Local
queer
entertainment
specialist
Karl
Jones
is
well
on
his
way
to
forming
his
own
brand
of
John
Waters-style
entertainment.
Jones,
who
runs
indie-queer
night
Taint
at
local
bar
DC9,
branched
off
to
create
a
variety
show
called
Crack
with
gay
friends
Chris
Farris
and
Shea
Van
Horn
last
year.
The
trio
has
now
expanded
Crack
to
include
their
own
version
of
television
programming.
Crack
TV,
which
runs
10
minutes,
debuted
at
Taint
on
Monday
but
will
be
showing
at
gay
locations,
including
JR.’s,
Nellie’s
and
Be
Bar,
all
over
town
Sept.
10-16.
The
three
men
dress
in
drag
for
most
of
the
program,
which
includes
snippets
of
various
spoofs,
skits
and
satires.
Tele-novelas,
douche
commercials
and
1950s
portraits
of
American
family
life
are
all
subject
to
Crack
TV’s
amusing,
if
questionable,
taste.
Showing
at
various
locations
Sept.
10-16.
www.crackdc.com
Will
Gartshore
stars
as
composer
Franklin
Shepard
in
Stephen
Sondheim’s
‘Merrily
We
Roll
Along,’
which
just
opened
at
Signature
Theatre.
(Photo
by
Scott
Suchman)
|
|
“Merrily
We
Roll
Along”
was
largely
seen
as
a
financial
failure
when
it
flopped
on
Broadway.
The
Stephen
Sondheim
show
opened
and
closed
in
1981
after
only
16
performances.
Nonetheless,
Signature
Theatre’s
artistic
director
Eric
Schaeffer,
who
has
directed
plenty
of
Sondheim,
is
taking
on
the
story
of
the
rise
and
fall
of
composer
Franklin
Shepard.
This
is
the
first
time
the
musical,
which
runs
backward
chronologically
to
show
Shepard’s
lows
and
highs,
has
been
performed
on
the
Signature
Theatre’s
stage.
Local
gay
actor
Will
Gartshore
plays
the
role
of
Shepard.
The
show,
which
opened
Tuesday,
runs
through
Oct.
14
at
Signature
Theatre,
4200
Campbell
Ave.,
Arlington,
Va.
$29.50-$69.
www.sig-online.org
or
703-820-9771
‘Memories
of
High
Cotton’
by
Romare
Bearden
was
the
first
purchase
made
by
Stuart
and
Julia
Chang
Bloch
of
African-American
art.
(Photo
courtesy
of
Zenith
Gallery)
|
|
A
private
collection
of
African-American
art
will
be
on
display
for
the
first
time
ever
at
Zenith
Gallery,
413
7th
St.,
NW,
through
Sept.
20.
Freedom
Place
is
the
name
of
the
collection,
which
includes
works
by
African-American
artists
Romare
Bearden,
Benny
Andrews,
Robert
Freeman,
Alma
Thomas
and
Richard
Yarde.
Local
residents
Stuart
Bloch
and
Julia
Chang
Bloch
started
the
collection
35
years
ago
when
they
purchased
their
first
piece,
“Memories
of
High
Cotton,”
a
collage
by
Bearden.
The
collection
now
includes
53
pieces.
If
you
miss
the
works
this
go-round,
they’re
slated
to
be
displayed
at
the
Meridian
House,
1630
Crescent
Place,
NW
in
February
2008
for
Black
History
Month.
Zenith
Gallery,
413
7th
St.,
NW,
www.zenithgallery.com,
202-783-2963
The
deep
sinkhole
of
Blue
Hole
Natural
Monument
Lighthouse
Reef
along
the
coast
of
Belize’s
barrier
reef.
(Photo
by
Robert
B.
Haas,
courtesy
of
National
Geographic)
|
|
The
sinuous
beauty
of
Latin
America
is
captured
by
photographer
Robert
B.
Haas
in
a
new
exhibit
at
the
National
Geographic
Museum’s
Explorer’s
Hall
starting
Monday.
Haas
took
the
images
leaning
from
the
open
doors
of
helicopters
and
small
planes
while
traveling
through
14
countries:
Argentina,
Belize,
Bolivia,
Brazil,
Chile,
Colombia,
Costa
Rica,
Ecuador,
Guatemala,
Mexico,
Panama,
Paraguay,
Peru
and
Venezuela.
He
ended
up
covering
about
80
percent
of
Latin
America’s
land
mass,
viewing
everything
from
glaciers
to
deserts
as
he
captured
images
from
flamingoes
to
parking
lots.
The
images
shown
at
the
Explorer’s
Hall
are
lifted
from
Haas’
new
book,
“Through
the
Eyes
of
the
Condor:
An
Aerial
Vision
of
Latin
America.”
Condors
are
large
flying
land
birds,
one
species
of
which
is
found
in
the
Andes
region.
National
Geographic
Museum,
1145
17th
St.,
NW.
Free.
202-857-7588
or
www.nationalgeographic.com/museum.
