Arts & Entertainment

Calendar: Events through Nov. 15

Parties, concerts, exhibits and more for the coming week

Published

11 years ago

November 8, 2012

Erin Durkin

‘Palace of Tears II Revisited,’ by artist Peter Karp, is on display now at Studio Gallery

TODAY (Friday)

The Speakeasy Shorts Film Challenge begins tonight at 7 at the U.S. Navy Memorial Heritage Center (701 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.). The challenge lasts five days to write, shoot and edit a film based on eight local storytellers. Tonight is the first night the filmmakers will be learning which story they are assigned after the storytellers regale the audience. The competition ends Nov. 16 when they reveal their films. Tickets are $20 per show or $30 for both shows if they are purchased online. For more information, visit speakeasydc.com.

The Bethesda Art Walk is this evening from 6-9 p.m. Seven galleries and studios will be participating in the walk: Artworks (7740 Old Georgetown Rd.), Consider it Done (7806 Old Georgetown Rd.), Gallery B (7700 Wisconsin Ave.), Interiors of Washington (7944 Norfolk Ave.), L’Eclat de Verre (7015 Wisconsin Ave.), Upstairs Art Studios (4948 St. Elmo Ave.) and Waverly Street Gallery (4600 East-West Highway). For more information, visit Bethesda.org.

Special Agent Galactica welcomes special guest Barbara Papendorp, French chanteuse and cabaret artist, to her happy hour show at Black Fox Lounge (1723 Connecticut Ave., N.W.) tonight from 6-9. Music includes pieces by Pat Benatar, Judy Garland, Stevie Nicks, Nancy Sinatra and Ray Stevens. Admission is free. For more information, visit pinkhairedone.com.

Town (2009 8th St., N.W.) hosts Bear Happy Hour tonight from 6-11 p.m. This event is for people 21 and older. There is no cover charge. For details, visit towndc.com.

The Bachelor’s Mill (1104 8^th St., S.E.) is having its happy hour tonight starting at 5 p.m. All drinks are half off until 7:30 p.m. After 9 p.m., admission is $10. The dance floor opens at 11 with DJ Tim-Nice and DJ Cameron. For details, visit thebachelorsmill.com.

Phase 1 (528 8^th St. S.E.) has its weekly dance party with DJ Jay Von Teese tonight starting at 7:30. Cover is $10. For more information, visitphase1dc.com.

Saturday Nov. 10

Studio Gallery (2108 R St., NW) hosts the opening reception for the show “Revisit: The Inconstancy of Being” in honor of Fotoweek DC 2012 today at 4 p.m. Fotoweek D.C. celebrates the art of photography, and the show features 10 prominent photographers. The artists revisited their oldest pieces giving them a more modern twist. For more information, visit studiogallerydc.com.

The opening reception of the exhibition, “A Quiet Field of Surfaces” happens tonight at 6:30 p.m. at Adah Rose Gallery (3766 Howard Ave., Kensington). The show features art by Jessica Drenk and Brie Husted. For more information, visit adahrosegallery.com.

Sunday, Nov. 11

Church of the Holy City’s “Music with the Angels” series, along with the D.C. Chamber Music Players chamber Orchestra, presents a Veterans’ Day Concert this afternoon at 3 p.m. at the Church of the Holy City (1611-16^th St., N.W.). For more information, visit churchoftheholycity.org.

Lambda Sci-Fi meets this afternoon at 1:30 p.m. at 1425 S St. N.W. All LGBT science fiction, fantasy and horror fans are invited. For more information visit lambdascifi.org.

Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W.) holds its weekly Martini Sundays and Homowood Karaoke. Karaoke starts at 10 p.m. and there is no charge for admission. For details, visit cobaltdc.com.

Burgundy Crescent, a gay volunteer organization, volunteers this morning for D.C. Central Kitchen (425 2^nd St, NW) at 9 a.m. For more information, visit burgundycrescent.org.

