FILM

BARRY LYNDON

“Heeere’s Kubrick” is an annual celebration of the late, legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick, with select films screening on Wednesdays at both area locations of the Angelika movie theater chain. The series continues with Kubrick’s 1975 period drama adapted from a Victorian novel focused on an Irish rogue and opportunist who becomes wealthy but ill-respected in his British disguise. Barry Lyndon features stunning cinematography — it was completely lit with candles and natural lighting — with settings based on William Hogarth paintings. While the film was criticized for a glacial pace and restrained emotion from lead actor Ryan O’Neal, its reputation, like many of Kubrick’s works, has only strengthened over time. Wednesday, April 17, at 7:30 p.m. Angelika Pop-Up at Union Market, 550 Penn St. NE. Also Angelika at Mosaic, 2911 District Ave., Fairfax, Va. Tickets are $10.50 to $14.50. Call 571-512-3311 or visit www.angelikafilmcenter.com.

BEN-HUR

To celebrate its 60th anniversary, the Charlton Heston classic will be digitally projected in its original super-widescreen “Ultra 65” format, with pre- and post-show commentary from TCM Primetime House Ben Mankiewicz. Sunday, April 14, at 1 p.m., and Wednesday, April 17, at 1 and 6 p.m. Area Regal venues, including Gallery Place (701 7th St. NW) and Potomac Yards (3575 Jefferson Davis Highway, Alexandria). Tickets are $12.50 to $13.25. Visit www.fathomevents.com.

DREAMS

A lustrous piece of cinema, presenting eight vignettes written and directed by master filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. It was inspired by actual dreams that Kurosawa claimed to have had repeatedly, and deals with themes of childhood, spirituality, art, death, and universal disasters. Each segment has a literal and metaphorical side.Capital Classics, the popular series at Landmark’s West End Cinema, presents the movie on Wednesday, April 17, 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 $12.50. Call 202-534-1907 or visit www.landmarktheatres.com.

HELLBOY

David Harbour of Stranger Things steps into the role as the titular half-demon who battles dark forces on behalf of the government in this reboot. This time around, it’s Nimue, Queen of Blood — a powerful sorceress played by Milla Jovovich — who seeks to destroy mankind. Hellboy offers a darker take on the well-trodden superhero tale, though it remains to be seen if new director Neil Marshall and writer Andrew Cosby can produce the balance between horror and humor that typifies both the Hellboy comics and Guillermo del Toro’s 2004 and 2008 films. Opens Friday, April 12. Area theaters. Visit www.fandango.com.

HIGH LIFE

Acclaimed French filmmaker Claire Denis (Beau Travail) makes her English-language debut with a provocative and sexy science-fiction drama. Robert Pattinson stars as the sole adult survivor of a damned and dangerous mission to deep space. The crew with sinister motives, led by Juliette Binoche, has vanished, leaving Pattinson and his baby daughter struggling to survive as they hurtle toward the oblivion of a black hole. Opens Friday, April 12. Area theaters. Visit www.fandango.com.

LITTLE

Kenya Barris, the creator of ABC’s Black-ish and co-writer of 2017’s hilarious black girls getaway comedy Girls Trip, joins Will Packer in co-producing another comedy starring Regina Hall. Sparked by an idea from 14-year-old Marsai Martin, who portrays the precocious youngest child on Barris’s Black-ish, Little follows an overbearing boss (Hall) transformed into a child version of herself (Martin) in a kind of reverse-Big fantasy comedy co-written and directed by Tina Golden Chism. Issa Rae, Justin Hartley, Tone Bell, and Rachel Dratch also star. Opens Friday, April 12. Area theaters. Visit www.fandango.com.

PENGUINS

Ed Helms narrates a sweet, sentimental Earth Day documentary from Disneynature in the voice of a cute, klutzy Adélie penguin coming of age in the harsh conditions of Antarctica. Directed by Alastair Fothergill and Jeff Wilson, Variety calls Penguins “an engaging, highly accessible and hugely entertaining underdog hero’s journey.” Opens Wednesday, April 17. Area theaters. Visit www.fandango.com.

PETERLOO

An epic portrayal of the events surrounding the infamous 1819 Peterloo Massacre, where a peaceful pro-democracy rally at St. Peter’s Field in Manchester turned into one of the bloodiest and most notorious episodes in British history. Written and directed by internationally acclaimed and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Mike Leigh (Mr. Turner, Happy-Go-Lucky, Secrets & Lies), the historical drama stars Rory Kinnear, Maxine Peake, Neil Bell, Philip Jackson, Vincent Franklin, Karl Johnson, and Tim McInnerny. Opens Friday, April 12. Area theaters. Visit www.fandango.com.

THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW

Landmark’s E Street Cinema presents its monthly run of Richard O’Brien’s camp classic, billed as the longest-running midnight movie in history. Landmark’s showings come with a live shadow cast from the Sonic Transducers, meaning it’s even more interactive than usual. Friday, April 12, and Saturday, April 13, at midnight. Landmark’s E Street Cinema, 555 11th St. NW. Call 202-452-7672 or visit www.landmarktheatres.com.

