HRC's Alphonso David - Metro Weekly - Oct. 3, 2019

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OCTOBER 3, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

OCTOBER 3, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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October 3, 2019

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CONTENTS

FRESH STEP

Dan Hoy brings a powerful voice and fancy footwork to the role of Munkustrap in the thrilling and vital tour of Cats.

By Randy Shulman

STATUTE OF DAVID

HRC’s Alphonso David wants to stop Trump, elevate trans people, and fight for LGBTQ rights everywhere.

Interview by John Riley Photography by Todd Franson

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Volume 26 Issue 22

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MOB RULES

Peaky Blinders’ fifth season returns with its signature poise, power, and unfettered style.

By Kate Wingfield

SPOTLIGHT: EDWARD GERO p.7 OUT ON THE TOWN p.10 CLOUD DANCING: MERCE CUNNINGHAM AT 100 p.14 ALL 4 ONE: THE FOUR ITALIAN TENORS p.17 SCENE: NATIONAL TRANS VISIBILITY MARCH p.19 COMMUNITY: OUT & EQUAL p.21 COMMUNITY CALENDAR p.21 SCENE: HRC NATIONAL DINNER p.31 FILM: JOKER p.33 MUSIC: TEGAN AND SARA p.37 NIGHTLIFE: PITCHERS/A LEAGUE OF HER OWN p.39 NIGHTLIFE LISTINGS p.40 NIGHTLIFE HIGHLIGHTS p.41 LAST WORD p.46 Washington, D.C.’s Best LGBTQ Magazine for 25 Years Editorial Editor-in-Chief Randy Shulman Art Director Todd Franson Online Editor at metroweekly.com Rhuaridh Marr Senior Editor John Riley Contributing Editors André Hereford, Doug Rule Senior Photographers Ward Morrison, Julian Vankim Contributing Illustrators David Amoroso, Scott G. Brooks Contributing Writers Sean Maunier, Troy Petenbrink, Bailey Vogt, Kate Wingfield Webmaster David Uy Production Assistant Julian Vankim Sales & Marketing Publisher Randy Shulman National Advertising Representative Rivendell Media Co. 212-242-6863 Distribution Manager Dennis Havrilla Patron Saint Steve Endean Cover Photography Todd Franson 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.

© 2019 Jansi LLC.

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OCTOBER 3, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

OCTOBER 3, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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OCTOBER 3, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

C. STANLEY

Spotlight

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Edward Gero as Falstaff

VER THE COURSE OF A LONG, STORIED ACTING career in Washington, D.C., one that began in 1983, Edward Gero has appeared in Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1 four times. He’s played Hotspur and Worcester and even the King. But for the current critically-acclaimed version at the Folger Theatre, he’s snagged the show’s plum role of Sir John Falstaff. And he’s making it entirely his own. “It’s as if the character’s been written anew,” wrote this publication’s Kate Wingfield in her review of the production.

“I saw Falstaff as a man who is obviously an addictive personality, who is older, who is contemplating his end, his demise, and who is petrified of it,” says the four-time Helen Hayes Award-winning actor, who brought his personal experience with middle-age to the role. “Here's a man who, at the end of his life, is craving more life. He knows his days are numbered and he wants to live as fully as he can.”

Gero opted to play the role without the traditional “enormous amount of padding” that frequently makes the character absurdly, comedically rotund. “I thought, ‘That's got to go because it's a shell. It's not real. It's a creation.’ It's like being a tortoise — you're stuck in the thing. I wanted to be able to

breathe and be able to see the body. Just be somebody who's, you know, a little out of shape, just like many people my age. I didn't want to deal with having to ‘play a costume.’”

In 2015, Gero received accolades for his masterful take on Antonin Scalia in John Strand’s The Originalist at Arena Stage.

It was the opportunity of a lifetime, one that Gero relished.

He got to know the late Supreme Court Justice personally in a way few do, meeting with him ahead of and during the play’s run.

“It was extraordinary,” he says of the friendship that emerged.

“He was so disarmingly charming and funny and warm. We connected as Italian-Americans. We were born in New Jersey, raised Roman Catholic, had the same background. It didn't matter whether I agreed with him or not. And I began to understand his commitment to the Constitution and democracy.”

At 65, Gero is finding no lack of good roles offered to him. “I'm sort of low-hanging fruit,” he laughs. “I'm here, I'm available, I'm ready. Fortunately, the roles are still being written. It may be different ten years from now. But I presume Shakespeare will always be around. I certainly hope so.”

We’ll be looking forward to his Lear. —Randy Shulman

1 Henry IV runs through Oct. 13 at the Folger Theatre, 201 East Capitol St. SE. Tickets are $42 to $85.

Call 202-544-7077 or visit www.folger.edu.

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Spotlight LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS: THE DIRECTOR’S CUT

Rick Moranis is a geeky florist who finds out his Venus flytrap can speak and sing — and also needs human blood to survive. Frank Oz’s film adaptation of the Off Broadway rock musical comedy co-starred Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia and Steve Martin. It returns to the big screen as part of the Capital Classics series at Landmark’s West End Cinema, where it will be shown with the original 23-minute finale, based on the musical’s apocalyptic ending. Wednesday, Oct. 9, at 1:30, 4:30, and 7:30 p.m. 2301 M St. NW. Happy hour from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $12.50 each. Call 202-5341907 or visit www.landmarktheatres.com.

MAX

A headliner at last year's Capital Pride Concert, the New York-based pop singer-songwriter is known from his stint as a main cast member on the Nickelodeon series How to Rock, as well as for "Lights Down Low," his moving power ballad that has been a streaming juggernaut in recent years.

More recently, the 27-year-old LGBTQ ally was a Best New Pop Artist nominee at the iHeartRadio Music Awards. MAX returns to the area for a concert in support of his forthcoming new album House of Divine, including his newest radio hit “Love Me Less” featuring rapper Quinn XCII. Sunday, Oct. 6. Doors at 7 p.m. U Street Music Hall, 1115A U St. NW. Tickets are $27 and include a copy or link to MAX’s new album. Call 202-5881880 or visit www.ustreetmusichall.com.

BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB

Jack Steadman, Jamie MacColl, Suren de Saram, and Ed Nash comprise this British indie-rock quartet named in reference to an Indian restaurant chain.

The band’s 2010 debut album was amusingly titled I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose, and the fifth set, due out in January, looks to be a return to form, at least in terms of that original wry naming scheme: Everything Else Has Gone Wrong. The album also marks the first recording since the foursome regrouped after a three-year hiatus. And the first tour post-hiatus stops in town this weekend. The Greeting Committee, an up-and-coming new indierock band out of Kansas City led by female vocalist Addie Sartino, opens. Saturday, Oct. 5. Doors at 10 p.m.

9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW. Tickets are $35. Call 202-2650930 or visit www.930.com.

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OCTOBER 3, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

Spotlight CAPITAL PRIDE’S MUSIC IN THE NIGHT

You know her as the runner-up on the 9th season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, losing to Sasha Velour. In the two years since, Peppermint (far left) has gone on to scale new heights — such as becoming the first trans woman to originate a main role on Broadway through her work in the Go-Go’s-inspired musical Head Over Heels, which ended a six-month run last January. She next serves as the Special Guest at this year’s annual cabaret presented by the Capital Pride Alliance at the Hamilton. The lineup also includes Jon Richardson (left), Willie Garner, Larry Grey, William Hernandez, Tiffany Lyn Royster, DonMike H. Mendoza, Alan Michael, Patty Pablo, and Charles Wright. Monday, Oct. 7, at 8 p.m. The Hamilton, 600 14th St. NW. Tickets are $19.75 to $39.75. Call 202-787-1000 or visit www.thehamiltondc.com.

VEYRON PAX

A D.C.-based Iranian-American artist and human rights activist is next to get the LGBTQ Artisans spotlight by virtue of an exhibition of his works at the Center Arts Gallery in the DC Center for the LGBT Community. Through digital manipulation of photography and video, Pax creates digital collages examining topics such as immigration and identity central to his experiences as a queer teenage refugee from Iran with views of America often at odds with reality. Pax’s works combine original, realistic photos with twists of fantasy, distorted reflections, and imagined or otherworldly projections. Opening Reception, with light fare and beverages, is Saturday, Oct. 5, from 7 to 9 p.m. The DC Center for the LGBT Community, 2000 14th St. NW. Call 202-6822245 or visit www.thedccenter.org.

DISENCHANTED!

The Native American heroine Pocahontas has “come back to life to set the record straight” in the subversive, feminist-minded musical written and composed by Dennis T. Giacino. Cinderella, Snow White, the Little Mermaid, and Tiana (Disney’s first black princess) also make an appearance in this satirical take on Disney princesses, all portrayed with human faults and foibles. Matt Conner directs the Creative Cauldron production. Opens in a Gala, Auction, and formal reception on Saturday, Oct. 5.

Pride Night is Thursday, Oct. 10 (Use code “PRIDE” at checkout and get $15 off regular admission along with a free drink at the bar.) Runs to Oct. 27. ArtSpace Falls Church, 410 South Maple Ave. in Falls Church. Tickets are $20 to $35, or $100 for the Gala. Call 703-436-9948 or visit www.creativecauldron.org.

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COLUMBIA PICTURES

Out On The Town

GHOSTBUSTERS

Fathom Events is getting a jump start on the spookiest holiday of the year by returning to the big screen two “audience-pleasing classics,” including Alien in mid-October. First comes a 35th anniversary screening of Ivan Reitman’s 1984 comedic caper that poked fun at paranormal activity with assist from Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, and Ernie Hudson, playing a bumbling group of eccentrics who rid buildings of pesky spirits. Sigourney Weaver, Rick Moranis, Annie Potts also star. The screening comes with a new introduction featuring factoids and memories shared by key cast members, plus rarely seen alternate takes of the film’s most famous scenes. Sunday, Oct. 6, and Thursday, Oct. 10, at 4 and 7 p.m. Area theaters including AMC venues at Georgetown (3111 K St. NW), Hoffman Center (206 Swamp Fox Rd., Alexandria), and Rio Cinemas (918 Washingtonian Ctr., Gaithersburg). Visit www.fathomevents.com.

Compiled by Doug Rule

FILM JIM ALLISON: BREAKTHROUGH

The inspiring and dramatic world of cutting-edge medicine is explored in this new documentary about one man’s lifelong quest to find a cure for cancer, whose work, in discovering the immune system’s role in fighting the disease, was honored with a Nobel Prize last year. This profile of Allison is the work of Bill Haney, a filmmaker who is a notable anti-cancer crusader in his own right, through his for-profit work in helping develop drugs to cure cancer and neurological diseases.

Woody Harrelson narrates. Opens Friday, Oct. 4. Landmark’s E Street Cinema, 555 11th St. NW. Call 202452-7672 or visit www.landmarktheatres.com.

LINDA RONSTADT: THE SOUND OF MY VOICE

At the peak of her success, Linda Ronstadt, one of the most successful recording artists of all time, turned away from pop music to explore a variety of other genres, from American standards to operetta to traditional Mexican canciones. Sadly, her singing voice has

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been silenced due to Parkinson’s disease. Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, the award-winning gay documentarians behind The Times of Harvey Milk and HOWL, offer a musical biography telling Ronstadt’s story through her own words and music, as well as commentary by professional colleagues including Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt, and Jackson Browne. Area theaters, including Landmark’s Bethesda Row Cinema, 7235 Woodmont Ave. Call 301-6527273 or visit www.landmarktheatres.com.

stunner set in a cornfield and ending with a huge ball of fire, and a breathtaking romp atop Mount Rushmore. Bernard Herrmann’s memorable score all but shoves the action forward and Saul Bass’s clever, geometric opening credits rank with his finest. Wednesday, Oct. 9, at 7 p.m. Angelika Pop-Up at Union Market, 550 Penn St. NE. Also Thursday, Oct. 10, at 7 p.m.

Angelika Film Center - Mosaic, 2911 District Ave., Fairfax. Tickets are $10 athe Pop-Up, $14.50 at Mosaic.

Call 800-680-9095 or visit www.

AngelikaFilmCenter.com.

NORTH BY NORTHWEST

UNION MARKET DRIVE-IN: THE WIZ

The area’s two Angelika theaters offer another “Hitchcocktober” series of classics by the Master of Suspense, with screenings of this 1959 thriller in which Cary Grant is a Madison Avenue ad man mistaken for a CIA operative by some very bad men, led by the silken-voiced James Mason. Eva Marie Saint steps into the role of blonde femme fatale, and a thin, equine Martin Landau is chilling as Mason’s number one (and yes, there is a distinct whiff of homoeroticism between the pair). The movie is known for its larger-than-life set pieces, including a silent seven-minute

OCTOBER 3, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

This “super soul musical,” an African-American spin on L. Frank Baum’s classic fairy tale, was a star-studded affair featuring Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, Ted Ross, Lena Horne, and Richard Pryor. And yet, Sidney Lumet’s adaptation of the Tonywinning Broadway musical was a critical and commercial flop upon its release in 1978. Union Market closes out its seasonal Drive-In Series with a screening for both those who would like to watch from the comforts of their parked car, as well as those who prefer to scout

out a viewing spot in the free picnic area. Food and beer are available from market vendors and neighboring merchants. The DC Rollergirls will also be on hand to sell and deliver candy. Friday, Oct. 4, with lot opening at 5:30 p.m., screening starting at 8:15 p.m. 1309 5th St. NE. Free for walk-ups or $15 per car.

Call 800-680-9095 or visit www. unionmarketdc.com.

WHERE’S MY ROY COHN?

Director Matt Tyrnauer lends just a hint of that salaciousness to this incisive chronicle of Roy Cohn’s path from Commie-hunting, homo-hating attack dog of Senator Joe McCarthy, to mobbed-up New York City attorney and mentor-inchief to Donald J. Trump. While the film explores Cohn’s little-known relationships with his handsome, onetime right hand David Schine, and an ex-boyfriend who is interviewed on-camera, Tyrnauer wasn’t aiming for a kiss-and-tell bio.

