Broadway star Nick Adams of Falsettos - May 30, 2019

May 30, 2019

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CONTENTS

TEA TIME

Comic Hank Chen will perform a stand-up set to raise money for the Wanda Alston Foundation.

By John Riley

HIGH NOTES

Nick Adams has starred on Broadway in La Cage and Priscilla, but playing Whizzer in Falsettos marks a personal career high.

Interview by Doug Rule

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Volume 26 Issue 5

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BLAST OFF

Propelled by Taron Egerton’s performance, Rocketman showcases Elton John’s life in suitably showstopping fashion.

By Rhuaridh Marr

SPOTLIGHT: FRED HERSCH p.7 OUT ON THE TOWN p.10 PARA TODOS: LATINX PRIDE p.12 TEA TIME: HANK CHEN p.16 COMMUNITY: OUT AT THE BALLGAME p.21 COMMUNITY CALENDAR p.21 SCENE: BLACK PRIDE RECEPTION p.24 COVER STORY: FALSETTOS’ NICK ADAMS p.26 FILM: ROCKETMAN p.31 FILM: MA p.33 FILM: GODZILLA p.34 STAGE: SOONER/LATER p.35 NIGHTLIFE: BLACK PRIDE’S TEASE p.37 NIGHTLIFE LISTINGS p.38 NIGHTLIFE HIGHLIGHTS p.39 SCENE: BLACK PRIDE - FLEWED OUT p.44 LAST WORD p.46 Real LGBTQ News and Entertainment since 1994 Editorial Editor-in-Chief Randy Shulman Art Director Todd Franson Online Editor at metroweekly.com Rhuaridh Marr Senior Editor John Riley Contributing Editors André Hereford, Doug Rule Senior Photographers Ward Morrison, Julian Vankim Contributing Illustrator Scott G. Brooks Contributing Writers Sean Maunier, Troy Petenbrink, Bailey Vogt, Kate Wingfield Webmaster David Uy Production Assistant Julian Vankim Sales & Marketing Publisher Randy Shulman National Advertising Representative Rivendell Media Co. 212-242-6863 Distribution Manager Dennis Havrilla Patron Saint Whizzer Cover Photography Evan Zimmerman Metro Weekly 1775 I St. NW, Suite 1150 Washington, DC 20006 202-638-6830 All material appearing in Metro Weekly is protected by federal copyright law and may not be reproduced in whole or part without the permission of the publishers. Metro Weekly assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials submitted for publication. All such submissions are subject to editing and will not be returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Metro Weekly is supported by many fine advertisers, but we cannot accept responsibility for claims made by advertisers, nor can we accept responsibility for materials provided by advertisers or their agents. Publication of the name or photograph of any person or organization in articles or advertising in Metro Weekly is not to be construed as any indication of the sexual orientation of such person or organization.

© 2019 Jansi LLC.

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MAY 30, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

MARTIN ZEMAN

Spotlight

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Fred Hersch

N OLDER JAZZ MUSICIAN ONCE SAID, ‘I DON'T GET paid to play, I get paid to travel,’” says Fred Hersch. “The hardest part of my job is the travel. Travel, even when it goes well, is stressful. And when it doesn't go well, it can really go horribly wrong. But I'll be 64 in October and I'm still hitting the road quite a bit. I'm really enjoying it.”

Hersch will be traveling to our area next weekend to accompany three-time Grammy-winning vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant for two shows at The Hamilton Live. “She’s a spectacularly talented young woman,” says the nationally-acclaimed jazz pianist. “I don't play with vocalists very often anymore, but someone at her level is really a pleasure to play with. She’s an intelligent, charming, great musician. She's a compelling performer, a very good listener, and very responsive.”

The Cincinnati, Ohio native, who recently published a memoir, “Good Things Happen Slowly” (Crown Archetype, $16.24), was one of the first jazz musicians to come out as gay and make his HIV-positive status public in 1993.

“At that point in the early ’90s, I didn't honestly know how much longer I was going to live, so there was no point in keeping secrets,” he says. “To me, it was a very logical, easy decision. A lot of people said I shouldn't do it. Talking about having HIV as

a performing artist was a big deal because a lot of people said, ‘Well, people won't want to book you for next season because they'll think you're not going to be there. You'll kill your career.’

In fact, it didn’t. I'm still here and I'm healthy, and even though I went through a two-month coma around 11 years ago, I seem to be very resilient and have plenty of energy.

“I think we're at a point in history where whether somebody is gay or not is really not even that interesting,” he continues.

“But when I was in high school, there were no gay role models.

There were no gay characters on TV or politicians or teachers.

Being gay back then was associated with men sneaking about in parks and bathrooms. It was all shame-based. It wasn't until I got out of Cincinnati and went to Boston and New York that I began to find older gay men that could be role models. And now, of course, it's everywhere.”

Playing live is what keeps Hersch happy. “What really makes me feel good is what happens when I'm actually on the stage. I can guarantee that every night I'm going to play something that I've never played before, and interesting things are going to happen.... Forty-five years into this, I can still say I look forward to every time I get to play. Most people who work a job for 45 years are thinking about shuffleboard and Florida.” —Randy Shulman

An Evening With Cécile McLorin Salvant featuring Fred Hersch is Saturday, June 8 at The Hamilton Live, 600 14th St. NW. Two shows, at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Tickets are $24.75-$67.75. Visit www.live.hamiltondc.com.

MAY 30, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

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Spotlight BROADCAST NEWS

The American Film Institute continues its twomonth “The Fourth Estate Film Series” showcasing Hollywood’s most acclaimed journalism-themed hits, with The Front Page, His Girl Friday, and Network still to come. Next up is the brilliant 1987 romantic comedy by Oscar-winner James L. Brooks, set in a high-pressure D.C. TV news bureau. Albert Brooks, William Hurt, and Jack Nicholson star, but it’s Holly Hunter who steals the film. The screening includes a panel discussion with Brooks and New Yorker staff writer Jane Mayer. Wednesday, June 5, at 7 p.m. 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring. Tickets are $13 general admission. Call 301-495-6720 or visit www.afi.com/Silver.

LESBIAN AVENGERS EAT FIRE TOO

The Lesbian Avengers rose to national prominence essentially overnight by virtue of staging the very first Dyke March on the eve of the 1993 March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation.

Later that same year came a kind of time capsule of the activist group, its heyday, and its Dyke March legacy via an hour-long documentary featuring interviews with leading Avengers as edited by Su Friedrich and Janet Baus. The movie screens in the Black Cat’s regular free, inclusive series focused on the representation of queer women in film. Sunday, June 2, at 8 p.m. Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW. Free. Call 202-667-4490 or visit www.blackcatdc.com.

THE MEMBER OF THE WEDDING

An evocative, poetic coming-of-age drama adapted from the novel of the same name, Carson McCullers’ play is set in rural Georgia during the summer of 1945. The Member of the Wedding focuses on the relationship between 12-year-old Frankie Addams and her family’s housekeeper Berenice Sadie Brown, a surrogate mother to Frankie who struggles under the weight of the deeply entrenched racism she endures. Zoe Walpole and Deidra LaWan Starnes star. Cara Gabriel directs. Extended to June 16. At 1st Stage, 1524 Spring Hill Rd. Tysons, Va. Tickets are $15 to $39. Call 703-8541856 or visit www.1ststage.org.

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MAY 30, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

Spotlight FLIP FLOP REVERSE CABARET

The award-winning, millennial-focused, LGBTQ-run professional theater troupe Monumental presents its fifth annual fundraiser next weekend at Pitchers. Helmed by the company’s Jimmy Mavrikes and Michael Windsor, the cabaret features a variety of local talent, all of whom are encouraged to explore and experiment with performing in a range of genres and styles — from pop to Broadway — with a focus on singing “songs they never get to sing.” The lineup includes Dani Stoller, Rachel Barlaam, Solomon Parker, Christian Montgomery, Nigel Rowe, Kanysha Williams, Kylie Smith, and Jyline Carranza. Saturday, June 1, at 7:30 p.m. 2317 18th St. NW. Tickets are $25 in advance or $30 at the door. Call 202-733-2568 or visit www.monumentaltheate.org.

FAME

Alan Parker’s Oscar-winning 1980 movie about talented, hyper-emotional, horny New York City high schoolers learning drama, dance, and music cast a perfect mold for theatrical reinvention.

The magnetic energy and appeal harnessed by director-choreographer Luis Salgado and his estimable cast in GALA Hispanic Theatre’s production creates strong connections. The show is performed in both Spanish and English (all supertitled), and the cast slides easily between both tongues, registering a profound and accurate representation of today’s American high school.

To June 9. 3333 14th St. NW. Tickets are $65. Call 202-234-7174 or visit www.galatheatre.org.

^ NSO: DVOŘÁK’S NEW WORLD SYMPHONY

Antonin DvoRák’s folk-inspired Ninth Symphony — an ode to America — will be performed four different times next week by the National Symphony Orchestra to close out another season under the helm of Gianandrea Noseda. The Czech master’s grand and dramatic work will be showcased by itself first, on Wednesday, June 5, at 8 p.m., as the latest in a series of concerts at the casual and hip new venue The Anthem. Following that comes a three-performance run at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall — Thursday, June 6, at 7 p.m., Saturday, June 8, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, June 9, at 3 p.m. Tickets to The Anthem show are $15 to $30. Tickets to the Kennedy Center performances range from $10 to $89. Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

MAY 30, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

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Out On The Town

THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE

A 1948 neo-western drama starring Humphrey Bogart and Tim Holt as two desperate young men prospecting for gold in Mexico that is perhaps most notable for being the only time legendary filmmaker John Huston actually snagged an Oscar for his work — in fact, he won two for the film, as Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. (His father, Walter Huston, also earned the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal of a veteran prospector who joins the new wanderers.) A faithful adaptation of B. Traven’s same-named novel, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is next up in the popular Capital Classics series at Landmark’s West End Cinema. Wednesday, June 5, at 1:30, 4:30, and 7:30 p.m. 2301 M St. NW. Happy hour from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $12.50. Call 202-534-1907 or visit www.landmarktheatres.com.

Compiled by Doug Rule

FILM THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW

Landmark's E Street Cinema offers its monthly run 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 even more interactive than usual. Friday, June 7, and Saturday, June 8, at midnight. Landmark's E Street Cinema, 555 11th St. NW. Call 202-452-7672 or visit landmarktheatres.com.

UNION MARKET DRIVE-IN: CON AIR

Nicolas Cage is a newly paroled ex-con and former U.S. Ranger and John Malkovich as the criminal mastermind in this 1997 Jerry Bruckheimer-produced action blockbuster, directed by Simon West, next up in the monthly warm weather Drive-In Series at Union

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Market. You don’t have to have a car to take it all in — just grab a viewing spot in the free picnic area.

Food and beer are available, delivered to you or your car window by the DC Rollergirls. Other films to screen on first Fridays this summer include A League of Their Own, Jaws, Coco, and The Wiz. Friday, June 7. Gates at 6 p.m., with the movie starting after sunset at 8:45 p.m. In the parking lot at 1305 5th St. NE. Free for walk-ups or $10 per car. Call 800-680-9095 or visit unionmarketdc.com.

WALKING ON WATER

Through spectacular aerial views and fly-on-the-wall camerawork, Bulgarian director Andrey Paounov provides an intimate examination into the vision and the work of a fellow countryman, the renowned large-scale, site-specific, ephemeral installation artist known simply by his first name, Christo. The movie focuses on the octogenarian’s quest to realize a project he and his late wife and creative partner JeanneClaude originally conceived of back

MAY 30, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

in the 1970s. Christo withstands more than his fair share of complications — from bad weather to burdensome bureaucracy to excessive popularity and hype — as he finally brings to fruition the Floating Piers project, in which a wide golden walkway was temporarily set up across the scenic Italian alpine Lake Iseo. An estimated 1.2 million spectators were able to walk over the lake during the project’s shortlived run: a mere three weeks in the summer of 2016. Opens Friday, May 31.

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

prisingly joyous and funny musical A New Brain, which ran OffBroadway in 1998, was inspired by Finn’s own life — specifically, the puzzling seizure he suffered shortly after the success of Falsettos that spurred him to reevaluate and better appreciate his life and work as well as the healing power of art.

Sean Elias directs. Opens with a post-show Complimentary Opening Night Reception Friday, May 31.

Runs to June 9. Theatre Project, 45 West Preston St. Baltimore. Tickets are $20 to $35. Call 410-752-8558 or visit www.theatreproject.org.

