Taylor Mac - Metro Weekly - December 5, 2019

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DECEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

DECEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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CONTENTS

DECEMBER 5, 2019

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Volume 26 Issue 30

COMMUNITY REVELATIONS The Washington Revels engender a sense of community among people while celebrating the holidays.

By Doug Rule

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UNWRAPPING TAYLOR MAC The MacArthur Genius grantee on new show Holiday Sauce, gender creativity, and the lies of Donald Trump.

Interview by André Hereford

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PROBLEM SOLVING

A seamless lead performance is just one of many revelations in Round House’s production of The Curious Incident.

By André Hereford

SPOTLIGHT: DAVE KOZ p.7 OUT ON THE TOWN p.10 CHARACTER STUDY: SAMUEL ADAMS p.12 PROM KING: MARTY THOMAS p.14 THE FEED: INDEFENSIBLE ARGUMENT p.19 THE FEED: PROBLEMATIC PARENTING p.19 THE FEED: NUL POINTS p.20 COMMUNITY: PERFECT FITS p.21 GALLERY: GMCW’S HOLIDAY SHOW p.31 FILM: QUEEN & SLIM p.33 NIGHTLIFE: MR. & MS. DC EAGLE CONTEST p.39 NIGHTLIFE LISTINGS p.40 NIGHTLIFE HIGHLIGHTS p.41 LAST WORD p.46 Washington, D.C.’s Best LGBTQ Magazine for 25 Years Editorial Editor-in-Chief Randy Shulman Art Director Todd Franson Online Editor at metroweekly.com Rhuaridh Marr Senior Editor John Riley Contributing Editors André Hereford, Doug Rule Senior Photographers Ward Morrison, Julian Vankim Contributing Illustrators David Amoroso, 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 Judy and Mary Cover Photography Little Fang 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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DECEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

Holiday Gift Guide

To Advertise in December's Holiday Gift Guide, visit www.metroweekly.com/giftguide2019 or call 202-527-9624.

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DECEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

Spotlight

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Dave Koz

MAARTEN DE BOER

OW DID A NICE JEWISH BOY FROM CALIFORNIA’S San Fernando Valley get to be so associated with Christmas? “It’s a bit of a head-scratcher, I'll be honest with you,” says Dave Koz. “I was raised Jewish, and even though I don't really practice Judaism still, I'm Jewish in my core. I grew up celebrating Hanukkah with my family, and one of my favorite pastimes was going to friends' houses and lighting the Christmas tree. That's where I first was exposed to all this great music.”

The acclaimed jazz saxophonist fell head-over-heels in love with holiday music. But he hadn’t really performed much until 1997, the year his father passed away.

“A fellow artist’s mother had passed away a couple of weeks before my dad,” Koz recalls. “We were commiserating, and he said to me, ‘I'm kind of freaking out about the holidays — I'm not ready for it. What about maybe going out and playing some shows? We could do some holiday music.”’ I was like, ‘That's a really nice idea.’ It sounded very comforting to me.”

Twenty-three years and seven Christmas albums later, Koz is still on the Holiday road every December. This year’s tour

stop at Strathmore, Monday, Dec. 9, will feature special guests Jonathan Butler, Michael Lington, Chris Walker, and the incomparable Melissa Manchester. All appear on Koz’s latest release, Gifts of the Season.

“They're not just songs,” Koz, who came out in 2004, says of the popularity of vast holiday canon. “Many are from hundreds of years ago. We've been listening to them for so long, they're in our collective DNA as human beings. They're ancestral. They're almost like prayers, really. Emotions come through the songs.

That, to me, is the power of music in general, but specifically the power of holiday music to capture a piece of your heart.

“With holiday music, we always gravitate to the nostalgia. We may have heard a song a thousand times, but come Thanksgiving, you want to hear those same songs again. It's like musical comfort food, or the sweater you were given by your grandmother forty years ago that you should throw away, it's got a bunch of holes in it, but it makes you feel good. And so we go back to those things that make us feel good and remind us of more innocent times.” —Randy Shulman

The Dave Koz & Friends Christmas Tour 2019 stops at Strathmore Music Center in North Bethesda, on Monday, Dec. 9.

Tickets are $54 to $99. Special $199 VIP packages are available, including a pre-show meet and greet with Dave Koz. Call 301-581-5100 or visit www.strathmore.org.

DECEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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Spotlight THE ILLUSIONISTS: MAGIC OF THE HOLIDAYS

COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL THEATRE

Originating in Sydney nearly eight years ago, this touring magic show presents a rotating cast of magicians and is billed as “packed with thrilling and sophisticated magic of unprecedented proportions.” The lineup for the special holiday-themed show features Dom Chambers “The Showman,” Eric Chien “The Manipulator,” Chris Cox “The Mentalist,” Paul Dabek “The Trickster,” Kevin James “The Inventor,” and Enzo Wayne “The Unforgettable.”

To Dec. 8. National Theatre, 1321 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Tickets are $54 to $114, plus fees. Call 202-628-6161 or visit www.thenationaldc.org.

EMMYLOU HARRIS

VERONIQUE ROLLAND

The first lady of bluegrass/Americana returns to the Hamilton for another “Intimate Performance Benefiting Bonaparte’s Retreat,” the dog rescue organization the singer founded in Nashville. The show, with special guests Jon Randall, Rickie Simpkins, and Jay Starling, is also a tribute to Jay’s father, John Starling, a founding member of the D.C.-rooted bluegrass band The Seldom Scene who died this past May. Sunday, Dec. 15. Doors at 6:30 p.m. The Hamilton, 600 14th St. NW. Tickets are $90 to $250. Call 202787-1000 or visit www.thehamiltondc.com.

DOCTOR ZHIVAGO

After winning the Oscar for Best Picture and Best Director with his historical epics The Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia, David Lean next turned to a romantic drama set during the Russian Revolution. Based on Boris Pasternak’s novel of the same name, Doctor Zhivago may have lost to The Sound of Music for most of the top Oscars, but the 1965 epic starring Omar Sharif and Julie Christie did earn five Academy Awards, including screenplay, score, cinematography, and costumes. Landmark’s West End Cinema returns the film, one of the highest-grossing of all time, to the big screen as part of the Capital Classics series. Wednesday, Dec. 11, at 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. 2301 M St. NW. Happy hour from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $12.50 each. Call 202-534-1907 or visit www.landmarktheatres.com.

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DECEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

Spotlight REPLAY AND RESHUFFLE: PAINTINGS BY KYUJIN LEE

Virginia’s McLean Project for the Arts presents an exhibition by a Korean-born, D.C.-based artist who draws on the world of fairy tale to compose paintings exploring dreams, identity, and personal transformation. Through a cast of characters including mermaids, Pinocchio, and a figurative alter-ego, Lee’s surrealist-inspired illustrations mine symbolic connotations to create narrative works full of tension, adventure, and wisdom.

Opening Reception is Thursday, Dec. 5, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. On display through Feb. 29. Atrium Gallery in the McLean Community Center, 1234 Ingleside Ave., Virginia. Call 703-790-1953 or visit www.mpaart.org.

SEÁN BARNA

BLAIR LEBLANC

Current Swell, a rock band from Vancouver Island is the headline attraction, but the concert this Saturday, Dec. 7, at DC9 is also a hometown show for opening act Barna, a gay singer-songwriter and drummer who has a theatrical, full-throated vocal delivery. Barna explores what it means to be a man on Cissy, an album released last year that he described as “if [Charles] Bukowski had frequented queer spaces and written songs for Patti Smith.” Doors at 7 p.m. DC9, 1940 9th St. NW. Tickets are $12 to $15. Call 202-483-5000 or visit www.dcnine.com.

PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE

A French period drama with a lesbian narrative set at the end of the 18th century, Portrait of a Lady on Fire focuses on Marianne, a painter summoned to create a portrait of a young woman, intended to be displayed to elicit marriage proposals. The woman rejects her fate and refuses to be painted, forcing Marianne to go undercover as her maid — only to then fall in love with her. Céline Sciamma’s film has received rave reviews, and won the Best Screenplay and Queer Palm awards at Cannes. Particular praise has also been paid to its two leads, Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel. The AFI Silver Theatre screens the film in French and Italian with English subtitles on Sunday, Dec. 8, at 8:15 p.m., and Monday, Dec. 9, at 7:10 p.m. 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring.

Tickets are $15 for general admission plus $1 service fee. Call 301-495-6720 or visit www.afi.com/Silver.

(Rhuaridh Marr) DECEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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Out On The Town

ENCHANT CHRISTMAS

The outfield of Nationals Park has been transformed into a twinkling maze of light displays, the infield houses an ice-skating trail adorned with lit archways, and all around on the concourse features a Christmas Market stocked with more than 60 local food and artisan vendors. This weekend sees the D.C. debut of a multi-city offering touted as “the biggest and fastest-growing holiday event in North America,” further advertised as “the World’s Largest Christmas Light Maze and Market.” Runs from 4:30 p.m. to 10:30 or 11:30 p.m. daily to Dec. 29 except closed on Dec. 9. To Dec. 29. 1500 South Capitol St. NE. Tickets, not including fees, are $19.99 to $33.99 for general admission, $78.99 for a multi-day Season Pass, or $89.99 for VIP entrance with free ice skate rentals and access to the PNC Diamond Club box with festive buffet. Visit www.enchantchristmas.com.

Compiled by Doug Rule

FILM AFI HOLIDAY CLASSICS

Over the next several weekends, the American Film Institute screens 14 seasonal films, ranging from classics (A Christmas Story, It’s A Wonderful Life) to curiosities (Die Hard, Gremlins, Bob Clark’s Black Christmas, a “sleigh-ing holiday slasher”). The series kicks off Friday, Dec. 6, and offers screenings over the next week of three blackand-white films from the 1940s: Miracle on 34th Street, set in and around the flagship Macy’s store in Herald Square; Holiday Affair, another department store-centered film, this time a romance starring Janet Leigh and Robert Mitchum; and The Reckless Moment, which the AFI describes as “Max Ophüls's criminally underrated noir masterpiece [that] weaves a weird, it-could-never-be romance with a twisty, tension-fueled plot.” To

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Dec. 22. AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring.

Tickets are $10 to $13 plus $1 service fee. Call 301-495-6720 or visit www.afi.com/Silver.

Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation on Sunday, Dec. 15, at 3:50 p.m. 1300 Constitution Ave. NW. Tickets are $10 plus $3.50 in fees. Call 202-6331000 or visit www.si.edu/theaters.

SMITHSONIAN’S HOLIDAY FILM SERIES

THE AERONAUTS

For most of the month, the Warner Bros. Theater in the National Museum of American History will screen holiday-themed films, mostly classics but a few oddities, such as the two comedies that will close out the series the weekend after Christmas: 2013’s The Best Man Holiday starring Morris Chestnut, Taye Diggs, Regina Hall, and Terrence Howard, and 1983’s Trading Places featuring Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy.

The series continues with afternoon screenings this weekend of the classic musical comedy White Christmas, on Saturday, Dec. 7, at 3:30 p.m., and It’s a Wonderful Life, on Sunday, Dec. 8, at 3:30 p.m. Next weekend: Die Hard on Saturday, Dec. 14, at 3:15 p.m., and National

DECEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

A period adventure starring Felicity Jones as a daredevil balloon pilot and Eddie Redmayne as a meteorologist, who together try to fly higher than any human has before, ultimately finding themselves in a fight for survival as they leave the world they know far below. Based on a true story, critics are praising Jones’ performance and the beautifully rendered 19th century London vistas. Opens Friday, Dec. 6. Area theaters. Visit www.fandango.com.

(Rhuaridh Marr)

THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW

Landmark's E Street Cinema presents 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, Dec. 13, and Saturday, Dec. 14, at midnight. 555 11th St. NW. Call 202-452-7672 or visit www. landmarktheatres.com.

