Arts & Entertainment

Calendar: June 29

Parties, concerts, meetings and more through July 5

Published

14 years ago

June 28, 2012

The Waverly Street Gallery in Bethesda exhibits abstract paintings, including ‘Illumination’ by local artist Audrey Salkind. (Image courtesy Waverly)

Today (Friday)

Town hosts Bear Happy Hour (2009 8th St., N.W.) tonight from 6-11 p.m. Admission is free and limited to guests 21 and over. For details, visit towndc.com.

Jazz and Soul musician Anita King performs tonight at the Black Fox Lounge (1723 Connecticut Ave. N.W.) from 9 p.m.-12 a.m. Tickets are $10. For more information, visit blackfoxlounge.com.

Whitman-Walker Health provides HIV Testing at Walgreens (4225 Connecticut Ave., N.W.) today from 3-7 p.m. for National HIV Testing Day. For more information, visit whitman-walker.org.

Burgundy Crescent, a gay volunteer organization, helps the NAMES Project Foundation display the AIDS Memorial Quilt at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall. For more information, visit burgundycrescent.org.

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival hosts an evening concert in partnership with the National Museum of African American History and Culture, The Music of Monticello and the Blue Ridge, tonight in the Panorama Room on 12th Street on the National Mall from 6-8 p.m. For details, visit festival.si.edu.

Saturday, June 30

The Black Cat (1811 14th St., N.W.) hosts Hellmouth Happy Hour tonight from 7-8:30 p.m. One episode of the gay cult classic series, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” screens and a drink special is served. Admission is free. Visit blackcatdc.com for details.

DJ Escape spins tonight at Town (2009 8^th St., N.W.). Doors open at 10 p.m. and the drag show starts at 10:30. Tickets are $8 from 10-11 p.m. and $10 after 11, and $3 drinks will be served until 11. For more details, visit towndc.com.

Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W.) hosts its monthly “Raw” party tonight with DJs Shea Van Horn and Bill Todd. Raw celebrates retro gay bars, bathhouses and discos. Guests are encouraged to sport glam, leather, fetish and retro gay-inspired dress. Free rail vodka drinks are served from 10-11 p.m. For details, visit cobaltdc.com.

Sunday, July 1

Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W.) hosts Homowood Karaoke with songs from film and show tunes tonight starting at 10 p.m. For more information, visit cobaltdc.com.

Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play, written by Anne Washburn and directed by Steven Cosson, has its last shows of the season today at the Woolly Mammoth Theater (641 D St., N.W.) at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. The play is about a group of Armageddon survivors who theatrically recreate their lost digital culture. Ticket prices start at $30. For more details, visit woollymammoth.net.

Strathmore Music Hall (5301 Tuckerman Lane North Bethesda, MD) presents Serenade! Festival Celebration this afternoon at 4 p.m. The performances feature international choir participants who performed in the 2012 Serenade! Washington, DC Choral Festival. Admission is free. Visit strathmore.org for more information.

Adventuring, a gay and lesbian outdoor group, has its Three Forts Ride today from 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. The 33.6-mile bike ride begins at Belle Haven Marina’s North Parking area off Mt. Vernon Parkway, and riders will pass by a Civil War fort and 20th century fort. Participants should bring a helmet, water and a $2 donation to Adventuring. To RSVP, contact [email protected] or 571-269-0290. For more information, visit adventuring.org.

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival features Hungarian Roma Music with Kálmán Balogh tonight on the Justin S. Morrill Performing Arts Center stage on the National Mall from 6-7:30 p.m. Admission is free. For details, visit festival.si.edu.

Monday, July 2

La-Ti-Do DC, a weekly cabaret series hosted by spoken word artist Regie Cabico and actor DonMike Mendoza, is at the Black Fox Lounge (1723 Connecticut Ave. N.W.) from 8-10 p.m. tonight. Admission is $10 and includes one house drink. For more information, visit blackfoxlounge.com.

Whitman-Walker Health (1701 14th St., N.W.) hosts an HIV+ Newly Diagnosed Support Group tonight from 7-8:30 p.m. The group is confidential, and open to people of all genders and sexual orientations. Registration is required, so visit whitman-walker.org or contact [email protected] if interested.

The D.C. Center (1318 U St., NW) for the LGBT Community has a volunteer night from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Activities may include sorting through book donations, cleaning up around the center and taking inventory of FUK!T packets. Pizza will be provided. Visit thedccenter.org for more information.

Tuesday, July 3

The Julie Mack Trio, a Jazz group, performs tonight at the Black Fox Lounge (1723 Connecticut Ave., N.W.) from 8-11 p.m. Admission is $10. For more details, visit blackfoxlounge.com.

Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W.) hosts Flashback, a retro dance party with DJ Jason Royce, this evening for guests 21 and over. Admission is free. For more details, visit cobaltdc.com.

Wednesday, July 4

Burgundy Crescent, a gay volunteer organization, seeks volunteer “balloon wranglers” for this year’s Independence Day Parade from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. The parade runs from 7^th St. to 17^th St., NW on Constitution Ave., and each Burgundy Crescent volunteer will receive a free parade T-shirt. To volunteer, contact [email protected] and visit burgundycrescent.org for more information.

