The Workhouse Arts Center announced its winter-spring performance lineup.

The eclectic offerings range from a classic, old Hollywood-style jazz singer to a family-friendly, progressive hip-hop artist. Comedy show formats include an audience participation round-table discussion and individual stand-up comedians.

Performances are either part of the OnStage series, organized by the Workhouse Art Center’s Performing Arts team, or the Rahmein Presents comedy series, by Rahmein Mostafavi.

The OnStage lineup of musical artists includes Jazz specialist Stephanie Nakasian, GRAMMY-nominated progressive hip-hop artist Christylez Bacon, instrumental solo percussionist Tom Teasly, award-winning vocalist and Virginia Blues ambassador Bobby BlackHat, and Washingon D.C.-based artist and composer Josanne Francis.

Ramhein Presents’ primary program is its ‘couples therapy’ comedy show, a round-table discussion about the trials and tribulations of love, dating, sex, singlehood, and marriage.

All performances are held at the Workhouse campus at 9518 Workhouse Way in Lorton. Show times vary, including both day and night performances. Prices range from $10 to $25; parking is free. For more information, visit workhousearts.org.

This past weekend, a surge in electricity demand across the Mid-Atlantic region prompted a change at an area wastewater plant.

The electrical grid that serves the east coast, PJM Interconnection, was overloaded with demand when temperatures plummeted to the single digits at 4:20 a.m. Christmas Eve.

PJM asked large electricity users to curb their electricity use to save energy so there would be enough to power homes and smaller businesses.

The Norman Cole Pollution Control Plant in Lorton switched on five electrical generators,  removing the plant from the electrical grid. The plant is key to Fairfax County’s wastewater treatment practices and treats 40 million gallons of wastewater a day.

The switch to backup generators returned an estimated 5,700 kilowatts back to the electrical grid for 14 hours, enough to power 4,500 homes, a county press release states.

Normally, electricity from the grid costs about 5 cents per kilowatt hour. The press release states that during this past weekend’s cold snap, prices rose to as much as $4.40 per kilowatt hour.

Christmas was one of the coldest in the past 40 years in our region, with low temperatures dipping below 10 degrees and wind chill factors making the air feel as it if were below zero. High temperatures were in the low to mid-20s.

Since the weekend, high temperatures have increased to the mid-40s.

The Workhouse Arts Center is thrilled to announce the return of a Northern Virginia Halloween season favorite, the Workhouse Haunt, an immersive outdoor haunted trail.

This year’s haunt, “Nightmare Harvest,” will run on weekends from Saturday, October 1, through Saturday, November 5, 2022. Friday and Saturday hours are from 7 to 11 p.m., and Sunday hours are from 7 to 10 p.m.

The haunt will also perform on Halloween night, Monday, Oct. 31, from 7 to 9 p.m. Each Friday and Saturday night from October 7 through October 29, live bands will perform in the Rizer Pavilion near the Haunt Bar, where guests can purchase snacks and beverages. Tickets are now available for purchase, and prices start at $30 per person.

The Workhouse Haunt is not only Halloween entertainment but also an extension of the Workhouse Performing Arts Program, allowing local youth to practice their acting skills, set production, and overall theatrical skills with the training of seasoned professionals.

Guests will travel in small groups for a frightening 30-minute experience that brings them next to the site’s abandoned, historic buildings and into the dark woods, where they will encounter terrifying characters and sights that are not for the faint of heart. Tickets are sold online only via timed entry, and advance purchase is highly recommended to reserve a time slot.

“This year, we will continue our Preview Night, on October 1, to honor our first responders, veterans, active military, teachers, and health-care workers by offering them free admission on that evening,” says Leon Scioscia, President, and CEO of the Workhouse Arts Center.  “Additionally, this year, we have partnered with the Lorton Community Action Center to encourage guests to give back to the community by donating food and other items when they attend the Haunt. We will have a drop off location available on site.”

Haunt: Nightmare Harvest 2022 Schedule:

• Fridays – Oct. 7, 14, 21, 28, Nov. 4, 7 pm – 11 pm.
• Saturdays – Oct. 8, 15, 22, 29, Nov. 5, 7 pm – 11 pm.
• Sundays – Oct. 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, 7 pm – 10 pm.
• Monday – Halloween, Oct. 31, 7 pm – 9 pm.

