Harvey Guillén - Getting Familiar with Harvey - Metro Weekly: May 21, 2020

MAY 21, 2020

19

Contents

PRIDE, REIMAGINED

Capital Pride organizers announce “reimagined” events in response to COVID-19 pandemic.

By John Riley

GETTING FAMILIAR WITH HARVEY GUILLÉN

On the FX vampire hit What We Do in the Shadows, the gifted queer actor sinks his (wannabe) fangs into the art of deadpan.

38

Volume 27 Issue 3

Interview by Randy Shulman Photography by Ian Spanier

28

LONG VIEW

On their new album, the Indigo Girls reflect on the past, present, and future.

By Sean Maunier

SPOTLIGHT: PANDEMIC DANCE p.5 SEAFOOD SMORGASBORD p.7 OUT ON THE TOWN p.9 THE FEED: POWERFUL PRESENTATION p.20 SEEKING JUSTICE p.21 PRESIDENTIAL POTENTIAL p.22 SWEET TREAT p.23 PUBLIC PROBLEM p.24 EXCESSIVE FORCE p.26 GALLERY: LIBRARY STREET COLLECTIVE p.34 FILM: SCREENED OUT p.36 TELEVISION: LEGENDARY p.37 SELFIE SCENE p.40 LAST WORD p.41 Washington, D.C.’s Best LGBTQ Magazine for 26 Years Editorial Editor-in-Chief Randy Shulman Art Director Todd Franson Online Editor at metroweekly.com Rhuaridh Marr Senior Editor John Riley Contributing Editors André Hereford, Doug Rule Senior Photographers Ward Morrison, Julian Vankim Contributing Illustrators David Amoroso, Scott G. Brooks Contributing Writers Sean Maunier, Troy Petenbrink, 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 R.M. Renfield Cover Photography Ian Spanier @ianspanier 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.

© 2020 Jansi LLC.

2

MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

4

MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

FRANZ SZONY

Spotlight

T

Pandemic Dance

HAT VIDEO,” SAYS TOM GOSS, “HAS HAD MILLIONS In a time of mass isolation, it’s more compelling to think that and millions of views and has been seen all over the world, we’re all alone together. “I really wanted to do it in a way that but I haven't really made any money off it.” The musician brought people together,” Goss says. “So I started reaching out is referring to “Bears,” his 2013 music video, filmed while he was to friends and just pitching tons of people.” Ultimately, eleven living in D.C. “It gets flagged as being inappropriate for children musical artists signed on for three variations of the video — from because guys are running around in bathing suits. There's this the original English-language version featuring a French rap in really strange double standard that happens.” the bridge, to one in Spanish with a Mandarin rap, to another in And what he calls “a little discriminatory” pattern keeps French with a Korean rap. Adds Goss, “A lot of people have been occurring across all platforms. “I had three things on TikTok doing their dances [on] TikTok.” Proceeds from the project go early on that were starting to trend and go viral,” he says, “and toward United Way Worldwide. then they got closed for violating ‘community guidelines.’ I'm “It became something really fun and really collaborative and putting air quotes around that. They were the tamest, most non- that's exactly what we wanted,” Goss says. The project might sexual things that you would ever see.” even serve as a harbinger of more collaborative works to come Recently, Goss has had success on TikTok and elsewhere — once the singer-songwriter is able to get fully back to work. with “Dancing In My Room,” a lighthearted pop song he “The majority of what I do with my day and my life and how I co-wrote with producer Austin Danson. “As soon as the pan- make my income has more or less vanished into thin air,” he says. demic started, I was sad and wanted to connect with other “I'm sick of the idea of Tom Goss,” he says. “I don't want to do people, to collaborate,” he says. Danson had things that are just me, about me. I don't want sent Goss the melody, and the musician immeto release anything anymore that's not collabClick Here to Watch diately was inspired by it. orative.” COVID-19 has also reinforced Goss’s Dancing in My Room commitment to collaboration in his personal “I just started dancing in my room and singing,” he says of the lyrics, which were life. “I'm in a very lucky situation because I made up on the spot. “I think there's something fun about being really love my husband and I enjoy spending time with him,” he in your room by yourself. Nobody's watching. You're cranking says. “To be honest with you, we haven’t spent this much time your favorite tunes. You're in your happy space in your room, together since 2006. It's been really very wonderful to get to just dancing.” know each other once again.” —Doug Rule Follow Tom Goss on social media at @TomGossMusic.

MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

5

6

MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

PHOTOS COURTESY OF PROFISH

Spotlight

I

Seafood Smorgasbord

MAGINE DELIVERING 30 MILLION POUNDS OF SEA- seafood. So I’d call my buddies up in Boston and say, ‘Hey, did food a year along the east coast, from Hoboken to Virginia you catch any flounder today? Send some down so that I can Beach, and all points in between. With thirty trucks in their have a half-decent piece of fish to put on the menu here!’” Casten fleet, it’s been the primary business model for locally-based sea- eventually took matters into his own hands and Profish was food wholesaler, Profish, for over three decades. As with nearly born, with an eye toward servicing the region’s discerning chefs. everything these days, COVID-19 lodged a big, nasty hook in Casten, well-known for his exacting standards when it comes the operation, which faced reduced purchasing from its large- to seafood, says the key to buying fish is knowing one’s source. ly restaurant-based clientele, everyone from The Cheesecake “Know who you buy it from, and understand that they know Factory to Mandu. Still, fish are being caught daily. And they what they're doing,” he says. “The truth of the matter is, on any have to go somewhere. given day there's good fish, bad fish, and medium fish. You just “It occurred to us we could deliver our product to people at have to know the guys who know how to pick the good fish. their homes and at pickup locations,” says Profish co-owner Greg There's a home for all of it and there's a use for all of it.

Casten. “We take orders online the day before, we cut your fish that “I love supermarkets,” he continues, “but they're factories night, and it's on a truck the next morning. It doesn't get any fresh- and they don't really care about an individual fish like we do at er than that.” Profish offers a host of convenient pickup locations, Profish. We want every fish to be handled perfectly.... My fish usually an outsized parking lot. Home delivery adds a convenience cutters are craftsmen — they're artists who truly love what they fee to the price and is only available for specific zip codes. do. We look at every piece of fish before it goes out of the wareCasten, a joyous personality with a hint of a native Bostonian house and make sure that it's quality. Our mission is to get the accent, can happily talk your ears off about seabest authentic seafood into the hands of people who food for hours. The seafood trade is in his blood want to eat seafood.”

Click Here — Casten’s uncle, Tony Cibel, owned The Dancing As for Casten’s favorite fish? “That’s an easy quesfor Video Crab, a Washington mainstay for decades (it closed tion,” he laughs. “There's no better fish than fresh cut in 2016 while under new ownership). The pair joined forces in flounder off the knife. Extremely expensive right now, it's not 1987 to open Tony & Joe’s Seafood Place, now a Washington in season. But I just love the flakiness and the delicate flavor. I mainstay all its own. like to pan-fry it. Sometimes I sauté it. I'll even just broil it with “Tony & Joe’s is actually how Profish started,” says Casten. breadcrumbs over the top. I eat flounder every chance I get.”

“We were having a hard time getting really good high-quality —Randy Shulman For more information on Profish’s daily selections, or to place an order from either Profish or Ivy City Smokehouse, visit www.profish.com.

MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

7

You know your body better than anyone. If something doesn’t feel right, call your doctor or the

COVID-19 testing hotline at 1-855-363-0333.

WWW.COMPANYNAME.COM

FREE

DON’T DELAY CALL TODAY! CORONAVIRUS.DC.GOV 8

MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

COVID-19 testing available across DC.

VirtVual

Out On The Town

REEL AFFIRMATIONS ON DEMAND: SHAKEDOWN

Reel Affirmations concludes its series of virtual screenings in Black Pride Month with Leilah Weinraub’s visual tribute to the underground black lesbian strip club scene in Los Angeles at the turn of the millennium. Described by Variety as “a stream-of-consciousness, nonfiction narrative,” Shakedown is based on nearly 15 years’ worth of footage by Weinraub, capturing the explicit performances and personal relationships among the dancers and organizers of the event by that name, from creator and emcee Ronnie-Ron to the community’s “mother” Mahogany, and star performer Egypt to “Queen” Jazmine. The Variety review sums up the documentary as “a humorous, sensual, and informative look at a vibrant subculture.” Streaming starts at noon on Friday, May 29. Tickets are $12 for unlimited access through noon on Monday, June 1.

Visit www.thedccenter.org/events/shakedown.

Compiled by Doug Rule

FILM AFI SILVER VIRTUAL SCREENING ROOM

While its physical venue in Silver Spring remains closed, the AFI offers a rotating crop of titles available for streaming. Highlights among the lineup of films starting up on Friday, May 22, include Mr. Jones, the real-life story of a Welsh journalist who was out front on several international stories that presaged the start of World War II, a 2019 feature from director Agnieszka Holland (Europa, Europa) and starring James Norton, Peter Sarsgaard, Joseph Mawle, and Vanessa Kirby; The Painter and

the Thief, Benjamin Ree’s recent Sundance hit documentary painting a tale about the improbable relationship between a Czech artist and the career criminal who stole two of her paintings; and Diana Kennedy: Nothing Fancy, Elizabeth Carroll’s intimate, candid perspective into the world of a British expat widely regarded as the world’s expert on Mexican cuisine and featuring extensive interviews with famed chefs José Andrés, Rick Bayless, and Alice Waters.

Other highlights among the full slate of streaming selections through the AFI Silver are RBG, Betsy West and Julie Cohen’s acclaimed 2018 documentary about the U.S. Supreme Court Justice known both for her

remarkable legal legacy as well as her unexpected rise to becoming a pop culture icon; Up From The Streets, a celebration of the music of New Orleans directed by Michael Murphy and hosted by acclaimed jazz musician Terence Blanchard (who also serves as executive producer and music director); and Band of Outsiders, the 1964 French New Wave classic by Jean-Luc Godard about a trio of would-be gangsters who spend more time with romantic antics and leisurely endeavors than committing crimes.

Ticket purchases benefit the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, with additional support to independent filmmaking and distribution.

Visit www.afi.com/Silver.

ALAMO ON DEMAND: CURATED LIBRARY OF INCREDIBLE ENTERTAINMENT

Launched shortly after COVID-19 forced the closure of its cinemas, including two in Northern Virginia, this national arthouse film chain’s Alamo-At-Home series was such a success, the company has decided to expand its eccentric virtual streaming offerings — with a focus on “challenging, provocative, and occasionally batsh*t insane films.”

And the Alamo’s new video-on-demand platform features plenty of films that fit that outlandish bill, including Butt Boy, Tyler Cornack’s comedy/thriller about a detective who is out to prove his wild theory about a mentor of his, one he suspects “uses his butt to make people

MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

9

10

MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

disappear”; The American Scream, Michael Stephenson’s documentary about “home haunters,” or individuals obsessed with turning their properties into elaborate and horrifying spectacles, scaring the pants off their friends and neighbors every Halloween; and Porno, Keola Racela’s 2019 scary tale about a group of repressed teenagers in a small conservative town “visited by a sex demon that gives them a taste of the dark side.”

Also available for streaming Portrait of a Lady on Fire, featured on Metro Weekly film critic André Hereford’s Best Films of 2019 list. Writerdirector Céline Sciamma’s womenin-love feature, focused on a painter and her subject in 1760s France, “wants to look like a painting, and it does so beautifully,” wrote Hereford, who concluded that this “spare pas de deux earns its prizes, as Marianne and Héloïse’s slow-burning romance portrays, with flush familiarity, how falling in love both pins the women down and sets them free.” All tickets purchased benefit the Alamo chain as well as featured filmmakers. Visit ondemand.drafthouse.com.

AVALON THEATRE: VIRTUAL CINEMA

The “Virtual Cinema” of the Avalon Theatre in Upper Northwest D.C. is presenting Steve James’ 2014 documentary Life Itself, chronicling the life and career of Roger Ebert and based on the famed film critic’s bestselling memoir of the same title. Presented as part of the series “Magnolia Pictures: A Few of Our Favorite Docs,” the streaming starts on Friday, May 22, and includes a live virtual Q&A with Ebert’s widow and vice president of the Ebert Company Chaz Ebert in conversation with director James.

Another title at the Avalon is The Booksellers, D.W. Young’s 2019 look at an assortment of antiquarian merchants and the underappreciated role they play in preserving history. Tickets range from $10 to $12 for a three-day streaming period, with roughly half of sales going toward the nonprofit theater and the remainder for the general cause of independent filmmaking and distribution. Call 202-966-6000 or visit www.theavalon.org.

CINEMA ARTS THEATRE’S VIRTUAL CINEMA

The arthouse movieplex in Fairfax begins streams this Friday of Military Wives, conceived of as a companion to director Peter Cattaneo’s previous hit The Full Monty. The feelgood, crowd-pleaser stars Kristin Scott Thomas and Sharon Horgan and was inspired by the real-life tale of a ragtag group of women who came together to form a choir while their partners were away serving in Afghanistan. Other titles continuing for streaming through Cinema Arts

AVALON THEATRE: LIFE ITSELF

The “Virtual Cinema” of the Avalon Theatre in Upper Northwest D.C. is presenting Steve James’ 2014 documentary Life Itself, chronicling the life and career of Roger Ebert and based on the famed film critic’s bestselling memoir of the same title. Presented as part of the series “Magnolia Pictures: A Few of Our Favorite Docs,” the streaming starts on Friday, May 22, and includes a live virtual Q&A with Ebert’s widow and vice president of the Ebert Company Chaz Ebert in conversation with director James. Another title at the Avalon is The Booksellers, D.W. Young’s 2019 look at an assortment of antiquarian merchants and the underappreciated role they play in preserving history. Tickets range from $10 to $12 for a three-day streaming period, with roughly half of sales going toward the nonprofit theater and the remainder for the general cause of independent filmmaking and distribution. Call 202-966-6000 or visit www.theavalon.org.

include And Then We Danced, Levan Akin’s well-crafted tale of two male company members in the National Georgian Dance Ensemble who become competitors, then partners, then lovers, with Levan Gelbakhiani starring as the quiet yet intense Merab; Sorry We Missed You, Ken Loach’s wrenching, intimate family drama from last year focused on the British working class and exposing the dark side of the “gig economy”; The Times of Bill Cunningham, Mark Bozek’s 2018 documentary about the iconic, gay New York Times street photographer and fashion historian, told in his own words, with narration by Sarah Jessica Parker; and Kantemir Balagov’s Beanpole, which focuses on the intense bond that forms between two women, both anti-aircraft gunners during World War II, who struggle to readjust to a haunted world and life in Leningrad after the war. In Russian with English subtitles. Visit www. cinemaartstheatre.com.

