Arts & Entertainment
Gaining ‘Momentum’
DJ Alyson Calagna kicks off Cherry with Apex party
DJ Alyson Calagna says she likes to start her sets slow and work to a boil. (Photo courtesy of the Cherry Fund)
Cherry Fund’s annual charity circuit party may have officially kicked off Thursday, but the party has barely started with more events all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The big party tonight is Momentum hosted by Miss Foozie at Apex (1415 22nd St., N.W.) with lesbian DJ Alyson Calagna and DJ Steve Henderson.
With a line-up of mostly male DJs, Calagna, who has been spinning for 19 years, kind of sticks out of the crowd, and she likes it that way.
“It feels pretty good … now things have changed and it’s a lot easier to be a girl DJ,” Calagna says. “I have a much more masculine essence so its good to be among the boys.”
She doesn’t stay at one club and spin, but tours and goes somewhere new every weekend, with fans sometimes traveling to hear her at the bigger parties.
Circuit parties don’t seem to be as big as they once were, and Calagna thinks it’s just the way the club culture goes every five or six years with peaks and drops.
“Right now, I think we’re in a bit of a reorganizing phase, weeding out what’s not working, changing things,” she says. “There are some circuit parties that do really, really well.”
Music has always been a part of Calagna’s life.
When she was young, she wanted to be a radio DJ, until she started clubbing.
She became a resident dancer at a teen club, getting close to the different DJs there. One night, she went up to the DJ and just asked if he’d teach her.
“The first time I went to his studio where he practiced, that was it … I knew the moment I touched a turntable, that was what I wanted to do,” Calagna says, adding she almost gave up dancing right there.
This isn’t Calagna’s first turn at Cherry.
“I play a lot of circuit parties … Cherry is one of the ones that really still stands for something,” Calagna says. “I really like what they’re doing.”
Her style is house-based, but Calagna doesn’t stay in a single genre or follow a set list when she spins, rather going with the vibe of the crowd, comparing what she does to a chef visiting another country and changing regional recipes to fit his style of cooking.
Don’t expect the music to be fast and rocking right away tonight. That’s one of her biggest DJ pet peeves, time-appropriate music.
“I start deeper and more soulful and melodic in the beginning because I don’t like to bang out clubs until there’s a lot of people in there,” Calagna says. “I like the music to start slow and kind of build.”
Calagna does get paid for her appearance at Cherry, but she gives the organizers a big break and she donates a large portion of the money she receives to the Cherry Fund, which benefits AIDS charities.
Calagna is probably looking forward to seeing the other DJs on Saturday night at the main event the most.
“I’ve always really enjoyed playing in D.C.” she says. “I love the city … I’m looking forward to having the next night off.”
DJs Oscar G, BennyK and Town’s own Wess will be spinning at Town (2009 8th St., N.W.) from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. with performances by Macaviti and the Ladies of Town.
Friday also has two other events, a fashion show at Caramel Boutique (1603 U St., N.W.) with local designer Andrew Nowell from 2 to 8 p.m. and a bachelor auction at Town with DJ Bandit and D.C. Bear Crue from 7 to 9 p.m.
After the main event on Saturday is an after-hours party at Fur (33 Patterson St., N.E.) with DJ Peter Rauhofer from 4 to 9:30 a.m.
Sunday continues with a Tea Dance at Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W.) from noon to 4 p.m. with DJ Mike Reimer and Ovation with DJs Stephan Grondin and Sin Morera from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. at Ultrabar (911 F St., N.W.).
For more information and to purchase tickets to events, visit cherryfund.org.
WorldPride 2025 concluded with the WorldPride Street Festival and Closing Concert held along Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. on Sunday, June 8. Performers on the main stage included Doechii, Khalid, Courtney Act, Parker Matthews, 2AM Ricky, Suzie Toot, MkX and Brooke Eden.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
The 2025 WorldPride Parade was held in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, June 7. Laverne Cox and Renée Rapp were the grand marshals.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key and Robert Rapanut)
Theater
A hilarious ‘Twelfth Night’ at Folger full of ‘elegant kink’
Nonbinary actor Alyssa Keegan stars as Duke Orsino
‘Twelfth Night’
Through June 22
Folger Theatre
201 East Capitol St., S.E.
$20-$84
Folger.edu
Nonbinary actor Alyssa Keegan (they/them)loves tapping into the multitudes within.
