Arts & Entertainment

Social Agenda for Feb. 19

Published

16 years ago

February 18, 2010

Friday, Feb. 19

Get down to Bell Biv Devoe, TLC and C&C at the “No Scrubs: 90’s Dance Party with DJs Will Eastman and Brian Billion” at 10 p.m. at the 9:30 club, 815 V St., N.W. There’s a $10 cover and this quarterly event is nearly sold out.

From ice dancing to men’s hockey, watch the Olympics at Nellie’s Sports Bar all day, 900 U St., N.W.

Gay organist Stephen Harouff of Baltimore plays a free recital today at 12:15 p.m. at National City Christian Church as part of its “Magical, Mystical, Musical Machine” organ recital series. NCCC’s Charles Miller, who’s also gay, play on the 26th. The recitals are a half hour each. The church is at 5 Thomas Circle, N.W.

Gay District meets tonight. The group was formerly known as the Twenties Group but has expanded its age range for gay, bi, trans and questioning men from 18 to 35. The group meets for weekly discussion from 8:30 to 9:30 every Friday at St. Margaret’s Church located at 1830 Connecticut Ave. Members dine afterwards then go dancing. The group is changing its contact information but for now, those interested can visit the group on Facebook under the name “GD: Gay District.”

Saturday, Feb. 20

Relive the glory days at 80s alt-pop dance night with DJ lil’e backstage at the Black Cat, 1811 14th St., NW. There’s a $7 cover, starts at 9:30 p.m.

Love him or hate him, there’s no denying his stage presence. John Mayer plays Verizon Center tonight, 8 p.m. with special guest Michael Franti and Spearhead, tickets $42.50-78.00. Visit ticketmaster.com.

A concert by members of D.C.’s “Different Drummers,” a gay ensemble, called “Intimate Winds” is today at 2 p.m. in the Adirondack Room at Hillwood Museum Estate. Fischer Tull’s “Liturgical Symphony,” Richard Strauss’ “Serenade,” and more will be performed. Tickets are $20 ($10 for seniors and students) and are available at the door. Visit dcdd.org for more information.

D.C. Icebreakers, an LGBT ice skating social group, has a game night tonight from 7:30 to 11:30 in Ballston with co-hosts NOVA GL Professionals and Gay District. The event is at a party room within walking distance from the Ballston Metro station. For directions, RSVP to [email protected]. Visit dcicebreakers.com for more information about the group.

Photographer Jason Horowitz, who’s straight, opens a new show called DRAG tonight at the Curator’s Office from 6 to 8 p.m. Featuring up-close and large-scale photos of local drag queens including Shi-Queeta Lee and others, the show, the artist says, seeks to reveal and challenge hidden biases about femininity and masculinity, beauty and ugliness, gay culture, race, sexuality and aging. The Curator’s Office is located at 1515 14th St., N.W., Suite 201.

Town has a Mardi Gras party with DJ Dan Deleon tonight. Doors open at 10. Town is located at 2009 8th St., N.W. Visit towndc.com for more information.

Sunday, Feb. 21

The Bolshoi Ballet wraps up its engagement at the Kennedy Center today at 1:30 p.m. Tickets are $47-135.00. Visit kennedy-center.org for information.

A discussion called “Bagels, Brunch and Islam” is being held today at the D.C. Center from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Iman Daayiee Abdullah, who’s gay, will discuss the relation between Islam and Judaism and the lives of gay and lesbian Muslims. This study brunch is hosted by Bet Mishpachah, a local gay synagogue. The event is free and open to the public. The Center is located at 1810 14th St., N.W.

Adodi D.C., a gay group for men of color who celebrate their African heritage, meets today at the D.C. Center today from 3 to 6 p.m. The Center is at 1810 14th Street N.W. Visit thedccenter.org for more information.

Local drag queen Shi-Queeta Lee hosts drag brunch every Sunday at Nellie’s Sports Bar, located at 900 U Street, N.W. Brunch buffet is $20. Miss Lee performs at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Visit nelliessportsbar.com for more information.

Dignity Washington, a local gay Catholic group, celebrates Mass for the LGBT community every Sunday at 6 p.m. at St. Margaret’s, located at 1820 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Call 202-546-2245 for more information or visit dignitywashington.org.