THIS IS SPINAL TAP

The AFI presents two screenings of Rob Reiner’s hilarious, groundbreaking rock mockumentary this weekend in honor of its 35th anniversary. This Is Spinal Tap would go on to inspire the entire mockumentary genre as well as the directing career of its star Christopher Guest, known for subsequent mockumentary classics Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, and A Mighty Wind. Michael McKean and Harry Shearer are Guest’s co-stars as members of a fictional English heavy metal band in the largely improvised satire. Friday, Dec. 6, at 10 p.m., and Saturday, Dec. 7, at 11 p.m. AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring. Tickets are $13 plus $1 service fee. Call 301-495-6720 or visit www. afi.com/Silver.

DECEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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STAGE

C. STANLEY

A CHRISTMAS CAROL

CHARACTER STUDY

Mozart was “a pretty interesting, different kind of guy,” says Samuel Adams, starring as the genius in Amadeus.

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HERE’S SOMETHING VERY INTERESTING ABOUT THIS PLAY, IN PARTICULAR,” says Samuel Adams, who plays Mozart in Folger Theatre’s Amadeus. “In Shakespeare, the characters are very open. Somebody's Macbeth is going to be very different from another person's Macbeth. Whereas this play is surprisingly prescriptive. Peter Shaffer spent twenty years writing the script and considers it to be very fixed. So the character, the set, the blocking is very fixed. That's a little limiting, because you feel more like you have to get the character, as opposed to build the character.” On the other hand, continues the 32-year-old, “it's very reassuring, because you know that there's a very specific path to walk.”

The path Adams took to Washington was via New York City. Mozart is his first major role after a year of intensive training at The Academy for Classical Acting, a joint venture between The Shakespeare Theatre Company and the George Washington University. He’s an affable, thoughtful conversationalist, and when asked for his response to Metro Weekly’s review that noted Amadeus is “a flight of historical fancy, [offering] some very unsubstantiated ideas about some very real people,” he offers a strong counterpoint.

“People have made parallels between the fictionalization of a story and fake news,” he says. “I think that’s a really dangerous comparison to make, because fake news is trying to purport an actual historical reality. It’s intentionally trying to deceive people about alternative facts. I don't think that that's what fiction does. When it's a piece of literature, when it's a piece of theater, or a piece of art, it's trying to tell the truth — a human truth, a universal truth — through a story.

“There's a lot of stuff in Amadeus that’s very rooted in what we assume to be historical fact and what we know about Mozart from the evidence of his actual life,” says Adams. “But the biggest fabrication in terms of just throwing history out the window is the relationship between Mozart and Salieri. They were contemporaries, but we don't really know to what extent there was a rivalry between them. We certainly don't have any substantial evidence that Salieri despised Mozart, or orchestrated his downfall or anything like that.”

Still, he says, “there's a lot of evidence that Mozart was a pretty interesting, different kind of guy. There's a lot of evidence he wrote all of these letters to family and friends using weird scatological language, wishing people, ‘Have a great night, and I hope you shit in your bed really hard.’

He'd say like, ‘My dear cousin-wousin, I hope you're having a great evening-weavening,’ and weird stuff like that. He had a pet bird at one point, a starling that somebody gave him. He was obsessed with it, and he would write little bits of music for it and try to get it to sing it. When it died, he made all of his friends come to a big funeral that he threw for the fucking bird.

“What Peter Shaffer did, I think, was take a lot of those little germs of historical evidence and then use them to expand upon a character that is the full-rounded, very dynamic, very, very unusual character we see in the play.” —Randy Shulman Amadeus runs through Dec. 22 at the Folger Theatre, 201 East Capitol St. SE. Tickets are $42 to $95. Call 202-544-7077 or visit www.folger.edu.

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DECEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

Craig Wallace returns for his fourth year as the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge in Ford’s Theatre’s cherished annual production of the Dickens Yuletide classic. It really wouldn’t be Christmas in Washington without this music-infused adaptation, conceived by Michael Wilson and directed by Michael Baron. Also featured in the production are Stephen F. Schmidt as Jacob Marley, Rayanne Gonzales as the Ghost of Christmas Present, Justine “Icy” Moral as the Ghost of Christmas Past, Gregory Maheu as Bob Cratchit, and Yesenia Iglesias as Mrs. Cratchit. To Jan. 1. 511 10th St. NW. Call 800-982-2787 or visit www.fordstheatre.org.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL: A GHOST STORY OF CHRISTMAS

Olney presents the 10th anniversary run of the one-man portrayal of the Dickens classic by Paul Morella, who bases his adaptation on Dickens’ original novella and reading tour. To Dec. 29. The Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney, Md. Call 301-924-3400 or visit www.olneytheatre.org.

AIRNESS

Billie Krishawn stars as Nina, who discovers there’s more to air guitar than playing pretend when she enters an air guitar competition. Christina A. Coakley directs the D.C. premiere of Chelsea Marcantel’s comedy also featuring Dani Stoller, Drew Kopas, Harrison Smith, Chris Stezin, Gary L. Perkins III, and Forrest A. Hainline IV. The show is a co-production between Keegan Theatre and Virginia’s 1st Stage, where it runs through Dec. 29. 1524 Spring Hill Rd., Tysons.

Tickets are $42. Call 703-854-1856 or visit www.1ststagetysons.org.

AMADEUS

Genius and jealousy collide in 18th-century Vienna as the mediocre Antonio Salieri does everything in his power to destroy his musical rival, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Folger Theatre offers a production of Peter Shaffer’s Tony Award-winning play directed by Richard Clifford and featuring a 13-person cast led by Ian Merrill Peakes as Salieri and Samuel Adams as Mozart. To Dec. 22. 201 East Capitol St. SE. Tickets are $27 to $85. Call 202-544-7077 or visit www.folger.edu.

DISNEY’S NEWSIES

A band of underdogs become unlikely heroes when they stand up to the most powerful men in New York in this musical featuring a score by Alan Menken and Jack Feldman and a book by Harvey Fierstein, and based on a 1992 film that initially bombed at the box office. Molly

Smith puts her stamp on the show in a production at Arena Stage. To Jan. 12. Fichandler Stage in the Mead Center for American Theater, 1101 6th St. SW. Call 202-488-3300 or visit www.arenastage.org.

wright extraordinaire, Charles Busch (Die Mommie Die, The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife). To Dec. 21.

The Robert B. Moss Theatre, 1300 Altamont Ave. Richmond. Call 804346-8113 or visit www.rtriangle.org.

EDWARD ALBEE’S OCCUPANT

COMMUNITY STAGE

Susan Rome stars as the renowned sculptor Louise Nevelson, a Jewish immigrant from Russia who became a pioneer for free-thinking women everywhere. Aaron Posner directs a Theater J production of a late-career masterpiece by the gay, multiple Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. To Dec. 8. The Aaron and Cecile Goldman Theater in the Edlavitch DCJCC, 1529 16th St. NW. Call 202-777-3210 or visit www.theaterj.org.

HARD TIMES

Another adaptation of a Charles Dickens classic, this one finding four versatile actors playing all the roles. Chelsea Mayo, Sue Struve, Steven Carpenter, and Brit Herring star in the Washington Stage Guild production. To Dec. 8. Undercroft Theatre of Mount Vernon United Methodist Church, 900 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Tickets are $40 to $50. Call 202-900-8788 or visit www.stageguild.org.

SINGING IN THE RAIN

The greatest movie musical of all time comes to life on stage, rain and all, in an Olney Theatre production directed by Marcos Santana and choreographed by Grady McLeod Bowman. To Jan. 5. Mainstage at 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney, Md. Call 301-924-3400 or visit www.olneytheatre.org.

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME

What begins as an investigation into the grisly death of a neighbor’s dog results in a remarkable coming-ofage journey for a 15-year-old. Ryan Rilette and Jared Mezzochi direct a Round House Theatre production of this recent Broadway hit. To Dec. 22. 4545 East-West Highway, Bethesda. Tickets are $50 to $60.

Call 240-644-1100 or visit www. roundhousetheatre.org.

THE SNOW QUEEN

Virginia’s Synetic Theater offers a whimsical, movement-driven adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson’s beloved fairy tale, directed by Ryan Sellers and adapted by Emily Whitworth. To Dec. 29. 1800 South Bell St., Arlington. Call 800-494-8497 or visit www.synetictheater.org.

TIMES SQUARE ANGEL

Billed as a “hard-boiled Christmas fantasy,” the LGBTQ-focused Richmond Triangle Players offers a parody of Frank Capra Christmas classics — everything from A Christmas Carol to It’s A Wonderful Life — by the drag parodist play-

THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH

Susan Nanus offers a stage adaptation of the children’s fantasy adventure by Norman Juster about a 10-year-old boy and his faithful watchdog traveling to Lands Beyond. Jon Gardner directs a community production for the Greenbelt Arts Center starring Harper Chadwick as Milo and Findley Holland as Tock the watchdog. Weekends to Dec. 15. 123 Centerway. Greenbelt, Md. Tickets are $22 to $24. Call 301-441-8770 or visit www.greenbeltartscenter.org.

MUSIC BILL KIRCHEN & TOO MUCH FUN: A HONKY TONK HOLIDAY SHOW

"Daddy's Drinkin' Up Our Christmas,” “Silent Surfin’ Night,” “Truckin’ Trees for Christmas,” and “Santa Looked A Lot Like Daddy” are just a few of the far-from-traditional seasonal songs to be performed at this annual show led by “dieselbilly” guitarist Bill Kirchen, one of the founders of the rootsrock Americana movement and an inductee of the Washington Area Music Association Hall of Fame.

Accompanied by bass player Johnny Castle and drummer Jack O’Dell, this year’s holiday show boasts veteran steel guitarist Junior Brown as a special guest. The setlist will not be, to cite the show’s official notice, all “holiday songs of questionable taste; you can count on a truckload of dieselbilly classics to take the edge off the holiday fuss.” Sunday, Dec. 15, at 7:30 p.m. 3701 Mount Vernon Ave. Tickets are $35. Call 703-549-7500 or visit www.birchmere.com.

BLUE DOT JAZZ TROUPE

Rooted in the music of New Orleans, this modern rhythmic jazz ensemble mixes in blues, funk, Afro-Cuban, and pop to bring the signature American music genre to life in new and dynamic ways, with the intention of getting audiences moving and dancing. And since this past summer, they’ve been doing it three nights a week, performing live at Kramerbooks’ Afterwords Café, in the back of the venue, where patrons can enjoy late-night food as well as a host of literary-inspired cocktails and over 20 craft beers on tap. Thursdays from 9 to 11 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays from 10 p.m. to midnight. 1517 Connecticut Ave. NW. Call 202-387-3825 or visit www.kramers.com.

DECEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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BOHEMIAN CAVERNS JAZZ ORCHESTRA: A BOHEMIAN CHRISTMAS

Its namesake U Street venue may have shuttered several years ago, but the 17-piece big band, led by baritone saxophonist Brad Linde and trumpeter Joe Herrera, lives on — at least for special occasions.

The Atlas Performing Arts Center in the H Street Corridor offers the next special, helping the ensemble, founded by Linde almost 10 years ago, revive its popular holiday show. Monday, Dec. 16, at 8 p.m.

Sprenger Theatre, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets are $15 to $35. Call 202399-7993 or visit www.atlasarts.org.

LUCY DACUS

GINDERB3ARD MEN

A witty yet soft-spoken young singer-songwriter from Richmond who describes herself as “kind of queer” comes back to the area for a late Saturday night headline show at the 9:30 Club. Saturday, Dec. 7. Doors at 10 p.m. 815 V St. NW. Call 202-2650930 or visit www.930.com.

PROM KING

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Marty Thomas gets in a romantic mood with his new album, Slow Dancing with a Boy.

ROWING UP IN THE ’90S IN A CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIAN HOUSEHOLD IN small-town Missouri, Marty Thomas might have wished to grab the boy he was attracted to for a spin across the school dance floor, but, he says, “I just didn't see a possibility where somebody could live so truthfully. And so I did what so many LGBTQ teens do, and they find somebody of the opposite sex to go to a school dance with and they do their best to have a good time.