STAGE

BECKETT TRIO, PART 2
PINTER REP

Short plays by Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter — two theater giants and Nobel Laureates — are presented in repertory on alternate evenings by Scena Theatre and directed by the company’s Robert McNamara. Beckett Trio, Part 2 features the Irish architect of absurdism’s black comedy-rich Ohio Impromptu, Come and Go, and Catastrophe, with a six-person cast including Buck O’Leary, Kim Curtis, and Jen Bevarelli. Pinter Rep, meanwhile, finds a nine-person cast, including Christopher Henley, Irina Koval, Karin Rosnizeck, and Robert Sheire, bringing to life a political trio “portraying terror and its consequences” from the legendary British playwright: One for the Road, Mountain Language, and The New World Order. Now to May 5. Lab II in the Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets are $14 to $45. Call 202-399-7993 or visit www.scenatheatre.org.

CLOTHES FOR A SUMMER HOTEL

The LGBTQ-focused Rainbow Theatre Project continues its sixth season with an evocative “ghost play” by Tennessee Williams focused on the tumultuous marriage and creative lives of Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald. The couple revisits their youth in a haunting and poetic theatrical tale that blurs past and present and includes ghosts of characters who influenced the two, including Ernest Hemingway. Greg Stevens directs a production featuring Sara Barker as Zelda, Aidan Hughes as Scott, and Matty Griffiths as Ernest leading an eight-person cast. Now to April 28. District of Columbia Arts Center, 2438 18th St. NW. Tickets are $35. Call 202-462-7833 or visit www.rainbowtheatreproject.org.

DEAD DOG’S BONE: A BIRTHDAY PLAY

Nu Sass Productions, the female-focused local theater company, presents Veronica Tjioe’s family drama that’s equal parts irreverent and heartbreaking in its exploration of familial relationships, the melancholia of birthdays, and the goodness of dogs. Mara Sherman directs a cast including Dannielle Hutchinson, Schuyler Atkins, Karen Lange, Aubri O’Connor, Erik Harrison, and Andy De. To April 14. Caos on F, 923 F St. NW. Tickets are $20. Call 202-215-6993 or visit www.nusass.com.

GRAND HOTEL THE MUSICAL

Eric Schaeffer directs one of his favorite musicals, a multiple Tony-winning work from 1989 with a book by Luther Davis and music and lyrics by Robert Wright, George Forrest, and Maury Yeston. Based on the 1929 novel by Vicki Baum that also spawned two World War II-era movies, Grand Hotel The Musical is set in a lavish hotel in Weimar Republic Berlin — and staged in such a way at Signature Theatre that audiences will feel like they are sitting in the hotel’s lobby. A fading ballerina, a destitute baron, a wannabe starlet, and an ailing bookkeeper are just a handful of the many characters who come and go in the show, with Signature stars Bobby Smith and Natascia Diaz leading a large cast also featuring other Signature veterans including Nicki Elledge, Kevin McAllister, Crystal Mosser, and Lawrence Redmond. Jon Kalbfleisch leads the orchestra while Kelly Crandall D’Amboise helms the choreography. In previews. Opens Tuesday, April 9. Runs to May 19. MAX Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington. Call 703-820-9771 or visit www.sigtheatre.org.

INTO THE WOODS

Somebody’s hauled a fabulous eight-piece orchestra into the enchanted forest of Ford’s Theatre’s production of Into the Woods, and the brilliant, Tony-winning score, conducted by music director William Yanesh, sounds great. The mostly sharp delivery of director Peter Flynn’s talented cast can keep the listener hanging on every word of Stephen Sondheim’s winding lines. These are treacherous woods, less an idyll for peaceful strolls to grandma’s house than a fateful crossroads of change. Milagro Ponce de León’s forest set, rippling layers of flattish trees and vines, definitely carries through Sondheim and frequent book writer James Lapine’s image of the woods as a foreboding place and time, a field of dark unknowing. Flynn and company do a marvelous job delineating every major and minor character in this vast storybook population of kings, commoners, cows and chickens — as derived from fairy tales — even with some actors performing several roles. Flynn’s absorbing staging marches with gusto into the second act, which examines, or pokes holes in, the contentment that comes after Happily Ever After. But the show hits a few roadblocks. The pace slackens, and the fire wanes, until a hardy finish. As a whole, Ford’s production beautifully conveys the weight and lightness of Sondheim and Lapine’s journey into the woods, where characters forced to coerce, deceive, or steal from strangers can find whatever they believe might bring them happiness. To May 22. 511 10th St. NW. Tickets are $20 to $83. Call 888-616-0270 or visit www.fords.org. (André Hereford)

JUNK

A junk bond trader prepares a hostile takeover of a family-owned manufacturing company in this bracing, 1980s-inspired new work from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Ayad Akhtar (Disgraced). Jackie Maxwell directs the Arena Stage production starring Thomas Keegan leading a 17-person cast featuring a number of local stage heavyweights, including Edward Gero, Michael Russotto, Lise Bruneau, and Michael Glenn. To May 5. Fichandler Stage in the Mead Center for American Theater, 1101 6th St. SW. Call 202-488-3300 or visit www.arenastage.org.

