I missed my columns the past two weeks–sorry if you desperately needed Fourth of July plans!–but I’m back and rested after a much-needed vacation in France and Italy. I know, I know–I promised I’d write on the road, but between the copious amounts of rosé with friends at a beautiful wedding in the South of France, to navigating the harrowing roads, to, finally, relaxation and a lot of pasta in Italy, I just wasn’t feeling friendly toward my MacBook Air. I’ll have plenty of travel diaries and reviews coming, with some off-the-grid destinations in Italy you’ll want to consider when planning your next vacation. In the meantime, this week’s column features several events on my calendar, including some cool theater at the Capital Fringe Festival and the return of the Hirshhorn’s popular evening parties on their plaza. You can get the details in the Washington Times print edition, in PDF format, and below. 

Fort Fringe (Photo Courtesy Capital Fringe Festival)

Get Out: The Week’s Pocket Picks for July 11, 2014

The Washington Times

By Samantha Sault

Pick of the Pack: Capital Fringe Festival

This week, you’ll laugh, cry and squirm when the Capital Fringe Festival returns for the ninth year, with 145 independent, innovative productions. Whether you prefer highbrow drama or bawdy burlesque, the second-largest unjuried fringe festival in the country has a show for you—as well as a lively bar at Fort Fringe, the festival’s headquarters on New York Avenue, with live music, food, drinks and all kinds of characters. Our picks include “Districtland,” a satirical look at life as a 20-something in D.C. as seen through the eyes of four overachieving housemates, and “Mandarin Orange,” a one-woman autobiographical show by Kate Robards, who will tell her uproarious story of how she got from her hometown of Orange, Texas, to Shanghai, China. Shakespeare fans will want to catch “Dateline: Macbeth,” which tells the tragedy in the style of the television news show, while history buffs should see “Contrafact of Freedom,” which explains how Francis Scott Key ended up watching Fort McHenry get attacked, leading him to write “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Through July 27 at Fort Fringe, 607 New York Ave. NW and other locations citywide. 866/811-4111. Web: capitalfringe.org. 

Festival: Bastille Day Street Party

Monday is the 225^th anniversary of Bastille Day, when an angry mob of French citizens stormed the Paris Bastille on July 14, 1789, freeing the prisoners of King Louis XVI and beginning the French Revolution. Today, La Fete Nationale is considered France’s Independence Day, marked by parades, fireworks and plenty of vin. This Saturday, L’Enfant Café will celebrate with its annual block party, which takes over 18^th Street NW in Adams Morgan with food, games, cancan dancers, burlesque performers and the famous French maid relay race, followed by a masquerade ball. Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette are expected to make an appearance, and you’ll have a chance to win enough miles for tickets to Paris on American Airlines. If you prefer a slightly calmer celebration, the restaurant will host a three-course French feast Monday evening. Block party on Saturday at 3 p.m. and dinner on Monday at L’Enfant Café, 2000 18^th St. NW. 202/319-1800. Web: leenfantcafe.com.

Concert: B.B. King

If any musician deserves a place in the hall of fame, its American blues legend B.B. King, who has been playing his famous guitar named Lucille and influencing all genres of music for more than six decades. (In fact, he’s earned spots in the Blues Hall of Fame as well as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.) Considered one of the world’s greatest guitarists, “The King of Blues” debuted in 1949 and has since produced over 50 albums and dozens of hits, including the Grammy Award-winning “The Thrill Is Gone,” “Sweet Little Angel,” “Every Day I Have the Blues” and “Three O’Clock Blues.” Though he embarked on his official “farewell” tour in 2006, the 88-year-old legend continues to perform an impressive number of shows today, and will stop in Washington on Thursday. Thursday at the Warner Theatre, 513 13^th St. NW. 202/783-4000. Web: warnertheatredc.com. 

Concert: Queens of the Stone Age

“Rock should be heavy enough for the boys and sweet enough for the girls. That way everyone’s happy and it’s more of a party,” Josh Homme, lead singer of Queens of the Stone Age, said in 2000 when asked why the band chose to call themselves “queens” instead of “kings.” Queens of the Stone Age will get the party started when the tour for their 2013 Grammy-nominated album “…Like Clockwork” stops Thursday at Merriweather Post Pavilion. Founded in 1996 in Palm Desert, California, the alternative rock band combines metal sounds and smooth lyrics with something for all kinds of rock fans. The band opened for major names like The Smashing Pumpkins, Foo Fighters and Hole before making it big in their own right with chart-topping hits like “No One Knows,” “Go with the Flow,” “Little Sister” and others. Eclectic American musician St. Vincent and Australian punk singer-songwriter Brody Dalle will open the show. Thursday at Merriweather Post Pavilion, 10475 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia, Md. 877/987-6487. Web: ticketfly.com. 

Exhibit: Salvatore Scarpitta: Traveler

Start your engines for the Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum’s newest exhibit, featuring works by American artist and sculptor Salvatore Scarpitta. Born in New York in 1919, Scarpitta studied art in Rome before serving as one of the “Monuments Men” during World War II, saving priceless works of art from destruction in Europe. After the war, he worked from his studio in Rome before returning to New York, producing unique works including 3D wrapped canvasses as well as full-size race cars and sleds. (The artist was also a dirt track auto racer and owned his own team.) The Hirshhorn’s exhibit—the first solo exhibit of his work in the United States in over a decade—includes 19 pieces, including two of the cars. On Thursday evening, the exhibit will debut, with the galleries open until 10:30 p.m. for tours, lectures and barbecue and beer on the plaza. Through Jan.11 at the Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden, 700 Independence Ave. SW. 202/633-4674. Web: hirshhorn.si.edu. 

© Copyright 2014 The Washington Times, LLC and Samantha Sault