BETHESDA BLUES AND JAZZ SUPPER CLUB SNEAK PREVIEW (VIDEO)

Yesterday I was at the Bethesda Blues and Jazz Supper Club press conference, and I brought back some video for you of that spectacular Streamline Art Deco movie theater, and from the press conference itself.

Owner Rick Brown said that some regulars at Glen Echo Park's famous Spanish Ballroom convinced him to not only place a new dance floor in front of the stage, but to put a layer of cork beneath it.

Brown also said there is the potential to host a House of Blues-style Gospel Brunch on Sundays in the future.  All of the more general details are covered in the above video.

The club opens Friday.

BETHESDA BLUES AND JAZZ UPDATES BETHESDA THEATRE MARQUEE (PHOTOS)

After years of static and outdated messages (including a personal birthday message that lingered long past the birthday), the marquee at the historic Bethesda Theatre has come alive again, as the Bethesda Blues and Jazz Supper Club approaches its grand opening. I'm looking forward to seeing some big names in lights on Wisconsin Avenue in the coming years.

MAGGIE ROSE TO PLAY 2 SHOWS AT BETHESDA BLUES AND JAZZ SUPPER CLUB MARCH 8-9!

Blockbuster news from the soon-to-open Bethesda Blues and Jazz Supper Club: one of the first artists to perform at the historic venue will be rising country star Maggie Rose.

A Potomac native who attended Our Lady of Mercy and Georgetown Visitation, Rose is now considered an "It" Girl in Nashville. Among the industry bigshots guiding her career is Tommy Mottola.

Her debut album, Cut to Impress, will be available March 26. But you'll have a chance to hear the material before everyone else at these two Bethesda shows.

Stay tuned for ticket information - I will post it when it is announced. The club is scheduled to open March 1, but show information will be released any time now.

This is going to be a fantastic start for the club.  If you are a longtime Bethesda resident, you know that downtown Bethesda has lacked a music venue that would draw a national recording artist (at least in my lifetime).  It's also very appropriate given that Washington DC was actually a country music town, back in the days of Jimmy Dean and Patsy Cline.

Though we've previously expected just blues and jazz from this club (and Rose's vocal style draws quite a bit from the former), maybe this won't be the last country show in downtown Bethesda.

BOX OFFICE SIGN LIGHTS UP AFTER LONG DARKNESS AT BETHESDA BLUES & JAZZ SUPPER CLUB

The long-dark, neon "Box Office" sign of the historic Bethesda Theatre was aglow once again on Wisconsin Avenue last night.

Now the home of the Bethesda Blues & Jazz supper club, opening March 1, the building is retaining much of its vintage charm. The styles of automobiles have changed, the old Pizza Hut and other nearby structures have been demolished and replaced.  But facing the theater from across Wisconsin, the scene is not all that changed from the 1940s and 50s.  Well, okay, there is an apartment building now looming over it.

The historic theatre was built in 1938, and is an example of Streamline Moderne architecture.

BETHESDA BLUES AND JAZZ SUPPER CLUB NOW PLANS FEBRUARY 2013 OPENING (PHOTOS)

The new Bethesda Blues and Jazz Supper Club, which had planned to open later this month, has now confirmed February 2013 as its targeted opening date.

Work continues inside, and residents of The Whitney claim to have even heard some music at least once.

This one should be worth the wait, if you are as big a fan of New Orleans and Cajun cuisine as I am.