Arts & Entertainment
Arts news in brief
Last weekend to catch several worthy local productions
John Robert Keena (left) and Chuck Young in 'Golden Boy,' which ends its local run Sunday. (Photo by Jim Coates; courtesy of Church Street Theater)
Last chance for ‘Wife Swappers,’ ‘Golden Boy’
Cherry Red’s production of Justin Tanner’s play “Wife Swappers” brings the horny, homophobic world of middle-aged swinger-sex in the land of Orange County church-going Republicans under the revealing microscope — an eyeful of full-frontal nudity and wide-open frankness, with sometimes way “too much information” as the characters let it all hang out at the D.C. Arts Center in Adams Morgan, but only through Saturday.
The setting is Christmas-time under a holiday party banner reading “Deck The Halls With Your Balls.” But the play ends on a more serious note, hinting more at Edward Albee and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolff?” than carefree suburban poly-amorous humping. See it tonight at 7:30 or Saturday when it closes, at 7:30 and 10 p.m. The D.C. Arts Center is at 2438 18th St. N.W. Tickets are $25. 202-462-7833.
“Golden Boy” is another very different play, but it’s also see-it-now-before it closes. Clifford Odets’ classic kitchen-sink drama of 1937, “Golden Boy” (William Holden made his film star debut in the 1939 film adaptation), on stage at the Keegan Theatre in the Church Street Theater in Dupont Circle. It closes there Sunday. Odets, a leading Hollywood screenwriter (for example, “The Sweet Smell of Success” in 1957), shows a man torn between the lure of big money in the ring as a prize-fighter and the risk of ending his dream of a career as a violinist by using his hands to slug instead of bow.
The drama is often melo- and the tragic ending is fore-shadowed. But even so it’s worth seeing, tonight and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. The Church Street Theater is at 1742 Church St., N.W. Tickets are $30 to $35. 703-892-0201 or here.
Webre re-imagines ‘Nutcracker’; ‘Hamlet’ goes high def
“The Nutcracker” ballet by gay composer Tchaikovsky has been revamped by Septime Webre (also gay) and the Washington Ballet, with distinctive twists including setting it during the American Revolution, with a heroic George Washington as the Nutcracker and King George III as the King of the Mice, and a Potomac River setting for a dance of the cherry blossoms. Through Dec. 26 at the Warner Theatre, 13th and E streets, N.W. Tickets from $31 at 202-397-7328 or here.
“Hamlet,” is it the greatest play by the greatest ever playwright? And was he in fact bisexual? Well, to both questions, maybe. At least you can perhaps answer the first question at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 27, when the play is performed live from London’s National Theatre on the giant high def screen at the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Harman Hall, 610 F St., N.W. The classic portrait of uncertainty, which of course ultimately appears to answer the question “to be or not to be” by mostly choosing the latter, is directed by Nicholas Hynter and features Rory Kinnear in the title role. Tickets are $20 from 202-547-1122 or here.
Art galleries offer year-end collections
Two very different group shows of artists are now in progress at Gallery planb, in Logan Circle at 1530 14th St., N.W., open Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m., gay gallery director David Kalamar has pulled together a remarkable year-end group show running through Dec. 24, featuring about 25 artists showing works in painting, photography, jewelry, prints and much more. Any purchase enters you in a raffle to win a limited edition print, “Smith Island,” by gay artist Keith H. Adams, a former U.S. Marine Corps combat artist who later worked as a set painter at the Washington Opera and just recently opened with his partner a B&B in Washington, Va., in the bucolic foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Also, be sure to admire Adams’ oil paintings “Cedar II” and “Muir Beach.”
“Focus Group: Four Walls, Five Women,” at the D.C. Arts Center in Adams Morgan, 2438 18th St., N.W., is open 2 to 7 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday through Jan 9. This show is a collaboration between the Center and Black Artists of D.C. (BADC), emerging from discussion among five black women about how their race and gender expresses itself through the materials they choose to use.
The sixth annual “Downtown Holiday Market” is open daily from noon to 8 p.m. thru Dec. 23. More than 180 local artisans and crafters show their work, under festive tents on F Street between 7th and 9th streets, N.W., in front of the National Portrait Gallery. There’s also live music (free) and refreshments (for sale).
Celebrity News
My evening with Madonna
Gay icon headlined the World Pride Music Festival in Amsterdam
Editor’s note: International News Editor Michael K. Lavers and Photo Editor Michael Key will be on assignment in the Netherlands through Aug. 10. They will be covering World Pride in Amsterdam.
AMSTERDAM — Madonna and 6,000 of her closest friends celebrated World Pride at Amsterdam’s AFAS Live concert hall early Sunday morning. I was fortunate enough to be one of them.
Madonna last Wednesday nearly broke the internet when she said on social media in Dutch that “I got somethin’ I wanna talk about,” referring to an opening line in “Danceteria,” one of the tracks on her “Confessions II” album that has received rave reviews since its July 2 release. The track has been on near constant replay on my playlist since I first heard it.
— Madonna (@Madonna) July 28, 2026
MISTR — a telehealth platform that offers free access to PrEP, Doxy PEP, STI testing, and long-term care that has organized Madonna’s Club Confessions shows in the U.S. and the U.K. — later confirmed the rampant speculation. I woke up on July 30 to an email in my inbox from MISTR and the World Pride Music Festival PR team that said I was on the press list.
