The Truth of Garrett Clayton

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CONTENTS

CREATIVE SPARK

Rich Morel turned an obscure documentary on lightning into his new musical concept album Struck.

By Doug Rule

THE TRUTH OF GARRETT CLAYTON

The King Cobra star was an aspiring gay actor when he arrived in L.A. And then Hollywood forced him back into the closet.

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Volume 26 Issue 18

Interview by Randy Shulman Photography by Kelly Balch

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FEARS OF A CLOWN It: Chapter Two scares up king-sized helpings of humor and horror in its overlong conclusion.

By André Hereford

SPOTLIGHT: PAM ANN RETURNS p.7 OUT ON THE TOWN p.10 THE FEED: NOT QUITE “EX-GAY” p.19 THE FEED: OPEN PLAY p.20 COMMUNITY: TEEN ANGELS p.21 COMMUNITY CALENDAR p.21 FILM: VITA AND VIRGINIA p.34 STAGE: CABARET p.35 NIGHTLIFE: CHUNK AT THE DEW DROP INN p.37 NIGHTLIFE LISTINGS p.38 NIGHTLIFE HIGHLIGHTS p.39 SCENE: MISS AGLA AT FREDDIE’S p.44 LAST WORD p.46 Washington, D.C.’s Best LGBTQ Magazine for 25 Years Editorial Editor-in-Chief Randy Shulman Art Director Todd Franson Online Editor at metroweekly.com Rhuaridh Marr Senior Editor John Riley Contributing Editors André Hereford, Doug Rule Senior Photographers Ward Morrison, Julian Vankim Contributing 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 Annette Funicello Cover Photography Kelly Balch 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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MARCO OVANDO

Spotlight

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Pam Ann Returns

AVING TRAVELED THE WORLD AS INTERNAtional celebrity air hostess Pam Ann, the Australian comedian Caroline Reid has touched down everywhere from Melbourne to Mykonos. And, after whirlwind years of Pam Ann touring the globe, appearing in major ad campaigns, hosting her own network TV talk show Down Under, and headlining Prides and Bear Weeks from the Pines to P-Town, she’s found her peace and quiet in a most unlikely place: Miami.

“I guess it's almost art imitating life, because the character — well, myself — I started off in Melbourne,” she explains. “And I hadn't flown much, and Pam Ann was quite a nice character back then. And then I moved to Sydney and the drag queens took me under their wing — or cornered me in many dressing rooms, telling me off for taking their Sundays or Tuesday nights.”

Reid continued to adapt Pam Ann to her surroundings with a move to London. “To be heard in these gay clubs, you had to scream and shout from the rafters. So then Pam became a bit more aggressive. And then I moved to New York and I guess you have to just get with the beat of that city. So she became even more intense. And then...she needs to calm down. So Miami is like, ‘Oh, okay, I can have a balance of life now.’”

While she might have settled in the Sunshine State, the saucy

sexpot of the friendly skies hasn’t settled down just yet. Soon she’ll take off on a North American tour, Pam Ann Returns, and will be featured as the fresh face of the recently launched carrier Air Italy.

Making a stop next week in D.C. at the Howard Theatre, Pam Ann Returns will cross the continent throughout September serving first-class caustic wit to the comic’s many gay fans, before heading to London. Although, as summer comes to a close, she says one thing she wishes she could do for the gays is help solve an inconvenience faced by queer communities worldwide.

“Every gay destination or gay beach is very hard to get to,” she observes, accurately. “It's a schlep, like in Provincetown.

You have to have a need to get to Provincetown to experience that Cape Fear Airline. And then you go to Ibiza, and you've got to walk through a sewer to get to the nude beach. In Mykonos, you’ve got to climb over rocks to get to a fucking shady, old plastic sunbed. I don't know why. Because you can fuck in the rocks.

“If I was going to help the gay community out, I would put a fucking runway right down the middle of the Pines. I will land there, and I won't land a stupid fucking Cessna. I will bring a nice, beautiful Boeing Max. Since I've bought all those, we now call them Boeing Maxines.” —André Hereford

Pam Ann Returns is Saturday, Sept. 14, at the Howard Theatre, 620 T St. NW. Tickets are $49 to $52.

Visit https://vossevents.com/events/pam-ann.

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Spotlight SMITHSONIAN’S BACK TO SCHOOL FILM SERIES

Next weekend, the Warner Bros. Theater in the National Museum of American History offers a mini-film festival focused on popular films about teenagers and set in or around school. On Saturday, Sept. 14, the lineup includes Footloose at 12:30 p.m., Grease at 2:30 p.m., and School of Rock at 4:30 p.m., while Sunday, Sept. 15, offers Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone at 12:15 p.m., The Breakfast Club at 3:10 p.m., and Mean Girls at 5 p.m. On Saturday night from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. there’s even a dance party, “Grease is the Party,” featuring themed beverages and where “sock hop attire or Kevin Bacon cosplay is highly encouraged.” 1300 Constitution Ave. NW. Tickets are $15.50 with fees. Call 202-633-1000 or visit www.si.edu/theaters.

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 onesquare-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 202-633-1000 or visit www.nmai.si.edu.

C.J. CHENIER AND THE RED-HOT LOUISIANA BAND

CHICAGO BLUES NEWS-KAREN MURPHY

Next up in the outdoor American Roots Concert Series at the Hill Center is a performance by the Grammy-nominated Creole musician, C.J. Chenier, son of Clifton “The King of Zydeco” Chenier. The bluesy singer and accordion player will lead the Red-Hot Louisiana Band during a free late-afternoon concert further enhanced by two boxed offerings from the acclaimed nearby restaurant Little Pearl. A Cold Fried Chicken or Cold Fried Eggplant box can be ordered up until Thursday, Sept. 5, and available for pick-up on the patio at Little Pearl an hour before the concert. Sunday, Sept. 8, at 4:30 p.m. Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital, 921 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. Free. Call 202-549-4172 or visit www.HillCenterDC.org.

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Spotlight BEFORE YOU KNOW IT

Veteran actress and longtime LGBTQ ally Judith Light plays a plucky, indomitable actress who is not dead, as her two daughters were led to believe. The truth is their mother is still very much working as a third-rate soap opera star. Director Hannah Pearl Utt stars as Rachel, a level-headed lesbian, opposite Jen Tullock as her flighty, flirty sister Jackie in a spiky dramedy that the two wrote together. Mike Colter and Alec Baldwin also star.

Opens Friday, Sept. 6. Landmark’s E Street Cinema, 555 11th St. NW. Call 202-452-7672 or visit www.landmarktheatres.com.

SHEMEKIA COPELAND

Continuing the legacy of blues divas Etta James and Bessie Smith — to say nothing of her late father, Texas bluesman Johnny Copeland — Shemekia Copeland is far from just a powerhouse brassy blues singer-songwriter. The stirring, genre-bending music featured on the 40-year-old’s eighth release, America’s Child, is a bluesy, soul-fired blend of Americana, folk, and rock.

Recorded in Nashville, the set “celebrates our collective diversity in all its forms and colors.” Friday, Sept. 13, at 8 p.m. Amp by Strathmore, 11810 Grand Park Ave. North Bethesda. Tickets are $25 to $45. Call 301-581-5100 or visit www.ampbystrathmore.com.

JOAN MARCUS

WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME

In her boundary-breaking new play, Heidi Schreck resurrects her 15-year-old self, a repeat winner of Constitutional debate competitions, in order to trace the profound relationship between four generations of women in her family and the founding document that shaped their lives. Having garnered two Tony Award nominations earlier in the year and recently named a Pulitzer Prize Finalist for Drama, What The Constitution Means to Me starring Schreck comes to the Kennedy Center for a limited, two-week engagement. Wednesday, Sept.

11 through Thursday, Sept. 22. Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater. Tickets are $49 to $169. Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

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CHRISTOPHER BANKS

Out On The Town

MOSAIC THEATER’S FABULATION

THEATREWEEK KICKOFF PARTY

More than two dozen local theaters offer discounted tickets — ranging from $15 to $35 — to their current offerings as part of a nearly month-long, TheatreWashington-organized promotion that helps launch the new season. This year’s lineup includes Assassins at Signature, Fences at Ford’s, Doubt at Studio, Trying at 1st Stage, Cabaret at Olney, and Elephant & Piggie’s “We Are In A Play!” at Adventure Theatre-MTC. TheatreWeek also features a dozen or so special events, many free, including notable first-week offerings such as a Show Tunes & Cocktails party with pianist Glenn Pearson at the Beacon Bar & Grill, on Monday, Sept. 9; Beltway Barks, the annual adoption event by DC Actors for Animals at the Rockville Town Center, on Saturday, Sept. 14; a Tour d’ Theaters Bike Ride led by Theater J’s Adam Immerwahr on Sunday, Sept. 15; and a Historic Theatre Walking Tour featuring NPR’s Bob Mondello and presented by Cultural Tourism DC on Monday, Sept. 16. First up is the free Kickoff Party starting at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 7, at Arena Stage. Along with demonstrations, conversations, and giveaways, the party features entertainment throughout, with highlights including performances by acclaimed local actors Felicia Curry, Wood Van Meter, and Monique Midgette, Creative Cauldron’s married musical-writing team of Stephen Gregory Smith and Matthew Conner, select cast members from the recent production of Into The Woods at Ford’s, and an excerpt from Synetic Theater’s “wordless Shakespeare” production of The Tempest. Call 202-3374572 or visit www.theatreweek.org. Discount tickets available at www.TodayTix.com.

Compiled by Doug Rule

FILM BIRD

HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH

Clint Eastwood’s 1988 biopic about jazz legend Charlie “Bird” Parker is revived next week as part of the Capital Classics series at Landmark’s West End Cinema.

Bird, which earned Eastwood two Golden Globe Awards, including Best Director, plays out like a jazz riff as past and future events overlap to showcase Bird’s soaring skill and destructive excesses. Forest Whitaker also garnered acclaim — and Best Actor at Cannes — for his remarkable portrayal of Parker.

Wednesday, Sept. 11, at 1:30, 4:30, and 7:30 p.m. 2301 M St. NW. Happy

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hour from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $12.50 each. Call 202-534-1907 or visit www.landmarktheatres.com.

The film version of John Cameron Mitchell’s wildly imaginative musical comedy-drama features brilliantly subdued lighting effects and animated sequences, a strong cast including Mitchell in the title role, and an infectious punk score

by Stephen Trask. All of that is what makes it a recurring hit on the “midnight movie” circuit, with another run at Landmark’s E Street Cinema set for next weeekend.

But the 2001 film earned its place in Metro Weekly’s list of “25 Gay Films Everyone Should See: The Sequel” chiefly on account of its story, which subtly, slyly captures

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the ongoing struggle for recognition of the transgender community in mainstream society. The fictional trans title character effectively stands in for many actual transgender people who understandably harbor some resentment over mainstream society’s routine ignorance, even discrimination. Hedwig, the ”internationally ignored song stylist,” doggedly pursues respect in a world that makes fun of her and bluntly refuses to understand her predicament. The ultimate message: Hedwig cannot be denied. Friday, Sept. 13, and Saturday, Sept. 14, at midnight. 555 11th St. NW. Tickets are $10. Call 202-452-7672 or visit www.landmarktheatres.com.

UNION MARKET DRIVE-IN: COCO

Union Market revs up its month-

ly Drive-In Series twice more in 2019, with the penultimate offering next week of Coco, the 2018 Oscarwinning animated adventure from Disney-Pixar about an aspiring 12-year-old musician channeling his great-great-grandfather, a legendary singer, and featuring songs by the Oscar-winning couple Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez (Frozen) plus a score by Oscar winner Michael Giacchino (Up). You don’t have to drive a car to partake in the experience, as you can just nab a viewing spot in the free picnic area. Food and beer are available from market vendors and neighboring merchants. The DC Rollergirls will also be on hand to sell and deliver candy. Friday, Sept. 6, with the screening starting at 8 p.m. In the parking lot at Union Market,

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PHOTO COURTESY OF MOREL

CREATIVE SPARK

Rich Morel turned an obscure documentary on lightning into his new musical concept album Struck.

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DECADE AGO, WHILE WATCHING “ONE OF THOSE weird cable channels,” Rich Morel found himself drawn to a documentary on the phenomena of people who have been struck by lightning, and the things that happen to them.

“One of them was this postal worker who was struck by lightning,” he says. “And all of a sudden he was able to play [as] a

pretty decent classical pianist, and he had never done any music prior to that. I was watching it, and I was feeling probably not that creative at the moment.” He remembers thinking to himself, “Maybe that would help.”

