Cuisine du Carla: An interview with Carla Hall - Metro Weekly, July 18, 2019

CONTENTS

JULY 18, 2019

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Volume 26 Issue 11

QUESTIONABLE CONTENT The New Republic deletes an article calling Pete Buttigieg “Mary Pete” and questioning his sexual behavior.

By Rhuaridh Marr

CUISINE DU CARLA

Top Chef skyrocketed Carla Hall to fame, but it’s her definitive southern cooking that continues to steal the show Interview By Doug Rule

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STAY AWHILE

A sparkling ensemble and score cast a sublimely wistful spell in The Band’s Visit, now at the Kennedy Center.

By André Hereford

SPOTLIGHT: THERE ARE NO SHADOWS HERE p.7 OUT ON THE TOWN p.10 THEATRE LAB’S ALIX IN WONDERLAND p.12 THE FEED: CONSCRIPT CONCERNS p.20 COMMUNITY: SOCIAL STRESSORS p.21 FILM: THE LION KING P.31 MUSIC: BANKS’ III p.35 MUSIC: ED SHEERAN’S NO.6 COLLABORATIONS PROJECT p.35 NIGHTLIFE: CHURCH AT TRADE p.37 NIGHTLIFE LISTINGS p.38 NIGHTLIFE HIGHLIGHTS p.39 SCENE: PITCHERS p.44 LAST WORD p.46 Real LGBTQ News and Entertainment since 1994 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 Illustrator 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 Chef Louis Osteen Cover Photography Melissa Hom 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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JULY 18, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

Spotlight

There Are No Shadows Here W E CAN STILL DEBATE WHETHER IT WAS self-censorship or self-preservation that led the Corcoran Gallery to cancel its presentation of the iconically controversial exhibit Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Moment back in the summer of 1989. But, undoubtedly, it took some nerve for the Washington Project for the Arts, and then-director Jock Reynolds, to quickly put up the scuttled show, which included many of the photographer’s most striking, gay-themed nude and S/M images.

Thirty years later, WPA and current director Peter Nesbett are still making bold moves, commemorating the anniversary by inviting acclaimed artist Tiona Nekkia McClodden to curate a program of fresh exploration into The Perfect Moment.

Much like Mapplethorpe, McClodden is having a hot summer. Last month, the Philly-based visual artist and filmmaker — and proud member of the BDSM community — led attendees of the 2019 Whitney Biennial on a deep dive into leather culture, cruising, and hankie codes with her performance project Iron Fist in a Velvet Glove. Now her program for WPA, There Are No Shadows Here: The Perfect Moment at 30, is set to ignite an already-steamy season.

The exhibit, featuring the work of photographers D’Angelo Lovell Williams and George Dureau, is no tribute. “It's more of a critical inquiry, or a critical read, of not only The Perfect Moment exhibit, but more so what it meant at the time for WPA

to, quote unquote, rescue the works after the Corcoran's cancellation of the show,” McClodden says. “People may or may not be disappointed by the fact that I'm not really centering this on Mapplethorpe at all.”

Like a surprise party, but for the attendees, rather than the guest of honor, There Are No Shadows Here focuses on elements and concepts found in Mapplethorpe’s Moment, “but looking at what's happening on the periphery of this moment with other photographers — primarily black photographers, as well as photographers that precede and come after Mapplethorpe.”

Dureau, an early influence on Mapplethorpe, certainly warrants the recognition, as does Williams, the only living artist who will be exhibited in the multi-part project, that also includes film screenings, lectures, and an S/M + Leather roundtable.

“D'Angelo Lovell Williams...is kind of pushing the limits,” says McClodden. “He’s dealing with certain ideas around tough subjecthood — he’s a black man who makes these portraits of himself, portraits of his body up against other bodies — and [I’m bringing] him into this space to talk about censorship at a certain level.”

McClodden knows that the very concept of There Are No Shadows Here will provoke many. She’s already provided a response with the first words of her curatorial statement: “This exhibition is intended to be a transgression.” The statement suitably reflects The Moment. —André Hereford

There Are No Shadows Here: The Perfect Moment at 30 is on display through August 17, 2019 at the Washington Project for the Arts, 2124 8th St. NW. Visit www.wpadc.org.

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Spotlight FREESTYLE LOVE SUPREME

“See it before the show goes to Broadway,” the Kennedy Center says about this new, completely improvised musical ride, all based off audience suggestions, and featuring MCs, musicians, and beatboxers. The only guarantee is that Freestyle Love Supreme should be a quality stage show, considering it was developed by Hamilton creator Lin-Manual Miranda along with Anthony Veneziale and Thomas Kail. Featuring Utkarsh Ambudkar, Andrew Bancroft, Daveed Diggs, James Monroe Iglehart, Chris Jackson, Arthur Lewis, Bill Sherman, and Chris Sullivan. To July 21. Family Theater. Tickets are $55 to $99. Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

SWORD OF TRUST

In this largely improvised comedy, Jillian Bell (Comedy Central’s Workaholics) and Michaela Watkins (Hulu’s Casual) play a lesbian couple who reluctantly form a fortune-seeking alliance with an Alabama pawnshop owner, played by popular podcaster Marc Maron, and his bumbling employee (Jon Bass). The foursome hopes to strike it rich via a Civil War-era sword that Bell’s character inherited from her grandfather. But their quest to sell the antique causes them to duel with Deep South conspiracy theorists and fans of revisionist history. Directed by Lynn Shelton (Humpday). Opens Friday, July 19.

Landmark’s E Street Cinema, 555 11th St. NW. Call 202-452-7672 or visit www.landmarktheatres.com.

JODY WATLEY

Responsible for the ’80s-minted spunky dance-soul hits “Looking for a New Love,” “Don’t You Want Me,” “Still A Thrill,” and “Friends,” the Grammy-winning Watley got her start as a lead dancer on Soul Train and as a member of the R&B group Shalamar. Over the past couple of decades, the artist has shown herself to be an outspoken gay rights and marriage equality activist. Watley returns with SRL, or Shalamar Reloaded Live, to celebrate 30 years of her best-selling song in the U.S., “Real Love.” Saturday, July 20, at 8 p.m. Bethesda Blues & Jazz Supper Club, 7719 Wisconsin Ave. Tickets are $59.50 to $79.50, plus $20 minimum purchase per person. Call 240-330-4500 or visit www.bethesdabluesjazz.com.

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Spotlight BLUE DOT JAZZ TROUPE

Rooted in the music of New Orleans, this modern rhythmic jazz ensemble mixes in blues, funk, AfroCuban, and pop to bring the signature American music genre to life in new and dynamic ways, with the intention of getting audiences moving and dancing. Recently, they’ve been doing that three nights a week, performing live at Kramerbooks’ Afterwords Café, in the back of the venue, where patrons can enjoy late-night food as well as a host of literary-inspired cocktails and over 20 craft beers on tap. Thursdays from 9 to 10 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays from 10 p.m. to Midnight.

1517 Connecticut Ave. NW. Call 202-387-3825 or visit www.kramers.com.

DAVE KOZ AND FRIENDS: SUMMER HORNS

One of contemporary jazz’s leading figures, the gay smooth jazz saxophonist Koz recruits another group of jazz star friends for a “brass-fueled, feel-good tour of the summer” that includes a Hollywood Bowl outing and a Spirit of New York concert cruise, as well as a stop at MGM National Harbor. The lineup includes many of the guests featured on last year’s Summer Horns II: From A to Z, a collection of jazzy covers of pop/soul hits — namely, vocalist Kenny Lattimore, saxophonist Gerald Albright, vocalist/trombonist Aubrey Logan, trumpeter Rick Braun, and guitarist Adam Hawley. Thursday, July 25, at 8 p.m. The Theater, 7100 Harborview Ave., Oxon Hill, Md. Tickets are $43 to $70. Call 844-346-4664 or visit www.mgmnationalharbor.com.

WOLF TRAP OPERA: STRAUSS’S ARIADNE AUF NAXOS

A new production of this soaring opera featuring the beautiful music of Richard Strauss and slapstick comedy from librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal, performed simultaneously in a battle of “high” and “low” art based on a Molière comedy. Tara Faircloth directs the production with conductor Emily Senturia and a cast of Wolf Trap Opera Studio Artists singing in German with projected English translations. Friday, July 19, at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, July 21, at 3 p.m., Wednesday, July 24, at 3 p.m., and Saturday, July 27, at 7:30 p.m. The Barns at Wolf Trap, 1635 Trap Road, Vienna. Tickets are $36. Call 877-WOLFTRAP or visit www.wolftrap.org.

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Out On The Town

NSO: APOLLO 11 — A 50TH ANNIVERSARY

Meredith Vieira of NBC News and Adam Savage of Discovery’s Mythbusters host a special tribute, presented by the National Symphony Orchestra in collaboration with NASA, celebrating the 50th anniversary to the day of the moon landing: July 20, 1969. Emil de Cou leads the NSO performing a new commissioned work by Oscar-winning composer Michael Giacchino as part of a momentous concert with performances and appearances by Pharrell Williams, LeVar Burton, Natasha Bedingfield, Todd Douglas Miller, Jon Bernthal, Charles Fishman, and Mark Armstrong, son of the first man on the moon, Apollo 11’s late Neil Armstrong. Also included in the “One Small Step, One Giant Leap” concert are specially curated visuals from NASA timed to music, along with pre-taped performances and greetings from John “Jack” Schlossberg, Brad Paisley, Elton John, Stephen Colbert, and astronauts on the International Space Station, and a screening of never-before-seen footage of the late David Bowie performing “Space Oddity” live at his 50th birthday concert at Madison Square Garden in 1997. Saturday, July 20, at 9 p.m. Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Tickets are $29 to $149. Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

Compiled by Doug Rule

FILM

Tickets are $13 general admission.

Call 301-495-6720 or visit www.afi. com/Silver.

APOLLO 11

GLORY

The American Film Institute offers a screening of Todd Douglas Miller’s new documentary celebrating the 50th anniversary of NASA’s most celebrated mission, which took humankind to the moon.

Crafted from a newly discovered trove of 65mm footage and more than 11,000 hours of uncatalogued audio recordings, Apollo 11 extends the lens to focus not just on the two men who famously first walked the moon, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, but also the perspectives of the large, anxious team in Mission Control as well as the millions of spectators on the ground. Saturday, July 20, at 11 a.m., and Sunday, July 21, at 12 p.m. AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring.

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Called “one of the finest historical dramas ever made” by film critic Leonard Malton, Edward Zwick’s sweeping Civil War epic returns to movie theaters for the first time since its initial release in 1989. The special 30th anniversary screening of the underrated epic, courtesy Fathom Events and TCM’s Big Screen Classics series, earned Denzel Washington his first Oscar and also starred Matthew Broderick, Morgan Freeman, Cary Elwes, and Andre Braugher. It includes pre- and post-screening recorded commentary from TCM Primetime host Ben Mankiewicz.

Sunday, July 21, at various Regal venues, including Gallery Place (701 7th St. NW), Potomac Yards

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Stadium (3575 Jefferson Davis Highway), and Majestic Stadium (900 Ellsworth Dr., Silver Spring).

Visit www.fathomevents.com.

LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

The 5th annual Georgetown Sunset Cinema series carries the theme “Out of Office,” with a schedule of trip-themed movies as voted on by the public. The Parent Trap (the 1998 version) and Eat Pray Love are still to come during the five-week run of screenings on the grassy knoll along the banks of the Potomac River, with the panoramic Key Bridge as backdrop.

But next Tuesday, July 23, offers the warmhearted, spirited comedy about a pageant-obsessed 7-yearold girl from screenwriter Michael Arndt and husband-and-wife-directing duo Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. Metro Weekly’s Randy Shulman called the 2006 film “a

winning and delightfully quirky comedy,” one especially elevated by virtue of its skilled ensemble cast, including Alan Arkin, Toni Collette, Greg Kinnear, and Steve Carrell as the gay uncle of little Olive, played

by Abigail Breslin in an ebullient performance. Everyone is encouraged to bring a blanket, food and water or soft drinks — just no chairs or alcohol. Tuesday, July 23, at the intersection of Water Street and Cecil Place NW. The area opens at 6:30 p.m., and the screening starts at sunset, around 8:30 p.m. Call 202298-9222 or visit www.georgetowndc.com/sunsetcinema.

SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE

The AFI Silver Theatre co-presents a free summer outdoor film series at nearby Sonny’s Green, where patrons can bring blankets and lowrise chairs as well as their own food

and beverage. The series kicks off Friday, July 19, with Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, the Oscarwinning animated adventure with a groundbreaking visual style depicting the Miles Morales version of the superhero story — not the more familiar Peter Parker character. The following Friday, July 26, brings a 20th anniversary screening of The Matrix, the 1999 Keanu Reeves-starring sci-fi leather fetish fantasy that Metro Weekly’s Randy Shulman praised for “its striking design, groundbreaking effects, and a narrative that [blends] references to pop culture, philosophy and a handful of religion tenets into a stylish, savory sci-fi stew.” Screenings begin at sundown, around 8 p.m.

