Lily Tomlin: Life According to Lily - Oct. 11, 2018

CONTENTS

OCTOBER 11, 2018

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Volume 25 Issue 23

CAPES AND COWLS

Drag queen Dax ExclamationPoint will emcee GMCW’s annual costume-themed fundraiser Ropeburn.

By John Riley

LIFE ACCORDING TO LILY The Award-winning actress on Grace and Frankie, the current state of society, and the two most important Janes in her life.

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Interview by Randy Shulman

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TWIN PEAKS

Shakespeare Theatre’s The Comedy of Errors is just the ticket to escape our troubling times.

By Kate Wingfied

SPOTLIGHT: COMPANHIA DE DANÇA DEBORAH COLKER p.9 OUT ON THE TOWN p.12 PLEDGING ALLEGIANCE: IKE BARINHOLTZ p.14 CAPES AND COWLS: GMCW’S ROPEBURN p.19 THE FEED: WALK ON p.21 COMMUNITY: TAKING THE HELM p.23 SCENE: NOVA PRIDE p.27 SCENE: AGLA ICE CREAM SOCIAL p.28 SCENE: FEDERICO’S GRAND OPENING p.29 COVER STORY: LIFE ACCORDING TO LILY p.30 GALLERY: BRIAN HITSELBERGER p.37 FILM: BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE p.39 FILM: FIRST MAN p.40 STAGE: THE COMEDY OF ERRORS p.41 NIGHTLIFE p.43 SCENE: OKTOBERFEST AT NELLIE’S p.43 LISTINGS p.44 NIGHTLIFE HIGHLIGHTS p.45 PLAYLIST: DJ CHORD BEZERRA p.47 SCENE: UPROAR p.50 SCENE: SLEAZE p.52 LAST WORD p.54 Real LGBTQ News and Entertainment since 1994 Editorial Editor-in-Chief Randy Shulman Art Director Todd Franson Online Editor at metroweekly.com Rhuaridh Marr Senior Editor John Riley Contributing Editors André Hereford, Doug Rule Senior Photographers Ward Morrison, Julian Vankim Contributing Illustrator Scott G. Brooks Contributing Writers Sean Maunier, Troy Petenbrink, Bailey Vogt, Kate Wingfield Webmaster David Uy Production Assistant Julian Vankim Sales & Marketing Publisher Randy Shulman National Advertising Representative Rivendell Media Co. 212-242-6863 Distribution Manager Dennis Havrilla Patron Saint Rowan & Martin Cover Photography Greg Gorman 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.

© 2018 Jansi LLC.

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OCTOBER 11, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE COMPANY

Spotlight

Companhia de Dança Deborah Colker

D

EBORAH COLKER’S PHYSICALLY DARing, visually striking company returns to the Kennedy Center with Dog Without Feathers (Cão Sem Plumas), a visually evocative work inspired by a poem by João Cabral de Melo Neto. Following the course of the Capibaribe River, the piece depicts “the poverty of the riverside population, the disregard of

the elites, the life in the mangrove, of ‘invincible and anonymous force.’” It’s the Brazilian director/choreographer’s first work entirely inspired by her heritage and is being presented as part of The Human Journey year-long multidisciplinary collaborative series from the Kennedy Center, the National Geographic Society, and the National Gallery of Art.

Thursday, Oct. 18, through Saturday, Oct. 20, at 8 p.m. in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater.

Tickets are $49 to $89. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

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Spotlight LA TRAVIATA

SCOTT SUCHMAN

The Washington National Opera’s Francesca Zambello launches the company’s season with a new production of Verdi’s everlasting story of love and sacrifice, renowned for its soaring arias and heartbreaking conclusion.

A co-production with the Atlanta Opera, the Glimmerglass Festival, the Seattle Opera, and Indiana University, La Traviata features elegant staging by Peter Davidson and turn-of-thecentury costumes by Tony-winning designer Jess Goldstein. To Oct. 21. Kennedy Center Opera House. Tickets are $25 to $300. Call 202467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

AKUA ALLRICH

COURTESY OF ATLAS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

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

The concert will be followed by a panel discussion on “The Role of Black Women, Arts, and Activism.” Sunday, Oct. 13, at 8 p.m. Lang Theatre, Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets are $20 to $25. Call 202-3997993 or visit atlasarts.org.

HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE

KALEY ETZKORN

An astonishing chronicle of one woman’s journey to break the cycle of sexual abuse by Baltimore-native Paula Vogel. The great Helen Hayes Awardwinning actress Alyssa Wilmoth Keegan (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) plays the adult survivor Li’l Bit, whose “education” at the hands of her Uncle Peck (Peter O’Connor) began when she was a mere eleven. The cast is rounded out by Daven Ralston, Emily Townley, and Craig Wallace. To Nov. 4. 4545 East-West Highway, Bethesda. Tickets are $50 to $60. Call 240-644-1100 or visit roundhousetheatre.org.

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OCTOBER 11, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

Spotlight GARRY WINOGRAND: ALL THINGS ARE PHOTOGRAPHABLE © THE ESTATE OF GARRY WINOGRAND, COURTESY OF FRAENKEL GALLERY, SAN FRANCISCO

Once derided by the critics, Garry Winogrand’s “snapshot aesthetic” is now the universal language of contemporary image making.

The first cinematic treatment of the photographer’s groundbreaking work includes selections from the thousands of rolls of film still undeveloped upon his untimely death in 1984. Sasha Waters Freyer’s film won the Special Jury Award for Documentary Feature at the 2018 SXSW Film Festival. Opens Friday, Oct. 12 at Landmark’s E Street Cinema, 555 11th St. NW. Call 202-452-7672 or visit landmarktheatres.com.

MANDY BARNETT

CYNDI HORNSBY

A smokey alto country/Americana crooner who will put you in mind of kd lang, Barnett also owes much debt to Patsy Cline. In fact, many people know Barnett as Cline, as she portrayed the female country pioneer at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium in a successful run of the Off Broadway musical Always... Patsy Cline. Barnett tours in support of Strange Conversation, her first album in five years, recorded at Muscle Shoals and featuring a duet with John Hiatt. Thursday, Oct. 18, at 8:30 p.m. City Winery DC, 1350 Okie St. NE. Tickets are $15. Call 202250-2531 or visit citywinery.com.

GREG POWERS

VIDA FITNESS 5K RUN/WALK

Kelly Collis and Jen Richer, co-hosts of 94.7 Fresh FM’s The Tommy Show, emcee the race and awards ceremony at this 4th annual event sponsored by Vida Fitness. Also known as Hains Point, the park’s flat running course circles the Potomac River and is both dog and stroller friendly, with special race heats for both children and pets. Prizes include Vida memberships, training sessions, and guest passes, as well as gift cards from affiliated outfits SweatBox, Aura Spa, and Bang Salon. Proceeds from the race, as well as new socks collected via a pre-race sock drive, will go toward Thrive DC, dedicated to preventing and ending homelessness in the area. Saturday, Oct. 13, beginning at 7 a.m., with race kicking off at 8 a.m. at Ohio Drive SW just south of the Jefferson Memorial and across from the District Wharf. Visit vidathrive5k.com.

OCTOBER 11, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

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COURTESY OF NETFLIX

Out On The Town

Roma

MIDDLEBURG FILM FESTIVAL

Held in a picturesque town in Virginia’s horse and wine country, the Middleburg Film Festival, founded by BET co-founder Sheila C. Johnson, offers a mix of independent features, documentaries and Oscar contenders, including several submissions for Best Foreign Language Film. Highlights this year include Alfonos Cuarón’s Roma (pictured), Boy Erased, The Front Runner, based on the derailed presidential campaign of Gary Hart, and Peter Farrelly’s highly anticipated Green Book, starring Viggo Mortensen as a bouncer hired to drive a world-class Black pianist (Mahershala Ali) on a tour of the deep South in the era of segregation. The festival will honor four exceptional women in film: Actor and producer Maggie Gyllenhaal, actor Yalitza Aparicio, director Nadine Labaki, and songwriter Diane Warren. The festival runs Thursday, Oct. 18, through Sunday, Oct. 21 at the Salamander Resort & Spa and select other venues in Middleburg, Va. Passes are sold out except for packages including dinner, parties, and other events in addition to screenings ranging from $1,000 to $3,500. Visit middleburgfilm.org.

Compiled by Doug Rule

FILM BOY ERASED: SPECIAL ADVANCE SCREENING

The second film this year to tackle conversion therapy, Joel Edgerton wrote, directed, and produced this adaptation of Garrard Conley’s memoir. Edgerton also stars as a therapist determined to “cure” a Baptist pastor’s son (Lucas Hedges) who reveals to his parents that he’s gay. With Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman, and Troye Sivan. The Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C. presents a sneak preview a month before the movie’s national release, followed by a conversation with real-life subjects Martha Conley and her son Garrard. Friday, Oct. 12, at 6:30 p.m. The National Press Club, 13th Floor of the National Press Building, 529 14th St. NW. Tickets are $10. Visit mattachinesocietywashingtondc.org.

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HOLDEN ON

A 17-year-old, small-town football player fights to keep his mental illness a secret at all costs in this film based on a true story from the ‘90s. Tuesday, Oct. 16, at 7 p.m. Lab Theatre I, Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets are $14 to $20, including a pre-show meet-and-greet and a post-show panel discussion with the film’s director, Tamlin Hall. Call 202-3997993 or visit atlasarts.org.

SILENCE OF THE LAMBS

Josh Vogelsong, as his alter ego Donna Slash, presents a weekly film series at the cozy, 35-seat Suns Cinema in Mount Pleasant. This week’s film is Silence of the Lambs, the chilling Jonathan Demme Oscar-winner that gave the world the iconic catchphrase, “I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.” Patrons can enjoy drinks and snacks — hopefully not of the cannibalistic kind and are encouraged to stick around and

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discuss the movie afterwards over more drinks from the full-service bar. Special performance by Kunj.

Monday, Oct. 15, at 8 p.m. 3107 Mount Pleasant St. NW. Tickets are $15. Visit sunscinema.com.

THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW

Every October, Landmark’s E Street Cinema presents not just one but two weekends with screenings of Richard O’Brien’s camp classic, billed as the longest-running midnight movie in history. Landmark’s showings come with a live shadow cast from the Sonic Transducers, meaning it’s as interactive as can be — particularly the last weekend of the month and a special spooky Halloween run. But you can get your next weekend with E Street’s traditional second-weekend run. Friday, Oct. 12, and Saturday, Oct. 13, at midnight. Landmark’s E Street Cinema, 555 11th St. NW. Call 202-452-7672 or visit landmarktheatres.com.

SNEAKERS

Robert Redford stars as a security expert tasked by the NSA to retrieve an item vital to world security in this lighthearted caper comedy. With River Phoenix, David Strathhairn, Ben Kingsley, Sidney Poitier, and Mary McDonnell. Part of the Capital Classics series at Landmark’s West End Cinema. Wednesday, Oct. 17, at 1:30, 4:30, and 7:30 p.m., 2301 M St. NW. Happy hour from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 to $12.50. Call 202-534-1907 or visit landmarktheatres.com.

THE WIZARD OF OZ

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History screens Victor Fleming’s timeless 1939 adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s children’s novel. The film is reportedly the most-watched motion picture in history. With Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr, and Margaret Hamilton. Featuring a world-class score by Harold Arlen and E.Y. “Yip” Harburg. Showings

are Friday, Oct. 19, through Sunday, Oct. 21, at 1:50 and 4:10 p.m.

The Warner Bros. Theater, 1300 Constitution Ave. NW. Tickets are $15. Call 202-633-1000 or visit si.edu/imax.

STAGE BETWEEN EARTH AND SKY

PLEDGING ALLEGIANCE

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Politics and mayhem make strange but hilarious bedfellows in Ike Barinholtz’s dark comedy The Oath.

KE BARINHOLTZ IS STRIKINGLY WELL-VERSED IN AN ARRAY OF HOT TOPICS, exhibiting just as much enthusiasm discussing Rupaul’s Drag Race as he does politics, or talking about the classic films that inspired him as a first-time feature director. “There’s this great old movie called Mrs. Miniver, really old,” says the actor. “I always loved that movie because it tricks you, where the first half [depicts] life in this pastoral English village [as] lovely, despite the war. And then it turns into the Nazis in the house.”

Barinholtz is in the nation’s capital to discuss The Oath, the pitch-black comic thriller he wrote, directed, and stars in opposite Tiffany Haddish. Set over a punishing Thanksgiving weekend when every American citizen is expected to sign an oath of loyalty to the president or face the consequences, The Oath, like Mrs. Miniver, takes a hard turn towards the intense.

Inside the home of happily married couple Chris and Kai (Barinholtz and Haddish), all hell breaks loose when every member of their extended family can’t agree to disagree about signing the controversial oath.

The gloves come off, the fight gets ugly, and the violence threatens to go too far — though Barinholtz instinctively sensed how far to take things.

“We knew we were gonna have these really dark elements and violence and blood,” he says. “‘People should probably die,’ is what I was told...I resisted that urge because I wanted the movie — despite everything the people in the movie had been through and despite everything we’re going through now — to end optimistically. I am still optimistic about the country.”

