Arts & Entertainment
Music of the season
Gay productions among upcoming holiday concerts and shows
Wolf Trap’s Holiday Sing-A-Long, featuring the U.S. Marine band and members of local choirs and vocal groups is Dec. 4. (Photo by Sam Kittner, courtesy Wolf Trap)
The holiday season has officially begun with Thanksgiving over and it’s time for holiday concerts and shows. Washington and the region have a rich bounty slated — you could go to concerts almost every night between now and Christmas and still not see everything.
The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington has its annual holiday concert, “Red & Greene,” for four performances from Dec. 16-18 at Lisner Auditorium (730 21st St., N.W.) featuring Ellen Greene, Broadway’s original Audrey from “Little Shop of Horrors.” Tickets range from $25 to $50 and can be purchased at gmcw.org.
The Gay Men’s Chorus will also be joining Metropolitan Community Church of Washington for its “Joy All Over the World” Christmas concert at Lincoln Theater on Dec. 3. Oleta Adams will make a special appearance. Orchestra seats are $30; balcony seats are $20. This is lesbian music minister Shirli Hughes’ swan song with the church. Go to mccdc.com for more information or ticketmaster.com for tickets.
Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Rd.) in Vienna has two holiday shows coming up. Starting Wednesday is Steve Solomon’s “My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish & I’m Home for the Holidays.” Solomon uses impersonations to tell the story of a family reunion in his one-man show, the longest running one-man show in Broadway history. The show runs through Dec. 2. Tickets are $32 and can be purchased online at wolftrap.org.
Dec. 4 brings Wolf Trap’s free annual holiday sing-a-long featuring Christmas carols and Hanukkah songs by choir and vocal groups and the United States Marine Band.
The Kennedy Center (2700 F St., N.W.) has a bevy of different holiday performances and events coming up in December.
The American Ballet Theatre will be performing “The Nutcracker” from Dec. 8-11 featuring the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, the Norwood Middle School Choir and the National Cathedral School Choir. Tickets range from $45 to $150.
The National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Matthew Halls, will be performing Handel’s “Messiah” starting Dec. 15. The show will run through Dec. 18 and tickets range from $20 to $85.
Before the Orchestra’s performance, the Kennedy Center will have Yvonne Caruthers give a comprehensive history of “Messiah” performances throughout the years in “Searching for the Real Messiah” on Dec. 10 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15.
Tickets for all Kennedy Center performances can be purchased online at kennedy-center.org.
The Cantate Chamber Singers will be giving their “Holiday in Venice” concert on Dec, 11 at St. Mark Episcopal Church (118 3rd St., S.E.) at 3 p.m.
If too much “Messiah”/”Nutcracker”-type traditionalism has you reaching for the eggnog, there are some less reverential offerings as well.
Gay filmmaker John Waters brings his eponymous Christmas show to the Birchmere on Dec. 18. Tickets are $45 at birchmere.com.
And the Kinsey Sicks, a “dragapella” beauty-shop quartet, are back in D.C. with their show “Oy Vey in a Manger” at Theater J (1529 16th St., N.W.) for four performances from Dec. 24-26. Tickets range from $25 to $65 and can be purchased online at theaterj.org.
The Bohemian Caverns Jazz Orchestra will be performing its holiday concert, “A Bohemian Christmas,” featuring holiday favorites re-imagined with a jazz bent, at The Mansion at Strathmore (10701 Rockville Pike) in North Bethesda on Dec. 18 at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20.
Grammy Award nominee Dave Koz, who’s gay, is coming to the Music Center at Strathmore (5301 Tuckerman Lane) in North Bethesda on Dec. 5 for his Christmas tour with special guests Rick Braun, Jonathan Butler and Candy Dulfer. The concert will feature songs from Koz’s holiday albums. The concert begins at 8 p.m. and tickets range from $38 to $72.
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra will be performing “Holiday Cirque de la Symphonie” on Dec. 8 at the Music Center at 8 p.m. The concert will be performed on and above the stage.
The orchestra will also perform Handel’s “Messiah” on Dec. 3 at 8 p.m. featuring Edward Polochick and concert artists of Baltimore Symphonic Chorale.
Tickets for both Orchestra performances range from $28 to $88.
The National Philharmonic will also be performing Handel’s “Messiah” with two performances on Dec. 10 and 11 featuring Stan Engebretson conducting. Kids from 7 to 17 can attend this concert for free. Tickets range from $32 to $79. There will also be a free lecture before the concert on Dec. 10.
On Dec. 12, Pink Martini (featuring Thomas Lauderdale, who’s openly gay) will be performing at the Music Center at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $55 to $125 and can be purchased online at ticketmaster.com. All Strathmore tickets can be purchased online at Strathmore.org unless otherwise noted.
The BlackRock Center for the Arts (12901 Town Commons Drive) in Germantown will have the “Lift Every Voice: A Holiday Gospel Celebration” concert on Dec.3 at 8 p.m. featuring vocal performances by Solomon Howard, EXTOL and Nischka Higginbotham. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online at blackrockcenter.org.
The Olney Theater (2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Rd.) has two holiday shows coming up in December. First up is “The Nutcracker” starting Dec. 9 and running through Dec. 24. This is the Olney Ballet Theatre’s 50th anniversary production of the show. And starting Dec. 14, Paul Morella returns to Olney with his performance of “A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas.” Tickets for all shows at Olney start at $26 and can be purchased by calling the box office at 301-924-3400.
