Metro Weekly - September 22, 2016 by RP MEDIA ARCHIVE

CONTENTS

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016

Volume 23 Issue 20

OUTSIDE THE BOOK

The D.C. Public Library celebrates more than books at this year’s Banned Books Week By Doug Rule

“THIS IS OUR MUSEUM. IT’S OUR HISTORY.” The black LGBT community shares its feelings about the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture

Interviews By John Riley

AUSTEN POWERS

Sense and Sensibility’s intelligent silliness will create theatergoers for life By Kate Wingfield

SPOTLIGHT: VISUALLY DEFINING p.7 OUT ON THE TOWN p.11 OUTSIDE THE BOOK: BANNED BOOKS WEEK p.13 THE FEED: SOCIAL RISKS p.17 THE FEED: PROTECTING PROGRESS p.19 COMMUNITY: THRILL PRIDE p.21 COMMUNITY CALENDAR p.21 COVER STORY: THE NATIONAL MUSEUM FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE p.24 GALLERY: TIM McLORAINE p.33 STAGE: SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, COLLECTIVE RAGE p.34 STAGE: ANGELS IN AMERICA, URINETOWN p.36 MUSIC: TOR MILLER p.38 NIGHTLIFE p.41 SCENE: BEAR HAPPY HOUR AT TOWN p.41 SCENE: PEACH PIT AT DC9 p.50 SCENE: NELLIE’S p.52 LAST WORD p.54 The bitches who make this shit... #masthead

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 Gordon Ashenhurst, Sean Bugg, Frank Carber, Fallon Forbush, 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 Saints William Baldwin, Marsha P. Johnson, Bessie Smith Cover Photography Alan Karchmer-NMAAHC 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.

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • METROWEEKLY

Spotlight

Jo Ann Block - I am Surfacing - Mixed media collage

Visually Defining

Transformer’s latest exhibit highlights artists exploring racial, sexual and cultural identity

S AN ALLY AND A SYMPATHETIC HUMAN WITH friends of all different racial, sexual and national identities, I feel anger and frustration at people being profiled... because of who they are or how they identify,” says Victoria Reis, artistic director of the intimate Transformer Art Gallery in Logan Circle. “Given everything that’s been happening in our world for the last year — especially all the violence based on racism and sexual identity and cultural identity — we felt it was really important to highlight artists who are both defying stereotypes and defining themselves in their own way around issues of identity.” Enter Defy/Define, a new exhibit at Transformer, showing nine emerging visual artists working in photography, video and

performance art, including Alexandra “Rex” Delakaran, Jo Ann Block, Nakeya Brown, Ebtisam Abdulaziz and Eli Barak. Reis hopes the show will foster “a more positive conversation.” Reis co-founded Transformer to provide visual artists a more consistent platform for exposure. Her passion for “identity art” began during the culture wars 25 years ago, when she worked for a small association that supported LGBT artists such as Karen Finley and Tim Miller, “artists were really starting a conversation around identity-based work, particularly of sexual identity.” As for the artists represented in Defy/Define, Reis says, “All have something important to say, and will be communicating that through really compelling visual means.” —Doug Rule

Defy/Define runs to Oct 22 at Transformer, 1404 P St. NW. Call 202-483-1102 or visit transformerdc.org.

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • METROWEEKLY

Spotlight DC CHINESE FILM FESTIVAL

A Straight Journey

Now in its third biennial year, the DC Chinese Film Festival continues to shine, despite a lack of funding from the Chinese government. And that is why its weeklong lineup of 67 features and shorts contains films that challenge official policies and decreed customs, including on LGBT topics. The highlight this year is Papa Rainbow, which screens Friday, Sept. 23, followed by a Q&A discussion with Popo Fan, the Chinese filmmaker who has fought government censors to tell the stories of LGBT Chinese. His newest documentary introduces us to six Chinese fathers who stood up for their LGBT children, even though doing so meant they risked their reputations and social standing in a culture that regards homosexuality as shameful. Screening with Papa Rainbow is Ma Sha and Miao Jiang’s short film A Straight Journey, offering portraits of 48 gays and lesbians and their families from across China. Friday, Sept. 23, at 7 p.m. Landmark’s E Street Cinema, 555 11th St. NW. Festival continues to Sunday, Sept. 25, at various venues. Individual tickets are $10, or $50 for a festival pass. Call 202-452-7672 or visit dccff.org.

SATCHMO AT THE WALDORF

Billed as “the story of Louis Armstrong that you don’t know,” drama critic and biographer Terry Teachout’s first play makes its D.C. premiere opening the second season of Mosaic Theater Company. Eleanor Holdridge directs local great Craig Wallace in this one-man show, portraying Armstrong, his manager Joe Glaser, and his rival Miles Davis. Set on the night of Armstrong’s last public performance in 1971, the play takes a hard look at Satchmo’s life and his role in the Civil Rights Movement. The production also kicks off a provocative season-long discussion series, “Race and Music: Blacks, Jews and the Independent Artist.” Closes Sunday, Sept. 25. Lang Theatre in the Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets are $20 to $60. Call 202-399-7993 or mosaictheater.org.

THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO

Mozart’s comic masterpiece is an exploration of the perils of temptation and the triumph of love — told through a mix of enchanting music and absurd mix-ups. The Washington National Opera opens its season with a Peter Kazarasdirected production from the Glimmerglass Festival starring newcomer Amanda Majeski, Lisette Oropesa, Joshua Hopkins, and Ryan McKinny. In Italian with projected English titles. Opens Thursday, Sept. 22, at 7:30 p.m. at the Kennedy Center Opera House. Tickets are $25 to $315. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org. A special free simulcast of the Saturday, Sept. 24, performance will be held at Nationals Park. Gates open at 5 p.m., performance starts at 7 p.m. Visit operaintheoutfield.org

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • METROWEEKLY

Making Overtures? Review Classical & Choral Music for Metro Weekly Apply at metroweekly.com/write

Artistic Tendencies? Review Art for Metro Weekly Apply at metroweekly.com/write

Bookworm? Review Books for Metro Weekly Apply at metroweekly.com/write

At the Ballet? Review Dance for Metro Weekly Apply at metroweekly.com/write

Out On The Town

Lang Lang

NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

The NSO’s two principal conductors, Christoph Eschenbach and Steven Reineke, present a season opening concert with a pianist the New York Times has heralded as “the hottest artist on the classical music planet.” Lang Lang will perform Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 1. The concert also pays indirect tribute to the newest Smithsonian museum, with performances by R&B crooner Brian McKnight, jazz singer Nnenna Freelon, and a cappella group Take 6. They will join the Steven Ford Singers, Washington Performing Arts Children of the Gospel Choir, and singer/composer Mervyn Warren in a performance of Warren’s new work, We Are All America. Sunday, Sept. 25, at 8 p.m. Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Tickets are $59 to $125. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org. Compiled by Doug Rule

FILM HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE

Lauren Bacall, Betty Grable and Marilyn Monroe star as women plotting to trap rich, eligible bachelors — til death do they part. Preceding How to Marry a Millionaire will be two short films by Negulesco (At the Stroke of Twelve and Jan Garber and His Orchestra), made at the start of his directing career with Warner Brothers. The Library of Congress presents a free screening on its picturesque Virginia campus, which houses the world’s largest collection of films, broadcast and audio recordings. Friday, Sept. 30, at 7:30 p.m. Packard Campus Theater, 19053 Mount Pony Rd. Culpeper, Va. Free, first-come, first served. Call 202-707-9994 or visit loc.gov/ avconservation.

QUEEN OF KATWE

Disney’s biographical sports drama follows the true story of Phiona

Mutesi (Madina Malwanga), who grew up under immense hardship in Uganda and transpired to be a chess prodigy after joining an outreach program. David Oyelowo and Academy Award-winner Lupita Nyong’o also star. Mira Nair directs. Opens Friday, Sept. 23. Area theaters. Visit fandango.com. (Rhuaridh Marr)

STORKS

A stork company that delivers babies switches to delivering packages, but accidentally produces one more baby girl. It’s up to the company’s top delivery stork (Andy Samberg) to find the child a home, before his boss discovers the... you know what, this looks like it’s going to be profoundly mediocre, so we won’t waste your time with more information. Opens Friday, Sept. 23. Area theaters. Visit fandango.com. (RM)

THE DRESSMAKER

Kate Winslet is a femme fatale who returns to her backwater Australian

hometown to care for her ailing mother (Judy Davis), while exacting revenge on those who originally drove her to leave. Reviews have been mixed, but Jocelyn Moorhouse’s film and Winslet’s wardrobe are both gorgeous. Liam Hemsworth and Hugo Weaving also star in this ’50s-set Aussie dramedy. Opens Friday, Sept. 23. Landmark’s E Street Cinema, 555 11th St. NW. Call 202-452-7672 or visit landmarktheatres.com. (RM)

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN

The air is dense with testosterone in this post-Civil War adaptation of Seven Samurai. A town under siege recruits seven outlaws — including Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, and Vincent D’Onofrio — to protect them. It’s pretty apparent that these “bad” guys will end up being good, but it should be good popcorn-consuming action regardless. Opens Friday, Sept. 23. Area theaters. Visit fandango.com. (RM)

STAGE ANGELS IN AMERICA: MILLENNIUM APPROACHES

Two of suburban Maryland’s leading theater companies, Round House Theatre Company and Olney Theatre Center, join forces for an unprecedented 25th anniversary production of Tony Kushner’s twopart Pulitzer- and Tony-winning masterpiece. In October, Part I: Millennium Approaches and Part II: Perestroika will be staged in repertory. Some of Washington’s leading actors take on the meaty roles in the gay rights epic, including Jonathan Bock, Kimberly Gilbert, Mitchell Hebert, Thomas Keegan, Sarah Marshall, Jon Hudson Odom, Tom Story, and Dawn Ursula. Millennium Approaches runs to Oct. 23. Round House Theatre, 4545 East-West Highway, Bethesda. Call 240-644-1100 or visit roundhousetheatre.org.

BLACKBERRY DAZE

TC Carson stars as Herman Camm,

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • METROWEEKLY

BANNED BOOKS WEEK

OUTSIDE THE BOOK

The D.C. Public Library celebrates more than books at this year’s Banned Books Week

IBRARIANS ARE VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT BANNED Books Week,” says Kari Mitchell of the D.C. Public Library. “It’s kind of the core of what librarianship is. So it wasn’t very hard for people to come up with their own programming and ideas.” All next week, city libraries will host readings, discussions and displays of popular books that have been challenged in some way or another. This year’s theme, chosen by the American Library Association, “celebrates diversity of all types and all types of information.” It’s a theme that’s evident in the ALA’s list of the most challenged titles of 2015, which includes I Am Jazz by transgender youth Jazz Jennings, Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan, and the Holy Bible. As chair of the Banned Books Week committee, Mitchell helped her fellow librarians think “outside the book” this year, with the launch of the series, Uncensored: Banned Books to Film. “We want to celebrate the freedom of information not just in printed words,” Mitchell says, “and reaching people through movies is one way that we can do that.” Among the films screening at various city libraries

are Brokeback Mountain, Charlotte’s Web, Of Mice and Men, Where The Wild Things Are and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. None of those films or the books on which they’re based have been banned in D.C. Yet as someone who grew up in rural North Dakota, Mitchell is aware of how rare our local situation is. “Everybody here just seems to be so accepting of information, whether they agree with it or not,” she says. “I think the D.C. public has thrived on that.” Residents can toast their open-mindedness at an Uncensored cocktail gala closing out Banned Books Week on Friday, Sept. 30, at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library. For her part, Mitchell is looking forward to this year’s kickoff event, to be held at the central library on Monday, Sept. 26. Veteran emcee Rayceen Pendarvis will host “Rayceen’s Reading Room,” an evening celebrating diversity and featuring a diversity of performances, from comedy to dramatic readings and spoken word to interviews. “I’m excited about how everything has come together,” Mitchell says. “There are just so many different ways we’ll be celebrating information and the freedom to it.” —Doug Rule

For a list of all Uncensored: Banned Books Week activities throughout the DC Public Library, visit dclibrary.org/bannedbooks. The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library is at 901 G St. NW. Call 202-727-0321 or visit dclibrary.org/mlk. a provocative gambler who weaves his magic on three unsuspecting women in a small Virginia town post-World War I. Roz White also features in Thomas W. Jones II’s world premiere musical adaptation of Ruth P. Watson’s romantic mystery thriller. To Oct. 9. MetroStage, 1201 North Royal St., Alexandria. Tickets are $55 to $60. Call 800494-8497 or visit metrostage.org.

CLOUD 9

Michael Kahn helms a Studio Theatre production of British playwright Caryl Churchill’s 35-year-old explo-

ration of power and sexual politics, set in colonial Africa and London in the 1970s. Holly Twyford leads the cast. To Oct. 16. Studio Theatre, 14th & P Streets NW. Call 202-332-3300 or visit studiotheatre.org.

COME FROM AWAY

Ford’s Theatre is one early stop for the Broadway-bound folk/rock musical by Irene Sankoff and David Hein. The show celebrates hope and humanity in a time of darkness, focusing on the thousands of international passengers who were stranded in a remote Newfoundland

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • METROWEEKLY

town after air traffic was halted on 9/11, and the warm welcome locals gave them. Directed by Christopher Ashley (Memphis). Extended to Oct. 16. Ford’s Theatre, 511 10th St. NW. Call 800-982-2787 or visit fordstheatre.org.

HAND TO GOD

Avenue Q sounds like child’s play compared to Robert Askins’ comedy focused on teens of a Christian puppetry ministry in a small Texas town. Touted as a blasphemous and ruthless comedy about sex, sinners

and sock puppets, Joanie Schultz directs a production led by Liam Forde as a foul-mouthed, demonically possessed puppet. With Helen Coxe, Caitlin Collins, Ryan McBride and Tim Barker. Extended again to Oct. 2. Studio Theatre, 14th & P Streets NW. Call 202-332-3300 or visit studiotheatre.org.