In the film, that optimism runs along a knife’s edge juxtaposed against wild paranoia, and everyone on every side feels the pain. The situation, though played for both laughs and scares, is grounded enough in reality that The Oath doesn’t seem like a paranoid fantasy, but like a real possibility in this cultural moment. “I think the word I would use to describe our current political ecosystem is absurd,” says Barinholtz. “We have an absurd president, you know what I mean? We have absurd leaders. People handle and process these things in an absurd manner.”

That absurdity led to an obvious comparison: “I wanted people to feel like when they’re watching the movie, [it’s] like they’re going through a Twitter feed. You go to your Twitter feed and you’re like, ‘Oh, that’s a nice video. That’s funny, that dog is hilarious. Oh my God, they’re separating parents and their children at the border. Holy shit.’ I really wanted to make it reflective of that, and just take people on that journey.” —André Hereford The Oath is rated R, and opens in theaters everywhere October 12. Visit fandango.com.

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OCTOBER 11, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

GALA Theatre’s GALita Young Audiences series presents the world premiere of a bilingual play for children based on the life of MexicanAmerican botanist Ynés Mexia.

Written by Cecilia Cackley and directed by Elena Velasco, Entre la tierra y el cielo follows a curious girl as she explores the magical world of plants and stars, and breaks with family and societal expectations.

Opens Saturday, Oct. 13. To Oct. 27. GALA Theatre at Tivoli Square, 3333 14th St. NW. Tickets are $10 to $12. Call 202-234-7174 or visit galatheatre.org.

BORN YESTERDAY

Garson Kanin’s sharp-edged screwball comedy may be 70 years old, but it resonates all too well with the Washington of today. The story focuses on an opportunistic tycoon seeking to game the Washington system — but the plans are sabotaged by his girlfriend and her alliance with an idealistic reporter pushing back to end corruption.

Aaron Posner directs Edward Gero and Kimberly Gilbert in a lavish production bolstered by Daniel Lee Conway’s set, a glamorous two-level hotel suite with striking architectural details. To Oct. 21. Ford’s, 511 10th St. NW. Tickets are $17 to $64.

Call 800-982-2787 or visit fords.org.

BRYONN BAIN: LYRICS FROM LOCKDOWN

Bain’s one-man show concerns his experiences with racial profiling and wrongful incarceration at the hands of New York City police, and how his experience led to a transformative friendship with a death row inmate. A live band accompanies Bain as he weaves his acclaimed tale with more than 40 characters in a production presented by Harry Belafonte — through his Sankofa Justice and Equity Project — and directed by his daughter Gina Belafonte. Each performance will be followed by a town hall style dialogue at the Kennedy Center. Thursday, Oct. 18, and Friday, Oct. 19, at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, Oct. 20, at 2 and 7:30 p.m.

Terrace Theater. Tickets are $35 to $55. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

CORALINE

Focused on a young heroine who unlocks a door in her new house and reveals an alternate world with a dangerous secret, Neil Gaiman’s 2002 children’s book has inspired adaptations across a range of media,

THE FALL

MAE BY RAH WALTERS, CLANTON BY JEREMY RYAN

Studio Theatre presents seven student activists from the Baxter Theatre Centre at the University of Cape Town in a devised work that grapples with the legacies of race, class, gender, history, and power still standing 24 years after the official end of Apartheid. Written as the statue of imperialist Cecil Rhodes was dismantled on campus. Opens Sunday, Oct. 14. To Nov. 18. The Mead Theatre, 14th & P Streets NW. Tickets are $20 to $45. Call 202-3323300 or visit studiotheatre.org.

THE LARAMIE PROJECT

Mae and Clanton

HEATHER MAE & SARAH CLANTON

Dubbed “the queer Adele” by L-Mag, D.C.’s power-piped singer-songwriter Mae writes and performs earnest and affirming folk/pop music, captured on five-song EP I Am Enough. Mae performs with Nashville-based singer-songwriter and cellist Sarah Clanton.

The pair will performing their own individual songs as well as duets like “One Step Closer,” a smoldering, haunting punky quiet-storm kiss-off. Seattle-based singer-songwriter Katie Kuffel opens the show, presented in the intimate space above the H Street location of Dangerously Delicious Pies. Tuesday, Oct. 16, at 7 p.m. Pie Shop Bar & Patio, 1339 H St. NE. Tickets are $12. Call 202-398-7437 or visit dangerouspiesdc.com.

from a stop-motion animated feature to an opera. A decade ago, David Greenspan adapted the fantasy horror for the stage in collaboration with Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields. And that is the version the quirky and adventurous Landless Theatre is producing.

Melissa Baughman directs. To Oct. 28. Best Medicine Rep Theatre, Second Floor, Lakeforest Mall, 701 Russell Ave., in Gaithersburg, Md. Tickets are $10 to $20. Visit landlesstheatre.com.

HOW TO WIN A RACE WAR

A parody of white supremacist “race war” fiction, Ian Allen’s play spans more than three centuries of civilization for an epic journey that is part-satire, part-exposé, and part horror show — depicting slave rebellions, skinheads, and a liberal dystopian future, and even featuring song-and-dance numbers.

Presented by the D.C. theater collective The Klunch, the world-premiere production has a large 12-person cast including Kevin Boudreau, Kim Curtis, Tony Greenberg, Connor Padilla, and Ned Read, with voice work by Christopher Henley and B. Stanley. Weekends to Oct. 20. District of Columbia Arts Center

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(DCAC), 2438 18th St. NW. Tickets are $25 to $40. Call 866-811-4111 or visit theklunch.com.

LABOUR OF LOVE

A clever mashup of the political gamesmanship of The West Wing with a war-of-the-sexes saga akin to Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, James Graham’s Olivier Award-winning comedy is set in a member of Parliament’s district office and pokes witty fun at the ups and downs of left-wing British politics. Leora Morris directs Olney’s production, which features M. Scott McLean and Julia Coffey. To Oct. 28. Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney, Md. Call 301-924-3400 or visit olneytheatre.org.

MEASURE FOR MEASURE

Shakespeare’s classic becomes a mirror of modern society in a dexterously crafted adaptation by U.K. theater company Cheek By Jowl and the Pushkin Theatre Moscow.

The production offers a fresh take on Shakespeare’s dissection of the nature of justice, mercy, and virtue. Director Declan Donnellan and designer Nick Ormerod originally developed the work for the

OCTOBER 11, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

Moscow stage. Part of the Kennedy Center’s World Stages series. In Russian with projected English titles. Remaining performances are Thursday, Oct. 11, and Friday, Oct. 12, at 8 p.m., and Saturday, Oct. 13, at 2 and 8 p.m. Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater. Tickets are $19 to $75. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

SUMMERLAND

The Washington Stage Guild presents Arlitia Jones’ drama relaying the mysterious but true tale of William H. Mumler, a spirit photographer with a talent for capturing haunting images from the world beyond the veil. Set in the years after the Civil War, Summerland focuses on Mumler’s booming business of contacting the dead for mourners, and the city marshal who wants to prove the photographer is a fraud.

Starring Yury Lomakin, Rachel Felstein, and Steven Carpenter.

Kasi Campbell directs. To Oct. 21. Undercroft Theatre of Mount Vernon United Methodist Church, 900 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Tickets are $30 to $60. Call 240-5820050 or visit stageguild.org.

The LGBTQ-focused Richmond Triangle Players marks the 20th anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s death with a production of Moisés Kaufman’s groundbreaking examination into the Wyoming murder and its aftermath. Lucian Restivo directs. To Oct. 19. The Robert B. Moss Theatre, 1300 Altamont Ave. Richmond.

Tickets are $10 to $35. Call 804-3468113 or visit rtriangle.org.

MUSIC BSO SUPERPOPS W/TONY DESARE: I LOVE A PIANO

The singing jazz pianist Tony DeSare has become known for putting his own jaunty spin on American Songbook standards. His appearance with Jack Everly and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra will salute pop’s greatest pianists, ranging from George Gershwin and Ray Charles to Billy Joel and Elton John. Thursday, Oct. 11, at 8 p.m. Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. Also Friday, Oct. 12, and Saturday, Oct. 13, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 14, at 3 p.m. Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral St., Baltimore. Tickets are $25 to $90. Call 410-783-8000 or visit bsomusic.org.

CAGE THE ELEPHANT, JUDAH & THE LION

Last weekend Mary J. Blige became the first entertainer to perform at D.C.’s newest multiplex — the same honor the Queen of HipHop was given back in 2011 when she officially opened the Fillmore Silver Spring. The Grand Opening event at the generically named Entertainment and Sports Arena is actually this weekend and features the punky pop/rock acts Cage The Elephant and Judah & The Lion.

Home to the Washington Mystics as well as an NBA G-League team, the 4,200-seat ESA was built on the site of the former St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in the Congress Heights neighborhood in Ward 8. Saturday, Oct. 13. Doors at 7 p.m. 1100 Oak Dr. SE. Tickets are $45 to $75. Visit esaontherise.com.

DJANGO DJANGO

This eclectic U.K.-based “psychedelic art pop quartet” merges surf rock

gram also includes Mendelssohn’s Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, “Pastoral.” Thursday, Oct. 11, at 7 p.m., and Friday, Oct. 12, and Saturday, Oct. 13, at 8 p.m. Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Tickets are $15 to $89. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

COURTESY OF FOLGER SHAKESPEARE LIBRARY

DANCE FURIA FLAMENCA DANCE COMPANY: CAFE FLAMENCO

FOLGER CONSORT: OKTOBERFEST

There won’t be beer steins at this twist on the German tradition. Instead, the Folger Library’s early music ensemble puts the focus on music from German-speaking lands in the centuries before the classical era of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. The Consort’s founding directors Robert Eisenstein and Christopher Kendall are joined by other string and wind instrumentalists, plus tenor Mark Bleeke, for a program that includes colorful songs by 14th-century Tyrolean knight and musician Oswald von Wolkenstein, quirky instrumental pieces from the 15th-century Glogauer Liederbuch, and opulent early 16th century music by Heinrich Isaac and Ludwig Senfi. Friday, Oct. 12, at 8 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 13, 4 and 8 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 14, at 2 and 5 p.m. Folger Theatre, 201 East Capitol St. SE. Tickets are $25 to $42. Call 202-544-7077 or visit folger.edu.

with synth-pop — something like a cross between the Beach Boys and LCD Soundsystem. Singer and guitarist Vincent Neff leads a group also featuring drummer/producer David Maclean, bassist Jimmy Dixon, and synth player Tommy Grace.

Monday, Oct. 15. Doors at 7 p.m. U Street Music Hall, 1115A U St. NW. Tickets are $30. Call 202-588-1880 or visit ustreetmusichall.com.

MAIMOUNA YOUSSEF

The Baltimore-born, D.C.-raised neo-soul singer-songwriter — whose style recalls Jill Scott, Floetry, even a little Lauryn Hill — returns for a one-night-only concert at the Kennedy Center.

Youssef is out supporting Vintage Babies, a 2017 release featuring collaborations with Common, Eddie Bryant, and several with DJ Dummy, including international hit “Shine Your Light.” The concert comes as part of “The Human Journey” multidisciplinary collaborative series of the Center with the National Geographic Society and the National Gallery of Art. Saturday, Oct. 13, at 7:30 p.m.

Terrace Theater. Tickets are $29 to $49. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

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MELODIME

The Northern Virginia-based band is gaining international notice not only for their pleasing, heartfelt country/rock blend of original music, but also for their efforts to go out of their way to make a difference in the world. Melodime donated 100 percent of proceeds from sales of the album Where The Sinners & The Saints Collide to Now I Play Along Too, a nonprofit foundation the group established that provides musical instruments and education for orphans, victims of disasters, and underprivileged kids locally and around the world. Comprised of lead vocalist and guitarist Brad Rhodes, bassist/pianist Sammy Duis, drummer Tyler Duis, and string player Jon Wiley, Melodime performs a hometown show to celebrate the release of new EP roll-1.

The Brevet opens. Saturday, Oct. 13.

Doors at 7 p.m. The State Theatre, 220 North Washington St., Falls Church. Tickets are $15 in advance, or $18 day-of show. Call 703-2370300 or visit thestatetheatre.com.

NATIONAL PHILHARMONIC: LENNY’S PLAYLIST

“An orchestral artist is a living being, and a musician incorporat-

OCTOBER 11, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

ing all the music that has preceded him, and all the music informing his daily life.” The quote from Leonard Bernstein informs this program, led by the Philharmonic’s music director Piotr Gajewski, and featuring works notable to Bernstein, including Mozart’s Overture to The Magic Flute, Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5, and Barber’s Violin Concerto featuring Bella Hristova. Saturday, Oct. 13, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 14, at 3 p.m. Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. Tickets are $34 to $84. Call 301-581-5100 or visit strathmore.org.

NSO: MENDELSSOHN’S VIOLIN CONCERTO

National Symphony Orchestra Conductor Laureate Christoph Eschenbach returns for a program featuring rising star violinist Ray Chen, whose talent, sense of humor, and savviness with both social media savvy and pop culture — with appearances on Amazon’s Mozart in the Jungle and a partnership with Giorgio Armani — are said to be “redefining what it means to be a classical musician.” In addition to one of the most treasured concertos in the repertoire, the pro-

Estela Velez de Paredez founded the Furia Flamenca Dance Company 15 years ago, with a focus on combining flamenco’s gypsy heritage with modern flamenco choreography to produce an elegant balance of motion and energy. Cafe Flamenco is an intimate evening of flamenco “tablao” style, with drinks and tapas served tableside during the performance by dancers from the company, a legacy resident entity with Joy of Motion Dance Center, and accompanied by guitarist Torcuato Zamora. Saturday, Oct. 13, at 8:30 p.m. Sprenger Theatre in Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets are $25 in advance, or $40 at the door. Call 202-399-7993 or visit atlasarts.org.