Off the parking lot of the Blairs Shopping Center, 1290 East-West Highway. Call 301-495-6720 or visit www.afi.com/Silver.

THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT!

WONDERLAND

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The Theatre Lab’s teen-driven, original summer musical takes a familiar story in gender-nonconforming directions.

NCE UPON A TIME, NOT VERY LONG AGO, BUZZ MAURO AND NORMAN ALLEN locked arms and ventured down a creative rabbit hole together, setting out to create an original musical. The result became a vibrant, contemporary riff on Lewis Carroll’s classic, Alice in Wonderland. Their version, however, Alix in Wonderland, would traverse a decidedly different path.

“It’s about a kid exploring the possibility of gender nonconformity who falls down the rabbit hole,” says Mauro, co-founder and co-executive director, along with Deb Gottesman, of the esteemed local acting academy, The Theatre Lab. “The show is a whole ‘Who are you?’ thing, and that question gets really intensified throughout. Everybody keeps asking Alix who she is, and she can't quite figure it out. She comes to a revelation by the end.”

As Mauro and Allen hashed things out, they discovered new motivations for familiar characters.

“The Mock Turtle is always crying because he's not a real anything,” says Mauro. “He's kind of in-between things. This really resonates with our Alix in ways that she doesn't quite understand.

But it leads to the climax where she starts to realize that she can't escape making some decisions.”

The show, which will run for four performances this weekend starting tonight, is produced by The Theatre Lab’s Summer Musical Theatre Institute for Teens. The production is fully staged and features roughly 30 teen actors between the ages of 13 to 19, including many who identify as binary and trans, allowing for a deeper resonance and connection to the piece overall.

Though Mauro notes that the piece has its darker moments, the messages within are designed to spark joy. Take the Tweedledee and Tweedledum showstopper. “They’re nonbinary,” he says of the characters, “and the way that plays out in their musical number is that they like to be both extremely stereotypically feminine and extremely stereotypically masculine. They go back and forth. It's a funny number with lots of poking fun at stereotypes. There are also a bunch of trees in the number — and they’re all nonbinary. And when our students play trees, it's a little bit different.”

Recently, during a rehearsal of the Tweedledee-Tweedledum number, a staffer approached Mauro and remarked on how profound it was to watch. “There were all these kids — boys and girls and nonbinary people and trans kids of all stripes — all doing super ‘masculine’ and super ‘feminine’ stuff. They were having a ball doing it. He said he probably would have been embarrassed to do that when he was a kid. To see these kids embracing these ideas is just moving.”

—Randy Shulman Alix in Wonderland runs July 18, 19, and 20 at 7:30 p.m. and July 20 at 2 p.m. at The Theatre Lab, 733 8th St. NW. General admission is $15. Students, seniors, Theatre Lab members, and Actors' Center members pay only $10. Visit www.theatrelab.org or call 202-824-0449.

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That’s Entertainment! is an out-andout celebration Metro-GoldwynMayer and its movie musical legacy.

Designed as a star-studded retrospective of MGM’s first 50 years, Jack Haley, Jr.’s documentary featured classic segments drawn from dozens of the company’s most famous song-and-dance numbers, archived footage showcasing Judy Garland, Clark Gable, and Lena Horne, and original interviews with Bing Crosby, Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Frank Sinatra, and James Stewart, plus narrators Elizabeth Taylor and Fred Astaire.

That’s Entertainment! returns to the big screen as part of the Capital Classics series at Landmark’s West End Cinema. Wednesday, July 24, 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. Call 202534-1907 or visit www.landmarktheatres.com.

THE MUPPET MOVIE

Jim Henson’s creations first took to the silver screen in this 1979 caper in which Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo, and Miss Piggy lead a road trip to Hollywood with appearances from a “veritable who’s who of 1970s pop culture”: Mel Brooks, Madeline Kahn, Steve Martin, Dom DeLuise, Carol Kane, Richard Pryor, and Bob Hope. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the film, which was directed by James Frawley and spawned the famous song “Rainbow Connection,” Fathom Events brings the original back to screens nationwide on Thursday, July 25, and Tuesday, July 30, at 12:30 and 7 p.m. Various Regal venues, including Gallery Place (701 7th St. NW), Potomac Yards Stadium (3575 Jefferson Davis Highway), and Majestic Stadium (900 Ellsworth Dr., Silver Spring). Visit www.fathomevents.com.

WEST SIDE STORY

It’s been nearly 60 years since direc-

River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation building, 6301 River Rd., Bethesda. Tickets are $10 to $29.50. Call 301-337-8290 or visit www.unexpectedstage.org.

THE LOGAN FESTIVAL OF SOLO PERFORMANCE

LADYM

Winner of the 2016 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Emerging Theatre Company, the Welders Playwrights’ Collective features a team of emerging local playwrights who collaborate to produce one original show from each member over the course of three years.

Now in its final year, the second generation of the collective offers a devised work created

by Rachel Hynes and Francesca Chilcote, described as part incantation, part mystery, and part interactive comedy show. Based on interviews with women in D.C. sharing their attitudes toward menstruation, LadyM features three witches making a potion, casting a spell, and sending audiences down a rabbit hole of poetry, horror, ambition, and blood.

Drawing on Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the result is billed as a “grotesque comedy [and] highly stylized, absurdist, and radical feminist bloodbath.” Hynes and Chilcote star along with Deidre Staples, Anastasia Wilson, and Vanita Kalra. To July 27. Joe’s Movement Emporium, 3309 Bunker Hill Road, Mount Rainier, Md. Tickets are $18 to $30. Call 301699-1819 or visit www.joesmovement.org.

tor Robert Wise adapted this modernized take on Romeo and Juliet

by Leonard Bernstein. The Oscarwinning movie musical with Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, George Chakiris, and Rita Moreno and featuring Jerome Robbins’ vibrant choreography, returns to the big screen for two screenings at the AFI Silver Theatre to toast the centennial founding of United Artists — a summer-long series offering a slew of classics, including Annie Hall, Carrie, Midnight Cowboy, Raging Bull, Rocky, and several James Bond blockbusters. Saturday, July 20, and Monday, July 22, at 1 p.m.

8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring.

Tickets are $13 general admission.

Call 301-495-6720 or visit www.afi. com/Silver.

STAGE CAPITAL FRINGE FESTIVAL

Southwest D.C. once again serves as the hub for this year’s Capital

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Fringe, with seven stages set up at venues throughout the neighborhood, including Arena Stage and several area churches — all within easy walking distance of one another. Although festival organizers have curated a few professional shows it will officially present, most Fringe shows are selected through an unjuried, open-invitation process — first-come, first-staged — with works largely created and produced by new or relatively inexperienced theatermakers. And a remarkable 19 out of this year’s 89 productions are billed as having LGBTQ content, including: Sara Emsley’s lesbian space adventure Dust, the experiences of a Filipino-American father and son in Emil Amok! All Pucked Up: Harvard, NPR and more, Nicole Cox’s values-clashing political drama Office of the Speaker, Shaun Johnson’s personal tale about overcoming a difficult childhood with Veneer of Beauty, and sex educator Twanna A. Hines’ We’re All Going to Fucking Die! Shows run

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in staggered repertory through July 28. Tickets are $20 per show, and multi-show passes range from $72 to $500. Call 866-811-4111 or visit www.capitalfringe.org.

THE FEW

A drama from playwright Samuel D. Hunter (A Bright New Boise) set in an Idaho town where residents are struggling to connect, relate, and make sense of it all. Baakari Wilder (Broadway’s Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk) plays a man returning after a few years away, Dawn Thomas Reidy plays his friend and former lover, and Andrew Flurer a newcomer who complicates his future in a changed town. Audrey Cefaly, Ira Joe Fisher, Michael Grenham, and Zach Brewster-Geisz also lend their voiceover talents to this production from Maryland’s Unexpected Stage, a company that director Christopher Goodrich founded 10 years ago with his wife Rachel Stroud-Goodrich. Now to Aug. 4. Fireside Room in the

Virginia’s 1st Stage presents its third annual festival featuring celebrated solo performers from across the country. This year’s two-week festival, which offers what the Washington Post acclaims as “three plays [that] prove the power of one,” staged in repertory on alternate evenings, includes: The Things They Carried, Jim Stowell’s dramatization of a famous collection of short stories by Tim O’Brien charting the unforgettable journey of a soldier in the Vietnam War, performed by David Sitler; The Happiest Place on Earth featuring Tia Shearer bringing to life the women in playwright Philip Dawkins’ family, exploring their tragic history while humorously pondering the concept of Disneyland and a place where dreams come true; and Joy Rebel, Khanisha Foster’s candid, personal exploration about coming to terms with life as the product of an interracial relationship that her own “cherished grandmother” condemned. All three, roughly 90-minute, intermission-less plays are performed Saturday, July 20, and Sunday, July 21, closing out the festival. 1524 Spring Hill Rd. Tysons, Va. Tickets are $20 per show, or $50 for a Festival Pass. Call 703854-1856 or visit www.1ststage.org.

TIGER STYLE!

Described as an outrageous and cutting satire of Asian-American identity, Mike Lew’s latest work closes out the current season at Olney Theatre Center in a production helmed by Helen Hayes Award-winning director Natsu Onoda Power. Regina Aquino and Sean Sekino will star as third-generation Chinese-Americans, affluent Millennial siblings who face something of a late-adolescent identity crisis that leads them to try their hand at living in the motherland.

Eileen Rivera as their mother and Michael Glenn as the show’s sole non-Asian actor playing a host of characters complete the cast. In previews. Opens Saturday, July 20.

Runs to Aug. 18. Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney, Md. Call 301924-3400 or visit www.olneytheatre.org.

TREASURE ISLAND

Virginia’s Synetic closes out its season with a high seas adventure full of pirates. The original adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novel of the same name is the latest caper from a physical theater-focused company that’s made its name producing wordless

variations on classics, particularly those by Shakespeare. Synetic’s impressive crew of athletic actors will bring to life the coming-of-age tale focused on the orphan Jane Hawkins and a ruthless band of buccaneers on a wild hunt for buried treasure. To Aug. 18. 1800 South Bell St., Arlington. Tickets are $35 to $60. Call 800-811-4111 or visit www.synetictheater.org.

TWISTED MELODIES

A powerful one-man show — written and performed by Kelvin Roston, Jr. — based on the life of ’70s soul singer Donny Hathaway, which imagines the troubled and brilliant musician’s last day on Earth. Derrick Sanders directs the production for Mosaic Theater Company of DC in collaboration with Baltimore Center Stage, Chicago’s Congo Square Theatre, and New York’s Apollo Theater.

To July 21. Lang Theatre in the Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets are $20 to $68.

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

MUSIC CREATIVE CAULDRON’S SUMMER CABARET SERIES

The 10th annual summer cabaret series at ArtSpace Falls Church continues this weekend with the shows

“New York, New Nora” featuring Nora Palka (Creative Cauldron’s On Air), who will perform her original ukulele tunes as well as jazz and show tune standards, on Friday, July 19, and “Somewhere Over the Rose” with Kathy Halenda, celebrating the songs, styles, and stories of Judy Garland and Bette Midler, on Saturday, July 20. Those cabarets are followed by “Piano Man” with Chis Urquiaga, performing original tunes as well as pop piano classics, on Friday, July 26, and “The First Lady of Country: Tribute to Patsy Cline” featuring Jess Eliot Myhre, Maureen Andary, and Aimee Curl, on Saturday, July 27. All shows at 8 p.m. Series runs to Sept. 14. 410 South Maple Ave. in Falls Church. Tickets are $18 to $22 per show, or $60 for a table for two with wine and $120 for four with wine. Call 703-436-9948 or visit www.creativecauldron.org.

JAZZ IN THE GARDEN: MILES STIEBEL, INCENDIO

A summertime staple for 19 seasons, the National Gallery of Art offers free outdoor concerts immediately after work every Friday through late August. Bands offering a range of jazz styles, from swing to Latin to ska, perform amidst the museum’s collection of large-scale sculptural works while patrons enjoy food and drinks, including beer, wine, and sangria, as sold by the

Pavilion Café. New menu items for 2019 include the popular vegetarian Teriyaki Impossible Burger, a Bahn Mi Turkey Burger with ginger soy aioli, and more traditional sandwiches of pulled pork and beef brisket, all available at grill stations throughout the Sculpture Garden.

The series continues with jazz violinist Miles Stiebel on July 19, followed by Incendio, the 20-year-old instrumental world guitar band featuring Jim Stubblefield, Jean-Pierre Durand, Liza Carbé, and Timothy Curle, on July 26. Evenings from 5 to 8:30 p.m. Sculpture Garden, between 7th and 9th Streets NW. Call 202289-3360 or visit www.nga.gov.

SIGNATURE THEATRE’S SUMMER CABARET SERIES

Before launching its new season next month, Signature presents a cabaret series with seven different shows, most of them featuring musical actors known from productions at the Shirlington complex.

