Arts & Entertainment
Madge and beyond
Fall concert season dotted with biggest legends to hippest new underground queer acts


Grizzly Bear is touring its new album ‘Shields,’ which drops Tuesday. The band plays two sold out shows next week at the 9:30 Club. (Photo courtesy Warp Records)
A bounty of queer bands are slated for Phasefest which starts Thursday and runs through next weekend at Phase 1’s Eastern Market (original) location (525 8th Street S.E.). Look for indie bands like Bitch, Athen Boys Choir, Angie Head, People at Parties, Mitten, Hunter Valentine, D.C. band Glitterlust, Vanity Theft and many others. Weekend passes are $55. Tickets for individual nights are $15 Thursday, $20 for Sept. 22 and $25 for Sept. 22 and are available only at the door. Visit phasefest.com for details.
Grizzly Bear, whose new album “Shields” is slated to drop Tuesday, plays two nights at the 9:30 Club (815 V Street, N.W.) Sept. 20-21. Both shows are sold out. Gay singer/songwriter Ed Droste fronts the Brooklyn-based quartet. Try StubHub if you really want to go. Doors are 7 for the Thursday show; 8 for the Friday show. Unknown Mortal Orchestra opens.
Madonna brings her “MDNA Tour” to the Verizon Center (601 F Street, N.W.) Sept. 23-24, her first D.C. shows here since the “Re-Invention Tour” in 2004. Tickets were still available for the second night as of Blade press time but be warned the night of the show — as longtime fans now, she almost never starts on time. She didn’t go on in Philly a few weeks ago until almost 10:30 p.m. Check Ticketmaster or StubHub for availability.
Diamond Rings, a one-man outfit consisting of openly gay John O (his new album drops Oct. 22), opens for Stars at the 9:30 Club on Sept. 23. Doors are at 7. It’s sold out.
“Spill: True Stories of Queer Sex, Desire and Romance,” a new monthly performance event, kicks off at Black Fox Lounge (1723 Connecticut Ave. N.W.) at 8 p.m. on Sept. 27. It’s free. Bi New Yorker Jefferson hosts. More info at spillstories.wordpress.com.
Tony winner Sutton Foster (“Anything Goes,” “Thoroughly Mordern Millie” and “Shrek the Musical”) plays George Mason University’s Center for the Arts (on the George Mason campus in Fairfax County, Va.) Sept. 29 at 8 p.m. Tickets are available for $40, $55 and $70. Visit cfa.gmu.edu for information.
Broadway legend Patti LuPone brings her “Matters of the Heart” show to the Strathmore (5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda) for two nights Oct. 5-6. The 8 p.m. shows will find the double Tony winner singing love songs from a wide range of composers from Broadway legends like Rodgers and Hammerstein to pop singers such as Joni Mitchell and Cyndi Lauper. Tickets range from $45-$85. Buy online at Strathmore.org.
Look for ‘70s teen idol David Cassidy, inspiration for surely many gay coming-of-age fantasies, at the Birchmere Oct. 6. Tickets are $49.50 for the 7:30 p.m. show. Details at birchmere.com.
Shi-Queeta-Lee and her “cast of celebrity female impersonators” return to the Howard Theatre (620 T Street, N.W.) Oct. 10 for another “Drag Salute to the Divas” after a successful debut there in August. The lady poses as Mary J. Blige in the ads. Tickets are $20 in advance ($25 at the door) for the 8 p.m. show.
In other drag news, Special Agent Galactica (Jeffrey Johnson) plays Black Fox Lounge (1723 Connecticut Ave. N.W.) every second and fourth Friday of the month from 6-9 p.m. and the first Tuesday of each month she brings her “Ye Olde Rock ‘n Roll Show” to MOVA (2204 14th Street) from 8-10 p.m. All free. Details at pinkhairedone.com.
Queer Women of Color successfully raised $5,000 in an online drive for its third annual Revival Poetry Tour that’s slated to wrap in D.C. Oct. 13. Details pending.