WORDS BEATS & LIFE: FOOTSTEPS IN THE DARK

Some of the best Muslim hip-hop dancers in the world perform as part of this original hip-hop production featuring choreography by American and international Muslim dancers and commissioned by Words Beats & Life. Co-directed

by Amirah Sackett and Simone Jacobsen as part of the hip-hop company’s multi-year initiative “From Sifrs to Ciphers: Hip-Hop is Muslim,” Footsteps in the Dark explores the intersections of hiphop and many Muslim communities where social taboo around dance is often rooted in patriarchy and misogyny. Saturday, Oct. 13, at 8 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 14, at 7 p.m. Dance Place, 3225 8th St. NE. Tickets are $25 in advance, or $30 at the door. Call 202-269-1600 or visit danceplace.org.

COMEDY KRISH MOHAN

A Native American comic, who hosts the weekly web show “Fork Full of Noodles” and the podcast “Taboo Table Talk,” Mohan explores “bubble culture” among Americans and the current divide in today’s political climate through storytelling, satire, and comedy. His hour of “socially conscious comedy” was the Audience Choice Award winner at the 2018 Pittsburgh Fringe Festival. Opening set by Franqi French. Friday, Oct. 12, at 7 p.m. Reliable Tavern, 3655 Georgia Ave. NW. Tickets are $5 online, or

$10 at the door. Call 202-800-0441 or visit reliable-tavern.com.

READINGS & LECTURES ARENA CIVIL DIALOGUES: WELLBEING IN A DIGITAL WORLD

PHOTO COURTESY OF DAX EXCLAMATION POINT

A series of discussions for the broader Washington community focusing on topics and questions in today’s headlines. This weekend’s dialogue examines our digital life and world, including ways to prevent cyberbullying and online hate speech, led by participants Ellen P. Goodman of the Rutgers Institute for Information Policy & Law, Neema Singh Guliani of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Washington Legislative Office, former Boston Globe columnist and author Maggie Jackson (Distracted: Reclaiming Our Focus in a World of Lost Attention), Marc Rotenberg of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, and Maurice Turner of the Center for Democracy & Technology. Moderated by GWU’s Amitai Etzioni. Sunday, Oct. 14, at 5:30 p.m. Molly Smith Study at Arena Stage, 1101 6th St. SW. Free.

Call 202-488-3300 or visit arenastage.org.

CAPES AND COWLS

MARIE WATT: COMPANION SPECIES LECTURE

An active member of the Seneca Nation of Indians, the artist — who works primarily in the medium of blankets — will discuss her work and influences, with a particular focus on the piece Companion Species, as part of the Clarice Smith Distinguished Lecture Series at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Watt’s work and community collaborations create a framework for understanding our relatedness to place, one another, and the universe in its ancient and modern conditions. Wednesday, Oct. 17, at 6:30 p.m. McEvoy Auditorium, Lower Level, 8th and F Streets NW. Free, and available in the Kogod Courtyard beginning at 6 p.m. Call 202-633-1000 or visit americanart. si.edu.

SMUT SLAM DC: ON THE EDGE

Smut Slam is a storytelling event where audience members sign up to tell their most entertaining reallife, first-person, consensual sex stories in under five minutes. Every event is queer-friendly, as well as king, sex, and body-positive. The Halloween-themed October edition focuses on heart-pounding, consensual encounters driven by the erotic thrill in a little danger and explorations into the farthest reaches of our fantasies — from almost-caught public displays to edging encounters with suspended orgasms. The evening’s “femmecees” are the event’s co-producers

C

Drag queen Dax ExclamationPoint will emcee GMCW’s annual costume-themed fundraiser Ropeburn.

OSPLAY AND DRAG ARE EQUAL IN THAT THEY’RE MORE LIKE ADDICTIONS, rather than hobbies,” says Dax ExclamationPoint. “As soon as you finish one costume, you’re thinking about the next costume, and the next one.” Widely known for being on the eighth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Dax is relatively unique because her drag consists entirely of cosplay — dressing up as a character from a book, comic, movie, TV series, or video game. Over the years, she has portrayed a wide variety of characters, including X-Men’s Storm, Rogue and Scarlet Witch, Batman’s Poison Ivy and Catwoman, The Amazing SpiderMan’s Black Cat, Chun-Li from Street Fighter, and even Sailor Mars from the Sailor Moon anime series.

“The appeal of cosplay is being able to express and embrace the fandom that you love, whether it’s paying homage to a character or franchise or storyline,” she says. “When I put a costume together, it’s because it’s a character I relate to, or want to celebrate, or who inspired me at any time from when I was young up until now.”

Next Thursday, Dax will host Ropeburn, an annual event to raise money for the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington. This year’s theme is centered entirely around cosplay, with a panel discussion introducing the concept prior to the on-stage performances. Because last year’s Ropeburn was a fetish, leather, and kink-themed event, Dax warns there may be some overlap in terms of the costumes on display.

“With queer nightlife, there’s always going to be an underlying hint of kink or fetishism. I can definitely guarantee there’s going to be three guys in a pair of Batman underwear, a cape, and not much else.”

Dax says those unfamiliar with cosplay shouldn’t shy away from attending. “It’s a party with a cause,” she says. “Ticket sales are going to support something that’s creative and unique to the D.C. area: the Gay Men’s Chorus. Plus, it’s Halloween season, it’s a reason to dress up, it’s a reason to go out and socialize.” —John Riley Ropeburn 2: Guardians of Equality is Thursday, Oct. 18, at SAX Restaurant and Lounge, 734 11th St. NW. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $80.

Costumes are optional but highly encouraged. Visit gmcw.org.

OCTOBER 11, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

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FABERGE REDISCOVERED

The late heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post has a renowned collection of pieces from the firm of Carl Fabergé, the legendary jeweler to the last court of Russia. A special exhibition at Post’s Hillwood Estate, nestled in a leafy section of Upper Northwest a few blocks from Van Ness, unveils new discoveries relating to the collection of about 90 Fabergé works, including two imperial Easter eggs. To Jan. 13.

4155 Linnean Ave. NW. Suggested donation is $18. Call 202-686-5807 or visit HillwoodMuseum.org.

PHOTO-NIC.CO.UK NIC / UNSPLASH

QUEER(ING) PLEASURE

VIRGINIA WINE FESTIVAL

Alternately billed as “Virginia’s Oldest Wine Festival” and “the East Coast’s Longest-Running Wine Festival,” this 43rd annual event organized by TasteUSA and presented by the Atlantic Seaboard Wine Association features more than 200 wines from many of the commonwealth’s most revered wineries. The festival also features Virginia craft beers poured in the Virginia Oyster Pavilion, with bivalves served on the half shell, grilled, or baked in special dishes. It will all be complemented by live entertainment, craft vendors, and of course food trucks and vendors — including Brick n’ Fire Pizza, Columbia Station, DC Slices, Danibelle’s Lebanese, Kovi Asian Kitchen, Jimmy’s Famous Seafood, Maggiano’s, Red Dog BBQ, Qui Qui Catering, and Smoke in the City. Saturday, Oct. 13, and Sunday, Oct. 14, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Gateway Park Rosslyn, 1300 Lee Highway, Arlington. Tickets, including tasting glass, unlimited wine (and cider) tastings, and access to the Oyster Pavilion, are $40 in advance, or $55 at the door; a VIP pass also grants one-hour early admission, plus access to a private tent and bathrooms with additional reserve wine tastings and costs $65 in advance or $95 at the door. Visit virginiawinefest.com.

Mindi Mimosa and Diva Darling, joined by a panel of local celebrity judges, who will help determine which storytellers get prize packs full of condoms, lube and sex toys.

There’ll also be a Fuckbucket, for anonymous confessions and questions to share with the crowd.

Wednesday, Oct. 17, at 7 p.m. Ten Tigers Parlour, 3813 Georgia Ave. NW. Tickets are $10 by preorder, or $15 at the door. Call 202-506-2080 or visit tentigersdc.com.

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ART & EXHIBITS ATHENAEUM INVITATIONAL: THE CABINET OF CURIOSITIES

Artists, both those specially invited and others who answered a call for submissions, created themed-based works in this fourth annual exhibition presented by Alexandria’s historic museum. The exhibition brings a modern context to the idea of a curiosity collection enveloped in a gallery-sized cabinet. On display to Nov. 11. The Athenaeum, 201 Prince St., Alexandria. Call 703548-0035 or visit nvfaa.org.

OCTOBER 11, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

Inspired by Audre Lorde, this exhibit of works in various media is focused on illustrating “the radical queer potential of pleasure” and the ways in which pleasure is an “unexpressed and unrecognized” feeling.

Curated by Andy Johnson, per the District of Columbia Arts Center’s Curatorial Initiative, Queer(ing) Pleasure goes beyond the standard “limited, white, hetero-centric logic of the erotic” with works of performance, photography, embroidery, video, and sculpture by artists including Antonius Bui, Monique Muse Dodd, Tsedaye Makonnen, John Paradiso, and Jade Yumang.

To Oct. 14. DCAC, 2438 18th St. NW. Call 202-462-7833 or visit dcartscenter.org.

WINE & DINE SNALLYGASTER DC: BEASTLY BEER JAMBOREE

Named after the mythical beast said to have once terrorized the area, this craft beer festival and fundraiser features more than 120 of the world’s finest breweries pouring more than 350 small-batch brews. The lineup is a who’s who of popular and revered breweries from around the region and the country, including Maryland (Charm City Meadworks), Virginia (Red Dragon Brewery), Vermont (Hill Farmstead), Michigan (Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales), California (Ballast Point), Texas (Jester King), Louisiana (Great Raft), and Florida (Funky Buddha), and Canada (Bellwoods). There will be food trucks and vendors, live music and DJs, and other festive fare. Saturday, October 13, from 1:30 to 7 p.m.

Pennsylvania Avenue between 3rd and 6th Streets NW. Tickets are $15, or $40 to $65 for passes also offering 30 food and drink tickets and early access. Visit snallygasterdc.com.

ABOVE & BEYOND DEATH BECOMES US P.U.B.

Two of the three small connected spaces in the Drink Company’s Shaw pop-up bar, or PUB, finally reopen after Warner Bros. threatened to sue if they opened as an immersive tribute to the animated TV series Rick and Morty. (The third space

continues as a tribute to Richmond’s heavy metal band GWAR.) Brightest Young Things has partnered for a month-long spooky crime-themed pop-up that doubles as a preview of BYT’s True Crime Festival the first weekend of November. Specifically, decor and cocktails will draw inspiration from three of the most infamous flashpoints featuring women from the past: the Black Dahlia, the brutal — and still unsolved — murder of Elizabeth Short in 1947; the Salem Witch Trials of the 1690s; and 16th-century female serial killer Elizabeth Bathory, a Hungarian noblewoman who allegedly bathed in the blood of virgins to retain her youth. Launches Thursday, Oct. 11.

Daily from 5 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. (until 1:30 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays).

Runs to Nov. 4. Drink Company, 1839 7th St. NW. Call 202-316-9396 or visit popupbardc.com.

GET A CLUE: A MURDER MYSTERY EVENING

A live action game of Clue is the draw for this one-night-only event at the DAR Museum, which tells the story of American home life from the 18th through the early 20th century.

The game will be played out in the two galleries and 31 period rooms of the museum, which was founded in 1890 along with the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Who committed a murder at the museum? And where? And with what weapon? Thursday, Oct. 18, at 6 p.m. 1776 D St. NW. Tickets are $35 and include two drink tickets, a detective packet, and special access to collection objects. Call 202879-3241 or visit dar.org/museum.

OPUS MERRIWEATHER

Columbia’s recently renovated Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods gets transformed once again as the second in a three-year project celebrating technology and art. Presented by the Howard Hughes Corporation, the developers of downtown Columbia, this free, multi-sensory festival features immersive art installations, mesmerizing music performances and projection mapping, as well as artisanal culinary offerings all intended to offer a surreal sensory journey. Among the highlights of the second year, with the theme “Enter The Kaleidoscope,” are a multi-layered performance of MYRIAD by Oneohtrix Point Never, photographer Marilyn Minter’s film Green Pink Caviar, conceptual art by German “sonic house” artist Pantha du Prince, and the Mexican-born multimedia artist Alejandro Almanza’s kinetic installation “Ahead and beyond of everyone’s time, space and rhythm,” which suggests a rupture in spacetime between two divergent events, namely a fancy dinner and a dance party. Saturday, Oct. 13, from 4:30 to 11 p.m. 10475 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia, Md. Free. Visit opusmerriweather.com. l

WARD MORRISON / FILE PHOTO

theFeed

Warming up for 2016’s Walk to End HIV

WALK ON

D

Camaraderie, respect for those who have passed, and hope for the future are trademarks of Whitman-Walker’s Walk to End HIV. By John Riley

WAYNE LAWSON-BROWN WAS FIRST INTROduced to AIDS Walk Washington as a child, when he and his Boy Scout troop participated. “In the late ’80s and early ’90s, there was a lot of talk around HIV and transmission,” says the Washington, D.C. native. “And the images you saw were of people dying. So my troop and our Scoutmaster saw the need, and said, ‘We’re not doctors.

