'An Antiquity of Imagination: Tullio Lombardo and Venetian High Renaissance Sculpture' Tullio Lombardo, who worked between the late 1400s and early 1500s, took inspiration from paintings and ancient mythology to create new forms of marble art that defined beauty. The exhibit, which opens Saturday...

'Ain't Misbehavin' ' If you like swing music, you ain't going to want to miss "Ain't Misbehavin'." The 1978 Tony Award winner for best musical includes 30 songs that recall the Harlem clubs of the 1930s. It opens Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. and runs through Aug. 2. Olney Theatre Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy...

Breathe easy, music lovers: Despite a later than usual start this year, the annual Fort Reno Concert Series in Northwest Washington is underway.

There are many ways to enjoy Rock Creek Park, but few are better than on a horse. Back in 1890, when Congress authorized the establishment of a public park in the District, it mandated that Rock Creek Park include bridle paths, and those paths have been put to good use ever since.

"Public Enemies" lacks a pulse and feels "urgent, not epic."

If you're not familiar with Trace Adkins's music, you might be tempted to dismiss it as simple, formulaic and slightly sexist. He devotes one song, "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk," to a woman's posterior.

THOSE DARLINS "Those Darlins" Kindred spirits: Go-Gos, Blake Babies, Avett Brothers, Violent Femmes

Prices listed where available. WASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA'S OPERA INSTITUTE Friday at 4. Students ages 15 to 18 who have trained with the WNO perform "Italian Art Song Recital." American University, Katzen Arts Center, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW. 202-885-3634 or http://www.dc-opera.org . Free.

JAPANDROIDS "Post-Nothing" Kindred Spirits: The Stooges, Superchunk, Mclusky Show: Wednesday at DC9. Show starts at 9 p.m. 202-483-5000. http://www.dcnine.com. The members of Japandroids are all confused. They have something to say, but they're not sure they want you to hear it. So on "Post-Nothi...

DELETED SCENES "Birdseed Shirt" Kindred spirits: Arcade Fire, Radiohead, Band of Horses Show: Tuesday at the Velvet Lounge. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. 202-462-3213. http://www.velvetloungedc.com. Deleted Scenes could be the poster child for the new wave of modern indie rock: The debut album "Birdsee...

LEE KONITZ AND MINSARAH "Deep Lee" Kindred Spirits: Lennie Tristano, Miles Davis, Paul Desmond Show: Thursday at Blues Alley. Shows start at 8 and 10 p.m. 202-337-4141. http://www.bluesalley.com. Alto saxophonist and cool jazz innovator Lee Konitz, who will turn 82 in October, isn't about to coa...

CELTIC MANDOLIN Friday at 11:30. Kings Contrivance Village Center, 8600 Guilford Rd, Columbia. 443-367-5123.

Neighborhood ice cream joints are becoming one of Washington's endangered species, thanks to growing numbers of fro-yo shops, the lure of less-pricey premium ice creams from the supermarket and big chains offering complicated flavor combinations made on the spot. But on a hot summer evening, no...

Prices listed where available. BLACK CAT "Homo/Sonic," an alternative dance night, Friday, $10; DJ Regal, Fort Knox Five, All Good Funk Alliance, Saturday, $10; Jay Reatard, TV Smith, Sunday, $12; Bowerbirds, Megafaun, Vandaveer, Monday, $12; Meow vs. Meow, the Bloodsugars, Power Pirate, Wednesday,...

ARIA TRATTORIA Ted Garber, Thursday. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. 202-312-1250. No cover charge.

If it takes military precision to conquer the Capital Fringe Festival and claim the title "Fringe Fanatic," then Mike Riley is the man for the job.

Experience has taught Fringe Fanatic Mike Riley that festival shows don't always live up to their descriptions and that some descriptions pale in comparison to the rich experiences offered onstage. Here are six of this year's offerings that have earned a spot on his spreadsheet:

Fort Fringe, the former A.V. Ristorante Italiano building downtown that Fringe organizers staked out last year to serve as festival HQ, is again in service as the rollicking, tipsy hub of Fringe. During a recent walk-through, Fringe Executive Director Julianne Brienza showed off two new performance...

If you want to earn the moniker "Fringe Fanatic," here's the schedule you'll need. Now start entering shows and times into that spreadsheet.

A star (*) denotes a show recommended by our critics.

THE COLOR PURPLE Fantasia Barrino stars as Celie, who overcomes adversity through the power of love in a musical that features a jazz, ragtime, gospel and blues soundtrack, through Aug. 2. Friday at 1:30 and 7:30, Saturday at 1:30, Sunday at 1:30 and 7:30, and Tuesday-Thursday at 7:30. Kennedy...

NATIONALS Today at 6:35, Saturday at 1:05 and Sunday at 1:35 against the Atlanta Braves. Nationals Park, 1500 South Capitol St. SE. 202-675-6287 or http://washington.nationals.mlb.com . $5-$325.

