Arts & Entertainment

Music of the season

Gay productions among upcoming holiday concerts and shows

Published

14 years ago

November 23, 2011

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 16^th 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 16^th 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.

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PHOTOS: Capital Stonewall Democrats 50th anniversary

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March 23, 2026

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The Capital Stonewall Democrats 50th Anniversary is held at Pepco Edison Place Gallery on Friday, March 20. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The Capital Stonewall Democrats held a 50th anniversary celebration at Pepco Edison Place Gallery on Friday. Rayceen Pendarvis served as the emcee.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

Theater

‘Inherit the Wind’ isn’t about science vs. religion, but the right to think

Holly Twyford on new role and importance of listening to different opinions

Published

1 day ago

March 22, 2026

Patrick Folliard

Holly Twyford

‘Inherit the Wind’
Through April 5
Arena Stage
1101 Sixth St., S.W.
Tickets start at $73
Arenastage.org

When “Inherit the Wind” premiered on Broadway in 1955 with a cast of 50, its fictional setting of Hillsboro, an obscure country town described as the buckle on the Bible Belt, was filled with townspeople. And now at Arena Stage, director Ryan Guzzo Purcell has somehow crowded Arena’s large Fichandler space with just 10 actors, five principals and a delightful ensemble of five playing multiple roles.

Inspired by the real-life Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925, Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee’s fictionalized work pits intellectual freedom against McCarthyism via the imagined trial of Bertram Cates (Noah Plomgren), a Tennessee educator charged with teaching evolution. Drawn into the fracas are big shot lawyers, defense attorney Henry Drummond (Billy Eugene Jones), and conservative prosecutor, Matthew Harrison Brady (Dakin Matthew). On hand to cover the closely watched story is wisecracking city slicker and Baltimore reporter E.K. Horneck (played by nonbinary actor Alyssa Keegan).

Out actor Holly Twyford, a four-time Helen Hayes Award winner who has appeared in more than 80 Washington area plays, is part of the ensemble. In jeans and boots, she memorably plays Meeker, the bailiff at the Hillsboro courthouse and the jailer responsible for holding Cates in the days leading to his trial.

Twyford also plays Sillers, a slack jawed earnest employee at the local feed store who’s called to serve on the jury. And more importantly she plays Brady’s quietly strong wife Sarah whom he affectionately calls “Mother.”

When Twyford makes her memorable first entrance as Meeker, she’s wiping shaving cream from her face with a hand towel. With shades of Mayberry R.F.D., the jail is run casually. Meeker says Cates isn’t the criminal type, and he’s not.

“There’s a joke among actors,” says Twyford. “When an actor gets his shoes, they know who their character is. And it’s sort of true. When you put on boots, heels, or flip flops, there’s a different feeling, and you walk differently.”

Similarly, shares Twyford, it goes for clothes too: “When Mother slips a pink coat dress over her cowboy boots, dons a little hat and ties her scarf, or Meeker puts on his work shirt, I know where I am. And all of that is thanks to a remarkable wardrobe crew.

“Additionally, some of the ensemble characters are played broadly which is helpful to the actors and super identifying for the audience too.”

During intermission, an audience member loudly described the production as “a proper play” filled with beautifully written passages. And it’s true. Twyford agrees, adding “That’s all true, and it’s also been was fun for us to be a part of the Arena legacy as well. Arena took ‘Inherit the Wind’ to the Soviet Union in the early ‘70s when the respective governments did a cultural exchange. At the time, the iron curtain was very much in place, and they traveled with a play about a man with his own thoughts.”

When the ensemble was cast, actors didn’t know which tracts exactly they were going to play. “What came together was a cast, diverse in different ways. Some directors, including myself when I direct, are interested in assembling a cast that’s a good group. No time for egos. It’s more about who will make the best group to help me tell this story.”

At one point during rehearsal, ensemble members began to help one another with minor onstage costume changes, like jackets and hats: “We just started doing it and Ryan [Guzzo Purcell] picked up on it, saying things really began to come alive when we helped each other, so we went with that.”

“For me, it was reminiscent of ‘The Laramie Project’ [Ford’s Theatre in 2013] when we played five different parts and we’d help each other with a vest or jacket in a similar way. It worked so well then too,” says Twyford.

“Inherit the Wind” isn’t about science versus religion. It’s about the right to think, playwright Jerome Lawrrence has been quoted as saying. And it’s a quote that makes the play that much more relevant today.

Twford remembers a chat in a hair salon: “I was getting my hair cut and the woman next to me shared that she was tired of message plays. Understandably there are theater makers who believe that message plays are the point, while others think it’s all about entertainment. I feel like ‘Inherit the Wind’ sits in a nice place in the middle.”

She adds “the work is a creative way of showing different opinions and that, I think, is what we should be paying attention to right now. Clearly, it’s not right or wrong to express what you think.”

Out & About

‘How We Survived’ panel set for March 25

‘Living History’ discussion to be held at Spark Social

Published

2 days ago

March 21, 2026

Tinashe Chingarande

Local activist Earline Budd will serve on a panel discussion titled, ‘Part One, Living History: How We Survived.’ (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Friends of Dorothy Cafe will host “Part One, Living History: How We Survived,” will take place on Wednesday, March 25 at 7:30 p.m. at Spark Social House.

This event will be moderated by Abby Stuckrath, host of the “Queering the District” podcast. Panelists include: Earline Budd, activist, trans rights advocate; TJ Flavell of Go Gay DC; DC LGBTQ+ Center Board Member David Bissette; and Alexa Rodriguez, founder and executive director, Trans-Latinx DMV.

This event is part of a four-part storytelling series called “Living History,” which centers LGBTQ elders, activists, artists, and icons sharing their lived experiences and reflections with younger generations. The conversations explore themes like resilience, community organizing, chosen family, and the lessons earlier generations hope today’s LGBTQ+ and ally communities will carry forward.