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Calendar: Nov. 18

Parties, concerts, exhibits and more through Thanksgiving day

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‘Bougie Party of Two You Can Now Be Seated’ is one of the paintings feauted in Anthony Dortch's ‘Privileged Series’ on display at Touchstone Gallery. (Image courtesy Touchstone)

Today (Friday) 

Out singer/songwriter Catie Curtis plays Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Rd.) in Vienna, Va., tonight at 8 p.m. with special guest Meg Hutchinson. Tickets are $22 and can be purchased online at wolftrap.org.

Green Lantern’s (1335 Green Court, N.W.) Fahrenheit presents “Leche” tonight from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. featuring DJ Michael Brandon. There’s a $7 cover after 10 p.m. and free rail vodka upstairs from 10 to 11 p.m.

Out comedian Jason Stuart plays Riot Act Theater tonight at 8 and 10:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased online at riotactcomedy.com. He will also perform Saturday night at the same times.

The Lambda Divers are having their monthly happy hour tonight at Nellie’s (900 U St., N.W.) from 5 to 7 p.m. Also tonight is the Ski Bums Blizzard Bash, a party for LGBT skiers and snowboarders starting at 7 p.m.

Gay District is having its third annual Thanksgiving potluck dinner tonight from 8:30 to 11:30 p.m. at St. Margaret’s Episcopal (1830 Connecticut Ave., N.W.). Attendees can coordinate with Justin to find out What may be needed, by emailing him directly at[email protected] or Facebook message. For more information, visit gaydistrict.org.

Gay/Bash!, a “queer night of rock and pop gems” with DJ Joshua is tonight at the Black Cat (1811 14th St., N.W.). This is a free event and doors open at 9:30 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 19

Kate Clinton brings her tour “The Glee Party” to the Birchmere (3701 Mount Vernon Ave.) in Alexandria tonight at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $45 and can be purchased online atticketmaster.com.

Sulu D.C. is celebrating its second year of presenting Asian-American and Pacific Islander performance artists with a special fundraiser and awards show tonight at Artisphere (1101 Wilson Blvd.) in Arlington, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. hosted by Regie Cabico. Tickets are $20 and are available online at tickets.artisphere.com. For more information on Sulu, visit suludc.com.

Dulles Triangles is celebrating its 20th anniversary “Gayla” tonight at the Marriott Dulles (45020 Aviation Dr.) in Dulles from 7 p.m. to midnight featuring music by Crys Matthews and more. Tickets are $65 and are available online at dullestriangles.com.

Team D.C. is having a casino night tonight at Buffalo Billiards (1330 19th St., N.W.) from 8 to 11 p.m. There’s a $10 entry fee which gives attendees chips to play poker and blackjack or enter a pool tournament. There will also be prizes and drink specials. For more information, visit teamdc.org.

Green Lantern (1335 Greent Court, N.W.) presents “Black and White Interracial Underwear Party” tonight from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. featuring DJ tONE, a “Best Booty” contest and more.

The Black Cat (1811 14th St., N.W.) has two events going on backstage today. First up is the free event, Hellmouth Happy Hour, featuring an episode of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and drinks specials at 7 p.m. This week’s episode is “Faith, Hope & Trick.” Then DJ lil’e takes over the space for her ‘80s Alt-Pop Dance night, Right Round. Tickets are $7 and doors open at 9:30 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 20

“Masters of Illusion Live!” will be at the Music Center at Strathmore (5301 Tuckerman Lane) in North Bethesda today at 2 p.m. Tickets range from $25 to $65 and can be purchased online at strathmore.org.

The Grammy Award-winning group Manhattan Transfer plays the Kennedy Center tonight at 7 p.m. with Jon Hendricks and two collegiate a cappella groups. Tickets range from $20 to $65 and can be purchased online. For more information and to get tickets, visit kennedy-center.org.

Touchstone Gallery (901 New York Ave., N.W.) has two exhibits on display, one is an all member show and the other is “The Privileged Series” by Anthony Dortch. Both exhibits will be on display through Nov. 27. The gallery is open from noon to 5 p.m. For more information, visit touchstonegallery.com.

Monday, Nov. 21

WEAVE, a support group for LGBT survivors of intimate partner violence/abuse will be meeting from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Lighthouse Center for Healing (5321 First Place, N.E.). For more information and to register, call 202-280-6391.

Busboys & Poets presents “Other People’s Poetry” tonight its Shirlington location (4251 S Campbell Ave.) in Arlington at 8 p.m. hosted by Rebecca Dupas. Admission wristbands are $4 and will be sold all day in the Global Exchange store beginning at 10 a.m. until sold out.

Tuesday, Nov. 22

Nellie’s (900 U St., N.W.) presents its “Glee” watch party tonight at 8 p.m. on the deck in the pub room.