And they just sort of live in a world where that's the best they can hope for.”

Even after departing the Midwest for New York City, Thomas — known for stints on Broadway in Xanadu and Wicked, and for his precocious success on Star Search, where he took the 1992 Junior Vocalist title over a then-unknown Britney Spears — remained mostly closeted. “When I moved to New York, casting directors and agents and everybody I would encounter were constantly reminding gay men to butch up,” he recalls.

“I remember there were classes...that were for gay men on how to read straighter so that you could get work in musical theater, which is insane that there was ever a time that musical theater would ask gay men to do anything other than show up. But it was a thing and it was difficult.”

Thomas persevered, with the help and mentorship of his older sister, Julia, who is gay, and his friend and fellow actor Billy Porter. “He was just very vocal with telling me, ‘Just do you, be yourself, and people will catch up eventually.’”

The singer did eventually find his voice, both personally and professionally, and returns with his second album, Slow Dancing with a Boy, a collection of celebrated love songs and heartfelt mashups, like “Dancing on My Own All By Myself,” a tender fusion of Robyn’s “Dancing on My Own” with “On My Own” from Les Miserables. Inspired by an article Thomas stumbled upon that recounted the happy story of two boys who went together to prom, the project became part of Thomas’ path to just doing him.

“This album was taking some of those songs that would pop into my head that brought back memories of school dances in middle school and high school and college, rearranging them and recording them to kind of place them more firmly in the light for me, rather than dark memories of what those experiences could have been. [It] was a project of self-healing that just kept developing, and manifested itself in a full album of music that I'm so excited to share with people.”

—André Hereford Slow Dancing with a Boy will be available for purchase on Friday, Dec. 6, at www.broadwayrecords.com and www.amazon.com, and will be available on most streaming services.

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DECEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

NATIONAL PHILHARMONIC: HOLIDAY SINGIN’ POPS

Luke Frazier of the American Pops Orchestra serves as guest conductor for this year’s seasonal offering from Strathmore’s resident orchestra, which will accompany a roster of talented soloists putting fresh spins on traditional and beloved holiday songs. Ali Ewoldt from Broadway’s Phantom of the Opera, Hilary Morrow of New York’s legendary Birdland Jazz Club, international vocalist Kevin Rose, and tap dancer Addalie Burns will all play a part in the program also featuring the National Philharmonic Chorale. And the audience will join in for a seasonal sing-along or two.

Friday, Dec. 6, at 7:30 p.m. The Music Center, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. Tickets are $29 to $69. Call 301-581-5100 or visit www.strathmore.org.

CHORAL ARTS SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON: SONGS OF THE SEASON

Scott Tucker leads the local vocal ensemble along with Brandon Straub in its annual run of holiday shows at the Kennedy Center. Soloist Kristina Lewis, mezzo-soprano, will join the Choral Arts Chorus and the Choral Arts Youth Choir to perform holiday carols and seasonal classics. Sunday, Dec. 15, at 8 p.m, Monday, Dec. 16, at 7 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 21, at 1 p.m., and Tuesday, Dec. 24, at 2 p.m.

Concert Hall. Tickets are $15 to $72.

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

THE WASHINGTON CHORUS: A CANDLELIGHT CHRISTMAS

Artistic Director Christopher Bell directs the annual “A Candlelight Christmas,” featuring the 130-voice chorus singing familiar carols and holiday songs accompanied by the National Capital Brass ensemble plus organ, plus

DECEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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audience sing-alongs, and a candlelight processional. Saturday, Dec. 14, at 8 p.m. Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda.

Also Sunday, Dec. 15, at 1 and 4 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 22, at 8 p.m. Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Tickets are $19 to $82. Call 202-342-6221 or visit thewashingtonchorus.org.

DANCE

SHEPPARD FERGUSON

THE WASHINGTON BALLET: THE NUTCRACKER

COMMUNITY REVELATIONS

I

The Washington Revels engender a sense of community among people while celebrating the holidays.

F THERE’S ONE WORD THAT COULD DEFINE THE WASHINGTON REVELS, IT’S COMmunity. “We want to make it a welcoming place for everybody to come with their families and friends,” says Roberta Gasbarre, the group’s artistic director. Certainly, the organization has become a tradition in her family, and she singles out her daughter’s experience to highlight its welcoming nature.

“My daughter, who is 35 and now living in Boston, is [transgender], came up through Revels, and was totally accepted as part of the community all the way through Revels,” she says. “We really are, and always have been, a place where people find community no matter who they are.”

That sense of community is one key distinction Gasbarre highlights compared with other organizations. “Are we a community theater? I think we're a community-based theater,” Gasbarre says.

“Some people argue with the word theater.... That's why I call ourselves a performance community. We come together as community to perform together.

“Especially around this time of year, people seek some sort of meaning, and oftentimes the modern holiday celebrations just don't give that meaning,” she continues. “But at the Christmas Revels, it's the simple things that kind of make people feel the spirit of the seasonal celebrations, whatever you're actually celebrating. This year we get to celebrate all sorts of things, including Hanukkah and the idea of the solstice, and we all come together from wherever we're from, vastly different backgrounds, but by the end of the evening we feel this kind of unity of community because we've sung together. We reveled together, if you will.”

This year’s multicultural Christmas Revels show is called “Celestial Fools” and features “a troupe of traveling players who introduce themselves as the sun, the moon, and the stars” to a group of peasants whose village they stumble upon. “The kind of meta-story is the way that Eastern arts and culture infused and enlightened the Western world.” These traveling players join the 100-person chorus plus brass quintet and traditional band at Lisner Auditorium, where there’s never a dull moment. “Even our intermissions are a party,” Gasbarre says, noting that the show’s musical ensembles set up to play holiday music in the lobby between acts.

Although the Christmas Revels is the flagship production, the Washington Revels puts on shows and engages in other activities throughout the year, ranging from a Madrigal group to an AfricanAmerican acapella group. And there are plenty of opportunities even if, like Gasbarre, you don’t sing.

“I don't sing, and they want me not to sing,” she says. “But if you don't sing, come craft with us, come walk in the parades with us. Bring children and do nature walks. We really do have activities for everybody.” —Doug Rule The Christmas Revels perform Celestial Fools over the next two weekends beginning Saturday, Dec. 7, at 2 and 7:30 p.m., at GW Lisner, The George Washington University, 730 21st St. NW. Tickets are $17 to $65. Call 202-994-6851 or visit www.revelsdc.org.

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DECEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

The Washington Ballet’s former artistic director Septime Webre first staged his twist on the family favorite 14 years ago, setting it in D.C.’s historic Georgetown neighborhood with George Washington as the titular figure and King George III as the Rat King. To Dec. 29.

Warner Theatre, 513 13th St. NW. Call 202-889-5901 or visit www. thewashingtonballet.org.

COMEDY THE SECOND CITY: LOVE, FACTUALLY

The seasonal satire from the cleverly twisted minds of the legendary improv/comedy company returns to the Kennedy Center for another holiday run. The show, as you might surmise from the production’s title, is a parody of a certain nauseating yet popular movie. Expect original comedy, music, improv, and audience participation. To Dec. 29. Kennedy Center Theater Lab. Tickets are $49 to $79. Call 202-4674600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

READINGS & DISCUSSIONS THE ATLANTIC: HOW TO STOP A CIVIL WAR

Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic (what’s with that appalling redesign?), leads a discussion centered around the magazine’s special December issue with writers Yon Appelbaum, Caitlin Flanagan, and Adam Serwer. The focus, as suggested by the provocative title, is on American unity and division at the dangerous political moment we find ourselves in. As the first sentence to the official listing puts it, “There is no guarantee that the American experiment as we know it will continue forever.” Monday, Dec. 9, at 7 p.m. Sixth & I Historic Synagogue. 600 I St. NW. Tickets are $18 to $20. Call 202-4083100 or visit www.sixthandi.org.

ART & EXHIBITS ARTY QUEERS: D.C.’S LGBTQ+ ART MARKET

The DC Center for the LGBT Community offers the chance for local LGBTQ and queer-identified artists to showcase and sell their

DECEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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JUDY CHICAGO: THE END-A MEDITATION ON DEATH AND EXTINCTION

Through nearly 40 works of painted porcelain and glass, as well as two large sculptures, famed artist and feminist icon Judy Chicago reflects on her own mortality while appealing for compassion and justice for all earthly creatures affected by human greed. The National Museum of Women in the Arts is the first venue to feature this new series, executed in the bold graphic style that has become Chicago’s hallmark — stark images as a visceral antidote to a culture that prizes youth and beauty, and often ignores the suffering of other creatures.

Grouped into three sections, The End features works that personify the five stages of grief, ruminates about the artist’s own demise, and offers a visual catalog of species endangered by the action, or inaction, of humans. To Jan. 20. 1250 New York Ave NW. Admission is $10. Call 202-783-5000 or visit www.nmwa.org.

FAKE PRESIDENT: DECODING TRUMP’S GASLIGHTING, CORRUPTION, AND GENERAL BULLSH*T

Mark Green and Ralph Nader, two of America’s bestknown public advocates, offer what they intend as a “onestop shop that explains what the Lyin’ King means to our democracy.” Written by Green, a bestselling author and former elected Public Advocate and Consumer Commissioner of New York City, and Nader, the founder of Public Citizen and former third-party candidate for president, the guide aims to help readers understand the two biggest news stories of the coming year: the impeachment and the 2020 presidential election. The two will discuss the book with Busboys & Poets owner Andy Shallal. Monday, Dec. 9, at 6 p.m. Busboys & Poets, 2021 14th St. NW. Call 202-387POET or visit www.busboysandpoets.com. works on the second Saturday of every month, including Dec. 14, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Prospective art buyers can expect to see original artworks in a range of media, including painting, pottery, photography, jewelry, glasswork, textiles, and clothing. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. Call 202-682-2245 or visit www.thedccenter.org.

BOBBI PRATTE: RESCUE ME

Run by the Northern Virginia Fine Arts Association, the Athenaeum in Old Town presents an exhibition of works by a local painter reflecting on her personal sense of feeling a need to be rescued from our challenging times. Many of Pratte’s oil paintings capture daily scenes near her home in the Lake Barcroft area of Fairfax County. Now to Dec. 29.

201 Prince St., Alexandria. Call 703548-0035 or visit www.nvfaa.org.

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BONNARD TO VUILLARD: THE INTIMATE POETRY OF EVERYDAY LIFE

Over 60 rarely seen works by a leading group of European post-impressionist artists who worked together in the 1890s under the name the Nabi Collection, a transliteration of the Hebrew word for prophet.

Pierre Bonnard, Édouard Vuillard, Maurice Denis, Aristide Maillol, Paul Ranson, Ker-Xavier Roussel, and Félix Vallotton are all represented in this temporary exhibition at the Phillips Collection, which ranges from painting and prints to stained glass to ceramics, and showcases how the Nabis used flat colors, decorative patterning, and silhouetted forms to convey their responses to the world. To Jan. 26.

The Phillips Collection, 1600 21st St. NW. Tickets are $12. Call 202387-2151 x247 or visit www.phillipscollection.org.

DECEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

PAT STEIR: COLOR WHEEL

The entire perimeter of the Hirshhorn’s second-floor inner-circle galleries has been transformed into a vibrant spectrum of color. A commission of a 79-year-old New York-based painter and printmaker, this nearly 400-linear-foot-long, site-specific exhibition features 30 large-scale abstract canvases creating an immense color wheel shifting hues with each painting. To Sept. 7, 2020. Hirshhorn National Museum of Modern Art, Independence Avenue and Seventh Street SW. Call 202-633-1000 or visit www. hirshhorn.si.edu.

