Arts & Entertainment
Calendar: Oct. 1
AIDS Walk, Brandi Carlile in Baltimore, RAW at Green Lantern and much more
PHOTO: Openly gay singer Brandi Carlile is at Rams Head Live Monday in Baltimore. (Photo courtesy of Brandi Carlile)
Friday, Oct. 1
Beat the Clock Happy Hour at Nellie’s, 900 U St., N.W., is tonight from 5 to 8 p.m. All bottles, Miller Light, or house vodka drinks are $1 from 5 to 6 p.m., $2 from 6 to 7 p.m. and $3 from 7 to 8 p.m.
AIM presents Jason DeRulo at Rams Head Live! with Auburn tonight at 8 p.m. Doors open at 7. Tickets are $27.50 can be purchased at ramsheadlive.com.
Gloss presents Halloween Scream Dance Party at Apex, 1415 22nd St., N.W., tonight at 9 p.m. featuring music by DJ Rosie in the main room and a show by the D.C. Kings and the D.C. Gurly Show at midnight. Everyone is encouraged to wear their Halloween costume. There will be $3 long island iced teas all night. Cover is $10. Attendees must be 18 to enter.
RAW will be at Green Lantern, 1335 Green Court N.W., tonight from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. featuring resident DJs Bill and Shea plus guest DJs the Witches of Shade: DJ Boom Boom Box and DJ Soft Shoe. Also featuring Colby Keller and his “spanking station.” There’s no cover before 11 p.m. and a $5 cover after 11. There will be an open bar from 10 to 11 p.m. on the second floor.
DJ Seth Gold and NiteCamp will be at Town, 2009 8th St., N.W., tonight at 10 p.m. For those 21 and older, cover is $5 before 11 p.m. and $10 after. For those 18 to 20, cover is $10 all night. “So you think you’re a drag queen?” will also be tonight starting at 10:30 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 2
The 24th annual AIDS Walk Washington to benefit the Whitman-Walker Clinic is today starting at 7 a.m. Same-day registration for the walk only, the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt display and other activities begin at 7. A program of music, speakers and warm-up exercises being at 8:15 a.m. The fourth annual 5k timed run begins at 9 a.m. and the AIDS Walk step off begins at 9:15. Visit aidswalkwashington.org for more information and to pre-register.
Cobalt and LevelOne will be holding the Official AIDS Walk Brunch from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. A portion of the proceeds will benefit AIDS Walk Washington. LevelOne is located at 1639 R St., N.W.
Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens will be holding its ninth annual Gay Day today. The event will be a special wedding-themed day to celebrate gay marriage in D.C. Some of the morning activities include an LGBT family garden party with Rainbow Families and an imagination station featuring books, games and fancy dress-up. Some afternoon festivities include two sessions of storytelling with Speakeasy D.C., a wedding reception-style “punch on the Portico,” square dancing with D.C. Lambda Squares and Broadway love songs performed by the Rock Creek Singers of the Gay Men’s Chorus. Visit hillwoodmseum.org for more information including program fees.
There will be an opening reception for “Action Painting: the work of M.M. Panas” at City Gallery, 804 H St., N.E., tonight from 6 to 9 p.m.
Seth Glier will be at Jammin’ Java, 227 Maple Ave., East, in Vienna, Va., at 8 p.m. Glier is a 20-year-old singer, pianist and guitarist from Mass. His debut album is “The Trouble with People.”
Furious Dance Party at Busboys and Poets, 1025 5th St., N.W., is tonight from 8 p.m. to midnight to celebrate the publication of Alice Walker’s new volume of poetry, “Hard Times Require Furious Dancing” with featured speakers Walker and Ben Jealous, President of NAACP. Tickets range from $25 to $70. Visit busboysandpoets.com for more information and to purchase tickets.
