Arts & Entertainment

Calendar: Nov. 4

Concerts, parties, exhibits and more through Nov. 10

Published

14 years ago

November 3, 2011

Juliette Ebner

Lesbian singer Brandi Carlile plays the Birchmere next week. (Photo courtesy Columbia Records)

TODAY (Friday)

The D.C. Center (1318 U St., N.W.) is holding its monthly open mic night tonight from 8 to 10 p.m., featuring guests Eryca Kasse, a Jewish lesbian, writer and social worker, and Jessica Genia Simon, who has been writing poetry since she was 7 and has been published in “New Voices: National Jewish Student Magazine.” The event is hosted by Mike Brazell.

Green Lantern (1335 Green Court, N.W.) presents Fahrenheit tonight from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. featuring music by DJ Joey-O. There’s a $5 cover after 10 p.m. and free rail vodka on the second floor from 10 to 11 p.m.

Busboys & Poets presents First Fridays: A Local Arts Exploration tonight at 5:30 p.m. in the Zinn room at its Hyattsville location (5331 Baltimore Ave., Suite 104). This event combines a reception, artist talk and the opportunity to meet other local artists, and see their work. This month’s presenters are Chanel Compton, Charles A. Sessoms, J.J. McCracken, Bensonn Anspach and Brooke Kidd.

Strathmore presents Friday Night Eclectic featuring D.C.-based world funk ensemble Funk Ark and special guest Fort Knox Five’s Mustafa Akbar, tonight at 8 p.m. at the Mansion (10701 Rockville Pike) in North Bethesda. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit strathmore.org.

Town (2009 8th St., N.W.) is having its weekly Bear Happy Hour tonight starting at 6 p.m. There is no cover for this 21 and older event.

Saturday, Nov. 5

Blowoff, a dance party featuring gay DJs Bob Mould and Richard Morel, will be at 9:30 club (815 V St., N.W.) tonight. Doors open at 11:30 p.m. Attendees must be 21 or older. Tickets are $12 and can be purchased at 930.com.

The Capital Pride Symphonic Band is having its fall concert Architects of Music tonight at the Columbia Heights Education Campus Auditorium (3101 16th St., N.W.) at 8 p.m. The concert will be emceed by Martin Moeller, author of the AIA Guide to the Architecture of Washington D.C., and conducted by Nancy Plantinga.3

Phase 1 (525 8th St., S.E.) is hosting a Deaf Women’s Happy Hour tonight from 7 to 10 p.m. There is a $5 cover and all proceeds will go toward the Deaf Abused Women’s Network. All attendees must be 21 or older.

Tayisha Busay, an electro-dance band from Brooklyn, will be at The Islander (1201 U St., N.W.) followed by a dance party. Tickets are $6 in advance, $10 at the door and $5 after midnight for the dance party only. Doors open at 8:30 p.m. and all attendees must be 21 or older.

Code has its monthly installment tonight at Green Lantern (1335 Green Court, N.W.). Gear, rubber, skin, uniform or leather dress code will be strictly enforced. Music provided by DJ Frank Wild. Admission is $10. All attendees must be 18 or older. There will be an open bar from 9 to 10 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 6

The Bet Mishpachah Education Committee is hosting a brunch today from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the DCJCC (1529 16th St., N.W.) featuring a screening of the 1977 film, “Word is Out: Stores of Some of Our Lives.” The film was the first feature-length documentary about gay and lesbian identity made by gay filmmakers. For more information and to RSVP, visit betmish.org.

Signature Theatre (4200 Campbell Ave.) in Arlington, is hosting a CD launch party for local gay composer Matt Conner from 5 to 7 p.m. to celebrate the release of his second Christmas CD, “Snow.” The wine and cheese reception will take place in the lobby and will feature Conner performing selections from his album, including classics as well as two original compositions. The party is free and open to the public.

Busboys & Poets presents Photoworks Photo SLAM tonight at 8 p.m. in the Langston Room at its 14th and V. streets location (2021 14th St., N.W.). The slam will feature photo artists projecting their portfolios in front of a panel of celebrity judges and the winner gets an exhibit at Photoworks gallery during FotoWeek 2012. This is a free event.

A new gay-welcoming Catholic church, St. Hedwig’s Old Catholic Church, has Mass today at 9 a.m. The church meets each Sunday morning at Palisades Community Church (5200 Cathedral Ave., N.W.) in Washington. The church, not affiliated with the Vatican, describes itself as one with “progressive Catholic values” that welcomes those “disaffected by mainstream traditions” and what some consider “politically distorted teachings of Christ” in other faith traditions. Bishop Michael Seneco, who’s gay, is the pastor. Visit sainthedwigs.org for more information. All are welcome.

