Next Tuesday the annual DC Elephant Walk comes back to Capitol Hill, and with it comes the circus! Last year In the Muse rose to the occasion with “The Baby Elephant March.” This week we bring you Albert Gumble and Jack Yellen’s “Circus Day in Dixie,” a song once performed by vaudeville star Blossom Seely. …
One of the most memorable images from Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film adaptation of the Stephen King novel The Shining is a shot of a framed group photo from the heyday of the fictional Overlook Hotel. It has become an iconic image, and its resonance in the film can lend almost any vintage group photo an air of …
In Washington, meteorological spring came in like a lamb. In the Muse would like to take this fair-weather opportunity to revisit last week’s bicycle theme with M. Florence’s “Bloomer March,” which if the illustration is to be believed, conveys the fin de siècle pleasures of riding a bicycle while dressed in bloomers. Florence dedicates the …
Iconic tenor Enrico Caruso was born on February 25, 1873 in Naples, Italy. Over a career spanning 25 years, he performed at the world’s great opera houses, including nearly 900 appearances at New York’s Metropolitan Opera alone. In this age of the mp3 we take recorded music for granted, but Caruso was one of …
The Music Division is proud to announce a new exhibition in the lobby of the Performing Arts Reading Room. Choreographers have long used the medium of dance to express America’s cultural diversity. Politics and the Dancing Body also explores the way choreographers employ the body as a tool in the fight against injustice. The exhibit …
Known as the Texas Troubador, Ernest Tubb was born on February 9, 1914 in Ellis County, Texas. His best known song is probably “Walking the floor over you,” but owing to my heritage I am partial to “My Filipino baby.” In September 1947, Tubb led the first Grand Ole Opry in New York’s Carnegie Hall, …
Tickets are still available for a concert that promises to be one of the highlights of the season. This Saturday the U. S. Army Band ”Pershing’s Own,” with the help of vocalist Christal Rheames , continues its Concerts from The Collection series with a tribute to the legendary Ella Fitzgerald. The event takes place …
Considered one of the world’s finest gambists, Paolo Pandolfo offers a free master class in the Library’s Coolidge Auditorium, working with three exceptional young students: Amy Domingues (known in indie-rock circles for her band Garland of Hours), Niccolo Seligman, and Lucine Musaelian. This 90-minute event is open to the public, no tickets required. Seating is …
In the Muse wishes its readers a Happy Chinese New Year! Celebrate the Year of the Dragon with this production still from Dragon Snee Zee, a marionette show made for the Federal Theatre Project. Visit the online exhibition Coast to Coast: The Federal Theatre Project, 1935-1939 to learn more about this fascinating collection.