Arts & Entertainment
D.C. arts briefs: July 13
Galactica at the Black Fox, Pride in the Sky in Rockville and more


Galactica and guests continue their weekly engagement at Black Fox Lounge tonight from 6-9 p.m. (Photo courtesy Jeffrey Johnson)
Galactica continues Black Fox run Friday
Special Agent Galactica performs with her signature pink hair and Very-Sexy-Cute-Boy Combo tonight (Friday) at the Black Fox Lounge (1723 Connecticut Ave., N.W.) from 6-9 p.m.
Galactica (Jeffrey Johnson) will be singing live and lip syning (her original claim to fame). The live numbers will be performed with her band. Tonight she will add a few new songs to her bi-monthly show. R&B bass guitarist Percy White and drummer Winston Johnson will accompany her band.
Barbara Papendorp, who performs French cabaret numbers, will add her own vocal styles to the show as a guest performer. She will join Galactica during the third set as a back-up singer to one of the new songs featured.
Tickets are free. For more information, visit blackfoxlounge.com or pinkhairedone.com.
Pride in the Sky event in Rockville
B.O.I. Marketing and Promotions and the Ladies of LURe host the monthly “Pride in the Sky” party on Saturday at The Rooftop in Rockville (155 Gibbs St., Rockville) from 8 p.m.-1:30 a.m.
Drink specials will be served all night long and food and light fare will be available. Leblon and Absolut are both sponsors of the party, and music by DJ Rosie will be featured.
Admission is $10 and limited to guests 21 and over. The Rooftop is a 10-minute walk from the Rockville Station on Metro’s Red Line, and parking garages are free if you leave after midnight. For details, visit the “Pride in the Sky – July 14th” event on facebook.com.
Women’s painting-and-wine event at the Center
Center Women, a group within the D.C. Center for the LGBT Community, hosts a step-by-step painting class led by local artists on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Brush-n-Blush (3210 Grace St., N.W.).
Guests are encouraged to bring their own favorite bottle of wine or purchase a bottle or glass from Brush-n-Blush’s selection of affordable premium wine. Cheese, chocolate or other choice foods can also be brought.
All levels of interest and painting expertise are welcome. The registration price is $64 per person, and includes art instruction, supplies and a $10 donation to the D.C. Center.
For more details and to purchase tickets, visit thedccenter.org.
Afternoon Royale pageant Saturday at Remington’s
The Imperial Court of Washington is having a “Mr. and Miss D.C. Royale Pageant” at Remington’s Nightclub (639 Pennsylvania Ave., S.E.) on Saturday at 3 p.m.
The Imperial Court is part of the International Court System and is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising funds for organizations that support LGBT causes, including youth enrichment programs, HIV/AIDS services and social services organizations.
The pageant will include self-expression, talent, evening gown, formal wear and Q&A categories, as well as a raffle drawing.
Tickets are $10. If interested in competing, contact [email protected]. For more information, visit remingtonswdc.com or the “Mr. & Miss D.C. Royale Pageant” Facebook event page.

The 2025 Silver Pride Resource Fair and Tea Dance was held at the Eaton Hotel on Wednesday, May 21.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)










Out & About
Queer film festival comes to D.C.
DC/DOX to showcase LGBTQ documentaries made by LGBTQ filmmakers

DC/DOX will host a film festival beginning on Thursday, June 12, at the Regal Gallery Place, Eaton Cinema, and the U.S. Navy Memorial Burke Theatre.
This festival will premier LGBTQ documentaries made by LGBTQ filmmakers. Each screening will be followed by in-person Q&As with the filmmakers.
For more details, visit dcdoxfest.com
Movies
Gay director on revealing the authentic Pee-wee Herman
New HBO doc positions Reubens as ‘groundbreaking’ performance artist

In the new HBO two-part documentary, “Pee-wee as Himself,” director Matt Wolf gives viewers a never-before-seen look into the personal life of Paul Reubens, the comedic actor behind the much loved television persona, Pee-wee Herman.
Filmed before Reubens passed away in 2023 from cancer, Wolf and his creative team created the riveting documentary, interspersing several interviews, more than 1,000 hours of archival footage, and tens of thousands of personal photos.
Determined to set the record straight about what really happened, Reubens discussed his diverse influences, growing up in the circus town of Sarasota, Fla., and his avant-garde theater training at the California Institute of the Arts.
Ruebens joined the Groundlings improv group, where he created the charismatic Pee-wee Herman. He played the quirky character during the Saturday morning show, “Pee-wee’s Playhouse,” and in numerous movies, like “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” and “Big Top Pee-wee.” He also brought Pee-wee to Broadway, with “The Pee-wee Herman Show.”
To get an enigma such as Reubens to open up was no easy task for Wolf.
“I felt determined to get Paul to open up and to be his authentic self,” acknowledged Wolf at a recent press conference. “And I was being tested and I wanted to meet my match in a way so I didn’t feel frustrated or exhausted, I felt determined but I also, it was thrilling to go this deep. I’ve never been able, or I don’t know if I ever will, go this deep with another human being to interview them in an intimate way for over 40 hours.”
Wolf described the collaborative interview experience as a dream, “like we were in a bubble where time didn’t matter.” he also felt a deep connection to the material, having come of age watching “Pee-wee’s Playhouse.”
“I wouldn’t have been able to put words to it at the time, but I think it was my first encounter with art that I felt emotionally involved in,” noted Wolf.
“He continued: “I recognize that that show created a space for a certain kind of radical acceptance where creativity thrives. And as a gay filmmaker, I also recognize things like Pee-wee Herman marrying a bowl of fruit salad at a slumber party or dancing in high heels to the song, ‘Fever.’ That stuff spoke to me. So that was my connection to it.”
During the documentary, Reubens comes out as a gay man.
“Paul went into this process wanting to come out,” said Wolf. “That was a decision he had made. He was aware that I was a gay filmmaker and had made portraits of other gay artists. That was the work of mine he was attracted to, as I understood. And I wanted, as a younger person, to support him in that process, but he also was intensely sensitive that the film would overly emphasize that; or, focused entirely from the lens of sexuality when looking at his story.”
Their complicated dynamic had an aspect of “push and pull” between them.
“I think that generational difference was both a source of connection and affinity and tension. And I do think that the level to which Paul discusses his relationships and intimacy and vulnerability and the poignant decision he made to go back into the closet. I do have to believe to some extent he shared that because of our connection.”
Wolf hopes that the “Pee-wee as Himself” positions Reubens as one of the most “groundbreaking” performance artists of his generation who in a singular way broke through into mainstream pop culture.
“I know he transformed me. He transformed how I see the world and where I went as a creative person. And it’s so clear that I am not alone in that feeling. For me, it was fairly abstract. I couldn’t necessarily put words to it. I think people who grew up on Pee-wee or were big fans of Pee-wee, seeing the film, I hope, will help them tap into intangible and specific ways how transformative his work was for them. It really is a gift to revisit early seminal experiences you had and to see how they reverberate in you.”
He added: “So, to me, this isn’t so much about saying Paul Reubens is a genius. I mean, that’s overly idealizing and I don’t like hero worship. It’s more about understanding why many of us have connected to his work and understanding where he lives within a legacy of performance art, television, and also, broader pop culture.”