Arts & Entertainment
Calendar: June 1
Parties, concerts, exhibits and more through June 7
k.d. lang and her band the Siss Boom Bang, play Wolf Trap again this year. They’ll be there Wednesday night. (Photo courtesy Wolf Trap)
TODAY (Friday)
“Auntie Mame” screens on the Lunar Lawn this evening at the Hillwood Estate (4155 Linnean Ave. NW) for the Dina Merrill Film Program’s Divas Outdoors event. Gates open at 6:30 p.m. and the film screens at 8:15. Tickets are $15 or $10 for college students and children ages 6-18. For more information, call 202-686-5807 or visit HillwoodMuseum.org.
Town (2009 8th St NW) hosts the Pride Guide Party tonight with the Blade. Doors open at 10 p.m. and the drag show starts at 10:30. Tickets are $5 from 10-11 p.m. and $10 after 11 for guests 21 and over, and are $10 for guests 18-20 all night. For details, visit towndc.com.
Aaron Myers and the Black Fox Lounge Jazz Ensemble perform tonight at Black Fox Lounge (1723 Connecticut Ave. NW) for the DC Jazz Festival: Jazz in the ‘Hoods event from 9:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Admission is free. For more information, visit blackfoxlounge.com.
Capital Pride hosts its annual women’s party this evening in partnership with LURe and B.O.I. Marketing and Promotions at Phase 1 (525 8th Street, SE) from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. There is a $10 cover charge benefiting Capital Pride. For more details, visit phase1dc.com or capitalpride.org.
Saturday June 2
The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington presents “Heart Throbs,” a high-energy tribute to male singers, boy bands and teen idols, at the Lisner Auditorium on the George Washington University campus (730 21St Street NW) tonight at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $13-$50 and can be purchased online at gmcw.org.
Eatonville (14th & V St. NW) has a Queer Southern Brunch plus Southern Poets Reading from noon-2 p.m. today as part of the Capturing Fire Queer Spoken Word Summit and Slam. The brunch is $25. For more details, visit thedccenter.org.
Burgundy Crescent, a gay volunteer organization, helps Food and Friends with food preparation and grocery packing today. The volunteer group size is limited to 10 per shift and will fill quickly. Donuts and coffee will be provided at 8 a.m. and the group will start working at 8:15. If interested in volunteering, email [email protected] and visit foodandfriends.org or burgundycrescent.org for more information.
Sunday June 3
Phase 1 (525 8th Street, SE ) hosts performances by Benny Ninja and The i-Vogue Dancers during its “Everything” party tonight from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. Tickets are $10. For more details, visit phase1dc.com.
The second annual Drag Ball Game Charity Fund Raiser (1625 P street NW) for The D.C. Center is today from 3 to 6 p.m. Capital Pride suggests a $5 donation, which includes entry to the game, one raffle ticket and after party admission at Cobalt (1639 R Street NW). For more information, visit thedccenter.org.
Pariah, a film about a teenage African-American woman’s lesbian identity and her rocky relationship with her family, screens this evening from 7-9 p.m. at Busboys and Poets (5331 Baltimore Avenue, Hyattsville, MD). The screening is free. Visit thedccenter.org for more details.
The Latino GLBT History Project presents D.C. Latino Pride: La Misa, a bilingual Catholic-Episcopal church service with Rev. Joseph Palacios at St. Thomas’s Episcopal Parish Dupont Circle (1772 Church St. NW). The service is from 7:30-8:30 p.m. For more information, visit capitalpride.org or email David Perez at [email protected].
Monday June 4
The Washington Jewish Film Festival and GLOE (GLBT Outreach & Engagement) screen “Melting” Away tonight from 7-9 p.m at the D.C. Jewish Community Center (1529 16th Street, NW). The film is about an Israeli family’s rejection and later acceptance of their transgender daughter. A discussion on identity will follow the screening. Tickets are $11 and $10 for seniors and students. Visit washingtondcjcc.org or capitalpride.org for more information.
Joshua Morgan in partnership with theatreWashington hosts Music of the Night this evening at Town (2009 8th St. NW) from 7-11 p.m. The event includes performances by Joshua and his talented friends and sing-a-long opportunities for guests. Admission is $20 and benefits Capital Pride. For more information, visit capitalpride.org.