Rather than wait for lightning to strike, Morel let his imagination run until he sparked the idea for a new pursuit — to compose a new musical, Struck. “It’s about a faded rockstar who's totally past his prime and starts to believe that if he could get struck by lightning, he would get his musical ability and all of his mojo back,” he says.

Morel recruited Alan Cumming to help flesh out the show’s lead character. The D.C.-based electronic/rock musician and DJ/producer — who has worked with everyone from Deep Dish to Bob Mould — had gotten to know Cumming while working with Cyndi Lauper.

After years of earnest development and quiet collaboration with artists including Cumming and book writer Joshua Sanchez, Morel shocked the world — or at least his longtime fans and followers — with the recent release of Struck, a concept album available on all major streaming services. It was a move inspired, in part, by Jesus Christ Superstar, which was a concept album before it became a global smash musical. “I can make records, that's what I do,” Morel says. “I thought, ‘We'll use this as a springboard.’”

For the moment, the focus has been on promoting the record, which features Cumming along with Betsy Wright of D.C.’s punk band Ex Hex, Jesse Clasen of the indie-electronic act Foreign Air, Martina Topley-Bird, the English artist known from her work with Tricky and Massive Attack, and Jason Barnes, better known as local drag queen Pussy Noir, who previously performed with Morel in the duo Sistr Mid9ight.

The obvious question is when might the show see the light of the stage? The short answer is not any time soon. “There's a lot of stuff kicking around as far as what to do,” Morel says. “We've talked about different ideas, about possibly doing little live bits of this show, but nothing's on the table right now.” —Doug Rule

Struck is available at all music streaming sites as well as at www.broadwayrecords.com.

1309 5th St. NE. Free for walk-ups or $15 per car. Call 800-680-9095 or visit www.unionmarketdc.com.

(900 Ellsworth Dr., Silver Spring).

Tickets are $12.50. Visit www.fathomevents.com.

YOU ARE HERE

STAGE

Fathom Events, in partnership with Canadian media company M.D.F. Productions, presents the U.S. premiere of an intimate documentary relating the same story that inspired the hit Broadway musical Come From Away (which made its pre-Broadway debut at Ford’s Theatre). Moze Mossanen’s You Are Here is set in the tiny island town of Gander, Newfoundland, which was inundated with over 6,500 passengers from 38 international airliners in the days following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The warm welcome and kindness the Canadian townspeople exhibited to this deluge of unexpected strangers “restored hope on America’s darkest day,” according to publicity materials. Wednesday, Sept. 11, at 7 p.m. at various area Regal venues, including Gallery Place (701 7th St. NW), Potomac Yards Stadium (3575 Jefferson Davis Highway), and Majestic Stadium

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ASSASSINS

HHHHH Each of the nine notorious killers and wanna-bes rounded up in Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s musical Assassins raises a pistol towards the audience in director Eric Schaeffer’s first-class production at Signature Theatre.

The entire premise, the score, the costumes, and the performances of this Assassins teeter on a dagger’s edge between a morbid fascination with a killer’s mentality, and the cast’s mordant delivery. Schaeffer guides the company surely along the precarious edge, and, bolstered by music director Jon Kalbfleisch’s solid orchestra, the cast serves up Sondheim’s score with the right touch of showmanship to soften the show’s piercing blows. This winking production, Signature’s

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third mounting of Assassins, adroitly sidesteps partisan arguments by focusing on the impartial power of a gun to affect anybody (or any body).

The joke and the truth of Sondheim and Weidman’s prescient ode to the power of one finger on the trigger is that the gun is the uncredited main character of Assassins. The show seems to suggest that the gun might be the principal character of American history, once all the ballads have been written. To Sept. 29, with a Pride Night performance, Friday, Sept. 6. at Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington. Tickets are $40 to $108.

Call 703-820-9771, or visit www. sigtheatre.org. (André Hereford)

FABULATION, OR THE RE-EDUCATION OF UNDINE

Stylish, successful New York City publicist Undine Barnes Calles is cruising for her comeuppance at the start of Lynn Nottage’s spiky comedy. And in swift order, the catty, uncaring PR maven gets served all the retribution that’s coming to her, and then some, as

she loses her man, her money, and her mantle as an upwardly mobile mover in Manhattan’s chic social circles. Fabulation yields a bounty of laughs for the audience at Mosaic’s new production, thanks to two-time Pulitzer winner Nottage’s brilliantly funny script and an on-the-money cast. Highand-mighty in her high-fashion stilettos, Felicia Curry is fabulous as Undine, who gets rocked steadily downward by every disastrous blow until she lands back at the dreaded place she started: with her family in the Brooklyn projects. The script, under Eric Ruffin’s keen direction, captures the universal in Undine’s tale, but this fable quite distinctly tells the Undine Barnes Calles version of the story, dished up with the snap and flavor of black Brooklyn meets Manhattan glam. Curry rocks Undine’s killer wardrobe, and caresses Nottage’s ripe language without being too precious about it.

Her well-honed performance leads us safely along Undine’s dizzying ride towards redemption, anchoring a vibrant, versatile ensemble

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that handles just about everything else. Through Sept. 22. Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets are $45 to $65. Call 202-399-7993, ext. 2 or visit www. mosaictheater.org. (AH)

LEGALLY BLONDE

Dupont Circle’s Keegan Theatre closes out its 22nd season with the stage adaptation of the hit movie, based on Amanda Brown’s novel about effervescent Elle Woods and her journey to Harvard. Ricky Drummond helms Keegan’s production of the show, featuring music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Neil Benjamin, aided by music director Walter “Bobby” McCoy and choreographer Ashleigh King. Extended to Sept. 8. Keegan Theatre, 1742 Church St. NW. Tickets are $52 to $62. Call 202-265-3767 or visit www. keegantheatre.com.

MUSIC BUTTERFLY

DEERHUNTER

With the release of Deerhunter’s last album, 2015’s Fading Frontier, lead singer-songwriter Bradford Cox swore off the dreamy, shoegazy quality that ran through much of the Atlanta-based group’s early work. On this year’s Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared? he happily proclaims it dead and buried. This time around, Deerhunter find themselves squarely in the present, fixated on upheaval and transience, themes that are reflected in its brief runtime. Depending on what one wants to read into the lyrics, Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared? could be described as a political album, albeit an unconventional one. Its voice hovers between resignation and distress, seemingly bewildered by a world gone mad, in which chaotic politics are both cause and consequence of a wider tumult. Cox manages to keep up a sense of humor in his narration. Including himself in the joke saves the album from veering into outright sanctimony. The band will perform the new work as part of a co-headlining show at the 9:30 Club with Dirty Projectors, a Brooklyn-based outfit touring in support of a new self-titled breakup album produced by the legendary Rick Rubin. Sunday, Sept. 8. Doors at 7 p.m. 815 V St. NW. Tickets are $30. Call 202-265-0930 or visit www.930.com. (Sean Maunier)

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“Madama Butterfly is a piece that all opera companies are sort of wrestling with,” says Timothy Nelson, noting that the debate is over “whether it's still appropriate to perform the piece, because it has some major misogynistic and racial problems in it.” Few opera-focused entities have altered Puccini’s tragedy to the extent that The In Series has under Nelson, whose new production is an “experiment in trying to find a way to do the piece that makes it still speak on a human level, and tries to excise race from it entirely.” Guided

by David Belasco’s one-act play that inspired Puccini’s epic opera, the resulting 80-minute production centers more than ever on the work’s titular character. The In Series further distinguishes its truncated production with two distinct versions — one in English, and another in the traditional Italian, with projected English supertitles. They will be performed on alternating dates by differing casts. Music Director Jessica Krash will accompany both casts playing Puccini’s score on piano. Previews begin Thursday, Sept. 5, with opening night Saturday, Sept. 7. Through Sept. 22. Source, 1835 14th St. NW. Tickets are $21 to $46, or $31 to $56 for Opening Night & Celebration.

Call 202-204-7741 or visit www. inseries.org.

CREATIVE CAULDRON’S SUMMER CABARET SERIES

After a break over Labor Day, the 10th annual summer cabaret series at ArtSpace Falls Church continues with two of D.C.’s finest young R&B singers each paying tribute to those who came before. On Friday, Sept.

6, at 8 p.m., comes “Cecily Sings Nancy Wilson,” a show in which “D.C.’s first lady of soul” brings to life the story and music of the celebrated artist and activist. That’s followed on Saturday, Sept. 7, at 8

p.m., with Rochelle Rice’s “And We Shall March,” a journey through the social justice causes, key figures, and empowering music of the Civil Rights Movement. 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.

ELISE TESTONE’S ALL-STAR AMY WINEHOUSE BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE

Two days before what would have been her 36th birthday, the great, late British soul singer is celebrated in a concert featuring Testone, a singer-songwriter who became a finalist on American Idol, backed by an eight-piece band of musicians who have performed with the Trey Anastasio Band, Prince, Snarky Puppy, and more. The concert also features Philadelphia-based reggae/fusion band The Underwater Sounds playing The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Thursday, Sept. 12.

Doors at 6:30 p.m. The Hamilton, 600 14th St. NW. Tickets are $22 to $32. Call 202-787-1000 or visit www.thehamiltondc.com.

GIPSY KINGS

The Grammy-winning star flamenco band returns for one of the last concerts of the season under the stars and in the amphitheater at Wolf Trap. Gipsy Kings is led by singer Nicolas Reyes and lead guitarist Tonino Baliardo. Online ticket purchases come with one digital download link to the band’s upcoming album Evidence. Vilray opens.

Sunday, Sept. 8. Gates at 6:30 p.m.

The Filene Center, 1551 Trap Road, Vienna. Tickets are $39 to $79. Call 877-WOLFTRAP or visit www. wolftrap.org.

MARYLAND LYRIC OPERA: PAIRING OF TWO ONE-ACT OPERAS

Music Director Louis Salemno launches a new season of this young, singer-focused troupe with a concert pairing two celebrated one-act operas: Il Tabarro by Giacomo Puccini and the haunting Cavalleria Rusticana

by Pietro Mascagni. Susan Bullock, Mark Delavan, Jonathan Burton, Jill Gardner, and Yi Li lead the cast of principal soloists accompanied by the 80-member Maryland Lyric Opera Orchestra and Chorus with concertmaster Jose Miguel Cueto and chorus master Steven Gathman. Saturday, Sept. 13, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Sept. 14, at 2 p.m.

Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda.

Tickets are $35 to $75. Call 301-5815100 or visit www.strathmore.org.

PETER FRAMPTON

The 69-year-old Brit responsible for the classic rock radio staples “Breaking All the Rules,” “Show Me

the Way,” and “Baby, I Love Your Way,” among others, has gone on to play himself in TV shows ranging from The Simpsons to Family Guy to Madam Secretary. Frampton, who was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2014, returns to the area as part of his “Finale: The Farewell Tour,” an evening romping through his repertoire, as well as paying tribute to another British classic-rock act, with an opening set from Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening. Wednesday, Sept. 11.

Doors at 6 p.m. The Anthem, 901 Wharf St. SW. Tickets are $76 to $1,076. Call 202-888-0020 or visit www.theanthemdc.com.

COMEDY COMEDY AS A SECOND LANGUAGE

A show President Trump doesn’t want you to see, Maryland’s Improbable Comedy has recruited more immigrants and first-generation comics for another Comedy As A Second Language program.

Taking the stage at the Silver Spring Black Box Theatre will be Che Guerrero, Alyssa Al-Dookhi, Umar Khan, and Reem Seliem. Saturday, Sept. 7, at 8 p.m. 8641 Colesville Road, Silver Spring. Tickets are $22 to $30. Call 301-588-8270 or visit www.improbablecomedy.com.

FOOD & DINING BOURBON STEAK: SPECIALTY DRINK & DESSERT TOASTING THE REACH

In honor of the Kennedy Center’s expansion, the fine-dining restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel in Georgetown is offering a specialty drink and dessert, both inspired by the center’s original namesake.

A favorite cocktail of President Kennedy, the classic daiquiri gets fancifully dressed up by Head Bartender Sarah Rosner with a concoction she’s calling The Lancer and Lace — nodding to the White House code names for the 35th President and First Lady Jackie Kennedy — and that sees Strongwater Golden Bitters, Don Ciccio & Figli Ambrosia Herbal Liquer, and Fino Shery embellishing the standard daiquiri base of rum — here, Brugal Extra Dry Rum — with cane and lime juices. Meanwhile, Pastry Chef Chelsea Spaulding riffs on a preferred treat of the former president with her Waffle Dessert special that finds the pastry drenched in chocolate and topped with banana toffee, a scoop of peanut butter ice cream, and marshmallow fluff. The specials are available in the dining room, lounge, and patio at Bourbon Steak for the duration of the REACH’s Opening Festival, starting Saturday, Sept. 7, and ending Sunday, Sept.

