets. Saturday, Oct. 6, from 1:30 to 6 p.m. Starting point is SunTrust Plaza, 18th Street and Columbia Road NW. Free. Call 202-997-0783 or visit admoporchfest.com.

SHEMEKIA COPELAND

Continuing the legacy of blues divas Etta James and Bessie Smith, to say nothing of her late father, Texas bluesman Johnny Copeland, Shemekia Copeland is far from just a powerhouse brassy blues singer-songwriter. The stirring, genre-bending music featured on the 39-year-old’s eighth release, America’s Child, is a bluesy, soul-fired blend of Americana, folk, and rock. Recorded in Nashville, the set, with guest turns by John Prine, Emmylou Harris, Rhiannon Giddens, and lesbian folk-rocker Mary Gauthier, “celebrates our collective diversity in all its forms and colors.” Friday, Oct. 5. Doors at 6:30 p.m. The Hamilton, 600 14th St. NW. Tickets are $15.75 to $35.75. Call 202-787-1000 or visit thehamiltondc.com.

KRISH MOHAN

A Native American comic, who hosts the weekly web show “Fork Full of Noodles” and the podcast “Taboo Table Talk,” Mohan explores “bubble culture” among Americans and the current divide in today’s political climate through storytelling, satire, and comedy. His hour of “socially conscious comedy” was the Audience Choice Award winner at the 2018 Pittsburgh Fringe Festival. Opening set by Franqi French. Friday, Oct. 12, at 7 p.m. Reliable Tavern, 3655 Georgia Ave. NW. Tickets are $5 online, or $10 at the door. Call 202-800-0441 or visit reliable-tavern.com.

THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS

A rarity from early the Roman Polanski canon, this giddy, blood-soaked 1967 parody of the vampire genre fell between two of the director’s most intense thrillers, Repulsion and the profoundly unsettling Rosemary’s Baby (1968). For all its deliberate whimsey — the comedy is mostly physical and of the bumbling sort — Fearless Vampire Killers has a striking visual style, influenced in part by the paintings of Marc Chagall. The film is historically notable for the inclusion Sharon Tate, who later married Polanski and was, in 1969, murdered in couple’s home by the Manson family. Part of the Capital Classics series at Landmark’s West End Cinema. Wednesday, Oct. 10, at 1:30, 4:30, and 7:30 p.m., 2301 M St. NW. Happy hour from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 to $12.50. Call 202-534-1907 or visit landmarktheatres.com.

BOB MOSES

This Canadian electronic/pop act is named after the prominent New York City planner and consists of Jimmy Valiance and Tom Howie, whose languid yet varied vocal delivery is stunning in a subtle, hypnotic way. Bob Moses makes smooth and moody electronica with dramatic and moving graces in a style similar to that of Australia’s Rufus du Sol. Call it the next generation of chillout dance music: a tasteful, sophisticated blend of progressive house and reflective pop that works both at a low hum in the background as well as turned up and tuned in, with close attention paid to the finer details. Mansionair opens. Thursday, Oct. 11. Doors at 7 p.m. 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW. Tickets are $28.50. Call 202-265-0930 or visit 930.com.

NSO: MENDELSSOHN’S VIOLIN CONCERTO

National Symphony Orchestra Conductor Laureate Christoph Eschenbach returns for a program featuring rising star violinist Ray Chen, whose talent, sense of humor, and savviness with both social media savvy and pop culture — with appearances on Amazon’s Mozart in the Jungle and a partnership with Giorgio Armani — are said to be “redefining what it means to be a classical musician.” In addition to one of the most treasured concertos in the repertoire, the program also includes Mendelssohn’s Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, “Pastoral.” Thursday, Oct. 11, at 7 p.m., and Friday, Oct. 12, and Saturday, Oct. 13, at 8 p.m. Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Tickets are $15 to $89. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

TASTE OF BETHESDA

This 29th annual festival brings nearly 50 restaurants and five stages of entertainment to Bethesda’s Woodmont Triangle. Produced by the Bethesda Urban Partnership, this year sees participation from new area restaurants including the Big Greek Café, CherCher Ethiopian Cuisine, Dog Haus Biergarten, Lucy Ethiopian Restaurant, The Red Bandana Bakery, and True Food Kitchen. Returning favorites include Georgetown Cupcake, Jaleo Bethesda, Mussel Bar, Olazzo, and Ruth’s Chris. Live performances will come from the 19th Street Band, Aztec Sun, Elikeh, Jay Byrd & the Musical Trust, Joker’s Wild, Rochelle Rice, Sara Jones, and Sweet Saludos, plus Ancient Rhythms Dance Company, Coyaba Dance Theater, the Culkin School of Traditional Irish Dance, Urban Artistry, and Wong Chinese Lion Dancers. Saturday, Oct. 6, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Woodmont Triangle, Bethesda. Free admission, or $5 for four “taste” tickets. Call 301-215-6660 or visit bethesda.org for more information.