STAGE

Matt Minnicino’s new contemporary distillation of Molière's classic comedy The Misanthrope is the last show of WSC Avant Bard’s 29th season. Where the 17th-century original skewered the hypocrisy of the French aristocracy, A Misanthrope is set in the present, and further characterized per official publicity materials as “a sendup of trendy suck-ups and phonies during a booze-fueled pool party

A NEW BRAIN

Before the Kennedy Center presents the touring revival of Falsettos in June, Iron Crow Theatre, billed as “Baltimore’s award-winning queer theatre,” offers another musical from the team of composer/ lyricist William Finn and writer/ director James Lapine. The sur-

A MISANTHROPE

PARA TODOS

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A week full of art, history, and social events honors the local LGBTQ Latinx community.

HERE’S AN EVENT SUITED TO VIRTUALLY EVERYONE’S TASTE AT THIS YEAR’S D.C.’s Latinx Pride. Combining an art show, a historical walking tour, an interfaith service, a networking brunch, and a dance party, the weeklong celebration is designed to include every part of the local LGBTQ Latinx community.

Kicking things off on Saturday, June 1 is a Pride Brunch and Open House, co-hosted by the D.C. Metro chapter of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Alumni Association and the Latino GLBT History Project (LHP) — the latter of which is in charge of organizing Latinx Pride.

“Our main objective is to figure out ways that grassroots organizations and larger, predominantly Latinx or Hispanic groups can come together and work as a team for collaborative projects, for funding, and for different networking opportunities,” says Steph Niaupari, vice president of LHP, of the brunch.

Later that day, Latinx Pride will host La Fe, a nondenominational service celebrating queer Latinx identities and featuring discussions reflecting on the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, well as the lived experiences of LGBTQ Latinx people and their ongoing fight for equality.

On Sunday, June 2, LHP will host a trilingual walking tour of the Adams Morgan, Mount Pleasant, and Columbia Heights neighborhoods, led by founder Jose Gutierrez, visiting landmarks of historical importance to D.C.’s LGBTQ Latinx community.

On Tuesday, June 4, the organization hosts La Platica, or “the talk,” which this year includes an arts showcase, followed by a discussion with featured artists, at the Human Rights Campaign headquarters. The showcase will highlight both established and emerging Latinx LGBTQ artists who use their art not only to celebrate their identity and culture but to influence social change, including Johanna Toruno, Xemi the Two Spirit, David Amoroso, Felipe Baeza, Ashley Llanes, Andrea Garcia, Selena Alvarez, Kah Mendoza, and Nicholas Shi. “As someone who started off as a volunteer, I always get very excited at La Platica, because the topics that LHP has highlighted always have some kind of meaning to me,” says Niaupari. “For example, the first year I was on the board, we spoke about housing, and how to afford housing in D.C. This year, we’re talking about art and how to make our voices heard.”

The celebration of Latinx Pride concludes with La Fiesta, a dance party at The DC Eagle on Thursday, June 6, featuring both local and international drag performers and go-go dancers, and the crowning of LHP’s newest Royal Court members, who have been nominated for their community service work on behalf of LGBTQ or Latinx organizations or causes.

LHP will also be raffling off T-shirts to raise money for Guayaqueer City, an LGBTQ organization located in Guayaquil, Ecuador, as part of an annual tradition of collaborating with grassroots LGBTQ organizations in various Latin American countries. —John Riley Latinx Pride runs from Saturday, June 1 to Thursday, June 6. For a full list of events, visit www.facebook.com/pg/LatinoGLBTHistory/events.

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MAY 30, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

with the wealthy and wanna-be famous.” The 90-minute intermission-less production is overseen by Megan Behm, directing a sizable 10-member cast including Sara Barker, Elliott Kashner, Thais Menendez, Tendo Nsubuga, and Hannah Sweet. In previews. Opens Tuesday, June 4. Runs to June 30.

Gunston Arts Center Theatre Two, 2700 South Lang St. Arlington.

Tickets are $40. Call 703-418-4804 or visit www.wscavantbard.org.

ANTIGONICK & THE FRAGMENTS OF SAPPHO

Taffety Punk Theater Company, whose tagline is “We Will Rock You” and styles itself as a theatrical rock band, presents a 90-minute double feature of Greek classics both translated by poet Anne Carson.

There’s her new telling of the Sophocles classic Antigone, about a female hero who stands against tyranny and injustice, and featuring rich poetic language that drives the action of an ensemble of actors, dancers, and musicians directed by Kelsey Mesa. Meanwhile, another ensemble explores the tensions of loss in Carson’s translation and all that remains of Sappho’s poetry.

Choreographer Katie Sopoci Drake and director Marcus Kyd oversee The Fragments of Sappho. Now to June 8. Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, 545 7th St. SE. Tickets are $15. Call 202-547-6839 or visit www.taffetypunk.com.

GREASE

Go for a drive up to Columbia if you’d like to go back in time — all the way back to the 1950s — for Toby’s Dinner Theatre’s production of Grease, the hit musical circa 1971 by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The musical-writing duo set the show in a mid-20th century American high school — one where even cool kids can’t resist breaking out into the sing-along fun of such hit staples as “Summer Nights,” “You’re The One That I Want,” and “Hopelessly Devoted to You.” Mark Minnick directs and choreographs a that stars Matt Hirsh as Danny and Nicki Elledge as Sandy. Now to July 28. 5900 Symphony Woods Rd. Columbia, Md. Tickets are $47.50 to $63, including buffet-style dinner and coffee and tea. Call 301-5966161 or visit www.tobysdinnertheatre.com.

RICHARD III

Synetic Theater offers its 14th “wordless Shakespeare” production, an athletic, futuristic, cyberpunk adaptation of King Richard III’s Machiavellian rise to power, highlighting the terrifying extremes made possible through the abuse of modern technology. Synetic’s Paata Tsikurishvili directs Alex Mills in the title role, with Irina Tsikurishvili portraying Queen Elizabeth. The cast also includes

tion-and-answer sessions, on Friday, May 31, at 8:15 p.m., at Strathmore, and Saturday, June 1, at 7 p.m., at the Meyerhoff — the latter ending with Beethoven’s Beer Hall After-Party with live music, food specials, and $6 drink specials. Tickets are $25 to $90. Call 410-783-8000 or visit www.bsomusic.org.

BEYOND PSYCHO: THE GENIUS OF BERNARD HERRMANN

GAY MEN’S CHORUS OF WASHINGTON: STONEWALL 50

The final program of the season kicks off pride month through a celebration of the LGBTQ movement and a focus on music and messages of pride — including the organization’s usual musical hodgepodge of touching, funny, and/or poignant songs drawn largely from showtunes, R&B, and pop. Yet the Stonewall 50 program launches with the world premiere of a one-act musical Quiet No More: A Choral Celebration of Stonewall.

Commissioned by GALA Choruses and said to be the largest collaboration in the history of LGBTQ choruses, the eight-work movement incorporates classical elements with those from musical theater, jazz, and pop, and features the voices of six diverse LGBTQ artists: composer Michael Shaieb (Through a Glass Darkly), classical pianist and producer Our Lady J, composer Julian Hornik (Giovanni’s Room), jazz singer/actress Ann Hampton Callaway, Tony-nominated actor Michael McElroy, and GALA Choruses Artistic Director Jane Ramseyer Miller. “About 20 of us got together about two years ago and said, ‘Hey, we got [Stonewall 50] coming up. Let’s pull our resources,’” says GMCW Artistic Director Thea Kano. “We created this show that has an arc.... As the movements of this work go by, it depicts the actual Stonewall uprising. Right before we go to intermission, there is a piece called, Speak Out, and it is just big and celebratory. ‘Speak out for who you are, never again be silenced.’ And that is the lyric that loops around. And that’s the message, because, of course, we know that silence equals death.” Saturday, June 1, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, June 2, at 3 p.m. Lincoln Theatre, 1215 U St. NW. Tickets are $25 to $65. Call 202-888-0050 or visit www.thelincolndc.com.

Matt Stover, Maryam Najafzada, Thomas Beheler, Philip Fletcher, Jordan Clark Halsey, Aaron Kan, Tim Proudkii, Nutsa Tediashvili, Ana Tsikurishvili, and Scean Aaron.

To June 16. 1800 South Bell St., Arlington. Call 800-811-4111 or visit www.synetictheater.org.

THE ORESTEIA

Shakespeare Theatre Company’s longtime artistic director Michael Kahn goes out with a big Greek bang as he directs a world-premiere interpretation of Aeschylus’ potent trilogy of epic Greek tragedies. Commissioned by the company and three years in the making, Ellen McLaughlin’s The Oresteia weaves together Aeschylus’ stories

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with stunning poetry. The production features Kelley Curran, Simone Warren, Kelcey Watson, Josiah Bania, Zoë Sophia Garcia, and Rad Pereira, plus an eight-person Chorus. To June 2. Sidney Harman Hall, 610 F St. NW. Call 202-547-1122 or visit www.shakespearetheatre.org.

MUSIC BALTIMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: BEETHOVEN’S EMPEROR

Czech pianist Lukáš Vondráček, winner of the 2016 International Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition, will substitute for the injured

MAY 30, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

André Watts as guest soloist with the BSO under Marin Alsop to play Beethoven’s mighty last Piano Concerto No. 5, posthumously referred to as the “Emperor” Concerto on account of its majestic tone and heroic gestures. Watts will also perform Brahms’ exhilarating, youthful Piano Quartet in G Minor. Thursday, May 30, at 8 p.m. Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral St., Baltimore.

Also Sunday, June 2, at 3 p.m.

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

Additionally, Beethoven’s work is examined in more depth and insight in two, Alsop-led 90-minute Off the Cuff performances also featuring Vondráček, followed by ques-

The man responsible for making the Hitchcock classics Psycho and Vertigo spookier and creepier than they would have been otherwise is the toast of this concert, which showcases Bernard Herrmann’s range while also suggesting, via promotional materials, that he just might be “the most underrated 20th-century American composer.” Angel Gil Ordóñez conducts the PostClassical Ensemble, in residence at the Washington National Cathedral, in a performance of excerpts from Herrmann’s famous scores — also including Citizen Kane and Taxi Driver — as well as lesser-known works, particularly those from his pioneering work in radio.

Chief among these: Whitman, a 30-minute radio play from 1944 that paid homage to iconic American poet Walt Whitman. Saturday, June 1, at 7:30 p.m. Washington National Cathedral, Massachusetts and Wisconsin Avenues NW. Tickets are $25 to $65. Call 202-537-2228 or visit www.nationalcathedral.org.

CARLOS HENRIQUEZ NONET: GROOVING WITH DIZZY

Washington Performing Arts presents a high-energy tribute to the towering Latin jazz trumpet legend and bebop pioneer “Dizzy” Gillespie from a longtime Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra veteran. The bassist/composer and bandleader Henriquez’s own music regularly draws from ’60s-era hard bop, AfroCuban salsa, and classical music in a manner similar to what can be heard across Gillespie’s wide-ranging songbook, veering from “A Night in Tunisia” to “Manteca,” “Salt Peanuts” to “Tin Tin Deo.” Saturday, June 1, at 8 p.m. Sixth & I Historic Synagogue. 600 I St. NW. Tickets are $35. Call 202-408-3100 or visit www.sixthandi.org.

MARYLAND LYRIC OPERA: AN EVENING OF PUCCINI

Excerpts from La boheme, Madama Butterfly, and Tosca — three of the Italian opera master’s most beloved emotion-filled works — will be performed by featured vocalists sopranos Maria Natale and Youna Hartgraves, mezzo-soprano Catherine Martin, tenors Yongxi Chen, Mauricio Miranda, and Marco Cammarota, and baritone SeungHyeon Baek. They will be accompanied by the 50-member Maryland Lyric Opera Orchestra under the baton of Louis Salmeno,

along with concertmaster Jose Miguel Cueto and lighting designer Joan Sullivan Genthe. Friday, June 7, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, June 9, at 2 p.m. Kay Theatre in the Clarice at the University of Maryland, University Boulevard and Stadium Drive. College Park. Tickets are $10 to $60. Call 301-405-ARTS or visit www.theclarice.umd.edu.

NATIONAL ORCHESTRAL INSTITUTE AND FESTIVAL: 2019 OPENING CONCERT

TEA TIME

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Comic Hank Chen will perform a stand-up set to raise money for the Wanda Alston Foundation.

ROWING UP IN D.C. WAS HARD,” SAYS ACTOR AND COMEDIAN HANK CHEN. “I went to a Christian elementary school, and when I entered sixth grade, I was called ‘gay’ or ‘fag’ every day. I remember thinking, ‘How long can I get through the day without hearing that word?’ I distinctly remember third period was the longest I could go without being name-called.”

Raised in a conservative religious household in the Glenmont-Silver Spring area, Chen’s upbringing and his naiveté about D.C.’s LGBTQ community left him deeply closeted throughout much of his college years. As such, he empathizes with struggling LGBTQ youth whose families kick them out.

