Arts & Entertainment

Calendar: Jan. 21

Parties, movies and events through Jan. 27

Published

15 years ago

January 20, 2011

Lace Lounge has a "Social Climax" party Friday night. (Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Friday, Jan. 21

Chely Wright will be at the Birchmere (3701 Mt. Vernon Ave.) in Alexandria, Va., tonight at 7:30 p.m. with special guest, Deep River. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online at birchmere.com.

Gross National Product returns with “The Sound of Palin” at Atlas Performing Arts Center (1333 H St., N.E.) tonight at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $10 to $20 and can be purchased at atlas arts.org.

Apex (1415 22nd St., N.W.) presents Caliente Grande with DJ Michael Brandon in the main hall. Jamaica and Friends will perform in a drag show at midnight. Drink specials include $4 margaritas. Attendees must be 18 to enter and there is a $10 cover. For more information, visit apex-dc.com or calientedc.com.

Enigma, a monthly substance-free, no-alcohol party, is tonight at the Green Lantern (1335 Green Court, N.W.) from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. on the second floor with a separate entrance and a security guard working the door to make sure no one with drinks from downstairs comes up. Cover is $5 and all are welcomed.

Lace Lounge (2214 Rhode Island Ave., N.E.) presents Social Climax from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. with free drinks before 11:30 p.m. Attendees must be 21 or older and there is a $10 cover. For more information, visit lacedc.com.

Metropolitan Community Church of Washington’s fundraising team is hosting a bingo night tonight at 7 p.m. at the church (474 Ridge St., N.W.). The evening begins with four early bird games which costs $2 for four cards or $3 for eight cards. This is followed by 17 regular and special games which are packaged for as low as $25. There will be homemade refreshments available.

Saturday, Jan. 22

Merrifield Garden Center is returning with its free gardening, landscaping and now cooking seminars today at 10 a.m. Next to the Merrifield location, in the Merrifield Community Hall (8104 Lee Highway), Vivian Mitchell, a tropical plant specialist, will be teaching about easy-to-grow houseplants. Jonathan Kavalier, a horticulturist with the Smithsonian Institution, will be at the Fair Oaks location (12101 Lee Highway) in Fairfax teaching how to grow orchids. Lilienne Conklin, a chef, will be teaching about cooking with line at the Gainesville location (6895 Wellington Rd.). Registration is not required for any of the seminars, but Merrifield asks attendees of the wine seminar to register online at merrifieldgardencenter.com.

Mixtape D.C. is tonight at DC9 (1940 9th St., N.W.) from 10 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. Mixtape is a dance party for queer music lovers and their pals that features DJs Shea Van Horn and Matt Bailer playing an eclectic mix of electro, alt-pop, indie rock, house, disco, new wave and anything else danceable. $5 cover for 21 and over.

Chantry, a classical vocal group, presents “Three Kings: Masterpieces for the Magi” tonight at 8 p.m. at St. Mary Mother of God (727 5th St., N.W.).

DJ Brett Henrichsen will be at Town (2009) tonight at 10 p.m. with music and video downstairs by Wess. The drag show starts at 10:30 p.m. Cover is $8 before 11 p.m. and $12 after. Attendees must be 21 or older.

Starting tonight, every fourth Saturday of the month, Green Lantern (1335 Green Court, N.W.) is hosting Jocks vs. Jocks from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Cover is $5 if wearing sports attire, $7 if not. There’s a trophy and cash prizes for the winning team.

Sunday, Jan. 23

The Shakespeare Theatre Company presents “Cymbeline,” directed by Rebecca Bayla Taichman, tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Lansburgh Theatre (450 7th St., N.W.). Tickets range from $37 to $70 and can be purchased online at shakespearetheatre.org. Before the performance, there will be a “Windows Discussion,” which offers an introduction and a talk about the show moderated by literary manager, Akiva Fox. The discussion is at 5 p.m. in the Sidney Harman Hall (610 F. St., N.W.) and is free to the public.

Camp Rehoboth Chorus presents “Strike Up the Band” today with two performances, one at 3 p.m. and another at 7. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased by calling 302-227-5620.

Burgundy Crescent Volunteers is holding a karaoke social tonight at 6:30 p.m. at Banana Café (500 8th St., S.E.) in the upstairs piano bar.

Monday, Jan. 24

SAGE Metro D.C. will be holding its monthly meeting tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the D.C. Center (1318 U St., N.W.).

Tuesday, Jan. 25

Synetic opens its limited engagement presentation of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at 8 p.m. at Crystal City (1800 South Bell St.) in Arlington.

Nellie’s (900 U St., N.W.) will be have a watch party for President Obama’s State of the Union address tonight at 7 p.m. with the usual drag bingo and “Glee” watch party at 8 p.m.

Busboys and Poets (2021 14th St., N.W.) hosts an open mic poetry night tonight from 9 to 11 p.m. featuring SMYTE-IX and hosed by Jenny Lares. This event is $4 and wristbands will be sold in the bookstore beginning at 10 a.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 26

Whitman-Walker will have HIV testing today from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center (1701 14th St., N.W.) and from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Max Robinson center (2301 Martin luther King Jr., Ave., S.E.).

