Arts & Entertainment

Broadway at the beach

Clear Space provides theater fix for Rehoboth visitors all summer

Published

14 years ago

July 5, 2012

Erin Durkin

Rehoboth Clear Space Theatre
20 Baltimore Ave.
Rehoboth Beach, Del.
Show times depend on the week

A scene from one of last year’s plays at Rehoboth Clear Space Theatre. (Photos courtesy the theater)

General admission is $30, senior citizens are $25 and students are $15

For many theaters, summer is the slowest time of year as families escape the city heat for the cooler shore. But for Clear Space Theatre in Rehoboth Beach, the influx of tourists keeps the theater teeming with people finding alternative ways to spend a summer night at the beach.

The theater gets so busy that this year its management is running three different shows at once in rotation. This year’s shows, which each cost between $8,000 and $25,000 to produce, include, “Cabaret,” “Broadway at the Beach” and “Annie.”

“Our seasons tend to appeal to a variety of tastes,” says Doug Yetter, founder and musical director. “For the summer season, we offer a family musical (“Annie”), a more adult-themed show (“Cabaret”) and a revue show that bridges the gap.”

“Annie,” opened June 30 and is the famous musical about a little orphan girl who goes on adventures in her orphanage and eventually around New York City, ingratiating herself with the president and finding a home in the Warbucks’ mansion.

“Cabaret” opened June 28 and is the more mature show being performed at Clear Space. Taking place in the Kit Kat Klub in Nazi Germany, American writer Cliff falls for a Klub performer named Sally Bowles. The play observes how they try to make their love survive in a changing world.

“Broadway at the Beach” opened this week and brings several Broadway hit songs to the shores of Delaware.

All shows run until September with “Broadway at the Beach” closing the season on Sept. 2.

Despite the schedule — each show is performed at least once a week — changing sets hasn’t been a problem.

“When my former partner and I were thinking to move down here, we thought we need to clear some space,” Yetter says. “We don’t need great sets for this; we let the audience bring their imagination.”

Yetter and his former partner co-founded Clear Space Theatre when they moved to Rehoboth Beach from New York City in 2004. Yetter says they thought the community would “benefit both culturally and economically from having a year-round theater.”

Yetter had about 40 years of musical theater experience, putting on productions all over the country. At Clear Space he works largely as artistic and musical director, overseeing all productions.

Since there’s not a strong emphasis on the sets for these shows, the costumes and characters have to carry the productions. Bill Clark, the full-time costume designer, immerses himself in the various stories to dress the cast appropriately.

“When we choose the shows we’re going to do three months out from our first creative meeting, I read the scripts three times,” he says. “Then I create a costume plot, detailed scenes that serve as a map, and from there I sketch individual costumes.”

For Clark’s favorite costumes in “Cabaret,” he began studying the culture in Berlin from 1925 onward. He also studied the works by Christopher Isherwood, a gay novelist from the 1930s, who wrote the original story upon which “Cabaret” is based, trying to reflect its dark tones in the clothes the Kit Kat Klub girls don.

“I’ve put the girls in some vintage lingerie from that era with a corset pattern,” he says.

Compared to other renditions of “Cabaret,” director Dorothy Neuman says her version may appear darker.

“It’s very topical,” she says. “A force in the government, the Nazis who are coming to power, have certain prejudices in society. They consider that they have the right answer. I feel this is a very parallel situation in America, a very strong conservative right in which they think they know what is morally right and if you don’t agree with them then you are not American.”

Neuman, who identifies as a “woman who happens to be gay,” has been directing theater since 1978, starting in various places in Arlington, Va., and Washington.

Michael Matthias, who is acting in all three productions, says that he’s looking forward to “Cabaret” mostly because of its darker overtones. He also says staging three shows is made easier because they are working with mostly the same company all year round.

“We are considered a professional theater because we have a year-round theater company,” he says. “The theater holds auditions for roles not filled by the company.”

As part of the company, he’s expected to continue his growth as an actor by attending classes. This season, he plays Rooster Hannigan in “Annie,” he’s part of the ensemble in “Broadway at the Beach” and also Cliff in “Cabaret.”

Chris Poeschl, an actor brought in for the summer, says Clear Space Theatre is different from most venues where he’s performed.

“It’s such an intimate experience, when we are out on the stage we are in the audience,” he says.

Poeschl is in the ensemble for “Broadway at the Beach,” but is excited for all three productions. None of the plays are LGBT-specific, though “Cabaret,” of course, has long been a gay favorite.

“‘Cabaret’ in our theater is handled very maturely, very real,” he says. “It’s a reliable description.”