REPORT TO AN ACADEMY

Scena Theatre opens its 30th season with a short existential drama by storytelling master Franz Kafka. Scena founder Robert McNamara

with an outrageous musical comedy. A Tony-winning hit in 2001, Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis’ Urinetown is a Brechtian satire of politics and populism, examining timely issues from environmental disaster to corrupt politics and police brutality. The musical focuses on a lovestruck young man, played by Vaughn Ryan Midder, who becomes the leader of a revolt against an all-powerful corporation that has banned toilets at home, forcing people to pay to pee in its toilets. To Oct. 9. Source Theatre, 1835 14th St. NW. Tickets are $25 to $50. Call 202-204-7741 or visit constellationtheatre.org.

THE ALDEN

THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD - SYMPHONIC METAL VERSION

MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY

An intimate night of spectacular modern dance from a troupe the Washington Post once called “one of the seven wonders of the artistic universe.” Saturday, Sept. 24, at 8 p.m. Alden Theatre at the McLean Community Center, 1234 Ingleside Ave., Mclean, Va. Tickets are $50. Call 703-790-0123 or visit mcleancenter.org/alden-theatre. directs and stars as a captured African ape who evolves to behave like a human in the one-actor showcase. He even learns to communicate, sharing his tales of human assimilation and earlier ape woes in the jungle to a scientific academy. Closes Sunday, Sept. 25. Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets are $20 to $35. Call 202-399-7993 or mosaictheater.org.

ROMEO & JULIET

Andrew Veenstra is Romeo and Ayana Workmen is Juliet in a production also featuring Rafael Sebastian, Ryan Sellers, Brayden Simpson, Emily Townley, Gregory Wooddell, and Elan Zafir. Directed by Alan Paul. To Nov. 6. Lansburgh Theatre, 450 7th St. NW. Call 202547-1122 or visit shakespearetheatre.org.

SENSE & SENSIBILITY

Eric Tucker of New York’s acclaimed theater company Bedlam helms Jane Austen’s beloved tale of sisterhood and romance, adapted by Kate Hamill. Maggie McDowell and Nicole Kang play the Dashwood sisters, with Edward Ferrars and Michael Glenn their suitors. Erin Weaver, Jacob Fishel, Lisa Birnbaum, Caroline Stefanie Clay, James Patrick Nelson, and Kathryn Tkel round out the cast. To Oct. 30. Folger Theatre, 201 East Capitol St. SE. Tickets are $30 to $75. Call 202-

544-7077 or visit folger.edu.

THE GULF

Rachel Zampelli and Maria Rizzo play lesbians in a tumultuous relationship in this world premiere comedy from D.C. playwright Audrey Cefaly. Joe Calarco directs a Signature Theatre production, as a languid summer day on the Alabama Delta turns into a nightmare when the motor on their boat breaks down. In previews. Runs to Nov. 6. Signature’s Ark Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington. Call 703-820-9771 or visit signature-theatre.org.

THE LAST QUIXOTE

Cervantes is dead and a drunk man insists the person who killed him is renowned poet Lope de Vega, in this world-premiere play by Jordi Casanovas. Director José Luis Arellano won the 2016 Helen Hayes Award for his last production at GALA, Yerma, so expect great things. In Spanish with English surtitles. Weekends to Oct. 2. GALA Theatre at Tivoli Square, 3333 14th St. NW. Tickets are $40 to $45. Call 202-234-7174 or visit galatheatre. org.

URINETOWN

After snagging 7 Helen Hayes Awards for last year’s sensational Avenue Q, Constellation Theatre Company kicks off its 10th season

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • METROWEEKLY

Stephen Sondheim gave the quirky, upstart Landless Theatre Company permission to amp up his most famous tale for its twice-staged, Helen Hayes Award-nominated Sweeney Todd-Prog Metal Version. Now, it’s author and composer Rupert Holmes’s turn, challenging Landless to test “its mettle and metal” with The Mystery of Edwin Drood. The choose-your-own-ending musical from 1986 is a dark tale of deception, based on the unfinished novel by Charles Dickens. To Oct. 2. Gaithersburg Arts Barn, 311 Kent Square Road, Gaithersburg. Tickets are $25. Call 301-258-6394 or visit landlesstheatre.com.

MUSIC FOLGER CONSORT WITH DEREK JACOBI, RICHARD CLIFFORD

The early music ensemble Folger Consort managed to enlist the British power couple of Sir Derek Jacobi and Richard Clifford to kick off its 30th anniversary season in grand, dramatic fashion — and at the Kennedy Center, no less. The ravishing music of Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas is paired with timeless passages from Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure in a theatrical concert with orchestra and chorus, featuring soloists Peter Becker, Emily Noel and Molly Quinn. Saturday, Oct. 1, at 8 p.m. Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater. Tickets are $79 to $119. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

PHILIP GLASS AT NATIONAL GALLERY RE-OPENING

The celebrated modern American composer appears as part of festivities celebrating the renovation of the National Gallery of Art’s East Building. As part of the 75th season of free concerts at the museum, Glass will perform and discuss the creative process of collaborating with visual artists, among other topics, in a program moderated by musicologist William Robin of the University of Maryland. The day before, the New Orchestra of

Washington and the 18th Street Singers perform Yves Klein’s Symphonie Monotone-Silence, an eccentric work that calls for a 32-piece orchestra and a 40-voice choir sustaining a D-major chord for 20 minutes — and then another 20 minutes of the performers frozen in silence. Sunday, Oct. 2, at 2 p.m. East Building Auditorium, National Gallery of Art, 3rd Street at Constitution Avenue NW. Free — first come, first seated. Call 202842-6941 or visit nga.gov.

PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND

The exuberant, New Orleans, big band jazz septet returns to D.C. as one headlining act performing in celebration of the opening of National Museum of African American History and Culture. Former President Jimmy Carter, Joey Williams of the Blind Boys of Alabama, and the DuPont Brass Band are all special guests at the concert. Friday, Sept. 23. Doors at 6:30 p.m. Lincoln Theatre, 1215 U St. NW. Tickets are $35. Call 202328-6000 or visit thelincolndc.com.

PRINCESS FEAT. MAYA RUDOLPH & GRETCHEN LIEBERUM

Not your average nationally touring Prince cover band. You may not know Gretchen Lieberum, but you certainly do her cohort Maya Rudolph, best known as a Saturday Night Live alum, lesser known as the daughter of late multi-octave singer Minnie Ripperton of “Loving You” fame. Together, Rudolph and Lieberum offer a love letter to the dearly beloved legend, gone too soon. Sunday, Sept. 25. Doors at 7 p.m. Nightclub 9:30, 815 V St. NW. Tickets are $30. Call 202-265-0930 or visit 930.com.

THE BIRD AND THE BEE

Airy vocalist Irina George, daughter of Little Feat’s Lowell George, makes soft-pop music steeped in tropicalia jazz rhythms with her music partner and uber-producer Greg Kurstin (Sia, Kylie Minogue). Thursday, Sept. 29. Doors at 7:30 p.m. Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW. Tickets are $18 in advance, or $20 day-of show. Call 202-667-4490 or visit blackcatdc.com.

WICKED JEZABEL

Pauline Anson-Dross’ popular lesbian all-covers party-rock band Wicked Jezabel has been rocking — as well as raising money for various good causes — all over the region for a decade now, originally under the name The Outskirts of Town. This weekend, the women perform a birthday bash for member Davi Anson-Dross, Pauline’s wife. Saturday, Sept. 24, at 9 p.m. JV’s Restaurant, 6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church. Call 703-241-9504 or visit jvsrestaurant.com.

YUNA

Malaysia’s first international pop star returns to the area for her third concert this year. The 29-year-old artist’s engaging voice, similar to Feist and Lorde, is matched by a melodically rich blend of pop, folk and R&B and songs. If you think you’ve heard them before, you likely have — accompanying performances on So You Think You Can Dance, for example. Yuna tours in support of Chapters, her third global album. Tuesday, Sept. 27. Doors at 7 p.m. Nightclub 9:30, 815 V St. NW. Tickets are $25. Call 202-265-0930 or visit 930.com.

DANCE D.A.N.C.E.

D.C. Area New Companies Experience (or, D.A.N.C.E.) is a new event organized by Georgetown Day High School and its dance director Maria Watson to spotlight recently formed troupes, as well as to potentially cultivate new audiences. Gin Dance Company, DC Bhangra Dance, Motion X Dance DC, DanceArt Theater, and DancEthos are the featured groups that will perform. Friday, Sept. 30, at 7 p.m. High School Black Box at Georgetown Day School, 4200 Davenport St. NW. Call 202-2743200 or visit gds.org.

STEP AFRIKA!

Washington Performing Arts launches its 50th anniversary season with a new and expanded production of the step dance company’s signature work, The Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence. Step Afrika! blends body percussion, dance and spoken word into a multimedia work also featuring members of the WPA Men and Women of the Gospel Choir. Meanwhile, images from American painter Jacob Lawrence’s iconic series — telling the story of the African-American migration to the North a century ago — will be projected beyond the performers. Friday, Sept. 30, and Saturday, Oct. 1, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 2, at 4 p.m. UDC Theater of the Arts, 4200 Connecticut Ave. NW. Tickets are $45. Call 202-833-9800 washingtonperformingarts.org.

THE WASHINGTON BALLET

Julie Kent, The Washington Ballet’s new artistic director, narrates an evening featuring works by her predecessor Septime Webre, Choo San Goh, and other favorites from the repertoire in a one-night-only event celebrating the company’s 40th anniversary. Friday, Sept. 30, at 8 p.m. Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater. Tickets are $40 to $500. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

READINGS AND

COMEDY

LECTURES

AMY SCHUMER

ALAN CUMMING

The Good Wife and Cabaret star returns to the area, this time to read from his latest memoir, You Gotta Get Bigger Dreams: My Life in Stories and Pictures. Among the often self-deprecating personal stories shared in this sequel to his more serious work Not My Father’s Son, Cumming tells of his misadventures with everyone from Helen Mirren to Carrie Fisher to Oprah. Monday, Sept. 26, at 7 p.m. Sixth & I Historic Synagogue. 600 I St. NW. Tickets are $20, or $35 including one pre-signed book. Call 202-4083100 or visit sixthandi.org.

ALTON BROWN

The award-winning cookbook author (I’m Just Here for the Food) discusses EveryDayCook, a collection of 101 recipes and tips that the star of Food Network’s Good Eats regularly utilizes. Friday, Sept. 30, at 7 p.m. Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. Call 202364-1919 or visit politics-prose.com.

JACK HAMILTON

Just Around Midnight: Rock and Roll and the Racial Imagination reveals the interplay of popular music and racial thought that was responsible for making rock a white man’s preserve in our cultural imagination — even though it derived from the African-American R&B tradition. Also, its earliest stars, most notably Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley, were black. In his debut book, the University of Virginia professor and Slate music critic juxtaposes black and white artists of the ‘60s — Sam Cooke with Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin with Janis Joplin — in his examination of charged, oversimplified notions of “authenticity,” cultural betrayal and politics that “have blinded us to rock’s inextricably interracial artistic enterprise.” Tuesday, Sept. 27, at 6:30 p.m. Kramerbooks, 1517 Connecticut Ave. NW. Call 202-387-1400 or visit kramers.com.

NATIONAL BOOK FESTIVAL

Shonda Rhimes, Kareem AbdulJabbar, Diane Rehm, Salman Rushdie, Ken Burns, and Stephen King are among approximately 120 writers, authors, illustrators and poets who will participate in the annual festival. Marilynne Robinson will be presented with the 2016 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction during the 13-hour event, which includes a Youth Poetry Slam and “Graphic Novel Night.” Saturday, Sept. 24, from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Walter E. Washington Convention Center, 801 Mt. Vernon Pl. Call 202-2493000 or visit loc.gov/bookfest.

It’s not everyday, or even every year, you see a comedian — a female one at that — headline the Verizon Center. Yet a year after opening for Madonna at Madison Square Garden, Amy Schumer is now a bona fide stand-up stadium star. She’s on her first world tour in support of her characteristically revealing and provocative new memoir The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo. Friday, Sept. 23, at 8 p.m. Verizon Center, 601 F St. NW. Tickets are $52 to $140. Call 202-628-3200 or visit verizoncenter.com.

DINA MARTINA

Grady West’s comedic drag performance act, a Provincetown staple, “is nearly impossible to explain,” or so The Stranger once summarized. And it accurately, entertainingly described Martina’s shtick: “Beyond her stature as a superstar entertainer without peer [Martina] is in possession of not one shred of discernible talent or grace. Her voice sounds like a cat having an epileptic fit on a chalkboard, her body moves like two pigs fighting their way out of a sleeping bag, and her face looks like the collision of a Maybelline truck with a Shoney’s buffet.” It’s so awful, in other words, it’s awfully good. Monday, Sept. 26, at 8 p.m. The Howard Theatre, 620 T St. NW. Tickets are $25 in advance, or $30 day of show. Call 202-588-5595 or visit thehowardtheatre.com.

EXHIBITS CARL VAN VECHTEN: HARLEM HEROES

Many central figures in the Harlem Renaissance were captured by photographer Carl Van Vechten, some when they were young and on the cusp of achieving international fame, from James Baldwin and Langston Hughes to Bessie Smith and Ella Fitzgerald. There are 39 images spanning over 30 years, all drawn from the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s permanent collection, but never before presented as a set since they were acquired in 1983. Through March 19, 2017. Smithsonian American Art Museum, 8th and F Streets NW. Free. Call 202-633-1000 or visit americanart.si.edu.

EARTH WATER AIR: PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION

The Historic Glen Echo Park presents works by three local photographers focused on capturing the mystery and movement of the natural world: Rebecca Clews, inspired by Chinese landscape paintings with works featuring scenes built from a multitude of microscopic photographs; Leslie Kiefer, whose Japanese wood-

block-inspired images explore the blurring of surfaces and skylines; and the luminous platinum prints of Caroline Minchew, said to transform landscapes into intimate, personal experiences. Closes Sunday, Sept. 25. Photoworks Gallery at Historic Glen Echo Park, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo, Md. Call 301-634-2274 or visit glenechophotoworks.org.