RE/SEEN: PHOTOGRAPHY

BY JASON HOROWITZ

Ballston’s Fred Schnider Gallery of Art presents a “then and now” look, showing how a local artist’s interests in abstraction and representation have continued yet evolved with changes in technology. The world has been deconstructed and re-imagined in Horowitz’s still-life and landscape photographs through the use of two innovative photographic techniques. In particular, his newer works are immersive abstract landscapes developed using the Photo Sphere/Street View app and his smartphone’s camera, thus subverting and manipulating the normal process for creating panoramas. To Dec. 21. 888 N. Quincy St., Ste. 102, Arlington. Call 703-841-9404 or visit www.fredschnidergalleryofart.com.

SHALL NOT BE DENIED: WOMEN FIGHT FOR THE VOTE

The Library of Congress tells the story of the largest reform movement in American history, the 72-year campaign for women’s suffrage that culminated in the pas-

sage and ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution exactly one century ago. Now to Sept. 2020. Southwest Gallery in the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St. SE. Call 202-707-8000 or visit www.loc.gov/exhibits.

ABOVE & BEYOND DOWNTOWN HOLIDAY MARKET

Over 150 artisans rotate among sixty tents set up on two blocks in the heart of downtown. Now in its 15th year, the holiday market offers a vast, eclectic, and international assortment of gifts and souvenirs, collectibles and wearables — from prints and photographs, to pottery and glassware, to custom jewelry and accessories. Each day also brings free staged concerts by local musicians, and options for food and non-alcoholic drink. Daily from noon to 8 p.m. to Dec. 23. Located on F Street between 7th and 9th Streets NW. Visit www.downtownholidaymarket.com.

NATIVE ART MARKET AT AMERICAN INDIAN MUSEUM

This weekend, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian hosts its 14th annual market with works by more than 35 Native artists from across the Western hemisphere. Navajo Dancers perform throughout the day, while on display will be traditional and contemporary works of art and craft, including silver and semiprecious jewelry, ceramics, apparel, handwoven baskets and beadwork, dolls, paintings, prints and sculpture.

Saturday, Dec. 7, and Sunday, Dec. 8, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Independence Avenue at 4th Street SW. Call 202633-1000 or visit www.nmai.si.edu.

SUGARLOAF HOLIDAY CRAFTS FESTIVAL

The annual Sugarloaf Crafts Festival, featuring 11 different events taking place across the country throughout the year, is considered one of the top craft experiences in the U.S. The festival returns to Virginia’s Dulles Expo Center for a holiday show styled as your last chance of the year to find gifts sold by the makers themselves, over 300 of them from around the country in total. Offerings include functional and decorative pottery, sculpture, glass, jewelry, fashion, leather, wood, metal, furniture, home accessories, and photography.

Friday, Dec. 6, and Saturday, Dec. 7, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 8, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 4320 Chantilly Shopping Center Drive, Virginia. Admission is $8 to $10 per day. Call 703-378-0910 or visit www.sugarloafcrafts.com. l

SMALLBONES, VIA WIKIMEDIA

theFeed

INDEFENSIBLE ARGUMENT T

New Jersey State Capitol

New Jersey Assembly unanimously approves banning “gay panic” defense. By John Riley

HE NEW JERSEY STATE ASSEMBLY VOTED last week to prohibit the use of “gay panic” or “trans panic” defenses in murder cases. The Democrat-run house voted 73-0 to pass the bill, which prevents defendants from downgrading charges of murder to manslaughter by arguing that discovering a victim’s LGBTQ identity was justification for them to act out violently.

“Nobody should ever be excused for murder because their victim is either gay or transgender,” Michele Jaker, a board member for Garden State Equality, told NJTV News.

“We consider it legal malpractice when it comes up. But when you have an attorney whose client is being accused of murder, you will look for any defense that can be used. So we would like to see it off the books.”

Assemblyman John McKeon (D-West Orange), the bill’s sponsor, compared its passage to other pro-LGBTQ measures, including the legalization of marriage equality and the passage of a bill banning conversion therapy, calling it a

“proud moment” for New Jersey.

The bill also got the stamp of approval from Minority Leader Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield), who called it a “significant piece of legislation.”

The bill now heads to the Senate, where it is expected to be approved, and then to the desk of Gov. Phil Murphy (D), who is expected to sign it into law.

The American Bar Association, which has endorsed eliminating the use of “gay panic” defenses, says that eight states — California, Illinois, Rhode Island, Nevada, Connecticut, Maine, Hawaii, and New York — have already banned the practice, which it calls a form of discrimination, and hopes other states will follow suit.

“It must be noted that gay/trans panic is not an affirmative legal defense; it is a tactic to strengthen the defense by playing on prejudice,” the ABA said in a statement earlier this summer. “It has, however, been used to not only explain a defendant’s actions, but to excuse them as well.” l

PROBLEMATIC PARENTING

A

Florida father abandoned son on highway because he might be gay. By Rhuaridh Marr

MAN IN FLORIDA HAS BEEN ARRESTED AFTER abandoning his son on the side of a highway because he suspected the boy is gay. Evenaud Julmeus, 30, has been charged with three counts of child abuse after stopping on a highway in Haines City, Fla., and telling his son to get out of the car, Bay News 9 reports.

According to a police affidavit, the boy said that his

father believes he is gay because he found him “watching male pornography on his cell phone.” He told the boy to pack a bag because he was taking him to the local police department to be rehomed.

Instead, Julmeus stopped on U.S. Highway 27, told the boy to get out of the car, and drove off, police say, leaving the child without money or a means of contacting anyone.

DECEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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theFeed she reportedly tried to find him. Julmeus fled the house, leaving two other children alone, before police could arrive.

He was later arrested and charged with three counts of negligent child abuse without bodily harm. l

ALBIN OLSSON

Someone spotted the boy being abandoned and informed police, with the responding officer finding the boy alone and in tears.

After the boy’s mother discovered what had happened,

NUL POINTS

Wurst

Hungary pulls out of Eurovision Song Contest for being too LGBTQ-friendly. By John Riley

H

UNGARY HAS PULLED OUT OF THE 2020 Eurovision Song Contest due to the contest’s LGBTQ-friendly nature. While no official reason was given for the withdrawal, sources within Hungary’s state-owned public broadcaster MTVA believe the decision is due to a rise in homophobic rhetoric stemming from the Hungarian government’s right-wing lurch and its emphasis on promoting traditional values.

In previous years, MTVA hosted its own song contest, with the winner going on to represent Hungary in the continent-wide contest. But last month, the broadcaster announced that the country’s in-house contest would instead focus on the hit of the year.

That announcement was considered a signal that Hungary was planning not to compete in the upcoming 2020 contest, something confirmed last week when the list of competing countries was released.

A source at MTVA told The Guardian that staff believe the decision to withdraw was due to Eurovision’s proLGBTQ attitudes, which conflict with MTVA’s policy of discouraging positive coverage or portrayals of LGBTQ individuals or LGBTQ rights.

That follows a report by Hungarian website index.hu last week that claimed Hungary had withdrawn because Eurovision was perceived as “too gay,” and that a pro-government commentator had even called Eurovision a “homosexual flotilla.”

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has denied those claims, but has not offered any other explanation. However, Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party has made its stance against homosexuality and embrace of “traditional values” well known.

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DECEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

Other government officials have not been shy in expressing their contempt for homosexuality — earlier this year, László Kövér, the speaker of the Hungarian parliament, compared same-sex adoption to pedophilia. And Deputy Speaker István Boldog called for a boycott of Coca-Cola after the company launched an advertising campaign for a local music festival using photographs of a gay couple.

This is also not the first time that Eurovision has been criticized for embracing LGBTQ representation. In 2014, a Russian legislator attempted — and failed — to cancel the broadcast in Russia on the grounds that it “propagandizes homosexuality,” thus putting it into conflict with Russia’s controversial anti-gay propaganda law.

Russian politicians also went into an uproar after Conchita Wurst, an Austrian singer and drag queen, won Eurovision that same year, with some calling for a boycott of the contest for promoting homosexuality or portraying it in a favorable light.

Despite that bluster, Hungary’s withdrawal is the first time a country has pulled out over social issues. Some have withdrawn over financial worries or geopolitical issues, only to return later.

Now in its 65th year, the 2020 contest will be hosted in Amsterdam and feature 41 countries, including Bulgaria and Ukraine, who are returning after a one-year hiatus.

The European Broadcasting Union, which runs the contest, told The Guardian that “it is not uncommon for EBU members to have breaks in participation in the Eurovision song contest.”

“We hope to welcome their broadcaster MTVA back to the Eurovision song contest family soon,” the EBU said in a statement. l

Community FRIDAY, DEC. 6

For more information, visit www.thedccenter.org.

GAY DISTRICT, a group for

FCPS PRIDE, a professional,

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

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

2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105.

Visit www.gaydistrict.org.

advocacy and social group for FCPS employees, both LGBTQ and allied, as well as LGBTQ students and parents, holds a coffee house social. All ages welcome. Look for the people with rainbow stickers upstairs! 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Breeze Bakery Cafe, 4125 Hummer Rd., Annandale, Va. For more information, visit www.fcpspride.org.

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.

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

HIV TESTING at Whitman-

Walker Health. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at 1525 14th St. NW. For an appointment, call 202-7457000 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 703823-4401. www.kiservices.org.

METROHEALTH CENTER

offers free, rapid HIV testing.

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

PROJECT STRIPES hosts LGBTaffirming social group for ages 11-24. 4-6 p.m. 1419 Columbia Road NW. Contact Tamara, 202319-0422, www.layc-dc.org.

SATURDAY, DEC. 7 CENTER GLOBAL, a group that

advocates for LGBTIQ rights and fights against anti-LGBTIQ laws in more than 80 countries, holds its monthly meeting at The DC Center. 12-1:30 p.m.

2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105.

MBRPHOTO

Weekly Events

PERFECT FITS

TranSwap provides a space for trans people to find gender-affirming outfits without having to break the bank.

W

HEN TRANS PEOPLE ARE UNDERGOING A social transition, it's very expensive to buy new clothes,” Jamison Crowell, executive director of the DC Area Transmasculine Society. “Trans folks are disproportionately low-income, and buying a new wardrobe is expensive.

So we take donations from the entire community, look for clearances, bargains, anything we can to find the clothes we want.”

For the third year, DCATS will host TranSwap, an event that is part-clothing drive, part-swap meet, and specifically geared towards trans individuals. This year, the organization has partnered with local LGBTQ community center and services organization Casa Ruby to expand the reach of the swap to serve transfeminine individuals and include items beyond just suits and other workplace attire.

Because men’s and women’s clothing pieces are sized differently, someone undergoing a transition may not know their size, and may be reticent to ask for help from a store clerk, unsure of how they will be treated. To allay those fears, DCATS has trans-affirming volunteers on hand to help with measurements and provide on-site alterations so that participants can find the look they want in a size and style that will flatter their individual body types.

During the swap, DCATS and Casa Ruby will be running a binder exchange, where transmasculine individuals who have since undergone top surgery can donate their old binders for reuse.

Because clothes at the TranSwap are not divided by gender, anyone can bring an item to be swapped or repurposed, or can find a look that suits a certain need — whether for a professional setting, a casual get-together, or a night on the town.

“It’s really just an opportunity for people to be able to get the clothes that they want and not have the anxiety that comes along with going into a gendered section of a department store,” says Crowell. “That’s the thing that we’ve heard from participants in the past: that they understand the sizing of clothing and feel much more comfortable going into a more public place to shop after they’ve come to a swap.” – John Riley DCATS and Casa Ruby’s TranSwap is Sunday, Dec. 15 from Noon to 3 p.m. at the Eaton Hotel, 1201 K St. NW. If you wish to donate clothes prior to the day of the event, please drop them off at Casa Ruby, 7530 Georgia Ave. NW, by Dec. 13 or make an appointment to drop them off at DCATS, 55 M St. NE, by emailing jcrowell@ dcats.org. Visit www.dcats.org or www.casaruby.org.