Because of the large LGBT population in Rehoboth, Yetter says he makes it a point to include shows with gay appeal.

“We really serve the community,” he says. “It’s important that we have pieces that are inclusive.”

Bob Hoffer and Max Dick, who have been attending performances at Clear Space for the past five years, say the small, tight-knit community of the theater draws in many Rehoboth gay residents and visitors.

“There are a lot of gay and lesbian people involved in the theater,” Hoffer says. “Often you will run into a lot of cast members in the restaurants and bars around the theater. Going to the theater gives you a kind of perk in your day.”

Related Topics:Annie Broadway at the Beach Cabaret Clear Space Theatre Doug Yetter Homepage Special Feature Rehoboth Beach

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FUND LGBTQ JOURNALISM

Italy

44 openly LGBTQ athletes to compete in Milan Cortina Winter Olympics

Games to begin on Friday

Published

6 hours ago

February 4, 2026

Michael K. Lavers

(Public domain photo)

More than 40 openly LGBTQ athletes are expected to compete in the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics that open on Friday.

Outsports.com notes eight Americans — including speedskater Conor McDermott-Mostowy and figure skater Amber Glenn — are among the 44 openly LGBTQ athletes who will compete in the games. The LGBTQ sports website also reports Ellis Lundholm, a mogul skier from Sweden, is the first openly transgender athlete to compete in any Winter Olympics.

“I’ve always been physically capable. That was never a question,” Glenn told Outsports.com. “It was always a mental and competence problem. It was internal battles for so long: when to lean into my strengths and when to work on my weaknesses, when to finally let myself portray the way I am off the ice on the ice. That really started when I came out publicly.”

McDermott-Mostowy is among the six athletes who have benefitted from the Out Athlete Fund, a group that has paid for their Olympics-related training and travel. The other beneficiaries are freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy, speed skater Brittany Bowe, snowboarder Maddy Schaffrick, alpine skier Breezy Johnson, and Paralympic Nordic skier Jake Adicoff.

Out Athlete Fund and Pride House Los Angeles – West Hollywood on Friday will host a free watch party for the opening ceremony.

“When athletes feel seen and accepted, they’re free to focus on their performance, not on hiding who they are,” Haley Caruso, vice president of the Out Athlete Fund’s board of directors, told the Los Angeles Blade.

Four Italian LGBTQ advocacy groups — Arcigay, CIG Arcigay Milano, Milano Pride, and Pride Sport Milano — have organized the games’ Pride House that will be located at the MEET Digital Culture Center in Milan.

Pride House on its website notes it will “host a diverse calendar of events and activities curated by associations, activists, and cultural organizations that share the values of Pride” during the games. These include an opening ceremony party at which Checcoro, Milan’s first LGBTQ chorus, will perform.

ILGA World, which is partnering with Pride House, is the co-sponsor of a Feb. 21 event that will focus on LGBTQ-inclusion in sports. Valentina Petrillo, a trans Paralympian, is among those will participate in a discussion that Simone Alliva, a journalist who writes for the Italian newspaper Domani, will moderate.

“The event explores inclusivity in sport — including amateur levels — with a focus on transgender people, highlighting the role of civil society, lived experiences, and the voices of athletes,” says Milano Pride on its website.

The games will take place against the backdrop of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s decision to ban trans women from competing in women’s sporting events.

President Donald Trump last February issued an executive order that bans trans women and girls from female sports teams in the U.S. A group of Republican lawmakers in response to the directive demanded the International Olympics Committee ban trans athletes from women’s athletic competitions.

The IOC in 2021 adopted its “Framework on Fairness, Inclusion and Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity and Sex Variations” that includes the following provisions:

• 3.1 Eligibility criteria should be established and implemented fairly and in a manner that does not systematically exclude athletes from competition based upon their gender identity, physical appearance and/or sex variations.

• 3.2 Provided they meet eligibility criteria that are consistent with principle 4 (“Fairness”, athletes should be allowed to compete in the category that best aligns with their self-determined gender identity.

• 3.3 Criteria to determine disproportionate competitive advantage may, at times, require testing of an athlete’s performance and physical capacity. However, no athlete should be subject to targeted testing because of, or aimed at determining, their sex, gender identity and/or sex variations.

The 2034 Winter Olympics are scheduled to take place in Salt Lake City. The 2028 Summer Olympics will occur in Los Angeles.

