Love nights and jazz notes at the Sculpture Garden

Another party night at the Sculpture Garden at the National Gallery of Art/Photo by Patricia Leslie

In the distance is the dome of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and beyond it, the top of the Washington Monument, seen from one of the entrances to the Sculpture Garden.   In the winter, the Sculpture Garden's center becomes an ice rink/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Shoes are not required at the Sculpture Garden at the National Gallery of Art.  And shirts?/Photo by Patricia Leslie

This is an impressionist painting of a veggie sandwich hanging at the Sculpture Garden at the National Gallery of Art/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Hidden love under a Chagall umbrella at the Sculpture Garden at the National Gallery of Art/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Incendio made music at the Sculpture Garden at the National Gallery of Art on July 31, 2015/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The amount of visible grass at the Sculpture Garden set a record for the summer.  (You have to attend to know what I mean.)  A guard told me the week before was packed, and we mused about the reason.  The salsa dancing?  He said people were dancing galore.  Center in the photo is Joan Miró's Personnage Gothique, Oiseau-Éclair (Gothic Personage, Bird-Flash), 1974, cast 1977, bronze, Gift of The Morris and  Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation/Photo by Patricia Leslie

I can see clearly now the grass is there.
I can see all obstacles moved away.
Gone are the crowds that made me sad.
It's gonna be a bright (bright)
bright (bright) moonlighty night.
It's gonna be a bright (bright)
bright (bright) moonlighty night.

Oh, yes I can make it now the crowd is gone.
All of the bad feelings have disappeared.
Here is that seat I've been longing for.
It's gonna be a bright (bright)
bright (bright) moonlighty night.

(ooh...) Look all around, there's nothing but green grass.
Look straight ahead, there's nothing but green grass

This could be a park at the beach with a big, pink elephant to admire.  It was actually a lark in the park at the Sculpture Garden with Alexander Calder’s Cheval Rouge (Red Horse), 1974, on long-term loan from the Calder Foundation, New York/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Look at these beauts!  The latest in head fashion, newly arrived from Hermes for next year's entrants in New York City's Fifth Avenue Easter Parade/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Something which never changes at the Sculpture Garden's party nights:  the long line for the ladies room/Photo by Patricia Leslie

One last kiss, oh, baby, one last kiss, it never felt like this, oh, baby, not like this, you know I need your love, oh, oh, oh, oh, baby one last kiss at the Sculpture Garden at the National Gallery of Art/Photo by Patricia Leslie

This year is the 15th season of free sculptures in the jazz garden or free jazz in the Sculpture Garden (take your pick, they both are available) to be seen and heard on Friday evenings, now through the end of August at the National Gallery of Art's prized outdoor jewel.

Inside the gated community (outsider alcohol, verboten, with bag check) are fascinating sculptures to admire (both of the permanent and human varieties), live music to hear, and food and beverages to consume to launch the weekend celebration.   


Which sculpture is your favorite?  As you ponder the answer, you may settle on the meaning of life.  Stand at different corners of Roy Lichtenstein's House I (1996, fabricated 1998, fabricated and painted  aluminum, Gift of The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation) and watch it move.  What does it mean?  

Or consider Roxy Paine's Graft, (2008 – 2009, stainless steel and concrete, Gift of Victoria and Roger Sant) waving towards Capitol Hill.  It's easy to determine a meaning.

Last Friday night, it was not the band which stole the show, but the usual suspects:  the people, the scenery, the young, the old, the babies and bold were all on hand.  It's lots of fun. With lots of food and beverages to buy.  

Unless you bring your own chairs (which are allowed),  blankets, or towels, you may be standing, standing, standing, since unoccupied seating is not available unless you get there long before the opening bell.

Upon arrival I ducked in the cool (air conditioned) Pavilion Cafe to find just a few ahead of me in the food line, and my favorite dish, the hummus plate.  

I placed my order with the fellow behind the counter who skidded it across the counter top to me, and upon examination, I tossed it back:

"Where are my grape leaves? This is the wrong plate."

