Metro Weekly - May 04, 2017 by RP MEDIA ARCHIVE

CONTENTS

MAY 4, 2017

KILLER SERIAL

The creators of the popular podcast Serial are coming to Strathmore to offer insight to their process By Randy Shulman

Volume 24 Issue 1

HAVING A (DRAG) BALL! Stephen Scott Wormley is ecstatic to portray the diva who taught the world about “throwing shade” Interview by Doug Rule Photography by Julian Vankim

DEPRESSING DYSTOPIA Humanz is a messy, unfocused return from Gorillaz By Sean Maunier

SPOTLIGHT: MAGIC MAN p.7 OUT ON THE TOWN p.11 KILLER SERIAL: SARAH KOENIG p.12 THE FEED: FROM RUSSIA, WITHOUT LOVE p.19 COMMUNITY: SPLASHY COCKTAILS p.23 COVER STORY: HAVING A (DRAG) BALL! p.26 GALLERY: YUMMM! AT AVAM p.35 FILM: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 p.37 STAGE: SMART PEOPLE p.39 MUSIC: HUMANZ BY GORILLAZ p.41 NIGHTLIFE p.43 SCENE: AGLA’S 2017 MISTER & MISS GAY ARLINGTON p.43 SCENE: TATIANNA AT TOWN p.50 SCENE: LARRY’S LOUNGE p.51 SCENE: MR. GREEN LANTERN COMPETITION 2017 p.52 CLUBLIFE: CRUISING ALTITUDE p.53 LAST WORD p.54 Real LGBTQ News and Entertainment since 1994 Editorial Editor-in-Chief Randy Shulman Art Director Todd Franson Managing Editor Rhuaridh Marr Senior Editor John Riley Contributing Editor Doug Rule Senior Photographers Ward Morrison, Julian Vankim Contributing Illustrator Scott G. Brooks Contributing Writers André Hereford, Sean Maunier, Troy Petenbrink, Kate Wingfield Webmaster David Uy Production Assistant Julian Vankim Sales & Marketing Publisher Randy Shulman National Advertising Representative Rivendell Media Co. 212-242-6863 Distribution Manager Dennis Havrilla

Patron Saint Dorian Corey Cover Photography Julian Vankim Metro Weekly 1775 I St. NW, Suite 1150 Washington, DC 20006 202-638-6830 All material appearing in Metro Weekly is protected by federal copyright law and may not be reproduced in whole or part without the permission of the publishers. Metro Weekly assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials submitted for publication. All such submissions are subject to editing and will not be returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Metro Weekly is supported by many fine advertisers, but we cannot accept responsibility for claims made by advertisers, nor can we accept responsibility for materials provided by advertisers or their agents. Publication of the name or photograph of any person or organization in articles or advertising in Metro Weekly is not to be construed as any indication of the sexual orientation of such person or organization.

MAY 4, 2017 • METROWEEKLY

STAN BAROUH

Spotlight

Magic Man

HOULD THE MAGIC PLAY, CURRENTLY IN A rolling World Premiere at Olney, be performed by another regional theater, the lead will have to be skilled at magic. Extremely skilled. “The actor playing this particular role will definitely have to be of the caliber of a professional magician,” says Brett Schneider, a professional magician himself who, for the past several years, has helped playwright Andrew Hinderaker (Colossal) develop The Magic Play. Schneider stars as The Magician, a gay man undergoing a series of personal revelations over the course of a “live magic show.” “No punches are pulled in the magic in the show,” the 32-year-old continues. “We wanted to make sure that this is not some facsimile of a good magic show, but in fact, that the magic you’re seeing is actually of a high quality.” Schneider originated the role at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago before arriving at Olney. And he has had no trouble slipping into an alternate character while dazzling the audience with tricks and illusions from his own arsenal.

“There’s a great quote by a 19th century magician — Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin — who says a magician is an actor playing the part of a magician. When I am performing as a magician separately in my line of work, apart this play, I am still thinking in terms of art, in terms conflict, in terms of narrative.” One catch: the use of random volunteers from the audience each night. “There’s four volunteers that are brought up on stage during the show,” he says. “That’s part of the journey of this piece of theater. The unpredictability, the giving up of control of the show — it’s a theme both in the story and also in what you actually see play out on stage. “The play ends in a moment that’s purely spontaneous between a random audience volunteer and The Magician. It determines, in large part, the last piece of magic the audience sees. It is not a preplanned event. It’s a live event. It happens every night. Depending on who that volunteer is and how they answer a particular question means that you might see a slightly different show than you would on another night.” —Randy Shulman

The Magic Play has been extended to May 14. At the Olney Theatre Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road in Olney, Maryland. Call 301-924-3400 or visit olneytheatre.org. MAY 4, 2017 • METROWEEKLY

Spotlight THE INDIGO GIRLS WITH NSO POPS

JEREMY COWAR

Amy Ray and Emily Saliers bring their signature sonic blend of folk, rock and tight two-part harmony to the Kennedy Center, further bolstered with rich accompaniment from the National Symphony Orchestra led by Steven Reineke. Closer to fine, indeed. Friday, May 5, at 8 p.m., and Saturday, May 6, at 2 and 8 p.m. Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Tickets are $24 to $99. Call 202467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

NANCY & BETH

Megan Mullally — Karen from Will & Grace — and Stephanie Hunt (Friday Night Lights) began singing together six years ago, naming their slyly humorous bluesy band Nancy & Beth for no reason in particular other than to be slyly humorous. The duo tours in support of its debut album in a concert presented by the 9:30 Club. Monday, May 8. U Street Music Hall, 1115A U St. NW. Doors at 7 p.m. Tickets are $30. Call 202-588-1880 or visit ustreetmusichall.com.

THE XX

LAURA COULSON

Jamie Smith, the electronic producer extraordinaire, may be the best-known member of the popular, famously introverted British dream-pop trio. Yet it is guitarist Romy Madley Croft and bassist Oliver Sim who are the xx’s heart and soul, and the two friends, who’ve been singing and making music together since childhood, are both gay. Their latest album, I See You, retains “the sultry, nocturnal sound” of the band’s first two albums, writes Metro Weekly’s Sean Maunier in a four-star review, summing up the set as “brighter, bolder and far more energetic.” The xx’s Young Turks labelmate and fellow haunted electronic spirit Sampha, a rising British singer-songwriter known for featured work with Drake, Frank Ocean and Solange, opens. Saturday, May 6. Doors at 5:30 p.m. Merriweather Post Pavilion, 10475 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia, Md. Tickets are $40 to $55. Call 800551-SEAT or visit merriweathermusic.com. 8

MAY 4, 2017 • METROWEEKLY

The largest showing of the pioneering video artist’s work in D.C., this exhibit features 11 video installations showcasing his little known interest in portraiture. Displayed in the National Portrait Gallery’s newly created media galleries, Moving Portrait features works that are intimate studies of the human face and body depicting a range of emotions and conveying universal themes, such as mortality and spirituality, gradually revealed by Viola’s signature use of slow motion. Closes Sunday, May 7. National Portrait Gallery, 8th and F Streets. NW. Call 202-633-8300 or visit npg.si.edu.

BILL VIOLA: THE MOVING PORTRAIT

Spotlight

MAY 4, 2017 • METROWEEKLY

Out On The Town

GIORGIO MORODER

If Donna Summer was the Queen of Disco, Giorgio Moroder was her godfather. Among his prolific output in the ’70s and ’80s, the electronic music pioneer produced all of Summer’s dance classics, from “I Feel Love” to “Last Dance” to “Love to Love You Baby.” Daft Punk helped give the septuagenarian Italian DJ/producer a late-career revival. His first studio album in 23 years, 2015’s Deja Vu is full of appealing dance ditties featuring many latter-day disco princesses, from Kylie Minogue to Sia to Britney Spears. None will appear with him at the 9:30 Club next weekend, of course, but the concert is a bucket list moment for many nonetheless. Enamour opens. Friday, May 12. Doors at 8 p.m. 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW. Tickets are $40. Call 202-265-0930 or visit 930.com.

Compiled by Doug Rule

FILM A MIGHTY WIND

Every Thursday in May, the Library of Congress screens one of Christopher Guest’s mockumentary comedies — a form of filmmaking that came to define him after 1996’s deadpan satire of small-town community theater Waiting for Guffman (it screens at the end of the month). First up is Guest’s faux exposé into the world of folk music, A Mighty Wind, featuring fellow This Is Spinal Tap alumni Michael McKean and Harry Shearer. They’re joined by several of Hollywood’s sharpest improv actors, including Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Jane Lynch, Jennifer Coolidge and Parker Posey. Thursday, May 11, at 7:30 p.m. Packard Campus Theater, 19053 Mount Pony Rd. Culpeper, Va. Free. Call 202-707-9994 or visit loc.gov/avconservation.

CITIZEN JANE: BATTLE FOR THE CITY

The visionary urban activist Jane Jacobs, author of The Death and Life of Great American Cities, is the focus of Matt Tyrnauer’s documentary, highlighting her David vs. Goliath-esque battle against developer Robert Moses in 1960s New York. If not for Jacobs, Moses likely would have succeeded in his intentions to raze much of lower Manhattan and destroy many neighborhoods all for the sake of a highway. Despite the drama inherent in the struggle for the soul of the city as well as the lasting impact of her advocacy on cities everywhere, Citizen Jane: Battle for the City “is only intermittently stimulating,” the New York Times reviewed, noting that “a long time goes by before any specific project is explored.” Opens Friday, May 5. Area theaters. Visit fandango.com.

THE DINNER

In Oren Moverman’s thriller, Richard Gere plays a popular politician who invites his estranged

younger brother (Steve Coogan) and sister-in-law (Laura Linney) to dine with him and his wife (Rebecca Hall) at a fashionable restaurant. Things grow heated before the amuse-bouche as they must decide on the course of action to take regarding a horrible crime committed by their children. Opens Friday, May 5. Area theaters. Visit fandango.com.

STAGE ALADDIN AND THE WONDERFUL LAMP

Aladdin and princess Adora must outsmart an evil wizard who wants the genie in the lamp for his own schemes. A production for all ages — but especially children — directed by Roberta Gasbarre. The play is based on Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp by James Norris. Now to May 21. Adventure Theatre MTC, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo. Call 301-634-2270 or visit adventuretheatre-mtc.org.

BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS

Theater J bills Neil Simon’s semi-autobiographical play about a Depression-era family trying to laugh through tears “a perfect escape from today’s never-ending news cycle.” The company’s Adam Immerwahr also calls it a worthy introduction to American theater for young theatergoers who graduated from Disney musicals but aren’t quite ready for Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller. Four local teen actors take on the lead roles, joined by adults Lise Bruneau, Michael Glenn and Susan Rome, in a production directed by Matt Torney. Extended to May 14. The Aaron and Cecile Goldman Theater, Edlavitch DCJCC, 1529 16th St. NW. Call 202-777-3210 or visit theaterj.org.

FIVE LESBIANS EATING A QUICHE

An award winner at the 2012 New York International Fringe Festival, Evan Linder and Andrew Hobgood’s interactive comedy is set in the closeted, claustrophobic mid-1950s. As a result, the women

MAY 4, 2017 • METROWEEKLY

in the play self-identify as widows, even though some of them have never married. The audience acts as fellow mid-century quiche-eaters attending this coming-out party and guiding some of the evening’s improv-oriented developments. Kaitlin Kemp, Malinda Markland, Morgan Meadows, Geocel Batista, and Allie O’Donnell star. Jimmy Mavrikes directs. Opens Saturday, May 6, at 7:30 p.m. Runs to May 22. Lab I in Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets are $30. Call 202-399-7993 or visit monumentaltheatre.org.

ELISE BERGERSON

IN THE HEIGHTS

KILLER SERIAL

Koenig

The creators of the popular podcast Serial are coming to Strathmore to offer insight to their process

HEEPISHLY MENTION TO SARAH KOENIG THAT YOU’VE ONLY JUST STARTED season one of Serial, and she launches into a story about how her own mother missed the insanely popular podcast’s 2014 debut. “She was like, ‘Oh, darling, I missed your podcast, I’m so sorry,’” says Koenig. “And I was like, ‘Mom, you can go anytime. It just lives there. It’s okay. There’s no time constraint. Really, it’s fine.’ I think sometimes older people don’t understand that it just lives there.” The dulcet-voiced Koenig has hosted and overseen two seasons of the This American Lifefacilitated podcast (Ira Glass is an editorial advisor), which embraces longform investigative journalism. The first season focuses on the 1999 murder of an 18-year-old Baltimore high school student, the second on U.S. soldier Bowe Bergdahl, held captive of the Taliban for nearly five years, who is currently on trial for military crimes. A third season is in the works, but Koenig remains mum about its subject matter. While podcasts are nothing new, the immense popularity of the first Serial, which has clocked more than 175 million downloads, came as a shock to Koenig and co-creator and co-executive producer, Julie Snyder. “We weren’t sure people would stay with us going down the path that we went on,” recalls Koenig. “The first season is 12 episodes. That’s a long time. We had no idea if people were going to stay with us. I think the thing we showed was that if you do it right, people will stay with you. So you’re seeing a lot more risk-taking and a lot more resources [put into other, similar podcasts], and really, really fine reporters doing work you did not see before. That’s super exciting.” With season two, which has had more than 80 million downloads on its own, Koenig and Snyder decided to follow their instincts and not adhere to a formula. “If we were different people, I guess we would be like, ‘All right, we’ve got a winner, we’ve got our formula. Take an old case where there are some questions and go re-investigate. That’s our path.’ But we’re not interested in that, you know what I mean? That wasn’t our goal. It was just like, ‘Let’s just do stories we like and that we’re interested in.’ “At the end of the day it’s like, ‘Well, I’m going to keep doing what I like to do, and do it the best way we know how. If people come along, that’s wonderful, and if they don’t, oh, well.’ It would have been really foolish to just be like, ‘Well, okay I know what the public wants, let me just reproduce that over and over.’ That’s not my job.” —Randy Shulman Backstage with the Creators of Serial: Binge-Worthy Journalism with Sarah Koenig and Julie Snyder is Thursday, May 11, at 8 p.m. at The Music Center at STrathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, Bethesda, Md. Tickets are $25 to $60. Call 301-581-5100 or visit strathmore.org. 12

MAY 4, 2017 • METROWEEKLY

The U.S. Spanish-language premiere of Hamilton creator LinManuel Miranda’s first Broadway hit. The show sizzles with the kind of urban energy you would expect from its setting in Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood. Performed in Spanish with English surtitles. To May 21. GALA Theatre, 3333 14th St. NW. Tickets are $40 to $60. Call 202-234-7174 or visit galatheatre.org.

