Arts & Entertainment
Arts news in brief
Radcliffe goes glam, last weekend for ice show, Fleming at the Kennedy Center and more
Radcliffe goes glam in new photo shoot
Still boyish at 21, Daniel Radcliffe may portray the teen wizard as more geeky than gonzo on the big screen as Harry Potter. But now you can see Radcliffe show off his inner wild man, going full wizard indeed to promote his upcoming film, the last of the series, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2.”
Little Harry has grown up. Check out his cover photo shoot for the feature story “The Boy Magician Shape Shift,” in Dazed and Confused magazine. With festive face and body paint, at times grotesque, at other times glammed to the nines with feathers, Radcliffe is always sensual. He’s shown his wilder side before. A much-ballyhooed nude scene on stage at age 17 in Peter Shaffer’s 1973 play “Equus” happened in 2007 on London’s West End.
Next stop for Radcliffe is a planned 2011 revival of “How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” in which he is reportedly seeking to re-sculpt his body, hoping for six-pack slimness for shirtless scenes as the musical’s window-washer.
He also sent a recent message to gay teens as a new spokesman for the Trevor Project, the LGBT youth crisis-prevention 24-hour hotline. Speaking of the recent rash of gay teen suicides, he said that “it has been heart-breaking for me (that) these young people were bullied and tormented by people that should have been their friends.”
(Photo courtesy of Gaylord National Resort)
Last weekend for ‘Grinch’ ice exhibit
This is the last weekend to see the impressive ice-sculpted show ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas” as it closes Sunday. Featuring the artistry of Chinese ice carvings, it’s housed in a special 15,000-square foot pavilion at the waterfront Gaylord National Harbor Resort. It’s near the Beltway at the Wilson Bridge, right across the Potomac River from Old Town Alexandria, and it closes Sunday.
This one is perfect for kids of all ages, an indoor wonderland just 9 degrees above zero inside. Parkas are handed out to keep warm. It features 10 scenes from the 1957 Dr. Seuss classic story of the “Whoville-hating” Grinch, carved from two million pounds of ice, as well as a complete exhibition of the actual storybook artwork and commercial-art illustrations by Theodor Seuss Geisel, the American writer and cartoonist who died in 1991. For tickets and times, go to wefrozethegrinch.com or call 301-965-4000.
From left, Austin Johnson as Fritz, Emily Whitworth as Louise and Dalles Tolentino as the Nutcracker in Synetic's 'Nutcracker,' which continues through Jan. 16. (Photo by Ulia Kriskovets; courtesy of Synetic)
Synetic’s ‘Nutcracker’ features original music
Equally kid-friendly is a striking new twist on this tinseled old favorite — the original E.T.A. Hoffman tale of the enchanted Nutcracker Prince who saves a young girl from a nightmare attack of scampering mice — given it by educator and director Lilia Slavova. This version, which runs through Jan. 16 at the Synetic Family Theater’s Crystal City stage, 1800 S. Bell St. in Arlington, is virtually non-stop action and filled with whimsy and wonder, magic and movement, bright fun and broad farce.
Slavova’s re-imagining is shorn of most of Tchaikovsky’s music from the ballet suite and in its stead music from Synetic in-house composer Konstantine Lortkipandize is heard along with Bach, Beethoven and Stravinsky. For acting and dancing, including credible Russian-style leg-kicks and break-dance stunts, pay special attention to cute 22-year-old Austin Johnson who plays “Fritz” as a goofy 9 year old full of mischief, and lithe and limber Dallas Tolentino as the Nutcracker Prince. Tickets at 800-494-8497 or synetictheater.org.
Katz to speak at Foundry on controversial exhibit
Then there’s visual art, including, of course, the art world’s breakthrough museum show, “Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture.” As has been widely reported, this is a display of the depiction of same-sex attraction in American art from the 19th century to today. It closes at the National Portrait Gallery, 8th and F St N.W., on Feb 13.
