Tonight through Saturday, October 10: Messing with gender is a surefire way to make a play successful, or at least more interesting. The Capitol Hill Arts Workshop gives you ALL-GIRL Shakespeare in their rendition of Measure for Measure. And what better to have an all-female cast in one of Shakespeare’s most sexually-charged plays. [Capitol Hill Arts Workshop] MORE »

Friday, September 11-Thursday, September 17: A celebrity is in town, and it has NOTHING to do with Obama! See Billy Crystal perform a play all about HIMSELF, because he is so important and witty that he wants you to experience every single one of his moments of love, laughter and loss. Tickets are $42-$150. [700 Sundays] MORE »

Tonight through early August: If you’re a fan of musical theater, inappropriate sexual innuendos, failed pop icons, or ’80s hits, and you just LOVE when underdogs triumph over adversity, you should catch Spring Awakening or The Color Purple at the Kennedy Center.  Both shows have won numerous Tony awards, so regardless of your feelings toward musical bildungsromans or American Idol, they’re worth checking out. [Kennedy Center] MORE »

Friday, March 27: The Paul Taylor Dance Company performs a Mexican-themed dance extravaganza at the Kennedy Center, maybe in anticipation of Hillary Clinton’s visit to Mexico this week, or maybe not. 8PM, $22-65. [Kennedy Center]
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Mayor Fenty takes a break tonight from arming DC in exchange for some lousy “vote” and personally unemploying city workers to perform the most sacred duty of public office: bestowing arts honors upon the citizenry. His lost time is our gain, because tonight’s 24th Annual Mayor’s Arts Awards has entertainment, feel-good philanthropy, and no cover! MORE »

Friday, Feb. 13: Talib Kweli, one of underground hip-hop’s most notorious MCs, plays Sonar tonight in Baltimore. Jean Grae, a female rapper from NYC by way of Cape Town, opens. [Sonar] MORE »

The Kennedy Center held its 30th Honors gala last night, and thankfully we didn’t have to sit through it. Among the honorees were Brian Wilson, Martin Scorsese, Diana Ross, Steve Martin and Leon Fleisher, who all must have been thrilled to see George W. and the Lady Bush attending. And the event organizers really spared no expense in celebrating Brian Wilson’s incomprehensibly brilliant career: Hootie and the Blowfish performed a medley of his Beach Boys work for him. So it sounds like it was a fun time at the Kennedy Center Honors last night. [WP]

Each week, veteran Condiwatcher Peter Huestis (also known as Princess Sparkle Pony) provides a summary of the searing wit and infinite wisdom of America’s Favorite Princess Diplomat™! Last week was all about Condi’s big Carnival o’ Peace™ in Annapolis. Yes! That was only a few days ago! Not much happened, but that didn’t stop people from writing about it. Plus: more excerpts from Elizabeth Bumiller’s Condiography which is maybe going to be serialized in Maureen Dowd’s column. And, finally, it was Mean Caricature Week! After the jump, we’ll relive the Condiweek that was.

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Last night’s celebration of America’s sorry culture at least produced this telling photograph of the random honorees and the First and Second couples. MORE »

Jackie Kucinich sports a stylish Washington Monument headband. Her cute friend doesn’t want you to know that she’s an intern.

Wednesday night, if you can think back that far, was an absolutely gorgeous evening. We spent part of it enjoying the hospitality of Court TV and Capitol File, soaking in the panoramic views from the Kennedy Center’s roof deck — as well as some sweet-but-not-too-sweet, lemon-flavored libation.

The occasion for the festivities? The opening of Court TV’s Washington bureau, featuring Savannah Guthrie, Fred Graham, producer Bryan Lavietes, and a dozen other staffers.

We said hello to all the usual suspects, hinted to the Court TV folks that we’d love to be on TV — even if it means getting yelled at by Nancy Grace — and loaded up on sushi.

After the jump, pictures from the event (amateur shots by one of your editors, not photos by Liz Gorman, that Super-Hot Girl Reporter). Plus, our report card on the proceedings. Check it all out here.

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