Among those performing during the opening week of the series are: Maria Rizzo (Signature’s A Little Night Music, Gypsy) celebrating the “vivacious, sexiest women of Broadway” with “Vamping” on Saturday, July 20, at 2 and 8 p.m.; Joel Coleman, the lead vocalist of the Platters (“Smoke Gets In Your Eyes,” “Only You”), and his “No Boundaries” mix of songs that share “the soundtrack of his life,”

on Sunday, July 21, at 7 p.m.; Awa Sal Secka (Blackbeard, Jesus Christ Superstar) and Christian Douglas (United States Army Chorus) in “Two’s Company,” “a cabaret toast to dynamic duos,” on Friday, July 19, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, July 21, at 2 p.m.; the Christie Dashiell Quartet, featuring its namesake Billboard-charting singer and pianist Mark G. Meadows, offering a salute to the band “Earth, Wind & Fire” on Wednesday, July 24, at 7:30 p.m.; and Erin Driscoll (Titanic), who “explores the evolution of the Broadway soprano” in “My Favorite Things” on Thursday, July 25, at 8 p.m. Series continues to Aug. 4. The Ark at 4200 Campbell Ave., in Arlington. Tickets are $38 per show, or $175 for an All-Access pass. Call 703-820-9771 or visit www.sigtheatre.org.

STRATHMORE’S LIVE FROM THE LAWN: JOE FALERO BAND

For those with a penchant for salsa music and Latin dancing in general, the lawn outside of the Strathmore mansion will be the place to move and groove next Wednesday, July 24, starting at 7 p.m. That’s when Puerto Rican percussionist and DJ Joe Falero will lead his namesake rhythmic band, a recipient of three “Stuck on Salsa Awards,” in a concert that comes as part of the venue’s free weekly summer series. Expect to be “dancing all

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to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg), Wexler explores the ever-larger number of Americans who say they identify with no religion at all in his new book. With the full title Our Non-Christian Nation: How Atheists, Satanists, Pagans, and Others are Demanding Their Rightful Place in Public Space features profiles of the many non-Christians and “other determined champions of free religious expression” who are increasingly demanding their full participation in public life.

Thursday, July 25, at 6:30 p.m.

Kramerbooks, 1517 Connecticut Ave. NW. Call 202-387-1400 or visit www.kramers.com.

LIVE NATION

SARAH PARCAK

BILLY JOEL

He’s headlined multiple concerts at Nationals Park since the ballpark opened a decade ago. And in 2014, the “Piano Man” started playing one show a month at New York’s Madison Square Garden, making him the venue’s first-ever music franchise. Surprisingly, Joel has never played at the famous home stadium for the Baltimore Orioles. Even more surprisingly, apparently no one else has either. That changes next Friday, July 26, when Joel offers what is billed as the first-ever concert at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Presented by LiveNation, the Orioles Charitable Foundation will donate a portion of the concert proceeds to support music and arts education programs for kids across the Major League team’s territory. The sixth best-selling recording artist of all time and the third best-selling solo artist, Joel is also responsible for a whopping 33 Top 40 hits — or, too many to pack into just one concert. The show starts at 8 p.m. 333 W. Camden St., Baltimore. Only “Verified Resale Tickets” remain, ranging from $177 to $1,000.01. Call 888-848-BIRD or visit www.livenation.com.

night long” — or at least as long as the band keeps playing. Gudelsky Gazebo, 10701 Rockville Pike, North Bethesda. Tickets are free. Call 301581-5100 or visit strathmore.org.

25, at 8 p.m. The Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. Tickets are $55 to $125. Call 301-581-5100 or visit www.strathmore.org.

COMEDY

MELISSA VILLASEŇOR

CAROL BURNETT: AN EVENING OF LAUGHTER AND REFLECTION

The comedy pioneer and dynamic entertainer returns for another night in which she puts herself on the spot, taking questions from the audience, just as she did in the intro to every episode of her eponymous hit TV variety show. The program is a retrospective, complete with video clips, from the 86-year-old’s performing career, which was launched into superstardom with a 1959 Tony-nominated role in Once Upon A Mattress. More recently she’s been heralded not once but twice by the Kennedy Center, as an Honoree in 2003 and as the 2013 recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for Humor. Thursday, July

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A current Saturday Night Live star, who became the show’s first-ever Latina cast member, got her start as a semifinalist on America’s Got Talent and is also an in-demand voiceover artist for television cartoons, including everything from Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time to Fox’s Family Guy. Villaseñor taps into that voice work as well as her celebrity impressions showcased on SNL (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Lady Gaga among them) when she performs stand-up, including during her debut run of weekend shows at the DC Improv, with opening sets from formerly D.C.-based comic Brittany Carney. Thursday, July 18, with doors at 6:30 p.m., Friday, July 19, with doors at 6:30 and 9:30 p.m., and Saturday, July 20, with doors at 6 and 9 p.m. 1140

JULY 18, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

Connecticut Ave. NW. Tickets are $22 to $25, plus a two-item minimum. Call 202-296-7008 or visit www.dcimprov.com.

THE SECOND CITY: AMERICA; IT’S COMPLICATED

The legendary comedic troupe from Chicago returns to the Kennedy Center for another allnew, made-for-Washington politically minded show mixing sketch comedy, improv, satire, and original music. Mary Catherine Curran, Cody Dove, Jillian Ebanks, Jordan Savusa, Adam Schreck, and Holly Walker are the featured players for America; It’s Complicated. To Aug. 11. Theater Lab. Tickets are $49 to $59. Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

READINGS JAY WEXLER: OUR NON-CHRISTIAN NATION

A professor at Boston University School of Law (and one-time clerk

A National Geographic Fellow and TED Prize-winner as well as anthropology professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham comes to Solid State Books in D.C.’s H Street Corridor to read from and sign copies of her new book. Archaeology from Space: How the Future Shapes Our Past introduces readers to “the brave new world” of space archaeology and explains how the field uses futuristic tools to unlock secrets from the past — such as the kind of satellite imaging this “remote sensing” expert and noted Egyptologist has used at potential archeological sites in Egypt and across the former Roman Empire. Monday, July 22, at 7 p.m. Solid State Books, 600 H St. NE. Call 897-4201 or visit www. solidstatebooksdc.com.

ART & EXHIBITS DINOROARS

Right now, dinosaurs are in motion and causing a commotion of sorts at the National Zoo — but in as harmless and science-lite a way, and as far from Jurassic Park, as possible. Although they can move, roar, and even spit water, the six prehistoric creatures roaming the Smithsonian park’s central Olmsted Walk are essentially toys — animatronic replicas of everything from a baby stegosaurus to a 13-foot-tall, 39-foot-long T-Rex. An additional attraction is “Erth’s Dinosaur Zoo Live,” a 30-minute show in which a team of skilled performers and puppeteers bring to life a collection of “lifelike dinosaurs” touted as providing “visual oomph to rival The Lion King.” Multiple shows daily, except Mondays. Now to Aug. 31. 3001 Connecticut Ave. NW. Zoo entry is free; tickets to “Erth’s Dinosaur Zoo” are $8 to $10.

Call 202-633-4888 or visit https:// nationalzoo.si.edu.

HOT!

The Focus Gallery of the Arlington Artists Alliance presents a group show featuring member artistic interpretations on the topical — and tropical — theme of summertime

heat and humidity. The “sizzling artistry” — per the words of the organizers — will be on display in the air-conditioned comfort of the gallery, which is located in the Crystal City Shops. Also on display: Our National Mall in Color, a show featuring vivid depictions of national landmarks from watercolorist Tony Neville, the gallery’s featured artist of the month. On display through July 26. Gallery Underground, 2100 Crystal Drive.

Call 571-483-0652 or visit www.galleryunderground.org.

MID-CENTURY MASTER: THE PHOTOGRAPHER OF ALFRED EISENSTAEDT

Nearly 50 photographs and ephemera from the Life Magazine artist known for capturing larger-thanlife personalities and those among the most notable people of the 20th century — from Marilyn Monroe to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

This special exhibition at Hillwood explores the relationship that evolved over the course of photo sessions between Eisenstaedt and Hillwood founder Marjorie Merriweather Post. To Jan. 12.

Hillwood Estate, 4155 Linnean Ave. NW. Suggested donation is $18.

Call 202-686-5807 or visit www.

HillwoodMuseum.org.

PARENTING: AN ART WITHOUT A MANUAL

The latest theme examined in a year-long exhibition at this quirkiest of museums is that of “what might be humanity’s most essential performance art.” Works by 36 artists, created out of every conceivable medium, express, in some way, their personal experience of parenting or being parented — be it good, bad, horrific, or sublime — alongside revelations from the latest scientific research, global wisdom, and fun. To Sept. 1. American Visionary Art Museum, 800 Key Highway.

Baltimore. Tickets are $15.95. Call 410-244-1900 or visit avam.org.

REDISCOVERING BALTIMORE’S FORGOTTEN MOVIE THEATERS

A survey of Baltimore’s movie-going past from 1896 to the present, this Flickering Treasures exhibition at the National Building Museum features oral histories, architectural fragments, theater ephemera, and of course photography — particularly vivid, contemporary shots from Baltimore Sun staff photographer Amy Davis. All of it illuminates themes of memory, loss, and preservation, as well as the importance of movies and movie houses in 20th century American life. While only a handful of more than 240 theaters built in Charm City still function today, many survive in some form, as documented in this exhibition.

On display to Oct. 2019. 401 F St. NW. Call 202-272-2448 or visit www.nbm.org.

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REFIK ANADOL: INFINITE SPACE

D.C.’s technology-focused art gallery ArTecHouse presents the first major retrospective of Refik Anadol, a thoroughly 21st-century-focused artist who uses data and computerized networks to create radical visualizations of our digitized memories, expanding the possibilities of architecture, narrative, and the movement. Through site-specific, parametric data sculptures and immersive installations, the L.A.based Turkish artist helps rethink the physical world, our relationship to time and space, and the creative potential where humans and machines interact. The exhibition’s title derives from an infamous, internationally touring immersive installation featuring three infinity boxes and a selection of multimedia works spanning Anadol’s career. To Sept. 2. 1238 Maryland Ave. SW. Tickets are $13 to $20, with “after hours” sessions featuring a bar with exhibition-related Augmented Reality cocktails. visit www.artechouse.com.

SECTION 14: THE OTHER PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA

Before it became a gay desert mecca and a resort for the rich and famous, Palm Springs was a desert outpost — as well as home to the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation. The National Museum of the American Indian shines a light on a land battle in Palm Springs, yet another in a long string of conflicts between western expansion and Indigenous peoples’ rights. The focus is on Section 14, a one-square-mile tract in downtown Palm Springs that forms the heart of the reservation. The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians created the exhibition, which was organized by the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum. On display through Jan. 2020. National Museum of the American Indian, Independence Avenue at 4th Street SW. Call 202633-1000 or visit www.nmai.si.edu.

THE WARMTH OF OTHER SUNS: STORIES OF GLOBAL DISPLACEMENT

Works posing urgent questions about the experiences and perceptions of migration and the current global refugee crisis are the focus of a special summer exhibition at the Phillips Collection. Organized in partnership with the New Museum in New York, The Warmth of Other Suns presents 75 historical and contemporary artists, from the U.S. and all over the world, who have reconstructed personal and collective tales of migration via art installations, videos, paintings, and documentary images. The exhibition brings together a multitude of voices and exposes the universality of migration as an experience shared by many. That includes the more than six million African Americans

JULY 18, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

whose exodus from the American South during the Jim Crow era is depicted in Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series, a cornerstone of the permanent collection at the Phillips. Now to Sept. 22. 1600 21st St. NW. Tickets are $10 to $12. Call 202-387-2151 x247 or visit www. phillipscollection.org.

URSULA VON RYDINGSVARD: THE CONTOUR OF FEELING

The National Museum of Women in the Arts currently has on display monumental sculptures made from wood and other organic materials, including leather, silk, and hair, all created by this German artist with the intent of evoking the grandeur and power of nature. A wall installation and an additional nine works on paper are included in this, the most ambitious presentation of works to date by von Rydingsvard, one of the most influential sculptors working today. Mark Rosenthal formerly of the National Gallery of Art guest-curated the exhibition, which was organized by Philadelphia’s Fabric Workshop and Museum. On exhibit to July 28. 1250 New York Ave NW. Admission is $10. Call 202-783-5000 or visit www.nmwa.org.

FOOD & DRINK HANK’S PASTA BAR: METRO RUSH HOUR DISCOUNTS

Throughout July, Hank’s Pasta Bar in Alexandria is offering two specials “to help ease the rush hour commute,” or at least to help mitigate frustration over delays caused

by Metro’s closure of the Blue and Yellow lines in Northern Virginia.

The first “Beat Your Summer Commute” special grants 10-percent off the entire check per a request for the Blue Line, while a request for the Yellow Line grants a free meal for kids (provided an adult meal is purchased). Available weeknights from 5 to 6:30 p.m. for patrons in the dining room or on the patio. To July 31. 600 Montgomery St., Alexandria. Call 571-312-4117 or visit www.hankspastabar.com.

ABOVE & BEYOND AMERICA THE GAME SHOW. F*CK YEAH!

