Arts & Entertainment
Arts news in brief: Nov. 18
‘Hairspray’ at Signature, Thanksgiving volunteer opps and more
Robert Aubry Davis and Carolyn Cole star in Signature Theatre's production of ‘Hairspray’ opening Monday. (Photo by Christopher Mueller; courtesy Signature)
‘Hairspray’ at Signature
Signature Theatre’s production of ‘Hairspray’ opens Monday. The musical will star radio host Robert Aubry Davis as Edna Turnblad, Carolyn Cole as Tracy Turnblad and Patrick Thomas Cragin as Link Larkin.
Performances will run Tuesday through Sunday evenings, expect Thanksgiving, after the Monday night opening, with matinees on Saturdays and Sundays.
Tickets range from $62 to $86 and can be purchased online at ticketmaster.com.
The show runs through Jan. 29.
Capital Queer Prom hosts meet and greet
The Capital Queer Prom Committee is having its official “Meet and Greet” happy hour on Tuesday at Hank’s Oyster Bar (1624 Q St., N.W.) from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
At the event, attendees will be able to mix and mingle with members from the committee as well as learn about Transgender Health Empowerment, this year’s prom beneficiary. They will also be the first to know about announcements, early bird tickets and how to sign-up to be Prom King or Queen.
There will also be spiked bunch and free appetizer platters and drink specials running until 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $10 and the funds will benefit Capital Queer Prom and T.H.E. The sixth annual Capital Queer Prom will be held March 24. For more information, visit capitalqueerprom.com.
Thanksgiving brings volunteer opps
With Thanksgiving coming up next week, there are plenty of opportunities to volunteer and help the community.
Food & Friends (219 Riggs Rd., N.E.), an organization that provides meals for people living with HIV/AIDS, cancer and other life-challenging illnesses, has a couple different opportunities for people to help this Thanksgiving.
From Monday to Wednesday, volunteers will be needed to help with turkey box deliveries. These are boxes put together for clients who live further away and need the delivery sooner to make their Thanksgiving dinner. Volunteers will also be needed to assist with food preparation and packing groceries in two hour shifts at 8 and 10 a.m., and 1 and 5 p.m.
On Tuesday, volunteers are needed to help with “Slice of Life,” a program where people can buy pies for themselves or clients and each pie bought equals one day of meals. People will be needed to set up pie distribution and assist customers as they arrive with shifts from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
On Thanksgiving, volunteers will be needed to deliver holiday meals to two or three clients in the D.C. area during one of four delivery shifts at 7:30, 9 and 10:30 a.m. and noon. The organization also needs volunteers to assemble the meals and to help with the logistics of the day.
For more information about volunteering for Good & Friends, visit foodandfriends.org.
The Washington Renegades gay rugby team will be helping out Food & Friends on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. as an annual event.
The team will be prepping turkeys, chopping vegetables and packing bags of prepared food. After volunteering the group will be having a gathering.
Burgundy Crescent Volunteers has some opportunities to volunteer as well. Besides helping with Food & Friends, the organization will be holding its ninth annual “Clear OUT Your Closets” clothing drive for the homeless at Rosemary’s Thyme (1801 18th St., N.W.) with donation drop-off running from 10 a.m. to noon.
The group also needs volunteers to help with providing Thanksgiving dinner for the homeless and needy at Rosemary’s Thyme from noon to 2 p.m. Volunteers are needed to help set up starting at 10:30 a.m., clean up after and bring a dish of some kind to serve.
For more information about volunteering with Burgundy Crescent, visitburgundycrescent.org.
Sports
Jason Collins dies at 47
First openly gay man to actively play for major sports team battled brain cancer
Jason Collins, the first openly gay man to actively play for a major professional sports team, died on Tuesday after a battle with brain cancer. He was 47.
The California native had briefly played for the Washington Wizards in 2013 before coming out in a Sports Illustrated op-ed.
Collins in 2014 became the first openly gay man to play in a game for a major American professional sports league when he played 11 minutes during a Brooklyn Nets game. He wore jersey number 98 in honor of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student murdered outside of Laramie, Wyo., in 1998.
Collins told the Washington Blade in 2014 that his life was “exponentially better” since he came out. Collins the same year retired from the National Basketball Association after 13 seasons.
Collins married his husband, Brunson Green, in May 2025.
The NBA last September announced Collins had begun treatment for a brain tumor. Collins on Dec. 11, 2025, announced he had Stage 4 glioblastoma.
“We are heartbroken to share that Jason Collins, our beloved husband, son, brother and uncle, has died after a valiant fight with glioblastoma,” said Collins’s family in a statement the NBA released. “Jason changed lives in unexpected ways and was an inspiration to all who knew him and to those who admired him from afar. We are grateful for the outpouring of love and prayers over the past eight months and for the exceptional medical care Jason received from his doctors and nurses. Our family will miss him dearly.”
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Collins’s “impact and influence extended far beyond basketball as he helped make the NBA, WNBA, and larger sports community more inclusive and welcoming for future generations.”
“He exemplified outstanding leadership and professionalism throughout his 13-year NBA career and in his dedicated work as an NBA Cares Ambassador,” said Silver. “Jason will be remembered not only for breaking barriers, but also for the kindness and humanity that defined his life and touched so many others.”
“To call Jason Collins a groundbreaking figure for our community is simply inadequate. We truly lost a giant today,” added Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson in a statement. “He came out as gay — while still playing — at a time when men’s athletes simply did not do that. But as he powerfully demonstrated in his final years in the league and his post-NBA career, stepping forward as he did boldly changed the conversation.”
“He was and will always be a legend for the LGBTQ+ community, and we are heartbroken to hear of his passing at the young age of 47,” she said. “Our hearts go out to his family and loved ones. We will keep fighting on in his honor until the day everyone can be who they are on their terms.”
The Washington Blade will update this article with additional reaction when it becomes available.
Glitterati Productions held the “Studio 69” party at Bunker on Friday, May 8.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Arts & Entertainment
Washington Blade’s Pride on the Pier returns June 13 to kick off D.C. Pride week
Pride on the Pier officially launches Pride Week in D.C.
The Washington Blade’s annual Pride on the Pier celebration returns to The Wharf on Saturday, June 13, 2026 from 4-9 p.m., bringing thousands of LGBTQ community members and allies together for an unforgettable waterfront celebration to kick off Pride week in Washington, D.C.
Now in its eighth year, Washington Blade Pride on the Pier extends the city’s annual celebration of LGBTQ visibility to the bustling Wharf waterfront with an exciting array of activities and entertainment for all ages. The District Pier will offer DJs, dancing, drag, and other entertainment. Alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase for those 21 and older.
“Pride on the Pier has become one of the signature moments of Pride in D.C.,” said Lynne Brown, publisher of the Washington Blade. “There’s nothing like watching our community come together on the waterfront with live music and incredible energy as we kick off Pride week.”
Pride on the Pier is free and open to the public, with VIP tickets available for exclusive pier access to the Dockmaster Building. To purchase VIP tickets visit www.prideonthepierdc.com/vip.
Additional entertainment announcements, sponsor activations, and event details will be released in the coming weeks.
Event Details:
📍 Location: District Pier at The Wharf (101 District Sq SW, Washington, DC)
📅 Dates: Friday, 13, 2026
⏱️ 4-9PM
🎟️ VIP Tickets: www.PrideOnThePierDC.com/VIP
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