Superheroes in 3D at Town, 2009 8th St., N.W., is tonight. Everyone will received 3D glasses on the way in and the club will be offering multiple Superhero 3D experiences. Music will be provided by Kidd Madonny from Miami. Doors open at 10 p.m. Cover is $8 before 11 p.m. and $12 after. Must be 21 or older to enter.
Sunday, Oct.3
Team D.C. presents the 2010 Champions Brunch today at 11 a.m. at Nellie’s, 900 U St., N.W., with unlimited brunch and mimosas with special guest speaker, former NFL Commissioner, Paul Tagliabue. The Campions Awards recognizes leaders in the LGBT Sport community and include MVP Award, Trailblazer Award and Community Support Award. The brunch is $30 per person and tickets can be purchased at teamdc.org.
Monday, Oct. 4
D.C. Center is having its volunteer night tonight from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The Center is located at 1318 U St., N.W. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.
Out artist Brandi Carlile will be performing at Rams Head Live with Katie Herzig tonight at 8 p.m. Doors open at 7. Tickets are $26 and can be purchased at ramsheadlive.com.
Tuesday, Oct. 5
Burgundy Crescent Volunteers needs help packing safer sex kits for FUK!T from 7 to 9 p.m. tonight at Green Lantern, 1335 Green Ct., N.W.
Wednesday, Oct. 6
“Fagbug” will be shown on the deck at Nellie’s, 900 U St., N.W., tonight at 8 p.m. following a happy hour at 5 p.m. “Fagbug” is a documentary following Erin Davies’ 58-day cross-country trip in her car to evoke a dialogue about homophobia after it was tagged with the words “fag” and “u r gay.”
Mautner Project presents its Speakers Series: African American Women who Partner with Women Health Issues with D. Magrini and Rachelle Dixon tonight at Equality Maryland, 1201 Sharp St., in Baltimore, at 6:30 p.m.
BookMen D.C., an informal group of men who are interested in gay literature (both fiction and non-fiction), will be diccussing “The Satyricon” by Petronius at 7:30 p.m. tonight at the Sumner School, 1201 17th St., N.W. Visit bookmendc.blogspot.com for more information.
Thursday, Oct. 7
“Happy Hours” at the Fireplace, 2161 P St., N.W., is today from 1 to 11 p.m. From 1 to 8 p.m. is “Happy Hour with Tommy” downstairs. From 3 to 8 p.m. is “Happy Hour with Scott” upstairs. Rail drinks and domestic beer are $2.50 until 11 p.m. Rail vodka is $2 from 9 to 11 p.m. VJ Dina Valentine will be downstairs.
Photos
PHOTOS: Capital Stonewall Democrats 50th anniversary
D.C. LGBTQ political group celebrates milestone at Pepco Edison Place Gallery
The Capital Stonewall Democrats held a 50th anniversary celebration at Pepco Edison Place Gallery on Friday. Rayceen Pendarvis served as the emcee.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Theater
‘Inherit the Wind’ isn’t about science vs. religion, but the right to think
Holly Twyford on new role and importance of listening to different opinions
‘Inherit the Wind’
Through April 5
Arena Stage
1101 Sixth St., S.W.
Tickets start at $73
Arenastage.org
When “Inherit the Wind” premiered on Broadway in 1955 with a cast of 50, its fictional setting of Hillsboro, an obscure country town described as the buckle on the Bible Belt, was filled with townspeople. And now at Arena Stage, director Ryan Guzzo Purcell has somehow crowded Arena’s large Fichandler space with just 10 actors, five principals and a delightful ensemble of five playing multiple roles.
Inspired by the real-life Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925, Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee’s fictionalized work pits intellectual freedom against McCarthyism via the imagined trial of Bertram Cates (Noah Plomgren), a Tennessee educator charged with teaching evolution. Drawn into the fracas are big shot lawyers, defense attorney Henry Drummond (Billy Eugene Jones), and conservative prosecutor, Matthew Harrison Brady (Dakin Matthew). On hand to cover the closely watched story is wisecracking city slicker and Baltimore reporter E.K. Horneck (played by nonbinary actor Alyssa Keegan).