Three years ago, Kate Taylor Davis and Jared Davis concocted a variety show that made light of American history in the run-up to July 4th — in 2016, just before the country took a dark, dark turn. Since then, the hit show has become darker and more subversive — as well as more popular — adding topical games with names including “Extreme Vetting” and “Grab. That.

P**sy!” This year’s fourth iteration introduces an all-new slate of games, including “The 1% Relay” and “Glory Hole Whack-a-Mole.”

Carlos Bustamante aka Carl Buster

returns as show host, accompanied by a bevy of “All-American Girls” for a tongue-in-cheek trip across the country filled with trivia, games, satire, and nudity. The latter especially comes into play in a segment called “Naked Moments in American History” with the character known as “Drunkle Sam,” whose purpose is “to fill in the gaps in America’s public education.” Aiding in the cause are Lucrezia Blozia, Jim Dandy, Kittie Glitter, Eleni Grove, Mehdi Raoufi, J. Brinke, Callie Pigeon, Candy Del Rio, Cherie Sweetbottom, and Andrew Wodzianski. Friday, July 19, at 9 p.m., and Saturday, July 20, at 8 p.m.

GALA Hispanic Theatre, 3333 14th St. NW. Tickets are $22 to $32. Visit www.astropopevents.com. Also Friday, July 26, and Saturday, July 27, at 8 p.m. Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Ave. Baltimore. Tickets are $20 to $23. Call 410-276-1651 or visit www.creativealliance.org.

ARTSCAPE

Billed as the nation’s largest free arts festival, Artscape attracts more than 350,000 people to Baltimore neighborhoods Midtown and Station North to take in fine/textile art in every medium — from visual to fashion to sculpture, with more than 100 artists and craftspeople represented. There are also multiple stages offering performances of live music from regional and nationally known acts. Maryland restaurants and bars also participate in an event co-produced by the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts and the Baltimore Festival of the Arts, Inc. Friday, July 19, and Saturday, July 20, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday, July 21, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mount Royal Avenue and Charles Street, Baltimore. Free.

Call 410-752-8632 or visit www. artscape.org.

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. l

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QUESTIONABLE CONTENT

The New Republic deletes article calling Pete Buttigieg "Mary Pete" and questioning his sexual behavior. By Rhuaridh Marr

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HE NEW REPUBLIC HAS APOLOGIZED AFTER publishing an article about Democratic presidential hopeful Mayor Pete Buttigieg that was criticized for being homophobic and deeply offensive. Penned by gay writer Dale Peck, the column, “My Mayor Pete Problem,” questioned Buttigieg’s sexual behavior, repeatedly referred to him as “Mary Pete,” and called him the “gay equivalent of Uncle Tom.” Peck wrote in the article that Buttigieg shouldn’t be president because he would act like a sexually promiscuous “gay teenager” in the White House due to not coming out until his 30s “The only thing that distinguishes the mayor of South Bend from all those other well-educated reasonably intelligent white dudes who wanna be president is what he does with his dick (and possibly his ass, although I get a definite top-by-default vibe from him, which is to say that I bet he thinks about getting fucked but he’s too uptight to do it),” Peck wrote.

“So let’s dish the dish, homos,” he continued. “You know and I know that Mary Pete is a gay teenager. He’s a fifteenyear-old boy in a Chicago bus station wondering if it’s a good idea to go home with a fifty-year-old man so that he’ll finally understand what he is.

“He’s been out for, what, all of four years, and if I understand the narrative, he married the first guy he dated. And we all know what happens when gay people don’t get a real adolescence because they spent theirs in the closet: they go through it after they come out.”

Peck said that “the last thing I want in the White House is a gay man staring down 40 who suddenly realizes he didn’t get to have all the fun his straight peers did when they were teenagers.”

The article was heavily criticized on social media after it was posted on Friday, July 12. One user said it was “homophobia worthy of a boycott,” while another called it “garbage” and a “shameful and disgusting piece.”

“I get satire and appreciate pithy,” Twitter user Amee Vanderpool tweeted, “but this @newrepublic shock piece by Dale Peck on Pete Buttigieg where one gay man tears down another with (among other things) a ‘Mary Pete’ moniker is just pathetic.”

Due to the intense backlash, The New Republic pulled the article from its website mere hours after it went live, with an editor’s note saying it was deleted “in response to criticism of the piece’s inappropriate and invasive content,” and adding, “We regret its publication.”

TNR‘s editor-in-chief Win McCormack issued a statement via Twitter offering “sincerest apologies” to Buttigieg and calling the article “inappropriate and offensive.”

“We have high standards at The New Republic, but sometimes we fall short,” McCormack said, adding, “Yesterday we made a mistake, but we remain committed to honoring the tradition of high standards and journalistic integrity that have been the hallmark of The New Republic for more than 100 years.”

Chris Lehmann, editor of TNR, told CNN that the magazine “recognizes that this post crossed a line, and while it was largely intended as satire, it was inappropriate and invasive.”

Speaking to the Associated Press, Buttigieg refrained from attacking The New Republic, instead saying he appreciated that the article was taken down. “I don’t think it really reflects the New Republic that I know,” he added.

Asked how he would respond to questions about “whether you’re gay enough,” Buttigieg responded, “You know, there’s not gonna be an answer for everybody. The best way I’ve found to deal with that is to just be myself and let other people worry about whether it’s enough.”

As for Dale Peck, the article’s author, the gay novelist initially ignored the controversy, posting on social media that he was “going to the beach” and “out to dinner with some friends” while Twitter was in meltdown over his article.

“I usually try to respond to all the birthday wishes but my page is a bit of a mess today for some reason, so if I miss your post please don’t take it personally. Wink wink. Wah wah,” he wrote on Facebook.

But in a follow-up tweet on Sunday, Peck said he had received “death threats” over the article.

“Apologies to all the people who sent me legitimate friend requests in the past couple of days,” he wrote. “You can probably understand why I don’t want to go through them all to find out who’s real and who just wants to make sure their death threats make it to my inbox.”

In the wake of the controversy, The New Republic has pulled out co-sponsoring a presidential climate summit.

Announced last week, the summit — co-hosted with Gizmodo — would have compelled the candidates to discuss climate issues and what they would do to combat climate change.

TNR withdrew after three sponsors announced that they would no longer participate in the forum following the publication of Dale Peck’s article. Gizmodo, announcing the news, slammed TNR for publishing Peck’s “offensive, homophobic attack” on Buttigieg.

“In light of these events, The New Republic is withdrawing its participation from our recently announced 2020 Democratic presidential forum on climate change, a decision that Gizmodo supports,” Gizmodo said. “This incident was entirely inconsistent with our values as journalists and with the inclusive atmosphere we intend to foster at the event.” l

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CONSCRIPT CONCERNS

Amnesty International calls on South Korea to end law criminalizing LGBTQ soldiers. By John Riley

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MNESTY INTERNATIONAL IS URGING SOUTH Korea to repeal a law that criminalizes consensual sex between men in the military, arguing that it has exacerbated violence, harassment, and discrimination against gay soldiers. Article 92-6 of South Korea’s Military Criminal Act punishes sexual relations or “indecent acts” between men in the military, whether on or off duty, with up to two years in prison. Despite this, an Amnesty International report, “Serving in Silence: LGBTI People in South Korea’s Military,” reveals a military culture where physical and sexual violence is rampant.

Amid this culture, soldiers who are suspected of being gay are bullied and harassed for everything from the way they walk, talk, or even if they have fairer skin — which is considered a feminine characteristic. And soldiers who spoke to Amnesty International said they are forced to keep quiet about abuse for fear of being prosecuted under Article 92-6.

In one case, “U,” a former soldier who served about a decade ago, recalled suffering abuse after intervening on behalf of a soldier who was being sexually abused, beaten, and even forced to drink from the toilet bowl.

When he threatened to report the abuse, the man’s superior turned on “U,” beat him, and humiliated him by forcing him to have oral and anal sex with the original victim while the superior officer made taunting remarks, such as: “Don’t you want to have sex with a woman-like man?”

Rather than punishing the superior officer, “U” and the other victim were ostracize for having “perverted sex.”

Meanwhile, the sexual abuse continued. The two men, and two other men who faced a similar ordeal, eventually became desperate and tried to kill themselves by cutting themselves and banging their heads against a wall. All four were sent to a psychiatric hospital, with the other three being dishonorably discharged. “U” remained in the military, but continued to be ostracized. Eventually, the perpetrator was punished, but other senior officers faced no consequences for failing to protect the soldiers.

According to The New York Times, the South Korean government claims Article 92-6 is not meant to punish sexual orientation, but to deter male-on-male sexual abuse.

The country’s Constitutional Court has repeatedly ruled that 92-6 is justified by the military’s need to preserve discipline and “combat power.”

As such, the article is being used to prosecute more and more soldiers each year. In 2009, only two soldiers per year were charged under it, with the number of prosecutions steadily rising over time, to 28 in 2017. At least 10 soldiers were charged during the first half of 2018, the most recent period for which data was available.

Because of South Korea’s unique situation — requiring a conscript army to protect itself from threats by bitter

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JULY 18, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

rival North Korea — all able-bodied South Korean men are required to serve in the army for two years. As a result, harassment, bullying, and violence at the hands of superior officers, all in the name of preserving order, are the norm — even for soldiers who are not gay.

Of course, it’s much worse for those men who are seen as being effeminate, or those whose sexual orientation is known. As such, many attempt to keep their orientation a secret. “John Kim,” a bisexual man who served in the military from 2013 to 2015, told Amnesty International that military doctors asked him questions like ‘Are you attracted to the same sex?’ during his physical exam.

“I just rolled my eyes,” Kim said. “The question was kind of expected though.”

Edhi Park, a trans woman who served in the military from 2007 to 2009, prior to her transition, claims she was ordered to lower her voice and walk more “masculine” during her training.

“A soldier joked around and said, ‘Let me insert this in you’ while showing me an umbrella,” Park says. “I don’t know why I had to be treated this way, with regular harassment. I am more than qualified and effectively completed my duty.”

In 2017, the army launched a crackdown in which senior officers confiscated officers’ cell phones without warrants and forced them to identify other soldiers with whom they’d had sex, according to the Military Human Rights Center.

According to “Yeo-Jun Kim,” military investigators had investigated an ex-lover of his and confiscated that man’s phone prior to Kim’s interrogation. They forced him to video chat with his ex-lover to confirm that the two had previously had a relationship.

Ultimately, Kim confessed to having violated Article 92-6, but once he did, the investigators began asking him personal and offensive questions about what sex positions he used and where he ejaculated during sex. Investigators then made him turn in his mobile phone and asked him to identify other LGBTQ people, so they could carry out similar interrogations on anyone suspected of being gay.

“South Korea’s military must stop treating LGBTI people as the enemy. The criminalization of same-sex sexual activity is devastating for the lives of so many LGBTI soldiers and has repercussions in the broader society,” Roseann Rife, the East Asia Research Director at Amnesty International, said in a statement.

“This hostile environment fosters abuse and bullying of young men who stay silent out of fear of reprisals. It is long overdue for the military to acknowledge that a person’s sexual orientation is totally irrelevant to their ability to serve.” l

Community THURSDAY, July 18

KARING WITH INDIVIDUALITY (K.I.) SERVICES, 20 S. Quaker Lane,

The DC Center holds a meeting of its POLY DISCUSSION GROUP, for people interested in polyamory, non-monogamy or other nontraditional relationships. 7-8 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. Visit www.thedccenter.org.

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 703-823-4401.

METROHEALTH CENTER

Weekly Events

offers free, rapid HIV testing.

Appointment needed. 1012 14th St. NW, Suite 700. To arrange an appointment, call 202-849-8029.

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.

DC AQUATICS CLUB practice

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

DC FRONT RUNNERS run-

ning/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.

DC LAMBDA SQUARES, D.C.’s

LGBTQ square-dancing group, features an opportunity to learn about and practice various forms of modern square dancing. No partner required. Please dress casually. 7:30-9:30 p.m.

National City Christian Church, 5 Thomas Circle NW. For more info, call 202-930-1058 or visit www.dclambdasquares.org.

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 or dcscandals@gmail.com.

THE DULLES TRIANGLES

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

For more information, visit www.dullestriangles.com.

HIV TESTING at Whitman-

Walker Health. 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 2:30-5 p.m. at 1525 14th St. NW, and 9 a.m-12 p.m. and 2-5 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.

SOCIAL STRESSORS Larry Cohen’s workshop on social anxiety disorder is aimed at educating those with debilitating anxiety.

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RE YOU SHY, UNASSERTIVE, OR FIND SITUATIONS where you have to socialize or publicly interact with people crippling? If so, you may suffer from social anxiety disorder.

“Healthy people have a little social anxiety from time to time,” says Larry Cohen, a licensed independent clinical social worker who practices in Washington, D.C. “But social anxiety disorder is where the fear of judgment is so severe that it makes it extremely hard, if not impossible, to pursue at least one area of life.”

Cohen advises that people who are worried about whether they may have social anxiety should ask, “Is my anxiety getting in the way of pursuing something that’s important to me?”