 "Oh," he said, "those were last year's menu.  I miss them, too."  So yesterday. 

Yesterday all my food plans since have gone astray,
Now the menu is in serious decay,

          And I may have to eat at the Subway

Suddenly I'm not as excited as I used to be.
There's a leaf hanging over me.
Oh, yesterday came suddenly.

Why grape leaves had to go, I don't know, no one would say.
They made dinner gong, and I long for yesterday.

Yesterday, eating hummus was such a holiday

       Now I found a place to hide away 
       Which may be on the dreaded subway 

And this was heard in passing:


Where have all the grape leaves gone, long time passing?
Where have all the grape leaves gone, long time ago?
Where have all the grape leaves gone?
Menu planners got them everyone.
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
 
With drooped shoulders and a sadness that only grape leaves could shatter, I made my way to the sweltering outdoors and the line for bar-be-cue.  And beer.

Alas!  No lite on draft!  Only Stella.  Pullease.

And no place to sit.  

Ho hummus, I bought some bar-be-cue.  (Honestly, these Nawrtherners don't know what bar-be-cue is. Have they ever been to the Saoyuth and tasted bar-be-cue?)

In a roped-off area, a guard stood on a stone wall where a fellow sat smoking near the constantly long line for the ladies room, and with the guard's permission, I sat down to eat.  No problems. Not even smoke got in my eyes.

But, Sculpture Garden:  Why so few seats?  I declare the number of bars at your party has doubled, and it does seem like seats have been removed to fit more people inside the province.

Sculpture Garden:  Have you ever been to the South and sat in grass and later discovered you've been devoured by invisible chiggers?  The aggravation lasts about five days, and you have to scratch in the most private of parts!  Once done, you will never sit in grass again, I don't care if it's plastic grass the Inuit have planted for decoration in Nunavut.

Sculpture Garden:  I do not sit in grass.  But, I do have a suggestion for a new sales item for your Friday night gigs:  towels for rent.


Party people, hurry!  There are not many Friday weekends left (4) before summer fun ceases, and soon, it will be brown and dull winter when the temperature may drop to minus 30, and we shall be frozen solid in our winter tombs.  Better to enjoy life now while we've got it!  

 Who: 
August 7   – Miles Stiebel (jazz violin)
August 14 – Origem (Brazilian jazz)
August 21 – Seth Kibel (clarinet)
August 28 – Afro Bop Alliance (Latin jazz)

When:  5 - 8:30 p.m. every Friday through August 28, 2015 (During the summer, the Sculpture Garden opens every day at 10 a.m. (11 a.m., Sunday) and closes at 7 p.m.)

Where:  The Sculpture Garden, National Gallery of Art, between Seventh and Ninth streets at Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. On the Mall.  

Admission: No charge, but you may want to bring some coins for drinks and treats.

Metro stations: Smithsonian, Federal Triangle, Navy Memorial-Archives.

For more information: 202-289-3360.  And/or check 
www.nga.gov/jazz for the latest information.

patricialesli@gmail.com

Last day for historic photographs at the National Gallery of Art

James Van Der Zee (1886-1983), Couple, 1924, National Gallery of Art, Washington

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Department of Photography at the National Gallery of Art, curators Sarah Greenough and Diane Waggoner selected 175 works from the Gallery's collection of almost 15,000 pictures for a special exhibition which traces photography's history from its inception in 1839 through the 1970s.

And today is the last day to see the exhibition entitled In Light of the Past: Celebrating 25 Years of Photography at the National Gallery of Art.

Talk about a job to choose one percent of a collection for commemoration! Imagine.

Weegee (1899-1968), The Critic, 1943, National Gallery of Art, Washington

Irving Penn (1917-2009),  Woman with Roses (Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn in Lafaurie Dress), Paris, 1950. National Gallery of Art, Washington

The cornerstone for the department was laid in 1949 by the artist Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986) and the estate of her husband, Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946) who donated Stieglitz's Key Set, including 1,600 prints, to the National Gallery.  Wikipedia labels it the world's largest and most complete collection of his photographs. 