We’re not going to be able to do anything medical, but a way we can help is by raising some money and walking.’

“I remember first thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, we’ve got to walk for how long? Why? It’s not going to be fun,’” he recalls.

“And getting there and realizing, ‘Wait, this is for a good cause.’”

Ever since that first AIDS Walk, the event has been a fixture in Lawson-Brown’s life. He joined in several walks as a teen, and later, after becoming a youth health educator for Metro Teen AIDS, arranged for a group of kids in the program to walk with him, carrying on the tradition first begun by his forward-thinking Scoutmaster.

“As far as my story goes, it’s always been connected to serving young people as they navigate this fight against HIV,” says Lawson-Brown, now health educator for social mobilization at Whitman-Walker Health. “I think it’s time for us, as people in their 30s and late 20s, to continue to cultivate young activists who are ready to take up the mantle, to be a leader, to get others in their social groups to walk.”

Started in 1987 as “The Next Step,” the walk began out of a sense of desperation. At the time, HIV/AIDS service organizations were coping with a mounting death toll and

very little federal support, relying chiefly on the generosity of individual donors. As time has gone on and the disease has become more of a chronic, manageable condition, not only has the name changed — it’s now known as the Walk to End HIV — but so, too, has the walk’s purpose. It has morphed from a fundraiser seeking to scrape together money for palliative and end-of-life care for people living with AIDS, to an event focused on providing quality healthcare to HIV-positive individuals and funding efforts to find a cure for HIV. Hannah Byrne, the organizational archives assistant at Whitman-Walker and one of the chief forces behind the community health center’s “40 Stories” Project, has spent the past year collecting oral histories from different figures whose lives form the larger story of Whitman-Walker’s evolution. Working in collaboration with American University’s Humanities Truck, an educational project that collects and displays historical artifacts inside of a converted delivery truck, Byrne has curated a mobile exhibit on the history of the Walk to End HIV. The exhibit will be on display at this year’s walk.

Byrne marvels at the tenacity of those who launched the first AIDS Walk in 1987, calling it an “incredible feat” to bring people together to raise money for a disease that was little understood and shrouded in stigma.

“It’s incredible to think of the collective courage it took, in 1987, to come together and say, ‘Here we are. Here’s what we’re fighting for. These are the people we’re fighting for.

Forget all of the stigma. We just need to raise money to help

OCTOBER 11, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

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theFeed save people’s lives,’” she says. “I’ve read an article featuring [former Whitman-Walker Clinic director] Jim Graham, where he said they raised like $240,000 at that first walk.

I think that’s an incredible show of a community coming together publicly, dedicated to fighting for their community, fighting for their lives, and the respect of the larger community.”

Dave Mallory, director of annual giving at WhitmanWalker, says the earlier walks were as much a protest of government inaction on HIV/AIDS as they were fundraisers.

“In the earlier days, the crowds were there to protest, to raise visibility, to demand treatments and education,” he says. “There’s always been a sense of community around the Walk to End HIV, and that’s very much still there. It’s great to see the diversity of communities that come together for the walk, whether it’s the faith community, the LGBTQ community, or the law firms,” he says, referring to a number of local businesses that sponsor employees who take part in the walk.

Michael Kharfen, senior deputy director for the D.C. Department of Health’s HIV/ AIDS, Hepatitis, STD and TB Administration, which partners with Whitman-Walker for the Walk to End HIV, says the evolution highlights the progress that’s been made in combating HIV. “I started working on HIV in 1985 in New York City, and we didn’t have the public health, or the kind of governmental national leadership to respond to the epidemic taking people’s lives,” he says. “Heck, the President of the United States didn’t even say the word ‘AIDS’ until his last year in office.”

But Kharfen also notes that despite medical breakthroughs like antiretrovirals that have prolonged the lives of HIV-positive individuals, or the advent of PrEP to combat transmission of the virus, there is still no cure or vaccine, meaning those who are committed to fighting the disease cannot be lulled into a false sense of security.

“We have to keep walking, we have to keep talking, we have to keep being visible,” he says. “To me that’s an important part about what The Walk to End HIV is about, that we are visible right there in the center of the city. When you see every kind of person participating in The Walk to End HIV, people from every walk of life, quite frankly, it...gives you hope, as well as motivation, that we can see an end to HIV.” For the second year in a row, Whitman-Walker will sponsor a companion event, the Brunch to End HIV, where

those who are unable to participate physically in the walk or the 5K can contribute financially by dining at participating restaurants from Oct. 27-28. Under the arrangement, restaurants will donate a portion of their proceeds to benefit Whitman-Walker Health’s HIV/AIDS services.

For Naseema Shafi, the deputy executive director of Whitman-Walker Health, the Walk to End HIV and its affiliated events are a central part of the community health center’s identity.

“I’ve seen a different level of engagement from the community in terms of the people who actually show up that day,” she says, noting that the event’s timing in October can often conflict with walks or races aimed at raising money for other causes. “It gives us an opportunity to be at a large gathering that reinvigorates us about why we exist and how much we are integrated with, and rely on, the community.”

Shafi’s most vivid memory of a walk was in 2016, when many members of the Whitman-Walker family, and, indeed, many residents of the liberal-leaning District, were still smarting from the surprise election of President Trump.

“I remember the Gay Men’s Chorus sang,” she says. “There was an energy that hung in the air, this sense of dread, but it sort of reflected the need for us to stick together. It was very powerful.”

Shafi says the walk also serves as a poignant reminder that more needs to be done on a variety of fronts to combat HIV, and the essential role that Whitman-Walker plays in achieving those goals.

“Our job at WhitmanWalker and as members of the HIV community is to help continue to educate folks on where we need help and which parts of the community aren’t accessing care,” she says. “We have to think about how we get more young people engaged in their health care earlier, how do we get young people, especially young men and women of color, on PrEP, how do we get more trans folks engaged in their health care.

“And so, we have to think about the ways we can communicate how important we still are, and how, without the help of the community, we would really struggle to provide those services.” l

“When you see every kind of person participating in The Walk to End HIV, people from every walk of life, quite frankly, it...gives you hope, as well as motivation, that we can see an end to HIV.” — Michael Karfen

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OCTOBER 11, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

The Walk & 5K to End HIV is Saturday, Oct. 27, at Freedom Plaza, at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 13th Street NW. Check-in begins at 7:30 a.m., with the 5K kicking off at 9:15 a.m. and the walk at 9:20 a.m. To sign up or donate, visit walktoendhiv.org.

Community THURSDAY, October 11

411, Takoma Park, Md. To set up an appointment or for more information, call Gaithersburg, 301-300-9978, or Takoma Park, 301-422-2398.

Weekly Events ANDROMEDA TRANSCULTURAL HEALTH

DC AQUATICS CLUB practice

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

DC FRONT RUNNERS run-

ning/walking/social club welcomes runners of all ability levels for exercise in a fun and supportive environment, with socializing afterward. Route distance is 3-6 miles. Meet at 7 p.m. at 23rd & P Streets NW. For more information, visit dcfrontrunners.org.

DC LAMBDA SQUARES, D.C.’s gay and lesbian square-dancing group, features mainstream through advanced square dancing at the National City Christian Church. Please dress casually. 7-9:30 p.m. 5 Thomas Circle NW. 202-930-1058, dclambdasquares.org.

DC SCANDALS RUGBY holds

practice. The team is always looking for new members.

All welcome. 7-9 p.m. Harry Thomas Recreation Center, 1743 Lincoln Rd. NE. For more information, visit scandalsrfc. org or dcscandals@gmail.com.

THE DULLES TRIANGLES

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

For more information, visit dullestriangles.com.

HIV TESTING at Whitman-

Walker Health. 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and from 2-5 p.m. at 1525 14th St. NW, and 9 a.m-12 p.m. and 2-5 p.m. at the Max Robinson Center, 2301 MLK Jr. Ave. SE. For an appointment call 202-745-7000 or visit whitman-walker.org.

IDENTITY offers free and

confidential HIV testing at two separate locations. Walkins accepted from 2-6 p.m., by appointment for all other hours. 414 East Diamond Ave., Gaithersburg, Md. or 7676 New Hampshire Ave., Suite

METROHEALTH CENTER

offers free, rapid HIV testing.

Appointment needed. 1012 14th St. NW, Suite 700. To arrange an appointment, call 202-6380750.

PHOTO COURTESY OF FOOD & FRIENDS

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

SMYAL offers free HIV Testing, 3-5 p.m., by appointment and walk-in, for youth 21 and younger. Youth Center, 410 7th St. SE. 202-567-3155 or testing@smyal.org.

STI TESTING at WhitmanStoltzfus

TAKING THE HELM

A dedication to community service motivates Carrie Stoltzfus in her work for Food & Friends.

E

VER SINCE I’VE WORKED FOR FOOD & FRIENDS, starting as the delivery volunteer coordinator, I’ve gotten to meet all of these people who care about their community, and want to help take care of other people they haven’t met and don’t know,” says Carrie Stoltzfus, director of program services for Food & Friends. “It’s what’s kept me here for so long.”

Stoltzfus, who has been with the organization for 15 years, was recently named the successor to longtime executive director Craig Shniderman, who is leaving his position at the end of December after 24 years. For Stoltzfus, Food & Friends’ mission of providing prepared meals and nutrition counseling to those suffering from debilitating or life-threatening illnesses remains close to her heart.

“We meet people at a time where they’re vulnerable,” she says. “We love to see people get better and transition off Food & Friends, but we also want to be there for people for whom that’s not their story or their path.

“It can be really hard, but there’s also a lot of joy in this work, and that’s what gets you through it,” she continues. “It’s an honor to be there for someone at a difficult time in their life.

And the feedback that we hear from people who receive these meals, or will write or call after their loved one has passed away and talk about how we helped the family, that’s the energizing factor that gets you through the sad times.”

For Shniderman, leaving is bittersweet, but he has the utmost confidence in Stoltzfus taking the helm.

“Food & Friends has been such an instrumental part of my life for 24 years that it’s hard to separate who I am from it,” he says. “[But] I’m thrilled that Carrie is going to be the next director. She is an extraordinary person and an extraordinary professional, and is really in deep with the mission of Food & Friends. I know that the future of the organization is in really good hands with her.” —John Riley Food & Friends is located at 219 Riggs Rd. NE in Washington, D.C. For more information, call 202-269-2277 or visit foodandfriends.org.

Walker Health. 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 2-3 p.m. at both 1525 14th St. NW and the Max Robinson Center, 2301 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave. SE. Testing is intended for those without symptoms. For an appointment call 202-745-7000 or visit whitman-walker.org.

US HELPING US hosts a

Narcotics Anonymous Meeting.

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

WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE for young LBTQ

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

FRIDAY, October 12 GAMMA is a confidential, vol-

untary, peer-support group for men who are gay, bisexual, questioning and who are now or who have been in a relationship with a woman. 7:30-9:30 p.m. Luther Place Memorial Church, 1226 Vermont Ave NW. GAMMA meetings are also held in Vienna, Va., and in Frederick, Md. For more information, visit gammaindc.org.

Join LGBTQ people from all over the D.C. area for a HAPPY HOUR SOCIAL at The Embassy Row Hotel’s Station Kitchen & Cocktails Lounge.

Everyone welcome. No Cover.

6-9 p.m. Dupont Circle Metro is two blocks away. 2015 Massachusetts Ave. NW. For more information, visit meetup. com/GoGayDC.

WOMEN IN THEIR TWENTIES (AND THIRTIES), a social discussion and activity group

OCTOBER 11, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

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for queer women, meets at The DC Center on the second and fourth Friday of each month. Group social activity to follow the meeting.

8-9:30 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

in a fun and supportive environment, with socializing afterward.

Route distance will be 3-6 miles.

Walker meet at 9:30 a.m. and runners at 10 a.m. at 23rd & P Streets NW. For more information, visit dcfrontrunners.org.

Weekly Events

DIGNITYUSA sponsors Mass for

BET MISHPACHAH, founded by

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

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

DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a prac-

tice session at Howard University.

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

PROJECT STRIPES hosts LGBT-

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

SMYAL’S REC NIGHT provides a social atmosphere for LGBT and questioning youth, featuring dance parties, vogue nights, movies and games. For more info, email catherine.chu@smyal.org.

SATURDAY, October 13 AGLA, the alliance for LGBTQ Arlington and Alexandria residents, holds an AFTERNOON COFFEE JOLT for its members and allies at Republik Coffee Bar of Ballston.

2:30-3:30 p.m. 4401 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, Va. For more information, visit agla.org or facebook. com/OUTinNoVA.

KHUSH DC, a support group

for LGBTQ South Asians, hosts a monthly meeting at The DC Center. 1:30-3:30 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit facebook.com/khushdc.

The DC Center hosts a monthly meeting of UNIVERSAL PRIDE, a group to support and empower LGBTQIA people with disabilities, offer perspectives on dating and relationships, and create greater access in public spaces for LGBTQIA PWDs. 1-2:30 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, contact Andy Arias, andyarias09@gmail.com.

Weekly Events DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a prac-

tice session at Montgomery College Aquatics Club. 8:30-10 a.m. 7600 Takoma Ave., Takoma, Md. For more information, visit swimdcac.org.