“Social anxiety is where the fear of judgment is in some way debilitating [or] causes some type of significant problem, whether it’s preventing a person from pursuing their career, pursuing friendships, pursuing intimate relationships,” Cohen says. “For some people with more severe forms of social anxiety, even just being out and about, around people, leads them to be self-conscious.”

Cohen has been holding workshops on social anxiety since the 1990s, and says he used to treat a significant number of LGBTQ people. As societal acceptance has grown, there’s a lot less social anxiety within the community, but some still experience severe forms of stress in social settings.

On July 26, Cohen will hold an educational workshop introducing people to what social anxiety is, what fuels it, the self-defeating actions that people with anxiety may take to cope with stress, and the benefits of cognitive behavioral therapy to treat the problem.

Cohen can accept up to 35 people into the workshop, which will be held at a private residence in Northwest D.C. Attendees are required to pre-register for the event to reserve a spot.

Mindful of the stress that some may face in group situations, Cohen does not require anyone to talk or interact at the workshop.

But those who want to pursue therapy are welcome to discuss options with Cohen afterwards.

“I just want to stress that it’s not an infomercial, so people can come even if they’re not planning on doing therapy,” says Cohen.

“It’s an educational session that people who have social anxiety may be interested in attending.” —John Riley Larry Cohen’s free informational workshop on social anxiety will be held Friday, July 26, from 7-9 p.m. at a private residence in Northwest D.C. More details will be provided after registration. To register, or for more information, call 202-244-0903 or visit www.socialanxietyhelp.com.

STI TESTING at Whitman-

Walker Health. 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 2-3 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.

US HELPING US hosts a

Narcotics Anonymous Meeting.

The group is independent of UHU. 6:30-7:30 p.m., 3636 Georgia Ave. NW. For more information, call 202-446-1100.

FRIDAY, July 19 GAY DISTRICT, a group for

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

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

2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105.

For more information, visit www.gaydistrict.org.

Shy? Unassertive? Selfconscious? Easily embarrassed?

Closeted? Anxious about coming/being out? Socially withdrawn, avoidant or isolated?

Fearful of speaking in groups?

Performance anxiety? Stage fright? Difficulty meeting people or forming relationships?

Sexual anxiety? Pee shy? Larry Cohen, LICSW, offers a FREE

WORKSHOP ON SOCIAL ANXIETY, focusing on what

causes social anxiety, its special effects on LGBTQ people, and the cognitive-behavioral therapy approach to overcoming it. No one will be required to speak or interact at the workshop. 7-9 p.m. on Friday, June 26, but must pre-register as slots will fill up in the week beforehand. The workshop will be held in a private home near the Tenleytown Metro. Details of location will be given after registration. For more information, call 202-244-0903 or visit www.socialanxietyhelp.com.

The DC Center hosts an LGBTQ GAME NIGHT where

JULY 18, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

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participants can play board and card games and socialize with other people from across the LGBTQ spectrum. All welcome. 7-9 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105.

Visit www.thedccenter.org.

Weekly Events BET MISHPACHAH, founded by

members of the LGBT community, holds Friday evening Shabbat services in the DC Jewish Community Center’s Community Room. 8 p.m.

1529 16th St. NW. For more information, visit www.betmish.org.

DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a prac-

tice session at Howard University.

6:30-8 p.m. Burr Gymnasium, 2400 6th St. NW. For more information, visit www.swimdcac.org.

HIV TESTING at Whitman-Walker Health. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at 1525 14th St. NW. For an appointment, call 202-745-7000 or visit www.whitman-walker.org.

PROJECT STRIPES hosts LGBT-

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

SMYAL’S REC NIGHT provides a

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

SATURDAY, July 20 ADVENTURING outdoors group

hikes 10 level miles along the C&O Canal and the streets of Shepherdstown, W.V., on the Potomac near the Antietam Battlefield. Bring plenty of beverages, lunch, comfortable walking shoes, bug spray, sunscreen, and about $15 for fees, plus money for snacks in Shepherdstown. Carpool at 9 a.m. from the GrosvenorStrathmore Metro Station. For more information, contact David, 240-938-0375, or visit www.adventuring.org.

Join Bet Mishpachah, D.C.’s LGBTQ synagogue, for an informal PARSHA BRUNCH and discussion of this week’s Torah portion.

Bagels will be served. 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

The DC Center, 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit www.betmish.org.

KHUSH DC, a support group for

LGBTQ South Asians, hosts a meeting at The DC Center. 1:30-3 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105.

For more information, visit www. facebook.com/khushdc.

The DC Center hosts a monthly LGBT ASYLEES SUPPORT MEETING AND DINNER for LGBT

22

JULY 18, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

refugees and asylum seekers. 5-7 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105.

For more information, visit www. thedccenter.org.

The DC Center hosts a meeting of its LGBTQ PEOPLE OF COLOR SUPPORT GROUP, facilitated by Dakia Davis. 1-3 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 Montgomery College Aquatics Club. 8:30-10 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, July 21 Volunteers are needed to help prepare CASA RUBY’S MONTHLY DINNER. Held on the third Sunday of each month, in conjunction with The DC Center and Food Rescue DC, the event provides a hot meal to those housed at Casa Ruby. Homemade or store bought meals welcome. 7-8 p.m. Casa Ruby Shelter, 1216 Kennedy St. NW. For more information, contact lamar@ thedccenter.org, jon@thedccenter. org, or visit www.casaruby.org.

Weekly Events LGBT-inclusive ALL SOULS

MEMORIAL EPISCOPAL CHURCH

celebrates Low Mass at 8:30 a.m., High Mass at 11 a.m. 2300 Cathedral Ave. NW. 202-232-4244, www.allsoulsdc.org.

DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a

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

comes all to 10:30 a.m. service, 945 G St. NW. For more info, visit www. firstuccdc.org or call 202-628-4317.

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

Visit www.hopeucc.org.

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

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

Join LINCOLN

CONGREGATIONAL TEMPLE – UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST for

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

UNITARIAN CHURCH OF ARLINGTON, an LGBTQ welcom-

ing-and-affirming congregation, offers services at 10 a.m. Virginia Rainbow UU Ministry. 4444 Arlington Blvd. For more info, visit www.uucava.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

WASHINGTON WETSKINS WATER POLO TEAM practices 7-9

Support group for LGBTQ youth ages 13-21 meets at SMYAL. 5-6:30 p.m. 410 7th St. SE. For more information, contact Rebecca York, 202-567-3165, or rebecca.york@ smyal.org.

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

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, July 23 GENDERQUEER DC, a support and

discussion group for people who identify outside the gender binary, meets at The DC Center on the fourth Tuesday of every month.

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

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

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.

WEDNESDAY, July 24 The DC Center’s HEALTH WORKING GROUP holds a monthly meeting to discuss initiatives based around HIV prevention and providing resources to support long-term survivors of HIV/AIDS. 6:30-8 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit www.thedccenter.org.

The DC Center and the DC AntiViolence Project are co-hosting a meeting of the HATE BIAS TASK FORCE, a collaboration of government agencies and community organizations in the District that focus on addressing the needs of various affinity groups and combating hate-bias crimes. Attendees will have the opportunity to speak with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia about what the office is doing to prosecute hate-bias crimes and its outreach efforts to communities affected by violence. For special accommodations, call 202-252-6930 or email Melanie.howard@usdoj.gov. 7-8:15 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105.

For more information, visit www. thedccenter.org. l

DC AQUATICS CLUB practice

session at Takoma Aquatic Center.

7:30-9 p.m. 300 Van Buren St. 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.

THE GAY MEN'S HEALTH COLLABORATIVE offers free

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

US HELPING US hosts a support

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.

Weekly Events

MONDAY, July 22

DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a

STI TESTING at Whitman-Walker

US HELPING US hosts a black gay

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

DC SCANDALS RUGBY holds prac-

WEEKLY EVENTS

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.

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.

UNIVERSALIST NATIONAL MEMORIAL CHURCH, a welcom-

ing and inclusive church. GLBT Interweave social/service group meets monthly. Services at 11 a.m., Romanesque sanctuary. 1810 16th St. NW. For more info, call 202-3873411 or visit www.universalist.org.

OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS

tice. 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 or dcscandals@ gmail.com.

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.

JULY 18, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

23

Cuisine du Carla Top Chef skyrocketed Carla Hall to fame, but it’s her definitive southern cooking that continues to steal the show.

ARLA HALL IS AS SURPRISED AS anyone by her career trajectory. After finishing near the top on two different seasons of Top Chef, and emerging as the audience-voted Fan Favorite during season eight’s Top Chef: All Stars, becoming a celebrity chef and culinary star remains a novelty for her.

“Sometimes I look at my life and I pinch myself because I'm surprised at this path,” she says. “I would have never thought I would be here.”

For one thing, Hall didn’t grow up cooking in the kitchen. “I grew up eating,” she says. “I loved eating.” Hall didn’t start cooking until a few years after graduating from Howard University, during the years she spent working as a model in Europe.

“When I was staying with friends in Paris, they would have these Sunday suppers, and the girls were cooking and I was like, ‘Oh, this is what happens in a kitchen,’” Hall says. She soon taught herself how to cook, partly as a way to thank her friends and also to reminisce about her Nashville childhood. “I would go and get cookbooks and then I would cook for people just to thank them for letting me couchsurf,” she says. “In hindsight, it was a time of recreating the Sunday suppers at my grandmother's house. I missed that and I missed home. So this was a way of being with people that helped me not miss home so much.”

Three decades later, the 55-year-old Hall has become a popular guest at cooking and food events across the country, and it doesn’t take a molecular gastronomist to understand why. In fact, it’s hard to think of many contemporaries quite as engaging, ebullient, and infectious. She is as unpretentious and genuine as they come — or to use an appropriately Southern-steeped food metaphor, you could say she’s full of beans and sweet as honey.

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JULY 18, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

Of course, the Top Chef vet has also become something of a regular presence on television. In 2015, she won an Emmy Award as a co-host of ABC’s The Chew, the daily food-themed offshoot of The View, which ended its seven-season run last year.

“I wouldn't have the other successes that I have had if it wasn't for Top Chef,” Hall says. “Without a doubt I am very grateful for that.” She learned many useful skills from her stints on the show, none greater than the boost it gave her to “become comfortable with being uncomfortable. I think that's a life skill that you learn so much about yourself that you're going to use over and over and over again.” More specifically, rather than shy away from a nervous-making situation, Top Chef helped Hall. “I embraced the nerves,” she says.

On Saturday, July 27, Hall will embrace those nerves headon at Story District’s Breaking Bread: Stories by Celebrity Chefs and Industry Insiders. Fellow Top Chef alum and James Beard Award-winning chef Kwame Onwauchi of D.C.’s Kith and Kin will join Hall on stage along with Washington Post Food Editor Joe Yonan, veteran journalist and former chef David Hagedorn, plus four other culinary experts, all sharing food-related personal stories.

“I’ll be talking about one of my experiences when I was on Top Chef: All Stars and the first time that I made an African dish, pretty much, in public,” Hall says. “When I get up and talk to people, it's pretty nerve-racking and scary. Even though people assume, ‘Oh, you do television all the time,’ it's something very intimate and it makes you feel very vulnerable to be on stage telling a story in a succinct manner.”

A few weeks ago, the longtime resident of D.C. hosted the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington’s RAMMY Awards. It was a breeze, in comparison, “because that is not telling a story. It's not eight minutes of being up there and people

MELISSA HOM

C

Inter view By Doug Rule

JULY 18, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

25

saying, ‘entertain me.’ It's pretty easy, I feel, to be in the moment and present.”

By contrast, in situations such as at Story District, “there’s a point in the storytelling where you're holding back part of the story and you're having to tell it in the present, where you're actually feeling the emotion of the story. And that makes it difficult to tell it.

“The thing is, I wouldn't be nervous if I didn't care,” she adds.

“I just care too much [not] to share the story and to do it and Story District justice.”

METRO WEEKLY: Let’s start with how you got to D.C. — and how

the city became your adopted hometown.

CARLA HALL: I went to Howard [then] I left in '86 and I went off to do whatever-whatever. My sister was still living in D.C., and I moved back in 1991. So I've been in D.C. ever since.

MW: You studied accounting at Howard. Did you want to become an accountant?

HALL: I didn't want to be an accountant, I was an accountant.

Nobody wants to be an accountant — that's so important to say. I wanted to be an actor and I ended up, instead of going to Boston University, going to Howard and majoring in accounting. And then I worked in it for two years at Pricewaterhouse in Tampa, Florida.

MW: Why didn't you pursue acting at Howard?

HALL: You know what? I didn't even think about it. I wasn't accepted to the fine arts program in Boston, and as an 18-yearold, I was like, “Okay, maybe it’s a sign.” And my mother certainly wasn't going to convince me to major in theater, now, was she?

MW: I guess not. What inspired you to compete on Top Chef?

HALL: I thought it was a joke when they called me and asked, “Do you want to do this?” And [then it became] a cool thing to audition for, after they put my name in the hat. I never thought I would actually be chosen, and then I was. I was surprised at every turn. Once I said I was going to do it, it became a personal challenge.