REEL AFFIRMATIONS ON DEMAND: SHAKEDOWN

Reel Affirmations concludes its series of virtual screenings in Black Pride Month with Leilah Weinraub’s

visual tribute to the underground black lesbian strip club scene in Los Angeles at the turn of the millennium. Described by Variety as “a stream-of-consciousness, nonfiction narrative,” Shakedown is based on nearly 15 years’ worth of footage

by Weinraub, capturing the explicit performances and personal relationships among the dancers and organizers of the event by that name, from creator and emcee RonnieRon to the community’s “mother” Mahogany, and star performer Egypt to “Queen” Jazmine. The Variety review sums up the documentary as “a humorous, sensual, and informative look at a vibrant subculture.”

Streaming starts at noon on Friday, May 29. Tickets are $12 for unlimited access through noon on Monday, June 1. Visit https://thedccenter. org/events/shakedown.

STAGE 1ST STAGE: VIRTUAL COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS SERIES

Virginia’s 1st Stage is taking to Zoom to connect artists with patrons and keep everyone inter-

ested and engaged in its work.

The troupe’s new series continues with “Performers in Quarantine,” featuring actors Sally Horton, Patrick Joy, and Michael Russotto from its upcoming production of the gay-themed show The Nance, on Saturday, May 23; a special “Northern Virginia Theatres in Conversation” panel moderated by the Washington Post’s Peter Marks and featuring Alex Levy of 1st Stage, Jimmy Mavrikes and Michael Windsor of Monumental Theatre Company, Evan Hoffman of NextStop, and Jason Najjoum of Synetic Theater, on Sunday, May 24; “How 1st Stage Develops New Work,” featuring two playwrights whose works the company has premiered, Bob Bartlett and his Swimming with Whales and E.M. Lewis and Now Comes The Night, on May 30; “The Life of a Solo Artist,” featuring artists from the Logan Festival discussing their one-person productions, on June 6; and “Cultural Tysons,” a discussion about COVID-19 and its impact on the local arts community with panelists Lori Carbonneau of the McLean Project for the Arts, local artist and teacher Deborah

MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

11

CHRISTOPHER MUELLER

sources for Shakespeare’s works and alternate versions of events and characters. The festival continues with The Famous Victories of Henry the Fifth, an anonymous Elizabethan work thought to be a source for Shakespeare’s “Henriad” history plays, to be directed by Kelly Elliott, on Monday, May 25; Edward the Fourth, Parts 1 and 2 by Thomas Heywood, directed by Claire Kimball, on Tuesday, May 26; The True Tragedy of Richard the Third, another anonymous Elizabethan play that may have influenced Shakespeare, which will be performed by the MFA class of Mary Baldwin University, on Monday, June 1; and Perkin Warbeck by John Ford and directed by Alasdair Hunter, on Tuesday, June 2.

Streamed from www.youtube.com/ bravespiritstheatre on Mondays and Tuesdays starting at 7:30 p.m. Free, but donations are welcome.

HOMEBOUND West Side Story

SIGNATURE STRONG

For its virtual programming offerings, Signature has been producing a discussion-centered series every Tuesday in addition to uploading short videos of standout numbers from past productions to its website. So far, the Shirlington-based theater company has presented seven episodes in a weekly #SigStrongLive series, varying in length from 40 to 60 minutes and available for viewing on its YouTube channel. Meanwhile, the #SignatureStrong series include two songs from the 2011 production of Chess starring Euan Morton, who gives a special message from his home; exclusive clips of Chita Rivera, who starred in the 2008 production of Kander & Ebb’s musical The Visit; Nova Y. Payton introducing a clip of her singing “I Am Changing” from the company’s 2010 production of Dreamgirls; and a clip of “Cool” from the company’s 2015 West Side Story, showcasing the classic choreography from Jerome Robbins as adapted by Parker Esse and performed

by Max Clayton and other cast members. Visit www.sigtheatre.org.

Conn, and Jen Morrow of Bad’s Alley bookstore, on June 13. All conversations are live at 2 p.m., with recordings of each posted online for later viewing. Register for each Community Conversation at www.1ststage.org.

ACT’S OUT & ABOUT ONLINE FESTIVAL, NEW WEBSITE

Instead of its annual showcase of live, in-person LGBTQ theater during DC Black Pride, the AfricanAmerican Collective Theater will mark the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend in the year of COVID-19, naturally, by moving everything online. In addition to the launch of a new website, the holiday will also kick off a week-long, nationally focused, all-virtual festival. A reimagined and expanded version of ACT’s annual Black Pride showcase, Out & About will offer staged readings featuring actors breathing life into a sampling of the many plays written by Alan Sharpe, the artistic director who founded the company 28 years ago. Visit www.a-act.org on the launch date, Sunday, May 24.

12

AMERICAN SHAKESPEARE CENTER’S STREAMING OFFERINGS

Through a special agreement with Actors’ Equity Association, the professional theater troupe devoted to Shakespeare is one of the few able to stream full, filmed recordings of past productions. The current offerings are of two stagings from the past season of the center’s National Tour company, including a version of the Bard’s classic comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream. A timelier, bolder, and more unexpected offering is Frank Galati’s stage adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath.

José Zayas directs a spare interpretation of the John Steinbeck Depression-era classic that relies on the 11-member ensemble for versatile storytelling enhanced with music, capped by “We Go On,” an original anthem from company member Madeline Calais that helps close out the show. Both productions are available through at least May 31 on the company’s streaming service BlkFrsTV, praised by the Wall Street Journal for its “webcasts [that] effortlessly convey

MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

the joyous experience of watching Shakespeare in Blackfriars Playhouse” — the center’s main, in-the-round theater space modeled after the original Globe Theatre and located in the historic Shenandoah Valley town of Staunton, Va. Tickets start at $10 per show in a “pay the price that works for you” scale that goes up to $100. Visit www.americanshakespearecenter.com.

BRAVE SPIRITS THEATRE’S ONLINE STAGED READING FESTIVAL

Alexandria’s Brave Spirits Theatre, which puts a feminist twist on early modern English classics, is in the midst of a month-long staged reading festival celebrating the history plays from Shakespeare’s era and intended as a supplement to the company’s current two-year Shakespeare’s Histories project. By virtue of it being moved online due to COVID-19, the festival’s plays are being planned and performed not only by its ensemble cast but also by collaborators from across the world.

Spanning historical events from 1199 to 1499, many of the plays provide

Round House Theatre won’t reopen its recently renovated space in Bethesda until the fall season, but the company has hired back nine actors who were slated to appear in three canceled spring productions for Homebound. An original web series that explores life under Stay-at-Home orders in the Nation’s Capital, the series stars Craig Wallace and Maboud Ebrahimzadeh and is progressing in a 10-episode “chain story” style, with each episode — one available for free every Monday — building off what came before but written by a different area playwright. The first three weeks brought “Connect!,” a 12-minute episode written by humorist and Washington Post columnist Alexandra Petri, followed by two 13-minute episodes, Karen Zacarías’ “Human Resources” with Ebrahimzadeh and introducing Alina Collins Maldonado as his HR manager, and Farah Lawal Harris’ “We Wear the Mask” with Wallace and introducing Chinna Palmer as his niece. The series continues with episode four, Liz Maestri’s “Together Alone,” returning us to Ebrahimzadeh in self-isolation and the virtual pursuit of genuine friendship with a character played

by Jamie Smithson. Subsequent weeks will offer episodes from Psalmayene 24, Tim J. Lord, Audrey Cefaly, Dani Stoller, Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi, and Caleen Sinnette Jennings. The company’s artistic director Ryan Rilette and associate artistic director Nicole A. Watson are offering remote direction during rehearsals to the actors, who are filming their parts from home with additional guidance on home lighting by designer Harold F. Burgess II and wardrobe

by Ivania Stack. Through June 29.

Visit www.RoundHouseTheatre. org/Homebound.

Grab a coffee, take the survey, make a difference.

Take the 14th Annual LGBTQ Community Survey

ÂŽ

LGBTQsurvey.com LGBTQ research helps non-profits, universities and businesses better understand and serve our community.

Download survey results free of charge at cmi.info.

Your information is confidential, used for research purposes only.

You will not be contacted for marketing purposes.

Proudly LGBTQ-Owned and -Operated A pioneer in LGBTQ research since 1992.

MOSAIC ALIVE

The Mosaic Theater Company has taken to Zoom and Facebook for twice-weekly discussions with its artists and other experts on relevant topics, all directly or indirectly related to productions and events in the company’s upcoming Season 6. Next up is “A Creative Conversation about D.C.’s H Street Corridor,” a panel discussion facilitated by Mosaic’s Laley Lippard and featuring Derek Hyra of American University, Anwar Saleem of H Street Main Street, and pioneering neighborhood activist and benefactor Jane Lang, among others, on Friday, May 22; and “Season 6 Series: A Creative Conversation with the Artists of The Niceties” featuring playwright Eleanor Burgess, Angelisa Gillyard, and Naomi Jacobson, on Friday, May 29. All discussions start at 4 p.m. Still available for streaming is the Season 6 announcement, when artistic director Ari Roth unveiled the lineup for the season that starts up in the fall, followed by a live discussion and Q&A. Visit www.mosaictheater.org/alive.

MOLLY’S SALONS AT ARENA STAGE

Arena Stage is presenting an eclectic package of free online programming, mostly taped discussions and performances. Among the offerings is this free, weekly series of half-hour discussions led by the company’s artistic director Molly Smith and featuring a rotating mix of Arena artists, leaders, and outside affiliates. Available for streaming from Arena’s website every Thursday night at 7 p.m., the series continues with a salon featuring playwright Lauren Yee, Kirk Johnson of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, and Anita Maynard-Losh, Arena’s director of community engagement and senior artistic advisor (May 21); a Disney’s Newsies reunion with actors Daniel J. Maldonado, Erin Weaver, and Joe Montoya (May 28); and an artistic director confab including Stephanie Ybarra of Baltimore Center Stage, Barry Edelstein of San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre, and Mark Clements of Milwaukee Repertory Theater joining Smith (6/4). The previous discussions in the series are also still available for streaming, with updates from choreographer Parker Esse, actors Nicholas Rodriguez and Edward Gero, playwrights Karen Zacarías and Craig Lucas, director Charles Randolph-Wright, singer-songwriter Mary McBride, and Maria Manuela Goyanes, artistic director of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, among others.

Visit www.arenastage.org/tickets/ intermission.

ROUND HOUSE’S PLAYWRIGHTS ON PLAYS

One of the earliest offerings in its new digital programming slate

14

“Round House at Your House,” this series features Round House Theatre-affiliated artists engaging in conversation with the company’s literary manager Gabrielle Hoyt, with a focus on the artists’ own work and a play of their choice that inspired them. The discussions are livestreamed every Thursday at 7 p.m., allowing participants to submit questions for the playwrights in real-time via comments. The series continues with Aaron Posner (The Tempest: Classic Tale Magically Reimagined) on May 21 and Mfoniso Udofia (Sojourners) on May 28. You can also still view the seven previous discussions, including Martyna Majok (Cost of Living) on Conor McPherson’s The Weir, J.T. Rogers (Oslo) on Julius Caesar, and Sarah Ruhl (Stage Kiss) on Paula Vogel’s The Baltimore Waltz and Charles Mee’s Big Love. Visit www.roundhousetheatre.org/RHathome.

SIGNATURE STRONG

For its virtual programming offerings, Signature has been producing a discussion-centered series every Tuesday in addition to uploading short videos of standout numbers from past productions to its website.

So far, the Shirlington-based theater company has presented seven episodes in a weekly #SigStrongLive series, varying in length from 40 to 60 minutes and available for viewing on its YouTube channel.

Meanwhile, the #SignatureStrong series include two songs from the 2011 production of Chess starring Euan Morton, who gives a special message from his home; exclusive clips of Chita Rivera, who starred in the 2008 production of Kander & Ebb’s musical The Visit; Nova Y. Payton introducing a clip of her singing “I Am Changing” from the company’s 2010 production of Dreamgirls; and a clip of “Cool” from the company’s 2015 West Side Story, showcasing the classic choreography from Jerome Robbins as adapted by Parker Esse and performed by Max Clayton and other cast members. Visit www.sigtheatre.org.

SORDID LIVES: ALL-STAR LIVESTREAM BENEFIT PLAY READING

Beau Bridges, Bonnie Bedelia, Leslie Jordan, and Caroline Rhea are the headline names among a starry roster of performers participating in a special livestream reading to benefit 23 stage companies that have partnered with the newly established Del Shores Foundation and its mission to find and facilitate new southern queer artistic voices. The focus, of course, is on playwright Shores’ Sordid Lives, a 1996 “black comedy about white trash as a gay actor struggles to come out to his eccentric, dysfunctional Texas family.”

