Arts & Entertainment
Catching up with Kristine W.
Dance diva playing blossoms, Town Saturday
Kristine W.
Town Danceboutique
2009 8th Street, NW
Doors — 10 p.m.
Performance — midnight
Cover — $8 before 11; $12 after
Dance diva Kristine W. has two D.C. engagements slated for Saturday (Photo courtesy Project Publicity)
It’s 11 a.m. on a recent weekday in Burbank, Calif., and Kristine W. is in a happy mood — she just got measured for alterations for a dress she’s going to wear this weekend for one of her D.C. performances.
“It’s a relief,” she says en route to a rehearsal. “You have to have something great to wear in a parade. We just left the costume shop where they fitted it. Sometimes that’s the biggest challenge — finding something to wear.”
The dance diva who’s famous for having scored a whopping 16 No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot Dance Club chart over a 20-year recording career, has two gigs slated for D.C. this weekend — she’ll perform in a cherry blossom parade then Saturday night around midnight she’ll do a 20-minute mini-set at Town. Though she’s only briefly cracked the Hot 100, she trails only Madonna and Beyonce as the top dance charter for the ‘00s and has had more consecutive dance No. 1s than any other artist.
She’s looking forward to returning to Town, she says.
“It’s an amazing club and Ed (Bailey) is a great guy. And you know, it’s a real club, it’s the real deal. Some clubs are very put on but this is Town, a real club with real chill DJs.”
The dancing queen is a bit of an enigma — she’s vague on personal details though she’s talked publicly about being a Washington state native and a cancer survivor. She admits to being “in a relationship at the moment,” but declines to elaborate. She has “a couple of very cool kids,” a girl and a boy, 11 and 12.
“They’re in school and having a great time. My girl plays the violin and my boy is a guitar player and a great golfer.” Kristine has lived in Las Vegas for about 18 years. She says it’s a great home base though she’s on the road “at least” 60 percent of the year on average.
She’s been successful at continuing her chart success despite the rampant music industry changes over the last several years. Kristine says her performances fuel her recording efforts. Her last album, a jazz project that had several remixed singles, did well and led to some cabaret gigs for her. Next up is a mostly new album — eight new songs and four hits in newly remixed versions for a project slated to drop in early June.
Despite all the high-concept photography and sonic production, Kristine says she lives a mostly low-key life when she’s not working.
“I don’t live a flashy life and I mostly put everything back into my music. My shows have subsidized my music. I put everything into promotion, pay my graphic artist, my project manager, then my livelihood comes from my live shows.”
Kristine gives mostly succinct answers during a 20-minute phone chat, but a question about her earliest gay influences inspires a story.
“The choir director at our church was gay but nobody ever talked about it,” she says. “There’s no way he would have come out but he was one of my best friends. My mom would pretend to be his girlfriend and all four of us — my dad had died when we were little, we were like 2, 3, 4 or 5 when he died — but he stepped in and because I was so crazy about music, he really had an influence on me. So he taught sixth grade and had this award-winning children’s choir, and my mom was like we totally get it that you could not say anything, it would ruin his career, but then later they were naming a school after him. He died of cancer when I was like 13. He would love it now that I have such a gay following with my music. I’m pretty sure he probably died of AIDS but back then everybody just said it was cancer.”
Later Kristine had a vocal coach who was gay. She credits him and solid operatic voice lessons in high school with her musical chops. Though she doesn’t sing classical music anymore, she says the training informed her precision.
“There was no room for anything flat or sharp,” she says. “That was not on the program. You hit the note dead on.”
Unfortunately she says there’s no trophy or plaque that comes when you get a Billboard chart topper. The magazine does, however, do an article on the single which she saves and frames.
And why is dance music so popular with gays? After all, she should know after staking out her career in the genre, no?
“Because it’s uplifting and happy,” she says. “It’s just like medicine for the soul.”
Theater
‘Acting their asses off’ in ‘Exception to the Rule’
Studio production takes place during after-school detention
‘Exception to the Rule’
Through Sunday, October 27
Studio Theatre
1501 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.
$40-$95
Studiotheatre.org
After-school detention is a bore, but it’s especially tiresome on the last day of classes before a holiday.
In Dave Harris’s provocative new play “Exception to the Rule” (now at Studio Theatre) that’s just the case.
It’s Friday, and the usual suspects are reporting to room 111 for detention before enjoying the long MLK weekend. First on the scene are blaring “bad girl” Mikayla (Khalia Muhammad) and nerdy stoner Tommy (Stephen Taylor Jr.), followed by mercurial player Dayrin (Jacques Jean-Mary), kind Dasani (Shana Lee Hill), and unreadable Abdul (Khouri St.Surin).
The familiar is jaw-droppingly altered by the entrance of “College Bound Erika” (Sabrina Lynne Sawyer), a detention first timer whose bookworm presence elicits jokes from the others: What happened? You fail a test?
Dasani (who’s teased for being named for designer water) dubs Erika “Sweet Pea” and welcomes her to the rule-breaking fold. Together the regulars explain how detention works: The moderator, Mr. Bernie, shows up, signs their slips, and then they go. But today the teacher is tardy.
As they wait, the kids pass the time laughing, trash talking, flirting, and yelling. When not bouncing around the classroom, Dayrin is grooming his hair, while Dasani endlessly reapplies blush and lip gloss. At one point two boys almost come to blows, nearly repeating the cafeteria brawl that landed them in detention in the first place.