Rather, he strove for an informed look at Cohn’s enduring political influence, playing out now in the White House. Now playing. Area theaters, including Landmark’s E Street Cinema, 555 11th St. NW. Call 202-452-7672 or visit www. landmarktheatres.com. (AH)

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STAGE

MATTHEW MURPHY

DAY OF ABSENCE

FRESH STEP

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Dan Hoy brings a powerful voice and fancy footwork to the role of Munkustrap in the thrilling and vital tour of Cats.

ROWING UP IN NORTHERN OHIO, DAN HOY LOVED THE ANDREW LLOYD Webber musical Cats so much, he bought the famed 1998 VHS of the stage production. “I watched it so many times I broke the tape,” he laughs. “It really was a piece that was near and dear to my heart. It's one of the reasons that I'm doing musical theater now.”

Luckily, Hoy wound up in the very musical he adored. Hoy stars as Munkustrap — a white and black tabby who serves as the show’s de facto guide — in the current tour, which ends its run at the Kennedy Center this weekend before pouncing on Tulsa, Oklahoma, the next city in its stop. The 23-year-old actor (and proud member of the LGBTQ community) has been with the show since January.

“It is one of the most — if not the most — physically demanding musicals out there,” he says of the dance-heavy production. “Also, most of the cast does not leave the stage for the majority of the piece. I think I spend a total of ten minutes off stage throughout the whole two and a half-hour show. So it's quite exhausting, very physically taxing.”

The current version is even dance-heavier than the original 1981 production. Although the choreography is based on the work of Gillian Lynne, Andy Blankenbuehler — who choreographed Hamilton and is doing similar honors for the forthcoming Cats movie — brought things up a few notches. The movement is constant — and feline — and often explosive. At certain points, there are so many cats dancing on stage, you fear for collisions. But the cast is so well-rehearsed and the precision so perfect, accidents are rare.

“With dances like ‘The Jellicle Ball,’ you have five people on one side of the stage, five people on the other side of the stage, all running full force at one another, while another three people come up the middle of the stage,” says Hoy, admitting that “I, myself, have been part of a collision or two.”

For as popular as Cats has been, it’s also one of the most polarizing musicals in history. There are those who would just as soon hiss at it without so much as seeing it, citing its famous lack of a strong plot as reason enough to loathe it. However, they’re missing out on catching the musical that changed Broadway (and London’s West End) now and forever, in a production that is both transporting and thrilling.

“I like to think of Cats as one of musical theater’s first devised pieces,” Hoy says. “Webber took pre-existing material and wrote music based on that. And then the show creates choreography based around feline movement. As much as people critique it for having no plot, there is a plot, there is a through-line. The point of the piece is not to sit here and assess, ‘Oh, why am I not understanding the story?’ The idea is that you get to be creative as an audience. You get to take in this thing you're experiencing and see how it impacts you. The amount of people sobbing during ‘Memory,’ watching as Grizabella, this once betrayed feline, is redeemed is — I mean, it's astonishing.” —Randy Shulman Cats runs through Sunday, Oct. 6, at the Kennedy Center Opera House.

Tickets are $49 to $149. Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

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OCTOBER 3, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

White citizens in a sleepy southern town are forced to recognize the value and vitality their AfricanAmerican neighbors offer them one random day when they mysteriously disappear. Raymond O. Caldwell and Angelisa Gillyard direct a Theater Alliance retelling of a “reverse minstrel show” that Douglas Turner Ward originally created in 1965, one billed as a comedic and pointed commentary on systemic racism that is sadly still relevant today. Jared Shamberger leads a 10-member cast as the town’s mayor in the 90-minute, intermission-less play.

Previews start Saturday, Oct. 5.

Opens Saturday, Oct. 12. Runs to Nov. 3. Anacostia Playhouse, 2020 Shannon Place SE. Tickets are $25 to $40, except for at least 10 NameYour-Own-Price seats up for grabs one hour before each show. Call 202-241-2539 or visit www.theateralliance.com.

DOUBT: A PARABLE

Sarah Marshall anchors Studio Theatre’s new production of John Patrick Shanley’s 2004 Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece that tackles concepts of faith, ambiguity, and the price of moral conviction — and more specifically, the sexual abuse scandals that has rocked Catholics and the Catholic Church in recent decades. Set in 1964 at a Bronx Catholic school, Matt Torney directs a cast starring Marshall as Sister Aloysius and also featuring Christian Conn as Father Flynn, Amelia Pedlow as Sister James, and Tiffany M. Thompson as Mrs. Muller. Extended to Oct. 13.

Metheny Theatre, 14th & P Streets NW. Call 202-332-3300 or visit www.studiotheatre.org.

ESCAPED ALONE

In Caryl Churchill’s dark comedy, three old friends are joined by a neighbor to engage in amiable chitchat with a side of apocalyptic horror. Holly Twyford directs. To Nov. 3. Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington. Call 703-820-9771 or visit www.sigtheatre.org.

FENCES

Craig Wallace and Erika Rose star in one of August Wilson’s most famous and profound works, in a Ford’s Theatre production directed by Timothy Douglas, one of the foremost interpreters of Wilson's work. To Oct. 27. 511 10th St. NW. Tickets are $20 to $52. Call 202347-4833 or visit www.fords.org.

FOOTLOOSE

The Kennedy Center presents a new version of what is billed as “everyone’s favorite rock ’n’ roll musical.” Dean Pitchford adapted Footloose from his original screen-

OCTOBER 3, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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play in tandem with director Walter Bobbie, and the show incorporates the 1984 film’s pop hits set off by new numbers composed by Tom Snow with lyrics by Pitchford. J. Quinton Johnson, Isabelle McCalla, Michael Park, Rebecca Luker, and Judy Kuhn star in the musical, which kicks off a new season in the Center’s remarkable Broadway Center Stage series of limited-run, semi-staged concert productions.

Opens Wednesday, Oct. 9. To Oct. 13. Eisenhower Theater. Tickets are $59 to $175. Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

JEF RABILLON

LIFE IS A DREAM

CLOUD DANCING

The Kennedy Center celebrates the late, gay modern dance pioneer Merce Cunningham this weekend.

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T’S NOT EVERY DAY YOU CAN PLAY WITH BALLOONS AT THE KENNEDY Center. Of course, we’re not talking your basic party inflatables, but rather the large, helium-filled, mylar pillows famously created by Andy Warhol. “We are using about 100 of these Silver Cloud balloons to create a playground in Studio J [with] fans that blow the balloons around,” says the Kennedy Center’s Alicia Adams. “People can come in and have fun. They can bat them around, they can just enjoy the space and have an experience of movement and creativity and invention.”

The free, pop-up playground in the new REACH complex is part of the “Merce Cunningham at 100” series of events this weekend that celebrates the late, gay modern dance pioneer, who died a decade ago. “Merce is one of the pillars of the modern dance world,” says Adams, vice president of dance and international programming. “Martha Graham is considered the mother of American modern dance, and he performed with her company [and] is one of the most celebrated of her disciples.

“There are so many dancers and choreographers working today in postmodern and contemporary styles that have been influenced by Merce's work,” Adams continues.

“It took the world quite a while to catch up to him and sort of understand what he was doing.” Two Cunningham masterworks, Beach Birds and BIPED, will be performed Thursday, Oct. 3, through Saturday, Oct. 5, by a French contemporary dance company led by Robert Swinston. The longtime Cunningham dancer and protégé is, says Adams, “maybe the best interpreter or gatekeeper of Cunningham’s work.” Swinston will also participate in a Cunningham-focused “Let’s Talk Dance” discussion on Saturday, Oct. 5, in the REACH Justice Forum.

“I wanted to try to give as holistic a picture of Merce and his work as possible, by not only having the performances but also including some other elements [that show his] forward-thinking,” says Adams. One of the first choreographers to truly embrace and experiment with technology, Cunningham took to using video and film as a way to both expand his repertoire as well as advance his legacy. Examples of his work in film screen for free on Friday, Oct. 4, and Saturday, Oct. 5, on the outdoor Video Wall in REACH Plaza. Also on view this weekend: A recording of RainForest, a signature 1968 piece that Cunningham created in collaboration with Warhol, using the artist’s Silver Clouds. —Doug Rule The “Merce Cunningham at 100” series runs through Saturday, Oct. 5, at the Kennedy Center. Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

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OCTOBER 3, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

Hugo Medrano directs one of the essential works of Spanish Golden Age theater, Pedro Calderón de la Barca’s timeless play that explores free will, fate, and tyranny. Nando López adapted the work for a world-premiere production to kick off the 44th season of GALA Theatre. Daniel Alonso de Santos, Mel Rocher, and Soraya Padrao lead a cast of actors who will perform in Spanish with English surtitles.

To Oct. 13. Tivoli Square, 3333 14th St. NW. Call 202-234-7174 or visit www.galatheatre.org.

MISS YOU LIKE HELL

Everyone has baggage in this timely women-centered musical that launches the tenure of new artistic director Stephanie Ybarra at Baltimore Center Stage. Rebecca Martinez directs the show, a collaboration between Pulitzer Prizewinning playwright and Tonywinning book writer Quiara Alegria Hudes (Water By The Spoonful, In The Heights) and the superb lesbian indie-pop singer-songwriter Erin McKeown. Lorraine Vele and Stephanie Gomérez star as a mother-daughter duo who set out on a cross-country road trip while a looming immigration hearing for mother Beatriz, an undocumented woman, weighs on their minds.

McKeown will offer a free concert prior to the show on Saturday, Oct. 5. To Oct. 13. 700 North Calvert St., Baltimore. Call 410-332-0033 or visit www.centerstage.org.

THE ROYALE

In 1905, Jay “The Sport” Jackson dreams of becoming the first African American boxer to fight for the heavyweight championship — yet even with his string of knockout victories, the odds are stacked against him outside the ring, with the even bigger fight against entrenched racial segregation and pronounced white preudice. Paige Hernandez directs a co-production from Olney Theatre Company and 1st Stage of Tyson’s Corner of Marco Ramirez’s play, a 90-minute, intermission-less work starring Jaysen Wright the character inspired by the real-life boxer Jack Johnson. To Oct. 27.

Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney,

THE TEMPEST

Synetic Theater kicks off its 19th season by reprising its splashy, cinematic adaptation of William Shakespeare’s shipwrecked classic from 2013. In the physical theater troupe’s hands, The Tempest is a speech-free yet water-full production, since it comes as part of the company’s signature “wordless Shakespeare” series and features a 1,200-square-foot pool, filled with roughly 3,000 gallons of water, that takes center stage. In fact, the first three rows of seats are designated as a splash zone, with “ponchos provided.” The troupe’s co-founder Irina Tsikurishvili will splishsplash, dance, and jump around as the sea storm-stirring Prospera.

Now to Oct. 20. 1800 South Bell St., Arlington. Call 800-494-8497 or visit www.synetictheater.org.

TRYING

Virginia’s 1st Stage offers the regional premiere of a play by Joanna McClelland Glass, who drew on her real-life experience working for Francis Biddle at his home in D.C. in the 1960s. Biddle, the former U.S. Attorney General under President Franklin Roosevelt who also served as Chief Judge of the American Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, was notoriously hard on his staff as he worked to cement his legacy. Alex Levy directs stars Amanda Forstrom and Scott Sedar.

To Oct. 20. 1st Stage is located at 1524 Spring Hill Rd. Tysons, Va. Tickets are $42. Call 703-854-1856 or visit www.1ststagetysons.org.

WEST BY GOD

Two families grapple with issues of grief and love, memory and identity, in a new play set in a small Appalachian town and written

by West Virginia native Brandon McCoy. Jeremy Skidmore directs a world-premiere production for Keegan Theatre of a show billed as “a funny, heartwarming, and gut-wrenchingly honest examination of the divide between urban and rural America, and the kinds of prejudice and intolerance too often left unchallenged in our society.”

To Oct. 20. 1742 Church St. NW. Call 202-265-3767 or visit www. keegantheatre.com.

MUSIC AKUA ALLRICH

A D.C. native and Howard University alum, the young jazz vocalist and composer blends traditional, modern, and African jazz styles while singing in the showy manner of many of today’s leading soul/pop divas. But she’s especially well-regarded for covering Nina Simone, and Allrich next performs renditions of beloved songs by that jazz

iconoclast as well as South African powerhouse Miriam Makeba. The concert is her 11th Annual Nina Simone/Miriam Makeba Tribute, which comes as the culminating event in the Black Women, Arts, and Activism Festival, sponsored and hosted by the Atlas Performing Arts Center, also including an art exhibition, vendors, and a spirited panel discussion. Sunday, Oct. 6, at 7 p.m. Lang Theatre, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets are $20 to $30. Call 202399-7993 or visit www.atlasarts.org.

ALEXANDRIA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: IMAGINARY SYMPHONY

James Ross conducts a season-opening concert exploring a theme of war and peace and commemorating the 75th anniversary year of World War II’s D-Day invasion. The program launches with the grandly spunky overture from Wagner’s only comedic opera, Die Meistersinger, followed

by Beethoven’s Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano in C Major featuring soloists Nicholas Tavani, Alan Richardson, and Rita Sloan, respectively. The program takes its name from a four-part symphony that Maestro Ross assembled using movements from four different works, across centuries and continents, offering depictions of pastoral beauty and peace juxtaposed with war and strife. This “Imaginary Symphony” is comprised of the first movement of William Walton’s Symphony No. 1, a dark and agitated work that foreshadowed World War II, the rather tranquil second movement to Amy Beach’s Gaelic Symphony and the bucolic prelude to Act 2 (“On The Cliffs of Cornwall”) of Ethel Smyth’s opera The Wreckers, and the third movement of Arthur Honegger’s Symphony No. 3, which evokes armies marching to war that culminates in a call for peace. The program also includes a performance of Lionel Semiatin’s Tidbit #1, which was written from the battlefield at Normandy. Saturday, Oct. 5, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 6, at 3 p.m. Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center at Northern Virginia Community College, 3001 North Beauregard St., Alexandria.