FREDA LEE-MCCANN

Studio Gallery presents Spirit of the Mountain, an exhibit of multi-layer paintings inspired by traditional Chinese landscapes but incorporating calligraphy and small thumbnails. The works include poems by an 11th Century Chinese scholar artist Mei-Fu and Freda Lee-McCann’s great uncle, Jen Yuan-Tao, a scholar and a general. Lee-McCann will close the exhibition with a special live artistic performance with other Studio Gallery members. Closes with an Art All Night Reception Saturday, Sept. 24, from 7 p.m. to 12 a.m. Studio Gallery, 2108 R St. NW. Call 202-232-8734 or visit studiogallerydc.com.

JOHN WATERS’ KIDDIE FLAMINGOS

Few people could have imagined that John Waters’ lovable 1988 film Hairspray would become a hit Broadway musical and subsequent hit musical film. No one in their right mind would pick his startlingly tasteless Pink Flamingos to be next up for a similar resurgence — though you can’t say Baltimore’s king of camp isn’t trying, albeit modestly. In 2014 he filmed children reading a cleverly modified, G-rated version of the 1972 cult classic. The 74-minute film features kids — mostly his friends’ children — wearing wigs and costumes that evoke the legendary performances of Divine, Mink Stole, Edith Massey and others. Waters has even suggested the new version is “in some ways more perverse than the original.” Now to Jan. 22. The Baltimore Museum of Art, 10 Art Museum Dr. Baltimore. Call 443-573-1700 or visit artbma.org.

THE ART OF ROMAINE BROOKS: CURATOR GALLERY TALK

All summer, the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum has displayed 50 paintings and drawings from its permanent collection focused on lesbian artist Romaine Brooks, who struck an androgynous look and explored gender and sexuality in her work, something rarely done in her time. Brooks was a leading figure of an artistic counterculture of upper-class Europeans and American expatriates, many of whom were queer, and a precursor of present-day artists with works depicting cross-dressing and transgender themes. Three days before the exhibit closes, its

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • METROWEEKLY

was one of the first regional competitions and largest prizes to honor visual artists. Works by the eight finalists for this year’s competition will be presented in a Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards exhibit presented by the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District. Lauren Frances Adams of Baltimore has been selected as “Best in Show,” with Sarah Irvin of Springfield, Va., garnering second place, and Ben Marcin of Baltimore third. Closes Saturday, Sept. 24. Gallery B, 7700 Wisconsin Ave. Suite E, Bethesda, Md. Visit 301-215-6660 or visit bethesda.org.

ABOVE & BEYOND ADAMS MORGAN PORCHFEST

ALAN SEPINWALL AND MATT ZOLLER SEITZ

Longtime TV critics Sepinwall and Zoller Seitz, who worked at the Newark Star-Ledger, have ranked all that they saw in TV (The Book): Two Experts Pick the Greatest American Shows of All Time. A spirited discussion will take place, as the two engage on their rankings with NPR pop culture critic Linda Holmes. Thursday, Sept. 29, at 6:30 p.m. Kramerbooks, 1517 Connecticut Ave. NW. Call 202387-1400 or visit kramers.com.

guest curator Joe Lucchesi, of St. Mary’s College, will lead a free tour through the exhibit and a discussion about Brooks’s lasting resonance. Thursday, Sept. 29, at 6 p.m., starting in the G Street Lobby at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 8th and F Streets NW. Exhibit closes Oct. 2. Call 202-6331000 or visit americanart.si.edu.

THE GREEKS

Subtitled “Agamemnon to Alexander the Great,” the National Geographic Museum offers the only East Coast stop of this once-in-a-lifetime exhibition featuring more than 500 priceless treasures, many never previously displayed outside of Greece, from the 5,000 years of Greek culture including the birth of democracy. The Greek Ministry of Culture along with several North American museums organized this exhibition. Through Oct. 10. National Geographic Museum, 1145 17th St. NW. Tickets are $15. Call 202-8577588 or visit ngmuseum.org.

THE OUTWIN 2016: AMERICAN PORTRAITURE TODAY

Every three years the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery presents finalists of the Outwin Boochever

Portrait Competition, named for a late volunteer and benefactor. The portraits are works drawn from all over America, mostly featuring unheralded, everyday citizens and generally presented in innovative ways through various media, from standard photography to three-dimensional installation. This year’s winner is a stunning, slightly surreal painting of a young AfricanAmerican girl by Amy Sherald of Baltimore. Among the 43 finalists, more than a half-dozen are LGBTthemed, including: Jess T. Dugan of St. Louis and her masculine self-portrait; a print of two transgender teenagers in love by Evan Baden of Oregon; an oil painting focused on a recently married, older gay couple by Paul Oxborough of Minnesota; and a flamboyant, patriotic painting by D.C.’s Tim Doud featuring his spouse, cultural theorist Edward Ingebretsen, in full plume. Through Jan. 8. National Portrait Gallery, 8th and F Streets. NW. Call 202-633-8300 or visit npg. si.edu.

TRAWICK PRIZE

Named after a Bethesda, Md., community leader and arts advocate, the Trawick Prize, established in 2003,

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • METROWEEKLY

Two weeks after Adams Morgan Day comes a smaller festival showcasing the eclectic rhythms that make the multicultural neighborhood move. Launched in 2013 by the Adams Morgan Partnership BID, PorchFest features dozens of local musicians and musical acts. It’s a mix of ages and expertise, performing a mix of styles from brass to R&B, folk to rock, and Latin to reggae, in pop-up venues on porches and patios of historic homes and local businesses throughout the neighborhood’s leafy residential streets. Saturday, Oct. 1, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Starting point is 18th Street and Columbia Road NW. Call 202-997-0783 or visit adamsmorganonline.org.

CAPITAL HOME SHOW

DIY Bath Crashers host Matt Muenster and HGTV House Counselor host Laurie March headline a show featuring more than 300 exhibitors, seminars and home remodeling projects, including a Make-it, Take-it DIY Station, a free hands-on workshop sponsored by IKEA. Friday, Sept. 23, and Saturday, Sept. 24, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday, Sept. 25, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Dulles Expo Center, 4320 Chantilly Shopping Center Drive, Chantilly, Va. Admission is $7 online or $10 at the door, good for all three days of the show. Call 888-248-9751 or visit capitalhomeshow.com.

DC GIRLY SHOW: GURLIES GONE WILD

The DC Gurly Show isn’t your grandfather’s burlesque show, nor is it even a traditional striptease show. Anybody is welcome, no matter gender or how they identify, with the focus on expression and individual performance. An outgrowth of local drag king organization the DC Kings, the Gurly Show is a more freeform type of event. Mindi Mimosa hosts the latest concoction, “Gurlies Gone Wild,” featuring performances

by Lexie Starre, Atomic Venus, Miss Ginger Jameson, Stellina Nyghtshade, Dixie Castafiore, Valarie Morgalis, Nastya Djakov, La Duchess Davenport. and Lyndi Luxe. Sunday, Sept. 25, at 7 p.m. Bier Baron Tavern, 1523 22nd St. NW. Tickets are $10 in advance, or $15 at the door. Call 202-293-1887 or visit dcgurlyshow.com.

LA-TI-DO

Regie Cabico and Don Mike Mendoza’s La-Ti-Do variety show features higher-quality singing than most karaoke, often from local musical theater actors performing on their night off, and also includes spoken-word poetry and comedy. Held at Bistro Bistro in Dupont Circle, Mendoza and Anya Randall Nebel host the next event with Stephen Russell Murray, plus performances by The American Pops Orchestra and the National Broadway Chorus and accompanist Levar Betts. Monday, Sept. 26, at 8 p.m. Bistro Bistro, 1727 Connecticut Ave. NW. Tickets are $15, or $10 if you eat dinner at the restaurant beforehand. Call 202-328-1640 or visit latidodc.wix.com/latido.

MARYLAND RENAISSANCE FESTIVAL

As summer nears its end, thoughts naturally turn to jousting, feasting, crafts, theater, music, and merriment. Yes, it’s time once again for Maryland Renaissance Festival, one of the world’s largest festivals recreating 16th century England. Now in its 40th season and set in a park outside of Annapolis, Md., the festival encourages patrons to dress up in period costume. (They’re available to rent if you don’t have your own doublet and hose.) Just don’t bring weapons, real or toy, or pets, as they tend to eat the turkey legs. Weekends through Oct. 23. Maryland Renaissance Festival, Crownsville Road, Crownsville, Md. Tickets are $17 to $22 for a single-day adult ticket. Call 800296-7304 or visit marylandrenaissancefestival.com.

MEDIEVAL MADNESS

Touted as an out-of-the-ordinary experience, Alexandria’s Medieval Madness blends art and history — and not simply by way of historical reenactment. It’s an adventure set in 15th-century England and featuring court jesters, men in tights, and battling knights trained by the European Martial Arts Academy. Above all else, though, Medieval Madness is a comedy show. To Oct. 21, with evening shows Thursdays through Saturdays and four-course “feasts” on Fridays and Saturdays. Medieval Madness at Renaissance Hall, 710 King St. Alexandria. Tickets are $65. Call 703-329-3075 or visit medievalmadness.com. l

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SOCIAL RISKS

Are hookup apps to blame for the rise in HIV and sexuallytransmitted infections? By John Riley

ENE IS CONNECTED. THE 37-YEAR OLD D.C. RESIDENT IS ON Facebook, Snapchat, GroupMe, Instagram, Grindr, Scruff, and Recon, an app for people into BDSM and other fetishes. Gene and his partner use the latter three to arrange sexual encounters with others — sometimes separately, sometimes together — and enjoy an active sex life. Though HIV-positive, and on medication, making his viral load undetectable, Gene doesn’t always use condoms. Most app users he encounters don’t even bother to ask, while several prefer not to use condoms at all. “I’ve noticed that if they’re under 25, they usually want a condom,” he says. “When they hit from 25 to 50, they tend to be more into barebacking. When you get above 50, it moves back towards condoms.” Gene blames the casual attitude towards condoms partly on the increased use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a daily medication that helps prevent HIV transmission. He also says his HIV status, listed on his profile, plays a role, as others who are HIV-positive often seek him out because of his status. Of course, sex with strangers carries its risks. Besides HIV, Gene has been infected with syphilis twice and once with gonorrhea and herpes. The majority of the time he is a top, yet most of his infections occurred after bottoming. Gene accepts the risk of sexually-transmitted infections when seeking casual, non-monogamous sex. Yet some state and local health departments are concerned with the number of people recently diagnosed with HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea or chlamydia. In just the last 16 months, health experts from Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Alberta, Canada, have pointed the finger at apps like Grindr, Tinder and Scruff for fueling those increases. Matthew Rand, a health educator and the Self-Test Project coordinator at Whitman-Walker Health in Washington, D.C., says that while there is evidence showing higher rates of STI infection among social media users, much more research is needed. A 2014 study of over 7,000 men who have sex with men (MSM) by the Los Angeles County Department of Health concluded that the incidence of gonorrhea and chlamydia was higher among people who use social apps to arrange sexual liaisons. Data from Whitman-Walker’s Gay Men’s Health Clinic, held twice a week, shows a similar trend: Between May 2014 and April 2015, HIV-negative MSM

who used social media had higher rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea as opposed to those who did not. Still, there may be other factors contributing to those higher STI rates. Rand points to statistics showing that condom use in general is declining, something he attributes to the perception of HIV as a manageable condition. Dr. Gregory Phillips, a research assistant professor of medical social sciences at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, agrees that the blame for STI increases cannot be attributed solely to hookup apps. “A lot of the work we’ve done shows that men tend to be less risky with people they meet online, because they don’t really know the people,” says Phillips. “They aren’t meeting them through their social networks, they don’t have a sense of familiarity, so they tend to be more likely to use condoms or not engage with people they don’t know offhand. So it doesn’t seem that that might be the reason for upticks in STDs or HIV.” Grindr, Scruff and Tinder argue that they are being made the scapegoat for increases in HIV and STIs. “The claim that gay apps like Scruff are the culprit behind increases in reported STIs is neither accurate nor particularly helpful,” Jason Marchant, found-

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • METROWEEKLY

theFeed ing partner and chief product officer of Scruff, said in a statement to Metro Weekly. “It is probably true that more guys are having more sex because Scruff and other apps have made it easier for GBTQ guys to connect,” he said. “It is also probably true that more guys are having more sex because our hard-earned progress towards equality has, in many places, made it safer for us to be openly LGBTQ. It’s also probably true that more guys are having more sex because our hard-earned victories against HIV are making sex a less fraught and potentially deadly activity. Further, our continued success in making HIV more survivable, manageable, and preventable is likely a primary driver of a related trend: the steady decrease in condom use.... Decreasing condom use and greatly increased HIV/STI testing (of guys on PrEP) are the real, proximal cause behind increases in reported STIs.” Representatives from Scruff, Grindr, and Tinder also highlighted their companies’ efforts in helping users make better sexual health decisions by providing information on testing and treatment options. Scruff, for instance, allows members to list their safer sex practices on their profile. The app also provides geo-targeted alerts about STI outbreaks and allows nonprofits or public health agencies to advertise their services. Grindr adopts “a four pronged approach to sexual health,” a representative told Metro Weekly. That includes “ensuring Grindr uses around the world know where and when they can access LGBTQ-competent, anonymous STI testing” and “increasing access to STI prevention tools like PrEP,” as well as helping people make “informed decisions about using protection” and fighting the stigma attached to being HIV-positive. Tinder has similar efforts to promote sexual health and safety to its users. “While the CDC, who conducted the largest and most credible study on the topic, has never identified any connec-

tion that supports the idea that Tinder usage correlates with, let alone causes, an increase in STDs, we’re happy to do our part in supporting these educational efforts by including Health Safety tips on our site and linking to Healthvana’s free HIV and STD testing site locator,” a spokesperson said. Joe, a 26-year-old D.C. resident who is on OKCupid, Match, Grindr, Scruff, Tinder and Growlr, credits app developers for their efforts to promote better sexual health practices. “These apps have been promoting PrEP, and you’ll get advertisements on Grindr to ‘use PrEP’ or ‘be safe,’ things like that,” says Smith. “Yesterday, I got an advertisement on Grindr offering where to get tested. It’s definitely more recent, but they’re making an effort.” Joe uses condoms “about 75 percent of the time” and gets tested every three months. He’s skeptical about a direct correlation between the use of social media and an increase in STIs. “I don’t know if there’s necessarily a link between the two,” he says. “If you’re on those apps, you’re looking for a particular thing or are going to be influenced to do a particular thing. I think people that just fuck around in general are at risk — and not just because they’re on an app.” Charlie is a 27-year-old D.C. resident in an open relationship and has profiles on several hookup websites and apps. He agrees that having a presence on social media isn’t the “silver bullet” that leads to a greater chance of acquiring an STI. Rather, he says, it’s lax attitudes about condom use. “I won’t lie and say that once I was on PrEP, I didn’t feel a little more comfortable with risky behavior, or a little more at ease hooking up with somebody I met on an app,” he says. “And once you remove the condom from the scenario, it’s going to increase your risk of gonorrhea and chlamydia.” l The names of several of the people interviewed for this article have been changed.