22. 2800 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Call 202-944-2026 or visit www. fourseasons.com/washington.

ART & EXHIBITS 6 @ 35

The Zenith Gallery toasts the 35th anniversary of an organization that supports area sculptors by collaborating with other arts organizations, helping develop careers and exhibiting artwork. The latest exhibition in Zenith’s downtown Sculpture Space highlights six member artists of the Washington Sculptors Group, selected by a jury comprised of Sandy Bellamy, the official art curator for D.C.’s public buildings, art critic and curator Nancy Nesvet, and Zenith’s Margery Goldberg.

The six artists with works on display are Luc Fiedler, Allen Linder, Mitra Lore, Vienne Rea, Gil Ugiansky, and Wilfredo Valladares. Now to Jan. 4, with a Meet the Artists Reception on Sept. 18. 1111 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Call 202-783-2963 or visit www.zenithgallery.com.

ARTY QUEERS: D.C.’S LGBTQ+ ART MARKET

The DC Center for the LGBT Community offers the chance for local LGBTQ and queer-identified artists to showcase and sell their works on the second Saturday of every month, including Sept. 14, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Prospective art buyers can expect to see original artworks in a range of media, including painting, pottery, photography, jewelry, glasswork, textiles, and clothing. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. Call 202-682-2245 or visit www.thedccenter.org.

lections, intended to examine the complexity of LGBTQ history both before and after Stonewall. Among the 20 objects and 30 buttons and graphics in this special exhibition, which is set up in a display clase on the museum’s second floor: items of clothing belonging to Matthew Shepard, protest signs from gay rights activist Frank Kameny, the first transgender pride flag, and lesbian tennis pro Billy Jean King’s dress. To Spring 2020. 1300 Constitution Ave. NW. Call 202633-1000 or visit www.americanhistory.si.edu.

MANIFESTO: ART X AGENCY

More than 100 works of art and ephemera created over the past century are currently on display in this group exhibition at the Hirshhorn.

The specific focus is on artist manifestos and their impact, exploring how artists have used these statements of principles or theories to engage with the political and social issues of their time, including the present day. Manifesto: Art X Agency is named after a multichannel film

by German artist Julian Rosefeldt that features actress Cate Blanchett performing excerpts from some of the great manifestos of the past century. Dating to 2015, Rosefeldt’s film makes its Hirshhorn debut as part of the exhibition, which is mostly comprised of seminal works from the museum’s permanent collection

made by Alexander Calder, Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, Jackson Pollock, Guerrilla Girls, Adrian Piper, Nam June Paik, and Glenn Ligon. Now to Jan. 5. Independence Avenue and Seventh Street SW. Call 202-6331000 or visit www.hirshhorn.si.edu.

NORMCORE

BY SASCHA APPELHOFF & LENA VON GOEDEKE

Through a year-long artistic partnership with the German government and the Goethe-Institut Washington, the Transformer Gallery displays works created by two contemporary Berlin-based artists playing with the idea of “normcore,” a portmanteau of normal and hardcore. Appelhoff and von Goedeke challenge the concept, and the cliché of the uptight, rule-following German, through their own perception of the “norm” — in signs, sizes, and symbols — and by playing with the metric system in the U.S., where none of these rules apply.

After it closes next month, the main immersive, site-specific exhibition will be condensed down to a monthlong storefront installation in a room at the American University Katzen Arts Center, presented in conjunction with Transformer’s 16th Annual Silent Auction & Benefit Party, set for Oct. 26 at the GWU/Corcoran School of the Arts & Design. Opening Reception is Saturday, Sept. 7, from 6 to 8 p.m.

D.C. ART ALL NIGHT

In 2009, Alexander Padro and his partner were so inspired by a visit to Paris’ Nuit Blanche that they launched a D.C. version of the free, one-night-only art festival in their Shaw neighborhood. The idea was so successful, it soon expanded to seven other city neighborhoods, overseen by each locality’s Main Street program. The festival’s activities, performances, and displays represent all types of art and artists, ranging from performers in music, dance, theater, and poetry to visual artists working in painting, photography, film, sculpture, crafts, and fashion. Co-sponsored by D.C.’s Department of Small and Local Business Development as well as the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the 11th annual D.C. Art All Night is set for Congress Heights, Deanwood Heights, Dupont Circle, H Street, Minnesota Avenue, North Capitol, Shaw, and Tenleytown.

Saturday, Sept. 14, from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. Visit www.dcartallnight.org for full details.

ILLEGAL TO BE YOU: GAY HISTORY BEYOND STONEWALL

The National Museum of American History celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots with a yearlong display of artifacts from the Smithsonian’s LGBTQ col-

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“Dancing Bear,” a vibrant image of a teddy bear posed with a bustling amusement park in the background, to a new 12x12 series of fun and spontaneous “street” photographs.

Prints will be available for purchase in prices ranging from $125 to $600 each at the closing reception, also featuring light food and drinks, and set for Saturday, Sept. 7, from 7 to 9 p.m. The Center Arts Gallery is inside the Reeves Center at 2000 14th St. NW. Call 202-682-2245 or visit www.thedccenter.org.

ABOVE & BEYOND

ATLAS TAPROOM

ADAMS MORGAN DAY

DC BEER WEEK

When this promotion was launched 11 years ago, there weren’t any breweries based in D.C., just a dedicated crew of craft beer aficionados with a dream. Now there are a dozen breweries in D.C. proper and the entire region has seen an explosion in the craft. DC Beer Week has grown by leaps and bounds, with dozens of events taking place over the course of eight days.

This year’s Marquee Events include: the Kickoff Party at Bluejacket on Sunday, Sept. 8, where a selection of guest beers will be poured and the promotion’s official beer for 2019 will be released, the German-style lager Solidarity Beer, brewed on-site; the Washington, D.C. Total Tap Takeover at Churchkey on Tuesday, Sept. 10, in which 55 local craft breweries will be represented; Roofers Union Kick the Keg Contest on Wednesday, Sept. 11, in which seven local breweries compete for bragging rights as the audience’s favorite brew; “Red Bear Celebrates Women In Beer” on Thursday, Sept. 12, featuring a panel discussion on the topic; and Brewers on the Block in Buffalo & Bergen’s outdoor beer garden Suburbia on Saturday, Sept. 14, where guests can get unlimited pours in a souvenir tasting glass from 40-plus area breweries, cideries, and meaderies. DC Beer Week runs to Sunday, Sept. 15. Visit www.dcbeerweek.net for a full schedule of events.

On display to Oct. 10. Transformer, 1404 P St. NW. Call 202-483-1102 or visit www.transformerdc.org.

THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF TODD FRANSON

A few photographs that you may remember from covers of this magazine — Jim Graham as Cleopatra or the infamous Leather Kewpie — have factored into the latest exhibition at the DC Center for the LGBT Community, all by Todd Franson, Metro Weekly’s principle portrait photographer for 24 years.

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Yet the focus of the exhibit is on artworks Franson has created for other projects and pursuits, going as far back as his days as a student at the Savannah College of Art and Design. A more recent passion of Franson’s has been capturing artistic shots of foliage, blooms, and landscapes at the National Arboretum that he reproduces as larger prints in sizes ranging from 16x20 and 24x30. And then there are the dazzling and quirky photographs that come closest to conveying his personal sensibility — from

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Back in the summer of 1977, residents and businesses in Adams Morgan hosted a block party. Over four decades later, what became Adams Morgan Day is renowned as D.C.’s longest-running neighborhood celebration, drawing masses to the neighborhood each year. The festival offers almost any activity you can think of — from live musical acts to board games to painting demonstrations, plus local restaurants tempting passersby with incredible specials. Sunday, Sept.

8, from noon to 6 p.m. Free. Visit www.admoday.com. (John Riley)

FORD'S THEATRE'S HISTORY ON FOOT

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

KENNEDY CENTER’S REACH: OPENING FESTIVAL

Years in the making, the unprecedented addition to the Kennedy Center campus of 72,000 square feet of interior space and nearly twice the volume of outdoor space officially opens this weekend via a 16-day, star-studded festival offering nearly 500 events. Free, timed-entry passes are required for entry into the REACH — and unfortunately, all passes for the festival’s marquee evening and weekend events are fully booked. Still, there are plenty of notable events planned over the festival’s first week that are available by reserving the appropriate morning and afternoon passes. The passes also grant access to recurring REACH installations, including: Skylight Soundscapes, an immersive, music-centered lounge where guests can explore every-

thing from the techno scenes in Detroit and Berlin, to the art and desert setting of Burning Man, to the fuzzy inside of a synthesizer; and the Virtual Reality Lounge, where Oculus headsets bring to life multi-dimensional works such as Robert Connor’s Half Life VR, featuring the Royal Swedish Ballet performing a work by choreographer Sharon Eyal, Lena Herzog’s Last Whispers, an immersive oratorio about the mass extinction of languages, and Julie Taymor’s “Circle of Life” in 360°, a panaromic video from Broadway’s The Lion King enabling viewers to choose where to look at every point.

Among the available events, per day, the highlights on Monday, Sept. 9, include screenings of Every Little Step, the 2008 documentary about the casting for the 2006 Broadway revival of A Chorus Line, and Fences, the 2016 adaptation of the August Wilson play starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis. With a focus on art and artists of Native or Indigenous populations, Tuesday, Sept. 10, presents a Conversation with Yalitza Aparicio, the first Oscarnominated Indigenous Mexican actress (Mixtec, Roma), moderated

by Mexican director/playwright/ actress Ofelia Medina, plus the Panel Discussions “Native Artists in the Performing Arts,” moderated by Dance Place’s Christopher K. Morgan, and “The New Contemporary in Native American Art.” A multitude of events appeal to fans of classical music and musical theater on Wednesday, Sept.

11, including: TED-style “Classical Talks” with NSO harpist Adriana Horne, conductor Ankush Kumar Bahl, Scott Tucker of the Choral Arts Society, and Daniel Bowen of Symphony 21; a two-hour open rehearsal, with audience Q&A, of an NSO Chamber Group performing Dvořák's Viola Quintet; the contemporary show “S P A C E D O U T” from the D.C.-based wind quintet District5; a Master Class with legendary musical composer Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast, Little Shop of Horrors) as well as a rehearsal of Menken’s sold-out performance later that evening with the NSO and Broadway stars Megan Hilty, Adam Jacobs, Norm Lewis, and Patina Miller; another Master Class with NSO Principal Pops Conductor Steven Reineke; and screenings of the documentaries Duke Ellington’s Washington and Seymour: An Introduction, the latter Ethan Hawke’s intimate look at the concert pianist-cum-musical educator Seymour Bernstein. Things kick off at sunrise on Thursday, Sept. 12, with a free Daybreaker morning dance and yoga experience led DJ FDVM, resident MC Haile Supreme, and resident yogi Atticus Mooney, followed later in

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the day by a screening and panel discussion of the new documentary Once in a Hundred Years, about the life and legacy of groundbreaking African-American opera singer Marian Anderson. And highlights on Friday, Sept. 13, include a screening hosted by pioneering independent filmmaker Charles Burnett of his 1999 documentary Selma, Lord, Selma, and the Collective Futures in Music series featuring individual performances by, and a group panel discussion with, five emerging artists from the black, Latinx, immigrant, and/or LGBTQ communities in D.C. and Baltimore: DJs Genie, Trillnatured, Toyo Mansi, Kotic Couture, and EN’B. The festival runs to Sept. 22. Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org/ reach to reserve passes or for more information, including a full schedule of events.

LA COSECHA: CALLE LATINA OPENING CONCERT + BLOCK PARTY

EDENS, the developer and operator of Union Market, will throw open the doors of its newest venture in that same Northeast neighborhood with a free, daylong party. Styled as a contemporary Latin marketplace and offshoot of the original market, La Cosecha will feature Latin culture- and cuisine-focused merchants, such as El Cielo, Nova Bossa, Amparo, Ali Pacha, Grand Cata, Serenata, Café Unido, Filos Bakery, Zona E Home, La Casita, and Peruvian Brothers — all of whom will give a sneak peek of their offerings during Calle Latina.