MW: Is there a way to prepare for that?

HALL: I think it's hard to prepare for. The only thing you can prepare is [that] you're a seasoned chef when you come on the show and not to second-guess yourself. You have no idea what challenges are going to be thrown at you. I think if you're not comfortable in your cooking abilities and techniques, you shouldn't apply. It's just be in the moment and make food that you like. I think people, especially young chefs, they go on trying to impress and do things they think the judges will like, and there is no heart connection. The people who cook with heart make the best food.

MW: You went to Maryland’s former L'Academie de Cuisine and had worked in the local industry prior to competing on Top Chef.

HALL: Right, I did. I had already worked in the industry for about 15 years. I worked in restaurants for a few years and then I worked at the Washington Club and then I had my own catering company. So by the time I was on Top Chef I was already 44 years old.

MW: Are there any restaurants you've worked at that you want to call out?

HALL: I worked at a lot of hotels. I worked at the State Plaza

Hotel and the Henley Park Hotel, at their restaurants, and I worked at the Washington Club, which is now, I think, a condo at 11 Dupont Circle.

I think today, the driving force of any property, be it a hotel or an airport or even a sports arena, is the food. That's what brings people in. So it's very different today than it was 15 years ago when I was in the game. I think it's changing all the time. Look at the African American Museum, [a] museum that was built [with] a state-of-the-art kitchen. [Other] kitchens in the Smithsonian were retrofitted for the food service.

MW: You helped develop the museum’s Sweet Home Café.

HALL: Yeah, I'm the culinary ambassador. And I'm still involved.

I just get to tell people, “Hey, go have Chef Jerome Grant's food!

It's amazing!”

MW: Much of your work over the past decade has been on TV as part of food-oriented talk and cooking shows. That obviously suits you.

HALL: It does. I like it because I use acting, food, my love of people — it all comes together when you're on a cooking show. I love teaching classes and cooking classes. Right now I've been going around with my friend Chadwick Boyd doing biscuit classes, and it’s been super fun.

MW: Speaking of biscuits, I have a friend who’s attempted to make yours several times without ever achieving the quality of those you made at MetroCookingDC a couple of years ago. I was wondering if there’s a common mistake that people make when they try to follow your recipe?

HALL: I feel like I want to make biscuits with your friend. A lot of times people don't know how to measure the flour, quite frankly.

They don't aerate their flour, they don't mix it before they measure it. They are not exacting and measuring. They tap their cup.

“A lot of times people don't know how to measure the flour. If you measure your flour properly, [my biscuits] should work. But you know how many thousands of hours I have making biscuits?

You're not going to make them right the f irst 10 times.”

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JULY 18, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

I could probably list five different things people do just with the flour alone. Because if you measure your flour properly, it should work. You don't tap. But also, you know how many thousands of hours I have making biscuits? You're not going to make them right the first 10 times.

In my latest book [“Carla Hall’s Soul Food”], I've given you all of the tools to help you make a biscuit if you follow them. Also, sometimes the butter's too warm. People don't understand why butter should stay cold. Or they don't use full-fat buttermilk. The buttermilk in the grocery store is nonfat buttermilk, not full-fat.

So that means that you need sour cream. Or they'll use milk and put lemon juice in it. That's not buttermilk. I can think of a number of things that people would do that they think don't matter because I made a suggestion in the recipe. No, that's the recipe.

MW: Given you’re making full-fat buttermilk biscuits all the time, I have to ask, how do you stay so fit and thin?

HALL: Can I just tell you, I have gained 20 pounds since The Chew ended. I don't know whose body this is. I don't even know.

And it's not about size, because people see me as being thin. My

MELISSA HOM

barometer for being fit is, can I run for a train, a bus, or a plane and not induce asthma? [Laughs.]

MW: And you're not meeting that test these days?

HALL: Yeah, I'm not in shape right now. I have some stuff I need to do. Me and my husband, we've agreed to start this whole life challenge to get back in shape.

MW: How did you survive The Chew without putting on weight?

HALL: With The Chew, I had a regular schedule. That was the key. I had a regular schedule, I danced during the breaks, I was always moving. And with a regular schedule, you can have regular exercise. I had a routine. I don't have a routine now.

MW: How was your experience with The Chew?

HALL: I loved it. It was so much fun, working with people that I got along with. And we were really friends. So it felt like play.

And I got to meet celebrities and regular people, and the kitchen was the common denominator and the great equalizer. So we got to show celebrities cooking like everybody else, you know what I mean? No other show could do that.

MW: It was a rare daily show on television all about food and food-related stuff. Would you like to revive the concept, or do something similar in the future?

HALL: No, I think it had its time. As they say, you can never go home again. But there will be something else. I'm pitching a show soon, so we'll see. Hopefully I'll have something that people will see me on that's mine versus other shows that I love doing — the Halloween Baking Championship, Beat Bobby Flay.

You know what? He's the one who beats, it should be Beat Down

by Bobby Flay. Oh my God, how does he keep winning? He’s so talented.

MW: You need a show with your name in it, is that what you’re saying?

HALL: Yeah.

MW: Do you feel like you’ve faced challenges being a woman in such

a male-dominated industry?

HALL: I don't really think about myself as a female in this space, because I'm so tall — at six feet, I'm taller than even the guys.

And I was also older when I got into it, so I had very nurturing male chefs. I was in really nurturing kitchens. I had friends who were going for the premiere kitchens to work for particular chefs, and I was more interested in the work environment. So when I was looking for a job, one of the first questions I asked was, “Are you a screamer? And I don't mean personally.”

MW: You mean does he scream at his coworkers?

HALL: Yeah, that's what I meant. And [the chef] was like, “No,” and those were the kinds of kitchens that I always looked to be in, because I don't thrive well when people are screaming.

I always had really good work environments. Now, in terms of other times when I was working in other kitchens and events, I never had problems. And I also don't drink, so I didn't go out late. I was never part of that crowd.

MW: Mario Batali was a former co-host on The Chew. Were you shocked when you heard about the allegations of sexual harassment and assault lodged against him?

HALL: I was shocked by some of the allegations when there was the hearing, which he was acquitted. But everybody — a lot of people in this industry — there’s rock star status, and partying, and all of that, that people had talked about and was written about years ago. So I don't think anybody was surprised per se. Also, because this was somebody that I'm working with, I didn't have that kind of a relationship with him. We had a very different kind of a relationship, a very supportive and warm relationship with his family. I always say that when you read about somebody who you don't know personally, that information is 100 percent of what you know about that person. When you JULY 18, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

27

MELISSA HOM

know them, what you read is about 25 percent of what you know about that person. Because the other 75 percent, or whatever it is — the greater percentage is your personal relationships with that person and their family.

MW: Were you hurt or sad when you lost him as a cohost in late 2017, which precipitated the show’s cancellation in May 2018?

HALL: Well, he was segueing out of the show, so we knew that that was happening. And he had two more shows to tape,

because he was busy doing other things. So we went into season seven knowing that that was going to happen, and it was because it was a decision that he had made. I think the hardest part was the network taking the show off when they knew that was the case. I mean, they knew that he was coming off the show. So when they canceled the show, that was a decision that was made that, I think, was short-sighted. I do feel that way. We were shocked by that decision.

The spiritual side of me was like, “Everything happens for a reason.” And to be the weirdo — because you know how I overshare — I had talked to a psychic. The first thing that I thought when I got the news was, "Oh shoot. Oh my God. I saw this psychic in season two, and I asked her, 'Is this show going to end?

Am I going to get fired?' She said, 'No. This show's going to go for five more years.'" And it did. That was the first thing that I remembered. I was like, "Oh, wow."

MW: So you believe in psychics?

HALL: I believe that a higher power speaks to you through different mediums. So, yes I do, in a word. I'm that girl.

MW: On the topic of gender and discrimination, do you have any general thoughts about the #MeToo movement or the cultural climate we're in today?

HALL: I choose my words very carefully. When it comes to food or anything, I think there's male energy and there's female energy. I am not about demonizing people for being men or women.

I'm not about shaming people because they like a particular thing. I think everybody has their story to live, and I do think that there are predatory men. There are also wonderful men.

I think that there are predatory women. I think that you can't generalize. Sometimes in a movement, just like a movement for 28

JULY 18, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

a particular diet, people jump on a bandwagon. And people who have nothing to do with a thing, or aren't even passionate about a thing, jump on that movement just to be with the group, without thinking it through. So I've been very careful to make sure that my thoughts about things are my thoughts, and not the group's thoughts. I choose to look at individuals individually.

With that said, I have been discriminated against because of my color. I think sometimes because I'm a woman, sometimes because of both. I ask myself, "What do I have to learn in this moment?" It's not about anybody else. It's not an easy thing to talk about, and I'm happy that women feel empowered. I think there are a lot of wonderful things that have come from this movement where women have felt empowered. But I won't demonize men. I have a wonderful husband, you know?

MW: Of how many years now?

HALL: Thirteen. Lucky thirteen, yeah.

MW: Switching gears, do you remember the first person who came out to you? Or when you first became aware of someone who was LGBTQ? HALL: There was a guy, a really great friend, when I was in grade school. I never liked when people called him [names] — this one bully of a boy called him a “sissy,” and I just thought he was sensitive. But the first time that I remember somebody being gay was when I was at Howard University — a friend came out to me. I've always felt like people should be able to live their truth, regardless of what it is. And I felt honored that he would tell me.

And when I moved back to D.C. and saw the High Heel Race and all that, I thought, “Yes!” And I was in the modeling community in France, so I remember the whole voguing thing. And even when I watch Pose now I think, “Oh my God, I remember going to this underground voguing party and just watching.” I had no idea. But it was amazing.

Pose is so well done, and I'm just so excited it’s bringing the heart and the understanding...and the awareness about kids who were thrown out of their homes because they're not accepted. I didn't realize the connection, but my sister, who is a teacher in Maryland’s Montgomery County system, told me that if a child comes to their school and they change clothes or whatever — they change their appearance — they're not allowed to call and tell the parents. Only after seeing Pose did I understand why.

MW: Because it likely wouldn't end well?

HALL: Correct. And because they don't know that. So it's just the privacy, that student's privacy. Which is really great.

MW: It's great but it's also kind of sad.

HALL: Oh my God, I can't even tell you! I have these neighbors, who live in my building, they're partners, and they tell their families they're just roommates. They’re in their 60s and they can't live their truth. It is so sad to me.

MW: Do you have kids?

HALL: I have a stepson. He's 23.

MW: Other than Story District, what else do you have coming up?

HALL: That's it, in the short-term. I'm living life like everybody,

hustling.

MW: Part of your hustling right now is promoting your book, Carla Hall’s Soul Food: Everyday and Celebration, which was published last fall.

HALL: Yeah, it's getting out and trying to educate people that soul food is more than just the 20 percent of heavy, fried celebration foods that you think of. It's an agrarian cuisine. I think the Sweet Home Café in the African American Museum helps tell that story as well.

MW: I know that you’ve strived to include vegan and vegetarian options in your cookbooks, just as you did at your former restaurant in Brooklyn, Carla Hall’s Southern Kitchen. You’re not vegan or vegetarian yourself though, are you?

HALL: I'm not. But, you know, at all of these events, the Food & Wine festivals and everything, vegetarians pay their money just like everybody else, but they can only eat 15 percent of the food that's presented. They just don't have the choices. So I really try to think about everybody.

Because I don't drink, I want interesting mocktails or zeroproof cocktails. So I really try to think 360 about who's having my food. Granted, in our kitchen if you have celiac disease, I can’t help you. But if it's in my power, whatever your restraints are, I hope to have something for you.

MW: You mentioned that you don’t drink. When and why did you stop?

HALL: I never drank, never in my life. My father was an alcoholic, so that may have had something to do with it. Plus, if you tell me one person who actually liked the taste of alcohol when they first drank it, I would not believe you.

I think my stubbornness protects me from peer pressure. I'm like, “I don't have to drink that, I don't care. Not doing it.”

I’ve never needed some substance to loosen me up. It's funny, most people assume I drank before. And they ask, “Why don't you drink?” I think that's more about the person who's asking the question than it is the question.

MW: What is it about D.C. that keeps you here?

HALL: I love my neighborhood, Takoma, D.C. I love all of the culture and I love the feel of D.C., all of the different neighborhoods.

I love that we have theater and the Smithsonian and we have music and culture and it's approachable and you can get around easily, yet it's beautiful. We have a great subway system. And we're so close to other cities. Even though I have an apartment in New York, I work in New York, it's so easy to get there and to Philly and Delaware and Baltimore.

MW: You’ve never had a restaurant here with your name on it, though. Although you do have a space, called Page, in Terminal A at National Airport.

HALL: That's not really mine. It was a bait-and-switch. A bad experience. Don’t get me started, Doug.

MW: Okay, well, would you like to have a restaurant in D.C. that is truly yours?

HALL: You know, I'm not a restaurateur. I would need an operator. It takes more than just a good cook. I think at 55, unless there was a great operator and somebody was executing my vision, I couldn't do it. I opened up the restaurant in Brooklyn and I loved it, I loved the experience. I know enough to know I wouldn't do

it without a great operator.

