Arts & Entertainment
Out & About: D.C. and Baltimore
‘Normal Heart’ production opens, ‘Pariah’ screening planned and more
Arena Stage presents ‘The Normal Heart’ running from June 8-July 29. Photo by Carol Rosegg; courtesy Arena)
Kramer classic ‘Normal Heart’ opens D.C. run
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater’s production of the 2011 Tony-awaring winning production of Larry Kramer’s “The Normal Heart,” directed by George C. Wolfe, opens today.
The cast includes original cast members Patrick Breen and Luke MacFarlane, returning in new roles, and original production understudy Jon Levenson, as well as Patricia Wettig from ABC’s “Brothers & Sisters” and “thirtysomething,” Broadway stars Tom Berklund, Michael Berresse, Christopher J. Hanke, Nick Mennell, Chris Dinolgo and John Procaccino.
“The Normal Heart” tells the story of a group of friends struggling with the mysterious disease ravaging New York’s gay community, looking at sexual politics during the AIDS crisis.
This production is an Affiliated Independent Event of AIDS 2012, the biennial International Conference, to be held in D.C. from July 22-27. To spread awareness of the ongoing fight against AIDS, Arena will be holding related events and partnering with organizations throughout the production’s run.
Sections of the AIDS Memorial Quilt will be on display in the Mead Center along with images from the HIV/AIDS relation collections of the Archives Center at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Local clinics and HIV testing providers will have HIV testing vans parked outside the Mead Center on select weekends and panel discussions with guest speakers will follow select matinees.
Arena Stage and the Washington AIDS Partnership will host a benefit performance on July 23. The evening will include a pre-performance VIP cocktail hour, intermission champagne toast and a dance party following the performance.
Tickets range from $40-$94. Tickets for the benefit performance events start at $75.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit arenastage.org.
Wolf Trap features bounty of summer shows
Wolf Trap’s summer season is heating up with a week full of concerts.
World-renowned contemporary instrumentalist Yanni begins the week tonight at 8 p.m. The concert will include music from his previous shows as well as songs from his newest album, “Truth of Touch.” Tickets range from $30-$55.
Gavin DeGraw and Colbie Caillat come together on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The duo has performed several duets during previous joint tours. Tickets range from $25-$40.
Wolf Trap has its 23rd annual Louisiana Swamp Romp on Sunday at 2 p.m. The concert will feature Allen Toussaint Band, Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Big Sam’s Funky Nation. Southern dishes will also be available on the plaza. Tickets are $25.
Country superstar Martina McBride comes to Wolf Trap on Wednesday with Grammy-nominated David Nail. McBride is a four-time Country Music Awards Female Vocalist of the Year and dedicated her single, “I’m Gonna Love You Through It” to cancer survivors, performing on a pink-li Empire State Building to raise breast cancer awareness. Tickets range from $35 to $48.
Bonnie Raitt plays Thursday with special guest Mavis Staples. Tickets range from $30-$48.
For more information on the concerts and to purchase tickets, visit wolftrap.org.
‘Drag Race’ alums at Town this weekend
Town (2009 8th St., N.W.) is kicking off Pride weekend with performances from the stars of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” Sharon Needles, Phi Phi O’Hara and Dida Ritz will all be performing during the club’s drag show starting at 10:30 p.m. They will also be sticking around to sign autographs and take pictures after the show.
The club is continuing its Pride celebration with a dance party on Saturday featuring DJ Manny Lehman, the Ladies of Town and Tha Dance Camp.
The Town drag show is hosted by Lena Lett and stars Tatiana, Shi-Queeta–Lee, Epiphany B Lee, Ba’Naka and special guests.
Doors open at 9 p.m. and admission is $20. Friday night attendees must be 18 or older and Saturday night attendees must be 21 or older.
For more information and future events, visit towndc.com.