PROTECTING PROGRESS

President Obama’s focus has turned to protecting his legacy — and that includes his work for LGBT rights By Rhuaridh Marr

WILL CONSIDER IT A PERSONAL INSULT, AN insult to my legacy, if this community lets down its guard and fails to activate itself in this election,” President Barack Obama boomed. His tone was serious, his often jovial features furrowed in a stern glare. During his keynote address to the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation last week, Obama demanded that the African American community help protect everything he has accomplished in the nation’s highest office. This wasn’t folksy Obama, or charming Obama. This was a president facing the real possibility that everything he’d worked towards would be for nothing next January. “You want to give me a good send-off, go vote,” he ordered the audience. For the nation’s first African-American president, the 2016 election cycle has become about much more than

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • METROWEEKLY

merely passing the torch to Hillary Clinton (or watching, crestfallen, as Trump snuffs it out). In eight years often overshadowed by partisan roadblocking, the rise of extremism, the Syrian crisis, and more mass shootings (and the resulting gun control debates) than anyone would care to think about, it’s important to remember how much President Obama has achieved: The Affordable Care Act (forever known as Obamacare), dragging the nation out of recession, winning an historic second term, acknowledging and combatting climate change, reducing military deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan, and countless advances for the LGBT community. His legacy, the groundwork Obama has laid, is what he’s now keen to protect — at all costs — from Donald Trump. “My name may not be on the ballot, but our progress is on

CHRISTOPHER DILTS FOR OBAMA FOR AMERICA

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the ballot,” he told the audience. “Tolerance is on the ballot. Democracy is on the ballot. Justice is on the ballot.” And it’s not just the African-American community that has a lot at stake in this election, though the troubling rise of white nationalism and outright racism should give everyone pause for thought. The continued advancement of LGBT rights — a key feature of Obama’s presidency — is also on the ballot. Tuesday, Sept. 20, marked five years since the lifting of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, which forced military personnel to remain closeted or face discharge. It’s been over three years since DOMA, which mandated that marriage was between one man and one woman, was ruled unconstitutional. And it’s now fifteen months since marriage equality became the law of the land. These are all hallmarks of Obama’s presidency, and, lest we forget, he was the first sitting president to voice his support for same-sex marriage — even if it took some prompting from Vice President Joe Biden. It’s a commitment to progress that continues even as Obama enters his last few months as commander-in-chief. Right now, his administration is fighting for protections against LGBT discrimination, suing states that try to restrict bathroom access for transgender people, and trying to make life a little easier for transgender students who want to use a changing facility that matches their gender identity. Clinton is the candidate most upfront about continuing that legacy. Her campaign website contains lengthy proposals for tackling HIV/AIDS, for protecting LGBT rights, for upgrading the service records of LGBT veterans dismissed from the military due to their sexual orientation, for ending the practice of “conversion therapy,” for passing the Equality Act, and for promoting LGBT rights around the world. Trump’s campaign website has not one word regarding LGBT people. His party’s platform actively disavows them. On the campaign trail, Trump made history as the first Republican nominee to say “LGBTQ” during the

Republican National Convention. He called himself a “friend” to the community. He promised to protect LGBTQ people from Islamic extremism. But he opposes marriage equality, he has seemingly wavered on his previous support for trans bathroom access, and his campaign team and advisers are a who’s who of anti-LGBT activists, politicians, and media personalities. When it comes to continuing President Obama’s legacy, Hillary Clinton is eager to intimate that she is the only choice this election cycle. “We need ideas, not insults, real plans to help struggling Americans in communities that have been left out and left behind, not prejudice and paranoia,” she told the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. “We can’t let Barack Obama’s legacy fall into the hands of someone who doesn’t understand that, whose dangerous and divisive vision for our country will drag us backwards.” In a speech Monday, she told a crowd of millennials at Temple University that she was best equipped to advance equality for LGBT people. Indeed, Clinton intimated that even with all that’s been achieved under Obama, no LGBT voter should be satisfied with the status quo. “You aren’t and you shouldn’t be satisfied with the progress we’ve made,” Clinton said. “You should keep wanting to right wrongs and fight for justice and dignity for all.” As President Obama stood before the Congressional Black Caucus, compelling the African-American community to realize that their vote matters — now, more than ever before — his words rang true for any wavering LGBT voters, too. After extolling the various things at stake in this election, he drew a clear contrast between Clinton and her opponent. “There is one candidate who will advance those things. And there’s another candidate whose defining principle, the central theme of his candidacy is opposition to all that we’ve done,” he said, adding, “Hope is on the ballot. And fear is on the ballot, too.” l

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • METROWEEKLY

WARD MORRISON

Community

THRILL PRIDE

LGBT people take over Kings Dominion for annual fundraiser/dance party Pride Days

OME PEOPLE GO TO KINGS DOMINION TO RIDE ROLLER COASTERS AND bumper cars. Others go to eat cotton candy or funnel cake. On Saturday, Sept. 24, the LGBT community can do all that, plus dance their way down International Street, when the park’s annual Pride Night returns. Attendees can enjoy exclusive access to their favorite rides starting at 8:30 p.m.. Baltimore’s DJ Rosie will spin from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. at the foot of the park’s Eiffel Tower. Pride Night supports Brother Help Thyself, a local organization that provides money to local LGBT-related nonprofits. The evening typically brings in upwards of $20,000, with proceeds going to BHT’s general fund. Tickets are available online or at the BHT kiosk on the day of the event for $38 (a deal compared to the $66 price at the gate). “Everybody enjoys not having to wait in long lines to go on rides,” says BHT President Jim Slattery. “They particularly have a great time at the dance party. I’m personally looking forward to everyone dancing their butts off.” —John Riley

The DC ANTI-VIOLENCE PROJECT (DC AVP), the group

dedicated to combating antiLGBT hate crimes, holds its monthly meeting at The DC Center. 7-8:30 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit thedccenter.org. The LATINO LGBT TASK FORCE holds its monthly meeting at The DC Center. 6-7 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, call 202-682-2245 or visit thedccenter.org.

SOLUTIONS FOR WELLNESS 2016 is a two-day conference

and awards banquet that seeks to establish a dialogue between healthcare providers, activists, and people living with HIV, mental health issues or substance abuse. The conference will feature multiple workshops and discussion panels aimed at improving the quality of life for those individuals. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Public Welfare Foundation, Inc. 1200 U St. NW. Awards banquet to be held on Sept. 23, 5-9 p.m. at Metropolitan Community

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

Church of D.C., 474 Ridge St. NW. For more information, call 202-682-2245.

IDENTITY offers free and confidential HIV testing in Gaithersburg, 414 East Diamond Ave., and in Takoma Park, 7676 New Hampshire Ave., Suite 411. Walk-ins 2-6 p.m. For appointments other hours, call Gaithersburg, 301300-9978, or Takoma Park, 301-422-2398.

Weekly Events

SMYAL offers free HIV Testing,

Brother, Help Thyself’s Pride Night at Kings Dominion is Saturday, Sept. 24, from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. at 16000 Theme Park Way, Doswell, Va. Visit brotherhelpthyself.net.

THURSDAY, September 22

DC AQUATICS CLUB (DCAC) practice session at Takoma Aquatic Center, 300 Van Buren St. NW. 7:30-9 p.m. swimdcac.org.

ANDROMEDA TRANSCULTURAL HEALTH

offers free HIV testing, 9-5 p.m., and HIV services (by appointment). Call 202-2914707, or visit andromedatransculturalhealth.org.

3-5 p.m., by appointment and walk-in, for youth 21 and younger. 202-567-3155 or testing@smyal.org.

US HELPING US hosts a

Narcotics Anonymous Meeting, 6:30-7:30 p.m., 3636 Georgia Ave. NW. The group is independent of UHU. 202-4461100.

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • METROWEEKLY

WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE for young LBTQ

women, 13-21, interested in leadership development. 5-6:30 p.m. SMYAL Youth Center, 410 7th St. SE. 202-567-3163, catherine.chu@ smyal.org.

FRIDAY, September 23 GAMMA, a confidential support

group for men who are gay, bisexual, questioning and who are married or involved with a woman, meets in Washington on the second and fourth Fridays of each month. GAMMA also also offers additional meetings in Northern Virginia and Frederick, Md. 7:30-9:30 p.m. St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, 1772 Church St. NW. For more information, visit GAMMAinDC.org.

LGB PSYCHOTHERAPY GROUP

for adults in Montgomery County offers a safe space to explore coming out and issues of identity. 10-11:30 a.m. 16220 S. Frederick Rd., Suite 512, Gaithersburg, Md. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

The DC Center holds its CENTER AGING MONTHLY LUNCH social for members of D.C.’s senior community. 12-2 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit thedccenter.org or call 202-682-2245.

WOMEN IN THEIR TWENTIES (AND THIRTIES), a social discus-

sion and activity group for queer women, meets at The DC Center on the second and fourth Fridays of each month. Group social activity to follow the meeting. 8-9:30 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

Weekly Events DC AQUATICS CLUB (DCAC)

practice session at Hains Point, 927 Ohio Dr. SW. 6:30-8 p.m. Visit swimdcac.org.

HIV TESTING at Whitman-Walker

Health. At the Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center, 1701 14th St. NW, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. At the Max Robinson Center, 2301 MLK Jr. Ave. SE, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. For an appointment call 202-745-7000. Visit whitman-walker.org.

METROHEALTH CENTER

offers free, rapid HIV testing. Appointment needed. 1012 14th St. NW, Suite 700. 202-638-0750.

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 GLBT and questioning youth, featuring dance parties, vogue nights, movies and games. More info, catherine.chu@ smyal.org. SMYAL offers free HIV Testing, 3-6 p.m., by appointment and walk-in, for youth 21 and younger. Youth Center, 410 7th St. SE. 202-5673155, testing@smyal.org.

SATURDAY, September 24 Brother, Help Thyself hosts its annual PRIDE DAYS AT KINGS DOMINION fundraiser. All proceeds go directly to BHT’s general fund to be used for grants benefitting local LGBT- and HIVfocused nonprofits. 4 p.m.-1 a.m. in Doswell, Va. Tickets are $38 online and at the BHT kiosk at the park gate. Visit brotherhelpthyself.net Join volunteers from The DC Center as they volunteer at the FOOD & FRIENDS KITCHEN. 10 a.m.-12 p.m. 219 Riggs Rd. NE. For more information, call Food & Friends at 202-269-2277 or call The DC Center at 202-682-2245.

Weekly Events ANDROMEDA TRANSCULTURAL HEALTH offers free HIV testing,

9-5 p.m., and HIV services (by appointment). 202-291-4707 or andromedatransculturalhealth.org.

BET MISHPACHAH, founded by

members of the LGBT community, holds Saturday morning Shabbat services, 10 a.m., followed by Kiddush luncheon. Services in DCJCC Community Room, 1529 16th St. NW. betmish.org.

BRAZILIAN GLBT GROUP, including others interested in Brazilian culture, meets. For location/time, email braziliangaygroup@yahoo. com.

DC AQUATICS CLUB (DCAC)

practice session at Hains Point, 972 Ohio Dr., SW. 8:30-10 a.m. Visit swimdcac.org.

DC FRONT RUNNERS running/

walking/social club welcomes all levels for exercise in a fun and supportive environment, socializing afterward. Meet 9:30 a.m., 23rd & P Streets NW, for a walk; or 10 a.m. for fun run. dcfrontrunners.org.

DC SENTINELS basketball

team meets at Turkey Thicket Recreation Center, 1100 Michigan Ave. NE, 2-4 p.m. For players of all levels, gay or straight. teamdcbasketball.org.

DIGNITYUSA sponsors Mass for LGBT community, family and friends. 6:30 p.m., Immanuel

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • METROWEEKLY

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. brendandarcy@gmail.com.

SUNDAY, September 25 Weekly Events DC AQUATICS CLUB (DCAC)

practice session at Hains Point, 972 Ohio Dr., SW. 9:30-11 a.m. Visit swimdcac.org.

FIRST CONGREGATIONAL UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

welcomes all to 10:30 a.m. service, 945 G St. NW. firstuccdc.org or 202-628-4317.

HOPE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST welcomes GLBT community 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. Join LINCOLN

CONGREGATIONAL TEMPLE – UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST for

an inclusive, loving and progressive faith community every Sunday. 11 a.m. 1701 11th Street NW, near R in Shaw/Logan neighborhood. lincolntemple.org.

METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY CHURCH OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA services at 11 a.m., led

by Rev. Emma Chattin. Children’s Sunday School, 11 a.m. 10383 Democracy Lane, Fairfax. 703-6910930, mccnova.com.

NATIONAL CITY CHRISTIAN CHURCH, inclusive church with

GLBT fellowship, offers gospel worship, 8:30 a.m., and traditional worship, 11 a.m. 5 Thomas Circle NW. 202-232-0323, nationalcitycc. org.

ST. STEPHEN AND THE INCARNATION, an “interra-

cial, multi-ethnic Christian Community” offers services in English, 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., and in Spanish at 5:15 p.m. 1525 Newton St. NW. 202-232-0900, saintstephensdc.org.

UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH OF SILVER SPRING

invites LGBTQ families and individuals of all creeds and cultures to join the church. Services 9:15 and 11:15 a.m. 10309 New Hampshire Ave. uucss.org.

MONDAY, September 26 Weekly Events DC AQUATICS CLUB (DCAC)

practice session at Hains Point, 927 Ohio Dr. SW. 7-8:30 p.m. Visit swimdcac.org.

DC SCANDALS RUGBY holds

practice, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Garrison Elementary, 1200 S St. NW. dcscandals.wordpress.com.

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

ing. 5-7 p.m. 2049 N. 15th St., Suite 200, Arlington. Appointments: 703789-4467.

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. 202-5673155 or testing@smyal.org. The DC Center hosts COFFEE

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

14th St. NW. 202-682-2245, thedccenter.org.

US HELPING US hosts a black gay men’s evening affinity group. 3636 Georgia Ave. NW. 202-446-1100.

WASHINGTON WETSKINS WATER POLO TEAM practices 7-9

p.m. Takoma Aquatic Center, 300 Van Buren St. NW. Newcomers with at least basic swimming ability always welcome. Tom, 703-2990504, secretary@wetskins.org, wetskins.org.

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, September 27 The DC Center’s GENDERQUEER DC support and discussion group for people who identify outside the gender binary, meets on the fourth Tuesday of every month. 7-8:30 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

Weekly Events ASIANS AND FRIENDS weekly

dinner in Dupont/Logan Circle area, 6:30 p.m. afwash@aol.com, afwashington.net.

DC AQUATICS CLUB (DCAC)

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

DC FRONT RUNNERS running/

walking/social club serving greater D.C.’s LGBT community and allies hosts an evening run/walk. dcfrontrunners.org.

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.

KARING WITH INDIVIDUALITY (K.I.) SERVICES, at 3333 Duke St.,

Alexandria, offers free “rapid” HIV testing and counseling, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. 703-823-4401.

METROHEALTH CENTER

offers free, rapid HIV testing. Appointment needed. 1012 14th St. NW, Suite 700. 202-638-0750.

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.

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. 202-5673155, testing@smyal.org.

SUPPORT GROUP FOR LGBTQ YOUTH ages 13-21 meets at

SMYAL, 410 7th St. SE, 5-6:30 p.m. Cathy Chu, 202-567-3163, 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’s GAY

MEN’S HEALTH AND WELLNESS/ STD CLINIC opens at 6 p.m., 1701

14th St. NW. Patients are seen on walk-in basis. No-cost screening for HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia. Hepatitis and herpes testing available for fee. whitman-walker.org.

WEDNESDAY, September 28 The DC Center hosts a monthly meeting of its HIV PREVENTION WORKING GROUP. 6-8 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

THE LAMBDA BRIDGE CLUB will

meet for Duplicate Bridge. 7:30 p.m. Dignity Center 721 8th St., S.E. (across from Marine Barracks). No reservation needed. Call 202-8410279 if you need a partner.

Weekly Events AD LIB, a group for freestyle con-

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

ANDROMEDA TRANSCULTURAL HEALTH offers free HIV testing,

9-5 p.m., and HIV services (by appointment). 202-291-4707, andromedatransculturalhealth.org.

DC AQUATICS CLUB (DCAC)

practice session at Hains Point, 927 Ohio Dr. SW. 7-8:30 p.m. Visit swimdcac.org.

DC SCANDALS RUGBY holds

practice, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Garrison Elementary, 1200 S St. NW. dcscandals.wordpress.com.

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.

HIV TESTING at Whitman-Walker Health. At the Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center, 1701 14th St. NW, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. At the Max Robinson Center, 2301 MLK Jr. Ave. SE, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. For an appointment call 202-745-7000. Visit whitman-walker.org. IDENTITY offers free and confidential HIV testing in Gaithersburg, 414 East Diamond Ave. Walk-ins 2-7 p.m. For appointments other hours, call Gaithersburg at 301300-9978. METROHEALTH CENTER offers free, rapid HIV testing. No appointment needed. 11 a.m.-7 p.m. 1012 14th St. NW, Suite 700. 202638-0750. 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. Carl, 703-573-8316. l Submit your community event for consideration at least 10 days prior to the Thursday publication you would like it to appear. Email to calendar@metroweekly.com.

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • METROWEEKLY

“This is our museum. It’s our history.” The black LGBT community shares its thoughts on the opening of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture

ALAN KARCHMER-NMAAHC

Interviews by John Riley

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • METROWEEKLY

“I LOVE AMERICAN HISTORY.

When I visit a town, the first thing I do is find the local museum.” For months, Earl J. Fowlkes drove past the new Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, watching as the building slowly took shape. And now, on the cusp of its official opening, Saturday, Sept. 24, he’s overjoyed. “This is our museum,” he says. “It’s our history.” That history — over 400 years of oppression, liberation, struggle, recognition, pain, joy, achievement, and one incredible dream — is compressed into the 400,000-square-foot museum, at the intersection of Constitution Ave. NW and 14th St. NW. It has taken more than a decade to complete, and if there is one sentiment nearly universal among members of D.C.’s black LGBT community, it’s that the museum’s launch is long overdue. “It’s been a long time coming,” says Phil Pannell. “I think it’s just so wonderful. This museum is just so meaningful to me.” That the museum should finally open during the last months of President Barack Obama’s administration is highly symbolic. “Whenever a museum opens, the name of the person who is president at that point is displayed somewhere on the building,” says Sterling Washington. “It’s very fitting that the first openly black president is in office when the museum opens.” It’s also fitting that, for a community whose history has been repeatedly marginalized over the years, the museum’s location — near the Washington Monument and in a prominent place on the National Mall — will ensure maximum exposure. “The National Mall is where millions of people from around the world come each year to learn about our country,” says Clarence Fluker. “You can’t tell the story of America without our history — our story, from captivity to captivating, full of pain and power. Nothing could be more fitting than for this museum to take its rightful place at the core for education and enjoyment for global citizens.” “I remember when they first proposed the museum, and they were talking about putting it in the Southeast,” says Darryl “DJ Mandrill” Harris. “I almost had a brain aneurism when I read that. There were lots of black people who had lobbied that it be in Southeast, as opposed to on

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • METROWEEKLY

METRO WEEKLY: How does it feel to finally have the National

Museum of African American History and Culture open on the mall? RON SIMMONS (66, President of Us Helping Us: People Into Living): It is a glorious feeling — and to have the first black pres26

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • METROWEEKLY

ident open it in his last year is symbolic in itself. Too often, the impact of African Americans on American culture is ignored. The museum will help change that, because you can’t ignore a big building on the mall. CORNELIUS BAKER (54, Chief Policy Advisor, Office of the US Global AIDS Coordinator): This is a transformative moment for the United States to recognize the central role of black people in the creation, building and development of this country. It is especially powerful to have the museum placed next to the Washington Monument and not far from the Lincoln memorial, reinforcing the importance of our history. SHEILA ALEXANDER-REID (56, Director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs): This museum is long overdue. The contributions of the African American to this country are immeasurable. This opening is very significant step in the long journey of advocating for the respect, accolades and visibility we deserve. REV. DYAN ABENA MCCRAY-PETERS (66, pastor): It’s an incredible addi-

tion to the museums in Washington. It will allow for everyone to view and understand the journey of my people from the Motherland, to Jamestown, right up until today. MICHAEL SAINTE-ANDRESS (65, actor/writer/lecturer): It’s certainly long overdue and will be a tremendous marker of the significance of the indelible contributions of African Americans to the overall culture of this country. I am filled with pride, reverence and joy to be able to witness this achievement. It is encouraging, uplifting and bodes well for our collective future. TERRANCE LANEY (32, government employee): It feels like a tremendous victory for black history and culture. There is a prevailing myth that African Americans do not have our own distinct culture that is worthy of respect and dignity. Opening this museum vindicates every African American genius who used their creativity to help us survive atrocities and generations of oppression with style, dignity and unmatched flare. ALAN SHARPE (63, Founding Artistic Director, African American Collective Theater): In a word, affirming. While it’s true that the African American experience is inextricably entwined in the nation’s history and culture, and that prior, individual exhibits have certainly highlighted some of those contributions, the prominent presence of a Smithsonian Museum on the National Mall that is focused on the seminal impact of the African American journey in this country is exciting and essential. ANGELA PEOPLES (30, co-director of Get Equal): It feels like a thing that is long overdue, but it also feels very meaningful that we are transitioning away from the first black president. ALAN KARCHMER-NMAAHC

the mall. I was like, ‘You have got to be kidding me. Why would you hide something that’s so crucial and so important? Put it front and center where everything is.’” “Often times, the contributions by African Americans, who have been here a long time, are overlooked,” says Fowlkes. “I wish we could just have an American museum for everyone. We don’t. That’s not how it works and unfortunately we need the African American museum to highlight the contributions the people of African descent have made to build this great country we live in.” Sheila Alexander-Reid toured the museum last weekend and found the experience “overwhelming.” “It is an immersive experience of the contributions made by African Americans to the long, and sometimes shameful, history of our country,” she says. “The exhibits are thought-provoking, awe-inspiring, and interactive. As an African American, I left the museum with a very strong sense of pride.” Reid notes that while the museum does not single out individuals who identified as LGBT, it does include exhibits featuring prominent LGBT figures, like comedian Wanda Sykes, playwright Lorraine Hansberry, WNBA star Brittney Griner, novelist James Baldwin, poet Langston Hughes, and legendary blues singer “Ma” Rainey. Fowlkes, who was impressed at the museum’s efforts to obtain artifacts, says the inclusion of LGBT people is essential to documenting the full history of the African American community. “It was very emotional to receive a call saying, ‘We want African American LGBT historical artifacts,’” he says. “That made me feel really good.” “I look at LGBT rights as human rights, and as being part of the overall civil rights agenda,” says Pannell. “The civil rights agenda was always incomplete when it was not including LGBT people.” For CNN anchor Don Lemon, there’s no question that the LGBT community should be included as part of the museum’s exhibits. “Gays have been on the forefront of not only the civil rights movement in the U.S., but have had an enormous influence on culture in general,” he says. “We’re everywhere. So, why not at the Museum of African American History and Culture?”

We’re wrapped up in the end of the first black president’s term and this is happening. We’re also in the moment of not just unprecedented coverage and visibility, and really escalation of violence against black people by the state, but we’re also seeing a real resurgence of a new iteration of a black liberation movement in our country.

important. Gays have been on the forefront of not only the civil rights movement in the U.S., but have had an enormous influence on culture in general. We’re everywhere. So why not at the Museum of African American History and Culture? BAKER: The museum would be incomplete and ahistorical if the contributions of LGBT were not included. James Baldwin is essential to the story of black culture and Bayard Rustin is essential to the struggle of the 1960s. Their lives and those of other LGBT people is part of our history and our future. WOLFE: Personally, I feel it’s imperative for LGBTQ issues in the African American community to be an integral part of what is presented in the museum. While our experiences as black LGBTQ people are markedly different and unique in a variety of ways, we are still — and have always been — very much a part of the beautiful tapestry that is black people, and that needs to be demonstrated and celebrated through this very important medium which has massive potential to not only educate, but to unify people from all walks of life. CRENSHAW: It’s very important. When I first started in my position as Executive Director of the Wanda Alston Foundation, I had an African American lesbian resident of the Wanda Alston House come to me to say she had never seen or known a lesbian like me before, and that she wanted to be just like me. I am not special, but what that experience emphasized for me is that we don’t have enough LGBTQ role models that our youth can connect with. We don’t have a place to learn our LGBTQ history. Covering LGBTQ issues and history will fill a gap in our community. CLARENCE FLUKER (36, Deputy Director of the National Parks Division of the White House Council on Economic Equality): I salute Lonnie Bunch, founding director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture for ensuring that the lives and contributions of LGBT people have been organically woven into the beautiful tapestry that is the museum from day one. The museum’s curation reinforces the message that we are a family and that everyone is valued. From advocacy to the academy, politics to poetry, spirituality to sports, African American LGBT people have always been a presence or force in our community and we will continue to be seen. FRANCISCO-LUIS WHITE (30, writer and literacy tutor): You can’t speak of black history in this country and not recognize those queer and trans individuals without whom we wouldn’t have attained the progress we speak of. Likewise, we can’t speak of our continued struggle as black people in a racist country without speaking to where the struggle is perhaps most difficult: at the intersection of African American identity and queer or trans identity. It can’t be done any other way. SAINTE-ANDRESS: It is ironic that the absence and minimization

“Few died for the LGBT movement, as opposed to black people who have been enslaved and tortured for centuries. THE MOST THE WHITE LGBT COMMUNITY HAD TO DEAL WITH WAS HOW TO HIDE IN PLAIN SIGHT.” — Ron Simmons