PANTHEON

Happenstance Theater, the Helen Hayes Award-winning devised theater troupe, is now delving into ancient Greek mythology for its latest work. Set in the 1940s, Pantheon revolves around a chorus of factory workers brought to life by Happenstance’s married co-founders Mark Jaster and Sabrina Mandell along with Gwen Grastorf, Sarah Olmsted Thomas, and Alex Vernon, and Craig Jaster providing a live musical score. “With an ample smattering of amusement,” reads the company’s synopsis of what transpires, “the performers invoke the Muses, offer Sacrifice, suffer Hubris, consult Oracles, and meet Fate as they portray an array of mortals and Gods whose flaws reflect their own.” To April 14. Baltimore Theatre Project, 45 West Preston St. Baltimore. Tickets are $15 to $25. Call 410-752-8558 or visit www.theatreproject.org.

PLAY DATE

Six parents get their children together to play — but “this play is not for children,” the Best Medicine Rep Theatre stresses in bold. It’s also not about the children but about the naughty adults in the other room in this farce “laced with tequila and regret” and written by John Morogiello from an idea he concocted with Lori Boyd. Melissa B. Robinson directs the production starring Kira Burri and Evan Crump. To May 5. Lakeforest Mall, 701 Russell Ave., Gaithersburg. Tickets are $20 to $25. Visit www.bestmedicinerep.org.

TOPDOG/UNDERDOG

WSC Avant Bard presents the tragicomedy about two African-American brothers-in-struggle that earned playwright Suzan-Lori Parks a Pulitzer Prize 17 years ago. Jeremy Keith Hunter, a regular at Mosaic Theater, takes on the role of older brother Lincoln, a grifter-gone-straight, while Louis E. Davis, previously seen in Avant Bard’s King Lear, plays the younger brother Booth, seeking to become the greatest con man of all time. DeMone Seraphin directs. To April 14. Gunston Arts Center, 2700 South Lang St. Arlington. Tickets are $40. Call 703-418-4804 or visit www.wscavantbard.org.

MUSIC

BALTIMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: PORGY AND BESS

Music Director Marin Alsop leads the BSO in a reprise of her semi-staged production of Gershwin’s beloved operetta, first presented in 2016. Hana S. Sharif directs a cast including Robert Cantrell as Porgy, Laquita Mitchell as Bess, Lester Lynch as Crown, and Larry D. Hylton as Sportin’ Life, with additional, sensational vocal support from the Morgan State University Choir. Thursday, April 11, at 8 p.m. Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. Also Friday, April 12, and Saturday, April 13, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, April 14, at 3 p.m. Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral St., Baltimore. Tickets are $25 to $90. Call 410-783-8000 or visit www.bsomusic.org.

CAPITAL JAZZ

A presentation at Strathmore that is part of a two-concert showcase of artists from the local jazz scene — one that is not to be confused with the unaffiliated but similarly named Capital Jazz Fest, presented by Capital Jazz Productions (which is held in June at Merriweather Post Pavilion). The diverse lineup of jazz, soul, and funk artists is touted as “indisputable proof that the depth and breadth of locally grown D.C. jazz rivals the best in the world.” Elijah Jamal Balbed, David Schulman’s Quiet Life Motel, Akua Allrich, Mark G. Meadows, and Rochelle Rice will all perform vibrant renditions and original compositions, transforming the Mansion into an intimate jazz club for the evening. The second concert in the series is presented May 2 and features a different roster of artists. 10701 Rockville Pike, North Bethesda. Tickets are $30. Call 301-581-5100 or visit www.strathmore.org.

EMANCIPATION DAY CONCERT & FESTIVITIES 2019

The D.C. government has organized a star-studded celebration on Freedom Plaza to commemorate the day in history — April 16, 1862 — when more than 3,000 enslaved persons were freed in D.C. a full eight months before the Emancipation Proclamation liberated those in the South. The festivities take place Saturday, April 13, or three days before the actual date, kicking off at 2 p.m. with a parade down Pennsylvania Avenue from 10th to 14th Streets NW. An all-afternoon, multi-artist concert follows with performances by Faith Evans, Doug E. Fresh, Kenny Lattimore, Mýa, Master Gee of the Sugar Hill Gang, E.U. featuring Sugar Bear, Frédéric Yonnet, Spur of the Moment, Ayanna “Daughter of Dick” Gregory, and Passion Band, with DJ Rico from Majic 102.3 FM and host Little Bacon Bear from WKYS 93.9 FM. The day ends in a fireworks display starting at 8:30 p.m. Visit www.emancipation.dc.gov.

