By Eliza Berkon, Winn Duvall, Stefanie Gans, Beth Kellmurray and Lynn Norusis
This week, Northern Virginia Magazine editors are looking forward to a Beatles tribute show at Wolf Trap and an ’80s nostalgia-heavy concert at the Verizon Center, plus what we’re watching and reading right now.
Dinner and a movie at GreenFare
June 21, 7-8:30 p.m.
Vastly different than the cloying TBS show Dinner and Movie, the dinner this time is organic, vegan and prepared with no oil and no added salt, and the very non-rom com film is the sobering documentary Food Choices. Anyway should be a fun night out, no? –SG // GreenFare: 408 Elden St., Herndon
Freedom at last, and with some tunes
June 23
Like many parents in Northern Virginia, this weekend I am celebrating school being out. My Friday will start with loading both of my boys on the bus for the last time (at least for nine weeks) and heading into work. I’ll be taking a half-day so I can make it back to the bus stop in time—my neighborhood has a tradition of a party at the bus stop with popsicles, water balloons, music (showcasing Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out”) and, maybe, a special treat for the parents. But later that night my family and I are starting a summer of relaxation with a concert at Wolf Trap: The Beatles Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band 50th Anniversary. –LN // Wolf Trap: 1551 Trap Road, Vienna
Seeing The Big Sick
In theaters June 23
Despite all the conveniences we have when it comes to entertainment consumption (Netflix, HBO, Amazon Prime, Hulu—I can’t keep up), nothing quite beats going to the movie theater (despite ever-rising ticket prices and blockbuster franchises and remakes offering diminishing returns). This weekend, I plan on seeing The Big Sick, written by Silicon Valley actor Kumail Nanjiani, who’s Pakistani-American, about his real-life relationship with his now-wife, a white woman, and bridging the cultural gap between their families. –BK
Forever Your Girl
June 25, 7:30 p.m.
This Sunday, I’m heading to the Verizon Center for what will no doubt be one of the best concerts in history: The Total Package Tour. At what other time can one patron see the magic of Boyz II Men, NKOTB and Paula Abdul on one stage? As I’ve always longed to be one of Paula’s or Britney Spears’ backup dancers, I may have to wear spandex and sequins just in case she needs a bit of help. –EB // Verizon Center: 601 F St. NW, Washington, DC
Hitting the pool with good reads
Pool season is going on its fourth week, and I have yet to spend a Saturday enjoying the heat and humidity while doing nothing on a lounge chair. But then last Sunday, two longtime library holds came in: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (after seemingly everyone on earth has already read and discussed it) and The Accusation by Bandi (a novel about life under North Korea’s oppressive dictatorship). Not exactly lighthearted beach reads, but they’re the push I need to get in my poolside time before the summer gets away from me. –WD
Find out more of what’s going on in NoVA this week at our events calendar.
