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Jordan Wright
November 29, 2016
Special to The Alexandria Times
 Naomi Jacobson (Bo Jack) and Dan Manning (Earl). Photo by Christopher Mueller Composer and lyricist, Matt Conner (past Sig shows include Crossing, The Hollow, Nevermore, and Partial Eclipse) in collaboration with lyricist, Stephen Gregory Smith gets us in the Christmas spirit with the world premiere of Silver Belles. Set in Silver Ridge, Tennessee this rollicking musical (book by Allyson Currin) begins with a funeral. But don’t let that get you down. The death of Southern diva and Cherry Apple moonshiner, Oralene (Donna Migliaccio, but think Dolly Parton’s tongue-in-cheek Southern charm), sets in motion a crazy, countrified mission to continue their bestie’s legacy – writing and staging the fundraising Christmas pageant for the local orphans at the River of Life Church.
Determined the show must go on, three of her gal pals, Berneice (Ilona Dulaski) owner of Berneice’s Taxidermy Emporium, Gloria (Nova Y. Payton) a four-time divorcee, and Ruth Ann (Peggy Yates) a former beauty queen with mad baton-twirling skills, take up the reins. Unfortunately, Oralene’s husband, Earl (Dan Manning), still in mourning, was her guitar strumming musical composer and he’s got writer’s block. That is until Oralene gives him the inspiration and the show’s theme, “Take what you can. Give what you should, while the gettin’ is good.”
Meanwhile Earl’s best friend, Bo Jack (Naomi Jacobson), the show’s stage manager and local radio personality for the call-in show, “Swap Meet”, is under pressure from the community to deliver the news that the pageant Oralene calls “serious Christmas for serious Christians”, is still on.
 Donna Migliaccio (Oralene). Photo by Christopher Mueller. The ladies are all aflutter until Oralene’s ghost returns as their as muse and they begin to see the light. Think Golden Girls meets The Andy Griffith Show for hilarious plot twists. I couldn’t help thinking this could be a terrific TV series.
 Ilona Dulaski (Berneice). Photo by Christopher Mueller. It’s hard to say who gets the most laughs, Migliaccio is absolutely magical, but Dulaski is an endearing scene stealer. Berneice’s suggestion that they save production costs by using her Nativity-outfitted stuffed animals in the crèche scene, “The Friendly Beasts” is classic.
 Naomi Jacobson (Bo Jack), Nova Y. Payton (Gloria), Donna Migliaccio (Oralene), Dan Manning (Earl), Peggy Yates (Ruth Ann) and Ilona Dulaski (Berneice). Photo by Christopher Mueller Credit goes to Karma Camp for the lively choreography, Kelly Rudolph for some clever lighting surprises, and solo pianist Jacob Kidder who keeps the spirit with a few Christmas standards interwoven with thirteen original numbers. And keep in mind these are some of Sig’s finest voices. For Sig insiders, Payton riffs off of “And I am Telling You”, from her big show Dreamgirls. Watch for it.
Highly recommended for a boatload of Christmas cheer!
Through December 31st at Signature Theatre (Shirlington Village), 4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington, VA 22206. For tickets and information call 703 820-9771 or visit www.signature-theatre.org.
Jordan Wright
November 25, 2016
Special to The Alexandria Times
 The Cast of Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of The Secret Garden, directed by David Armstrong. Photo by Scott Suchman. Artistic Director Michael Kahn, collaborating with the Seattle-based 5th Avenue Theatre for a new production of The Secret Garden at the Sidney Harman Hall, introduces area audiences to Frances Hodgson Burnett’s enchanting tale of a garden that comes to life out of the ashes of tragedy and despair. It is one of the most beloved children’s tales ever written by the British-born Burnett, who wrote fifty-three novels, including Little Lord Fauntleroy, and thirteen plays, becoming a successful writer as a teenager while living in, of all places, Knoxville, Tennessee.
But despite a difficult childhood in England, Burnett never forgot the rose-filled English gardens, that had brought her peace and pleasure. The classic story is also her personal story of overcoming personal pain and adversity through the healing power of nature and the perseverance of love.
Since its first publication in 1910, this Gothic tale has been produced in over a dozen film and television productions, at last brought to the stage in 1991 by composers/lyricists, Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon, who won three Tony Awards for this sweeping musical.