Adventuring, a gay and lesbian outdoor group, hikes Great Falls, Md. today. Hikers meet at 9 a.m. at the Tenleytown Metro station and then carpool to the Great Falls Tavern Visitor Center for a five-mile hike. Bring water, bug spray, sunscreen and $5-7 for transportation fees. For more information, visit adventuring.org.

The Waverly Street Gallery (4600 East-West Hwy, Bethesda, Md.) exhibits abstract paintings in “From My Perspective” by local artist Audrey Salkind from 12-6 p.m. today. For more information, visit waverlystreetgallery.com.

Thursday, July 5

Whitman-Walker Health (1701 14^th St., N.W.) hosts a support group for gay men over 50 tonight from 6:30-8 p.m. Registration is required to attend, so visit whitman-walker.org or contact [email protected] if interested.

Phase 1 (525 8^th St., S.E.) hosts karaoke tonight from 7:30 p.m.-2 a.m. For details, visit phase1dc.com.

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (200 N. Boulevard, Richmond, Va.) hosts Visions of France: Three Postwar Photographers, an exhibition that features street photography of Paris, today from 10 a.m.-9 p.m. The exhibit closes after Sunday, July 8. For more information, visit vmfa.museum.

Photos

PHOTOS: Denali at Pitchers

‘Drag Race’ alum performs at Thirst Trap

Published

12 hours ago

April 14, 2026

Michael Key

Denali performs at the Thirst Trap Thursday drag show at Pitchers DC on April 9. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Denali (@denalifoxx) of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” performed at Pitchers DC on April 9 for the Thirst Trap Thursday drag show. Other performers included Cake Pop!, Brooke N Hymen, Stacy Monique-Max and Silver Ware Sidora.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

Arts & Entertainment

In an act of artistic defiance, Baltimore Center Stage stays focused on DEI

‘Maybe it’s a triple-down’

Published

2 days ago

April 13, 2026

Baltimore Banner

Last year, Baltimore Center Stage refused to give up its DEI focus in the face of losing federal funding. They've tripled down. (Photo by Ulysses Muñoz of the Baltimore Banner)

By LESLIE GRAY STREETER | I’m always tickled when people complain about artists “going political.” The inherent nature of art, of creation and free expression, is political. This becomes obvious when entire governments try to threaten it out of existence, like in 2025, when the brand-new presidential administration demanded organizations halt so-called diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programming or risk federal funding.

Baltimore Center Stage’s response? A resounding and hearty “Nah.” A year later, they’re still doubling down on diversity.

“Maybe it’s a triple-down,” said Ken-Matt Martin, the theater’s producing director, chuckling.

The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

Books

Susan Lucci on love, loss, and ‘All My Children’

New book chronicles life of iconic soap star

Published

2 days ago

April 13, 2026

Terri Schlichenmeyer

(Book cover image courtesy of Blackstone Publishing)

‘La Lucci’
By Susan Lucci with Laura Morton
c.2026, Blackstone Publishing
$29.99/196 pages

They’re among the world’s greatest love stories.

You know them well: Marc Antony and Cleopatra. Abelard and Heloise. Phoebe and Langley. Cliff and Nina. Jesse and Angie, Opal and Palmer, Palmer and Daisy, Tad and Dixie. Now read “La Lucci” by Susan Lucci, with Laura Morton, and you might also think of Susan and Helmut.

When she was a very small girl, Susan Lucci loved to perform. Also when she was young, she learned that words have power. She vowed to use them for good for the rest of her life.

Her parents, she says, were supportive and her family, loving. Because of her Italian heritage, she was “ethnic looking” but Lucci’s mother was careful to point out dark-haired beauties on TV and elsewhere, giving Lucci a foundation of confidence.

That’s just one of the things for which Lucci says she’s grateful. In fact, she says, “Prayers of gratitude are how I begin and end each day.”

She is particularly grateful for becoming a mother to her two adult children, and to the doctors who saved her son’s life when he was a newborn.

Lucci writes about gratitude for her long career. She was a keystone character on TV’s “All My Children,” and she learned a lot from older actors on the show, and from Agnes Nixon, the creator of it. She says she still keeps in touch with many of her former costars.

She is thankful for her mother’s caretakers, who stepped in when dementia struck. Grateful for more doctors, who did heart-saving work when Lucci had a clogged artery. Grateful for friends, opportunities, life, grandchildren, and a career that continues.

And she’s grateful for the love she shared with her husband, Helmut Huber, who died nearly four years ago. Grateful for the chance to grieve, to heal, and to continue.

And yet, she says of her husband: “He was never timid, but I know he was afraid at the end, and that kills me down to my soul.”

“It’s been 15 years since Erica Kane and I parted ways,” says author Susan Lucci (with Laura Morton), and she says that people still approach her to confirm or deny rumors of the show’s resurrection. There’s still no answer to that here (sorry, fans), but what you’ll find inside “La Lucci” is still exceptionally generous.

If this book were just filled with stories, you’d like it just fine. If it was only about Lucci’s faith and her gratitude – words that happen to appear very frequently here – you’d still like reading it. But Lucci tells her stories of family, children and “All My Children,” while also offering help to couples who’ve endured miscarriage, women who’ve had heart problems, and widow(ers) who are spinning and need the kindness of someone who’s lived loss, too.

These are the other things you’ll find in “La Lucci,” in a voice you’ll hear in your head, if you spent your lunch hours glued to the TV back in the day. It’s a comfortable, fun read for fans. It’s a story you’ll love.

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