The show’s co-curator Jonathan Katz, director of the doctoral program in visual studies at the State University of Buffalo, will discuss the firestorm over the recent political intervention in the exhibit to force the removal of the video “A Fire in the Belly,” at D.C.’s Foundry Gallery, 1314 18th St. N.W., Saturday Jan 15 at 4 p.m. Attendance at the lecture is free.
Transformer Gallery began showing the censored video after its removal from the show. Also there is a special exhibit there from through Jan. 30 to celebrate D.C.’s historic passage last year of the same-sex marriage law. The show features a juried selection from an “open call” for entries for visual representations of the theme of gay marriage. One of the artists featured is Bill Travis, a photographer of male nudes and art historian who recently moved to D.C. from New York City and whose show “Bodyscapes” just ended its own run at the D.C. Center on Jan 5. The reception for the show’s opening is tonight from 6 to 8.
Opera legend Renee Fleming plays the Kennedy Center this weekend. (Photo by Andrew Eccles)
Opera diva Fleming in recital this weekend
Grand opera’s sumptuous soprano celebrated by critics for her “creamy, generous tone” is expected to be as gorgeous as ever vocally when she appears in a Kennedy Center Concert Hall recital at 8 p.m. Saturday – a Washington Performing Arts Society (WPAS) event. Tickets at $47 to $125 are available through wpas.org or 202-785-WPAS.
Known as “the people’s diva,” Fleming sets the bar high for opera and lieder with such signature roles as the Countess Almaviva in Mozart’s “Le nozze di Figaro” and Desdemona in Verdi’s “Otello.” Fleming also stars on Jan. 31 in another of her great roles, as Violetta in Verdi’s “La traviata,” when “Opera in Cinema” kicks off its new season, now presented at D.C.’s new West End Cinema. Tickets for $20 are at www.westendcinema.com.
‘Seasons’ suites to be heard at Cathedral
Just when cold winter releases its latest icy grip comes a vision from Vivaldi that there are indeed four seasons, celebrated in a centerpiece selection of three masterworks by the Shakespeare Library’s Folger Consort — in concert tonight and Saturday night in the majestic nave of Washington National Cathedral, located at Massachusetts and Wisconsin Avenues, N.W.
Violinist Julie Andrijeski leads the baroque orchestra in the classic Vivaldi “Four Seasons” and also 17th century English composer Christopher Simpson’s fantasia suites for strings, “The Seasons.”
Rounding out the concert is the atmospheric music for John Cage’s 1947 ballet “The Seasons” — arranged for baroque instruments. American-born Cage, a composer and artist whose romantic partner for most of his life was dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham, died in 1992 at age 78.
Get tickets from $30 at folger.edu/consort or 202-544-7077. Robert Aubry Davis also leads a free pre-concert discussion with Folger Consort artistic directors and musicians tonight at 6:30 p.m. in the cathedral’s Tower auditorium.
History
Julius’ Bar ‘sip-in’ laid groundwork for Stonewall
Tuesday marked 60 years since four gay activists held protest
While Stonewall is widely considered the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ rights movement in the U.S., a lesser-known protest inside a Greenwich Village bar three years earlier helped lay critical groundwork for what would follow.
Tuesday marked 60 years since the Julius’ Bar “sip in.”
On April 21, 1966, four gay rights activists — Dick Leitsch, Craig Rodwell, John Timmons, and later Randy Wicker — walked into Julius’ Bar and staged what would become known as a “sip-in” to challenge state liquor regulations on serving alcoholic beverages to gay men — with a drink.
Modeled after the sit-ins that challenged racial segregation across the American South, the protest was designed to confront discriminatory practices targeting LGBTQ patrons in public spaces.
At the time, the Mattachine Society — one of the country’s earliest gay rights groups — was actively pushing back against policies enforced by the New York State Liquor Authority. One of those policies could have resulted in the loss of liquor licenses for serving known or suspected gay men and lesbians. The participants had visited multiple establishments, openly identified themselves as homosexual, and requested a drink — with the anticipation of being denied.