Monday, Feb. 22

D.C. Center’s Elder Think Tank meets tonight at 6:30 p.m. and typically on the fourth Monday of each month. The group is an intergenerational group working on education, advocacy and services to the local aging LGBT population. The Center is at 1810 14th Street, N.W. Visit thedccenter.org for more information.

A youth support group for gay, lesbian and bi teens meets today from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at the GW Center Clinic located at 1922 F Street N.W., suite 103. Fees for therapy and the group are on a sliding scale.

Metropolitan Community Church of Washington, the District’s largest mostly gay church, has an HIV-positive support group for people of faith every Monday at the church. For more information, contact Matt Senger at 202-546-2159 or e-mail him at [email protected]. MCC-DC is located at 474 Ridge Street, N.W. Visit mccdc.com for more information about the church.

Tuesday, Feb. 23

“In the Heights,” winner of four 2008 Tony Awards including best musical, opens at the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, 12 N. Eutaw St., Baltimore, 410-837-7400. For tickets, visit broadwayacrossamerica.com.

“When Someone You Love Loves Meth” meets tonight at 7 at DC Center, located at 1810 14th Street, N.W. Visit thedccenter.org for more information. Also at the Center tonight is a meeting for those planning Gay Men’s Health Summit 2012 and AIDS 2012.

Washington Renegades, a gay-welcoming local rugby team, resumes practice for its spring season today at 6:45 p.m. at Cardozo High School at 1300 Clifton Street, N.W. Newcomers curious about the group can attend with out having to join. Visit dcrugby.com for more information.

The United ENDA Coalition meets on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 6 to 9 p.m. at the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force headquarters to encourage LGBT supporters to help pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Training and pizza are provided. The Task Force is at 1325 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., sixth floor. For more information, contact Aaditi Dubale at [email protected].

Cobalt has “Flashback,” a retro night, every Tuesday at 10 p.m. Rail vodka drinks are free from 10 to 11 p.m. Cobalt, a gay bar and dance club, is at the corner of 17th and R streets, N.W.

Wednesday, Feb. 24

Ziegfeld’s/Secrets hosts its monthly amateur dancer contest at 11 p.m., signup begins at 10 p.m., 1824 Half St., S.W., 202-863-0670. Hosted by Destiny B. Childs.

The Hollaback Transgender Support Group meets tonight at 6:30 p.m. at DC Center, located at 1810 14th St., N.W. Hollaback is a social and support group for the trans community and is a program of the D.C. Community AIDS Network. The group meets on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month.

Ladies First night is tonight and every Wednesday at Fab Lounge, located at 1805 Connecticut Ave., N.W. For more information, visit myspace.com/ladiesfirst.

Thursday, Feb. 25

Phase 1, the country’s oldest lesbian bar, begins its 40th anniversary festivities tonight at 9 p.m. at the Phase, located at 525 8th Street, S.E. The anniversary celebration continues through Sunday at 3 a.m. Staff members are seeking Phase-related photos from long-time patrons. They can be e-mailed to [email protected] or scanned at the bar. Patrons with Phase stories to share are also encouraged to come forward. A kick-off rock show is tonight with performers Hunter Valentine, the Pushovers and Kaylan Rexer. Visit phase1dc.com for more information.

D.C. Lambda Squares, a local gay square dancing group, meets every Thursday for square dancing. For more information about the group or to find out when beginner classes are available, visit dclambdasquares.org.

Friday, Feb. 26

Phase One 40th anniversary festivities continue tonight with a Miss Phase One Pageant at the bar from 7 to 10:30 p.m., which features a $200 cash prize. Hopefuls will compete in several categories. Send a photo, short bio and description of your talent to [email protected] to compete. Lesbian history through the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and ’00s will be honored with photos, videos and music from each era tonight and Saturday. Visit phase1dc.com for more information.

Saturday, Feb. 27

Gay & Lesbian Outreach & Engagement has its third annual Masquerade & Mischief Purim Party tonight at the Washington D.C. Jewish Community Center at 16th and Q streets, N.W. at 9 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to wear costumes. Those who do have open bar access all night. D.C. Cowboys and trans comedian Riki Wilchins will perform. Tickets are $18 in advance; $20 at the door. A costume prize will be awarded. Contact [email protected] or 202-777-3253 for more information.