Sordid Lives went on to inspire the cult-hit screen adaptation in 2000, the 2017 marriage-equality-themed

MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

sequel A Very Sordid Wedding, as well as LOGO’s prequel Sordid Lives: The Series. Produced and hosted by Shores with Emerson Collins, the one-night-only #SordidLiveStream will also feature appearances from Carson Kressley, Georgette Jones, Alec Mapa, Aleks Paunovic, David Steen, and Allison Tolman. Levi Kreis will perform, and a message to all will be dispensed by Olivia Newton-John. The artists are donating their time, with an auction of Sordid Lives memorabilia adding to the benefit. Sunday, May 31, at 8 p.m. on YouTube and Facebook. Visit www.delshoresfoundation.org.

STARS IN THE HOUSE

Since March, Seth Rudetsky, the afternoon Broadway host on SiriusXM Radio, and his husband, Broadway producer James Wesley, have been conducting two livestreamed discussions a day as a benefit for The Actors Fund and its services, with plans to keep going until the Great White Way reopens.

The announced lineup for upcoming shows include a benefit for New York foster care charity You Gotta Believe with Kerry Butler, Willie Garson, Luke Islam, Anika Larsen, Beth Malone, and Alec Mapa, on “Variety Thursday,” May 21, at 8 p.m.; An Evening with Chita Rivera and Friends on Saturday, May 23, at 8 p.m.; and Guest Host Laura Benanti & Friends on Monday, May 25, at 2 p.m. Highlights among the more than 100 past episodes, all of which can be viewed on on the Actors Fund YouTube channel, include reunions with cast members from hit TV shows Dallas, Desperate Housewives, Frasier, Glee, and Smash, plus discussion with cast members from Ryan Murphy’s Hollywood and Hulu’s Difficult People, reunions with the original Broadway casts of Les Misérables, Spring Awakening, Fun Home, and Urinetown, individual appearances by performers Kristen Chenoweth, Judith Light, Gavin Creel, Billy Porter, Varla Jean Merman, Randy Rainbow, and Matt Bomer and playwright/composers Jason Robert Brown, Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, and Marc Shaiman, plus castmates from West Side Story, The Rink, and The Visit as part of previous “Chita Rivera and Friends” discussions. Livestreamed daily at 2 and 8 p.m. Visit www. starsinthehouse.com.

THE SHAKESPEARE HOUR

Simon Godwin, the newly installed artistic director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company, and his creative crew have devised virtual solutions to keep audiences engaged during the region’s “stay-at-home” confinement. Chief among these, a weekly videocast that finds the director and dramaturg Drew Lichtenberg in conversation with various theatrical luminaries discussing Shakespearean works. Extended

through June 10, the upcoming lineup includes “Identity & Ambiguity” with Michael Urie exploring the mysteries of gender identity and sexuality as portrayed in Twelfth Night and As You Like It, on May 27; “Democracy & Empire” with James Shapiro of Columbia University discussing self-rule and sovereignty as depicted in Julius Caesar and Antony & Cleopatra, respectively, on June 3; and “Marriage & Mistrust,” focused on Othello and Much Ado About Nothing and featuring a guest artist to be determined, on June 10.

Tickets are $10 for non-STC members. Visit www.shakespearetheatre. org/events/the-shakespeare-hour.

MUSIC APO JUKEBOX: THE BEST OF THE AMERICAN POPS

Luke Frazier of the American Pops Orchestra will be accompanied by director Kelly D’Amboise in a virtual event reliving favorite moments from past APO productions including The Music of Jerry Herman, Let’s Misbehave: Cole Porter After Dark, You’ve Got a Friend: Singer-Songwriter, and Coat of Many Colors: The Music of Dolly Parton. Even better, they’ll be joined by many of the featured guest stars, all logging in for virtual visits offering performance insights and answering audience questions. The lineup includes Claybourne Elder, Nova Y. Payton, Alexis Michelle, Mauricio Martinez, Garret Clayton, Neyla Pekarek, MILCK, Kodiak Thompson, and Ally Dods. The whole event is a benefit to support the orchestra’s various outreach efforts during COVID-19, including the APO Kids Club initiative delivering free music kits to area food banks intended for families with young children. Ticket-holders and those who register for the show on Eventbrite.com will receive the private streaming link 24 hours prior to its launch. Saturday, May 30, at 8 p.m. Tickets are by donation, with suggested general admission costing $20 plus fees. Visit www. theamericanpops.org.

KENNEDY CENTER COUCH CONCERTS

The Kennedy Center presents a free Millennium Stage concert every night at 6 p.m. under normal circumstances — that is, when the large campus is open to the public. Until it can reopen post-pandemic, the organization is offering Couch Concerts livestreamed direct from artists’ homes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 4 p.m.

Even better, all past Millennium Stage and #KCCouchConcerts remain online for streaming anytime — a treasure trove that includes recent livestreams including the double bill of Kennedy Center Hip-Hop Advisory Council member Kokayi and up-and-com-

METROPOLITAN OPERA’S NIGHTLY STREAMS

The Met continues sifting through its trove of “Live in HD” recordings of past productions for free nightly streams from its website.

The upcoming lineup of encore presentations, starting at 7:30 p.m. and remaining available up to 23 hours later, includes Turandot, Puccini’s epic romance brought to life just last fall in a tribute to the late, great director Franco Zeffirelli as conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin and starring Christine Goerke as the titular princess, on Thursday, May 21; a 1978 take on Mozart’s Don Giovanni featuring opera star Joan Sutherland, on Friday, May 22; and closing out the weekend with two French masterpieces, starting with the 2011 dreamlike, contemporary reimagining of Gounod’s Faust from Tony-winning Broadway director Des McAnuff in his Met Opera debut, on Saturday, May 23, and ending with Massenet’s Manon as seen in Laurent Pelly’s Impressionisminspired, Belle Époque production from 2012 starring soprano Anna Netrebko as the irresistible ingénue whose feminine wiles are so overpowering as to be deemed a threat to society, on Sunday, May 24. Visit www.metopera.org.

OPERA PHILADELPHIA’S DIGITAL FESTIVAL O

With its season cut short due to COVID-19, Opera Philadelphia, touted by the New York Times as “a hotbed of opera innovation,” is another preeminent arts organization that has taken up the digital mantle by making streams available of past productions — in this case, as an attempt to raise $4 million by May 31 so the company can move forward with plans for its 202021 season. The digital streaming festival features video streams of five hit productions, including four recent world premieres. The festival continues with Sky on Swings, the 2018 chamber opera with an unflinching yet uplifting exploration of Alzheimer’s disease from

composer Lembit Beecher and librettist Hannah Moscovitch and starring mezzo-sopranos Marietta Simpson and Frederica von Stade, on May 22; and Breaking the Waves, a 2016 adaptation of the Lars von Trier film from composer Missy Mazzoli, librettist Royce Vavrek, and director James Darrah, on May 29. Special opening-night content for each production includes preshow interviews with featured artists. Also currently streaming: the online premiere of composer Daniel Bernard Roumain and librettist Marc Bamuthi Joseph’s We Shall Not Be Moved, a hit 2017 production directed by Bill T. Jones that returns as a way to also commemorate the 35th anniversary of the deadly bombing of West Philadelphia’s MOVE compound, where the opera takes place. The productions remain online and on-demand for varying lengths of time through August 31. Visit www. operaphila.org.

#PEARLSTREETLIVE CONCERT RECORDINGS, INCLUDING OH HE DEAD

Although live, in-person concerts remain on indefinite hiatus during COVID-19, Pearl Street Warehouse has been presenting the occasional concert livestream to its YouTube channel. The upcoming schedule includes live concerts from Sarah Shook on Friday, May 22, at 7 p.m., and Sean Della Croce on Thursday, May 28, at 8 p.m. Yet #PearlStreetLive is also home to roughly a dozen recorded performances posted over the past month.

Most of these are the kind of intimate and acoustic no-frills, at-home hour-long shows you’d expect from indie artists in quarantine, including singing guitarists Tim Cook from The Subdudes, Naseem Khuri of Kingsley Flood, and Brennley Brown. Yet one outlier is a concert fortuitously recorded at the venue last year, capturing the first hour of the New Year’s Eve performance

by Oh He Dead. The D.C.-based band’s amusing name captures the playfully wry and passionate sensibility of this group on the rise, a “rock ‘n’ soul band” distinguished by the vocal harmonies of founding members Cynthia “C.J.” Johnson and Andrew Valenti. Call 202-3809620 or visit www.pearlstreetwarehouse.com.

STRATHMORE’S LIVE FROM THE LIVING ROOM: AYO, FREDERIC YONNET

Every Wednesday, Strathmore offers livestreams primarily featuring solo performances of its multigenre Artists in Residence, both those from the current 2020 class as well as a select few alumni of the esteemed A.I.R. program. Each concert presents bite-sized performances — roughly 20 minutes in length — captured live from the living rooms of local musicians and

COWTOWNCHAD

ing local five-piece band Oh He Dead, and the Washington Women in Jazz Festival Showcase with Amy K Bormet, Christie Dasheill, and Nicole Saphos; plus recent Millennium Stage Encore shows from the 2013 concert by ’90s hit-making hip-hop group Arrested Development to the 2019 “Wind Me Up Chuck!” special tribute to the late godfather of go-go and featuring his namesake outfit The Chuck Brown Band, or from the 2018 concert by the four-part-harmony-focused Australian indie-folk band All Our Exes Live in Texas, to the 2019 concert featuring Mexican starlet and past Best New Artist Latin Grammy Awardee Gaby Moreno.

Visit www.kennedy-center.org/ whats-on/millennium-stage/ couch-concerts.

SARAH SHOOK

A self-defined “vegan, bisexual, atheist mom in a country band from the south,” the North Carolina-based singer-songwriter performed with her band the Disarmers in February of 2019 at Pearl Street Warehouse. Now, the intimate Wharf venue welcomes back Shook for a Memorial Day weekend kickoff show — a virtual one, that is. Expect to hear some of the great songs and themes from Years, Shook’s latest album focused on overcoming challenges and accepting our differences, at this free live concert part of the series posted to the #PearlStreetLive YouTube channel. Friday, May 22, at 7 p.m. Call 202-3809620 or visit www.pearlstreetwarehouse.com.

streamed via Facebook Live starting at 7:30 p.m. The lineup continues with urban jazz harmonicist Frédéric Yonnet (May 27), while recordings of past concerts in the series remain available on the Facebook page @StrathmoreArts, among them: Christian Douglas, a budding pop artist and theater artist who most recently performed in the ensembles of Arena Stage’s Newsies and Signature Theatre’s Gun & Powder; Mark G. Meadows, another well-known local theater pianist and vocalist; Niccolo Seligmann, a gay artist merging the sounds of obscure folk instruments with early classical music; Christylez Bacon,

the celebrated Grammy-nominated progressive hip-hop artist and multi-instrumentalist; and the Bumper Jackson Duo, Jess Eliot Myhre and Chris Ousley’s American roots project merging country and jazz. Call 301-581-5100 or visit www.strathmore.org.

WASHINGTON REVELS

Although best known for its flagship production the Christmas Revels, the Washington Revels stages shows and engages its diverse community of participants in other activities throughout the year, ranging from a Madrigal group to an African-American a capella group.

MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

15

They’re currently offering several virtual events that anyone can join, whether as an active participant or an engaged observer. There’s the monthly “Community Sing” event, a co-partnership with Carpe Diem Arts and in-kind support from Takoma Radio, held on the 21st of every month, with the event that kicks off at 6:30 p.m. this Thursday, May 21, focused on spring songs and sentiments, plus recognition of May as Asian Pacific Heritage Month and also home to Mother’s Day. In addition, there’s the Daily Antidotes of Song, in which a guest song leader guides participants in a sing-along every day at noon. The guests next week include Lea Morris with “When I Rise,” Reggie Harris with “This Joy,” and Lilo Gonzalez and “Somos El Barco,” with new songs in the queue from British folk artist Peggy Seeger, Mark Jaster and Sabrina Mandell of acclaimed devised troupe Happenstance Theatre, Michael Doucet of Beausoleil, and Ysaye Barnwell formerly of Sweet Honey in the Rock, among others. All events take place on Facebook Live. Free, but donations of at least $5 are requested to support Revels performers and guest song leaders during the pandemic.

Visit www.RevelsDC.org.

DANCE CHAMBER DANCE PROJECT’S VIRTUAL CHAT SERIES

SelfieScene Take a selfie, make it fun!

TEXT it to

202-527-9624

Be sure to include your name and city

A month after launching its first-ever online auction to make up for a canceled spring gala, the young contemporary ballet company debuted another virtual component, “Get Closer to the Art.” This series of free multimedia Zoom sessions features the company’s choreographers, dancers, and designers discussing and previewing their craft, particularly as it pertains to the company’s work and its upcoming seventh season, New Works 2020. Launched in mid-April with artistic director Diane Coburn Bruning’s “300 Years of Ballet History in 1/2 Hour” presentation and discussion, the virtual series continues every Tuesday at 5 p.m. Dancers Luz San Miguel and David Hovhannisyan showcase contemporary ballet partnering on May 26. Sessions are free, although donations are invited, and open to those who request the Zoom link by noon on the day-of with an email to RSVP@chamberdance.org. For more information visit www.chamberdance.org.

DANCEAFRICA DC: 33RD ANNIVERSARY

Every year Dance Place hosts an annual celebration paying tribute to the vibrancy of African heritage through dance, music, visual arts, food, clothing, and crafts. For its 33rd presentation, the festival goes virtual with livestreamed master classes and performances, daily greetings

16

MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

from DanceAfrica, a virtual marketplace, and interactive clips from Oral History interviews. Although exact details are still to be announced, the festival will kickoff on Tuesday, May 26, and run through Friday, May 29.

