Leisure

Reviews and think pieces on music, movies, art, and theater.

Music

Kacey Musgraves’s star-crossed is a tangle

The sweet, light fluidity of Kacey Musgraves’s croon has emerged to tell the tumultuous narrative of the years since her Grammy-winning Golden Hour (2018). star-crossed (2021) is a cohesive work,... Read more

By October 19, 2021

Performance

Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski highlights the role of theatre in social change

With just one actor (David Strathairn) and stark scenery, Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski harnesses the power of storytelling to convey a message that transcends time and the... Read more

By October 18, 2021

Movies

The Eyes of Tammy Faye engages with reality, but not cruelty

Content warning: sexual assault  There is a lot to unpack about the life of much-lampooned televangelist Tammy Faye Messner (formerly Bakker). There’s the Christian worship broadcasting empire both built and... Read more

By October 9, 2021

Music

Maisie Peters shows the duality of young adulthood on You Signed Up For This

After making a name for herself with her singles such as 2017’s “Places We Were Made,” a lyrical love letter to her hometown, and 2018’s wildly popular “Worst of You,”... Read more

By October 8, 2021

Music

Lil Nas X produced the goldilocks of pop albums with MONTERO

Pop songs often follow a carefully calculated formula for success: verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus. Writing a single that will top charts, or go viral, is a science that... Read more

By October 6, 2021

Movies

Venom: Let There Be Couples’ Counseling

Have you ever wondered what an abusive relationship with a pile of alien goop would look like? Would you like to see said abusive couple make pancakes to Ella Fitzgerald... Read more

By October 4, 2021

Leisure

How Shang-Chi fulfilled my childhood dream

I don’t want to be *that* Asian American raving about Shang-Chi and its nearly all-Asian cast. But as a Chinese-American woman who once flirted with the entertainment industry myself, I... Read more

By October 2, 2021

Movies

“Does anybody have a map?” Dear Evan Hansen struggles to bring stage to screen

Content warning: Dear Evan Hansen discusses suicide Well, like it or not it is here: the long-awaited film adaptation of the smash-hit Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen. Theater fans may... Read more

By September 30, 2021

Music

Despite problematic collaborators and history, Kanye West’s Donda is a prayer for hope

Content warning: brief mentions of sexual assault, homophobia, and antisemitism Imagine if you had a dollar for every time you were told Kanye West’s Donda was going to come out... Read more

By September 27, 2021

Leisure

The Voice‘s guide to D.C. concert venues

Songbyrd Address: 540 Penn St. NE (Union Market) How to get there: Take the GUTS Bus to Dupont, hop on the Red line to Glenmont and get off at the... Read more

By and September 25, 2021

Leisure

The Voice‘s Guide to D.C. theaters

Arena Stage  Address: 1101 Sixth St. SW  How to get there: Take the GUTS bus to Rosslyn, then the Blue, Silver, or Orange line to L’Enfant Plaza. From there, walk... Read more

By , and September 24, 2021

Movies

Malignant‘s brashness and audacity make it a twist-filled delight

As the lights came up at the end of Malignant (2021), James Wan’s demented new horror extravaganza, my friends and I took the opportunity during the credits to howl with... Read more

By September 21, 2021

Music

Lady Gaga pushes the boundaries of her own music on Dawn of Chromatica

Last year, Lady Gaga released her sixth album Chromatica (2020), which is fun and pop-y, yet still continues to deliver Gaga’s signature contrast of upbeat music paired with quite sad... Read more

By September 16, 2021

Movies

The Suicide Squad combines the absurdity of comics with heartwarming characters

To some degree, superhero stories are inherently silly. Whether from the basic concepts behind beloved heroes and villains or the general absurdity of scenarios presented in their weekly adventures, each... Read more

By September 13, 2021

Leisure

The Voice‘s guide to D.C. museums

The Holocaust Museum Address: 100 Raoul Wallenberg Pl. SW How to get there: Take the 33 bus south to Federal Triangle and get off at Pennsylvania & 14th. Walk down... Read more

By , and September 10, 2021

Leisure

The Voice’s guide to D.C.: Where to eat

Affordable Eats The Well Dressed Burrito Address: 1220 19th St. NW How to get there: Take the GUTS bus to Dupont Circle, walk three blocks down 19th, and peer dubiously... Read more

By , , , and August 27, 2021

Performance

Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Blindness dazzles in darkness—and solitude

Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Sidney Harman Hall has opened the house once again. Well, not “house,” exactly. The theater’s in-person debuting return, an actorless show, begins the moment the audience files... Read more

By May 22, 2021

Movies

Director Ben Sharrock on how the refugee crisis keeps asylum seekers in Limbo

On the secluded Scottish Uists, Syrian refugee Omar (Amir El-Masry) awaits an update for his pending asylum application. Each day, in an almost Sisyphean display, he traverses the windswept island... Read more

By May 13, 2021

Music

Taemin gives fans a final encore with Beyond LIVE

Lee Taemin has spent nearly half his life in the limelight. It has been six and a half years since the Korean idol released his first solo album, and twice... Read more

By May 6, 2021

Performance

Signature Theatre’s Midnight at the Never Get breaks just the right amount of promises

The premise is deceptively simple. It is a cabaret show about the fabulous and dramatic lives of a songwriter and a performer at the close of the golden age of... Read more

By May 3, 2021