Monday, Nov. 12

Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W.) hosts its Martini Monday tonight at 10 p.m. There is no cover charge and martinis are $5. For more information, visitcobaltdc.com.

Whitman-Walker Health (1701 14^th St., NW) holds its HIV+ Newly Diagnosed Support Group tonight at 7. It’s a confidential support group for anyone recently diagnosed with HIV and the group welcomes all genders and sexual orientations. For details, visit whitman-walker.org.

Tuesday, Nov. 13

Green Lantern (1335 Green Court, N.W.) hosts its Safer Sex Kit-packing program tonight from 7-10:30. The packing program is looking for more volunteers to help produce the kits because they say they are barely keeping up with demand. Admission is free and volunteers can just show up. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W) hosts its Flashback dance night with DJ Jason Royce starting at 10 p.m. There is no cover charge. For more details, visit cobaltdc.com.

Wednesday, Nov. 14

Big Gay Book Group meets tonight at 7 p.m. at 1155 F St., NW, Suite 200. They will be discussing “Querelle” by Jean Genet. For more information, visit biggaybookgroup.com.

Lambda Bridge Club meets tonight at 7:30 pm at the Dignity Center (721 8^th St., SE). Newcomers are welcomed and no reservations are needed. For more information, visit lambdabridge.com.

Whitman-Walker Health (1701 14^th St., NW) holds its HIV+ Newly Diagnosed Support Group tonight at 7. It is a confidential support group for anyone recently diagnosed with HIV and the group welcomes all genders and sexual orientations. For details, visit whitman-walker.org.

Thursday, Nov. 15

The D.C. Center’s Center Women presents Beaujolais Nouveau, a celebration for the new wine harvest, at Gallery plan b (1530 14^th St., NW) tonight from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Beaujolais Nouveau is a newer red wine made in the Beaujolais region of France. It is very popular and is fermented only a few weeks before being released. Tickets start at $15. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

Whitman-Walker Health (1701 14^th St., NW) holds its gay men over 50 support group this evening at 6:30 p.m. The group is for gay men entering a new phase of life. Registration is required to attend. For more information, visit whitman-walker.org.

Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W) is hosting its weekly Best Package Contest tonight at 9 p.m. There is a $3 cover and there are $2 vodka drinks. Participants in the contest can win $200 in cash prizes. The event is hosted by Lena Lett and music by DJ Chord, DJ Madscience, and DJ Sean Morris. For details, visit cobaltdc.com.

Photos

PHOTOS: Night of Champions

Team DC holds annual awards gala

Published

2 days ago

April 21, 2024

Michael Key

Team DC President Miguel Ayala speaks at the 2024 Night of Champions Awards on Saturday. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Team DC, the umbrella organization for LGBTQ-friendly sports teams and leagues in the D.C. area, held its annual Night of Champions Awards Gala on Saturday, April 20 at the Hilton National Mall. The organization gave out scholarships to area LGBTQ student athletes as well as awards to the Different Drummers, Kelly Laczko of Duplex Diner, Stacy Smith of the Edmund Burke School, Bryan Frank of Triout, JC Adams of DCG Basketball and the DC Gay Flag Football League.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

Photos

PHOTOS: National Cannabis Festival

Annual event draws thousands to RFK

Published

2 days ago

April 21, 2024

Michael Key

Growers show their strains at The National Cannabis Festival on Saturday. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The 2024 National Cannabis Festival was held at the Fields at RFK Stadium on April 19-20.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

Covering the @NatlCannaFest at RFK Stadium for @WashBlade . Stop by the LGBTQ+ booth and pick up a paper if you are here. pic.twitter.com/is7hnsaPns
— Michael Patrick Key (@MichaelKeyWB) April 20, 2024

Theater

‘Amm(i)gone’ explores family, queerness, and faith

A ‘fully autobiographical’ work from out artist Adil Mansoor

Published

3 days ago

April 20, 2024

Patrick Folliard

Adil Mansoor in ‘Amm(i)gone’ at Woolly Mammoth Theatre. (Photo by Kitoko Chargois)

‘Amm(i)gone’
Thorough May 12
Woolly Mammoth Theatre
641 D St., N.W.
$60-$70
Woollymammoth.net

“Fully and utterly autobiographical.” That’s how Adil Mansoor describes “Amm(i)gone,” his one-man work currently playing at Woolly Mammoth Theatre.

