Fiona Apple Tonight at Wolf Trap

Fiona Apple plays tonight along with special guest David Garza and there are still some tickets left. You can grab those online or by calling 877-965-3872. If you're thinking about heading this way at the last minute for the show, you can call (703) 255-1868 to check on last minute ticket availability.

[UPDATE 7:40pm] There are still some tickets left at the Box Office. David Garza opens the show at 8pm and Fiona Apple goes on around 8:50.

The Beach Boys Play Twice: 2pm and 8pm

The Beach Boys perform at 2pm this afternoon and again tonight at 8pm. As previously mentioned, John Stamos will be playing with the band. Tickets are available for both shows at the Wolf Trap Filene Center box office. [MORE LATER]

Paul Anka On Stage Now

It's a very Vegas/Atlantic City style night here at Wolf Trap. Paul Anka is on stage right now and he started things off by coming in through the crowd, performing his first two songs from in the audience. I hope to have some photos of that from our house photographer to post here later. Right now, he's covering Van Halen's "Jump," which appears on his Rock Swings album.

[UPDATE] Posted below is one of the shots our house photographer, Andi Kling, took as Mr. Anka performed his first two songs from in the audience.

Wolf Trap Radio

Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts recently launched Wolf Trap Radio, an internet radio station that can be streamed online 24-hours-a-day.

Wolf Trap Radio is currently broadcasting music to highlight the 2006 Summer Season and, as fall approaches, we'll begin playing music to highlight performances taking place at The Barns at Wolf Trap, our 382-seat indoor venue that hosts shows from October through May. The station will also carry interviews, as well as information on Wolf Trap's education programs, philanthropy forums, and the Wolf Trap Opera Company.

You can tune in now to hear a mix that includes everything from classical to rock to country to opera, with music by artists like Fiona Apple, B.B. King, Ziggy Marley, Elvis Costello, Guster, The Dobbie Brothers, Ray LaMontagne, Bonnie Raitt, Rogue Wave, Kenny Rogers, Al Jarreau, The Irish Tenors, Sin Bandera, Trisha Yearwood, and more. Plus, everyday from now through August 19, you can tune in at 2pm and 7pm to hear an interview with Wolf Trap Opera Company Director Kim Witman on the company's upcoming production of The Marriage of Figaro.

The station can be launched through links in the righthand sidebar menu on wolftrap.org or click here for listening options using Live365, iTunes, and Real Player.

Stamos Joins Cast of "ER" and The Beach Boys

John Stamos will join the cast of "ER" as a regular this fall and when The Beach Boys come to town this weekend for two Saturday shows (2 p.m. and 8 p.m.) at Wolf Trap, the actor will join the band on stage. He's been playing drums, guitar, and keyboards with them at recent shows.

WETA's "Out and About"

An interview by Nicole Lacroix with NSO @ Wolf Trap Festival Conductor Emil de Cou aired this past Saturday and Sunday on WETA-FM 90.9’s "Out and About." The piece focuses on the NSO @ Wolf Trap’s final triple of the season, taking place Thursday, August 3 through Saturday, August 5.

You can listen to the Emil de Cou interview online and then tune into 90.9 FM this coming Saturday at noon or Sunday at 8pm for an interview with soprano Renée Fleming, who will perform here with the NSO on Thursday, August 3.

Orchestral Jethro Tull

Today's Washington Post Weekend section includes a Mike Joyce review of "Ian Anderson Plays the Orchestral Jethro Tull". Anderson performs Orchestral Jethro Tull at Wolf Trap next week, on Wednesday, July 26. As of this posting, tickets are still available and can be purchased online or by calling 877-WOLFTRAP.

Indigo Girls Review

D.C.-based blogger bettyjoan posted a review of Wednesday night's sold out Indigo Girls show, which includes the full setlist. To the left is a picture our house photographer Joe Bell took that night at the show.

Raw Fisher: DC Radio and Google Trends

Marc Fisher of The Washington Post has some interesting commentary on DC Radio and the types of music people in the DC area are searching for in Google, on his washingtonpost.com Raw Fisher blog.

We'll be posting some radio news of our own very soon. Stay tuned.

