Metro Weekly

Out On the Town: D.C. arts & entertainment — November 7-13

Everything arts and entertainment in the D.C. area this week!

FILM

DOCTOR SLEEP

Forty years after suffering through his father’s rampage in The Shining, Dan Torrance (Ewan McGregor) is a man struggling with alcoholism and the trauma of what took place at the Overlook Hotel. After a girl who shares his mysterious powers — known as “the shining” — seeks him out, they team up to battle the True Knot, a cult that feeds on children with psychic abilities. Based on Stephen King’s 2009 novel, Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House) has adapted Doctor Sleep to allow it to fit in the same “universe” as Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film — as well as recreating and directly referencing several key scenes in flashbacks. Opens Friday, Nov. 8. Area theaters. Visit www.fandango.com. (Rhuaridh Marr)

MIDWAY

A large ensemble cast, bucketloads of CGI, and more explosions than you can shake a stick at? No, it’s not a Michael Bay film, but rather a Roland Emmerich affair — not that either director is known for subtle filmmaking. Emmerich has recruited Luke Evans, Patrick Wilson, Aaron Eckhart, Mandy Moore, Darren Criss, Nick Jonas, Woody Harrelson, and more for a film about the Battle of Midway, a decisive, post-Pearl Harbor naval battle in 1942 that turned the tide of war between the U.S. and Japan. Opens Friday, Nov. 8. Area theaters. Visit www.fandango.com. (RM)

PUNK THE CAPITAL: BUILDING A SOUND MOVEMENT

Some of the earliest punk shows in D.C. are seen via Super-8 footage in a new documentary examining the period when punk rock exploded the city — roughly 1976 to 1983. The AFI Silver Theatre offers special screenings this weekend of Punk The Capital, featuring performances by Bad Brains, Minor Threat, the Slickee Boys, and Black Market Baby, and with interviews of key punk leaders, including Ian and Alec MacKaye, Henry Rollins, and Cynthia Connolly. The movement is a model for DIY culture around the world, according to filmmakers Paul Bishow, James June Schneider, and Sam Lavine, who will be on hand for discussions after the last screenings on Saturday, Nov. 9, and Sunday, Nov. 10. Additional programming includes a discussion with several musicians after the first screening on Nov. 9 about the original Madam’s Organ, in honor of the venue’s 40th anniversary. Screenings are Saturday, Nov. 9, at 7:30 and 10 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 10, at 6 and 8:30 p.m., and Monday, Nov. 11, at 7 p.m. 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring. Tickets are $11 to $13 per screening. Call 301-495-6720 or visit www.afi.com/Silver.

REEL ROCK 14

A collection of 2019’s best climbing and adventure films, taking viewers on a wild ride from some of the highest, most difficult boulder problems ever, to a clash between climbers and those in a conservative coal mining community in rural Utah, to a high-stakes race for greatness among Yosemite climbers, and featuring Nina Williams, Tommy Caldwell, Alex Honnold, Jim Reynolds, and Brad Bobright, among others. This 14th iteration of a program and tour founded by filmmakers Josh Lowell and Peter Mortimer in 2006 runs approximately 100 minutes and is presented with a 20-minute intermission. Tuesday, Nov. 12, through Thursday, Nov. 14, at 7 p.m. AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring. Tickets are $18 to $20. Call 301-495-6720 or visit www.afi.com/Silver.

SAVING PRIVATE RYAN

Both Northern Virginia outposts of the Alamo Drafthouse offer a free Veteran’s Day screening of Steven Spielberg’s 1998 epic, set during the Invasion of Normandy in World War II. That’s only one screening in a series that the national theater chain has organized for the run-up to the big November holiday. No, not that one, but close: Hanksgiving, as in the famous Hollywood actor. ‘Tis the season, according to the Alamo, “to reflect on the things that give us warmth and good cheer [and] make life worth living. We’re speaking, of course, about Tom Hanks movies.” The Alamo lays it on even thicker as it describes the series as one intended to “give Hanks to the most purely likeable man to ever grace humanity, and spend the holidays enjoying some of his finest films.” The lineup in upcoming weeks includes The ‘Burbs from 1989 and Apollo 13 from 1995. Monday, Nov. 11, at 7 p.m. Alamo Drafthouse – Woodbridge, 15200 Potomac Town Place, Ste. 100, and One Loudoun – 20575 Easthampton Plaza, Ashburn. Visit www.drafthouse.com/northern-virginia.

EVIL DEAD – A NIGHTMARE REIMAGINED

Sam Raimi unexpectedly launched his career with this nutso horror film, a grimy and gory work of cinema that the Alamo Drafthouse colorfully, accurately describes as “a movie borne out of a crazed love of horror that metastasized into a genre-shaking game-changer.” The area’s two Alamos offer a presentation of the cult slasher film unlike any you may have seen before. In addition to the 4K digital restoration of the 1981 film originally released last year, the special screening of The Evil Dead features a reimagined score by composer Joseph LoDuca, heard in a new, fully dynamic 5.1 surround sound mix. Sunday, Nov. 10, at 7 p.m. Alamo Drafthouse in Woodbridge, 15200 Potomac Town Place, Ste. 100, and One Loudoun, 20575 Easthampton Plaza in Ashburn. Tickets are $10. Visit www.drafthouse.com/northern-virginia.

THE GODFATHER PART II

For its 45th anniversary, Fathom Events and TCM Big Screen Classics offers a rare chance to catch, in all its big-screen glory, the only sequel to an Oscar-winning Best Picture that also snagged a Best Picture statute. Starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, Francis Ford Coppola’s 3 hour, 22 minute saga is a quintessentially American tale of power, ambition, and the mafia. Screenings come complete with the original’s mid-film intermission, and will be further bookended by commentary from TCM Primetime host Ben Mankiewicz. Sunday, Nov. 10, at 3 and 7 p.m., and Tuesday, Nov. 12, and Wednesday, Nov. 13, at 7 p.m. Area theaters including Regal venues at Gallery Place (701 7th St. NW), Potomac Yards Stadium (3575 Jefferson Davis Highway), and Ballston Common (671 N. Glebe Road). Visit www.fathomevents.com.