MW: I didn't make it up there, but I remember reading a good review of Carla Hall’s Southern Kitchen that made me want to go.

HALL: The food was fantastic. We had some of the best hot fried chicken I would dare say in the country. Our chicken was delicious, our ingredients were beautifully sourced, all of the sides were vegetarian. We were making cornbread and biscuits on the hour. We had these sweet potato rolls. We made all of our pickles in-house. It was delicious. But it's never about the food, it's about the location. We were fast-casual in a sit-down neighborhood. We needed traffic.

But it was still a great experience. I would honestly do it again knowing what I know now. I would do it again because I learned so much about myself, I became very proud of my food. And to have delicious vegan collard greens and to be nut-free — we had these crispy black-eyed peas. It was just wonderful. And I had a number of employees say "I am so proud of our food,” who did not come in saying that. They just thought soul food was soul food was soul food. But they left and were like “Okay, I understand what you're trying to do and I'm so proud of what we did.”

MW: Are there restaurants you would recommend that you like to eat at when at home?

HALL: I like the Red Hen. The Mexican food at Cielo Rojo I love,

“There are predator y men. There are also wonderful men. I think there are predator y women. You can't generalize. Sometimes in a movement, just like a movement for a particular diet, people jump on a bandwagon. I choose to look at individuals individually.” oh my gosh they're so good! Even if I’m home for four days, I'll eat there twice. Where else do we go? Down to Hazel’s. The ramen place, Haikan, across from Hazel's, I love that. And there are so many new restaurants that we try to go in and check out.

MW: What about soul food?

HALL: I'm trying to think, I don't remember the names of a bunch of places. Isn't that terrible? That's so terrible! A lot of times when I'm at home is when I'm making the soul food. It doesn't mean I don't like the soul food that's in D.C. But the difference is the soul food that I make is from states in the southeast — Georgia, middle Tennessee. The soul food that's in D.C. is from North Carolina/South Carolina. My version is a balance between spicy and acidic and sweet — but less sweet. North Carolina/ South Carolina, they're a little sweeter in their sauces and the greens and everything. It's just different. A reminder to people that all soul food is not the same. l Story District’s Breaking Bread: Stories by Celebrity Chefs & Industry Insiders is Saturday, July 27, at 7 p.m. at the Lincoln Theatre, 1215 U St. NW. Tickets are $35 to $50, or $175 for VIP seating and exclusive after-party with the show’s cast as well as complimentary food and drink. Call 202-888-0050 or visit www.thelincolndc.com. To purchase a VIP pass, visit www.storydistrict.com.

For more on Carla Hall, including recipes, merchandise, events, and details on cookbooks such as Carla Hall’s Soul Food: Everyday and Celebration, visit www.carlahall.com.

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Movies

The Mane Event

The catfights look real but the tale is strictly recycled in Disney’s “live-action” remake of The Lion King. By André Hereford

A

S THE SUN PEEKS OVER THE HORIZON, AND THAT FAMILIAR AFRICAN chant — that everybody can sing and few can translate — heralds the opening of “Circle of Life,” a few things become abundantly clear about Disney’s new, live-action The Lion King (HHHHH). First, we’re in for a visually splendid journey to the Pride Lands courtesy of director Jon Favreau and his well-decorated crew. Perhaps better known for his acting (in particular, as the MCU’s able Happy Hogan), Favreau directed Disney’s 2016 live-action remake of The Jungle Book, a film that similarly leaned on cutting-edge visual effects and impressive cinematography to create a naturalistic version of a talking-animal realm.

The sun shines brighter over Mufasa’s kingdom than Mowgli’s slightly more menacing jungle, all the better to see the golden-hued, real-looking world into which young lion prince Simba is born. Favreau sends the camera soaring with hornbills, leaping with the antelope, and loping alongside the pride with the enthusiasm and technological panache of a very special Discovery Channel documentary — one that reportedly cost $250 million to produce. The budget shows in the film’s convincing synthesis of computer-generated creatures and virtual-reality photography of their “live-action” environment.

Whatever complicated, state-of-the-art methods created this hybrid animation, the results beautifully render colors and scale, from the tallest mountain, to every swaying blade of grass. But much less innovation has gone into the plot of the movie — another thing that’s clear from the opening gathering at Pride Rock is that this remake aims mostly to recreate every memorable moment and scene from the 1994 animated original.

Beyond the upgrade to photorealistic detail, the only major refresh here is the cast, although Disney’s stuck with the legendary James Earl Jones to again voice Mufasa, benevolent lion leader of all he surveys. The mighty cat sounds as majestic as ever explaining to prized cub Simba (JD McCrary) that he’ll one day rule these lands and creatures.

Not only will he rule them, but some of these unlucky beasts he’ll also someday kill and devour. That’s the circle of life, son. It all sounds peachy for the lions, and

decidedly less so for those wildebeests out there graciously bowing to their king.

An unexpected issue raised by this naturalistic setting is that it spotlights The Lion King’s glaringly unnatural scenario of portraying prey animals as subjects who don’t fear, but actually revere, their thickmaned masters. What’s the conversation between gazelle father and son as they march through all this pomp and ceremony to pay respects to the chosen one destined to have them for dinner?

It might seem nitpicky, but the real-looking animal world induces a different emotional effect than the stylized, ’90s-era animation — particularly in the brutal, though not bloody, fight scenes.

Watching authentic-looking lions and hyenas battle like real bloodthirsty carnivores amplifies the violence. But that won’t necessarily add thrills or tension for anyone who already knows how this all plays out.

Those who are unfamiliar with the original, or with Hamlet, might lean forward, enthralled by Simba’s odyssey from runaway cub to confronting his evil uncle Scar (Chiwetel Ejiofor), after the villain usurps power over the pride. Those who do know the story might just be enthralled by how disappointingly little the filmmakers diverge from the original’s course.

These Disney “live-action” remakes generally have played around with the familiar plotlines more liberally than Jeff Nathanson’s script does for this gener-

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ation’s Lion King. The story’s the same, the characters behave the same, the performances could make the difference, but they don’t really put purpose behind this replay.

Voicing adult Simba, Donald Glover, a.k.a. Childish Gambino, downplays his mellow charm, or merely doesn’t convey it except when singing with Beyoncé, voice of Simba’s soulmate Nala. They deliver a sweet version of Elton John and Tim Rice’s

Oscar-winning “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” but aren’t as expressive delivering dialogue.

As usual, the story’s villain registers as the most expressive and intriguing character, with Ejiofor offering a keenly snide and ruthless Scar. And the film gets reliable comic relief from John Oliver as chatty royal adviser Zazu, and Billy Eichner and Seth Rogan as the odd couple of meerkat Timon and warthog Pumbaa. While Oliver and Rogen can’t seem to carry a tune, Eichner sounds surprisingly good singing “Hakuna Matata” and “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”

Overall, the movie sounds as sharp as the terrifying snap of a hyena’s jaws. It often looks stunning too — and stunningly like a money-grabbing case of déjà vu. l

The Lion King is rated PG, and is now playing everywhere. Visit www.fandango.com.

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MATTHEW MURPHY

Stage

Stay Awhile

A sparkling ensemble and score cast a sublimely wistful spell in The Band’s Visit, now at the Kennedy Center. By André Hereford

T

HERE ARE NO BAD SONGS IN THE BAND’S VISIT (HHHHH). IN FACT, the 10-time Tony-winning musical, with music and lyrics by David Yazbek, has enough memorable, lushly romantic, or sardonically funny tunes that it might be hard to choose a favorite. It seems every scene in the show — based on the eponymous 2007 film about an 8-man band from Egypt stuck for a night in a tiny, Israeli desert town — is unerringly complemented by just the right musical mood.

David Comer’s Broadway staging, currently on a tour that’s just arrived at the Kennedy Center, also beautifully fuses day in the life storytelling with the naturally performative aspects of onstage musicians. Comer and choreographer Patrick McCollum dance, turn, and revolve the impassioned cast around Scott Pask’s evocative sets with subtle, sometimes deadpan, precision. And the relaxed rhythms create a gentle sense of motion, despite a story largely about waiting in place.

The band gets to do their waiting in comfort, at least. Members of the Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra, they’re invited into the homes and lives of the generous, albeit not that cheery, residents of fictional Bet Hatikva. No one they encounter tells them to go back to where they came from.

These welcoming residents — café owner Dina (Chilina Kennedy) and her two servers Itzik (Pomme Koch) and Papi (Adam Gabay) — are waiting, too, for something, anything to happen. They might be waiting forever in this lethargic, little town. As it turns out, Bet Hatikva is not to be mistaken for Petah Tikva, the thriving industrial city where the band had intended to travel for a concert.

Instead, stranded in sleepy Bet Hatikva, the band partakes in the somehow dreamy sense of going nowhere fast that permeates every life and building. The story, with a

book by Itamar Moses, is simple yet gloriously rich, and captures the ephemeral yet intense connections made between strangers. The currents they generate could leave any or all of them changed for years beyond the band’s unplanned visit.

The band’s strict but kind leader, Colonel Tewfik Zakaria (Sasson Gabay, Adam’s real-life father), finds himself particularly moved by the connection he forges with outwardly cynical Dina.

Fresh off her recent stint on Broadway playing Carole King in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Kennedy is solid as the guarded café owner. She and Gabay don’t set the desert ablaze with their romantic chemistry, but they find the characters’ common ground. Gabay might not have originated the role of Tewfik onstage but he did actually star as the colonel in the original film, so it’s no surprise that he wears the role with an authority that persuasively defines Tewfik as a man who doesn’t easily make new friends.

Were it not for these exceptional, disorienting circumstances, the colonel might never have allowed himself to make any connection at all.

In addition to expressing themselves eloquently in song, the characters here are well-drawn and credibly performed. As the band’s wannabe lothario Haled, Joe

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MATTHEW MURPHY

Josephs is a comic charmer. His alluring spin through the jazzy “Haled’s Song About Love” melts the ice.

The true comedic highlight among these songs, however, is Adam Gabay’s rendition of “Papi Hears the Ocean,” a funky

lament of his character’s lack of skill as a ladies’ man. Gabay nails the tricky, scale-descending number.

Seemingly less tricky technically, “Itzik’s Lullaby,” a plaintive reverie about the café worker’s hopes and setbacks, proves an equally effective showcase number for Koch, graduating from a role as standby in the show’s original Broadway cast.

A lilting love song from Itzik to his wife Anna (Jennifer Apple) and their infant son, “Itzik’s Lullaby” shares a perfectly loping tempo with another standout ballad, “Answer Me,” sung by a young man who’s also spending his life waiting in Bet Hatikva. Played by Mike Cefalo, the kid, known as Telephone Guy, devotes himself to that brighter shade of waiting, called anticipation. He’ll wait day and night for his love to call, if that’s what it takes.

Some treasures must be sought, while others, with patience, can be counted on to come to you.

The Band’s Visit is just such a treasure, to be relished up close before the production resumes its travels to distant lands. l

The Band’s Visit runs through August 4 at Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater. Tickets are $45 to $149.

Call 202-467-4600, or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

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Music

do that. This time, those goals are at odds with one another and III suffers for it.

Left Field

Banks tries to find a more streaming-friendly sound, while Ed Sheeran curates a list of chart-toppers. By Sean Maunier

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HE WAVE OF ALTERNATIVE R&B THAT SWEPT OVER THE CHARTS A few years ago always had a slippery definition at the best of times, but Banks, with her dark beats and emotional rawness, seemed determined to embody the trend and make it her own. Her debut album Goddess was stylistically beautiful, although her second outing did not quite reproduce the magic, attempting to innovate but losing some of her spark in the process. III ( ) takes a different approach again, changing gears to bring in more of a pop sensibility.

Right off the bat, “Till Now” fails to bring the energy it promises, with overdone autotune that feels almost like a throwback to the mid-2000s, and crunchy, thumping synths that arrive too late to add much texture to the song. As an opening track, it does not bode well for the rest of the album. “Gimme” is more catchy and stylistically more representative of her talent, but lays claim to more substance than it deserves. Banks wants her listener to buy the mysterious, dangerous image she is laying claim to, but unfortunately, declaring yourself “that bitch” does not make it so.

The most frustrating part of III is that it could so easily have gone in another direction. “Alaska” and “Swazall” are genuinely fascinating and intriguing, and like the best Banks tracks, they are full of enough lyrical and musical complexity to reward repeat listens. The makings of a great album are buried in between songs that, by comparison, might have been better off on the cutting room floor.

As is often the case on a third album, Banks understandably wants to show us that she has grown into her voice and expanded her horizons. But she also wants to rack up streams, and she seems to think she has to produce her voice into oblivion in order to

GIVEN ALL THE TIME ED Sheeran has spent alone on stage with his guitar and his looping pedals, it was always easy to typecast him as a solo artist, trading on his dorm room busker persona even as he sold out stadium after stadium. An album of collaborations may seem at odds with that image, but few artists could have pulled together this many better than the famously sincere and affable Sheeran. His list of collaborators on No. 6 Collaborations Project ( ) reads like a roster of current and recent A-listers of pop and hip-hop, from Khalid to Stormzy to Travis Scott to Justin Bieber, of all people.

