Arts & Entertainment
Theatrical highs
Many stellar gay-helmed productions infused D.C. stage scene
Delia Taylor as Winnie in WSC Avant Bard’s production of Samuel Beckett’s ‘Happy Days.’ (Photo by Dru Sefton; courtesy WSC)
It was a particularly good year for Washington theater. Included among the many solid offerings were numerous shows made by and about LGBT people.
Woolly Mammoth presented works by rising gay playwrights Robert O’Hara and Samuel D. Hunter. O’Hara’s autobiographical comedy “Bootycandy,” about growing up black and gay in America, follows the misadventures of young Sutter as he grapples with finding his place in the world and his own burgeoning sexuality. O’Hara — who also directed — led a terrific design team and got some great comedic performances from a talented five-person ensemble who portrayed a much larger number of characters ranging in age, portrayed many more characters ranging in age, sexual orientation and gender.
Hunter’s “A Bright New Boise” is a dark comedy set in the break room of a big box store in Idaho. Woolly’s production was staged by gay director John Vreeke and featured an finely drawn performance from gay actor Michael Russotto.
Leading dramatists were honored. In the spring, Arena Stage celebrated the work of Edward Albee with a festival featuring the gay playwright’s entire canon (mostly staged readings). The festival’s centerpiece were fully staged productions of Albee’s searing domestic drama “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” which starred Tracy Letts and Amy Morton as the boozy, battling spouses George and Martha; and Albee’s more recent work “At Home at the Zoo,” a riveting peek into the lives of three New Yorkers.
At the same time, the Georgetown University Theater and Performance Studies Program presented an equally ambitious celebration of another gay playwright’s stunning oeuvre: the Tennessee Williams Centennial Festival (Tenn Cent Fest for short). Included in the extensive, multidisciplinary program was a production of “The Glass Menagerie” featuring Sarah Marshall, who is gay, as the former Southern belle matriarch Amanda Wingfield, who’s based on the playwright’s overbearing mother.
In May, the Kennedy Center presented “Follies” (gay composer Stephen Sondheim’s paean to ex-chorines and messy relationships) starring Bernadette Peters. Staged by local gay director Eric Schaeffer, it was a little uneven but boasted a sublime second act. Since its run here, an improved version of the same production moved on to Broadway and is slated for a limited Los Angeles run in the spring.
At Synetic Theater, gay actor Philip Fletcher continued to do amazing things with his body during 2011. A longtime regular with the movement-based theater group, Fletcher played Edmund in a stunning, punk rock “King Lear” in April, and in October he reprised his role as the most maniacal third of a triadic Iago in “Othello.”
At WSC Avant Bard in Rosslyn, director Jose Carrasquillo directed Delia Taylor (both gay) in a splendid production of Samuel Beckett’s daunting “Happy Days.” Tony Cisek — also gay — designed the set. In fact, Cisek designed sets for many productions throughout the year including Ford’s “Parade,” Folger’s “Othello” and “After the Fall” at Theatre J.
Other news from 2011: The Shakespeare Theatre Company’s gay artistic director Michael Kahn celebrated 25 years at the troupe’s helm; legendary (and lanky) Broadway choreographer Tommy Tune came to town to accept the Helen Hayes Tribute for an exceptionally successful career in theater; award-winning local actor Holly Twyford (who is gay) made an impressive directing debut at No Rules Theater Company with “Stop Kiss.” On a sadder note,Ganymede Arts, Washington’s only gay-specific theater closed, citing straightened finances as the main reason. The company was known for successfully staging works of special interest in LGBT audiences and for four years, it held fun fall arts festival, which attracted cool notables like Karen Black, Charles Busch and Holly Woodlawn.
