Arts & Entertainment
Hot Hits & Hidden Jewels
Concerts, performances, exhibitions and more!
Wolf Trap Opera Company: Opera’s Greatest Hits from Wolf Trap Opera’s Alumni Stars Wed, Aug 24 Wolf Trap. 1-877-WOLFTRAP. For one night only, singers representing all four decades of WTOC’s history gather on the Filene Center stage to perform arias and ensembles from their signature roles by Verdi, Wagner, Puccini, Mozart and more.
Featuring sopranos Tracy Dahl, Mary Dunleavy, and Emily Pulley, mezzo-sopranos Stephanie Blythe and Denyce Graves, tenors Lawrence Brownlee, Nicholas Phan, Carl Tanner, and James Valenti, baritones Richard Paul Fink and Robert Orth, bass-baritone Alan Held, and bass Matt Boehler.
ArtJamz at the Corcoran: Painting Big Sessions Wed, Aug 24 thru Fri, Aug 26 Corcoran Gallery of Art. 202-393-3939. Experience the art party that is taking D.C. by storm! Enjoy wine and soft drinks, hors d’oeuvres, and great music in Gallery 31 as you create a wonderful work of art–which is yours to take home. Paints and canvases provided.
Reggie Watts Live in Concert Tue, Aug 23 thru Fri, Aug 26 Woolly Mammoth. 202-393-3939. Reggie Watts–hailed by GQ magazine as “the coolest comedian on the planet” Is a comedian and musician of New York’s alternative-comedy scene. Â His performances are all created on-the-spot so no two performances are ever the same.
The Guide to Arts & Culture is provided by CultureCapital, a program of the Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington.
LAST CHANCE
Sun, Aug 21 Race to the End of the Earth Exhibition, National Geographic. 202-857-7700.
Steel Magnolias, Keegan Theatre, Church Street Theater. 703-892-0202.
The Importance of Being Earnest, SCENA Theatre at H Street Playhouse, H Street Playhouse. 703-683-2824.
LIMITED ENGAGEMENT
Aug 19 – Aug 20 Gipsy Kings, Wolf Trap.
ONE NIGHT ONLY
Fri, Aug 19 Jazz in the Garden: Alex Brown, National Gallery of Art. 202-737-4215.
Sat, Aug 20 Film Series: UCLAÃs Annual Festival of Preservation: On the Vitaphone, 1928ñ1930; Rendezvous with Annie preceded by A Selection of ‘Soundies’, National Gallery of Art. 202-737-4215.
George’s Intervention/Morgue Story Double Feature, Artisphere. 703-875-1100.
Hollywood and the Civil War, Surratt House Museum. 301-868-1121.
Sun, Aug 21 Film Series: UCLAÃs Annual Festival of Preservation: Strangers in the Night followed by The Big Shakedown, National Gallery of Art. 202-737-4215.
The Beach Boys, Wolf Trap. 1-877-WOLFTRAP.
Mon, Aug 22 5th Annual Charles Guggenheim Tribute Program: A Time for Justice, National Archives. 202-357-5000.
Tue, Aug 23 Ballet West, Wolf Trap. 1-877-WOLFTRAP.
Wed, Aug 24 The Rich Have Their Own Photographers, Artisphere. 703-875-1100.
Thu, Aug 25 Environmental Film Festival Screening: The City Dark, E Street Cinema. 202-342-2564.
HILTON ‘TRE’ FELTON TRIO: Live Jazz Happy Hour Thursdays, Artisphere. 703-875-1100.
The National WomanÃs Party and Political Rhetoric: Visual Propaganda in the Battle for the Vote, National Archives. 202-357-5000.
The Temptations & The Four Tops, Wolf Trap. 1-877-WOLFTRAP.
Tribute To Simon & Garfunkel and Paul Simon, Strathmore. 301-581-5100.
ONGOING-STAGE
‘Pop!,’ The Studio Theatre. 202-332-3300.
Sydney Theatre Company’s ‘Uncle Vanya,’ Kennedy Center. 202-467-4600.
‘Grease,’ Olney Theatre Center. 301-924-3400.
‘A Child Shall Lead Them,’ Clarice Smith. 301-405-7794.
‘The Capital City Showcase,’ DCAC. 202-462-7833.
ONGOING-MUSEUM EXHIBITONS
Corcoran Gallery of Art. Recent Photography Acquisitions, Free Summer Saturdays at the Corcoran, Chris Martin: Painting Big. 202-639-1700.
National Gallery of Art. A Masterpiece from the Capitoline Museum, Rome: The ‘Capitoline Venus’, In the Tower: Nam June Paik, Italian Master Drawings from the Wolfgang Rajten Collection, The Gothic Spirit of John Taylor Arms, From Impressionism to Modernism: The Chester Dale Collection, A New Look: Samuel F.B. Morse’s ‘Gallery of the Louvre’. 202-737-4215.