Variety show Crack is back tonight with a new show called “Once Upon a Time” at Town from 9 p.m. to midnight tonight. The production is billed as an “outrageous cabaret that spoofs the fantastic world of fairy tales and nursery rhymes.” Crack hosts Shea Van Horn, Chris Farris and Karl Jones will perform. Cover is $10. Show starts at 10. Attendees are encouraged to dress in fairy tale- or nursery rhyme-inspired costumes to receive a $2 discount. Town is at 2009 8th Street N.W.

Send calendar listings two weeks prior to your event to Joey DiGuglielmo at [email protected].

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Sports

US wins Olympic gold medal in women’s hockey

Team captain Hilary Knight proposed to girlfriend on Wednesday

Published

2 hours ago

February 19, 2026

Staff reports

(Public domain photo)

The U.S. women’s hockey team on Thursday won a gold medal at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.

Team USA defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime. The game took place a day after Team USA captain Hilary Knight proposed to her girlfriend, Brittany Bowe, an Olympic speed skater.

Cayla Barnes and Alex Carpenter — Knight’s teammates — are also LGBTQ. They are among the more than 40 openly LGBTQ athletes who are competing in the games.

The Olympics will end on Sunday.

Movies

Radical reframing highlights the ‘Wuthering’ highs and lows of a classic

Emerald Fennell’s cinematic vision elicits strong reactions

Published

11 hours ago

February 19, 2026

John Paul King

Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi steam up a classic in 'Wuthering Heights' (Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.)

If you’re a fan of “Wuthering Heights” — Emily Brontë’s oft-filmed 1847 novel about a doomed romance on the Yorkshire moors — it’s a given you’re going to have opinions about any new adaptation that comes along, but in the case of filmmaker Emerald Fennell’s new cinematic vision of this venerable classic, they’re probably going to be strong ones.

It’s nothing new, really. Brontë’s book has elicited controversy since its first publication, when it sparked outrage among Victorian readers over its tragic tale of thwarted lovers locked into an obsessive quest for revenge against each other, and has continued to shock generations of readers with its depictions of emotional cruelty and violent abuse, its dysfunctional relationships, and its grim portrait of a deeply-embedded class structure which perpetuates misery at every level of the social hierarchy.

It’s no wonder, then, that Fennell’s adaptation — a true “fangirl” appreciation project distinguished by the radical sensibilities which the third-time director brings to the mix — has become a flash point for social commentators whose main exposure to the tale has been flavored by decades of watered-down, romanticized “reinventions,” almost all of which omit large portions of the novel to selectively shape what’s left into a period tearjerker about star-crossed love, often distancing themselves from the raw emotional core of the story by adhering to generic tropes of “gothic romance” and rarely doing justice to the complexity of its characters — or, for that matter, its author’s deeper intentions.

Fennell’s version doesn’t exactly break that pattern; she, too, elides much of the novel’s sprawling plot to focus on the twisted entanglement between Catherine Earnshaw (Margot Robbie), daughter of the now-impoverished master of the titular estate (Martin Clunes), and Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi), a lowborn child of unknown background origin that has been “adopted” by her father as a servant in the household. Both subjected to the whims of the elder Earnshaw’s violent temper, they form a bond of mutual support in childhood which evolves, as they come of age, into something more; yet regardless of her feelings for him, Cathy — whose future status and security are at risk — chooses to marry Edgar Linton (Shazad Latif), the financially secure new owner of a neighboring estate. Heathcliff, devastated by her betrayal, leaves for parts unknown, only to return a few years later with a mysteriously-obtained fortune. Imposing himself into Cathy’s comfortable-but-joyless matrimony, he rekindles their now-forbidden passion and they become entwined in a torrid affair — even as he openly courts Linton’s naive ward Isabella (Alison Oliver) and plots to destroy the entire household from within. One might almost say that these two are the poster couple for the phrase “it’s complicated.” and it’s probably needless to say things don’t go well for anybody involved.