“While I was never homeless or thrown out on the street, that certainly was a fear of mine,” he says. “So I have compassion for kids who find themselves in that situation. I know exactly what it’s like to feel unwanted in your own community, to disappoint your parents, to not live up to the expectations of the culture you were brought up in.”

It’s why Chen agreed to perform stand-up at a fundraising tea dance for the Wanda Alston Foundation, which provides housing and related support services to LGBTQ youth. The tea dance will also feature a musical performance by D.C.-area indie soul band Oh He Dead.

“We’re thrilled with Hank’s involvement,” says June Crenshaw, executive director of the Wanda Alston Foundation. “[He’s] been really super engaged and excited about coming back to the area, and we’re hoping we’ll be able to raise a lot of money for our work.”

Crenshaw says many of Wanda Alston’s clients often require additional services, including mental and behavioral health care, treatment for substance abuse, or life skills counseling. Providing those services can be expensive, so Chen hopes to draw in as many donors as possible with a witty, current, but decidedly “non-Beltway” routine.

“My stand-up set will not be specific to D.C.,” he says. “I feel that’s boring for people in the area, and that’s why you’re bringing in someone from the outside who has hometown roots. I’ll share a bit of my story, but I’m going to be talking about my dog, about driving, about Asian stuff.

Otherwise, you’d just invite a local comedian and have him write jokes about 495 and the Capitol and Trump — boring!

“My goal is to liven up the party, set the tone, and raise a lot of money for Wanda Alston Foundation. We want them to be successful. Yes, you can make eggs and mimosas for cheaper at home, but that’s not the point. You’re coming out to support an incredible cause. You’re also going to have a great time.” —John Riley Reclaiming the Tea Dance: A Festive Afternoon with the Wanda Alston Foundation is Sunday, June 2, from 1 to 4 p.m. at Eaton Workshop, 1201 K St. NW. Tickets are $150 each. To purchase tickets, or for more information, visit www.wandaalstonfoundation.org/events.

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MAY 30, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

On Saturday, June 1, the University of Maryland launches another edition of its annual month-long festival of professional development and music-making for young classical musicians featuring concerts pairing students with world-renowned conductors. The 2019 NOI+F opening concert offers John Morris Russell of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra and Wolf Trap Opera leading Porgy and Bess: A Concert of Songs featuring soprano and Wolf Trap Opera alum Alyson Cambridge as well as current Wolf Trap Opera baritone Joshua Conyers and D.C.’s Heritage Signature Chorale.

Gerswhin’s popular orchestral suite will be performed along with rarely heard contemporaneous works by pioneering black composers Nathaniel Dett, James Reese Europe, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and Florence Price, the latter of whom became the first black female composer represented by a major American orchestra. Saturday, June 1, at 8 p.m. Dekelboum Concert Hall in the Clarice, University Boulevard and Stadium Drive. College Park.

Tickets are $20. Call 301-405-ARTS or visit www.theclarice.umd.edu.

STEVEN BLIER: 25TH ANNIVERSARY

Blier, the leader of the New York Festival of Song will be joined by fellow pianist Joseph Li and Wolf Trap Opera singers and alumni for a 25th anniversary recital celebrating his work and legacy, and likely rekindling old memories as well as creating new ones.

“Special Guest Alumni” include soprano Amy Owens, mezzo-soprano Annie Rosen, tenor Frederick Ballentine, and bass Matt Boehler, with Katherine Carter returning to serve as stage director. Soprano Alexandria Shiner, mezzo-soprano Lindsay Kate Brown, tenor Ian Koziara, and baritone Johnathan McCullough represent the current Wolf Trap Opera lineup. Saturday, June 1, and Sunday, June 2, at 3 p.m. The Barns at Wolf Trap, 1635 Trap Road, Vienna. Tickets are $48.

Call 877-WOLFTRAP or visit www. wolftrap.org.

THE IN SERIES & INNOVĀTIŌ: THE TALE OF SERSE

The plot to Serse, Handel’s vibrant, Italian-language opera, is streamlined into a simple story of love

JONATHAN HSU

Columbia Partnership, this annual festival offers readings, panel discussions, children’s activities, live music, curated culinary offerings, a beer garden, and a pop-up bookstore by Busboys and Poets.

This year’s event moves to the newly renovated Merriweather Post Pavilion and nods to LGBTQ history and pride with “Looking for the Rainbow: Celebrating Pride 50 Years After Stonewall,” a track featuring authors Matthew Riemer and Leighton Brown of We Are Everywhere: Protest, Power, and Pride in the History of Queer Liberation and Charles Kaiser of The Gay Metropolis: The Landmark History of Gay Life in America. This year’s headliner is celebrity chef José Andrés, author of We Fed An Island, who will be joined by at least two other chef/authors: Kwame Onwuachi of D.C.’s Kith & Kin and Edward Lee of Succotash. Sunday, June 2, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. 10475 Little Patuxent Pkwy. Free but reservations requested. Call 410-9644984 or visit www.dtcpartnership. com/booksinbloom.

DANCEAFRICA DC: 32ND ANNIVERSARY

Dance Place hosts this annual celebration paying tribute to the vibrancy of African heritage through dance, music, visual arts, food, clothing and crafts. The core of the five-day festival is an African Outdoor Marketplace, where vendors sell food and wares on 8th Street in front of the venue in Brookland. Various local dance artists and groups will also perform either indoors or on an outdoor stage, including Sylvia Soumah as Griot, Coyaba Dance Theater, Farafina Kan, African Heritage Dancers and Drummers, Soul in Motion, Ezibu Muntu, Kankouran West African Dance Company, Ni Dembaya, Sankofa Dance Theater, Taratibu, Tam Tam Mandingue, Duende/Vibe Quartet, DC Casineros, Malcolm X Dancers & Drummers, National Hand Dance Association, and Sahel. DanceAfrica also offers several Master Classes, this year led by Coyaba Dance Theater, on Thursday, May 30, at 6:30 p.m., Ezibu Muntu on Saturday, June 1, at 9:30 a.m., and Farafina Kan on Sunday, June 2, at 9:30 a.m. Main stage performances are Friday, May 31, at 8 p.m., Saturday, June 1, at 2 and 8 p.m., and Sunday, June 2, at 2 p.m. 3225 8th St. NE. Tickets for performances are $15 to $30, while Master Classes run $17 each. Call 202-269-1600 or visit www.danceplace.org.

in a new In Series production.

Director Timothy Nelson intends to transform the 18th-century work by broadening its appeal to today’s culturally sensitive audiences. The Tale of Serse features new spoken narration, crafted from the poetry of Rumi in a nod to the story’s Iranian roots, with scenic calligraphy and painting by artist Parinaz Bahadori of the Iranian-American Community Center. Janna Critz performs as Serse, leading a seven-member cast including Jaely Chamberlain, Dawn Rae Warren, Madelyn Wanner Salazar, Cara Gonzalez, Jarrod Lee, and Antony Zwerdling. Finally, Handel’s magnetic and visionary score is rendered by the In Series’ new period instrumental ensemble Innovātiō featuring Nelson as conductor and harpsicordist. Saturday, June 1 and 8, at 8p.m., and Sunday, June 2 and 9, at 3 p.m. Lang Theatre in the Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets are $20 to $45.

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

COMEDY

DANCE

KWEENDOM: A STAND-UP & STORYTELLING SHOWCASE

RITMO FLAMENCO: DOS ALMAS

When two souls meet each other on a path, the interaction becomes much more than an encounter than it is exchange, a dialogue in which they learn to coexist, listen, seek freedom, and find harmony in an imperfect world. Ritmo Flamenco explores such possibilities through the interaction of dance and music as performed by dancers Anna Menendez and Pam de Ocampo, and musicians, singer and percussionist Francisco Orozco “Yiyi” and guitarist Ricardo Marlow. Friday, May 31, and Saturday, June 1, at 8 p.m. Lab Theatre I in the Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets are $35 to $45. Call 202-399-7993 or visit www.atlasarts.org.

MAY 30, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

Bobby Hankinson of Awkward Sex and the City hosts a diverse, allLGBTQ lineup for a pride-pegged foray to D.C. from the New Yorkbased comedy show Kweendom.

The showcase, a benefit for the DC Center for the LGBT Community, which will be given 20 percent of proceeds, features Gabe Gonzalez of Scruff’s ‘Hosting,’ Jessica Henderson of Upright Citizens Brigade, Veronica Garza of MTV, and Calvin S. Cato of Oxygen.

Thursday, June 6. Doors at 7:30 p.m. Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW. Tickets are $15. Call 202-667-4490 or visit www.blackcatdc.com.

READINGS BOOKS IN BLOOM FESTIVAL Presented

by

the

Downtown

CAPTURING FIRE: QUEER SPOKEN WORD SUMMIT & SLAM

Since its inception in 2010, Capturing Fire is still “the only event of its kind.” Organizer and producer Regie Cabico intends the two-day spoken word and poetry festival, presented by the DC Center, to be a refuge and retreat for LGBTQ poets. “We’re performing in non-queer venues all the time — bars and coffeehouses,” Cabico told Metro Weekly in 2017. “I just wanted to create a kind of Underground Railroad for queer poets to better know and support each other.”

Friday, May 31, and Saturday, June 1. Most events, including the 9th annual slam competition, take place at Takoma Busboys & Poets, 234 Carroll St. NW. An AllPass costs $50, with tickets to Saturday’s Semi-Final and Final Slam $25 for both. Call 202-682-2245 or visit www.capfireslam.org.

ART & EXHIBITS DUPONT-KALORAMA MUSEUMS CONSORTIUM WALK WEEKEND

The Phillips Collection and four other historical museums offer free admission as part of this 36th annual event. The participating museums are Anderson House (2118 Massachusetts Ave. NW), Woodrow Wilson House (2340 S St. NW), Dumbarton House (2715 Q St. NW) and the National Museum of American Jewish Military History (1811 R St. NW) in addition to the Phillips at 1600 21 St. NW. Saturday, June 1, and Sunday, June 2, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visit www. dkmuseums.com.

LGBTQ+ ART SHOW

Housed in the former Palmer Ford

ABOVE AND BEYOND A DRAG SALUTE TO DIVAS AND DEVOS

Local drag sensation Shi-Queeta Lee returns to the Kennedy Center with her talented troupe of local drag queens — and a king or two — to pay lip-synched tribute to the likes of Beyonce, Cardi B., Whitney Houston, Marvin Gaye, and Lady Gaga. Long a fixture at Town Danceboutique and Nellie’s Sports Bar, Lee is probably best known for her breathtaking, high-energy impersonation of Tina Turner, or her fluttering and full-figured Diana Ross. She tours this revue to venues around town and across the region as a way to celebrate “diversity and individuality in hopes of inspiring millions to embrace their differences.” Wednesday, June 5, at 6 p.m. Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. Free. Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

CONGRESSIONAL CHORUS: LET JUSTICE ROLL

The last concert in the organization’s main 2018-19 season, “Let Justice Roll...from Montgomery to Selma to Birmingham” features groundbreaking musical works shedding light on the nation’s long and painful history of racial inequality and celebrating those who have worked to bring justice, freedom, and hope to their fellow citizens.

Poetry by Langston Hughes and Dominick DiOrio and songs by Sweet Honey in the Rock founder Bernice Johnson Reagon and jazz legend Billy Taylor will be featured in the concert. David Simmons, the company’s artistic director, leads the chorus and chamber ensemble in a one-night-only performance, coming a month before the organization embarks on a Civil Rights Concert Tour with stops in Georgia and Alabama. The highlight of the evening is William Grant Still’s “And They Lynched Him On A Tree.” “It’s a piece originally scored for a black chorus and white chorus,” says Simmons. “We decided to have our entire chorus sing all the roles. The role of the white lynch mob, the role of the African American chorus that discovers the young man’s body. Then the choruses come together at the end just to lament what happened, and try to work past and heal the wounds, and create understanding and change moving forward. It’s probably been the most difficult piece we’ve ever done.” Saturday, June 1, at 7:30 p.m. National City Christian Church, 5 Thomas Circle NW. Tickets are $28 to $35. Call 202-347-2635 or visit www.congressionalchorus.org.

building along with the original Vigilante Coffee, Maryland’s Studio SoHy — short for South Hyattsville — readies its next exhibition: a group show curated by KAY with a focus on works by 13 local LGBTQ artists as diverse as they are and the community is. The opening reception is Saturday, June 1, from 6 to 8 p.m. 4327 Gallatin St., Hyattsville, Md. Visit www.studiosohy.com.

