Arts & Entertainment
Calendar for March 26
Friday, March 26
Pandemonium returns to Cobalt, 1639 R St., N.W., with “Pandemonium’s Sultry Funhouse!” The main attraction is famed circuit DJ Wendy Hunt with a midnight performance by Sue Nami. Doors open at 10 p.m.; 21+ with a $7 cover. Open vodka bar from 11 p.m.-12 a.m.
The Gay Comedy Show is returning to the EFN Lounge, 1318 9th St. N.W., with host Shawn Hollenbach (Logo’s “Gayest Week Ever”). Hollenbach will be accompanied by Paul Case (MTV and here! TV’s “Hot Gay Comics”). There is a $10 admission for the show, which runs from 8- 11 p.m.
The Whitman-Walker HIV Mobile Testing Unit will be at the Giant Food located at 1245 Park Rd., N.W. from 3:30–7 p.m.
Gay District is held from 8:30-10:30 p.m. at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church, 1820 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Gay District is a weekly, non-church affiliated discussion and social group for GBTQ men between 18 and 35. For more information, e-mail [email protected].
Friday night Erev Shabbat Services are held 8:30–10 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1529 16th St., N.W. Friday Night Services are followed by an Oneg social. Please use the Q Street entrance.
Women in their Twenties will meet at the DC Center, 1810 14th St., N.W., at 8 p.m. WiTT is a social discussion group for lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and other interested women in the D.C. area. The group is led by several facilitators on a rotational basis. Facilitators lead the group in discussion topics (serious and silly, LGBT-related or not). Newcomers are always welcome.
Saturday, March 27
The 2010 National Cherry Blossom Festival will be held beginning today and running through April 11. This year’s festival marks the 98th celebration of the original gift of the 3,000 cherry trees by the city of Tokyo to the people of Washington, D.C., in 1912. Family day and opening ceremony at the National Building Museum, 401 F St., N.W.
The famous DJ duo, The Freemasons, is returning to the states to spin at Town Danceboutique, 2009 8th St. N.W., for a second time. The Freemasons have produced some of the biggest songs played on gay dance floors, including “Million Dollar Bill” by Whitney Houston. Tickets are on sale at the Town box office. Advance tickets are $15; $20 at the door. Tickets can also be purchased at groovetickets.com for $27. Doors will open at 10 p.m. Drag show starts at 10:30 p.m. Music and videos downstairs by Wess; 21 and over.
Comedian Chelsea Handler brings her “Bang Bang” tour to DAR Constitution Hall, 18th & C streets, N.W., at 8 and 10 p.m. Call 202-638-2661 for tickets, which cost $53.50-73.50.
LAMBDA SCI-FI hosts a video party for LGBT science fiction, fantasy and horror fans and their friends. Bring a dish or a non-alcoholic beverage to share, as well as some favorite DVDs, Blue-rays, or AVI files on a USB drive. Noon until 10 p.m., 7015 Sycamore Ave., Takoma Park, MD. For more information, e-mail Teresa at [email protected], call 301-270-6373 or visit lambdasf.org.
Jonatha Brooke and Lori McKenna play the Birchmere, 3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria, VA, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets $27.50, visit birchmere.com or call 703-549-7500 for information.
Sunday, March 28
“The Wiz” production at University of the District of Columbia, 4200 Connecticut Ave., starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are $12.50 for general admission, $7.50 for all students, $5 for children 12 & under.
Don’t miss the final performances of Alfred Hitchcock’s “The 39 Steps” at Warner Theater, 13th Street between E&F, N.W., at 1 and 6:30 p.m. Call 202-783-4000 for ticket information.
Wiz Khalifa with Yelawolf and Jasmine Solano play 9:30 club, 815 V St., N.W., at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15; visit 930.com or call 202-265-0930 for information.
Monday, March 29
Substance Abuse Support Group will meet at the Max Robinson Center located at 2301 MLK Ave., S.E. from 5:30 – 6:30 pm.
Relive your big hair ‘80s days as Bon Jovi rocks the Verizon Center, 6th and G streets, N.W., at 7:30 p.m. Visit ticketmaster.com for information and tickets, which range from $49.50 to $503.
Tuesday, March 30
Packing Party at EFN Lounge/Motley Bar, 1318 9th St., N.W., from 7-8 p.m. Volunteers will assemble safer sex kits and enjoy drink specials at Motley.
Wednesday, March 31
Megafaun and Sharon Van Etten play the Black Cat, 1811 14th St., N.W., at 9 p.m. Tickets are $10; visit blackcatdc.com for tickets and information.
Career development at the DC Center, 1810 14th St. N.W., from 3-4 p.m. RSVP to careerdevelopmentthedccenter.org. For more information, contact the Center at 202-682-2245.
