Arts & Entertainment
Shadow of the Big O
Gay designer Nate Berkus steps into spotlight with his own show
The television landscape is abundantly peppered with gay characters and shows — “Mad Men,” “Glee,” the hilarious “Modern Family,” all of which have been well documented. So we’re focusing on something new that, on its surface looks innocuous, but is actually a television first — an openly gay man with his own daytime show.
“The Nate Berkus Show” premieres Monday as a syndicated daytime show cleared for 95 percent of the country including all NBC-owned-and-operated stations (check local listings here). The Chicago-based designer, who became famous for his guest appearances on “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” is launching his own program as Winfrey starts the final season of her own show. He has his own Chicago-based design firm and is a best-selling author. He also hosted the short-lived reality show “Oprah’s Big Give” in 2008.
During a media conference call Tuesday, Berkus discussed his new show, its format, some of his guests and his thoughts about being an openly gay public figure.
“I’ve never played anybody but myself on TV so it’s not my intent to anything differently now,” Berkus says. “If anything, people will be seeing more of me than they ever have before, so my day-to-day will definitely be part of the show. Being on ‘Oprah,’ I was never front and center, so this has taken some getting used to.”
The series is conceived as an exploration of a “broad range of lifestyle subjects providing take-away information and inspiration that will make a real difference in viewers’ daily lives,” according to promotional materials.
Berkus says some of the recurring segments will find him designing spaces with a 3-D gaming technology device that was designed for him, the “Nate Crate” which will ship materials to viewers all around the country to fulfill a show-issued challenge and a segment in which Berkus cohorts will comb neighborhoods for curbside trash pickup that will hopefully contain treasures worth refurbishing that will eventually be auctioned for charity. Celebrity guests will also appear. Dolly Parton and Elizabeth Edwards have already taped segments.
“The sky is the limit,” Berkus says. “I’m gonna be out there every day so everything is going through my lens. It’s my show, with my name and my stamp on everything. Viewers will see how inept I am in the kitchen, they’ll see the tension between my mother and I, they’ll really see all facets.”
While lesbians such as Rosie O’Donnell, Ellen DeGeneres and Rachel Maddow have thrived with their own shows, observers are calling Berkus’ the first show of its kind hosted by a gay man since Jim J. Bullock hosted the short-lived “Jim J. and Tammy Faye Show” in 1996. Is Berkus’ sexual orientation important or just a side note?
“It’s important for me as a person to put my best foot forward,” he says. “I don’t define myself only as being gay or only as being Jewish. I think all of us have lots of different facets. But it is an enormous responsibility for several reasons. I try to lead by example.”
Berkus says there are no immediate plans for a visit from the big O though she may “if it makes sense.” He says Winfrey taught him to “always speak my truth, remain authentic and learn to listen before I speak.”
And what about the stereotypes of being a gay designer? How has Berkus overcome that?
“I don’t know that I have,” he says. “But it hasn’t been an issue at all.”
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)
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
‘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.
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‘Amm(i)gone’ explores family, queerness, and faith
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