The Christ Church Episcopal (118 N. Washington St.) in Alexandria has “A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols” on Dec. 4 at 5 p.m. The traditional service will feature hymns and anthems, including music by gay composters Joel Martinson, Richard Webster and David Ashley White. This is a free event, but an offering will be taken to benefit the music program at Mount Vernon Woods Elementary School. A wine-and-cheese reception will follow the performance.
D.C. Different Drummers’ holiday concert is Dec. 11 at the Columbia Heights Education Campus Auditorium (3101 16th St., N.W.) at 3 p.m. The performance will include music from D.C. Swing!, the Capitol Pride Symphonic Band and several of the groups small ensembles, almost all of whom are LGBT. Tickets to the concert are $21 for adults and $11 for students and seniors and can be purchased online at dcdd.org.
The 2026 Mr. Mid-Atlantic Leather competition was held at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill on Sunday. Seven contestants vied for the title and Gage Ryder was named the winner.
(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Theater
Voiceless ‘Antony & Cleopatra’ a spectacle of operatic proportions
Synetic production pulls audience into grips of doomed lovers’ passion
‘Antony & Cleopatra’
Through Jan. 25
Synetic Theater at
Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Klein Theatre
450 7th St., N.W.
Synetictheater.org
A spectacle of operatic proportions, Synetic Theater’s “Antony & Cleopatra” is performed entirely voiceless. An adaptation of the Bard’s original (a play bursting with wordplay, metaphors, and poetic language), the celebrated company’s production doesn’t flinch before the challenge.
Staged by Paata Tsikurishvili and choreographed by Irina Tsikurishvili, this worthy remount is currently playing at Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Klein Theatre, the same venue where it premiered 10 years ago. Much is changed, including players, but the usual inimitable Synectic energy and ingenuity remain intact.
As audiences file into the Klein, they’re met with a monumental pyramid bathed in mist on a dimly lit stage. As the lights rise, the struggle kicks off: Cleopatra (Irina Kavsadze) and brother Ptolemy (Natan-Maël Gray) are each vying for the crown of Egypt. Alas, he wins and she’s banished from Alexandria along with her ethereal black-clad sidekick Mardian (Stella Bunch); but as history tells us, Cleopatra soon makes a triumphant return rolled in a carpet.
Meanwhile, in the increasingly dangerous Rome, Caesar (memorably played by Tony Amante) is assassinated by a group of senators. Here, his legendary Ides of March murder is rather elegantly achieved by silver masked politicians, leaving the epic storytelling to focus on the titular lovers.
The fabled couple is intense. As the Roman general Antony, Vato Tsikurishvili comes across as equal parts warrior, careerist, and beguiled lover. And despite a dose of earthiness, it’s clear that Kavsadze’s Cleopatra was born to be queen.
Phil Charlwood’s scenic design along with Colin K. Bills’ lighting cleverly morph the huge pyramidic structure into the throne of Egypt, the Roman Senate, and most astonishingly as a battle galley crashing across the seas with Tsikurishvili’s Antony ferociously at the helm.
There are some less subtle suggestions of location and empire building in the form of outsized cardboard puzzle pieces depicting the Mediterranean and a royal throne broken into jagged halves, and the back-and-forth of missives.
Of course, going wordless has its challenges. Kindly, Synectic provides a compact synopsis of the story. I’d recommend coming early and studying that page. With changing locations, lots of who’s who, shifting alliances, numerous war skirmishes, and lack of dialogue, it helps to get a jump on plot and characters.
Erik Teague’s terrific costume design is not only inspired but also helpful. Crimson red, silver, and white say Rome; while all things Egyptian have a more exotic look with lots of gold and diaphanous veils, etc.
When Synetic’s voicelessness works, it’s masterful. Many hands create the magic: There’s the direction, choreography, design, and the outrageously committed, sinewy built players who bring it to life through movement, some acrobatics, and the remarkable sword dancing using (actual sparking sabers) while twirling to original music composed by Konstantine Lortkipanidze.
Amid the tumultuous relationships and frequent battling (fight choreography compliments of Ben Cunis), moments of whimsy and humor aren’t unwelcome. Ptolemy has a few clownish bits as Cleopatra’s lesser sibling. And Antony’s powerful rival Octavian (ageless out actor Philip Fletcher) engages in peppy propaganda featuring a faux Cleopatra (played by Maryam Najafzada) as a less than virtuous queen enthusiastically engaged in an all-out sex romp.
When Antony and Cleopatra reach their respective ends with sword and adder, it comes almost as a relief. They’ve been through so much. And from start to finish, without uttering a word, Kavsadze and Tsikurishvili share a chemistry that pulls the audience into the grips of the doomed lovers’ palpable passion.
Out & About
Love board games and looking for love?
Quirk Events will host “Board Game Speed Dating for Gay Men” on Thursday, Jan. 22 at 7 p.m. at KBird DC.
Searching for a partner can be challenging. But board games are always fun. So what if you combined board games and finding a partner?
Picture this: You sit down for a night of games. A gaming concierge walks you through several games over the course of the night. You play classics you love and discover brand new games you’ve never heard of, playing each with a different group of fun singles. All while in a great establishment.
At the end of the night, you give your gaming concierge a list of the folks you met that you’d like to date and a list of those you met that you’d like to just hang out with as friends. If any two people put down the same name as each other in either column, then your gaming concierge will make sure you get each other’s e-mail address and you can coordinate a time to hang out.
Tickets cost $31.80 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.
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