FINGHIN COLLINS

The Washington Conservatory of Music offers a solo piano concert featuring one of Ireland’s most in-demand classical musicians. Collins will perform Mozart’s Sonata in A Major “Alla Turca”, Brahms’ Vier Klavierstücke, and Schubert’s Sonata in A Major. The concert will be followed by an informal Wine & Words Q&A with Collins and complimentary beverages. Saturday, April 20, at 8 p.m. Westmoreland Congregational Church, 1 Westmoreland Circle. Bethesda. Tickets are free, with a suggested donation of $20. Call 301-320-2770 or visit www.washingtonconservatory.org.

NATIONAL PHILHARMONIC: VERDI REQUIEM

Piotr Gajewski, the Leonard Bernstein acolyte who serves as the philharmonic’s music director, leads a performance inspired by Bernstein’s monumental project of recording Messa da Requiem with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall in 1970. In the Music Center, Gajewski conducts Strathmore’s resident orchestra along with the National Philharmonic Chorale plus soloists Danielle Talamantes, soprano, Margaret Lattimore, mezzo-soprano, Zach Borichevsky, tenor, and Kevin Deas, bass. Saturday, April 13, at 8 p.m. 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. Tickets are $30 to $78. Call 301-581-5100 or visit www.strathmore.org.

OPERA LAFAYETTE: LA SUSANNA

A local company chiefly focused on performing 18th-century opera using instruments from the period closes its 24th season with a well-timed co-production with Heartbeat Opera focused on the story of Susanna and the Elders from the Book of Daniel. Alessandro Stradella’s original adaptation, circa 1681, of the Bible’s iconic story of sexual harassment and the perversion of justice featured a male narrator and male savior, but here females are cast in the roles instead to make it a more powerful and complicated work for 2019. Directed by Heartbeat Opera’s co-artistic director Ethan Heard, Lucía Martín Cartón makes her debut as Susanna, with Sara Couden as Testo, Ariana Douglas as Daniel, and Patrick Kilbride and Paul Max Tipton as the Elders. Opera Lafayette’s Ryan Brown serves as music director with Jacob Ashworth. Sunday, April 21, and Monday, April 22, at 7:30 p.m. Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. Tickets are $25 to $135. Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

QUEEN LATIFAH

All hail the queen, as the hip-hop star makes her Kennedy Center performance debut with a program expected to offer equal parts hip-hop, jazz, and R&B. Sunday, April 14, at 8 p.m. Concert Hall. Tickets are $59 to $199. Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN PHILHARMONIC: WOMEN COMPOSERS

Described by Ann Midgette in the Washington Post as “a small, semi-professional local orchestra” that has taken the remarkable step this season of presenting programs of music almost entirely written by female composers — a costly endeavor that the organization’s music director conceded to Midgette will need to be followed next season with more traditional, familiar programming to make up for it. The next concert in the series features three works by 20th-century composers: Florence Price’s Symphony No. 3 in C Minor, Elinor Remick Warren’s Symphony in One Movement, and Thea Musgrave’s Song of the Enchanter. Saturday, April 13, at 7 p.m. Church of the Epiphany, 1317 G St. NW. Also Sunday, April 14, at 3 p.m. George Washington Masonic National Memorial, 101 Callahan Dr., Alexandria. Tickets are $25. Call 703-799-8229 or visit www.wmpamusic.org.

WHITE FORD BRONCO

Cheekily named after O.J. Simpson’s notorious failed getaway car, people just can’t seem to get enough of this local ’90s-era party band. Playing through that decade’s songbook in all styles of popular music is a five-member ensemble consisting of singer/guitarist Diego Valencia, singer Gretchen Gustafson, guitarists Ken Sigmund and McNasty, and drummer Max Shapiro. White Ford Bronco seems to turn up at a different local venue practically every other week. Friday, April 12. Doors at 8 p.m. Rock and Roll Hotel, 1353 H St. NE. Tickets are $25. Call 202-388-ROCK or visit www.rockandrollhoteldc.com.

WICKED JEZABEL

Pauline Anson-Dross’ popular lesbian all-covers party-rock band Wicked Jezabel has been rocking — as well as raising money for various good causes — all over the region for a decade now, originally under the name The Outskirts of Town. The next concert from the Jezabels is a charity event to ring in Earth Day: “Respect Your Mother…She is the Only One You Have.” Friday, April 19, at 9 p.m. JV’s Restaurant, 6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church. Cover is $10. Call 703-241-9504 or visit www.wickedjezabel.com.

DANCE

KISTA TUCKER INSIGHTS

The Chantilly, Va.-based Kista Tucker Insights comes to Dance Place to perform two new works, foremost among these a years-in-the-making epic The Factory Project. The story-based piece explores the kind of community that exists within the confines — among the employees — of a factory, and features a score by composing multi-instrumentalist Christian Cherry, also a noted dance professor. The second work, Pitted Post, WY, features KTI dancers striving to elicit the essence of rural Wyoming, from the gently sloping and wide-open landscape, to “the critters (in the air and on the ground).” The aim, here as with other KTI productions, is to provide a naturalistic, “transformative experience,” akin to “watching a piece of art or painting come to life.” Saturday, April 13, at 8 p.m, and Sunday, April 14, at 2 p.m. Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Theater, 3225 8th St. NE. Tickets are $20 to $25. Call 202-269-1600 or visit www.danceplace.org.