If a duet between Sheeran and the likes of Cardi B and Camila Cabello seems like a weird prospect, the execution is even stranger. “South of the Border” sounds like something none of them would have made willingly on their own, but the three of them mesh together so well on the Latin-inflected R&B number that all we can do is wish we had gotten a music video out of it, too.

Still, No. 6 has value beyond its novelty.

Ella Mai shines on “Put It All On Me.” Despite dragging on a bit, “I Don’t Care”

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is some of the best work Justin Bieber has done since “Sorry.”

Sheeran’s duet with Travis Scott, “Antisocial,” is the arguable highlight of the album, delivering catchy hooks and a surprising amount of pathos in just under three minutes.

If it weren’t for Sheeran tying the whole work together, it’s easy to imagine this album being convincingly passed off as a snapshot of the Top 40 charts on a given day in 2019. Among so many

huge personalities, the demure Sheeran comes across as some kind of shy yet enthusiastic curator, rather than the focal point of the record. He seems happy to take up the sidekick role for most of the album, following his collaborators into their own particular styles, clearly enjoying himself but also getting somewhat lost in the process.

No. 6 would be easy to dismiss as a vanity project on Sheeran’s part, but ends up being surprisingly enjoyable beyond its mere novelty. It’s probably best experienced in small doses, since outside of a few standouts, most of the songs are charming one-offs, and the number of collaborators is somewhat overwhelming. In those small doses, however, it is fun to listen to, and if nothing else, it’s something that only Sheeran could have pulled off. l

Banks’ III and Ed Sheeran’s No. 6 Collaborations Project can be purchased on Amazon.com and iTunes, and are available on most major streaming services.

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JULY 18, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

NightLife Photography by Ward Morrison

JULY 18, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

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Scene

Church at Trade - Wednesday, July 3 - Photography by Ward Morrison See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene

DrinksDragDJsEtc...

Thursday, July 18

of Bud Products all night • Sports Leagues Night

A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 5pm-2am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Live televised sports

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

GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • Shirtless Thursday, 10-11pm • Men in Underwear Drink Free, 12-12:30am • DJs BacK2bACk

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

NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Beat the Clock Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • $15 Buckets

SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail

FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Karaoke, 9pm

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

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 • Rough House: Hands On, Lights Off, 10pm-close • Featuring DJ Lemz • $5 Cover (includes clothes check)

Friday, July 19

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

A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 5pm-3am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything

NUMBER NINE Open 5pm • Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm

Destinations A LEAGUE OF HER OWN 2317 18th St. NW 202-733-2568 www.facebook.com/alohodc AVALON SATURDAYS Soundcheck 1420 K St. NW 202-789-5429 www.facebook.com/ AvalonSaturdaysDC 38

until 9pm • Video Games • Live televised sports

JULY 18, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR 555 23rd St. S. Arlington, Va. 703-685-0555 www.freddiesbeachbar.com GREEN LANTERN 1335 Green Ct. NW 202-347-4533 www.greenlanterndc.com

• No Cover • Friday Night Piano with Chris, 7:30pm • Rotating DJs, 9:30pm

only $4 • Otter Happy Hour with guest DJs, 5-11pm

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

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+

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 • Capital Laughs Comedy Show, Second Floor, 7:30pm TRADE Doors open 5pm • Huge Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass served in a huge glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine

Saturday, July 20 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 2pm-3am • Video Games • Live televised sports AVALON SATURDAYS LGBTQ Dance Party, featuring DJ TWiN, 10pm-4am • $15 Cover, $20 Cover for VIP • Drink specials • Drag Show,

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

BEYONCÉ VS. RIHANNA SUMMER DANCE PARTY An import from Baltimore that styles itself as “an epic artist-for-artist, track-for-track dance party battle.” It says something that organizers had to stretch to come up with enough nicknames for RiRi to match the many established ones for Bey. So it’s Sasha Fierce vs. the Barbados Babe. Queen B vs. the Caribbean Queen. On one side is the “Drunk In Love” Bey Hive, with music spun by DJ Mills to get the bois bodied and the ladies in formation. On the other side is the “Drunk On Love” Rihanna Navy, imploring Craig Boarman, owner of Baltimore’s Ottobar, please don’t stop the music pon de replay. If it ultimately doesn’t sound like much of a contest, at least it’s a fun night out for contemporary pop diva lovers — whether they’re single ladies or those who found love (however hopeless). Friday, July 19, starting at 9 p.m. at the 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW. Tickets are $15. Call 202-265-0930 or visit www.930.com.

10:30-11:30pm, hosted by Ba’Naka and a rotating cast of drag queens • Open Bar on Tito’s and Jameson, 11pm-midnight • Visit www.dougiemeyerpresents.com 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 • The Bear Cave: Retro to Electro, 9pm-close • Featuring DJ Popperz • 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 NUMBER NINE Doors open 2pm • Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 2-9pm • $5 Absolut and $5 Bulleit Bourbon, 9pm-close • THIRSTY, featuring DJ Chord Bezerra, 9:30pm PITCHERS Open Noon-3am • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm • Special Late Night menu till 2am

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

RED BEAR BREWING’s DRAG SHOW EXTRAVAGANZA Self-billed as “D.C.’s Own Blowup Doll,” the drag doll Desiree Dik has been blowing up alright: Dik has quickly become one the most prolific queens on the D.C. scene. She even helped break in the stage at the city’s newest venue for drag and related LGBTQpopular entertainment, with Dik styled as the resident queen at this fully gay-owned nanobrewery, which opened in late March in the refurbished, historic Uline Arena building in NoMa. Every second and fourth Tuesday of the month — including next Tuesday, July 23 — the venue presents several rounds of Drag Bingo co-hosted by Dik with another young and rising local queen, Bombalicious Eklaver. But first, this Saturday, July 20, starting at 9 p.m., the pair will take the Red Bear stage for an extravaganza hosted by Dik and featuring performances by Leronica Vargas, Nadia Cole, CAKE, and of course Eklaver. The experience will be enhanced by the bar’s new drink menu featuring creative cocktails. So no fear if you don’t like beer — even you can have fun here.

Red Bear Brewing is at 209 M St. NE. Call 202-849-6130 or visit www.redbear.beer.

PEACH PIT Matt Bailer first got the notion to throw a monthly party with a ’90s pop music theme roughly nine years ago — which means the veteran D.C. DJ has now almost spent an entire decade celebrating a different decade from the past. Named after the diner on Beverly Hills, 90210, Peach Pit remains a popular draw — so much so that patrons are encouraged, this Saturday, July 20, and any other, to arrive as close to the 10:30 p.m. start time as possible if they don’t want to wait in a long line and risk missing out on any of the many jock jams in the offing. Bailer characterizes the scene on any given episode as: “A kind of sweaty mosh pit of guys and girls, straights and gays, black people and white people, old people and young people — all just dancing and singing at the top of their lungs.” But before you go and request a particular jam — even, say, “Pump Up The Jam” — be advised: Peach Pit is very strictly ’90s, with Bailer only playing and taking requests for singles released between Jan. 1, 1990, and Dec. 31, 1999. DC9 is at 1940 9th St. NW. Cover is $5, or $8 after midnight. Call 202-483-5000 or visit www.dcnine.com.

ROAR: ROOFTOP BEER BUST Talk about ending your weekend with a bang — for your buck, at the very least. Every Sunday, including this Sunday, July 21, starting at 4 p.m., Uproar offers a boozy, bottomless experience where $17 will get you endless pours of Shock Top and Bud Light over the course of four hours up on the roof. Also a free Captain Morgan rum shot for those who shuck their shirt. All that plus complimentary “food bites” from the kitchen, and the great, happy, poppy, housy music from the venue’s great, happy, papi, woofy DJ Mike Babbitt on the decks. Uproar is at 639 Florida Ave NW. Call 202-462-4464 or visit www.facebook.com/uproarloungedc.

THE LEGWARMERS AT THE STATE THEATRE It’s been over 17 years now since Gordon Gartrell and Cru Jones started what has long been heralded as D.C.’s “premier ’80s tribute band,” performing the guilty pleasure hits of the decade. The group, whose members also include Chet Reno, Lavaar Huxtable, Roxanne Rio, Capt. Morgan Pondo, and Clarence McFly, has performed at concert halls throughout the region and beyond. Yet its home base is Virginia’s State Theatre, where the band returns once a month, and at every show audience members dress the part — think shellacked big hair, lacy ankle socks, stirrup and parachute pants. Saturday, July 20, starting at 7:30 p.m. The State Theatre is at 220 North Washington St., Falls Church. Tickets are $20. Call 703-237-0300 or visit www.thestatetheatre.com. l

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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 TRADE Doors open 2pm • Huge Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass served in a huge glass for the same price, 2-10pm • Beer and wine only $4 • Gay Bash: The Alt Dance Party and Home for Unconventional Drag in the Nation’s Capital, 10pm-close • Hosted by Donna Slash • Featuring JaxKnife Complex, Salvadora Dali, Jane Saw, and special guests • Music by The Barber Streisand

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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+

Sunday, July 21 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 2pm-12am • $4 Smirnoff and Domestic Cans • Video Games • Live televised sports FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Ella’s Sunday Drag Brunch, 10am-3pm • $24.99 with four glasses of champagne or mimosas, 1 Bloody Mary, or coffee, soda or

juice • Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Karaoke, 9pm-close

Della Volla at 9:30pm • No Cover

GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • Karaoke with Kevin downstairs, 9:30pm-close

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

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-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

JULY 18, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

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 • For reservations, email shawsdinnerdragshow@ gmail.com TRADE Doors open 2pm • Huge Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass served in a huge

glass for the same price, 2-10pm • Beer and wine only $4

Monday, July 22 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 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, with Jeremy, 7:30pm TRADE Doors open 5pm • Huge Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass served in a huge glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine only $4

JULY 18, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

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Tuesday, July 23 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

Beer $15 • Drag Bingo with Sasha Adams and Brooklyn Heights, 7-9pm • Karaoke, 9pm-close

Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • Half-Priced Burgers and Pizzas, 5-10pm

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

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

GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • $3 rail cocktails and domestic beers all night long

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

NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Beat the Clock Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • Buckets of

SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail

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Wednesday, July 24 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 5pm-12am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything

JULY 18, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

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 with Jill, 8pm TRADE Doors open 5pm • Huge Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass served in a huge glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine only $4 • Women’s Crush Wednesdays: A Monthly Happy Hour for LBT women, Non-genderconforming, and Nonbinary Folks Who Love Women, 5-10pm l

Scene

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Thirst Trap Thursdays at Pitchers - Thursday, July 11 - Photography by Ward Morrison See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene

JULY 18, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

LastWord.

People say the queerest things

“We are now part of an Emmy-nominated show, bitches!”

— Pose star DOMINIQUE JACKSON, speaking on Instagram Live. The FX show has been nominated for six Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Lead Actor for Billy Porter — the first openly gay black man to be nominated in the category. “Trans women and men of America, of the world, we got this. I love y’all,” Jackson added.

“Ricky Martin is such a male chauvinist that he fucks men because women don’t measure up.

Pure patriarchy.”

— CHRISTIAN SOBRINO VEGA, former chief fiscal officer of Puerto Rico, in leaked excerpts from a group chat with members of Gov. Ricardo Rosselló’s administration. Sobrino Vega resigned over the leak, and Rosselló is facing similar calls to resign after referring to political opponents as cocksuckers, including saying Sen. Eduardo Bhatia had “historic cocksucker levels,” and calling journalist Benjamín Torres Gotay an “unprecedented cocksucker.”

“I think it is possible…

I have a very deep familiarity with this kind of education.”

— Israel’s Education Minister Rabbi RAFI PERETZ, in an interview with the country’s Channel 12 News, saying he believed conversion therapy could change a person’s sexuality and adding that he had practiced it on his gay religious students. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his comments were “not acceptable to me and do not reflect the position of the government under my leadership.” Peretz later walked back his comments in a message to educators.

“We don’t have those shows anymore.

We’re too interested in homosexual activities.”

— Alabama Secretary of State JOHN MERRILL (R), lamenting at a campaign event that shows like Gunsmoke, Bonanza, The Virginian, Andy Griffith, and I Love Lucy are no longer on the air. “We’re too interested in seeing how this family’s finding a way to mess on this family or to see how people are trying to date on TV, or having wife-swapping on TV. That’s what we watch,” he said.

“Who allowed someone that doesn’t know how to address trans people moderate an LGBT panel? ”

— YouTuber and actor MILES MCKENNA, in a tweet after he was deadnamed at an LGBTQ-focused panel at VidCon, a multi-genre online video conference. During the panel, organized by The Trevor Project, moderator Stevie Wynne Levine deadnamed McKenna while discussing his transition. When McKenna corrected her, she responded that she “didn’t know” she couldn’t use his pre-transition name.

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JULY 18, 2019 • METROWEEKLY