 Lizzie Klemperer as Lily Craven. Photo by Teresa Wood Directed by David Armstrong, it tells the story of Mary Lennox, raised in India during the days of the Raj and orphaned by the ravages of cholera. The child is sent to live in a creepy manor home in Yorkshire with her two uncles – the melancholy uncle Archibald Craven (Michael Xavier), still grieving the death of his adored wife Lily (Lizzie Klemperer), and his ill-intentioned brother, Neville (Josh Young). It’s Tim Burton on a chill pill meets Martha Stewart and a panoply of faeries and ghosts.
 Henry Baratz as Colin Craven and Anya Rothman as Mary Lennox. Photo by Scott Suchman Little Mary (Anya Rothman), who is a proper hellion, is told to stay in her room, but instead she wanders the dark halls of Misselthwaite Manor discovering her bed-ridden hypochondriac cousin Colin and a neglected secret garden. Her friendship with the equally recalcitrant Colin (Henry Baratz), Dickon (Charlie Franklin) Martha’s brother and gardener’s helper, her governess Martha (Daisy Eagan, who won a Tony for her role as Mary in the original production 25 years ago) and the wise older gardener Ben Weatherstaff (Sean G. Griffin) assuage her despair and send her into a fantasy world of sprites and fauns and the spirits of Indian fakirs and dead relatives, some of whom reappear as a Greek chorus.
 The cast of Shakespeare Theatre Company. Directed by David Armstrong. Photo by Teresa Wood Rothman, a near weightless sprite herself, tackles the difficult role like a pro – singing, dancing and acting as if born to perform. She is backed up by seasoned performers with gorgeous voices, most especially Klemperer in “India” and Xavier and Young whose exquisite tenor voices duet in the “Lily’s Eyes”.
Look for the adorable, spot on comic timing and clear-as-a-bell soprano voice of Henry Baratz who appears towards the end of Act One. He is especially appealing in his second act duet with his late mother, Lily, in “Come to My Garden – Lift Me Up”.
Lighting Designer Mike Baldassari effectively uses poison green and purple lighting to illuminate Scenic Designer Anna Louizos’s two-story Gothic house and a thirteen-piece orchestra led by Rick Fox play twenty-four numbers.
Recommended for the whole family.
At the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Lansburgh Theatre through January 8th 2017 at 450 7th Street, NW Washington, DC 20004. For tickets and information call 202 547-1122 or visit www.ShakespeareTheatre.org.
Jordan Wright
November 16, 2016
Special to The Alexandria Times
 Company of A View From the Bridge – Photo by Jan Versweyveld. A fresh interpretation of Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge streaked across the stage like a fireball at the Eisenhower Theatre last night. Credit Kennedy Center President Deborah F. Rutter who has endeavored mightily to give us contemporary productions, edgy, young musicians, playwrights, hip hop artists, and an exciting group of artistic directors. Produced by the prestigious Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles and directed by Ivo Van Hove, this avant-garde production won the Tony Award this year for “Best Revival of a Play”. And it’s no surprise. This one has muscle and bone.
Set in Red Hook a rough neighborhood with a view to the Brooklyn Bridge, the story is told by Alfieri (Thomas Jay Ryan), a local lawyer. (Miller claimed it was true, as told to him by a lawyer who represented longshoremen). Alfieri acts as witness, arbitrator and conscience to Italian-American longshoreman, Eddie Carbone (Frederick Weller). Eddie still operates under the code of omertà, or silence, and the unimpeachable honor code of rispetto, spelled R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Ignore that and you’re six feet under.
 Alex Esola, Catherine Combs, Dave Register and Frederick Weller – Photo by Jan Versweyveld In the dramatic opening scene two men, drenched in blood red lighting and a rising mist, are putting on their clothes as Alfieri begins his narration. It is immediately reminiscent of the intense boxing series’ paintings by American Realist George Bellows, and lends a foreboding of dark and murderous things to come. Designer Jan Versweyveld, who won two Tony Awards this year for “Best Scenic Design of a Play” and “Best Lighting Design of a Play” for this production, gives us a stripped down set framed out by glass panels topped by benches, all the better to home in on the characters’ body language and the raw power of Miller’s words.
