Adams Morgan Day

D.C.’s Adams Morgan neighborhood may be, to some, just a locale where one can drink heavily and eat an enormous slice of pizza, but this section of Northwest has always offered way more than that. The 42nd annual Adams Morgan Day will make that clear with a virtual lineup that includes live music, dance, panels on AdMo’s musical and political history, and kids’ activities. There will also be a few in-person, socially distanced outdoor activities, like a mural scavenger hunt, and carry-out food specials. The panel “Struggle and Resistance: The Making of Adams Morgan” will include activist Casilda Luna, who immigrated from the Dominican Republic in the 1960s, and filmmaker Eddie Becker, who has been videotaping the neighborhood since the 1970s.  The Smithsonian Folklife panel “Backstage Adams Morgan: Live Music Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow” will include Rob Coltun, the guitar-playing co-owner of world music venue Bossa Bistro, and keyboardist Teddy Aklilu, who played in Ethiopian bands at Red Sea Restaurant in the early 1980s. The Punk the Capital filmmaker discussion will go over that documentary’s coverage of the original Madams Organ (an artists’ co-op that was on the other side of 18th Street NW), where early D.C. punk bands like Bad Brains played. The panel “Persistence in the Resistance: Adams Morgan Continues its Legacy” will include Manuel Mendez, the president of the D.C. Afro Latino Caucus.  Live music highlights include Crush Funk Brass Band, with its D.C.-meets-New Orleans sound, and Baltimore jazz trumpeter Brandon Woody. Dance notables will include the Silky Smooth Hand Dancers, masters of that local swing dance style, and the DC Casineros, who are Cuban dance experts. The event runs all day on Sept. 13. Registration for panels is available at admoday.com. Dance will be streamed on Facebook Live. Live music will be available at twitch.tv/songbyrddc. —Steve Kiviat

Will on the Hill

Two parties, not alike in dignity, on fair Zoom, where we lay our scene: Shakespeare Theatre has moved its annual Will on the Hill fundraiser online, with Romeo and Juliet as a jumping off point for this year’s play starring two dozen members of Congress. Pre-COVID, the vibe at Will on the Hill was like a talent show where legislative assistants cheer on their bosses. 2020 may suck, but at least now everyone can watch members of Congress make fools of themselves in Elizabethan outfits. The star-crossed lovers in playwright Nat Cassidy’s script cross the aisle in this riff on the Bard’s classic, which will feature a cast of five Republicans, 19 Democrats and one independent. (That’s Maine Sen. Angus King, not Bernie Sanders.) Area representatives set to try their hands at iambic pentameter include D.C.’s Eleanor Holmes Norton, Maryland’s Jamie Raskin, and Virginia’s Gerry Connolly. Professional actors propping up the feds include local notables Holly Twyford and Felicia Curry, plus celebrity guest Michael Urie (Younger, Ugly Betty). Will the play end with Republican Sen. Roger Wicker announcing “All are punished?” Or will a Democrat get the final word? Either way, Will on the Hill should provide as much drama as an House Oversight Committee hearing. The event begins Sept. 14 at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at shakespearetheatre.org. Pay what you can. —Rebecca J. Ritzel