C2
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Tweetless for a cause
THE RELIABLE SOURCE It’s ghoul time at the White House
Roxanne Roberts and Amy Argetsinger
From a press release for a campaign promoting autism awareness: “Steven Seagal has joined celebrities like Fran Drescher, Deepak Chopra, Miranda Kerr and Holly Robinson Peete in making the commitment to voluntarily forgo their Twitter and Facebook activities during Communication Shutdown on November 1, 2010 — have you?” Sigh. We’re too nice to make fun of a perfectly well-intentioned awareness campaign (which also seeks $5 donations through Facebook and Twitter), so we’ll just leave you with a few questions: If not alerted, would you otherwise have been worried Monday to not see any tweets from Steven Seagal? (The ’90s action star has tweeted a dozen times in 2010, and only once since May. This exercise may pose more of a challenge forNew Age guru Chopra, who put out at least 40 tweets Sunday, and actress Robinson Peete, who kept her followers up to date on the Redskins-Lions game.) Does this mean bigger-name celebs who tweet on Monday (we’ll be watching you, Kanye and Lady Gaga) don’t care about autism? If we donate more, can we get them all to stay off?
reliable source from C1
several local schools were invited for the festivities, which included a brass band, actors dressed as Dracula, Frankenstein and Wolfman, and an elaborate pumpkin display and carving demonstration. Also: menacing scarecrows, constructed from pumpkin heads and cornstalk bodies, and a mobile of flying bats hanging under the White House portico. The pumpkin-carving team — we’re talking some serious pumpkin people here — was assembled for the party by chef James Parker, a champion fruit and vegetable carver who owns Veggy Art in Chantilly. Parker has created centerpieces for the White House before, but this time got carte blanche to go a little crazy. “This is the first time they said, ‘Make
whatever you want with pumpkins,’ ” he told us. “I said yes before I even knew what I wanted to do.” Small problem: Parker’s a master at fruits and most veggies — but not pumpkins. Not really his thing. “They are something completely different,” he admitted. “I’ll just play to my creative strengths and just treat it like another vegetable. It’s just a little bigger.” He also asked the top competitors from
Food Network’s “Outrageous Pumpkins” — including champ Ray “The Pumpkin Diva” Villafane — to carve 12 showpieces for the White House. Parker’s contribution: A 3-by-4-foot haunted house made entirely out of pumpkins. “I used to be scared of pumpkins,” Parker said. “I’m slowly getting over it.”
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2010
PETER KRAMER/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Country star Randy Travis and Elizabeth “Lib” Hatcher have ended their marriage.
TIM SLOAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
NOT SO SCARY: First lady Michelle and President Obama, herewith two ghouls, gave out treats on the North Portico to local children and those from military families.
LOVE, ETC. Divorced: Country star Randy Travis and his wife-manager, the former Elizabeth “Lib” Hatcher, his rep told the Associated Press. A relationship like something out of a country song: She discovered the then-teenage singer 34 years ago in a talent contest at the North Carolina nightclub she owned with her then-husband; they married in 1991, after his career took off. Amicable divorce: She’s going to keep managing his career.
UPDATE It was a successful week, all said and done, for Hillary Dobbs at the
“When ur in ur 20s u think these old 40 yr olds have it figured out . . . not true!”
MARTIN SCHOELLER FOR GLAMOUR
Queen Rania in Amman, Jordan, posing for the “Women of the Year” issue of Glamour.
— Queen Rania of Jordan, said to be one of the tech-savviest, social-media-friendliest monarchs in the world, in a recent tweet noted in Glamour’s 20th annual Women of the Year Awards issue. The magazine will honor the queen this month for her work promoting girls’ education.