KALEIDOSCOPE

Florence Lacey stars in the latest “Bold New Work” world premiere from partners, in life and in show, Matt Conner and Stephen Gregory Smith (The Turn of the Screw). Presented by Creative Cauldron, the musical focuses on a legendary Broadway performer and her comeback one-woman show, foiled as she forgets her prepared anecdotes and attempts to make up new ones on the fly, as the insidious signs of Alzheimer’s become increasingly apparent. In previews starting Thursday, May 4, at 7 p.m. Opens Saturday, May 13, at 8 p.m. Runs to May 28. ArtSpace Falls Church, 410 South Maple Ave. in Falls Church. Tickets are $20 to $30. Call 703-4369948 or visit creativecauldron.org.

LAURA BUSH KILLED A GUY

Billed as a smart, surreal and surprising reexamination of the Bush years, upstart local theater collective Klunch offers a world premiere written by its artistic director Ian Allen. John Vreeke directs rising local actress Lisa Hodsoll in a one-woman show that imagines the former First Lady ruminating on killing a guy in 1963 and reminiscing about her Texas childhood and married life with George W. To June 4. Caos on F, 923 F St. NW. Tickets are $25 to $35. Call 202-2156993 or visit theklunch.com.

MASTER CLASS

Ilona Dulaski stars in Terrence McNally’s love letter to opera great Maria Callas. Ayana Reed stars as Second Soprano (Sharon), a role made famous by Audra McDonald, and Joseph Walsh plays Accompanist while serving as music director. Emily Honzel, Ayana Reed, Daniel Noone and Michael

3 p.m. Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. Tickets are $33 to $99. Call 410-783-8000 or visit bsomusic.org.

JANE MONHEIT

SCOTT SUCHMAN

The Kennedy Center concludes a series of performances celebrating the centennial of the late Ella Fitzgerald’s birth with a “Renee Fleming Voices” concert by the contemporary jazz vocalist. “Above all, beyond any other artist, I loved and revered Ella,” Monheit has said. Last year, she offered the tribute album The Songbook Sessions: Ella Fitzgerald, the first release on Monheit’s Emerald City Records. She’ll be accompanied by her producer, arranger and trumpeter Nicholas Payton. Friday, May 5, at 7 and 9:30 p.m. Family Theater. Tickets are $55 to $70. Call 202-4674600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

KINGMAN ISLAND BLUEGRASS & FOLK FESTIVAL

THE WASHINGTON CHORUS WITH GAY MEN’S CHORUS, ARI SHAPIRO

Julian Wachner is going out with a bang — and not solely by virtue of Carl Orff’s bombastic Carmina Burana. For the final concert of his 10th and last season as music director of the Grammy-winning Washington Chorus, Wachner will lead the 200-voice group in a performance of Orff’s choral warhorse, further amplified with the addition of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, Children’s Chorus of Washington, and the Washington National Cathedral Boy and Girl Choristers. A celebratory nod to Washington’s unparalleled choral scene, the three groups aren’t the only guests for this monumental program. Six soloists will also take turns in the limelight, as will NPR’s Ari Shapiro. The All Things Considered co-host and sometimes Pink Martini singer will serve as special guest narrator in a performance of Igor Stravinsky’s dramatic oratorio Oedipus Rex, about the Sophocles tragedy. Sunday, May 14, at 5 p.m. Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Tickets are $18 to $72. Call 202-342-6221 or visit thewashingtonchorus.org.

Sharp round out the cast. Directed by Nick Olcott. In previews. Opens Sunday, May 7. Runs to June 11. MetroStage, 1201 North Royal St., Alexandria. Tickets are $55 to $60. Call 800-494-8497 or visit metrostage.org.

OUTSIDE MULLINGAR

Keegan Theatre harkens back to its Irish roots with a production of a comedy by John Patrick Shanley that poses the question is it ever too late to take a chance on love? The focus is on neighbors whose families have been squabbling for years over a patch of land in rural Ireland. Mark A. Rhea directs Rena Cherry Brown, Susan Marie Rhea, Brandon McCoy, and Kevin Adams. Previews start Saturday, May 6, at 8 p.m. Opens Tuesday, May 9, at 8 p.m. Runs to May 28. Keegan Theatre, 1742 Church St. NW. Tickets are $35 to $45. Call 202-265-3768 or visit keegantheatre.com.

RAGTIME

Based on the sprawling novel by E.L. Doctorow, with book, music

and lyrics by Terrence McNally, Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, the Tony-winning musical Ragtime depicts three families striving for the American dream at the turn of the 20th century. It’s an epic musical, made all the more so by the all-star D.C. cast that director Peter Flynn (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) managed to assemble, led by Kevin McAllister, Tracy Lynn Olivera, Nova Y. Payton and Jonathan Atkinson. Talk about an American dream. To May 20. Ford’s Theatre, 511 10th St. NW. Call 800-982-2787 or visit fords.org.

THE ARABIAN NIGHTS

Ten years ago, Constellation Theatre Company launched its first season with a production of Mary Zimmerman’s entrancing adaptation of The Arabian Nights. Now, Founding Artistic Director Allison Arkell Stockman closes out the 10th anniversary season by revisiting the company’s roots and reimagining the show, once again with live music by Tom Teasley. Veronica del Cerro

MAY 4, 2017 • METROWEEKLY

leads the ensemble as famed storyteller Scheherazade. Pay-WhatYou-Can preview is Thursday, May 4, at 8:30 p.m. Opens Sunday, May 7, at 7 p.m. Runs to June 4. Source, 1835 14th St. NW. Tickets $20 to $45. Call 202-204-7741 or visit constellationtheatre.org.

MUSIC BALTIMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: STRAVINSKY’S FIREBIRD

Juho Pohjonen joins the BSO to perform Ravel’s jazz-inflected Piano Concerto in G Major, in a program led by Principal Guest Conductor Markus Stenz and capped off by Igor Stravinsky’s complete score for The Firebird. A commission from Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes, it catapulted Stravinsky to fame in pre-WWI Paris. Also on the bill is Mendelssohn’s Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage. Thursday, May 4, at 8 p.m. Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral St., Baltimore. Also Sunday, May 7, at

Nearly 40 musical acts will perform on an island in the Anacostia River to benefit the Living Classrooms Foundation, which offers youth in the Baltimore-Washington region hands-on education and job training in the natural and maritime resources fields. The 8th annual edition of this festival features a lineup led by Town Mountain, Dom Flemons, formerly of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen, Nora Jane Struthers & the Party Line, the Honey Dewdrops, Charm City Junction w/Ken Kolodner, the Sligo Creek Stompers, Justin Trawick and the Common Good, the Coteries, Man About a Horse, and King Street Bluegrass. Featured artists are Jonny Grave, AJ Head, Crys Matthews, Gina Sobel and Sarah Quintana. Organizers ask that guests only bring reusable water bottles and food containers onto the island, while a reusable Zero Waste cup will be given to each attendee to use at vendors and water stations. Rocklands Barbeque & Grilling Company will be on hand selling chopped BBQ pork, pulled BBQ chicken, and grilled portabella sandwiches. Saturday, May 13, at noon. Entrance to Kingman and Heritage Islands Park is behind RFK Stadium Parking Lot 6 south of Benning Road NE. Tickets are $30 for general admission, or $125 for VIP with unlimited beer and drinks and access into an exclusive viewing space next to main stage. Visit kingmanislandbluegrass.info.

MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO

The iconoclastic, bisexual and D.C.-reared vocalist and bassist returns home for a Kennedy Center concert paying tribute to Nina Simone. Ndegeocello will draw from her 2012 release Pour Une Ame Souveraine: A Dedication to Nina Simone, which featured a

Washington Conservatory of Music recital accompanied by Canadian pianist Andrist. The program includes sonatas by Beethoven, Prokofiev and Schumann. Saturday, May 6, at 8 p.m., followed by a post-concert Wine & Words reception. Westmoreland Congregational Church, 1 Westmoreland Circle. Bethesda. Tickets are free, donations welcome. Call 301-320-2770 or visit washingtonconservatory.org.

RENE MARIE

The Virginia-raised singer-songwriter swings with verve and often sings in the spirit of the late, great Eartha Kitt, who Marie celebrated on her 2013 Grammy-nominated set of covers, I Wanna Be Evil...With Love to Eartha Kitt. She returns to Blues Alley for a weekend run of shows in support of her latest Grammy-nominated set, Sounds of Red, an album of original, sophisticated, sauntering jazz tunes, featuring largely autobiographical lyrics. Saturday, May 6, and Sunday, May 7, at 8 and 10 p.m. Blues Alley, 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW. Tickets are $35 to $40, plus $12 minimum purchase. Call 202-337-4141 or visit bluesalley.com.

HUGH CLARKE

SIMONE BARON

THE ASK RAYCEEN SHOW

Rayceen Pendarvis moderates the annual #AskRayceen Community Forum this year focused on “The D.C. Government & You.” The panel includes D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson, At-Large Councilmembers David Grosso and Robert White, Deputy Mayors Courtney Snowden and HyeSook Chung and DCPS Chancellor Antwan Wilson. Also on tap are performances by musician Jae The Lyoness, swing dancing troupe the Jam Cellar, music by DJ MIM, free food while supplies last and a cash bar. Wednesday, May 10, at 6 p.m. HRC Equality Center, 1640 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Free. Visit AskRayceen.com.

selection of songs the legendary Simone either wrote or performed, including “Feeling Good” and “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood.” Ndegeocello revamped the songs into her brooding, lower-register contemplative style, which can take a couple listens to fully appreciate. “I wanted to carry on her [legacy],” Ndegeocello told Metro Weekly after the set’s release. “What she did so well was take standards or songs from writers and make them her own [so they] become the definitive version.... You have

to put something of yourself into it.” A Crossroads Club performance. Saturday, May 13, at 8 and 10 p.m. Kennedy Center Atrium. Tickets are $35 to $55. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

NURIT BAR-JOSEF

The Concertmaster of the National Symphony Orchestra since 2001, Bar-Josef is also a regular soloist with symphonies around the country. She will play an 1871 J.B. Vuillaume violin, on loan from the Library of Congress, for a

MAY 4, 2017 • METROWEEKLY

As part of its 2017 Artist-inResidence mentoring program, Strathmore offers solo concerts of its up-and-coming artists. Next up is a hybrid jazz/classical vocalist and accordion player who is reimagining the possibilities of her instrument and collaborating with everyone from dancers to puppeteers to visual artists. Baron currently performs in a chamber/jazz ensemble with fellow Strathmore AIR participant Ethan Foote. Wednesday, May 10, and May 24, at 7:30 p.m. The Mansion at Strathmore, 10701 Rockville Pike, North Bethesda. Tickets are $17. Call 301-581-5100 or visit strathmore.org.

SIGNATURE THEATRE: PIANO MEN CABARET

Recent Signature Theatre performers Mark G. Meadows (Jelly’s Last Jam), Nick Lehan (Titanic) and Shayna Blass (Freaky Friday) perform the hits of multi-talented pop piano-playing singer-songwriters Elton John, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, and Ray Charles, to name four. Tickets are sold out for next week’s run except for an added matinee on Saturday, May 13, at 2 p.m. Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington. Tickets $35. Call 703-820-9771 or visit sigtheatre.org.

THE INSERIES: OPERA & MORE, PASSION & STRUGGLE

A blend of traditional folk music and the popular music of the intellectual and middle classes, “nueva cancion” rose to become the political protest music of the 1960s and ’70s throughout Latin America and Spain. Diana Saez leads an InSeries

cabaret, or “cafe-teatro,” featuring many of the better-known songs in the genre by artists including Cuba’s Silvio Rodriguez, Chile’s Violeta Parra and Victor Jara, Puerto Rico’s Rafael Hernandez, and Spain’s Joan Manuel Serrat. Multi-instrumentalist Pavel Urkiza, pianist Suzzette Ortiz, and percussionist Rigel Perc accompany Saez. Remaining shows Friday, May 5, at 8 p.m., Saturday, May 6, and Sunday, May 7, at 3 p.m. Lab II in the Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets are $22 to $38. Call 202-204-6673 or visit inseries.org.

DANCE BALLETX

Halcyon Stage, the new performing arts presenting organization launched by former Washington Ballet director Septime Webre, welcomes one of the nation’s most intriguing contemporary ballet companies for two different programs at a different kind of dance venue, Union Market. On Sunday, May 14, from 12 to 2 p.m., the Philadelphia troupe offers a free series of short pop-up dance performances, presented as a sort of scavenger hunt to be found. The night before comes a more traditional evening of dances by Trey McIntyre and Matthew Neenan, set to the music of Amy Winehouse and indie-rock band Beirut, followed by a DJ Set and Meet-the-Artist Dance Party. Saturday, May 13. Doors at 8 p.m. Dock 5 at Union Market, 1309 5th St. NE. General seating tickets are $40. Call 202-796-4240 or visit halcyonstage.org.