Eddie is old school Sicilian married to Beatrice (Andrus Nichols) the family mediator. Together they raise his orphaned niece, Catherine (Catherine Combs), a teenager looking to spread her wings, but still a “baby” to her Uncle Eddie. When Beatrice’s cousins, Marco (Alex Esola) and Rodolpho (Dave Register), arrive in the country to work illegally, they live on the QT with the couple, getting longshoreman jobs through the local Mafia. Trouble comes when Rodolpho and Catherine fall in love and Eddie’s unsubstantiated fears surface, threatening the couple’s marriage plans. He accuses Rodolpho of wanting to marry her to get his citizenship, or, perhaps worse to Eddie, that he prefers men.
 A View From the Bridge_Photo by Jan Versweyveld Two devices are used here to great effect. The haunting overlay of sacred Medieval music lends context and heft to the drama and a series of slow drumbeats between lines emphasizes the searing conflict between the family members.
What is surprising, however, is Van Hove’s decision not to use regional accents of any kind. So don’t expect Italian accents from the immigrant cousins, or Brooklynese from Catherine, Eddie or his friend, Louis (Howard W. Overshown), even though they speak in the language of dese-dems-and-dose with the occasional ain’t. The focus here is on the dialogue and the story. The cast is just the vehicle, but a fine, well-honed vehicle they are.
Highly recommended.
Through Saturday, December 3rd at the Kennedy Center, 2700 F St., NW, Washington, DC. For tickets and information call 202 467-4600 or visit www.Kennedy-Center.org.
Jordan Wright
November 18, 2016
 The entrance to NMAI – photo credit Jordan Wright If your plans are not yet etched in stone for Thanksgiving Day, you may want to consider doing something a bit different this year. Our small family did one year, when we found ourselves gathered outside of our normal Northeast coastal locale. We still talk about the year we were all in Miami and decided to cook up a Cuban feast – turkey with mojito seasoning, black beans with ham hocks, a huge platter of tropical fruits, rice pilaf, hearts of palm salad and tres leches cake for dessert. That year’s holiday celebration is fondly, and amusingly, retold to this day. So, why not try something new this year and add it to your collective memories?
Here’s an outstanding option you may not have considered, or even known about. Mitsitam, the award-winning restaurant in the National Museum for the American Indian, is doing a complete Thanksgiving dinner to eat in or take out. They tried it last year and it was a huge success. It dovetails with the free three-day dance festival featuring the Northwest Coast, and will be held at the museum November 24th through the 26th to celebrate Native American Heritage Month. How much fun would that be?
 The pond planted with native species at the museum – photo credit Jordan Wright To give you an update, recently Freddie Bitsoie (Navaho) has taken over the Executive Chef position at the restaurant since former Exec Chef Jerome Grant has moved over to Sweet Home Café in the Museum of African American History and Culture. Bitsoie, who has been at the forefront of Native American foods for over ten years, has worked on a wealth of projects with universities and museums including the prestigious Heard Museum in Los Angeles. A graduate of Le Cordon Bleu Culinary School in Scottsdale, AZ with further studies in Cultural Anthropology and Art History at the University of New Mexico, Bitsoie uses creative interpretation, coupled with years of research in culinary history, to develop his indigenous recipes.
 Mitsitam Executive Chef, Freddie Bitsoie shows off some of his Thanksgiving dishes – photo courtesy NMAI Among other honors and accolades, Bitsoie was the winner of the museum’s Living Earth Festival Native Chef Cooking Competition in 2013, and was named “a rising star in the constellation of young chefs” by Native Peoples magazine in 2011. He has been featured on an episode of PBS’s Lidia Celebrates America and is working on his own show Rezervations Not Required, about indigenous cuisines around the world.
At a recent press gathering, I tasted a number of the dishes offered for this Thanksgiving feast and they are indeed unique and delicious. They are all inspired by tribal foods from the Great Plains, Meso-America, South America, the Northern Woodlands and the Northwest Coast. If you’re adventuresome, this could be the most memorable Thanksgiving you and your guests have ever experienced.