DC FRONT RUNNERS running/

walking/social club welcomes runners of all ability levels for exercise

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OCTOBER 11, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

LGBT community, family and friends. 6:30 p.m., Immanuel Church-on-the-Hill, 3606 Seminary Road, Alexandria. All welcome. For more info, visit dignitynova.org.

SUNDAY, October 14 Weekly Events LGBT-inclusive ALL SOULS

MEMORIAL EPISCOPAL CHURCH

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

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

DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a

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

DC FRONT RUNNERS running/

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

Route will be a distance run of 8, 10 or 12 miles. Meet at 9 a.m. at 23rd & P Streets NW. For more information, visit dcfrontrunners.org.

DIGNITYUSA offers Roman

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

FAIRLINGTON UNITED METHODIST CHURCH is an open, inclusive church. All welcome, including the LGBTQ community. Member of the Reconciling Ministries Network. Services at 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. 3900 King Street, Alexandria, Va. 703-6718557. For more info, visit fairlingtonumc.org.

FIRST CONGREGATIONAL UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

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

FRIENDS MEETING OF WASHINGTON meets for worship,

10:30 a.m., 2111 Florida Ave. NW, Quaker House Living Room (next to Meeting House on Decatur Place), 2nd floor. Special welcome

to lesbians and gays. Handicapped accessible from Phelps Place gate.

Hearing assistance. quakersdc.org.

HOPE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST welcomes GLBT commu-

nity for worship. 10:30 a.m., 6130 Old Telegraph Road, Alexandria. hopeucc.org.

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

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

INSTITUTE FOR SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT, God-centered new

age church & learning center. Sunday Services and Workshops event. 5419 Sherier Place NW. isd-dc.org.

Join LINCOLN CONGREGATIONAL TEMPLE – UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST for

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

LUTHERAN CHURCH OF REFORMATION invites all to

Sunday worship at 8:30 or 11 a.m.

Childcare is available at both services. Welcoming LGBT people for 25 years. 212 East Capitol St. NE. reformationdc.org.

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

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

METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY CHURCH OF WASHINGTON, D.C.

services at 9 a.m. (ASL interpreted) and 11 a.m. Children’s Sunday School at 11 a.m. 474 Ridge St. NW. 202-638-7373, mccdc.com.

NATIONAL CITY CHRISTIAN CHURCH, inclusive church with

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

RIVERSIDE BAPTIST CHURCH,

a Christ-centered, interracial, welcoming-and-affirming church, offers service at 10 a.m. 680 I St. SW. 202-554-4330, riversidedc.org.

ST. STEPHEN AND THE INCARNATION, an “interra-

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

UNITARIAN CHURCH OF ARLINGTON, an LGBTQ welcom-

ing-and-affirming congregation, offers services at 10 a.m. Virginia Rainbow UU Ministry. 4444 Arlington Blvd. uucava.org.

UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH OF SILVER SPRING

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

UNIVERSALIST NATIONAL MEMORIAL CHURCH, a welcom-

ing and inclusive church. GLBT Interweave social/service group meets monthly. Services at 11 a.m., Romanesque sanctuary. 1810 16th St. NW. 202-387-3411, universalist.org.

MONDAY, October 15 The Metro D.C. chapter of PFLAG, a support group for parents, family members and allies of the LGBTQ community, holds its monthly meeting at The DC Center. 7-9 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

Weekly Events The DC Center hosts COFFEE

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

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

US HELPING US hosts a black gay

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

WASHINGTON WETSKINS WATER POLO TEAM practices 7-9

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

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

WHITMAN-WALKER HEALTH HIV/AIDS SUPPORT GROUP

for newly diagnosed individuals, meets 7 p.m. Registration required.

202-939-7671, hivsupport@whitman-walker.org.

TUESDAY, October 16 CENTER BI, a group of The DC Center, hosts a monthly roundtable discussion around issues of bisexuality. 7-8 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. Visit thedccenter.org.

THE HIV WORKING GROUP of

The DC Center hosts a “Packing Party,” where volunteers assemble safe-sex kits of condoms and lube.

7-9 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite

OCTOBER 11, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

25

105. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

Weekly Events DC AQUATICS CLUB practice

session at Takoma Aquatic Center.

7:30-9 p.m. 300 Van Buren St. NW. For more information, visit swimdcac.org.

DC FRONT RUNNERS running/

walking/social club welcomes runners of all ability levels for exercise in a fun and supportive environment, with socializing afterward. Route distance is 3-6 miles. Meet at 7 p.m. at Union Station. For more information, visit dcfrontrunners.org.

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

7-9 p.m. Harry Thomas Recreation Center, 1743 Lincoln Rd. NE. For more information, visit scandalsrfc. org or dcscandals@gmail.com.

THE GAY MEN’S HEALTH COLLABORATIVE offers free

HIV testing and STI screening and treatment every Tuesday.

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

OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS

holds an LGBT-focused meeting every Tuesday, 7 p.m. at St. George’s Episcopal Church, 915 Oakland Ave., Arlington, just steps from Virginia Square Metro. For more info. call Dick, 703-5211999. Handicapped accessible.

Newcomers welcome. liveandletliveoa@gmail.com.

Support group for LGBTQ youth ages 13-21 meets at SMYAL. 5-6:30 p.m. 410 7th St. SE. For more information, contact Cathy Chu, 202-567-3163, or catherine.chu@ smyal.org.

US HELPING US hosts a support

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

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

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

WEDNESDAY, October 17 BOOKMEN DC, an informal men’s gay literature group, meets at The DC Center to discuss John Ashbery’s 1975 poetry collection,

26

OCTOBER 11, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror. All welcome. 7:30 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. Visit bookmendc. blogspot.com.

The DC Center hosts a GET EMPOWERED! Self-Defense Workshop on how to defend yourself if you are verbally or physically harassed. Open to women, transgender, and gender-nonconforming people ages 16 and up. 6:30-8:30 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105.

To register, or for more information, visit defendyourself.org.

The TOM DAVOREN SOCIAL BRIDGE CLUB meets for Social Bridge at the Dignity Center, across from the Marine Barracks. No partner needed. 7:30 p.m. 721 8th St. SE. Call 301-345-1571 for more information.

Weekly Events AD LIB, a group for freestyle con-

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

DC AQUATICS CLUB (DCAC)

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

FREEDOM FROM SMOKING, a group for LGBT people looking to quit cigarettes and tobacco use, holds a weekly support meeting at The DC Center. 7-8 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

HISTORIC CHRIST CHURCH

offers Wednesday worship 7:15 a.m. and 12:05 p.m. All welcome. 118 N. Washington St., Alexandria. 703549-1450, historicchristchurch.org.

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

For more info, centercareers.org.

STI TESTING at Whitman-Walker

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

WASHINGTON WETSKINS WATER POLO TEAM practices 7-9

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

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

Scene

NOVA Pride at Bull Run Park - Saturday, September 29 - Photography by Ward Morrison See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene

OCTOBER 11, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

27

Scene

28

AGLA Ice Cream Social - Sunday, September 30 - Photography by Ward Morrison See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene

OCTOBER 11, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

Scene

Federico’s Grand Opening - Sunday, September 30 - Photography by Ward Morrison See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene

OCTOBER 11, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

29

Lily Life According to

Interview by Randy Shulman

The Award-winning actress on Grace and Frankie, the current state of society, and the two most important Janes in her life.

“My god, we’ve been talking for a long time!”

Indeed, a scheduled 30-minute interview with Lily Tomlin has somehow reached the 100-minute mark — a rarity with almost any celebrity. Despite her pronouncement, on this particular Monday afternoon, the award-winning actress and comedian seems happy to remain on the phone, at times even breaking into her famous characters to punctuate a point. The only thing preventing our call from overtaking the entire afternoon is that Tomlin and her wife, Jane Wagner, are expecting guests.

Tomlin is exactly as you’d expect her to be — warm, wise, welcoming. When the conversation takes a turn toward discussing our mothers — hers is deceased, and mine is laid up with a hip injury — she shows deep and genuine concern, offering homespun advice on mobility solutions.

It’s not at all surprising, really, considering that the overarching topic of her current hit comedy, Grace and Frankie, is how society copes with aging. Tomlin stars as the free-spirited half of two women whose husbands left them — for each other — and who come to depend on one another for companionship. Out of an initially testy relationship gently flowers a deep, abiding, loving friendship between the pair. With the glut of content on Netflix these days, Grace and Frankie stands out as a miraculous oasis of both originality and familiarity. In the old days, they would call it “Must-See TV.” The show, entering its fifth season on Netflix in 2019, is not only a terrific showcase for Tomlin and costar Jane Fonda, but deals with authentic issues that confront the elderly, including the ennui of retirement, the need to feel like one is still a viable member of society, late-in-life romance, and even how arthritis impacts the ability to masturbate.

To call Grace and Frankie a sitcom would be to diminish the 30

OCTOBER 11, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

depth of its purpose. Yes, it’s extremely funny, and is superbly acted by its two leads to the point where you’d think you were watching an ongoing master class, but the program swells with honest heart and, thanks to Tomlin, delightful, offbeat quirks. It has something for everyone, not least the LGBTQ community in the way it expresses its main gay relationship between two men well into their seventies. It doesn’t hurt matters that both Marin Sheen and Sam Waterston give themselves over fully to their characterizations, with the latter breaking free of his years as a stern, hard-nosed DA on Law & Order, and offering up a performance overflowing with whimsy and wonder.

“I had never worked with Sam before,” recalls Tomlin. “He came in on the first day of shooting, and was just like a big puppy dog. You can absolutely believe he could have been Frankie’s husband for 40 years, and they’re best friends, and Frankie was in love with him, and really valued her relationship with him.

But she wants him to be happy.”

Fonda, of course, is a longtime friend of Tomlin’s, and the pair had worked together before, most notably in Nine to Five, the 1980 comedy that also starred Dolly Parton, Dabney Coleman, and the great British veteran Jean Marsh. In it, three put-upon office workers teach their abusive, harassing, sexist boss a lesson he’ll never forget. Tomlin is optimistic that a sequel, featuring the original cast, is imminent.

Tomlin, who will appear next Wednesday, Oct. 17, at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall for an evening celebrating some of her most treasured characterizations, from Ernestine to Edith Ann to Mrs. Beasley to Tommy Velour, is just happy to be working.

“I don’t feel like I’m working hard,” says the 79-year-old. “If

JENNY RISHER.

OCTOBER 11, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

31

you have the energy, you want to work.” Still, she admits she’s happiest when collaborating with Wagner, the brilliant writer who has been a guiding force behind some of Tomlin’s most memorable achievements, including the Tony-winning Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe. “If Jane is going to work on it, it’s going to be something revolutionary,” she glows of the woman she married in 2013 after 42 years together.

Even though she officially came out late in life, Tomlin’s sentiments toward her LGBTQ community are filled with the kind of sincerity that emanates from her naturally.

“I’m so proud of this community, and what it’s accomplished in such a short time,” she says. “I never dreamed in the ’60s and ’70s that all this would ever happen so quickly. The community has just always been there for each other. I just love it.”

METRO WEEKLY: Let’s start with Grace and Frankie. We’ll be see-

ing the fifth season soon.

LILY TOMLIN: Yes, we’re going to start shooting the sixth season

in January.

MW: Did you expect it to take off like it has?

TOMLIN: No, god, no. We didn’t know what to expect. We were

lucky, Jane and I. Marta Kauffman called both of us and said she had an idea for a show for us. Netflix was just starting to crest in terms of its popularity. We got in right after House of Cards. So we were just kind of excited to do it, to be in that new venue. And it turned out so well, and we’ve had so much fun doing it. And we got such great people. Martin and Sam were so adorable. And [the actors playing] our kids are so good, each one is so different.

MW: Has it been challenging, going from year to year, to come up with narrative arcs, to make it feel as natural as it does?

TOMLIN: No, it hasn’t been terribly difficult. Jane and I were very excited to be able to do two women of our age. And, it was

whole creation of the vibrator business was hilarious, but at the same time really dealt with sexual issues in a way that younger people don’t think about. It’s groundbreaking in that regard.

TOMLIN: Yeah. I could’ve become the vibrator maven if those were operable. People would write us, “Can you get me a couple of those vibrators?” I’d just say, “There’s plenty on the market, you could probably buy one easily, but these don’t work. They’re props.” God help us, though, they’re huge.

MW: Frankie seems very suited to you in terms of our general perception of who Lily Tomlin is as a known celebrity. How much do you share in common with her as a character?

TOMLIN: As the years have gone on, I don’t try to create a character as much as I kind of live it. I find more and more characters that I attempt are closer to me — or maybe it takes less to convey a character. I feel very close to Frankie. I do what comes naturally to me in the role. Of course, you bring your experience as an actor to the part and you fill out certain moments.

MW: Your rapport with Jane Fonda is incredible.

TOMLIN: Well, I just believe she is Grace, and I guess she believes I’m Frankie. We get a lot of pleasure out of it. Sometimes we get to laughing so much, we keep the crew until two in the morning.

That doesn’t go over great. [Laughs.]

I truly love Jane. Jane’s a great friend, and has been for years.

When our characters have a fight, we both get affected by it — we get sad that we’re having a fight. I know audiences like our friendship immensely. Netflix has let us know that. They don’t let us know much else, but they let us know that.

MW: They don’t give you feedback?

TOMLIN: They don’t. That’s how they operate. They don’t want you to know just how popular the show is. But they keep renewing it, so as long as that happens, I guess we should probably enjoy the fruits.