Thursday, Jan. 27

Lambda Sci-Fi will have its book discussion group meeting tonight at 7 p.m. at 1425 S St., N.W. This month’s book is “The Steel Remains” by Richard K. Morgan. Call James at 202-232-3141 or e-mail to [email protected] to RSVP. For more information, visit the group’s website, lambdascifi.org.

Put On the Gloves, an organization to help fight against bullying, is hosting a fashion show at Town (2009 8th St., N.W.) tonight from 7 to 9:30 p.m. The show will be hosted by celebrity stylist and author Phillip Block and Will Thomas of Fox 5 with a special performance by Mya. Tickets are $50 and can be purchased online at putonthegloves.com. Proceeds will benefit the Trevor Project.

Mautner Project presents a yoga wellness workshop tonight from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at 1875 Connecticut Ave., N.W. on the seventh floor with Danielle Polen from Tranquil Space. The workshop is free.

Photos

PHOTOS: Denali at Pitchers

‘Drag Race’ alum performs at Thirst Trap

Published

16 hours ago

April 14, 2026

Michael Key

Denali performs at the Thirst Trap Thursday drag show at Pitchers DC on April 9. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Denali (@denalifoxx) of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” performed at Pitchers DC on April 9 for the Thirst Trap Thursday drag show. Other performers included Cake Pop!, Brooke N Hymen, Stacy Monique-Max and Silver Ware Sidora.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

Arts & Entertainment

In an act of artistic defiance, Baltimore Center Stage stays focused on DEI

‘Maybe it’s a triple-down’

Published

2 days ago

April 13, 2026

Baltimore Banner

Last year, Baltimore Center Stage refused to give up its DEI focus in the face of losing federal funding. They've tripled down. (Photo by Ulysses Muñoz of the Baltimore Banner)

By LESLIE GRAY STREETER | I’m always tickled when people complain about artists “going political.” The inherent nature of art, of creation and free expression, is political. This becomes obvious when entire governments try to threaten it out of existence, like in 2025, when the brand-new presidential administration demanded organizations halt so-called diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programming or risk federal funding.

Baltimore Center Stage’s response? A resounding and hearty “Nah.” A year later, they’re still doubling down on diversity.

“Maybe it’s a triple-down,” said Ken-Matt Martin, the theater’s producing director, chuckling.

The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

Books

Susan Lucci on love, loss, and ‘All My Children’

New book chronicles life of iconic soap star

Published

2 days ago

April 13, 2026

Terri Schlichenmeyer

(Book cover image courtesy of Blackstone Publishing)

‘La Lucci’
By Susan Lucci with Laura Morton
c.2026, Blackstone Publishing
$29.99/196 pages

They’re among the world’s greatest love stories.

You know them well: Marc Antony and Cleopatra. Abelard and Heloise. Phoebe and Langley. Cliff and Nina. Jesse and Angie, Opal and Palmer, Palmer and Daisy, Tad and Dixie. Now read “La Lucci” by Susan Lucci, with Laura Morton, and you might also think of Susan and Helmut.

When she was a very small girl, Susan Lucci loved to perform. Also when she was young, she learned that words have power. She vowed to use them for good for the rest of her life.

Her parents, she says, were supportive and her family, loving. Because of her Italian heritage, she was “ethnic looking” but Lucci’s mother was careful to point out dark-haired beauties on TV and elsewhere, giving Lucci a foundation of confidence.

That’s just one of the things for which Lucci says she’s grateful. In fact, she says, “Prayers of gratitude are how I begin and end each day.”

She is particularly grateful for becoming a mother to her two adult children, and to the doctors who saved her son’s life when he was a newborn.

Lucci writes about gratitude for her long career. She was a keystone character on TV’s “All My Children,” and she learned a lot from older actors on the show, and from Agnes Nixon, the creator of it. She says she still keeps in touch with many of her former costars.

She is thankful for her mother’s caretakers, who stepped in when dementia struck. Grateful for more doctors, who did heart-saving work when Lucci had a clogged artery. Grateful for friends, opportunities, life, grandchildren, and a career that continues.

And she’s grateful for the love she shared with her husband, Helmut Huber, who died nearly four years ago. Grateful for the chance to grieve, to heal, and to continue.

And yet, she says of her husband: “He was never timid, but I know he was afraid at the end, and that kills me down to my soul.”

“It’s been 15 years since Erica Kane and I parted ways,” says author Susan Lucci (with Laura Morton), and she says that people still approach her to confirm or deny rumors of the show’s resurrection. There’s still no answer to that here (sorry, fans), but what you’ll find inside “La Lucci” is still exceptionally generous.

If this book were just filled with stories, you’d like it just fine. If it was only about Lucci’s faith and her gratitude – words that happen to appear very frequently here – you’d still like reading it. But Lucci tells her stories of family, children and “All My Children,” while also offering help to couples who’ve endured miscarriage, women who’ve had heart problems, and widow(ers) who are spinning and need the kindness of someone who’s lived loss, too.

These are the other things you’ll find in “La Lucci,” in a voice you’ll hear in your head, if you spent your lunch hours glued to the TV back in the day. It’s a comfortable, fun read for fans. It’s a story you’ll love.

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