Arts & Entertainment
Artistic adjustments
Signature’s ‘Russia’ premiere plays loosey goosey with the Rasputin legend
‘Brother Russia’
Through April 15
Signature Theatre
4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington
703-573-SEAT
Doug Kreeger, center, as Grigori in Signature’s ‘Brother Russia.’ Also seen from left are Stephen Gregory Smith, Erin Driscoll, Russell Sunday and Rachel Zampelli. (Photo by Scott Suchman; courtesy Signature)
Advanced word on Signature Theatre’s world premiere production of “Brother Russia” promised the story of Rasputin set to music. If you’re expecting a faithful retelling of the mad monk’s rise from backwater Serbian peasant to Russian Imperial Court favorite, don’t. The show’s creators — musical team Dana Rowe (music) and John Dempsey (book and lyrics) — have toyed widely with the facts and invented something entirely new.
Propelled by a hard-driving rock score, “Brother Russia” is a play within a play. The action begins with a ragtag troupe of sometime post-Glasnost Russian actors gathering to perform their next show. The itinerant company’s leader, Brother Russia (John Lescault), suggests they tell his story, the story of Rasputin. Of course, he couldn’t possibly be the real Rasputin — though old, he’s not nearly old enough, and besides Rasputin’s murdered corpse was dragged from the Neva River in 1916. Still, the actors press on. Parts are assigned, costumes donned and places taken.
Visibly seated throughout the musical in a big wooden wheelchair, wisecracking Brother Russia watches things unfold from the sidelines. Family tragedy prompts young Rasputin (a bearded Doug Kreeger) to embark on his quixotic journey (lucidly staged by Signature’s gay artistic director Eric Schaeffer). Along the way a horny witch (Rachel Zampelli) claims his soul. Whether it’s her magic, or Rasputin’s later apprenticeship with a pair of faith-healing hucksters (Kevin McAllister and Christopher Mueller) that primes him for the big time is unclear. Once in St. Petersburg, Rasputin vaults to in-house healer to the young, hemophilic Tsarevich and wins inordinate influence with the boy’s parents, Tsar Nicholas and Tsarina Alexandra. Not surprisingly, court insiders grow jealous, particularly Prince Felix Yusupov (gay in real life, and here played by Stephen Gregory Smith as a totally louche, glam rock queen strutting in impossibly high red heels), and trouble ensues.
But what would a musical be without a love story? “Brother Russia” defies history by portraying Rasputin and the Tsar’s youngest daughter, the fabled Anastasia (played by the talented and always excellent Natascia Diaz), as a love match. Of course this never happened. Anastasia was a small child when womanizing Rasputin arrived at court. Ordinarily, reshuffling history isn’t a big deal, but with this shows it proves a recurring distraction.
Still, there are things to like. Kreeger, who is gay, is fully committed to the role. He’s terrific and his vocals are gorgeous whether sung sweetly (“The Tsarevich’s Lullaby”) or powerfully (“I Serve No Man”). Other highlights include Amy McWilliams’ turn as the opium smoking (more artistic license), fabulous headdress-wearing Tsarina; and Tracy Lynn Olivera’s number, a bawdily delivered drinking song titled “Vodka.”
Misha Kachman’s impressive set is an expansive stage of rough planks beneath strings of colored lights. In the background are tattered curtains, a depilated caravan and a battered steamer trunk. Costume designer Kathleen Geldard imagines the troupe as sexy and punk expect for Brother Russia who’s dressed as an aging hippie activist in an army surplus coat dotted with political buttons, Birkenstocks and a Che Guevara T-shirt.
In the end, Brother Russia is called out on his historical inaccuracies by the company’s irate manager (Russell Sunday). Ah ha, so this is where everything will make sense, right? Unfortunately, what feels like a tacked-on explanation is unsatisfying. Evidently, this is Brother Russia’s reality, and his proof of the eternal power of theater and the Russian spirit … or something.
Celebrity News
My evening with Madonna
Gay icon headlined the World Pride Music Festival in Amsterdam
Editor’s note: International News Editor Michael K. Lavers and Photo Editor Michael Key will be on assignment in the Netherlands through Aug. 10. They will be covering World Pride in Amsterdam.
AMSTERDAM — Madonna and 6,000 of her closest friends celebrated World Pride at Amsterdam’s AFAS Live concert hall early Sunday morning. I was fortunate enough to be one of them.
Madonna last Wednesday nearly broke the internet when she said on social media in Dutch that “I got somethin’ I wanna talk about,” referring to an opening line in “Danceteria,” one of the tracks on her “Confessions II” album that has received rave reviews since its July 2 release. The track has been on near constant replay on my playlist since I first heard it.
— Madonna (@Madonna) July 28, 2026
MISTR — a telehealth platform that offers free access to PrEP, Doxy PEP, STI testing, and long-term care that has organized Madonna’s Club Confessions shows in the U.S. and the U.K. — later confirmed the rampant speculation. I woke up on July 30 to an email in my inbox from MISTR and the World Pride Music Festival PR team that said I was on the press list.
