Arts & Entertainment

Calendar for April 23

Published

16 years ago

April 22, 2010

Friday, April 23

Burgundy Crescent volunteers today for “GOING TO THE CHAPEL: Singing for Justice and Joy” at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop. To participate, visit burgundycrescent.org.

[Gay] Comedy Show moves to Town Danceboutique, 2009 8th St., N.W., this month. The show is from 8-10 p.m. with your host Shawn Hollenbach. Admission is $10.

EFN Lounge presents “Ru Who?” featuring special guest Mystique from season two of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” The show starts at 9 p.m. at EFN Lounge, 1318 9th St. N.W., with DJ Matt Bailer. Must be 21+ to enter; $5 cover benefits Miss Gay DC Pageants.

Joan Rivers performs at the Avalon Theater, 42 E. Dover St., Easton, MD at 8 p.m. Call 410-822-7299 for tickets, which range $50-100.

Wicked Liquid, featuring Josh Colon from “Real World DC,” performs at Santa Fe Café, in College Park, Md., at 11 p.m.

Whitman-Walker Clinic’s 17th annual spring gala, “Masquerade on the Mall.” The black tie event will be held at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium, 1301 Constitution Ave., N.W. from 6:30-11 p.m. Proceeds will benefit HIV/AIDS services at Whitman-Walker. For more information visit wwc.org. See related story on page 24.

Saturday, April 24

Rainbow Families, DC, an organization for LGBT parents and prospective parents, holds its 2010 conference at GDS High School, 4200 Davenport St., N.W., from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Visit rainbowfamiliesdc.org for information.

Burgundy Crescent volunteers today for the annual Anacostia River Clean-up and Earth Day Celebration. To participate, visit burgundycrescent.org.

Miss Gay DC America 2010 Regional Pageant, hosted by Town Danceboutique located at 2009 8th Street, N.W. Pre-judging of evening gowns at 5:45 p.m. Pageant begins promptly at 6:45 p.m. Directly after the pageant Town will feature DJ Manny Lehman; $10 cover.

Fourth Saturdays at MOVA Lounge are POZ Saturdays. POZ mixers provide a supportive atmosphere for those who are HIV positive and those who want to help eradicate the stigma surrounding HIV. Music will be provided by DJ Eric Evans and DJ Bryan Yamasaki. POZ starts at 9 p.m. MOVA Lounge is located at 1435 P St., N.W.

Fourth Saturday of each month The Green Lantern, 1335 Green Ct., N.W., is the home of électrik with your host Timur Tugberk. électrik features the best in dance, electro, deep and dirty house, trance, and circuit music provided by Dj Moh Ducis. No cover from 10-11 p.m., $5 cover from 11 p.m.-3 a.m.

BLOWOFF at the 9:30 club, 815 V St., N.W., from 11:30 p.m.-3:30 a.m. Tickets $12

SHIFT returns to Cobalt, 1639 R St., N.W., with “April Showers” with DJ MAJR (Mikey Adolphson) providing a mix of electro, indie rock, pop and new wave. 10 p.m.-3 a.m., $5 cover, 21+

Sunday, April 25

Drag Brunch at Nellie’s Sports Bar, 900 U St., N.W., hosted by Shi-Queeta Lee. Every Sunday from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. $20 brunch buffet, your first mimosa is free.

Monday, April 26

Bears Do Yoga. Classes will begin at 6:15 p.m. in the DC Center activity room, 1810 14th St., N.W., and last for one hour. There is a suggested $5 donation. To RSVP for this class e-mail [email protected].

Join Harvey Fierstein and the cast of “Fiddler on the Roof” at Town Danceboutique, 2009 8th Street, N.W., for an intimate cabaret performance benefitting Broadway Cares. Doors open at 6:45 p.m. and the show starts at 8 p.m. Food by Joaquin Fajardo. Entry to the performance is $20. 21+

Country Western dance lessons at Remingtons, 639 Pennsylvania Ave., S.E. (half-block west of Eastern Market Metro) from 8:30-9:30 p.m., $5 per person, per lesson.