Soul legend Mavis Staples plays the Hamilton (600 14th Street, N.W.) Oct. 17. Tickets are $55-$62 for the 7:30 p.m. show. Info at thehamiltondc.com.
It’s a trek from D.C., but if you want to catch Liza Minnelli’s fall show “Confessions,” the closest spot is the Luhrs Performing Arts Center (1871 Old Main Drive) in Shippensburg, Pa., on the campus of Shippensburg University. It’s about a two-hour drive from D.C. Tickets range from $67-$95. Details at luhrscenter.com.
Perrenniel lesbian road warriors The Indigo Girls are slated to play Rams Head Live (20 Market Place) in Baltimore Oct. 20. Tickets are $35 for the 9 p.m. show. Check ticketfly.com for tickets or link there through ramsheadlive.com.
Gay comedian David Sedaris plays the Strathmore Oct. 23. Tickets range from $48-$58 for the 8 p.m. show. Details at Strathmore.org.
Of course there’s an ocean of stuff going on all the time in New York, but if you happen to be there Oct. 30 (the night of the High Heel Race in D.C., by the way), consider checking out a special Freedom to Marry concert there featuring Rufus Wainwright, They Might Be Giants, John Cameron Mitchell, Justin Bond and more. It will be held at the Beacon Theatre (2124 Broadway, New York) at 8 p.m. and 100 percent of the $50-$155 tickets benefit LGBT advocacy group Freedom to Marry (Rufus’s dad, Loudon Wainwright III, who’s been playing a new song he just wrote for Rufus’s gay wedding at his summer shows, plays the Birchmere Oct. 12-13).
Lesbian rocker Melissa Etheridge plays the Strathmore Nov. 2 for her “4th Street Feeling Tour.” Tickets range from $57.50-$102.50. Details at Strathmore.org.
The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington has its Home Cooked Cabaret night dubbed “Showmen and Showstoppers” at Town Danceboutique (2009 8th Street N.W.) Nov. 3 at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $100 for reserved seats or $75 general admission. Visit gmcw.org for information.
Dance diva Stephanie Mills plays the Birchmere Nov. 10. Tickets are $69.50 (birchmere.com).
Aretha Franklin plays DAR Constitution Hall (1776 D Street, NW) Nov. 20. Tickets are $59.50-$115.50 at Ticketmaster.
The Chorus’s “Winter Nights” show is the weekend of Nov. 30-Dec. 1 at the Lisner Auditorium (730 21st Street, N.W.). No word yet on ticket prices for that show.
That’s the big stuff but a few other venues to keep an eye on or plan checking out include gay-owned Comet Ping Pong (5037 Connecticut Ave., N.W.), a gay-owned pizza restaurant, live music venue that hosts indie bands — some queer — all the time. Info at cometpingpong.com.
The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland (claricesmithcenter.umd.edu), the Washington Performing Arts Society (wpas.org) and Wolf Trap (wolftrap.org) all have great events scheduled throughout the fall.
Television
How this Texas drag king reclaimed their identity
Chicano performance art serves as inspiration

Three out of ten drag kings who were cast for this first season of King of Drag self-identified as Latinx and after episode two, only one Latinx king remains in the running for the competition.
Buck Wylde, a king from Dallas, Texas delivered a performance that took inspiration from their Catholic upbringing and Catholic school days to put together this persona. During the episode, they shared that they like to “play with religion.”
Murray Hill responded by adding, “sometimes we can’t afford to go to therapy for the Catholic guilt, so we do drag.” Buck Wylde says their therapy and their church is drag.
Buck Wylde, cancer sign, goes by Trigger Mortis when they are outside of drag and present more on the femme side. Along with Big D—another drag king on the series—they are the only two who are more femme outside of their drag persona.
During this episode, Buck Wylde also spoke about the difficulty of performing drag in a red state. They live in conservative Dallas, so they still struggle to find large-scale acceptance and support in the midst of statewide legislation targeting the LGBTQ community in Texas.