Ozomatli, the Grammy-winning Latin pop fusion act from Los Angeles, headlines the block party featuring additional performances by local pop singer/dancer Jason Cerda, Salt Cathedral, Mario + Jose, Jonathan Acosta, DJs Bembona, Renzo, Nicolas Losada, and Batalá.

Comedians also factor into the party lineup, along with kids dance classes, food and retail pop-ups, and chef demos. Calle Latina is presented in partnership with Events DC. Saturday, Sept. 7, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. 1270 4th St. NE. Visit www. lacosechadc.com/callelatina for more information.

MARYLAND RENAISSANCE FESTIVAL

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

Now in its 43rd season and set in a park outside of Annapolis, Md., the festival encourages patrons to dress up in period costume. They’re available to rent if you don’t have your own doublet and hose. Just don’t bring weapons, real or toy, or pets, as they tend to eat the turkey legs. It all takes place in the 27-acre

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Village of Revel Grove, where more than 200 professionals perform as characters of the era, naturally led

by His Most Royal Highness King Henry VIII, wandering the steeds and streets when not on the village’s 10 stages or in the 3,000-seat arena, where a headline attraction is the jousting troupe Debracey Productions with its field full of horses, men in armor, chariots, trick riding and thrills for all ages.

Also on hand are over 140 artisans exhibiting their predominantly handmade crafts in renaissance shops, five taverns and watering holes helping adult patrons stay hydrated and in good spirits, and 42 food and beverage emporiums to quench the hunger and thirst of even the youngest and most discerning. Weekends through Oct. 20.

1821 Crownsville Road, Annapolis, Md. Tickets are $18 to $20 for a single-day adult ticket until Sept. 8, or $23 to $27 after; passes range from $41 for a 2-Day Pass to $160 for a Season Pass good for all 19 days.

Call 800-296-7304 or visit www. rennfest.com.

ZOO UNCORKED

Wineries and vineyards from nearby and around the globe will be on hand at this annual fundraiser for the organization Friends of the National Zoo (FONZ), which was once known as Grapes with the Apes. A key feature of this year’s wine fest, sponsored by Total Wine & More, is that all of the wines available for tasting are rated 90 points or above — and the impressive selection ranges from a berry-flavored Bordeaux to a sustainably produced, honey-noted pinot gris from Oregon. Meanwhile, the contemporary jazz pianist Marcus Johnson will offer samples from his FLO Wine collection in addition to a musical performance. Food from local restaurants and popular food trucks will also be on hand to complement the wine tastings at Zoo Uncorked, which also offers opportunities to see nocturnal animals, including residents of the Kids’ Farm, Great Cats, and Think Tank.

The evening benefits conservation, research and education programs at the zoo and its Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Va. Thursday, Sept. 12, from 6 to 9 p.m.

3001 Connecticut Ave. NW. General Admission tickets are $55 for FONZ members or $70 for non-members and include a commemorative wine glass, or $99 to $115 for VIP including exclusive offerings of wine and food, a DJ, and special animal encounters, and a take-home gift.

Call 202-633-4800 or visit http:// nationalzoo.si.edu. l

theFeed

NOT QUITE “EX-GAY”

Conversion therapy leader comes out as gay, admits it’s ‘a lie’ and ‘very harmful.’ By Rhuaridh Marr

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THE POST AND COURIER / YOUTUBE

NE OF AMERICA’S BIGGEST CONVERSION therapy advocates has come out as gay, admitting that the practice is not only “a lie,” but also “very harmful.”

McKrae Game is the founder of Hope for Wholeness, a South Carolina faith-based conversion therapy organization that purports to “shed light on the complicated issues of sexual and relational brokenness with special expertise on homosexuality and transgenderism.”

But after leading the organization for two decades, Game was suddenly fired by its board in 2017.

Speaking to Charleston’s Post and Courier, Game has admitted that he is gay, had severed all ties with Hope for Wholeness, and was trying to reconcile with the harm he’d caused to other LGBTQ people.

“Conversion therapy is not just a lie, but it’s very harmful,” Game said. “Because it’s false advertising.”

Game has reportedly met with people who went through conversion therapy at Hope for Wholeness, including a man who was seeking counselling to undo the damage caused by Game’s efforts.

“I was a religious zealot that hurt people,” Game said.

“People said they attempted suicide over me and the things I said to them. People, I know, are in therapy because of me.

Why would I want that to continue?”

According to his own estimates, thousands of people have undergone conversion therapy at one of Game’s ministries, noting that the organization has “harmed generations of people.”

In a Facebook post last week, Game admitted he was “wrong” about conversion therapy and noted the various ways he had harmed LGBTQ people.

“The memories aren’t all bad. There’s many good memories. But I certainly regret where I caused harm,” he wrote.

“I know that creating the organization that still lives was in a large way causing harm. Creating a catchy slogan that put out a very misleading idea of ‘Freedom from homosexuality

through Jesus Christ’ was definitely harmful.”

He said that making people “believe that their orientation was wrong, bad, sinful, evil, and worse that they could change was absolutely harmful.”

“People reported to attempt suicide because of me and these teachings and ideals. I told people they were going to Hell if they didn’t stop, and these were professing Christians!

This was probably my worse wrongful act,” he wrote.

Game wrote that, ultimately, he’d like “all [ex-gay] ministry and conversion therapy counselors and organizations shut down.”

Conversion therapy is a widely debunked practice that purports to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity. It can include a number of different “therapies,” including talk therapy, behavior-modGame ification therapy, or forms of aversion therapy — including electroshock, chemical, and deprivation therapy. Last month, a team of medical experts called for a nationwide ban on the practice of conversion therapy, citing its harmful effects on the mental health of those subjected to it.

Currently, 18 states have banned conversion therapy for minors. However, adults are able to engage in it if they so choose. No states have officially classified conversion therapy as a form of consumer fraud, though there have been bills introduced in state legislatures and in Congress that would do so.

Game isn’t the first prominent conversion therapy — or “ex-gay” — advocate to come out as gay and call for an end to the practice. In February, David Matheson, who spent years promoting conversion therapy to LGBTQ Mormons, told Britain’s Channel 4 News that conversion therapy “just can’t” change a person’s sexual orientation, that it “should be stopped” in the U.S., and expressed regret over the harm caused to LGBTQ people by his work.

In January, John Smid — former executive director of Love in Action, a conversion therapy organization — similarly said that the practice should be stopped due to its ineffecSEPTEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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theFeed tiveness. Smid, who inspired a character in conversion therapy drama Boy Erased, wrote in a column for the Advocate that organizations still advocating for the practice in 2019 “blithely disregard the mountain of evidence” against it.

And in 2013, Alan Chambers, president of “ex-gay” umbrella organization Exodus International, came out as

gay and shuttered Exodus for good. Speaking to Metro Weekly in 2016, he said that people should be warned against conversion therapy: “This is not something that’s going to work. This is dangerous. It creates shame. It is not something that is going to produce an orientation change in you.” l

OPEN PLAY

NFL free agent Ryan Russell comes out as bisexual, becomes the first out LGBTQ major league player. By John Riley

T

HE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE HAS ITS first openly LGBTQ player after free-agent defensive end Ryan Russell, who previously played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2016-2017, came out as bisexual.

Russell, whose NFL career includes time with the Dallas Cowboys and the practice squad of the Buffalo Bills in 2018, came out in a personal essay for ESPN. The 27-year-old is now the only currently active LGBTQ male athlete in any of the four major professional sports leagues — the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL. Though still a free agent, Russell wrote that he had recently met with an NFL team that was interested in signing him for the upcoming season. He is hopeful that he will eventually return as a member of another NFL team’s roster.

“I have two goals: returning to the NFL, and living my life openly,” he wrote in his essay. “I want to live my dream of playing the game I’ve worked my whole life to play, and being open about the person I’ve always been.

“Those two objectives shouldn’t be in conflict. But judging from the fact that there isn’t a single openly LGBTQ player in the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball or the NHL, brings me pause. I want to change that — for me, for other athletes who share these common goals, and for the generations of LGBTQ athletes who will come next.”

In an interview with the New York Times, Russell said being open and honest was “so much better than hiding and holding it in and just kind of repressing myself. I think the NFL is definitely ready to accept an openly LGBTQ player.”

Russell told the Times that one of the people he had reached out to was former NFL offensive tackle Ryan O’Callaghan, who came out as gay two years ago. O’Callaghan recently made headlines when he said that there was “at least one” gay or bisexual player on every NFL team.

In his essay for ESPN, Russell said there is often pressure on players to stay closeted due to the fear that being out would hurt their chances of remaining in the league.

He told the story of a “well-known blogger” who messaged him and had figured out that Russell was in a relationship with a man.

“My professional world and personal world were colliding with me caught in the cataclysm,” he wrote. “I panicked, then wrote back, reminding him that there were implications about his actions he didn’t fully understand. If

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the blogger outed me, I was sure that would kill my career, one that was supporting not just me, but my mother and grandfather. He’d eradicate a childhood dream that was the product of years of work and sacrifice. After hearing me out, know what that blogger told me? That he would grant me this favor, but that I should be more careful.

“Let that sink into your brain: Even though openly LGBTQ people are thriving in every area of public life — politics, entertainment, the top corporations in America — they are so invisible in pro sports that a gossip blogger is doing a favor for a bisexual football player by not disclosing that he happens to date men. Nobody should need a favor to live honestly. In nobody’s worlds should being careful mean not being yourself. The career you choose shouldn’t dictate the parts of yourself that you embrace.”

Russell doesn’t believe it should be that difficult for the NFL to deal with the prospect of openly gay players, noting, “NFL teams who worry about the ‘distractions’ that would come with additional media coverage have skilled PR professionals who understand that there are bigger issues on Sunday afternoon than a quarterback being asked, ‘What’s it like having a bisexual teammate?'”

Russell has received support from fellow LGBTQ athletes and national LGBTQ groups. Tennis legend Billie Jean King took to Twitter to praise him, as did Olympic diver Greg Louganis.

“Congratulations to Ryan Russell for sharing his truth and living an authentic life!” King tweeted. “His desire to make this process easier for LGBTQ professional athletes in the future is inspiring.”

Louganis praised Russell’s “amazing letter,” adding, “What an amazing person Ryan Russell is. But you only have to read the comments on this thread to know how far we still have to go. We'll get there, but far to go.”

Sarah McBride, the national press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign, said, “Ryan Russell is creating more space and opportunity for LGBTQ young people to dream big and to pursue their goals.”

In a statement, Zeke Stokes, chief programs officer for the LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD, said, “Ryan Russell’s decision to come out will undoubtedly have a big impact on LGBTQ acceptance in professional sports. Everyone should be able to bring their full, authentic selves to work, and that includes the NFL.” l

Community THURSDAY, Sept. 5

The DC Center holds a meeting of its ASIAN PACIFIC ISLANDER QUEER SUPPORT GROUP. 7-8 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit www.thedccenter.org.

Weekly Events ANDROMEDA TRANSCULTURAL HEALTH

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

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. 7 p.m. 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.

THE DULLES TRIANGLES

Northern Virginia social group meets for happy hour at the Cosmopolitan Lounge inside the Sheraton Hotel in Reston.

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.

SAFE SPACE NOVA

NMAC hosts the annual U.S. CONFERENCE ON AIDS from Sept. 5-8. Conference features daily workshops, plenaries, and group activities focused on ending the HIV epidemic and looking at the impact HIV has on various communities.

Conference is at the Marriott Marquis Washington, 901 Massachusetts Ave. NW. For more information, visit www.2019usca.org.

All welcome. 7-9 p.m. 11810 Sunrise Valley Drive, Second Floor. For more info, visit www.dullestriangles.com.

TEEN ANGELS

Safe Space NOVA provides fun group outings and a powerful peer support network for LGBTQ teens.

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ROWING UP IN THE SOUTH AND COMING INTO MY own realization of being part of the LGBTQ community, the one thing I felt was actually missing was a sense of community,” says Jordan Costen, the Atlanta-born executive director of Safe Space NOVA, a program for teenagers aged 14 to 18 in the Virginia suburbs.

“I dealt with a lot of bullying and depression-type issues, and I felt like there was nobody I could really look to, whether it was an adult who's gone through the same types of issues I was experiencing, or other youth who were actually experiencing what I was,” says Costen, who spent his college years in D.C. tutoring and mentoring youth as a volunteer for a number of organizations.

When he returned to D.C. as an adult, Costen started Safe Space NOVA, an organization that would provide local LGBTQ youth in Northern Virginia with the kind of support he wished had been available to him as a teenager.