Visit www.danceplace.org.

COMEDY TIGHT 5 LOOSE 5: A VIRTUAL SHOW

Working to bring the funny to Zoom is the D.C. Comedy Loft with a show featuring comics, all regulars at the venue’s intimate space near Dupont Circle. The premise: five comedians performing five minutes of old jokes followed by five minutes of new. The lineup for the next scheduled shows feature Jackie Fabulous, Kelsey Cook, Hannah Dickinson, Kasaun Wilson, and host Blaire Postman, on Sunday, May 24, at 8 p.m.; and Billy Sorrell, Ever Mainard, Tommy Taylor Jr., and “a surprise guest,” plus host Postman, on Sunday, May 31, at 8 p.m. The private Zoom link will be emailed to ticket-holders the day-of. Tickets are $5, with a portion of sales going to the Comedy Loft Employee Lay Off Fund. Call 202-293-1887 or visit www-dccomedyloft-com.seatengine.com/shows/125909.

FOOD & DINING CLYDE’S, KNEAD HOSPITALITY: FOOD IT FORWARD INITIATIVE

The public is encouraged to “buy a meal for those in need” from participating restaurants in the Clyde’s Restaurant Group and Knead Hospitality chains — including Clyde’s, The Hamilton, Old Ebbitt Grill, Succotash, and Mi Vida.

The two local restaurant groups are also working to keep some of their restaurant workers employed through this initiative, a partnership also including the nonprofits Martha’s Table and MedStar Health, which will work to distribute the prepared meals to those directly affected by the COVID-19 crisis. A donation of $13 feeds an individual for one night while $54 covers a family of four, with $91 covering an individual’s meals for a week and $378 feeding four for a week. Visit www.fooditforwarddc.com.

ART & EXHIBITS DE NOVO GALLERY’S SPECIAL ONLINE EXHIBITION

A Capitol Hill bankruptcy lawyer by day, avid art collector Ryan Dattilo launched his first pop-up gallery last year. Now, in response to COVID19 and its impact on visual artists through the loss of shows, sales, and side hustles, Dattilo has revived De Novo Gallery as an online incarnation. The display includes works of art in a range of media created by a mostly local crop of 10 artists, all of

whom were featured last year at the physical gallery, including Adrienne Gaither, Tom Bunnell, Alex Ebstein, Rex Delafkaran, Dean Kessmann, and Nara Park. The gallery will forego its customary cut of sales to further help the artists. Visit www. denovo-gallery.com.

HILL CENTER GALLERIES: REGIONAL JURIED EXHIBITION

Over the years, this exhibition, featuring works in various mediums and subjects, has grown to include 85 artists from D.C., Virginia, and Maryland. This year’s juror is Myrtis Bedolla, owner of Baltimore’s Galerie Myrtis. Bedolla selected 94 pieces of original hanging work, in any medium, submitted by 85 artists, all of which was moved online, giving it a longer shelf life than usual. Linda Lowery’s Aya was awarded 1st Place, while Jim Haller’s Triptych came in 2nd and Sally Canzoneri’s DC Stores: 1942 and 2014, 3rd. Honorable Mentions: Kasse Andrews-Weller (In The Beginning Quilt...), Sean Dudley (Dukochanmon), Chris Hanson (Early Morning Walk), David Harris (Thorny Issues), Maria Illingworth (Rosie), James Klumpner (#57), Sharon Malley (School Churns), Khanh Nguyen (Porcelain III), Felicia Reed (Choices), and Glenn Strachan (Woman in Recline, Siem Reap, Cambodia). To begin the buying process or to inquire about specific artwork, contact Galleries@ HillCenterDC.org or visit www. hillcenterdc.org/artist/2020-regional-juried-exhibition.

QUEER ART LIVES HERE: DIGITAL CONTENT AND COMMUNITY RESOURCES

Just last year, the New York Times referred to the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art as “the only museum in the world dedicated to artwork that speaks to the LGBTQ experience.” If you’ve never been to the gallery in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood, now is as good a time as any to visit — but only online, of course. While the physical location, like every other arts organization, remains closed due to COVID-19, organizers have been working to enhance the museum’s digital offerings, with its Instagram page in particular updated regularly to include virtual tours, collection highlights, and artist profiles. Meanwhile, the museum has stocked its Vimeo page with recordings of lectures and panel discussions from past events.

You can also browse the museum’s vast collection by selecting Random Images in the fully searchable Online Collections Database available through its website. Visit www. leslielohman.org.

TRUE TO NATURE: OPEN-AIR PAINTING IN EUROPE VIRTUAL TOUR

Open-air painting was a core practice for emerging artists in Europe

in the late 18th- and early 19th-centuries, and those artists skilled at quickly capturing effects of light and atmosphere often went to great lengths to capture breathtaking sites in person, from the Baltic coast to the Swiss alps to the ruins of Rome.

The National Gallery of Art organized this exhibition of roughly 100 oil sketches by intrepid artists from the period, including Jean-BaptisteCamille Corot, John Constable, Simon Denis, Jules Coignet, and André Giroux. While the temporary exhibition’s run was cut short due to COVID-19, the gallery has worked to create a digital version by virtue of a dynamic virtual tour allowing users to zoom in on the works as well as click to read the wall texts and artist biographies. Supplemental materials available online include A Curator’s Quick Tour, or highlights as presented by curator Mary Morton; an Introduction to the Exhibition lecture from Morton, the head of French paintings at the National Gallery, in conversation with Jane Munro of Christ’s College, Cambridge, and private collector Alice Goldet; “Painting in the Open Air,” a conversation between artist Ann Lofquist and Morton; and “Weather in Art: From Symbol to Science,” a lecture from the National Gallery’s art historian David Gariff.

Although available on mobile, the tour is best viewed on desktop or tablet. Visit www.nga.gov/features/ true-to-nature-virtual-tour.html.

WORDS TO ART SPRING 2020: ARLINGTON COMMUNITY ART PROJECT

Arlington Arts has been asking participants to post one word a week expressing their feelings and perception of COVID-19, which will then spur five area artists to select words to turn into original sketches to be shared on social media.

Originally conceived by Sushmita Mazumdar in 2018 as a collaboration with bus drivers and Arlington’s Art on the ART Bus project, the relaunched 2020 version features work by Metro Weekly contributor David Amoroso, as well as Maribeth Egan, Kate Fleming, and MasPaz. Ultimately, though, anyone is encouraged to make and post artwork based on the submitted words and tagged #WordsToArtArlington.

Closes Sunday, May 24. Visit www. arts.arlingtonva.us.

ABOVE & BEYOND DIGITAL DRAG FEST 2020

Producer Entertainment Group and Stageit.com are presenting a series of online performances mostly featuring drag queens from the ranks of RuPaul’s Drag Race. The festival continues to feature a sizable contingent of queer celebrity creators in thirty-minute shows that “will never be recorded or re-released.”

Most tickets cost $10 and sales are

STARS IN THE HOUSE

Since March, Seth Rudetsky, the afternoon Broadway host on SiriusXM Radio, and his husband, Broadway producer James Wesley, have been conducting two livestreamed discussions a day as a benefit for The Actors Fund and its services, with plans to keep going until the Great White Way reopens. The announced lineup for upcoming shows include a benefit for New York foster care charity You Gotta Believe with Kerry Butler, Willie Garson, Luke Islam, Anika Larsen, Beth Malone, and Alec Mapa, on “Variety Thursday,” May 21, at 8 p.m.; An Evening with Chita Rivera and Friends on Saturday, May 23, at 8 p.m.; and Guest Host Laura Benanti & Friends on Monday, May 25, at 2 p.m. Highlights among the more than 100 past episodes, all of which can be viewed on on the Actors Fund YouTube channel, include reunions with cast members from hit TV shows Dallas, Desperate Housewives, Frasier, Glee, and Smash, plus discussion with cast members from Ryan Murphy’s Hollywood and Hulu’s Difficult People, reunions with the original Broadway casts of Les Misérables, Spring Awakening, Fun Home, and Urinetown, individual appearances by performers Kristen Chenoweth, Judith Light, Gavin Creel, Billy Porter, Varla Jean Merman, Randy Rainbow, and Matt Bomer and playwright/composers Jason Robert Brown, Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, and Marc Shaiman, plus castmates from West Side Story, The Rink, and The Visit as part of previous “Chita Rivera and Friends” discussions. Livestreamed daily at 2 and 8 p.m. Visit www.starsinthehouse.com.

limited to roughly 100 transactions, “to keep audience sizes small and the experience intimate.” Upcoming highlights with ticket availability as of press time include: Candis Cayne (“Don’t Touch Me!”) on Thursday, May 21, at 9 p.m.; Alexis Michelle (“I Feel So Much Spring”) on Thursday, May 21, at 10 p.m.; Trinity The Tuck, Bob The Drag Queen, and Monét X Change (“Werk With Trinity The Tuck Podcast Live!”) on Friday, May 22, at 3:30 p.m.; Bob The Drag Queen (“Bob The Quarantine Queen”) on Saturday, May 23, at 1 p.m.; Jill Sobule (“The Original ‘Kissed a Girl’ Girl”) on Saturday, May 23, at 4 p.m.; Alaska (“Your Makeup Is Terrible: An Alaska Transformation”) on Saturday, May 23, at 8 p.m.; Jujubee (“Juju in the Closet”) on Sunday, May 24, at 2

p.m.; Johnny McGovern & Lady Red Couture hosting the Digital Drag Fest Awards Red Carpet Pre-Show & Interviews on Sunday, May 24, at 3 p.m.; The Digital Drag Fest Awards 2020 on Sunday, May 24, at 5 p.m.; the Boulet Brothers (“The Boulet Brothers Horror Picture Show”) on Sunday, May 24, at 9 and 10 p.m.; Sherry Vine (“Mama Feelgood”) on Thursday, May 28, at 9 p.m.; ‘90s hitmaker Sophie B. Hawkins on Friday, May 29, at 7 p.m.; Jinkx Monsoon (“Jinkx Calls Her Friends”) on Friday, May 29, at 8 p.m.; Todrick Hall (“Todrick Hall Does Beyoncé”) on Friday, May 29, at 10 p.m.; and Laganja Estranja (“Up In Smoke”) on Friday, May 29, at 11 p.m. Visit www.digitaldragfest.com.

MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

17

When you need legal advice call Ackerman.

202.393.5428 1010 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Suite 208 Washington, DC 20007 ackermanlegalservices.com

18

MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

theFeed

Pride, Reimagined Capital Pride organizers announce “reimagined” events in response to COVID-19 pandemic. By John Riley

T

HE CAPITAL PRIDE ALLIANCE AND THE DC Center for the LGBT Community have announced a special collaboration to provide “reimagined” programming for Pride season, after the annual Parade and Festival were canceled due to COVID-19.

This year’s Capital Pride theme is #StillWe, a powerful statement about the resilience, struggles, celebrations, and pride of the LGBTQ community. That resilience is being tested amid the COVID-19 pandemic, when people are being asked to socially distance and refrain from participating in large-scale gatherings.

“When we first developed #StillWe, we never imagined just how important that message would become,” Ryan Bos, the executive director of Capital Pride Alliance, said in a statement.

“Together with The DC Center and our partner Pride organizations, we are taking this opportunity to reimagine how we work together to better support and advocate on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community.”

Among the “reimagined” programming being offered by Capital Pride Alliance and The DC Center will be monthly virtual town halls, with the inaugural webinar taking place on June 1, featuring leaders from LGBTQ organizations discussing how the community will recover and move forward once the pandemic subsides.

Also on Monday, June 1, Capital Pride will air a #StillWe Pride video montage that will include greetings from local community organizations, businesses, sponsors, leaders, and influencers. The video will also encourage viewers to find ways to demonstrate their pride ahead of Capital Pride’s first-ever Pridemobile Rainbow Blast on Saturday, June 13.

The Pridemobile Rainbow Blast will involve a mobile unit that drives through various neighborhoods in all eight wards,

taking video and photos of the ways various segments of the community celebrate Pride. Bos told Metro Weekly that organizers will work with local ANC commissioners to arrange a time for the Pridemobile to pass by. Notably, Bos said Capital Pride Alliance is open to having the Pridemobile make the rounds over multiple days if that becomes necessary to ensure increased participation.

On Sunday, June 14, Capital Pride Alliance and The DC Center will launch the first episode of an original web series titled “Pride in the City.” That episode’s theme will be #StillWe Entertain” and will serve as a platform for local and regional artists to showcase their work or talents.

“We hope to be able to record performances in various venues throughout the city, which will then be edited to create the first episode for Pride Month,” Bos said.

On Saturday, June 27, the National Capital Region will participate in Global Pride 2020, the only worldwide virtual Pride event. Organizers are also planning a Pride Summit with organizers from DC Black Pride, Latinx Pride, Capital Trans Pride, Leather Pride, Silver Pride, Youth Pride and API Pride. The date and details of that summit have yet to be finalized.

“Pride is certainly one of our favorite times of year in Washington, DC — an opportunity to uplift our LGBTQ community and celebrate our city’s progress as a leader in LGBTQ rights,” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a statement. “Thank you to everyone who is helping us save lives by celebrating Pride at home. While events will certainly look different this year, our pride remains as strong as ever.”

Organizers have also begun planning additional programming this fall, including events that emphasize civic engageMAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

19

theFeed both dedicated to offering creative ways to help the community thrive, connect and engage with each other. Our partnership will enable us to maximize our impact and expand the ways we can serve the community.”