Video Games vs. National Parks

Here's something that ran on NPR's Morning Edition today:

Morning Edition, July 19, 2006 · A new study shows that there has been a sharp decline in the percentage of Americans visiting national parks. The authors aren't sure what's causing it, but it may be related to the increasing use of video games. [You can stream the piece on npr.org].

What if you could do both, and combine a trip to a National Park with your love for video games? I'm not talking about putting the PlayStation2 in the back of the SUV and driving through Yellowstone. On Friday, August 4, the NSO @ Wolf Trap brings you Play! A Video Game Symphony, featuring music from "Final Fantasy, Super Mario Brothers, Sonic the Hedgehog, HALO, World of WarCraft, Battlefield 1942, Silent Hill, The Legend of Zelda, and other cutting-edge video games" along with images from those games projected on giant screens here at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts. Tickets are available online or by calling 877-WOLFTRAP and you can check out the Play! website for even more details.

Indigo Girls Tonight

The first thing I should tell you is that tonight's Indigo Girls show is now sold out. You can always call 703-255-1868 to check for last minute ticket availability.

Now, I want to point out one of the more creative pieces of press I've seen for a Wolf Trap show so far this summer. I guess Chris Mincher from Express had a roommate or someone on his hall in college who played guitar.

[UPDATE: 6:32PM] Tonight's lawn rush was excellent, maybe the best yet this year. Lots of people were gathered outside the main gate before it opened at 6:30 and then came pouring in to grab spots on the lawn. Annmarie is here in the office with me (I asked her to bring me a steak for dinner, but she showed up empty-handed) and thinks this was even better than the lawn rush we had for Skynyrd.

Top Stop in Express

Tonight's world premiere performance of "For Truth" by Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE and PHILADANCO is a "Top Stop" in this morning's Washington Post Express. The show begins at 8:30 p.m. and tickets in-house range from $26 to $34. Lawn tickets are only $10.

One piece being performed tonight, "Suite Otis", serves as a tribute to Otis Redding and features five of Redding's songs.

Links to more of the press for tonight's performance can be found in this previous blog post.

Le Comte Ory: "A Must-See"

Rossini's Le Comte Ory, currently being presented by the Wolf Trap Opera Company at The Barns at Wolf Trap, has garnered great reviews from both The Washington Post and The Washington Times:

"At the Barns at Wolf Trap on Friday night, Rossini's second-to-last opera (dating to 1828, a year before "William Tell") zipped along with the clockwork precision of Gilbert and Sullivan -- on amphetamines. There's not a wrong note in the whole production." -Mark J. Estren, The Washington Post

"The Wolf Trap Opera Company launched its impossibly entertaining version of Gioacchino Rossini's "Le Comte Ory" this past weekend, and it's a must-see." -TL Ponick, The Washington Times

You have two more chances to catch Le Comte Ory, this Friday, July 21, at 8 p.m. and this Sunday, July 23, at 2 p.m. Members of the Wolf Trap Opera Company will also join the NSO this Saturday, July 22 at the Filene Center, as they present Roméo et Juliette in Concert.

Photo taken by Carol Pratt at last week's Le Comte Ory dress rehearsal. More are available on the Wolf Trap Opera 2006 blog.

World Premiere Tuesday at Wolf Trap

Ronald K. Brown / EVIDENCE and PHILADANCO share the stage at Wolf Trap this Tuesday, July 18, for the world premiere of the Wolf Trap commissioned dance piece "For Truth". Each company will perform separately during the first part of the evening and will then join one another on stage to close out the night with this new Ronald K. Brown choreographed dance.

Press Coverage
Lisa Traiger's piece--"The Higher Power Of Dance" in Friday's Washington Post Weekend section--profiles Brown, while The Post's head dance critic, Sarah Kaufman, previews the performance in Sunday's HERE & NOW column. Oksana Khadarina offers this preview on Ionarts.org and Jean Battey Lewis highlighted the performance back on July 8 in her "Summer dance attractions" piece in The Washington Times.