Both created and performed by out artist Mansoor, it’s his story about inviting his Pakistani mother to translate Sophocles’s Greek tragedy “Antigone” into Urdu. Throughout the journey, there’s an exploration of family, queerness, and faith,as well as references to teachings from the Quran, and audio conversations with his Muslim mother.

Mansoor, 38, grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and is now based in Pittsburgh where he’s a busy theater maker. He’s also the founding member of Pittsburgh’s Hatch Arts Collective and the former artistic director of Dreams of Hope, an LGBTQ youth arts organization.

WASHINGTON BLADE: What spurred you to create “Amm(i)gone”?

ADIL MANSOOR: I was reading a translation of “Antigone” a few years back and found myself emotionally overwhelmed. A Theban princess buries her brother knowing it will cost her, her own life. It’s about a person for whom all aspirations are in the afterlife. And what does that do to the living when all of your hopes and dreams have to be reserved for the afterlife?

I found grant funding to pay my mom to do the translation. I wanted to engage in learning. I wanted to share theater but especially this ancient tragedy. My mother appreciated the characters were struggling between loving one another and their beliefs.

BLADE: Are you more director than actor?

MANSOOR: I’m primarily a director with an MFA in directing from Carnegie Mellon. I wrote, directed, and performed in this show, and had been working on it for four years. I’ve done different versions including Zoom. Woolly’s is a new production with the same team who’ve been involved since the beginning.

I love solo performance. I’ve produced and now teach solo performance and believe in its power. And I definitely lean toward “performance” and I haven’t “acted” since I was in college. I feel good on stage. I was a tour guide and do a lot of public speaking. I enjoy the attention.

BLADE: Describe your mom.

MANSOOR: My mom is a wonderfully devout Muslim, single mother, social worker who discovered my queerness on Google. And she prays for me.

She and I are similar, the way we look at things, the way we laugh. But different too. And those are among the questions I ask in this show. Our relationship is both beautiful and complicated.

BLADE: So, you weren’t exactly hiding your sexuality?

MANSOOR: In my mid-20s, I took time to talk with friends about our being queer with relation to our careers. My sexuality is essential to the work. As the artistic director at Dreams of Hope, part of the work was to model what it means to be public. If I’m in a room with queer and trans teenagers, part of what I’m doing is modeling queer adulthood. The way they see me in the world is part of what I’m putting out there. And I want that to be expansive and full.

So much of my work involves fundraising and being a face in schools. Being out is about making safe space for queer young folks.

BLADE: Have you encountered much Islamophobia?

MANSOOR: When 9/11 happened, I was a sophomore in high school, so yes. I faced a lot then and now. I’ve been egged on the street in the last four months. I see it in the classroom. It shows up in all sorts of ways.

BLADE: What prompted you to lead your creative life in Pittsburgh?

MANSOOR: I’ve been here for 14 years. I breathe with ease in Pittsburgh. The hills and the valleys and the rust of the city do something to me. It’s beautiful, it’ affordable, and there is support for local artists. There’s a lot of opportunity.

Still, the plan was to move to New York in September of 2020 but that was cancelled. Then the pandemic showed me that I could live in Pittsburgh and still have a nationally viable career.

BLADE: What are you trying to achieve with “Amm(i)gone”?

MANSOOR: What I’m sharing in the show is so very specific but I hear people from other backgrounds say I totally see my mom in that. My partner is Catholic and we share so much in relation to this.

I hope the work is embracing the fullness of queerness and how means so many things. And I hope the show makes audiences want to call their parents or squeeze their partners.