Arts & Entertainment

Sounds of the season

Local holiday concert offerings wildly eclectic

Published

16 years ago

November 18, 2010

The Kinsey Sicks, a drag singing ensemble, will be at the D.C. JCC in December. (Photo courtesy of the Kinsey Sicks)

The Duke Ellington School of Arts (3500 R St., N.W.) will be performing “Dreamgirls” in December. Evening performances will be at 7:30 from Dec. 2 through Dec. 18. There will be afternoon performances at 2 p.m. on Dec. 4, 11 and 18. A special gala night will be held Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. featuring original Dreamgirl, Jennifer Holliday. Tickets for the evening and afternoon shows are $25, $30 or $35 and can be purchased by calling 202-337-4825 or visiting ww.ellingtonschool.org. Tickets for the gala can be purchased by emailing [email protected] or by calling 202-333-2555, ext. 2101.

The Kinsey Sicks, a “dragapella beautyshop quartet,” will be performing “Oy Vey in a Manger” from Dec. 18 to Jan. 2 at Theater J in the Washington DCJCC’s Aaron and Cecile Goldman Theater (1529 16th St., N.W.). Regular performances will be on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 and 7:30 p.m. There will be two preview shows, one on Dec. 18 at 8 p.m. and the other on Dec. 19 at 3 p.m. There will also be a special matinee before the official opening on Nov. 26 at 2 p.m. Other performances will be on Dec. 21 and 28 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $35 to $60 and can be purchased by calling 800-494-TIXS or visiting boxofficetickets.com.

The Washington National Cathedral has several holiday events happening this season. On Nov. 22, its annual “O Come Let Us Adore Him” exhibit of nativity scenes opens to the public. It will be open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Sundays from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. The Cathedral’s choirs will also be performing Handel’s “Messiah” on Dec. 3 at 7:30 p.m., Dec. 4 and Dec. 5 at 4 p.m. Tickets range from $25 to $85. The Cathedrals Joy of Christmas concert will be Dec. 11 and 12 at 4 p.m. featuring a grand procession and several well-known favorites from holiday standards. Tickets range from $25 to $85. A Christmas pageant will be held on Dec. 18 at 2 p.m. That same day, the Cathedral will be hosting carols by candlelight at 6 p.m. as well as on Dec. 19 at 4 p.m. Visit nationalcathedral.org to purchase tickets for any event.

Strathmore has many holiday events coming up this season. On Nov. 27, at the Music Center at Strathmore, the Mormon Orchestra and Chorus of Washington will be performing their holiday concert, “O Come Let Us Adore Him.” A sold out Hanukkah tea will be served at the Mansion at Strathmore on Nov. 30 at 1 p.m. Dec. 1 brings the King’s Singers to the Music Center at 8 p.m. with a holiday program. The 2010 Kenny G Holiday Show is on Dec. 2 at 8 p.m. at the Music Center. A child-friendly “Mrs. Claus Tea” will be served on Dec. 4 at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. at the Mansion. “A Smooth Jazz Christmas” will be at the Music Center on Dec. 6 at 8 p.m. with Dave Koz and Friends. For tickets information for all events, visit strathmore.org.

The Hylton Performing Arts Center has two holiday events coming up. First up is “A Rockapella Holiday” on Dec. 3 at 8 p.m. in Merchant Hall. Rockapella is a five-man a cappella group best known for its “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” theme song. This program features classics such as “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” as well as popular new pieces like “Little Mary Snowflake” and a funky new version of “The Dreidel Song.” On Dec. 5 at 4 p.m. in Merchant Hall, the Center presents “Christmas in Ireland: An Nollaig in Eirinn” featuring the band, Danu. Tickets for both events are $28, $36 or $44 and can be purchased by visiting hyltoncenter.org.