Later, after a Stieglitz exhibition in 1983, and one in 1985 featuring works by Ansel Adams (1902 -1984), Virginia Adams donated her husband's Museum Set.
Berenice Abbott (1898-1991), Vanderbilt Avenue from East 46th Street, October 9, 1935,  National Gallery of Art, Washington

Helen Levitt (1918-2009), New York, c. 1942, National Gallery of Art, Washington

Some of the other photographers represented in the exhibition are Walker Evans, Paul Strand, Marianne Brandt, Harry Callahan, Diane Arbus, Robert Frank, Robert Adams, and William Eggleston.

Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-1879), The Mountain Nymph, Sweet Liberty, June 1866,  National Gallery of Art, Washington

Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-1879), Summer Days, 1866,  National Gallery of Art, Washington

Nadar (1820-1910), Honore Daumier, 1856/1858

National Gallery of Art, Washington

In conjunction with the exhibition, another one, The Memory of Time: Contemporary Photographs at the National Gallery of Art, Acquired with the Alfred H. Moses and Fern M. Schad Fund, (through September 13, 2015) expands the presentation in adjoining galleries with 76 works by international artists.

The people are grateful to the Trellis Fund for making the exhibition possible. 

What:  In Light of the Past: Celebrating 25 Years of Photography at the National Gallery of Art

When: Sunday, July 26, 2015, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Where: Ground Floor, West Building, National Gallery of Art, between Third and Seventh streets at Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. On the Mall.  (Closest exhibition entrance is on Seventh Street.)

Admission: No charge

Metro stations: Smithsonian, Federal Triangle, Navy Memorial-Archives, or L'Enfant Plaza

For more information: 202-737-4215 

patricialesli@gmail.com

Last chance to see 600 years of metalpoint at the National Gallery of Art

Otto Dix (1891-1969), Old Woman, 1932, metalpoint (probably silverpoint) and graphite (?) on white prepared paper. The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Art aficionados will want to be sure and see 100 distinctive metalpoint works at the National Gallery of Art before the show closes Sunday en route for London.

The "first comprehensive exhibition" of metalpoint, Drawing in Silver and Gold:  Leonardo to Jasper Johns, is laid out in chronological order beginning with art from the 14th century. Included are five works by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) and some by contemporary artists like Jasper Johns (b. 1930) and Susan Schwalb (b. 1940).

Hans Holbein the Elder (1465 -1524), Portrait of a Woman, c. 1508, silverpoint. National Gallery of Art, Woodner Collection.  The catalogue says Holbein knew this woman well, and drew her more than once.

A metalpoint artist uses a sharp pointed tool with metal on the end to make gold or silver point drawings of fine detail on specially treated paper, parchment, or wood.  The "carvings" cannot be erased. 

When he traveled to the Netherlands in 1520-1521, Albrecht Durer  (1471-1528) drew impressions of his trip in silverpoint sketchbooks.

Attributed to Jacquemart de Hesdin and others (active, 1384- after 1413), Sketchbook Formed of Six Panels of Prepared Boxwood, open to Women and Wild Men, c. 1390-1400.  Model book with drawings in metalpoint (probably silverpoint). The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, and one of the earliest pieces in the show which does not travel to London.

The technique almost died out near the end of the 16th century in Europe, but fascination in the 1890s with all things 15th century art revived it. Victorian artists and members of the public (including the Princess of Wales) bought kits and studied instruction they found in magazines.

The British Museum, owner of half the pieces in the exhibition, was the destination of many Victorian artists who visited that museum to see some of the very silverpoint examples now hanging at the National Gallery of Art.