Join AGLA, the nonpartisan LGBTQ community organization of Arlington and Alexandria, for its annual HOLIDAY PARTY, where the winners of the 2019 Equality Awards will be honored. This year’s award recipients are Jordan Cosen and IMPACTO LGBT. Casha and raffle prizes available. No cover charge for dues-paying members, $10 cover for non-members.

Tickets available via www. eventbrite.com. Please bring boxes of cereal or nonperishable food items to donate to the Arlington Food Assistance Center. 6-9 p.m. 2020 Richmond Hwy., Arlington, Va. For more information, visit www.agla.org.

Watch the DC ROLLERGIRLS as they host a holiday-themed exhibition bout, competing as Yetis vs. Snowmen, at the Rockville Sportsplex. Open to the public. Doors open at 4 p.m., wheels roll at 5 p.m. 60 Southlawn Ct., Rockville, Md. For more information, visit www.dcrollergirls.com.

Weekly Events DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a

practice session at Montgomery College Aquatics Club. 8:3010 a.m. 7600 Takoma Ave., Takoma, Md. For more information, visit www.swimdcac.org.

DC FRONT RUNNERS running/ walking/social club welcomes runners of all ability levels for exercise in a fun and supportive environment, with socializing afterwards. Route distance will be 3-6 miles. Walkers meet at 9:30 a.m. and runners at 10 a.m. at 23rd & P Streets NW. For more information, visit www. dcfrontrunners.org.

SUNDAY, DEC. 8 ADVENTURING outdoors

group hikes 8 easy-to-moderate miles along the Seneca Creek

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Greenway Trail near Poolesville, in upper Montgomery County, Md. Bring beverages, lunch, sturdy, mud-worthy boots, and about $6 for fees. Carpool at 9:15 a.m. from the Rockville Metro Station. For more information, contact David, 240-9380375, or visit www.adventuring.org.

CHRYSALIS arts & culture group

visits National Museum of Women in the Arts to see a show on Women Artists of the Dutch Golden Age, plus a collection of the latest works

by Judy Chicago. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors. Lunch in neighborhood follows. Meet at 12:30 p.m. near the box office inside the main entrance at 1250 New York Ave. NW. For more information, contact Craig, 202-462-0535 or craighowell1@verizon.net.

LAMBDA SCI-FI holds a monthly

meeting and social for LGBTQ scifi, fantasy, and horror fans. Bring snacks or non-alcoholic beverages to share. Meeting starts at 1:30 p.m.

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

Weekly Events LGBT-inclusive ALL SOULS

MEMORIAL EPISCOPAL CHURCH

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

DIGNITYUSA offers Roman

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

ST. STEPHEN AND THE INCARNATION, an “interracial,

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

UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH OF SILVER SPRING

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

MONDAY, DEC. 9 Join LGBTQ people from around the D.C. area for a biweekly BOARD GAME NIGHT, hosted by a local Board Gamers Meetup group. 6-9 p.m. Panera Bread, 1350 Connecticut Ave. NW, basement level. For more information, visit www.meetup.com/DC-LGBTBoard-Gamers.

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

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

Weekly Events DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a

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

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

HOPE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST welcomes GLBT commu-

DC’S DIFFERENT DRUMMERS

Join LINCOLN

CONGREGATIONAL TEMPLE – UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST for

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

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

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

DECEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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

FIRST CONGREGATIONAL UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST wel-

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

Visit www.hopeucc.org.

22

NATIONAL CITY CHRISTIAN CHURCH, inclusive church with

welcomes musicians of all abilities to join its Monday night rehearsals.

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

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

DCDD.org.

The DC Center hosts COFFEE

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

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

US HELPING US hosts a black

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

Visit www.ushelpingus.org.

WASHINGTON WETSKINS WATER POLO TEAM practices 7-9

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

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

p.m. 410 7th St. SE. For more information, contact Dana White, 202567-3156, or visit www.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. www.ushelpingus.org.

TUESDAY, DEC. 10

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 11

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

BOOKMEN DC, an informal men’s

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

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

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

gay-literature group, discusses Christopher Castellani’s novel, Leading Men, at the Cleveland Park Library. All are welcome to attend. 7:30 p.m. 3310 Connecticut Ave. NW. Visit www.bookmendc. blogspot.com.

LAMBDA BRIDGE CLUB meets at

The Dignity Center for Duplicate Bridge. No reservations needed.

Newcomers welcome. 7:30 p.m. 721 8th St. SE (across from the Marine Barracks). Call 202-841-0279 if you need a partner.

LEZ READ, a book discussion group focusing on works by lesbian and queer-identified authors, meets at Politics and Prose on the second Wednesday of each month. 7:3010:30 p.m. 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW, downstairs coffee shop. For more information, visit www.meetup.com/Lez-Read.

TRANSDIMENSIONAL is a

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.

trans-inclusive-only support group that discusses politics, love, health, and entertainment, with assistance from community leaders such as doctors, lawyers, and life coaches. 6-8 p.m. Us Helping Us, 3636 Georgia Ave. NW. For more information, visit www.uphil.org.

DC FRONT RUNNERS running/

THURSDAY, DEC. 12

Weekly Events

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.

OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS

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

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

Support group for LGBTQ youth ages 13-24 meets at SMYAL. 4-7

The DC Center’s LGBTQ FIRST

RESPONDERS AND MILITARY SERVICE MEMBERS SUPPORT GROUP seeks to help active duty

military members, Reservists, and present or former firefighters, EMTs, and law enforcement officers. Due to the sensitive nature of this group, discussions, names, and attendance will be kept confidential. 7-8:30 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit www.thedccenter.org.

WEEKLY EVENTS DC LAMBDA SQUARES, D.C.’s

LGBTQ square-dancing group, features an opportunity to learn about and practice various forms of modern square dancing. No partner required. Please dress casually. 7:30-9:30 p.m. National City Christian Church, 5 Thomas Circle NW. For more info, call 202930-1058 or visit www.dclambdasquares.org. l

DECEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

23

Unwrapping

Taylor Mac The MacArthur Genius grantee on new show Holiday Sauce, gender creativity, and the lies of Donald Trump.

T

Interview by André Hereford

AYLOR MAC DARES TO LEAD AUDIENCES directly to the heart of matters, often via the most fabulously scenic route. Take, for example, the performance artist’s epic A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, a comprehensive, Pulitzer-listed theatrical trip across 240 years of American culture and identity, expressed through songs that reflected and defined eras. In the show’s complete iteration, Mac performs nearly an hour for each decade, staging an eye-popping “Radical Faerie-realness ritual sacrifice” that spans four separate shows, and 246 songs, over a fortnight. New York Times critic Wesley Morris, who witnessed the play’s original, 24-hoursstraight presentation, described A 24-Decade History as “one of the great experiences of my life.”

Mac seems to relish the journey as much as arriving at some great destination. That searching quality peeks out of Mac’s recent Tony-nominated comedy Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus, starring Nathan Lane, as well as trans-themed play Hir, about a dysfunctional family struggling through myriad forms of transition. It’s true in conversation, too, that renegade Mac, who prefers the pronoun “judy,” takes a thoughtful, yet joyfully unconventional approach to getting right to a sharp point, whether discussing how life has changed since being awarded a $625,000 MacArthur Genius Grant in 2017, or musing on how to transform oppressive feelings of holidays past into a madcap rite of celebration.

“We were making A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, and I was doing all this research,” Mac says, recounting the 24

DECEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

LITTLE FANG

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origins of the now-annual, extra-spicy Christmas pageant Taylor Mac’s Holiday Sauce, playing one night only, Thursday, Dec. 12, in the Kennedy Center Opera House. “I discovered through that research a lot of holiday songs, and where they come from within our history. And then I thought, ‘Oh, maybe I'll make a whole decade of holiday songs.’ And then I scratched that idea, but I still had all these arrangements. So I thought, ‘Why don't we make a separate show?’ And I was making that, and I was unhappy. I was like, ‘Why am I doing this?’ Because there are so many holiday shows. Why does the world need one more holiday show?”

At the time, Mac was grieving the death of drag mother and pioneering LGBTQ activist Mother Flawless Sabrina. “I decided to make a show about her through the lens of the holidays, because she always had a holiday party every year when I moved to New York. It was kind of a queer orphans holiday party. And it was the first time I'd ever hung out on Christmas and had a good time. So I just said, ‘Why don't I make a show that celebrates my drag mother?’ And that's what we ultimately are doing. We're sneaky about it. So, it’s framed like a holiday show, but it's really about Mother Flawless Sabrina.”

Mac also attributes a share of the show’s artistic inspiration to costume creator Machine Dazzle, music director Matt Ray, and Pomegranate Arts — “two amazing women” Linda Brumbach and Alisa E. Regas — the producers of Holiday Sauce and 24-Decade. Gratefully acknowledging that behind each award-winning theatrical undertaking toils “a big, huge family [of] about 200 that are involved in the making of all of this stuff,” Mac sounds just as excited to point out that the family will be adding at least one more for the Kennedy Center performance of Holiday Sauce. “Ari Shapiro's joining us for a guest spot. He's the best. He's so dear. And we have a few other surprises in store.”

METRO WEEKLY: Historically, what has been your relationship to

Christmas and the holiday season?

TAYLOR MAC: My connection to it has been that I grew up in a relatively dysfunctional family, and the holiday time never felt good to me. One, because there was homophobia with family.

And then consumerism. So it was this kind of religion that always felt homophobic, and then this consumerism that felt oppressive, and not the way that I wanted to celebrate community and friends and loved ones. It was buying things. So I've always felt like, "Oh god, you’ve just got to hunker down and get through the holidays." And I think a lot of people feel that way. But recently in the last few years, I've been trying to make art that doesn't just comment on the world, or doesn't just wish for the world to be different, or complain about the world, but actually manifests the world that you want to live in through the work. So I decided to make a holiday show that was fun for me, where I get to hang out with my chosen family every year, and that offers an alternative to people. And maybe people who love the holidays, because I love holiday music. I just don't like the content of most of the songs.

MW: So the show celebrates the seasonal mood more than it satirizes it?

MAC: Yeah. I'm an artist, so I'm always going to challenge the status quo. That's the job of the artist to a degree. And so satire isn't really my bag. It's not that I don't use satire every so often.

But it's not really my sweet spot. So it's more that I like to celebrate things, and I like to find the things within something that aren't worthy of celebration. Acknowledge that it's not worthy of celebration. And then find the thing that isn't in it that is worthy of celebration. Well, religious, homophobic dogma is not worthy 26

DECEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

of celebration. But pretty chords, those are worth celebration.

And a nice melody. So how can we take the things that are dysfunctional, and transform them into something that works for us? That's more what I do.

MW: And also some of it is just really great music.

MAC: I mean, “Silent Night” is incredible. But can you transform the spirit of it so it's really about paying attention to [what it’s about]? In some ways, it is about this outsider, the original song is about somebody who wasn't part of the status quo. And of course, now Jesus Christ has become the status quo. So that is the status quo now. But at the time, the spirit of it was, “Oh, there was this outsider.” So what is that today? Well, I would say it's Mother Flawless Sabrina. So let's focus on Mother Flawless Sabrina as a way to get to the true spirit of the song.

MW: Is that a way of saying that Jesus would have been an activist and not a Republican?

MAC: Yeah. I mean, yeah, of course.

MW: Seems some folks forget that.

MAC: It seems that they do. I mean, we could have this conversation for hours and hours and hours. The religious Trump supporters have proven themselves to not actually be Christians.

But that's a whole 'nother conversation.

MW: Actually, that leads me to your play Hir, which I saw at Woolly Mammoth. The play’s mother character, Paige, represents the idea of someone experiencing a radical political awakening.

It's an ideological transition that implies a belief that people can change radically, even though these days it feels less and less possible that people can change that way. How much do you believe in awakenings?