Many different venues will be hosting a production of “The Nutcracker.” The Kennedy Center Opera House will hosts the Joffrey Ballet on Nov. 24 at 7:30 p.m. The Warner Theatre hosts the Washington Ballet performing the family classic on Dec. 2 at 7 p.m. The Music Center at Strathmore has another production by the Moscow Ballet on Dec. 8 and 9 at 7:30 p.m. The Manassas Ballet Theater will be performing the show on Dec. 11 at the Hylton Performing Arts Center. The Gay Men’s Chorus will perform its own rendition of the Nutcracker, “Men in Tights: A Pink Nutcracker” at the Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University on Dec. 17 at 8 p.m., Dec. 18 at 3 and 8 p.m. and Dec. 19 at 3 p.m.

The Metropolitan Community Church of Washington will have its Christmas concert on Dec. 3 at 7:30 p.m. and Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. The Church will have two Christmas Eve worship services, one at 8 p.m. and the other at 11 p.m.

D.C.’s Different Drummers will be marching in Fredericksburg, Va., holiday parade on Dec. 4 at noon. They will also have a holiday concert on Dec. 12 from 3 to 5 p.m. A location for the concert has not been announced yet.

Books

New book reveals what we can learn from animal sex

‘Poking the Squid’ on homosexuality, gender swapping, and more

Published

5 hours ago

July 13, 2026

Terri Schlichenmeyer

(Book cover image courtesy W.W. Norton)

‘Poking the Squid: What We Can Learn from Animal Sex’
By Perrin Roosevelt Ireland
c.2026, W.W. Norton
$29.99 241 pages

Birds do it.

According to Cole Porter, bees do, too, but it’s not exactly what he imagined. Wild and tame, avians, insects, and mammals all have sex – although not always as you’ve been told or for reasons you might think. Even educated fleas do it and, as in the new book, “Poking the Squid” by Perrin Roosevelt Ireland, humans can learn from them all.

If you read through scientific papers on animal reproduction, you might notice something unusual: for scientists, the word “sex” means a lot of different things.

Says Ireland, “It’s used to describe behaviors, biology, life histories, and more.”

That might be because animals are not simply binary.

Take, for instance, hyenas. It’s easy for the casual observer to mistake a male hyena for a female and vice versa because of stereotypes of anatomy. Mating, for hyenas, requires subordination for the male and a nifty trick on the part of the female’s body to get things done.

Our feathered friends are no birdbrains, either: black-browed albatrosses were once thought to be monogamous but global warming seems to have changed their nesting habits sometimes. Male flamingos have sex with one another, as a territorial thing; other birds and animals form same-sex pairs for other reasons.

The Chinese mantis eats her mate after fertilization. Female snakes, alpacas, guinea pigs, and monkeys are anatomically able to enjoy sex. Genitalia between species varies quite a bit; in fact, the vaginas of ducks “are highly complex.” Lionesses will mate up to 100 times when in heat. Female damselflies will change into a “third sex” to avoid overly aggressive mating males. Bearded dragons can change their sex, if needed, as can yellow clown goby fish. And seahorse pregnancy and birth sparked a book banning in Tennessee.

So, asks Ireland, if animals, including us, vary so much in biology and life, “… why are we using the word sex like it means something, anything, consistent?!”

Pick up “Poking the Squid,” page through it a few seconds, and you’ll see that the information here is largely told through cartoon-like drawings mixed with captions. It seems to be something on the lighter side, but don’t let that artwork fool you.

Author Perrin Roosevelt Ireland offers readers solid information that cozies up to the scholarly, with hard science, philosophy, feminism, and quotations from researchers to support it, thus furthering the narrative and hitting the points squarely. If you see the art and expect something lighthearted, comic, and small-talk-worthy, you could be disappointed.

On the other hand, if you want solid, wryly serious facts, you’re in for a treat.

There’s lots of learning to be gleaned here, and some slight nudge-wink whimsy to emphasize the absurdity of wrong-headed thinking. This can make readers feel like they’re in-the-know on the jokes, and the playfulness balances the seriousness of the information well.

So, serious, scholarly, or slightly silly, none of these are negative but you’re going to know what you want from a book like this. For the right reader, someone in the mood, “Poking the Squid” is wild.

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