The Chesapeake Squares are having a mainstream-through-advanced club night tonight at the Waxter Center (1000 Cathedral St.) in Baltimore from 8 to 10 p.m. For more information, visit chesapeakesquares.org.

Wednesday, Nov. 23

The Lodge (21614 National Pike) in Boonsboro is hosting a special “Gobble Gobbler”Thanksgiving Eve bash tonight from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. with music provided by DJ Christopher Butler and DJXO. There’s no cover and drink specials all night including $5 Long Island Pint Size ReFreshers.

JD Razor ‘n Guido is at Cobalt (1639 R Street, N.W.) tonight accompanied by DJ Sean Morris. Cover is $8; open to 18-and-up with ID. Their set starts at 10 p.m.

The D.C. Gurly Show is putting on a special show tonight with “Black Friday: The Recession Show” at Phase 1 (525 8th St., S.E.) featuring Velvet Kensington, Anna Steasya, Private Tails and more. The event starts at 10 p.m. There will be a $5 cover and all attendees must be 21 or older.

Thursday, Nov. 24

Nellie’s (900 U St., N.W.) will be opening at 11 a.m. today in time for the football games and every customer can get a free slice of pie. Visit nelliesportsbar.com or NFL.com for the game schedule.

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Theater

Trans performer, juggler premiering one-woman show

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Lucy Eden stars in ‘Circus of the Self’ at Spooky Action Theater.  (Photo courtesy of Spooky Action Theater)  

Circus of the Self
May 29-June 6
Spooky Action Theater
1810 16th St., N.W.
Pay-What-You-Can: May 2
All other performances: $35
Spookyaction.org

For Lucy Eden, tricks have proved a way into theater.

The Oakland, Calif.-based trans performer and juggler is premiering her one-woman show “Circus of the Self” at Spooky Action Theater in conjunction with WorldPride. 

Directed by Spooky Action’s artistic director Elizabeth Dinkova, the autobiographical busking show is a unique blend of circus and serious storytelling.   

Juggler first met director several years ago in Atlanta. Eden explains, “She was working at a theater down the street from the juggling club where I spent a lot of time. She needed people for a street fair. I agreed. Another collaboration soon followed.” 

Previously, Eden had worked mostly as a roaming performer at Atlanta corporate events and street style pre-game shows for the Braves: “Those environments were a good way to work on material, to learn what tricks make people stop their talking and turn their attention to me,” she says.

Now based in Oakland, Calif., Eden, 40, has created a 77-minute-long one-woman show infused with burlesque, expert juggling, and a personal, sometimes difficult, story.  

While she hesitates to say it’s the obligation of all trans people to tell their stories, she says, “In these times, if you get the opportunity, I believe you ought to take it.” 

Recently, she took a break from preparations, to talk life and showbiz.

BLADE: How exactly did you learn circus tricks? 

EDEN: I’m autodidactic. I taught myself to juggle in the last semester of college. Things had gone wrong and I was looking for distraction. So, when I found a “three ball learn to juggle” kit, I never looked back. That lead to advanced juggling, unicycling, and balancing objects on my face. 

Things began to look up. Today, I try to resist everything in my life going back to circus tricks, it almost always does. 

BLADE: It sounds almost preordained. 

EDEN: For sure. It changed everything. Circus skills force you to face your own failure. When you drop a ball, you can’t convince yourself or the audience that it didn’t happen. Performing, like life, forces you to develop capacities to deal with internal and external failures. 

It teaches us not take ourselves, societal rules, or the idea of what’s success too seriously. 

BLADE: Juggling at a cocktail party to baring your past before a rapt audience must be quite a stretch.

EDEN: It is, but rather than making a dramatic leap, I leveraged the fun and draw of circus to engage people in a more difficult conversation. 

BLADE: Spooky Action’s website warns about “frank discussions of transphobia and mental health.” 

EDEN: Well yeah, I grew up in rural Georgia in the 1990s. You can only imagine. Trans is integral to my identity, and a hot button term right now. I think everyone sees and hears a lot of things about trans people that don’t in fact come from actual trans people. 

A big part of why I wrote this show and brought it to D.C. is because I really want audiences to have as intimate and revealing look at me as a trans persona as I can give them. I think it’s only through knowing that we can get beyond all the noise, misinformation, and fear mongering.  

BLADE: Lately I hear a lot of artists bandying about the term “queer joy.” Woolly’s website uses the term in describing aspects of your show. What does it mean to you?

EDEN: It’s an important thingfor us all to be focused on right now, but we’re in a place where joy is hard to access. So, to me, it’s complex; it’s an important yet nuanced pursuit. 

BLADE: As a part of the vast and promising WorldPride (through June 8) entertainment lineup, what makes your show stand out?