Washington International Horse Show.Neither the daughter of ex-CNN commentator Lou Dobbs nor her fellow celeb-equestrienne Georgina Bloomberg (daughter of N.Y.C. Mayor Mike) placed in the big-money ranks of Thursday night’s $30,000 open jumper class at Verizon Center, reports our colleague T. Rees Shapiro. But Dobbs and her horse,Marengo, placed second that same night for a $4,000 prize in the “gambler’s choice” competition, which (fun!) involved wearing costumes. Dobbs dressed as the Flash; Bloomberg, as a nun, won $600 in ninth place. Bloomberg won a couple other three-digit prizes last week, but Dobbs (at 22, the youngest rider to win $1 million on the circuit) scooped up $1,200 in a Friday competition — and then another $15,000 on Saturday for winning the pair relay with Shane Sweetnam.
GOT A TIP ? E-MAIL U S A T RELIABLESOURCE@WASHP OST . COM. FOR THE LA TEST SCOOPS, VISIT WASHINGTONP OST . COM/RELIABLESOUR CE THEATER REVIEW
At Lincoln, ‘Sanctified’ is a mixed blessing Musical comedy spins a
witty tale of characters but for a little too long
by Celia Wren
The “Let’s put on a show!” blue- print — a longtime staple of thea- ter and film — gets a gospel spin in the tuneful and amusing, if tor- toise-paced, musical comedy “Sanctified.” Delivered to the Lin- coln Theatre by a distinguished roster of artists, the production chronicles the kooky struggle of a cash-strapped African American church to mount a hymn-belting revival.
Will East Piney Grove Baptist
get its act together before curtain time? Will the pianist be sober when she hits the ivories? The is- sue is never in doubt. But en route to the uplifting finale, the musi- cal’s book writer — dramatist Ja- von Johnson — supplies enjoy- ably eccentric characters and droll dialogue, creating a witty, if overlong, framework for Rollo A. Dilworth’s rousing original gos- pel songs.
Of course, heartfelt messages, both religious and more loosely inspirational, also find their way into the musical. Director Derrick Sanders conducts the action be- fore a large stained-glass window, the dominant feature of designer Tony Cisek’s simple set. Within East Piney Grove’s grungy walls, its young leader, Pastor Harold P. Jones (John McClure Jr.), aims to save his congregation from finan- cial disaster. His ambitions are many, and so, too, are his management chal-
MUSIC REVIEW STAN BAROUH
IN TIME: At front, from left, Kasaun T. Wilson, John McClure Jr. and Ashley Jeudy with others dance in the often rousing “Sanctified.”
lenges: The choir clings to tired musical traditions; accompanist Thelma (Woolly Mammoth Thea- tre Company member Jessica Frances Dukes) is constantly sloshed; and singers like the can- tankerous Clara (Almonica Cald- well) and the self-important Dea- con (an aptly glowering Frederick Strother) would rather bicker than rehearse. Thank heavens for a mysterious pair of couriers, Sir and Mister (William T. Newman Jr. and Joshua Nelson), a.k.a. the Dum-Dum-Ditty Delivery Boys, who arrive with a state-of-the-art drum set and synthesizer, plus wisdom and wisecracks. “There’s obviously been a mis-
take,” the Deacon fulminates as the boxes arrive. “Flavor Flav and reality TV,
that’s a mistake,” the smart-alecky Mister retorts. “This a delivery!” Dramatist Johnson has no trouble crafting such hip repar- tee, as well as robust dialogue about spirituality and filthy lucre.
