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Two of summertime’s most beloved Monday-night entertainment options, Screen on the Green and the Fort Reno concert series, are time-honored, wholesome traditions. But to some, they suffer from a couple drawbacks: They’re outdoors and alcohol-free. In swoops the Kennedy Center to provide a boozy, air-conditioned alternative: the new Millennium Stage happy hour series. Mondays in August, the regular free concerts on the Millennium Stage will move to the roof-level Atrium, where patrons will find a full bar and a food menu between 5:30 and 8 p.m. Tonight’s kickoff event includes a performance by Brazilian multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Badi Assad (pictured), the accomplished younger sibling of guitar virtuosos Sérgio and Odair Assad. But while a dance floor will be set up, Assad might not offer that kind of vibe—try next Monday’s performance by the Ethiopian-American group Debo Band and collaborators Fendika, or New Orleans funk/rock/soul musician Mia Borders the following week in the Grand Foyer. It’s not the wildest party in town, but the cheap drinks, nonexistent humidity, and outstanding view might make this the coziest Monday evening out in August. Happy hour takes places from 5:30-8 p.m., Mondays through Aug. 29 at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Level Atrium, 2700 F St. NW. Free.
THEATER
Tonight only, Taffety Punk Theatre Company will present another installment in its intentionally thrown-together Bootleg Shakespeare series. Tonight’s show is King John—-and while we can’t guarantee “honest-to-Yoda lightsaber duel complete with telekinetic chokeholds” like last year’s staging of The Two Noble Kingsmen, there is still high potential for greatness. Get your free tickets starting now at the Folger Theater. 7 p.m.
BOOKS
“The Dresden Files” series author Jim Butcher is at Barnes & Noble in Tysons Corner to read from his latest title in the series, Ghost Story. 7 p.m. Free.
Melanie Benjamin’s second book, The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb, is not actually an autobiography, of course, but it imagines what life must have been like for the 32-inch woman (Mercy Lavinia Warren Bump), best known for marrying the 19th-century entertainer Tom Thumb. Benjamin speaks at 7 p.m. at Politics & Prose. Free.
MUSIC
More Fort Reno. Tonight: Caustic Casanova, Loose Lips, and one more band TBD. 7:15 p.m. Free.
FILM
Screen on the Green continues with One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Sundown on the National Mall. Free.