MARIINSKY BALLET: LE CORSAIRE

The famed Russian company returns to the Kennedy Center with Marius Petipa’s swashbuckling adventure featuring bold pirates, passionate maidens, shocking betrayal, and a dramatic shipwreck rescue. Touted as “a crown jewel of the art form,” the Mariinsky Ballet dazzles with trademark attributes, including breathtaking choreography, virtuosic dancing, and spectacular scenery and costumes. Artistic director Valery Gergiev leads the ballet company with conductor Vladislav Karklin leading the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra. To Sunday, April 14. Opera House. Tickets are $49 to $209. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS

Based in New York, this group seeks to breathe new life into traditional Chinese culture, with a particular focus on classical Chinese dance, one of the world’s oldest art forms. Blending beauty, energy, and grace, dancers in dazzling costumes move in seamless, flowing patterns, while a live orchestra and thunderous drums shake the stage against stunning, otherworldly backdrops. Shen Yun returns to the Kennedy Center with its epic production focused on “reviving 5,000 years of civilization,” presented by the Falun Dafa Association of Washington, D.C. Performances begin Wednesday, April 17. To April 21. Opera House. Tickets are $80 to $250. Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

COMEDY

DC COMEDY FESTIVAL

Intended in part to shine a light on D.C.’s burgeoning comedy scene, including work in improv and sketch comedy, this five-day festival expands in its second year to present more events — nearly 20 — at more venues, most of which now offer comedy shows on a regular basis year-round, including the just-opened, gay-owned Red Bear Brewing Company, Wonderland Ballroom, Ivy City Smokehouse, and the Dew Drop Inn, among others. The festival, which kicked off earlier this week, continues with: a show headlined by Alex Scott and Omar Terrill along with eight local comedians, on Friday, April 12, at 11 p.m., at Drafthouse Comedy, 1110 13th St. NW; a show by D.C. native Tony Woods, an original member of Russell Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam as well as a Comedy Central staple, on Saturday, April 13, at 7:30 p.m., at Busboys & Poets, 2021 14th St. NW; and “Jordan Carlos and Friends,” featuring a headliner known from MTV’s Girl Code and Guy Code as well as Samantha Bee’s Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, joined by Carmen Lynch, Ray Devito, and Reese Walters, on Saturday, April 13, at 8 p.m., at the Miracle Theatre, 535 8th St. SE. Ticket prices vary, with many events free. Visit www.dccomedyfestival.com for more details and the full lineup.

THE TIME MACHINE ROAST

A comedy roast of nerdy, historic proportions, with a focus on dead celebrities — particularly heretofore hallowed, Hall of Famer-types, from emperors to inventors to entrepreneurs, more often than not straight, white men. That’s the name of the game at this show created by D.C.-based comedian and writer Benjy Himmelfarb with the late Dylan Meyer. Also a kind of sober, live version of Drunk History, fellow nationally touring comedians join Himmelfarb for the roasting pursuit, getting into character and costume for “the meanest, funniest, most historically accurate jokes you’ve ever heard.” The lineup next weekend at the Kennedy Center includes additional local comics Denise Taylor, Eddie Morrison, Rahmein Mostafavi, and Lafayette Wright (also known from his work on Kevin Hart’s Hart of the City), plus former D.C. residents Linsay Deming and Landon Letzkus, who previously teamed up for the provocative live comedy/variety show Church Night. Martin Amini, another up-and-coming local comedian, opens. Saturday, April 13, at 7 and 9 p.m. Kennedy Center Terrace Gallery. Tickets are $20. Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

READINGS & DISCUSSIONS

KATHERINE PRESTON: AMERICANS’ FORGOTTEN LOVE AFFAIR WITH OPERA

As part of the ongoing American Musicological Society Lecture series at the Library of Congress, a look at the prevalence of English-language opera productions in the U.S. in the 19th century — and the women who were the managers of many companies. A music professor at the College of William & Mary, Preston debunks the myth that only the elite attended operatic productions through her research, much of it by reviewing the Library’s stellar collection of American music periodicals. Tuesday, April 16, at 7 p.m. Montpelier Room in the James Madison Memorial Building, 101 Independence Ave. SE. Free with registration. Call 202-707-5503 or visit www.loc.gov.

KRISTEN HUNTER, HALEY RIVERO

“Mid-Century Fashion and First Ladies: From Ready-to-Wear to Haute Couture” is the full title to the latest issue, No. 52, of the White House History Quarterly, published by the privately funded nonprofit the White House Historical Association. Highlighting the fashions of First Ladies from Eleanor Roosevelt to Betty Ford, the publication includes the chapters “The Mamie Look: The Americanness of First Lady Mamie Eisenhower’s Off-the-Rack Fashions” written by Hunter, and “The Jackie Look: Oleg Cassini and the Creation of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy’s Signature Style” by Rivero. The two writers will discuss and sign copies of the journal, which will be available for purchase along with the Official 2019 White House Easter Eggs and other new gift items. Friday, April 12, at noon. White House History Shop, 1610 H St. NW. Free and open to the public. Call 800-555-2451 or visit www.shop.whitehousehistory.org.