Master of the Housebook (active, 1470-1500), Standing Lovers, c. 1485, metalpoint (probably silverpoint). Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett.  The catalogue says the artist, who may have worked in Frankfurt, was an anonymous contemporary of Hans Holbein the Elder. Unfortunately, the photographer (me) cut off his unusual footwear which is shown in the original at the show.  Where is his hand and what is he holding?

Marsden Hartley (1877-1943), Mont Sainte Victoire, 1927, metalpoint (probably silverpoint) on commercially prepared paper.

Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison.  The catalogue says Hartley's landscapes "were executed while he was living abroad [Paris], following in the footsteps of Paul Cezanne." 

In the present exhibition are five works by "one of the most prolific metalpoint artists of all time," Hans Holbein the Elder, three by Raphael, three by William Holman Hunt, two by Rembrandt van Rijn, five by Jacques de Gheyn II, two by Pisanello, two by Gerard David, and many more.

Joseph Stella (1877-1946), Self-Portrait, c. 1925, metalpoint (probably silverpoint) and graphite on white prepared paper. Philadelphia Museum of Art

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), A Bust of a Warrior, c. 1475/1480, silverpoint on cream prepared paper, on loan from The British Museum, London. The introduction to the catalogue calls this work "one of the most widely admired drawings in the history of art."

Charles Haslewood Shannon (1863-1937), Eight Studies of a Dead Mouse, 1896, silverpoint on white commercially prepared paper, on loan from The British Museum, London.  It is an example of the detail and refinement of the Aesthetic Movement. "Several of the whiskers are drawn in with a needle," according to the catalogue.

The National Gallery of Art organized Drawing in Silver and Gold in collaboration with The British Museum.

Lenders to the exhibition are museums and private collectors from around the world, including the Louvre and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

A color catalog of more than 300 pages is available in the shops, and a video in the exhibition demonstrates the methodology and tools.

The exhibition is made possible by a generous gift in memory of Melvin R. Seiden.   

What:  Drawing in Silver and Gold:  Leonardo to Jasper Johns

When: Now through Sunday, July 26, 2015, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sunday.

Where: Ground Floor, West Building, National Gallery of Art, between Third and Seventh streets at Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. On the Mall.  (Closest exhibition entrance is on Seventh Street.)

Admission: No charge

Metro stations: Smithsonian, Federal Triangle, Navy Memorial-Archives, or L'Enfant Plaza

For more information: 202-737-4215 

patricialesli@gmail.com

Barter Theatre's 'Southern Fried Nuptials' cooked the way you like it

From left are Andrew Hampton Livingston (Carter Canfield) and Carrie Smith Lewis (Harlene Frye) appearing in Barter Theatre's Southern Fried Nuptials/Photo by Justin Slone

You wouldn't go to this expecting Shakespeare, would you?

No, you come to find fried southern comfort and silliness for a fun time at the theatre tonight, and that's what you get, and more at Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia, about 20 miles north of the Tennessee-Virginia line.

Naturally, Southern Fried Nuptials is about a weddin' going wrong.

Get ready for a surprise with a twist of lemon.

The slow start is soon forgotten once the guffaws begin, with lines like: "A wife waits until after a weddin' to tell a husband how he feels." 

Or, "your past is standing in the living room," to echo the night's refrain: "What's past is past."(We wish.)

Harlene Frye (played by Carrie Smith Lewis) is the bride-to-be who speaks a mite too fast (which a microphone would help translate for the audience), with a mite too much of an affected Southern accent, trained by none other than her "brother," Dew Drop (Zacchaeus Kimbrell), who pulls double duty as the dialect coach for the play.

Atticus Van Leer (Justin Tyler Lewis) is Harlene's fiance and the best actor on stage, if one has to choose a "best," for he delivers one of the most convincing, wide-eyed performances of the production. 

Harlene's mom, Dorothy (Tricia Matthews) does all right, but the show stealer without a doubt, who makes the audience "howl" every time she comes on stage is the director, Mary Lucy Bivins, also performing dual roles as the unwelcome substitute wedding planner, Ozella Meeks (but "meeks," she ain't). 

