In Paris 150 years ago, an exhibition featuring works by Cézanne, Degas, Monet, Renoir (above), and others shook the art world. This anniversary exhibit, co-organized by the Musée d’Orsay, celebrates what was once considered an avant-garde shock to the senses.
Woodbridge native Collins Obinna Chibueze’s year has been a real shadoozey: He showed up on two tracks on Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, then scored a monster number-one hit with his country anthem “A Bar Song (Tipsy).”
Theater
Life of Pi
December 17, 2024–January 5, 2025
Photograph of Life of Pi by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade.
While Washingtonians await the new pandas’ arrival, theatergoers will be astounded by the sight of a Bengal tiger on the Kennedy Center stage. Okay, it’s not a real animal: This hit musical uses puppetry to bring to life the novel about a boy stranded on a lifeboat with a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan, and that magical tiger.
Theater
Babbitt
October 1–27
Photograph of Babbitt artwork by La Jolla Playhouse.
In this production of playwright Joe DiPietro’s take on the Sinclair Lewis satire, Matthew Broderick stars as the eponymous everyman who tries to break out of American conformity. While the novel may be a classroom staple, this production should have plenty of contemporary resonances.
Music
Magnetic Fields
October 17–20
Photograph of Magnetic Fields by Jim Saah, courtesy of The Atlantis.
Shuffling effortlessly from synth-pop to folk-rock over the course of a three-hour tour de force, the 1999 triple album 69 Love Songs remains an indie-pop landmark. The band, led by Stephen Merritt, will celebrate its 25th anniversary with a four-night stand.
Theater
The Other Americans
October 18–November 24
Photograph of The Other Americans by The Boathouse, courtesy of Arena Stage.
Actor John Leguizamo wrote and directed this play, which is having its world premiere here. He’ll also star as the main character, a Queens laundromat owner who tries to keep his family afloat in a hard world.
Museums
“Felix Gonzalez-Torres: Always to Return”
October 18, 2024–July 6, 2025
Photograph of photo of Gonzalez-Torres work by Yan Tao, Courtesy of Rockbund Art Museum.
This Cuban-born artist was 38 when he died in 1996 from an AIDS-related illness. His unconventional sculpture and installation art creates minimalist portraits through found objects, as with his “Untitled (Portrait of Ross in L.A.),” above, which is made out of candy. This is the first major DC exhibit of his work in more than 30 years.
From The Gold Bug Variations to The Overstory, the Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist weaves sprawling tales that push in unexpected directions. Playground, his latest dramatic puzzle, imagines a world in which floating cities are sent out onto the ocean.
DC-born rapper Woods and Rockville-raised producer Segal made Maps, one of last year’s best-reviewed albums. But this tour celebrates the five-year anniversary of their previous acclaimed collaboration, Hiding Places, which they’ll perform in its entirety.
Music
HFStival
September 21
Photograph of Death Cab for Cutie by Kevin Winter.
Radio station WHFS may be long gone, but the popular alt-rock festival named for it is making an unexpected return after having hung up its Doc Martens back in 2004. The bill includes Death Cab for Cutie (above), the Postal Service, Incubus, and Garbage.
A version of this article appears in the September 2024 issue of Washingtonian.