ART & EXHIBITS

A MONUMENT TO SHAKESPEARE

A temporary exhibition highlighting how Henry Clay Folger and his wife Emily Folger set out to create their shrine to the Bard as a gift, in 1932, to the American people — examining the Folger Shakespeare Library’s architecture and looking to its future. 201 East Capitol St. SE. Call 202-544-7077 or visit www.folger.edu.

CONNECTIONS: CONTEMPORARY CRAFT AT THE RENWICK GALLERY

Gallery’s dynamic ongoing permanent collection returns to view, featuring more than 80 objects celebrating craft as a discipline and an approach to living differently in the modern world. Ongoing. Pennsylvania Avenue at 17th Street NW. Free. Call 202-633-1000 or visit www.renwick.americanart.si.edu.

KALEIDOSCOPES: SPECTRUM

The Brewster Kaleidoscope Society returns to the Mansion at Strathmore with another juried exhibition showcasing the enchantment as well as the diversity of kaleidoscopes. Artists from around the world display custom-made kaleidoscopes or kaleidoscope-inspired works, varying in size from standalone sculptures to handheld and exquisite pieces of jewelry — but all of them employing “the magic of mirrors” to create a continually changing and endless display of two- and three-dimensional images. Opening Reception Sunday, April 14, at 1 p.m. On display through May 26. 10701 Rockville Pike, North Bethesda. Call 301-581-5100 or visit www.strathmore.org.

MICHELLE PETERSON-ALBANDOZ: NEW WORK

One of the most popular artists regularly presented by LGBTQ-run Long View Gallery, this Chicago-based lesbian artist creates large, hanging-wood sculptures made from reclaimed wood, often found in dumpsters and back alleys in revitalizing urban neighborhoods. Opening Reception is Thursday, April 11, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Runs to May 26. 1234 9th St. NW. Call 202-232-4788 or visit longviewgallery.com.

QUEENS OF EGYPT

A new exhibition at the National Geographic Museum puts a rare spotlight on the queens of ancient Egypt, including Hatshepsut, Nefertari, Nefertiti, and Cleopatra VII. The life and leadership of these legendary figures, whose rule ranged from the New Kingdom (1539-1514 B.C.) to the Ptolemaic dynasty (51-30 B.C.), is told with the help of more than 300 ancient Egyptian artifacts, including monumental statues, sparkling jewelry, and impressive sarcophagi — plus the use of advanced virtual reality technology providing a 3D flythrough tour of one of the most well-preserved tombs in the Valley of the Queens, that of Queen Nefertari. Many of the objects on display come courtesy of the Museo Egizio of Turin, Italy, one of the international cultural partners in the exhibition. And much of the research is based on the work of renowned Egyptologist and National Geographic Explorer Kara Cooney, author of the companion book When Women Ruled The World: Six Queens of Egypt, published by National Geographic Books last fall. To Sept. 2. The museum is located at 1145 17th St. NW. Tickets are $10 to $15. Call 202-857-7588 or visit www.ngmuseum.org.

TARGET GALLERY’S 2019 EMERGING ARTISTS

The contemporary exhibition space in Alexandria’s Torpedo Factory Art Center is championing up-and-coming regional artists in its annual exhibition series. Four stylistically diverse artists were selected by a jury panel to be featured in the second year: Kate Gorman, Kim Sandara, Madeline A. Stratton, and Sean Sweeney. Opening Reception is Friday, April 12, from 7 to 10 p.m. Panel Discussion set for May 2. On view through June 5. Target Gallery, 105 North Union St. Alexandria. Free. Call 703-838-4565 or visit www.torpedofactory.org.

TODD G. FRANSON

A few memorable photos that you may remember from covers of this very magazine — Jim Graham as Elizabeth Taylor’s Cleopatra, say, or the infamous Leather Kewpie for MAL — will be on display as part of the latest exhibition at the DC Center for the LGBT Community, all from Franson, Metro Weekly‘s central portrait photographer for most of the past 23 years as well as the magazine’s longest-serving Art Director. Yet the focus is on artworks the professional photographer and graphic designer has created for other projects and pursuits, all of which are available for sale. The exhibition goes as far back as Franson’s days as a student at the Savannah College of Art and Design, with four stylized gloves from the series Wear & Tear: Inspired by Irving Penn, newly reborn and printed on aluminum. A more recent passion of Franson’s has been capturing artistic shots of foliage, blooms, and landscapes at the National Arboretum. And then there are the dazzling and quirky photographs that come closest to conveying Franson’s personal sensibility — perhaps none more so than Dancing Bear, a vividly colored image of a bustling amusement park at dusk foregrounded by a giant-sized teddy bear wearing a propeller beanie. Ongoing. The Center Arts Gallery, 2000 14th St. NW. Call 202-682-2245 or visit www.thedccenter.org.