THE IRISHMAN

Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci, directed by Martin Scorsese. Need we say more? Oh, we do? Okay, well, Netflix is branding this film as an “epic saga of organized crime in post-war America,” based on the story of Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran, a mob hitman who worked for the Buffalino crime family. De Niro stars as Sheeran, recounting his various exploits as a hustler and hitman, and his role in the infamous disappearance of legendary union boss Jimmy Hoffa. Harvey Keitel, Bobby Cannavale, Anna Paquin, and Ray Romano also star, and the screenplay is by Steven Zaillan, of Schindler’s List and Gangs of New York fame. Opens Friday, Nov. 8. Area theaters. Visit www.fandango.com. (RM)

THE POLAR EXPRESS

Landarmk’s West End Cinema offers this Robert Zemeckis animated tale starring Tom Hanks a full month earlier than has become custom, with its North Pole setting and holiday overtones. This special 15th anniversary screening of The Polar Express is the next to come in the Capital Classics series. Wednesday, Nov. 13, at 1:30, 4:30, and 7:30 p.m. 2301 M St. NW. Happy hour from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $12.50 each. Call 202-534-1907 or visit www.landmarktheatres.com.

THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW

The E Street Cinema offers a screening of Richard O’Brien’s camp classic, billed as the longest-running midnight movie in history. Landmark’s showing comes with a live shadow cast from the Sonic Transducers, meaning it’s more interactive than usual. Friday, Nov. 8, and Saturday, Nov. 9, at midnight. Landmark’s E Street Cinema, 555 11th St. NW. Tickets are $10. Call 202-452-7672 or visit landmarktheatres.com.

THE WEDDING BANQUET

The AFI Silver Theatre presents Ang Lee’s original gay classic as part of its month-long, seven-film “Taiwan Cinema Rediscovered” series. The Wedding Banquet is notable for its groundbreaking portrayal of a gay Taiwanese man living openly and contentedly in New York with his same-sex American partner. Same-sex marriage was barely a twinkle in anyone’s eyes at the time, so the wedding of the title refers to the marriage of convenience that the character, at the behest of his partner, agrees to enter into with a young woman in need of a green card — a sham marriage also intended as a way to placate his hidebound parents back in Taiwan. Wednesday, Nov. 13, at 7:15 p.m. 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring. Tickets are $11 to $13. Call 301-495-6720 or visit www.afi.com/Silver.

A Chorus Line — Photo: Christopher Mueller

STAGE

A CHORUS LINE

Touted as “the best musical ever,” this meta-musical was also one of the first to explicitly address gay issues and feature gay characters, most famously Paul, who movingly relates his personal story of inadvertently coming out to his parents when they see him perform in drag. Jeff Gorti takes on the role in a new production at Signature Theatre that comes a half-century after the show debuted on Broadway and subsequently went on to win a Pulitzer Prize and nine Tony Awards. Matthew Gardiner directs a large, 26-member cast and oversees a crew including Denis Jones, who has developed new choreography that nods to the original by Michael Bennett and Bob Avian. “One (Singular Sensation),” “What I Did for Love,” and “Dance: Ten, Looks: Three” (aka “Tits and Ass”) are three standout standards from the show, which was conceived by Bennett and developed by a team led by composer Marvin Hamlisch, lyricist Edward Kleban, and book writers James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante. Runs to Jan. 5. MAX Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington. Call 703-820-9771 or visit www.sigtheatre.org.

AIRNESS

Billie Krishawn stars as Nina, who discovers there’s more to air guitar than playing pretend when she enters an air guitar competition. Christina A. Coakley directs the D.C. premiere of Chelsea Marcantel’s comedy also featuring Dani Stoller, Drew Kopas, Harrison Smith, Chris Stezin, Gary L. Perkins III, and Forrest A. Hainline IV. The show is a co-production between Keegan Theatre, where the show will run for most of November, and Virginia’s 1st Stage, which takes up the mantle in December. Previews begin Nov. 8. Runs to Nov. 30. 1742 Church St. NW. Tickets are $41 to $51 plus fees. Call 202-265-3767 or visit www.keegantheatre.com.

AMADEUS

Genius and jealousy collide in 18th-century Vienna as the mediocre Antonio Salieri does everything in his power to destroy his musical rival, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Folger Theatre offers a production of Peter Shaffer’s Tony Award-winning play directed by Richard Clifford and featuring a 13-person cast led by Ian Merrill Peakes as Salieri and Samuel Adams as Mozart. To Dec. 22. 201 East Capitol St. SE. Tickets are $27 to $85. Call 202-544-7077 or visit www.folger.edu.

D.C. TRASH

As part of its free Millennium Stage programming, the Kennedy Center presents an original musical satire about the upside, downside, and underside of D.C. and its denizens. To be more specific, as you can guess from its title, D.C. Trash introduces colorful characters and local stories as performed by Ron Litman, a D.C. native and veteran trash truck driver. Saturday, Nov. 16, at 6 p.m. Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. Free. Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

DISNEY’S NEWSIES

A band of underdogs become unlikely heroes when they stand up to the most powerful men in New York in this musical featuring a score by Alan Menken and Jack Feldman and a book by Harvey Fierstein, and based on a 1992 film that initially bombed at the box office. Molly Smith puts her stamp on the show in a production at Arena Stage. To Jan. 12. Fichandler Stage in the Mead Center for American Theater, 1101 6th St. SW. Call 202-488-3300 or visit www.arenastage.org.

E2

Maryland’s Rep Stage presents a contemporary reimagining by Bob Bartlett of Christopher Marlowe’s tale of Edward II, England’s infamous ineffectual king. To Nov. 17. The Horowitz Center’s Studio Theatre at Howard Community College, 10901 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia, Md. Call 443-518-1500 or visit www.www.repstage.org.