MW: Have you been through the museum yet? If not, when are you planning to go? MONTE J. WOLFE (41, artist): I have yet to visit the museum myself but I am certainly looking forward to taking it all in, learning something new, and, most of all, looking forward to being inspired, which I’m sure is going to be a huge part of my experience. JUNE CRENSHAW (55, Executive Director of Wanda Alston Foundation): I am really looking forward to experiencing it with my 7-year-old granddaughter. She and I spend a lot of time at the National Museum of the American Indian, Air and Space, and Natural History. I can’t wait to see her reaction to touring the museum and being surrounded by history and people that look like her. SAVANNA WANZER (activist): I have not visited the inside yet, the outside structure is beautiful and the fine iron African art work that frames the build is breathtaking and so beautiful. SHARPE: I have read and seen a number of articles and video profiles on the museum, and followed its evolution. I do have my tickets for the first week after the dedication and am looking forward to finally getting to visit it in person. I fully expect it to be an educational, entertaining and overwhelming emotional experience. DARRYL “DJ MANDRILL” HARRIS (58, former DJ and nightlife promoter): I tend to want to see things on my time when they are not the go-to thing. It’s not something I have to see immediately and when I looked into how the tickets were purchased and how people were going I thought, “Well, you know what? Maybe I should just wait until the fray is over and I’ll see it in the spring or so of 2017 rather than rushing to get it when there is so much going on around it right now.” I’m not a great crowd person. I know there is going to be a crowd any time I go, but the frequency is going to be turned down. RAYCEEN PENDARVIS (66, activist and host of The Ask Rayceen Show): I gave my tickets away to someone else because I only had two. I want to take my family — my mother, my grandchildren, and my great-grandchildren. I’m waiting at a later time to take four generations. MW: How important is it that the museum cover LGBT issues in the African American community? DON LEMON (50, journalist and host of CNN Tonight): It’s very

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • METROWEEKLY

of the African American presence in the nation’s culture and history is the same dynamic with the inclusion and recognition of the LGBT existence in the African American community. For the integrity of the project to be intact, this inclusion must be acknowledged and presented. SHARPE: LGBT issues, history and contributions are as intrinsic to the African American experience as that experience is to the evolution of the country as a whole. A museum that did not acknowledge, examine and celebrate LGBT life within that mosaic would be missing an integral component of African American history and culture. PHILIP PANNELL (65, Executive Director of the Anacostia Coordinating Council): Let’s be honest about it. You can’t really talk about African American literature from maybe the beginning of our country to the current without mentioning Zora Neale Hurston or James Baldwin. The March on Washington in 1963, which is one of the major events in civil rights in American history, and also where Martin Luther King gave his “I have a dream” speech — well, the chief organizer of that was a gay man, Bayard Rustin. A black gay man. Even today I would ask people to just shut their eyes and imagine what our communities and what our nation would be like if all of a sudden all the LGBT African Americans disappeared. I hope that if it’s not included in the exhibits, that at least in terms of future programming in the museum, there will be some type of programs or special exhibits on appropriate occasions.

lesbian and trans people like myself who have shared of themselves through the vehicle of the arts would warm my heart. LANEY: I would like to see old love letters and historic photographs of black same-sex couples. I really want to see people like George Washington Carver, Bayard Rustin, Langston Hughes, Bessie Smith, Pauli Murray and Marsha P. Johnson brought to life through their intimate relationships as well as their contributions to society. WANZER: I know I would love to know more about how Coretta Scott King helped the LGBT community and how she went around the world helping us with human rights issues. SHARPE: In addition to obvious and major contributions to arts, education and culture, I would hope that the museum’s exhibits will do much to shed light on LGBT involvement in politics, government, science, civil rights activism, religion, business, sports, media, technology and other areas where our involvement has not historically been as widely known and recognized. ZAR (Production Director for The Ask Rayceen Show): Seeing an exhibit about black LGBTQ club life would be terrific. From Disco to House music to Ball culture, there is so much that started within those spaces that is now mainstream. Homage should be paid. FOWLKES: My hope is that it’s integrated within all aspects of African American histories. I don’t necessarily want to see any particular focus. I think I just want to see, obviously our contributions to the civil rights movement and our contributions in the war effort. There’s so many things we do I can think of. PEOPLES: The leadership of Marsha P. Johnson, helping to make the Stonewall uprising, and helping to birth what is now the modern LGBTQ movement. HARRIS: I don’t know what I want it to look like, but just factual information, the data related to a specific event that were key moments. I would imagine it would be something about music and dance, the theater — Alvin Ailey, Jeffrey Holder, those kind of folks. Something that points out their contributions so that maybe somebody else would get credit for voguing besides Madonna. PENDARVIS: One surrounding the ballroom community, the effect of LGBTQ people in areas of politics, religion, fashion, and television. As much as the ballroom community has impacted our lifestyle, unfortunately mainstream society only has been given a glimpse of just what ballroom is, but not the fullness and richness of the entire culture.

“It would be great to have a museum in Washington for LGBTQ history. Washington is a mecca for LGBTQ people. IT IS IMPORTANT FOR LGBTQ FOLKS TO HAVE A MUSEUM THAT DOCUMENTS OUR HISTORY, EXPERIENCES AND LIFE.”

MW: What LGBT-focused exhibits

—June Crenshaw

would you like to see in the museum? SIMMONS: An exhibit that explains the traditional African cultural conception of gays and lesbians before the coming of the Europeans. I have done some research and it’s profound. It will say so much about the past that we need to know today and teach black LGBT youth tomorrow. BAKER: It would be important to see an exhibition on the role of black political leadership in the achievement of LGBT rights in America. The role of A. Philip Randolph, Martin Luther King, Jr., Willie Brown, Marion Barry, and Jesse Jackson, Deval Patrick, and Barack Obama as heterosexual black men is particularly powerful in countering the narrow stereotype of ingrained prejudice in black communities. LEMON: I’d like to see one that celebrates black gay men. For so long we’ve been made to believe that being a black gay man was the worst thing on earth. An exhibition could help change that. I’d also like to see one on black transvestites. They are pioneers in gay culture. It’s high time they get their due. WOLFE: Because I’m an artist, I would personally love to see any and all black LGBTQ artists throughout time. To see black gay, 28

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • METROWEEKLY

MW: The LGBT movement is often compared to the Civil Rights

movement. Do you feel it’s an apt comparison?

SIMMONS: No, because few died for

the LGBT movement, as opposed to black people who have been enslaved and tortured for centuries in this country. The most the white LGBT community had to deal with was how to hide in plain sight. black people were being hunted down and lynched. Second, the LGBT movement has yet to give credit to the Civil Rights movement for inspiring it. blacks demonstrated that you could riot in the streets to demand justice. I can remember the early days of the gay liberation movement and its parade in New York City when a white drag queen carried a huge red, black and green flags to symbolize the link between our struggles. When white LGBT organizations like the Gay Activist Alliance adopted a “gay only” agenda, the gay movement abandoned the black community, and left it to deal with white racist oppression on its own. LEMON: Yes and no. Discrimination is discrimination. But let me put it this way. I’ve been discriminated against far more for being black than for being gay. People don’t always know I’m gay. They always know I’m black. And white gay people have always been allowed access to jobs, education, wealth and the voting booth — especially white gay men. So it’s not really the same thing. MCCRAY-PETERS: Rights for all people remains an important factor. What has happened because of the Civil Rights movement helps produce and influence what takes place within the LGBT movement. Civil Rights speaks to the rights that every person regardless of their sex, race or religion should have. There are rights of personal liberty guaranteed to U.S. citizens by the 13th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution, in addition to acts of Congress. CRENSHAW: I feel that the LGBTQ movement and the Civil Rights movement are very similar. I think attempts to imply that one group’s struggle for equality, equity and fairness is different than that of another group’s is just an attempt to alienate and malign. My favorite Martin Luther King, Jr. quote is, “No one is free until we are all free.” WHITE: Are they separate movements? As someone who exists in a very black and very queer body, as this society has deemed it, I can’t separate or differentiate concurrent movements for my liberty. To do so, or to be asked to, is to divide myself into two parts and maybe even value one part over the other. Is that ever asked of others? SAINTE-ANDRESS: I have never fully understood why there was a conflict with that notion in the first place. I was reared in the segregated South in the 1950s and ’60s and was keenly aware of racism and social injustice. I was taught fairness, compassion and respect for others, no matter the differences between us. To me discrimination is discrimination, no matter how it is manifested. The Civil Rights movement was certainly the springboard for those other areas of activism, but the focus was always ensure a decent quality of life and freedom of all people. LANEY: Are these different movements? I refuse to see these

struggles as separate because that is how we continue to perpetuate destructive myths about race and LGBTQ identities. They are the same movement and as soon as we acknowledge this truth the better we will be as a people. An out black gay man, Bayard Rustin, engineered the most successful demonstrations of the civil rights movement and to Dr. King about non-violent civil disobedience. ZAR: There are similarities amongst all struggles and injustices, but various groups of people have been persecuted in different ways, and that should be recognized. FOWLKES: All movements in this country have started from some place else. It’s no more unfair to compare the Civil Rights movement to the women’s rights movement, or the disabled rights movement, or the seniors movement. All these other movements that have taken place. The labor movement. The Immigration movement. They all start from some place else. The black Civil Rights movement is used as a model around the world to achieve human rights for many different types of people, many different types of constituencies. So I don’t think it’s unfair to compare the LGBT movement to the black Civil Rights movement. We all come from the same roots. It’s about community organizing. It’s about protests. It’s about peaceful protests. It’s about changing hearts and minds and the law.

“For so long we’ve been made to believe that being a black gay man was the worst thing on earth. AN EXHIBITION COULD HELP CHANGE THAT.” — Don Lemon

MW: Have things improved in the African American community with respect to LGBT people? What has your personal experience been? SIMMONS: Things have improved tremendously. You can see it in the youth. They are openly coming out at age 13. black gay and lesbians couples have marriage protection for their children. More black churches have become open and affirming. There is a cadre of young black gay men who are being developed and who see themselves as future leaders. LEMON: Yes, things have improved for some in the community, but not all. We have to be more inclusive and welcoming to all the letters in LGBT. Perhaps we should add a C to that, for people of color. CRENSHAW:I do think improvements have been made and I also think we have a lot of work left to be done. Our ability as African American LGBTQ folks to come out of the closet and live openly and authentically is the way to change hearts and minds and to help evolution to occur in our culture. I have been out for a long time, but I have African American friends and colleagues that still struggle with their sexuality and gender identity. Many of our African American LGBTQ youth are homeless because of family rejection. We have legal protection but our lived experience is very different from that of some of our white counterparts. WHITE: Anything shy of absolute freedom from violence and oppression is not enough. Progress toward being actually safe and fully affirmed as who we are can’t be compared to the SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • METROWEEKLY

end goal. We have so far to go, but what I will say is, we’re getting there. LANEY: African American people have our own cultural perspectives about sexuality that is valid and has to be respected, so I can’t really compare us to other groups or cultures. I cannot measure the progress that LGBT people have made within our community because black people as a whole have so much more progress to make when it comes to all of our rights. After all, we are still fighting for our basic right to live and be treated as citizens in this country. ZAR: I think homophobia within black communities has often been exaggerated. There have always been people of every ethnicity who have been progressive, liberal, open minded. I think things have improved because people are more informed thanks to education and technology. Religion has been the primary culprit, and thankfully dogma goes unquestioned less frequently now. PEOPLES: There’s a lot of misconceptions and misnomers that black folk are somehow more anti-LGBT than other communities. How we love each other, how we are in community, how we are in family with each other looks different than how might looks to a white “mainstream” organization. So yeah, for white LGBT people, it might be a perspective that black families are much more anti-LGBT than white folks, but I think that’s not true. I think what I’m really grateful for right now is seeing the transformative leadership coming in this movement from Black Lives Matter. Being led by queer folks, black trans women, gender non-conforming folks — I’m very grateful for really being seen and learning from all of that. WASHINGTON: President Obama’s support of marriage equality in 2012 moved the needle towards that in many ways. I was actually one of the people who was concerned about him doing that. As it turns out it was fine. It was fortuitous that he did it, because he moved a needle that much quicker. There were any African Americans who, for whatever reason had not made that step forward in their thinking, who reevaluated after the president was very strong in his support of the LGBT community. MW: Would you like to see a museum in Washington exclusively for LGBT history? SIMMONS: Why not? As long as it’s honest about how the Civil Rights struggle inspired Stonewall and the modern gay movement. BAKER: If it had a historical root and sustainable anchor. MCCRAY-PETERS: Having a museum in Washington that is exclusively for the LGBT community that tracks our history would be an interesting venue. The duality of creating the venue to highlight diversities of the many LGBT cultures as it relates to beliefs, customs, arts and the way of thinking would be most interesting. CRENSHAW: I think it would be great to have a museum in Washington for LGBTQ history. Washington is a mecca for LGBTQ people. We come here because there are both protective and inclusive laws but also because there are opportunities. It is also important for LGBTQ folks to have a museum that documents our history, experiences and life. SAINTE-ANDRESS: I support that idea as a goal. The treasure trove of information and materials is so overripe that an exclusive representation is almost mandatory. LANEY: Yes, but only when our leaders and those with power in the LGBT community have the intersectional perspective to create a museum that honors and celebrates the complexity of our experiences, the diversity within the community, and 30

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • METROWEEKLY

can acknowledge all the people who have been marginalized or silenced in the LGBT community since the beginning of the organized struggle for civil and humans rights for LGBT people. SHARPE: I would love to see such a museum. I think it could be extremely enlightening, not only to the broader public, but just as importantly, to the the LGBT community, in terms of educating, affirming and empowering us to live our lives proudly, in the full truth of our existence. ZAR: It would be interesting to have a LGBTQ museum. I would definitely lobby for a Rayceen Pendarvis exhibit. I hope Team Rayceen has the opportunity to collaborate with NMAAHC. Much of what we do at “The Ask Rayceen Show” correlates with what the museum is doing: informing, educating, and shining a spotlight on individuals and populations who are often denied one. I think it’s important for NMAAHC to not just commemorate and celebrate the past, but also to highlight the present and look to the future. FOWLKES: I think it would be fantastic. We have museums of everything in the world, and a specific museum that highlights the broad mosaic of LGBT history and our contributions and struggles would be welcome. ANGELA PEOPLES: My instinct is to say no right now because, having a museum that’s specifically dedicated to LGBTQ implies that other identities aren’t included. That history exists outside of the history for black LGBTQ people. PHILIP PANNELL: Well, I’m not sure it would be on the Mall because there are people who are complaining now that, “There’s not very much space left on the mall for any major museums.” But I would like to see a museum here in the nation’s capital for LGBT history and culture. Whether or not it would be Smithsonian? I think that that would be a bit problematic in the sense that, with it being a governmental institution, you would have automatic opposition coming from conservatives. If they could find space for something like the Spy Museum, they could definitely find some space in the nation’s capital for an LGBT museum. WASHINGTON: Interesting idea. I don’t necessarily think that the museum would need to be on the Mall, but I don’t see why there shouldn’t be one. I’m very concerned about the Mall being eaten up. I would hate to think that every little spot of green space would be taken on the Mall. When the museum site for the African American museum was announced, I had some mixed feelings about it, because around that time, there was talk of the USDA building moving off the mall, and I thought, well, that would be a great spot for it. Here’s a spot where it’s already got a building, and you can knock that down, and create a museum there, it’s not like you’re eating up any more green space. I mean, that’s my concern, I don’t know if anyone else cares about green space on the Mall. I do. PENDARVIS: Yes, I would like to see one. I would like to be featured in it. I would like to contribute as a historian on both sides of African American history and LGBT history. LEMON: Simple answer. Hell, yes! The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, at 1400 Constitution Ave. NW, will officially open on Saturday, Sept. 24, with a dedication ceremony at 10 a.m. The museum will be open 364 days a year, except Christmas Day, from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Due to heightened interest, the museum is offering timed entry passes to the public. The next available timed entry passes are for the months of November and December. To purchase passes, or for more information on the museum, visit nmaahc.si.edu.