QUEER AS GERMAN FOLK: CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF TRANSATLANTIC RAINBOW FRIENDSHIP

The Goethe-Institut Washington and the DC Center for the LGBT Community have teamed up for a joint, two-part exploratory exhibition featuring a hands-on deconstructed archive that visitors can browse at their own pace and

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according to their own interests. The archive includes materials drawn from the Schwules Museum Berlin as well as D.C.based archives and partner resources such as the Rainbow History Project, Whitman-Walker Health, local photographer Elvert Barnes, and the DC Public Library. The similarities and differences in the push for LGBTQ equality in both capitals will be highlighted. Now to Aug. 23. Geothe-Institut/German Cultural Center, 1990 K St. NW. Ste. 03. Also The DC Center, 2000 14th St. NW. Ste. 105. Free. Visit www. goethe.de/washington and www. thedccenter.org.

MAY 30, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

SARAH GEE MILLER: UNIVERSAL REMOTE

A Vancouver-based Canadian artist who makes her solo debut in D.C. with an exhibition at the Long View Gallery that features what Miller has referred to as “new work, new ideas, new colors to flood your brain with endorphins.” The artist’s specialty is in vibrantly colored hardedge abstract collage and geometric ink drawings, sometimes both in one — a combination of painting with collage that can start to look like sculpture. Opening reception is Thursday, May 30, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. On display through July 14.

1234 9th St. NW. Call 202-232-4788 or visit www.longviewgallery.com.

LIVE FROM HERE WITH CHRIS THILE

Chris Thile, the progressive bluegrass musician who is also a member of Nickel Creek and Punch Brothers, replaced the retiring Garrison Keillor in the fall of 2016 as host of this popular public radio variety show, formerly and famously known as A Prairie Home Companion. The show definitely has a more youthful energy to it under the direction of the 38-yearold Thile, but otherwise it’s still as folksy and familiar as ever. Guster, Adia Victoria, Matt Braunger, and Madison Cunningham are special guests for this year’s live taping from the Filene Center stage at Wolf Trap. Saturday, June 1, at 5:45 p.m.

The Filene Center at Wolf Trap, 1551 Trap Road, Vienna. Tickets are $45 to $125, or $30 lawn seats.

Call 877-WOLFTRAP or visit www. wolftrap.org.

THE ASK RAYCEEN SHOW: COMEDY SHOWCASE

Rayceen Pendarvis hosts the monthly LGBTQ variety show with June featuring stand-up routines by Anthony Oakes, Beverly “Miss Chocolate” White, and Gina Brown, with live music from Grammy-nomainted singer Carolyn Malachi per the Listening Lounge segment. Additional interviews, a raffle, vendors, food, and a cash bar will also be on tap. Wednesday, June 6, beginning at 6 p.m. HRC Equality Center, 1640 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Call 800-777-4723 or visit www.AskRayceen.com. l

Community THURSDAY, May 30

The National LGBTQ Task Force and NQAPIA hold their inaugural LGBTQ+

DC SCANDALS RUGBY holds

practice. The team is always looking for new members.

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

WARD MORRISON / FILE PHOTO

Join Go Gay DC and people from all over the D.C. metro area for an LGBTQ SOCIAL IN THE CITY at The Embassy Row Hotel’s Station Kitchen & Cocktails Lounge. Free to attend. Everyone welcome. 7-9 p.m. 2015 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Dupont Circle Metro is two blocks away.

For more information, visit www.meetup.com/GoGayDC.

dress casually. 7:30-9:30 p.m.

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

the end of API Heritage month and the beginning of Pride Month with a light program, hors d’oeuvres, and drinks.

5:30-8 p.m. 1325 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Suite 600. For tickets and more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

The DC Center is seeking volunteers to help with its outreach efforts as part of

CARDOZO LGBTQ PRIDE DAY. The event is open to over

900 students at the Francis L. Cardozo Education campus.

Volunteers asked to help set up and break down the tables for the resource fair. 10:45 a.m.2:15 p.m. 1200 Clifton St. NW. To register, or for more information, visit www.thedccenter. org/events/cardozopride.

Weekly Events ANDROMEDA TRANSCULTURAL HEALTH

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

DC AQUATICS CLUB practice

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

DC FRONT RUNNERS run-

ning/walking/social club welcomes runners of all ability levels for exercise in a fun and supportive environment, with socializing afterwards. Route distances vary. For meeting places and more information, visit www.dcfrontrunners.org.

DC LAMBDA SQUARES, D.C.’s

LGBTQ square-dancing group, features an opportunity to learn about and practice various forms of modern square dancing. No partner required. Please

THE DULLES TRIANGLES

OUT AT THE BALLGAME

API HERITAGE AND PRIDE RECEPTION as they celebrate

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

For more information, visit www.dullestriangles.com.

Team DC’s Night OUT at the Nationals pays homage to a legion of LGBTQ baseball fans.

S

O FAR, WE ARE LOOKING AT TRENDING TOWARDS the biggest Night OUT we’ve ever had,” says Brent Minor, the executive director of Team DC. “We’re close to 4,000 people already.” This year’s Night OUT with the Nationals coincides not only with the celebration of Pride Month, but the 15th anniversary of the first Night OUT and the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots — a seminal moment of the modern LGBTQ rights movement.

“We’re using the opportunity to honor history and the 50th anniversary of Stonewall,” says Minor, “so we’ve asked Barney Frank to throw out the first pitch, as an honor to his work over many years in Congress.”

Of course, the primary draw of Night OUT is the chance to socialize with other LGBTQ baseball lovers. The area around the bar near the scoreboard area is typically packed as attendees buy drinks and catch up with old acquaintances while watching the game. Team DC will also host a party at Dacha Beer Garden following the game.

“One thing I like about Night OUT is it draws a very mixed crowd,” says Minor. “A large number of women go, we have All-Star partners including sports teams or employee resource groups at corporations like Deloitte or Marriott, and community organizations like Dignity or the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington. If somebody's wanting to come out and meet people, and try to find themselves in the gay community, this is a good place to do it.”

—John Riley Team DC’s Night OUT at the Nationals is Tuesday, June 4 at 7 p.m. at Nationals Park, 1500 S. Capitol St. SE. Night OUT ticket-holders can pick up free special edition 15th anniversary T-shirts at the corner of First Street and Potomac Avenue prior to the game. Tickets can be purchased in person at Nellie’s Sports Bar or online at the Team DC or Washington Nationals websites. Visit www.mlb.com/nationals/tickets or www.teamdc.org/events/noan.

HIV TESTING at Whitman-

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

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

Suite 210, Alexandria, Va., offers $30 “rapid” HIV testing and counseling by appointment only. 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Must schedule special appointment if seeking testing after 2 p.m. Call 703-823-4401.

METROHEALTH CENTER

offers free, rapid HIV testing.

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

STI TESTING at Whitman-

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

US HELPING US hosts a

Narcotics Anonymous Meeting.

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

FRIDAY, May 31 Muslims for Progressive Values and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation co-host their annual IFTAR DINNER. The event will be keynoted by

MAY 30, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

21

Khzir Khan, the father of fallen U.S. soldier Humayun Khan; Kazi Mannan, the owner of Sakina Halal Grill, who has been providing meals to the homeless since his restaurant opened in 2013; and singer-songwriter and activist Ani Zonneveld. Tickets must be purchased in advance. 7:45-10:45 p.m.

1640 Rhode Island Ave. NW. For tickets, visit www.eventbrite.com.

The DC Center and Liz Sabatiuk of Tango Mercurio hold a QUEER TANGO CLASS for beginner students. The course will combine instruction on fundamental tango vocabulary and technique with discussion and exploration of the assumptions about gender, masculinity, and femininity — and how that might affect how one dances and interacts with others.

Students will be invited to experiment with both roles and reflect on their experiences. Tickets are $10, with proceeds benefiting The DC Center. Sliding-scale tickets are available for those of lower incomes. 7-9 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit www.thedccenter.org/ events/queertangoclass or email supportdesk@thedccenter.org.

Weekly Events BET MISHPACHAH, founded by

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

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

DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a prac-

tice session at Howard University.

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

PROJECT STRIPES hosts LGBT-

AGLA kicks off Pride Month with

PRIDAY NIGHT AT PORT CITY BREWING COMPANY, a celebra-

tion featuring music by DJ Laura Lopez, outdoor games, and activities. Tasting room is open, and Torpedo Factory Art Center will be leading a hands-on art project.

Borinquen Food Truck will be serving up Puerto Rican food throughout the night. Proceeds from sales from the night will support AGLA’s activities. 3-11 p.m. 3950 Wheeler Ave., Alexandria, Va. For more information, visit www.agla.org.

CENTER GLOBAL, a group that

advocates for LGBTIQ rights and fights against anti-LGBTIQ laws in more than 80 countries, holds its monthly meeting on the first Saturday of every month. 12-1:30 p.m. The DC Center, 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit www.thedccenter.org.

The Latino GLBT History Project and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute co-host a PRIDE BRUNCH AND OPEN HOUSE as part of LATINX PRIDE, allowing LGBTQ Latinx people and their allies to network and make connections. 12-3 p.m. 1128 16th St. NW. For more information, visit www. latinoglbthistory.org/latinx-pride.

The Latino GLBT History Project and Metropolitan Community Church of Washington, D.C. hold LA FE, a church service celebrating the 13TH ANNUAL LATINX PRIDE. Admission is free. All are welcome. 5-7 p.m. 474 Ridge St. NW. For more information, visit www.latinoglbthistory.org/latinx-pride.

Weekly Events DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a

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

practice session at Montgomery College Aquatics Club. 8:30-10 a.m.

7600 Takoma Ave., Takoma, Md. For more information, visit www. swimdcac.org.

SMYAL’S REC NIGHT provides a

DC FRONT RUNNERS running/

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

SATURDAY, June 1 ADVENTURING outdoors group

hikes 8.5 moderate miles with 1000 feet of elevation gain in Gambrill State Park near Frederick, Md., to enjoy the spectacular peak bloom of the mountain laurel. Bring plenty of water, lunch, bug spray, sunscreen, sturdy boots, and about $10 for fees. Carpool at 9 a.m. from the Grosvenor-Strathmore Metro Station. For more information, contact Jerry, 571-241-3787, or visit www.adventuring.org.

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

Route distance will be 3-6 miles.

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

SUNDAY, June 2 ADVENTURING outdoors group

hikes three easy miles with little elevation gain in the main section of the Patuxent Research Refuge near Glenn Dale, Md., to see a placid lake and wildlife of various kinds. Bring snacks, water, mud-worthy hiking shoes, bug spray, sunscreen, and about $5

MAY 30, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

for fees. Carpool at 1 p.m. from the Greenbelt Metro Station.

Refreshments follow. For more information, contact David, 240938-0375, or visit www.adventuring.org.

Capital Pride Alliance, Empoderate Youth Center of La Clinica del Pueblo, and the Latino GLBT History Project invite the public to the LATINX LGBTQ+ HISTORY TOUR, led by historian Jose Gutierrez. Tour starts at 3 p.m. outside the SunTrust bank on the corner of Columbia Road and 18th Street NW. 3-5 p.m. For more information, visit www.latinoglbthistory.org/latinx-pride.

Emergence Community Arts Collective, Justice for Muslims Collective, Advocates for Youth’s Muslim Youth Leadership Council, Khush DC, and Swazz Eventz hold CHAAND RAAT, the Night of the Moon, a festival signaling the end to a month of fasting and reflection, and the beginning of Eid festivities. This festival is designed for nonbinary, gender-nonconforming, trans, and queer Muslims of color and their beloveds. Event is free an open to the public. Featuring food, henna, artwork, and various vendors. 6:30-9:30 p.m. 733 Euclid St. NW. For more information, visit www.thedccenter.org/events/ chaandraat.

to join its Monday night rehearsals.

The group hosts marching/color guard, concert, and jazz ensembles, with performances year round.

Please contact Membership@ DCDD.org to inquire about joining one of the ensembles or visit www.

DCDD.org.

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 www.wetskins.org.

TUESDAY, June 4 The Latino GLBT History Project and Carlos Rosario are partnering to create a platform to showcase local Latinx LGBTQ art, which will be featured in LA PLATICA:

ELEVANDO ARTE, POESÍA Y PALABRA, a show honoring

MONDAY, June 3

LGBTQ artists. Wine and appetizers available. Admission is free.

5-9 p.m. Human Rights Campaign, 1640 Rhode Island Ave. NW, First Floor. For more information, visit www.latinoglbthistory.org/latinx-pride.

CENTER AGING, an LGBTQ

Weekly Events

seniors group of The DC Center, will hold its MONTHLY ADVOCACY MEETING to gauge feedback on The Center’s programs and services for older adults, and see what other issues may need to be addressed. This meeting will be immediately after the Center’s regularly scheduled weekly Coffee Drop-In from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. (See weekly listings below.) 12:30-1:30 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105.

For more information, visit www. thedccenter.org.

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

For more information, visit www. thedccenter.org.

Weekly Events

DC AQUATICS CLUB practice

session at Takoma Aquatic Center.

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

DC FRONT RUNNERS running/

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

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

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

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

THE GAY MEN'S HEALTH COLLABORATIVE offers free

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

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.