CITYDANCE’S DREAMSCAPE

Emmy-winning dance icon Debbie Allen (Fame) is the host of CityDance’s 2017 gala, proceeds of which support the organization’s free after-school Dream program. In addition to performances by CityDance students, this year’s lineup features Brooklyn Mack of the Washington Ballet, ballroom stars Denys Drozdyuk & Antonina Skobina, tap dancer Cartier Williams, Cervilio Miguel Amador and Chisako Oga of the Cincinnati Ballet, the Bruce Wood Dance Project, Cloud Movement, Step Afrika! and, from Complexions Contemporary Ballet, guest artists Kelly Sneddon, Andrew Brader, Greg Blackmon and Timothy Stickney. Saturday, May 6, at 8 p.m. Lincoln Theatre, 1215 U St. NW. Tickets are $25 to $38. Call 202328-6000 or visit citydance.net.

READINGS IF WOMEN RULED THE WORLD

Heather Moran and Jennifer Lawless, the executive director of Sixth and I and the director of the Women & Politics Institute at

FOOD & DRINK CINCO DE MAYO AT CLAUDIA’S STEAKHOUSE

TERESA CASTRACANE PHOTOGRAPHY

The two-year-old high-gloss LatinAmerican steakhouse with a prime K Street location, Claudia’s throws a party in honor of the U.S.’s favorite Mexican holiday with live music, margarita and beer specials. But the South-of-the-Border-inspired nibbles are the focus, including: Chicken Tostadas with beans, avocado, lettuce and cheese for $6, Taquitos Dorados with chicken, queso fresco, lettuce and salsa verde for $7, Shrimp Tacos with pico de gallo, lettuce and rocoto aioli for $14, and Stuffed Crab Jalapenos with cheese and aioli for $9. Friday, May 5. Claudia’s Steakhouse, 1501 K St. NW. Call 202-783-8212 or visit cladiassteakhouse.com.

NOPA KITCHEN+BAR: $70 WEEKEND DINNER FOR TWO MENU

BUILDING THE WALL

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan (The Kentucky Cycle, All The Way) imagines a future where President Trump is able to persevere with his plans to barricade the southern U.S. border. Building The Wall focuses on a historian interviewing the supervisor of a private prison as he awaits sentencing for carrying out a policy that has escalated into a violent and chaotic mess, with millions of undocumented immigrants rounded up and detained in overflowing private prisons and makeshift incarceration camps. Michael Dove directs Forum Theatre’s production, to be staged at two different local venues as part of a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere. Now to Sunday, May 7, in the Kogod Cradle at Arena Stage, 1101 6th St. SW. Also running May 18 through May 27 in the Silver Spring Black Box Theatre, 8641 Colesville Road. Call 301-588-8279 or visit forum-theatre.org.

American University lead an event exploring what would the world look like if more women held political power? Also up for discussion is why more women don’t run for office. Tuesday, May 9, at 7 p.m. Sixth & I Historic Synagogue. 600 I St. NW. Tickets are $10 in advance, or $12 day-of. Call 202-408-3100 or visit sixthandi.org.

PEN/FAULKNER AWARD FOR FICTION

Now in its 37th year, America’s largest peer-juried literary prize honors the best works of fiction published in the past year. Imbolo Mbue is the 2017 recipient; Viet Dinh, Louise Erdrich, Garth Greenwell, and Sunil Yapa are the other finalists. All will read from their works, and judges Chris Abani, Chantel Acevedo and Sigrid Nunez will share their citations. Washington Post book critic Ron Charles serves as emcee. Saturday, May 6, at 7 p.m. Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 East Capitol St. SE. Tickets are $100, including a full buffet dinner with open bar and beer provided by Bluejacket Brewery. Call 202-5447077 or visit folger.edu.

EXHIBITS BOOK HILL SPRING ART WALK

Seven art galleries in the Book Hill area of Georgetown will open doors to present their latest exhibitions in a rare evening event. Participating galleries are: Addison/Ripley Fine Art, the Artist’s Proof Gallery, Cross MacKenzie Gallery, Klagsbrun Studios, Maurine Littleton Gallery, Susan Calloway Fine Arts (see separate entry), and Washington Printmakers Gallery. Friday, May 6, from 6 to 8 p.m. Book Hill area of Georgetown, Wisconsin Avenue between Reservoir Road and Q Street NW. Visit georgetowngalleries.com.

COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE PHOTOGRAPHY SHOWCASE

A Creative DC, Exposed DC, DC Focused, IGDC and StreetMeet DC join forces for a showcase of 48 unique photographs available for purchase, framed by Social Print Studio, at prices ranging from $20 to $200. On display Thursday, May 4, and Friday, May 5, from 6 to 11 p.m., with a Closing Party Saturday,

MAY 4, 2017 • METROWEEKLY

May 6, from 7 to 11 p.m. Logan Fringe Arts Space, 1358 Florida Ave. NE. Call 202-733-6321 or visit capitalfringe.org.

MIRROR TO THE WORLD: DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY 2017

Photographer and Photoworks instructor Frank Van Riper juried the ninth and final installment of an annual showcase of emerging local photographic talent he started in 2009. Works by 11 local photographers made the cut, including Fred Zafran, Darrow Montgomery, Christine Pearl, Valerie Makepeace, Cherry Wyman, Ginger WerzPetricka, Ron Petricka, Diana Hoppin, Steve Hoppin, Gana Browning and Penny Frates. The exhibit also features five in-depth “photo essays” on topics ranging from urban D.C. street photography to life in rural America and the “dying city of Civita di Bagnoregio. Through May 14. Photoworks Gallery, 1st Floor of the Arcade Building, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., in Glen Echo Park, Md. Call 301-634-2274 or visit glenechophotoworks.org.

Across from the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Penn Quarter, this 160-seat American brasserie, part of the same family as Rasika, Bibiana and the Oval Room, should already be on your shortlist for brunch. On Sundays between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., each diner can choose between an appetizer and entree or sandwich, as well as a special mimosa or bloody Mary, for $28 to $30 each (or $38 with bottomless classic mimosas). Now Executive Chef Matt Kuhn is working to get Nopa on your radar earlier in the weekend as well, with a new dinner menu focused on composed dishes designed for couples, whether lovers or close friends, reasonably priced at $70 for two, before tax and tip. Though the menu changes weekly, regular options include: Nopa Spring Mixed Grill, with bites of quail, fennel sausage, ribeye, red prawns and grilled asparagus, plus garlic custard and ramp salsa verde; Crispy Chesapeake Soft Shell Crabs, three jumbo crustaceans served with Old Bay sweet corn and crab succotash, smoked new potatoes and pickled ramps; and the standout Maine Lobster Bake, a whole lobster with Old Bay-seasoned kielbasa, local clams and red prawns, and sides of roasted sweet corn, pee-wee potatoes and “smoked tomato butter.” Available exclusively on Fridays and Saturdays during dinner service, 5 to 11 p.m., subject to availability. Nopa Kitchen+Bar, 800 F St. NW. Call 202-347-4667 or visit nopadc.com. l

theFeed

RIGHTS DECISION

LGBTQ advocates reintroduce Equality Act in Congress By John Riley

N TUESDAY, MEMBERS OF CONGRESS REINtroduced a bill that would amend the Civil Rights Act to include protections for LGBTQ people. The Equality Act, sponsored by U.S. Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) in the House and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) in the Senate, would make it illegal to discriminate against LGBTQ people in employment, education, housing, credit, jury service, and access to public accommodations. It would also close loopholes in current laws relating to sex discrimination, giving those who are discriminated against based on their gender additional remedies. “The Civil Rights Act is a sacred pillar of the freedom in our country. It is not amended lightly,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). She said that it is well past time that Congress amend the law to explicitly include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected characteristics. Quoting deceased Civil Rights icon Julian Bond, Pelosi said: “It’s time to take action to end this discrimination. It’s time to add concrete protections for LGBT people to existing Civil Rights Law, ensuring that sexual orientation and gender identity enjoy similar treatment as religion, national origin and race.” Flanked by activists from major LGBTQ advocacy organizations, a coalition of Democratic lawmakers pitched the bill as a sign of the commitment to the country’s ideals of liberty and equality. They also promoted it as a federal remedy for those LGBTQ people who live in the 31 states that currently lack com-

prehensive or inclusive nondiscrimination laws. “At this very moment, half of all LGBTQ Americans live in a state where they are at risk of being fired, denied housing, or refused service just because of who they are. That’s un-American,” said Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign. “The Equality Act will once and for all end this unacceptable patchwork, this crazy quilt of nondiscrimination laws across this country, that put far too many of our community at risk.” Griffin pointed to significant support for the act, both among the broader American public and in the business community, citing 92 corporations that have joined an HRC-led coalition includes Apple, Capital One, CVS, General Electric, Target, and Xerox. “There is no rational reason why this bill should not swiftly pass both chambers of Congress and be signed into law,” he said. U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), the Senate’s only out LGBTQ member, said that while significant progress on LGBTQ rights has been made in recent years, people should not mistake that progress for victory or lived equality. “There is more work to be done to ensure the dignity of LGBTQ citizens is fully respected. I feel America is ready to take her next steps forward in the march for fairness, equality, and opportunity,” Baldwin said. “The time has come in this country for full federal equality, and nothing less.” l

GRAND OLD RETIREMENT PARTY Pro-gay Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen won’t run for reelection By John Riley

LORIDA GOP CONGRESSWOMAN ILEANA ROSLehtinen, one of her party’s most vocal advocates for LGBTQ equality, has announced she will retire. First elected in 1989, Ros-Lehtinen has established herself as a point person on foreign affairs, the environment, and issues relating to equality. Ros-Lehtinen, who was also the first Cuban-American elected to Congress, said she is stepping down not because of concerns about her re-election or her strong criticism of President Trump, but because “it’s time to take a new step.” One of two GOP members of the LGBT Congressional Equality Caucus, she has frequently supported or sponsored legislation aimed at expanding civil rights, including the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the Equality Act. She also voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment and supported an LGBTQ-inclusive version of the Violence Against Women Act. Her retirement, first reported by The Miami Herald, has excited Democrats, who see an opportunity to grab Ros-Lehtinen’s seat — Hillary Clinton won the congresswoman’s Miami district

by a 20-point margin. Without Ros-Lehtinen atop the ticket, Democrats believe that the GOP will struggle to win crossover voters in the socially liberal, fiscally moderate district. LGBTQ groups praised Ros-Lehtinen for demonstrating a strong commitment to equality. The Human Rights Campaign previously endorsed Ros-Lehtinen’s bid for re-election, and had awarded her a 100 percent rating for the 114th and 113th congressional sessions — the only Republican to earn such an honor. “Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen has long been a strong advocate for LGBTQ equality in the House of Representatives,” David Stacy, government affairs director for HRC, said in a statement. “We’re losing a great champion in Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen but we are proud of her accomplishments and wish her the best in her retirement. We hope Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen’s successor will follow the strong example she set on LGBTQ issues.” “No one can really be the successor to Ileana Ros-Lehtinen,” Gregory T. Angelo, president of the Log Cabin Republicans, tells Metro Weekly. “She is going to go down in history as a member

MAY 4, 2017 • METROWEEKLY

theFeed of Congress that led the way, and in so doing, made history, in terms of LGBT equality. She was a first in so many different ways. “She has left a legendary legacy behind, in terms of her strong national security credentials, and her robust voice fighting for LGBT human rights abroad, as well as domestically,” Angelo continues. “It’s rare, if not impossible, to find an elected

official who has been in office as long as she has who can make the same claim.” Angelo adds that her advocacy for LGBT issues means that “any pro-LGBT Republicans we have now, or in the future, will really only be there because Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen created a political climate and showed the political courage that gave her colleagues the permission to do the same.” l

BAD THERAPY

Supreme Court rejects challenge to California conversion therapy ban By John Riley

HE SUPREME COURT HAS REJECTED AN ATTEMPT to overturn California’s law banning “ex-gay” conversion therapy on minors. The court’s decision gives hope to other states wishing to ban the practice. It also halts efforts by social conservatives to persuade the court that the measure violates their ability to practice their religious beliefs. “The Supreme Court has rightly rejected the challenge to the constitutionality of California’s gay conversion therapy ban,” said U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) “Five years ago when I authored California’s law, we knew that the Constitution does not prevent government from banning an evil and fake therapy. The time is now for a federal ban of the fraudulent and harmful practice of conversion therapy. Progress will not be stopped.” The lawsuit was brought by the Pacific Justice Institute on behalf of three plaintiffs: Donald Welch, a licensed therapist and minister, psychiatrist Dr. Anthony Duk, and Aaron Bitzer, a former client who had undergone conversion therapy and said it

had been successful in combating unwanted same-sex attraction. California officials argued that the Supreme Court should not hear the case, noting that the law doesn’t restrict religious leaders’ freedom of speech. It also allows a licensed provider to refer a minor to religious leaders for further counseling if the client objects to homosexuality from a religious standpoint. Since California’s law passed in 2012, five other states and the District of Columbia have successfully banned the practice on minors. Several cities, primarily in Florida and Ohio, have also banned the practice. Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said: “Today’s decision by the Supreme Court is the end of the line for unethical therapists who claim to be able to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.... The Supreme Court has rejected every attempt to challenge this important and groundbreaking law, which remains in full force and effect.” l

FROM RUSSIA, WITHOUT LOVE

Russia arrested LGBTQ activists protesting treatment of gay men in Chechnya By Rhuaridh Marr

USSIAN POLICE HAVE ARRESTED LGBTQ ACTIVists for demonstrating against the persecution of gay men in Chechnya. Part of a May Day march in St. Petersburg, activists had been lying on streets, covered in fake blood, rainbow flags and Chechen flags, while a separate group carried placards demanding that Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov be tried in the International Court of Justice. Social media showed activists subsequently being dragged from the demonstration into police vans by officers in riot gear, the Independent reports. The activists were protesting the treatment of gay men in Chechnya, with reports that more than 100 men have been attacked, blackmailed, kidnapped, imprisoned, tortured and even murdered in a state-sanctioned purge. Chechen leaders have denied that gay men are being persecuted, with the Chechen Interior Ministry calling the reports an “April fools’ joke.” A press secretary for Kadyrov refuted that there were even any gay people in Chechnya, saying: “If there were such people in Chechnya, law-enforcement agencies wouldn’t need to have anything to do with them, because their relatives would send them somewhere from which there is no returning.” Last week, Yahoo! News’ Katie Couric pressed a Russian

MAY 4, 2017 • METROWEEKLY

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman for a response to the attacks on gay men. “No, no, no. This is not my issue,” Maria Zakharova responded. “I’m not a specialist in that.” Russian President Vladimir Putin has also come out in support of the Chechen government’s denial of any actions against gay men in the region. “We have no reason not to trust the head of the republic,” Putin’s spokesperson said. United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley has promised that the U.S. will work to end the purge taking place in Chechnya. In a statement, she said: “If true, this violation of human rights cannot be ignored — Chechen authorities must immediately investigate these allegations, hold everyone involved accountable, and take steps to prevent future abuses.” It comes amidst growing condemnation of the situation in Chechnya. Sen. Marco Rubio called Kadyrov “ruthless” and a “brutal tyrant,” and accused Putin of propping up Kadyrov and “his brutal regime instead of holding them accountable.” “We should use our voice on the global stage to call attention to these horrifying acts and to ensure they are condemned in the appropriate way, and ultimately in the hopes that they will be stopped,” Rubio said. l

Community 7 p.m. at 23rd & P Streets NW. For more information, visit dcfrontrunners.org.