Thursday, April 1
The Progressive Dinner Dessert Team will raise money for SMYAL on April Fools’ Day at the Town Tavern, 2323 18th St., N.W., in Adams Morgan from 8 p.m.-2 a.m. A $5 donation per guest at the door is requested, of which 100 percent will go to SMYAL (Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League).
Tom Goss performs live, launching his new marriage equality EP “Politics of Love” at the DC Center, 1810 14th St. N.W., at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door and can be purchased at thedccenter.org.
The 13th annual Hagerstown Pride Festival was held at Doubs Woods Park in Hagerstown, Md. on Saturday, June 21.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Theater
‘Hunter S. Thompson’ an unlikely but rewarding choice for musical theater
‘Speaks volumes about how sad things land on our country’
‘The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical’
Through July 13
Signature Theatre
4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington, Va.
$47 to $98
Sigtheatre.org
The raucous world of the counterculture journalist may not seem the obvious choice for musical theater, but the positive buzz surrounding Signature Theatre’s production of Joe Iconis’s “The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical” suggests otherwise.
As the titular, drug addled and gun-toting writer, Eric William Morris memorably moves toward his character’s suicide in 2005 at 67. He’s accompanied by an ensemble cast playing multiple roles including out actor George Salazar as Thompson’s sidekick Oscar “Zeta” Acosta, a bigger than life Mexican American attorney, author, and activist in the Chicano Movement who follows closely behind.
Salazar performs a show-stopping number — “The Song of the Brown Buffalo,” a rowdy and unforgettable musical dive into a man’s psyche.
“Playing the part of Oscar, I’m living my Dom daddy activist dreams. For years, I was cast as the best friend with a heart of gold. Quite differently, here, I’m tasked with embodying all the toxic masculinity of the late ‘60s, and a rampant homophobia, almost folded into the culture.”
He continues, “My sexuality aside, I like to think that Oscar would be thrilled by my interpretation of him in that song.
“Our upbringings are similar. I’m mixed race – Filipino and Ecuadorian and we grew up similarly,” says Salazar, 39. “He didn’t fit in as white or Mexican American, and fell somewhere in the middle. Playing Oscar [who also at 39 in 1974 forever disappeared in Mexico], I pulled out a lot of experience about having to code switch before finally finding myself and being confident just doing my own thing.
“As we meet Oscar in the show we find exactly where’s he’s at. Take me or leave me, I couldn’t care less.”
In 2011, just three years after earning his BFA in musical theater from the University of Florida in Gainesville, Salazar fortuitously met Iconis at a bar in New York. The pair became fast friends and collaborators: “This is our third production,” says George. “So, when Joe comes to me with an idea, there hasn’t been a moment that I don’t trust him.”
In “Be More Chill,” one of Iconis’s earlier works, Salazar originated the role of Michael Mell, a part that he counts as one of the greatest joys of artistic life.
With the character, a loyal and caring friend who isn’t explicitly queer but appeals to queer audiences, Salazar developed a fervent following. And for an actor who didn’t come out to his father until he was 30, being in a place to support the community, especially younger queer people, has proved incredibly special.
“When you hear Hunter and Oscar, you might think ‘dude musical,’ but I encourage all people to come see it.” Salazar continues, “Queer audiences should give the show a shot. As a musical, it’s entertaining, funny, serious, affecting, and beautiful. As a gay man stepping into this show, it’s so hetero and I wasn’t sure what to do. So, I took it upon myself that any of the multiple characters I play outside of Oscar, were going to be queer.
Queer friends have seen it and love it, says Salazar. His friend, Tony Award-winning director Sam Pinkleton (“Oh, Mary!”) saw Hunter S. Thompson at the La Jolla Playhouse during its run in California, and said it was the best musical he’d seen in a very long time.
“Since the work’s inception almost 10 years ago, I was the first Oscar to read the script. In the interim, the characters’ relationships have grown but otherwise there have been no major changes. Still, it feels more impactful in different ways: It’s exciting to come here to do the show especially since Hunter S. Thompson was very political.”
Salazar, who lives in Los Angeles with his partner, a criminal justice reporter for The Guardian, is enjoying his time here in D.C. “In a time when there are so many bans – books, drag queens, and travel — all I see is division. This is an escape from that.”
He describes the Hunter Thompson musical as Iconis’s masterpiece, adding that it’s the performance that he’s most proud of to date and that feels there a lot of maturity in the work.
“In the play, Thompson talks to Nixon about being a crook and a liar,” says Salazar. “The work speaks volumes about how sad things land on our country: We seem to take them one step forward and two steps back; the performance is almost art as protest.”
Photos
PHOTOS: Goodwin Living Pride Parade
Senior living and healthcare organization holds fifth annual march at Falls Church campus
The senior living and healthcare organization Goodwin Living held its fifth annual Pride Parade around its Bailey’s Crossroads campus in Falls Church, Va. with residents, friends and supporters on Thursday, June 12.
(Photos courtesy of Goodwin Living)
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