Tickets are $5 to $85. Call 703-5480885 or visit www.alexsym.org.

CHELY WRIGHT

It’s been a decade now since Chely Wright, a one-time contemporary queen of modern country — responsible for the turn-of-the-21st-century hits “Shut Up and Drive” and “Single White Female — came out as gay. She celebrated the decision by headlining the 2010 Capital Pride festival, which she considers “a highlight of my career and one of the highlights of my life.” A native of Kansas who now lives in New York with her wife and their twin boys, Wright returns to the

LEGAL SEAFOODS

Md. Call 301-924-3400 or visit www.olneytheatre.org.

LEGAL SEA FOODS 11TH ANNUAL OYSTER FESTIVAL

Once again two area outposts of the Massachusetts-based seafood chain celebrates all things bivalves. Fried oysters are available in the following styles, priced at three for $12: Buffalo with blue cheese, celery hearts, and radish; BBQ with coleslaw and BBQ mayo; Sriracha Lime with roasted corn salsa and crispy shallots; or as an “Oyster BLT” with chipotle mayo. Baked Oysters (three for $14) are prepared as a Lobster Spinach Oyster bake with cheese and herbed crumbs; Oyster Scampi with shrimp, garlic butter, and white wine; Crab & Cheese Oyster with Jonah crab, horseradish, cheddar, and cream cheese; or Scallop Mushroom Oyster with Romano, truffle oil, and tarragon. A variety of oysters will also be available raw, served on the half shell, with selections and prices changing daily depending on what’s available. Wash it all down with this year’s official festival drink, the Deadrise, a $12 concoction of Tito’s Handmade vodka, muddled cucumber, lime, and grapefruit bitters. Available at lunch and dinner daily now through Oct. 9. Two area locations: 704 7th St. NW (202-347-0007) and 320 23rd St. S., Crystal City, Va. (703-415-1200). Visit www.legalseafoods.com.

region on a tour in support of her new Americana EP Revival, which Rolling Stone Country called a “joyous” collection of “empowering affirmations,” singling out “Say the Word” as “a luminescent slice of ’70s AM pop.” Opening for Wright is Philadelphia’s Christine Havrilla,

touring in support of her new album Sunless Escapade, recorded with her rock/blues/country band Gypsy Fuzz. Sunday, Oct. 13. Doors at 5:30 p.m. Jammin Java, 227 Maple Ave. E. Vienna. Tickets are $15 to $25.

Call 703-255-3747 or visit www. jamminjava.com.

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cantata performed in full when it corrals a troupe of nearly 200 singers, including the esteemed 160-person Choral Arts Society of Washington, the Children’s Chorus of Washington, and three featured soloists: soprano Amy Owens, soprano, Elliot Madore, baritone, and Santiago Ballerini, the latter performing what is said to be one of the most difficult pieces in the tenor repertoire. The singers will be accompanied by the NSO’s 96-member orchestra under the baton of Maestro Gianandrea Noseda. In addition to the Orff classic, billed as a “symphonic experience sacred and profane,” the program also includes J. Higdon’s blue cathedral and Poulenc’s Litanies à la Vierge Noire. Following the first concert, on Thursday, Oct. 3, at 7 p.m., comes a free AfterWords discussion featuring some of the guest artists and musicians and moderated by the NSO’s Nigel Boon. Additional performances Friday, Oct. 4, and Saturday, Oct. 5, at 8 p.m. Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Tickets are $15 to $99. Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

BEOWULF SHEEHAN

OTTMAR LIEBERT & LUNA NEGRA

LUCY KAPLANSKY

Touted by the Boston Globe as the “troubadour laureate of modern city folk,” the New York-based Kaplansky has collaborated with Suzanne Vega, Shawn Colvin, and Dar Williams, among other contemporaries who, for one reason or another, have had more mainstream success than she. You might call her a folkie’s folkie.

Kaplansky returns to the area on a tour celebrating her most recent album, last year’s Everyday Street.

Thursday, Oct. 10, at 8 p.m. The Barns at Wolf Trap, 1635 Trap Road, Vienna. Tickets are $28 to $30. Call 877-WOLFTRAP or visit www.wolftrap.org.

HEATHER MAE

Dubbed “the queer Adele” by L-Mag, D.C.’s power-piped singer-songwriter Mae writes and performs earnest and affirming folk/ pop music sharing personal stories and struggles, all with the intent of making “the world a better place.”

Mae’s latest self-released collection, Glimmer, pivots on the theme of “feel to heal” through 11 songs exploring different facets of her identity as a young, queer, plussized, bipolar woman — including her #MeToo-inspired anthem “Warrior,” recorded with a large, all-female choir, and “You Are My Favorite,” a love song to her wife inspired by their recent wedding.

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Mae’s next local stop is a headlining show in the date-perfect Wine Garden at City Winery DC. Friday, Oct. 4. Doors at 6:30 p.m. 1350 Okie St. NE. Tickets are $17 to $20. Call 202-250-2531 or visit www.citywinery.com.

NSO: CARMINA BURANA

Because of its de-facto status as one of Hollywood’s go-to classical works, even non-classical aficionados likely know “O fortuna,” the extravagantly dramatic and thundering opening number in Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. Next weekend, the National Symphony Orchestra offers the special treat of hearing the lively, dramatic

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A German guitarist and songwriter performs with his band original Spanish-influenced New Age instrumental music. Liebert’s most recent album Slow celebrates the positive impact on heart rate and blood pressure that some studies have suggested can result from listening to what he calls “slow music,” otherwise known as easy listening or smooth jazz. He returns to promote the new set Fete, which will be available at his upcoming concerts. Wednesday, Oct. 9, at 7:30 p.m. The Birchmere, 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria. Tickets are $35. Call 703-549-7500 or visit www.birchmere.com.

RADKEY

Radkey is a punk band of three teenage black brothers from what no one considers a hotbed of punk, St. Joseph, Mo. Where the Pony Express started and Jesse James died, St. Joe, just a little more than an hour north of Kansas City, is not even known for much in the way of African-American history or culture.

In fact, it was the movie School of Rock that most inspired these boys, whose real last name is Radke, to stir things up, offering what USA Today has called “a refreshing reboot of punk rock.” Friday, Oct. 11. Doors at 8 p.m. Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW. Tickets are $15. Call 202-667-4490 or visit www.blackcatdc.com.

SHEILA E

Sheila Escovedo came to fame more than three decades ago as Prince’s drummer, songwriter, musical director, and paramour. In recent years, Sheila E. has toured through

the area with her electrifying solo show featuring her Latin-flavored soul/pop hits (“The Glamorous Life,” “Love Bizarre”) as well as the hits-that-should-have-been — with a focus on songs from 2013’s Icon.

Her first studio album in 13 years, Icon fully displays the artist’s skill at songcraft and prowess in percussion, even the vocal kind known as beatboxing, per the impressive, all-vocal track “Don’t Make Me (Bring My Timbales Out).” Her timbales will be out and used to full effect in her return to the Howard Theatre next weekend. Saturday, Oct. 5, at 8 p.m. 620 T St. NW. Tickets are $49.50 to $79.50, plus $10 minimum per person for all tables. Call 202-588-5595 or visit www.thehowardtheatre.com.

STORM LARGE

The brassy, bisexual cabaret performer who moonlights as a featured vocalist with Pink Martini returns to Maryland’s Amp by Strathmore for another no-holdsbarred evening of humor and music.

“I have no mouth cap,” Large said to Metro Weekly a few years ago.

“When I talk, sometimes it’s dirty; I’m not that kind of girl who’ll just put on a pretty dress and sing.”

Thursday, Oct. 3, and Friday, Oct. 4, at 8 p.m. 11810 Grand Park Ave. in North Bethesda. Remaining tickets are $35 to $45. Call 301-581-5100 or visit ampbystrathmore.com.

THE FOUR BITCHIN’ BABES

Sally Fingerett, comedic singer Deirdre Flint, and former The Hags singer Debi Smith are more than 25 years into their run as a comedic music ensemble, always performing as a quartet, with the fourth performer in regular rotation among Nancy Moran, founding Babe Megon McDonough, or Christine Lavin — who assumes the mantle for 2019. In an interview with Metro Weekly several years ago, Smith summed up the Babes’ songwriting and performing, “We look at life, as it’s happening, usually in a comedic way — [and] through a wacky viewfinder.” A taste of what’s on offer can be found in the title of their most recent show, Hormonal Imbalance v2.5: A Mood Swinging Musical Revue. Friday, Oct. 4, at 8 p.m. Weinberg Center for the Arts, 20 W. Patrick St. Frederick, Md. Tickets are $15 to $30. Call 301600-2828 or visit www.weinbergcenter.org.

DANCE FURIA FLAMENCA DANCE COMPANY: CAFE FLAMENCO

Estela Velez de Paredez founded the Furia Flamenca Dance Company 16 years ago, with a focus on combining flamenco’s gypsy heritage with modern flamenco choreography to produce an elegant balance of motion and energy. Cafe

Flamenco features performances by dancers with the company, a legacy resident entity of Joy of Motion Dance Center, accompanied by guitarist Torcuato Zamora. Saturday, Oct. 5, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 6, at 5 p.m. Lab Theatre II in the Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets are $25 to $40.

Call 202-399-7993 or visit www. atlasarts.org.

MERCE CUNNINGHAM’S BEACH BIRDS, BIPED

The Kennedy Center opens its contemporary dance season with a program celebrating Merce Cunningham, a founder of modern dance who died a decade ago at age 90. Longtime Cunningham dancer and collaborator Robert Swinston will honor Cunningham’s legacy with two masterworks performed by the dance company Swinston currently leads, Compagnie Centre National de Danse Contemporaine-Angers.

Cunningham’s Beach Birds, premiered in 1991, transforms the movements of a flock of birds into dance, while BIPED, circa 1999, unites technology and performance by incorporating projections of animated images superimposed on dancers. Performed as part of the Kennedy Center’s “Merce Cunningham at 100” series (see separate listing under Above & Beyond).

Thursday, Oct. 3, and Friday, Oct. 4, at 8 p.m. Eisenhower Theater. Tickets are $25 to $79. Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

COMEDY IMPROBABLE COMEDY: STAND-UP SILVER SPRING

A showcase of talent from right in our own backyard, the latest show from this Maryland-based company features Robert Mac, Sean Savoy, and Ali Cherry. Saturday, Sept.

28, at 8 and 10 p.m. Cissel-Saxon American Legion Post 41, 8110 Fenton St., Silver Spring. Tickets are $16 to $20 in advance, or $25 at the door. Call 301-588-8937 or visit wwww.improbablecomedy.com.

THE IMPROVISED SHAKESPEARE COMPANY

Yet another renowned improv troupe out of Chicago, this one focused on creating a fully improvised play in Elizabethan style based on one audience suggestion: a title for a play that has yet to be written. The play then develops as if it were springing forth from Shakespeare’s pen whole cloth, taking the form of a tragedy, history or a comedy, depending on where the improvisers’ minds wander. But no matter how serious it might get, there’s guaranteed to be plenty of laughs and hysterical hijinks from this company that the New York Times says will make you “laugh your iams off,” as in iambic pentameter. To Oct. 6. Kennedy Center Family Theater. Tickets are $39

to $49. Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

READINGS BART FORBES: GAY FAIRFAX

Gay Fairfax, a pioneering newsmagazine program that ran on Fairfax County’s public access cable station in the 1990s, will be the basis of an upcoming discussion about the history and future of LGBTQ civil rights in Northern Virginia. Forbes, one of the show’s producers and hosts, will be interviewed by local historian John Peter Olinger at the Fairfax Museum and Visitor Center as part of the institution’s Second Sunday series. Sunday, Oct. 13, at 2 p.m. 10209 Main St. aka Little River Turnpike, Virginia. Call 703-3858414 or visit www.fairfaxva.gov/ visitors.

THE ECSTATIC MESSAGE: TALKING MUSIC AND MOVING IMAGE ART

The Smithsonian American Art Museum welcomes two contemporary video artists for a conversation exploring the interplay of music and images across their careers. Both artists frequently collaborate with and occasionally feature musicians in their work, such as Gary’s documentary on queer rapper Cakes Da Killa and Jafa’s music video for Cassandra Wilson. Saturday, October 12, 3 p.m.

McEvoy Auditorium, Lower Level, 8th and F Streets NW. Free. Call 202-633-1000 or visit www.americanart.si.edu.

ART & EXHIBITS ANDY WARHOL’S SILVER CLOUDS PLAYGROUND

Tasked by Andy Warhol to make a “floating light bulb,” engineer Billy Klüver developed what the two dubbed “Silver Clouds,” made of helium and oxygen-filled metalized plastic film and presented as part of an interactive installation combining art and technology in which the viewer becomes part of the exhibit. The Kennedy Center currently has the “Silver Clouds” on display as part of its “Merce Cunningham at 100” series. The late, gay modern dance pioneer incorporated Warhol’s clouds into one of his iconic works, 1968’s RainForest. Visitors can view and play with the clouds and also watch a videotaped performance of the Cunningham choreography. On display Wednesday, Oct. 2. To Saturday, Oct. 5. Studio J. Free. Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

ART INSPIRED BY THE TWILIGHT ZONE

For its latest group exhibition, Alexandria’s quirky Del Ray Artisans Gallery invited its member artists to explore humanity’s

THE FOUR ITALIAN TENORS

Ever since opera superstars Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo, and José Carreras formed the Three Tenors, with spectacular international success, a number of singing supergroups — from the Three Sopranos to Three Mo’ Tenors — have followed in their mighty footsteps. This week, tenor buffs can witness the area debut of The Four Italian Tenors, as the quartet’s first U.S. tour rolls into the Mason Center for the Arts Concert Hall. Alessandro D’Acrissa, Giovanni Maria Palmia, Federico Parisi, and Federico Serra have performed on some of Italy’s grandest opera stages. And on this tour, the Four Italian Tenors promise to transport audiences to the land of Puccini and Rossini, Pavarotti and Caruso via their unique arrangements and performances of “the greatest tenor arias and songs of all time.” But other than bearers of quadruple the pipes to pour out that naturally wondrous sound, who are the Four Italian Tenors? Keen-eyed audience members might notice the four-man lineup has changed since their tour was first announced, with Palmia, who’s sung major roles in productions of La Traviata and Rigoletto, only recently joining D’Acrissa, Parisi, and Serra on the road, following the exit of singer Roberto Cresca. The group’s management remains tight-lipped on the singer switch, but, with the help of our interpreter Riccardo Costa, revealed that the tenors believe Puccini is the composer of opera’s most romantic and passionate melodies. That encourages hope that at least one of these Four Italian Tenors will come packing a powerful “Nessun Dorma” when they hit the stage this weekend. The Four Italian Tenors perform Saturday, Oct. 5, at the Mason Center for the Arts, Fairfax, VA. Tickets are $33 to $55. Visit https://cfa.gmu.edu. —André Hereford hopes, despairs, and prejudices in metaphoric ways that go beyond what could be seen on conventional TV. In other words, to create works of art or photography influenced or inspired by or referencing the classic scifi TV show that first

started exploring another dimension 60 years ago this year. Opening Reception is Friday, Oct. 4, from 7 to 9 p.m. On display to Oct. 27. 2704 Mount Vernon Ave. Alexandria.