Tuesday, April 27

Free Workshop on HIV/AIDS Surveillance Data: “HIV/AIDS Surveillance in the District: the 2008 Epidemiologic Report,” presented by Mid-Atlantic Public Health Training Center, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, and the Washington Public Health Association. The workshop will take place from 1-3 p.m., in George Washington University’s Rose Hall, 2300 I St., N.W., room 229. The workshop is free, but registration is required. For more information, e-mail [email protected]

Whitman-Walker Clinic’s HIV Mobile Testing will be located at Miriam’s Kitchen, 2401 Virginia Ave., N.W., from 4:30-6 p.m.

Volunteers will be assembling safer sex kits and enjoying drink specials at Motley. 7-10:30 p.m. Motley is the upstairs bar at EFN Lounge, located at 1318 9th St., N.W.

Drag Bingo at Nellie’s Sports Bar, 900 U St., N.W., hosted by Shi-Queeta Lee, every Tuesday starting at 8 p.m. Free to play, lots of cool prizes.

Wednesday, April 28

Center for American Progress Action Fund presents “Understanding and Meeting the Needs of LGBT Elders” from noon-1:30 p.m. Rep. Tammy Baldwin is the keynote speaker; Winnie Stachelberg moderates. Admission is free and seating is first come, first served. Lunch served at 11:30. 1333 H St., N.W., 10th floor. For more information call 202-682-1611.

Each Wednesday at the Green Lantern is POZ Wednesday. POZ mixers provide a supportive atmosphere for those who are HIV positive and those who want to help eradicate the stigma surrounding HIV. Music will be provided by DJ Jason Horswill and DJ ELE. POZ starts at 8 p.m. The Green Lantern is located at 1335 Green Ct., N.W.

Hollaback Transgender Support Group meets from 6:30-8 p.m. in the DC Center activity room. The DC Center is located at 1810 14th St., N.W., convenient to the U Street/Cardozo Metro and on the 14th Street bus lines.

Thursday, April 29

Edie Beale Returns to Washington, D.C. to Perform Live at Cobalt, 1639 R St., N.W., at 7:30 p.m. “Edie Beale LIVE at Reno Sweeney” recreates the nightclub performance of Ms. Beale, of Grey Gardens fame, in New York City in 1978; Ganymeade’s artistic director, Jeffrey Johnson plays Beale.

Celebrity News

Silky Nutmeg Ganache talks sex and dating, gender, politics, weight loss journey

‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars’ semifinalist grew up in Bible Belt

Published

2 days ago

July 7, 2026

Uncloseted Media

Silky Nutmeg Ganache (Photo courtesy of Silky Nutmeg Ganache)

Uncloseted Media published this interview on July 7.

By SPENCER MACNAUGHTON, ISABEL STOKES, and BELLA SAYEGH | After appearing on the 11th season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” the first season of “Canada’s Drag Race: Canada vs. the World,” the sixth season of “RuPaul’s All Stars” and now the 11th season of “All Stars,” Silky Nutmeg Ganache, known by many as the Reverend, is undoubtedly a legend.

Born and raised in Moss Point, Miss., Ganache bears all in this episode of “UNCLOSETED with Spencer Macnaughton.” She speaks about her relationship with gender, her 100-pound weight loss, what it’s like living as a queer person of color in a red state and why she’s calling on allies to stand up for the trans community.

Photos

PHOTOS: Crush Dance Bar

Patrons enjoy a night out at popular LGBTQ venue

Published

3 days ago

July 6, 2026

Landon Shackelford

(Washington Blade photo by Landon Shackelford)

Patrons enjoyed a night out at the popular LGBTQ venue Crush Dance Bar on Friday, July 3.

