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FEBRUARY 9
“An Evening With Fran Dorn”
A decade ago, when Michael Kahn, in a City Paper article, dubbed Franchelle Stewart Dorn “D.C.’s most promising actor,” many in the theater community chuckled—not because they thought her untalented, but because Kahn was apparently too new to the city to know that this skilled, classically trained actress was already a fixture. Surprisingly enough, it turned out Kahn was right. Dorn, though she’d had a starring part or two at that point, hadn’t yet been given the chance to show what she could really do. And over the next 10 years, as the Shakespeare Theatre, Arena Stage, and even Hollywood have allowed her to demonstrate a range that’s seemingly limitless, she has become all but ubiquitous hereabouts—peering out of video monitors at the Newseum, popping up on TV’s Law and Order, and gracing pretty much any film that shoots in the D.C. environs. Since this season will be her last in D.C. (she’s relocating to Houston with her family), this Corcoran Gallery chat, in which she and director Daniel Fish discuss how they’re approaching her final show as a Shakespeare company member, The Merry Wives of Windsor, is apt to be a summing up of sorts. Call it a valedictory…or just call it “An Evening With Fran Dorn.” At 7:30 p.m. at the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s Hammer Auditorium, 17th & New York Ave. NW. $20. (202) 639-1770. (Bob Mondello)