Monday, Nov. 7

The D.C. Center (1318 U St., N.W.) is having its monthly volunteer night tonight from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tonight’s activities could range from sorting through book donations, cleaning up around the center and taking inventory for Fuk!ts, as well as socializing. Pizza will provided.

Green Lantern (1335 Green Court, N.W.) hosts Bears Do Yoga from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. upstairs followed by Queer Pong hosted by Andy from 8 p.m. to midnight.

Tuesday, Nov. 8

D.C. Bi Women will have its monthly dinner at Dupont Italian Kitchen (1637 17th St., N.W.) tonight from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.

Today is Digital Capital Week’s Fashion Day at the Washington Economic Partnership (1495 F St., N.W.) with three panels discussing the different aspects of life in the fashion industry in D.C. starting at 1 p.m. The first panel will include Daniella Kallmeyer, winner of Bravo’s “The Fashion Show,” discussing the role of technology in creativity and design. The second panel will be about business and retail development, while the third panel will focus on the role of social media. The day will end with a fashion show held at Bloomingdales. This is a free event. To RSVP, visit dcweekfashionday.eventbrite.com.

Nellie’s (900 U St., N.W.) is hosting a City Dogs Rescue fundraiser during Drag Bingo this week from 6:30 to 11:30 p.m. with $1 from every Nellie beer sold going to City Dogs, an organization formed to rescue adoptable dogs in high-kill shelters where resources are limited. For more information on the organization, visit citydogsrescue.org.

Wednesday, Nov. 9

Rainbow Response is holding its monthly meeting tonight at the D.C. Center (1318 U St., N.W.) from 7 to 8 p.m.

Green Lantern (1331 Green Court, N.W.) will host the weekly Poz D.C. happy hour upstairs from 8 p.m. to midnight.

Bet Mishpachah, GLO, Nice Jewish Girls, Nice Jewish Boys and Gayyim join up at a free happy hour tonight from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Dirty Martini (1223 Connecticut Ave., N.W.) to celebrate Mautner Project. RSVP at freehappyhourmautner.eventbrite.com.

Brandi Carlile plays the Birchmere (3701 Mt. Vernon Ave.) in Alexandria tonight at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $45 and can be purchased online at ticketmaster.com.

Thursday, Nov. 10

Helping Our Brothers and Sisters is holding its annual fundraiser dinner tonight at the Eatonville Restaurant (2121 14th St., N.W.) at 6 p.m. with a social hour followed by the dinner and program at 7:30 p.m. The event will also celebrate the life of Frank Kameny. Tickets are $150 and can be purchased online at helpingourbrothersandsisters.com.

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PHOTOS: Drag in rural Virginia

Performers face homophobia, find community

Published

14 hours ago

February 8, 2026

Landon Shackelford

Four drag performers dance in front of an anti-LGBTQ protester outside the campus of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va. (Blade photo by Landon Shackelford)

Drag artists perform for crowds in towns across Virginia. The photographer follows Gerryatrick, Shenandoah, Climaxx, Emerald Envy among others over eight months as they perform at venues in the Virginia towns of Staunton, Harrisonburg and Fredericksburg.

(Washington Blade photos by Landon Shackelford)

Books

New book explores homosexuality in ancient cultures

‘Queer Thing About Sin’ explains impact of religious credo in Greece, Rome

Published

18 hours ago

February 8, 2026

Terri Schlichenmeyer

(Book cover image courtesy of Bloomsbury)

‘The Queer Thing About Sin’
By Harry Tanner
c.2025, Bloomsbury
$28/259 pages

Nobody likes you very much.

That’s how it seems sometimes, doesn’t it? Nobody wants to see you around, they don’t want to hear your voice, they can’t stand the thought of your existence and they’d really rather you just go away. It’s infuriating, and in the new book “The Queer Thing About Sin” by Harry Tanner, you’ll see how we got to this point.

When he was a teenager, Harry Tanner says that he thought he “was going to hell.”

For years, he’d been attracted to men and he prayed that it would stop. He asked for help from a lay minister who offered Tanner websites meant to repress his urges, but they weren’t the panacea Tanner hoped for. It wasn’t until he went to college that he found the answers he needed and “stopped fearing God’s retribution.”

Being gay wasn’t a sin. Not ever, but he “still wanted to know why Western culture believed it was for so long.”

Historically, many believe that older men were sexual “mentors” for teenage boys, but Tanner says that in ancient Greece and Rome, same-sex relationships were common between male partners of equal age and between differently-aged pairs, alike. Clarity comes by understanding relationships between husbands and wives then, and careful translation of the word “boy,” to show that age wasn’t a factor, but superiority and inferiority were.

In ancient Athens, queer love was considered to be “noble” but after the Persians sacked Athens, sex between men instead became an acceptable act of aggression aimed at conquered enemies. Raping a male prisoner was encouraged but, “Gay men became symbols of a depraved lack of self-control and abstinence.”

