Chris Dinolfo and Tom Story in Round House Theatre’s production of Next Fall. Photograph by Danisha Crosby.

In any new relationship, there inevitably comes a point when you discover something at least slightly disturbing about the person you’ve fallen for. This can range from the innocuous (bumblebee socks, slovenly habits, a preference for hazelnut coffee) to the outright creepy (My Little Pony collections, home torture chambers, a deep and enduring affection for Hall & Oates). In Geoffrey Nauffts’s Next Fall, currently playing at Round House Theatre, Adam (Tom Story) sits down for a morning-after breakfast with the new object of his affection, Luke (Chris Dinolfo), only to be confronted by the alarming fact that Luke is that most unconventional of New Yorkers: an evangelical Christian.

Violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and pianist Brian Ganz come to Washington this weekend. Photograph of Salerno-Sonnenberg by Christian Steiner; photograph of Ganz courtesy of the artist’s website.

Be sure to check out our Valentine's Day guides for couples and singles. Some events start this weekend.

Thursday, February 9

MUSIC: Violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg joins the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center. The concert will feature Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and Bruckner’s Symphony No. 9. Tickets ($20 to $85) can be purchased through the KenCen’s website. 7 PM. The show runs through February 11.

FILM: The Smithsonian American Art Museum hosts a free screening of Modern Times in the Kogod Courtyard. In the 1936 comedy, Charlie Chaplin falls in love with an orphan girl. Food and beverages will be available for purchase in the Courtyard Cafe. 7 to 8:30 PM.

THEATER: Synetic Theater’s new work, Genesis Reboot, opens tonight. Written and directed by Ben Cunis, the show takes a fresh look at the creation story. A limited number of $10 tickets are available for this performance only through the box office; regular-price tickets ($45 to $55) can be purchased through the theater’s website. 8 PM. The show runs though March 4.

Catch a preview of WSC Avant Bard’s Les Justes tonight at the Artisphere. Based on true events, the 1950 drama follows a group of Russian revolutionaries. Tickets for tonight’s performance are pay what you can; tickets for future showings ($25 to $35) can be purchased through the theater’s website. 7:30 PM. The play runs through March 11.

James T. Lane as Paul Colin and Zurin Villanueva as Josephine Baker in Josephine Tonight. Photograph by C. Stanley Photography.

For those who have even a passing knowledge of who Josephine Baker was, Josephine Tonight isn’t going to hold many secrets. Despite Baker’s tough upbringing and the challenges ahead of her, it’s no surprise that the actress/singer/dancer is going to end up a major star by the end of the new biographical musical debuting at MetroStage. But the joys of Josephine Tonight are in the journey to eventual stardom—the jubilant choreography, soaring vocals, and satisfying songs that accompany Baker’s rise to the top.

Sherman Yellen and Wally Harper’s world premiere musical is a conventional showbiz story that focuses on Baker’s early years—her roots in Missouri, her stints in vaudeville and Harlem, and her ascendance to fame in Paris. The portraits of “Josie,” her world-weary mother, and the performers (and foils) who surround her are painted through occasional dialogue and, more frequently, a set of 24 songs, some bluesy, some plaintive, and nearly all of them catchy and cleverly penned.

Ben Schatz, Jeff Manabat, Spencer Brown, and Irwin Keller take on American politics in their new show, Electile Dysfunction. Photograph by C. Stanley Photography.

Ordinarily, the sight of a troupe of overly made up buffoons decked in glaring red, white, and blue strutting across a stage declaring that they’re endorsed by Yahweh would be A) the circus, B) a less-imaginative Saturday Night Live skit, or C) a South Carolina teen beauty pageant. Unfortunately, these days it’s just as likely to be a Republican primary debate. In the past few months alone, we’ve seen serious presidential contenders endorse the concept of child labor, excoriate “government injections” (or vaccinations, as some people like to call them), and declare that government shouldn’t intervene to save the life of a gravely ill man who is uninsured. In other words, not only has life come to imitate art, but it’s also kicked art in the shins, slushied it, and stolen its lunch money.

