Arts & Entertainment

Calendar: events through Nov. 11

Movies, plays, social groups and more

Published

16 years ago

November 3, 2010

Brent Sullivan’s 'Fag Life: A Conversation with Fred Phelps' will be performed twice Saturday in Arlington. Sullivan is a gay stand-up comic from New York who will explore gay culture by satirizing the outrageously offensive beliefs of the Kansas-based Baptist minister who preaches hate and damnation for gays. (Photo courtesy of Arlington Drafthouse)

Friday, Nov. 5

RAW will be holding its first anniversary tonight from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. at Green Lantern (1335 Green Court, N.W.) with resident DJs Bil Todd and Shea Van Horn plus guest DJ Mark Louque (FAGBASH, Provincetown). There’s a $5 cover after 11 p.m., it’s free before with an open bar from 10 to 11. Attendees must be 21 or older. For more information, visit RAWdc.com.

Zoom Urban Lesbian Excursions will be hosting “Lingerie Football League” tonight at 1st Mariner Arena (201 W. Baltimore St.) in Baltimore. Attendees can meet near the will call window at 8:30 p.m. and the game begins at 9. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit zoomexcursions.com.

Touchstone Gallery will be holding an opening reception for three exhibits today from 6 to 8:30 p.m. The exhibits include “Photos on the Loose,” photographs displayed for FotoWeek D.C. which runs through Nov. 14, “Folks Like Us,” abstract artwork by Paula B. Lantz, which runs through Nov. 28, and “Faces” by Charles St. Charles, which also runs through Nov. 28.

The Richard Montgomery High School Black Maskers Drama Club presents Moisés Kaufman’s “The Laramie Project,” a play based on interviews with residents of Laramie, Wyo., after the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student, tonight at 7 p.m. in the Richard Montgomery Auditorium (250 Richard Montgomery Drive) in Rockville. Tickets may be purchased in advance at richardmontgomerydrama.ticketleap.net or at the door, and are $5 for students and $13 for adults.

The D.C. Center (1318 U St., N.W.) will be holding an open mic night tonight from 7:30 to 10 p.m. hosted by Mike Brazell. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. and participants must be signed up by 8. The event is free. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

The tour for “Girls to the Front: the True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution” a book by Sara Marcus, will be at St. Stephen’s Church (1525 Newton St., N.W.) tonight at 7 p.m. with a reading, discussion with “Dance of Days” author Mark Andersen and musical guests Trophy Wife, Hey Girl, the Gift and War on Women.

The gay-helmed Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh Dance Company will be performing works by Anna Sokolow in the Ina and Jack Kay Theatre in the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland, College Park. Tickets are $30 or $24 for subscribers, and can be purchased online at claricesmithcenter.umd.edu.

“Deaf in Pink: Three-Day Breast Cancer Walk in San Diego” will be showing as part of the third film screening for the World Deaf Cinema film festival from 3:30 to 5:45 p.m. on the Gallaudet University campus, along with three other films. “Deaf in Pink” follows seven deaf women as they participate in the walk. It is nominated for Best Short and was directed and produced by out lesbian, Laura Harvey. Marlee Matlin, who had a role on “The L Word,” will be presented a lifetime achievement award at the festival. Tickets are $10 for a single screening and can be purchased at wdcg.gallaudet.edu. There are also packages for all the viewings as well as other events that coinicide with the festival.

Saturday, Nov. 6

Dr. Rebecca Dolinsky and Kim Sescoe of the Rainbow History Project will be moderating a panel at the D.C. Historical Studies Conference called “LGBT Religious and Spiritual Communities in the Greater Washington Area” from 11:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. at the Charles Sumner School Museum and Archives (1201 17th Street NW). Conference fees are $15 for general admission and $10 for students and seniors. Attendees may register and pay at the door. For more information visit historydc.org/events/historicalstudiesconference.aspx.

Underground Comedy presents a night of stand-up comedy with Hal Sparks, best known as Michael in Showtime’s “Queer as Folk,” and Finesse Mitchell from “Saturday Night Live,” tonight at 7:15 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. at the Forum in Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Sidney Harman Hall (610 F St. N.W.). For tickets and more information, call the box office at 202-547-1122 or visit ShakespeareTheatre.org.

Susan Burnstine, a Los Angeles photographer, will have a solo exhibit at Morton Fine Art (1781 Florida Ave., N.W.) open today and it will run through Nov. 13. MFA will host an artist talk with her today at 2 p.m. For more information, visit mortonfineart.com.

D.C.’s Different Drummers will be holding its 30th anniversary Concert, “Triumphs & Reflections” tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Columbia Heights Educational Campus Auditorium (3101 16th St., N.W.) with performances by DCDD Marching Band, DC Swing!, Capitol Pride Winds, Capitol Pride Symphonic Band, and small ensembles. Tickets are $20 from band members, at the door or at the group’s online box office. For more information or to purchase tickets in advance, visit dcdd.org.

Brent Sullivan’s “Fag Life: A Conversation with Fred Phelps” is tonight at 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. at the Dome at Artisphere (1101 Wilson Boulevard) in Arlington. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased in advance at faglife.eventbrite.com/ or at the box office starting one hour before showtime.