 Sweet Red Chile and Orange Rubbed Free Range Turkey with pan gravy and spiced cranberry sauce – photo courtesy of NMAI Here’s how it works. If you choose take out, you only need cook the turkey in your home, all else has been prepared for you. (See appetizers, sides, salads, gravy and desserts listed below.) If you opt for eat in, and I have been told whole families come, some laying out their best tablecloths, you will relax over your meal in the cafeteria overlooking the gardens and lovely water features. Imagine. No clean up! Just a relaxing day with friends and family. Bring as many as you like. Afterwards take in the dance festival or a stroll along the Mall.
 Cedar Smoked Salmon and assorted side dishes – photo courtesy of NMAI The take home menu serves 6-8 people and ranges from $180.00 – $195.00 depending on your entrée. Or you can just order these dishes separately to add to your at-home dinner.
If you opt for the whole meal deal choose one of three entrees – Sweet Red Chile and Orange Rubbed Free Range Turkey with pan gravy and spiced cranberry sauce; Sumac Crusted Bison Tenderloin; or Juniper Glazed West Coast Salmon. Then build your meal around that with two large side orders of the following options – Brown Sugar and Butternut Squash Soup sweetened with Maple and topped with Candied Pumpkin Seeds or North Atlantic Clam Soup with Sunchokes and Leeks. Appetizers are Local Blue Crab Cakes or Wild Rice Baked Fritters with queso fresco and blueberries. Sides are numerous and diverse but I mention just a few of your choices – Roast Beets with Sage; a cold salad of Hominy with Fire Roasted Peppers, Onions, Lardons, and Watercress with a Lime Vinaigrette; Mashed Potatoes with Walnuts and Agave; Braised Kale with Shallots and Apricots and. A half sheet of Blue Cornbread comes with each whole meal order, as does one pint of Cranberry and Pineapple Sauce and dessert of either Apple Cobbler or Classic Pumpkin Pie.
To place an order call Miriam Menkir at 202 633-7044 or email [email protected]
The National Museum of the American Indian, Fourth Street and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20013. nmai.si.edu/visit/washington/
Jordan Wright
November 13, 2016
Special to The Alexandria Times
 The cast of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel. Photo by Maria Baranova. A brief moment of panic set in as my jaw hit the floor. I’d just read Artistic Director, Molly Smith’s notes in the playbill and saw she was inspired by Thornton Wilder’s use of “mime in the entire show”. Really?
“Somehow it feels right with the mythic nature of the story – and to remind us this isn’t reality TV,” she wrote, adding that collaborator David Leong is the show’s mime and fight expert. Would the cast mime this indelibly lush score? Would there be no orchestration? I looked up hopefully and saw the orchestra perched on the catwalk and the conductor hidden in a cubby off to one side of the stage. Okay, there was going to be music, but singing was still up in the air. And maybe… literally.
Act One opens with the women miming the art of weaving on their looms. As you’ll recall the story is set in a small town along the Maine coast, where the men are fishermen and the women work at Bascom’s Cotton Mill. Silence. And then an astonishing collection of lavishly costumed circus characters appears – a dancing bear, the strong man, a contortionist and other fabulous creatures parade around the revolving stage. A coup for Designer Ilona Somogyi who presents us with a wide range of costumes from the elaborate fantasy circus characters, to the soft-colored linen dresses worn by the women – fisherman gear and natty togs worn by the men.
 (L to R) Nicholas Rodriguez as Billy Bigelow and Betsy Morgan as Julie Jordan. Photo by Tony Powell. At this point we are still in mime mode. I am crestfallen. Until…the talking begins and Billy Bigelow, lowlife carnival barker (Nicholas Rodriguez), Mrs. Mullin (E. Faye Butler) amusement park impresario, and Julie Jordan (Betsy Morgan) adorable ingénue come to life – conversationally. Thank heavens! The music swells to Julie and Carrie’s duet “When I Marry Mr. Snow”, and it’s game on!