Tickets
Tickets can be purchased online, by calling 877-WOLFTRAP, or at the Wolf Trap Filene Center Box Office, located at 1551 Trap Road, in Vienna, Virginia. The Filene Center Box Office is open Monday - Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Saturday, Sunday, and most holidays from 12 noon to 6 p.m. The box office is also open on Filene Center performance days until the end of intermission or 9 p.m., whichever is later.

Le Comte Ory Podcast

The newest Wolf Trap podcast is now available for download. This one focuses on Le Comte Ory, currently being performed by the Wolf Trap Opera Company at The Barns at Wolf Trap, July 14, 16, 21, and 23. Download it here.

Wolf Trap Opera on VivaLaVoce.com Podcast

An interview with Wolf Trap Opera Company Director Kim Witman and soprano Ailyn Perez can be heard on WGMS and VivaLaVoce.com's Classical Conversations podcast:

Kim Pensinger Witman, Ailyn Perez/Wolf Trap Opera
James Bartel explores the process involved in the first-time preparation of a leading role in an opera. James speaks with Kim Pensinger Witman, Director of Wolf Trap Opera Company, and with soprano Ailyn Perez, performing the role of Juliette in Wolf Trap Opera Company's production of Gounod's "Romeo et Juliette" on Saturday, July 22 at 8:15 pm.

Get the podcast on vivalavoce.com.

What Happens If It Rains?

What happens to a show at Wolf Trap when it rains?

Here's the answer, taken directly from the Frequently Asked Questions section of wolftrap.org:

WHAT HAPPENS IF IT RAINS?
All performances take place, rain or shine. If there are seats available in-house, lawn ticket holders can exchange their lawn seats for those in-house seats and pay the difference in price. If a show is sold-out in-house, the patron should come prepared for the elements. There are NO REFUNDS, exchanges, or rain checks given to ticket holders due to rain. The ushers also will not permit lawn ticket holders to move under cover unless they have upgraded their tickets at the Wolf Trap box office.

ABBA Dance Contest at eCITIE

Come out to eCITIE Restaurant & Bar in Tysons Corner between 7 and 9 p.m. on Wednesday, July 12 and Wednesday, July 19 and sign up to participate in the Wolf Trap Wednesday dance competition. Four couples will be invited to the final "dance-off" Wednesday, July 26 for a chance to win FRONT ROW seats to ABBA-The Music here at Wolf Trap on July 27. The winning duo will also get to dance on stage during "Dancing Queen". For more information check out BIG 100.3's website.

[UPDATE: The contest will begin at 9 p.m. You can still sign-up between 7 and 9 p.m.]

Chicago: The Musical Opens Tonight

Chicago: The Musical begins an eight-show run at Wolf Trap tonight. Shows are at 8 p.m. Tuesday though Sunday, with matinees also taking place at 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are available online or by calling 877-WOLFTRAP.

Gregory Harrison plays the part of Billy Flynn in this production of Chicago, a roll he played previously during the musical's national tour, and he's been generating some press around town the last few days. An interview with Harrison ran in yesterday's Examiner and WTOP is running a segment with him today. Known by many for his time on "Trapper John, M.D." in the '70s, others may know Harrison for his recent role as Russell Brewster on the Fox show "Reunion".

Face of America on YouTube

Face of America is an original performance series commissioned by the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, highlighting the country's National Parks.

On September 9, the latest installment in the series--Face of America: Hawai'i--will make its world premiere, showcasing the contemporary and traditional Hawai'ian music and dance of Grammy award-nominee, Keali'i Rechel, instrumental sounds of Ledward Kaapana, master of slack key guitar, and spectacular images filmed at Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park, and Haleakala National Park.

For more on Face of America and what to expect at September's premiere, check out the video available below through YouTube.

The Real Emil de Cou

As previously mentioned, the first NSO triple of the 2006 summer season took place this past Thursday through Saturday here at Wolf Trap, with the symphony under the direction of NSO @ Wolf Trap Festival Conductor Emil de Cou.

All three performances were reviewed by The Washington Post and two of those reviews appear in today's paper. But the picture The Post ran with those reviews and labeled as Emil de Cou is actually of pianist Per Tengstrand, who joined the NSO for Saturday night's Ode to Beethoven performance. The real Emil de Cou can be seen in the picture above. That shot was taken during Saturday evening's concert, by Wolf Trap House Photographer Andi Kling.

