Thursday
Philadelphia Ballet at Wolf Trap
Filene Center, 1551 Trap Road, Vienna, 8 p.m., $42 to $133
The Philadelphia Ballet brings a full-firepower performance of four ballets set to American music: Jerome Robbins’ “Fancy Free,” Eliot Feld’s “Variations on America,” George Balanchine’s “Who Cares?” and and his ballet set to John Philip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever.” Con: There’s no live orchestra playing Sousa. Pros: Jane Raleigh, the beloved former dance director of the Kennedy Center, will lead a panel discussion before the show, and one kid can come free with the purchase of each adult ticket.
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Brazil Independence Day celebration at El Mercat Bar de Tapas
1301 S. Joyce St., Arlington, 7 p.m., $10 cover charge
Fiesta D.C., the same group organizing a Latino festival and parade for Sept. 26 and 27, starts the Latin American Heritage Month party early with a celebration of Brazil’s Independence Day. Join the Vavá United School of Samba for an evening of tapas, music and samba lessons in Pentagon City.
More to explore: “Love Letters of World War II,” a free music and dance performance at the Library of Congress
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Friday
“The Score” at Shakespeare Theatre
610 F St. NW, 7:30 p.m., $43 to 152. Runs through Oct. 25.
Every “Succession” fan’s favorite patriarch is coming to town to play Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach. Instead of his small-screen offspring, however, Scottish actor Brian Cox faces off against Prussian monarch Frederick the Great. Cox’s wife, Nicole Ansari, stars opposite him as Anna Magdalena Bach, mother to 13 of the composer’s 20 children. A Guardian critic deemed the script uneven when the drama debuted in England three years ago, but had high praise for Cox, “who plays the genius musician with such magnetism that he almost singlehandedly saves this play.”
The Folger Consort performs “Monteverdi’s Legacy”
Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 East Capital St. SE, 8 p.m., $20 to $50. Additional performances Saturday and Sunday.
Meanwhile, at the other Shakespeare-centric theater in town, the Folger Consort opens its 50th season with a program billed as “the musical equivalent of a gondola tour through 17th-century Venice.” Consort co-founder Robert Eisenstein will play music of Monteverdi and his successors on the viola da gamba, joined by two sopranos and four other musicians.
More to explore: Opening night of the NoMa in Color Mural Festival
Saturday
Gin Dance Company’s Farewell Performance
Capital One Hall, 7750 Capital One Tower Road, Tysons, 7:30 p.m., $61.75
Choreographer Shu-Chen Cuff’s personal story is the stuff of American dreams: After immigrating to the U.S. from Taiwan, she graduated from the prestigious New World School of the Arts. She landed a job with Nevada Ballet Theatre, but found dancing didn’t pay the bills. She sold watches on the side, met and married a customer, and followed her new husband to Fairfax. For 15 years, Gin Dance has been an artistic home for many young professionals with high levels of training but day jobs in other fields. Now she’s retiring from running the company. Four works and 14 dancers are on the final program.
“Come From Away” at Ford’s Theatre
511 10th St., 7:30 p.m., $20 to $110. Runs through Oct. 18.
The concept sounded improbable and perhaps even crass: a docu-dramedy musical about Sept. 11? Yet “Come From Away” has become one of the most popular musicals of the 21st century. Ford’s Theatre marks the 25th anniversary of 9/11 with a reprise of the musical, which stopped in D.C. ahead of its long Broadway run. Opening-night guests in 2016 included Elaine Chao, Sen. Rand Paul and the mayor of Gander, Newfoundland, a character in the show. After the Twin Towers fell, the town welcomed the passengers of 38 stranded planes. Now the musical about Canadian generosity takes the stage against the backdrop of President Donald Trump’s tariff war.
More to explore: The 34th annual Rosslyn Jazz Fest
Sunday
18th Street and Columbia Road, noon to 6 p.m., free
The neighborhood that remains home to some of the District’s quirkiest indoor establishments — animal crackers at Tryst or redhead night at Madam’s Organ, anyone? — pours out onto the streets Sunday. This volunteer-run festival has a catch-as-catch-can vibe, but everyone should stumble into something fun. Scheduled events include “Volo Kids” activity zone from noon to 2 p.m. and a 1 p.m. mural unveiling at 1640 Columbia Road. Entertainment ranges from Civil War reenactors to FrankoJazz karaoke to Cuban dance troupe D.C. Casineros.
“Congressional Unleashed” Pet Tour at Historic Congressional Cemetery
1801 E St. SE, 1 p.m., $10
This guided tour for history buffs focuses on famous animal lovers interred in the 200-year-old cemetery. Among those to whom you and your pet may pay respects: “Stars and Stripes Forever” composer John Philip Sousa, journalist Cokie Roberts and Minnesota explorer Joseph Nicollet. Note that Americans with complex legacies, such as Lincoln conspirator David Herold and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, are also buried in Congressional Cemetery; peeing on gravestones may result in you (and your pet) being banned from the premises.
More to explore: 41st annual Mediterranean Festival at Saints Peter and Paul Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church in Potomac