DOONESBURY by Garry Trudeau
(“Pastor, greed is the devil’s hic- cup, and it will choke you every time if you don’t drink from God’s water,” the choir’s resident sage, Sarah — the pizazz-packing Ber- nardine Mitchell — quips at one point.) But then, Johnson is a multitalented guy: Known for writing plays such as “Hambone” and “Runaway Home” (both mounted at the Studio Theatre earlier this decade), he’s also an actor, with credits that range from August Wilson’s work to the film “Barbershop 2.” The cast brings zest to John-
son’s and Dilworth’s reams of ma- terial. (Musical Director Ray- mond Reeder contributed to the score. “Sanctified” made its world premiere in Chicago in 2009.) The most delightful performer is perhaps Nelson, whose baseball- cap-sporting Mister careens from streetwise scrappiness to saga- cious calm. Newman brings top- drawer comic timing to Dum- Dum-Ditty Delivery’s other half,
and the duo’s early song “I’ll Be Mister, You’ll Be Sir” is among the score’s most infectious. The opera-ready Mary Millben (Arena Stage’s “Sophisticated La- dies,” etc.) revels in the snootiness of Sister Pauletta Denise Jones, the pastor’s La Scala-honed cousin. (Costume designer Reggie Ray has a field day with Pauletta’s showily chic outfits.) And Kasuan T. Wilson is endearingly obstrep- erous as the teenage Jamal, who hankers to fuse gospel with gang- ster rap. (Wilson, Nelson and the poised Ashley Jeudy, who plays Jamal’s R&B-inclined sister, are Howard University students.) On opening weekend, the pro-
duction seemed to be coping with some acoustical challenges, which made the lyrics hard to hear. A more substantial problem is the show’s nearly three-hour length; Johnson may need to trim some of his funny, soul-gladden- ing lines before “Sanctified” truly earns a theatrical halo.
style@washpost.com
Wren is a freelance writer. Sanctified written by Javon Johnson; music by
Rollo A. Dilworth. Directed by Derrick Sanders; musical direction, Raymond
Reeder; lighting design, William H. Grant III; sound, Elisheba Ittoop; wig master,
Gregory Bazemore. 2 hours 45 minutes. Through Nov. 14 at the Lincoln Theatre, 1215 U St. NW. For information, call 202-328-6000 or visit www.
letsgetsanctified.com or www.
thelincolntheatre.org. For tickets, call 202-397-7328 or visit www.ticketmaster. com.
Corin Tucker, on her own and holding her own, too
by Mark Jenkins Over seven albums made be-
tween 1995 and 2005, preemi- nent riot-grrl band Sleater Kin- ney moved from scrappy punk to a bigger, more mainstream rock style. Friday night at the Black Cat, Sleater Kinney singer-guitar- ist Corin Tucker continued that journey. In its first area gig, the Corin
Tucker Band played every tune from its debut album, “1,000 Years.” Tucker hasn’t lost her spir- it or grounded her stratospheric voice, but she seemed more her- self when singing other people’s songs than her own solid but largely uninspiring new material. Ably assisted by a three-piece band that included D.C. punk vet- eran Seth Lorinczi on guitar and keyboards, Tucker recast classic rock with such numbers as “Ri- ley,” an unabashed variation on “So You Want to Be a Rock and Roll Star.” (At least it sounded more like Patti Smith’s version than the Byrds’ original.) The Portland, Ore., musician switched to acoustic guitar (mi- nus the album’s string section) for such power ballads as “It’s Al- ways Summer,” which seemed overly controlled. Where Sleater Kinney pulled in opposite direc- tions, creating a glorious tension, the Corin Tucker Band focused all too effectively on its namesake, rendering its music safer and less surprising. The energy swelled during the
last five songs: “Doubt,” the “1,000 Years” song most reminis-
CUL DE SAC by Richard Thompson
KYLE GUSTAFSON FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
YOU GO, GRRL: Former Sleater Kinney member Corin Tucker with her new band Friday at the Black Cat.
cent of Tucker’s earlier band, and four covers. The surge began with “It’s Obvious,” a feminist anthem by British post-punkers the Au Pairs, and crested with “Cool,” by Georgia funk-punk minimalists Pylon. Less frantic but no less en- gaging was Sheila E.’s “The Glam- orous Life.” If the tune wasn’t par- ticularly well suited to Tucker, her enjoyment of performing it was infectious.
style@washpost.com Jenkins is a freelance writer.
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