Which makes things hard for the Kinsey Sicks in their new show, currently enjoying its world premiere run at Theater J. In Electile Dysfunction: The Kinsey Sicks for President!, the girls (Rachel, Winnie, Trampolina, and Trixie) have donned their patriotic finest (imagine a fusion of the Star-Spangled Banner and stripper chic) and are announcing their run for president (as a corporation, naturally). “The economy has collapsed,” declares a video at the start of the show. “America is in decline.” So the Kinsey Sicks—America’s “favorite dragapella beautyshop quartet,” in case you weren’t familiar—have abandoned show business, taken newfound pledges of celibacy, and thrown their wigs in the ring—as Republicans.

David Selby and Craig Wallace star in Necessary Sacrifices. Photograph by T. Charles Erickson.

Tuesday, February 7

THEATER: If you haven’t already, head to Ford’s Theatre for a showing of Necessary Sacrifices. Richard Hellesen’s drama chronicles two documented meetings between Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. “The spirited conversations in which they engage evoke a fly-on-the-wall quality, giving the audience the sense of truly eavesdropping on history as it’s being made,” says arts writer Jane Horwitz. Read the full review here. Tickets ($25 to $50) can be purchased through the theater’s website. 7:30 PM. The play runs through February 18.

MUSIC: Self-proclaimed “death gospel” singer Adam Arcuragi and the Lupine Chorale Society are dropping by the Iota Club and Cafe. “With his poetic preaching and rousing choruses, Arcuragi crafts songs of community, with music that binds,” says NPR. Arcuragi will be joined by Jukebox Serenade. Tickets ($12) can be purchased at the door. 8:30 PM.

The Levine School of Music’s Virginia Big Band give a free performance at the Kennedy Center. The jazz ensemble have performed at the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival and Taste of Arlington. 6 PM.

COMEDY: The Washington DC Comedy Writers Group presents a comedy showcase at the Riot Act. The performance will feature a fake psychic reading, standup acts from local comedians, a series of short films, improv, and more. Tickets ($10) can be purchased through the theater’s website. 8:30 PM.

David Selby as Abraham Lincoln and Craig Wallace as Frederick Douglass in the Ford’s Theatre world premiere production of Necessary Sacrifices. Photograph by T. Charles Erickson.

Abraham Lincoln wrestles with what’s morally right versus what’s politically feasible in Richard Hellesen’s arresting, if occasionally pedantic, new play, Necessary Sacrifices, at Ford’s Theatre through February 18. His partner in the struggle is Frederick Douglass, the celebrated African-American abolitionist, orator, and writer who escaped slavery in Maryland in 1838 and became a spokesman here and abroad for the cause. Douglass and Lincoln had two documented meetings at the White House during the Civil War, we’re told in the playbill. In Sacrifices, a world premiere commissioned by Ford’s, Hellesen has imagined what those encounters in the summers of 1863 and 1864 might have been like, based in part on both men’s public orations and Douglass’s many articles.

In this production, David Selby as Lincoln and Craig Wallace as Douglass make a convincing, contrasting duo in countenance, demeanor, and voice. The spirited conversations in which they engage evoke a fly-on-the-wall quality, giving the audience the sense of truly eavesdropping on history as it’s being made. This is Selby’s second outing as Lincoln at Ford’s. He played the president almost exactly three years ago in James Still’s The Heavens Are Hung in Black, commissioned by Ford’s to mark the reopening of the newly refurbished landmark theater. The lanky actor seems effortlessly to channel the great man in an inspired mix of folksiness—the high-pitched twang noted by those who actually heard Lincoln speak is jarring at first, then pleasurably realistic—warmth, melancholy, and political savvy.

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Kirven James Boyd and Linda Celeste Sims. Photographs by Andrew Eccles.

Monday, February 6

THEATER: Signature in Schools presents Un-American at Signature Theatre. In this limited engagement starring Arlington students, two rival high schools face off in a local TV game show. If you can’t make this performance, there’s another one on February 10. Free. 7:30 PM.