Ozella's booming voice carries well throughout the theatre, and her bright yellow garment (by Karen Brewster) marks her like a canary in the woods:   "Where are my manners?" she says, answering a question:  "I must have left them in my pocketbook."

Holly Williams is the bride's sister, Sammy Jo LeFette, another Nuptials standout with her ability, sassiness,  and presentation. 

Says Sammy Jo to husband, Beecham (Sean Maximo Campos):  "I know I must be depressed because I am talking to you about it." 

The second show stealer, another "odd-ball" (aren't they all?  So unlike us) is Fairy June Cooper (love these Mississippi names) riotously portrayed by Kate Denson who grows on you as time passes, like waiting for a firecracker to explode, and you know it's gonna, you just don't know when and exactly what will come out.  Costume Designer Brewster dresses Fairy June exactly like one would expect. 

From left are Kate Denson (Fairy June Cooper), Paris Bradstreet (Martha Ann Fox), and Zacchaeus Kimbrell (Dew Drop) appearing in Barter Theatre's Southern Fried Nuptials/Photo by Justin Slone

Carter Canfield (Andrew Hampton Livingston) is the antagonist, the epitome of the handsome cowboy come to town with an "aw shucks, m'am, I aim to please" personality, that you just want to jump up on stage and smack him around some, he makes you so mad.

Other cast members are Paris Bradstreet who is Martha Ann Fox, Dorothy's business partner, and Michael Poisson as Vester Pickens (the names!), paramour-in-waiting for Dorothy, both whose performances match the Barter troupe's professionalism, reputation, and attractiveness, which get better and better.

The solo set (by William J. Buck) is filled with almost too many props which can detract from the dialogue: wedding gifts on the side board, family photos on the walls, furniture, an upstairs to the left, a kitchen entrance to the right.  (D.C.'s contemporary minimalist theatre sets for sad and depressing content contrast with shows like delightful Nuptials.)

Andrew Morehouse, the lighting designer, illuminates the stage so that not one wrinkle is spared, expanding his talents outside to Buck's well-crafted front porch, "hedges" and a slamming screen door (nice sound by Miles Polaski).

In the show I saw, Dew Drop experienced a costume malfunction when he left the stage for the kitchen and returned a few minutes later wearing a different outfit which suggested a new scene, but it was not (if the other actors don't leave and change, and no one remarks or improvises on his change).

Minutes later, Dewey went back to the kitchen (a "safe harbor" for one or more of the characters off and on all night) and reappeared on stage in his original gear, which always looked like pajama bottoms (trending), increasing intended (?) confusion. 

Mr. Kimbrell's age did not seem to fit his character for he is far beyond the implied 11 or 12 years which Dewey's role and apparel suggest. 

It seems to me that a little bit of Mississippi fried music would have complemented the presentation which was thoroughly entertaining without it. (Huh?)

Cindi A. Raebel is stage manager.

The play was written by Dietz Osborne and Nate Eppler whose website says they work out of the Southeastern U.S. on commission, generally writing comedies.

What:  Southern Fried Nuptials

When: Now through August 8, 2015

Where: Barter Theatre, 127 West Main Street, Abingdon, Virginia 24210. From Washington, drive out I66 West and down I81, about 5.5 hours if you don't stop to eat.

Tickets: Start at $34 with discounts for seniors, AAA, military, students, and groups.  Call 276-628-3991 or purchase tickets at the box office or on the Web.

Other Barter performances: The Barter runs simultaneous plays, and you may also want to see Marvelous Wonderettes, Mary Poppins, Keep on the Sunny Side, The Understudy, and for the children, Rapunzel or The Jungle Book, depending upon the calendar.