Out actor Holly Twyford, a four-time Helen Hayes Award winner who has appeared in more than 80 Washington area plays, is part of the ensemble. In jeans and boots, she memorably plays Meeker, the bailiff at the Hillsboro courthouse and the jailer responsible for holding Cates in the days leading to his trial.
Twyford also plays Sillers, a slack jawed earnest employee at the local feed store who’s called to serve on the jury. And more importantly she plays Brady’s quietly strong wife Sarah whom he affectionately calls “Mother.”
When Twyford makes her memorable first entrance as Meeker, she’s wiping shaving cream from her face with a hand towel. With shades of Mayberry R.F.D., the jail is run casually. Meeker says Cates isn’t the criminal type, and he’s not.
“There’s a joke among actors,” says Twyford. “When an actor gets his shoes, they know who their character is. And it’s sort of true. When you put on boots, heels, or flip flops, there’s a different feeling, and you walk differently.”
Similarly, shares Twyford, it goes for clothes too: “When Mother slips a pink coat dress over her cowboy boots, dons a little hat and ties her scarf, or Meeker puts on his work shirt, I know where I am. And all of that is thanks to a remarkable wardrobe crew.
“Additionally, some of the ensemble characters are played broadly which is helpful to the actors and super identifying for the audience too.”
During intermission, an audience member loudly described the production as “a proper play” filled with beautifully written passages. And it’s true. Twyford agrees, adding “That’s all true, and it’s also been was fun for us to be a part of the Arena legacy as well. Arena took ‘Inherit the Wind’ to the Soviet Union in the early ‘70s when the respective governments did a cultural exchange. At the time, the iron curtain was very much in place, and they traveled with a play about a man with his own thoughts.”
When the ensemble was cast, actors didn’t know which tracts exactly they were going to play. “What came together was a cast, diverse in different ways. Some directors, including myself when I direct, are interested in assembling a cast that’s a good group. No time for egos. It’s more about who will make the best group to help me tell this story.”
At one point during rehearsal, ensemble members began to help one another with minor onstage costume changes, like jackets and hats: “We just started doing it and Ryan [Guzzo Purcell] picked up on it, saying things really began to come alive when we helped each other, so we went with that.”
“For me, it was reminiscent of ‘The Laramie Project’ [Ford’s Theatre in 2013] when we played five different parts and we’d help each other with a vest or jacket in a similar way. It worked so well then too,” says Twyford.
“Inherit the Wind” isn’t about science versus religion. It’s about the right to think, playwright Jerome Lawrrence has been quoted as saying. And it’s a quote that makes the play that much more relevant today.
Twford remembers a chat in a hair salon: “I was getting my hair cut and the woman next to me shared that she was tired of message plays. Understandably there are theater makers who believe that message plays are the point, while others think it’s all about entertainment. I feel like ‘Inherit the Wind’ sits in a nice place in the middle.”
She adds “the work is a creative way of showing different opinions and that, I think, is what we should be paying attention to right now. Clearly, it’s not right or wrong to express what you think.”
Out & About
‘How We Survived’ panel set for March 25
‘Living History’ discussion to be held at Spark Social
Friends of Dorothy Cafe will host “Part One, Living History: How We Survived,” will take place on Wednesday, March 25 at 7:30 p.m. at Spark Social House.
This event will be moderated by Abby Stuckrath, host of the “Queering the District” podcast. Panelists include: Earline Budd, activist, trans rights advocate; TJ Flavell of Go Gay DC; DC LGBTQ+ Center Board Member David Bissette; and Alexa Rodriguez, founder and executive director, Trans-Latinx DMV.
This event is part of a four-part storytelling series called “Living History,” which centers LGBTQ elders, activists, artists, and icons sharing their lived experiences and reflections with younger generations. The conversations explore themes like resilience, community organizing, chosen family, and the lessons earlier generations hope today’s LGBTQ+ and ally communities will carry forward.
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