(Washington Blade photos by Landon Shackelford)

Theater

‘My Favorite Sociopath’ debuts at Shepherdstown’s CATF

Gay playwright Aurin Squire’s take on D.C. journalism in the ‘90s

Published

3 days ago

July 5, 2026

Patrick Folliard

Playwright Aurin Squire. (Photo by Yilong Liu)

‘My Favorite Sociopath’
Contemporary American Theater Festival
July 10-Aug. 2
Shepherdstown, W.Va.
Catf.org

Discernment. It’s a thing some people have, explains playwright Aurin Squire, especially when you’re gay or Black in America (Squire is both).

“You instinctively know when the mob is teaming up for the best interests of the powers that be. You can feel it in the air.”

In his sharp new satire “My Favorite Sociopath,” Squire writes about life experiences but set in a different time and place: It’s the 1990s, early days of the 24-hour news cycle, and three ambitious journalism students are pursuing success in D.C.

And now, Squire’s play, along with other new works, are making their world premieres at the annual Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF) at Shepherd University in historic, queer-friendly Shepherdstown, W.Va. (just a 90-minute drive from D.C.).

“All of my plays are queer in some way,” says Squire, 46. “This one touches on harmless and dangerous lies. The characters are on the spectrum sexually, and it’s interesting how all that falls out.”

And he’s given it a lot of thought.

“Already as a kid, it seemed to me that the rage against rap music and sex was coming from closeted people resisting their own urges and temptations. For me, it was interesting to see a witch hunt led by witches. Queer people can always call out a lie.”

Since September, Squire has also been working with a TV show about the tech industry set in Silicon Valley. He says, “It seems the general flow of the tech industry is that humanity and civilization is finished and it’s just about accumulating as many goods as possible before everything collapses. In fact, those who are profiting actually agree. But for those who disagree, they believe the solution is to build bigger gates, but activists believe we can stop this”

Yet, he’s learned from folks associated with the show. “Many say the quickest way to divorce yourself from any responsibility or regulations — smash and grab. Otherwise, you have to stop and think and regulate your desires for greed and power”

Squire possesses a penchant for pithy titles. He laughs, explaining the first thing he wrote as a student at Juilliard was “Obama-ology,” the comedy with contemporary message. While a lot of people liked the name, it didn’t necessarily vibe with the author. He concedes that he chooses names based on “easy to remember” and titles that won’t be easy to lose as a file.

Another is “Defacing Michael Jackson,” a coming-of-age dramedy set in rural Florida in 1984, specifically Squire’s native town Opa-locka, Miami, a fantastical place famed for its fanciful Moorish revival architecture.

Living in the shadow of exotic structures, he wasn’t particularly fazed. Squire says “It wasn’t until returning to visit after my freshman year at Northwestern University in Chicago that I realized how weird it was: When you grow up in a place, you take surroundings for granted no matter how over the top.”

Now based in New York (where for two happy years, 2017-2019, he shared digs with drag king Murry Hill), Squire returns frequently to Miami to be with family, but this summer has been filled with both work and travel.

Currently, he’s in Shepherdstown with CATF shaping up “My Favorite Sociopath.” Later this summer he will travel to South Africa for research, followed by a silent writing retreat in Santa Fe, N.M.

Much of Squire’s work reflects the Latino, African, Caribbean, African-American, and Jewish cultures he grew up around in South Florida.

When asked if today’s winds of anti-multiculturalism worry him, he replies, “No, because that’s going to pass. Most people don’t like, people are seeing the negative results of it, and the young people coming up despise it. White male gamers were tricked momentarily through the algorithms into voting against their own interests and they’re now seeing how it’s not working out for them.

“Conservatives always try to stop progress and eventually they always lose. It’s just a question of where we’ll be in the middle of the end of civilization before that happens. I’d like to hope we can turn the ship around before then.”

In addition to “My Favorite Sociopath,” CATF summer season features three other world premieres (Lisa D’Amour’s comedy “The Smoker,” “Refugee Rhapsody” by Yussef El Guindi, “Best Line Wins: A Play Inspired by the Improvised Lives of Elaine May & Mike Nichols” by Beth Kander) and “¡VOS!” by Christina Pumariega.

CATF runs from July 10-Aug. 2 in three venues on the Shepherd University campus: Frank Center, Marinoff Theater, and Studio 112.