Call 703-731-8802 or visit www. thedelrayartisans.org.

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minating in Daniel Madoff’s short doc Merce 100, on Friday, Oct. 4, and Saturday, Oct. 5, at 7 p.m., on the REACH’s Video Wall; and “Let’s Talk Dance: The Artistic Process and Celebrations of Merce Cunningham,” a conversation led

by Swinston on Saturday, Oct. 5, at 4 p.m., in the REACH’s Justice Forum. Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

MARYLAND RENAISSANCE FESTIVAL

LOS CARPINTEROS: CUBA VA!

An Intersections installation from Marco Castillo and Dagoberto Rodríguez, current members of the internationally acclaimed Cuban artist collective Los Carpinteros. Cuba Va! features two videos and a group of LED sculptural portraits rendered as heroic revolutionaries, all of which continue the artists’ focus on creating rather subversive artworks offering a social landscape of Cuba’s modern history, at once utopian and dystopian.

Opens with a free Artist Talk featuring Los Carpinteros along with Vesela Sretenovic, the museum’s senior curator of modern and contemporary art, on Thursday, Oct. 10, at 6:30 p.m. On display to Jan. 12. The Phillips Collection, 1600 21st St. NW. Tickets are $10 to $12, or free for Phillips members. Visit www.phillipscollection.org.

MEMENTO MORI

Named after a Latin phrase meaning “remember that you will die,” a current group exhibition in Old Town’s Torpedo Factory Art Center confronts the single most inevitable fact of all human existence. Memento Mori also explores how death shapes life, in transformative as well as self-restraining and self-descructive ways. The 28 works on display in the contemporary-focused Target Gallery range from figurative to abstract to conceptual, but many are “deeply personal, referring to the artist’s own brush with death or loss of a loved one,” according to the show’s juror Laura Roulet. The show’s centerpiece is Diamond Wave II by Madaline Gardner of Greencastle, Penn., a large, monochromatic work with hypnotic, silver-lined formations that create a void and conjure life’s impermanence. Although a majority of the works come from artists based elsewhere, including one from Italy, the show features a dozen artists from the Washington region, including Tom Greaves and Jon-Joseph Russo of D.C., Ceci Cole McInturff and Henrik Sundqvist of Alexandria, Kerry Hentges and Angela Kleis of Fairfax, and Aziz Raad and David Terrar of Gaithersburg. Now to Nov. 3. Public Reception is Friday, Oct. 11, from 7 to 10 p.m. 105 North Union St. Alexandria. Free. Call 703-838-4565 or visit www.torpedofactory.org.

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PERFECTING TIMELESSNESS WITH JACK BOUL

Referred to as the “dean of Washington printmakers,” Jack Boul will exhibit his latest series of oil paintings, monotypes, and and works of sculpture at the historic Arts Club of Washington throughout most of October. The works on display, according to curator Erik Denker of the National Gallery of Art, highlight the “intimacy” and “timeless quality” to Boul’s work.

A former teacher at American University and founding member of the Washington Studio School, the 92-year-old Boul works mostly out of his Bethesda gallery. Opening Reception is Friday, Oct. 4, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., while a Reception with the Artist, hosted by Boul, is Saturday, Oct. 5, from 10 a.m. to noon. On display to Oct. 27.

MacFeely Gallery in the Cleveland Abbe House, 2017 I St. NW. Call 202-331-7282 or visit https://artsclubofwashington.org.

ABOVE & BEYOND ADAMS MORGAN PORCHFEST

An eclectic and eccentric festival showcasing the rhythms that make the city’s legendary, multicultural neighborhood move. Launched in 2013, PorchFest features dozens of local musicians and musical acts in a mix of ages and expertise, performing everything 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 neigh-

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borhood’s leafy residential streets.

Each location hosts three 45-minute sets. Saturday, Oct. 5, from 2 to 6 p.m. Starting point is SunTrust Plaza, 18th Street and Columbia Road NW. Free. Call 202-997-0783 or visit www.admoporchfest.com.

FORD'S THEATRE'S HISTORY ON FOOT

A local actor offers the guided tour Investigation: Detective McDevitt, portraying Detective James McDevitt, a D.C. police officer patrolling a half-block from Ford’s Theatre the night President Lincoln was shot. Written by Richard Hellesen and directed by Mark Ramont, the 1.6-mile walking tour revisits and reexamines the sites and clues from the investigation into the assassination. Tours are offered approximately three evenings a week at 6:45 p.m. Ford's Theatre, 511 10th St. NW. Tickets are $17. Call 202-397-7328 or visit www.fords.org.

KENNEDY CENTER’S MERCE CUNNINGHAM AT 100 SERIES

The first week of October the Kennedy Center hosts a multi-disciplinary series of events honoring the centennial of the late modern dance legend — in addition to a centerpiece dance program led

by Cunningham’s protégé Robert Swinston (see separate listing under Dance). The schedule includes “Cunningham on Film,” a twohour cinematic display of four short works either created for camera or captured on film, cul-

As summer nears its end, thoughts naturally turn to jousting, feasting, crafts, theater, music, and merriment. Yes, it's time once again for one of the world’s largest festivals recreating 16th century England.

Now in its 43rd 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. It all takes place in the 27-acre Village of Revel Grove, where more than 200 professionals perform as characters of the era, naturally led by His Most Royal Highness King Henry VIII, wandering the steeds and streets when not on the village’s 10 stages or in the 3,000-seat arena, where a headline attraction is the jousting troupe Debracey Productions with its field full of horses, men in armor, chariots, trick riding and thrills for all ages. Also on hand are over 140 artisans exhibiting their predominantly handmade crafts in renaissance shops, five taverns and watering holes helping adult patrons stay hydrated and in good spirits, and 42 food and beverage emporiums to quench the hunger and thirst of even the youngest and most discerning. Weekends through Oct. 20. 1821 Crownsville Road, Annapolis, Md. Tickets are $23 to $27; passes range from $41 for a 2-Day Pass to $160 for a Season Pass. Call 800-296-7304 or visit www.rennfest.com.

STATE OF ART/D.C. A CONVERSATION

The Smithsonian American Art Museum hosts the fifth in a series of discussions examining the state of the visual arts with a diverse group of local artistic leaders.

Writer and art critic Kriston Capps of CityLab and formerly of the Washington City Paper will moderate a panel discussion with representatives from area museums, galleries, and nonprofits, as well as local artists, creative entrepreneurs, and collectors, plus special introductions by Stephanie Stebich of SAAM and Jessica L. Porter of ArtTable Inc. Thursday, October 10, 5:30 p.m. Kogod Courtyard, 8th and F Streets NW. Tickets are $30.

Call 202-633-1000 or visit www. americanart.si.edu. l

Scene

National Trans Visibility March - Saturday, Sept. 28 - Photography by Ward Morrison See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene

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Community FRIDAY, October 4

SATURDAY, October 5

GAY DISTRICT, a group for

CENTER ARTS holds a recep-

GBTQQI men between the ages of 18-35, meets on the first and third Fridays of each month.

8:30-9:30 p.m. The DC Center.

2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105.

Visit www.gaydistrict.org.

Weekly Events ANDROMEDA TRANSCULTURAL HEALTH

offers free HIV testing and HIV services (by appointment). 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Decatur Center, 1400 Decatur St. NW. To arrange an appointment, call 202-291-4707, or visit www.andromedatransculturalhealth.org.

BET MISHPACHAH, founded

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

DC AQUATICS CLUB holds

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

HIV TESTING at Whitman-

Walker Health. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at 1525 14th St. NW. For an appointment, call 202-7457000 or visit www.whitman-walker.org.

KARING WITH INDIVIDUALITY (K.I.) SERVICES, 20 S. Quaker Lane, Suite 210, Alexandria, Va., offers $30 “rapid” HIV testing and counseling by appointment only. 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Must schedule special appointment if seeking testing after 2 p.m. Call 703823-4401. www.kiservices.org.

METROHEALTH CENTER

offers free, rapid HIV testing.

Appointment needed. 1012 14th St. NW, Suite 700. To arrange an appointment, call 202-8498029. www.metrohealthdc.org.

PROJECT STRIPES hosts

LGBT-affirming social group for ages 11-24. 4-6 p.m. 1419 Columbia Road NW. Contact Tamara, 202-319-0422, www. layc-dc.org.

SMYAL’S REC NIGHT provides a

social atmosphere for LGBTQ and questioning youth, featuring dance parties, vogue nights, movies and games. 4-7 p.m. For more info, email rebecca.york@smyal.org.

CORPORATE CHANGE

Out & Equal helps companies large and small make their workplaces more LGBTQ-affirming.

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HEN WE STARTED, LESS THAN FIVE PERCENT OF Fortune 500 companies had any protections for our community,” says Erin Uritus, CEO of Out & Equal Workplace Advocates. “Now, it’s almost the reverse of that — maybe less than seven percent don’t. In the last 18 months, the floodgates have really opened. We’ve seen companies stepping up and out in the sense of corporate activism and standing for their values, even when it doesn’t appear that it would benefit their bottom line.”

A 22-year-old nonprofit focused on workplace diversity and inclusion, Out & Equal works with companies to adopt LBGTQfriendly policies and benefits through tailored consulting, cultural competency courses, monthly webinars on LGBTQ workplace issues, and conferences for networking and promoting diversity. The organization’s trademark event is its annual Workplace Summit, a day of seminars, workshops and plenaries for professionals. It’s expected to draw more than 6,000 attendees to the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor in mid-October.

Uritus is excited that nearly one-quarter of last year’s attendees identified as heterosexual, including a number who work as diversity and inclusion or human resources officers.

“Companies are starting to send their leaders of their other [non-LGBTQ] employee resource groups to our conference, because there’s a lot of synergy in the intersectional approach,” she says. “So, for example, Dell or JPMorgan or Citibank will also send the heads of their African-American, Asian-American, disabled veterans resource groups, because our conference provides a lot of good content that is applicable.”

Companies and professionals from at least 47 states and 38 countries will be represented at the conference, as will nearly 70% of Fortune 1000 companies and five government agencies: the CIA, FBI, National Security Agency, the USDA, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

“When you think about seventy percent of Fortune 1000 companies, you’re going to see most of your household names in there, along with major companies who are doing big work, who have super big workforces,” says Uritus. “I think these companies are not only wanting to stand up and do what’s right, but they’re also in a war for talent with each other. They're trying to attract the best and brightest workforce that they can, and our community is a huge part of that.” —John Riley Out & Equal Workplace Advocates’ 2019 Workplace Summit runs from Monday, Oct. 14 to Thursday, Oct. 17 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, 201 Waterfront St., Fort Washington, Md. Visit www.outandequal.org.

tion and artist talk to celebrate the opening of Veyron Pax’s “Obsessed, but Oppressed” gallery. Pax is an IranaianAmerican artist and filmmaker who explores the topics of immigration and identity politics through photography and video, blending reality with the imagination in his digital collages. Light fare, wine, beer, and non-alcoholic beverages will be served. 7-9 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit www.thedccenter. org/events/veyronpax.

CENTER GLOBAL, a group that

advocates for LGBTIQ rights and fights against anti-LGBTIQ laws in more than 80 countries, holds its monthly meeting at The DC Center. 12-1:30 p.m.

2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105.

For more information, visit www.thedccenter.org.

FCPS PRIDE, a professional,

advocacy and social group for FCPS employees, both LGBTQ and allied, as well as LGBTQ students and parents, holds a coffee house social. All ages welcome. Look for the people with rainbow stickers upstairs! 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Breeze Bakery Cafe, 4125 Hummer Rd., Annandale, Va. For more information, visit www.fcpspride.org.

Weekly Events DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a

practice session at Montgomery College Aquatics Club. 8:3010 a.m. 7600 Takoma Ave., Takoma, Md. For more information, visit www.swimdcac.org.

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

SUNDAY, October 6 ATLANTIC STATES GAY RODEO ASSOCIATION holds

its monthly “Saddle Up!” trail rides on the first Sunday of each month. Rides begin at Piscataway Stables. Rides are limited to 20 riders, so RSVP is required. Cost is $30 for ASGRA members, and $35 for

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non-members. 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m.

10775 Piscataway Rd., Clinton, Md. To RSVP, call or text Patrick at 202-352-2356 before 9 a.m. on Sunday.

offers services in English, 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., and in Spanish at 5:15 p.m. 1525 Newton St. NW. For more info, call 202-232-0900 or visit www.saintstephensdc.org.

Weekly Events

UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH OF SILVER SPRING

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

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. For more info, visit www.uucss.org.

DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a

MONDAY, October 7

BETHEL CHURCH-DC progressive

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

DC FRONT RUNNERS running/

walking/social club welcomes runners of all ability levels for exercise in a fun and supportive environment, with socializing afterwards.

Route distances vary. For meeting places and more information, visit www.dcfrontrunners.org.

DIGNITYUSA offers Roman

Catholic Mass for the LGBT community. All welcome. Sign interpreted. 6 p.m. St. Margaret’s Church, 1820 Connecticut Ave. NW. For more information, visit www.dignitywashington.org.

FIRST CONGREGATIONAL UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

welcomes all to 10:30 a.m. service, 945 G St. NW. For more info, visit www.firstuccdc.org or call 202628-4317.

HOPE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST welcomes GLBT community for worship. 10:30 a.m., 6130 Old Telegraph Road, Alexandria.

Visit www.hopeucc.org.

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. Visit www.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. For more info, call 703-691-0930 or visit www.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. For more info, call 202-232-0323 or visit www.nationalcitycc.org.

ST. STEPHEN AND THE INCARNATION, an “interracial,

multi-ethnic Christian Community”

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OCTOBER 3, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

The DC Center holds a monthly VOLUNTEER NIGHT for those interested in giving back to the local LGBTQ community. Activities include sorting through book donations, taking inventory, or assembling safe-sex packets. 6:30-8:30 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105.

For more information, visit www. thedccenter.org.

Weekly Events DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a

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

DC’S DIFFERENT DRUMMERS

welcomes musicians of all abilities to join its Monday night rehearsals. The group hosts marching/color guard, concert, and jazz ensembles, with performances year round. Please contact Membership@DCDD.org to inquire about joining one of the ensembles or visit www.DCDD.org.

The DC Center hosts COFFEE

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

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

US HELPING US hosts a black

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

Visit www.ushelpingus.org.

WASHINGTON WETSKINS WATER POLO TEAM practices 7-9

p.m. Newcomers with at least basic swimming ability always welcome.

Takoma Aquatic Center, 300 Van Buren St. NW. For more information, contact Tom, 703-299-0504 or secretary@wetskins.org, or visit www.wetskins.org.

TUESDAY, October 8 The DC Center holds a roundtable discussion as part of its COMING OUT DISCUSSION GROUP on the second Tuesday and fourth Thursday of each month. This group is for those navigating issues associated with coming out and per-

sonal identity. 7-8:30 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit www.thedccenter.org.

The DC Center is seeking volunteers to cook and serve a monthly meal for LGBTQ homeless youth at the WANDA ALSTON HOUSE on the second Tuesday of each month.

7-8 p.m. For address and more information, contact the support desk at The DC Center at supportdesk@thedccenter.org.

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

Weekly Events DC SCANDALS RUGBY holds practice. The team is always looking for new members. All welcome.

7-9 p.m. Harry Thomas Recreation Center, 1743 Lincoln Rd. NE. For more information, visit www.scandalsrfc.org.

THE GAY MEN'S HEALTH COLLABORATIVE offers free

WEDNESDAY, October 9 LAMBDA BRIDGE CLUB meets at

The Dignity Center for Duplicate Bridge. No reservations needed.

Newcomers welcome. 7:30 p.m. 721 8th St. SE (across from the Marine Barracks). Call 202-841-0279 if you need a partner.

LEZ READ, a book discussion group focusing on works by lesbian and queer-identified authors, meets at Politics and Prose on the second Wednesday of each month. 7:3010:30 p.m. 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW, downstairs coffee shop. For more information, visit www.meetup.com/Lez-Read.

Weekly Events AD LIB, a group for freestyle con-

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

DC AQUATICS CLUB (DCAC)

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

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. www.inova.org/gmhc

FREEDOM FROM SMOKING, a

OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS

HIV TESTING at Whitman-Walker

holds an LGBT-focused meeting every Tuesday, 7 p.m. at St. George’s Episcopal Church, 915 Oakland Ave., Arlington, just steps from Virginia Square Metro. Handicapped accessible.

Newcomers welcome. For more info, call Dick, 703-521-1999 or email liveandletliveoa@gmail.com.

Support group for LGBTQ youth ages 13-24 meets at SMYAL. 4-7 p.m. 410 7th St. SE. For more information, contact Dana White, 202567-3156, or visit www.smyal.org.

US HELPING US hosts a support

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

Whitman-Walker Health holds its weekly GAY MEN’S HEALTH AND WELLNESS/STD CLINIC. Patients are seen on a walk-in basis. No-cost screening for HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia. Hepatitis and herpes testing available for a fee.

Testing starts at 6 p.m, but should arrive early to ensure a spot. 1525 14th St. NW. For more information, visit www.whitman-walker.org.

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 www.thedccenter.org.

Health. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. at 1525 14th St. NW, and 9 a.m-12:30 p.m. and 1:30-5 p.m. at the Max Robinson Center, 2301 MLK Jr. Ave. SE. For an appointment, call 202-745-7000 or visit www.whitman-walker.org.

JOB CLUB, a weekly support program for job entrants and seekers, meets at The DC Center. 6-7:30 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105.

For more info, email centercareers@thedccenter.org or visit www.thedccenter.org/careers.

STI TESTING at Whitman-Walker

Health. 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at both 1525 14th St. NW and the Max Robinson Center, 2301 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave. SE. Testing is intended for those without symptoms. For an appointment call 202-745-7000 or visit www.whitman-walker.org.

WASHINGTON WETSKINS WATER POLO TEAM practices 7-9

p.m. Newcomers with at least basic swimming ability always welcome.

Takoma Aquatic Center, 300 Van Buren St. NW. For more information, contact Tom, 703-299-0504 or secretary@wetskins.org, or visit www.wetskins.org. l

OCTOBER 3, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

23

DAVID HRC’s Alphonso David wants to stop Trump, elevate trans people, and fight for LGBTQ rights everywhere.

Statute of Inte r view by John Riley

P h o t o g r a p h y by To d d F r a n s o n

“We are at a crossroads for the soul of our country,” says Alphonso David. “In this particular moment I thought it was critical to take this role to advance LGBTQ rights, because this community is under direct assault by the federal administration. We have an opportunity — and, personally, I have an obligation — to make sure that I can use my skills and my time to advance and protect the rights of LGBTQ people.”

The role to which he’s referring is president of the Human Rights Campaign, the world’s largest LGBTQ advocacy organization. For David, it’s the culmination of 16 years of advocacy work, a passion first ignited by the Supreme Court’s landmark Lawrence v. Texas decision in 2003 — which voided state sodomy laws prohibiting consensual same-sex relations.

“Lawrence for me was the bookend where I felt I had sat it out and advocates had fought that case all the way up to the Supreme Court,” he says. “I was working in a law firm. I was doing good work, but certainly not work that spoke to my soul. I was not doing my part. At that point, I made a decision that it was more important for me to sacrifice whatever the financial benefits are associated with working in large institutions, and take on the fight and use my skills and energy to advance civil rights for LGBTQ people.”

David’s dedication to fighting for the disenfranchised and marginalized has been fueled not only by his LGBTQ identity, but his family’s experience as political refugees. Born in the United States but raised in Liberia as the second of four children, David was 10 when his father — then the Mayor of Monrovia — was imprisoned, and his great-uncle, William Tolbert, was assassinated. The surviving family members, including David, 24

OCTOBER 3, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

were placed under house arrest.

When they were finally allowed to seek asylum and relocate to Silver Spring, Md., he faced his own troubles fitting in. Some of his teenage classmates were so ignorant of Africa and Liberia that they actually thought he’d have a tail.

“It’s alienating when you come to this country, and I think we still see that in various permutations and different identities, faces, you’re treated as the other,” he says. “I was treated as the African and the person to be ostracized.”

That experience, of being an outsider, has equipped David with an empathy for those discriminated against or mistreated.

Since taking over at HRC, he has announced several initiatives aimed at improving the economic circumstances and safety of the transgender community — particularly trans women of color, who are more likely to be victims of violence or live at the margins of society. Under his leadership, there has been an intentional focus on intersectionality at HRC, as well as promises to work alongside other civil and human rights organizations.

“We’re working with coalition partners across the country in a variety of different spaces. Immigration issues affect LGBTQ community. The homelessness issue affects LGBTQ community.

Poverty affects LGBTQ community. We can’t just simply think of this community through a silo or through some myopic lens.

We have to really think broadly and think about all of our coalition partners in making sure that we're there for them because they will be here for us.”

HRC has also entered the debate over voting rights by announcing a new partnership with former Georgia gubernato-

D

rial candidate Stacey Abrams and her organization Fair Fight, to mobilize voters — particularly people of color and members of the LGBTQ community who have been disproportionately affected by strict voter ID laws, voter caging, and other suppression tactics — and ensure they have access to the ballot box.

And with David at the helm, HRC has made defeating President Trump one of its chief priorities over the next year.

Trump’s administration has made it clear that it does not deem LGBTQ people as deserving of legal protection.

“As he fumbles from one self-inflicted crisis to the next, Trump is systematically seeking to turn us against each other and have us live in a state of fear,” David said in his speech at the HRC National Dinner in Washington last weekend. “By adopting or acquiescing to Trump’s baseless factionalism, we’re losing something much larger, something much more significant than what Trump tells you. We’re losing our souls.... I submit to you that if we’re going to weather this storm, this existential crisis that we face in this country, we must see beyond ourselves.

“See yourself in the bisexual black man living with HIV in the South, with little to no access to health care. See yourself as the young Latinx lesbian immigrant who has been brutalized and persecuted in her own country, because of who she is and who she loves. See yourself as the black transgender woman who is literally fearful that she’s going to die when she steps out of her home. We must do more to transcend the artificial barriers between us.... We cannot have Donald Trump and Mike Pence define us. We must define ourselves, and define ourselves inclusively.”

METRO WEEKLY: A lot of people are unaware of what happened in

Liberia, during your childhood. What led your family there, and why did they then have to seek asylum?

ALPHONSO DAVID: I was born here in the United States, in Silver Spring, Maryland a few decades ago, and my parents were here for school. Both my parents were born and raised Liberians.

My father went to Georgetown University and graduated from Howard. My mother went to school in Virginia. They had me, and went back to Liberia after they finished their studies.

I grew up in Liberia for about 14 years. I lived a fairly privileged existence because my uncle and my father were elected officials. My father was elected as the mayor of Monrovia, the capital city, and my uncle was elected as the president of Liberia.

I got introduced into politics very early.

On April 12, 1980, there was a military coup that overthrew the government. My uncle was assassinated. My father was put in prison. We stayed in one house for more than two years where we couldn't leave, because we were under house arrest. After my father was released from prison, he sought asylum and we moved to the U.S. MW: Did you fully comprehend what was going on at the time, or was it something that your parents sheltered you from?

DAVID: I knew what was going on. My parents did try — at least my mother, my father was incarcerated at the time — to shelter

us from what was happening, but it was difficult to do that. I mean, we had to run out of our house under gunfire. The night of the military coup, there were guards on our front door. They were shooting to get into our house. We had to jump out of the bathroom window to run out of the house. It’s pretty difficult to shield us from that. When the military came to pick up my father to take him to prison, I knew something was deeply wrong.

When my father was released from prison, he went to the U.S. Embassy seeking asylum. I believe he was turned down or rejected. Not sure of all the facts associated with that, but I know he was denied asylum or denied access to come to the U.S. I think he went back two or three times before they agreed to allow us to come to the U.S., I believe because my brother and I are U.S. citizens. We were born here. My two younger sisters were not. Once we came to the U.S., my family was split in two.

My mother and my youngest sister stayed in Liberia. My father, my older brother, myself, and my other sister came to the U.S. We stayed in the U.S. for about a year-and-a-half or two before my mother joined us. We started in White Plains, New York, then went to Baltimore, which is where we stayed for a short while, and then we ended up in Silver Spring.

MW: What were your teenage years like?

DAVID: I studied a lot. I played, and still play, a lot of tennis. In college, I played racquetball. I love film and music. In Liberia, we couldn’t watch a lot of movies. We just didn’t have television.

When I came to the U.S., I discovered movies and I fell in love with Pedro Almodóvar, Wong Kar-Wai, Francis Ford Coppola, Spike Lee, Julie Dash, filmmakers that were creating images that resonated with me in stories that were beautiful. I gravitated to film, music. I started really spending a lot of time listening to jazz, and classical, and R&B, and soul, and some pop.

MW: Did your experience in Liberia impact life in the U.S. at all?

DAVID: I went to the University of Maryland in large part because my mother was terrified of me leaving home. My mother was traumatized in part because we had just gone through a traumatic experience going through the war and she wanted to have her kids stay as close as possible. We made a deal that I couldn’t go that far from home. I would be allowed to stay on campus, but I would have to stay within the state. I selected the University of Maryland College Park, and I went to school there focusing on criminal justice, criminology, philosophy, sociology.

MW: You then went to Temple Law School, in Philadelphia. Why law?

DAVID: I selected Temple because it was, and I believe still is, listed as the number-one trial advocacy school in the country. I wanted to master the law and advocacy to represent the disenfranchised. Given my experience of being the “other,” given my experience of going through a traumatic experience in Liberia, I wanted to appreciate and master the law in a way that I could help people.

I graduated from law school and clerked for a judge in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in federal district court. Then I got an offer to join Blank Rome, a major law firm in Philadelphia.

I was a litigation associate focusing on commercial litigation,

“He's the president of the United States, the buck stops with him. If he is employing people or empowering people to make decisions that are discriminatory in nature, I'm going to hold him accountable.”

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OCTOBER 3, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

“The fact that the Log Cabin Republicans made the decision to endorse [Trump] is not only laughable, it’s frightening. It’s so divorced from reality that it calls into question why they were doing it in the first place.” contract disputes. I did that for two years. Then I got an offer to run a company in California for Fred Segal and two other shareholders. It’s an addiction treatment center in California, and I did that. Then Lawrence v. Texas happened.