EVERYBODY

The Shakespeare Theatre Company offers a radical adaptation of the 15th-century morality play Everyman by Obie- and MacArthur “Genius” Award-winning playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (An Octoroon). In his revamped and rechristened Everybody, Death (Nancy Robinette) pays a visit to the overly optimistic and sanguine titular character to help knock some realistic sense into them. Everybody will be played by anybody and somebody among the other nine members of the cast, chosen at random, by lottery live on stage before every performance. Will Davis directs the resulting “irreverent, rollicking” comedy also touted as remixing “the archetypal medieval morality play into an explosive experiment of wit and emotion.” To Nov. 17. Lansburgh Theatre, 450 7th St. NW. Call 202-547-1122 or visit www.shakespearetheatre.org.

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS

The zany American sci-fi musical comedy, from Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, concerns a nerdy floral shop employee and wisecracking carnivorous plant who chews more than the scenery. Puppet designer Matthew Aldwin McGee is tasked, with puppeteer Rj Pavel, with bringing full, menacing life to the bloodthirsty Audrey II, with Marty Austin Lamar providing the plant’s soulful voice. Christian Montgomery leads the human cast as Seymour, the unlikely hero infatuated with his coworker Audrey (Teresa Quigley Danskey). Nick Martin directs. To Nov. 17. Source Theatre, 1835 14th St. NW. Tickets are $19 to $55, plus fees. Call 202-204-7741 or visit www.constellationtheatre.org.

LOVERS’ VOWS

Although it plays a prominent role in Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park, Elizabeth Inchbald’s play Lovers’ Vow is otherwise, particularly on stage, a “criminally forgotten show.” That’s according to We Happy Few Productions, which is working to transform classic texts for modern sensibilities. The company’s Kerry McGee directs a five-person ensemble reviving this moving comedy by Inchbald, billed as “a near-forgotten female playwright” from the 18th century. A story of love, class, and doing the right thing, Lovers’ Vows puts in stark relief the divide between peer or social expectations and one’s own needs and desires. The production features music from local band the North Country. In previews. Opens Saturday, Nov. 9. To Nov. 23. Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, 545 7th St. SE. Tickets are $20. Call 202-547-6839 or visit www.chaw.org.

Rent — Photo: Amy Boyle

RENT

Twenty-three years after it first took Broadway and pop culture by storm, the late Jonathan Larson’s Pulitzer- and Tony-winning rock musical returns to D.C. as part of a 20th anniversary tour production that has been ongoing since 2006. A reimagining of Puccini’s La Bohème, the show follows a group of artists struggling to live, love, and pursue their dreams in New York. Cody Jenkins, Coleman Cummings, Aiyana Smash, Shafiq Hicks, Joshua Tavares, Kelsee Sweigard, Samantha Mbolekwa, and Juan Luis Espinal are the principal leads in the non-Equity production based on original direction by Michael Greif as restaged by Evan Ensign with choreography by Marlies Yearby. Opens Tuesday, Nov. 12. Runs to Nov. 17. National Theatre, 1321 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Call 202-628-6161 or visit www.thenationaldc.org.

SHE KILLS MONSTERS

Known for ambitious stagings of eccentric, or just plain out-there, fantasy tales, Rorschach Theatre offers a reprise of Qui Nguyen’s She Kills Monsters, originally produced in 2014. Set in a Dungeons & Dragons-inspired mysterious world created by a suburban American teenager as her way to cope with and escape from high school, when she dies her sister struggles to keep the fantasy world turning. Randy Baker returns to direct the remount, reimagined for 2019 to include site-specific elements bringing audiences into unseen places throughout the Atlas Performing Arts Center, from the elevator to the basement. To Nov. 10. Lab Theatre II, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets are $25 to $40. Call 202-399-7993 or visit www.atlasarts.org.

THE AMERICAN SOLDIER

Two days after Veterans Day, the Kennedy Center presents another free performance of the one-person play based on actual letters written and exchanged between veterans and their families, from the time of the American Revolution up to present-day Afghanistan. Developed and performed by Douglas Taurel, The American Soldier has been called a powerful and passionate examination of the many aspects of war, including the bravery involved in reintegrating soldiers into everyday civilian routines and their personal networks after returning home from combat. Wednesday, Nov. 13, at 6 p.m. Millennium Stage. Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

THEORY

A young tenure-track professor tests the limits of free speech by encouraging her students to contribute to an unmoderated discussion group, where an anonymous student posts offensive comments and videos. Victoria Murray Baatin directs a Mosaic Theater Company production of Norman Yeung’s drama. Josh Adams, Musa Gurnis, Benairen Kane, Camilo Linares, Tony K. Nam, Andrea Harris Smith, and Tyasia Velines star. To Nov. 17. Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. Call 202-399-7993 or visit www.mosaictheater.org.

WHAT TO SEND UP WHEN IT GOES DOWN

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company partners with New York’s Movement Theatre Company to offer the D.C. debut of a theatrical work by Aleshea Harris that uses parody, song, and movement to show, through a series of vignettes, the resilience of black people despite “the pervasiveness of anti-blackness” in our culture. The audience is asked to not only observe, but participate in a boundary blurring production directed by Whitney White and featuring a cast including Alana Raquel Bowers, Rachel Christopher, Ugo Chukwu, Kambi Gathesha, Denise Manning, Javon Q. Minter, Beau Thom, and newcomer Nemuna Ceesay. To Nov. 10. Woolly Mammoth, 641 D St. NW. Call 202-393-3939 or visit www.woollymammoth.net.

Anthony Ramos — Photo: Eric Johnson

MUSIC

ANTHONY RAMOS

A native New Yorker of Puerto Rican descent, Ramos is a favored performer of Lin-Manual Miranda, as part of the original lead cast of Miranda’s Broadway smash musical Hamilton and more recently in the lead role of the film adaptation to Miranda’s earlier Tony-winning hit In The Heights, set to be released next summer. (Ramos also played the best friend of Lady Gaga’s character in A Star Is Born.) He will no doubt sing from the Miranda oeuvre during his concert at the Rock and Roll Hotel, though the focus is on his just-released debut as a solo soulful pop artist, The Good & The Bad. Friday, Nov. 8. Doors at 8 p.m. Rock and Roll Hotel, 1353 H St. NE. Tickets are $15 to $18. Call 202-388-ROCK or visit www.rockandrollhoteldc.com.