Cobalt has a 21+ Martini Monday night at 10 p.m. tonight. Martinis are $5 all night; admission is free. For details, visit cobaltdc.com.
Tuesday June 5
The annual Capital Pride Interfaith Worship Service is this evening at 7:30 p.m. at Luther Place Memorial Church (1226 Vermont Avenue NW). LGBT activist Dana Beyer is the guest speaker. The service features a performance by the Rock Creek Singers, a chamber ensemble of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington. Visit thedccenter.org for more details.
Human Rights Campaign Equality Forum (1640 Rhode Island Ave. NW) presents Women’s Spoken Word tonight from 7:30-9 p.m. All attendees are encouraged to express themselves through monologues, poems, songs and other performances in this open mic event. Admission is free.
Wednesday June 6
Lesbian singer k.d. lang, the legendary creator of alternative-country and winner of four Grammy awards, performs tonight with her band The Siss Boom Bang and special guest Jane Siberry at 8 p.m. at the Filene Center at Wolf Trap (1551 Trap Road Vienna, Va.). In-house tickets are $45 and lawn tickets are $25. Find out more information and purchase tickets online at wolftrap.org.
The Lambda Social Bridge Club meets at 7:30 p.m. this evening at the Dignity Center (721 8 St. SE). A partner is not necessary to participate and players typically play 20 hands of bridge. For more details, visit lamdabridge.com or call 301-345-1571.
Bookmen D.C., an informal men’s gay-literature discussion group, discusses John Waters’s memoir “Role Models” at 7:30 p.m. tonight. All are welcome to join the group at the Tenleytown Public Library (4450 Wisconsin Ave NW). For more information, visit bookmendc.blogspot.com.
Thursday June 7
Cobalt (1639 R St. NW) hosts its weekly “best package contest” tonight with hosts Lena Lett and Ba’Naka. Participants in the exhibitionistic contest can win up to $200 in prizes. Tickets are $3, and 21-and-older attendees can buy $2 rail drinks from 9-11 p.m. Visit cobaltdc.com for details.
Harris Face, an alternative folk guitarist and singer, performs this evening from 7:30-10:30 p.m. at Black Fox Lounge (1723 Connecticut Ave. NW) with an opening performance by Wendell Kimbraugh. Tickets are $5. For more information, visit blackfoxlounge.com.
Town (2009 8 St. NW) hosts D.C. Latino Pride: La Fiesta tonight from 8 p.m.-2 a.m. The night includes captivating performances and an all-night dance party. Admission is 18-and-up with ID; a $5 cover will be donated to D.C. Latino Pride. For details, visit capitalpride.org or towndc.com.
Members of Burgundy Crescent volunteer today for Equality Federation, the national alliance of state-based LGBT advocacy organizations, from 5:30-8:30 p.m. at the D.C. Jewish Community Center (1529 16th St. NW). Volunteers are needed to help set up, serve alcohol, replenish appetizers and clean up the community center. Black pants and a white shirt are the preferred attire. To participate, visit burgundycrescent.org.
Theater
José Zayas brings ‘The House of Bernarda Alba’ to GALA Hispanic Theatre
Gay Spanish playwright Federico García Lorca wrote masterpiece before 1936 execution
‘The House of Bernarda Alba’
Through March 1
GALA Hispanic Theatre
3333 14th St., N.W.
$27-$52
Galatheatre.org
In Federico García Lorca’s “The House of Bernarda Alba,” now at GALA Hispanic Theatre in Columbia Heights, an impossibly oppressive domestic situation serves, in short, as an allegory for the repressive, patriarchal, and fascist atmosphere of 1930s Spain
The gay playwright completed his final and arguably best work in 1936, just months before he was executed by a right-wing firing squad. “Bernarda Alba” is set in the same year, sometime during a hot summer in rural Andalusia, the heart of “España profunda” (the deep Spain), where traditions are deeply rooted and mores seldom challenged.
At Bernarda’s house, the atmosphere, already stifling, is about to get worse.