“Our first pillar that we’ve set up, in terms of programming, is social activities. We rent out spaces either for movie socials, laser tag, miniature monster golf, provide food, and invite the youth.

[They] can come in, play games, meet other people who are actually in the LGBTQ community, eat, and hang out.”

Safe Space NOVA also has a student ambassador, a recent high school graduate who helps take the pulse of LGBTQ youth and plans activities that will engage them. The ambassador then spreads word of the events through various channels, including online and traditional media, and social networks.

As an all-volunteer organization, Safe Space NOVA relies on fundraising to pay for its activities. To that end, it will be holding an inaugural brunch fundraiser on Saturday, Sept. 14 at The Garden, a workspace and conference hall in Alexandria.

At the event, Safe Space NOVA will be giving away scholarships, honoring volunteers for their contributions, and celebrating a proclamation recognizing the organization’s work, which will be presented by Virginia Del. Karrie Delaney (D-Chantilly). The event will be emceed by WUSA9’s Lorenzo Hall.

“We want to make sure the community is educated about the issues the LGBTQ community experiences,” says Costen. “We want to let people know that we're actually here. And, last but not least, we want to get more donations so we can actually increase our programming.” —John Riley Safe Space NOVA’s brunch fundraiser is Saturday, Sept. 14, from Noon to 4 p.m. at The Garden, 5380 Eisenhower Ave., in Alexandria, Va. Admission is $50 per person and includes one drink ticket.

Additional drinks may be purchased at the event.

Visit www.safespacenova.org.

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

METROHEALTH CENTER

offers free, rapid HIV testing.

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

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. www.ushelpingus.com.

FRIDAY, Sept. 6 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.

Visit www.gaydistrict.org.

The 33RD ANNUAL SERENITY RETREAT is a retreat geared toward lesbian and queer women in recovery. All 12-step programs welcome. Retreat takes place on the weekend of Sept. 6-8 at Trout Lake Retreat Center in the Pocono Mountains, featuring community and spirituality discussions, hiking, recovery, boating, campfires, meditation and more. $180 to register. For more information, visit www.annualserenityretreat.com or email annualserenityretreat@gmail.com.

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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.

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

Saturday, Sept. 7 ADVENTURING outdoors group

sponsors a very strenuous 11-mile hike with 3300 feet of elevation gain to see numerous waterfalls in Shenandoah National Park, plus the highest point in the entire park.

EXPERIENCED HIKERS ONLY.

Bring plenty of beverages, lunch, sturdy boots, bug spray, sunscreen, about $20 for fees, and money for dinner on the way home. Carpool at 8:30 a.m. from the East Falls Church Metro Kiss & Ride lot.

Return after dark. For more information, contact Jeff, 301-775-9660, or visit www.adventuring.org.

CENTER ARTS holds a closing

reception to celebrate the end of Metro Weekly Art Director and professional photographer Todd Franson’s Photo Exhibit. Light fare, wine, beer, and non-alcoholic beverages will be served. 7-9 p.m.

2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105.

For more information, visit www.thedccenter.org.

Weekly Events DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a prac-

tice 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, Sept. 8 LAMBDA SCI-FI holds a monthly

meeting and social for LGBTQ scifi, fantasy, and horror fans. Bring

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SEPTEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

snacks or non-alcoholic beverages to share. Meeting starts at 1:30 p.m.

Social from 2-4:30 p.m. For location and more details, visit www.lambdascifi.org.

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

DIGNITYUSA offers Roman

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

FIRST CONGREGATIONAL UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

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

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

Visit www.hopeucc.org.

Join LINCOLN

CONGREGATIONAL TEMPLE – UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST for

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

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

by Rev. Emma Chattin. Children’s Sunday School, 11 a.m. 10383 Democracy Lane, Fairfax. For more info, call 703-691-0930 or visit www.mccnova.com.

NATIONAL CITY CHRISTIAN CHURCH, inclusive church with

GLBT fellowship, offers gospel worship, 8:30 a.m., and traditional worship, 11 a.m. 5 Thomas Circle NW. For more info, call 202-232-0323 or visit www.nationalcitycc.org.

ST. STEPHEN AND THE INCARNATION, an “interracial,

multi-ethnic Christian Community” 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 UNIVERSALIST CHURCH OF SILVER SPRING

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

MONDAY, Sept. 9

mation, visit www.thedccenter.org.

The YOUTH WORKING GROUP of The DC Center holds a monthly meeting focusing on upcoming projects and initiatives aimed at positively impacting the lives of D.C. area LGBTQ youth. 6-7:30 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105.

For more information, visit www. thedccenter.org/youth.

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

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

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

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

DC’S DIFFERENT DRUMMERS

Weekly Events

DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a

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

The DC Center hosts COFFEE

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

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

US HELPING US hosts a black

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

Visit www.ushelpingus.org.

WASHINGTON WETSKINS WATER POLO TEAM practices 7-9

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

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

TUESDAY, Sept. 10 THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO THE MAYOR’S OFFICE OF LGBTQ AFFAIRS holds a meeting to advise and make recommendations about how to best help the LGBTQ community. There is a public comment period for community members to speak out. 6-8 p.m. Reeves Municipal Center, 2000 14th St. NW, 2nd Floor Conference Room.

For more information, visit www.lgbtq.dc.gov.

The DC Center holds a roundtable discussion as part of its COMING OUT DISCUSSION GROUP on the second Tuesday and fourth Thursday of each month. This group is for those navigating issues associated with coming out and personal identity. 7-8:30 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more infor-

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

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

THE GAY MEN'S HEALTH COLLABORATIVE offers free

HIV testing and STI screening and treatment every Tuesday.

5-6:30 p.m. Rainbow Tuesday LGBT Clinic, Alexandria Health Department, 4480 King St. 703746-4986 or text 571-214-9617. www.inova.org/gmhc

OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS

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.

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 11 LEZ READ, a book discussion group focusing on works by lesbian and queer-identified authors, meets at Politics and Prose on the second Wednesday of each month. 7:30 p.m. 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW, downstairs coffee shop.

For more information, visit www.meetup.com/Lez-Read.

TRANSDIMENSIONAL is a

trans-inclusive support group that discusses politics, love, health and entertainment from a trans perspective, and provides assistance for trans folks from leaders in the community, such as doctors, lawyers, and life coaches. 6-8 p.m. Us Helping Us, 3636 Georgia Ave. NW. For more information, visit uhupil.org/support-groups. l

SEPTEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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“I love my nerd life!” exclaims Garrett Clayton. “Anybody who follows my social media and knows me, knows what a giant nerd I am. I'm a huge Pokémon fan. I do cosplay. [A favorite is Sora from Kingdom Hearts.] I play Dungeons & Dragons once a week with my friends. I have all these different video game systems in my house. I played World of Warcraft when I was in high school a lot. The only reason I stopped playing it is because they let you buy level 90 characters, and I think that's cheating.”

Clayton, a native of Michigan, also loves his current domesticated existence. Speaking for an hour and a half on a lazy Sunday afternoon from his backyard in California, birds chirping and dogs barking in the background, he notes with ease how happy he and his fiancé, writer Blake Knight, are since making their nearly nine-year relationship public.

“I spend a lot of time in the garden,” he says. “We have a beautiful garden at home. And I'm an animal lover. We have

The Truth of

The press was relentless in trying to get the then-closeted Clayton to admit he was gay, something that, to this day, troubles the actor. “I hate to break it to every journalist who got mad at me about [not coming out to them],” he says “but the film was about the murder of a porn producer who poached underage young men — and I didn’t feel that was what my coming out should have been linked to.”

Clayton finally did come out when he and Knight announced their engagement in 2018. Prior to that, his star continued to rise — in 2016, he portrayed what some have called “the perfect Link” in Hairspray Live! And in 2017, he starred onstage opposite Al Pacino and Judith Light in Dotson Rader’s opus to Tennessee Williams, God Looked Away. “She is wonderful,” he says of Light. “She asked to officiate my wedding, and I was, like, ‘Hell, yeah, Judith, you can marry me and my fiancé anytime!’”

Clayton will be in Washington, D.C. in a few weeks, appearing in the American Pops Orchestra’s Sept. 21 season opener, “Coat of Many Colors: The Songs of Dolly Parton,” at Arena Stage.

APO Maestro Luke Frazier is coy about what Clayton will sing at the concert, which also features pop legend Joan Osborn, Neyla Pekarek of the Lumineers, and local powerhouse Nova Payton. But he offers this much:

Garrett Clayton The King Cobra star was an aspiring gay actor when he arrived in L.A. And then Hollywood forced him back into the closet.

Interview by Randy Shulman • Photography by Kelly Balch two dogs. We might want to get a bird in the near future. I wear sweatpants and I play video games. I don't know if that makes me a recluse or if it makes me an introvert, but in any other social setting, I'm the loud, obnoxious person.” He laughs. “I don't know what kind of person this makes me, except for honest.”

Like many actors starting out in Hollywood, Clayton had a flurry of small, supporting roles. Then one day someone at the Disney Channel noticed his boyish good looks and asked him to audition for a part in a project that would forever change his life — 2013’s Teen Beach Movie turned out to be a monster hit for the cable channel, and a star was born.

Clayton laughs over the fact that most of the songs in the film were pre-recorded by another singer before he even auditioned, and that he lip-synched the role. The 2015 sequel, however, “is all me,” he says.

Shedding his Disney skin in 2016, Garrett went on to become a household name in the LGBTQ community, portraying reallife adult film star Brent Corrigan opposite Christian Slater and James Franco in the dark, disturbing King Cobra.

“People who say we can only tell positive stories about the LGBTQ community are silly,” he says. “We need to tell the horror stories just like we need to tell the good stories. You have to know what went wrong in the past. You have to know what we have to grow from. You need to know what the dark side is, because as my mom always said, ‘You can't know light without dark, so you've got to make sure that you're balanced.’”

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“Dolly had a lot of famous duets with men, so I'm going to let you read between the lines.” He adds that Clayton, who he notes has a “beautiful voice,” will take on a few solos. “There are some particular numbers that are just, in my opinion, quintessential.

Let’s just say he's singing three super, super, super well-known Dolly songs.”

For his end, Clayton is excited for the opportunity to push his musical career forward. “Anyone who gets to sing Dolly Parton should be excited,” he says. “It'd be silly if I wasn't. She's an icon for a reason.”

METRO WEEKLY: You grew up in Michigan. What was your child-

hood like?

GARRETT CLAYTON: I kind of bounced around a lot. I lived in five

states before I was four, because my dad was in the Army and in the Air Force. My parents split up when I was four and until I was about 15, I spent every other week at both of their houses. So I was a kid between worlds a lot. Just different familial settings, different economical settings. But I feel like I got a well-rounded growing up, and different experiences constantly. My dad's side of the family is very working class. That's just the way I grew up.

I understand the value of hard work and what it means to fight for the life you want.

MW: When did you catch the acting bug?

CLAYTON: When I was younger I told my mom I wanted to try acting. She had done a little bit of modeling through the years

and called some of her friends in the modeling world. I signed with agencies in Michigan, and worked as a commercial model from 13 to 15. I was meeting my agent at my modeling agency when they were casting for a movie. The people casting it saw me and said, “Hey, are you an actor?” And I said, “I'm trying to figure out how to get into it,” because that's ultimately what I wanted. And they said, “If you want to audition for our movie, you can come in and read. We think you look like you could be good for this movie.” I got the job. I played an angry, precocious tween that got to be obnoxious. That was the kind of person I was at that age, anyway.

That first movie was a blue-screen movie. It was me and the other actors. They would put some furniture in the middle of this giant blue space and we would inevitably always be like, “There are no walls!” And they were like, “Just pretend, trust us. Just look at the tape on the floor, that's the geography of the room. Don't walk through a wall, and we'll be fine.”

MW: After you moved from Michigan to L.A., how long before you got your big break — the Disney moment.

CLAYTON: Two years. I worked at a 24-hour restaurant for two years, and I worked from 5 p.m. to 5 a.m every day. When I wasn't working, I was sleeping or auditioning, because I was working 12-hour shifts every night until the sun came up.

MW: Do you remember how you felt when you got cast in Teen Beach Movie?

CLAYTON: It was surreal. But the thing is, you never know how big anything’s going to hit. All I knew is I booked a really incredible job. Whether it was successful or if it was a one-off, I knew I was going to get to do something that I had dreamed about.