Gallery

Tim McLoraine Trigger Finger - 2016 - video still

(Trigger Finger is a video loop created in response to the shooting at Pulse in Orlando.)

Tim McLoraine creates video art and projection design that appears in settings as varied as stage plays, opera, orchestra concerts, public art and gallery installations. He is currently an artist in residence at Red Dirt Studio. www.timmcloraine.com SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 â&#x20AC;˘ METROWEEKLY

TERESA WOOD

Stage

Austen Powers

Sense and Sensibility’s intelligent silliness will create theatergoers for life; Collective Rage is just plain boring By Kate Wingfield

HERE IS SOMETHING DELICIOUSLY SUBVERSIVE IN THE FOLGER Theatre. Tucked behind the impenetrable façade of its namesake library, a building rubbing shoulders with the Supreme Court and the Capitol, you’d expect it to be offering some kind of stately, patriotic fare. But, like a small, crazy-fierce Roman Candle, the Folger keeps delivering all manner of gloriously innovative theater magic. The latest piece of brilliance is director Eric Tucker’s joyfully raucous Sense and Sensibility (HHHHH). Adapted with verve by Kate Hamill from Jane Austen’s classic novel, it is fast, funny, witty and ridiculous. But it is also incredibly adept at breathing hot and feverish life into an early 19th century tale of landed (and unlanded) gentry and their loves and losses. Originally developed and premiered by New York’s Bedlam theater company, the production stays true to the novel while playing with all of its parts, real and emotional. Sets run around on casters, chairs move with their occupants, emotional revelations become surreal light-shows and the fourth wall is more of a trampled hedge. It is high entertainment, with Austen’s wit, wisdom and observations of the human heart at its core. A whirlwind such as this needs a powerful pair of heroines, and here Austen’s two Dashwood sisters are vibrant, memorable mainstays. As the calm and controlled elder sister Elinor, Maggie McDowell balances perfectly the inner tension between Elinor’s expectations for herself and her growing sense of despair as her chances for love look to be passing her by. It is a button-downed role and might easily turn stock, but McDowell 34

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • METROWEEKLY

Sense and Sensibility

keeps it warm and intriguing, with much understated but complex expression. The outgoing and volatile Marianne might also have slipped into something derivative, but Erin Weaver invests her with so much raw energy, anger and heart, she too is ceaselessly fresh and compelling. The chemistry between the sisters is palpable, their connection full of edgy authenticity. Creating the sisters’ world and the people in it, the small ensemble take multiple roles — not just as characters, but in serving the inventive stagecraft. It’s by necessity a tight-knit group and under Tucker’s hand, the production’s many parts come, go and move with an incredibly pleasing energy and precision. Stealing his scenes, Jamie Smithson plays potential beau Edward Ferrars and his younger brother Robert. Smithson has the extraordinary ability to be utterly believable even while being hilarious. But as brilliant as his comedy may be, there is a skillfully understated subtlety about his Edward that keeps the awkward suitor original and interesting. As for the smaller but bountiful roles, Jacob Fishel delivers a nicely comic turn

SCOTT SUCHMAN

Collective Rage

as the dashing John Willoughby and in later revealing his tortured inner life, while Caroline Stefanie Clay invests her gossipy yenta Mrs. Jennings with mischievous irony. Michael Glenn makes it look easy carrying several roles and brings much charisma to his bombastic Sir John Middleton. Playing two mothers and the equivalent of an eighteenth century Valley Girl, Lisa Birnbaum has fun segueing between her characters and evoking plenty of laughs in the process. Rounding out the social scene, James Patrick Nelson delivers a quietly appropriate Colonel Brandon, though he doesn’t quite convince as a final suitor, while Kathryn Tkel brings energy if not enough nuance to her matriarch Fanny Dashwood. In the smaller role of third sister Margaret Dashwood, Nicole Kang does a good job of channeling the insouciance of the very young. It’s the whole that makes the mood and carries the day in this production and, like last season’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream, given a chance this play will win hearts and minds. It’s the kind of intelligent silliness that creates theatergoers for life among the uninitiated — and brings back the faith for everybody else. It just doesn’t get much better.

about looking at one’s own. Though such themes might once have been shocking enough to be an end in themselves for live performance, those days are long gone. And though Silverman may understand a bit about parody in her caricatures of the sassy, street-wise New Yorker, the poodle-skirted, bespectacled nerd, the “rich white lady,” and the concept of “butch,” once established these women needed to speak. Whether funny, witty or surreal, they needed to emotionally jostle and mingle in ways that actually say something or cause feeling. Unfortunately, Silverman’s women just drag on through a boring premise (putting on a play) that quickly turns into a clichéd, color-by-numbers exercise in opposites-attracting and personal ah-ha moments. One need only recall last season’s Women Laughing Alone with Salad, Sheila Callaghan’s hilarious comment on the young female zeitgeist, to see what insight really looks like in an edgy vehicle. That said, Natascia Diaz does her best with celebrity wannabe Betty Boop 3, capturing a certain authenticity in her magnetic narcissism, while Dorea Schmidt gives her Betty Boop 2 a skein of pathos. Unfortunately, despite their efforts, this play never makes it outside the box. l

A SELF-SATISFIED SKIM JOB, Jen Silverman’s Collective Rage: A Play in Five Boops (HHHHH) checks a lot of boxes but fails to deliver. Put simply, unless you have been living off grid, revelations on sexual identity — unless explored with insight and originality — are just plain boring. Likewise for throwing around the word “pussy” every two seconds and making a meal

Collective Rage runs to Oct. 9 at Woolly Mammoth, 641 D St. NW. Tickets are $20 to $54. Call 202-393-3939 or visit woollymammoth.net Sense and Sensibility runs to Oct. 30 at the Folger, 201 East Capitol St. SE. Tickets are $30 to $75. Call 202-544-7077 or visit folger.edu. SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • METROWEEKLY

DANISHA CROSBY

Stage

Angels in America

Wings

Angels in America remains one of the great masterpieces of our time; Urinetown makes the bathroom a trip to remember By Doug Rule

WENTY YEARS AFTER PROTEASE INHIBITORS HELPED TRANSFORM AIDS from a death sentence disease to a chronic condition, why are we still talking about Tony Kushner’s two-part saga, Angels in America? It’s a silly question, of course, for so many reasons. Yet some people have been asking it ever since two of Maryland’s leading theater companies, Round House and Olney, announced a partnership to jointly stage both plays. Anyone who doubts the relevance of Kushner’s astounding epic twenty-five years after the first staging of part one, Millennium Approaches, obviously has never seen the audacious, supremely theatrical work. Any such doubter also clearly has not been paying attention to the rise of Donald Trump, who wouldn’t have had the success he’s had if it had not been for closeted conservative Roy Cohn, who mentored and groomed Trump to become the Manhattan megalomaniac he is today. Trump may not appear in Angels in any way, but more than 36

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • METROWEEKLY

a few times you can imagine him saying what Kushner has written for Cohn, though far less eloquently. It’s one of many details that makes Angels timely — yet it is the overall quality of the staging at Round House that makes Angels in America essential for any serious lover of theater, including that of politics. Round House artistic director Ryan Rilette is in rehearsal with Part II: Perestroika, which opens in October. It’s possible Rilette’s best efforts will leave him trailing Olney’s Jason Loewith, whose direction of Millennium Approaches (HHHHH) is a wonder to behold. This is a collaboration, however, not a competition. It’s hard to imagine anyone who sees Millennium Approaches not also yearning to see Perestroika, as part one ends on a potent, startling cliffhanger. The chief thrill of Millennium is its

DANIEL SCHWARTZ

Urinetown

exquisite exposition, with Kushner presenting ideas on weighty topics such as history, race, ethnicity and politics in a lively, energized manner. One such debate finds the gay, Jewish Louis (Jonathan Bock) talking at — but not hearing or respecting — the gay, black Belize (Jon Hudson Odom) in an all-too familiar pattern. And Mitchell Hebert plays Roy Cohn as a blustering bully, a force to be reckoned with, largely on account of sheer will and self-confidence. He never betrays a sense of doubt or regret even as he physically falls apart. Tom Story, meanwhile, is perfectly cast as the play’s troubled hero, Prior Walter, so riddled with self-doubt and regret, so in need of a guardian angel, he begins to lose touch with reality. Every actor takes on multiple roles, displaying impressive sensitivity and dexterity in quick character and costume changes. We don’t see quite as much of Dawn Ursula or Sarah Marshall as we do the others, but there is perhaps no moment more indelible than Marshall as a soft-spoken, malevolent Ethel Rosenberg haunting Cohn in a hallucinatory moment of utter panic. Set designer James Kronzer has opened up Round House’s massive stage to accommodate moments in which two scenes overlap and the actors become intertwined in testy exchanges. At one point two characters who otherwise don’t meet in Millennium Approaches, end up in a twin hospital bed together — rubbing shoulders metaphorically, revealing similarities of their personal predicaments. Lighting designer York Kennedy, sound designer Joshua Horvath and projectionist Clint Allen do astonishing work throughout, though their crowning achievement comes during the arrival of the Angel. The show takes flight, fantastically, magnificently, sending a raw, emotional three-hour shock wave through your system.

CONSTELLATION THEATRE COMPANY’S Urinetown ( ) is a delightful surprise — and not a completely unexpected one, given the company’s track record, including last year’s dazzling adults-only puppet-fest, Avenue Q. Several notable actors from Avenue Q return to the fold, competently led by director Allison Arkell Stockman, but two new recruits are standouts: The charismatic, commanding Niklas Aliff as chief evildoer Cladwell and, the beautifully voiced Katie Keyser, a natural heroine, as his daughter, Hope. Written by Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis, Urinetown is a self-aware, self-referential modern musical, full of witty wordplay and smart humor surrounding a water shortage that makes private toilets a thing for the rich. Everyone else is relegated to using filthy public toilets or paying a fee. Naturally, unrest ensues and the police are marshalled. Call it, bladder control. As Officer Lockstock, Matt Dewberry also serves as the show’s narrator. He’s joined by the mesmerizing Jenna Berk as Little Sally, full of childlike wonder and adult wisdom in the uproarious satire of power, corruption, capitalism and musical comedy. “It’s an awful title,” Little Sally says of the show’s name. It is awful — though memorable — and there’s nothing even remotely awful about Constellation’s production. You have to go. l Urinetown runs to Oct. 9 at Source, 1835 14th St. NW. Tickets are $25 to $50. Call 202-204-7760 or visit constellationtheatre.org. Angels in America, Part I: Millennium Approaches runs to Oct. 23 at Round House Theatre, 4545 East-West Highway, Bethesda. Tickets are $55 to $75. Call 240-644-1100 or visit roundhousetheatre.org. SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • METROWEEKLY

Music

English Beat

Tor Miller’s New York state of mind shines brilliantly on his impressive, soul-enriched debut By Sean Maunier

ITH ITS ROOTS IN THE MID-CENTURY SOUTH, FEW GENRES CAN claim to be as essentially American as soul. It seems an odd quirk, then, that in the 21st century, the genre has found the most success in the hands of British artists like Estelle, Adele and the late Amy Winehouse. While not exclusively a British phenomenon, few Americans in recent years have managed to match their success. Enter Tor Miller, the latest singer in a wave of male solo artists that has — unsurprisingly — been largely dominated by Brits like Sam Smith, James Bay and Ed Sheeran. With piano-heavy ’70s throwbacks, soaring tributes to his hometown of New York, and cover art that evokes late-century noir, the 22-year-old Brooklynite brings the genre back across the Atlantic on an aptly-titled debut album, American English (HHHHH). Miller’s style is refreshingly confident, energetic and anything but subtle. His flair for drama is immediately apparent on the knockout opener “Surrender,” which starts with a brash, dramatic piano and strings line. The track’s bombastic, freewheeling energy is a strange prelude to the more cerebral “Midnight,” but if his intent was to first grab our attention before showing us what he’s truly capable of, then “Surrender” does the job nicely. While the album’s opener is undeniably catchy and inspiring, most of the songs build up to their hooks more deliberately, with soft, tense intros that give way to soaring choruses. On second single, “Always,” the snapping builds up to a deep, stomping beat so effortlessly, it’s happening before you’ve noticed its arrival. 38

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • METROWEEKLY

Other songs hint at greater versatility. “Rag N Bone” is an emotional piano ballad crafted to demonstrate Miller’s vocal range, rejecting more complex instrumentation in favour of stark piano chords. “All Fall Down” and “Baby Blue” feature hints of jazz that electrify the tracks and hearken back to the ’70s. Reaching into the past for inspiration pays off well for Miller. His lyrics and style evoke not only places but also eras. With a sound that nods towards Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and David Bowie’s Hunky Dory, he also captures the aesthetic of a period in music that he was never around for, yet embodies almost flawlessly. The album feels timeless in a way, a quality helped by heavy reliance on acoustic instruments, with minimal use of electronic sounds. Miller’s talent for songwriting pairs well with instrumentals that feel organic in a genre that sometimes suffers from overproduced, excessively cinematic instrumentals. The ever-present piano is the album’s backbone, while the strings and choral arrangements lend a degree of drama to the tracks. But the instrumentals never come at the expense of Miller’s distinct and expressive voice.