For more information: 276-628-3991

Accommodations: Prices in Abingdon range from plain to fancy. There's the lovely, quaint "fab 50s" motel on the hill at Exit 19, the Alpine, with old-fashioned but newly modernized huge rooms, and lawn chairs outside each door for guests to use for gazing at the peaceful hills and farmlands. Mountain air arrives in rooms via open windows. If it's fancier digs you prefer (and ghosts), check out "The Martha" (as in "Washington"), across the street from the Barter. Built in 1832 for a general's residence, it became a woman's college until it was overtaken by the Great Depression, which started a few years before the Barter opened.

"The Martha" is one of several places in Abingdon with theatre packages.

About  Abingdon: A beautiful town with stately trees, hanging baskets and big, old homes to admire, Abingdon was founded in 1776, and, according to Wikipedia, was likely named after Martha Washington's ancestral home in Oxfordshire, England. The U.S. version has a variety of good places to eat, see, browse, and visit, including a gentle nearby mountain trail, the Virginia Creeper, which is an easy walk or bike (with plentiful rentals available) all the way down.

Olney's 'The Producers,' a super smash hit

Leo Bloom (Michael Di Liberto) with his Showgirls in Olney Theatre Center's production of THE PRODUCERS. (Photo: Stan Barouh)

 

The Olney Theatre Center has outdone itself with the most entertaining area performance in memory.

From the get-go, The Producers rockets off the stage and doesn't stop until the end. You say "Mel Brooks," and I say "hilarious!"

Stage and television star (The Wire) Michael Kostroff plays the main character, Max Bialystock (with the emphasis on "stock"), a producer who adopts an accountant (Leo Bloom played by Michael Di Liberto) to be his co-producer of the worst performance on Broadway so they can take advantage of "creative accounting" and rake in the bucks when the show quickly dies.

"A man can make a fortune with a flop," Max realizes.

Max and Leo set out to find the worst title (what could go right with Springtime for Hitler?), hire the worst director (Jason Graae as Roger de Bris), and the worst actors to join the terrible team. It becomes as garish and awful a show as the title suggests, but the costuming by Seth M. Gilbert is oh, la, la.

To secure "creative financing," Max calls upon his retinue of "little ole ladies" with deep pockets who still like to frolic, and, imagine...they look and dress alike. (In identical costumes and hair styles, they dance later on with their walkers which become props which become tap shoes.)

Michael Kostroff as Max Bialystock, Jessica Jaros as Ulla, and Michael Di Liberto as Leo Bloom in Olney Theatre Center's production of THE PRODUCERS. (Photo: Stan Barouh)

A blonde bombshell a la MM, "Ulla" (with a faithful rendition by Jessica Jaros), joins the duo to "help out," and add more hilarity.

I loved!  loved!  loved!  (and so did the audience) the fairy queen/king, Carmen Ghia (Robert Mintz) the director's assistant who flitted, who floated, and flew around the stage like Tinkerbelle in lilac.

With the exception of two off-key horns for a few seconds, the orchestra (under the direction of  Darius Smith with assistance from Christopher Youstra) seemed sharper and more polished than usual.

While it is true that you won't walk out humming or singing any of the songs, The Producers (introduced to Broadway in 2001) still holds the record for winning the most Tonys (12). (In another funny scene--heck, they all are--Max and his team stop and move in slow motion when the name "Tony" pops up.  "You say Tony?" Max whispers slowly.)

On opening night the actors skillfully handled some improv (the trip), which happened fast, but the audience quickly grabbed on, increasing the pleasure.

James Fouchard, scenic designer, must have gotten an early look at the new exhibition at the National Gallery of Art, Gustave Caillebotte:  The Painter's Eye anchored by Caillebotte's Paris Street, Rainy Day, for the likeness becomes The Producers' set anchor, too. 

Andrew F. Griffin's excellent lighting design works the entire night, from a single spotlight on a prisoner to lights changing the sky and the city scenes.

One word in the lights at the end made me wince, however: moron. Don't they know?