I mean, a lot of people who come to L.A. think, “I want to be a movie star, and I want to get my own TV show.” I would never steer anyone away from having goals, but I would steer people away from closing off opportunity. I think a lot of people have a truncated version of what they think success means. But don't put horse blinders on and close yourself off to opportunity. Just because you get your start in film doesn't mean you can't move to theater. Theater has always been my passion, but film was the thing that I found opportunity in first. So I took my opportunity where I got it. It really just depends on your openness to finding opportunity without trying to control the path.

MW: There's a long legacy of phenomenal performers who have emerged from the Disney machine. What is it like being part of that?

CLAYTON: Pretty incredible. I'm just a working-class kid from Detroit whose dream came true. It kind of hits you in waves, you know?

MW: There's a risk of being cast as a certain type of actor especially, it seems, if you work for Disney.

CLAYTON: I am an actor who got hired by Disney, and now some people see me as a Disney actor. I will never name names, but I know some people who really dislike their connection to Disney.

That's their prerogative. For me, I grew up watching the channel, I grew up believing in the Disney dream. For me, it was a dream come true. I don't know peoples’ perception of me, but if they put me in the box of “He's a Disney kid,” and that's where it ends for them, cool. Regardless of anyone's thought process, I will always continue to grow and evolve, and find cool new projects, and surprise people with my work. I will never ever be afraid to take a risk.

My two cents on it is that I am thankful for the opportunity I was given at Disney. It's expanded my world in ways that I don't know if I'll ever fully realize. My fiancé is the one who reminds me to be careful no matter where I go. I'm like, “What 26

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are you talking about?” He's like, “People know you all around the world. People know your name, so you can't just go around and do whatever you want. You have to be careful, now.” It's him who really reminded me of that responsibility, because I'm always downplaying, I'm just like, “Oh, I fart a lot and I make a lot of weird jokes.” I have people around me who love me, and who not only respect what I've done, but remind me of who I am, and the things I've accomplished. I've really tried to own that responsibility and be a good example for young people.

Being on Disney might have a stigma for some people, but I've never let any of those thoughts cloud my judgment of who I am. I just think that was a career move, and all right let's see what the

“I was totally, completely fine with who I was. It wasn’t until I came to Hollywood that I was told it was bad.

PEOPLE WHO WERE GOING TO REPRESENT ME WOULDN’T HELP ME ACCOMPLISH MY DREAM UNLESS I WENT BACK IN THE CLOSET.” SEPTEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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next one is going to be.

MW: The next one was the LGBTQ real-life drama King Cobra, where you played adult film star Brent Corrigan. It was about as extreme as you could get from Disney.

CLAYTON: In reality, for me, it was about, okay, here's a different part. Yes, people see me as a Disney kid, and while I'm grateful for that, I also know that I have been much more than that my whole life, so why don't I just show them another side of me?

I didn't do this job to play it safe. Christian Slater and James Franco had already signed on, and who wouldn't want to work them? They're both brilliant actors, and I felt like I had a lot to learn from them. It was an intense story that happened to be 28

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true, and reading into this character there seemed to be a lot to delve into. So it wasn't just about breaking away from the Disney image, it was also about challenging myself and seeing how far I could rise to the occasion.

MW: When you were offered the role, did your agent say, “Maybe you shouldn't do this.” Where there any qualms about taking it on?

CLAYTON: The only qualm was it was a big, big risk. It's the same thing when Mark Wahlberg did Boogie Nights — you don't know what a decision like this is going to do for your career. But I wasn't willing to stay in one type of box and never get the opportunity to get out of it again, so I was like, if this diversifies my work, I'm going to take the risk.

MW: You're portraying a living person, one who is historically wellknown within the gay community.

You were a dead ringer for him in the film. If I recall, Corrigan was not happy with the movie.

CLAYTON: No, he wasn’t. I’ve never said this publicly, because at the time I didn't really feel comfortable and there were so many headlines around it, but the truth of the matter is he read it, he signed off on the story, and he ended up getting paid. He read it before we shot it. He didn't offer any notes to make it better. So why start all this drama if you got paid, and you signed off on it?

Honestly, I'm glad he kept his opinion to himself until the movie came out, because he didn't really say anything about it when it was greenlit. He only waited until it started making headlines to say anything at all about his disapproval.

MW: Did you meet with him?

CLAYTON: No. I wanted to, and then was advised against it, because he was upset. I don't poke my nose into things that aren't my business, which is probably very unlike most celebrities nowadays, because people love to make a headline. I just don't, because I focus on the work. And if anybody else needs to be distracted by — how do I word this? — if anyone else is trying to distract you with drama so they can stay relevant, then they must not be that confident in their abilities as a performer.

MW: As an actor, how do you interpret someone who is still alive?

There's something in you that must go “I need to stay true to who I believe this person is.”

CLAYTON: I went into it with a positive notion of all right this is a really serious story, and it's my job to respect it, and to be

as honest as I can in my approach. “I know some people who publicist was coaching me every day I read the book Cobra Killer. And because I was freaking out. I'm like, dislike their connection to “I can't believe people are turning this I watched his original video when he was younger online. That video story about underage porn into Disney. I grew up believing murder shouldn't even be online anymore, my coming out.” I was so distraught, but it's all over the place. That, to me, in the Disney dream. If and I was just very hurt. I had bloggers was very uncomfortable, but I also me, saying, “Fuck this guy for people put me in the box tweeting thought if I'm going to tell the truth not coming out. Who does he think he of the situation, I have to watch this of ‘He’s a Disney kid,’ and is?” and “Great, another straight actor and I have to make sure that I get the taking gay roles.” The ones who didn't that’s where it ends tone right, because I didn’t want to assume I was gay were mad because misinterpret the tone of that scene. they thought I was a straight guy taking for them, cool.

I wanted to live through the truth of away gay roles. The ones who thought that moment correctly as I see it. That I was gay thought I was betraying the was my job. community by not coming out.

I know a lot of people joked, “Oh, MW: You were closeted while you were yeah, you watched the video, I bet that at Disney. was hard,” but it does feel hard when CLAYTON: Yes. I had a team of people — you know somebody's underage and not Disney Channel, Disney was never that you shouldn't be watching it. Yes, I involved in this — but I had people do get uncomfortable seeing underage who told me that I couldn't come out pornography. It's horrifying. But if I because nobody wants to fuck the gay was going to tell the story correctly, I guy, they want to shop with him. And had to see the story. And if you're lucky no one will ever hire a gay man as a enough as an actor to see the living story online of a moment lead in movies. that is so controversial, so talked about, you’d be a fool not to The sad part for me is I wish I wasn't so young and impresinvestigate it, to see what that feeling is, and try to replicate that sionable at the time. I wish I could go back and use that platform emotion on the screen. It's my responsibility to tell it as truth- to say, “You know what? Fuck this, these people are wrong.” It fully as possible. takes people in positions of clear visibility to stand up and be MW: Was it uncomfortable to play the sex scenes? like, “No, I'm doing what you say gay people can't do right now, CLAYTON: It depends on which moments, honestly. Nothing was and it's more important that people see that I've done it, and I've without purpose, it wasn't just sex for sex. That was the only been there, and I've accomplished the things they say people in thing I told the director. I was like, “The only way I see this film our community can't accomplish.” working is if there's a reason behind each moment that you're MW: You knew you were gay from a young age, I'm assuming? using sex.” But I signed up for the job. I knew what I was getting CLAYTON: Pretty much. The thing is I wasn't closeted from the myself into. age of 15 to 19. After I moved to Hollywood, I was put back in MW: You weren’t out at the time the film came out. the closet. From 16 to almost 19, when I was growing up, I was CLAYTON: A lot of [media] tried utilizing that film to make me come out, but I was more focused on talking about adult performers’ experience doing these things. Because if you read into the aftermath of people working in the adult industry, it's really tragic. I was trying to use the [press for this film] as a platform to talk about that. But interviewers were more interested in trying to make it about me coming out.

At that time, I just wasn't comfortable tying those together. I didn't want my coming out to be tied to a murderous porn story for the rest of my life. I wanted it to be my choice, when I felt comfortable talking about it. [Some of the reporters] got really disrespectful, and it felt very offensive at the time.

MW: So journalists really pressured you?

CLAYTON: Every single one. My

I WILL NEVER EVER BE AFRAID TO TAKE A RISK.”

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a club kid. My friends and I used to sneak into gay clubs with fake IDs and have fun. I was totally, completely fine with who I was. It wasn't until I came to Hollywood that I was told it was bad. People who were going to represent me wouldn't help me accomplish my dream unless I went back in the closet. You’re not in the position to tell people, “Well, then, I don't want to work with you,” because if they don't work with you, who are you going to work with? When someone's holding your dream over your head and saying, “If you change this one thing, we'll help you.”

MW: What does that do to you as a person?

CLAYTON: It destroys you.

MW: In what way?

CLAYTON: Mentally. Self-worth. I was having a meltdown about it, and I was dating my fiancé at the time. We secretly were together through all of this, and he really was my support system getting through all this, because a lot of it I was like, “I don't know how I'm going to be here, I don't know how I can keep doing this. I'm a liar. I feel bad. I feel like it's my responsibility to be helping people, and I feel like I'm just saving myself. But if I don't get to a position where I have a voice, then am I ever able really to help people?”

I just felt so conflicted about every decision I was making, and it was him who said, “You're not a bad person, you're a good person who is in a shitty circumstance, and you're making the best of it while you try to accomplish your dream to get to a place where you are able to help people. You're not bad, the people who are making you do this, so you can accomplish your dream, are bad.” He was like, “If they really cared about you, and cared about what you stood for, then they wouldn't ask you to do this, they would support you in figuring out how to navigate other peoples’ prejudice.”

MW: Do you think deep down you took King Cobra to help pave the way to coming out?

CLAYTON: No. I legitimately looked at it as an acting experience.

MW: How would you have felt if the role had gone to a straight actor?

CLAYTON: It didn't happen, so I don't know. The place I'm at about that conversation now is when there's equal opportunity, then everything should be equal. Right now, the balances are tipped — they're still casting more straight people in gay roles, and still casting more straight people in straight roles. When there's actual equality, and the casting is fair, then yeah, everyone should get to go after everything they're after.

Right now, you have straight actors playing gay and straight roles and getting most all of them, but you have very few gay actors who might get to play straight. Every actor can go out for the gay role, and then they end up casting the straight person, so it's not that I'm against straight people playing gay, it's just we need to balance the playing field right now.

MW: What kind of roles are you being offered now?

CLAYTON: Honestly, I've taken a step back, because I've been doing a lot more theater, and I've been doing a lot more concert singing, and I've been getting producing credits on films. I'm really trying to diversify my career at the moment. I'm still auditioning for things, it's just right now I don't want to just be an actor, I also want to produce.

MW: How did you meet your financé, Blake Knight?

CLAYTON: About six months after I moved to L.A., when I was working at a restaurant, he would come in. And he wanted to start dating me and I said, “If you can find time in the 12 hours I work a day, the auditions I'm going to, and the acting classes I'm taking, then you're welcome to do that, but I can't make any promises because I'm very driven. I'm not going to be

working at a restaurant forever.”

MW: How did he win your heart?

CLAYTON: He legitimately courted me. Like, it would be two in the morning, and it just turned Easter, and he had his best friend deliver a giant Easter basket he had made while he hid around the corner and watched me get it. He would just do all of these really unique personal things. I had lost a really big job about 10 months after I moved here, and he surprised me by convincing me to go stay at his house after work, I got off about 3 a.m., and he walked around the corner with a cupcake and a little candle, and a present and was like, “I just wanted tonight to be special.”

It was really sweet, intimate things that he just won my heart.

MW: When you came out, and you announced your engagement on social media, what kind of reaction did you get? How did it feel?

CLAYTON: It was great. I honestly didn't know how people would react. All I knew was it was on my terms, and it was the way I wanted to do it, and that's all that mattered. I looked at him one day, and I was like, “You know, I think I want to come out soon,” and he said, “Really?” And I was like, “Yeah, you know, I'm too happy, we're too happy, I cannot hide how happy we are from the world anymore.”

I think hiding it was a disservice to the time and the love that we put into our life together, and the real intense things we've been through, and I wanted to respect that, and it was finally on my terms. It was not anybody else trying to scoop a story, or trying to use me for their getting ahead. It was like, “This is my story, and I get to own it, and I love you, and that's what matters.”

MW: When is the wedding, by the way?