WHERE WE COME FROM & WHERE WE’RE GOING

The precarious status of immigrants in the U.S. is explored in the latest exhibition at Logan Circle’s small but influential gallery Transformer featuring works by Chicano painter and Oklahoma native Eliseo Casiano, New York-based Indian visual artist Dhanashree Gadiyar, California-based experimental media and filmmaker Gelare Khoshgozaran, Brooklyn visual artist Keisha Scarville, and Pennsylvania-based multidisciplinary artist Karina Aguilera Skvirsky. Kimi Kitada curated the show, which looks at immigration through the mining of family histories and personal narratives, with works that investigate the topics of displacement, isolation, cultural assimilation, and government surveillance, among other pressing issues. The underlying, unifying message of the show is that all individuals are part of collective humanity. To April 20. 1404 P St. NW. Call 202-483-1102 or visit www.transformerdc.org.

ZILLA SÁNCHEZ: SOY ISLA (I AM AN ISLAND)

The Phillips Collection presents the first museum retrospective of this queer nonagenarian, showcasing the Cuban-born, Puerto Rican-based artist’s prolific yet largely unknown career through 60 works, including paintings, design sketches, illustrations, and sculptures. The exhibition includes many examples of Sánchez’s works on shaped canvas, often featuring recurring motifs, that evoke female body parts or feminine symbols, from pointed breasts and rounded torsos to the moon and mythological heroines. The exhibition title refers to Sánchez’s artistic individuality and independence — and in particular, the influence her sexuality and femininity has on her work — and how distinctly different it is compared to the male-dominated and male gaze-oriented work of her contemporaries, perhaps none more so than Pablo Picasso. Through May 19. 1600 21st St. NW. Tickets are $12. Call 202-387-2151 x247 or visit www.phillipscollection.org.

ABOVE & BEYOND

COLLECTION 14: UMBRELLA

In the new mixed-use space that formerly housed Martha’s Table and adjoining properties on 14th Street NW comes a three-day pop-up event spanning an entire city block. The goal is to showcase Madison Investments’ plans for the massive development amongst art installations, site-specific projects and hundreds of pieces of artwork, all for sale at prices ranging from $250 to $3,000, with a portion of the proceeds donated to Feed It Forward, a group of friends in D.C. helping those who need a little help. Organized by artists-led events organization No Kings Collective, the local artists and art galleries represented in Umbrella include: Kelly Towles, Naturel, Maggie O’Neill, Monochrome Collective, Washington Project for the Arts, Mark Kelner, Fabiola R. Delgado, PAKKE, Rock Creek Social Club, District Dodger, and JAB. In addition, Bun’d Up will be on hand providing handmade buns, local produce, and sustainably raised meats from Springfield Farm, and Please Bring Chips will oversee a pop-up bar program. There will also be giveaways and prizes. When finished, the Collection 14 will present 25,000 square-feet of retail space populated with venues “committed to promoting the arts,” plus another 5,000 square-feet of office space and 3,500 square-feet of event space, as well as 233 apartment units. 2114 14th St. NW. Opening Reception Friday, April 12, from 5 p.m. to 12 a.m., Saturday, April 13, from 12 p.m. to 12 a.m., and Sunday, April 14, from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tickets are free, but guests are encouraged to register online by searching for “No Kings Collective” at www.eventbrite.com.

LA-TI-DO: R&B NIGHT

Regie Cabico and Don Mike Mendoza’s variety show features higher-quality singing than most karaoke, often from local musical theater actors performing on their night off, and also includes spoken-word poetry and comedy. Held at Bistro Bistro in Dupont Circle, Mendoza and Anya Randall Nebel host the next La-Ti-Do on Monday, April 15, at 8 p.m., offering an evening of pop and R&B songs and spoken word intended to help “shake off those Tax Day Blues.” Darnell Roulhac gets the evening’s music feature, Jarreau Williams takes the spotlight feature, and guest performers include Gaby Hornig, Tiffany Lynn Royster, Michael Santos Sandoval. Pianist Paige Rammelkamp offers music direction. Monday, April 15, at 8 p.m. 1727 Connecticut Ave. NW. Tickets are $20, or $15 if you eat dinner at the restaurant beforehand. Call 202-328-1640 or visit latidoproductions.com.

NATIONAL CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL

The cherry trees surrounding the Tidal Basin are now past their pink-hued peak, but that can’t stop and won’t stop the official four-week festival from carrying on through one final weekend. And while not the festival’s only signature event, certainly the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade is the cherry on top. This star-studded processional of giant balloons, elaborate floats, marching bands, and celebrity entertainers is led this year by Grand Marshal Anthony Anderson of ABC’s black-ish, and features singer/rapper/dancer Todrick Hall of American Idol/YouTube fame, Miss America Nia Franklin, ’90s dance/club singer CeCe Peniston, plus several finalists from TV singing competitions, on Saturday, April 13, from 10 a.m. to noon, Constitution Avenue between 7th and 17th Streets NW.