It’s loud. It’s confrontational. And it’s funny.
Erika is naively perplexed: “I thought detention was quiet. A place where everyone remembers the mistakes that got them here and then learns how to not make the same mistakes again.”
For room 111, the only connection to the outside world is an increasingly glitchy and creepy intercom system. Announcements (bus passes, the school’s dismal ranking, the impending weekend lockdown, etc.) are spoken by the unseen but unmistakably stentorian-voiced Craig Wallace.
Dave Harris first conceived “Exception to the Rule” in 2014 during his junior year at Yale University. In the program notes, the Black playwright describes “Exception to the Rule” as “a single set / six actors on a stage, just acting their asses off.” It’s true, and they do it well.
Miranda Haymon is reprising their role as director (they finely helmed the play’s 2022 off-Broadway debut at Roundabout Theatre Company in New York). Haymon orchestrates a natural feel to movement in the classroom, and without entirely stilling the action on stage (makeup applying, scribbling, etc.), the out director gives each member of the terrific cast their revelatory moment. In a busy room, we learn that Tommy’s goofiness belies trauma, that Mikayla is admirably resourceful, and most startling, why Erika, the school’s top student, is in detention.
Mr. Bernie is clearly a no-show. And despite his absence, the regulars are bizarrely loath to leave the confines of 111 for fear of catching yet another detention. Of course, it’s emblematic of something bigger. Still, things happen within the room.
While initially treated as a sort of mascot, awkwardly quiet Erika becomes rather direct in her questions and observations. Suddenly, she’s rather stiffly doling out unsolicited advice.
It’s as if an entirely new person has been thrown into the mix.
Not all of her guidance goes unheeded. Take fighting for instance. At Erika’s suggestion, St.Surin’s Abdul refrains from kicking Dayrin’s ass. (Just feet from the audience gathered for a recent matinee in Studio’s intimate Mead Theatre, Abdul’s frustration resulting from anger while yearning for a world of principled order is palpable as evidenced when a single tear rolled down the actor’s right cheek)
Set designer Tony Cisek renders a no-frills classroom with cinder block walls, a high and horizontal row of frosted fixed windows that become eerily prison like when overhead fluorescent lighting is threateningly dimmed.
Still, no matter how dark, beyond the classroom door, a light remains aglow, encouraging the kids to ponder an exit plan.
The Washington Commanders are proud to welcome the LGBTQ community for the fourth annual “Pride Night Out!” on Sunday, Oct. 6 at 1 p.m. at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Md.
This will be a matchup against the Cleveland Browns. The Pregame Pride Party Pass and Club level game ticket includes premier party location and club level ticket all-you-can-eat buffet, beer and wine, an exclusive Commanders Pride T-shirt, pregame entertainment and a postgame photo on the field.
More ticket options are available and $5 of every ticket goes back to Team DC. For more information visit the Commanders’ website.
Friday, October 4
“Center Aging Friday Tea Time” will be at 2 p.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].
Go Gay DC will host “First Friday LGBTQ+ Community Social” at 7 p.m. at The Commentary. 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, October 5
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.
LGBTQ+ People of Color Support Group will be at 1:00p.m. on Zoom. This peer support group is an outlet for LGBTQ People of Color to come together and talk about anything affecting them in a space that strives to be safe and judgment free. For more details, visit thedccenter.org/poc or facebook.com/centerpoc.
Sunday, October 6
Go Gay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Community Dinner” at 6:30 p.m. at Federico Ristorante Italiano Freddie’s Beach Bar & Restaurant. Guests are encouraged to come enjoy an evening of Italian-style dining and conversation with other LGBTQ folk. Attendance is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.
AfroCode DC will be at 4 p.m. at Decades DC. This event will be an experience of non-stop music, dancing, and good vibes and a crossover of genres and a fusion of cultures. Tickets cost $40 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.
Monday, October 7
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 their choice. For more details, email [email protected].
Tuesday, October 8
Pride on the Patio Events will host “LGBTQ Social Mixer” at 5:30 p.m. at Showroom. Dress is casual, fancy, or comfortable. Guests are encouraged to bring their most authentic self to chat, laugh, and get a little crazy. Admission is free and more details are on Eventbrite.
Coming Out Discussion Group will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This is a peer-facilitated discussion group. It 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 page.
Trans Support Group will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This group is intended to provide 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].
Wednesday, October 9
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 www.thedccenter.org/careers.
Thursday, October 10
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.
South Asian LGBTQ+ Support Group will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. KHUSHDC provides a safe, confidential space for South Asian LGBTQ community members to come together and share experiences. This peer support group is an outlet for South Asian-identified LGBTQ individuals to come and talk about anything affecting them. For more details, email [email protected].
One year later and no closer to peace
Delaware’s Simpler absent in LGBTQ fights
Supreme Court begins fall term with major gender affirming care case on the docket
‘I don’t want a genocide to be done on queer people’s behalf’
‘Acting their asses off’ in ‘Exception to the Rule’
Is the Washington Post editorial board asleep?
It’s time we talk about trauma
GOP candidate in Del. House race expresses LGBTQ support
Electing Harris is an imperative for LGBTQ community