EDEN: It’s fun. I wrote “Circus of the Self” with a queer audience in mind. I spend a lot of time and creative energy performing for a general audience. I want this to be different. As far as I know, there’s nothing quite like my show out there. 

There are a lot of shows that are a combination of storytelling and circus parts but they tend to be surface level entertainment. I think of this as more standup with circus layered on; it’s modeled after queer comedians like Hannah Gadsby and Tig Notaro whose work is driven more by personality than jokes. 

I have tried to write a show for a queer audience. It has all the things I need to see for myself but never have.

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Movies

‘Things Like This’ embraces formula and plus-size visibility

Enjoyable queer romcom challenges conventions of the genre

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Max Talisman and Joey Pollari star in 'Things Like That.' (Image courtesy of MPX Releasing/Big Picture Collective)

There’s a strange feeling of irony about a spring movie season stacked with queer romcoms – a genre that has felt conspicuously absent on the big screen since the disappointing reception met by the much-hyped “Bros” in 2022 – at a time when pushback against LGBTQ visibility is stronger than it’s been for 40 years.

Sure, part of the reason is the extended timeline required for filmmaking, which tells us, logically, that the numerous queer love stories hitting theaters this year – including the latest, the Manhattan-set indie “Things Like This,” which opened in limited theaters last weekend – began production long before the rapid cultural shift that has taken place in America since a certain convicted fraudster’s return to the White House. 

That does not, however, make them any less welcome; on the contrary, they’re a refreshing assertion of queer existence that serves to counter-balance the hateful, politicized rhetoric that continues to bombard our community every day. In fact, the word “refreshing” is an apt description of “Things Like This,” which not only celebrates the validity – and joy – of queer love but does so in a story that disregards “Hollywood” convention in favor of a more authentic form of inclusion than we’re ever likely to see in a mainstream film

Written, starring, and directed by Max Talisman and set against the vibrant backdrop of New York City, it’s the story of two gay men named Zack – Zack #1 (Talisman) is a plus-sized hopeful fantasy author with a plus-sized personality and a promising-but-unpublished first novel, and Zack #2 (Joey Pollari) an aspiring talent agent dead-ended as an assistant to his exploitative “queen-bee” boss (Cara Buono) – who meet at an event and are immediately attracted to each other. Though Zack #2 is resigned to his unsatisfying relationship with longtime partner Eric (Taylor Trensch), he impulsively agrees to a date the following night, beginning an on-again/off-again entanglement that causes both Zacks to re-examine the trajectories of their respective lives – and a lot of other heavy baggage – even as their tentative and unlikely romance feels more and more like the workings of fate.

Like most romcoms, it relies heavily on familiar tropes – adjusted for queerness, of course – and tends to balance its witty banter and starry-eyed sentiment with heart-tugging setbacks and crossed-wire conflicts, just to raise the stakes. The Zacks’ attempts at getting together are a series of “meet-cutes” that could almost be described as fractal, yet each of them seems to go painfully awry – mostly due to the very insecurities and self-doubts which make them perfect for each other. The main obstacle to their couplehood, however, doesn’t spring from these mishaps; it’s their own struggles with self-worth that stand in the way, somehow making theirs more of a quintessentially queer love story than the fact that both of them are men.

All that introspection – relatable as it may be – can be a downer without active energy to stir things up, but fortunately for “Things Like This,” there are the inevitable BFFs and extended circle of friends and family that can help to get the fun back on track. Each Zack has his own support team backing him up, from a feisty “work wife” (Jackie Cruz, “Orange is the New Black”) to a straight best friend (Charlie Tahan, “Ozark”) to a wise and loving grandma (veteran scene-stealer Barbara Barrie, “Breaking Away” and countless vintage TV shows) – that fuels the story throughout, providing the necessary catalysts to prod its two neurotic protagonists into taking action when they can’t quite get there themselves.

To be sure, Talisman’s movie – his feature film debut as a writer and director – doesn’t escape the usual pitfalls of the romcom genre. There’s an overall sense of “wish fulfillment fantasy” that makes some of its biggest moments seem a bit too good to be true, and there are probably two or three complications too many as it approaches its presumed happy ending; in addition, while it helps to drive the inner conflict for Zack #2’s character arc, throwing a homophobic and unsupportive dad (Eric Roberts) into the mix feels a bit tired, though it’s hard to deny that such family relationships continue to create dysfunction for queer people no matter how many times they’re called out in the movies – which means that it’s still necessary, regrettably, to include them in our stories.

And in truth, “calling out” toxic tropes – the ones that reflect society’s negative assumptions and perpetuate them through imitation – is part of Talisman’s agenda in “Things Like This,” which devotes its very first scene to shutting down any objections from “fat shamers” who might decry the movie’s “opposites attract” scenario as unbelievable. Indeed, he has revealed in interviews that he developed the movie for himself because of the scarcity of meaningful roles for plus-sized actors, and his desire to erase such conventional prejudices extends in every direction within his big-hearted final product.