Currently Keegan plays the melancholic Duke Orsino in Folger Theatre’s production of Shakespeare’s romantic comedy “Twelfth Night.” Director Mei Ann Teo describes the production as “sexy, hilarious, and devastating” and full of “elegant kink.”
Washington-based, Keegan enjoys a busy and celebrated career. Her vast biography includes Come From Away at Ford’s Theatre; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Helen Hayes Award, Best Actress) and Paula Vogel’s How I Learned to Drive, both at Round House Theatre; Diana Son’s Stop Kiss directedby Holly Twyford for No Rules Theatre Company; and Contractions at Studio Theatre, to name just a few.
In addition to acting, Keegan works as a polyamory and ethical non-monogamy life and relationship coach, an area of interest that grew out of personal exploration. For them, coaching seems to work hand in hand with acting.
WASHINGTON BLADE: You’re playing the lovesick Orsino in Twelfth Night. How did that come about?
ALYSSA KEEGAN: The director was looking to cast a group of actors with diverse identities; throughout auditions, there were no constraints regarding anyone’s assigned sex at birth. It was really a free for all.
BLADE: What’s your approach to the fetching, cod-piece clad nobleman?
KEEGAN: Offstage I identify as completely nonbinary; I love riding in this neutral middle space. But I also love cosplay. The ability to do that in the play gives me permission to dive completely into maleness.
So, when I made that decision to play Orsino as a bio male, suddenly the part really cracked open for me. I began looking for clues about his thoughts and opinions about things like his past relationships and his decision not to date older women.
Underneath his mask of bravura and sexuality, and his firmness of feelings, he’s quite lonely and has never really felt loved. It makes sense to me why his love for Olivia is so misguided and why he might fall in love with the Cesario/Viola character.
BLADE: As an actor, do you ever risk taking on the feelings of your characters?
KEEGAN: Prior to my mental health education, yes, and that could be toxic for me. I’ve since learned that the nervous system can’t tell the difference between real emotional distress and a that of a fully embodied character.
So, I created and share the Empowered Performer Project. [a holistic approach to performance that emphasizes the mental and emotional well-being of performing artists]. It utilizes somatic tools that help enormously when stepping into a character.
BLADE: Has changing the way you work affected your performances?
KEEGAN: I think I’m much better now. I used to have nearly debilitating stage fright. I’d spend all day dreading going onstage. I thought that was just part of the job. Now, I’ve learned to talk to my body. Prior to a performance, I can now spend my offstage time calmly gardening, working with my mental health clients, or playing with my kid. I’m just present in my life in a different way.
BLADE: Is Orsino your first time playing a male role?
KEEGAN: No. In fact, the very first time I played a male role was at the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Va. I played Hipolito in Thomas Middleton’s The Revenger’s Tragedy.
As Hipolito, I felt utterly male in the moment, so much so that I had audience members see me later after the show and they were surprised that I was female. They thought I was a young guy in the role. There’s something very powerful in that.
BLADE: Do you have a favorite part? Male or female?
KEEGAN: That’s tough but I think it’s Maggie the Cat. I played the hyper-female Maggie in Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at Round House. In the first act she didn’t stop talking for 51 minutes opposite Gregory Wooddell as Brick who barely had to speak. That lift was probably the heaviest I’ve ever been asked to do in acting.
BLADE: What about Folger’s Twelfth Night might be especially appealing to queer audiences?
KEEGAN: First and foremost is presentation. 99% of the cast identify as queer in some way.
The approach to Shakespeare’s text is one of the most bold and playful that I have ever seen. It’s unabashedly queer. The actors are here to celebrate and be loud and colorful and to advocate. It’s a powerful production, especially to do so close to the Capitol building, and that’s not lost on any of us.
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A hilarious ‘Twelfth Night’ at Folger full of ‘elegant kink’
