The last time singer Maggie Rose performed at the Bethesda Blues and Jazz Supper Club, she received a big surprise—an engagement ring.
That was last March, when Rose’s boyfriend, Austin Marshall, unexpectedly hopped on stage for her last song of the night and sang a duet, then dropped to one knee and proposed. It’ll be hard to top a surprise engagement when Rose returns to the Bethesda Blues and Jazz Supper Club this week for two nights the club is billing as Christmas shows. But for the Potomac native, the holiday homecoming is the perfect way to end a year of personal and professional transformation.
Rose, whose given name is Margaret Rose Durante, moved to Nashville to start a country music career more than six years ago. Although she released an album and had a few singles on country music charts, she wasn’t finding the success she dreamed of. She was also tired of being pigeon-holed into the rigid confines of the genre. After country radio consultant Keith Hill caused a stir this spring commenting that stations should treat songs by female singers like tomatoes in a salad—as accents, rather than the main dish—Rose felt she had to respond. She started a campaign called #TomatoTuesday and released a new song on the Internet each Tuesday over the summer.
“It was my answer to a pretty hostile environment to females in country radio,” she said.
It was also her chance to get in touch with her creativity and break out of the country mold. The result was 14 songs that span genres from country to pop to dance. Some of those songs will also end up on an EP she is planning to release early next year. Rose is looking forward to performing them live in front of a hometown audience for the first time.
“I have a really great fan base in the area and they’ve always shown up to support me," she said.
Aside from her #TomatoTuesday songs, Rose is busy with other projects, including another genre-busting undertaking she is working on with hip-hop artists Big Boi from Outkast and Mannie Fresh, plus a full album she says will be released late next year.
For now, she's looking forward to a little downtime. Her Bethesda shows will be the last of the year and then she plans on spending the holidays with her local friends and family.
“I have a little niece that’s grown so much in the past few months and I’m looking forward to doing some wedding planning,” she said. “It’s kind of like wrapping the year up with a bow and I can’t think of a better way to put the year to bed.”
Maggie Rose with the Morrison Brothers, 8 p.m., Dec. 17 and 18, Bethesda Blues and Jazz Supper Club, $17.50-$35, www.bethesdabluesandjazz.com
Flying V offers a glimpse of 2016 season with staged reading
Flying V theater company will perform a staged reading at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda of Justice League: The Final Frontier, a play based on the comic book by Darwyn Cooke and adapted and directed by Producing Artistic Director Jason Schlafstein. In the story, well-known superheroes such as Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman team up with a new breed of heroes to save the Earth from an evil threat.
Flying V bills itself as an indie theater company exploring the "intersection of high concept and intimate moments." The 2015 Helen Hayes Award winner for Outstanding Emerging Theatre Company will also announce its shows for the 2016 season that evening.
8 p.m., Dec. 21, The Writer's Center, pay what you can, www.flyingvtheatre.com
National Philharmonic performs Handel's Messiah
It's been a Christmas tradition for more than 270 years. Handel's Messiah, first performed in 1742, reflects on events from the life of Christ, from the Advent and Christmas stories to the passion, resurrection and ascension. The National Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorale will perform the entire oratorio, one of the best-known choral pieces in Western music, this weekend at The Music Center at Strathmore. Conducted by Stan Engebretson, the concert will feature the nearly 200-voice chorale, as well as soloists Danielle Talamantes, Margaret Mezzacappa, Matthew Smith and Christòpheren Nomura. The work includes the famous Hallelujah Chorus, And the Glory of the Lord and The Trumpets Shall Sound.
Handel's Messiah, 8 p.m. Dec. 19 and 3 p.m. Dec. 20, The Music Center at Strathmore, $44-$94, www.strathmore.org
Chris Cornell comes to AMP
Grunge veteran Chris Cornell began his career with Seattle’s trailblazing band Soundgarden. The singer known for his soulful howl also fronted Temple of the Dog, a side project with members of Pearl Jam, and joined members of Rage Against The Machine to form supergroup Audioslave. With his latest album, A Higher Truth, he moved in a new direction with stark arrangements inspired by musicians like singer-songwriter Nick Drake and his folksy acoustic guitar-based rock. He’ll play an acoustic show at AMP by Strathmore this week, but the catch is tickets aren’t on sale for the event. The only way in is to win tickets from radio station DC101’s Elliott in the Morning show, which is presenting the concert, or to enter online. Amp will also be giving away tickets.
12 p.m., Dec. 17, AMP by Strathmore, www.ampbystrathmore.com