For Helen Hayes Award-winning actor and DC theater scene veteran Rick Hammerly, 2011 was an especially busy and professionally fulfilling year. In addition to acting in the Kennedy Center’s long-running “Shear Madness,” the Tenn Cent Festival’s “And Tell Sad Stories of the Deaths of Queens…,”and most recently as Mr. Fezziwig in “A Christmas Carol” at Ford’s Theatre, he also produced “Magnificent Waste” for Factory 449, a progressive theater company that he and a small group of other theater artists founded several years ago.
And in what Hammerly describes as the highlight of his year, he staged a timely production of “Dead Men Walking” at American University in the fall. The play was created for universities by Tim Robbins through his Dead Man Walking School Theatre Project. It closely follows Robbins’ 1995 award winning film adaptation of the book by Sister Helen Prejean, based on her time spent with Death Row inmates.
“The experience gave me the opportunity to introduce the students to the power of theater — what it can really accomplish if you’re tackling things that are current. We used the story of Troy Anthony Davis’ execution in the play to tie what’s taking place on stage to something that is actually happening in the world. It demonstrated the strength of art and theater.”
Theater
Timely comedy ‘Fake It’ focuses on Native American themes
Arena Stage production features two out actors
‘Fake It Until You Make It’
Through May 4
Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth St., S.W.
Tickets start at $59
Arenastage.org
A farce requires teamwork. And Larissa FastHorse’s “Fake It Until You Make It” now at Arena Stage is no exception.
The timely comedy focuses on Native American nonprofits fractiously housed in a shared space. Friction rises when rivals River (Amy Brenneman), a white woman operating in the Indigenous world, goes up against the more authentic Wynona (Shyla Lefner) to win a lucrative Native-funded grant.
While Brenneman (best known for TV’s Judging Amy) is undeniably a big draw, it takes a group collaboration to hit marks, land jokes, and pull off the well-executed physical comedy including all those carefully timed door slams.
As members of the six-person “Fake It” cast, Brandon Delsid and Eric Stanton Betts, both out actors of partly indigenous ancestry, contribute to the mayhem. Respectively, Delsid and Betts play Krys and Mark, a pair of two-spirited Native Americans who meet farcically cute and enjoy one of the play’s more satisfying arcs.
For Krys, every attractive man is a potential next fling, but when Mark, handsome and relatively reserved, arrives on the scene, it’s something entirely different.
Both onstage and sometimes off, Betts plays the straight man to Delsid’s waggishness. But when it comes down to real life business, the friends are on the same page: not only are the L.A.-based, up-and-coming actors intensely serious about their film and stage careers, but they’re also particularly engaged in the themes of Indigenous People found in “Fake It.”
On a recent Wednesday following a matinee and an audience talkback, they were ready for a phone interview.
In establishing whose voice was whose, Delsid clarified with “I’m the one who sounds a little like a Valley girl.”
WASHINGTON BLADE: Brandon, you’ve been with the show since its early work-shopping days in 2022 and through its debut in Los Angeles and now Washington. Have things evolved?
BRANDON DELSID: Definitely. I’ve grown up in the last couple of years and so has my character; it’s hard to know where I end and Kry begins. There’s been a real melding.
Eric and I are both queer, and to get to play these roles that are so human, imperfect, sexy, and interesting is really joyful.
As queer artists you don’t always get the chance to do work like this. So many stories are queer trauma, which is incredibly important, but it’s liberating to feel joy and ride it off into the sunset, which, without revealing too much, is kind of what we get to do.
BLADE: There’s some race shifting in “Fake It” particularly with regard to “pretendian” (a pejorative term describing a person who has falsely claimed Indigenous status).
ERIC STANTON BETTS: The last few years I’ve been on a journey with my cultural identity and place in the world. I’m a mixed BIPOC artist, my dad is Black and Native American by way of the Cherokee tribe and my mom is white.
Since 2020, I’ve tried to figure out where I belong in this cultural history that I haven’t had a tie to throughout my life; it’s gratifying to find my way back to my indigeneity and be welcomed.
In the play, race shifting is introduced through farce. But it’s never in a disrespectful way; it’s never mocked or done in a way to take away from others. The playwright parallels race shifting with gender fluidity.
