Arts & Entertainment
Liberating laughs
Former D.C. resident and author returns to speak at TransPride
Everett Marroon (Photo courtesy the author)
By MALI KRANTZ
Everett Maroon, keynote speaker for Saturday’s Capital TransPride event, feels he has lived a colorful existence so far.
After an appearance on “Geraldo” in 1993, Maroon landed a radio gig in Upstate New York where he talked about “funny gay stuff on the radio,” once a month for five years.
“My life has always been a little unorthodox,” he says.
Now he has written a comedic memoir titled, “Bumbling Into Body Hair: A Transsexual’s Memoir,” which chronicles his transition through a series of humorous anecdotes.
Maroon is in town this weekend — look for him at Capital TransPride at Westminster Presbyterian Church (400 I Street, SW) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event will have workshops, presentations and one-on-one opportunities to discuss safety and legal issues. Several non-profits and government groups will be on hand to answer questions. Admission is a suggested $10 donation. Capital TransPride is an official Capital Pride event so more information is at capitalpride.org. He’s also scheduled to give a reading and book signing at the MLK Library (901 G Street, NW) Friday at 4 p.m.
“My understanding is people’s eyes will glaze over around minute 45, so I’ll keep it to 44 minutes, something like that.”
Maroon is returning to D.C., his home for 11 years, after four years in Walla Walla, Wash.
“I actually lived [in D.C.] from Halloween 1997 until Aug. 13, 2008, and I can’t even explain why I know those dates, but I do.”
He went on his first date with his wife at Ella’s Wood Fired Pizza and lived near Eastern Market where he was a regular on Saturday mornings.
“So there are little pieces here and there that I’m sure will spark fond memories and heart pangs and all that,” he says.
Since the book came out in mid-March, Maroon has added touring and interviews to his already busy schedule as executive director of Blue Mountain Heart To Heart, an HIV advocacy and prevention non-profit. He is also working on a second book.
“And I have a 7-month-old,” he says. “So that’s also a job.”
When writing his book, he took a comedic approach to a subject that is often written about in a heavier tone.
“I like to laugh my way through my anxiety,” he says. “I had some trouble for a while finding a publisher … the publishing industry folks were expecting it to be angsty, or depressing … I wrote it as a humor book because I kept seeing so many ludicrous things happening as I was thinking about, and then as I was transitioning. The way they market products to trans people, the way that people would come up with names for body parts because they weren’t comfortable with their own bodies.”
Maroon says the best experience he’s had since publishing the book was a reading he did for a high school gay-straight alliance in Washington State.
“That was really an amazing experience, because viscerally I had those kids in mind when I was writing,” he says.
Team DC, the umbrella organization for LGBTQ-friendly sports teams and leagues in the D.C. area, held its annual Night of Champions Awards Gala on Saturday, April 20 at the Hilton National Mall. The organization gave out scholarships to area LGBTQ student athletes as well as awards to the Different Drummers, Kelly Laczko of Duplex Diner, Stacy Smith of the Edmund Burke School, Bryan Frank of Triout, JC Adams of DCG Basketball and the DC Gay Flag Football League.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
The 2024 National Cannabis Festival was held at the Fields at RFK Stadium on April 19-20.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Covering the @NatlCannaFest at RFK Stadium for @WashBlade . Stop by the LGBTQ+ booth and pick up a paper if you are here. pic.twitter.com/is7hnsaPns
— Michael Patrick Key (@MichaelKeyWB) April 20, 2024
Theater
‘Amm(i)gone’ explores family, queerness, and faith
A ‘fully autobiographical’ work from out artist Adil Mansoor
‘Amm(i)gone’
Thorough May 12
Woolly Mammoth Theatre
641 D St., N.W.
$60-$70
Woollymammoth.net
“Fully and utterly autobiographical.” That’s how Adil Mansoor describes “Amm(i)gone,” his one-man work currently playing at Woolly Mammoth Theatre.
