THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1
MUSEUMS The Hirshhorn is presenting three interactive tech installations from Mexican-Canadian artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s Pulse series. The exhibit will fill the second floor with environments that create different experiences based on visitors’ biometric data collected via heart-rate sensors. One installation will project fingerprint and heart rate data from 10,000 of its previous visitors; the other two will turn biometric data into ripples or pulsing light bulbs. Through April 28.
FILM The Goethe-Institut Washington’s 26th Film|Neu festival will show new films from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland at Landmark’s E Street Cinema. The opening film, 3 Days in Quiberon (3 Tage in Quiberon), is a fictionalized portrait of actress Romy Schneider based on a photoshoot and interview with the actress a year before her death. That screening will be followed by a discussion with producer Karsten Stöter. Note: all films have English subtitles. Through November 4. $12.50 – $27.50.
FILM Local LGBTQ film festival Reel Affirmations is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year and will be screening over 40 films from 12 countries at the Gala Hispanic Theatre. The festival opens with Anchor and Hope, about a couple who enters into an unorthodox parenting agreement with a friend, and closes with an eponymous biopic about photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. The festival also includes three films by local filmmakers: DC Black Pride: Answering The Call, No Chocolate, No Rice, and Heather Has Four Moms (part of the We Are Family block of short films). Through November 4. Individual film screenings $12; passes range from $35 (three films) to $150 (all screenings).
FOOD The National Museum of American History is hosting its fourth annual Smithsonian Food History Weekend, which covers the American food cultures by region. The weekend starts on a fancy note with a gala Thursday night emceed by Bobby Flay. The rest of the weekend is far more down to earth: Friday’s roundtables feature chefs and experts discussing food regionality, with case studies about the Pacific Northwest and the South; Saturday’s cooking demonstrations and book signings will be led by celebs such as Aarón Sánchez, Chopped judge Maneet Chauhan, and Sioux Chef Sean Sherman. (Note that there are no tastings during the demos.) On Saturday night, learn about beer history during “Last Call,” which will have tastings from four national breweries. Gala: Thursday 11/1, $500. Roundtables: Friday 11/2, Free (registration recommended), 9:30 AM. Demonstrations: Saturday 11/3, 10 AM. Last Call: Saturday 11/3, $45, 6:30 PM.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2
THEATRE Arena Stage presents the Cole Porter classic Anything Goes. Enjoy ensemble tap dances and catchy tunes such as “I Get a Kick Out of You” and “Anything Goes” in this story about heiresses, love, and—yes—a local pup onboard a ship sailing from New York to London. Through December 23. $92-$125.
MUSIC Musician Ben Folds continues his “DECLASSIFIED” series with the National Symphony Orchestra with guests Regina Spektor and tap dancer/choreographer Caleb Teicher. Get a taste of classical music seen through an indie lens; expect Teicher to perform his foot percussion in conjunction with the NSO. There are events before and after this show at the Kennedy Center, so come early for games and stay late for Hari-Karaoke. $25-$89, 9 PM.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3
SPORTS For the first time ever, DC has an NBA G-League team, and it has the most perfect name: the Capital City Go-Go. The Go-Go’s first game is on Saturday at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Congress Heights against the Greensboro Swarm. (If you’re unfamiliar with the G-League, it’s the NBA’s official minor league.) The team’s schedule runs through March 23. $10-$120, 7 PM.
THEATRE Keegan Theatre is hosting the DC premiere of the 2017 musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s As You Like It. This pastoral comedy is made even more intimate with the Keegan’s recently-transformed space, which will feature seating on all four sides of the stage with additional balcony seating upstairs. Through December 2. $20-$62.
TRUE CRIME If you find yourself glued to Forensic Files or the My Favorite Murder podcast, check out BYT’s Death Becomes Us: A True Crime Festival at Lisner Auditorium. Hear true crime celebs such as Joe Kenda (from Investigation Discovery’s Homicide Hunter) and FBI investigator and criminal profiling expert John Douglas, plus podcasters from Wine & Crime, Criminal, and Last Podcast On The Left. Through November 4. Individual shows range from $25-$40.
DANCE DC Casineros is presenting a new production at Dance Place this weekend. The performance will use the music of legendary Cuban dance band Los Van Van, incorporating five decades of the band’s music into the show and turning the dance into a mini music history lesson as well. Through November 4. $30.
FESTIVAL Halloween is technically over, but we can still enjoy sideshow performances, like the annual Side Yards festival celebrating crazy stuntmen and women at The Yards. Check out contortionists, aerialists, and—new this year—a tightrope walker. Keep the circus theme going with fortune tellers and caricature artists. Free, 5 PM.
CARS People don’t have much positive to say about the Trabant, the poorly-designed and loud automobile built in East Germany from the 1950s to the 1980s. These cars are now seen as a symbol of the fall of Communism, and the International Spy Museum is hosting the 12th annual Parade of Trabants on Saturday. Check out these vintage cars in front of the Museum on F Street and learn all about the Cold War from experts on hand. Enter a raffle for a chance to win a ride in one of these bizarre vehicles. Free, 10 AM – 4 PM.
BEER Try beers from 80 breweries at the DC Beer Fest at Nationals Park. Check out local and regional breweries such as RAR, Oliver, Lost Rhino, and Union. The festival promises “fall seasonal beers,” so expect some Oktoberfests and pumpkin brews. $45, Noon or 5 PM.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4
MUSEUMS Photographer and filmmaker Gordon Parks helped kick off the blaxploitation movement with his 1971 film Shaft, but in the 1940s, he started his career as a portrait photographer in Saint Paul and Chicago. The National Gallery of Art exhibit “Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940–1950” pulls together some of his early photographs, magazine work, and letters, including work from his fellowship with the Farm Security Administration, where he chronicled African-Americans’ daily lives. The exhibit also includes photographs from his time documenting families and children in Washington, DC. Through February 18.
COMEDY Comedian Tom Green is known for the pranks and stunts he used to pull in his 1990s MTV show, The Tom Green Show. He graduated from that show to writing, directing, and starring in Freddy Got Fingered, largely considered one of the worst films of all time. While he still pops up in other shows here and there (he had a recurring segment on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and he was a contestant on a season of The Celebrity Apprentice), he’s now best known for his stand-up comedy; hear him perform live at the State Theatre. 8 PM, $25 (in advance) or $28 (day of).
MUSEUMS The selfie is nothing new: the National Portrait Gallery’s new exhibit, “Eye to I: Self-Portraits from 1900 to Today” pulls together self-portraits from the Gallery’s collection to show how artists such as Josef Albers, Chuck Close, and Imogen Cunningham have portrayed themselves over the last century. Through August 18.