COURTESY OF NETFLIX

“People would write us, ‘Can you get me a couple of those vibrators?’ I’d just say, ‘There’s plenty on the market, you could probably buy one easily. THESE DON’T WORK. THEY’RE PROPS.’” Marta’s intention to show what they’re up against in terms of society, marginalization, and discounting. It was great to have the husbands leave them for each other, so we have that whole gay issue.

But, of course, no one knew how we were going to do it. I’m thinking maybe Marta knew — I hope she knew. And how she’s able to stay ahead of each year, I don’t know. Very often we have input to certain things about our characters. We say when we’re uncomfortable with something that the character’s asked to do, or if we think it betrays the character, but that doesn’t happen very often. We have a great set of writers. It’s just sort of blessed.

MW: The show deals with sex and the older set so forthrightly. The 32

OCTOBER 11, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

MW: How much further do you think the show can go? Is there a

point where you’d say, “Okay, we’ve told all the story that we need to tell.”

TOMLIN: No. I think Jane and I want to completely age for the audience. But we’re youthful — we don’t age too well. Well, we don’t age too rapidly. And we have a great cinematographer, I must say. I guess he could lay down on the job and we’d age faster. But Jane is always saying, “I want to go until we really can’t walk.” I think, “Well, okay, I’ll hang in there with you.”

MW: The show has been especially good at conveying the relationship between Martin and Sam’s characters. While it’s hard to condone what they did to their wives, their relationship is sweetly

portrayed, and allows the show to have a unique LGBTQ angle.

How important was it to you, as a member of the LGBTQ community, that a gay relationship be part of the equation.

TOMLIN: Very important, very important. There’s only been one time that I called about a scene on the show. It was during one of the protests, and Martin and Sam have a bunch of gay friends around. I thought the director had just let them go too far. Not Sam and Martin so much, but the other guys. They just kind of overdid it. I called and asked if they couldn’t look for another cut in this one scene. I think all that stuff can be cumulative and color the audience’s reaction.

perately so that if he does get into trouble with [special counsel Robert] Mueller that this justice will fight for him to be exonerated, to not be indicted at all, to not have anything brought against him, that he’s above the law. Kavanaugh will endorse that. He said it in his writings, he said it in his speaking. And, of course, I worry about Roe v. Wade, and anything else that this guy can [help] overturn.

MW: We’ve had a lot of discussions in our staff meetings about whether or not gay marriage would be overturned. I think what they’ll do is bolster religious freedoms to the point where they make things as difficult as possible for us.

MW: Occasionally, I’ll come across sitcoms from the ’70s on cable — All in the Family, for instance — and am genuinely shocked about what they got away with. Obviously, these were shows designed to provoke and make you consider society’s mores through the laughs.

All in the Family, in particular, held a huge mirror up to society. I wonder what would happen if we had an Archie Bunker archetype on network TV now.

LILY: [Conservative audiences] would just see that character as a validation of their own feelings. It’s more dangerous, unless the writer is able to infuse the project with a morality that somebody would produce, and distribute. There’s not too much morality anymore either, in terms of writers. I mean, that was the writer’s duty at one point — to create a more progressive tolerance in society. I don’t know if that’s always true anymore.

MW: Speaking of society today, what are your thoughts on how it’s shifted in the past several years?

TOMLIN: It bothers me terribly. I keep thinking, “Well god, how much longer do I have? What is the world going to be like before I exit the planet?” It’s gotten like it’s just a battle — who can dominate? Can a more progressive agenda in this country take over from this terribly restrictive, old-fashioned, really misogynistic, racist kind of ethic that everybody’s living by on the other side? They seem rabid in their beliefs.

It’s just all mixed up, because of people’s limited beliefs. I’m terribly frightened — if they are able to continue and dominate — of what might come of being a gay person in this culture. You think nothing can happen, but you have to vigilant. You just don’t know.

MW: Do you worry that with Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, things will end up badly for society?

TOMLIN: I’m way worried. He should’ve withdrawn a long time ago. And a normal president would’ve withdrawn his name. It’s the first sign of real trouble. You feel Trump wanted him des-

COURTESY OF NETFLIX

“I was kind of insulted.

It wasn’t like Time was saying, ‘We want to put you on the cover for your work,’ but ‘WE WANT TO PUT YOU ON THE COVER FOR YOU BEING GAY.’” TOMLIN: Did you ever see that film — an anti-Nazi movie, I can’t think of the name — that all they did was change the law incrementally? They just carefully kept changing the law, changing the law, until finally it was a world that the Germans wouldn’t even recognize, allowing the absolute siege of the Jews and anyone else they didn’t like — gays — in the country. In the Holocaust museum in Berlin, they have notebooks filled with the directions — the Nazi directions — for how to vanquish the Jews.

And gay people. It’s just horrifying.

You have to think in the worst possible scenario when people have a racist, misogynistic, anti-gay everything mindset. You just want to stop them now. There just comes a time when the human’s mindset has to change, it has to grow and change and do better for other people.

MW: The president’s son, Donald Jr., said he’s more worried about his sons being accused of sexual assault than his daughters being assaulted. It’s disturbing these people don’t truly understand what any of this #MeToo movement is about.

TOMLIN: It’s a power thing. They have never cared. Even if they have daughters, they haven’t really been aware of, or even sensitive to, generally speaking, what their daughters are up against.

Edith Ann says it best, she says, “Kids learn how to act in the world by seeing how grown-ups act in the world.” I do not think the world will ever get better unless this changes.

MW: We’re told that one of the things that will come out of all this furor over Kavanaugh is that even more women will seek office.

Elizabeth Warren, apparently, is seriously considering a run for president, for instance.

TOMLIN: If women really take power, or even if they make the power equal, there will be a backlash against them. The current order will really try desperately to discount them.

MW: It occurs to me that Nine to Five should be considered a harbinger of the #MeToo movement. The women take charge and OCTOBER 11, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

33

deal aggressively with a sexist boss. The movie was an initial call to arms, even in 1980.

TOMLIN: I’ll take that!

MW: There have been rumors that there’s going to be a sequel.

TOMLIN: Yeah, they’re working on it. It’s being written right now. I’m pretty sure Jane [Fonda] will be an executive producer on it. We’ve had input on the script a little bit. We hope it comes to fruition. I think it will, because everybody’s so excited about it. Jane, Dolly [Parton], and I are already on board. I’m sure there’ll be another generation, but we’ll be very significant to the plot.

MW: What can we expect from your upcoming performance at the Kennedy Center?

TOMLIN: I use video in the show to sort of ridicule myself, and have perspective on that, to maybe reflect on a character’s history. But it’s totally entertaining, totally funny. I talk to the audience about the world, and segue into different monologues, and do about ten characters.

MW: You have quite a canon of characters. Is there one you love doing the most?

TOMLIN: It would be very early for me, and it would’ve been really tough. My mother is from Kentucky — she’s dead now, but she was from Kentucky, and she was fairly Fundamentalist. All her family, her sisters, and her mother, and everybody were still in Kentucky, and they were so very religious. My brother’s gay, too, and my mother had a collapse when she found out about him.

Anyway, my mother knew very well that I lived with Jane, and that we were a couple, but she just didn’t want everybody else to know. So I was torn about that. And I was torn about being desired [for the cover] only because I was gay. So I declined it.

MW: If you had come out in 1975, it would have been historic.

TOMLIN: It was too soon for me. I’m saying too soon for me, because I was such a huge television star from Laugh-In. I knew it would be risky if I did. I was awfully grateful when Ellen came out. She paid a price for that, but she ultimately triumphed incredibly.

MW: Do you think male celebrities have a harder time than women coming out?

TOMLIN: It depends if the men are leading men in the movies.

There’s always that issue.

MW: I’m thinking Barry Manilow. A couple of years ago he came out, and, to be honest, it wasn’t a surprise. I mean, he was Bette Midler’s accompianist in the bathhouses in the ’70s. Still, I guess when you get past a certain age, it’s harder. It takes more courage than when you are in your 20s.

TOMLIN: It depends on how much the culture is supporting you at that time, even the gay culture. Many people in the business knew that I was gay, and so many fans knew I was gay. I knew that they knew I was, even though it wasn’t public knowledge. If you’re 20 years old now, you’re just out.

MW: When you did come out publicly, did anything change for you?

TOMLIN: Not that I’m aware. It’s nicer to be able to always reference Jane [Wagner] as my partner. But she has been my partner for so many years.

I’m just now thinking of something else — one time I was on The View, and Barbara Walters said to me, “Lil, you’ve never married. Just didn’t find the right guy?” I said, “Now Barbara, you and I both know that’s not the reason.” She didn’t say anything else, she just shut up. I hate to go back over my life. I’ve failed in so many areas.

MW: How can you say that? You’re the epitome of success in so many areas.

TOMLIN: I appreciate that. You’re awfully sweet.

MW: Tell us one thing that you feel that you failed at that you wish you could change.

TOMLIN: Well, I would have liked to have been really cheeky and brazen and come out in ’75. [Laughs.]

MW: You’re turning 80 on your next birthday. That’s a big one.

What do you want most of all for your 80th birthday?

TOMLIN: [Laughs.] A hammock by a stream. l

“Can a more progressive agenda in this country take over from this terribly restrictive, old-fashioned, really misogynistic, racist kind of ethic that everybody’s living by on the other side?

THEY SEEM RABID IN THEIR BELIEFS.” TOMLIN: [Laughs.] That’s like asking Mrs. Duggar which of those 19 kids she really has a soft spot for. I don’t really — they’re like people to me. I like to have them in my life.

I opened my first Broadway show in 1977. And Mrs. Beasley — she’s a Red Cross volunteer, and she had like a Florence Nightingale with the big hat piece, with the silk hanging down, and the cape — handed out coffee and donuts and Kleenex to the kids in line. Because, in those days, my fans were sleeping in sleeping bags to get good seats on the first day the box offices were open. So she was out there walking the streets for hours with the kids, and giving them Kleenex to blow their noses. All day I was out there. Well, Mrs. Beasley was.

MW: That’s amazing. How did they react to that?

TOMLIN: They kind of expected it, I think. Or I’d conditioned them to expect it. I don’t do that so much anymore, because by and large my fans are older. They certainly don’t sleep in sleeping bags, for the most part. In those days, though, the fans that were really fans, they were just adorable. They knew everything about the characters, and they’d ask you everything. They’d validate you on every point.

MW: What year did you come out?

TOMLIN: I don’t remember. I think it was like 2000.

MW: Is it true that in the ’70s Time magazine promised you a cover, but only if you’d come out?

TOMLIN: Yes. I was kind of insulted. It wasn’t like Time was saying, “We want to put you on the cover for your work,” but “We want to put you on the cover for you being gay.”

MW: Why didn’t you do it?

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Lily Tomlin appears Wednesday, Oct. 17, at 8 p.m. in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Tickets are $39 to $129. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

Seasons 1 through 4 of Grace and Frankie are available for streaming on Netflix. Visit netflix.com.

Gallery

Counterspell

Counterspell (detail)

Oracle

Brian Hitselberger: Other Ways of Telling

A

N INCIDENT OF HATE SPEECH IN THIS multidisciplinary artist’s own home as well as other anti-gay activities in his base of Athens, Ga. spurred creation of this series of paintings, drawings, and installations. “Counterspell,” the largest installation in the collection, combines small works by seven other LGBTQ-identified artists along with elements of Hitselberger’s creation to form a wall that acts as a spiritual protection

against hate speech and homophobia. Montgomery College’s Department of Visual and Performing Arts presents the series as the first in a Soapbox Series at the Open Gallery on its Takoma Park/Silver Spring campus. Now to Nov. 9, with a reception on Oct. 25, and an art Artist Talk on Nov. 12.

Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Arts Center, 930 King St., Silver Spring. Free. Call 301362-6525 or visit cms.montgomerycollege.edu.

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Movies

Hotel California

A dynamite thriller with a stacked cast and a smart script, Bad Times at the El Royale delivers a ferociously good time. By André Hereford

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AD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE (HHHHH) MIGHT BE DRAGGING AROUND an extra article in its title, but it’s packing just the right amount of everything else. Heat, mystery, drama, history, music, comedy, and a mile-wide streak of Nixon-era paranoia all meet inside the Royale, a gloomy but glamorous no-tell motel just outside of Reno on the Nevada-California state line.

“We’re a bi-state establishment,” boasts the bellman Miles (Lewis Pullman) to the disparate cast of characters who all show up one misbegotten, rainy night.

They’re a vividly-drawn bunch, each distinct in their own way as they assemble like players in an Agatha Christie novel, or avatars for a very grown-up game of Clue.

Writer-director Drew Goddard (Cabin in the Woods) strikes up a scintillating game from the start, with a sprightly ’50s-set opening scene of a man alone in his room at the Royale burying something beneath the floorboards.

Ten years later, and Darlene Sweet (Cynthia Erivo), a single, black woman rolls up to the establishment, like Marion Crane pulling into her doomed spot at the Bates Motel. Despite the luxe design and decor at the Royale, a strong sense lingers that something wicked awaits Darlene and the other guests who join her. Father Flynn (Jeff Bridges), a friendly but ragged priest, looks like he might be hiding something.

Laramie Seymour Sullivan (Jon Hamm), a gregarious salesman from Biloxi, seems like he’s hiding something. And no-bullshit looker Emily Summerspring (Dakota Johnson) definitely is hiding something.