DC’S DIFFERENT DRUMMERS

OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS

DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a

welcomes musicians of all abilities

holds an LGBT-focused meet-

ing every Tuesday, 7 p.m. at St. George’s Episcopal Church, 915 Oakland Ave., Arlington, just steps from Virginia Square Metro. Handicapped accessible.

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

Fausto Fernandez, 703-732-5174.

STI TESTING at Whitman-Walker

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

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

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

US HELPING US hosts a support

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

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 www.whitman-walker.org.

WEDNESDAY, June 5 BOOKMEN DC, an informal men’s

gay-literature group, discusses Pete Buttigieg’s memoir Shortest Way Home at the Cleveland Park Library. All are welcome. 7:30 p.m.

3310 Connecticut Ave. NW. For more info, visit www.bookmendc. blogspot.com.

CHRYSALIS arts & culture group

attends a screening of the documentary film The Lavender Scare, looking at the government’s persecution of LGBTQ federal civilian employees over several decades, led by pioneer D.C. activist Dr. Frank Kameny. Q&A follows with film director Josh Howard, book author David Johnson, and Jamie Shoemaker, the first openly gay person to receive a federal security clearance. Tickets are $12.75 for adults, $10 for seniors. Meet at 7:45 p.m. at the entrance to the Avalon Theater, 5612 Connecticut Ave. NW. For more information, contact Jeff, 301-775-9660 or jeffreyhughes@me.com.

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

DC AQUATICS CLUB (DCAC)

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

FREEDOM FROM SMOKING, a

HISTORIC CHRIST CHURCH

offers Wednesday worship 7:15 a.m. and 12:05 p.m. All welcome.

118 N. Washington St., Alexandria.

703-549-1450, www.historicchristchurch.org.

HIV TESTING at Whitman-Walker

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

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

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

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

Lane, Suite 210, Alexandria, Va., offers $30 “rapid” HIV testing and counseling by appointment only. 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Must schedule special appointment if seeking testing after 2 p.m. Call 703-823-4401.

METROHEALTH CENTER offers

free, rapid HIV testing. No appointment needed. 11 a.m.-7 p.m. 1012 14th St. NW, Suite 700. For more information, call 202-849-8029.

NOVASALUD offers free HIV

testing. 11 a.m.-2 p.m. 2049 N. 15th St., Suite 200, Arlington.

Appointments: 703-789-4467.

STI TESTING at Whitman-Walker

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

WASHINGTON WETSKINS WATER POLO TEAM practices 7-9

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

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

MAY 30, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

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Scene

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Black Pride Opening Reception - May 24, 2019 at the Renaissance Washington - Photography by Ward Morrison See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene

MAY 30, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

MAY 30, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

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High Notes Nick Adams has starred on Broadway in La Cage and Priscilla, but playing Whizzer in Falsettos marks a personal career high.

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MAY 30, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

“My dad said he never thought that he would love anything more than Priscilla until he came to see Falsettos,” he says. “I come from a home of divorce, and that's in the show. And my stepmom said, ‘I saw myself in this in a way I didn't anticipate.’

She just knew that it was going to be about this gay couple....

They didn't really know the show before they saw it. And they both were just wrecked by the end of it. And they said, ‘Yeah, this is probably our favorite thing we've ever seen.’

“I remember I wrote James Lapine an email to tell him about what they said: ‘This is just so brilliantly written and so heartfelt and so honest.’ It just presents people in a really truthful way, which is rare. I think in a lot of musicals, there's a clear hero and everything seems very glamorous and happy. And this is definitely not that, it's very true to life. And the reality of humanity is presented in an honest way.”

The show lights up the stage of the Eisenhower Theater at the Kennedy Center starting June 11 — a day after Adams’ 36th birthday. The two-week run will mark the actor’s second time at the Kennedy Center, following his debut stint as one of four backup dancers for Ne-Yo in tribute to Barbra Streisand at the 2008 Kennedy Center Honors.

Adams says he hopes people in Washington will have the same rapturous reaction to Falsettos as his parents and many others who have seen the show thus far — including in places as far off the beaten showtune path as Fayetteville, Arkansas, and Dallas, Texas.

“The score really has some of the most beautiful melodies in the musical theater catalog,” Adams says. “And that's the thing — people get wrapped up in the emotion that's carried in the songs.

It’s just fantastic. But as a full piece, to see it — God, it's a ride.”

METRO WEEKLY: What led to you being cast in Falsettos?

NICK ADAMS: I have an interesting history with Falsettos. I first

became familiar with the musical when I was in college at the Boston Conservatory. I just fell in love with it. And I hoped someday I could play Whizzer. It's a rare opportunity when a dream role happens. And I'm living everyday in gratitude because it happened.

I expressed interest in doing this revival in 2016. And I ended up doing a preview concert in Chicago called “Broadway in Chicago” in Millennium Park for 20 dozen people. The casting director for the show called my manager and said, "James

EVAN ZIMMERMAN

N

ICK ADAMS HAD A GENUINE PINCH-ME moment at the start of the national tour of Falsettos. In San Francisco, on opening night, Adams — who stars as Whizzer in the show — had the opportunity to meet the musical’s creator William Finn.

“He came for our official tour opening to check in on the show and to celebrate with us,” Adams says.

“And I spent, I would say, the better part of opening night in a corner nestled with him, talking with him about the show and sort of gushing over it. Being like, ‘I can't believe that we're here together right now.’ Because I spent my young adult life listening to this music.”

Finn was equally taken with Adams. The composer and lyricist apparently had “nothing but kind things to say” to him — and then came the kicker. “He actually said he normally hates ‘The Games I Play,’ this beautiful song that I get to sing at the end of act one. He said, ‘You made me like it again.’ I'll never forget that.”

That’s about as high praise as it gets for an actor. But for Adams and the rest of the cast, it was a precursor to the glowing responses the show has been getting across the board, and across the country. And that Falsettos is even touring the country in 2019 is a notable achievement, given that the musical — among the first to present gay life and same-sex love — made its Broadway debut all the way back in 1992.

The source material is even older than that, as writer James Lapine helped Finn fashion Falsettos out of two of his one-act plays that had previously run Off-Broadway. Lapine would go on to direct the original Broadway run — which garnered a Tony for Best Book of a Musical and another for Best Original Score — as well as the 2016 revival, and now again with the 2019 tour, produced by Lincoln Center Theater.

As Whizzer, Adams is the man the show’s main character, Marvin, decides to leave his wife and child for. Whizzer follows a rich tragectory of prominent gay stage roles that Adams has played over the last dozen years, including Broadway stints in La Cage aux Folles in 2010, as one of the Cagelles, and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, in which he played Adam/Felicia in 2011.

A native of Erie, Pennsylvania, Adams has the fortune of being able to cite his parents among his biggest supporters — and among Falsettos biggest fans.

Interview by Doug Rule

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MAY 30, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

MW: How often are you singing in the show?

ADAMS: It's completely sung-through — it's almost three hours

of singing. It's very singular in the way that it's written, almost like an opera. All the exposition, everything is told through song.

I sing nonstop. I have a few songs that I sing by myself and then multiple duets, basically every other song, with the rest of the company. But I have two really powerful moments that I get to do just by myself.

MW: Do you have a favorite song?

ADAMS: It actually kind of morphs every performance.

“The Games I Play,” I've always loved that song, and to bring it to life feels really incredible and it's really emotional and it becomes a really intense moment in Act One. I love the quartet we sing, “Four Unlikely Lovers,” Marvin and Whizzer and the two lesbians, Cordelia and Dr. Charlotte, in Act Two. And it's really really beautiful, it's one of my favorite songs in the musical theater canon.

And then there's a duet that I sing with Max von Essen, who plays Marvin, at the end of the show called “What Would I Do?” — I don't know if there's another love duet between two men in a musical that's as powerful. And Max is one of the greatest theater singers of my generation, so to get to sing with him every night is a dream.

And “You Gotta Die Sometime” is such a beautiful acting piece. I'm in the hospital alone, it's a song about really surrendering to death and kind of trying to make sense of it all.

At first glance I was like, "Oh, that's going to be such a tough thing and it's going to be really hard emotionally." And I've found that it's one of my favorite moments in the show, because I get so lost in it and it feels like I'm actually alone with the song in the room, and the song is a friend of mine. It's been a really incredible journey with that one, too.

I'm so emotionally wrung out by the end of the show. But it's so satisfying and it's such an important story and a beautiful story and I'm honored that I get to share it. To have dreamt of being a Broadway actor as a young queer kid, to then get to be a part of a show that's so important to our community, it's the ideal. I just feel like I'm really living my dream right now.

MW: You also played gay on Broadway in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

ADAMS: Priscilla is an iconic gay film and the musical was a joy to be a part of. To be able to celebrate individuality and acceptance in that way was incredible. And the people that came to see that show had such a great time, it was such a night of entertainment, GREG VAUGHAN

Lapine requests Nick to come and do this preview for shows that are touring through.” There was no indication whether or not I would've even been on the table for the role, but I guess I was on his mind for this. So, they flew me to Chicago and I did this concert and sang our final duet, “What Would I Do?” It was a thrilling experience and...two weeks after, I had a session with James Lapine and the casting director for the show.

It's wild. I mean I grew up with Into the Woods and Sunday in the Park with George, and those are both James Lapine musicals [co-written with Stephen Sondheim]. I mean, he's a theater legend. So to audition for him was already a surreal experience, but then to have him be the one that says, "Yeah, that's the guy” for a show that he co-wrote, I still can't believe it. So it's been amazing.

MW: Can you give a little background on Falsettos and Whizzer’s role in the show?

ADAMS: At the center of it is Marvin, who divorces his wife and leaves her and their son Jason to run off with his best friend Whizzer. He realizes he's gay and comes out of the closet and tells her, "Look, I'm in love with my friend.” And all the complications that come from that — trying to navigate going through a divorce and still being a part of his son's life and not really being sure how to be a good father. He's not really sure what his relationship is with Trina, his ex-wife. And he's not able to really let her go yet.

And then my character Whizzer, being thrown in the mix of trying to navigate this established relationship that's now broken, but trying to insert himself in there and be a father figure for Jason in a way, and a best friend to him. And there's also the character Mendel, who is Marvin's psychiatrist that knows all of the ins and outs of his relationship with Trina, with Jason and with Whizzer, who then falls in love with Trina and ends up marrying his patient’s ex-wife. I don't know about the morality of that, but that ends up happening.

That's basically Act One in a nutshell. Act Two is set two years later. Marvin leaves Whizzer at the end of Act One, so they break up and they've all sort of grown up a lot since Act One, when we meet them again. And then we have the introduction of two new characters, two lesbian friends that enter the picture.

And in Act Two, we begin to deal with the very early inception of the AIDs crisis. And not to give it completely away, but the magnitude of what that was like in this community at that time.

Act Two takes place in '81. It's not only named, but you feel the gravity of it by the end of the show.

but they also were really deeply impacted by it. And we felt that as a cast, and it was incredible to share that with audiences.

For me, that show was so important because it was my first time starring in a show and originating a role. I'll never forget it. Falsettos is much different in its denseness and its emotional requirements. It's profound, it's powerful, and we really connect with a young audience on this show, which I didn't anticipate.

For it to hold up and not feel dated and still be relevant and to connect with LGBTQ teenagers is unbelievable. We had a student matinee here in L.A. a couple of weeks ago for thousands of teenagers, and I was just so touched. And we did a talkback with them afterwards and for them to say, "I feel represented, it's the first time I've come to see a musical where I feel I can see myself.

And see that love is the most important thing at the end of the day. And that we choose our family.” That takeaway for us was just so special. It was really tangible how things have changed since I was in high school.

I grew up in the small town of Erie, Pennsylvania. People would've walked out or booed when there's two men holding hands. Or the school wouldn't have allowed it. To see thousands of kids that were rooting for these characters was pretty powerful.

MW: I imagine that even today in Erie, though, it would be a different experience than it was in L.A., if the show were produced there.

ADAMS: I think that's what's powerful about bringing a piece like this across the country. It's important and it's valuable and it has a place and it has a need. And that's what I think is so great that Falsettos is touring. We started this show in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and did two performances there before we left to go to Dallas, which is also — although it's more liberal then I would anticipate — it's still in Texas. And I just love that we went to those cities. And people in Arkansas, it's a very polarizing show in that way — some people got up and left as soon as the men kiss on stage.

Other people would stick through and you could tell they were sort of uncomfortable. By the end of the show, they're sobbing and they're seeing past what they thought was wrong.

They're invested in the love story and the heartbreak of it all.

I think that's what theater's supposed to do. This show, if anything, challenges you to think and feel and not just be entertained, which it also does. But it's more than that.

MW: Let's talk more about your upbringing. When did you come out?

