10 Great Things to Do Around DC This March

Films

Landmark E Avenue Cinema | March 1–5

Right here’s an excellent motive to pause the Netflix autoplay: This native indie-film favourite provides a lineup of documentaries, shorts (comparable to My Grumpy Grandpa, above), web-­collection pilots, and narrative movies, together with post-­screening discussions and different occasions. One among this yr’s most intriguing choices is an animated quick a few monster and a cashier, with a run time of simply 56 seconds. Don’t blink!

Music

Lincoln Theatre | March 11–12

The long-running vocal ensemble has currently been devoting complete performances to numerous nice American singers, with Judy Garland up first final fall and Dolly Parton nonetheless to come back. Right here they’ll deal with the Whitney Houston oeuvre, together with rousing choral variations of “I Wish to Dance With Anyone,” “I Will All the time Love You,” and different classics.

Opera

Kennedy Heart | March 11–25

Initially set to open on the Kennedy Heart in March 2020, this opera about police violence was delayed by the pandemic—and rendered much more compelling by George Floyd’s homicide. Working with a libretto by Tazewell Thompson, composer Jeanine Tesori incorporates jazz, blues, cabaret, and Black spirituals.

Music

Capital One Area | March 12

Nigerian famous person Wizkid arrives in DC to advertise his newest album, Extra Love, Much less Ego. The Afrobeats mainstay continues to be singing over hip-swinging mid-tempo rhythms, however some current tracks embrace the red-hot sound of South African amapiano, which ought to actually get the social gathering going at Capital One.

Music

Capital One Area | March 19

The reggaeton star’s newest album—a sci-fi idea known as Saturno—provides an formidable combine of contemporary and retro sounds, incorporating music from Puerto Rico, Miami, and, presumably, outer area. The tunes have been crafted with the dwell expertise in thoughts, so anticipate a packed area to completely launch into the stratosphere.

Music

The Fillmore Silver Spring | March 25–26

Final yr, Washington’s breakout neo-soul star launched her second album, age/intercourse/location, and it’s stuffed with sultry and assured performances. Earlier than this homecoming present, we suggest you soak in steamy tunes just like the self-love single “Queen Area.”

Museums

Nationwide Museum of Asian Artwork | March 25–September 10

This Japanese avant-garde artist has lengthy been related to bright-hued work—a lot in order that he’s turn out to be often known as the “Rainbow Artist.” Although Ay-Ō has been making notable artwork because the Fifties, that is his first American museum exhibition, and greater than 80 of his playful (although not all the time kid-­acceptable) works will likely be on show.

Museums

Nationwide Museum of African American Historical past & Tradition | March 24, 2023–March 31, 2024

Marvel followers will geek out over the possibility to see Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther costume and different pop-culture artifacts, however this exploration of Afrofuturistic artwork, historical past, music, style, and activism additionally provides a extra severe have a look at tales of Black liberation and social justice.

Theater

Area Stage | March 24–April 23

This yr is the thirtieth anniversary of the Broadway debut of Tony Kushner’s landmark two-part play in regards to the AIDS disaster. To mark the event, Area Stage presents a brand new in-the-round staging helmed by János Szász, a Hungarian filmmaker and theater director.

Theater

Sidney Harman Corridor | March 28–April 16

Set in a real-life French refugee camp, this play explores the lives of individuals dwelling and dealing there—a global group hailing from Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan, and different locations. Playwrights Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson know what they’re speaking about: They really ran a theater contained in the camp, and The Jungle relies on their experiences.

This text seems within the March 2023 challenge of Washingtonian.

Briana A. Thomas is an area journalist, historian, and tour information who specializes within the analysis of D.C. historical past and tradition. She is the writer of the Black historical past e book, Black Broadway in Washington, D.C., a narrative that was first revealed in Washingtonian in 2016.