National Geographic. Machu Picchu: A Lost City Uncovered, Photographs from the Hiram Bingham Expeditions 1911-1915, The Etruscans: An Ancient Italian Civilization. 202-857-7700.
Museum of Women in the Arts. Pressing Ideas: Fifty Years of Women’s Lithographs from Tamarind, The Guerrilla Girls Talk Back. 202-783-5000.
ONGOING-ART GALLERIES
‘Local Color,’Â Gallery plan b. 202-234-2711.
Janis Goodman | Paintings, Reyes + Davis Independent Exhibitions, Stage Premier Realtor.
‘Scapes,’Â The Art League. 703-683-1780.
14th Annual National Small Works, Washington Printmakers Gallery. 301-273-3660.
Barcode Orchestra, ‘Repetition is a Form of Change: The Process and Practice of GIF Art Online,’ Mantra Samplers: Maribeth Egan, Artisphere. 703-875-1100.
‘PHOTO 2011: Annual Juried Mid-Atlantic Photo Exhibition,’ Artisphere. 703-875-1100.
‘1460 Wall Mountables!,’ DCAC. 202-462-7833.
‘The Spirit of Wood: Sculpture by Katie Dell Kaufman and Lynda Smith-Bugge,’ Zenith The Gallery, Eleven Eleven Sculpture Space.
‘1st Annual Workhouse National Ceramics Exhibition,’Â Workhouse Arts Center. 703-584-2900.
2nd Saturday Art Walk, Workhouse Arts Center. 703-584-2900.
Photos
PHOTOS: Helen Hayes Awards
Gay Men’s Chorus, local drag artists have featured performance at ceremony
The 41st Helen Hayes Awards were held at The Anthem on Monday, May 19. Felicia Curry and Mike Millan served as the hosts.
A performance featuring members of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington and local drag artists was held at the end of the first act of the program to celebrate WorldPride 2025.
The annual awards ceremony honors achievement in D.C.-area theater productions and is produced by Theatre Washington.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
2025 D.C. Trans Pride was held at Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library on Saturday, May 17. The day was filled with panel discussions, art, social events, speakers, a resource fair and the Engendered Spirit Awards. Awardees included Lyra McMillan, Pip Baitinger, Steph Niaupari and Hayden Gise. The keynote address was delivered by athlete and advocate Schuyler Bailar.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
a&e features
Looking back at 50 years of Pride in D.C
Washington Blade’s unique archives chronicle highs, lows of our movement
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of LGBTQ Pride in Washington, D.C., the Washington Blade team combed our archives and put together a glossy magazine showcasing five decades of celebrations in the city. Below is a sampling of images from the magazine but be sure to find a print copy starting this week.
The magazine is being distributed now and is complimentary. You can find copies at LGBTQ bars and restaurants across the city. Or visit the Blade booth at the Pride festival on June 7 and 8 where we will distribute copies.
Thank you to our advertisers and sponsors, whose support has enabled us to distribute the magazine free of charge. And thanks to our dedicated team at the Blade, especially Photo Editor Michael Key, who spent many hours searching the archives for the best images, many of which are unique to the Blade and cannot be found elsewhere. And thanks to our dynamic production team of Meaghan Juba, who designed the magazine, and Phil Rockstroh who managed the process. Stephen Rutgers and Brian Pitts handled sales and marketing and staff writers Lou Chibbaro Jr., Christopher Kane, Michael K. Lavers, Joe Reberkenny along with freelancer and former Blade staffer Joey DiGuglielmo wrote the essays.
The magazine represents more than 50 years of hard work by countless reporters, editors, advertising sales reps, photographers, and other media professionals who have brought you the Washington Blade since 1969.
We hope you enjoy the magazine and keep it as a reminder of all the many ups and downs our local LGBTQ community has experienced over the past 50 years.
I hope you will consider supporting our vital mission by becoming a Blade member today. At a time when reliable, accurate LGBTQ news is more essential than ever, your contribution helps make it possible. With a monthly gift starting at just $7, you’ll ensure that the Blade remains a trusted, free resource for the community — now and for years to come. Click here to help fund LGBTQ journalism.
PHOTOS: Helen Hayes Awards
Laverne Cox, Reneé Rapp, Deacon Maccubbin named WorldPride grand marshals
House passes reconciliation with gender-affirming care funding ban
PHOTOS: D.C. Trans Pride
Men convicted of murdering two men in NYC gay bar drugging scheme sentenced
Looking back at 50 years of Pride in D.C
WorldPride events round-up
Pope Leo XIV: Family based on ‘stable union between a man and a woman’
Wes Moore signs HIV decriminalization bill