STAY ON TOP OF ALL THINGS PRIDE! DOWNLOAD THE DIGITAL PRIDE GUIDE TODAY!
‘Pariah’ screenings at Busboys & Poets
Busboys & Poets is offering a free screening of the film, “Pariah” at each of its four locations throughout the month continuing Sunday at its 14th and V streets location (2021 14th St., N.W.) at 8 p.m.
Written and directed by Dee Rees, the film follows Alike, a 17-year-old African American woman who lives with her parents and younger sister in Brooklyn, as she embraces her identity as a lesbian and wonders how much she can confide in her family.
The film stars Adepero Oduye as Alike, Kim Wayans as her mother Audry, Charles Parnell as her father Arthur, Sahra Mellesse as her sister Sharonda, Pernell Walker as her friend Laura and Aasha Davis as Bina, a potential love interest.
The other screenings will be June 17 at the Shirlington location at 7 p.m. and June 24 at the 5th and K streets location at 8 p.m.
— JULIETTE EBNER
Bock’s minimalist play is journey of self-discovery
Iron Crow Theatre Company’s “The Typographer’s Dream,” a play by Adam Bock, runs through June 16 at the Johns Hopkins University’s Swirnow Theatre (33rd St. and Charles St., Baltimore).
The play centers on a three characters: a stenographer, geographer and typographer. As the play progresses, the characters reveals how they’re defined by their jobs and the meaning and notions of their lives are called into question.
Bock is gay and has been nominated for two Outer Critics Circle Awards.
The play runs every night at 8 p.m. Regular tickets are $17 while students and seniors are $12. For more information, go to ironcrowtheatre.com
Mount Vernon club starts Baltimore Pride celebrations
S.H.E. Productions is kicking off Baltimore Pride at Grand Central (1001 North Charles St., Baltimore) with a party event on Thursday at 9 p.m.
S.H.E. Productions is an event production company in the Baltimore area that specializes in LGBT events of various types. Its staff often performs at clubs but they also host high energy boot camps for fitness and outings/excursions.
Grand Central is surrounded by several eateries and is within walking distance of the Inner Harbor and the Walters Art Museum.
Cover is $5 at the door. For details, visit centralstationpub.com or visit sheproductionsevents.com.
Baltimore Hons commemorates ‘60s culture
HonFest, an annual festival that celebrates the historic working women of Baltimore, is this weekend on 36th Street in the Hampden neighborhood.
Started in 1994, HonFest has grown into a nationally recognized festival. Women can participate to become Baltimore’s Best Hon by sporting beehive hairdos, bright-blue eye shadow and spandex pants. Exhibitions include local musicians and artists.
The event is free but it will be $5 to park. For more information, visit honfest.net.
Twilight on the Terrace starts Pride weekend
Twilight on the Terrace benefit cocktail party will be held at Gertrude’s Restaurant at the Baltimore Museum of Art (10 Art Museum Drive) on June 15 from 7-11 p.m.
The evening will include a silent auction including artwork, gift certificates to restaurants and shops, themed gift baskets, a Myrtle Beach vacation, an autographed photo of Doris Day and dates with local celebrities. Guests will also be able to meet Baltimore actor Vincent de Paul.
There will be hors d’oeuvres, a four-hour open bar and dancing to DJ Alex Funk.
Tickets are $100. For details, visit baltimorepride.org.
— ERIN DURKIN
Sports
English soccer bans transgender women from women’s teams
British Supreme Court last month ruled legal definition of woman limited to ‘biological women’
The organization that governs English soccer on Thursday announced it will no longer allow transgender women to play on women’s teams.
The British Supreme Court on April 16 ruled the legal definition of a woman is limited to “biological women” and does not include trans women. The Football Association’s announcement, which cites the ruling, notes its new policy will take effect on June 1.
“As the governing body of the national sport, our role is to make football accessible to as many people as possible, operating within the law and international football policy defined by UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) and FIFA,” said the Football Association in a statement that announced the policy change. “Our current policy, which allows transgender women to participate in the women’s game, was based on this principle and supported by expert legal advice.”