Madonna was indeed going to headline the World Pride Music Festival that Jake Resnicow and Insomniac produced, and I was going to be there. OMFG!!!!
The gay icon had one more surprise in store.
The Dutch internet on Saturday once again broke over speculation that Kylie Minogue was going to appear alongside Madonna. I was getting ready to leave our hotel in Amsterdam on Saturday night when I saw a video of the two of them together.
“Madonna is now teasing Kylie Minogue on her social media … she may be one of her ‘special guests’ tonight,” I wrote in a text to Washington Blade Editor Kevin Naff at 8:46 p.m.
“Have fun! This is turning into the gayest concert ever,” he responded.
I arrived at AFAS Live shortly before 11 p.m. My press contact walked me and two other Dutch journalists into the venue’s cavernous main room known as the Black Box. We made small talk for a few minutes before I started to walk around and listen to Josh Harrison who was on the decks.
Madonna was scheduled to take the stage at 1:30 a.m., but she is known for being late — she is Madonna and she does what she wants. Hayla, a British singer, and Bebe Rexha are among those who performed ahead of Madonna. Thousands of sweaty men — including a group of Australians next to me who were eagerly awaiting Kylie’s anticipated appearance — packed the Black Box and were dancing, anticipating what was to come.
MISTR CEO Tristan Schukraft at one point came on stage and declared Madonna was indeed in the building. The moment for which we were all eagerly waiting finally came shortly before 2:30 a.m.
“Mother is here and this is gay heaven,” said Madonna when she took the stage.
Stuart Price, who produced her “Confessions on a Dance Floor” album in 2005, manned the decks during Madonna’s set.
She opened it with “I Feel So Free” from “Confessions II.” Madonna then sang “Bring Your Love” and “Danceteria” to which this reporter — and everyone else — sang along.
Madonna then teased a surprise before she began to perform “Love Sensation.” Kylie soon appeared on stage. It was nearly too much for my fellow partygoers from Australia. It was indeed the gayest concert ever!
Madonna and Kylie performed “Love Sensation” together. They then sang “Hung Up” and “Sorry” from “Confessions on a Dance Floor” to round out the set that ended shortly after 3 a.m.
Madonna and I share the same birthday — Aug. 16 — and I would like to think she and Kylie gave me an early birthday present. In all seriousness though, it was an amazing night for me and for everyone else who was fortunate enough to be there.
“On the dance floor I feel so free,” says Madonna in the opening of “I Feel So Free.”
For those few precious hours at AFAS Live I did not think about the Trump-Vance administration and the myriad ways it is destroying the U.S. I did not think about the National Guard troops deployed to D.C. I did not think about the pointless wars that continue to ravage Ukraine and other countries around the world. I simply lost myself on the dance floor and celebrated an icon who has always stood with my community.
Thank you, Madonna.
The Petal Release Party and Drag Show was held at Spark Social on Friday, July 31. Performers included Tiara-Missou, Labianna and Darcy de la Cuadra.
(Washington Blade photos by Landon Shackelford)
Celebrity News
Madonna headlines World Pride Music Festival in Amsterdam
Kylie Minogue made surprise appearance alongside gay icon
AMSTERDAM — Madonna on Sunday headlined the final night of the World Pride Music Festival in Amsterdam.
The gay icon took the stage shortly before 2:30 a.m. local time (8:30 p.m. ET on Saturday) during Club Confessions, a set that MISTR, a telehealth platform that offers free access to PrEP, Doxy PEP, STI testing, and long-term HIV care, organized.
“Mother is here and this is gay heaven,” said Madonna when she took the stage inside Amsterdam’s AFAS Live concert hall that can hold up to 6,000 people.
Stuart Price, who produced Madonna’s 2005 “Confessions on a Dance Floor” album and “Confessions II,” which debuted on July 2, DJed the set.
Kylie Minogue made a surprise appearance. She and Madonna performed a new remix of “Love Sensation” from “Confessions II.”
(Washington Blade video by Michael K. Lavers)
“Throughout my career, I’ve always supported efforts to fight HIV and AIDS, and that fight begins with education and access,” said Madonna in a MISTR press release. “With MISTR, (CEO) Tristan (Schukraft) is expanding access to HIV prevention and sexual healthcare for everyone. Through this work, he’s helping preserve and strengthen LGBTQ+ spaces while investing in the communities and culture that have long sustained us.”
Minogue in an Instagram post thanked Madonna, Price, Schukraft, and MISTR.
Madonna appeared at The Abbey in West Hollywood, Calif., in April. Madonna in June celebrated Pride month with a pop-up performance in New York’s Times Square.
Jake Resnicow and Insomniac produced the World Pride Music Festival that also featured Bebe Rexha and Paris Hilton, among others.
“Pride has always been about bringing our community together,” said Resnicow. “At a moment when too many people are being told to hide or make themselves smaller, gathering openly, joyfully, and without apology matters more than ever. I couldn’t be prouder of what this festival brought to life in Amsterdam — one dance floor, completely free.”
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