Lawrence v. Texas is a Supreme Court case where the court concluded that same-sex couples have a liberty interest in engaging in intimate sexual conduct. After that decision came out, I wrote a letter to Lambda Legal indicating that I was interested in joining their organization, and I submitted a resume. I think in a day or two, I got a call back and they wanted to interview me for a job.

I interviewed at Lambda, got an offer. They said, "You can work in Los Angeles or New York or any of our other offices.” I picked New York, which is where my sisters worked at the time.

I practiced impact litigation for three years all over the country, litigating marriage cases, parental rights, HIV discrimination cases, discrimination in schools, and then ultimately entered into government.

I went to the Division of Human Rights for a year, where I served as deputy commissioner and counsel to the commissioner, revamping the organization and thinking about how we could advance the mission of the agency. Then I joined the attorney general’s office, where I ran the civil rights bureau for the attorney general.

Again, in that role, I litigated cases all over New York, employment discrimination cases, housing discrimination cases, public accommodation cases, immigration-related cases. Then I joined the governor's office as his chief policy advisor in civil rights and most recently served as his chief counsel.

MW: Let's talk about your coming out process. When did you first know that you were gay?

DAVID: I was maybe five or six. I appreciated that I found boys attractive, more so than girls, or maybe just as much. But socially, we were prohibited from expressing an attraction to other boys. You could say, “Oh, that girl is really attractive.” But you can never say that for another boy.

In my mind, I assumed that all boys felt the same way, they were just not allowed to say anything. We had this secret in our heads that we were not allowed to express. I did not come out until I was in my 20s. After college, I came out to my parents with some prodding.

I had told my sisters a few years before and maybe one or two friends. Four or five people knew that I was gay before I came out to my parents, but I view coming out to my parents as my actual coming out. Because at that point, I was open. I didn't care who knew about my sexual orientation.

MW: What was their reaction?

DAVID: Not good. My father disowned me. My father had warned a number of years before that if any of his children identified as

gay, he would disown them. He followed through with that, and he disowned me. He ultimately came around and started the process of understanding that I could not change my sexual orientation. He was a deeply philosophical and religious man, and it took him some time to understand and appreciate that my sexual orientation was just as deeply rooted as his.

MW: How long did it take him to come around?

DAVID: A few years. I told my father that I was gay, he disowned me, and then we had a conversation maybe a year and a half later. He said, "It's taken you 20-plus years to come out. I need some time." I thought that it was only fair to give him the time to come to terms with the realization that his son was LGBTQ, because in his mind, he had a very different vision of who I was.

He ultimately passed away in 2006, I think, with the understanding that my sexual orientation was not a choice.

MW: As a gay man, what were your first experiences navigating issues like relationships or just being out at work?

DAVID: Well, it's interesting that you ask that question, because when I came out to my parents, I viewed it as a personal coming out. I segregated my life and bifurcated it. I had my professional life, and my personal life. I was out personally, but I was not out professionally.

As an example, when I was at the law firm, I didn't date in Philadelphia at all. If I did, it was one or two dates, but I didn’t date people in Philadelphia because I had this very clear line that this is a professional space. I don’t talk about my personal life in the professional space. In the personal space, I can talk about the professional, but the lines don't cross the other way. It took me until a few years later, when I left the law firm and before I joined Lambda, for me to reconcile both my professional and my personal life and understand that I needed to embrace both with as much support and recognition that they deserve.

OCTOBER 3, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

27

Going back to the early 2000s, when I joined Lambda Legal, I started teaching law. I taught law for 10 years at Fordham Law School and Cardozo Law School. When I first started teaching at Fordham, a few of my students said to me, “Is it possible that we can change the description of your course so that it doesn’t reflect on my transcript?” I said, “What do you mean?”

The class that I taught was “Constitutional Law — Sexual Orientation on the Law.” These are law students that were concerned about that course showing up on their transcript, and having a prospective employer see it and deny them a job. That was a concern then, and I suspect, for some people, it still is.

When I took the job at Lambda, one of my very, very close friends started crying. I said, “Why are you crying?” She said, “This will ruin your career, and I want you to succeed.” She was worried that by accepting a job at a gay rights organization at the time, which is what it was framed as, it would hurt my chances of succeeding in life professionally. And it's real. It’s a concern that many people in a variety of professional spaces have.

MW: Let’s move to Trump. His administration wants to roll back policies or the interpretation of statutes relating to LGBTQ protections. However, some argue that LGBTQ organizations are overreacting to those changes and that the administration is just taking a strict constitutionalist interpretation of the law. What’s your response to that?

DAVID: That’s bogus. I think anyone suggesting that the Trump 28

OCTOBER 3, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

administration is simply strictly construing the law has lost any relationship to reality.

The government should be focused on protecting all of us, not some of us. The Trump administration is strategically focusing on stripping protections to a selected group of people. We just happened to be in that group, LGBTQ people and women, generally, and racial minorities, generally.

The Trump administration has strategically sought to roll back protections that have existed for years. There’s no reason to do that. If your goal is to make sure that we're all treated equally, if your goal is to make sure that our liberty interests are weighed in the same way, then there should be no reason why you should be rolling back those protections, but they're doing that, because they're seeking to make us “less than.” They’re seeking to make sure that the protections that currently exist no longer exist. Why would you, as the federal administration, say to federal contractors that you are allowed to discriminate against LGBTQ people? If you actually value LGBTQ identity, if you understand that is worthy of respect and recognition?

Why would you say to a federal contractor, “I’m giving you clearance to discriminate against people”? This is very real.

When someone says you're making a big deal out of this, I’d say to them: housing, shelter, access to public spaces, credit, those are basic necessities. What you're saying to me is, they're not as important to me as an LGBTQ person, but it’s important to you as a non-LGBTQ person. That doesn't make any sense. That’s not how our constitution was drafted, and certainly not how it should be interpreted.

MW: I've heard people who are Trump supporters say that he doesn't really care about LGBTQ issues. Is it the people who surround him who are behind these actions?

DAVID: It doesn't matter. From my perspective, he is the commander-in-chief. He's the president of the United States, the buck stops with him. If he is employing people or empowering people to make decisions that are discriminatory in nature, I'm going to hold him accountable.

I think that this idea, that we should be focused on trying to identify who's advancing the policies, is a false choice. From my perspective, I’m holding the entire administration responsible, with particular focus on him, because he’s responsible.

He has the power to tell them no. He has the power to tell the Department of Education, “Don't implement that policy, which is going to hurt transgender kids.” He has the power to tell HHS, “Don't change the policy on the Affordable Care Act.” He has the power to tell the Department of Labor, “Don’t implement this regulation that's going to allow federal contractors to discriminate.” He's not doing that. And because he’s not doing that, your ability to act and your action — or inaction — will be viewed through the same lens.

MW: Some LGBTQ Republicans believe major LGBTQ groups, including HRC, aligned themselves with former Secretary of State

Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party in a partisan way in 2016. As a result, when Trump won, those organizations were unwilling to meet with Republicans or try to work out compromises that could have benefited the LGBTQ community. What do you say to that?

DAVID: It’s laughable. It’s gaslighting. Look, for someone to say that the Human Rights Campaign or any other LGBTQ organization is aligned exclusively with the Democratic Party is ignoring history. All you have to do is see the endorsements that this organization has advanced over time. The practical reality is we have an administration that is spewing hate and venom, and we are not going to apologize for not supporting that administration.

The fact that the Log Cabin Republicans made the decision to endorse [Trump] is not only laughable, it’s frightening. It’s so divorced from reality that it calls into question why they were doing it in the first place. What is the justification for supporting a president that has publicly and behind the scenes sought to roll back all of these protections that we have, and has strategically and systematically sought to attack LGBTQ people?

I can’t think of one specific policy that this Trump administration has advanced that supports LGBTQ people. Not one.

To suggest “he’s thinking about decriminalization internationally,” I don’t even know what that means. That doesn’t make any sense. If you're interested in actually advancing policies to decriminalize anti-LGBT or decriminalize certain laws in other countries, start at home. Why is it that you’re taking away rights from LGBTQ people [in the United States], but you’re seeking to not have them be treated as criminals in other parts of the world?

It makes no sense. It’s a smokescreen. All of it is noise.

MW: How devastating would it be for the LGBTQ community if Trump does get reelected?

DAVID: It is a call to action. I want to make sure that every LGBTQ self-identified person and all of our allies — and we have more than 10 million self-identified LGBTQ voters and more than 57 million allies — are going to mobilize to make sure that we defeat Donald Trump in the election. There is so much at stake, and we have to make sure that everyone is aware of what’s at stake.

I am trying not to think about what could happen if Donald Trump is reelected because that is so frightening that I would rather, at this point, make sure people understand the importance of voting, understand the challenges that they may face in voting, and make sure we overcome that for them.

MW: There's been longterm criticism of HRC and other national LGBTQ organizations of being too focused on donors or on courting corporate sponsors. How do you address the concerns of transgender women, for example, who feel that HRC doesn't speak for them, or is out of touch with the daily realities they face?

DAVID: I do understand that frustration, in part, because I had been in this work for some time and I did a 10-day tour across the country, where I had an opportunity to meet with activists and aists, as well. A part of the challenge is that many people were not aware that the Human Rights Campaign is not a direct services organization.

I think the starting point for us is making sure that we’re educating our communities on what these organizations do.

Once you have a better appreciation of what the Human Rights Campaign is and what it does, what Lambda Legal is and does, what the ACLU is and does, I think we can then orient ourselves into what they should be expecting from these organizations.

The Human Rights Campaign has been a political organization that largely also does programmatic work, or focus on making sure we get pro-equality candidates into office so that

they can pass laws that directly benefit the community. Having said that, I do think that there is an assumption that if you receive funding from a specific source, it is going to dictate how you use that funding. My philosophy is different. If I receive funding from a specific source, it’s not going to dictate how that funding is used. The funding is going to be used in a way that best benefits the community and has the most impact. As I’m speaking to advocates across the country, I want to make sure they understand: Don't simply assume because I receive $1,000 from John or Susie or Paul that the money is going to be directed to a specific purpose. It’s going to be directed to a purpose that we think best serves the community.

Specifically with respect to the transgender community, I think it’s fair that some people have concerns that the LGBTorganized groups have not been as supportive of the transgender community over time. I think they’re correct. I think society writ-large has not been as supportive of the transgender community as we should have been. What I’m focused on is changing that. What I’m focused on is making sure that HRC has a meaningful role, not only in terms of public discourse in the policy debate, but trying to figure out how we can come up with meaningful solutions to address some of the concerns that are being faced by people who identify as transgender and gender-nonconforming.

MW: To that end, what message do you hope to convey to those communities, some of whom may still be skeptical or wary of anything with the HRC label on it?

DAVID: Yeah. It's funny because I think that as much as self-identification is important, I think we have to be careful that we’re not defining ourselves only by labels. If someone is concerned about the HRC label, I want them to look behind the curtain.

I want them to look at me. I want them to look at my record. I want them to think about in giving me time to implement a strategic plan that actually benefits the community. I think I have a track record to prove it.

MW: Who are your role models?

DAVID: James Baldwin, for his tenacity, his vision, his fearlessness and his willingness to speak truth to power. My mother, for her drive, capacity, kindness. Mahatma Gandhi, because he was Gandhi and he did things that still are staggering when we think about it. I would say Alice Walker, because she's been able to communicate a story in so many different languages by using one.

Meryl Streep, because I love film. She’s been able to inhibit identity and characters in a way that exudes so much respect.

She’s able to represent different cultures. She’s able to represent different identities in such a respectful and transformative way. When you think of Angels in America, when you think of Sophie's Choice, or you think of The Bridges of Madison County, and what she’s been able to do there, it’s been such a gift from a perspective of looking at a piece of art, but it’s also been a huge gift through the social justice lens.

MW: What does social justice mean to you, and what does your vision of social justice look like?

DAVID: Equal protection for all. For me, it’s not that complicated.

We have a constitution that says we should all be treated equally under the eyes of the law. We know that that's not the case, even when we have laws that say that we should be treated equally.

My vision of social justice is to make sure that our constitution actually means what it says. When we say “equal protection under the law,” we mean equal protection. l For more information on the Human Rights Campaign and its various initiatives, visit www.hrc.org.

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Movies

No Joke

A comic-book villain inflicts realistic pain in Todd Phillips’ well-made and still-maddening Joker. By André Hereford

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EFORE HE BECOMES ANYTHING LIKE A “CLOWN PRINCE OF CRIME,” the toxic loner at the center of the vexing, Batman-adjacent Joker (HHHHH) is just another sad clown in the grimy, graffiti-covered city. It’s 1980, and Gotham City is fast falling to pieces, riven by rampant vice and violence, a smelly garbage strike, and even an infestation of rats. Depressed former mental patient Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) is barely employed as a clown-for-hire, and caring for his invalid mother Penny (Frances Conroy), while stoking a burning passion to make it big as a standup comedian.

For a clearly delusional fellow, Arthur takes a few reasoned, astute steps towards pursuing his dream — he’s just not funny. The movie amply depicts Arthur’s cringeworthy unfunniness, onstage and off, which has limited entertainment value, but allows Phoenix to further flex his singular talent for enacting social awkwardness. Imagine spending all of Silence of the Lambs with just Buffalo Bill. Not everybody’s idea of fun.

Arthur reminds his critics that comedy is subjective, so maybe there’s an audience out there for him. But the fact that everyone he encounters regards him as a “freak,” or “weird,” or flat-out tells him that he makes them uncomfortable doesn’t bode well for his success as a comic. He appears doomed to fail — and then he’s made the hapless victim of a random street assault by a pack of teens. And he’s fired, lied to, scapegoated.

Along the way, someone gives him a gun, and though Arthur is informed enough to know that legally he shouldn’t have one, he keeps it. Then he goes on to use it.