From Oct. 7 through Oct. 29, Friday and Saturday evenings will include a rotating schedule of live music in the Rizer Pavilion, which also serves as a check-in area and “virtual line” for Haunt entry.

Food trucks, soft drinks, wine, and themed-specialty drinks will be available for purchase on site. Bunnyman Brewing will be the exclusive beer vendor for the Haunt. And will feature selections of microbrew favorites from their unique draft beer truck. As October 1 is Preview Night, food and beverage service will not be available.

The Workhouse Arts Foundation, Inc. is holding a special opening reception for its Kissed by a Muse exhibit.

The exhibit will feature artwork by Virginia-based painter John Hartt and mixed-media artist Cheryl Neway which celebrates the main themes and draws inspiration from Xanadu (based on the Universal film, music and lyrics by Jeff Lynne and John Farrar). The works will include contemporary costuming, fanciful paintings of enigmatic characters, and bright discothèque colors.

“The themes of Xanadu are simple and universal: Love, Creativity, and most importantly, roller disco”, says Liz Colandene, Performing Arts Coordinator at the Workhouse Arts Center. “Neway and Hartt are celebrating these themes in their exhibition Kissed by a Muse. As an arts center, it’s important that we are collaborating between art forms. The performing arts department is incredibly pleased to be the inspiration for a visual art exhibition.”

The event will be held at the arts center’s McGuire-Woods Gallery located at 9518 Workhouse Way, Building W16 in Lorton from 5 pm to 9 pm on Saturday, June 11. The event will provide music featuring music by DJ Infidel. A $10 donation is suggested.

All attendees are required to wear masks due to coronavirus protocols.

The musical Xanadu will take the stage at the Workhouse Arts Center.

The upcoming production, based on a book by Douglas Carter Beane, Music, and Lyrics by Jeff Lynne and John Farrar, and based on the Universal Pictures film, with a screenplay by Richard Danus and Marc Rubel, will run May 7 through June 11, 2022 (Friday and Saturday nights are at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinees are at 2 p.m.)

This Tony Award-nominated roller skating musical adventure about following your dreams despite the limitations others set rolls along to the original hit score composed by Jeff Lynne and John Farrar. Based on the Universal Pictures cult movie of the same title, which starred Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly, Xanadu is for adults and children.

Xanadu follows the journey of a magical and beautiful Greek muse, Kira, who descends from the heavens of Mount Olympus to Venice Beach, California, in 1980 on a quest to inspire a struggling artist, Sonny, to achieve the greatest artistic creation of all time – the first roller disco. But, when Kira falls into forbidden love with the mortal Sonny, her jealous sisters take advantage of the situation, and chaos abounds.

The Workhouse Performing Arts production of Xanadu will be helmed by director and choreographer Stefan Sittig and music director Merissa Martignoni Driscoll.

“Xanadu is a wonderful musical, full of campy good fun, but also has a deeper message.  The book of the musical, by the award-winning playwright Douglas Carter Beane, has a strong central message:  Be true to yourself and don’t be afraid to open up to others and reach out,” said Martignoni Driscoll.

Individual theater seat tickets for Xanadu are priced between $20 and $30. The Workhouse warns prices may rise as ticket sales progress.

The Workhouse recommends that all staff, artists, volunteers, students, and patrons wear a mask while inside one of the Workhouse buildings.

The 24th Annual Eagle Festival at Mason Neck State Park in Lorton returns on May 7.

This family-friendly event runs from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. It includes live animal shows, hands-on educational opportunities, and outdoor recreation clinics that all aim to highlight the natural history of Northern Virginia and foster stewardship of the environment.

The event provides the opportunity to see live reptiles, hawks, and owls up close and learn about the park’s resident bald eagles and see them fly overhead.

“Visitors really enjoy the unique experience of seeing the eagles soar in the sky and learning about their behaviors,” Mason Neck State Park Chief Ranger of Visitor Experience Ericka Goines said. “We focus on educating the public about these precious beings and explain what other birds, reptiles, and animals can be seen in the park and its surrounding area.”