Theater

Out dancer on Alvin Ailey’s stint at Warner Theatre

10-day production marks kickoff of national tour

Published

3 days ago

February 1, 2026

Patrick Folliard

Renaldo Maurice (Photo by Dario Calmese)

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Through Feb. 8
Warner Theatre
513 12th St., N.W.
Tickets start at $75
ailey.org

The legendary Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is coming to Washington’s Warner Theatre, and one of its principal veterans couldn’t be more pleased. Out dancer Renaldo Maurice is eager to be a part of the company’s 10-day stint, the kickoff of a national tour that extends through early May.

“I love the respectful D.C. crowd and they love us,” says Maurice, a member of esteemed modern dance company for 15 years. The traveling tour is made of two programs and different casting with Ailey’s masterwork “Revelations” in both programs.

Recently, we caught up with Maurice via phone. He called from one of the quiet rooms in his New York City gym where he’s getting his body ready for the long Ailey tour.

Based in North Newark, N.J., where he recently bought a house, Maurice looks forward to being on the road: “I enjoy the rigorous performance schedule, classes, shows, gym, and travel. It’s all part of carving out a lane for myself and my future and what that looks like.”

Raised by a single mother of three in Gary, Ind., Maurice, 33, first saw Alvin Ailey as a young kid in the Auditorium Theatre in downtown Chicago, the same venue where he’s performed with the company as a professional dancer.

He credits his mother with his success: “She’s a real dance mom. I would not be the man or artist I am today if it weren’t for the grooming and discipline of my mom. Support and encouragement. It’s impacted my artistry and my adulthood.”

Maurice is also part of the New York Ballroom scene, an African-American and Latin underground LGBTQ+ subculture where ball attendees “walk” in a variety of categories (like “realness,” “fashion,” and “sex siren”) for big prizes. He’s known as the Legendary Overall Father of the Haus of Alpha Omega.

WASHINGTON BLADE: Like many gay men of his era, Ailey lived a largely closeted public life before his death from AIDS-related complications in 1989.

RENALDO MAURICE Not unusual for a Black gay man born during the Depression in Rogers, Texas, who’s striving to break out in the industry to be a creative. You want to be respected and heard. Black man, and Black man who dances, and you may be same-sex gender loving too. It was a lot, especially at that time.

BLADE: Ailey has been described as intellectual, humble, and graceful. He possessed strength. He knew who he was and what stories he wanted to tell.

MAURICE: Definitely, he wanted to concentrate on sharing and telling stories. What kept him going was his art. Ailey wanted dancers to live their lives and express that experience on stage. That way people in the audience could connect with them. It’s incredibly powerful that you can touch people by moving your body.

That’s partly what’s so special about “Revelations,” his longest running ballet and a fan favorite that’s part of the upcoming tour. Choreographed by Alvin Ailey in 1960, it’s a modern dance work that honors African-American cultural heritage through themes of grief, joy, and faith.

BLADE: Is “Revelation” a meaningful piece for you?

MAURICE: It’s my favorite piece. I saw it as a kid and now perform it as a professional dance artist. I’ve grown into the role since I was 20 years old.

BLADE: How can a dancer in a prestigious company also be a ballroom house father?

MAURICE: I’ve made it work. I learned how to navigate and separate. I’m a principal dancer with Ailey. And I take that seriously. But I’m also a house father and I take that seriously as well.

I’m about positivity, unity, and hard work. In ballroom you compete and if you’re not good, you can get chopped. You got to work on your craft and come back harder. It’s the same with dance.

BLADE: Any message for queer audiences?

MAURICE: I know my queer brothers and sisters love to leave with something good. If you come to any Ailey performance you’ll be touched, your spirit will be uplifted. There’s laughter, thoughtful and tender moments. And it’s all delivered by artists who are passionate about what they do.

BLADE: Alvin Ailey has been a huge part of your life. Thoughts on that?

MAURICE: I’m a believer in it takes a village. Hard work and discipline. I take it seriously and I love what I do. Ailey has provided me with a lot: world travel, a livelihood, and working with talented people here and internationally. Alvin Ailey has been a huge part of my life from boyhood to now. It’s been great.

Out & About

This queer comedy show will warm you up

Catfish Comedy to feature LGBTQ lineup

Published

4 days ago

January 31, 2026

Tinashe Chingarande

(Promotional image via Eventbrite)

Catfish Comedy will host “2026 Queer Kickoff Show” on Thursday, Feb. 5 at A League of Her Own (2319 18th Street, N.W.). This show features D.C.’s funniest LGBTQ and femme comedians. The lineup features performers who regularly take the stage at top clubs like DC Improv and Comedy Loft, with comics who tour nationally.

Tickets are $17.85 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.