Whether these characters pose a greater danger to each other than what the powers that be at the Royale have in store for them forms the mystery, and underscores the fun.

Although, it’s not all fun and games. Death and horror are at home there, too.

Goddard so deftly twists this star-laden popcorn thriller into a shrewd backdoor chronicle of nearly every terror of the ’60s — from the Vietnam War to the Manson murders, and Psycho to COINTELPRO — that it’s possible not to see the turn coming. The characters at the Royale aren’t just pawns in a game, but symbols of an American society driven towards the abyss.

As Flynn, Darlene and company discover, the Royale might be a hell there’s no turning back from, and their fear is acutely recognizable. It’s the same fear that gripped America in the turbulent ’60s, and that animates so much of today’s conflict and resistance. Can we make it back from here? And yet, Goddard keeps that subtext hidden beneath, but not far beneath, the shiny surface of movie stars and period production design, and a bouncy soundtrack of ’60s R&B plattered up by the Royale’s Wurlitzer.

Those songs, including the Isley Brothers’ “This Old Heart of Mine” and the Four Tops’ “Bernadette,” aren’t deployed merely as period signposts, but play integral parts in the plot and pacing. Bad Times is well-crafted, driven by a time-shifting narrative that adds Tarantino-esque flavor to the mix. The high-wire act wobbles a bit in the homestretch, and loses some of

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its pep, but then it brings in the big guns to take the whole show home in grand, blazing style.

By big guns, in this case, Goddard brings in his Cabin in the Woods leading man Chris Hemsworth as charismatic cult leader Billy Lee. Strolling shirtless through a field of goldenrod, trailed by his followers, Billy Lee is a potent example of just how alluring pure evil can be. A scene in which he pits two of his eager female followers in a knock-down, drag-out fight for the privilege of sharing a bed with him speaks volumes. The movie hits on a mood that’s eerily timely.

In most other regards, Bad Times is just plain eerie, as well as droll and highly suspenseful. And Goddard isn’t precious about killing off any of these characters. They come and go in unpredictable fashion.

They all make an impression, though Erivo, a Tony winner for her performance in the acclaimed 2016 Broadway revival

of The Color Purple, will be a revelation to many. Her Darlene is delicate yet strong, and sings her way through a singularly tense sequence involving Father Flynn and a shotgun. Bridges is endlessly resourceful as the squirrelly Flynn, and carries much of the comedy in his deadpan delivery. Nick Offerman makes a brief, entertaining appearance, and Hamm hams it up with purpose as the suspiciously loquacious Southerner Sullivan.

The entire cast captures the atmosphere of black humor and dread, but perhaps no character or performance personifies it as well as Pullman in the role of Miles. Innocent in appearance but harboring a grim past and several secrets, he knows something about the abyss and how dangerous it can be to step too close to the edge. He warns the Father more than once that the Royale is no place for a good man, but again and again, his warnings aren’t heeded. Maybe there are no good guys or ladies at the Royale, but it’s definitely a good time. l

Bad Times at the El Royale is rated R, and opens in theaters everywhere on Friday, October 12. Visit fandango.com.

Moon Struck

First Man eschews spectacle for a reflective portrait of pioneering astronaut Neil Armstrong. By André Hereford

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EIL ARMSTRONG CASTS LONG SHADOWS ACROSS BOTH THE MOON and human history in the biopic First Man (HHHHH), directed by Damien Chazelle, the Oscar-winning director of La La Land. Taking off from James R. Hansen’s book, published in 2005, Chazelle’s film hones in on the thrilling decade of exploration and sacrifice that culminated in the 1969 Apollo 11 mission to the moon.

But, despite a breathtaking opening scene of Armstrong piloting an X-15 up to an altitude of 140,000-feet, thrills don’t seem to be what Chazelle and screenwriter Josh Singer are chasing.

In charting NASA’s space race, First Man weighs heavily the human toll that’s paid by the astronauts and their families. Accordingly, the movie presents a thoughtful account of Armstrong as a stoic maverick, utterly down-to-earth in how he goes about his duties as pilot, engineer, husband, and father. This seriousness of intent is echoed through star Ryan Gosling’s restrained performance as the unflappable midwesterner.

Beyond a somewhat adorable single-mindedness about math and mission engineering, Gosling’s Armstrong doesn’t exhibit much personality. Fortunately, he’s sur-

rounded by a vibrant cast of fellow space pioneers, including Corey Stoll as Apollo 11 pilot Buzz Aldrin. And, providing a welcome counterpoint to all the buzzcuts and bravado, Claire Foy turns in an incandescent performance as Armstrong’s devoted wife Janet.

Janet, and Foy’s steely take on her, dominates one of the film’s two scenes that are memorably thrilling. In the first, a scene that probably will follow Foy’s introduction as a nominee at next year’s Academy Awards, Janet insists that her husband step out of his stoic comfort zone to give their children a proper farewell before he boards a rocket to the moon.

They have already seen other astronauts make the ultimate sacrifice — Janet wants her sons to know that their father might not come home from Apollo 11, and she wants Neil to be the one to tell them.

Janet’s plea to Armstrong, and her wish for his safe return, sums up the love and commitment of thousands of families who send their loved ones off for service.

The second scene that might be signature for Chazelle’s approach to storytelling in First Man is perfectly minimal in its emotion and detail. In a pre-Apollo training mission, Armstrong rockets towards space, with the entire flight shot from his strapped-in position inside the cramped craft. Chazelle and cinematographer Linus Sandgren strap the audience in for the astronauts’ unbelievably limited field of vision: a mere tiny porthole outside of which the visible patch of sky goes from blue to white to the black of space.

They called them pilots, but they really were just men hurtling miles above earth at the mercy of math and science. l

First Man is rated R, and opens in theaters everywhere October 12. Visit fandango.com.

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SCOTT SUCHMAN

Stage

Twin Peaks

Shakespeare Theatre’s The Comedy of Errors is just the ticket to escape our troubling times. By Kate Wingfied

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LITTLE NAUGHTY AND A LOT NICE, THE SHAKESPEARE THEATRE Company’s musically inclined The Comedy of Errors (HHHHH), is funny, cute, and just the ticket in these difficult times. With a vibe part Monty Python, part Zorba the Greek, and aesthetically reminiscent of Herge’s Adventures of Tintin, director Alan Paul creates a perfect, cheerful moment for Shakespeare’s tale of long-lost twins and their inevitable mix-ups.

An early work, students of the Bard will enjoy spotting the themes (twins) and scenarios (deadly storms) that make their first appearances here and return in later plays such as Pericles, Twelfth Night and The Tempest. But unlike the latter with their mythic textures and metaphysical layers, The Comedy of Errors keeps it far homier and cozily domestic. Married couples spar, shop merchants wheedle, everybody argues, nobody gets seriously hurt. There is ribaldry, deliciously clever language, and gorgeously winsome monologues, but there are no Shakespearean wars, murders, or tragic betrayals.

That’s for after the theater, when we get back to the headlines.

With madcap comings and goings so much a driver of this comedy, set designer James Noone’s cramped-but-movable town is crafty and clever, bringing its own brand of wit to the rapidly changing locations and the characters’ energetic maneuvers. We are moved in and out of houses, around corners and into and out of the town’s narrow streets with minimal fuss, maximum efficiency, and total clarity. The characters may lose their bearings, but we do not. When the plot thickens and tempers rise, director Paul whips people and set into a comic, physical crescendo that is choreographed to a fabulous tee.

Indeed, pretty much everything here is done to a tee, certainly when it comes to the lead performances. In honor of Artistic Director Michael Kahn’s final season at

the helm, the cast is a gathering of many of the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s long-standing talent, all of whom can carry comedy as skillfully as they carry the beauty and depth of their Shakespeare.

Cornerstone of this talented ensemble is the always charismatic Gregory Wooddell. Bestowed with Superman/ Clark Kent good looks, Wooddell plays happily against type here, delivering his Antipholus (of Syracuse) with a kind of just-got-out-of-bed cheerful bewilderment between moments of authentic passion and some stellar comic timing. As the hilariously assertive Adriana, Veanne Cox couldn’t be more in her element, channeling Maria Callas with a hint of Irene Papas in her brittle but salacious Adriana. Her scenes with Wooddell’s Antipholus, who she mistakes for her husband (his twin), draw some of the best laughs for their perfectly timed comedy and the kind of risqué sensibility that knocks this production into better, wittier realms.

Working incredibly hard as a second set of long-lost twins, the Dromios of Syracuse and Ephesus, Carson Elrod and Carter Gill provide much of the broad comedy with their put-upon manservants. Though they don’t seem much like twins, they each bring plenty of humor — Gill for his long-suffering consistency and Elrod for

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SCOTT SUCHMAN

his odd inspired moments, especially when it comes to J. Bernard Calloway’s Flip Wilson-inspired Luce. As the “other” Antipholus (this one of Ephesus), Christian Conn is a tad less polished than Wooddell, but he does deliver some priceless exasperation as the confusion mounts. Finally, as counterpoint to the arch Adriana, Folami Williams’ Luciana is convincing sweet and genuine,

though there is no discernable chemistry with Wooddell’s obviously too-mucholder (and a lot more fun) Antipholus.

The other standouts here bring all manner of variety and color, regardless of size of the role. As the jewelry merchant Angelo, Tom Story thoroughly enjoys his campy outfit and persona, while Matt Zambrano brings zing to both his Tailor and the temperamental Second Merchant. Sizzling with presence, Eleasha Gamble offers some musical theater glam to her Courtesan. And back in the comedy category, a well-disguised Sarah Marshall as Dr. Pinch runs with Paul’s slightly incongruent southern Baptist exorcist theme, which could have been rather tired without her inventive chops. The most guilelessly ebullient performer of the evening, the mega-versatile Matt Bauman’s police officer and louche Greek waiter are truly entertaining.

Of course, any thoughts on this Error must end with the wonderful Nancy Robinette as Emilia and Ted van Griethuysen as Egeon. Sharing the warmth of their long association with the Company and their commitment and joy in delivering Shakespeare, they continue to give back to the audiences that so value their art. l

The Comedy of Errors runs to November 4 at Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Lansburgh Theatre, 450 7th St. NW. Tickets are $49 to $128. Call 202-547-1122 or shakespearetheatre.org.

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OCTOBER 11, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

NightLife Photography by Ward Morrison

OCTOBER 11, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

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Scene

Oktoberfest at Nellie’s - Saturday, October 6 - Photography by Ward Morrison See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene

DrinksDragDJsEtc...

Thursday, October 11 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN 2319 18th St. NW Open 5pm-2am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Live televised sports FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Karaoke, 9pm GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • Shirtless Thursday, 10-11pm • Men in Underwear Drink Free, 12-12:30am • DJs BacK2bACk

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NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Beat the Clock Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • $15 Buckets of Beer all night • Sports Leagues Night NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover PITCHERS 2317 18th St. NW Open 5pm-2am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm • Special Late Night menu till 11pm • Visit pitchersbardc.com

SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • All You Can Eat Ribs, 5-10pm, $24.95 • $4 Corona and Heineken all night

Friday, October 12

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

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

ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS All male, nude dancers • Open Dancers Audition • Urban House Music by DJ Tim-e • 9pm • Cover 21+

OCTOBER 11, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 5pm-3am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Live televised sports

GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • $3 Rail and Domestic • Free Pizza, 7-9pm • $5 Svedka, all flavors all night long • HybridNine: Stripped, a Harness and Jock Party, 10pm-close • Featuring DJ Ryan Doubleyou • No Cover

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

SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers TRADE Doors open 5pm • Huge Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass served in a huge glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine only $4 • Otter Happy Hour, 5-11pm ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS Men of Secrets, 9pm • Guest dancers • Rotating DJs • Kristina Kelly’s Diva Fev-ah Drag Show • Doors at 9pm, Shows at 11:30pm and 1:45am • DJ Don T. in Ziegfeld’s • Cover 21+

DAVID CLAYPOOL / KALORAMA PHOTOGRAPHY

Saturday, October 13 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 2pm-3am • Video Games • Live televised sports FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Saturday Breakfast Buffet, 10am-3pm • $14.99 with one glass of champagne or coffee, soda or juice • Additional champagne $2 per glass • World Tavern Poker Tournament, 1-3pm • Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Freddie’s Follies Drag Show, hosted by Miss Destiny B. Childs, 8-10pm • Karaoke, 10pm-close GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • $5 Bacardi, all flavors, all night long

NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Drag Brunch, hosted

by Chanel Devereaux, 10:30am-12:30pm and 1-3pm • Tickets on sale at nelliessportsbar.com • House Rail Drinks, Zing Zang Bloody Marys, Nellie Beer and Mimosas, $4, 11am-3am • Buckets of Beer, $15 • Guest DJs NUMBER NINE Doors open 2pm • Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 2-9pm • $5 Absolut and $5 Bulleit Bourbon, 9pm-close • Pop Tarts, featuring DJs BaCk2bACk, 9:30pm PITCHERS Open Noon-3am • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm • Special Late Night menu till 2am • Visit pitchersbardc.com

Blackout

NIGHTLIFE HIGHLIGHTS BLACKOUT: A BRITNEY ALBUM CELEBRATION CTRL, the queer DJ collaborative that came into being as a popular monthly party, including a four-year run at Town, is ensuring Britney Spears fans aren’t left in the dark with the forced shuttering of its home. DJs Jeff Prior, Adam Koussari, and Dvonne aka Devon Trotter have found a new venue for its fourth annual dance party paying tribute to Britney’s album Blackout, released Oct. 25, 2007, and featuring the hits “Gimme More,” “Piece of Me,” “Break The Ice,” and “Toy Soldier.” All in all, we’re talking 14 tracks, which is not enough, even allowing for remixes, for a multi-hour dance party.