MAC: Epiphany is part of our way of life. I mean, everybody has them, everybody has some kind of epiphany in their life. And most people have many. So I do believe in change. I've certainly changed in my life. I'm very different from what I was raised to be. I was just listening to a woman on the news, or on NPR, who was a liberal who then got swept up in the white nationalist movement, and became a leader in that, and then realized how screwed up it was, and changed again! So obviously people can change. And in terms of gender, I think it's fabulous when somebody changes their gender, and then they change it back, and then they change it again. It's like, go for it. Life is short. Mix it up. Be a bunch of different things.

MW: There's also generally some emotional journey behind change like that that has nothing to do with politics. As was the case in Hir. Paige went on this ideological journey, but a lot of it had to do with the emotions of dealing with abuse.

MAC: Often times we don't see clearly. And there's a certain kind of assuredness about Americans, where we value knowing things. Even if we don't know, we will perform that we know. And there seems to be a kind of status from declaring knowledge. Even when everyone knows you don't have the knowledge, we still gain status by declaring that we do. The brag is more important to us than the actual knowledge. I mean that's obvious because our president is that. But we all have it as Americans. There's something ingrained in probably capitalism that demands that. So I think when you're performing that you know something, and then the rug gets pulled out from under you, and you find your way to humility and you realize you don't actually know, it really can change you if you actually embrace that. And those are my favorite kind of people.

MW: You're describing something so graceful. It's hard to find that grace.

MAC: I think that's what happens to Paige. She gets a little crazed about it. But that's what happens to her. She thought she knew

LITTLE FANG

“I go to the MacArthur gathering of all the winners. I'm talking to a woman who invented a machine that has saved thousands of women's lives. She says, ‘And what do you do?’ AND I’M LIKE, ‘WELL, I GLUE ON EYELASHES.’” how to live a life, and then suddenly.... I was really writing about a particular kind of gender-based healing. A particular kind of assuredness. And how can we incorporate doubt into our lives more? That's really what a lot of the question of Hir is, can we bring more doubt into our lives? And that's kind of the question of all my work, because I'm grappling with the assuredness of being an American as much as everybody else.

MW: On the subject of gender transition in Hir, the play’s character Max prefers pronouns “ze” and “hir.” I'm curious how you arrived at the word “judy” as a personal pronoun for yourself. Beyond Judy Garland, what about that word applies to you and your identity?

MAC: Well, I mean everyone always assumes it's Judy Garland, which is fine with me. I don't mind that.

MW: Sorry, I'd read that.

MAC: People write about that all the time. They're like, “It comes from Judy.” And I'm like, “Well, they didn't ask me. They just assumed.” It actually comes from gay men — before most people were out of the closet, they would use Mary and Judy to talk

about their boyfriends when they were in public. It was code. So I just thought, “Well, that's a nice way to take that back, and have it be about my gender pronoun.”

It also comes from Punch and Judy. And I won't deny Judy Garland. I'm a big fan of Judy Garland, so it's not that it's not in there, but I wanted something to make people pause. I wanted something that made my heart feel light when people use it. And it's an activist pronoun in the sense that, if you judge it and you roll your eyes, it immediately emasculates you. So you can't roll your eyes and say “judy” without being camp. Again, it's that thing of can you manifest the world that you want to live in, rather than just comment on it, or wish for the world? Can I create a gender pronoun that does the thing that I want the world to be, that transforms the user as much as me? So that's why I chose it. My friend who's transgender said that you know you've chosen the right pronoun when people use it, and it makes you happy. And it does. Even when they're snarky about it, it makes me happy.

MW: So much of that code language of the closet — terms like "friend of Dorothy," and "my best Judy" and "Mary" — it would be a shame to lose that. Or will we just have to let it go?

MAC: No, I don't think we have to let it go. We just transform it. It just means something different now. Friend of Dorothy is just fun to say now, instead of this shameful thing. Now it's transformed into something that's sweet. I always make fun of young people who are upset about the word "tranny," because they're not upset about the word “queer.” And the argument that they use about not using the word tranny is that it's often the last thing people hear when they're beat up, which I [understand] that. That's awful, so I don't use the word anymore. But meanwhile, those same people that advocate for not using the word tranny all want to use the word queer. Well, queer was the last word that older people heard when they were being beat up.

So I make fun of the younger generation because they're the best in the world in terms of, "We will leave no one behind."

They're so adamant, we will leave no one behind, except for old people. They're happy to sacrifice old people. The last thing I heard when I was first beat up was, "Don't look at my sister ever again." [Laughs.] So I kind of go, "Well, whatever.” I find it's all interesting. Of course, I have some judgment on everything, and I also have some celebration for everything.

MW: Code words, or pronouns, I feel like it all goes back to being a matter of respect. A friend and I were just talking about using "they" in the singular form.

MAC: Yeah, I don't like that one. I mean, I use it. Whatever people tell me they want me to use for themselves, then yes. It is about respect. Even bigger than respect, it's about stretching towards another human being. It's healthy for you to stretch towards somebody else, and to consider somebody else, and to get out of your own thinking. So when someone says how they want to be identified, that's how I identify them. But I don't really personally want “they” or “them,” because I don't think it's creative enough, frankly. And I feel like it's adhering to normative culture in order to be accepted by normative culture. It's like trying to appease the pedants while also still annoying them. So I don't know. I just think, can't we come up with something that's more interesting than they or them? I mean, can't you choose your own? I think, “We’re queer. Can't we be more creative?”

MW: I would advocate for ze and hir. Those are good ones.

MAC: Well, those are old. Those started in the ’70s, and they've been around for decades, but they never really caught on in a major way. And so they are kind of dated, which I like in my play Hir, because it feels like these are people that don't have access DECEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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to the community as much as they would like, and so they get their information in different places, and they're creating their own definition of how it all works.

MW: Changing gears, I wanted to ask about the MacArthur Grant.

I'm curious, what is the impact to one's ego upon being awarded something called a Genius grant?

MAC: What is the impact on my ego? I may not be a genius, but I am smart enough to know that I should never call myself one.

[Laughs.]

MW: Stable or unstable.

MAC: Right? Stable or unstable. It's certainly flattering, it gives you access to things you didn't have access to before.

Counterbalances a lot of judgment that you get when you wear high heels and you have hairy legs. There's a lot of dismissal, and so then they say, “Oh, that's a MacArthur winner.” Then people go, “Oh, well. I guess I have to take those hairy legs and those high heels seriously.” But at the same time, it's not that difficult to be humble about it, because I go to the MacArthur gathering of all the MacArthur winners. I'm talking to this volcanologist — she's studying a volcano that could end all life on the planet. She says, “What do you do?” I say, “Well, I wear high heels and I have hairy legs.” Then I talked to another woman who invented a machine that has saved thousands of women's lives. She says, “And what do you do?” And I’m like, “Well, I glue on eyelashes.”

MW: Technically speaking, what were your goals for using the grant?

MAC: I'm just trying to be really smart with it. I don't know if it's smart. But I've been lucky enough to know a few people who have won them over the years, and older people who didn't invest the money and stuff. One man I know who's always been financially strapped. And some people, that's just how they can create. They have to sleep on a couch in order to make things.

MW: I know people like that.

MAC: Yeah. I mean, I think they're amazing, and really inspirational. For me, I thought I don't want to have to write grants for the rest of my life. At least individual grants. I'll have to make grants for the work itself. But if I invest the money, and assuming the economy doesn't crash — and it could — but if I invest the money, then I get a return every year. So then it's like getting a grant every year, instead of just for this little period of time. So I'm trying to be as smart as I can with it.

MW: Well, congratulations on the MacArthur.

MAC: Thank you. It does change your life. I mean, financially I knew that it would change my life, but also, the access it gives you is very bizarre. It's strange. And at the same time, some people don't even know anything about it. So there you go.

MW: Speaking of access, this year Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus was on Broadway. When you started in your career as a performer and writer, did you ever foresee a Taylor Mac show on Broadway?

MAC: Oh yeah, absolutely. I grew up in suburban California, so what we knew of theater back then before the internet was Broadway. That's it. That's all we thought theater was. So when

I said I want to be a theater artist, that's what I meant. And it took some years to kind of deconstruct that and figure out alternatives. But it was always part of the goal. I didn't really want to do something I didn't like on Broadway. I didn't want to do something I didn't think was helping the world be a better place.

But yeah, that's what I wanted. Now, you know, I want it less than I did certainly as a kid. But I still think it's a really interesting place to work. I hopefully will work in that kind of milieu again at some point.

MW: Broadway is expensive in a way that limits access. What audience did you have in mind when you were writing, knowing how expensive a ticket could be?

MAC: Well, a strange thing about Broadway is that actually the play ran longer than any of my other plays have run. Even though it ended its run two weeks earlier than it was supposed to, so people had framed it like it failed. It actually ran longer than any of my other plays. There were almost a hundred performances — that's a lot for a play, I think. Especially from someone from downtown who came from only having 16 performances of things. So I was like, "Whoa, this is a lot.” And the other thing is that because it wasn't like a Hamilton hit or something like that, there were cheap tickets. You could see it for $40. So a lot of people saw it for $40, and a lot of people went back and saw it again and again. So it actually had much more access than less — at least, that was my experience of Broadway.

People that would never come to see my work came. And that is tricky in a way. I always liked having people that are surprised by the work in the audience. But then, when there's more of them than the other, it can change the energy and the narrative in the room about how to experience the work, or listen to it. So that was interesting to learn.

MW: Another show I want to talk about is A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, which I guess you got to see change on tour, where you did an abridged version?

MAC: Well, on tour we do it very differently. Sometimes it's abridged. When we brought it to the Kennedy Center, we did the abridged version. But sometimes on tour, we do four six-hour shows over the course of two weeks. That's how we've been touring it. And sometimes we do it just as a two-hour show that is just abridged. So it's always in a different kind of configuration. But we were just in Berlin doing four, six-hour shows over two weeks.

MW: What is the mental preparation for that? I think everybody can understand that it requires physical stamina, but mentally, to be on for two hours or significantly more, how do you get into the headspace for that?

MAC: I kind of live like a monk when we're doing the durational versions. The abridged version, I can go out and have fun with people after the show. Depends on how intense the tour is, you know. If I've got eight shows a week, I couldn't do that. I couldn't go out after it. But if it's just four shows in a week, then I could go out after.

If it's a durational show, to do a six-hour show and do that

“Before most people were out of the closet, they would use Mary and Judy to talk about their boyfriends when they were in public.

It was code. So I just thought, ‘THAT’S A NICE WAY TO TAKE THAT BACK, AND HAVE IT BE ABOUT MY GENDER PRONOUN.’”

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DECEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

four times over a two-week period, plus all the [tech rehearsals] and everything, I have to live like a monk. So basically I am at the hotel, at the theater, at the hotel, at the theater. I take care of myself and do the best I can to keep my body and my voice healthy. But you want to keep your spirit happy too, so you've got to try to have fun sometimes.

MW: How do you keep it fun if you have to maintain this sort of ascetic state?

MAC: I tour with my family, so breakfast is fun. I’m in it for the hang, I love hanging out with people. I love hanging out with the collaborators and the artists, and the audience too. I just try to find places where I don't have to shout, because your ears get tired too.

So you don't want to be in too loud of places when you're doing these durational shows. But I don't know. I just have fun. The shows are really fun. It feeds my soul. It's a good life, even if it's just hotel, theater, hotel, theater. That's a really good life.

MW: From your point of view, how much does the visual presentation anchor what it is that you have to do on stage?

MAC: Well, I think that aesthetics are part of the politics, but also the ethics, of our work. And it's a core principle that surprise is part of everything, so the aesthetics help with that. I mean they are a major element in surprise, and opening people's hearts and brains, and passions.

So they're a major part of it. I see a lot of theater that is so well written, and with interesting ideas. And yet, then you'll just see them in khaki pants and a button-down shirt. I just go, “Okay, well, that's great. Thanks for stopping the vision.” You know, “Thanks for allowing corporate America to control your aesthetics.” You can see the most anti-capitalist thing, and they'll be wearing corporate clothes on stage.