“Although we won’t be able to celebrate Pride in the traditional way, and for now we aren’t able to welcome people physically in The DC Center, we look forward to new and innovate ways to come together as a community to support, resist, love, and persist,” added Ashley Smith, the Board President for Capital Pride Alliance. “Knowing that our community is often more adversely affected by events such as this pandemic, I look forward to what CPA and The DC Center may be able to accomplish through our new collaboration.”

NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE

ment, specifically voter registration and voting in the upcoming November elections.

Moving forward, The DC Center and Capital Pride Alliance will offer remote and online services, including virtual support and social group meetings, and will compile a community calendar of upcoming events — many of which will be retooled to accommodate social distancing — and a directory of resources, such as LGBTQ-affirming businesses, organizations, and service providers in the greater D.C. area.

“The DC Center Board looks forward to collaborating with the Capital Pride Alliance to serve the LGBTQ+ community during this difficult time,” Rehana Mohammed, Chair of the DC Center, said in a statement. “The DC Center and CPA are

Powerful Prevention PrEP injection every two months proves more effective than daily Truvada. By Rhuaridh Marr

I

N A MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH IN THE FIGHT AGAINST new HIV transmissions, a British pharmaceutical company has announced that PrEP injections every two months have proven more effective than a once-daily pill.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) said its injectable antiretroviral cabotegravir was so effective at preventing transmission of HIV that clinical trials were stopped early, and those taking the 20

MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

twice-daily pill were offered bimonthly injections instead.

The current standard for PrEP — or pre-exposure prophylaxis — is the once-daily antiretroviral combination of emtricitabine/tenofovir, manufactured by Gilead Sciences under the brand name Truvada.

Taken regularly, Truvada is around 99% effective at preventing transmission of HIV during sexual intercourse between an

theFeed cabotegravir dosed every two months can successfully reduce HIV acquisition in at-risk MSM and transgender women,” said Kimberly Smith, M.D., Head of Research & Development at ViiV Healthcare.

“We are thrilled with the results,” Smith continued, “not only because of the high efficacy of cabotegravir but also because we have demonstrated high efficacy in a study that adequately represents some of the populations most disproportionately impacted by HIV — black MSM in the U.S., young MSM globally and transgender women.”

Myron S. Cohen, M.D., Co-Principal Investigator of the HPTN and Professor of Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology and Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, noted that around 1.7 million people are newly diagnosed with HIV each year.

“To lower that number, we believe more prevention options are needed in addition to currently available oral tablets for daily use,” Cohen said. “If approved, a new injectable agent, such as long-acting cabotegravir administered every two months, could play an important role in reducing HIV transmission and helping to end the HIV epidemic.”

ANNIE ROSE RAMOS

HIV-negative person and someone living with the virus.

But GSK said that its clinical trial demonstrated that an injection of cabotegravir every two months was 69% more effective at preventing transmission of HIV compared with Truvada.

The clinical trial, HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) 083, was conducted by ViiV Healthcare and involved 4,600 HIVnegative cisgender men and transgender women who have sex with men in North and South America, Asia, and Africa.

Of those participants, 38 who were taking the daily pill became infected with HIV, while only 12 who received injections every two months became infected.

GSK reported that most (80%) of the participants receiving the injection reported pain or tenderness at the injection site, but only 2% of participants discontinued due to that discomfort or reaction to the injection.

An interim review by the Data and Safety Monitoring Board, an independent organization, found that the bimonthly injections were “highly effective at preventing HIV in the study population,” GSK reported.

“These study results demonstrate that long-acting injectable

Hernández

Seeking Justice

LGBTQ activists sue private prison contractors for wrongful death of transgender asylum seeker. By John Riley

T

HE TRANSGENDER LAW CENTER AND A GROUP OF attorneys in private practice have filed a lawsuit against several private companies that contract with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement to detain and transport undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers in ICE custody, claiming that the companies’ negligence led to the wrongful death of Honduran migrant Roxsana Hernández in 2018.

Hernández, a 33-year-old asylum seeker from Honduras, had fled to the United States after she was raped and targeted by local gangs in her home country. Upon reaching the San Ysidro port of entry in San Diego, Calif., on May 9, Hernández petitioned for asylum and was taken into the custody of Customs and Border Protection. She was held in detention for five days before

being transferred to ICE custody, and subsequently transferred multiple times before eventually ending up at the Cibola County Correctional Center in Milan, N.M. While at Cibola County Correctional Center, Hernández began demonstrating signs of dehydration, including severe diarrhea and vomiting. She was transferred to Cibola General Hospital on May 17 with symptoms of pneumonia, dehydration, and complications associated with HIV. Later that day, she was airlifted to Lovelace Medical Center in Albuquerque, where she died on May 25 of cardiac arrest.

While the official cause of Hernández’s death was complications from pneumonia and untreated HIV, LGBTQ activists have alleged that she was abused in custody — pointing to an autopsy MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

21

theFeed showing she had been beaten prior to her death — and that her death was entirely preventable.

The lawsuit, filed last week in U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico, names Management & Training Corporation, LaSalle Corrections Transport LLC, Global Precision Systems LLC, TransCor America LLC, an CoreCivic Inc., the latter of which manages the Cibola County Correctional Center as defendants.

The plaintiffs, filing on behalf of Joleen Younger, the appointed representative of Hernández’s estate, allege that the private companies that contract with ICE to provide detention services failed to provide Hernández with adequate medical care, sufficient food, water, access to a restroom, and even the opportunity to sleep, even though she was visibly and symptomatically ill.

They also claim that the employees of the contractors ignored pleas from other asylum seekers who had expressed concern for Hernández’s condition. They say the employees’ actions, or lack thereof, constitute a form of discrimination based on Hernández’s HIV status, in violation of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which is supposed to ensure the right of people with disabilities — of which HIV is considered one — to access certain services.

“CoreCivic, La Salle, and Management & Training Corporation, along with the other private companies named in our lawsuit, receive federal funds in exchange for overseeing all the mechanisms that make our cruel system of immigration incarceration possible,” Andrew Free, one of the attorneys behind the lawsuit, said in a statement.

“Through our investigation into Roxsana’s death, we’ve learned that these companies violated their federal agency contracts, their own standards of care, Roxsana’s rights, as well as the standards of care in the various states Roxsana travelled through,” Free added.

“It’s horrifying that nearly two years after Roxsana’s death, they’re still receiving federal funds without any accountability for the many lives that have been lost on their watch.”

The lawsuit, which seeks an unspecified amount of damages, alleges “egregious and unconscionably negligent or willful failure of several private federal government contractors to safely care for Roxsana Hernandez” while she was in ICE custody, particularly during her transport from San Diego to Cibola County Correctional Center.

“Despite Roxsana visibly exhibiting symptoms of distress associated with her serious medical condition throughout her four-state journey — including nausea, vomiting, fever, diarrhea, and severe fatigue — and the persistent entreaties by Roxsana and those with whom Roxsana travelled, these contractors charged with her custody failed or refused to render her the timely care and intervention she required,” the complaint reads.

“Had Roxsana received the proper health care screening within 12 hours of entering custody as required by ICE policy and prevailing standards of medical care, she, more likely than not, would have had a greater chance of survival.”

Last year, Transgender Law Center filed a Federal Tort Claim Act complaint against the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, and ICE, listing 10 potential charges — including battery, assault, negligence, deliberate indifference, and the failure to provide proper medical care — that could be brought against the agencies for failing to exercise oversight of the contractors acting on their behalf, which played a role in Hernández’s death.

Last month, TLC filed a separate class action lawsuit demanding that ICE release all transgender people in detention, arguing that the conditions in which they are being held put them at higher risk of contracting COVID-19.

Presidential Potential Joe Biden calls conversion therapy “sick,” emphasizes importance of Equality Act. By Rhuaridh Marr

F

ORMER VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN BRANDED THE harmful practice of conversion therapy “sick” during a virtual fundraiser last week. Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, criticized the debunked practice, which seeks to forcibly change an LGBTQ person’s sexuality or gender identity through means such as talk therapy or more extreme methods such as aversion or electroshock therapy.

During the fundraiser, which was hosted by U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) on Zoom, Biden also reiterated his support for transgender rights, as well as pledging his support for passing the Equality Act should he win the presidency in November, The Advocate reports.

Biden released his LGBTQ equality plan in March, which featured seven key policy areas the former Vice President would focus on should he reach the Oval Office. It included supporting LGBTQ youth, ending the epidemic of violence against transgender women of color, and protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination.

The plan also took a swipe at the anti-LGBTQ actions of the Trump administration, accusing Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence of having “given hate against LGBTQ+ 22

MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

individuals safe harbor and rolled back critical protections for the LGBTQ+ community.”

“Hate and discrimination against LGBTQ+ people started long before Trump and Pence took office,” Biden’s plan states.

“Defeating them will not solve the problem, but it is an essential first step in order to resume our march toward equality.”

During the fundraising call, Biden reiterated his support for the Equality Act, opposed by Trump, which would enshrine protections for LGBTQ people in federal law. He also committed to supporting a ban on conversion therapy, calling it “sick.”

Last year, U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu and Sens. Booker and Patty Murray (D-WA) introduced the Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act to Congress, which, if passed, would classify advertising and providing conversion therapy as a fraudulent practice.

Biden also addressed transgender issues during the fundraising call, including committing to rolling back the Trump administration’s restrictions on transgender people serving openly in the military.

The former Vice President also supported allowing gender-neutral voter registration, saying, “You ought to be able to just put X on sex...you don’t have to explain a damn thing. If you’re a registered

GAGE SKIDMORE

theFeed

Biden

person in that place, you should be able to vote.”

Vlada Knowlton, an attendee on the call and mother of a transgender child, referenced the recent death of Aimee Stephens, the transgender woman at the center of a Supreme Court case that could determine whether the Civil Rights Act protects against anti-trans discrimination.

Biden told Knowlton that he was supposed to speak to Stephens on May 12, the day of her death.

“I was supposed to call her. I had her picture and her bio on my desk; I was supposed to call her,” Biden said. “I’m looking over at [traveling chief of staff] Annie [Tomasini], I guess it was yesterday at 2 o’clock, and Annie came in...with tears in her eyes

and said they passed away, passed away.”

Biden was endorsed by the National Center for Transgender Equality earlier this month, with the advocacy organization calling him “the advocate and president we need at this consequential moment.” “[Joe Biden] has the temperament, the experience and wisdom to lead our country,” Mara Keisling, the executive director of the NCTE Action Fund, said in a statement. “Throughout his career in public service, work as a private citizen through the Biden Foundation, and now his campaign to lead our nation, Biden has demonstrated his commitment to transgender people and the LGBTQ community.”

Sweet Treat

Hershey’s CEO shuts down anti-LGBTQ activist who complained about company’s HRC donations. By Rhuaridh Marr

M

ICHELE BUCK, CEO OF CHOCOLATE MANUFACturer The Hershey Company, calmly shut down an anti-LGBTQ activist during a recent shareholder meeting. Buck was challenged on Hershey’s corporate support of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ organization, LGBTQ Nation reports.

During the virtual meeting, Justin Danhof, general counsel for conservative think tank the National Center for Public Policy Research, demanded an end to Hershey’s donations to HRC, citing anti-LGBTQ talking points.

“The HRC is perhaps the nation’s leading opponent of religious liberty,” Danhof said. “HRC threatens and organizes

boycotts when states seek to enact laws protecting the right of people to act according to their faith or to use a bathroom in privacy that matches their DNA.” “Religious liberty” is a term often used by right-wing and conservative groups to justify enacting laws that allow individuals and businesses to discriminate against LGBTQ people, by saying such discrimination is justified due to their religious objections to the person’s sexuality or gender identity.

The Trump administration has supported efforts to allow such discrimination, including implementing a rule that allowed health care providers to deny treatment to LGBTQ people based on their religious beliefs. That rule was later struck down by a MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

23

THE HERSHEY COMPANY

theFeed

federal court.

Danhof also accused HRC of being “bigoted” and “anti-religious” during his question to Buck.

“At a time when our nation needs to pull together as one to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic and reopen the economy, will you reconsider your funding of this bigoted, anti-religious organization that works to tear Americans apart?” he asked.

However, Danhof’s attempts to cast HRC in a negative light met swift opposition from Buck.

“Inclusion and diversity are incredibly important values to us here at the Hershey Company,” she responded. “They are important not only to our culture but also to our business.”

Buck added that she was “really proud” of Hershey’s “track record in supporting the LGBT community and our employees and customers who identify with the LGBT community.”

“We continue to be very focused on making all the best decisions we believe possible to foster inclusion and diversity across the company,” she said.

Hershey’s maintains a perfect 100 score in HRC’s Corporate Equality Index, which measures corporate policies and practices pertinent to LGBTQ employees.

After Buck’s unwavering support of LGBTQ people, Danhof

issued a press release through NCPPR decrying the company and HRC, and employing anti-transgender language to further criticize HRC’s practices.

“HRC staff spend their days working to make sure that fully-grown adult males can use the same public and private restrooms and changing facilities as young girls,” Danhof wrote.

“And HRC staff spend their days dedicated to defunding pro-life politicians and Christian nonprofit organizations.

“As long as it continues to fill HRC’s coffers with its investors’ hard-earned money, Hershey is 100 percent complicit in these vile, bigoted and reprehensible actions,” he continued. “If the company had any shame, it would end its funding of this extremist organization now.”

While Danhof objects to Hershey’s support of the LGBTQ community, he and NCPPR are at odds with even fellow conservatives with regards LGBTQ discrimination.

A recent survey found that most Americans, including a majority of conservative Republicans, support efforts to protect LGBTQ people against discrimination. The PRRI Survey also noted that a majority of Americans oppose allowing businesses to refuse goods or services to gay and lesbian people based on religious beliefs.