DC LAMBDA SQUARES gay and lesbian square-dancing group features mainstream through advanced square dancing at the National City Christian Church, 5 Thomas Circle NW, 7-9:30 p.m. Casual dress. 301-257-0517, dclambdasquares.org. DC SCANDALS RUGBY holds MATTHEW KUKUCKA - PFLAGDC

practice. The team is always looking for new members. All welcome. 7:30-9:30 p.m. King Greenleaf Recreation Center, 201 N St. SW. For more information, visit scandalsrfc.org or dcscandals@gmail.com.

The DULLES TRIANGLES Northern Virginia social group meets for happy hour at Sheraton in Reston. All welcome. 7-9 p.m. 11810 Sunrise Valley Drive, second-floor bar. For more information, visit dullestriangles.com.

SPLASHY COCKTAILS

Metro DC PFLAG’s Penthouse Cocktail Party raises funds poolside

HE PENTHOUSE COCKTAIL PARTY IS OUR MAIN FUNDRAISER OF THE year,” says Jesus Chavez, director of operations for Metro DC PFLAG. “It’s more of a happy hour feel. Just an event to gather family, friend, volunteers, board members — really, anyone who supports the mission of DC PFLAG.” Admission to the annual event, held at Penthouse Pool Club on the roof of Vida’s U Street branch, is $50, with all proceeds directly benefiting Metro DC PFLAG. The funds will help support educational initiatives, monthly support group meetings, and a helpline for LGBTQ youth or family members struggling with the coming out process. The event will feature $5 drink specials between 6 and 7 p.m., followed by a silent auction where attendees can bid on items from tickets to shows to wine parties to dinners at local restaurants. Among those offering packages are Total Wine, DC Noodles, Level One Restaurant, Room & Board, Balance Gym, Floriana, the Washington Nationals, and Signature Theatre. The cocktail party will also honor Carol Lewis, a PFLAG mom and coordinator of Metro DC PFLAG’s Fairfax County satellite support group since 2008. Lewis was the first coordinator to start an LGBTQ youth support group, with others within Metro DC PFLAG’s jurisdiction following suit. “[Lewis] is retiring this year, so we wanted to honor her and her activism and volunteerism throughout the past nine years,” Chavez says. “She was the one who created the domino effect for other satellite groups to form their own youth groups.” —John Riley Metro DC PFLAG’s 5th Annual Penthouse Cocktail Party fundraiser takes place on Thursday, May 11, from 6-9 p.m. at the Penthouse Pool and Lounge, 1612 U St. NW. To purchase tickets, or for more information, visit pflagdc.org.

THURSDAY, May 4 Weekly Events ANDROMEDA TRANSCULTURAL HEALTH

offers free HIV testing and HIV services (by appointment). 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Decatur Center,

1400 Decatur St. NW. To arrange an appointment, call 202-291-4707, or visit andromedatransculturalhealth.org.

DC AQUATICS CLUB practice

session at Takoma Aquatic Center. 7:30-9 p.m. 300 Van Buren St. NW. For more infor-

HIV TESTING at WhitmanWalker Health. 8 a.m.-8 p.m. at 1525 14th St. NW, 8 a.m.-6 p.m. at the Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center, 1701 14th St. NW, and 8 a.m-5 p.m. at the Max Robinson Center, 2301 MLK Jr. Ave. SE. For an appointment call 202-745-7000 or visit whitman-walker.org. IDENTITY offers free and confidential HIV testing at two separate locations. Walkins accepted from 2-6 p.m., by appointment for all other hours. 414 East Diamond Ave., Gaithersburg, Md. or 7676 New Hampshire Ave., Suite 411, Takoma Park, Md. To set up an appointment or for more information, call Gaithersburg, 301-300-9978, or Takoma Park, 301-422-2398. METROHEALTH CENTER

offers free, rapid HIV testing. Appointment needed. 1012 14th St. NW, Suite 700. To arrange an appointment, call 202-6380750.

mation, visit swimdcac.org.

SMYAL offers free HIV Testing, 3-5 p.m., by appointment and walk-in, for youth 21 and younger. Youth Center, 410 7th St. SE. 202-567-3155 or testing@smyal.org.

DC FRONT RUNNERS run-

Us Helping Us hosts a

ning/walking/social club welcomes runners of all ability levels for exercise in a fun and supportive environment, with socializing afterward. Route distance is 3-6 miles. Meet at

NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS MEETING. The group is inde-

pendent of UHU. 6:30-7:30 p.m., 3636 Georgia Ave. NW. For more information, call 202446-1100.

MAY 4, 2017 • METROWEEKLY

WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE for young LBTQ

Weekly Events

women, 13-21, interested in leadership development. 5-6:30 p.m. SMYAL Youth Center, 410 7th St. SE. For more information, call 202567-3163, or email catherine.chu@ smyal.org.

BRAZILIAN GLBT GROUP, includ-

FRIDAY, May 5

tice session at Montgomery College Aquatics Club. 8:30-10 a.m. 7600 Takoma Ave., Takoma, Md. For more information, visit swimdcac.org.

GAY DISTRICT, a group for

GBTQQI men between the ages of 18-35, meets on the first and third Fridays of each month. 8:30-9:30 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit gaydistrict.org.

Join people from all over the DMV area for an LGBTQ SOCIAL. All welcome. Free to attend. 6:30-8:30 p.m. Pinzimini Lounge inside the Westin Arlington Gateway, 801 N. Glebe Rd., Arlington, Va. Ballston Metro is 2 blocks away. For more information, visit gogaydc.org. The DC Center hosts a meeting of its TRANS SUPPORT GROUP, focusing on issues important to transgender people and those who identify outside of the gender binary. 7-9 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

Weekly Events BET MISHPACHAH, founded by

members of the LGBT community, holds Friday evening Shabbat services in the DC Jewish Community Center’s Community Room. 8 p.m. 1529 16th St. NW. For more information, visit betmish.org.

DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a prac-

tice session at Howard University. 6:30-8 p.m. Burr Gymnasium, 2400 6th St. NW. For more information, visit swimdcac.org.

PROJECT STRIPES hosts LGBT-

affirming social group for ages 11-24. 4-6 p.m. 1419 Columbia Road NW. Contact Tamara, 202-3190422, layc-dc.org.

SMYAL’S REC NIGHT provides a

social atmosphere for LGBT and questioning youth, featuring dance parties, vogue nights, movies and games. For more info, email catherine.chu@smyal.org.

SATURDAY, May 6 CENTER GLOBAL, a group that fights against anti-LGBTI laws and cultures in 80 countries, holds its monthly meeting on the first Saturday of every month. 12-2 p.m. The DC Center, 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

ing others interested in Brazilian culture, meets. For location/time, email braziliangaygroup@yahoo. com.

DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a prac-

DC FRONT RUNNERS running/

walking/social club welcomes runners of all ability levels for exercise in a fun and supportive environment, with socializing afterward. Route distance will be 3-6 miles. Walker meet at 9:30 a.m. and runners at 10 a.m. at 23rd & P Streets NW. For more information, visit dcfrontrunners.org.

DIGNITYUSA sponsors Mass for

LGBT community, family and friends. 6:30 p.m., Immanuel Church-on-the-Hill, 3606 Seminary Road, Alexandria. All welcome. For more info, visit dignitynova.org.

GAY LANGUAGE CLUB discusses critical languages and foreign languages. 7 p.m. Nellie’s, 900 U St. NW. RSVP preferred. Email brendandarcy@gmail.com.

SUNDAY, May 7 Weekly Events BETHEL CHURCH-DC progressive

and radically inclusive church holds services at 11:30 a.m. 2217 Minnesota Ave. SE. 202-248-1895, betheldc.org.

DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a

practice session at Wilson Aquatic Center. 9:30-11 a.m. 4551 Fort Dr. NW. For more information, visit swimdcac.org.

DC FRONT RUNNERS running/

walking/social club welcomes runners of all ability levels for exercise in a fun and supportive environment, with socializing afterward. Route will be a distance run of 8, 10 or 12 miles. Meet at 9 a.m. at 23rd & P Streets NW. For more information, visit dcfrontrunners.org.

FAIRLINGTON UNITED METHODIST CHURCH is an open, inclusive church. All welcome, including the LGBTQ community. Member of the Reconciling Ministries Network. Services at 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. 3900 King Street, Alexandria, Va. 703-6718557. For more info, visit fairlingtonumc.org.

FRIENDS MEETING OF WASHINGTON meets for worship,

10:30 a.m., 2111 Florida Ave. NW, Quaker House Living Room (next

MAY 4, 2017 • METROWEEKLY

to Meeting House on Decatur Place), 2nd floor. Special welcome to lesbians and gays. Handicapped accessible from Phelps Place gate. Hearing assistance. quakersdc.org.

200, Arlington. Appointments: 703789-4467.

HOPE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST welcomes GLBT commu-

14th St. NW. For more information, call 202-682-2245 or visit thedccenter.org.

nity for worship. 10:30 a.m., 6130 Old Telegraph Road, Alexandria. hopeucc.org.

HSV-2 SOCIAL AND SUPPORT GROUP for gay men living in the

DC metro area. This group will be meeting once a month. For information on location and time, visit H2gether.com.

INSTITUTE FOR SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT, God-centered

new age church & learning center. Sunday Services and Workshops event. 5419 Sherier Place NW. isddc.org.

LUTHERAN CHURCH OF REFORMATION invites all to

Sunday worship at 8:30 or 11 a.m. Childcare is available at both services. Welcoming LGBT people for 25 years. 212 East Capitol St. NE. reformationdc.org.

METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY CHURCH OF WASHINGTON, D.C.

services at 9 a.m. (ASL interpreted) and 11 a.m. Children’s Sunday School at 11 a.m. 474 Ridge St. NW. 202-638-7373, mccdc.com.

RIVERSIDE BAPTIST CHURCH,

a Christ-centered, interracial, welcoming-and-affirming church, offers service at 10 a.m. 680 I St. SW. 202-554-4330, riversidedc.org.

UNITARIAN CHURCH OF ARLINGTON, an LGBTQ welcom-

ing-and-affirming congregation, offers services at 10 a.m. Virginia Rainbow UU Ministry. 4444 Arlington Blvd. uucava.org.

UNIVERSALIST NATIONAL MEMORIAL CHURCH, a welcom-

ing and inclusive church. GLBT Interweave social/service group meets monthly. Services at 11 a.m., Romanesque sanctuary. 1810 16th St. NW. 202-387-3411, universalist.org.

The DC Center hosts COFFEE

DROP-IN FOR THE SENIOR LGBT COMMUNITY. 10 a.m.-noon. 2000

US HELPING US hosts a black gay

men’s evening affinity group for GBT black men. Light refreshments provided. 7-9 p.m. 3636 Georgia Ave. NW. 202-446-1100.

WASHINGTON WETSKINS WATER POLO TEAM practices 7-9

WHITMAN-WALKER HEALTH

HIV/AIDS Support Group for newly diagnosed individuals, meets 7 p.m. Registration required. 202-939-7671, hivsupport@whitman-walker.org.

TUESDAY, May 9 SAGE AND FRIENDS IN THE CAPITAL presents a social happy

hour fundraiser. 6-8 p.m. Atlantic Plumbing Company Rooftop, 2112 8th St. NW. For more information, visit sageusa.org or facebook.com/ SAGEUSA.

The DC Center holds a meeting of its COMING OUT DISCUSSION GROUP for those navigating issues associated with coming out and personal identity. 7-8:30 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit thedccenter.org. The DC Center hosts a meeting of HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS

GROUP FOR GAY AND BI MEN.

6-7 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

Weekly Events

The DC Center’s TRANS SUPPORT GROUP provides a space to talk for transgender people and those who identify outside of the gender binary. 7-9 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a

Weekly Events

MONDAY, May 8

practice session at Dunbar Aquatic Center. 7:30-9 p.m. 101 N St. NW. For more information, visit swimdcac.org.

GETEQUAL meets 6:30-8 p.m. at Quaker House, 2111 Florida Ave. NW. For more information, email getequal.wdc@gmail.com. NOVASALUD offers free HIV test-

ing. 5-7 p.m. 2049 N. 15th St., Suite

ASIANS AND FRIENDS weekly

dinner in Dupont/Logan Circle area, 6:30 p.m. For more information, email afwash@aol.com, or visit afwashington.net.