Others in the cast are Stephen F. Schmidt as Franz, and in the ensemble, Brandon Ambrosino, Kurt Boehm, Jennifer Cameron, Jennifer Cordiner, Gabriella DeLuca, Lance E. Hayes, John Jeffords, Amanda Kaplan, Ethan Kasnett, Emily Madden, Nurney, Natalie Perez-Duel, Derek John Tatum, and Vicky Winter.

This is a production I believe will earn Helen Hayes nominations, as in:

Outstanding Resident Musical

Outstanding Ensemble in a Musical

Outstanding Director of a Musical: Mark Waldrop

Outstanding Choreography in a Musical: Tara Jean Valley

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical: Michael Kostroff

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Musical: Jessica Jaros

Outstanding Supporting Actor: in a Musical:  Robert Mintz

What: The Producers, a new Mel Brooks Musical

Age recommendation: For 13 and up

When: Now through July 26, 2015 (look for an extension) at 8 p.m., Wednesdays through Saturdays, with weekend matinees at 2 p.m., and Wednesday matinees, July 15 and July 22, at 2 p.m.

Where: Olney Theatre Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney, MD 20832

How much: Tickets start at $38, with discounts for military, groups, seniors, and students. 

Duration:  About 2.5 hours with one intermission.

Refreshments: Available for purchase and may be taken to seats.

Parking: Abundant, free, and on-site

For more information: 301-924-3400

For more reviews of The Producers and other plays, go to DC Metro Theater Arts.

patricialesli@gmail.com

Photos from the 2015 World Police and Fire Games, Fairfax County

In memoriam:  Carlos Silva, 48, Brazil, killed in a cycling accident July 2 at the World Police and Fire Games

At the World Police and Fire Games at Lerner Town Square at Tysons Sunday afternoon, children played in the sand while Norway's beach volleyball team practiced/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The fittest, best-looking men in the world are in Fairfax County this week, athletes in the World's Police and Fire Games.

And for once, the customary area ratio of women to men is turned upside down. (How do you like 1 to 9?)

Here's a link to a newspaper story and the website which lists the games schedule. Check it before you go for what's listed is not always right, but, for sure, at Lerner Town Square at Tysons II, the beer is pretty cheap ($4) and so are the tacos with meat ($2) and you can get "loaded" snow cones ($8), too. At Lerner's, the dodge ball competition is on tap from 4 - 8 p.m. tomorrow.

(You don't need a car to get to the Tysons games.  They are right beside the Tysons Metro station.)

Lots of fun, food, and good lookins'! Enjoy!

Washington's Area Law Enforcement hockey team (in dark blue) played the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at the Reston Skatequest/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Seattle sent its finest area firefighters to play ice hockey. From left are Michael Lingrey, Everett; Joel Willits, Kent; Ryan Berg, Tukwila; Lee Allen, Seattle; and Andrew Polmateer, Hoquiam/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Pull-ups were part of the "Toughest Competitor Alive" contest at Westfield High School in Chantilly/Photo by Patricia Leslie

At the "Toughest Competitor Alive" contest at Westfield High School in Chantilly/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Pull-ups at the "Toughest Competitor Alive" contest at Westfield High School in Chantilly/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Boise, Idaho's Kathlyn Peterson (on left) is a world volunteer/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Try lifting 225 pounds, why doncha? At the crossfit contest at the World Police and Fire Games at Lerner Town Square at Tysons /Photo by Patricia Leslie

Kim Holway was the world champion female weight lifter at past World Police and Fire Games. Here she attempts 165 pounds as part of the crossfit competition at Lerner Town Square at Tysons Sunday afternoon, /Photo by Patricia Leslie

Success for Kim Holway at the World Police and Fire Games at Lerner Town Square at Tysons Sunday afternoon/Photo by Patricia Leslie

At the World Police and Fire Games at Lerner Town Square at Tysons Sunday afternoon, Fairfax's best wanted headgear action from Norway/Photo by Patricia Leslie

P.S.  Sorry to read about the Russian policeman, a hockey player, who got arrested Tuesday for stealing at the Macy's at Tysons Galleria.

patricialesli@gmail.com