CANTUS

Now celebrating its 25th anniversary, this men’s vocal ensemble is distinguished for its intentional lack of a conductor. Instead, each member rehearses and performs as a chamber musician, helping to emphasize their roles as individuals part of a larger artistic process. The Kennedy Center, through its Fortas Chamber Music Concert series, welcomes back the Minnesota-based group for a wide-ranging program veering from Beethoven to the Beatles, plus the D.C. premiere of Libby Larson’s five-movement composition YOU, which focuses on the challenges of meaningful human connection in our digitized world. Wednesday, Nov. 13, at 7:30 p.m. Terrace Theater. Tickets are $45. Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

CECE PENISTON

The gospel- and theater-trained vocalist’s biggest international hit “Finally” began as a poem that she wrote in college. Raised in Phoenix, where she still resides, Peniston, who’s had five Billboard Dance Chart No. 1s — including “We Got a Love Thang” — marvels at how “Finally” has become not just her signature tune but also part of the soundtrack of people’s love stories and coming out stories, and countless drag performances, thanks in part to Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. “To see a little poem that you were writing when you were 21-years old turn into this big song that people still love to this day, and has become a classic, is always love for me,” Peniston told Metro Weekly before a March run at City Winery DC, where she returns as an early Thanksgiving treat. Friday, Nov. 15. Doors at 6 p.m. 1350 Okie St. NE. Tickets are $35 to $45. Call 202-250-2531 or visit www.citywinery.com. (Andre Hereford)

DC DIFFERENT DRUMMERS FALL CONCERT

“For The Children” is the title of this year’s fall concert by the organization’s Capitol Pride Symphonic Band, performing music exploring the early phases of life as well as offering hope for the future, particularly the next 50 years of the LGBTQ community. The band, led by Anthony Oakley, will perform a wide range of music, from classic pieces by Julius Fucik and Percy Grainger to those by contemporary composers Anthony J. O’Toole, Omar Thompson, and Yukiko Nishimura. Saturday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m. Church of the Epiphany, 1317 G St. NW. Tickets are $15 to $25 plus fees. Call 202-269-4868 or visit dcdd.org.

FRANK SOLIVAN & DIRTY KITCHEN

Increasingly regarded as one of the genre’s best contemporary bands, the local progressive bluegrass act earned a Grammy nomination for the 2015 album Cold Spell. Solivan and his Dirty Kitchen crew — banjoist Mike Munford, guitarist Chris Luquette, and bassist Jeremy Middleton — returns to the Hamilton for a show in support of this year’s album If You Can’t Stand The Heat. Opening the show will be Philadelphia’s bluegrass band Man About A Horse. Friday, Nov. 15. Doors at 6:30 p.m. The Hamilton, 600 14th St. NW. Tickets are $17.25 to $39.75. Call 202-787-1000 or visit www.thehamiltondc.com.

JOHN EATON: 30TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

Every year the local jazz veteran and pianist offers performances at the Barns at Wolf Trap focused on American pop and jazz standards and built around a particular theme or era. The next Eaton program in the intimate and acoustically rich venue is a celebration of all that he’s done and an overview of all that he’s shared over the last 30 years. Expect an afternoon of songs, stories, and laughs from the man whom Washingtonian magazine has held up as the area’s “Best Jazz Pianist: John Eaton then, now, and probably forever.” Sunday, Nov. 10, at 1 p.m. 1635 Trap Road, Vienna. Tickets are $27. Call 877-WOLFTRAP or visit www.wolftrap.org.

JORDAN RAKEI

The New Zealand-native vocalist and multi-instrumentalist has drawn international attention as touring support for acts including Bonobo, as well as his featured vocal work on Disclosure’s “Masterpiece” from 2015’s Caracal. The 27-year-old, touted as a “bright young hope of jazz,” tours in support of new set Origin, inspired by dystopian visions of the future and including the singles “Say Something” and “Minds Eye.” Sam Wills opens. Saturday, Nov. 9, at 8 p.m. Sixth & I Historic Synagogue. 600 I St. NW. Tickets are $20 to $24. Call 202-408-3100 or visit www.sixthandi.org.

Lucy Wainwright Roche — Photo: Jess Griffin

LUCY WAINWRIGHT ROCHE

The younger half-sister of both Rufus and Martha and daughter of Suzzy Roche of the Roches, Lucy Wainwright Roche may come from folk royalty but her talent is very much her own. She visits the area in support of Little Beast, a folk/singer-songwriter winner at the 2019 Independent Music Awards for its collection of songs offering urgent and poetic calls to a world gone awry. It’s a rare headlining gig too for the artist who has spent many years opening for and/or performing with everyone from her mother to her brother, Mary Chapin Carpenter to the Indigo Girls’ Emily Saliers, the latter of whom told Metro Weekly in 2017, “Lucy’s not only a great writer and artist in her own right, but her harmony is impeccable. And she’s just lovely to be around. She’s just a shot of sunshine.” Thursday, Nov. 14, at 7:30 p.m. Jammin Java, 227 Maple Ave. E. Vienna. Tickets are $15 to $25. Call 703-255-3747 or visit www.jamminjava.com.

MARY GAUTHIER

In a career spanning over two decades, the lesbian country/folk artist has had her songs covered by everyone from Jimmy Buffett (“Wheel Inside The Wheel”) and Blake Shelton (“I Drink”) to Bettye LaVette (“Worthy”) and Candi Staton (“Mercy Now”). A native of New Orleans now based in Nashville, Gauthier returns to the area for another intimate concert supporting her powerful Grammy-nominated concept album Rifles & Rosary Beads, a collection of 11 deeply personal songs that she co-wrote with U.S. veterans and their families. Mon., Nov. 11, at 6 p.m. Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. Free. Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

RA RA RIOT

A dozen years after its formation among Syracuse University students, this indie-rock quintet’s sound has subtly shifted to be less chamber pop-inspired and more ’80s-era synth-pop flavored. Vocalist Wes Miles, bassist Mathieu Santos, guitarist Milo Bonacci, violinist Rebecca Zeller, and drummer Kenny Bernard return to the 9:30 Club for a show supporting their new set Superbloom. Wednesday, Nov. 13. Doors at 7 p.m. 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW. Tickets are $25. Call 202-265-0930 or visit www.930.com.