Later Greeks believed that men could turn into women “if they weren’t sufficiently virile.” Biblical interpretations point to more conflict; Leviticus specifically bans queer sex but “the Sumerians actively encouraged it.” The Egyptians hated it, but “there are sporadic clues that same-sex partners lived together in ancient Egypt.”

Says Tanner, “all is not what it seems.”

So you say you’re not really into ancient history. If it’s not your thing, then “The Queer Thing About Sin” won’t be, either.

Just know that if you skip this book, you’re missing out on the kind of excitement you get from reading mythology, but what’s here is true, and a much wider view than mere folklore. Author Harry Tanner invites readers to go deep inside philosophy, religion, and ancient culture, but the information he brings is not dry. No, there are major battles brought to life here, vanquished enemies and death – but also love, acceptance, even encouragement that the citizens of yore in many societies embraced and enjoyed. Tanner explains carefully how religious credo tied in with homosexuality (or didn’t) and he brings readers up to speed through recent times.

While this is not a breezy vacation read or a curl-up-with-a-blanket kind of book, “The Queer Thing About Sin” is absolutely worth spending time with. If you’re a thinking person and can give yourself a chance to ponder, you’ll like it very much.

Theater

‘Octet’ explores the depths of digital addiction

Habits not easily shaken in Studio Theatre chamber musical

Published

2 days ago

February 7, 2026

Patrick Folliard

The cast of Octet (left to right): Aidan Joyce, Jimmy Kieffer, Chelsea Williams, Tracy Lynn Olivera, Amelia Aguilar (sitting upright), Ana Marcu, Angelo Harrington II, and David Toshiro Crane. (Photo by Margot Schulman)

‘Octet’
Through Feb. 26
Studio Theatre
1501 14th Street, N.W.
Tickets start at $55
Studiotheatre.org

David Malloy’s “Octet” delves deep into the depths of digital addiction.

Featuring a person ensemble, this extraordinary a capella chamber musical explores the lives of recovering internet addicts whose lives have been devastated by digital dependency; sharing what’s happened and how things have changed.

Dressed in casual street clothes, the “Friends of Saul” trickle into a church all-purpose room, check their cell phones in a basket, put away the bingo tables, and arrange folding chairs into a circle. Some may stop by a side table offering cookies, tea, and coffee before taking a seat.

The show opens with “The Forest,” a haunting hymn harking back to the good old days of an analog existence before glowing screens, incessant pings and texts.

“The forest was beautiful/ My head was clean and clear/Alone without fear/ The forest was safe/ I danced like a beautiful fool / One time some time.”

Mimicking an actual step meeting, there’s a preamble. And then the honest sharing begins, complete with accounts of sober time and slips.

Eager to share, Jessica (Chelsea Williams) painfully recalls being cancelled after the video of her public meltdown went viral. Henry (Angelo Harrington II) is a gay gamer with a Candy Crush problem. Toby (Adrian Joyce) a nihilist who needs to stay off the internet sings “So anyway/ I’m doing good/ Mostly/ Limiting my time/ Mostly.”

The group’s unseen founder Saul is absent, per usual.

In his stead Paula, a welcoming woman played with quiet compassion by Tracy Lynn Olivera, leads. She and her husband no longer connect. They bring screens to bed. In a love-lost ballad, she explains: “We don’t sleep well/ My husband I/ Our circadian rhythms corrupted/ By the sallow blue glow of a screen/ Sucking souls and melatonin/ All of my dreams have been stolen.”

After too much time spent arguing with strangers on the internet, Marvin, a brainy young father played by David Toshiro Crane, encounters the voice of a God.

Ed (Jimmy Kieffer) deals with a porn addiction. Karly (Ana Marcu) avoids dating apps, a compulsion compared to her mother’s addiction to slot machines.

Malloy, who not only wrote the music but also the smart lyrics, book, and inventive vocal arrangements, brilliantly joins isolation with live harmony. It’s really something.

And helmed by David Muse, “Octet” is a precisely, quietly, yet powerfully staged production, featuring a topnotch cast who (when not taking their moment in the spotlight) use their voices to make sounds and act as a sort of Greek chorus. Mostly on stage throughout all of the 100-minute one act, they demonstrate impressive stamina and concentration.

An immersive production, “Octet” invites audience members to feel a part of the meeting. Studio’s Shargai Theatre is configured, for the first, in the round. And like the characters, patrons must also unplug. Everyone is required to have their phones locked in a small pouch (that only ushers are able to open and close), so be prepared for a wee bit of separation anxiety.

At the end of the meeting, the group surrenders somnambulantly. They know they are powerless against internet addiction. But group newbie Velma (Amelia Aguilar) isn’t entirely convinced. She remembers the good tech times.

In a bittersweet moment, she shares of an online friendship with “a girl in Sainte Marie / Just like me.”

Habits aren’t easily shaken.