“This is a complex subject, and our position has always been that if there was a material change in law, science, or the operation of the policy in grassroots football then we would review it and change it if necessary,” added the Football Association.
The Football Association also acknowledged the new policy “will be difficult for people who simply want to play the game they love in the gender by which they identify.”
“We are contacting the registered transgender women currently playing to explain the changes and how they can continue to stay involved in the game,” it said.
The Football Association told the BBC there were “fewer than 30 transgender women registered among millions of amateur players” and there are “no registered transgender women in the professional game” in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
The Scottish Football Association, which governs soccer in Scotland, is expected to also ban trans women from women’s teams.
Theater
Theatre Prometheus spreads queer joy with ‘Galatea’
Two girls dressed as boys who find love despite the odds
‘Galatea’
Through May 10
Theatre Prometheus
Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center
7995 Georgia Ave, Silver Spring, Md.
$27
Theatreprometheus.org
In a timely move, Theatre Prometheus thought it would be a beneficial thing to spread a little queer joy. And since the company’s mission includes engaging audiences and artists in queer and feminist art, there was nothing to stop them.
Co-artistic directors Tracey Erbacher and Lauren Patton Villegas, both queer, agree they’ve found that joy in John Lyly’s “Galatea,” an Elizabethan-era comedy about Galatea and Phillida, two girls dressed as boys who find love despite some rather slim odds.
Now playing at Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center on the Takoma Park/Silver Spring campus, the upbeat offering is a mix of contemporary and period, and strives to make audiences happy. Galatea’s cast includes Amber Coleman and Cate Ginsberg as the besotted pair.
Erbacher, also the production’s director, adds “queer joy is something that I prioritized in casting actors and interviewing production people. I asked them what it means to them, and resoundingly the reply — from both them and the play — is that queer joy is the freedom to be yourself without having to think about it.
“Galatea” was first brought to Prometheus’s attention by Caitlin Partridge, the company’s literary director. Erbacher recalls, “she strongly suggested I read this very queer play. I read it and fell absolutely in love. And because it’s a comedy — I really like directing comedy — I knew that I could lean into that while not neglecting its universal themes of young love.”
Villegas, who’s not ordinarily drawn to the classics, was also instantly smitten with Galatea.
“Usually with classics, the language doesn’t jump out at me the way modern works do,” she says. “But not so with ‘Galatea.’ The first time I heard it read aloud, I found it easy to follow and entirely accessible in the best way.”
Whether Lyly deliberately wrote a queer play isn’t known. What’s definitely known is the play was written with an all-boy performing troupe in mind; that’s partly why there are so many young female roles, the parts 10-year-old boys were playing at the time.
There’s not a lot known about Lyly’s personal life, mostly because he wasn’t wildly famous. What’s known about the times is that there wasn’t a concept of “gay,” but there were sodomy laws regarding homosexual activity in England geared toward men having sex with men; it was all very phallocentric, Erbacher says.
She categorically adds, “Women’s sexuality wasn’t considered in the equation. In fact, it was often asked whether women were even capable of having sex with other women. It just was not part of the conversation. If there wasn’t a dick involved it didn’t count.
“Perhaps that’s how the playwright got around it. If there were two male characters in the play he could not have done it.”
Prometheus has done adaptations of ancient myths and some classics, but in this case it’s very faithful to the original text. Other than some cuts winnowing the work down to 90 minutes, “Galatea” is pretty much exactly as Lyly wrote it.
And that includes, “girls dressed as boys who fall in love thinking girls are boys,” says Erbacher. “And then they start to clock things: ‘I think he is as I am.’ And then they don’t care if the object of their affection is a boy or a girl, the quintessential bisexual iconic line.”
And without spoiling a thing, the director teases, “the ending is even queerer than the rest of the play.”