ROY ORBISON & BUDDY HOLLY HOLOGRAM CONCERT

Next week, Washingtonians will get the chance to see the latest show directed by Signature Theatre’s co-founder Eric Schaeffer — a concert, co-presented by the Birchmere at Strathmore, featuring cutting-edge holograms of deceased rock icons Orbison and Holly. As Schaeffer explained to Metro Weekly earlier this year: “The company that does it, Base Hologram, they really are very creative and just do it with really great respect. [Each rock icon] has a live band behind him, but the hologram is the hologram. And it’s kind of wonderful, because you get to see these iconic people that I obviously never would have seen or got to see. And when you see older audiences who did know Roy, they just go crazy, because it is so real…. It’s so dimensional.” Wednesday, Nov. 13, at 7:30 p.m. Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, Md. Tickets are $58 to $68. Call 301-581-5100 or visit www.strathmore.org.

WASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA: OTHELLO

Russell Thomas sings the title role and Leah Crocetto is his Desdemona in Verdi’s raging storm of jealousy and betrayal as adapted from Shakespeare. Daniele Callegari conducts and David Alden directs a production originally created by English National Opera as a co-production with Royal Swedish Opera and Teatro Real Madrid. The performances, in Italian with projected English titles at the Kennedy Center Opera House kicks off WNO’s new season. To Nov. 16. Tickets are $45 to $299. Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

WASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA: THE MAGIC FLUTE

The WNO will alternate November performances of its first production of Othello in 20 years with Mozart’s enchanting quest for love and truth via a whimsical production designed by the late Maurice Sendak, the acclaimed children’s author and illustrator (Where the Wild Things Are). A production “for all ages” from Portland Opera led by conductor Eun Sun Kim and director Christopher Mattaliano, The Magic Flute will be performed in English with projected English titles. To Nov. 23. Kennedy Center Opera House. Tickets are $25 to $299. Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

Mark Morris: Pepperland — Photo: Gareth Jones

DANCE

FUEGO FLAMENCO XV: FLAMENCO APARICIO DANCE COMPANY

Rafael Peral and Maria Adame, two of Spain’s most distinguished flamenco artists, will perform in the second week of this two-week festival, now in its 15th year. GALA Theatre’s festival launches next weekend with a reimagining of Entresueño from Edwin Aparicio, the festival’s co-founder and director. Aparicio’s namesake company will perform the work, which explores the frontier of consciousness where memories blur and mix with imagination, and reality gives way to dreams, as revised by the gay choreographer and Aleksey Kulikov, his longtime collaborator and also his husband. Thursday, Nov. 7, through Saturday, Nov. 9, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 10 at 2 p.m. Tivoli Square, 3333 14th St. NW. Tickets are $30 to $55. Call 202-234-7174 or visit www.galatheatre.org.

MARK MORRIS DANCE GROUP: PEPPERLAND

The Kennedy Center welcomes the legendary modern dance troupe, led by innovative gay choreographer Mark Morris, for the D.C. debut of a colorful, exuberant work that celebrates the 50th anniversary of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the classic album from the Beatles. Following a warm reception in the band’s hometown of Liverpool, Pepperland comes to the Kennedy Center as a co-commissioned, evening-length dance-theater piece set to an original score by Ethan Iverson and incorporating arrangements of six songs from the album — including “Penny Lane,” “With A Little Help From My Friends,” and “When I’m Sixty-Four” — as performed by a unique jazz ensemble. Performances are Wednesday, Nov. 13, through Friday, Nov. 15, at 8 p.m., and Saturday, Nov. 16, at 2 and 8 p.m. Eisenhower Theater. Tickets are $55 to $119. Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

RONALD K. BROWN/EVIDENCE WITH ARTURO O’FARRILL ENSEMBLE

Praised for more than 30 years for his carefully crafted blend of African, modern, Caribbean, and social dance styles, Brown presents his recent choreographic work New Conversations: Iron Meets Water, performed by his troupe accompanied by live Afro-Cuban jazz music courtesy of Grammy winner O’Farrill. The performance is preceded by the discussion “Kinetic Collaborations” in which Brown and O’Farrill reflect on their collaboration. Friday, Nov. 8, at 8 p.m. Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, Md. Tickets are $29 to $69. Call 301-581-5100 or visit www.strathmore.org.

SOLE DEFINED: ZAZ

The inaugural Dance Place Artist-in-Residence presents a show featuring dancers who turn their bodies into human drums and work to translate global rhythms through tap dance and body percussion. In the premiere performance of Zaz, the troupe examines the events of Hurricane Katrina from a small speakeasy in New Orleans, through intimate, first-person testimonies using storytelling, digital projection, song, and brass music. The aim is to take the audience on a “high-energy immersive roller coaster.” Saturday, Nov. 9, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 10, at 4 p.m. 3225 8th St. NE. Tickets are $25 in advance, or $30 at the door. Call 202-269-1600 or visit www.danceplace.org.

Tony Hinchcliffe

COMEDY

TONY HINCHCLIFFE

Hinchcliffe has described himself as “a straight man with a gay face,” and has also attributed his skill with insult comedy as something that developed as a defense mechanism growing up in a tough neighborhood in Youngstown, Ohio. Over the past decade, the 35-year-old has been a key player behind the scenes as a lead writer for the enormously popular Comedy Central Roast series. (Hinchcliffe wrote the scalding roast of Justin Bieber delivered by Martha Stewart, for example.) Yet more recently he’s focused his time and energy on building people up, specifically through Kill Tony, his live weekly podcast featuring amateur comedians competing before a panel of professionals. Hinchcliffe comes to town for a run of shows at Friday, Nov. 8, and Saturday, Nov. 9, at 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. The DC Comedy Loft, 1523 22nd St. NW. Tickets are $22, plus a two-item minimum. Call 202-293-1887 or visit www.dccomedyloft.com.