While there is more than enough material in “Wuthering Heights” that might easily be labeled as “problematic” in our contemporary judgments — like the fact that it’s a love story between two childhood friends, essentially raised as siblings, which becomes codependent and poisons every other relationship in their lives — the controversy over Fennell’s version has coalesced less around the content than her casting choices. When the project was announced, she drew criticism over the decision to cast Robbie (who also produced the film) opposite the younger Elordi. In the end, the casting works — though the age gap might be mildly distracting for some, both actors deliver superb performances, and the chemistry they exude soon renders it irrelevant.

Another controversy, however, is less easily dispelled. Though we never learn his true ethnic background, Brontë’s original text describes Heathcliff as having the appearance of “a dark-skinned gipsy” with “black fire” in his eyes; the character has typically been played by distinctly “Anglo” men, and consequently, many modern observers have expressed disappointment (and in some cases, full-blown outrage) over Fennel’s choice to use Elordi instead of putting an actor of color for the part, especially given the contemporary filter which she clearly chose for her interpretation for the novel.

In fact, it’s that modernized perspective — a view of history informed by social criticism, economic politics, feminist insight, and a sexual candor that would have shocked the prim Victorian readers of Brontë’s novel — that turns Fennell’s visually striking adaptation into more than just a comfortably romanticized period costume drama. From her very opening scene — a public hanging in the village where the death throes of the dangling body elicit lurid glee from the eagerly-gathered crowd — she makes it oppressively clear that the 18th-century was not a pleasant time to live; the brutality of the era is a primal force in her vision of the story, from the harrowing abuse that forges its lovers’ codependent bond, to the rigidly maintained class structure that compels even those in the higher echelons — especially women — into a kind of slavery to the system, to the inequities that fuel disloyalty among the vulnerable simply to preserve their own tenuous place in the hierarchy. It’s a battle for survival, if not of the fittest then of the most ruthless.

At the same time, she applies a distinctly 21st-century attitude of “sex-positivity” to evoke the appeal of carnality, not just for its own sake but as a taste of freedom; she even uses it to reframe Heathcliff’s cruel torment of Isabella by implying a consensual dom/sub relationship between them, offering a fragment of agency to a character typically relegated to the role of victim. Most crucially, of course, it permits Fennell to openly depict the sexuality of Cathy and Heathcliff as an experience of transgressive joy — albeit a tormented one — made perhaps even more irresistible (for them and for us) by the sense of rebellion that comes along with it.

Finally, while this “Wuthering Heights” may not have been the one to finally allow Heathcliff’s ambiguous racial identity to come to the forefront, Fennell does employ some “color-blind” casting — Latif is mixed-race (white and Pakistani) and Hong Chau, understated but profound in the crucial role of Nelly, Cathy’s longtime “paid companion,” is of Vietnamese descent — to illuminate the added pressures of being an “other” in a world weighted in favor of sameness.

Does all this contemporary hindsight into the fabric of Brontë’s epic novel make for a quintessential “Wuthering Heights?” Even allowing that such a thing were possible, probably not. While it presents a stylishly crafted and thrillingly cinematic take on this complex classic, richly enhanced by a superb and adventurous cast, it’s not likely to satisfy anyone looking for a faithful rendition, nor does it reveal a new angle from which the “romance” at its center looks anything other than toxic — indeed, it almost fetishizes the dysfunction. Even without the thorny debate around Heathcliff’s racial identity, there’s plenty here to prompt purists and revisionists alike to find fault with Fennell’s approach.

Yet for those looking for a new window into to this perennial classic, and who are comfortable with the radical flourish for which Fennell is already known, it’s an engrossing and intellectually stimulating exploration of this iconic story in a way that exchanges comfortable familiarity for unpredictable chaos — and for cinema fans, that’s more than enough reason to give “Wuthering Heights” a chance.

Photos

PHOTOS: Clash

New weekly drag show held at Trade

Published

1 day ago

February 18, 2026

Michael Key

Tatianna and Crimsyn host the drag show, Clash. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Crimsyn and Tatianna hosted the new weekly drag show Clash at Trade (1410 14th Street, N.W.) on Feb. 14, 2026. Performers included Aave, Crimsyn, Desiree Dik, and Tatianna.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)