Or even, we went to the anti-capitalist march, the queer alternative march for queer pride, and they had put out this thing that everyone wear black and stuff. So [costume designer and collaborator] Machine Dazzle and I were the only two people that I saw dressed up really in kind of very queer, phantasmagorical, original costuming, or aesthetic or activism. Aesthetic as activism. And everyone else was wearing black T-shirts and black pants, which of course they bought from a corporation. So I was like, “Wait, it's the anti-capitalism march, and everyone is supporting corporations with their clothing choices, and promoting corporations.” They're all wearing H&M T-shirts. It just was so unconscious as far as I was concerned.

MW: That gets to, as you were saying, performing the knowledge, as opposed to breaking down what you do and don't know.

MAC: Yeah. It's like, can we just keep asking questions? It's Socratic. Can we ask questions? How do we live a virtuous life in an unvirtuous world? And can we keep asking that question again and again and again and again, until we get closer, we inch our way to it? And then when we think we know, then we've got to ask more questions because the chances are, we don't if we think we do.

MW: A final question on what we think we know about the impeachment inquiry. It’s a perfect example of people being able to look at

one thing, and see many different versions of truth. Has anything that you have seen in the last few weeks of following it changed your mind? Or has it reinforced what you thought you knew?

MAC: I mean, it's an interesting way to frame it, and this is how the conversation is being framed, is to say, “Has your mind changed? And if it has, then that means you're open. And if it hasn't, then that means you're part of the problem.” [Laughs.]

It’s interesting, because I hear it being framed that way a lot.

And I would just say that listening to people testify with facts and details, listening to people testify details — you know, God is in the details — that is about an expansion. It's not necessarily about epiphany, right? It's about expanding our understanding of this process, and how things have played out.

Has it changed my mind? That's like saying I'm supposed to believe one side, or I'm polarized. And no, it hasn't changed my mind. I think that Trump is bad for our country. And I still think he's bad for our country. But again, when you ask the question, how do you live a virtuous life in an unvirtuous world? Obviously there's an unvirtuous governance that is happening. That's not really debatable. It just is.

MW: Except that people are debating it.

MAC: No, no, no, they're lying. That's different from debating. It's a performance of lies. I mean, c'mon, really?

They're just lying, and they know they're lying, we know they're lying.

Everybody knows they're lying. And that's not a debate. That is a performance. But the question of how to live a virtuous life within an unvirtuous world, that's what I keep going back to, to listen to these people testify and say, “Okay, well, I tried this way. I tried to report it to my superiors. I tried to talk to the press about it. I tried to just keep my head down and do my job. I tried...." How they're experimenting with trying to be virtuous, I think is inspiring and fascinating, and it just makes me want to consider the ways even more. I guess that's what I'm getting out of the impeachment hearing more than anything, because I know he's bad for our country. He just is.

It's not debatable.

MW: I appreciate your answer. Now, to my very last question: How, or where will you spend the holidays this year?

MAC: Well, I'm spending it with some queer friends, and with some queer family. And I'm on tour with my other wonderful queer family, doing the holiday songs. That's what we're doing for most of December. And then the actual holidays, my husband [Patt Scarlett] and I just chill out. We don't tend to make a ritual out of it because so much of our lives is the ritual of performance.

And sometimes it's nice just to chill out. l

“I make fun of the younger generation because they’re the best in the world in terms of, ‘We will leave no one behind.’

They’re so adamant, we will leave no one behind, except for old people. THEY’RE HAPPY TO SACRIFICE OLD PEOPLE.”

Taylor Mac’s Holiday Sauce plays Thursday, Dec. 12, at the Kennedy Center Opera House. Tickets are $39 to $129. Call 202467-4600, or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

Holiday Sauce also plays December 7 and 8, at Modlin Center for the Arts in Richmond, Va. Tickets are $50. Call 804-289-8980, or visit www.modlin.richmond.edu.

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Gallery

B

Oh! Christmas Tree!

ACK IN OCTOBER, THEA KANO, ARTISTIC DIRECtor of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, approached Tony Prestridge with a special request. A member of the chorus for nine years, Prestridge is often utilized by the LGBTQ cultural organization for his design skills, especially around the time of its annual holiday concert.

“I've got a project for you,” said Kano. “I want a Christmas tree.” “How big do you want it?” asked Prestridge. “As big as you can make it,” came the response.

The resulting tree towers seven feet tall and incorporates a lavish gown, fashioned from green satin laid over a massive hoopskirt. It comes complete with sequins, a Victorian-style headpiece, and an abundance of fir tree branches, but no

lights. “We don’t do lights,” says Prestridge. “We tried that about five years ago. It became very heavy.”

Prestridge isn’t the only designer creating stylishly elaborate, often whimsical costumes for The Holiday Show — the job is simply too big for one person. So he’s joined by fellow chorus-mates Jeffrey Hollands, who is devising the outfits for the GMCW’s dance troupe, and Gary Turner. But the tree provides this year’s holiday core, and the 54-year-old Prestridge, a government worker by day, is hoping it will have the requisite merry impact.

“The biggest joy for me is seeing the garments on stage and hearing not only the chorus but the audience react,” he says.

“I call it the ‘gay gasp.’” —Randy Shulman

The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington’s The Holiday Show is Saturday, Dec. 7, at 7 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 14, at 2 and 4 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 15, at 2 p.m. At the Lincoln Theatre, 1215 U St. NW. Tickets are $35 to $65. Call 202-328-6000 or visit www.gmcw.org.

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UNIVERSAL PICTURES

Movies

Ride or Die

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Bad first dates can’t get much worse than the one in stylish couple-on-the-run romance Queen & Slim. By André Hereford

HE TITLE PAIR IN QUEEN & SLIM ( ) BECOME OUTLAWS, BUT they’re not bad people. She’s an idealistic defense attorney, an “excellent” lawyer by her own estimation. He’s a charitable, God-fearing fellow who doesn’t drink, and prizes his family above all else. Young soul rebels, they come to be known as Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith) and Slim (Daniel Kaluuya), but start out as just two wisecracking Tinder daters, sizing each other up over a diner dinner. Then they’re pulled over by a very bad cop (played by country music star Sturgill Simpson), the stop ends in gunshots, the cop is killed, and the couple flees for their lives.

Someone calls them the “black Bonnie & Clyde,” but if we’re searching for true forebears, Thelma and Louise better fit the bill. Like the road-tripping outlaws in that Oscar-winning feminist drama, Queen and Slim can reasonably claim self-defense.

And their cross-country getaway represents a righteous resistance against an oppression both older and more treacherous than the cop that stopped them. The film, an auspicious debut feature from television and music video director Melina Matsoukas (Insecure), wields the pair as avatars in a fight far bigger than Queen and Slim.

That doesn’t mean these otherwise bright, responsible young people don’t make dumb, impulsive moves along the way. Yet, as news of their crimes, and their cause, are spread by the media and internet, they’re soon regarded as folk heroes by some. They encounter criminals eager to help them, and law-abiding folks who’d rather not. The script, by Lena Waithe, based on a story co-written with A Million Little Pieces author James Frey, savvily puts folks of all political and racial persuasions in their path, to argue for and against each potential misstep. One law enforcement officer even appears to believe them when they say they acted in self-defense. Queen isn’t inclined to put much stock in appearances, though.

The filmmakers clearly do understand the importance of aesthetics in creating mythic outlaws. Cinema since Little Caesar, through The Wild One and, of course,

Bonnie & Clyde has profited from audiences’ tastes for anti-heroes who talk hot and look cool. Given Matsoukas’ proven eye for color, space, and composition (exhibit A-Z: Beyoncé’s “Formation”), it’s to be expected that the film presents this duo on the run as chic and charismatic examples of black man and womanhood.

Supplied with their own blistering soundtrack of fresh hip-hop and R&B, including Ms. Lauryn Hill’s anthemic “Guarding the Gates,” Queen & Slim seem maybe a bit too ready-made for mass consumption. And Waithe doesn’t shy away from using the characters to expound on a checklist of woke talking points, or stage provocations like the incongruous protest that breaks out on the streets of a rural Georgia town where Queen and Slim make a stop for car repairs.

For the sake of subtlety and truth, the film can rely on Get Out Oscar nominee Kaluuya, whose levelheaded alertness and deadpan comic timing transmit Slim’s every fear and discomfort. His and Turner-Smith’s performances bounce off each one another believably as the two strangers bond to become partners-incrime, and they complement one another in those moments meant to drive suspense. Turner-Smith’s performance, on its own, registers a fairly flat journey from Queen’s initial curtness towards warmth and openness. Arriving at their dinner

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date nursing profound hurt and outrage over a loss she’d experienced at work earlier that day, Queen reveals herself to be a nearly superhuman badass, and Turner-Smith, also making her feature film debut, doesn’t fully animate this complicated woman’s shifts in attitude. Although, she does credibly put across Queen’s conviction that surrender is off the table.

Matsoukas connects pockets of intense foreboding and bloody gun violence that capture the gravity of what the fugitive lovers have gotten themselves into — but the movie can occasionally

peter out in those interludes between major flashpoints. Strong supporting turns by Benito Martinez, Flea, Chloë Sevigny, Pose’s Indya Moore, and a fast-talking Bokeem Woodbine help keep the tension from going too slack, while providing the chorus of wisdom or street knowledge, aid or reproach that connect each episode in Queen & Slim’s mad dash for an airstrip by the sea. If they make it, they’ll be legends, if they don’t they’ll be infamous, and either way, according to Queen, the state shouldn’t get to decide whether they live or die. l

Queen & Slim is rated R, and is now playing in theaters everywhere. Visit www.fandango.com.

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C. STANLEY

Stage

Problem Solving

A seamless lead performance is just one of many revelations in Round House’s production of The Curious Incident. By André Hereford

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HE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME (HHHHH) pulsates with the vitality of a story being told practically in real-time. It’s a powerful effect of playwright Simon Stephens’ choice to frame his adaptation of the acclaimed 2003 Mark Haddon novel — a coming-of-age narrative seen from the perspective of central character 15-year old Christopher Boone (Harrison Bryan) — as a reenactment of Christopher’s writing relayed by one of the boy’s teachers, Siobhan (Tessa Klein).

Consequently, Christopher, who manages, despite his self-described “behavioral problems,” to be a brilliant mathematician and problem-solver, is active both in shaping and performing his part in the drama that’s reported in the title. From numerous angles, as Christopher attempts to solve a dastardly case of canicide on his normally quiet suburban block, the play puts us inside the teen’s head. And Round House’s striking production, led by Bryan’s vivid turn as Christopher, casts his singular experience in moving, physical terms. The show skillfully evokes the reality of a kid who relates to the world differently, loses his mother, then his sense of security, and, struggling, applies his diligent, compulsive personality towards tracking down the killer of his neighbor’s beloved dog, Wellington.

Departing not far from the expressive method of prior major productions, including the Tony-winning Broadway version, co-directors Ryan Rilette and Jared Mezzocchi visualize Christopher’s tale against a vibrant backdrop of geometric shapes and patterns. Set designer Paige Hathaway has erected a wall of tightly-packed, movable cubes, building blocks of a composite screen that displays projections of Christopher’s alternately lucid or troubled thoughts, theories, and calculations. The kinetic cocktail of Andre Pluess’ sound design, Sherrice Mojgani’s atmospheric lighting, and chalk-drawn projections designed by Mezzocchi serve as a dazzling extension of the storytelling, and of Bryan’s embodiment of the role.

Having also performed the role in a 2017 Pioneer Theatre Company production in Salt Lake City, Bryan, for all intents and purposes, seems to bring only Christopher to the stage. The character is, as he himself would admit, a handful. He reacts violently to being touched, and has a difficult time accepting variations in his

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C. STANLEY

routine. But Bryan finds his genial self-awareness, and conveys the junior sleuth’s infectious enthusiasm for getting to the bottom of things. By the same token, he portrays the less appealing aspects of Christopher’s tenacity with an honesty that sells how important it is for Christopher to somehow reconcile himself with his shattered family — grieving dad, Ed (Cody Nickell), and his dearly missed mom, Judy (Tonya Beckman).