The next NSO @ Wolf Trap triple takes place Thursday, July 20 through Saturday, July 22.

Gipsy Kings Tonight

Tonight's Gipsy Kings show is sold out and the crowd is already filling up the lawn, even though we're a little over an hour away from showtime.

If you're ever looking for last minute tickets, you can call the Filene Center box office at 703-255-1868. Even for a sold out show, seats will occasionally open up at the last minute.

Beethoven's Greatest Hits

The National Symphony Orchestra wraps up the first of three triples tonight at Wolf Trap. Thursday featured Itzhak Perlman in a Happy Birthday, Mozart! performance, last night saw Leonard Nemoy serve as narrator for To Boldly Go..., and tonight's Ode to Beethoven closes out the three night run.

Tonight's concert, which we've also been referring to as Beethoven's Greatest Hits, features four acclaimed vocalists and The Master Chorale of Washington. The program will include Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, the "Emperor" Piano Concerto, Wellington's Victory (complete with musket fire and other musical special effects), the Egmont overtures, and the "Ode to Joy" finale from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. The NSO will be under the direction of Emil de Cou, NSO @ Wolf Trap Festival Conductor, and Donald McCullough serves as director of The Master Chorale Of Washington.

Tickets for tonight's performance can be ordered online or by calling 877-WOLFTRAP.

A Washington Post review by Mark J. Estren of Thursday night's show with Itzhak Perlman and the NSO appears in today's paper.

Sneak Preview of Tonight's Program

Here's a sneak preview of what you can expect to hear from conductor Emil de Cou and the NSO tonight during To Boldly Go...:

"Also Sprach Zarathustra" (Theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey), "King Kong", "Superman", "Creation of the Female Monster" narrated by Leonard Nimoy, "Imperial March" from Star Wars, "Star Trek through the Years", "Epilogue and End Credits - Star Wars II" and, after intermission, a 44-minute presentation of Holst's "The Planets", narrated by Leonard Nimoy. Images of space from the Hubble Space Telescope and various other sources will be projected on giant screens to accompany the performance.

To hear an interview with Leonard Nimoy, stay tuned to WTOP News 103.5 FM this evening. Man About Town Bob Madigan was here this afternoon to record that.

Does the Lawn at Wolf Trap Sell Out?

During a recent look through the referral details for our blog, I noticed a hit we got through Google, where someone had asked the search engine "do lawn seats sell out at wolf trap." The short answer to this question is yes, lawn seats can and do sell out for some shows.

Wolf Trap's Filene Center has 7,028 total seats: 3,868 in-house and 3,160 on the lawn. The in-house seats are all reserved and are located under the Filene Center's pavilion. The lawn is situated directly behind that, offering open air general admission seating.

For most shows, the pavilion sells out before the lawn does and the best way to find out which shows are headed towards selling out is through Wolf Trap's email updates. The bi-weekly newsletter includes a section that lists all the shows that have sold out in the pavilion and are then called "lawn only".

More On The Lawn
The lawn is also the spot where you can enjoy food and drinks throughout the concert. No food and drinks are allowed in the pavilion. Food and drink is a big part of the Wolf Trap experience because we allow you to bring your own (even alcohol, but no kegs). So, you could grab yourself a couple lawn seats to a show, arrive with dinner and a bottle of wine, and enjoy it throughout the show. Even those with pavilion seats could pack their picnic and enjoy it before heading into their seats.

Mozart Tonight, Spock Tomorrow

Highlighting a couple of today's press hits...

The Washington Post's Express has made tonight's Happy Birthday, Mozart! performance with Itzhak Perlman and the NSO a Top Stop and Daily Candy highlighted tomorrow night's To Boldly Go... performance with Leonard Nimoy and the NSO in their Weekend Guide.

WashPost: Review of Bonnie Raitt

A review by Pamela Murray Winters of Monday night's Bonnie Raitt performance at Wolf Trap can be found in today's Washington Post. Monday's show was sold, but Raitt and special guest Keb' Mo' are back at Wolf Trap tonight and lawn tickets still remain, as of this posting.