Arts & Entertainment
Studio revival
Gay favorites outnumber LGBT acts on fall album release schedule
Original Blondie members (from left) Chris Stein, Debbie Harry and Clem Burke have reunited and have a new album ready, one of fall’s most anticipated U.S. releases. (Photo courtesy EMI)
Several singers and bands that have been out of the studio for eons have albums slated for fall. Buzz is highest for new releases from long-absent acts Blondie, the Bangles and Gloria Estefan. A few openly gay acts also have projects on the horizon.
Lesbian folk rocker Catie Curtis just released her 11th album, “Stretch Limousine on Fire.” Curtis made headlines in 1997 when she won the Best Album Award from the Gay and Lesbian American Music Awards for “Catie Curtis CD.” Curtis is married to Liz Marshall and has two daughters. Curtis became ordained to officiate weddings in 2010, inspired by her commitment to marriage equality. Some of her songs are written to reflect this commitment.
On Sept. 13, Blondie will release “Panic of Girls,” the band’s first album since 2003 and ninth album overall, but only the second album to be recorded outside of Manhattan. A whopping 35 songs were recorded during the sessions, but only 12 will make it onto the album. Front woman Debbie Harry is a long-time gay fave whose pop culture cred was cemented with her own Barbie doll a couple years ago.
Grammy-winning Lady Antebellum will release a third album “Own the Night.” One song, “Just a Kiss,” was released from this 12-track album on May 2, and quickly shot to the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. This hit helped build fans’ anticipation for the release.
Tori Amos is set to release “Night of Hunters,” on Sept. 20. The album is sure to break music barriers with its genre blending. Amos calls the album a “21st century song cycle inspired by classical music themes spanning over 400 years. I have used the structure of a song cycle to tell an ongoing, modern story. The protagonist is a woman who finds herself in the dying embers of a relationship. In the course of one night she goes through an initiation of sorts that leads her to reinvent herself allowing the listener to follow her on a journey to explore complex musical and emotional subject matter. One of the main themes explored on this album is the hunter and the hunted and how both exist within us.”
The Bangles, an all female American band, are set to release “Sweetheart of the Sun” on Sept. 27, a 12-track album. They’ve been working on their highly anticipated album since spring of 2009. When The Bangles started out, they were opening for Cyndi Lauper on her “Fun Tour.” Their performance caught the attention of Prince, who later wrote their famous song “Manic Monday,” which catapulted them into superstar status.
Also out Sept. 27 is LeAnn Rimes’s 13th album, “Lady & Gentlemen,” a 12-track album with two bonus cuts.
Also out that day is “Miss Little Havana” from long-dormant Gloria Estefan. First single “Wepa” premiered in May.
Grammy-winning Mary J. Blige is scheduled to release “My Life II: The Journey Continues” on Oct. 4, her 10th studio album. It’s a sequel to Blige’s 1994 classic album “My Life.” The album is designed to be a reflection of the time and lives of the people around her.
Monica is scheduled to release her seventh album “New Life” on Oct. 18. She’s getting buzz for “Anything (To Find You),” the first single, which is on the Hot 100 now.
On Oct. 25, Kelly Clarkson releases “Stronger.” Anticipation is high as she’s taken some artistic detours, not always successfully, on her last few albums.
Also on Oct. 25, Coldplay will release its fifth album “Mylo Xyloto.” Oddly enough, the album was influenced by HBO’s “The Wire.” Lyrically, this album will have more acoustics and more intimate feel than their previous album. “Every Teardrop is a Waterfall,” the first single, dropped in June. “Paradise,” the second, goes to radio this weekend.
Bi neo-soul goddess Meshell Ndegeocello releases “Weather” on Nov. 8. Listen for sparse, orchestral melodies and her usual thoughtful lyrics. She plays the highly intimate Birchmere in Alexandria on Nov. 15.
Adam Lambert has an as-yet-untitled set ready for November.
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’