Both a solid new origin story for Batman’s most notorious villain, and a tense psychological profile of a frightening lone gunman, Joker portrays as terrifying a version of this character as any live-action depiction has dared. However, terror also is subjective.

Some viewers, as there were in our screening, will cheer Arthur on as he takes out his anger at the world on three obnoxious, harassing dudes on the subway. Onscreen, various residents of Gotham definitely cheer on the actions of the unknown killer clown, casting him as the vigilante symbol of a burgeoning so-called anti-rich movement. Arthur hears someone hail the clown, saying that thanks to him, there are “three less pricks in Gotham City.”

Sure, but what about the homicidal maniac with the gun who just fired shots into the back of a dying man?

Anyone old enough to know the name Bernard Goetz might feel at least ambivalent about Arthur assuming the mantle of gun-wielding antihero. And the gun violence plays out far too realistically to ignore the film’s persistent visual and historical references to real-life ’70s and ’80s New York, or to present-day takeyour-pick USA, for that matter.

Yet the movie judges Arthur none too harshly for picking up his gun — or scissors, if they’re handy — painting on his clown-face, and aggressively settling scores. His grievances and brutally bloody crimes are all justified by, in Arthur’s view, the awfulness of other people. The script

by Phillips and Scott Silver stealth-justifies

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© 2019 WARNER BROS. / NIKO TAVERNISE

the clown’s crime spree through his inexplicable ascent from underground symbol to glorified hero of a popular movement. Any arguments about whether the character could ever influence the actions of similarly troubled souls is resolved by the film’s pointed depiction of Gotham’s growing legion of criminal clown copycats, including one Joker follower who dons his own mask to shoot and kill innocent people.

In a cunning or insidious move, the film uses the sympathies of Arthur’s inscrutably nice neighbor Sophie (Zazie Beetz) to soften him to a degree. Beetz conveys a warm, genuine quality in her turn as a single mom who’s fed up enough with this town that she might be able to look upon Arthur with respect and affection. Conroy is typically great as Arthur’s even-more delusional mom, and De Niro is refreshingly sharp as the late-night TV host whom Arthur and mom fixate on inside their dysfunctional familial bubble. There isn’t a bum performance in the movie, and composer Hildur Guðnadóttir’s strings-laden score sounds especially attuned to every one of them. There’s even a mini-theme for Gotham’s billionaire industrialist, and potential mayoral candidate, Thomas Wayne (Brett Cullen), father of Bruce.

Arthur runs afoul of the Wayne family in a sad, demented, and believable fashion, that, to the film’s credit, adds intrigue to the old-hat tale of Batman versus the Joker. The spark of earned enmity could easily inspire a grownup Bruce Wayne to also someday don a mask, grab his weapons, and head out to terrorize the night. If he should ever cross a moral line in his vigilante crusade, would he have the Joker to blame? l Joker is rated R, and opens in theaters everywhere on Friday, Oct. 4. Visit www.fandango.com.

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Television

Mob Rules

Peaky Blinders’ fifth season returns with its signature poise, power, and unfettered style. By Kate Wingfield

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BRILLIANT TV SERIES IS LIKE A TIGHTROPE WALKER. AS IT PACES the line, season after season, not only must it be sure-footed, there must be clever steps and breathtaking stunts. But the longer the walk, the greater the chance of tired legs, stumbling feet, and even overconfidence. Add the high winds of sudden and immense popularity and the ensuing wobble may be fatal. Take BBC’s Sherlock, a revelation in original entertainment, now twisting in the wind after two seasons in which its fabulous creators lost their miraculous balance.

Flash to Season Five of Peaky Blinders — that most stylish and gripping of crime-family stories — and the pressure is on. A reimagined tale of the gangsters who plagued Birmingham, England in the early 20th century, past seasons have delivered a throbbing storyline of criminal intrigues, family tensions, and riveting insights into the mysterious mind of Thomas Shelby, the man at the helm of the enterprise.

But with the first clang of Nick Cave’s iconic theme song, “Red Right Hand,” it was obvious that Peaky Blinders (HHHHH) was never going to be your typical period piece.

Set to an ingeniously intrusive punkish, indie, folk, and metal score and shot with an unfettered eye for enduring imagery, everything that’s old feels new again. It doesn’t just see hardscrabble Birmingham in a new way, it reenvisions television drama.

Even with this wildly original, high-octane agenda and its explosive popularity, Peaky Blinders has walked the high-wire with unstoppable verve and energy. It wasn’t until last season, with a somewhat fiddly plot and Adrian Brody’s wholly convincing Luca Changretta as its central menace, that a foot seemed to slip. Thankfully, all has

been recalibrated with a fifth season that returns with the Peaky Blinders’ signature poise, power, and unfettered style.

There will be no spoilers here, but suffice to say the series returns to its roots with a finely focused narrative, a tightly-sprung dramatic arc, and even the return of its cynical wit. This season is heavily spiced with the news of its day and if Thomas has donned a mantle of respectability with his OBE and status as a Member of Parliament, his dance with Britain’s establishment is soon complicated by dangerous politics and ever-opportunistic rival gangs. And as the family intrigue also roils, there is the sense that every member is playing their own chess game for their own ends. If we can’t always see every move, the brilliance of Steven Knight’s writing ensures that clarity always arrives on time.

Along with these familiar tensions, Knight surfaces a new and interesting dimension on Thomas’ ability to manage his inner demons. When Polly’s son Michael angrily tells him he should see one of those new doctors who can talk “the shit out of your skull,” he’s not far off the mark. It’s a theme with the pull of Shakespearean tragedy: Thomas senses that someone is coming

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for his crown — be it outsider, insider, or his own struggling self.

Subtly infusing the whole is director Anthony Byrne’s pleasing note of noir, a cinematic sensibility that lifts this series into a genre of its own. One of many such small moments is the artful shadowing of Aberama Gold’s face in a smuggler’s cavern — this is atmosphere and storytelling. Also refound is Peaky Blinders’ unique lens on its core violence, captured with a vision that is memorably unsettling. There are scenes eloquent in their single, slow-motion imagery and others that find mastery in their pace and editing. None are gratuitous.

Of course, the turbulent soul of the show is inextricably bound to Cillian Murphy’s Thomas, the Romany crime boss and antihero at the center of the drama. Capturing this man in all his thousand-yard-stare complexity, Murphy remains the very definition of mesmerizing. As Byrne’s camera courses the angular planes of his features, the final resting place — the endless draw — must always be his steel-blue eyes. Whether blank and impenetrable or as open as windows, with Murphy they are the place we want to be.

As Polly Gray, the canny, often unreadable matriarch, Helen McCrory has one of her best seasons, savoring Polly’s careful choice of word, her voice delicious in its precision. McCrory tells us that no one can ever really know this woman and that the best — or the worst — of her is yet to come. Her Polly is the face of complex, unstoppable female energy and integrity.

Returning to his feral state is Paul Anderson’s Arthur Shelby, released from domesticity by ambitious wife Linda (played with sometimes-convincing fire by Kate Phillips). If Arthur often

entertains with his twitching, unhinged thuggery, this season revisits the terrifying chaos wrought by hands that “belong to Satan.” Anderson’s portrait of this rottweiler of a man, willingly at Thomas’ heel until the red mist descends, is untouchable.

Another standout of the season is a fabulously restyled Aberama Gold, who has traded his woodsman’s locks for a dashing villainy that will make more than a few pulses quicken. More to the point, Aidan Gillen is one of those top-flight actors who for reasons known only to the universe has not hit his own big time.

Keeping his Gold subtle and oh-so-quietly charismatic, he brings a sense of theater that makes this ensemble one of the best since The Sopranos rebooted the idea.

Coming into new focus is Finn Cole’s Michael, son of Polly, exuding a convincingly unappealing ambition, while new arrival Anya Taylor-Joy as his American wife Gina is appropriately grating, her large, almond eyes suggesting an alien New World glamor. Peaky Blinders has always acknowledged its female characters and Thomas’ current wife, Lizzie, is another coming to the fore this season. An elegant Natasha O’Keefe nicely captures Lizzie’s less-than-likeable edge as she tries to reconcile her role as afterthought in Thomas’ life. Sophie Rundle continues to convince as Shelby sister Ada, even if her connection to Colonel Ben Younger (played with appealing nuance by Kingsley BenAdir) feels rather contrived. Another rare misstep is the obviously prosthesis-laden Neil Maskell trying too hard to carry off Winston Churchill in a scene that adds little. Still, these are but trifles in a series that continues to tell its dark and fabulous tale in the highest villainous style. l

Peaky Blinders’ fifth season is available to stream on Netflix starting Friday, Oct. 4. Seasons 1 to 4 are available now.

Visit www.netflix.com.

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TREVOR BRADY

Music

Memoir in Music Tegan and Sara tell their origin story on their own terms in Hey, I’m Just Like You. By Sean Maunier

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HO WOULDN’T BE MORTIFIED AT THE IDEA OF OUR TEENAGE DIAries becoming public knowledge? Whole books, podcasts, and standup shows have been built on the idea of sharing the absolutely cringe-inducing things that we write down when we’re still learning to regulate our emotions before we know better. It’s all done in good fun, with the unspoken implication that we are supposed to share the writer’s relief that they are no longer the silly, melodramatic person they used to be.

Tegan and Sara opt to take a much more earnest approach to their old writings.

Hey, I’m Just Like You (HHHHH) is built around songs the twins wrote in high school, whiling away the time as edgy queer teens in the Calgary suburbs. In resurrecting these songs, they are not only paying tribute to where they came from, they are reclaiming the formative high school years not as deserving of celebration per se, but as worthy of revisiting and examining for how they shaped the course of their lives and careers.

Along with their memoir, High School, released in tandem with the album, Hey, I’m Just Like You is a retrospective project that opens a window on Tegan and Sara’s early career. Even if we assume some post-hoc editing, the songs give us a snapshot of two songwriters with a gift for capturing messy, complex emotions with stark clarity.

Despite a relationship that was by their own accounts tumultuous, from the beginnings of their career the two turned to each other to allow their inner lives to breathe through music in a way that their daily lives constrained.

The content of the songs deal with the familiar emotions we might expect — long-

ing, impatience, first loves, and, inevitably, heartbreak. Still, added context complicates ideas that seem on their surface to be universal. “Hold My Breath Until I Die” could be about any teen keeping a secret bottled up from the people around them, but also evokes the particularly suffocating nature of the closet. Early experiences with love and desire are complicated at the best of times, but Tegan and Sara seem to channel the unique frustration that comes with knowing in your gut that you have no use for the various complex unwritten social norms that everyone around you is learning and navigating. Queer coming-ofage stories have until very recently been in short supply, and while queerness is not dealt with as overtly as it is in their memoir, using it as a lens throws the many of the songs’ themes into much sharper focus.

Whether intentional or not, the benefit of hindsight adds depth to many of the songs. Sadly sung lyrics such as, “No, I can’t stay,” interrupt he generally triumphant tone of “I’ll Be Back Someday,” contrasting the young impulse to escape one’s hometown against a longing for roots, connection, and ties that bind. “We Don’t

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Have Fun When We’re Together Anymore” mourns one such connection that has frayed, set against the backdrop of a smallhours dance track, one of a handful that marries the slickness of their last two albums with the grungy indie quality of their earlier work.

The album is a return to their roots stylistically as well, revisiting their guitar-driven pre-Heartthrob indie rock sound. From rock to pop and now back to rock with glimmers of pop, Hey, I’m Just Like You serves as a reminder that whatever the genre, the pair’s talent as songwriters and their chemistry as performers has consistently been their greatest asset. They deserve credit for not only recognizing the talent that was present from a young age, but rightly deciding it was worth revisiting and presenting to the world.

What is striking about the album is not so much its self-awareness, but that Tegan and Sara are able to look back on the chaos and melodrama of their teenage brains and refuse to shrug off or invalidate them. In revisiting lyrics from their high school years, they tap into experiences and emotional highs that will be familiar to most kids who grew up in the ’burbs, grounding them in the retrospective maturity that only comes with time.

Hey, I’m Just Like You captures that particularly adolescent frustration of feeling stuck in place but always knowing in the back of your mind that you will be leaving soon, with your whole life left to lead. The impulse to shrug it all off once you’re gone may be tempting, but Tegan and Sara make a compelling case that it is worth going back to every now and then. l Hey, I’m Just Like You can be purchased from Amazon and iTunes, and is available on most major streaming services.

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NightLife Photography by Ward Morrison

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Scene

Pitchers & A League of Her Own - Saturday, Sept. 28 - Photography by Ward Morrison See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene

DrinksDragDJsEtc...