On the day of her second husband’s funeral, Bernarda Alba (superbly played by Luz Nicolás), a sixtyish woman accustomed to calling the shots, gathers her five unmarried daughters (ages ranging from 20 to 39) and matter-of-factly explain what’s to happen next.
She says, “Through the eight years of mourning not a breeze shall enter this house. Consider the doors and windows as sealed with bricks. That’s how it was in my father’s house and my grandfather’s. Meanwhile, you can embroider your trousseaux.”
It’s not an altogether sunny plan. While Angustias (María del Mar Rodríguez), Bernarda’s daughter from her first marriage and heiress to a fortune, is betrothed to a much younger catch, Pepe el Romano, who never appears on stage, the remaining four stand little chance of finding suitable matches. Not only are they dowry-less, but no men, eligible or otherwise, are admitted into their mother’s house.
Lorca is a literary hero known for his mastery of both lyrical poetry and visceral drama; still, “Bernarda Alba’s” plotline might suit a telenovela. Despotic mother heads a house of adult daughters. Said daughters are churning with passions and jealousies. When sneaky Martirio (Giselle Gonzáles) steals the photo of Angustias’s fiancé all heck kicks off. Lots of infighting and high drama ensue. There’s even a batty grandmother (Alicia Kaplan) in the wings for bleak comic relief.
At GALA, the modern classic is lovingly staged by José Zayas. The New York-based out director has assembled a committed cast and creative team who’ve manifested an extraordinarily timely 90-minute production performed in Spanish with English subtitles easily ready seen on multiple screens.
In Lorca’s stage directions, he describes the set as an inner room in Bernarda’s house; it’s bright white with thick walls. At GALA, scenic designer Grisele Gonzáles continues the one-color theme with bright red walls and floor and closed doors. There are no props.
In the airless room, women sit on straight back chairs sewing. They think of men, still. Two are fixated on their oldest siter’s hunky betrothed. Only Magdelena (Anna Malavé), the one sister who truly mourns their dead father, has given up on marriage entirely.
The severity of the place is alleviated by men’s distant voices, Koki Lortkipanidze’s original music, movement (stir crazy sisters scratching walls), and even a precisely executed beatdown choreographed by Lorraine Ressegger-Slone.
In a short yet telling scene, Bernarda’s youngest daughter Adela (María Coral) proves she will serve as the rebellion to Bernarda’s dictatorship. Reluctant to mourn, Adela admires her reflection. She has traded her black togs for a seafoam green party dress. It’s a dreamily lit moment (compliments of lighting designer Hailey Laroe.)
But there’s no mistaking who’s in charge. Dressed in unflattering widow weeds, her face locked in a disapproving sneer, Bernarda rules with an iron fist; and despite ramrod posture, she uses a cane (though mostly as a weapon during one of her frequent rages.)
Bernarda’s countenance softens only when sharing a bit of gossip with Poncia, her longtime servant convincingly played by Evelyn Rosario Vega.
Nicolás has appeared in “Bernarda Alba” before, first as daughter Martirio in Madrid, and recently as the mother in an English language production at Carnegie Melon University in Pittsburgh. And now in D.C. where her Bernarda is dictatorial, prone to violence, and scarily pro-patriarchy.
Words and phrases echo throughout Lorca’s play, all likely to signal a tightening oppression: “mourning,” “my house,” “honor,” and finally “silence.”
As a queer artist sympathetic to left wing causes, Lorca knew of what he wrote. He understood the provinces, the dangers of tyranny, and the dimming of democracy. Early in Spain’s Civil War, Lorca was dragged to the the woods and murdered by Franco’s thugs. Presumably buried in a mass grave, his remains have never been found.
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(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Sweat DC is officially expanding to Shaw, opening a new location at 1818 7th St., N.W., on Saturday, March 28 — and they’re kicking things off with a high-energy, community-first launch event.
To celebrate, Sweat DC is hosting Sweat Fest, a free community workout and social on Saturday, March 14, at 10 a.m. at the historic Howard Theatre. The event features a group fitness class, live DJ, local food and wellness partners, and a mission-driven partnership with the Open Goal Project, which works to expand access to youth soccer for players from marginalized communities.
For more details, visit Sweat DC’s website and reserve a spot on Eventbrite.
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