DELSID: But in life, there are people posing as Indigenous, actively taking grants, and the play goes there, we don’t hold back. Larissa, our playwright, has made it clear that she’s not trying to figure it out for us. With that in mind, we hope people leave the theater interested and curious to learn more.
BLADE: Mark arrives kind of the middle of some crazy drama, bringing along a jolt of romance.
BETTS: Yeah, when I show up, we’re all sort of shot out of a cannon, struggling to keep up with the initial lie.
DESLID: A very gay cannon.
BLADE: What’s up next for you two?
BETTS: Both Brandon and I are up for the same part in a TV pilot, so one of us may be getting some very good news. I also have a Tyler Perry film coming out soon [he plays a model, not an unfamiliar gig for Betts].
DELSID: Coming up, I have a recurring part on HBO’s “The Rehearsal,” and a supporting part in “June and John,” a John Besson film. But doing “Fake It Until You Make It” in L.A. and now D.C. has been a special time in our lives. It’s 23/7 togetherness. There’s that hour for sleep.
Point Foundation will host its annual “Taste of Point Reception” on Wednesday, May 7 at 6:30 p.m. at Room & Board.
The popular event will take place on the top floor and outdoor terrace at Room & Board, featuring small plates from area restaurants, hand-crafted cocktails from local mixologists, and a speaking portion where guests will hear directly from Point Foundation scholars. This year, Point is supporting a record-breaking class of 755 scholars and guests’ support will allow Point to continue its mission. Point Foundation is the nation’s largest scholarship-granting organization for LGBTQ students of merit.
Tickets are tax deductible and can be purchased at Point’s website.
Friday, April 25
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/expression to join together in community and learn from one another. For more details, email [email protected].
Go Gay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Community Happy Hour” at 7 p.m. at Uproar Lounge and Restaurant. 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, April 26
Go Gay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Community Brunch” at 11 a.m. at Freddie’s Beach Bar & 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 Support Group will be at 11 a.m. on Zoom. This is a peer-led support group devoted to the joys and challenges of being a Black lesbian. You do not need to be a member of the Beta Kappa Chapter or the Beta Phi Omega Sorority in order to join, but they do ask that you either identify as a lesbian or are questioning that aspect of your identity. For more details, email [email protected].
Sunday, April 27
“Trans Open Mic and Author Talk with Jeanne Thornton” will be at 5 p.m. at Busboys and Poets 14th & V. It’s a difficult time for trans people in the USA, and Jeanne would like to extend the opportunity to local trans fiction writers to build community by coming on stage and sharing their work as part of an opening “open mic” to this event. There are spaces for up to 6-8 readers to share work of up to five minutes each. If you are interested in reading, please select the “Open Mic Ticket” and find Jeanne before the show at 4:30 p.m. The reading will be arranged on a first come, first served basis on the night of the event. For more details, visit Eventbrite.
Monday, April 28
“Center Aging Monday Coffee & 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].
Queer Book Club will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This month’s reading is “All Systems Red and Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries Book 1 & 2)” by Martha Wells. For more details, email [email protected].
Tuesday, April 29
“OutPro Meaningful LGBTQ Networking” will be at 6 p.m. at Number Nine. Out Pro creates an environment that is welcoming to the full diversity of the LGBTQ community, as well as supportive allies. Guests are encouraged to embrace purposeful networking with the goal of helping connect people with opportunities. If you’re hiring, please come and meet motivated, aspiring LGBTQ professionals. As always, our events warmly welcome community allies. For more details, visit Eventbrite.
Wednesday, April 30
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 1
API Queer Support Group will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This is a support group for the Asian and Pacific Islander queer community. For more information, email [email protected].
Virtual Yoga with Charles M. will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This is a free weekly class focusing on yoga, breath work, and meditation. For more details, visit the DC Center for the LGBT Community’s website.
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