Many Washingtonians will go to bed tonight with visions of fireworks dancing in their heads. But the celebration on the Mall starts long before the first shell is shot into the sky tomorrow.

If you want to see fireworks but don't want to brave the Mall, here are displays in Maryland and Virginia. All events are on Saturday and free unless otherwise noted.

Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington, is celebrating Independence Day with daytime fireworks. These effects will explode into smoky shapes in red, white and blue. The show will be coordinated to music by the National Concert Band of America.

Capsule reviews of recent releases playing in area theaters. For older movies, see the Movie Directory. A star (*) denotes a movie recommended by our critics.

Patricia Clarkson says she always seems to be playing wives and mothers, even though she is neither in real life.

John Dillinger was an ugly, ruthless son of a gun, so naturally, Johnny Depp plays him as a quiet, shifty rogue who robs banks with scissorhands instead of submachine guns.

The story of Herb and Dorothy Vogel is too good to be true, which is why it has become an art world cliche. If you follow coverage of high art on programs such as "60 Minutes" or in newspapers and magazines, you've heard of the Vogels, the charming New York couple who started buying contemporary art...

I like Scrat. You like Scrat. But no one, I suspect, likes the saber-toothed cartoon squirrel who made only brief appearances in both of the first two "Ice Age" films enough to want to watch a whole movie about him.

After the toddler is deemed a reincarnated lama, his father wonders aloud if he will ever see him once he's taken to a monastery. A monk tells the father, as the lama totters around, gripping a teddy bear, that his son has many students around the world. Tears form in his mother's eyes after she...

"The Girl From Monaco" seems uncannily timed to make the most of recent high-profile peccadilloes: A professional man, infatuated beyond all good sense, faces ruination by hormone. It's an old story. Just look at the papers.

Reportedly, Woody Allen wrote "Whatever Works" back in the 1970s, then shelved it when his intended star, Zero Mostel, died. Would that it had stayed in the drawer.

Prehistoric critters still talk modern silliness in this third computer-animated "Ice Age" comedy. The concept has grown funnier with each installment, and each film manages to celebrate diversity and having friends and family from all backgrounds. "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" is in 3-D, so k...

"Do the Right Thing" -- the Spike Lee joint that kick-started tough conversations about racism and prompted boom boxes across the country to blast "Fight the Power" -- celebrates its 20th anniversary this week with a new DVD ($29.98) and Blu-ray ($39.98) release, both of which feature digitally r...

1. "Confessions of a Shopaholic" 2. "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

New DVDs you can watch this weekend: -- Jonas Brothers: The Concert Experience (G) Fans of the Jonas Brothers will no doubt love this movie, but for parents, Post critic Jane Horwitz offered this: "The film is a contrived and commercial bit of nothing. Even the supposedly 'candid' moments . . . come...

It might be an exaggeration to say that before Josh Dean of Manassas visited the Freedom Museum, World War II, the Vietnam War and other historic conflicts were basically the stuff of grainy news footage.

The Freedom Museum will celebrate July Fourth (and its 10th anniversary) in a special way this year. The open house, honoring "America's 20th-century heroes," will feature events from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., including:

Prices listed where available. "CIRCUS!" Friday at 10 and 11:30, Saturday and Sunday at 11:30 and 1, and Wednesday-Thursday at 10 and 11:30 through Aug. 2. Christopher and MayField Piper present the "Grandest Show on Strings." Glen Echo Park, Puppet Co. Playhouse, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo....

"AN ANTIQUITY OF IMAGINATION: TULLIO LOMBARDO AND VENETIAN HIGH RENAISSANCE SCULPTURE" Works of sculpture that blend the antique and the Renaissance with the sacred and the secular, Saturday through Nov. 1 at the National Gallery of Art, West Building, Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue NW. Open...

Prices listed where available. BEAM SIGNING Friday and Saturday 10 to 7. Line up to add your signature to one of the steel beams that will be used to construct the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. Newseum, 555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. 888-639-7386 or http://www.national911memorial.org . Free.

Contrary to Nas's 2006 album, "Hip Hop Is Dead," the musical genre is alive and well -- proven annually with the always popular Rock the Bells. Nas will headline the festival as it rolls into Merriweather Post Pavilion on July 12 at noon with Damian Marley, the Roots, Common, Big Boi and a long list...

AFI SILVER THEATRE "Ghostbusters," Friday at 1:20 and 11:30, Saturday at 9:45, Monday at 1:20 and Tuesday and Thursday at 9:05. "Saving Private Ryan," Friday at 3:30, Saturday at 1:30 and Monday at 3:30. "The 400 Blows," Friday at 7, Sunday at 5:20 and Monday and Tuesday at 7. "Gremlins," Friday at...

The Mall is the place to watch the fireworks this year. More locals are expected to venture downtown to view the recession-resistant display, and tourists, perhaps driven by Obama enthusiasm or a three-day weekend, are making the District their Independence Day destination. However, the Fourth of...