There will be live music, food, pony and wagon rides, and exhibits from conservation partners.

Participants may register for an 8 a.m. Bird Walk or the 9 a.m. Bird Walk. Both take place on the Bay View Trail.

For more event details, visit virginiastateparks.gov/eaglefestival.

Two area residents are breathing a bit easier tonight after winning big in the Virginia Lottery.

Sean Davis bought a winning $1 million ticket at a 7-Eleven at 8228 Gunston Corner Lance in Lorton.

He and his wife have had a midweek evening routine since the pandemic began. They sit out on their deck and scratch Virginia Lottery tickets for fun.

“It just sort of became our Wednesday night thing to break up the monotony of COVID life,” he said. Afterward, Davis scratched a $1 Million Royale ticket and discovered he’d won the game’s $1 million top prize.

“I didn’t believe it,” he told Virginia Lottery officials as he claimed the prize. “I was in shock more than excited.”

He had the choice of taking the full $1 million in annual payments over 30 years or a one-time cash option of $601,684 before taxes. He chose the cash option. The store receives a $10,000 bonus from the Virginia Lottery for selling the winning ticket.

Meanwhile, in Manassas, Rosalind Abdool discovered she’d won $1 million in the March 10 Powerball drawing.

She bought her ticket at Giant Food, located at 10100 Dumfries Road in Manassas. The winning numbers were 17-18-37-44-53, and the Powerball number was 18. Her ticket matched the first five numbers to win $1 million. She used Easy Pick and allowed the computer to randomly select the numbers on her ticket.

“I was really, really surprised,” the Manassas woman told Virginia Lottery officials as she claimed her prize.

The store receives a $10,000 bonus from the Virginia Lottery for selling the winning ticket.

Powerball drawings are held at 10:59 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays. The odds of winning Powerball’s $1 million prize are 1 in 11,688,054.

Shanco, a leader in the home exterior and roofing industry, opened a new office in Lorton in an effort to expand the company's service area

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The Workhouse Arts Center is thrilled to announce “Nightmare Prison,” Northern Virginia’s first-ever Haunted Drive-Thru, is coming to Lorton for this year’s Halloween season.

A haunted attraction is, itself, a long-standing tradition offered by the Workhouse, which serves not only as entertainment but also as an extension of the Workhouse Performing Arts program, allowing local youth to practice their set production and theatrical skills.

“Nightmare Prison” is the first immersive, completely contactless drive-thru Halloween experience in the region. Zombies, swamp creatures, creepy clowns, scary dolls, and frightening prisoners are among 13 different scary scenes taking up residence on the Workhouse campus during the month of October. These new inhabitants will scare and entertain visitors experiencing the attraction from the safety of their cars.

Set on the grounds of the former District of Columbia’s Correctional Facility, the Workhouse campus provides a unique and extra eerie setting for this Halloween attraction.

“At a time when Performing Arts is on hold in the nation, the Workhouse is truly pleased to provide an artistic outlet for our young actors, set designers, stage managers, and volunteers alike to participate safely in creating this incredible production,” said Joseph Wallen, Director of Performing Arts at the Workhouse.

“Building on last year’s Haunted Trail production of “Breakout” and this year’s Drive-In Movie series at the Workhouse, we found a way to create a hair-raising, haunted attraction that is both terrifying and completely safe. The drive-thru design of “Nightmare Prison” will allow visitors to enjoy the Halloween season despite COVID-19,” adds Caroline Blanco, Vice-Chair of the Workhouse Board of Directors and Chair of the Workhouse Haunted Attraction Design Team.

Ticket prices start at $60 per vehicle will go on sale in late August. There will be 13 nights of fright, starting on Friday, Oct. 2 through Sat. October 31. Fridays and Saturdays will run from 7-11 p.m. each weekend in October, and the three Sundays in the middle of the month (October 11, 18, and 25) will run from 7-10 p.m.

The Workhouse will soon be announcing auditions for scare actors and is accepting volunteers to assist in this year’s event. Students wishing to volunteer are eligible to receive service hours. The tickets, along with contributions and sponsorships, will keep the arts alive in our region. Join us to do something fun, unique, and incredible. For sponsorship opportunities, please contact: [email protected]