CLAYTON: We don't know yet. We were together seven years before we even got engaged. We're not in a rush. We know we're in this for the long haul. We're going to get married when we're ready to get married. I’ve also contemplated just going to a courthouse, and then minding my own business because, like I said before, I have nothing to prove.

MW: One final question. The #MeToo movement has impacted Hollywood in so many unexpected ways, some of them LGBTQrelated. What are your thoughts on the topic?

CLAYTON: I wish as a country we could come together and stop rewarding bad people, because when we stop rewarding bad people that's where fixing the problem comes in. Just recently someone tried to hire someone who is known for assaulting people on a project I might do in the future, and I said, “I won't work on this project if that person is working on this project.”

I'm not going to let someone work with me and then benefit off of it because they've used their position of power to take advantage of others and they abused it. They shouldn't be rewarded anymore. Until we stop allowing people who hurt others to get ahead, then what's to stop them from continuing doing what they're doing, making the things they make, and taking advantage of new people?

All it means is they're going to be sneakier, and meaner, and try to get away with it in different ways, unless they really show that they've grown, they've done some self-searching, worked on themselves. I'm not religious, but the only word I can think of is “repent.” What are we teaching people? That you get rewarded after you hurt others? No. You're not allowed to work with other people until you learn your lesson. l Garrett Clayton will appear in the American Pops Orchestra’s “Coat of Many Colors: The Music of Dolly Parton” on Saturday, Sept. 21, at 8 p.m., at Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth St. SW. Tickets are $25 to $75. Visit www.theamericanpops.org.

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SEPTEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

Movies

Fears of a Clown

It: Chapter Two scares up king-sized helpings of humor and horror in its overlong conclusion. By André Hereford

T

HE SEVEN INDOMITABLE MAINE YOUNGSTERS WHO BATTLED EVIL and sent it crawling back into its hole in the hit film adaptation of Stephen King’s It vowed they would return to finish the job should the monster they faced ever come back to the tawdry, little town of Derry.

Twenty-seven years later, evil has indeed returned to Derry in It: Chapter Two (HHHHH), the sometimes thrilling conclusion to the horror saga. So, like a bat-signal, a call goes out to reconvene the affectionately-named Losers’ Club, who make their way from wherever they are as adults back home, hopefully to defeat It for good. Easier said than done.

The Losers’ Club’s mission to vanquish the evil It — still personified by murderous clown Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) — will involve each Loser undertaking an arduous quest, through flashbacks and terrifying visions, to chase down mementos of their tortured history in Derry. Director Andy Muschietti, who guided the first film to record-breaking box office success, takes his sweet time reestablishing the Losers’ warm hangout dynamic, then conveying each individual along his or her bloody, frightening journey.

For the most part, it’s time well-spent in the company of both the adult ensemble and their younger counterparts. The movie gains a lot from the return appearances of the solid young actors who gelled so appealingly as a group in the 2017 blockbuster. As Chapter Two continues to develop the tale of what happened to the Losers after they walked out of Pennywise’s lair, and eventually out of each other’s lives, the kid actors get to play intriguing new shades of their characters.

And the film, adapted from King’s bestseller by screenwriter Gary Dauberman, does a remarkably good job with the hand-off between the two age-split ensembles.

Fluid editing and inventive graphic transitions keep all the respective backstories on track, and help connect the kids to the adult actors taking over the roles. Physical resemblance helps, but it’s in their performances that Finn Wolfhard and Bill Hader, for example, so strongly convey the character Richie “Trashmouth” Tozier, at two very different moments in the same lifetime.

The one member of the Losers’ Club who’s spent his entire lifetime in Derry is Mike Hanlon, played as a kid by Chosen Jacobs and as a troubled adult by Isaiah Mustafa. On the page, Mike would seem to be perhaps the most compelling member of the seven, cursed as he is to remember every disturbing detail of the Losers’ Club facing It, while his friends who all left Derry were able to forget. In the film, Mustafa, given plenty to do in driving the plot, is unconvincing as Mike, which might work for a while since his friends are all skeptical of Mike’s feverish claims that they’ll need to perform some arcane ritual to oust Pennywise from Derry.

Ultimately, though, the performance slides towards camp badness, in a movie that tries and succeeds at being funny when it wants to be, usually when Bill Hader or James Ransone, as grown-up hyper-worrier Eddie Kaspbrak, are

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mid-banter or mid-scare. Muschietti also adds amusing cameos

by King and legendary director Peter Bogdanovich — as himself, apparently — amid cool visual references to Ridley Scott’s Alien and John Carpenter’s The Thing, among other famous flicks.

Chapter Two doesn’t seem to want to be as flat-out scary as its predecessor in contemplating the bogeymen hiding in the shadows, or waiting at home. The Losers are all coping with, or in denial about, many of the same demons in their adult lives that they faced as kids — bullying, alcoholism, abuse, even homophobia — but Pennywise doesn’t hold the same power over them, or the audience, though he tries.

As with the younger Loser actors, Skarsgård is offered the chance to do something different in this installment, in and out

of his effectively ghoulish Pennywise face paint, and he creates several moments that might fuel nightmares. Pennywise haunts every corner and carnival ride in Derry, aided by eye-popping, phantasmagoric creatures, unleashed in some heart-racing, though not extended, chase sequences.

Where the movie feels extended beyond any sense of fear or tension is in its long — and we mean long — final act, which takes on a gruesome Goonies vibe as the Losers hunt down the origins of It. Not even Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain, as grownup Beverly Marsh, the Losers’ lone female member, can save this good horror movie from plowing into the dock as it lurches toward its final destination amid a CGI stupor of supernatural lights and ectoplasm. l

It: Chapter Two is rated R, and opens in theaters everywhere on Friday, September 6.

Women in Love

Vita Sackville-West has Virginia Woolf bewitched, bothered, and bewildered in the overripe romance Vita & Virginia. By André Hereford

A

MECHANICAL PRESS PRINTING PAGES OF VIRGINIA WOOLF’S NOVEL Jacob’s Room concisely sets the stage for period romance Vita & Virginia ( ). And composer Isobel Waller-Bridge’s electro-synth score sets the mood to a more modern tempo for director Chanya Button’s torrid biographical tale of Woolf (Elizabeth Debicki) being pursued — and eventually enthralled — by fellow author and bisexual Vita Sackville-West (Gemma Arterton).

Set against the half-lit, interwar interiors and Roaring Twenties fashions, the pulsing music jars in this circa-1922 narrative, but it suits Button’s flushed take on Vita and Virginia as two accomplished, married women who were both of their era, and ahead of their time. Vita would have been about thirty years old and Virginia ten years her senior when they met at the dinner party depicted here, but the film feels like the love story of two much younger people. And, as observed by anyone who’s experienced enough to have loved and lost, their affair proceeds in the fairly predictable fashion of teen romance, complete with the sternly disapproving parental figure swooping in to douse their heated passion with icy put-downs.

The attempted spoilsport, in this case, would be Vita’s aristocratic mum, Lady Sackville, portrayed by Isabella Rossellini with regal bearing but little nuance. Reliably

on hand to remind Vita of all her past dalliances and offenses to proper society, Lady Sackville has also been scripted with little nuance by Button and co-screenwriter Dame Eileen Atkins, the great actress who also wrote the 1997 film adaptation of Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway.

Atkins and Button achieve their adaptation of Virginia Woolf, the person, by also employing excerpts from the writer’s actual letters to Vita, as well as lines from Vita’s letters to Virginia. The story is sensitive to Virginia’s intellect and insecurities, but the script and Debicki’s performance play one chord on repeat. Introduced in slow-mo, twirling seductively at that dinner party, she’s the depressive pixie dream girl of bohemian London. The character only really connects in a later scene in which Virginia describes how she’ll use her intense feelings for Vita to create the novel Orlando.

Vita, portrayed as flighty and less serious than Virginia, is thoroughly more intriguing here, thanks to Arterton’s spirited and open performance, which nevertheless doesn’t give everything away.

Scenes elucidating Vita’s open marriage to diplomat Harold Nicolson, well-played

by Rupert Penry-Jones, create the film’s true fire.

In its reflection of the couple’s unconventional arrangement, intersecting with the brilliant minds and bohemian lifestyles of the Bloomsbury group — including Woolf and her sister, painter Vanessa Bell (Emerald Fennell), Vanessa’s husband Clive (Gethin Anthony), and Vanessa’s lover, the (mostly) gay artist Duncan Grant (Adam Gillen) — the film finds greater depth and dimension in its side romances than in the one placed front-and-center. l

Vita & Virginia is not rated, and opens Friday, Sept. 6 at Landmark’s E Street Cinemas.

Visit www.landmarktheatres.com/washington-d-c.

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STAN BAROUH

Stage

Klub Kids

Blessed with a thrilling cast, Olney’s fresh, powerhouse staging of Cabaret feels more relevant than ever. By André Hereford

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REDIT TO A COMPANY THAT CAN PICK UP A SHOW AS FAMILIAR AS Kander and Ebb’s Cabaret and produce a take as purposeful as director Alan Paul’s fresh staging at Olney Theatre. Stepping out with the most exciting choreography to bump and grind through D.C.’s hot theatrical summer, this Cabaret (HHHHH) is its own special creation.

Well in tune with Joe Masteroff’s book for the show and Chris Youstra’s astute musical direction of an all-time great score, Paul locates potent, present-day context within the ’20s-set musical’s depiction of the looming, bitter reign of fascism. The rise of the anti-semitic National Socialist German Workers’ Party creeps along, perceptible just enough behind the parallel love stories of Sally Bowles and Clifford Bradshaw, and the widowed Fräulein Schneider and Herr Schultz, until Nazis come cruelly crashing in to threaten everything that love has built under the roof of Frau Schneider’s cozy boarding house.

Still, it’s not all love and kisses between Kit Kat Klub star Sally and reserved but increasingly worldly Cliff, the young bisexual, American writer eager to soak up the celebration that is Sally’s Weimar Berlin. As portrayed by a gutsy Alexandra Silber, this Sally is a crafty English tart, who promises much and guarantees nothing but a good time for as long as the gin and fantasy are flowing. Silber infuses Sally’s songs and dances with soul and humor, delivering an especially knowing and funny “Don’t Tell Mama,” and a passionate take on the title tune.

As her darling Cliff, Gregory Maheu embodies the decency and beauty Sally might

fall for, along with the awareness to sum up the proper response to Nazis brutally taking over the city: “If you’re not against this, you’re for it.” Masteroff’s 50-year old dialogue sounds on the nose for some unmistakable reason, and the cast hits those beats deftly to ground the message in an uneasy tension, while Youstra’s orchestra accentuates the sardonic humor, and occasional horror, in all the right places.

One of the brightest spots onstage is wherever Donna Migliaccio appears in her gorgeously sung, heartwarming turn as the cautiously hopeful romantic Fräulein Schneider. As with Maheu’s Cliff, Migliaccio’s portrayal plays a strong hand in providing moral perspective on the choices good people are forced to make during divided times. “With the storm in the wind, what would you do?” Schneider sings.

Tom Story’s compelling Ernst, Cliff’s first German friend, further complicates the question of being resigned, or being part of the resistance. Less compelling, Mitchell Hébert appears not entirely committed to his interpretation of Herr Schultz, especially in the singing, which tends to diminish not only Schultz’s songs

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STAN BAROUH

but also his romantic chemistry with Schneider.

Practically combusting with chemistry, with fellow cast and the audience, Mason Alexander Park is an endless delight as the Kit Kat Klub’s provocative, gender-fluid Emcee. A recent stint standing by for Darren Criss on the Broadway touring production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch might have been the perfect preparation for Park’s precisely accented yet delightfully loose tour guide into the tawdry and terrible. Leading the likewise gender-fluid Kit Kat Girls and Boys, a winning ensemble, Park’s Emcee attacks Katie Spelman’s wonderful choreography with the gamine athleticism of a Johnny Weir, and a very similar fashion sense.

Kendra Rai’s costumes generally are fun to look at, but they don’t always do the Emcee, Sally, and the Kit Kat crew the justice of complementing their performances, rather than distracting from them. Sally looks like she raided the Hustler Store for the red leather corset and thigh-high boots she dons for “Mein Herr.” The outré dominatrix-meets-military styling for the Kit Kat performers makes sense, but also suggests foreign, unrelated tangents to the story being told.