WASHINGTON IMPROV THEATER: LIFE AND DEATH WITH WIT

No two performances are alike when performed by the Washington Improv Theater — D.C.’s answer to those comedy star-making groups such as Chicago’s Second City and L.A.’s Groundlings — especially since they’re spurred on by the audience. That’s as true as ever with the troupe’s latest performance series, which nods to the Latin American holiday Day of the Dead. Select performances will include a remount of In Lieu of Flowers, a show that comes with an improvised funeral as it works to memorialize the life of a particular audience member, with the Washington Post‘s Alexandra Petri getting her due during the late show on Friday, Nov. 8. Each performance also features a different mix of the improvised ensembles that comprise WIT, from on-the-spot musical creations courtesy of iMusical, to the clever antics of the all-female-identifying group Hellcat, plus the groups Poetic Resistance, Nox!, Madeline, Uncle Gorgeous, and Lizard Girl. Weekends to Nov. 23. Spooky Action Theater, 1810 16th St. NW. Tickets are $15 to $18. Call 202-248-0301 or visit www.witdc.org.

READINGS & DISCUSSIONS

ARTISTS OF CONSCIENCE: VETERANS, ART, & WELLNESS

A few days after Veterans Day, the Phillips Collection presents an International Forum focused on the impact that art and art therapies can have on the lives of veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress-disorder, or PTSD, traumatic-brain injury, and other combat-related psychological health conditions. The discussion, presented in partnership with the University of Maryland, will feature a panel including Jane Chu of PBS, Sara Kass, MD, of Creative Forces: NEA Military Healing Arts Network, Army Sgt. Zach Herrick of American Heroes HeART, Iraq War veteran Ben King of Armor Down, and Klaus Ottmann, Chief Curator and Deputy Director for Academic Affairs at the Phillips. Thursday, Nov. 14, at 7 p.m. 1600 21st St. NW. Tickets, including access to special exhibition, are $12, or free for Phillips members. Call 202-387-2151 x247 or visit www.phillipscollection.org.

JOHN BECKER AND MEGAN SCOTT: JOY OF COOKING, 2019 EDITION

An indispensable guide for millions of cooks since its original publication by Irma Rombauer in 1931 is about to get another revision, this one overseen by Rombauer’s great-grandson and his wife. Bolstering the original focus on home-style American cooking, Becker and Scott have updated the content for modern tastes and lifestyles, introducing 600 new recipes, many of them vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free, including the latest nutrition and food safety guidelines, and offering tips on “streamlined cooking, among other changes. The duo will discuss the new edition of Joy in conversation with Bonnie Benwick, the Washington Post‘s deputy food and recipe editor. Friday, Nov. 15, at 7 p.m. Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. Call 202-364-1919 or visit www.politics-prose.com.

LINDY WEST: THE WITCHES ARE COMING

The New York Times columnist and bestselling author of Shrill deploys her signature wit and uniquely incendiary voice to lay out a grand theory of America that explains why Trump’s election was all-but predetermined. An incisive look at just how embedded and ingrained the patriarchy, intolerance, and misogyny are in American politics and culture, The Witches Are Coming exposes lies that many have chosen to believe and the often unexpected, even unwitting figures who have furthered them — not to mention the popular memes, music, and movies that have seeded the reactionary movement now surging through the nation. Monday, Nov. 11, at 7 p.m. Sixth & I Historic Synagogue. 600 I St. NW. Tickets are $20, or $32 including one book, or $45 for two tickets and one book. Call 202-408-3100 or visit www.sixthandi.org.

MARK MORRIS: OUT LOUD: A MEMOIR

Regarded by many as the country’s greatest living contemporary choreographer, Morris connects the dots in a new memoir between his upbringing in Seattle absorbing folk dances, to his teenage pursuit of studying flamenco in Spain, to his early, influential collaborations with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Yo-Yo Ma, among other aspects of his fascinating life and career. After a run of performances at the Kennedy Center featuring his Mark Morris Dance Group, the gay choreographer will conclude a week in Washington in a staged conversation with the co-author of his just-published book, the novelist Wesley Stace (aka folk musician John Wesley Harding). Sunday, Nov. 17, at 5 p.m. Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. Call 202-364-1919 or visit www.politics-prose.com.

MIMI LEMAY: WHAT WE WILL BECOME: A MOTHER, A SON, AND A JOURNEY OF TRANSFORMATION

At the tender age of two-and-a-half years old, Lemay’s second child told her and her husband that they were, in fact, a boy, thus leading the Massachusetts family down a path toward transgender understanding and acceptance still relatively unknown and uncharted in 2012. Fortunately, having rejected the ultra-Orthodox Jewish household she was raised in — for which she had even gone to seminary school — Lemay understood how a life can be recreated and redefined. A member of the Human Rights Campaign’s Parents for Transgender Equality Council, Lemay has written this memoir, to be published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt next week, based on a letter she had written to her son in 2015 expressing her deep affection and affirmation as featured in an NBC News segment. Wednesday, Nov. 13, at 7 p.m. Politics & Prose at Union Market, 1270 5th St. NE. Call 202-544-4452 or visit www.politics-prose.com.

FOOD & DRINK

METROCOOKING DC COOKING & ENTERTAINING SHOW

Both a holiday treat and a shopping preserve, “The Ultimate Foodie Outing” is the area’s biggest specialty food and culinary event. Martha Stewart and Wolfgang Puck are the headliners on the James Beard Foundation Cooking Stage at the 14th annual showcase also featuring Lidia Bastianich, Myron Mixon, Justin Severino, Fernando Desa of Goya Foods, and Lauren Katz, a D.C. native and winner of ABC’s The Great Holiday Baking Show, as well as many of D.C’s best and newest chefs, including Amy Brandwein, Victor Albisu, Erik Bruner-Yang, Haidar Karoum, Daniela Moreira, Kwame Onwuachi, Kevin Tien, and Enrique Limardo. Also on hand: 200 specialty food vendors, including a two-day Beer, Wine & Spirits section, a BBQ Bash on Saturday, Nov. 16, and the 7th annual Grand Tasting Pavilion featuring over 50 local restaurants, with a portion of proceeds benefiting So Others Might Eat, or S.O.M.E., on Sunday, Nov. 17, and Cooking Classes and Workshops offered throughout. The show starts at 10 a.m. both days. Walter E. Washington Convention Center, 801 Mt. Vernon Place NW. General admission tickets are $21.50 in advance, including admission to the James Beard Cooking Stage and the Exhibitor Marketplace. The individual classes and workshops as well as access to the Beer, Wine & Spirits Garden, the BBQ Bash and the Grand Tasting Pavilion are all special ticketed items and sold separately. Call 866-840-8822 or visit www.metrocookingdc.com.

