Looking to enjoy a night on the town? Whether you want to support local artists at the gallery or catch the latest play, you’ll find the best of the arts at these NoVA favorites.
Art Gallery
Winner
Workhouse Arts Center
Local, regional, and international artists are all represented in the four primary gallery spaces here. Recent exhibits have included collections of photography, Japanese sumi-e–style paintings and calligraphy, and forward-thinking sculpture. 9518 Workhouse Wy., Lorton
Runner-Up
Torpedo Factory Art Center
As the name suggests, this building was indeed founded as a munitions plant. Now, it’s filled with more working artists’ open studios than any other single location in the United States. The denizens of those 82 studios create work that’s shown in eight different galleries, with everything from fiber arts to enamels on display. 105 N. Union St., Alexandria
Museum
Winner
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
Both kids and adults will marvel at the plane-packed hangars here. One contains Discovery, the third space shuttle orbiter to make it all the way out of our atmosphere. Another major attraction is an example of the supersonic Concorde. Anyone who has ever flown (or wished to) will marvel at the feats of engineering, some of which date back as far as World War I. 14390 Air and Space Museum Pkwy., Chantilly
Runner-Up
Lucy Burns Museum
From 1901 to 1998, the Lorton Prison Complex was a humane new model for prisons around the country. Named for suffragist Lucy Burns, one of many held at the facility, this museum emphasizes the events that led to the passage of the 19th Amendment. 9518 Workhouse Wy., Lorton
Stand-Up Comedy
Winner
Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse
There are movie screenings here (The Blues Brothers is playing this month as part of Bluesfest Weekend), but comedy shows are the theater’s bread and butter. The performers include everyone from Saturday Night Live cast members to local acts. Just be prepared to eat, drink, and be merry. 2903 Columbia Pk., Arlington
Runner-Up
Capital One Hall
Names like Whitney Cummings, David Spade, and Rob Schneider are no strangers to the stage at this brand-new venue. With less than a year in operation, the Tysons theater is bound to make itself known as a top-flight comedy house in our region. 7750 Capital One Tower Rd., Tysons
Theater House
Winner
Signature Theatre
Show your Sondheim-geek pride with some swag from the gift shop, and then venture into the black box theater, configured specially for the production you’re about to see. This summer, it will be The Color Purple, a soulful, Tony Award–winning musical based on the famous novel and film, starring Broadway performer Felicia Curry. 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington
Runner-Up
Capital One Hall
It’s exciting just to be seated in this sleek new theater, which is modeled on Broadway theaters of the 1920s and ’30s, updated for today. Then, music fills the sharply sloped room, where 1,600 people at once take in classic musicals and new compositions alike, all in modern comfort. 7750 Capital One Tower Rd., Tysons
Feature image courtesy The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
This story originally ran in our June issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to our monthly magazine.