His quivering yet commanding vocals are well-suited to his subject matter, which often dwells on themes of youth and young love. Between his musings on love, longing and heartache, all the generic tropes of contemporary soul are present on American English, but by grounding the album firmly and unapologetically in his hometown, he marks out a distinct style. New York functions as both setting and subject matter, its iconic locales providing much of the inspiration. In “Washington Square Park,” the famous meeting place plays host as Miller reminisces on a lost love. “Chelsea” distills the energy of the city into a memory of a night in one of its best-known neighbourhoods, culminating in Miller repeating the line “I’m a New York City boy.” Even when it is not being directly referenced, the city is a constant presence on American English, whether it is in the bright city lights bearing down on him on “Headlights,” or the crushingly busy, anonymizing streets evoked by the closing track, “Stampede.” Somehow, Miller captures some-

thing of New York’s timeless feeling, a feat that many artists attempt but few manage to carry off successfully. “Midnight” captures this best, dwelling on the minutiae of a New York night, when the city catches its breath in the early morning hours. Sure, it’s all incredibly sentimental, but Miller handles it with the sincerity that could only come from a native New Yorker. In case last year’s Midnight EP left any doubt, American English proves that Tor Miller will be an artist to watch in the future, that he can stand alongside the best of his peers. In a field already saturated with talented vocalists, Miller stands out with an undeniably infectious passion for his craft, along with a cinematic sound that captures the essence of a particular brand of late-century Americana. Not bad for a child of the mid-nineties.l American English will be released on Sept. 30 and is available for pre-order on iTunes.

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • METROWEEKLY

NightLife Photography by Ward Morrison

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 â&#x20AC;¢ METROWEEKLY

Scene

DrinksDragDJsEtc... Thursday September 22

Prize • Doors open 10pm, 21+ • $5 Cover or free with college ID

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

DC EAGLE Doors open at 8pm • Happy Hour, 8-10pm • $2 Bud and Bud Light Draughts, $3 Domestic Bottles, $4 Rail and Import Bottle Beer, $6 Call • DJ Theo Storm spinning in the main bar, 9pm-1am • Throwback Thursdays: The Exile opens with DC’s new MegaParty, 10pm-2am • $10 Cover • 21+

COBALT/30 DEGREES Happy Hour: $6 Call Martini, $3 Miller Lite, $4 Rail, $5 Call, 4-9pm • $3 Rail Drinks, 10pm-midnight, $5 Red Bull and Frozen Virgin Drinks • Locker Room Thursday Nights • DJs Sean Morris and MadScience • Best Package Contest at midnight, hosted by Ba’Naka & Kristina Kelly • $200 Cash

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

Bearlesque at Town’s Bear Happy Hour - Friday, September 16 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 JR.’S All You Can Drink for $15, 5-8pm • $3 Rail Vodka Highballs, $2 JR.’s drafts, 8pm-close • Flashback: Music videos from 19752005 with DJ Jason Royce, 8pm-12am 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 and Half-Priced Pizzas • $4 Corona and Heineken all night • Football Food Specials, 7-11pm SOMEPLACE ELSE BAR & GRILL 1637 R St. NW Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $1 PBR, $2 Yuengling, $3 Rail, $5 Appetizers • Extended Happy Hour, 7-9pm, with only $1 increase in price 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

Friday September 23 9 1/2 Open at 5pm • Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • Friday Night Videos with resident DJ Shea Van Horn • VJ • Expanded craft beer selection • No Cover COBALT/30 DEGREES All You Can Drink Happy Hour • $15 Rail and Domestic, $21 Call & Imports, 6-9pm • Guys Night Out • Free Rail Vodka, 11pm-Midnight, $6 Belvedere Vodka Drinks all night • DJ MadScience upstairs • DJ Keenan Orr downstairs • $10 cover 10pm-1am, $5 after 1am • 21+

DC EAGLE Doors open at 8pm • Happy Hour, 8-10pm • $2 Bud and Bud Light Draughts, $3 Domestic Bottles, $4 Rail and Import Bottle Beer, $6 Call • DC Underground Music • No 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 NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR DJ Matt Bailer • Videos, Dancing • Beat the Clock Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • Buckets of Beer $15

ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS All male, nude dancers • Shirtless Thursday • DJ • 9pm • Cover 21+

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • METROWEEKLY

NUMBER NINE Open 5pm • Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover • Friday Night Piano with Chris, 7:30pm • Friday Night Videos with Chord, 9:30pm SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 Rails and House Wines & Half-Priced Pizzas • Magic! 8-10pm SOMEPLACE ELSE BAR & GRILL 1637 R St. NW Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $1 PBR, $2 Yuengling, $3 Rail, $5 Appetizers • Extended Happy Hour, 7-9pm, with only $1 increase in price 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

Making Overtures? Review Classical & Choral Music for Metro Weekly Apply at metroweekly.com/write 44

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • METROWEEKLY

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+ 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 • DJ Jeff Prior, 10pm ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS All male, nude dancers, hosted by LaTroya Nicole, 9pm • Dance floors open 9pm • Ladies of Ziegfeld’s Drag Show, 11:30pm and 1:30am • Rotating Hosts • DJ Don T. in Secrets • Cover 21+

Saturday September 24 9 1/2 Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 3-9pm • $5 Absolut & Tito’s, $3 Miller Lite after 9pm • Expanded craft beer selection • No Cover • Music videos featuring various DJs 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 • Doors open 10pm • $5 Cover • 21+ DC EAGLE Doors open at 8pm • Happy Hour, 8-10pm • $2 Bud and Bud Light Draughts, $3 Domestic Bottles, $4 Rail and Import Bottle Beer, $6 Call • Rocky Horror Takeover — Cast of the show invades DC Eagle to promote the show and provide tickets for Oct. 22 • No Cover • 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, 8-10pm, hosted by Miss Destiny B. Childs • No Cover GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • $5 Bacardi, all flavors, all night long • JOX: The GL Underwear Party, 9pm-close • Featuring DJ David Merrill • $5 Cover (includes clothes check) 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, 3-9pm • $5 Absolut and $5 Bulleit Bourbon • Pop Tarts, featuring DJs BacK2bACk, 9:30pm

SHAW’S TAVERN Bottomless Mimosas, 10am-3pm • Happy Hour, 5-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 Rails and House Wines & Half-Priced Pizzas • DJ Gio for Art All Night, 9pm-close

Miss Tatianna, ShiQueeta-Lee, Riley Knoxx and Ba’Naka • DJ Wess upstairs, DJs BacK2bACk downstairs following the show • GoGo Boys after 11pm • Doors open 10pm • $12 Cover • 21+

SOMEPLACE ELSE BAR & GRILL 1637 R St. NW Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $1 PBR, $2 Yuengling, $3 Rail, $5 Appetizers • Extended Happy Hour, 7-9pm, with only $1 increase in price

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

TOWN Patio open 2pm • 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 • CTRL: Illuminaughti, 11:15pm-4am • Music upstairs by DJs Adam Koussari-Amin, Jeff Prior and Devon Trotter • Music and video by DJ Wess downstairs • Phi Phi O’Hara from RuPaul’s All Stars performs in the Drag Show • Drag Show starts at 10:30pm • Hosted by Lena Lett and featuring

ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS Men of Secrets, 9pm • 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 Secrets • Cover 21+

Sunday September 25 9 1/2 Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 3-9pm • 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 • Homowood Karaoke, hosted by Robert Bise, 10pm-close • 21+ DC EAGLE Doors open at 12pm • $2 Bud and Bud Light Draughts all day and night, $3 Domestic Bottles, $4 Rail and Import Bottle Beer, $6 Call • Sunday BBQ hosted by SigMa DC, 3-7pm • No Cover • 21+ FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Champagne Brunch Buffet, 10am-3pm • Crazy Hour, 4-7pm • Karaoke, 8pm-1am

GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • Mama’s Trailer Park Karaoke downstairs, 9:30pm-close JR.’S Sunday Funday • Liquid Brunch • Doors open at 1pm • $2 Coors Lights and $3 Skyy (all flavors), all day and night 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, 3-9pm • No Cover SHAW’S TAVERN Brunch with Bottomless Mimosas, 10am-3pm • Outstanding Voices of DC Cabaret, Show, 8pm

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • METROWEEKLY

SOMEPLACE ELSE BAR & GRILL 1637 R St. NW Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $1 PBR, $2 Yuengling, $3 Rail, $5 Appetizers • Extended Happy Hour, 7-9pm, with only $1 increase in price TOWN PATIO Open 2pm • Cornhole, Giant Jenga, and Flip-cup inside Town 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 All male, nude dancers • Decades of Dance • DJ Tim-e in Secrets • Doors 9pm • Cover 21+

Monday September 26 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, hosted by Kristina Kelly • Doors open at 10pm • Showtime at 11:30pm • $3 Skyy Cocktails, $8 Skyy and Red Bull • $8 Long Islands • No Cover, 18+ DC EAGLE Doors open at 8pm • Happy Hour, 8-10pm • Endless Happy Hour prices to anyone in a DC Eagle T-Shirt • Free Ballin’ Mondays: Free Pool All Night and Day • $1 Bud and Bud Light Draughts, $3 Domestic Bottles, $4 Rail and Import Bottle Beer, $6 Call • No Cover • 21+

FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-7pm • Singles Night • Karaoke, 8pm GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour all night long • Open Mic Night Karaoke, 9:30pm-close JR.’S Happy Hour: 2-for-1, 4-9pm • 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

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

Tuesday September 27 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 Industry Night, 10pm-close • $1 Rail Drinks all night FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-7pm • Karaoke, 8pm

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

GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour all night long, 4pm-close

SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 Rails and House Wines and Half-Priced Pizzas • Trump vs. Clinton Debate Watch Party • Food and Drink Specials

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

Artistic Tendencies? Review Art for Metro Weekly Apply at metroweekly.com/write 46

SOMEPLACE ELSE BAR & GRILL 1637 R St. NW Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $1 PBR, $2 Yuengling, $3 Rail, $5 Appetizers • Extended Happy Hour, 7-9pm, with only $1 increase in price

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • METROWEEKLY

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 & Pizzas, 5pm-close • $5 House Wines & Sam Adams Drafts, 5pm-close • Bingo with Kristina Kelly, 8:30pm SOMEPLACE ELSE BAR & GRILL 1637 R St. NW Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $1 PBR, $2 Yuengling, $3 Rail, $5 Appetizers • Extended Happy Hour, 7-9pm, with only $1 increase in price 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

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 â&#x20AC;¢ METROWEEKLY

Wednesday September 28 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 • 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

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • METROWEEKLY

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, Second Floor, 8pm-close SOMEPLACE ELSE BAR & GRILL 1637 R St. NW Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $1 PBR, $2 Yuengling, $3 Rail, $5 Appetizers • Extended Happy Hour, 7-9pm, with only $1 increase in price 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 All male, nude dancers • Shirtless Night, 10-11pm, 12-12:30am • Military Night, no cover with military ID • DJ Don T. in Secrets • 9pm • Cover 21+ l

Scene

Peach Pit at DC9 - Saturday, September 17 Photography by Ward Morrison See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 â&#x20AC;¢ METROWEEKLY

Scene

Nellie’s Sports Bar - Saturday, September 17 Photography by Ward Morrison See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • METROWEEKLY

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 â&#x20AC;¢ METROWEEKLY

LastWord. People say the queerest things

“I would not be unhappy were I the last cisgender male to play a transgender character on television. ” —JEFFREY TAMBOR, during his acceptance speech after winning his second Emmy Award for

playing trans character Maura Pfefferman in Amazon Studio’s Transparent.

“Give trans talent a shot. I wouldn’t be here if someone didn’t give me chance. ” —LAVERNE COX, speaking during Sunday’s Emmy broadcast, prior to announcing the nominees for Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special. She expanded in an Instagram post: “All I have ever wanted was a chance to get in the room and show what I can do. [OITNB] and its brilliant storylines gave me that shot. Other trans talent needs that chance.”

“Any moment that I have to call Trump out for being an inheritor to Hitler I will. ” —Transparent creator JILL SOLOWAY, speaking to reporters backstage at Sunday’s Emmy Awards after winning for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series. “He needs to be called out at every chance he gets for being one of the most a dangerous monsters to ever approach our lifetimes. He’s a complete dangerous monster,” she said.

“Some people don’t realize there’s no legal reason for Charlotte to do anything.” —Charlotte Mayor JENNIFER ROBERTS, speaking after North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory agreed to repeal the state’s controversial anti-LGBT HB 2 law, but only if the city of Charlotte repealed its anti-LGBT discrimination ordinance. Roberts refused. McCrory faces losing his gubernatorial election due to economic and political backlash over the unpopular law.

“We can’t hide and be afraid.” —ALEKSEI KOROLYOV, one of two openly gay men who ran for a seat in Russia’s parliamentary elections, speaking with Radio Free

Europe. “The LGBT community now is in a desperate situation,” Korolyov added. “I decided to run because the ruling party has adopted an extreme homophobic position. The authorities are facilitating a homophobic discourse in society that is inciting hate crimes.”

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • METROWEEKLY