Arts & Entertainment
Arts briefs: Aug. 24
Events slated for D.C. and Baltimore for the coming week
Out actor Dixon returns to Signature
Signature Theatre presents a performance and book signing by Broadway veteran Ed Dixon for one night on Monday at 8 p.m.
Ed Dixon in ‘Sunset Blvd.’ (Courtesy Signature)
Dixon, who has had a 42-year Broadway career and is openly gay, is performing original compositions and narrating pieces from his memoir “Secrets of a Life Onstage and Off.” His journey takes the audience through his experiences with the likes of Leonard Bernstein and through his darkest period when he suffered from drug addiction.
Tickets are $20. For more information, visit signature-theatre.org.
Gay law group meets in D.C.
The National LGBT Bar Association holds its annual Lavender Law Conference and Career Fair, which ends Saturday, at the Washington Hilton Hotel (1919 Connecticut Ave., NW) this weekend.
The conference and career fair allows candidates to meet with LGBT-friendly recruiters from law firms, government agencies, LGBT rights groups and corporate legal departments. There will also be panel discussions from people in the career field and individual career counseling.
The point to the conference is to promote equality and diversity in government and legal work places. Candidates are encouraged to discuss their identity and recruiters are encouraged to portray their LGBT-friendly workplaces.
Registration fees vary between $185-$620. For more information, visit lgbtbar.org.
Sampson to give Alston House benefit performance
Comedian Sampson performs his show “No Shade … No Tea” in benefit of the Wanda Alston House tonight at 7 at the D.C. Arts Center (2438 18th St., NW).
Sampson is an openly gay black comedian and activist. Though he is D.C. based, he has been touring the country since 2003 and has performed in venues such as Broadway in New York, Arena Stage and DAR Constitution Hall.
The Wanda Alston House is a youth homeless shelter for LGBT youths in the Washington area.
Tickets are $10. For more information, visit sampsoncomedy.com.
Lady Bunny at Town tonight
Lady Bunny
Legendary drag performer Lady Bunny performs tonight at Town (2009 8th St., N.W.) at 10 p.m.
Lady Bunny is known for founding the New York outdoor drag festival Wigstock. She has also been featured in TV shows such as “Sex and the City” and the Comedy Central Roast of Pamela Anderson. She contributes to Star magazine’s Worst of the Week Column and V Magazine named her one of the most notable residents in New York City, along with Marc Jacobs and Lady Gaga.
Cover before 11 is $8 and $12 after. There are also $3 drinks before 11 p.m. For more information, visit towndc.com.
Miss Charm City at the Hippo
Club Hippo (1 West Eager St.) hosts Miss Charm City 2013, an official preliminary to Miss Gay Maryland America, tonight at 10:30.
The event will include a pageant hosted by Miss Gay Maryland 2009 Sue Nami, Miss Gay Maryland 2011 Chi Chi Ray Colby, Miss Gay Maryland 2012 Stephanie Micheals, Miss Gay Virginia 2012 Jazmine Diamond, Miss Gay Atlantic States 2012 Araya Sparxx, Sabrina Sommers and Josie Foster.
Miss Gay America is a pageantry system for female impersonators. In order to qualify for the pageant, contestants must be male and at least 21. No hormones or breast implants are allowed.
General admission is $8 and reserved seating is $10. For more information, visit clubhippo.com or missgayamerica.com.
Grand Central goes Disney
Grand Central (1001/1003 N. Charles St.) presents “Welcom to Disneyland,” a cover performance, with appearances from Former Miss Gay Maryland Su Nami and Sabrina Sommers on Sunday at 9 p.m.
The performance covers the beloved songs and stories from the favorite Disney princesses.
Doors open at 8 p.m. and tickets are $10. For more information, visit centralstationpub.com.
Final Center youth events for summer slated
The Den lounge is opened to LGBT youths for its last weekend of the summer in the Gay and Lesbian Center of Baltimore and Central Maryland (241 W. Chase St.).
The Den includes art making, discussion group and a social club on Saturdays for attendees at the Center. On Sunday, its staff hosts a bike ride and a session on how to make bikes at Velocipede. This is the last weekend the Center will be holding these sessions this summer.
This is a free service for LGBT adolescents and young adults ages 13-24. For more information, visit glccb.org.
‘Dralion’ finishes run this weekend
Yao, the god of fire, in ‘Dralion.’ (Photo by Francois Barebeau; courtesy Cirque du Soleil)
“Dralion,” Cirque du Soleil’s acrobatic show that fuses influences from the East and the West, are running its last performances this weekend at 1st Mariner Arena (201 West Baltimore St.).
The show draws on the 3,000-year-old tradition of Chinese acrobatics combined with the more modern Cirque du Soleil twist.
In the show, the four elements of nature come to life: air is blue, water is green, fire is red and earth is ochre. When they are combined, balance is achieved.
Tickets range from $40-$165. For more information, visit cirquedusoleil.com.
Celebrity News
Madonna announces release date for new album
‘Confessions II’ marks return to the dance floor
Pop icon Madonna on Wednesday announced that her 15th studio album will be released on July 3.
Titled “Confessions II,” the new album is a sequel to 2005’s “Confessions on a Dance Floor,” an Abba and disco-infused hit.
The new album reunites Madonna with producer Stuart Price, who also helmed the original “Confessions” album. It’s her first album of new material since 2019’s “Madame X.”
“We must dance, celebrate, and pray with our bodies,” Madonna said in a press release. “These are things that we’ve been doing for thousands of years — they really are spiritual practices. After all, the dance floor is a ritualistic space. It’s a place where you connect — with your wounds, with your fragility. To rave is an art. It’s about pushing your limits and connecting to a community of like-minded people,” continued the statement. “Sound, light, and vibration reshape our perceptions. Pulling us into a trance-like state. The repetition of the bass, we don’t just hear it but we feel it. Altering our consciousness and dissolving ego and time.”
Denali (@denalifoxx) of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” performed at Pitchers DC on April 9 for the Thirst Trap Thursday drag show. Other performers included Cake Pop!, Brooke N Hymen, Stacy Monique-Max and Silver Ware Sidora.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Arts & Entertainment
In an act of artistic defiance, Baltimore Center Stage stays focused on DEI
‘Maybe it’s a triple-down’
By LESLIE GRAY STREETER | I’m always tickled when people complain about artists “going political.” The inherent nature of art, of creation and free expression, is political. This becomes obvious when entire governments try to threaten it out of existence, like in 2025, when the brand-new presidential administration demanded organizations halt so-called diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programming or risk federal funding.
Baltimore Center Stage’s response? A resounding and hearty “Nah.” A year later, they’re still doubling down on diversity.
“Maybe it’s a triple-down,” said Ken-Matt Martin, the theater’s producing director, chuckling.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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Madonna announces release date for new album
Senegalese court issues first conviction under new anti-LGBTQ law
An effort to increase the number of psychiatrists of color
Comings & Goings
Trump budget targets ‘gender extremism’
Minimal version of ‘Streetcar Named Desire’ heading to Dupont Underground