Their final stop was Julius’, where reporters and a photographer had gathered to document the moment. When Leitsch declared their identity, the bartender covered their glasses and refused service, reportedly saying, “I think it’s against the law.” The next day, the New York Times ran a story with the headline, “3 Deviates Invite Exclusion by Bars,” cementing the moment in the public record.
Though initially framed with disrespect — the term “sip-in” itself was coined as a play on civil rights protests — the action marked a turning point. It brought national attention to the systemic discrimination LGBTQ people faced and helped catalyze changes in how liquor laws were enforced. In the years that followed, the protest contributed to the emergence of licensed, more openly gay-friendly bars, which became central social and organizing spaces for LGBTQ communities.
The Washington Blade originally covered when the bar was officially added to the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places in 2016.
Today, historians and advocates increasingly recognize the “sip-in” as a key pre-Stonewall milestone. According to the New York City LGBTQ Historic Sites Project, the protest not only increased visibility of the early LGBTQ rights movement but also exposed widespread surveillance and entrapment tactics used against the community.
Marking the 60th anniversary of the event, commemorations have taken place in New York and across the country. Reflecting on its enduring legacy, Amanda Davis, executive director of the NYC LGBTQ Historic Sites Project, spoke about the event.
“Julius’ Bar is a place you can visit and viscerally connect with history,” said Davis. “We’re thrilled to have solidarity locations across the country join us in commemorating the ‘sip-in’’s 60th anniversary and the queer community’s First Amendment right to peaceably assemble.”
For current stewards of the historic bar, the responsibility of preserving that legacy remains front of mind.
“It’s a privilege and a responsibility to be the steward of a place so important to American and LGBTQ history,” said current owner of Julius’ Bar, Helen Buford. “The events of the 1966 Sip-In here at Julius’ resonated across the country and inspired countless others to stand proud for their rights.”
The timing couldn’t have come at a more important moment, Kymn Goldstein, executive director of the June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives, explained.
“At a time when our community faces renewed challenges, coming together in resilience and solidarity reminds us of the power in our collective resistance,” Goldstein said.
The American Civil Liberties Union, an organization dedicated to defending rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution, is currently tracking 519 anti-LGBTQ bills across the U.S. The majority are targeted at restricting transgender rights — particularly related to gender-affirming care, sports participation, and the use of public bathrooms.
Some additional groups and bars that held their own “sip-in” as solidarity events to uplift this historic milestone are from across the country include:
Alice Austen House at Steiny’s Pub, Staten Island, N.Y.
Bellows Falls Pride Committee at PK’s Irish Pub, Bellows Falls, Vt.
Brick Road Coffee, Mesa, Ariz.
Brick Road Coffee, Tempe, Ariz.
Dick Leitsch’s Family at Old Louisville Brewery, Louisville, Ky.
The Faerie Playhouse & LGBT+ Archives Project of Louisiana at Le Cabaret, New Orleans
Harlem Pride & John Reddick at L’Artista Italian Kitchen & Bar, New York
JOYR!DE KiKi at Loafers Cocktail Bar, New York
Matthew Lawrence & Jason Tranchida / Headmaster at Deadbeats Bar, Providence, R.I.
Mazer Lesbian Archives at Alana’s Coffee, Los Angeles
New Hope Celebrates at The Club Room, New Hope, Pa.
Queer Memory Project at the University of Evansville Multicultural Student Commons / Ridgway University Center, Evansville, Ind.
Sandy Jack’s Bar, Brooklyn, N.Y.
St. Louis LGBT History Project at Just John Club, St. Louis
The LGBTQ+ Victory Fund National Champagne Brunch was held at Salamander Washington DC on Sunday, April 19. Gov. Andy Beshear (D-Ky.) was presented with the Allyship Award.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
The umbrella LGBTQ sports organization Team D.C. held its annual Night of Champions Gala at the Georgetown Marriott on Saturday, April 18. Team D.C. presented scholarships to local student athletes and presented awards to Adam Peck, Manuel Montelongo (a.k.a. Mari Con Carne), Dr. Sara Varghai, Dan Martin and the Centaur Motorcycle Club. Sean Bartel was posthumously honored with the Most Valuable Person Award.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
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