1. Russian troupe comes to Greenberg
AU's Greenberg Theatre is the venue for the Volkov Theatre Troupe's first appearance in the United States since its show in Burlington, Vt., in 1993. "Even a Wise Man Stumbles," a comedy in two acts, will open the series on May 27. Another comedy, "The Coriscan Fury," will be featured May 28. Finally, Nikolai Gogol's "The General Inspector," a classic comedy about Russian provincial life, will be performed May 29.
The Volkov Troupe hails from Yaroslavl, Russia, and has performed in France, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Germany, Finland, Denmark, Norway and Egypt. The three plays will be performed in Russian and story summaries will be provided.
- DAN ZAK
2. Tennessee on Potomac
"Tennessee Williams Explored" highlights three plays by the great American playwright. "A Streetcar Named Desire", "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and "The Glass Managerie" will be performed throughout the summer at the Kennedy Center.
It is not just the clandestine sex and sin of the Old South that will captivate audiences in the plays, but also the leading ladies.
The first in the lineup is "A Streetcar Named Desire" from May 8 to 29, starring Patricia Clarkson ("Far from Heaven," HBO's "Six Feet Under") as the archetypal Blanche Dubois.
"Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," which runs from June 12 to July 4, stars Mary Stuart Masterson (a Tony nominee for Broadway's revival of "Nine") as Maggie, who is able to save her alcoholic husband and his dysfunctional family.
"The Glass Menagerie" runs from July 17 to August 8 and stars Sally Field as Amanda, the abrasive mother of a St. Louis family struggling during the Great Depression.
This series also includes "A Distant Country Called Youth", June 11 to 13, which is a one-man show based on Williams' early letters.
- LOREN BONNER
3. Filmfest D.C. continues
OK, so Filmfest D.C. ends before school does, but after the last issue of The Eagle, it's all summer to us. Washington's film festival runs through Sunday, May 2, but many of the movies premiering at the festival will receive a theatrical opening over the summer. The festival - featuring entries from France, China, Iran, Japan and Canada - includes a special concentration on Argentine films, and the closing night presentation is Morgan Spurlock's "Super Size Me," a documentary about the director's month-long experience eating nothing but McDonald's food. "Super Size Me" will screen this Sunday, May 2, at 4 p.m. at the Lincoln Theatre. Tickets are $15. The other remaining screenings are held in various locations; visit www.filmfestdc.org for more information.
- D.Z.
4. HFStival finishes May at RFK
On May 22, WHFS (99.1 FM) will present one of the biggest D.C. concerts of the summer at RFK Stadium at 2400 East Capitol St. SE. HFStival is a full-day event that features dozens of national acts, including Jay-Z, the Offspring, Violent Femmes, Cypress Hill and New Found Glory.
HFStival also features a "Locals Only" stage that will feature higher-profile local acts like Jimmie's Chicken Shack, Army of Me and Washington Social Club.
The biggest surprise addition to the line up is legendary rockers the Cure, who were added to the bill after it was announced two weeks ago. This year's lineup is pretty weak in comparison to previous years and tickets to the show cost $40, so the question is: Are you willing to spend that much money just to see the Cure play for 30 minutes? For more information, visit www.whfs.com or www.ticketmaster.com. Gates open at 10 a.m.
- EMILY ZEMLER
5. Fourth on the Mall
The Fourth of July celebration in D.C. should not be missed. This year's celebration will feature the 2004 Independence Day Parade, which commences at 11:45 a.m. at the intersection of Constitution Avenue and Seventh Street. The parade consists of several marching bands, floats, giant balloons and celebrity guests. There will also be a daylong concert with several national acts sponsored by PBS. At night, fireworks are shot off over the Washington Monument. For more information on the parade, visit www.july4thparade. com.
- E.Z.
6. No Doubt joins Blink-182
This summer it is not enough to send just one band on tour; instead promoters are pairing two of the biggest pop stars of the 90s - No Doubt and blink-182 - for a tour that offers double the fun. The tour will hit D.C. on June 11 at the Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, Va. Both bands will be headlining the tour, with Aussie rockers the Living End opening. Doors for the show open at 7 p.m. Tickets range from $34.50 for the lawn to $47.50 for the pit and are available through Ticketmaster.
- E.Z.
7. Dine ushers in the 1960s
"Drawings of Jim Dine" demonstrates the skills and themes of one of the most interesting artists of our time. It is the first major survey of Dine's drawings featuring 100 examples of his finest from the 1970s to the present.
For those less familiar with this artist, Jim Dine has been around for more then four decades, metamorphosizing from a less fitting identity with pop art in the 1960s, into producing drawings of life, personality and expression with which this exhibit resonates. Dine's drawings include the themes that he is most associated with: images of tools, owls, large-scale nudes, ancient sculpture, self portraits, nature and fictional characters such as Pinocchio.
Highlights include "24 Objects in my Bedroom, Long Ago," "Mandrake Root" (after Ligozzi) and "Atheism #6."
Although Dine has expressed himself in other mediums of art, he regards drawing as the most direct and essential means of artistic expression; in this way, the exhibit idolizes an artist at his best.
- L.B.
8. 'Godzilla' invades the AFI
Rialto Pictures is releasing the original, uncut, subtitled Japanese version of "Godzilla" to the AFI National Theatre at the Kennedy Center from May 14 to 20. The American version of "Godzilla" has always been dubbed and contained footage shot with American actor Raymond Burr, which was cut into the film in order to appeal to U.S. audiences. Tickets are $7 ($6 for AFI members).
The print will then travel over to the AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, Md., from May 21 through June 3. "Godzilla" will also be stomping through Philadelphia, Milwaukee and Atlanta over the summer.
The AFI box office is located in the Kennedy Center Hall of States. Hours are 5:30 to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 1 to 9 p.m. on weekends. For more information, visit www.rialtopictures.com and www.afi.com.
- DANIEL LONGINO
9. Classics on the big screen
A classic film will be shown in
all its glory on the big screen
every Thursday night at 7 p.m until
the end of May at Loews
Georgetown 14.
The series started last Thursday with Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver" and will include films from Stanley Kubrick (the Cold-War satire "Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" and the outrageous "A Clockwork Orange"), Quentin Tarantino (the seminal, yet comparatively young, "Pulp Fiction") and Dennis Hopper ("Easy Rider," the definitive film of the late 1960s).
Film buffs will have an opportunity to see these films for $5 (a whopping $4.25 less than first-run features) on the big screen, perhaps for the first time. The series lasts through May 27, ending with the feel-good boxing-love story of 1976, "Rocky."
Check www.enjoytheshow.com for more information, including a schedule of screenings. Loews Georgetown 14 is located at 3111 K St. NW, a short bus ride down Wisconsin Avenue from Tenleytown.
- D.L.
10. 'I see trees of green...'
Enjoy extended hours until 7 p.m. on Saturdays this summer from June 5 through July 31 (except July 3) at the National Arboretum at 3501 New York Ave. NE. Join experts in the collections for free, informal twilight talks and tours. Topics for the talks include late-blooming azaleas on June 5 and bonsai and woodblock prints on July 17. The talks meet in different locations in the arboretum from week to week, so check the Web site before you go. Also, purchase a $4 ticket to ride an open-air tram, and enjoy a 40-minute narrated introduction to the arboretum's features. For more information, call (202) 245-2726 or visit www.usna.usda.gov.
- D.Z.