Public Problem Six in ten LGBTI people in Europe are afraid to hold hands in public. By John Riley

M

ORE THAN SIX IN 10 LGBTI PEOPLE IN EUROPE say they regularly avoid holding hands in public due to fear of discrimination, according to a survey conducted last year, the results of which have just been made public.

24

MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

The survey, conducted by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Human Rights (FRA) from May 27-July 22, 2019, polled more than 140,000 people across the continent to examine attitudes and behaviors of LGBTI people, as well as

STANLEY DAI

theFeed

the frequency with which they experience discrimination or harassment, and the degree of LGBTI acceptance in the societies in which they live.

According to the survey, 53% of LGBTI people in Europe say they are almost never or rarely open about their sexual orientation or gender identity. An even larger percentage, or 61%, say they always or often avoid holding hands in public due to fear of harassment or discrimination.

One in three LGBTI respondents always or often avoid certain places or locations due to fear of being assaulted, threatened, or harassed due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. For those aged 15 to 17, 37% of LGBTI people say they are never open about being LGBTI. “The results show little progress over the past seven years,” FRA director Michael O’Flaherty wrote in the report’s foreword.

“Imagine being afraid to hold your loved one’s hand in public, skipping office banter to avoid divulging with whom you share your life, choosing the long way home to side-step potentially hostile ground, or enduring ridicule every time you show your personal identification.”

“In the year 2020, these remain realities for all too many lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people across the European Union and beyond,” O’Flaherty continued.

The study also found that 43% of respondents reported having been discriminated against in the past year — an increase of 6% from a similar FRA survey in 2012.

The increase was even more stark for transgender people, with six in 10 saying they had experienced discrimination over the prior year — up from 43% in 2012.

Discrimination often took various forms, including being denied employment, being refused service at a café, restaurant, bar or night club, difficulty finding LGBTI-friendly medical treatment, being denied access to social services, or having their application for housing rejected.

In recent years, reports of anti-LGBTQ physical attacks have increased in Europe, and several governments across the continent have attempted to block or repeal LGBTQ rights, particularly as far-right or fascist regimes with anti-LGBTQ leaders or

platforms have begun gaining power.

The report found that 58% of LGBTQ respondents said they had experienced harassment in the form of offensive or threatening situations at work, on the street, on public transport, in a shop, on the Internet or anywhere else, including offensive or threatening incidents of a sexual nature.

That marks an increase from seven years ago, when only 45% of respondents reported the same types of harassment. Only 10% of all instances of harassment were ever reported, with only 4% of instances reported to police.

Nearly one in 10 LGBTI respondents in Europe said they were physically or sexually attacked in the five year prior to the survey, with more than one in six transgender individuals and one in five intersex individuals reporting they’d been attacked.

But only 21% of violent incidents were ever reported to any organization, and even fewer, 14%, were reported to the police.

Of those who did not report physical or sexual violence, one-quarter said they did not report because of fear of homophobic or transphobic reactions by law enforcement.

The rate is even higher for transgender respondents, with one-third saying they failed to report due to concerns over homophobic or transphobic reactions by police.

The survey did note that differences remain among the EU member states. For instance, while 70% of people Ireland, which legalized same-sex marriage in 2015, and Malta, which became the first European country to ban conversion therapy in 2016, said they believed intolerance of LGBTI people had decreased since 2012.

By contrast, 54% of French respondents, and two-thirds of Polish respondents, reported that intolerance has increased over the past seven years.

O’Flaherty told CNN that he worried disparities between LGBTI people and their heterosexual peers might be exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Too many LGBTI people continue to live in the shadows, afraid of being ridiculed, discriminated or even attacked,” he said. “Their job and healthcare difficulties may worsen due to COVID-19. Policymakers should take note and do more to actively promote full respect for rights of LGBTI people.”

MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

25

theFeed

Excessive Force Two Kansas City police officers indicted for assaulting transgender woman. By John Riley

T

FACEBOOK

WO POLICE OFFICERS IN KANSAS CITY, MO., HAVE been indicted on assault charges after they were caught on video using what critics say was excessive force while trying to arrest a transgender woman.

The officers, Matthew Brummett, 37, and Charles Prichard, 47, were charged with fourth-degree assault for their actions when attempting to restrain and handcuff 30-yearold Breona Hill last year.

Prosecutors allege that the video, shot by a passerby on his cell phone, shows the two officers slamming Hill’s face against the concrete sidewalk and kneeing her in the face, torso and ribs at various points during the arrest.

According to the indictment, the officers were called to the scene on May 24, 2019, after Hill became involved in a dispute with the owner of a beauty supply store. The owner phoned police to ask that Hill be removed from the premises.

Prosecutors say Hill allegedly flung slurs and insults at the store owner, and the officers decided to arrest her, charging her with trespassing, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The officers later claimed she resisted arrest, and was wrestled to the ground as they attempted to restrain her. Hill was later taken to Truman Medical Center and treated for injuries, including a cut above her right eye and bruises on the left side of her face, reports NBC News.

Hill was later killed in an unrelated shooting in October — becoming the 22nd known transgender or gender-nonconforming person fatally injured in an act of violence in 2019. A suspect has since been charged in that case.

The bystander who filmed Hill’s arrest, Roderick Reed, said he was driving by when he saw an officer punch a woman, prompting him to grab his cell phone and start filming. Reed says he saw Brummett and Prichard kneeling on Hill while Brummett slammed her face into the ground twice. Prosecutors say Hill can be heard moaning and crying in pain, and asking for help. They also claim the actions caught on video don’t match with the officers’ statements about the arrest.

Audio from the cell phone video captures Prichard threatening to take Reed’s phone as evidence and saying Reed is going to get “a ticket,” according to the charging documents.

Reed was later cited for allegedly interfering with Hill’s 26

MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

arrest and blocking traffic.

Jean Peters Baker, the Jackson County prosecutor, released a statement saying her officer was required to place the case as to whether the officers used excessive force before the grand jury because the Kansas City Police Department declined to cooperate with her office by refusing to provide probable cause statements concerning why the officers decided to arrest Hill. The police department ultimately decided not to pursue criminal charges against the officers following an internal investigation.

“This case is particularly disappointing that my office was prevented from filing the charge independent of a grand jury,” Baker said in a statement.

Kansas City Police Hill Chief Rick Smith noted in a statement to local NBC affiliate KSHB that the officers have been placed on “administrative assignment until the outcome of the proceedings,” adding that investigators had found “no probable cause” to conclude the officers broke the law.

Lawyers for the officers said in a statement that their clients were innocent and had fully cooperated with the department during the investigation.

“They maintain that the force they used was reasonable under the totality of the circumstances,” the lawyers said. “They vehemently dispute the basis of these charges and believe they will be ultimately exonerated in court.”

Brad Lemon, the president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 99, issued a statement accusing Peters Baker of pursuing “a politically motivated prosecution that is unfortunately becoming all too commonplace across our country.” He also claimed Hill “purposefully struck her head against the concrete” and said the charges against the officers were “unjustified.”

But David Smith, a lawyer for Hill’s family, said that Reed’s video footage proves the officers used excessive force and questioned the sufficiency of the department’s internal investigation.

“The police investigate their own incidents with no outside agency involved,” Smith told The New York Times. “The community is in uproar over this. All you have to do is watch the video. A picture speaks a thousand words, but a video speaks two thousand.”

Brummett and Prichard are next scheduled to appear in court in August. If convicted of the fourth-degree assault charge, they could face up to a year in prison and a fine of up to $2,000.

A proud member of the LGBTQ Community,

Democrat John Fanning

has always been there for us.

Now it’s our turn to be there for him.

“John’s life has been one of real commitment and real and relevant experience and know-how.

All of these will be needed by the Ward 2 Councilmember to get the job done. John Fanning is not only a good guy, he is a fine and ethical public servant with good common sense. He will balance the interests of workers and businesses — knowing both are important — while always keeping uppermost in his mind the residents of DC and in particular, those in Ward 2.”

— FORMER COUNCILMEMBER CAROL SCHWARTZ

In the Ward 2 Special Election in June, vote for

fanningforward2se.com /FanningforWard2

@fanning_2

AN ACCESSIBLE, ACCOMPLISHED, COMMITTED LEADER PAID FOR BY FANNING FOR WARD 2 SPECIAL ELECTION, JOHN BOTTINO, TREASURER.

MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

27

Getting Familiar with Harvey Guillén Interview by Randy Shulman

H

Photography by Ian Spanier

ARVEY GUILLÉN IS A MASTER. HE’S A MASTER well as its core dramatic conflict. Guillermo desperately wants to of the deadpan, direct-into-the-camera stare. A mas- become a vampire, to become something less ordinary than how ter at blending expressions of internalized exasper- he sees himself, and therefore toils in servitude to Nandor, to ation with subtle, smoldering anger. A master at the reach the day when his abusive, manipulative master will bestow kind of understated comedy that makes his character upon him the honor of eternal life — as a monstrous killer. Until of Guillermo, on the FX series What We Do in the Shadows, such then, the hapless young man — who, it is revealed in season two, a joy to behold whenever the camera cuts to him. is not without formidable powers of his own — suffers the fools But don’t take our word for it. Ask Jemaine Clement, the with fangs. creator and, with Taika Waititi , Executive Producer of Shadows.

“A lot of the show is about destiny,” says Clement. “Maybe “The little looks he gives the camera tell so much,” says Guillermo is destined to be the exact opposite of what he wants?

Clement, currently sheltering in his homeland of New Zealand. It actually makes it easier to write comedy if there is something “He tells us a lot with the small things that he does. Usually dramatic propelling the character. The comedy falls into place when you play a character, you go bigger than your real self, later.” but in Harvey’s case, he's smaller and very subtle. He can really Clement notes that “we auditioned more people for Guillermo choose the right little expressions.” than any other. We were trying to find someone who was human The series is based on a 2014 film, directed by and starring and relatable, and who you could [convey] heavy emotions, even Clement and Waititi, in which a documentary crew follows a though he's hiding them from everyone who's around him in dysfunctional household of vampires on their quest for virgin the story. When we found Harvey, it was obvious he should be blood. The film is a riot, its premise a natural fit for expansion Guillermo.” into the realm of television. What We Do in the Shadows preFor his part, the 30-year-old Guillén is thrilled to be involved miered on FX in 2019, and is currently in the midst of a hilarious with a hit show, one that provides visibility for someone who, second season. It is, fangs down, one of the best as he terms it, “queer, plus-size, and brown.” comedies currently on television, a fabulously Just being on the series is affording Guillén the Click Here batty mix of goofy supernatural jokes, audacious chance to achieve a dream of providing the kind to Watch the sexual gags (one involving spectral semen is a of visibility to others that, when he was a kid genuine howler), and a coffin-full of surprisingly growing up in California, eluded him.

Shadows Trailer sophisticated, elaborate setups, the crowning Prior to Shadows, Guillén became celebrated achievement of which occurred in season one and involved a in the Latino community for his appearances in the Spanishcouncil of vampires. It ranks as one of the most inspired, per- language versions of the MetroPCS commercials. Among a fectly executed comedy bits in television history. With its legion slew of one-shot appearances on shows as diverse as NBC’s of vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and even a Babadook, the show The Good Place and IFC’s Documentary Now!, he also landed feels like a cross between The Office and Buffy, the Vampire significant roles on SYFY’s The Magicians, MTV’s Eye Candy, Slayer. and Nickelodeon’s The Thundermans. In 2012, the queer-idenAs Guillermo, the “Familiar” (read: assistant) to Nandor, tifying actor was honored with a GLAAD Media Award for his whose inflated sense of self-importance is evenly matched by appearance on the short-lived Fox sitcom Raising Hope. But it’s his dimwitted idiocy, Guillén provides the show its humanity, as What We Do in the Shadows that has seen Guillén’s star rise, with 28

MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

the show. Hank Stuever, television critic for the Washington Post, wrote that Guillén "provides at least half the [show’s] big laughs."

“Every time I make it to a level where I think ‘Wow, this is what I wanted a year ago, two years ago, a decade ago,’ it doesn't stop me from dreaming to reach the next level,” says Guillén.

“It's recently come to my attention that if Shadows gets nominated for an Emmy, and if I get nominated for my character, I will be the first queer Latino to be nominated in that category in history. So, that alone, is a big “Whoa!” It would be so amazing if we could open that door up for so many other Latinos. If it doesn't end up being me, but ends up being someone else opening that door, that's fine. We just have to make the attempt to open it.”

METRO WEEKLY: I really know very little about you. I looked on

Wikipedia to research — and there's virtually nothing in your entry.

HARVEY GUILLEN: [Laughs.] Yeah. And things are never accurate on Wikipedia. Someone sent me a clip saying that someone discovered me at a soda shop. I was like, "What is this, 1955? I was discovered at a soda shop?" I think somebody was having fun by making up their own narrative about me. But I was born in Orange County, California. It was me and mom for the first six years. She was a single parent raising me, working several jobs, an immigrant parent who came to America for a better life.

MW: When did you first want to be an actor?

GUILLEN: I was six years old. I was watching Annie, the musical, and I fell in love with the idea of singing and dancing. I remember looking at my mom and saying, "I want to be that. I want to be what those kids are. I want to be an orphan." She said, "Oh no, they're actors, mijo.” I was like, "Well, I want to be an actor."

She goes, "Oh, no, mijo, there's no money for that." And I was like, "You need money to play poor on television?" We were already very poor. I didn't understand how I couldn't play what those kids were playing. They were in rags, they were orphans, and they lived with a crazy lady who would yell at them. I was like, "I could totally do that, mom! I could totally do that. I can clean, because I help you clean on Saturdays." She was, "No, mijo, the actors get trained and it takes money to hire a coach."

I said, "Well, I want to do that." She's like, "I'm sorry, mijo, it's not for you." I remember her saying that it specifically wasn't for me. It was the first time I realized why aren't things for me?