Both created and performed by out artist Mansoor, it’s his story about inviting his Pakistani mother to translate Sophocles’s Greek tragedy “Antigone” into Urdu. Throughout the journey, there’s an exploration of family, queerness, and faith,as well as references to teachings from the Quran, and audio conversations with his Muslim mother.
Mansoor, 38, grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and is now based in Pittsburgh where he’s a busy theater maker. He’s also the founding member of Pittsburgh’s Hatch Arts Collective and the former artistic director of Dreams of Hope, an LGBTQ youth arts organization.
WASHINGTON BLADE: What spurred you to create “Amm(i)gone”?
ADIL MANSOOR: I was reading a translation of “Antigone” a few years back and found myself emotionally overwhelmed. A Theban princess buries her brother knowing it will cost her, her own life. It’s about a person for whom all aspirations are in the afterlife. And what does that do to the living when all of your hopes and dreams have to be reserved for the afterlife?
I found grant funding to pay my mom to do the translation. I wanted to engage in learning. I wanted to share theater but especially this ancient tragedy. My mother appreciated the characters were struggling between loving one another and their beliefs.
BLADE: Are you more director than actor?
MANSOOR: I’m primarily a director with an MFA in directing from Carnegie Mellon. I wrote, directed, and performed in this show, and had been working on it for four years. I’ve done different versions including Zoom. Woolly’s is a new production with the same team who’ve been involved since the beginning.
I love solo performance. I’ve produced and now teach solo performance and believe in its power. And I definitely lean toward “performance” and I haven’t “acted” since I was in college. I feel good on stage. I was a tour guide and do a lot of public speaking. I enjoy the attention.
BLADE: Describe your mom.
MANSOOR: My mom is a wonderfully devout Muslim, single mother, social worker who discovered my queerness on Google. And she prays for me.
She and I are similar, the way we look at things, the way we laugh. But different too. And those are among the questions I ask in this show. Our relationship is both beautiful and complicated.
BLADE: So, you weren’t exactly hiding your sexuality?
MANSOOR: In my mid-20s, I took time to talk with friends about our being queer with relation to our careers. My sexuality is essential to the work. As the artistic director at Dreams of Hope, part of the work was to model what it means to be public. If I’m in a room with queer and trans teenagers, part of what I’m doing is modeling queer adulthood. The way they see me in the world is part of what I’m putting out there. And I want that to be expansive and full.
So much of my work involves fundraising and being a face in schools. Being out is about making safe space for queer young folks.
BLADE: Have you encountered much Islamophobia?
MANSOOR: When 9/11 happened, I was a sophomore in high school, so yes. I faced a lot then and now. I’ve been egged on the street in the last four months. I see it in the classroom. It shows up in all sorts of ways.
BLADE: What prompted you to lead your creative life in Pittsburgh?
MANSOOR: I’ve been here for 14 years. I breathe with ease in Pittsburgh. The hills and the valleys and the rust of the city do something to me. It’s beautiful, it’ affordable, and there is support for local artists. There’s a lot of opportunity.
Still, the plan was to move to New York in September of 2020 but that was cancelled. Then the pandemic showed me that I could live in Pittsburgh and still have a nationally viable career.
BLADE: What are you trying to achieve with “Amm(i)gone”?
MANSOOR: What I’m sharing in the show is so very specific but I hear people from other backgrounds say I totally see my mom in that. My partner is Catholic and we share so much in relation to this.
I hope the work is embracing the fullness of queerness and how means so many things. And I hope the show makes audiences want to call their parents or squeeze their partners.
After Biden signs TikTok ban its CEO vows federal court battle
Malcolm Kenyatta could become the first LGBTQ statewide elected official in Pa.
Bowser budget proposal calls for $5.25 million for 2025 World Pride
White House debuts action plan targeting pollutants in drinking water
Health care for Marylanders with HIV is facing huge cuts this summer
Daniel Zamudio murderer’s parole request denied
State Department releases annual human rights report
‘Amm(i)gone’ explores family, queerness, and faith
Joe Vogel campaign holds ‘Big Gay Canvass Kickoff’