Erbacher and Villegas have worked together since Prometheus’s inception 11 years ago. More recently, they became co-artistic directors, splitting the work in myriad ways. It’s a good fit: They share values but not identical artistic sensibilities allow them to exchange objective feedback.
In past seasons, the collaborative pair have produced an all-women production of “Macbeth” and a queered take on [gay] “Cymbeline,” recreating it as a lesbian love story. And when roles aren’t specifically defined male or female, they take the best actor for the part.
With Galatea, Prometheus lightens the current mood. Erbacher says, “the hard stuff is important but exhausting. We deserve a queer rom-com, a romantic sweeping story that’s not focused on how hard it is to be queer, but rather the joy of it.”
Movies
Jacob Elordi rides high in ‘On Swift Horses’
Sony Pictures’ promotions avoid referencing queer sexuality of main characters
You might not know it from the publicity campaign, but the latest big-screen project for breakout “Euphoria” actor and sex symbol Jacob Elordi is 100% a gay love story.
Alright, perhaps that’s not entirely accurate. “On Swift Horses” – adapted from the novel by Shannon Pufahl and directed by Daniel Minahan from a screenplay by Bryce Kass – actually splits its focus between two characters, the other of which is played by “Normal People” star Daisy Edgar-Jones; but since that story arc is centered around her own journey toward lesbian self-acceptance, it’s unequivocally a “Queer Movie” anyway.
Set in 1950s America, at the end of the Korean War, it’s an unmistakably allegorical saga that stems from the marriage between Muriel (Edgar-Jones) and Lee (Will Poulter), a newly discharged serviceman with dreams of building a new life in California. His plans for the future include his brother Julius (Elordi), a fellow war vet whose restlessly adventurous spirit sparks a kindred connection and friendship with his sister-in-law despite a nebulously strained dynamic with Lee. Though the newlyweds follow through with the plan, Julius opts out in favor of the thrill of a hustler’s life in Las Vegas, where his skills as a card shark gain him employment in a casino. Nevertheless, he and Muriel maintain their friendship through correspondence, as he meets and falls in love with co-worker Henry (Diego Calva) and struggles to embrace the sexual identity he has long kept secret. Meanwhile, Muriel embarks on a secret life of her own, amassing a secret fortune by gambling on horse races and exploring a parallel path of self-acceptance with her boldly butch new neighbor, Sandra (Sasha Calle), as Lee clings obliviously to his dreams of building a suburban family life in the golden era of all-American post-war prosperity.
Leisurely, pensive, and deeply infused with a sense of impossible yearning, it’s the kind of movie that might easily, on the surface, be viewed as a nostalgia-tinged romantic triangle – albeit one with a distinctively queer twist. While it certainly functions on that level, one can’t help but be aware of a larger scope, a metaphoric conceit in which its three central characters serve as representatives of three conflicting experiences of the mid-century “American Dream” that still looms large in our national identity. With steadfast, good-hearted Lee as an anchor, sold on a vision of creating a better life for himself and his family than the one he grew up with, and the divergent threads of unfulfilled longing that thwart his fantasy with their irresistible pull on the wife and brother with whom he hoped to share it, it becomes a clear commentary on the bitter reality behind a past that doesn’t quite gel with the rose-colored memories still fetishized in the imagination of so many Americans.
Fortunately, it counterbalances that candidly expressed disharmony with an empathetic perspective in which none of its characters is framed as an antagonist; rather, each of them are presented in a way with which we can readily identify, each following a still-unsatisfied longing that draws them all inexorably apart despite the bonds – tenuous but emotionally genuine – they have formed with each other. To put it in a more politically-centered way, the staunch-but-naive conformity of Lee, in all his patriarchal tunnel vision, does not make him a villainous oppressor any more than the repressed queerness of Muriel and Julius make them idealized champions of freedom; all of them are simply following an inner call, and each can be forgiven – if not entirely excused – for the missteps they take in response to it
That’s not to say that Minahan’s movie doesn’t play into a tried-and-true formula; there’s a kind of “stock character” familiarity around those in the orbit of the three main characters, leading to an inevitably trope-ish feel to their involvement – despite the finely layered performances of Calva and Calle, which elevate their roles as lovers to the film’s two queer explorers and allow them both to contribute their own emotional textures – and occasionally pulls the movie into the territory of melodrama.
