Things to Do

Things to Do in DC This Week (December 16-18): Jingle Ball, “My Fair Lady,” and the Star Wars Holiday Special

Original Broadway cast Harry Hadden-Paton, Lauren Ambrose, and Allan Corduner in Lincoln Center Theater's My Fair Lady which runs at the Kennedy Center from 12/17 to 1/19. Photograph by Joan Marcus.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 16

MUSIC Enjoy a musical buffet of this year’s biggest pop hits at Hot 99.5’s Jingle Ball at Capital One Arena. This year’s line-up features Halsey, Khalid, Charlie Puth, ex-One Direction Niall Horan, “Someone You Loved” singer Lewis Capaldi, and boy band Why Don’t We. $40-$400, 7:30 PM.

FILM The Bearded Lady Project documentary celebrates the work of female paleontologists. Watch the film at the National Museum of Natural History; after the screening will be a panel discussion and Q&A with NMNH curator Kay Behrensmeyer, film director Lexi Jamieson Marsh, and paleontologists Laura Soul and Denise Su. Free (registration recommended), 6:45 PM.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17

DISCUSSION Hear stories from the inside of the food and restaurant industry at Sixth & I’s “Breaking Bread” panel. The event features celebrity chefs (Pati Jinich of “Pati’s Mexican Table” and Kwame Onwuachi, 2019 James Beard Award winner for Rising Star Chef), a journalist (Washington Post food and dining editor Joe Yonan), and other industry names (former “The Chew” co-host Carla Hall and cookbook writer/pie expert Cathy Barrow). The panel will be hosted by Amy Saidman, Story District’s artistic executive director. $30 in advance or $35 day of show, 7:30 PM.

THEATER The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain, according to Lerner & Loewe’s My Fair Lady. See the new Lincoln Center Theater production of this musical that follows a young Cockney lass and the linguistics professor who tries to make her a lady. Sing along to the classic tunes “I Could Have Danced All Night” and “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly” at the Kennedy Center through January 19. $39-$159.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18

FILM Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opens this upcoming weekend, but Suns Cinema celebrates a harder-to-find nugget from Star Wars’s history with the 1978 made-for-TV-movie “Star Wars Holiday Special.” The basic plot finds Chewbacca trying to get home to celebrate Life Day, but the variety show performances are what make it so very special. Free, 8 PM.

LECTURE Hear about the snow queens and other characters in wintery fairy tales at a Profs & Pints lecture at the Bier Baron featuring Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman, co-founders of the Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic. Cleto and Warman will discuss stories and characters from various cultures, such as Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen, the Norwegian tale East of the Sun, West of the Moon, and the Japanese spirit Yuki-onna. $12 in advance or $15 at the door, 6 PM.