DC AQUATICS CLUB practice

session at Takoma Aquatic Center. 7:30-9 p.m. 300 Van Buren St. NW. For more information, visit swimdcac.org.

DC FRONT RUNNERS running/

walking/social club welcomes runners of all ability levels for exercise in a fun and supportive environment, with socializing afterward. Route distance is 3-6 miles. Meet at 7 p.m. at Union Station. For more information, visit dcfrontrunners.org.

DC SCANDALS RUGBY holds prac-

tice. The team is always looking for new members. All welcome. 7:309:30 p.m. King Greenleaf Recreation Center, 201 N St. SW. For more information, visit scandalsrfc.org or dcscandals@gmail.com.

THE GAY MEN’S HEALTH COLLABORATIVE offers free

HIV testing and STI screening and treatment every Tuesday. 5-6:30 p.m. Rainbow Tuesday LGBT Clinic, Alexandria Health Department, 4480 King St. 703746-4986 or text 571-214-9617. james.leslie@inova.org.

OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS

— LGBT focused meeting every Tuesday, 7 p.m. St. George’s Episcopal Church, 915 Oakland Ave., Arlington, just steps from Virginia Square Metro. For more info. call Dick, 703-5211999. Handicapped accessible. Newcomers welcome. liveandletliveoa@gmail.com.

SUPPORT GROUP FOR LGBTQ YOUTH ages 13-21 meets at

SMYAL. 5-6:30 p.m. 410 7th St. SE. For more information, contact Cathy Chu, 202-567-3163, or catherine.chu@smyal.org.

US HELPING US hosts a support

group for black gay men 40 and older. 7-9 p.m., 3636 Georgia Ave. NW. 202-446-1100.

Whitman-Walker Health holds its weekly GAY MEN’S HEALTH AND WELLNESS/STD CLINIC. Patients are seen on walk-in basis. No-cost screening for HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia. Hepatitis and herpes testing available for fee. Testing starts at 6 p.m, but should arrive early to ensure a spot. 1701 14th St. NW. For more information, visit whitman-walker.org.

WEDNESDAY, May 10 For the Annual #ASKRAYCEEN COMMUNITY FORUM, Rayceen

Pendarvis moderates a panel focused on “The D.C. Government and You,” including D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, At-Large Councilmember David Grosso, At-Large Councilmember Robert White, Deputy Mayors Courtney Snowden and HyeSook Chung, and DCPS Chancellor Antwan Wilson. Followed by a

live music performance by Jae the Lyoness, swing dancing by The Jam Center, music by DJ MIM, free food, and a cash bar. Free and open to the public. 6 p.m. at the HRC Equality Center, 1640 Rhode Island Ave. NW. For more information, visit askrayceen.com.

Weekly Events AD LIB, a group for freestyle con-

versation, meets about 6-6:30 p.m., Steam, 17th and R NW. All welcome. For more information, call Fausto Fernandez, 703-732-5174.

DC AQUATICS CLUB (DCAC)

holds a practice session at Dunbar Aquatic Center. 7:30-9 p.m. 101 N St. NW. For more information, visit swimdcac.org.

FREEDOM FROM SMOKING, a group for LGBT people looking to quit cigarettes and tobacco use, holds a weekly support meeting at The DC Center. 7-8 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit thedccenter.org. HISTORIC CHRIST CHURCH

offers Wednesday worship 7:15 a.m. and 12:05 p.m. All welcome. 118 N. Washington St., Alexandria. 703549-1450, historicchristchurch.org.

JOB CLUB, a weekly support pro-

gram for job entrants and seekers, meets at The DC Center. 6-7:30 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more info, www.centercareers. org.

NOVASALUD offers free HIV testing. 11 a.m.-2 p.m. 2049 N. 15th St., Suite 200, Arlington. Appointments: 703-789-4467. PRIME TIMERS OF DC, social club for mature gay men, hosts weekly happy hour/dinner. 6:30 p.m., Windows Bar above Dupont Italian Kitchen, 1637 17th St. NW. More info, contact Carl, 703-573-8316. WASHINGTON WETSKINS WATER POLO TEAM practices 7-9

p.m. Newcomers with at least basic swimming ability always welcome. Takoma Aquatic Center, 300 Van Buren St. NW. For more information, contact Tom, 703-299-0504 or secretary@wetskins.org, or visit wetskins.org. l Submit your community event for consideration at least 10 days prior to the Thursday publication in which you would like it to appear. Email to calendar@metroweekly.com.

MAY 4, 2017 • METROWEEKLY

HAVING A

BALL! (Drag)

STEPHEN SCOTT WORMLEY IS ECSTATIC TO PORTRAY THE DIVA WHO TAUGHT THE WORLD ABOUT “THROWING SHADE” INTERVIEW BY DOUG RULE / PHOTOGRAPHY BY JULIA N VA NKIM

ORIAN COREY INTRODUCED THE WORLD TO the concept of throwing shade. “I don’t tell you you’re ugly, but I don’t have to tell you, because you already know you’re ugly,” he said in Paris Is Burning, Jennie Livingston’s cult documentary about the Harlem ball scene in the ’80s that came to define drag and gave a generation of gay people voguing, not to mention a litany of catchprases. Even if you don’t know the film, chances are you’ve seen Corey’s highly GIFable description of shade. “She’s sitting in her chair, and she’s kind of moving her hand back,” says Stephen Scott Wormley. “And she goes, ‘And that’s shade.’ I have that saved in my phone ready to go at any moment.” Wormley has been sharing the GIF in text messages for several years now, but it took on new resonance when the actor signed on to portray Corey in Dorian’s Closet, currently enjoying a world premiere at Rep Stage in Columbia, Md. Loosely based on the life of Dorian Corey, the musical is written by Richard Mailman and features music by Ryan Haase. It also only obliquely references Livingston’s 1991 documentary, which presented Corey as a matriarch in the ball world. “Even though she’s a female impersonator, I call her a 26

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woman,” Wormley says. “She is someone very talented, who has dreams of being a star, and comes to New York to try to pursue those dreams.” The musical explores Corey’s life and career, with a particular focus beyond the ball culture of the movie. “Sally’s [nightclub] wasn’t really in Paris Is Burning, but that’s where Dorian got her start,” Wormley says. A few years after Corey died, so did Sally’s, a victim of then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s Disneyfication of the seedy Times Square neighborhood where it was housed. Corey’s death in 1993 revealed an unexpectedly shady past, a reality evoked by the musical’s title. Mailman and Haase have taken a deep dive to examine — and, more importantly, imagine — Corey’s life and career in their fictionalized account. “Because all of the details from her life weren’t recorded and we don’t have the facts, they had to fill in some of the blanks,” says Wormley. Wormley was initially tapped to play the supporting character Pepper LaBeija, another famous queen from Paris Is Burning. However, shortly after casting, director Joseph W. Ritsch decided to go in a different direction, making Wormley the lead. The actor, last seen in the area as a supporting player in Signature Theatre’s Jelly’s Last Jam, is thrilled by the challenge of origi-

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nating a new, leading role and the opportunity he’s had to help shape the work. “This has been such a big undertaking, especially for this theater,” he says. “This show is huge.” “Being Dorian has been a little stressful, because it’s me on stage for 98 percent of the show,” he continues. “I have to make sure that I believe that what I’m doing and what I’m giving is honest and real and worthy of you paying attention.” METRO WEEKLY: Dorian Corey is famous for her pithy sayings. Do

you have a favorite?

STEPHEN SCOTT WORMLEY: “If you shoot your arrow and it goes

real high, well hooray for you.” We have a song in the show called “I Shot An Arrow.” The wording of that is probably one of my favorites: “Ambition got the best of me, so what? You live and learn; I can’t give up, I won’t give up, because I’ve got to have my turn.” It kind of embodies her. She tried and kind of failed, and then she realizes she can’t not try again. It’s a really special moment. And it’s something that I tell myself. MW: How much do you identify with Dorian? WORMLEY: More than I realized. When I picked up the script, I started understanding who she was, and why she did this big thing, and the symbolism of keeping something with her for so long. And I really do understand that. When you are working so hard for a dream, you are focused on that, and you don’t allow yourself to get distracted, and then you realize that you might be missing something in your life. And so, you don’t settle, but you see an opportunity and you say, “Okay, well, maybe this will work,” and then in doing that, you open yourself up to something that might not have been right for you. She has this warmth about her. She is a very sweet person and she just wants to find the good in people and give of herself. And in doing that, she gave of herself to the wrong person — but she still has love for that person, so she went through a push and pull. So I get her, and I think I get her more and more each night. I’ve come to really, really love her as a character, and it’s really important to me to try to present that to people so that they fall in love with her. MW: We need to talk about Dorian’s closet, since it’s right there in the title. What does it refer to, and what does it symbolize? WORMLEY: When Dorian Corey passed away, they found a mummified body in her closet that had been there for at least 13 years or more. Hence why we’re calling it Dorian’s Closet. And while it is not a murder mystery, I’m sure there will be plenty of people waiting to find out who she killed, and when she killed them, and why she killed them. That information does happen, and when it happens, it happens all at once, and you kind of see it for what it is. But Dorian’s Closet is also a metaphor — everybody has something in their closet. So we’re opening up her closet and we’re going in to explore everything that’s there. Not just this body, but who she was, what she went through. We’re opening up her closet and we’re inviting you in. MW: How much of what is presented is based in reality and how much is speculative? WORMLEY: Because she preserved the body so well, they were able to identify who the person was. So that part of it is true. What we don’t have the real, actual facts of are exactly what went down, exactly why it happened, and exactly her relationship with that person. There is speculation, but no facts. So all of that stuff kind of has to be filled in. There’s a reason as to why Dorian killed the person and you see that, and then hopefully you understand why she kept or why she didn’t dispose of [the body]. Also, you know, just the plain fear of disposing of it and getting caught — being a black 28

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drag queen in the ‘80s, you’re probably going to go to jail, or going to be killed before you get to jail, even if it was self-defense. MW: How did you get your start performing? WORMLEY: I was born and raised in D.C. proper. My family lived in Northeast and Northwest. I grew up going to DC public schools. I went to Banneker Academic Senior High School. All of my friends went to [Duke] Ellington [School of the Arts] and performed, and I did a couple of things there but mostly I was at Banneker. I started performing with Washington Performing Arts and their choir, and then they had me do a bunch of other stuff. I did their yearly concert at the Kennedy Center. I performed as a soloist with the Choral Arts Society of Washington, and then they brought in all these classical singers, and I did that. I sang for the Joffrey Ballet when they did The Nutcracker. I did two Kennedy Center Honors — the biggest one was Bill Cosby, when we sang for him. I didn’t do any D.C. theater until after I graduated college, after I started working professionally. I went away to school in 2006 and I haven’t really lived in D.C. since. I went to school, I moved to New York after I booked an Off-Broadway show, and then I stayed there. Then I started doing some regional stuff. My first show in D.C. was at Signature. I played Duane in Hairspray, but that wasn’t until 2011. MW: Did you grow up wanting to perform? WORMLEY: I actually wanted to be a lawyer. It wasn’t until I got to college and I had to do an internship with the government at EPA that I realized, “Dear God, I could never do this. I just want

“This is my first time doing full drag. And I was terrified, up until the day that we did the makeup. I said, ‘If I make an ugly woman, this is not going to go well.’ And then WE DID THE MAKEUP TEST AND I WASN’T UGLY, AND IT WAS, ‘ALRIGHT, WE’RE GOOD TO GO.’”

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to be on stage.” I was a theater arts major, a communications study major — a double major, pre-law track — and a dance minor. After a semester I realized, “I’m going to go ahead and drop this prelaw, because I’m about to die!” Still, I very much wanted to graduate with two degrees. I knew that I wanted to get a degree in performing arts, but I definitely wanted a degree in something else, not because I wanted a fallback plan but because I wanted exposure to something else. MW: How was coming out for you? WORMLEY: My mom, who has since passed away, was my absolute best friend, so when it came time to have to tell her, it was very stressful. My mom knew, but she didn’t want to ask me, she didn’t want to make me uncomfortable, so she asked my cousin to ask me. We were driving on the highway and my cousin just kind of asked, “So what do you consider yourself?” And I said, “What do you mean?” And she went, “Are you gay? Are you straight?” And I legitimately almost had a car crash on 295. I told her and she said, “Your mom wants to know.” “I can’t tell her, I’m scared.” And she said, “Do you know who your mother is? There’s nobody in the world who would be more open to talking about it and being fine with it.” That happened on a winter break, and when I got back to school I sent her this long email and she replied and said, “I knew. I knew it when your fashion changed and all this other stuff. It’s never mattered, I love you.” It wasn’t this big deal. And I have the kind of family where as soon as you tell one person, you’re good because everybody else is going to find out. So I just had to tell my mom, and then magically it was all taken care of. MW: Was everyone okay with you being gay? WORMLEY: Oh yes. Everybody’s fine. I lucked up to kind of have a pretty awesome family. My older brother and sister, my granddaddy, my aunt, everybody’s fine and everybody knows. After the first or second rehearsal [of Dorian’s Closet], I went to my granddaddy’s house, just to kind of see my family and talk to them. And my aunt was there asking me about the show. And I was telling them about Dorian, and they didn’t know about her, so they watched a couple videos and went, “Oh I see what you mean. She is very pageant. How are you going to do it? You should test it out.” So they made me test out how I would talk as Dorian and how I would walk as her. And my aunt said, “You have to make sure you walk properly in your heels. Do you have heels?” And I said, “They’re on order.” And she said, “Do you want me to go get some?” They were very, “We want you to do this correctly.” It’s nice. And my sister and my aunt came opening night. They’re very supportive. It’s great. MW: Is your family religious? WORMLEY: Like every other black person in the world, I grew up going to church, as a Christian. And I still believe that there is a higher power, that there’s something that you get from prayer. MW: Did religion ever cause an issue with your sexuality? WORMLEY: The thing about me growing up is that, my mom, who was amazing, was very good at shielding me from anything that was negative that would have hurt me. If that ever went down, I didn’t know about it. I don’t ever recall them being that way. And my aunt, the one who showed me how to walk in heels, is a pastor. She’s a chaplain for the army. So although my family’s very religious — they believe in God, they go to church, they are Christian — they just understand that this is how I was born. This isn’t something that I’ve chosen to do, this isn’t something I’m doing out of spite — this is a part of who I am, and they love me for who I am and they go on. It’s not even one of those things where we don’t talk about it. It’s just a normal thing. It’s just