 (L to R) Kurt Boehm, Nicole Wildy, Thomas Adrian Simpson, Rayanne Gonzales and Ethan Kasnett. Photo by Maria Baranova. The story focuses on Julie and her enduring adoration of Billy who treats her worse than a junkyard dog. Billy, a low-life gambler, is fired from the park and down on his luck, with no prospects other than his upcoming marriage to Miss, I-am-in-serious-denial, Julie. With the help of his pal, Jigger (played skillfully and creepily by Kyle Schliefer) they concoct a scam to rob old Mr. Bascom (Thomas Adrian Simpson). While they’re up to no good, the townsfolk merrily carry on with their annual clambake and treasure hunt in “A Real Nice Clambake”.
Expect a phenomenal cast singing their heads off to the tunes we adore. Morgan lending her dulcet tones to songs like “If I Loved You”. Rodriguez blowing the roof off with his tremendous baritone in “Soliloquy” and “The Highest Judge of All”.
The production, directed by Molly Smith and choreographed by the multi-award winning Parker Esse, is a far cry from what we’ve come to expect from stale summer stock versions. This one comes at you freshly minted, with a white-washed stage set, and utterly captivating. The composer geniuses, Rodgers and Hammerstein II, would melt at the exquisite dance routines designed by Esse and the richly orchestrated music. We can thrill to duets like, “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, sung here in operatic style by Julie and Nettie (Ann Arvia).
The biggest surprise though comes in Act Two with the introduction of Louise, Billy’s daughter, played by masterfully by Skye Mattox. A mere slip of a girl who moves like spilled mercury, Mattox is as graceful as a prima ballerina and as fluid as a cool stream.
A twelve-member orchestra playing multiple instruments backs up the extraordinary cast.
Highly recommended.
Through December 24th at Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth St., SE, Washington, DC 20024. For tickets and information call 202 488-3300 or visit www.ArenaStage.org.
Samantha Lee
November 16, 2016
Photo credit – Samantha Lee
- Samantha Lee is a contributing restaurant reviewer for Whisk and Quill. We are pleased to share her experiences dining in the trendiest local Asian restaurants.
Walking from the U Street Metro Station to Izakaya Seki, you may notice a prominent chōchin beside a two-story brick townhouse’s front door. Made of shōjigami (a special type of paper), this traditional red lantern, constructed with a wooden or bamboo frame, is lit by a small candle and hung from bamboo sticks. In Japan these lanterns are commonly found outside shrines and small bars where the color red is said to bring good luck to the business. The term izakaya denotes a type of Japanese drinking establishment people visit after work, most notably for sake.
Before opening this restaurant, Chef Hiroshi Seki spent more than two decades as chef/owner of Seki, a successful sushi restaurant in St. Louis, MO. More recently he left the St. Louis area, to be closer to his daughter, Cizuka. Once here, the father-daughter team laid plans to for their partnership. While Cizuka didn’t attend culinary school, she did gain valuable experience working one week of 16-hour shifts at Den, a two Michelin-starred restaurant in Tokyo.
In August 2012, they opened Izakaya Seki, serving authentic Japanese comfort food and drinks. On the first level the Sushi Chef’s counter accommodates ten guests while on the second level, a dining room with small tables seats up 26 in a more intimate setting. Chef’s counter seating is hard to come by and it’s a great place to sit if you like to watch how your food is prepared. However, I prefer the upstairs dining room, which is quieter and has a more relaxing atmosphere.
The simple first floor décor features wall-hung vases and a few paintings. Along the stairway is a denim quilt and upstairs, among shelves of assorted sake bottles, are a pair of smaller paintings – one of a bear fishing and another of a bear eating.
The subject of the two paintings by Japanese contemporary artist Ryota Unno derive from Japanese folklore of the upland regions. One is of a polar bear and the other is an Asian black bear, also known as a “moon bear”, or white-chested bear, because of its crescent moon-shaped marking. In Japanese literature, the Asian black bear is associated with the mountain spirit.
Check out the drinks menu to find an extensive array of choices including sake, Japanese whiskeys, wines, Japanese craft beers, shochu, and cocktails. Shochu is a Japanese distilled alcoholic beverage made from rice, barley, sweet potatoes, buckwheat or brown sugar. It can also be made from chestnuts, sesame seeds, potatoes or carrots though those are less common.
You’ll note the food menu is separated into categories: ‘Raw’, ‘Grilled’, ‘Fried’, ‘Noodles’, ‘Rice’, and ‘Specials’. Our group consisted of five adults who shared many dishes from each menu.