Thursday, October 3 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 5pm-2am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Live televised sports FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Karaoke, 9pm GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • Shirtless Thursday, 10-11pm • Men in Underwear Drink Free, 12-12:30am • DJs BacK2bACk

NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Beat the Clock Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • $15 Buckets of Bud Products all night • Sports Leagues Night NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover PITCHERS Open 5pm-2am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm • Special Late Night menu till 11pm • Thirst Trap Thursdays, hosted by Venus Valhalla, 11pm-12:30am • Featuring a Rotating Cast of Drag Performers • Dancing until 1:30am

Destinations A LEAGUE OF HER OWN 2317 18th St. NW 202-733-2568 www.facebook.com/alohodc

SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • Half-Priced Bottles of Wine, 5pm-close TRADE Doors open 5pm • XL Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass is served in an XL glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine only $5 ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS All male, nude dancers, 9pm-close • “New Meat” Open Dancers Audition • Music by DJ Don T. • Cover 21+

A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 5pm-3am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Live televised sports FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Karaoke, 9pm GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • $3 Rail and Domestic • $5 Svedka, all flavors all night long • Davon Hamilton Events presents District First Friday: Jocks and Leather Party, 10pm-close • Featuring DJ Tryfe • All Body Types Welcome — Underwear Attire encouraged but not required • $10 Cover (includes clothes check) • GoGo Dancers • $5 Margaritas and $8 Long Islands

FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR 555 23rd St. S. Arlington, Va. 703-685-0555 www.freddiesbeachbar.com

AVALON SATURDAYS Soundcheck 1420 K St. NW 202-789-5429 www.facebook.com/ AvalonSaturdaysDC 40

Friday, October 4

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GREEN LANTERN 1335 Green Ct. NW 202-347-4533 www.greenlanterndc.com

NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Open 3pm • Beat the Clock Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • Buckets of Beer, $15 • Weekend Kickoff Dance Party, with Nellie’s DJs spinning bubbly pop music all night NUMBER NINE Open 5pm • Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover • Friday Night Piano with Chris, 7:30pm • Rotating DJs, 9:30pm PITCHERS Open 5pm-3am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm • Special Late Night menu till 2am

SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers TRADE Doors open 5pm • XL Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass is served in an XL glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine only $5 • Otter Happy Hour with guest DJs, 5-11pm ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS Men of Secrets, 9pm • Guest dancers • Rotating DJs • Kristina Kelly’s Diva Fev-ah Drag Show • Doors at 9pm, Shows at 11:45pm • Music by DJ Jeff Eletto • Cover 21+

NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR 900 U St. NW 202-332-6355 www.nelliessportsbar.com NUMBER NINE 1435 P St. NW 202-986-0999 www.numberninedc.com PITCHERS 2317 18th St. NW 202-733-2568 www.pitchersbardc.com

NIGHTLIFE HIGHLIGHTS Compiled by Doug Rule

Saturday, October 5 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 2pm-3am • Video Games • Live televised sports AVALON SATURDAYS @Soundcheck Daddy Issues, with DJs Steve Sidewalk and Sean Morris, 10pm-4am • $15 Cover, $20 Cover for VIP • Drink specials • Drag Show, 10:30-11:30pm, hosted by Ba’Naka and a rotating cast of drag queens • $4 Absolut Drinks, 10pm-midnight • 21+ FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Saturday Breakfast Buffet, 10am-3pm • $14.99 with one glass of champagne or coffee, soda or juice • Additional champagne $2 per glass • Crazy Hour,

4-8pm • Freddie’s Follies Drag Show, hosted by Miss Destiny B. Childs, 8-10pm • Karaoke, 10pm-close GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • $5 Bacardi, all flavors, all night long • REWIND: Request Line, an ‘80s and ‘90s Dance and Music Video Party, 9pm-close • Music by DJ Darryl Strickland • No Cover NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Drag Brunch, hosted

by Chanel Devereaux, 10:30am-12:30pm and 1-3pm • Tickets on sale at nelliessportsbar.com • House Rail Drinks, Zing Zang Bloody Marys, Nellie Beer and Mimosas, $4, 11am-3am • Buckets of Beer, $15 • Guest DJs playing pop music all night

SHAW’S TAVERN 520 Florida Ave. NW 202-518-4092 www.shawstavern.com TRADE 1410 14th St. NW 202-986-1094 www.tradebardc.com ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS 1824 Half St. SW 202-863-0670 www.ziegfelds.com

HARDER DC This Friday, Oct. 4, U Street Music Hall hosts the third D.C. edition of this Brooklyn-born “sexy, underground-branded queer party,” one that is welcoming to all, regardless of age (as long as it’s above 18) gender, orientation, or fetish. That said, this one is especially for those looking for a club outing that goes, well, a tad bit harder than the average. Musically, think “throbbing house, techno, and dark disco beats,” a mix that is a specialty of D.C. DJ Tommy Cornelis, who will kick off the party starting at 10:30 p.m. After midnight, the music might get harder still, should headliner DJ TEETH toss in some acid or “a Belgian new beat twist.” It could turn sleazier, or at least quirkier, as a result of the Berlin-based DJ’s style, which he imaginatively describes as akin to the soundtrack of “a movie featuring the Care Bears filmed in a sweaty sauna and directed by Jeff Stryker.” New York’s David x Daisy will join the festivities as a guest host serving “butch queen” looks alongside the party’s local hosts Jane Saw and Matt Schwarz. However hard things may get, everyone’s asked to keep it in their pants — their phones, that is. Organizers request clubgoers refrain from picture-taking and phone-usage while inside the club, or at least while on the dance floor, “so everyone can have a full and true underground experience.” U Street Music Hall is at 1115A U St. NW. Tickets are $20. Call 202-588-1880 or visit www.ustreetmusichall.com.

OKTOBEARFEST! The newest and gayest brewery in town offers its first toast to all things bier and brat, a la Red Bear Brewing’s first Oktoberfest offerings. All weekend long — from 1 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 4, to 11 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 6 — the NoMa nanobrewery will be pouring several of its own German-style beers, including a Märzen lager named for the weekend itself, OktoBEARfest, a dry-hopped Pilsner dubbed Schadenfruede, and a Hefeweizen cleverly labeled Hefe Don’t Preach. The weekend’s other events include a “Horror-ween” edition of the Slay Them Drag Competition hosted by Desiree Dik, in which one drag amateur will win $50 plus the chance to co-host and perform at Red Bear (Friday, Oct. 4 at 9 p.m.) and a free concert from Three Strands Live, the Americana/folk project from bearded Pennsylvania-based singer/songwriter Sean Cox (Sunday, Oct. 6, at 6 p.m.) Red Bear Brewing is at 209 M St. NE. Call 202-849-6130 or visit www.redbear.beer.

THE BACHELORS MILL REUNION For 40 years, Bachelor’s Mill was a legendary D.C. nightspot, one catering mainly to the LGBTQ African American community. A year later after its closing, on Saturday, Oct. 5, comes a reunion party. Promoters Ebony Pyramid Entertainment managed to secure both floors of the club’s original location, currently home to District Soul Food Restaurant & Lounge (formerly Banana Cafe). Things get underway at 6 p.m. with the Sparkle MaHarris Memorial Talent Showcase featuring hosts Tink Cole Adams and Victoria Snow. (It will include a Walk of Fame for past club entertainers who wish to participate.) A dance party follows, featuring a trio of the Mill’s veteran mixmasters: house DJ Rodney, BeJay The DJ spinning house classics and “old school” R&B, and DJ Freaky scratching hip-hop and R&B. District Soul Food is at 500 8th St. SE. Tickets are $10 before 7 p.m., $15 after. Call 202-544-8882 or visit www.facebook.com/EbonyPyramidEnt. REWIND: REQUEST LINE Darryl Strickland was one of the most prolific DJs in gay D.C. in the ’90s, which makes him eminently qualified to serve as VJ for this first-Saturdays party focused on playing the best video hits of the ’80s and ’90s. There are drink specials on offer and the ability to make requests all night long. Saturday, Oct. 5, starting at 9 p.m. Green Lantern is at 1335 Green Ct. NW. No cover. Call 202-347-4533 or visit www.greenlanterndc.com. l OCTOBER 3, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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NUMBER NINE Doors open 2pm • Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 2-9pm • $5 Absolut and $5 Bulleit Bourbon, 9pm-close • Time Machine and Power Hour, featuring DJ Jack Rayburn, 9:30pm

TRADE Doors open 2pm • XL Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass is served in an XL glass for the same price, 2-10pm • Beer and wine only $5

PITCHERS Open Noon-3am • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm • Special Late Night menu till 2am

ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS Men of Secrets upstairs, 9pm-close • Guest dancers • Ladies of Illusion Drag Show with host Ella Fitzgerald in Ziegfeld’s • Doors open at 9pm, Show at 11:45pm • Music by DJs Keith Hoffman and Don T. • Cover 21+

SHAW’S TAVERN Brunch with $15 Bottomless Mimosas, 10am-3pm • Happy Hour, 5-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • Latin Night, 11pm-2am, with Food and Drink Specials

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Sunday, October 6 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 2pm-12am • $4 Smirnoff and Domestic

Cans • Video Games • Live televised sports FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Fabulous Sunday Champagne Brunch, 10am-3pm • $24.99 with four glasses of champagne or mimosas, 1 Bloody Mary, or coffee, soda or juice • Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Zodiac Monthly Drag Contest, hosted by Ophelia Bottoms, 8-10pm • Karaoke, 10pm-close • No Cover GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • Karaoke with Kevin downstairs, 9:30pm-close NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Drag Brunch, hosted

by Chanel Devereaux, 10:30am-12:30pm and 1-3pm • Tickets on sale at nelliessportsbar.com • House Rail Drinks, Zing

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Zang Bloody Marys, Nellie Beer and Mimosas, $4, 11am-1am • Buckets of Beer, $15 • Guest DJs NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 2-9pm • $5 Absolut and $5 Bulleit Bourbon, 9pm-close • Multiple TVs showing movies, shows, sports • Expanded craft beer selection • Pop Goes the World with Wes Della Volla at 9:30pm • No Cover PITCHERS Open Noon-2am • $4 Smirnoff, includes flavored, $4 Coors Light or $4 Miller Lites, 2-9pm • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 5-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon,

$5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • Dinner and Drag with Miss Kristina Kelly, 8pm • No Cover • For reservations, email shawsdinnerdragshow@gmail.com TRADE Doors open 2pm • XL Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass is served in an XL glass for the same price, 2-10pm • Beer and wine only $5 • GLAM BOX: A Monthly Dress-Up Dance Party • Come in a look or find one from our house glam boxes • Walk-Off Contest at 10:30pm • Music by Joann Fabrixx • Special Guest Hosts

Monday, October 7 FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Singles Night • Half-Priced Pasta Dishes • Karaoke, 9pm GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • $3 rail cocktails and domestic beers all night long • Singing with the Sisters: Open Mic Karaoke Night with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, 9:30pm-close NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Beat the Clock Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • Buckets of Beer, $15 • Half-Priced Burgers • Paint Nite, 7pm • PokerFace Poker, 8pm • Dart Boards • Ping Pong

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Madness, featuring 2 PingPong Tables NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 5-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • Shaw ‘Nuff Trivia, 7:30pm TRADE Doors open 5pm • XL Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass is served in an XL glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine only $5

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Tuesday, October 8 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 5pm-12am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Live televised sports FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Taco Tuesday • Karaoke, 9pm GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • $3 rail cocktails and domestic beers all night long • Tito’s Tuesday: $5 Tito’s Vodka all night NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Beat the Clock Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • Buckets of Beer $15 • Drag Bingo with Sasha Adams and Brooklyn Heights, 7-9pm • Karaoke, 9pm-close

NUMBER NINE Open at 5pm • Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover PITCHERS Open 5pm-12am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm • Special Late Night menu till 11pm SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • Half-Priced Burgers and Pizzas, 5-10pm

OCTOBER 3, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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

Wednesday, October 9 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 5pm-12am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Live televised sports FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • $6 Burgers • Beach Blanket Drag Bingo Night, hosted

by Ms. Regina Jozet Adams, 8pm • Bingo prizes • Karaoke, 10pm-1am

GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4pm-9pm • Bear Yoga with Greg Leo, 6:30-7:30pm • $10 per class • $3 rail cocktails and domestic beers all night long NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR SmartAss Trivia Night, 8-10pm • Prizes include bar tabs and tickets to shows at the 9:30 Club • $15 Buckets of Beer for SmartAss Teams only • Absolutely Snatched Drag Show, hosted by Brooklyn Heights, 9pm • Tickets available at www.nelliessportsbar.com NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover

PITCHERS Open 5pm-12am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm • Special Late Night menu till 11pm SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • Piano Bar and Karaoke with Jill, 8pm TRADE Doors open 5pm • XL Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass is served in an XL glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine only $5 l

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LastWord.

People say the queerest things

“He couldn’t face the humiliation that was waiting on him when he got to school on Monday, so he shot and killed himself.”

— JOSHUA SMITH, brother of 16-year-old Channing Smith, who took his own life on Sept. 22 after texts he sent to another boy were shared on social media, outing him to his peers. Speaking to FOX 17 News, Smith said the messages were posted “to just completely humiliate and embarrass my brother. Being in a small, rural town in the middle of Tennessee, you can imagine being the laughing stock and having to go to school Monday morning.”

“Coming out gives a voice to the voiceless and shows that there is a future for us. There is hope for us. There is life for us. ” — MATT EASTON, the gay Mormon valedictorian who came out publicly during his commencement speech at Mormon-affiliated Brigham Young University, speaking to Queerty about the importance of coming out and accepting one’s self. “For a long time, the only place I thought the world had to offer me was one in which I couldn’t be true to myself,” he said. “Coming out was my defiance against this idea — it was a deliberate act to claim my space and show that I deserve to be a part of my community exactly as I am.”

“We thought that it was an interesting little twist, that even just signaling your support for the LGBTQ community could result in a canceled ride. ” — CHRIS PARKER, co-author of a new study into D.C.’s rideshare drivers, speaking to NBC News after he and Jorge Meija found

that drivers for a “major” rideshare app (Uber, Lyft, etc.) were more likely to cancel on LGBTQ, LGBTQ-supporting, and black riders than those perceived as being white and straight. Profiles with rainbow filters — signifying either LGBTQ status or an ally — were twice as likely to be canceled on.

“I can tell you with certainty that it comes down to the fact that I am gay.”

— ABRAHM DEVINE, openly gay collegiate swimmer, in an Instagram post claiming that Stanford University kicked him off the swim

team because of his sexuality. DeVine, a member of the U.S. men’s national swim team and NCAA champion, said, “This is a pattern. Homophobia is systematic, intelligently and masterfully designed to keep me silent and to push me out.”

“My only question is, do we need to do anything?

Can we just accept the letter and say thank you?”

— CHRIS NELSON, council member for the city of Ames, Iowa, speaking at a recent council meeting after receiving a letter from the Trump administration demanding that Ames paint over its pro-LGBTQ rainbow crosswalks. The Federal Highway Administration argued that they were a distraction and might encourage other cities to paint their own rainbow crosswalks. However, City Attorney Mark O. Lambert noted that the FHWA lacks jurisdiction over the city’s roads, and the council could choose to ignore the administration’s demands. So they did.

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OCTOBER 3, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

OCTOBER 3, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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