“I do want to be in The Lion King. To see a stage full of mostly brown people, doing this beautiful thing was so inspiring. When I go to a show, I’m inspired by an actor no matter their color. But TO SEE SOMEONE WHO LOOKS LIKE ME, ON STAGE, WILL ALWAYS BE SPECIAL.” Stephen. I have a cousin who’s gay as well. It’s me and him and it’s normal, I would say. The new normal, if you will. MW: You mentioned that one of your mother’s clues was your fashion. How did it change? WORMLEY: When I was in high school, I started wearing super v-necks, and I went through my lip-gloss phase, so I think it was that. Which has since died a horrible death, not to worry. MW: Have you done drag before this role? WORMLEY: This is my first time doing full drag. And I was terrified, up until the day that we did the makeup. I said, ‘If I make an ugly woman, this is not going to go well.’ And everybody went, “No, you’ll be fine.” And then we did the makeup test and I wasn’t ugly, and it was, “Alright, we’re good to go.” MW: What sort of fashion and dresses can we expect in the show? WORMLEY: They are great. We look great. They are great costumes, but there are some specific favored pieces of mine. I am wearing a pink couture suit and it is everything that you could imagine. That pink suit is, I’ll say, the second costume I wear, and I will say in advance, you’re welcome. MW: Do you have time for a relationship? WORMLEY: I am married to the stage — I am Dorian Corey. That’s what that is at the moment. MW: Do you hope someday to get married or have kids? WORMLEY: Oh yes, one day I’ll get married, possibly have children. I would be an awesome dad, but I also live my life as a performer, so I can’t bring a child into the world unless I’m 100 percent sure that I can support said child. But yeah, I do want to get married. My job is hard. I live in New York City, but I’m often MAY 4, 2017 • METROWEEKLY

away, doing a show. It just gets difficult. MW: How does living in New York compare to D.C.? WORMLEY: I love living in New York. D.C. doesn’t even feel like home anymore. I come here and I kind of feel like a stranger. The city has changed tremendously. It’s nice, it’s just my biggest pet peeve is when I’m hungry — I can’t find no food in D.C. at midnight! I’m used to 2 o’clock in the morning, a full meal. Full meal, anything you want, you got it. And here it’s, “Well, everything is shut down.” MW: Where do you see yourself in the next five years? WORMLEY: Honestly, I just want to consistently be performing and be happy and able to do it. I would like to have had my Broadway debut by then, which I’ve gotten very, very close to. I think that’s just around the riverbend. But I want to be a little bit more settled and stable. I’m very happy with where I am right now, I’m very happy with what I’m doing, I’m very proud of the roles that I’ve done, the things that I choose to do. I’ve been talking with my representation now about transitioning into a little bit more of a commercial thing, which I haven’t done much of. So I think that the next five years is going to be quite interesting and hold quite a few things that I haven’t really experienced yet. MW: What would you say about the state of theater? Has it changed since you got involved? WORMLEY: In my opinion, the theater is such a sacred space. It’s so special, and there’s magic that happens behind those doors that can’t happen anywhere else. We’re in a day now where things have to be a lot more accessible, and I’m so excited that musicals are becoming live TV things — it’s a wonderful tool to get people involved in this world. But I want to be sure that we don’t lose the act of going to the theater, and the act of going to see a show, because it is so special. When I would go see a show 32

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when I was younger, that was a great thing. And to this day, I have an attitude about wearing jeans to see a show. It is very special and people are working their tails off trying to give life. MW: What was your first Broadway show? WORMLEY: The Lion King. I had a friend of mine tell me, “If you cry when that show starts, you love theater.” And I said, “Girl, I’m not going to cry when the show starts.” When I tell you that that curtain started to rise, and that sun went up in the background, and that music started, I cried for 20 minutes. I cried. And I will never forget that moment. And to this day, that is one of my favorite parts about theater. When a curtain rises, it just brings me so much joy. It’s a show that I would love to do. It’s not, “Oh my God, I have to be in The Lion King.” I mean yes, I do want to be in The Lion King. It was seeing all these beautiful brown faces on the stage, because that’s not that often of a thing — you go to shows and you don’t see too many brown people. You might see sprinkles, but to see a stage full of mostly brown people, doing this beautiful thing that was taking me over in such a way, it was so inspiring. And that is one thing that I will say: When I go to a show, I’m inspired by an actor no matter their color. But to see someone who looks like me, on stage, will always be special. MW: It has gotten a little bit better, the diversity represented on stage. WORMLEY: Yes, it has been getting a little bit better. And while colorblind casting is great, there are still just times where it’s, “Oh yeah, this show is going to be all white.” I just finished Ain’t Misbehavin’ in Syracuse, and the director told me that a lot of people don’t think of black stories — all-black casts or mostly black casts — as American stories. But he said, they are American stories. We are a part of the American tale. And if we think of them as American stories, then it begins to open it up a little bit

more. I was in college, and they did All My Sons, and I wanted to be in that show so bad, but I was only one of two black people in the department, and I couldn’t be somebody’s son in All My Sons. I have made it a point in my career to try to do roles that are not traditionally black. I’ve done Marius in Les Miz twice. He’s not traditionally black. I did Will in Big Fish and my parents were white, and it wasn’t a problem. MW: Who has been your biggest influence? WORMLEY: The absolute biggest influence in every part of my life is always my mom. She was my number one, the person who believed in me every day for 24-hours a day, even when I didn’t believe in myself. And she knew before I knew that I had star potential, that I was going to be something, that I had the talent to take me there, and that I just had to believe in myself. And she tried to instill that in me. There are still days when I waiver in that, but just knowing what she sacrificed for me, what she hid from me so that I would only know a life of positivity. And then the negativity, when she couldn’t hide that from me, she would guide me through it so that I knew how to handle disappointment, because she knew that this was a career where I would be disappointed all the time. Everything that I do, I dedicate to my mom, because without her it would not have happened. Nothing ever would have happened without her. There are days when I lose confidence in myself, or worry about, “I’m doing Dorian, I’m on the stage 98 percent of the time. Will people want to see my face all that time?” And I remember that she would say, “Yes, because you have something to say and you are wonderful at what you do.” So today, yesterday and tomorrow, she is always my inspiration. MW: When did she die? WORMLEY: She passed my senior year of college. I was just cast as George in Sunday in the Park with George, and she was so

excited about that: “This is going to be your show, it’s going to be amazing.” She passed two months after that and then, when I got back to school after the Christmas break, I had to do my first one-man musical, which was Can I Sing for You Brother? It was just me, an hour and a half on stage. It was my senior capstone, and then once that closed I had to go into Sunday in the Park with George. I do believe that everything happens for a reason. I will never want my mom to not be here, but I think that she would have only left if a) she thought that I was ready, b) she knew that I could handle it. And I had to figure out as soon as she passed how to deal with my own life and still tell a story that might crossover and might hurt, and might affect me in some way, but I still had to get through it. I still had to believe that I could get through it, and I still don’t know how I did that. I had just lost my mom — who was my everything. I’m a senior in college, I’m almost done, and I have these two huge shows. I just had to make it work. I did make it work, and I figured out a lot about myself and a lot about myself as a performer then that has helped to carry me. And I think it’s because I could get up and do that when my mom had just passed, that I can go into an audition and not get it and be okay. Or I can be in final callbacks for four Broadway shows at one time, and not get any, and be okay. I can keep pushing because everything happens for a reason and I am to grow from this. I have to keep going. And at some point in my life, I will have to understand that emotion, so I can tell it in an honest way on the stage. l Dorian’s Closet runs to May 14 at the Horowitz Center’s Studio Theatre at Howard Community College, 10901 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia, Md. Tickets are $15 to $40. Call 443-518-1500 or visit repstage.org. MAY 4, 2017 • METROWEEKLY

Gallery

Ramon Alejandro - La Terre Promise - Oil on canvas

Bob Adams - Washboard Abs - Mixed media

YUMMM! THE HISTORY, FANTASY AND FUTURE OF FOOD

One of the quirkiest museums around celebrates its 21st birthday with a playful visual feast featuring works by 34 artists focused on humankind’s relationship with food. Foodcentric paintings, sculptures, embroideries, installations, and films are part of this exploration of the serious creative vision needed to reinvent how a planet of an estimated 9.6 billion people will eat in the year 2050. Runs to Sept. 3, 2017.

Wendy Brackman - Brackman’s Botanical Bonanza! Hand painted paper plates, straws, Ping-Pong balls, paper towel tubes, endless staples

American Visionary Art Museum, 800 Key Highway. Baltimore. Tickets are $15.95. Call 410-244-1900 or visit avam.org. MAY 4, 2017 • METROWEEKLY

Movies

Galaxy Quest

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is bigger and brighter, but not necessarily better By Rhuaridh Marr

BOUT TWO-THIRDS OF THE WAY THROUGH GUARDIANS OF THE Galaxy Vol. 2 ( ), there’s a moment that perfectly sums up the highly anticipated sequel. Nebula (Karen Gillan) has tracked down her sister Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and, with the aid of a giant ship and a hefty cannon, attempts to kill her sibling. What follows is a spectacular sequence as the pair battle into the caverns of a planet, eventually ending in a giant explosion and a strained, emotional fistfight. It’s here, as the pair lie in the aftermath, that Nebula reveals why she harbors such hatred, such murderous intent. It’s a genuinely moving revelation. But what it also does is highlight Guardians’ biggest strengths and most apparent flaws. The sequence, like most of the 136 minutes that the film runs for, is utterly dazzling to behold. Writer-director James Gunn has a command of CGI-laden action that is almost effortless, while Marvel’s animators have truly excelled themselves at bringing to life this far-flung section of the universe. Guardians stuns at a frame-by-frame level, each scene bringing some new thing to ogle, some wondrous explosion to recoil from, some fantastical planet to be in awe of. The fight is also laced with Marvel’s trademark humor, puncturing the darkness as we watch one sibling try to kill another. Unfortunately, Gillan is trying to emote through layers of makeup that, while as arresting to behold as the rest of the film, rob the actress of much of her emotional range. As we listen to the pain and suffering she endured as the adopted daughter of supervillain Thanos, the visual splendor overrules the depth the moment requires. It’s polish over performance, something Gunn consistently gets wrong throughout the film. That’s not to say that this is a bad film. Far from it, in fact. Guardians maintains the scrappy, jokesy, lovable nature that made the first film such a huge success — and such a breath of fresh air compared with the slightly stale, formulaic nature of Marvel’s other franchises. With its bold colors, brilliant soundtrack and wonderful array of performances, it was a necessary jolt of adrenaline to the cinematic superhero canon. But three years and a bigger budget later, the originality has diminished. What’s here isn’t fresh, though it’s still very palatable.

Right from the get-go, it’s clear that Gunn and co. aren’t straying from what worked last time. The film opens on a beautifully choreographed battle, as Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), Gamora, Drax (Dave Bautista), and Rocket (Bradley Cooper) fight an interdimensional monster. But it takes place in the background, with focus instead on Baby Groot (Vin Diesel), who dances around the action to ELO’s “Mr. Blue Sky.” It’s fun, it’s wacky, it’s gorgeous, it’s Guardians. After the Guardians claim their reward, the plot kicks into motion. Rocket steals from the Sovereigns — an arrogant race of supposedly genetically perfect beings — leading to a chase that sees the Guardians crash on a nearby planet. Here, Ego (Kurt Russell) descends, proclaiming himself to be Quill’s father. What follows is two hours of daddy issues, in essence, as Quill struggles between the joy of finding his father and the hurt he causes the Guardians, his true family. Pratt is as lovably goofy and ruggedly handsome as Quill as he was in the first installment. He’s an everyday hero, someone balancing his power and responsibility with the every comic book dream he had as a kid. But he’s also something of a bit player in this installment. His part of the tale, his desire to learn about his father, his quarrels with Rocket, his will they/won’t they relationship with Gomora are among the movie’s least interesting aspects. Instead, it’s the other characters who shine: Rocket, aided by Cooper’s stel-

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lar voice-acting, is struggling to figure out his place in the Guardians — does he create artificial distance or accept that he truly loves the group? Bautista’s Drax again provides most of the film’s laugh-out-loud moments, invariably as he himself laughs out loud at something that most wouldn’t find particularly amusing. His interactions with Mantis (Pom Klementieff), an empathic being kept by Ego to help him sleep, are among the film’s funniest and most heartfelt moments. Yondu Udonta (Michael Rooker), the leader of the Ravagers, returns in a subplot that is at times rather harrowing, and further complicates Quill’s family dynamic. Still, it’s Gunn who shoulders most of the blame for the problems. He clearly wanted to create a more intimate film,

one exploring the family dynamics of the group amid a number of outside influences. But his tendency for excess, the need to have another “THIS ISSUE COULD DESTROY THE WHOLE UNIVERSE” setup for the final battle, the clunky dialogue during some of the more emotion-heavy scenes all help to strip the sheen away. The emotional moments are invariably overruled by the desire for bigger, better visuals and even the music — excellent as it is — feels like a crutch to be relied upon. And that, really, is the conundrum. Guardians Vol. 2 isn’t as good as the original. It couldn’t be. It isn’t as fresh or exciting. Its tropes are now familiar. But it remains a thoroughly enjoyable film. It may be a little less special, a little more forgettable, but you’ll still leave satisfied. l