Sunday, Nov. 7

Arlington Gay & Lesbian Alliance will hold its 10th annual Veterans Day Memorial Service in conjunction with Servicemembers Legal Defense Network at 2 p.m. at the Congressional Cemetery (1801 E St., S.E.) at the gravesite of Sgt. Leonard Matlovich, one of the first to challenge America’s ban on open service in the armed forces.

Monday, Nov. 8

A “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”-themed photo exhibit by Los Angeles photographer Jeff Sheng opens today at Human Rights Campaign headquarters (1640 Rhode Island Ave., N.W.) and runs through Wednesday. Sheng will be present today at noon to meet visitors who can view the exhibit between the hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Wednesday. Sheng shot the photos of discharged servicemembers over a two-year, cross-country span.

Towson University will be holding a panel on social media etiquette tonight at 5:30 p.m. in room 310 of Stephens Hall. The panel will feature social media experts who will discuss proper social media etiquette and offer “do” and “don’t” advice. This is a free event.

Tuesday, Nov. 9

Daniel Phoenix Singh of the gay-helmed Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh Dance Company Dance Company will be leading a workshop on hand gestures and how they are used in modern dance today at 5:30 p.m. in the theatre rehearsal room (3732) in the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland, College Park. The workshop is free and open to everyone.

Photos

PHOTOS: Vitamin C at JR.’s

Live drag show follows ‘Drag Race All Stars’ viewing party

Published

35 minutes ago

July 19, 2026

Landon Shackelford

Brooke N Hymen performs at JR.'s at the Vitamin C drag show on Friday. (Washington Blade photo by Landon Shackelford)

JR.’s Bar held a “RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars” watch party followed by a live drag show on Friday, July 17. The Vitamin C weekly drag show was hosted by Citrine with performers Brooke N Hyman and Rosie Beret.

(Washington Blade photos by Landon Shackelford)

Photos

PHOTOS: Rehoboth Beach Pride Festival

LGBTQ celebration held at convention center

Published

3 hours ago

July 19, 2026

Daniel Truitt

A scene from the 2026 Rehoboth Beach Pride Festival. (Washington Blade photo by Daniel Truitt)

The 2026 Rehoboth Beach Pride Festival was held at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center on Saturday, July 18.

(Washington Blade photos by Daniel Truitt)

Books

Liza’s book a tale that’s better than most celebrity memoirs

‘Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!’ dishes on marriages, heartbreak

Published

4 hours ago

July 19, 2026

Terri Schlichenmeyer

(Book cover image courtesy of Grand Central)

‘Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! My Memoir’
By Liza Minnelli, as told to Michael Feinstein
c.2026, Grand Central
$36/ 421 pages

Twenty feet In front of you, and you can’t see a thing.

Even the closest faces are in shadow – lit, but not quite enough for you to see for sure what the people there are thinking. Still, you can hear them, their gasps, their laughter, and applause. Such is life, on-stage. Now read “Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! My Memoir” by Liza Minnelli, as told to Michael Feinstein, and read about it beyond the spotlight.

Almost from the moment she was born, Liza Minnelli was famous.

It was inevitable: her mother was Judy Garland. Her father was director Vincente Minnelli. Her godparents were Hollywood glitterati, her neighbors were famous, her playmates would be famous someday, too.

But her life wasn’t all starlight and happiness.

She made her stage debut as a toddler. She became her “mother’s caretaker” at age 13.

At 16, she had a growing career of her own – one that her mother tried to stop. But, she says, “In her own way, Mama was wonderful to me. Try understanding – she was my mother, not a movie star…. I knew her as the person who loved me and always would.”

At 19, Minnelli was working, happy, and madly in love with the man who’d become her first husband, and life was wonderful – until she came home one day to find him in their bed with another man. Before they were divorced, she lost her beloved mother, and became “engaged” to two other men simultaneously, neither of which made it to the altar with her.

She married her second husband, the son of one of her mother’s former co-stars, in 1974 but her love affairs and addictions led to a second divorce.

Her third husband was a stage manager.

She doesn’t have much good to say about her fourth, and last, husband.

Overall, she says, “You gotta play the comedy for all it’s worth and leave ‘em laughing. Even when your heart is breaking.”

Are you expecting bluntness, sass, or attitude here? Good, because that’s what you get inside “Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!” It’s strong on honesty and don’t-give-a-flip. It’s wonderfully edited, so it moves fast. It’s eye-opening and funny and a pleasant surprise for a first, and only (so far), memoir.

Even better, author Liza Minnelli (with best friend, Michael Feinstein) is really quite candid and nicely gossipy, starting from the beginning. There are some Hollywood folks, in fact, who are feeling edgy because of what’s inside this book and the secrets spilled. Minnelli and Feinstein seemed to have fun telling her story, and they comfortably lure readers in.

That’s not to say that it’s all a cabaret. Minnelli tells about her addictions and recoveries, her marriages and why she wed two gay men, and the losses she endured, including miscarriages, deaths, and broken relationships. The bad balances well with the good for a tale that’s several notches above most celebrity memoirs. “Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!” is, in fact, a real joy to read, a genuine bright spot.

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