Yet that larger-than-life treatment, far from cheapening “On Swift Horses,” is a big part of its stylish appeal. Unapologetically lush in its gloriously photographed recreation of saturated 1950s cinema (courtesy of Director of Photography Luc Montpellier), it takes us willingly into its dream landscape of mid-century America – be it through the golden suburbs of still-uncrowded Southern California or the neon-lit flash of high-rolling Las Vegas, or even the macabre (but historically accurate) depiction of nuclear-age thrill-seekers convening for a party in the Nevada desert to watch an atom bomb detonate just a few short miles away. It’s a world remembered by most of us now only through the memories and artifacts of a former generation, rendered with an artful blend of romance and irony, and inhabited by people in whom we can see ourselves reflected while marveling at their beauty and charisma.
As lovely as the movie is to look at, and as effective as it is in evoking the mix of idealism and disillusionment that defines the America of our grandparents for many of us at the start of the second quarter of the 21st century, it’s that last factor that gives Minahan’s film the true “Hollywood” touch. His camera lovingly embraces the beauty of his stars. Edgar-Jones burns with an intelligence and self-determination that underscores the feminist struggle of the era, and the director makes sure to capture the journey she charts with full commitment; Poulter, who could have come off as something of a dumb brute, is allowed to emphasize the character’s nobility over his emotional cluelessness; Calle is a fiery presence, and Minahan lets her burn in a way that feels radical even today; Calva is both alluring and compelling, providing an unexpected depth of emotion that the film embraces as a chord of hope.
But it is Elordi who emerges to truly light up the screen. Handsome, charismatic, and palpably self-confident, he’s an actor who frankly needs to do little more than walk into the scene to grab our attention – but here he is given, perhaps for the first time, the chance to reveal an even greater depth of sensitivity and truth, making his Julius into the film’s beating heart and undisputed star. It’s an authenticity he brings into his much-touted love scenes with Calva, lighting up a chemistry that is ultimately as joyously queer-affirming as they are steamy.
Which is why Sony Pictures’ promotions for the film – which avoid directly referencing the sexuality of its two main characters, instead hinting at “secret desires” and implying a romantic connection between Elordi and Edgar-Jones – feels not just like a miscalculation, but a slap in the face. Though it’s an eloquent, quietly insightful look back at American cultural history, it incorporates those observations into a wistful, bittersweet, but somehow impossibly hopeful story that emphasizes the validity of queer love.
That’s something to be celebrated, not buried – which makes “On Swift Horses” a sure bet for your must-see movie list.
Pabllo Vittar to perform at WorldPride
RFK Jr.’s HHS report pushes therapy, not medical interventions, for trans youth
Trump nominates Mike Waltz to become next UN ambassador
English soccer bans transgender women from women’s teams
TRAITOR: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has blood on his hands
Chronicling disastrous effects of ‘conversion therapy’
Second federal lawsuit filed against White House passport policy
We must show up to WorldPride 2025 in D.C.
Ruby Corado sentencing postponed for third time
A room with Pride: D.C.’s LGBTQ history finds a new home at the Eaton
-
Books4 days agoChronicling disastrous effects of ‘conversion therapy’
-
U.S. Federal Courts4 days agoSecond federal lawsuit filed against White House passport policy
-
Opinions4 days agoWe must show up to WorldPride 2025 in D.C.
-
District of Columbia3 days agoRuby Corado sentencing postponed for third time