Around Town

As the calendar turns to fall, the Alden Theatre in McLean is preparing for a new year of movies, music, theater and other entertainment.

Visits by two original cast members of the musical “Rent” and “Hollywood Shuffle” director and star Robert Townsend are among the highlights of the 2026-2027 season formally unveiled this week by the McLean Community Center’s performing arts venue (1234 Ingleside Avenue).


Around Town

Friday Night Live’s 32nd season is winding down, but first, it will celebrate a notable milestone.

Tonight’s show on the Herndon Town Green by rock cover band Shake the Room will be the 500th scheduled by the annual free summer concert series since it launched in 1995.


Around Town

Hip-hop artist Wyclef Jean and the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra (FSO) will form an unexpected alliance at Capital One Hall this fall.

The Fairfax Symphony announced this week that it will be joined in the main theater at the Tysons venue (7750 Capital One Tower Road) by Jean on Oct. 25 at 7 p.m.


News

George Mason University’s Center for the Arts is one of six D.C.-area venues that will host the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) during its upcoming season.

Faced with an uncertain future due to a potential two-year closure of the Kennedy Center, its long-established home, the NSO made its delayed 2026-27 season announcement today (Tuesday), 5 1/2 weeks before its opening concert on Sept. 26 and five months later than the release of its 2025-26 schedule.


Around Town

Though summer is winding down, Wolf Trap won’t be quiet for long, as The Barns prepares to kick off a new season later this fall.

Actor and singer Matthew Morrison, best known for his role as Will Schuester on the polarizing teen show “Glee,” and tributes to icons like the Beatles and Joni Mitchell will be among the highlights of The Barns at Wolf Trap’s 2026-2027 season, announced yesterday (Tuesday) by the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts.


Around Town

After an inaugural Rocktoberfest at Reston Town Center last year, the event will return in October with a new headliner.

Alternative rock band Vertical Horizon will take the stage at the free Rocktoberfest at 9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10 at the Pavilion at Reston Town Center (11900 Market Street). The headliner will follow regional opening acts Virginia Coalition at 6 p.m. and Everything at 7:30 p.m.


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Since opening in October 2021, Capital One Hall has drawn an array of nationally recognized musical and comedy acts, Broadway shows and even a circus to Tysons, but the performing arts venue has also opened doors for many local community and nonprofit artists.

Thanks to a Community Arts Partnership with ArtsFairfax, Fairfax County’s official arts agency, Capital One Hall (7750 Capital One Tower Road) has hosted 48 local nonprofits so far have collectively drawn more than 61,000 attendees and generated $2.4 million in ticket revenue, officials shared at a July 14 reception celebrating the collaboration’s first five seasons.


News

Though the National Independence Day Parade in D.C. was called off, hundreds of student musicians from around the country ensured America’s birthday celebration went on by relocating to a venue in Fairfax County.

Four high school bands that had expected to march in the District on Saturday (July 4) as part of the nation’s 250th anniversary festivities instead staged an impromptu concert at the National Museum of the United States Army in Fort Belvoir.


Around Town

The Fairfax County Park Authority has unveiled event lineups for this year’s Summer Entertainment Series, which will feature more than 100 outdoor concerts, movie screenings and other free diversions.

Kicking off with Springfield Nights at Burke Lake Park and Arts in the Parks at Frying Pan Farm Park on June 24, the 2026 offerings won’t be quite as extensive as in previous years after the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors adopted a fiscal year 2026 budget that reduced funding for the series by $136,000.


Around Town

Lerner Town Square in Tysons will come to life this Sunday (May 31) with the distinctive beats of go-go music.

Take over the parking lot at 8025 Galleria Drive from noon to 8 p.m., this year’s DMV Summer Kickoff Music Fest will double as a 50th anniversary celebration of the musical genre invented in D.C.


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