ADAMS: I came out after my freshman year of college to my family. And it was more about me being able to speak it and actually say it out loud and not so much about the fear of my parents not accepting it, because I've been fortunate that they have been 100% supportive of my life as long as I can remember, and encouraged me to go into this profession. And they never thought twice about it. And so I felt like I was self-aware enough and in touch with who I am, once I'd left home, that I could share that with them. And they thanked me for opening up that part of my life to them — they've been fantastic.

But I lived a closeted life in high school and I went through girlfriends. I went away for a summer when I was 16 to do summer stock in Cincinnati. I lived by myself in an apartment there, and I was surrounded by a bunch of people who were living their true selves. And I think that was the first time I really was able to kind of give over to that. And then I had to go back to finish high school after that and pretend again. And it was challenging, once I'd already experienced what that was like and knew, okay, you're definitely gay.

MW: Were there any openly LGBTQ kids in your high school?

ADAMS: There was only one. I went to a private Catholic high

school that has a small arts program — which is why I wanted to go there. But there was only one guy who was out. And I think that also deterred me from coming out because I saw the way that he was treated, and it made me afraid to be honest. But I was severely bullied and made fun of by anyone that wasn't in theater. Kids would call me gay in the hallways and everything. I look back on it and I wish I would've just been like, "Yeah, I am, and so what?” But I didn't have the courage to do that then and I see that so much now. I know that back in my hometown, and at the high school that I went to, there are openly gay kids, and it's really inspiring to me that they're that self-aware and courageous to just be, "Yeah, this is who I am.”

MW: As a kid, did you want to be on the stage?

ADAMS: It's all I ever wanted to do. I remember seeing my first show when I was nine years old and I turned to my mom and said, "I want to do that.” And a few weeks later I was auditioning for my first show at a community theater in Erie and I got one of the leads and I just really never looked back.

My dad took me to New York to audition for a Broadway show when I was 16 and I remember it was an open call.

Hundreds of people lined up on the street, kind of like what you see in movies or hear about — it was just like that. We waited for a couple of hours and I auditioned. I remember I got a callback and so we were like, "Yeah, this could happen.” It's within reach, it could be part of my future.

MW: What was that first show that inspired you?

ADAMS: The show I saw when I was nine was a musical revue at the community theater I ended up kind of growing up at. But then I saw Chicago on my first trip to New York. I was 15 with my dad and my step mom and my friend Rick. We drove to New York and we saw Chicago and Cabaret and the crazy thing is, eight years later, I made my Broadway debut in Chicago. Which is nuts. I remember sitting in that audience thinking, "How the hell do I get there?” It just seemed so unattainable at the time.

“How do these people get up there? What do they have to do?”

And then here I am in that same show. And it was still running with some of the people that I had seen when I was fifteen.

MW: Another notable gay-themed show you’ve been in on Broadway was the revival of La Cage Aux Folles.

ADAMS: I did the production with Kelsey Grammar. To have been a part of that and Priscilla and now Falsettos, it's like I'm really checking off all of the important musicals.

That was also really an amazing ride and an incredible experience. And a good trajectory sequence of events, because I ended up doing Priscilla right after that, so it's what kind of got me ready for the world of drag in a different way. The producers of Priscilla came to see me in La Cage and they were able to see me in drag and sort of see what that would be like. So it helped with that process as well.

MW: Had you done drag before La Cage?

ADAMS: I had in college. At Boston Conservatory, they do an annual drag show, a benefit that my class started. We would do that once a year and it was fun and ridiculous. That was really the first time that I did that. When I did Chicago, I did the national tour first before I joined the Broadway cast. And I understudied Mary Sunshine on the tour and then when I joined the Broadway company I was the Mary Sunshine standby. And that is a reporter [played by] a man in drag. That was my Broadway debut, as a standby for Mary Sunshine. So I've been in three different drag roles in Broadway shows.

MW: Do you enjoy drag?

ADAMS: There is something really exhilarating and freeing about MAY 30, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

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it — it's very transformative. It is like wearing a mask — you feel like you become someone else, and it allows you to embody someone other than yourself. I don't necessarily miss shaving my legs and pushing makeup into my eyebrows everyday, but I really respect drag queens and what that art form is. And I love to go and watch drag shows and support queens in New York and across the country, when we're in a town that has a good drag show. But that's not something I do outside of an acting realm.

MW: Do you like playing gay roles? And do you ever worry about being typecast?

ADAMS: Look, I'm happy to play well-written gay roles, absolutely. I am a gay man, so obviously I think it's amazing when we have great roles that represent our community. And I've also played straight characters — if it's a good show and if it's a great project, I'm excited to be a part of it, I'm not limited to one or the other. I had a point in my career where a previous agent of mine said, "Look, you decided to be open about your sexuality, so now that's going to be a hurdle for us to overcome.” And I replied, "I gotta go. If that's your perspective on this, we have to part ways.”

And we did. I'm not going to live an inauthentic life, or represent some other version of myself just so I can book a job. I just don't think that's the way to live your life. So I don't regret anything and I've been fortunate that I've been able to play some incredible roles and still be true to who I am.

MW: You’re in a long-term relationship with actor Kyle Brown, who was also in Priscilla. Are you married?

ADAMS: No, but I've been with my partner for over eight years.

We met on Priscilla. He was in the ensemble of the show, and I thought he was cute from the first day, and he was sweet and a great dancer. And I remember any time I had to be partnered with somebody in the ensemble, our choreographer kept putting us together. It just sort of blossomed when we were up in Toronto, out of town. I thought it was going to be like a “showmance” situation. And then, here we are eight years later and we're still together.

We ended up doing Wicked together as well, he was my understudy in Wicked and we toured the country for a year and a half. So we've been lucky, it doesn't always happen that you get to work with someone you're in a relationship with.

MW: Is there ever the challenge of going for the same role or competing in that sense with Kyle?

ADAMS: Not really. We are much different performers and at different stages in our careers. And we've been really lucky that we haven't had that dynamic. But I think we both would be really encouraging of each other, we'd be lucky if one of us were to book it if we were up for the same thing. But we've been really good about not really being competitive with one another or holding crazy expectations to live up to. We are just very realistic about the business.

MW: Do you think marriage is on the cards?

ADAMS: I don't know. We'll probably get married. I think because I come from a home of divorce — my mom was divorced twice — it's not something I ever grew up thinking, "Oh, I can't wait to get married.” And it also wasn't a reality yet. And as I get older, I can better understand the importance of what that would be to share with him and why I would want to do it. It's hard because of our careers. When to plan it, when to do it. Do we want something that's going to be crazy expensive or be huge, or just something between the two of us? I don't know. But at this point, that's my guy and I don't ever see us not being together. So maybe we should just do it. But our relationship is great and so I've kind of also been, “Do I need to change anything?” People get so stressed out about weddings.

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MW: Right, and a wedding and the planning for it can ruin a rela-

tionship.

ADAMS: Exactly. And I think we are so good, I don't necessarily want to do anything to throw that off. But I also don't know if I necessarily see the need, other then yeah, it'd be nice to have a ring and show that we are each other’s person. But it's not something that I'm dying to do in the near future.

MW: You’re pretty active on social media. Is that something you like doing?

ADAMS: Yes and no, it's a double-edged sword. It's sort of a requirement now for the entertainment industry — you're expected to help promote whatever project you're working on and to engage with a fan base. And in some ways that's great, because I really do like to hear from people that come to the show, and I like to put the show out there and have an outlet to feel like I can connect with people. And when I was seeing shows when I was a kid, you maybe saw the actors at stage door if you were lucky.

It's such a different time that people can, at any time, contact you or message you or let you know if they liked your show or your performance or didn't like your show or your performance.

So, there's way less privacy with it. And I have to maintain a good balance of how much I engage and how much I don't. But sometimes people will misinterpret kindness for a true friendship and think that they actually know you. And then that becomes awkward and not the best scenario.

But I try to be active and engage with the people that follow my account and are interested in my career, because I'm grateful. They're the people that are the reason that I am working — they're paying for the tickets. It's also a really important way that I can get a message out there in the small platform that I have.

And be an advocate for our community and to help get important causes out there, political messages, all of those things are really useful on social media. And social media lends itself to spreading those messages.

With Instagram alone, I was able to raise over $50,000 for AIDS Walk New York one year, and that was through people's generosity and from me being able to spread the word that I needed help with fundraising. And boom, it happened. So, it does have a lot of benefits and I think they outweigh the negative aspects for the most part. But I hate when I go to my page and somebody writes some shitty comment on one of my photos or a video or something. It's like, “Just be nice people, you don't need to be an asshole.”

MW: I'm assuming next year, come presidential race time, you're going to have to pick your battles and figure out how to engage.

ADAMS: Exactly. Everyone gets so fired up online, it's like you can't not respond sometimes, you have to engage: "What the hell is wrong with these people?" And it gets really frustrating. My boyfriend's always saying, "Babe, calm down. Don't reply, just block that person." I'm like, "No, but they have to understand my message.” It's going to be tough, but it'll hopefully be worth it.

MW: If you were able to raise so much money for a good cause, maybe you can help get the right person elected next year? No pressure or anything.

ADAMS: Exactly. I tried my best for Hillary. We'll see what happens the next round. l Falsettos opens Tuesday, June 11, and runs to Sunday, June 23, at the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater. Tickets are $49 to $139.

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

For more on Nick Adams, visit www.nicholasadams.com.

Movies

Blast Off

Propelled by Taron Egerton’s performance, Rocketman showcases Elton John’s life in suitably showstopping fashion. By Rhuaridh Marr

I

T’S ALL BUT IMPOSSIBLE TO DISCUSS ROCKETMAN (HHHHH), A MUSICAL biopic about the life of Elton John, without noting the inexplicably-Oscar-winning elephant in the room. Bohemian Rhapsody raked in almost $1 billion and four Academy Awards, and did it all while being a profoundly mediocre film buoyed by excellent music and a strong central performance from Rami Malek. Rocketman is not Bohemian Rhapsody. Indeed, it’s the anti-Rhapsody in almost every way.

They do share similarities: both are about two of music’s biggest personalities, two gay men who led dramatic, rollercoaster lives while producing incredible music. But where Rhapsody was clunky and tired, Rocketman shimmers with glitz and joy. Where Rhapsody hit play on a CD of some of Queen’s biggest hits, Rocketman spins Elton John’s music into new and wonderful interpretations. Where Rami Malek delivered a meticulously studied impression of Freddie Mercury, Taron Egerton creates a fully realized and embodied character that is wholly his own. And, in its biggest success, where Rhapsody was almost embarrassed to even deal with Mercury’s sexuality, Rocketman puts Elton’s front and center, in a glorious display of body contact, eye-humping, and high camp delight. Plus, the first gay sex scene in a major studio movie.

In perhaps the biggest surprise to those entering a theater after seeing Rhapsody, Rocketman also isn’t a straight-laced biopic. It’s best described as a musical fantasy biopic drama — a mouthful that only begins to scratch the surface of its enjoyable take on Elton John’s early years, his first break into music, and then his descent into drug-and-alcohol-fuelled hedonism. And it does it all while being a sung-through, choreographed, honest-to-goodness musical.

Indeed, Rocketman shares more in common with Broadway’s jukebox musicals, which interpret an artist’s songs to retell their lives or an entirely original story — think The Cher Show or Mamma Mia. It even shares a hokey narrative framing device that feels ripped straight out of theater: Elton tells his personal story, warts and all, while attending a group meeting in a rehab clinic. From there, we drop into moments of his life — a child prodigy at the Royal Academy of Music, an iconic performance at the Troubadour club in L.A., the personal hell he descended into after his substance abuse took hold, and so on — as rehab Elton narrates his emotional journey.

Director Dexter Fletcher — who, coincidentally, took over filming of Bohemian Rhapsody after original director Bryan Singer was fired — clearly threw himself into Rocketman. The film is a constant visual splendour, whether showcasing the ridiculous theatricality of Elton John’s various costumes, revelling in the period details of its journey from the ’50s to the ’80s, or keeping each of the film’s carefully choreographed dance numbers in check.

Those musical numbers are often when Rocketman is at its most impressive, both

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stylistically and narratively. “Honky Cat” frames Elton’s burgeoning and toxic relationship with lover and manager John Reid, as it transforms him from living modestly at home with his mother to splashing out on mansions, lavish clothes, and Reid himself. It’s a loud, hectic, over-the-top dance number, and it works. At the other end of the scale, “Rocketman” becomes a haunting, beautiful, and surprisingly spare observation on the abuse Elton suffered — both at his own hands and Reid’s, as he was shuttled around the world on tour despite the destruction he was causing to himself as his substance abuse worsened.

