Opera

**New Hope Mission**: To eliminate bias, hate, and prejudice, and to promote understanding between people of a diversity of faiths, cultures, traditions, and backgrounds with a care and compassion dialectic. MLK New Hope Event - Sat. 1/17/26 **Meet at 2pm, Coffee Republic,** 801 Pleasant Dr, Ste 100, Rockville, MD 20850; **Carpool at 2:45am from King Farm Subdivision, Rockville, MD.** **2:45pm-5pm - Arrive 3:30-3:45pm, at MLK Memorial Washington DC,** 1850 West Basin Drive SW, Near West Basin Drive SW & Independence Ave. SW, Washington DC, DC 20024 RSVP on Meetup - Or CONTACT GENE AT 240-848-0808

# Happy Birthday, You’re Dead Written and Directed by Terry Smith Produced by Jerri Wiseman ***You are invited to a surprise birthday party for Candy Crush, a D-list actor. She’s the hottest ticket in town. But her birthday party isn’t the only surprise she will get tonight! Someone’s about to be murdered. Only you can prevent this from happening before it’s game over. To miss this would be a crime.*** January 24 at Ono Offshore in Chantilly (with dinner) ONO Offshore, 4515 Daly Drive, Suite N, Chantilly, VA 20151 5:30pm Doors and Beverage Tabs open 6:00pm Dinner starts 6:45pm Show starts There will be a 15-20-minute intermission. Tickets: $57 plus ticketing fee and sales tax includes the show, catered dinner and dessert by Odd BBQ. Menu: Choice of smoked pulled pork or smoked chicken thighs and bun. Assemble your own sandwich with choice of BBQ sauce. (A Beyond Brat will be available for those who select a Vegetarian/Vegan Meal.) Macaroni and cheese. Grilled Vegetables. Baked Beans. Cookies for dessert. Beverages are not included in the ticket price. Guests will be able to open a tab for the self-serve beer wall with 4 craft beer options from Ono Brewing Company. There will also be hard seltzer available for purchase in addition to assorted sodas, tea, and bottled water. ### **[Buy tickets for ONO Offshore.](https://www.stagecoachtc.com/happy-birthday-youre-dead/)** You must buy a ticket to attend. An RSVP here will not save you a seat. This venue sells out quickly!

This group was originally started by Chad Keith who created and hosts a podcast by the same name in Charlotte, NC. I am hoping to continue his legacy here in NoVa as I recently moved to this area. This group is all about finding community around self-improvement and exchanging ideas on how to be your best self and get the most out of life. This group is for anyone who is interested in overcoming average in all areas - career, ambitions, relationships, hobbies, health, everything. I am so excited to meet driven individuals in the NoVa area so please reach out if you have any questions at all. EVERYONE is welcome so please sign up for an upcoming meetup!

[Profs and Pints Northern Virginia](https://www.profsandpints.com/washingtondc) presents: **“The Life of Frankenstein,”** on the birth, evolution and impact of a tale of man-made monstrosity, with Bernard Welt, an emeritus professor of arts and humanities at George Washington University who frequently lectures on Frankenstein in literature, cinema, and culture. [Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at [https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/profsandpints/nv-life-of-frankenstein](https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/profsandpints/nv-life-of-frankenstein) .] Guillermo del Toro’s lush and lovingly produced film adaptation of Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel *Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus* is just the latest of many iterations of the story to capture the public’s imagination. People have watched Victor Frankenstein give life to his monster in numerous films, on television, and on stage, and even perform “Putting on the Ritz” with him thanks to the comic genius of Mel Brooks. Mary Shelley did not just tell a tale. She spawned the modern genre of speculative fiction and gave rise to a myth that would crop up in debates over nature versus nurture and other matters. Even today it stokes anxieties over the potential impacts of robotics, artificial intelligence, and genetic engineering, by evoking the image of a monster turning on its progenitor. Come gain a new appreciation of Mary Shelley’s creation with the help of Dr. Bernard Welt, who has studied the relationship between nightmares and the horror genre and is the author of *Mythomania: Fantasies, Fables, and Sheer Lies in Contemporary American Popular Art.* Dr. Welt will start by telling a literary origin story almost as famous as Frankenstein itself, of how an 18-year-old Shelley started writing *Frankenstein* in 1816 while staying in a villa on Lake Geneva with two of her era’s leading poets, Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, her lover. Housebound by foul weather, the three read Gothic tales of ghosts and monsters and challenged each other to produce something even more terrifying. Mary dreamed up a story of a man who defied death by creating a living being out of scraps of deceased men harvested from graveyards and anatomy labs. The resulting novel, *Frankenstein*, published anonymously in 1818, would by that century’s end become a touchstone in philosophical discourse on the nature of humanity and in political discussions of imperialism and populism. By the 21st century, Mary Shelley (as she became) had earned a more significant place in the literary canon than Byron and her husband Shelley. We will examine how this grisly tale became a landmark of modern thought and look at the part played by numerous film adaptations from the first years of cinema to the present day. (Door: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. The talk starts 30 minutes later.) Image: From a Theodor von Holst engraving in an 1831 edition of *Frankenstein* published by Colburn and Bentley of London.

Leigh Ann Sutton, Reiki Master and Teacher, Access Bars Practitioner and Archangelic Light Master will host this event on the third Monday of the month. Open to any level healing and style practitioner. Come share your skills. Space is very limited (no more than 6 total) and masks will be required. Please add your name to the waitlist if full and be courteous in canceling if you cannot make it so someone else can join. Suggested Donation $10. Cross referenced under [Reiki, Angelic and Metaphysical Gatherings of the DMV](https://www.meetup.com/reikiandangelsdmv/) in Meet up. Check out my website for additional offerings and services https//www.exceptionalmindsopenhearts.com/

Join NVRC and Omnium Circus for an inclusive, interactive circus experience! Led by Omnium Circus' Artistic Director Lisa Lewis, this family-friendly, interactive workshop offers a behind-the-scenes look at inclusive circus arts and invites participants of all ages and abilities to explore movement, creativity, and play - no circus experience required! ASL interpreters and CART will be provided. If you need other accommodations, please let us know. WHEN: January 17, 2026 - 10 AM to 12 PM WHERE: NVRC Northern Virginia Resource Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons Service Source Community Room 10467 White Granite Drive, Suite 300 Oakton, VA 22124 To register, visit our website:https://www.nvrc.org/happening/omnium-circus-workshop-an-inclusive-interactive-circus-experience/?fbclid=IwY2xjawPU54dleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFRZXpqV2RLRmg0UUs1OVI4c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHnlE_L2i92S1O4g_XamFchofxZy1oPCXWNrdQ_BWfev5p7CJ-X7aTZixjHq1_aem_dS7iWQY6QNXwYPR3omJNZQ