Who designs and dictates and delegates who is for who? At six, I couldn't wrap my head around it.

I found out that the nearby YMCA was doing an improv class for $12.50. I went to my mom and she said, "Mijo, no, we have no money for that." I was, "If I get the money, can I take the class?"

She said, "Mijo, if you can find your own way, you can do what-

ever you want." That really affected me and I said, "Okay, then I will." But where am I going to get money? I was six. I didn't get an allowance. I remember, I walked home from school one day and saw a homeless man going through a trash can. I asked my mom, "What is he doing? It looks so gross?" She said he was looking for cans and bottles to sell. I was like, "You can make money off trash?" So I ran to her closet, got a wire hanger, made a long skinny arm out of it and basically dug through trash to collect cans to raise the money for my first improv class. It took me about four weeks to raise enough money to take the class.

Basically, it turned out to be babysitting for the younger kids.

They put the six-to-nine-year-olds together. And all we did was improvise. “Now you're a bear!” “Now you're a tiger!” But for me, it was everything. I was living my best life. When it was done, I realized how much effort it took to just get that hour and a half class, and I was like, “Do I really want to go through all that again just to take this one hour and a half class?” I said to myself, “Yeah, I do. I do want to do this again.” And I never looked back.

MW: It's amazing you knew at such a young age exactly what you wanted to do. Most six-year-olds wouldn’t have the attention span to move forward in the way that you did. It’s very enterprising.

GUILLEN: I had to grow up really quickly. I was always aware of my surroundings. I knew that my mom was working several jobs just to keep the lights on. Which isn't to say that I had a horrible childhood. We were poor growing up, but I didn't know that poor was bad. I was happy because I had found my outlet. I knew that I was in charge of my happiness. You can't rely on someone else to provide that for you — you have to do it yourself.

I think most kids are sheltered, where they are given that way of life. If you can get that, that's absolutely great. Nothing against that. But a lot of families, especially people of color, it’s not a luxury you get. I'm glad everything worked out the way it did because it motivated me. A lot of people say, “You’re an overnight success!” But they don't see the work that's been put in to come this far.

MW: You are very well known in the Latinx community as a spokesperson for MetroPCS. GUILLEN: I did them in Spanish, yeah. They were national commercials. They had other actors do it in English and then I'd do it in Spanish. We did about 26 commercials. That was a campaign that ran for years. And for years and years anywhere I would go — if there was a Spanish person at a Mexican restaurant, say, or a guy at a taco stand, they’d go “It's that guy from MetroPCS!” It's a funny thing about demographics. You can be a pop star from South America, come to the United States and walk around in L.A. and not one person will blink because in this demo that celebrity is not in front of you every day.

But there's a demographic for everything. If I go to a mall, it'll be a 14-year old girl who's like, “Oh my god, I loved you in Eye

“I was being told, ‘You're too fat, you're too brown, you're too queer.’ I realized, why am I trying to fit a mold to please someone, when I'm my own mold?

I'm selling myself.

My product is me.

My best asset is who I am.”

30

MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

JOHN P. JOHNSON/FX RUSS MARTIN/FX

Candy.” I go to Disneyland and there'll be little kids that will be like, "Cousin Blobbin!" — calling out the character from The Thundermans, a Nickelodeon show I did. I’ve realized my fan base is, across the board, all over. Different people and backgrounds and languages. It's fun, because you can tell what really spoke to people when you do the work that you do.

MW: Who's your fan base for What We Do in the Shadows?

GUILLEN: What We Do in the Shadows is the first time it's a mixture of everything. I went to a couple of the Cons, and what was really great was finding Latinos who are into goth and dark, cool comedy. Those kids came forward and said, "I never saw anyone that looked like me on television until I saw you on the show.

Now I feel seen." That really resonated with me because I know exactly what those kids feel like. Growing up, there were no kids on TV at the time that looked like me. As I got older, there was no adolescent that looked like me. There was not a lot of representation for someone that I could relate to, being queer, being plus size, being Latino — all these things mixed into one is a rare formula that you didn’t often see on television. Acting didn’t look like a promising avenue for me because I didn't see myself. But then I realized that just because you don't see yourself, doesn't mean you can't be the first.

MW: Your character, Guillermo, is a Familiar to a vampire. It’s interesting because his goal is to be turned into a vampire — essentially, he has a death wish. Or maybe it’s better put as an eternal life wish.

GUILLEN: It can be the same thing.

MW: Guillermo allows himself to be the floor mat of his master, yearning just to get a little bit of approval. He really resonates with audiences in a relatable way.

GUILLEN: Guillermo is the only human character. He's had to deal with human emotions and with human storylines. He doesn't have that whimsical side, as the vampires do, where anything can happen. He's not a vampire, so he can't fly, he can't transform.

And he is still dealing with human emotions, which is why I think Guillermo resonates with people because he represents all of us.

We've all been at a job where we are underappreciated. We've all been in a relationship where we're giving it our all, and our partners probably have one foot out the door. We've all been at points where we set goals for ourselves and keep trying and keep trying but we're not getting anywhere closer. I’ve had so many people come up and say, "I really want the vampires to be nice to him, I really want him to get what he wants, I really want Guillermo to be happy." We're all human, we all root for each other. We are all Guillermos at one point or another.

MW: What do you see of yourself in Guillermo?

GUILLEN: I see myself having the determination that Guillermo has. Even though he's been [with the vampires] ten years, he's still determined to become one. But he's starting to look at things differently. I can relate to that. For the longest time in this industry, I was being told, “You're too fat, you're too brown, you're too queer.” You're being told that you're all these things.

But the second you realize that the things people say are wrong with you are actually your strengths — the second you realize that — you change your mentality, you change your focus. You start thinking, why am I trying to fit a mold to please someone, when I'm my own mold? I'm selling myself. My product is me.

My best asset is who I am. And that’s what I'm selling. It's my organic self.

MW: The vampires — Nandor, Laszlo, and Nadja — are very funny and very loveable, but they’re also essentially idiots, especially Nandor and Laszlo. They're full of themselves. Guillermo really puts up with a lot. His patience for what his ultimate goal is seems boundless. He's waiting for that moment Nandor will turn him, but deep inside he must realize that they're stringing him along.

GUILLEN: It's like working for someone who doesn't know the privilege they have. You're around them, listening to them bitch and complain about their life when it's like, “Are you kidding me? You're a vampire, you can fly, you can live forever. What are you complaining about?” The idea of being patient — it's actually one thing that I wish I had more of. I have patience, but only to a certain extent. Guillermo has way more patience than I do. But I think his patience is wearing thin.

Slowly this season, he's starting to have enough. Because, essentially, he’s realizing “Wait a minute, I have power in being MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

31

myself.” I think this was done in the pilot. Taika Waititi directed a brilliant scene where Guillermo opens the curtain at the end and looks over at the coffin and sees a little bit of light touch the coffin. For a brief second, he forgets the documentary crew is there. He looks up at the camera and the camera catches him thinking what he's thinking, and then we see his reaction of self-realization and horror in his face. Where it's like, “No, I'm not doing that.”

MW: It’s a wonderful moment. And a very defining one for the character. He’s evolved from the first season in a very unexpected way. He clearly has an affection for the vampires and works hard to protect them from themselves. Yet deep inner-conflicts have arisen in Guillermo in season two. It’s a great twist for the character and deepens the narrative of the series. Can you talk a little bit about it without giving too much away?

GUILLEN: As an actor, I had no idea we were going down that avenue. They don't tell the actors ahead of time where the story's going. We also shoot the series out of order. So, we'll be shooting episode one and that same week we'll have to shoot a bit of episode five. They don't tell us what has happened in between, so when we're shooting five and we ask, "Why is there a car now, and why is it covered in blood?” the writers won’t tell us what we missed in between episodes. Which makes it hard for the actor, I have to say honestly, because you don't know exactly what your journey was. You don't know how you got there. You have to beg them for a little snippet of "Can you at least tell me how we got there?" They're like, "Let's just say there was an accident." It keeps you on your toes and it's really challenging. But the twist that happened in season one I didn't see coming. I definitely did not even think of that until we were at the first table read, reading it out loud. We were like, "Whoa, this is happening!"

32

MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

MW: It’s become a driving mechanism of the narrative. And has

afforded Guillermo a lot of power, to which the vampires are totally, stupidly oblivious.

GUILLEN: He may not be immortal, but he is very powerful as a human, just with everyday talents.

MW: Guillermo’s goal is to be undead, to become a vampire. But he doesn't enjoy killing. He doesn't want to murder people. He hates finding virgin victims for his master to feed on.

GUILLEN: Yeah, he doesn't love parts of his job where he has to find victims. He is human — and he has feelings and a conscience and regrets. He's still dealing with those everyday issues that he has to put up with when requested to do the things that are in his work requirements. But he doesn't want to do them. He's a softy.

But he does want to be a vampire, which is a contradiction.

I feel the angle Guillermo's coming from is that he didn't have a great time as an adolescent. He spent a lot of time by himself, probably. He fell in love with this world of vampires because it was so romanticizing. It was sexy, it was badass, it was cool.

They get to fly. They wear cool garments. He fell in love with the whole package of living this life because that life is different than the life that Guillermo was dealt. We don't know what his backstory is — we haven't seen it yet — but, I, as the actor, made that decision to think his life wasn't amazing. So the reason he wants to become a vampire is basically because he wants to escape into that world. In a weird way, Taika and Jemaine created a character that’s perfectly aligned with my personal life. I didn't see representation on screen and wanted to live in that world. You asked me about similarities. I guess Guillermo and I are very similar in that way.

MW: I'm assuming all the filming was completed before the pandemic hit?

“Guillermo resonates with people because he represents all of us.

We've all been at a job where we are underappreciated.

We've all been in a relationship where we're giving it our all, and our partners probably have one foot out the door.”

GUILLEN: Yeah, the only thing left on season two is ADR —

Automated Dialog Replacement. ADR is what we do when, let's say, a plane flew over the set during a scene and they didn’t get a clear sound of what you said. Normally, you’d go back into a studio and they play back that scene and you try to match the audio.

Because of the pandemic, I've been doing it in a closet, a soundproof area. I still have episodes 9 and 10 to do for this season.

MW: Do you know yet if there's going to be season three?

GUILLEN: We do not know yet. Also, because of what's happening, we don't know what that would look like. I'm hoping to know soon and how we would go forward with that. Right now, I'm doing more voiceover projects that can be done at home.

Things like animation. Those are actually still thriving because we can record anywhere that's quiet and no one will ever know that that cartoon voice was created in a closet.

MW: I'm sure you can't tell me anything about the final episodes, but can you reveal if things have been set up to lead into a potential season three?

GUILLEN: We have a great cliffhanger for season two. So the possibility of going forward is there, absolutely. The writers have all done an amazing job. In fact, Episode 10 of season two is one of my favorites, if not my favorite. I also loved the mosquito collector's episode, which was called “The Curse.” I love that we got to do action in the house with Guillermo. That was a lot of stunt training for me. The producers were like, "Okay, we're going to get you a personal trainer. You've got to go to the gym.

You’ve got to work on body strength because it's about stamina."

Doing those takes over and over, running down the stairs, up the stairs, down the stairs, up the stairs, jumping out of windows. I did every stunt that they threw my way. It was a nice challenge as an actor because I don't get the opportunity often to be an action character.

MW: What does it mean to you to be an out gay actor working in Hollywood, to not have to hide anything?

GUILLEN: I never wanted to start a career pretending. I knew about Rock Hudson, I knew about all those old Hollywood stars living in the closet because mainstream society wouldn't accept them. I just felt like I needed to be straightforward with who I am. At the end of the day, if that was going to cost me a job then I probably wouldn't want to be working with you. If me being myself was going to jeopardize the way you see me because you don't approve of my lifestyle and who I am, then we probably wouldn't want to work together. And there's no amount of money that would be worth the uncomfortableness of being around someone who secretly does not approve of me being who I am.

MW: Have you always been out?

GUILLEN: When I was growing up, people who knew that I was queer knew because I had shared that information. We were comfortable enough to talk about it. Again, it's my life, no one

goes around expressing that they're straight every day. If you're in my life, we talk about it, and I tell you who I am. I never shied away from it. And I'm always an advocate and a big supporter, but it shouldn't be the focus of people's mentality of how to treat someone. That's always been my thought. You shouldn't treat me any differently, because I wouldn't treat you any differently because you're straight.

I live on the West Coast where it was an easier transition for me. Growing up in high school, my best friend was a gay Vietnamese kid and my two other best friends were a bisexual girl and a lesbian girl. I grew up with the luxury of being surrounded with queerness and embracing it and being told that it was okay to be that. But you get reminded that's not the case all over the world. There are states where you get treated differently if they even have a hint you might be queer. I didn't recognize this until filming a movie in a Southern state. I was out in public — and I don't consider myself extremely flamboyant — and I just felt this sense of “His skin looks different, he doesn't belong, he's not our neighbor, he doesn't live around here, and I think this guy might be queer.” That was the vibe you just got from walking around. I didn't like that.

There's kids out there who have to deal with this every day.

I just got a message last night from a fan who is trans and is living in quarantine with their homophobic parents. The idea that there's a kid out there who has to be quarantined with people who tell him every day that transitioning is wrong. He can't even escape that environment to run out and try to get some fresh air and get away from the house. He’s literally trapped with his family that's telling him transitioning is wrong. Well, it's not wrong. It's his journey and it's his right. My heart goes out to him. I wrote him a long essay encouraging him to not give up and to know that he gets to choose his family as well, being part of the queer community, and not to let this one-time circumstance determine the rest of his life, because it will get better.

MW: How does it feel to be a role model in that regard?