The glue holding all of this sequined splendor together is Taron Egerton’s incredible performance. Encouraged by Elton himself not to merely copy his style of singing, Egerton instead makes Elton’s songs his own, and in turn produces a characterization that, while injected with perhaps a touch too much square-jawed machismo, brings to life a charismatic, deeply flawed, sympathetic man who has it all but deep down yearns only to be loved. Egerton’s enthusiasm and emotional delivery feel fully formed — where Rami Malek was hemmed in by wigs, teeth, and Freddie Mercury’s voice, Egerton uses the makeup and the costuming to his advantage. He is Elton, just not as we might know him. Plus, he didn’t lipsync Away from the spotlight, things are a little more mixed. Jamie Bell puts in a strong turn as Bernie Taupin, the only person who truly cares about Elton amidst the glamor and fame. Gemma Jones brings warmth and heart as Elton’s grandmother Ivy. And Steven Mackintosh is suitably hateful as Elton’s cold, distant father Stanley — a later scene between the two really puts

Egerton’s acting chops on display.

Less successful are Bryce Dallas Howard as Elton’s mother, Sheila, and Richard Madden as John Reid. Both deliver well — Howard’s slightly questionable accent doesn’t diminish her performance, and Madden is suitably menacing as Reid’s icy cold true nature shows itself. But they’re written and also portrayed as relatively one-note villains. Howard’s Sheila is so ludicrously hypocritical, and Madden’s Reid so devilishly uncaring, that one can’t help but wonder if this is Elton’s personal involvement clouding what could have been more nuanced characterizations.

And Rocketman might be a fabulously entertaining ride, but it’s not without its problems. It’s filled with cliches — apparently, every such biopic must, at some point, show spinning newspaper headlines to convey an artist’s rise to success, for instance. A lack of timestamps is a bold choice, but it does occasionally leave confusion as to where exactly the film has taken us. And even less forgivable is a horrifically schmaltzy third act scene where Elton forgives those who have mistreated him — not only does the lazy staging feel ripped straight out of an amateur theater production, but the dialogue is cringeworthy.

However, while the film occasionally stumbles, the journey it takes is so enjoyable that it’s hard to fault it. Is it a better film than Bohemian Rhapsody? Absolutely, though music purists and longtime Elton fans may disagree. Is it an objectively good film?

That’s less clear. But subjectively, it’s a blast. A camp, outrageous, glitzy blast — one wholly appropriate for the musical genius it celebrates. In a world of straight-laced biopics, Rocketman tries for something different, and it thoroughly succeeds. l

Rocketman opens in theatres everywhere Friday, May 31. For tickets visit www.fandango.com.

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MAY 30, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

Movies

Bloody Mama

Octavia Spencer sharpens her knives and dagger-like stares for the delectably campy thriller Ma. By André Hereford

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EFORE OCTAVIA SPENCER VAULTED FROM HER OSCAR-WINNING role in The Help to beloved, SNL-hosting, Green Book-producing movie star, she made her bones specializing in scene-stealing bit parts. On the road to the Academy Awards, Spencer has portrayed more than her fair share of kooks, oddballs, and nurses — lots and lots of nurses.

Now it seems the Hidden Figures star’s brilliant career of playing wacky, or wackedin-the-head, eccentrics has led her to Ma (HHHHH), and an oddball part that fits her as snugly as a pair of pink nurse’s pants. Spencer wears those pants, literally and figuratively, as unhinged veterinary nurse Sue Ann, a small-town spinster who kindly agrees to buy booze for some teens she meets outside a liquor store.

Of course, Sue Ann only seems kind at first, but there are plenty of red flags that she might actually be the wrong person to ask for favors. One dead giveaway is the chunky knit cardigan she always wears, like a latter-day Mother Voorhees, or somebody who shops the Sears Freddy Krueger collection. Second, she lives deep, deep, deep in the woods, which is where those same dumb teens follow her when she suggests they use her basement (!!!) to “party like rock stars” in safety and privacy. Because she cares that they’re not out in these streets drinking and driving. So make yourselves at home, and, please, call her “Ma” — just don’t go upstairs, or else.

Tate Taylor, who directed The Help, appears to know exactly what he’s working with here, marshaling Spencer and a solid cast through the motions of ludicrous but highly entertaining camp horror. Taking Sue Ann from smiling stranger to social media stalker in a snap, the film’s script and tone embraces the Whatever Happened

to Baby Jane-style craziness of batty behavior, creeping suspense, and revealing flashbacks to traumatic events. The film frequently flashes to teenage Sue Ann (Kyanna Simone Simpson), on the verge of experiencing a hideous, life-changing high school trauma. Whatever happened to Sue Ann, it’s turned her into one rude hostess.

Unfortunately, ads and trailers have spoiled some of Ma’s intriguing backstory, and a few of her better tricks, but, to Taylor’s and screenwriter Scott Landes’ credit, the movie still has more to offer in the vein of twists and surprises. The jump scares don’t generally amount to much, but the film has attitude to spare, seen in morbidly funny touches like one sharp cut from cold-blooded murder to a sunny Earth, Wind & Fire song. And, in scene after scene, cinematographer Christina Voros devises effective ways of featuring Spencer in shots where she looms in the background, or hiding her in plain sight when she’s standing right there.

She’s a creepy one, this Sue Ann, jealous and inappropriate with the boys, Andy (Corey Fogelmanis), Chaz (Gianni Paolo), and Darrell (Dante Brown), and competitive and clingy with the girls, Maggie (Diana Silvers) and Haley (McKaley Miller). Perhaps reliving her own high

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school horrors, she’s every kid who ever craved a seat at the cool kids’ table but was cruelly denied. And she’s still pissed.

Spencer gets to tussle with a few other award-winning actors, including Allison Janney, who pops up as Sue Ann’s crank of a boss, Doctor Brooks. Janney’s verbally abusive vet repeatedly telling Sue Ann, in the most profane ways possible, to put down her phone and get to work is the quintessence of camp — as if Spencer and her Bette Davis eyes weren’t already enough.

Juliette Lewis, who often casts a kitschy effect in movies

whether she likes it or not, actually turns in a smart, grounded performance as Maggie’s hard-working single mom Erica. She and Luke Evans, as Andy’s dad Ben, the town playboy, hit the target playing against the wild-eyed, lunatic tension of Sue Ann. They might have raised some gullible kids, but the parents in Ma, for the most part, exercise some know-how and common sense. Although common sense might not be enough when Ma is racing towards you in her Ford pickup, or chasing you down wielding a gun, a butcher knife, and a syringe full of Diazepam. l

Ma is rated R, and opens nationwide on Friday, May 31. Visit www.fandango.com.

Stomping Grounds

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Godzilla’s latest foray is an idiot-fueled catastrophe of monster-sized proportions. By Randy Shulman

GREW UP LOVING GODZILLA. AS A CHILD, MY TV WAS USUALLY AGLOW on any given Saturday with the radioactive behemoth and his cohorts, Ghidorah, Rodan, and Mothra, laying waste to various Japanese cities. Part of Godzilla’s appeal was the obvious schmaltz — a guy in a rubber suit stomping on plywood buildings was, at its core, good, silly fun. But long gone are the rubber suits. In their stead, multi-million dollar CGI effects that take away all of the homespun, makeshift charm of the originals.

In 2014, Legendary Pictures decided to reboot the series as a “Monsterverse,” and the result was a fairly somber but compelling take by director Gareth Edwards. (It was upstaged two years later by the far more entertaining Shin Godzilla, produced in Japan by the monster’s originators, Toho.) Now we have Godzilla: King of the Monsters (HHHHH), the official sequel to the 2014 reboot, and without Edwards at the helm the series takes a hard nosedive into the depths of utterly, ridiculously, horribly bad. To be fair, expecting a Godzilla movie to be profound or deep is to exist beneath a monstrous cloud of self-delusion. Directed by Michael Dougherty with a hand so heavy it might as well be encased in an iron gauntlet haphazardly wielding a flail, Godzilla is not just awful — it’s extravagantly awful. To call the movie anything otherwise is to show it

compassion it doesn’t deserve.

The story finds the mysterious Monarch agency, who keeps a watchful eye on the hibernating Titans (17 and counting!), upended by eco-terrorists who claim that only by releasing these huge beasts can balance be restored and the planet be saved from, well... us. The Titans’ destructive tendencies may squish people by the thousands, but in their wake are left flora and fauna. The monsters are basically oversized, fire-breathing gardeners.

The narrative rarely makes a lick of sense, to be honest, and the rationale behind one character’s actions, in particular, makes even less sense. The dialogue feels as though it was written by cracking open a few dozen cases of fortune cookies and assembling the homilies within in random order. The acting — especially Kyle Chandler, Millie Bobby Brown, and Vera Farmiga as an estranged Monarchemployed family trying to stop the wanton destruction — proves that even fine actors can give performances best suited for flushing. Only Charles Dance and Bradley Whitford seem to be in on the joke. Both give spry, “I don’t care, I’m being paid well” line readings.

The plot is incidental to the battles, and there are many more than in the 2014 film.

Big, bombastic, and loud, they’re messy affairs. It’s hard to discern much of the action, mostly because Dougherty has no experience with this kind of scale. Still, the monsters are impressive, particularly the three-headed, winged Ghidorah, who sports an unnerving, ferocious glint in all six of his eyes. Rodan and Mothra are cool, but add little to the overall proceedings.

“Sometimes the way to heal our wounds is to make peace with the demons that created them,” says Dr. Ishiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe), who lives in awe of the monsters and feels they should be preserved at all costs. He might as well be speaking about President Trump. l

Godzilla: King of the Monsters opens nationwide on Friday, May 31. Visit www.fandango.com.

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MAY 30, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

Stage

How Soon Is Now

The cast and production all have their moments, but not always in sync in Mosaic’s Sooner/Later. By André Hereford

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HE CONSPICUOUSLY ABSENT “OR” IN THE TITLE OF ALLYSON CURRIN’S Sooner/Later (HHHHH) hints at the inventive nature of this romantic drama.

Soon and later lean into then and now, as the play’s present-day narrative takes unexpected turns back or forward, yielding unexpected consequences.

Gregg Henry’s nimble D.C. production, currently at Mosaic Theatre, lands each of Currin’s clever structural leaps. They’re delicate twists that serve to disguise, and deepen, the fairly uncomplicated story of modern woman Nora hitting the dating scene, mostly at the behest of her daughter, Lexie.

Played with the proper amount of breathless teenage abandon by Cristina M. Ibarra, Lexie is heavily invested in helping her mom move past dating the duds she deems “not father material.” A student of rom-com conventions, she alternates between cheerleader and taskmaster, while Nora, portrayed by Erica Chamblee as a quietly rippling pool of conflicting emotions, patiently juggles work, love, ambition, self-doubt, and a daughter playing dating coach.

Despite the play’s ambitions to address seemingly all that goes into being a woman in the world, Lexie and Nora’s conversations don’t stray far, if at all, from Nora’s love life. Consequently, the play offers a narrow, repetitive view of their world. And, although Ibarra hits perfect notes of the petulant teen, and Chamblee draws the audience in for what turns out to be a poignantly difficult journey for Nora, the two together don’t quite ring the bell of mother-daughter entanglement. Their rapport seems off.

That might be due to the deliberate vagueness baked into the mix for the sake of mystery, and carried through Henry’s production down to scenic designer Debra Booth’s bare set. The minimal scenery, along with Evan Cook’s sound design, project mood more effectively than they convey much about character, time, or place. Again, to some degree, that appears to be the point, but it also leaves the final picture looking

foggy, a little indistinct.

The same could be said for the play’s third character, Griff, a sarcastic stranger turned prospective suitor whom Nora meets at the coffee shop where she goes on all her dates. Courtesy of Tony K. Nam’s appealing turn, Griff alights through the play like the breath of fresh air that Nora’s been gasping for date after date, dud after dud. The connection that Nam and Chamblee forge as Griff and Nora dance around the idea of getting together is one element of this production that achieves a crystal-clear sharpness, distinct from the haze of memory and meaning that envelop the rest of the play. l Sooner/Later runs through June 16 at Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets are $20 to $60. Call 202-399-7993, ext. 2 or visit www.mosaictheater.org.

MAY 30, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

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NightLife Photography by Ward Morrison

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Scene

Black Pride 2019: Tease featuring Monét X Change - Friday, May 24 at Ziegfeld’s /Secrets - Photography by Ward Morrison See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene

DrinksDragDJsEtc...

