According to the USDA, it costs the average American family
more than $200,000 to raise a child from birth to the age of 18,
excluding college tuition. In other words, your dad is a hero,
and he deserves a day of arts-filled fun. Show him some love
this weekend with these father-friendly cultural happenings.
If your dad is (a) a Baby Boomer, (b) a surfing fan, or (c) has ears, chances are he’s a
Beach Boys fan. The band come to Merriweather
this Friday on their 50th anniversary
tour,
and tickets are still available. Alternatively, you can enter
our
contest
to win a pair here.
“George Bellows” at the National Gallery of
Art offers a comprehensive look at the American artist’s short but
prolific career. Bellows’s
boxing pictures offer a fascinating look at the sport, while
his landscapes are ruggedly
masculine.
Read our review of the show
here.
What better way to mark Father’s Day than with a show celebrating one of America’s most dysfunctional patriarchs? Homer Simpson
features in
Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play, currently playing at Woolly Mammoth, and the show’s zany, sci-fi-meets-
Simpsons premise is inspired. Read our review
here.
Just as dads most likely love the Beach Boys, there’s a
good chance the man who raised you is a fan of the Boss. Springsteen
himself won’t be swinging through town till September, but you
can catch the self-billed number one Springsteen show in the
world,
“Bruce in the USA,” at the Fillmore this Saturday.
Everyone, dads included, loves a good thriller. At Round House Theatre through June 24 is
Double Indemnity,
a new theatrical adaptation of the James M. Cain murder-mystery
novella, better known for its incarnation as a 1944 Billy
Wilder movie. Read our review
here.
For book buffs, Joyce’s
Ulysses
is the holy grail of literature. Politics and Prose
is hosting a reading of the first three chapters this Saturday to
celebrate
“Bloomsday.” And nothing says “I love you” like listening to
dense, turgid, stream-of-consciousness-style prose for an
hour.
We already mentioned your father’s a superhero, so thank him for his efforts by taking him to
The History of Invulnerability
at Theater J. The show looks at the young Jewish men
who created Superman while Hitler’s rise to power in Germany was
threatening
the lives of
millions. Read our review here.
Playing this weekend at Landmark E Street is
Headhunters, a Norwegian action thriller starring
Game of Thrones’
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as the handsome victim of a corporate headhunter and art thief. The film has been a huge hit in Norway, so take Dad to see
it now before the inevitable English-language remake ruins it forever.
Alternatively, take him to
“Jasper Johns: Variations on a Theme” at the
Phillips Collection, followed by a nice lunch/pastry break at the newly
installed Tryst at the Phillips. The show
is mammoth, containing more than 100 examples of prints from
five decades of Johns’s
career.
Sometimes known as the Real King of Rock and Roll,
Little Richard plays at the Howard Theatre
this Saturday. So go enjoy the awkwardness of watching your dad try to
dance.
Alternatively, take him to hear some rock from the comfort of a velvet seat. The Tony-winning musical
Memphis, about a white deejay in Tennessee who brings black
music to the airwaves, is at the Kennedy Center as of
today.
Got questions about local arts and entertainment? Get in touch on Twitter via @afterhoursblog.