Nickell and Beckman, playing a husband and wife operating from opposite sides of life, though sharing the common goal of

their son’s wellbeing, balance the light and hurt that both cross the boy’s path. Nickell turns Ed tightly inward, save for the discernible pall of regret that hangs over the man, and the tenacity we might recognize in his son. In her take on mother Judy, Beckman supplies an affinity for sometimes difficult Christopher that answers many of the questions the story raises about what’s happened to Judy before she ever shows up in this dramatization. The performance registers a patient caregiver’s facility at responding to the idiosyncrasies of her incredibly bright son.

Within the story of Christopher’s evolution, Judy evolves too, in a compelling and meaningful fashion, as does the production itself, abetted by an able ensemble of actors — Maboud Ebrahimzadeh, Laura C. Harris, Eric Hissom, Kathryn Tkel, Cody Leroy Wilson, and a wonderful Kimberly Schraf — in multiple featured roles.

Rilette and Mezzocchi, and choreographers Colette Krogol and Matt Reeves, founders of the Orange Grove Dance Company, orchestrate the various encounters and collisions along the remarkable journey with an elegance that belies Christopher’s often gut-wrenching coming-of-age.

It all meshes with the elegant blueprint Stephens’ script provides for the production, capturing both the unsettling mystery at the center of Haddon’s novel and this unforgettable adolescent detective dead-set on solving the case. Like any great investigator, his mind and his methods are his greatest strengths.

And in boldly confronting his so-called weaknesses, he teaches as much as he learns. l

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time runs through Dec. 22 at Round House Theatre, 4545 East-West Highway, in Bethesda. Tickets are $32 to $88. Call 240-644-1100, or visit www.RoundHouseTheatre.org.

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NightLife Photography by Ward Morrison

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Scene

Mr. & Ms. DC Eagle Contest - Saturday, Nov. 23 - Photography by Ward Morrison See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene

DrinksDragDJsEtc...

Thursday, December 5 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 5pm-2am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Live televised sports DC EAGLE $4 Rail and Domestics for guys in L.U.R.E. (Leather, Uniform, Rubber, Etc.) • Lights Dimmed at 8pm FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Karaoke, 9pm-close GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • Shirtless Thursday, 10-11pm • Men in Underwear Drink Free, 12-12:30am • DJs BacK2bACk

NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Beat the Clock Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • $15 Buckets of Bud Products all night • Sports Leagues Night NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover • ThurSlay, featuring DJ Jack Rayburn, 10pm 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

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 40

SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • Half-Priced Bottles of Wine, 5pm-close TRADE Doors open 5pm • XL Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass is served in an XL glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine only $5 ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS All male, nude dancers, 9pm-close • “New Meat” Open Dancers Audition • Music by DJ Don T. • Cover 21+

Friday, December 6 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 5pm-3am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Live televised sports DC EAGLE Meaty Fridays Happy Hour 5-9pm • Free Hot Dogs all night and Pizza at 7:30pm • $2 off all drinks until 9pm • $5 Cover starts at 7pm, $10 after 9pm • Birds of Prey Drag Show at 10:30pm • Open until 3am 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 • District 1st Fridays: Jocks and Leather

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

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Party, 10pm-close • All Body Types Welcome • Underwear attire encouraged but not required • Music by DJ Tryfe • GoGo Dancers • $10 Cover • $5 Margaritas and $8 Long Islands NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Open 3pm • Beat the Clock Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • Buckets of Beer, $15 • Weekend Kickoff Dance Party, with Nellie’s DJs spinning bubbly pop music all night NUMBER NINE Open 5pm • Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover • Friday Night Piano with Chris, 7:30pm • Friday Night Videos, 9:30pm • Rotating DJs 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 • Live Music by Milly, 9pm TRADE Doors open 5pm • XL Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass is served in an XL glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine only $5 • Otter Happy Hour with guest DJs, 5-11pm ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS Men of Secrets, 9pm • Guest dancers • Rotating DJs • Kristina Kelly’s Diva Fev-ah Drag Show • Doors

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

at 9pm, Shows at 11:45pm • Music by DJ Jeff Eletto • Cover 21+

Saturday, December 7 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 2pm-3am • Video Games • Live televised sports AVALON SATURDAYS @Soundcheck 1420 K St. NW KINETIC, featuring DJ Blacklow, 10pm-close • Opening set by DJ TWiN • $20 Cover, $25 VIP • Drag Show, 10:30-11:30pm, hosted by Ba’Naka and a rotating cast of drag queens • $4 Absolut Drinks, 10pm-midnight • 21+ • Pub Crawlin’ for

Tots makes a stop by its sponsor bar as part of its 11th annual pub crawl DC EAGLE Open at 5pm • Happy Hour until 9pm • Hummer Dance Party in the Eagle’s Nest, 10pm-4am • Music

by DJs Chaim, Ultrapup, and Pup Phoenix • $25 cover 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

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 DECEMBER 5, 2019 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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and ‘90s Dance Party, 9pm-close • Music by DJ Darryl Strickland • No Cover NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Drag Brunch, hosted

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

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PITCHERS Open Noon-3am • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm • Special Late Night menu till 2am SHAW’S TAVERN Brunch with $16 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 • Noche Latina, 11pm-2am • Food and Drink specials TRADE Doors open 2pm • XL Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass is served in an XL glass for the same price, 2-10pm • Beer and wine only $5

ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS Men of Secrets upstairs, 9pm-close • Fully nude male dancers • Ladies of Illusion Drag Show with host Ella Fitzgerald in Ziegfeld’s • Doors open at 9pm, Show at 11:45pm • Music by DJs Keith Hoffman and Don T. • Cover 21+

Cruisy Sundays • $3 off all Whiskeys & Bourbons, $5 Chivas Regal, $15 bottomless Bud/Bud Light, $20 Bottomless Premium Drafts

at nelliessportsbar.com • House Rail Drinks, Zing Zang Bloody Marys, Nellie Beer and Mimosas, $4, 11am-1am • Buckets of Beer, $15 • Guest DJs

FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Fabulous Sunday Champagne Brunch, 10am-3pm • $24.99 with four glasses of champagne or mimosas, 1 Bloody Mary, or coffee, soda or juice • Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Piano Bar, hosted by John Flynn, 6-9pm • Karaoke, 9pm-close

NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 2-9pm • $5 Absolut and $5 Bulleit Bourbon, 9pm-close • Multiple TVs showing movies, shows, sports • Expanded craft beer selection • Pop Goes the World with Wes Della Volla at 9:30pm • No Cover

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

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

DC EAGLE Open at Noon • Happy Hour until 9pm • Food served 4-7pm, $10 a plate • Cigar Sundays and

NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Drag Brunch, hosted

by Chanel Devereaux, 10:30am-12:30pm and 1-3pm • Tickets on sale

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

Sunday, December 8

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SHAW’S TAVERN Brunch with $16 Bottomless Mimosas, 10am-3pm • Happy Hour, 5-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • Dinner and Drag with Miss Kristina Kelly, 8pm • No Cover • For reservations, email shawsdinnerdragshow@gmail.com TRADE Doors open 2pm • XL Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass is served in an XL glass for the same price, 2-10pm • Beer and wine only $5 • GLAM BOX: A Monthly Dress-Up Dance Party, 10pm • Come in a look or find one from our house glam boxes • Walk-

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Off Contest at 10:30pm • Music by Joann Fabrixx, featuring special guest hosts

Monday, December 9 DC EAGLE Manic Mondays • Happy Hour until 9pm, $2 off all drinks • Free Pool play • $2 Bud & Bud Lights, $15 bottomless premium drafts 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

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NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Beat the Clock Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • Buckets of Beer, $15 • Half-Priced Burgers • Paint Nite, 7pm • PokerFace Poker, 8pm • Dart Boards • Ping Pong Madness, featuring 2 PingPong Tables NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 5-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • Shaw ‘Nuff Trivia, 7:30pm TRADE Doors open 5pm • XL Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass is served in an XL glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine only $5

Tuesday, December 10 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 5pm-12am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Live televised sports DC EAGLE 2-4-1 Tuesdays • All Drinks, Buy one, Get one free • First Drink Free for Guys in Jockstraps 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 • Tito’s Tuesday: $5 Tito’s Vodka all night 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

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NUMBER NINE Open at 5pm • Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover PITCHERS Open 5pm-12am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm • Special Late Night menu till 11pm SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • Half-Priced Burgers and Pizzas, 5-10pm TRADE Doors open 5pm • XL Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass is served in an XL glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine only $5

Wednesday, December 11 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 5pm-12am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Live televised sports DC EAGLE Happy Hour until 9pm • Karaoke by D&K Sounds from 9pm-1am • $4 Rails, Wines & Domestic Drafts 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 • Karaoke, 9pm NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR SmartAss Trivia Night, 8-10pm • Prizes include bar tabs and tickets to

shows at the 9:30 Club • Absolutely Snatched Drag Show, hosted by Brooklyn Heights, 9pm • $3 Bud Light, $5 Absolut, $15 Buckets of Beer NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover PITCHERS Open 5pm-12am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm • Special Late Night menu till 11pm SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • Piano Bar with Jill, 8pm TRADE Doors open 5pm • XL Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass is served in an XL glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine only $5 l

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LastWord.

People say the queerest things

“I was also very homophobic because I was like, ‘If I’m gay, I’m completely fucked for eternity’.”

— Coldplay frontman CHRIS MARTIN, speaking to Rolling Stone about questioning his sexuality when he was at boarding school.

“When I went to boarding school I walked a bit funny and I bounced a bit, and I was also very homophobic because I was like, ‘If I’m gay, I’m completely fucked for eternity’ and I was a kid discovering sexuality,” he said, noting that other children would bully him and tell him “you’re definitely gay.”

“[A]lthough we had a good intention, we realized that it was not the right approach.”

— A spokesperson for TIKTOK, speaking to German site Netzpolitik.org, which found that the Chinese-owned company had been limiting the reach of posts from LGBTQ people or with LGBTQ content, as part of alleged attempts to curtail online bullying.

In a subsequent statement to The Guardian, TikTok said it had “long since changed” the policy in favor of a “more nuanced” approach — though Netzpolitik’s documents show the policy was still in place as recently as Sept. 2019.

“That you saw through both sex and sexuality and only saw two people dancing.

It fills my heart with love and my eyes with tears!”

— Professional dancer SILAS HOLST, on Instagram celebrating being part of the first same-sex couple to win Vild med Dans, Denmark’s version of Dancing with the Stars. Holst and gay actor Jakob Fauerby emerged triumphant after obtaining the highest score in four of the show’s nine episodes. “It’s totally crazy and absolutely amazing,” Fauerby wrote on his Instagram.

“Ready, Set, PrEP is a historic expansion of access to HIV prevention medication and a major step forward in President Trump’s plan to end the HIV epidemic in America. ” — HHS Secretary ALEX AZAR, announcing the launch of a national program that will allow uninsured Americans to apply for free access to PrEP — also known as Truvada. Walgreens, Rite Aid, and CVS Health will provide prescription services for the program, however activists say it doesn’t go far enough, as required lab works and clinical care aren’t covered under the initiative.

“This is a direct and vulgar attack against the birth of Christ. ” — Anti-LGBTQ Catholic hate group AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE DEFENSE OF TRADITION, FAMILY AND PROPERTY, in a petition demanding that a theater in Kansas City, Mo., cancel an upcoming performance of “A Drag Queen Christmas,” a touring show featuring stars from RuPaul’s Drag Race. The group accuses the show of “blurring the lines established by God regarding sexuality” and posing “a danger to our children and society.”

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