THURSDAY, JULY 11
THEATER In one of the most Washington things to happen in Washington, Arena Stage is staging an 11-hour reading of Volume II of the Mueller Report. The free event is open to the public and a handful of DC notables are slated to attend, including Jim Moran, Councilmembers Charles Allen and David Grosso, and local theater heads Maria Maneula Goyanes, Ryan Rilette, David Muse, and Michael Kahn. Free, 12 PM – 11 PM.
MUSIC Singer-songwriter Elvis Costello’s 1993 album The Juliet Letters is a rock opera of musical love notes to Juliet from Shakespeare famously tragic play. UrbanArias will present these songs at Signature Theatre in a cabaret setting, performed by multiple singers of various ages and backgrounds. Through July 14. $47.
FILM The Library of Congress’s third annual “LOC Summer Movies on the Lawn” festival will showcase films from the library’s National Film Registry with a special focus on female and technology changemakers. The series kicks off with the 1964 classic Mary Poppins (7/11) and will continue with the animated Beauty and the Beast (7/18), A League of Their Own (7/25), Jaws (8/1), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (8/8), and Jurassic Park (8/15). Through August 15. Free (advanced registration recommended), 8:30 PM.
FILM In conjunction with the Renwick’s exhibit “Ginny Ruffner: Reforestation of the Imagination,” the gallery will screen the documentary A Not So Still Life on Thursday night. The film covers Ruffner’s life and work, including her near-fatal car accident and two-month-long coma. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Ruffner. Free, 6 PM.
MUSIC The Hip-Hop Museum Pop-Up Experience is coming to the Union District Oyster Bar & Lounge, where there will be a hip-hop-themed happy hour and throwback parties with legendary DJs and artists every week this summer. Kicking it off on Thursday, there will be a panel discussion on the relationship between hip-hop and sneaker culture and a party hosted by DJ Clark Kent. Free admission, 4 PM – midnight. The event will reoccur every Thursday through August 15.
FRIDAY, JULY 12
CONVENTION Blerdcon (“blerd” = “black nerd”) provides an inclusive alternative to other comic cons, connecting with nerds that are people of color, LGBTQ+, and disabled. This year’s con, at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, features panels, celebrity guests, gaming and cosplay, and anime screenings. Through July 14. $55 for a full weekend pass or $25 for single day passes (Sunday only).
MUSEUMS Depending on where you find them, ladybugs can either be cute or annoying (I once found 20 on the inside of my lampshade in college). Regardless, the pretty insects are crucial to the environment, acting as a natural pesticide for plants. Horticulturists at the National Museum of the American Indian are releasing nearly 9,000 ladybugs into the museum’s field of corn, squash, and beans on Friday and both children and adults are invited to join in. Free, 10 AM.
SATURDAY, JULY 13
MUSIC Southern metal band King Giant has been dormant after the departure of KG guitarist David Kolwalski. The other four King Giant members have started making music under the name Pimmit Hills (named after their rehearsal location), and the group’s debut show will be at Atlas Brew Works with Guard and Philadelphia riffmasters Kingsnake. $10 at the door, 7 PM.
BEER Drink your way through Alexandria during the sixth Old Town Pub Crawl. Stop by any participating location between 1:30-2:30 PM to get a Pub Crawl Pass, which you can get stamped at each location for food specials and beers. Bring your completed pass to the Port City Tent to get a limited edition pub crawl pint glass. Note that no purchase is required to get a stamp. 1:30 PM – 6 PM.
MUSIC One Common Unity (OCU), a local nonprofit that fights gun violence through arts education, is hosting a block party at 1101 V Street SE, a block from Anacostia’s Big Chair. There will be a guest performance by Grammy-nominated singer and emcee Maimouna Youssef, along with a premier of “Peace & Positivity,” a rap song by young alumni of the OCU program. Free, 3 PM – 6 PM.
SUNDAY, JULY 14
MUSEUMS To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11’s moon landing, the National Gallery of Art is showing 50 photographs from the 19th century through the 1960s that show how our understanding of space has changed over time. The exhibit, “By the Light of the Silvery Moon: A Century of Lunar Photographs to Apollo 11,” will include photographs from the missions that led to Apollo 11 (the unmanned Ranger, Surveyor, and Lunar Orbiter missions) plus close-up views of the lunar surface taken by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. In addition, the NGA will show lunar images from the 19th and early 20th century (from Warren de la Rue and Charles Le Morvan) that tried to capture the lunar surface visible from earth. Through January 5, 2020. Free.
FOOD To celebrate Bastille Day, Brabo Brasserie is offering half-priced Champagne and sparkling wine all day. Sample french cheeses and fruit pairings at the bar or spend the day singing along to Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge in the courtyard of the Tasting Room (showtimes: 3 PM, 5 PM, and 7 PM) while enjoying crepes, macrons, and Parisian onion soup au gratin. 11 AM – 10 PM.
Elliot joined Washingtonian in January 2018. An alum of Villanova University, he grew up in the Philadelphia area before earning a master’s degree in journalism from Syracuse University. His work has also appeared in the Washington Post, TheAtlantic.com, and DCist.com, among others. He lives in Bloomingdale.