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 opens Friday, May 5 at area theaters. For tickets visit fandango.com. 38

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C. STANLEY PHOTOGRAPHY

Stage

Unintelligent

Arena’s Smart People is a series of rushed vignettes and missed opportunities By Kate Wingfield

HOROUGHLY OVER-EGGING THE BATTER, LYDIA R. DIAMOND’S SMART People (HHHHH) is too much of a good thing. If the premise — the throwing of a highly-educated mix of races and genders into one another’s romantic paths — has potential, the execution does not. Written as a series of vignettes building to a contrived PC pseudo-crisis (at least for the two males), the play is an inch deep and a mile wide. Put simply, these characters don’t interact, they merely trigger one another into endless spirals of heavy-handed socio-gender-racial self-analysis and accusation. If there is the odd subtle moment in which perceptions are interestingly addressed, there are far more in which the messaging is scrawled in primary colors (pun fully intended). Take Diamond’s incongruous interludes of truncated dialogue inviting super-

charged misunderstandings: the reticent African-American man is a doctor, not a nurse — shame on the African-American woman for her assumptions! But wait, there’s more: she has a bloody face — shame on the African-American doctor for assuming her boyfriend has beaten her! And shame on the white male academic for not getting the deep-seated heritage issues lurking in his super-confident Asian-American academic girlfriend! And shame on everyone for not getting how hard it is to be a white, privileged male academic — but even more shame on the privileged white male for not getting that he doesn’t get to shame anybody! It’s the kind of PC cudgeling that makes two hours of Vin Diesel’s xXx: Return of Xander Cage, with its multi-cultural assas-

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sin brigade, look liked blessed relief. If they can’t do anything about the vehicle, the cast does its best to rev up the ride. Gregory Perri gives his entitled academic Brian White some credibly ironic East Coast arrogant geekery, even if he looks far too young to be seeing himself as Establishment. Diamond never explores his provocative research on race with anything more probing than a spoon, but Perri does his best to give it some gravitas. And though Diamond sees the value in having White’s longtime friend Jackson Moore — who is African-American — challenge the science, she doesn’t give White the answers (specious or otherwise) any academic worth his salt would have already rolled out for any kind of funding. And while Jaysen Wright brings an appealingly intelligent swagger to his Dr. Moore, Diamond gives us too little of what makes this man tick. His career is stymied, but is it because he is black or because he is a dick? The question is raised and it is intriguing, but like so much here, it is given about as much time and attention as something glimpsed from the window of a racing train. As his potential love-interest, Valerie Johnston, a stroppy and possibly talented actor, Lorene Chesley overcomes some initial awkwardness to bring much charm and comic timing, but Diamond never follows through on Johnston’s interesting gender-war skewering of Dr. Moore. And if their presumptions about their own race are delivered with fanfare, what about the equally interesting undercurrents of class friction? Had Diamond taken a breath and narrowed her scope, their dynamic could have been far more original, poignant and fun.

Instead, Johnston’s scenes with Moore are typical of everything in People: so loaded with PC landmines, every step delivers an explosive outrage with nothing of substance in between. Finally, highly charismatic but a tad tone-deaf to the cadence of the piece, Sue Jin Song describes well Ginny Yang, another character presented as a sum of many unexplored — and often predictable — parts. Song captures what makes Yang alternately repellant and likeable, but so what? Because, yet again, we don’t know what makes her tick. Boyfriend White has noticed, for example, that she is a shopaholic and slings it as a casual barb. But even as Song potently captures the private hit, like the college survey classes these academics so begrudgingly teach, Diamond is already onto the next topic: White’s need to be the archetypal strong male. Yang’s subsequent moment of cultural outrage is another pivot. Her donning of a subservient mantle in order to dominate White is intriguing, but without a more fully realized woman and relationship, even dolled up with some excitingly evocative projected imagery and music, her actions just seem like a very weird red herring. In covering so much ground, Diamond denies her characters an essential depth and — for all the gainsaying — they fail to truly speak. Even more importantly, characters treated as little more than foils will not live in the imagination. The bottom line here is that in her determination to leave no PC stone unturned, Diamond has missed an opportunity. A clever chattering classes rom-com with fewer, more thoughtfully-developed revelations would have left a far more indelible mark. l

Smart People runs to May 21 at the Kreeger Theater in the Mead Center for American Theater, 1101 6th St. SW. Tickets are $41 to $111. Call 202-488-3300 or visit arenastage.org.

MAY 4, 2017 • METROWEEKLY

Music

Depressing Dystopia Humanz is a messy, unfocused return from Gorillaz By Sean Maunier

BAND MADE UP ENTIRELY OF CARTOON CHARACTERS. THAT MIGHT be the quickest way to describe Gorillaz to anyone who happened to be living under a rock in the early to mid-2000s, but it doesn’t quite tell the whole story. Novelty alone can’t account for the project’s phenomenal and completely unexpected success and staying power after the release of its first album in 2001. Gorillaz saw a fake band that began as a parody of the vapidity of pop music become a runaway pop icon in its own right. When it was conceived by musician Damon Albarn and cartoonist Jamie Hewlett, Gorillaz seemed unlikely to amount to much more than a gimmick, a one-off parody of the artificiality of mainstream pop music, but it turned out to be the perfect vehicle for its co-creators to turn out catchy, genre-blurring, endlessly listenable hits like “Clint Eastwood” and “Feel Good, Inc.” Without prior knowledge or a bit of digging, all we would see and hear would be the finished product — songs that cop influences and talent from pop, hip hop, rock, and soul, all sung by animated characters who seem to exist to be projected upon. Gorillaz’s success may well say something about the power of fictional characters to take on lives of their own, but more immediately, the fictional musicians give the whole project a feeling of continuity. Given Albarn and Hewlett’s chaotic creative process and their habit of bringing on a new host of talent with each successive release, it’s hard to imagine them ever achieving the same notoriety under their own names as they have with their made-up band. Humanz (HHHHH) preserves much of the cynically joyful ethos of the first three

albums, albeit with some notably darker undertones. Having emerged from a seven-year hiatus into a more fractured and uncertain world, Gorillaz have accordingly made a conceptual leap from warning of a coming dystopia to asking what it means to live in the dystopian world that, in their minds, has already arrived. What exactly is supposed to make our modern world so dystopian is difficult to say. As always, Gorillaz are less interested in pondering existential questions or laying out a manifesto than they are in just having a good time. Humanz accordingly finds itself somewhere between the hedonistic and the hopelessly grim. A dance party for the end of the world. That’s the vision, anyway. In practice, muttered vocals, deep synths and heavy drumbeats make this album more dystopia than dance, its sense of fun taking a back seat to a murky sense of impending doom. Humanz is also broken up by a few perplexing interludes that seem to serve little purpose other than lending a veneer of continuity to an otherwise chaotic album — but in practice, they end up breaking up what flow it has. Humanz does feature an impressive number of collaborations with both wellknown and up-and-coming artists, ranging from Noel Gallagher to Vince Staples to

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De La Soul. Unfortunately, these contributors are largely wasted, subsumed under excessive production and lack of clarity. With a few exceptions, they do not seem to have fully thought through what they wanted out of them. “Charger” is the worst offender here, giving Grace Jones just a handful of muted lines on a low-energy track dominated by Albarn’s own vocals. It’s frustrating and just a little puzzling that the album suffers most from an excess of Albarn. In fairness, without his vocals it wouldn’t be a Gorillaz album so much as a playlist produced by Gorillaz — although this alone is probably a sign that Albarn and Hewlett should have rethought a few things. Fortunately, there are also plenty of genuinely interesting moments that stand out on an otherwise fairly bland and aimless record. “Ascension” is a solid, high-energy opener, while “Andromeda” and lead single “Saturnz Barz” are particular highlights, not least because they actually sound like Gorillaz songs. These tracks are an

example of Gorillaz at their best, somehow feeling unexpected, bizarre and completely natural all at once, springing not from some grand creative vision, but instead from someone saying, “Wouldn’t it be neat if...” Gorillaz provides a sandbox for Albarn and Hewlett to create, play, experiment, and indulge their curiosity. Judged against that standard, however, Humanz comes up short. Especially considering it came from a band that can be whatever its creators want it to be, the album feels like a collection of missed opportunities interspersed with moments of interest. We’re left unsure what exactly they’re trying to say or do, either because Albarn won’t tell us or because he himself doesn’t know. There is a definite lack of focus, but lack of ambition or vision might be the bigger problems. Whatever the case, Humanz is backed up by enough talent and features enough interesting moments to make it worth a listen, but it falls frustratingly short of what it could have been. l

Humanz is available for download via Amazon.com and iTunes and through streaming services.

MAY 4, 2017 • METROWEEKLY

NightLife Photography by Ward Morrison

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Scene

DrinksDragDJsEtc... Thursday, May 4 9 1/2 Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • Multiple TVs showing movies, shows, sports • Expanded craft beer selection • Music videos featuring DJ Wess

Room Thursday Nights, 10pm-close • $3 Rail Drinks, 10pm-midnight, $5 Red Bull and Frozen Virgin Drinks • DJs Sean Morris and MadScience • Best Package Contest at midnight, hosted by Ba’Naka & Kristina Kelly • $200 Cash Prize • Doors open 10pm, 21+ • $5 Cover or free with college ID

BALTIMORE EAGLE 2022 N. Charles St. 410-200-9828 Underwear Night, 9pm • $3 Well Drinks All Night • Contest at 11pm • No Cover • thebaltimoreeagle.com

DC EAGLE Doors open at 8pm • Strip Down Thursdays Happy Hour — Shirtless guys get $2 off all drinks, 8-10pm • Jock or underwear gets $2 off all drinks, 10pm-2am • No Cover • 21+

COBALT/30 DEGREES Happy Hour: Tops Down $6 Top Shelf, Bottoms Up $3 Rail, $3 Bud Light, 4-9pm • Locker

FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-7pm • Karaoke, 8pm

AGLA’s 2017 Mister & Miss Gay Arlington Pageant at Freddies

Friday, April 28 / Photography by Ward Morrison

See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene

GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • Ladies Drink Free Power Hour, 4-5pm • Shirtless Thursday, 10-11pm • DJs BacK2bACk NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Beat the Clock Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • Buckets of Beer $15 • Drag Bingo NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 Rails and House Wines & Half-Priced Pizzas • $4 Heineken and Coronas, 5pm-close • DCGFFL Gender Blender Party, 6:30pm, Second Floor

SLEAZE @The Wonderland Ballroom 1101 Kenyon St NW DJ Michael Magnan, DJ Keenan, DJ Lemz • 9-11:55pm • $5

drink, 5-9pm • Friday Night Videos with DJ Justin Morse, 9:30pm • Expanded craft beer selection • No Cover

TRADE 1410 14th St. NW Doors open 5pm • Huge Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass served in a huge glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine only $4 ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS All male, nude dancers • DJ • 9pm • Cover 21+

Friday, May 5 9 1/2 Open at 5pm • Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any

BALTIMORE EAGLE 2022 N. Charles St. 410-200-9828 Grand Opening Weekend • DJ Drew G • DJ Scott Howard • $5 cover • RuPaul Drag Race viewing party in The Nest • Baltimore Bear Fridays in the Code Bar • thebaltimoreeagle.com COBALT/30 DEGREES All You Can Drink Happy Hour • $15 Rail and Domestic, $21 Call & Imports, 6-9pm • Fancy Ass Fridays, 10pm • $6 Grey Goose all night • Two 30-minute open bars featuring Grey Goose, 11-11:30pm and 1-1:30am • DJ MadScience upstairs • DJ Keenan Orr

downstairs • $10 cover 10pm-close • 21+ DC EAGLE Doors open at 8pm • Happy Hour, 8-10pm — $2 off everything • Mr. Leatherman of Color 2017 Kai Anderson hosts Club Bar, 9pm-2am • Daryl Wilson Promotions presents First Fridays Reloaded in the Exile, 10pm-4am • $10 Cover • 21+ FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-7pm • Karaoke, 8pm GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • $5 Smirnoff, all flavors, all night long • Otter Den DC presents Otter Crossing, 9pm-close • $5 cover after 10pm NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR DJ Matt Bailer • Videos, Dancing • Beat the Clock

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Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • Buckets of Beer $15 NUMBER NINE Open 5pm • Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover • Friday Night Piano with Chris, 7:30pm SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 Rails and House Wines & Half-Priced Pizzas TOWN Patio open 6pm • DC Bear Crue Happy Hour, 6-11pm • $3 Rail, $3 Draft, $3 Bud Bottles • Free Pizza, 7pm • No cover before 9:30pm • 21+ • Drag Show starts at 10:30pm • Hosted by Lena Lett and featuring Miss Tatianna, ShiQueeta-Lee, Riley Knoxx and Ba’Naka • DJ Wess upstairs, DJs BacK2bACk downstairs following the show • GoGo Boys after 11pm • Doors open at 10pm • For those 21 and over, $12 • For those 18-20, $15 • Club: 18+ • Patio: 21+

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TRADE Doors open 5pm • Huge Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass served in a huge glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine only $4 ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS Men of Secrets, 9pm • Guest dancers • Ladies of Illusion Drag Show • Doors at 9pm, Shows at 11:30pm and 1:30am • DJ Don T. in Secrets • Cover 21+

Saturday, May 6 9 1/2 Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 2-9pm • $5 Absolut & Tito’s, $3 Miller Lite after 9pm • Expanded craft beer selection • No Cover BALTIMORE EAGLE 2022 N. Charles St. 410-200-9828 Grand Opening Weekend • DJ Escape • DJ Vince Christopher • DJ Tony • DJ Matt • $10 cover • thebaltimoreeagle.com