L.H.O.O.Q., Marcel Duchamp

ART & EXHIBITS

ARABICITY|OUROUBA

In September, the Middle East Institute launched a new contemporary art gallery in its newly renovated headquarters in Dupont Circle that aims to put a spotlight on leading visual artists from the region. The gallery has opened with a Pan-Arab exhibition featuring 18 artists and works exploring the aesthetic, conceptual, and socio-political concerns of the Arab world over the past 20 years — including the so-called Arab Spring, or Arab uprising. Curated by Rose Issa, the pan-Arab Arabicity/Ourouba features works, ranging from photography to sculpture, by Chant Avedissian, Ayman Baalbaki, Hassan Hajjaj, Susan Hefuna, Tagreed Darghouth, Adel Abidin, Raeda Saadeh, and Said Baalbaki. Runs to Nov. 22. MEI Art Gallery, 1763 N St. NW. Call 202-785-1141 or visit www.mei.edu.

ARTY QUEERS: D.C.’S LGBTQ+ ART MARKET

The DC Center for the LGBT Community offers the chance for local LGBTQ and queer-identified artists to showcase and sell their works on the second Saturday of every month, including Nov. 9, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Prospective art buyers can expect to see original artworks in a range of media, including painting, pottery, photography, jewelry, glasswork, textiles, and clothing. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. Call 202-682-2245 or visit www.thedccenter.org.

KATYA TRABOULSI: PERPETUAL IDENTITIES

The new MEI Art Gallery in Dupont Circle is currently displaying a pop-up installation of work by the Beirut-based multimedia artist Traboulsi. In the series Perpetual Identities, the Lebanese visual artist transforms handcrafted replicas of Lebanese war bombshells into ornate vessels — making decorative sculptures out of destructive military objects to highlight the tension between war and culture. To Nov. 22. 1763 N St. NW. Call 202-785-1141 or visit www.mei.edu.

MARCEL DUCHAMP: THE BARBARA AND AARON LEVINE COLLECTION

The life and legacy of the conceptual French-American artist is honored at the Hirshhorn via an initial display of 50 seminal works, as well as a library of 150 books, recently acquired by the museum. As a result of the Levines’ gift, the Hirshhorn, which previously only had one piece by the late Duchamp, becomes a center for Duchamp scholarship — and the significance of the gift, along with examination of Duchamp’s artistic legacy, will be further explored in an overlapping exhibition tentatively set to open in April of next year. Mr. and Mrs. Levine will discuss their life together and their passion for Duchamp at a Collector Talk led by the Hirshhorn’s Melissa Chiu on Friday, Nov. 8, at 6:30 p.m. On display to Oct. 12, 2020. Hirshhorn National Museum of Modern Art, Independence Avenue and Seventh Street SW. Call 202-633-1000 or visit www.hirshhorn.si.edu.

MCLEAN ANTIQUES SHOW & SALE

The McLean Community Center hosts this annual event featuring a group of dealers representing American, Continental, and Asian antiques, decorative accessories, furniture, folk art, porcelain, silver, paintings, prints, linens, and Oriental carpets and rugs. Saturday, Nov. 9, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 10, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. 1234 Ingleside Ave., Mclean, Va. Admission is $10 for both days. Call 703-790-0123 or visit www.www.aldentheatre.org.

THE ARTIC REFUGE EXPERIENCE: STEP IN. STEP UP.

The Wilderness Society is offering the chance for those far from Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to experience the preserve’s majestic wilderness virtually, courtesy of a limited-run, multi-sensory, immersive art pop-up. Set up in a building a block from Union Market, this immersive 4-D art installation helps transport visitors to the refuge via “projected video, atmospherics, reflections, wind, custom scents, tactile sensations, depth-sensing, gesture-tracking, 40 controllable lights, and 16 channelgs of sound.” As you might have guessed, this isn’t just art for art’s sake, or even merely art for awareness-raising purposes. Instead, the ultimate aim of the installation, presented in conjunction with the Arctic Refuge Defense Coalition, is to hopefully stir up new activists opposed to plans by the Trump Administration to open up the area, one of the few undeveloped places on Earth, for oil and gas drilling, which is expected to have damaging effects on the land and the indigenous Gwich’in people who live there. Visitors can even become shareholders in the No Waaay Corp., “the first-ever collective action corporation created solely to stop Big Oil from destroying public lands.” Display runs Friday, Nov. 8, to Sunday, Nov. 10, from noon to 8 p.m., and Monday, Nov. 11, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. AutoShop, 416 Morse St. NE. Tickets are $10, with all net proceeds going to the Gwich’in Steering Committee and Gwich’in Youth Council. Call 800-843-9453 or visit www.wilderness.org.

Theater J: Alexandra Silber

ABOVE AND BEYOND

KEEGAN THEATRE’S 4TH ANNUAL GALA: ’80S MYSTERY EVENT

A murder mystery, stage performances, a special awards presentation, a live auction, and food and drink are all in the offing at the fourth annual fundraising gala for D.C.’s Keegan Theatre, now in the midst of its 23rd season. Keegan company member and co-founder Sheri S. Herren will be bestowed with the Lifetime Achievement Award, while actor/director Duane Richards will be recognized with the Emerging Artist Award. Guests are encouraged to don ’80s-themed attire for the benefit, which helps support initiatives including the ticket giveaways via KeeganConnects, play readings such as the Boiler Room Series, and the Keegan PLAY-RAH-KA’s family- and youth-oriented productions and programming. Monday, Nov. 18, starting at 7 p.m. 1742 Church St. NW. Tickets start at $100. Call 202-265-3767 or visit www.keegantheatre.com.