Madonna was indeed going to headline the World Pride Music Festival that Jake Resnicow and Insomniac produced, and I was going to be there. OMFG!!!!
The gay icon had one more surprise in store.
The Dutch internet on Saturday once again broke over speculation that Kylie Minogue was going to appear alongside Madonna. I was getting ready to leave our hotel in Amsterdam on Saturday night when I saw a video of the two of them together.
“Madonna is now teasing Kylie Minogue on her social media … she may be one of her ‘special guests’ tonight,” I wrote in a text to Washington Blade Editor Kevin Naff at 8:46 p.m.
“Have fun! This is turning into the gayest concert ever,” he responded.
I arrived at AFAS Live shortly before 11 p.m. My press contact walked me and two other Dutch journalists into the venue’s cavernous main room known as the Black Box. We made small talk for a few minutes before I started to walk around and listen to Josh Harrison who was on the decks.
Madonna was scheduled to take the stage at 1:30 a.m., but she is known for being late — she is Madonna and she does what she wants. Hayla, a British singer, and Bebe Rexha are among those who performed ahead of Madonna. Thousands of sweaty men — including a group of Australians next to me who were eagerly awaiting Kylie’s anticipated appearance — packed the Black Box and were dancing, anticipating what was to come.
MISTR CEO Tristan Schukraft at one point came on stage and declared Madonna was indeed in the building. The moment for which we were all eagerly waiting finally came shortly before 2:30 a.m.
“Mother is here and this is gay heaven,” said Madonna when she took the stage.
Stuart Price, who produced her “Confessions on a Dance Floor” album in 2005, manned the decks during Madonna’s set.
She opened it with “I Feel So Free” from “Confessions II.” Madonna then sang “Bring Your Love” and “Danceteria” to which this reporter — and everyone else — sang along.
Madonna then teased a surprise before she began to perform “Love Sensation.” Kylie soon appeared on stage. It was nearly too much for my fellow partygoers from Australia. It was indeed the gayest concert ever!
Madonna and Kylie performed “Love Sensation” together. They then sang “Hung Up” and “Sorry” from “Confessions on a Dance Floor” to round out the set that ended shortly after 3 a.m.
Madonna and I share the same birthday — Aug. 16 — and I would like to think she and Kylie gave me an early birthday present. In all seriousness though, it was an amazing night for me and for everyone else who was fortunate enough to be there.
“On the dance floor I feel so free,” says Madonna in the opening of “I Feel So Free.”
For those few precious hours at AFAS Live I did not think about the Trump-Vance administration and the myriad ways it is destroying the U.S. I did not think about the National Guard troops deployed to D.C. I did not think about the pointless wars that continue to ravage Ukraine and other countries around the world. I simply lost myself on the dance floor and celebrated an icon who has always stood with my community.
Thank you, Madonna.
The Petal Release Party and Drag Show was held at Spark Social on Friday, July 31. Performers included Tiara-Missou, Labianna and Darcy de la Cuadra.
(Washington Blade photos by Landon Shackelford)
Celebrity News
Madonna headlines World Pride Music Festival in Amsterdam
Kylie Minogue made surprise appearance alongside gay icon
AMSTERDAM — Madonna on Sunday headlined the final night of the World Pride Music Festival in Amsterdam.
The gay icon took the stage shortly before 2:30 a.m. local time (8:30 p.m. ET on Saturday) during Club Confessions, a set that MISTR, a telehealth platform that offers free access to PrEP, Doxy PEP, STI testing, and long-term HIV care, organized.
“Mother is here and this is gay heaven,” said Madonna when she took the stage inside Amsterdam’s AFAS Live concert hall that can hold up to 6,000 people.
Stuart Price, who produced Madonna’s 2005 “Confessions on a Dance Floor” album and “Confessions II,” which debuted on July 2, DJed the set.
Kylie Minogue made a surprise appearance. She and Madonna performed a new remix of “Love Sensation” from “Confessions II.”
(Washington Blade video by Michael K. Lavers)
“Throughout my career, I’ve always supported efforts to fight HIV and AIDS, and that fight begins with education and access,” said Madonna in a MISTR press release. “With MISTR, (CEO) Tristan (Schukraft) is expanding access to HIV prevention and sexual healthcare for everyone. Through this work, he’s helping preserve and strengthen LGBTQ+ spaces while investing in the communities and culture that have long sustained us.”
Minogue in an Instagram post thanked Madonna, Price, Schukraft, and MISTR.
Madonna appeared at The Abbey in West Hollywood, Calif., in April. Madonna in June celebrated Pride month with a pop-up performance in New York’s Times Square.
Jake Resnicow and Insomniac produced the World Pride Music Festival that also featured Bebe Rexha and Paris Hilton, among others.
“Pride has always been about bringing our community together,” said Resnicow. “At a moment when too many people are being told to hide or make themselves smaller, gathering openly, joyfully, and without apology matters more than ever. I couldn’t be prouder of what this festival brought to life in Amsterdam — one dance floor, completely free.”
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