GUILLEN: I didn't set out to be a role model. But creating my own path and my own journey has made people latch on and say, “Hey, if that guy can do it, I can do it,” and that's great. So, if you think you can do it because you see me as an example, then by all means, yes, I'll be a role model. We all need something to look forward to. We all need something to aspire to. So, I will gladly accept being a role model.

New episodes of What We Do in the Shadows air on FX every Wednesday at 10 p.m. The full series-to-date is available for streaming on Hulu.

Harvey Guillén broadcasts interviews with select castmembers on Instagram Live at @BeforeTheShadows. Follow Harvey on Instagram and Twitter at @harveyguillen.

MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

33

Gallery

SITE at the Library Street Collective

Daniel Arsham - Bronze Eroded Venus de Milo

A

GRAND, CENTURY-OLD SYMBOL OF DETROIT’S Louvre in Paris. There’s also José Parlá’s San Lázaro y Genios, economic glory days, the decaying edifice of the Historic an abstract sculptural painting based on wall facades of an interState Savings Bank has recently inspired a group of eight section in Havana that the artist presents here as an intriguing, international contemporary artists who were invited to create complementary juxtaposition within the worn facades of the site-specific, mixed-media installations challenging notions of historic bank and Rachel Rossin’s Leda, a “Hologram Combine” time, history, and reality. A planned series from Motor City’s merging traditional painting techniques with augmented-realiLibrary Street Collective in partnership with archity technologies, intended, according to the artist, to tectural photographer James Haefner, SITE: Art give the viewer “a glimpse of our slow fade into an Click Here and Architecture in the Digital Space, according to increasingly virtual world.” Finally, Phillip K. Smith to View the exhibition’s official description, “is entirely III’s Portal 8 is a fiberglass structure enhanced the Exhibit through the use of automotive paint, electronic digital, and so the art displayed is skillfully and seamlessly rendered into its environment.” It’s also components, LED lighting, and a unique color proan online presentation with a significant real-world benefit, as gram, part of the artist’s ongoing series of three-dimensional 10 percent of the proceeds from art sales will be donated to the light works, each created with an eye toward “revealing its slow Ruth Ellis Center, which works to provide help and shelter for shift over time.”

Detroit’s at-risk LGBTQ youth and young adults of color.

“I like the idea of the portal,” Smith says in an official stateHighlights among the works on display include Daniel ment, “this pure, all-white, low-sheen, ultra-smooth fiberglass Arsham’s Bronze Eroded Venus de Milo, an intentionally form contrasting against the raw nature of the kind of worn decayed-looking bronze replica of a celebrated Greek marble plaster and dusty walls of the upper mezzanine at the State statue with its own complicated history and housed at the Savings Bank.” —Doug Rule To view the full exhibition, visit www.lscgallerysite.com.

34

MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

Kennedy Yanko - Shelter

Phillip K. Smith III’s Portal 8

Greg Fadell - Cave Painting

MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

35

DARK STAR PICTURES

Movies

exerts little of the brazenness of the “star documentarian,” and doesn’t exude the vulnerability to fully involve us in his screen addict journey.

More compelling is the general sense that the compulsive behaviors cataloged in the film affect every person in the computerized world. Statistics on the decline Screened Out insists we are collectively facing one of the most of the average human attention span pervasive and potentially dangerous addictions actually are alarming. Concerned parents of our time. By André Hereford might see their own children in the behavior of Hyatt’s boys, who both scream for IKE A HELPFUL NEIGHBOR WHO COMES TAPPING AT THE WINDOW TO their screen-time and lament the fact that calmly inform you that part of your house is on fire, Screened Out (HHHHH) mommy and daddy are bound to their doesn’t want to alarm you, but just wants you to know we’re raising a generation phones nearly every waking hour. The of hardcore screen junkies. Grave, yet somehow breezy, director-editor Jon Hyatt’s teens who talk to Hyatt about losing sleep thought-provoking documentary starts from the position that just about anyone with a and sanity to the time-suck of the bottomsmartphone, tablet, or laptop is spending too much time engaged with their screens to less feed might sound like teens you know and love. They might even sound like you, the detriment of their in-person relationships with family and friends.

The film presents a firm argument, buttressed by a persuasive lineup of experts and or whoever is quarantining next to you, authors across fields of behavioral science and social media engineering, addiction, staring at their timeline.

Spring 2020 indeed is a cruel moment and rehab. The pace is brisk, and the tone upbeat — as with the use of simple, effective animation to illuminate B.F. Skinner’s landmark experiments studying reward and in history to contemplate how much time reinforcement. Hyatt keeps the arguments fairly one-sided, however, offering prac- people spend beholden to their screens tically no rebuttal to his experts’ credible assertions that addictive apps and games and devices. But the air of pandemic crisis adds urgency to the film’s have turned our devices into handheld slot machines of social validation. message that society should recThen again, perhaps there is no refuting former Facebook president Sean Click Here ognize what author David Sax Parker’s claim, relayed in footage from a live Axios interview, that getting to Watch (The Revenge of Analog) calls users hooked was a goal from the beginning. the Trailer one of the most pervasive and In making a case against screen addiction, Hyatt’s “Exhibit A” is himpotentially dangerous addicself and his family — that is, his wife and their three young boys. Believing that they engage with their devices, in his words, “far too often” throughout the day, he tions we face. No one in the movie is saydecides to deactivate and delete all his accounts and services, except phone and email. ing delete all your accounts and destroy But, while he and the film’s alert cinematographers capture raw moments of tension all your devices. But certainly, nobody will and togetherness within Hyatt’s family, the movie doesn’t really follow through on see Screened Out and think they need to documenting the details of their digital detox. Featured as his own lead subject, Hyatt spend more time gazing into the light.

Captive Audience

L

Screened Out is available Tuesday, May 26 via VOD on all digital platforms, and for download on iTunes.

Visit www.screenedoutfilm.com.

36

MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

WARNER MEDIA GROUP

Television

the measured critiques of a ballroom pioneer. The judges are entertaining as hell, but the show’s makers ensure that neither they, nor ballroom emcee Dashaun Wesley, upstage the competition or the contestants.

The contestants themselves represent diverse backgrounds, communities, and gender identities. The team repping HBO Max’s lively Legendary is unapologetically queer, unabashedly the House of Ninja, for example, are all fierce, and hits the runway up to speed. By André Hereford women, from the U.S., Europe, and Japan.

That warm inclusivity and openness helps HE FABULOUS ARC OF LGBTQ+ PROGRESS FROM PARIS IS BURNING TO balance the competitiveness, and delicious Pose, and across the RuPaul’s Drag Race universe, has at last led to Legendary cattiness of comments like, “I should have (HHHHH). Unapologetically queer, unabashedly fierce, and deeply steeped swept her across the board,” or “I mean, in the language, history, and style of gay houses and ballroom culture, the HBO Max if your effect falls off — that’s calling for a reality competition series hits the runway already up to speed. Members from eight chop, no shade.” different houses — including the iconic Houses of Ninja and St. Laurent — compete in Some of the queens slice and dice with nine voguing balls for a $100,000 cash prize. commentary as sharp as their moves, Diving in with a minimum of Ballroom 101 for the as-yet uninitiated, Legendary as DJ Mike Q keeps beats pumping in dispenses with the “Houses are...” and “Voguing is...” explanations within the first few the ballroom. We also see contestants in moments of episode one. The show’s producers clearly anticipate an audience that workroom consultations with professional won’t need a guidebook for decoding the culture. But just in case, the first episode (of costume designers and a choreographer, two provided by HBO for preview) is devoted to introducing the competing houses in a although Legendary is disappointingly non-elimination ball that allows all the contestants to showcase their strengths — vogu- vague about the actual creative processing, walking, and serving looks. And each week, a guest judge will take a seat alongside es. Concepts are described, a few lines of the panel of four permanent judges to supply wide-eyed reactions to the illustration are sketched, then sickening fashions, flips, dips, and stunts. cut to the entire team modeling Click Here Model Tyson Beckford sits in with the panel for episode two’s Once a Met Ball’s-worth of custom to Watch Upon a Time Ball, a fairytale-themed extravaganza that finds regular judge wardrobe. But, alas, no one’s the Trailer Megan Thee Stallion dressed as a leggy Red Riding Hood. The audacious here to see the sewing. The final “Savage” rapper embodies the sass and spirit this show seems all about results on the runway speak for celebrating. Fellow judge Jameela Jamil (The Good Place) brings the sweetness and sup- themselves, as contestants bring their best portive Paula Abdul energy, while fashion stylist Law Roach eagerly serves bitchy-judge to the floor, and excitement and pageantry attitude, and statuesque Leiomy Maldonado, the “Wonder Woman of Vogue,” delivers welcome all to the party.

Having a Ball

T

Legendary premieres Wednesday, May 27, on the new HBO Max streaming service. Visit www.hbomax.com for more information.

MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

37

JEREMY COWART

Music

can love him/But girl, you got to be honest about him.”

Sailers and Ray revisit the messiness and complexity of the past in more personal terms on the gorgeously pensive “Country Radio.” Apparently, fond memories of listening to the country station On their new album, The Indigo Girls reflect on the past, on the way to work can quickly become a present, and future. By Sean Maunier stand-in for the feeling of something being an escape from a bleak everyday reality at T THIS POINT, “FOLK ICONS” MIGHT AS WELL BE IN THE INDIGO the same time as it is a glimpse into someGirls’ job description. Over their long career Amy Ray and Emily Sailers have thing seemingly unattainable. The amount learned a thing or two, and now that so many of us have a bit more time alone of sadness that Sailers packs into the line, with our thoughts, there’s no time like the present to hear out what they have picked “I’m just a gay kid who loves country up along the way. radio” is a testament to the quiet power of Like its title, Look Long (HHHHH) is just as much a mission statement as it is wise the songwriting. advice. The driving inspiration behind the album, according to Sailers, was to set out The Indigo Girls’ albums have always to find the balance between the need to acknowledge and grieve our shortcomings and masterfully walked the line between the limitations, but to also “look beyond what’s right in front of us, take the long view of personal and the universal. It is hard not things, and strive to do better.” This is an album that invites us to stand still, take stock to read autobiographical intent in “When of where we are, how we got here, and what we can take with us into We Were Writers,” a song about the future. looking inside to rediscover a Click to While the album may have been born from a need to take a long fire that still burns, even though Listen to view of things, more often than not it finds the duo looking backward, the circumstances that sparked Country Music it may be long gone. “Wrestle leaving the search for a way forward as a secondary concern. Once past the first three tracks, they get caught up reminiscing about past the beast that leaves you diminjoys, pains, and frustrations. True to form, Ray and Sailers are sentimental yet honest ished,” they advise, “it’s alright you will songwriters, more clear-headed than nostalgic when it comes to reflecting on the past. never be finished.” When advice like that With its blunt assessment of the past, opener “Shit Kickin’” sets the tone for the comes from two artists who have been at album. In their most incisive lyrics, Ray lays out the thorniness of uncovering where the top of their game for the better part of you have come from, singing about her grandfather’s journals: “If you can find him, you three decades, it’s best to listen.

Long View

A

Available for streaming and purchase on May 22.

38

MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

39

SelfieScene

Be Scene! Take a selfie, and make it fun if you like, and TEXT to 202-527-9624.

Be sure to include your name and city. YOU could appear in next week’s Selfie Scene!

Philip (Severn, MD)

David and Mr. Mittens (Washington, DC)

Janet (Phoenix, AZ) Scott (Mt Rainier, MD)

Clarence (Washington, DC)

40

MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

LastWord.

People say the queerest things

he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists, “I would rather especially in his age group, and in his, shall we say, weight group: ‘Morbidly obese,’ they say.”

—U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI, on Anderson Cooper 360 discussing Donald Trump’s assertion that he had taken malaria treatment hydroxychloroquine to prevent COVID-19 infection, despite warnings from the FDA that it can cause irregular heartbeats and cardiac trauma and a lack of evidence that it can fight the virus.

“A man, who I do not know, suddenly from close range threw something at my face.”

—MATT BELANGER, a regional Emmy-winning reporter with KSTP-TV in Minneapolis, in a video on Facebook saying he was attacked because of his perceived sexuality while waiting for a train. Out reports that the man who attacked him “made statements indicating that he assaulted [Belanger] because he perceived that [he] was homosexual,” according to police.

“I consider it, along with Wyatt, one of the great blessings of my life to be gay.”

—ANDERSON COOPER, during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Cooper discussed his coming out in 2012, adding, “Even though I’m kind of painfully shy, an introvert and stuff, I thought, ‘OK, well, I want to say something.’

And so I did, and I couldn’t be happier.”

“Homophobia is contagious.

Let’s protect ourselves. ” —THE BRITISH EMBASSY WARSAW, in a tweet recognizing International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT). A video featured embassy workers wearing rainbow face masks, created by a Polish gay couple to both help their fellow Poles during the COVID-19 pandemic, but also prove that LGBTQ people are not the enemies they’ve been made out to be by the government and the media.

“To the pro-eternal shutdown cheerleaders, when your favorite government pals start canceling pride parades, we better not hear a peep out of you!!!”

—Right-wing provocateur TOMI LAHREN, in a heavily criticized tweet attempting to target LGBTQ people who support coronavirus-related lockdowns to prevent the spread of the virus. One LGBTQ doctor noted that many organizers had already canceled Pride events, “because unlike you the LGBTIQ community has a sense of civic pride & duty and cares about our neighbors.”

MAY 21, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

41

© Tony Veloz www.tonyveloz.com

KILLER BODY CLEAR CONSCIENCE Try Vegan

Obesity, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s are on the rise, and meat’s the prime suspect. It’s not too late to revive your health and get in shape with tasty plant-based foods. For bigger guns without the bloodshed, try vegan!

V EGAN FITNES S BUFF

ZACHARY KOVAL for