LA-TI-DO: SONGS OF THE BRITISH INVASION

Regie Cabico and Don Mike Mendoza’s variety show features higher-quality singing than most karaoke, often from local musical theater actors performing on their night off, and also includes spoken-word poetry and comedy. Mendoza and Anya Randall Nebel host the next La-Ti-Do, an evening of songs from the British Invasion of a half century age and featuring Paige Rammelkamp, the organization’s longtime accompanist, with guest performers Joseph Benitez, Larry Grey, and Michael Santos Sandoval, plus spoken word from Patti Ross. Matthew Dohm serves as music director. Monday, Nov. 11, at 8 p.m. Le Mirch, 1736 Connecticut Ave. NW. Tickets are $20. Call 202-629-3577 or visit www.latidoproductions.com.

POETRY & PASTIES

Every second Saturday of the month, the new Anacostia location of Busboys and Poets plays host to a diverse open mic/burlesque event over brunch explicitly designed as a “queer-affirming, POC-centered, femme-focused space.” Poetry & Pasties is organized as well as hosted by poet and sex educator Jennifer Eden, who identifies as a Black queer femme. Saturday, Nov. 9, at 1 p.m. 2004 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE. Free. Call 202-889-1374 or visit www.busboysandpoets.com.

SMITHSONIAN FOOD HISTORY WEEKEND

The theme to the fifth annual event at the National Museum of American History is “Power Through Food,” with a particular focus on migrant, refugee, and minority chefs, and particularly women. The weekend kicks off on Thursday, Nov. 7, with a black-tie Gala hosted by chef/food critic Andrew Zimmern and where chef/restaurateur Ann Cashion and food writer/teacher Samin Nosrat will serve as featured speakers, while Jacques Pépin presents the Smithsonian’s prestigious Julia Child Award to José Andrés, who will create a three-course menu for the gala. Friday, Nov. 8, and Saturday, Nov. 9, offer free daytime activities from hands-on learning to live cooking demonstrations to panel discussions: including one featuring the founders of D.C.’s online delivery service Foodhini Inc., another offering a “Behind-the-Scenes at Bad Saint” look with the co-owner of the small, award-winning Filipino restaurant, Genevieve Villamora, and several “Deep-Dish Dialogues,” foremost among them one moderated by Carla Hall and comprised of all past recipients of the Julia Child Award (Pépin, Rick Bayless, Danny Meyer, Mary Sue Milliken, and Susan Feniger) as a review of Child’s legacy and guide to mentoring the next generation of culinary stars. The weekend also offers a (sold out) Last Call “Brewing History After-Hours” event on Friday, Nov. 8, plus a mini film festival the afternoon of Saturday, Nov. 9, featuring: The Hundred-Foot Journey, Lasse Hallström’s 2014 dramedy about a battle between a lofty Michelin-starred establishment overseen by a matronly Helen Mirren and an impressive, immigrant Indian family who shakes things up by setting up shop directly across the street; and Julie & Julia, Nora Ephron’s last film, a dramedy starring Meryl Streep as Child and Amy Adams as a young New Yorker who attempts the feat of cooking 524 signature Child recipes in a single year. And just in time for the weekend, the museum has unveiled an update to its permanent exhibition FOOD: Transforming the American Table with new stories about changes in food itself and how Americans produce, prepare, and consume food and drink via four new sections: The Migrant’s TableBrewing a RevolutionOn a Diet, and Old Vines, New Blood. 1400 Constitution Ave. NW. Many events are free but require advance reservations, while tickets to the Gala are still available at $500 apiece, and the film screenings are $10 each plus fees. Call 202-633-1000 or visit www.americanhistory.si.edu.

Strathmore Museum Shop: Robot Puppet

STRATHMORE’S MUSEUM SHOP AROUND HOLIDAY MARKET

The annual Museum Shop Around is one of the best and most convenient places in town for finding unique, artsy holiday gift ideas. This weekend, 16 museums and art organizations will be represented at the event selling memorabilia and merchandise, including the Audubon Naturalist Society, International Spy Museum, the Jewish Museum of Maryland, the National Geographic Museum, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the Phillips Collection, the Supreme Court Historical Society, and Tudor Place Historic House & Garden. Each museum is given its own space, often its own room, in Strathmore’s historic Mansion. That’s enough for most shops to display as much as 40 percent of their normal inventory. The Mansion also offers a café with food and drink available throughout the event, including hot apple cider. Opens Thursday, Nov. 7, and runs through Sunday, Nov. 10, starting at 10 a.m. each day. 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. Free, but suggested donation is $10. Call 301-581-5100 or visit www.strathmore.org.

THEATER J’S ANNUAL BENEFIT FEATURING ALEXANDRA SILBER

Alexandra Silber offers a special musical performance in the newly renovated Edlavitch DCJCC as the centerpiece of the annual benefit for Theater J, the institution’s nationally renowned professional stage organization. Silber performs from her debut novel, 2017’s After Anatevka: A Novel Based on Fiddler on the Roof, which imagines what happens to Sholem Alecheim’s beloved characters after they step off stage. Silber herself has played the show’s two eldest daughters: Hodel on the West End, Tzeitel on Broadway. A decade after appearing in the Kennedy Center’s Master Class with Tyne Daly, Silber has returned to the area twice in just the past year alone: to portray Sally Bowles in Olney Theatre’s Cabaret and Guenevere in the record-breaking run of Camelot at Shakespeare Theatre Company. Now at Theater J, Silber will perform three songs written by composer Jerry Bock and lyricist Sheldon Harnick, including one song cut from the classic musical, plus a host of showtunes from a new generation of musical theater talent — including Matthew Sklar, Amanda Green, and Will Reynolds and Eric Price — all accompanied by pianist Ben Moss. Monday, Nov. 18, starting at 6:30 p.m. 1529 16th St. NW. Tickets, which include food and drink, start at $350. Call 202-777-3210 or visit www.theaterj.org.

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