Additional highlights among the many featured and affiliated events taking place this weekend, all free unless noted otherwise, include: the 27th Annual National Japan Bowl, an academic competition for U.S. high school students studying Japanese language as well as history, culture, and society, on Friday, April 12, from 2 to 4 p.m., at the National 4-H Youth Conference Center, 7100 Connecticut Ave., Chevy Chase, Md.; Tamagawa University Taiko Drumming and Dance Troupe, a special performance of thundering Taiko drumming with traditional Japanese dance, Friday, April 12 at 6 p.m., at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage; Cherry Blossom Grand Ball, featuring a sushi and reception prepared by some of Japan’s finest sushi chefs, plus the crowning of the 2019 Cherry Blossom Queen and dancing, Friday, April 12, starting at 6 p.m., JW Marriott, 1331 Pennsylvania Ave. NW (tickets are $175 per person); Newseum Nights: In Bloom, an evening of Japanese sights, sounds, and tastes from Wolfgang Puck’s The Source, plus all-night open beer and wine bar, and access to current exhibitions, Friday, April 12, from 8 to 10:30 p.m., 555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. (tickets are $50 to $65); the Sakura Matsuri Japanese Street Festival, the largest one-day celebration of Japanese culture in the U.S., with performances on four stages, plus arts vendors and food booths, all presented by the Japan-America Society of Washington DC, on Saturday, April 13, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Pennsylvania Avenue between 3rd and 7th Streets NW (tickets are $10 to $50); Cherry Blossom Bonanza & Art Walk, celebrating the blossoms in various artistic mediums, from ceramics to glass to visual arts, on display in buildings and artist studios at the Workhouse Arts Center, Saturday, April 13, from 6 to 9 p.m., 9518 Workhouse Way, Lorton, Va.; One Giant Meditation on Sunday, April 14, at 9:30 a.m., at the National Building Museum, 401 F St. NW (tickets are $20 at the door, not including mat); Sakura Sunday, a free festival hosted by National Harbor and co-presented by the Japan-America Society of Washington highlighting Japanese culture with a market, music, art, and entertainment, plus a beer garden also featuring food, sake and rose, Sunday, April 14, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., 150 National Plaza, Oxon Hill, Md.; Anacostia River Festival, presented by the 11th Street Bridge Park and National Park Service, including canoe trips, a bike parade, and lawn games, Sunday, April 14, from 1 to 5 p.m., Anacostia Drive and Good Hope Road SE; explore the new Bonsai Pavilion at Meadowlark Botanical Garden, featuring tours plus discussions and demonstrations about the ancient art from members of the Northern Virginia Bonsai Society, Sunday, April 14, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., 9750 Meadowlark Gardens Ct., Vienna (tickets are $6); and the finale of the Japanese Jazz Series featuring a one-night-only performance by the Yuko Mabuchi Trio on Monday, April 15, at Blues Alley, 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW (tickets are $22 plus fees). Visit www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org for more information and additional events.

SHAKESPEARE’S BIRTHDAY OPEN HOUSE

The Folger Shakespeare Library goes all out with its annual birthday celebration of the bard in a way that might be best described as Shakespearean. “You could learn to fight like Hamlet, dance like Romeo, eat some empanadas or some BBQ, [then] take a garden or a paintings tour,” the Folger’s Garland Scott told Metro Weekly last year. You could even hit the stage for “spontaneous Shakespeare” recitations. “I’ve seen people come in with dog-eared copies of their favorite play,” she says. “I think the opportunity to speak Shakespeare from the Folger stage is a powerful one that means a lot to people.” The Open House features free performances and activities for all ages. Jugglers and jesters join other theatrical performers and musicians in celebrating the bard’s big day, which culminates in a cake-cutting ceremony at 4 p.m. by an actor dressed as Queen Elizabeth I. Celebrants can also stroll around the building — including perusing the new temporary exhibition A Monument to Shakespeare, which opens the day before (see separate listing under Art & Exhibits) — as well as the Elizabethan garden. There will also be a smattering of food trucks on site. Sunday, April 14, from noon to 5 p.m. Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 East Capitol St. SE. Free. Call 202-544-7077 or visit folger.edu.

YURI’S NIGHT DC: SPACE ODDITY: GROUND CONTROL TO MAJOR PARTY

Intended as a “holiday for space,” Yuri’s Night is an annual event that celebrates the world’s first manned space flight by Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin — who spaced out on April 12, 1961. The National Air and Space Museum gets in on the act for a party that also celebrates the launch of the first Space Shuttle by NASA — April 12, 1981 — and the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. And the 50th anniversary of the release of the self-titled sophomore album from that late, great, notorious musical “Space Oddity” himself, David Bowie. BrightestYoungThings co-presents this zany if not-quite geeky party, featuring a DJ set by Autograf, a Planetarium laser-light show, a live taping of the museum’s AirSpace podcast, space-inspired activities, TED-style space talks, and so on and so forth. Friday, April 12, from 8:30 p.m. to midnight. Independence Ave at 6th St. SW. Remaining tickets are $60 plus a $5 fee. Call 202-633-2214 or visit https://spaceoddityparty.eventbrite.com.