COBALT/30 DEGREES Drag Yourself to Brunch at Level One, 11am-2pm and 2-4pm • Featuring Kristina Kelly and the Ladies of Illusion • Bottomless Mimosas and Bloody Marys • Happy Hour: Tops Down $6 Top Shelf, Bottoms Up $3 Rail, $3 Bud Light, 4-9pm • Latin Night, 10pm-close • Doors open 10pm • $5 Cover • 21+ DC EAGLE Doors open 8pm • Happy Hour, 8-10pm — $2 off all drinks • All Colors Night when all DC Clubs host the Club Bar, 9pm-2am — Jello Shots and Raffles with fabulous prizes • Cigar Social sponsored by The DC Eagle, Joe Whitaker, and HotCigarMen.com, 8-10pm • Joe Whitaker & ManUPP present DILF Men’s Jock and Harness Dance Party, 10pm-4am • DJ Bill Pfeiffer from the iconic Eagle NYC spinning • 21+ FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Drag Queen Broadway Brunch, 10am-3pm • Starring Freddie’s Broadway Babes • Crazy Hour, 4-7pm • Freddie’s

Follies Drag Show, hosted by Miss Destiny B. Childs, 8-10pm • Karaoke, 10pm-close GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • $5 Bacardi, all flavors, all night long • REWIND: Request Line, an ‘80s and ‘90s Dance Party, 9pm-close • Featuring DJ Darryl Strickland • No Cover NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Guest DJs • Zing Zang Bloody Marys, Nellie Beer, House Rail Drinks and Mimosas, $4, 11am-5pm • Buckets of Beer, $15 NUMBER NINE Doors open 2pm • Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 2-9pm • $5 Absolut and $5 Bulleit Bourbon • Time Machine and Power Hour, featuring DJ Jack Rayburn, 9:30pm SHAW’S TAVERN Brunch with Bottomless Mimosas, 10am-3pm • Happy Hour, 5-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 Rails and House Wines & Half-Priced Pizzas

TOWN DC Rawhides host Town & Country: Two-Step, Line Dancing, Waltz and West Coast Swing, $5 Cover to stay all night • Doors open 6:30pm, Lessons 7-8pm, Open dance 8-10:30pm • DJ Matt Bailer of MIXTAPE upstairs, 10pm-close • Music and video by DJ Wess downstairs • Nine Bo’nina Brown from RuPaul’s Drag Race appears in the Drag Show • Meet and Greet with Nina prior to the show, 9pm • Meet and Greet tickets $25, available via Flavorus.com • Drag Show starts at 10:30pm • Hosted by Lena Lett and featuring Tatianna, ShiQueeta-Lee, Riley Knoxx and Ba’Naka • Doors open at 10pm • Cover $15 from 10pm-midnight and $12 after midnight • 21+ TRADE Doors open 2pm • Huge Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass served in a huge glass for the same price, 2-10pm • Beer and wine only $4

ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS Men of Secrets, 9pm-4am • Guest dancers • Ladies of Illusion Drag Show with host Ella Fitzgerald • Doors at 9pm, Shows at 11:30pm and 1:30am • DJ Don T. in Ziegfeld’s • DJ Steve Henderson in Secrets • Cover 21+

Sunday, May 7 9 1/2 Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 2-9pm • Multiple TVs showing movies, shows, sports • Expanded craft beer selection • No Cover BALTIMORE EAGLE 2022 N. Charles St. 410-200-9828 Grand Opening Weekend • Tea Dance, 4-9pm • DJ Kuhmeleon • Ash Duncan IML Sendoff Party in the Nest, 5-8pm • thebaltimoreeagle.com COBALT/30 DEGREES Happy Hour: Tops Down $6 Top Shelf, Bottoms Up $3 Rail, $3 Bud Light, 4-9pm

• Homowood Karaoke, hosted by Robert Bise, 10pm-close • 21+ DC EAGLE Doors open at 12pm • Happy Hour, 12-6 pm — $2 off everything • Once Wasn’t Enough BLUF (Breeches, Leather & Uniform Fanclub) Party, 4-9pm • Cigar Social on the deck • $2 Bud and Bud Light Draughts all day and night • The DC Eagle Pizza Party (no scary beads) — Free slice of pizza with every drink while supplies last • 21+ FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Champagne Brunch Buffet, 10am-3pm • Crazy Hour, 4-7pm • Freddie’s Zodiac Monthly Contest, hosted by Regina Jozet Adams, 8pm • Karaoke, 10pm-1am GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • Bears Can Party, featuring DJ Jeff Eletto, upstairs, 6-10pm • No Cover • Mama’s Trailer Park Karaoke downstairs, 9:30pm-close

NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Drag Brunch, hosted by Shi-Queeta-Lee, 11am-3pm • $20 Brunch Buffet • House Rail Drinks, Zing Zang Bloody Marys, Nellie Beer and Mimosas, $4, 11am-close • Buckets of Beer, $15 NUMBER NINE Pop Goes the World with Wes Della Volla at 9:30pm • Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 2-9pm • No Cover ROCK HARD SUNDAYS @The House Nightclub 3530 Georgia Ave. NW Diverse group of all male, all nude dancers • Nonstop on three stages, 9:30pm-close • Intimate setting • $12 Cover • For reservations, call 202-4876646 • rockharddc.com SHAW’S TAVERN Brunch with Bottomless Mimosas, 10am-3pm • Happy Hour, 5-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 Rails and House Wines & Half-Priced Pizzas

MAY 4, 2017 • METROWEEKLY

TRADE Doors open 2pm • Huge Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass served in a huge glass for the same price, 2-10pm • Beer and wine only $4

Bull • $8 Long Islands • No Cover, 18+

NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover

ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS All male, nude dancers • Decades of Dance • DJ Tim-e in Secrets • Doors 9pm • Cover 21+

DC EAGLE Doors open at 8pm • Happy Hour, 8-10pm — $2 off everything • Endless Happy Hour prices to anyone in a DC Eagle T-Shirt • Industry Mondays — Free Pool All Night and Day • $1 Bud and Bud Light Draughts all night • No Cover • 21+

Monday, May 8

FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-7pm • Singles Night • Karaoke, 8pm

TRADE Doors open 5pm • Huge Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass served in a huge glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine only $4

GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour all night long • Open Mic Night Karaoke with Kevin, 9:30pm-close

Tuesday, May 9

9 1/2 Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • Multiple TVs showing movies, shows, sports • Expanded craft beer selection • No Cover COBALT/30 DEGREES Happy Hour: Tops Down $6 Top Shelf, Bottoms Up $3 Rail, $3 Bud Light, 4-9pm • Monday Night’s A Drag, featuring Miss Kristina Kelly • Doors open at 10pm • Showtime at 11:30pm • $3 Skyy Cocktails, $8 Skyy and Red

JR.’S Showtunes Songs & Singalongs, 9pm-close • DJ James • $3 Draft Pints, 8pm-midnight NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Beat the Clock Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • Buckets of Beer $15 • Texas Hold’em Poker, 8pm • Dart Boards

SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 Rails and House Wines and Half-Priced Pizzas • Trivia with Jeremy, 7:30pm

9 1/2 Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • Multiple TVs showing movies, shows, sports • Expanded craft beer selection • No Cover COBALT/30 DEGREES DJ Honey Happy Hour: Tops Down $6 Top Shelf, Bottoms Up $3 Rail, $3 Bud Light, 4-9pm • SIN Service

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Industry Night, 10pm-close • $1 Rail Drinks all night FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-7pm • Karaoke, 8pm GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour all night long, 4pm-close NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Beat the Clock Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • Buckets of Beer $15 • Karaoke and Drag Bingo NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover • After 9pm, $3 Absolut, Bulleit & Stella SHAW’S TAVERN Half-Priced Burgers and Pizzas, 5-10pm • $5 House Wines and $5 Sam Adams TRADE Doors open 5pm • Huge Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass served in a huge glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine only $4

Wednesday, May 10 9 1/2 Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • Multiple TVs showing movies, shows, sports • Expanded craft beer selection • No Cover COBALT/30 DEGREES Happy Hour: Tops Down $6 Top Shelf, Bottoms Up $3 Rail, $3 Bud Light, 4-9pm • $4 Stoli and Stoli Flavors and Miller Lite all night • Wednesday Night Karaoke, hosted by India Larelle Houston, 10pm-close • No Cover • 21+ FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-7pm • $6 Burgers • Drag Bingo Night, hosted by Ms. Regina Jozet Adams, 8pm • Bingo prizes • Karaoke, 10pm-1am GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour all night long, 4pm-close

NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR SmartAss Trivia Night, 8pm and 9pm • Prizes include bar tabs and tickets to shows at the 9:30 Club • $15 Buckets of Beer for SmartAss Teams only • Bring a new team member and each get a free $10 Dinner NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 Rails and House Wines and Half-Priced Pizzas • Piano Bar with Jill, downstairs, 8pm TRADE Doors open 5pm • Huge Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass served in a huge glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine only $4 l

MAY 4, 2017 â&#x20AC;¢ METROWEEKLY

Scene

MAY 4, 2017 â&#x20AC;¢ METROWEEKLY

Tatianna perfroms at Town - Saturday, April 22 Photography by Ward Morrison

See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene

Scene

Larry’s Lounge - Friday, April 7 Photography by Ward Morrison See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene

MAY 4, 2017 • METROWEEKLY

Scene

MAY 4, 2017 â&#x20AC;¢ METROWEEKLY

Mr. Green Lantern Competition 2017 - Saturday, April 29

Photography by Ward Morrison

See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene

TODD FRANSON

Clublife

CRUISING ALTITUDE

The Baltimore Eagle celebrates its Grand Opening this weekend

’M THRILLED WITH IT,” CHUCK KING SAYS ABOUT THE NEW Baltimore Eagle. “I’m thrilled it’s bringing joy and happiness to a community that was underserved.” King, his husband Greg, and business partner Bob Gasser transformed, upgraded, and expanded the former Eagle, which closed four years ago after the death of its owner. It soft-opened in January and, over the past few months, King has discovered that it wasn’t just the leather community, or even the broader Baltimore LGBTQ community, that has been underserved in the Eagle’s absence. “It’s really evolved into a very eclectic mix of people,” he says. “We constantly see straight people, gay people, transgender people, all colors, all genders and backgrounds and nationalities. It’s become its own little community center of sorts. Of course, we still have that foundation of being a leather bar, and everyone seems to respect that.” There’s a little something for everyone in the new space, whether it’s catching a game in the downstairs Tavern, drinking and cruising in the dimly lit leather/fetish “Code” space in back, or dancing and watching drag upstairs in Nest Nightclub. There’s also a fully stocked leather goods shop, Eagle Leathers, including a fetish-oriented gallery featuring a rotating crop of visual art for sale. And just three weeks ago, the Baltimore Eagle opened a kitchen that serves gastropub-style fare

from noon to midnight, seven days a week. This weekend, the complex celebrates its official Grand Opening. In addition to drink specials, the Eagle will throw dance parties in the Nest, featuring several nationally known DJs, including Drew G on Friday night and DJ Escape on Saturday. All weekend long the bar will offer special t-shirts, pens and other memorabilia, as well as hold a free contest for prizes including tickets to BHT’s Pride Night at Kings Dominion, tickets to the Lady Gaga’s November concert at the Verizon Center (including dinner, transportation and an after-party), and a trip for two on Southwest Airlines to Fort Lauderdale, with a three-night stay at Inn Leather. What won’t be ready in time for the Grand Opening, however, is the new patio space. “The patio is underway,” King says. “We’ll really celebrate the opening of that on Pride weekend.” Also still to come: Eagle Wine & Spirits, a packaged goods store that boasts a separate entry. Finally, the Nest will debut a Bearlesque event in June, as well as a more traditional burlesque show. Ultimately, King hopes the new Baltimore Eagle continues to grow as a place for the neighborhood to congregate. “We want everyone to come here and just be themselves and celebrate their own individuality.” —Doug Rule

The Baltimore Eagle’s Grand Opening Weekend is Friday, May 5, through Sunday, May 7, at the Baltimore Eagle, 2022 N. Charles St. Call 410-200-9858 or visit thebaltimoreeagle.com.

MAY 4, 2017 • METROWEEKLY

LastWord. People say the queerest things

“In fact, the only thing your mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin’s cock holster.” — STEPHEN COLBERT, in a scathing opening monologue aimed at President Donald Trump during Tuesday’s broadcast of The Late Show. “Sir, you attract more skinheads than free Rogaine. You have more people marching against you than cancer. You talk like a sign language gorilla that got hit in the head,” Colbert said prior to the above statement. Trump supporters immediately started the hashtag #FireColbert, while some branded the joke homophobic.

“They tell the parents to kill their child. ’”

They say ‘Either you do it, or we will.’ They call it: ‘Cleaning your honour with blood.

— An anonymous victim, speaking to France24 about the situation for gay men in Chechnya. Chechen authorities are allegedly kidnapping, imprisoning, torturing and even killing gay men in the region — and are now urging families to sort their gay children or authorities will intervene, the Independent reports. “We’ve always been persecuted, but never like this,” the victim said. “Now they arrest everyone. They kill people, they do whatever they want.”

“I asked President Putin to use his influence to protect these minority rights. ” — German Chancellor ANGELA MERKEL, speaking to reporters after a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Merkel urged Putin to pressure Chechen authorities, who continue to deny a reported purge of gay people in the region.

“If President Trump signs an order that would allow religion to be used as an excuse to discriminate, we will sue.” — The ACLU, responding to reports from Politico that Trump plans to sign an anti-LGBTQ “religious freedom” executive order on Thursday. According to the report, the language is “very, very strong” and similar to another order rumored in February.

“I felt as if all the air had been knocked out of me.” — JOHN ZAWADSKI, who is suing a funeral home in Missouri for refusing to cremate his husband, speaking to CNN. Zawadski alleges that the funeral home said they don’t “deal with their kind.” “At a moment of such personal pain and loss, to have someone do what they did to me, to us, to Bob, I just couldn’t believe it,” he said.

MAY 4, 2017 • METROWEEKLY