Which is why there will also be a heavy dose of other favorite pop artists “with an electropop, nu-disco, house kick.” Saturday, Oct. 20, starting at 10 p.m. U Street Music Hall, 1115A U St. NW. Tickets are $10. Call 202-588-1880 or visit ustreetmusichall.com.

JUSTICE Bottoms Up Productions, in association with Flashy Sundays, presents a new all-night affair, with music by Hex Hector, the pioneering dance remixer/producer to the star divas, and Mexico’s gay star DJ Isaac Escalante, as well as Sean Morris and Kurt “TWiN” Graves, the DJs from Flash’s regular gay party. Although undisclosed, expect the venue to be bigger and better able to accommodate the Flashy crowd. Saturday, Oct. 20, starting at 10 p.m. Location to be announced. Tickets are $15 to $30. Visit justiceforalldc.com.

TEN TIGERS PARLOUR: THE COVEN’S 3 YEAR ANNIVERSARY Every second Saturday of the month comes a queer women-centered “witchy dance party” in the Petworth restaurant/bar/intimate nightclub venue owned by D.C.’s ubiquitous Hilton Brothers (Brixton, Marvin). Kate Ross’ The Coven is touted as “open to all genders, orientations, ideologies, and badasses,” and an event where — no surprise given the name — “dark couture is encouraged.” Saturday, Oct. 13, starting at 10 p.m.

3813 Georgia Ave. NW. Call 202-506-2080 or visit tentigersdc.com.

SISSY THAT TUESDAY: SAVAGE BEAUTY Pussy Noir pays tribute to Samhain, the Gaelic festival with pagan roots ushering in the “darker” winter season, with the October iteration of her monthly out-there cabaret/performance art party. Fellow local drag act Jane Saw serves as special guest for a witchy party where “there will be a bloodbath,” so “latex and vinyl and patent leather are all encouraged.” Wes the DJ will be behind the decks playing eerie and dark dance-pop/ house tunes. Tuesday, Oct. 16. Trade, 1410 14th St. NW. Doors at 8 p.m. Call 202-9861094 or visit tradebardc.com. – Doug Rule OCTOBER 11, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

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SHAW’S TAVERN Brunch with $15 Bottomless Mimosas, 10am-3pm • Happy Hour, 5-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS Men of Secrets, 9pm-4am • Guest dancers • Ladies of Illusion Drag Show with host Ella Fitzgerald • Doors at 9pm, Shows at 11:30pm and 1:45am • DJ Don T. in Ziegfeld’s • DJ Steve Henderson in Secrets • Cover 21+

Sunday, October 14 9 1/2 Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 2-9pm • $5 Absolut and $5 Bulleit Bourbon, 9pm-close • Multiple TVs showing movies, shows, sports • Expanded craft beer selection • No Cover A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 2pm-12am • $4 Smirnoff and Domestic Cans • Video Games • Live televised sports FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Champagne Brunch Buffet, 10am-3pm • $24.99 with four glasses of champagne or mimosas, 1 Bloody Mary, or coffee, soda or juice • Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Karaoke, 9pm-close

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GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • Karaoke with Kevin downstairs, 9:30pm-close NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Drag Brunch, hosted

by Chanel Devereaux, 10:30am-12:30pm and 1-3pm • Tickets on sale at nelliessportsbar.com • House Rail Drinks, Zing Zang Bloody Marys, Nellie Beer and Mimosas, $4, 11am-1am • Buckets of Beer, $15 • Guest DJs NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 2-9pm • $5 Absolut and $5 Bulleit Bourbon, 9pm-close • Pop Goes the World with Wes Della Volla at 9:30pm • No Cover PITCHERS Open Noon-2am • $4 Smirnoff, includes flavored, $4 Coors Light or $4 Miller Lites, 2-9pm • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm • Visit pitchersbardc.com SHAW’S TAVERN Brunch with Bottomless Mimosas, 10am-3pm • Happy Hour, 5-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • Dinner-n-Drag, with Miss Kristina Kelly, 8pm • For reservations, email shawsdinnerdragshow@ gmail.com

TRADE Doors open 2pm • Huge Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass served in a huge glass for the same price, 2-10pm • Beer and wine only $4

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

OCTOBER 11, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

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

Tuesday, October 16 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 5pm-12am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Live televised sports FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Taco Tuesday • Poker Night — 7pm and 9pm games • Karaoke, 9pm GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4pm-9pm • $3 rail cocktails and domestic beers all night long

NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Beat the Clock Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • Buckets of Beer $15 • Drag Bingo with Sasha Adams and Brooklyn Heights, 7-9pm • Karaoke, 9pm-close NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover PITCHERS Open 5pm-12am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm • Special Late Night menu till 11pm • Visit pitchersbardc.com SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • Half-Priced Burgers and Pizzas all night with $5 House Wines and $5 Sam Adams TRADE Doors open 5pm • Huge Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass served in a huge glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine only $4 • Sissy That Tuesday: A Monthly Cabaret, 8pm • Hosted

by Pussy Noir and special guests • Music by Wess the DJ

Wednesday, October 17 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 5pm-12am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Live televised sports FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • $6 Burgers • Beach Blanket Drag Bingo Night, hosted

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

Playlist

DJ CHORD BEZERRA DOSE Ciara TAKI TAKI DJ Snake ft. Cardi B

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

Thursday, October 18 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 5pm-2am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Live televised sports FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Karaoke, 9pm

GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • Shirtless Thursday, 10-11pm • Men in Underwear Drink Free, 12-12:30am • DJs BacK2bACk NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Beat the Clock Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • $15 Buckets of Beer all night • Sports Leagues Night NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover PITCHERS Open 5pm-2am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm • Special Late Night menu till 11pm • Visit pitchersbardc.com SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • All You Can Eat Ribs, 5-10pm, $24.95 • $4 Corona and Heineken all night ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS All male, nude dancers • Open Dancers Audition • Urban House Music by DJ Tim-e • 9pm • Cover 21+

Friday, October 19 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 5pm-3am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Live televised sports FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Karaoke, 9pm GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • $3 Rail and Domestic • Free Pizza, 7-9pm • $5 Svedka, all flavors all night long • Rough House: Hands On, Lights Off, 10pm-close • Featuring DJ Lemz • $5 Cover (includes clothes check) NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Open 3pm • Beat the Clock Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • Buckets of Beer, $15 • Weekend Kickoff Dance Party, with Nellie’s DJs spinning bubbly pop music all night NUMBER NINE Open 5pm • Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover • Friday Night Piano with Chris, 7:30pm

SELECAO Mark Knight PITCHERS Open 5pm-3am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm • Special Late Night menu till 2am • Visit pitchersbardc.com SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS Men of Secrets, 9pm • Guest dancers • Rotating DJs • Kristina Kelly’s Diva Fev-ah Drag Show • Doors at 9pm, Shows at 11:30pm and 1:45am • DJ Don T. in Ziegfeld’s • Cover 21+

Saturday, October 20 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 2pm-3am • Video Games • Live televised sports FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Saturday Breakfast Buffet, 10am-3pm • $14.99 with one glass of champagne or coffee, soda or juice • Additional champagne $2 per glass • World Tavern Poker Tournament, 1-3pm • Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Freddie’s Follies Drag Show, hosted by Miss Destiny B. Childs, 8-10pm • Karaoke, 10pm-close

THIS IS AMERICA Sunday Noise Bootleg Childish Gambino BUM BUM TAM TAM Jax Jones Remix J Balvin PLAYED-A-LIVE (THE BONGO SONG) Massivedrum 2K18 Remix Safri Duo IN MY FEELINGS David Dancos Remix Drake DANCIN’ KINDA CLOSE Tough Love & GUZ THE PROMISE Sted-E & Hybrid Heights Remix Robbie Rivera PROMISES Sonny Fodera Remix Calvin Harris ft. Sam Smith Chord Bezerra is the resident DJ at Number 9 (1435 P St. NW) and will next spin there on Friday, Oct. 12. On Friday, Oct. 19, he will spin at the Super Hero Underwear Party at L8 Lounge. Follow him on Twitter at @djchordb and on Instagram at @chorduroy80.

Listen to this playlist at MetroWeekly.com.

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GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • $5 Bacardi, all flavors, all night long • The Bear Cave: Retro to Electro, 9pm-close • Featuring DJ Popperz • Specialty Cocktails • No Cover

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

NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Drag Brunch, hosted

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

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

NUMBER NINE Doors open 2pm • Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 2-9pm • $5 Absolut and $5 Bulleit Bourbon, 9pm-close • THIRSTY, featuring DJ Chord Bezerra, 9:30pm

TRADE Doors open 2pm • Huge Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass served in a huge glass for the same price, 2-10pm • Beer and wine only $4

ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS Men of Secrets, 9pm-4am • Guest dancers • Ladies of Illusion Drag Show with host Ella Fitzgerald • Doors at 9pm, Shows at 11:30pm and 1:45am • DJ Don T. in Ziegfeld’s • DJ Steve Henderson in Secrets • Cover 21+

Sunday, October 21 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 2pm-12am • $4 Smirnoff and Domestic Cans • Video Games • Live televised sports

FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Champagne Brunch Buffet, 10am-3pm • $24.99 with four glasses of champagne or mimosas, 1 Bloody Mary, or coffee, soda or juice • Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Karaoke, 9pm-close

NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 2-9pm • $5 Absolut and $5 Bulleit Bourbon, 9pm-close • Pop Goes the World with Wes Della Volla at 9:30pm • No Cover

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

PITCHERS Open Noon-2am • $4 Smirnoff, includes flavored, $4 Coors Light or $4 Miller Lites, 2-9pm • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm • Visit pitchersbardc.com

NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Drag Brunch, hosted

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

SHAW’S TAVERN Brunch with Bottomless Mimosas, 10am-3pm • Happy Hour, 5-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas

and Select Appetizers • Dinner-n-Drag, with Miss Kristina Kelly, 8pm • For reservations, email shawsdinnerdragshow@ gmail.com TRADE Doors open 2pm • Huge Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass served in a huge glass for the same price, 2-10pm • Beer and wine only $4 • Gay Bash: The Alt Dance Party and Home for Unconventional Drag in the Nation’s Capital, 10pm • Hosted by Donna Slash with special guests • Resident cast: JaxKnife Complex, Salvadora Dali, Jane Saw • Music by The Barber Streisand l

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Scene

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Uproar - Saturday, September 29 - Photography by Ward Morrison See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene

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Sleaze at Wonderland Ballroom - Thursday, Oct. 4 - Photography by Ward Morrison See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene

OCTOBER 11, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

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LastWord.

People say the queerest things

“I couldn’t take the bus anymore, because kids would refer to me as ‘it.’”

— Transgender actress NICOLE MAINES, who plays superhero Dreamer on The CW’s Supergirl, speaking on The Ellen DeGeneres Show about being bullied in school. Maines said that one conservative Christian grandfather took particular exception to her, and “had his grandson follow me into the girls’ bathroom and he said, ‘My grandfather says we don’t have to have any faggots in our school.’”

“ We know PrEP is greater than 99% effective.

There are some cases where HIV will break through.”

— DR. ROBERT GRANT, of the University of California, San Francisco, in a statement after news broke that a man who had been taking Truvada for PrEP had contracted HIV. The unnamed man contracted a rare form of the disease — for which Truvada is insufficient to prevent infection — from an HIV-positive sexual partner who had stopped taking his medication. According to Queerty, it is only the third documented case in the U.S. of someone contracting the virus while taking PrEP.

“ will not hire practicing homosexuals or transgendered people as clergy.”

These member churches rely on the Bible rather than modern-day cultural fads for religious and moral guidance, [and]

— The notoriously anti-LGBTQ U.S. PASTOR COUNCIL, in a lawsuit against the city of Austin arguing that the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance should be overturned to allow churches and religious employers to freely discriminate against LGBTQ people. “Every church in Austin that refuses to hire practicing homosexuals as clergy or church employees is violating city law and subject to civil penalties and liability,” the group states, despite both the ordinance and federal law exempting religious institutions from nondiscrimination laws in hiring for religious positions.

“ We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to enact legislation banning conversion therapy to minors in Canada.”

— A petition on the Canadian government’s Our Commons website, calling for a ban on conversion therapy being practiced on LGBTQ youth. The petition, sponsored by Sheri Benson, Member of Parliament for Saskatoon West, argues that “the practice of ‘conversion therapy’ or ‘reparative therapy,’ is seriously harmful to individuals, and is opposed by the “Canadian Psychological Association, the World Health Organization...and others.”

“ We believe this is direct discrimination for which there can be no justification. ”

— JOHN O’DOHERTY, director of Northern Irish LGBTQ organization The Rainbow Project, in a statement after the United Kingdom’s Supreme Court ruled that a bakery did not discriminate against a gay man when they refused to make a pro-same-sex marriage cake. A number of lower courts had ruled against Ashers Baking Company, arguing that they had discriminated against gay rights activist Gareth Lee, but the Supreme Court overturned those rulings on appeal.

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