The faux fur-and-leather costumes do, however, suit Wilson Chin’s glam, mirror-lined set for the Kit Kat Klub, lit with drama and dimension by Colin K. Bills. The stageside tables seem well worth the ticket at this club, where, inside, the girls and boys are beautiful and life is a decadent and dangerous cabaret. The party promises much and guarantees nothing but a good time for as long as the gin and fantasy flow freely, for those in power. l Cabaret runs through Oct. 6 at the Olney Theatre Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, in Olney, Md. Tickets are $42 to $99. Call 301-924-3400, or visit www.olneytheatre.org.

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SEPTEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

NightLife Photography by Ward Morrison

SEPTEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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Scene

CHUNK at The Dew Drop Inn - Friday, Aug. 23 - Photography by Ward Morrison See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene

DrinksDragDJsEtc...

Thursday, September 5 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 5pm-2am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Live televised sports FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Karaoke, 9pm GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • Shirtless Thursday, 10-11pm • Men in Underwear Drink Free, 12-12:30am • DJs BacK2bACk NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Beat the Clock Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • $15 Buckets

of Bud Products all night • Sports Leagues Night NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover PITCHERS Open 5pm-2am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm • Special Late Night menu till 11pm • Thirst Trap Thursdays, hosted by Venus Valhalla, 11pm-12:30am • Featuring a Rotating Cast of Drag Performers • Dancing until 1:30am SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas

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

and Select Appetizers • Half-Priced Bottles of Wine, 5pm-close • Paint Nite, Second Floor, 7pm TRADE Doors open 5pm • XL Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass is served in an XL glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine only $5 ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS All male, nude dancers, 9pm-close • “New Meat” Open Dancers Audition • Music by DJ Don T. • Cover 21+

Friday, September 6 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 5pm-3am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything

until 9pm • Video Games • Live televised sports FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Karaoke, 9pm GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • $3 Rail and Domestic • $5 Svedka, all flavors all night long • Davon Hamilton Events presents WTF Underwear Party, 10pm-close • Featuring DJ Tryfe • $10 Cover • GoGo Dancers • $5 Margaritas and $8 Long Islands all night 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

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

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NUMBER NINE Open 5pm • Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover • Friday Night Piano with Chris, 7:30pm • Rotating DJs, 9:30pm PITCHERS Open 5pm-3am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm • Special Late Night menu till 2am SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers TRADE Doors open 5pm • XL Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass is served in an XL glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine

only $5 • Otter Happy Hour with guest DJs, 5-11pm ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS Men of Secrets, 9pm • Guest dancers • Rotating DJs • Kristina Kelly’s Diva Fev-ah Drag Show • Doors at 9pm, Shows at 11:45pm • Music by DJ Jeff Eletto • Cover 21+

Saturday, September 7 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 2pm-3am • Video Games • Live televised sports AVALON SATURDAYS @Soundcheck 1420 K St. NW LGBTQ Dance Party, 10pm-4am • $15 Cover, $20 Cover for VIP • Drink

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

GALA OF THE AMERICAS Bear witness to the transfer of royal power this Saturday, Sept. 7, as The Imperial Court of Washington, D.C.’s Empress Athena KS Couture Moore and Regent Emperor Trace Couture Kennady-Smith, step down and are succeeded by a new Emperor and Empress. Destiny B. Childs, the group’s current president (and its first Empress) promises an “evening of celebration and pageantry, with a few surprises that you will be talking about for weeks to come.” The evening is open to the public, though proper attire is requested. Tickets are $100 and proceeds support several local charities, including the CAPS Gay Softball League and the Shriners Children's Transportation Fund. Cocktails begin at 6 p.m. Dinner at 6:30 p.m. Pageant starts promptly at 7 p.m. and ends with the coronation at 11 p.m. At the Sphinx on K, 1315 K St. NW. For more details, or to purchase tickets, visit www.imperialcourtdc.org and click on Coronation.

specials • Drag Show, 10:30-11:30pm, hosted by Ba’Naka and a rotating cast of drag queens • $4 Absolut Drinks, 10pm-midnight • 21+ • 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 • REWIND: Request Line, an ‘80s and ‘90s Dance Party, 9pm-close • Music by DJ Darryl Strickland • No Cover

NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Drag Brunch, hosted

by Chanel Devereaux, 10:30am-12:30pm and 1-3pm • Tickets on sale at nelliessportsbar.com • House Rail Drinks, Zing Zang Bloody Marys, Nellie Beer and Mimosas, $4, 11am-3am • Buckets of Beer, $15 • Guest DJs playing pop music all night NUMBER NINE Doors open 2pm • Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 2-9pm • $5 Absolut and $5 Bulleit Bourbon, 9pm-close • Time Machine and Power Hour, featuring DJ Jack Rayburn, 9:30pm 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

D.C. QUEER LATINX MIXER On Friday, Sept. 6, just as otters and otter enthusiasts start making their way to Trade, the 14th Street bar will be the site of an informal mixer for local LGBTQ Latinx people as well as attendees of NMAC’s U.S. Conference on AIDS. The Union=Fuerza Latinx Institute at Creating Change has teamed up with several other local organizations, including the Latino GLBT History Project, to host a happy hour mixer from 5:30 to 7 p.m., when Trade offers its signature XL Happy Hour cocktails — “basically anything you normally get in a regular glass, you get in a huge glass for the same price” — or beer and wine poured for a discounted price of $4. Trade is located at 1410 14th St. NW. Call 202-986-1094 or visit https://www.facebook.com/LatinxInstitute.

POSE PLAYHOUSE: A 2 ZEE EVENTS 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY PARTY This Saturday, Sept. 7, starting at 9 p.m., the nightclub Karma DC in upper Northeast D.C. hosts a party geared toward queer womxn of color that spins on a Pose theme, with the stated dress code “Ready to Slay the Runway. And the category is: Lit to the Gods Hunty!” Pose Playhouse will feature a true mix of uptempo music, ranging from throwback club bangers to new-school hip-hop, Baltimore house to D.C.’s go-go, plus R&B, reggae, and Afro-beats — as spun by “four of your favorite Lez DJs,” including Jai Syncere and MIM from D.C., Honey from Philadelphia, and Kidd Swagg from New York. Live dance performances from Girly Productions of New York and live art from Ken 6 Studio out of New Orleans, plus food from The Kitchen Jerk, are also on tap at an event that celebrates 10 years since promoter Zekeera Zee Belton started her company A 2 Zee Events to produce DC Black Pride-themed parties and fashion shows, as well as the former GirlCode Fridaze at Vita Lounge.

Karma DC is at 2221 Adams Place NE. Tickets are $20, or $250 to $350 for VIP Packages offering a reserved section for up to four guests sharing a bottle of premium branded alcohol. Call 202-285-7518 or visit https:// www.eventbee.com/v/a2zee10year#.

SUNGAY DAY PARTY WITH DJ DANNY VERDE On Sunday, Sept. 8, La Fantasy Productions offers another party for those who would like some nightlife during the day as well as outside the club — this time as a summer send-off. The special Sungay party starts at 3 p.m. on the rooftop deck of the sprawling, multi-level downtown club Eden. Clubgoers are advised to bring their shades — not to mention sunscreen — the better to see the party’s go-go dancers, lights, and LED walls. Music will come from one of the gay circuit’s newest and best DJs, Italian native Danny Verde, who will beat the heat until an hour after sundown, or 9 p.m. Eden Lounge DC is at 1716 I St. NW. Tickets are $25 plus fees. Call 202-905-9300 or visit https://www.seetickets.us/ sungaydayparty. l SEPTEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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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

Sunday, September 8

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

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 • Piano Bar with John Flynn, 6-9pm • Karaoke, 9pm-close • No Cover

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+

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A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 2pm-12am • $4 Smirnoff and Domestic Cans • Video Games • Live televised sports

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

NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Drag Brunch, hosted

by Chanel Devereaux, 10:30am-12:30pm and 1-3pm • Tickets on sale at nelliessportsbar.com • House Rail Drinks, Zing Zang Bloody Marys, Nellie Beer and Mimosas, $4, 11am-1am • Buckets of Beer, $15 • Guest DJs NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 2-9pm • $5 Absolut and $5 Bulleit Bourbon, 9pm-close • Multiple TVs showing movies, shows, sports • Expanded craft beer selection • Pop Goes the World with Wes Della Volla at 9:30pm • No Cover PITCHERS Open Noon-2am • $4 Smirnoff, includes flavored, $4 Coors Light or $4 Miller Lites, 2-9pm • Video

SEPTEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm

Monday, September 9

SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 5-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • Dinner and Drag with Miss Kristina Kelly, 8pm • No Cover • For reservations, email shawsdinnerdragshow@gmail.com

FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Singles Night • Half-Priced Pasta Dishes • Karaoke, 9pm

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

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, 7:30pm TRADE Doors open 5pm • XL Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass is served in an XL glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine only $5

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Tuesday, September 10 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 5pm-12am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Live televised sports FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Taco Tuesday • Karaoke, 9pm GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • $3 rail cocktails and domestic beers all night long

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NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Beat the Clock Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • Buckets of Beer $15 • Drag Bingo with Sasha Adams and Brooklyn Heights, 7-9pm • Karaoke, 9pm-close

SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • Half-Priced Burgers and Pizzas, 5-10pm

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

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

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

SEPTEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

Wednesday, September 11 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 5pm-12am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Live televised sports FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • $6 Burgers • Beach Blanket Drag Bingo Night, hosted

by Ms. Regina Jozet Adams, 8pm • Bingo prizes • Karaoke, 10pm-1am GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4pm-9pm • Bear Yoga with Greg Leo, 6:30-7:30pm • $10 per class • $3 rail cocktails and domestic beers all night long

NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR SmartAss Trivia Night, 8-10pm • Prizes include bar tabs and tickets to shows at the 9:30 Club • $15 Buckets of Beer for SmartAss Teams only • Absolutely Snatched Drag Show, hosted by Brooklyn Heights, 9pm • Tickets available at www.nelliessportsbar.com NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover PITCHERS Open 5pm-12am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu

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

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Scene

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Miss AGLA at Freddie’s - Friday, Aug. 16 - Photography by Ward Morrison See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene

SEPTEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

SEPTEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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LastWord.

People say the queerest things

“It’s written into our genes and it’s part of our environment.

This is part of our species and it’s part of who we are.”

— BENJAMIN NEALE, a geneticist at the Broad Institute of M.I.T. and Harvard, speaking to the New York Times about a new study which found that there is no single “gay gene” that determines human sexuality. Instead, researchers said same-sex sexual behavior is “influenced by not one or a few genes but many.” The researchers concluded, “This study provides further evidence that diverse sexual behavior is a natural part of overall human variation.”

“We can’t believe we have to say this but simply meeting with a gay person doesn’t erase Pence’s long history of attacking LGBTQ people.”

— GLAAD, in a tweet, responding to White House Deputy Press Secretary Judd Deere who claimed that Vice President Mike Pence isn’t anti-gay because he had lunch with Ireland’s openly gay Taoiseach [Prime Minister] Leo Varadkar. Judd was lambasted by multiple LGBTQ people and organizations for his tweet.

“There is an Effeminate Agenda going on amongst the NBA & NFL

elite, peddled by high ranking Masons/handlers to indoctrinate the heterosexual sports world.

”

— Former NFL Running back LARRY JOHNSON, in a series of tweets claiming that an “effeminate agenda” seeks to trick heterosexual sports fans into condoning LGBTQ people and “nonmasculine” behavior. After he was widely criticized, Johnson tweeted, “I love to see the LGBTQ community band together and come to a common cause when it comes to me...now do that with the defects of your own community, pedopheliac [sic] Priests and politicians. Show them that same energy.”

“First of all, we don’t do gay weddings or mixed race, because of our Christian race — I mean, our Christian belief. ” — The owner of BOONE’S CAMP EVENT HALL IN MISSISSIPPI, in a viral video refusing to host the wedding of a mixed-race couple. In a since-deleted post on Facebook, the owner apologized to those “offended, hurt or [who] felt condemn[ed] by my statement.” She blamed “ignorance” for banning mixed-race weddings, but said nothing about same-sex nuptials. “My intent was never of racism, but to stand firm on what I ‘assumed’ was right concerning marriage,” the owner wrote.

“This, no doubt, has created a hostile environment to LGBT+ people.”

— BILL LEUNG-JOK, LGBTQ activist in Hong Kong, speaking with PinkNews about a South China Morning Post survey which found that more than half of gay men in Hong Kong fear coming out to their families and friends. Leung-Jok blamed “years of disinformation of homosexuality over the media and a lack of positive portrayal of LGBT+ characters, criminalization of homosexuality, [and] association of gays and AIDS.”

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SEPTEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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