Thursday, May 30

of Bud Products all night • Sports Leagues Night

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

NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover PITCHERS Open 5pm-2am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm • Special Late Night menu till 11pm • Thirst Trap Thursdays, hosted by Venus Valhalla, 11pm-12:30am • Featuring a Rotating Cast of Drag Performers • Dancing until 1:30am

and Select Appetizers • Half-Priced Bottles of Wine, 5pm-close • Paint Nite, Second Floor, 7pm TRADE Doors open 5pm • Huge Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass served in a huge glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine only $4 ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS All male, nude dancers, 9pm-close • “New Meat” Open Dancers Audition • Music by DJ Don T. • Cover 21+

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

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

MAY 30, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

Friday, May 31 COUNTDOWN! PRIDE KICK-OFF PARTY @Smithsonian American Art Museum 800 G St. NW Presented by Saam, BYT and Capital Pride • 8:30pm-1am • Open Bar • Tickets are $75 • Featuring Aquaria of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Leonce, Ase Manual, House of Sonique, and performances by Mundy, KC B.yonce, Div0id, and Ruth Allen Ginsburg FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Karaoke, 9pm GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • $3 Rail and Domestic • $5 Svedka, all flavors all night long

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

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 PITCHERS Open 5pm-3am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm • Special Late Night menu till 2am SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • The 19th Street Band performs, 8:30pm 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 • Otter Happy Hour with guest DJs, 5-11pm ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS Men of Secrets, 9pm • Guest dancers • Rotating DJs • Kristina Kelly’s Diva Fev-ah Drag Show • Doors at 9pm, Shows at 11:45pm • Music by DJ Jeff Eletto • Cover 21+

Saturday, June 1 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 2pm-3am • Video Games • Live televised sports

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

NIGHTLIFE HIGHLIGHTS Compiled by Doug Rule

AVALON SATURDAYS @Soundcheck 1420 K St. NW LGBTQ Dance Party, featuring DJ Hector Fonseca, 10pm-4am • $10 Cover before 11pm • General admission $15 • Drink specials • Drag Show, 10:30-11:30pm, hosted by Ba’Naka and featuring a rotating cast of performers • Open Bar on Tito’s and Jameson, 11pm-midnight • Visit www.dougiemeyerpresents.com FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Saturday Breakfast Buffet, 10am-3pm • $14.99 with one glass of champagne or coffee, soda or juice • Additional champagne $2 per glass • Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Freddie’s Follies Drag Show, hosted by Miss Destiny B. Childs, 8-10pm • Karaoke, 10pm-close

GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • $5 Bacardi, all flavors, all night long • REWIND: Request Line, an ‘80s and ‘90s Dance Party, 9pm-close • Featuring DJ Darryl Strickland • No Cover NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Drag Brunch, hosted

by Chanel Devereaux, 10:30am-12:30pm and 1-3pm • Tickets on sale at nelliessportsbar.com • House Rail Drinks, Zing Zang Bloody Marys, Nellie Beer and Mimosas, $4, 11am-3am • Buckets of Beer, $15 • Guest DJs playing pop music all night PITCHERS Open Noon-3am • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm • Special Late Night menu till 2am

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

COUNTDOWN! PRIDE KICK-OFF PARTY This Friday, May 31, you can kick off your weekend and maybe even a full week devoted to Pride if you’d like, all courtesy of what has been dubbed a “New Queer’s Eve” affair, one that will also put the “art” in party in a way you may have never seen before. As the party’s host venue, the Smithsonian American Art Museum is going all out and proud, with plans to bath the building’s exterior in rainbow lights for the night — “Powered by Pepco” — as well as to highlight the LGBTQ artists represented in its collection. (The museum will also do that in even greater detail next Sunday, June 9, for its free “Pride @ SAAM” all-day event featuring special exhibits, presentations, film screenings, and live performances.)

The arty affair commences this Friday, May 31, with the Capital Pride Honors reception starting at 7:30 p.m. in the Luce Foundation Center for American Art, located within the museum. At 8:30 p.m., the Countdown — a party presented in partnership with Capital Pride Alliance, Smithsonian Pride Alliance, and Brightest Young Things/BYT Queers — is on, as the Kogod Courtyard opens with DJs Leonce of Atlanta and Ase Manual of Newark spinning underground club sounds until they slowly ramp things up, getting patrons in the mood for hours of music and dancing, art activities, and other surprises to come — to say nothing of the all-night Open Bar! Also on tap are shows and performances from the House of Sonique, Mundy, KC B. Yoncé, Divoid, and Ruth Allen Ginsburg, with it all coming to a head via a headlining DJ set from Aquaria, the winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 10. The Smithsonian American Art Museum is at 8th and F Streets NW. Remaining tickets to this 21+ party are $60 to $65 including Open Bar, or $70 to $75 for Open Bar and the Honors Reception — plus Eventbrite processing fees.

Call 202-633-1000 or visit www.capitalpride.org/kickoff.

CAPITAL PRIDE ROOFTOP RALLY & POOL PARTY The Navy Yards location of VIDA Fitness will help the Capital Pride Alliance officially kick off pride weekend when it hosts a rally and party around the pool on its rooftop on Thursday, June 6, starting at 7 p.m. Geared toward Capital Pride volunteers, partners, donors, advocates, and even mere enthusiasts, this swanky cocktail affair for the 21+ crowd will feature special drinks and appetizers to assist with all the mingling with special guests, perhaps even a celebrity or two.

The Penthouse Pool Club at The Yards is at 1212 4th St. SE. Tickets are $25 plus service fee. Call 202-554-0444 or visit www.capitalpride.org/rooftop-rally-2019.

HAUS OF STONE Familiar drag queens about town Logan Stone, Vagenesis, Venus Valhalla, Citrine, and Kittney Stone are teaming up to start their pride engines collectively on Thursday, June 6 — and that’s when the quintet will also debut, right from the Trade stage, as the performance collective Haus of Stone. Wessthedj will start spinning tunes at 10 p.m. to set the proper mood for showtime later in the hour, but you can get started earlier — much earlier — via the bar’s nightly Huge Happy Hour special. For those unfamiliar, the special, to quote official verbiage, amounts to “basically anything you normally get in a regular glass, you get in a huge glass for the same price.” Or, if you prefer, beer and wine comes discounted to $4. Best yet, the happy amounts and prices are offered all evening long — up until Wessthedj puts the needle on the record, that is, aka the clock strikes 10. Trade is at 1410 14th St. NW. Call 202-986-1094 or visit www. tradebardc.com.

BOOTY REX PRIDE PARTY The “Official Unofficial Queer Pride Party” of the year returns next Friday, June 7, when the Black Cat hosts what organizers are hyping as a Stonewallcommemorative “riot on the dancefloor in honor of our ancestors and ourselves.”

Guest performers at this year’s Booty Rex include drag king/genderqueer act Majic Dyke and Mx. Latinx Pride 2018 Ricky Rosě as the party’s go-go dancers, and Zombie and Alesia Michelle as emcees. On the decks you can expect the whole posse from the local all-lady DJ crews Anthology of Booty — Kristy la rAt, Mothershiester, Natty Boom, and Bent — and She Rex — Junebullet, C.rush, and Alex DB. Party starts at 8 p.m. Black Cat is at 1811 14th St. NW. Tickets are $15.

Call 202-667-4490 or visit www.blackcatdc.com. l

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

Sunday, June 2 FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Ella’s Sunday Drag Brunch, 10am-3pm • $24.99 with four glasses of champagne or mimosas, 1 Bloody Mary, or coffee, soda or juice • Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Karaoke, 9pm-close GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • Annual Captain Green Lantern Competition, 9pm-2am • $5 Cover • 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

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Beer and Mimosas, $4, 11am-1am • All Day Happy Hour • Buckets of Beer, $15 • Guest DJs PITCHERS Open Noon-2am • $4 Smirnoff, includes flavored, $4 Coors Light or $4 Miller Lites, 2-9pm • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 5-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • Dinner and Drag with Miss Kristina Kelly, 8pm • For reservations, email shawsdinnerdragshow@ gmail.com

MAY 30, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

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

Madness, featuring 2 PingPong Tables SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 5-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • Shaw ’Nuff Trivia, with Jeremy, 7:30pm

Tuesday, June 4 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 5pm-12am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Live televised sports FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Taco Tuesday • Karaoke, 9pm

GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • $3 rail cocktails and domestic beers all night long 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 PITCHERS Open 5pm-12am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm • Special Late Night menu till 11pm SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers •

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Half-Priced Burgers and Pizzas, 5-10pm • Pride Bingo with Kristina Kelly, 8:30pm

Wednesday, June 5 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,

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8-10pm • Prizes include bar tabs and tickets to shows at the 9:30 Club • $15 Buckets of Beer for SmartAss Teams only • Absolutely Snatched Drag Show, hosted by Brooklyn Heights, 9pm • Tickets available at www.nelliessportsbar.com NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover PITCHERS Open 5pm-12am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm • Special Late Night menu till 11pm

and Select Appetizers • Piano Bar: Pride Edition with Jill, 8pm

Thursday, June 6 CAPITAL PRIDE ROOFTOP RALLY @VIDA Penthouse Pool and Lounge 1212 4th St. SE Presented by Capital Pride • 7-11pm • DJs, Cocktails, and Swimming

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

MAY 30, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

Friday, June 7 RIOT! THE PRIDE OPENING PARTY @Echostage 2135 Queens Chapel Rd. NE Presented by Capital Pride • 9pm-3:30am • Featuring Vanessa Vanjie Mateo • DJs Honey, Dvonne, and Ed Bailey • $25-$35 cover • Visit www.capitalpride. org

CRACK OF NOON BRUNCH @Human Rights Campaign 1640 Rhode Island Ave. NW Presented by Capital Pride • 11:30am-2:30pm • Gourmet Tasting Stations • Complimentary Heineken, Barefoot Mimosa Bar, and Tito’s Cocktails or Bloody Marys • Special Guests: Pride Parade Grand Marshals

Saturday, June 8

DEFIANCE! DC PRIDE PARTY @City Winery 1350 Okie St. NE Presented by Capital Pride • 9pm-3:30am • Tickets $25-35 • 4 Floors, 5 DJs

CAPITAL PRIDE BLOCK PARTY @15th and P Streets NW 4-10pm • Free to public, but donations encouraged • Beverage Tent, 21+

T-CABARET @Lucky Buns 2000 18th St. NW Starting at 11pm • Featuring Joey Arias • Presented by Tom of

Finland Vodka • Tickets at www.dcpridepary.com

Sunday, June 9 CAPITAL PRIDE SUNSET DANCE PARTY @Capital Pride Concert Stage Pennsylvania Avenue and 3rd Street NW 8-10pm • Free and open to the public T-DANCE @Abigail 1730 M St. NW Starting at 4pm • Hosted

by Joey Arias • DJs spinning classic disco • Presented by Tom of Finland Vodka • Tickets at www.dcprideparty.com l

Scene

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Black Pride 2019: Flewed Out - May 25, 2019 at Echostage - Photography by Ward Morrison See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene

MAY 30, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

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LastWord.

People say the queerest things

“I don’t want anyone to have that experience watching our movies. ” — SETH ROGEN, telling GQ that he regretted the homophobic jokes in some of his previous films. “We do not want people to feel bad

when they’re watching our movies,” he said. “I’ve had people come up to me and be like: ‘That made me feel like shit when I was in the movie theatre and everyone was laughing about that.’”

“This almost limitless invitation to discriminate ”

will inevitably result in women, LGBT people and religious minorities facing hostile health care workers.

— JAMIE GLIKSBERG, senior attorney for Lambda Legal, in a statement discussing the Trump administration’s decision to allow healthcare workers to refuse to treat LGBTQ people if they have a religious objection. Lambda Legal is suing the administration over the decision, which Gliksberg said “opens up yet another front in the Trump Administration’s assault on civil rights of minorities and already marginalized, vulnerable populations.”

“It is fresh, it is new, it was targeted.”

— DAVID KILMNICK, LGBT Network local president in Nassau County, New York, speaking at a press conference after a billboard promoting an LGBTQ event was vandalized. It is the third such anti-LGBTQ act in recent months. Police are investigating after the billboard was ripped apart, with Nassau County Police Deputy Commissioner Kevin Smith saying they intend to “find evidence, find video, find something that leads us to the person who’s responsible for this.”

“This is an enormous victory for transgender students across the country. ” — RIA TABACCO MAR, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s LGBT & HIV Project, in a statement after the Supreme Court refused to hear a challenge to a Pennsylvania school district’s policy allowing transgender students to use facilities that match their gender identity. The court’s decision leaves in place a lower court ruling in favor of the policy. “Boyertown’s schools chose to be inclusive and welcoming of transgender students in 2016, a decision the courts have affirmed again and again…. Thankfully, today’s announcement allows schools to move forward with policies that support transgender students.”

“I went into my transition just wanting to be happy.

I’m glad that I’m at the point where I’m able to shave.”

— SAMSON BROWN, a transgender activist in Toronto, Ontario, in an advert for Gilette. In the ad, which has been widely praised on social media, Brown’s father teaches him how to shave. “I’m at the point in my manhood where I’m actually happy,” he says. “It’s not just myself transitioning, it’s everybody around me transitioning.”

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MAY 30, 2019 • METROWEEKLY