 Tuna Tataki  Omakase Sashimi From the ‘Raw’ category, we chose the Tuna Tataki and Omakase Sashimi. The Tuna Tataki consisted of seared yellowfin tuna with ponzu sauce, topped with scallions and garlic chips. The Omakase Sashimi was a generous chef’s selection of assorted fish (including salmon, tuna, red snapper) and other kinds of seafood (including clam, octopus, squid, oyster, and shrimp). The plate was garnished with cucumber slices and lemon curls, and served with wasabi and pickled ginger. I enjoyed the freshness and wide variety of the sashimi.
 Saba Marinated in Sake and Miso From the ‘Grilled’ category, we selected the Saba Marinated in Sake and Miso. Saba is a fancy name for a Spanish Mackerel and is usually prepared with five ingredients – mackerel, miso, sake, mirin (sweet rice vinegar), and sea salt. In Asian cultures, a salty miso marinade is used to preserve foods. The caramel-colored mackerel is served with head intact on a banana leaf and accompanied by grape tomato, wasabi cream sauce over mountain of grated ginger and wedges of lime and lemon.
From the ‘Fried’ category, we opted for Vegetable Tempura and Baby Octopus. The vegetable tempura consists of seasonal vegetables – ours had pumpkin, eggplant, zucchini, onion, and purple sweet potato – battered in tempura batter. Its accompanying dipping sauce is made from a blend of mirin, soy sauce, and dashi stock. The octopus dish is five pieces of baby octopus breaded and deep fried, served with lemon wedge and sweet, but mildly spicy, shishito peppers.
From the ‘Meats’ category, we enjoyed the Kakuni, described as “slow braised silk pork’ it arrives as lean slices of pork belly slow-braised in a sweet soy sauce and garnished with grated ginger and handful of chopped scallions.
In the ‘Rice/Noodles’ category, Chahan is a savory blend of fried rice, shallots, shiso, soy, dashi broth, garlic, and butter with garlic chips and shiso leaf. Personally, I didn’t enjoy it as much. I found it to be too bitter. But my fellow dining partners loved it.
On the evening’s ‘Specials’ menu was Tamagoyaki, thin layers of pan-fried eggs rolled into a log and placed in rectangular tamagoyaki pan. It was served warm and you could tell each layer was seasoned. I was surprised that it wasn’t sweet like the tamago sushi, but rather natural tasting. Despite the eggy taste, it was one of my favorites.
 Warm egg omelet Instead of picking one of the desserts, we decided to try all the desserts on the menu – Purin with Sesame Sauce, Ginger Ice Cream and Mochi Rice Cakes with Red Beans. These desserts are small and not the best for sharing.
 Trio of desserts Purin is a cold custard pudding dessert similar to a flan but much silkier, creamier and firmer. It is made with four simple ingredients – milk, eggs, sugar and vanilla. It is shaped like a plumeria – a five-petaled flower symbolic of grace, delicacy and beauty. It is served in a sheer black sesame sauce and garnished with a slightly burnt plumeria-shaped butter cookie embossed with ‘SEKI’.
Ginger Ice Cream is two melon ball-sized scoops of homemade ginger ice cream garnished with the same cookie.
The Mochi Rice Cakes with Red Beans are made with red bean paste and topped with three powder-dusted mochi rice cakes garnished with sweet chestnut pickle. These rice cakes are made of sweet white flour, sugar and water and shaped like golf balls. The texture is soft and chewy at the same time. The sweet chestnut pickle is made of cinnamon bark, caster sugar, chestnuts and water. I enjoyed this dessert the most because it was very authentic and it brought back memories of my recent visit to Japan.
Overall, I liked The tuna tataki, omakase sashimi, saba, tamagoyaki, and mochi rice cakes with red beans, though you may want to try their cold buckwheat noodles, aka soba, which are hard to find in our area.
Izakaya Seki is the perfect venue for parties of all sizes, whether couples, friends or family. If you find yourself in the Cardoza neighborhood craving quality Japanese cuisine, I highly recommend you go. I know I’ll be back soon.
Izakaya Seki, 1117 V Street NW, Washington, DC 20001. 202 588.5841 www.sekidc.com
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