Even so, there’s no chip-on-the-shoulder attitude to sour the movie’s spirit; what helps us get over its sometimes excessive flourishes of idealized positivity is that it’s genuinely funny. The dialogue is loaded with zingers that keep the mood light, and even the tensest scenes are laced with humor, none of which feels forced. For this, kudos go to Talisman’s screenplay, of course, but also to the acting – including his own. He’s eminently likable onscreen, with wisecracks that land every time and an underlying good cheer that makes his appeal even more visible; crucially, his chemistry with Pollari – who also manages to maintain a lightness of being at his core no matter how far his Zack descends into uncertainty – isn’t just convincing; it’s enviable.

Cruz is the movie’s “ace in the hole” MVP as Zack #2’s under-appreciated but fiercely loyal bestie, and Buono’s hilariously icy turn as his “boss from hell” makes for some of the film’s most memorable scenes. Likewise, Tahan, along with Margaret Berkowitz and Danny Chavarriaga, flesh out Zack #1’s friend group with a real sense of camaraderie that should be recognizable to anyone who’s ever been part of an eclectic crew of misfits. Trensch’s comedic “ickiness” as Zack #2’s soon-to-be-ex makes his scenes a standout; and besides bigger-name “ringers” Roberts and Barrie (whose single scene is the emotional climax of the movie), there’s also a spotlight-grabbing turn by Diane Salinger (iconic as Francophile dreamer Simone in “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure”) as the owner of a queer bar where the Zacks go on one of their dates.

With all that enthusiasm and a momentum driven by a sense of DIY empowerment, it’s hard to be anything but appreciative of “Things Like This,” no matter how much some of us might cringe at its more unbelievable romcom devices. After all, it’s as much a “feel-good” movie as it is a love story, and the fact that we actually do feel good when the final credits role is more than enough to earn it our hearty recommendation.

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Calendar

Calendar: May 23-29

LGBTQ events in the days to come

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Friday, May 23

“Center Aging Monthly Luncheon and Yoga” will be at 12 p.m. in person at the DC Center for the LGBT Community. For more details, email [email protected]

Trans Discussion Group will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This group is intended to provide an emotionally and physically safe space for trans people and those who may be questioning their gender identity and/or expression. For more details, email [email protected]

Go Gay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Community Happy Hour” at 7 p.m. at DIK Bar. This event is ideal for making new friends, professional networking, idea-sharing, and community building. This event is free and more details are available on Eventbrite

Saturday, May 24

Go Gay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Community Brunch” at 11 a.m. at Freddie’s Beach Bar and Restaurant. This fun weekly event brings the DMV area LGBTQ community, including Allies, together for delicious food and conversation. Attendance is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

Black Lesbian Mixer will be at 11 a.m. on Zoom. This is a support group dedicated to the joys of being a Black lesbian. For more details, email [email protected]

Sunday, May 25

“The Queen’s Table: A Women’s Empowerment Brunch” will be at 11 a.m. at Zooz. This event will celebrate queer women’s strength. For more details visit Eventbrite

Monday, May 26

“Center Aging Monday Coffee and Conversation” will be at 10 a.m. on Zoom. This is a social hour for older LGBTQ+ adults. Guests are encouraged to bring a beverage of choice. For more details, email [email protected]

Tuesday, May 27

Genderqueer DC will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This is a support group for people who identify outside of the gender binary. Whether you’re bigender, agender, genderfluid, or just know you’re not 100 percent cis — this is your group. For more details, visit genderqueerdc.org or Facebook

Coming Out Discussion Group will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This support group is a safe space to share experiences about coming out and discuss topics as it relates to doing so. For more details, visit the group’s Facebook

Wednesday, May 28

Job Club will be at 6 p.m. on Zoom. This is a weekly job support program to help job entrants and seekers, including the long-term unemployed, improve self-confidence, motivation, resilience and productivity for effective job searches and networking — allowing participants to move away from being merely “applicants” toward being “candidates.” For more information, email [email protected] or visit thedccenter.org/careers.

Thursday, May 29

The DC Center’s Fresh Produce Program will be held all day at the DC Center for the LGBT Community. To be fairer with who is receiving boxes, the program is moving to a lottery system. People will be informed on Wednesday at 5 p.m. if they are picked to receive a produce box. No proof of residency or income is required. For more information, email [email protected] or call 202-682-2245. 

Virtual Yoga with Charles M. will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This is a free weekly class focusing on yoga, breathwork, and meditation. For more details, visit the DC Center for the LGBT Community’s website.

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