Gather Around for Story Time, But Leave the Little Ones at Home

By Lavanya Ramanathan
Friday, November 28, 2008

This weekend, the two-for-one musical "Cautionary Tales for Adults and the Many Adventures of Trixie Tickles," a highlight of the 2007 Capital Fringe Festival, is reprised at Round House Theatre. If you're looking for an antidote to crass commercialism and faked joy, you'll find it in this $15 show.

The naughty little comedies look at life lessons from two very different sides of the coin: "Cautionary Tales" stars a whacked-out librarian with a storybook that contains not cheery tales of childhood triumphs but four vignettes of harsh, cold adulthood. Inspired by the Edward Gorey-illustrated "Cautionary Tales for Children," the dark stories feature adults faced with seemingly mundane decisions but who face serious consequences for their choices.

"The Many Adventures of Trixie Tickles" grew out of "Cautionary Tales," says Shawn Northrip, who wrote both works. But "Trixie," he says, is about the lies we tell children about life. On her first day of school, Trixie is lucky enough to learn the truth, including that "You won't be what you want to be." Ouch.

The show opens tonight. Despite the cutesy titles, it's definitely not for kids.

$15; Round House subscribers, seniors and younger than 25, $12. Tonight at 8, tomorrow at 3 and 8 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m. Round House Theatre, 8641 Colesville Rd., Silver Spring. 240-644-1100 or visit http://www.roundhousetheatre.org.

SAVE THE DATE

THE SCENE The Found Footage Festival: Dirty Movies Two guys, Nick Prueher and Joe Pickett, pick through garage sales, dig around in trash bins outside of businesses and take videos offered by fans to create their Found Footage Festival. It's sort of like Found magazine in that it puts other people's business out there for the world to see -- and laugh at. Prueher and Pickett snap up corporate training videos, old home movies, anything that sparks a voyeur's interest. The touring showcase lands at two Washington area venues next month. $10. Dec. 12 at the Montgomery Cinema & Drafthouse, 11006 Veirs Mill Rd., Silver Spring; Dec. 13 at the Arlington Cinema 'N' Drafthouse, 2903 Columbia Pike, Arlington. For tickets, visit http://www.arlingtondrafthouse.com or http://www.montgomerydrafthouse.com.

CONCERT NPR's "A Jazz Piano Christmas" National Public Radio's concert at the Kennedy Center featuring top jazz musicians and rising stars is a perpetual sellout. This year it includes Eliane Elias, Ellis Marsalis, Rebeca Mauleón and Arturo O'Farrill, performing holiday standards. Tickets remain only for the late show next week. (If you can't make it or prefer to keep your cash, you can always catch the broadcast on NPR later.) $40. 9:30 p.m. Dec. 4. Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater, 2700 F St. NW. 202-467-4600.

THE DISTRICT

Today

THE SCENE "No Scrubs": Let's Give Thanks for the '90s Will Eastman and Brian Billion spin -- oh, my -- Ace of Base, LL Cool J, Snoop Dogg, Salt-N-Pepa, Lauryn Hill and all the other staples of your eighth-grade dance at this semi-regular dance party. It's at the Black Cat tonight. $10. 9:30 p.m. 1811 14th St. NW. 202-667-7960.

Tomorrow

EXHIBIT "Regime Change Starts at Home" Go for the Obama portrait by Shepard Fairey or for the intricate, brainy sculptures by Al Farrow, who fashions small cathedrals and other houses of worship from gun parts and bullets (though he has never owned a gun for any purpose other than making his art). The point is: Just go, because the well-organized show is up for just another week. Free. Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Through Dec. 6. Irvine Contemporary, 1412 14th St. NW. 202-332-8767.

Monday

FILM Frank Zappa Mini-Festival Continues The Library of Congress's music division is hosting a series of rock films through December, and among the offerings are movies made by the late Zappa. Monday, expect a double feature: the violent claymation flick "The Amazing Mr. Bickford" (directed with Bruce Bickford) and the 1984 concert video "Does Humor Belong in Music?" Free, but reservations are suggested. 7 p.m. Mary Pickford Theater, third floor, Library of Congress, Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. SE. Call 202-707-5677 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to make a reservation. For the full schedule, visit http://www.loc.gov/rr/mopic/pickford/pickford.html.

MARYLAND

Today

THE HOLIDAYS Frosty Friday This annual tradition in downtown Frederick is both a holiday festival and a Black Friday economic booster. The city's quaint shops open early, restaurants serve post-Thanksgiving breakfasts (which, yes, cost money), Frosty arrives to mingle with his public, the Dickens Carolers sing and free hot cocoa is served. Highlights also include the "fair trade" market for kids, which sells items for $5 or less, and, assuming you have no ethical considerations, horse-drawn carriage rides ($10 per adult, $5 per child). And the night ends, oddly enough, with "Dark Side of Oz" -- a screening of "The Wizard of Oz" paired with the classic Pink Floyd record "The Dark Side of the Moon." Film: $6; seniors and students, $4. Weinberg Center for the Arts, 20 W. Patrick St. Festival: Market, Patrick and Carroll streets, Frederick. For a full schedule, visit http://www.downtownfrederick.org/play/frostyfriday.htm or call 301-698-8118.

FOR FAMILIES "Alice" Round House Theatre enlisted renowned family-theater playwright Mary Hall Surface to adapt Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" for its new production. The classic story follows Alice's journey down the rabbit hole and into a surreal universe, of course. For age 6 and older. Wednesdays-Fridays at 7 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays at 3 p.m., and Saturdays at 8 p.m. through Dec. 28. Round House Theatre, 4545 East West Hwy., Bethesda. http://www.roundhousetheatre.org or 240-644-1100.

NORTHERN VIRGINIA

Today

THE SCENE Dance With the Grandsons Burn off last night's calories when the local swing/rockabilly quartet returns to the Barns at Wolf Trap for one of the venue's regular dance events. Many of the chairs are cleared for the performance to make room for dancers. $16. Tonight at 8. The Barns at Wolf Trap, 1635 Trap Rd., Vienna. 877-965-3872 or visit http://www.wolf-trap.org.

Tomorrow

FOR FAMILIES Annual Scottish Preview Every December, Alexandria plays host to event after event tied to the Campagna Center's Scottish Christmas Walk Weekend. That's scheduled for next week, but this weekend you can catch a fraction of the Scottish flavor -- the dogs, the Highland dancers, the food, the Tartan Day representatives -- when the Lyceum hosts the Scottish Preview. Free. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. tomorrow. 201 S. Washington St., Alexandria. 703-838-4994.

Tuesday

ON STAGE "Les Misérables" The onetime Broadway hit (which can seem, dare we say it, as bombastic as a Bollywood film) gets a freshening-up and a new scale here: For its new production of the musical, Signature Theatre enlisted a set designer to create a vast set that will "encase" the 280-seat black box Max Theatre with a 19th-century Parisian feel. "Les Miz" starts Tuesday. $65-$87. Through Jan. 25 (no performances Dec. 16, Dec. 24-25 or Jan. 1). Signature Theatre, 4200 S. Campbell Ave., Arlington. 202-397-7328 or visit http://www.signature-theatre.org.