“Sometimes it doesn’t feel [as] safe as [I] would like it to be. There’s protesters all the time and we don’t have as many spaces to perform as kings there,” they said in the interview.
Buck Wylde says that for them, the most important thing about drag, is that it is and always has been a protest.
Living in a conservative state is a challenge to them as a drag king, but they say that it’s important for them to stand their ground and not only bring that representation to these areas, but also intentionally keep it there.
“So many people leave Texas for their safety and mental health to go to Portland, LA, or Colorado Springs or you know, anywhere but here.”
During the episode, Buck Wylde also opened up about how their religious background and cultural heritage added an extra layer to their identity issues growing up where they did. Their family wanted them to assimilate and even prevented them from speaking Spanish and they say that through Buck, they are able to re-examine what it means to be a part of that culture.
Buck Wylde is a third generation Mexican-American and they say that though their Spanish is not fluent, they say they do prefer their horchata without (ICE).
“I kind of straddled different worlds there, because I was sort of assimilated but I still had my Mexican culture. I always felt like I wasn’t connected enough because of the assimilation and it was through drag that I was able to reclaim my culture.”
In the first round of competitions for the second episode, the kings broke up into three teams of three for an improv skit where they would have to mansplain a topic and whichever team did it the best—won the group Weenie Challenge.
The winning team included Buck Wylde, Alexander the Great and Henlo Bullfrog. Together they improvised a skit where they mansplained the Amelia Earhart story.
For the solo show, they dressed up as ‘The Devil’ for the improv solo challenge, cracking a joke about how they are dressed like the person currently living in The White House.
Dressed as the Devil, sporting a Zoot Suit for the final competition, Buck Wylde improvised a skit with food.
Buck Wylde says they felt the pressure to perform because along with the other nine kings who were cast, they are the first ten kings to make it to the mainstream and represent king culture.
“We call ourselves the first ten because whatever happens, we’re responsible for how the kings are viewed and how we move forward together, being the blueprint for what’s to come,” said Buck Wylde in an exclusive interview with Los Angeles Blade.
Back stage before the solo improv competition, Buck Wylde says they felt their drag persona “crumbling” away.
They felt like Buck had abandoned them prior to their big moments to prove to the judges that they should stay in the running for the competition. They went up against Perka $exxx, who gave a king-based Dave Chappell performance.
In the end, it was Perka $exxx who received a 4-1 vote from the judges.
Buck Wylde left the show with some advice for the kings and the audience: “No matter what life throws at you, always remember who the Buck you are.”
King of Drag is now available to stream on RevryTV, an LGBTQ streaming platform for queer movies, TV shows, music and more — all for free. New King of Drag episodes will premiere weekly on Sundays.

The Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs will host “Black LGBTQ+ History Preservation Committee Public Meeting” on Wednesday, July 16 at 6 p.m. at 899 North Capitol St., N.E.
Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs and the Black LGBTQ+ History Preservation Committee will discuss their upcoming grant project. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and network with committee members. Attendance is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.
Theater
Exciting lineup on tap for theater festival in Shepherdstown, W.Va.
Queer artists play prominent roles in various productions

Contemporary American Theater Festival
Through Aug. 3
Shepherdstown, W.Va.
Catf.org
As a queer Latino freelance costume designer, Christopher Vergara’s work has taken him from Broadway to a multitude of regional outposts and companies worldwide. Over the last decade, he’s lent his prodigious talents to theater, opera, TV, and film, and beyond.
Currently the native New Yorker is costuming playwright Mark St. Germain’s new two-hander “Magdalene,” now making its world premiere at the annual Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF) at Shepherd University in historic, queer-friendly Shepherdstown, W.Va. (just a 90-minute drive from D.C.).
“Magdalene”is the story of Peter reconnecting with the banished Mary Magdalene and discussing their widely divergent memories of Christ. At 90 minutes without costume changes, it may not sound like a big job, but Vergara applies his usual meticulous consideration.
“It’s not the Bible pageant you might see at church,” he says. As a costume designer, Vergara approaches all new works by delving deep into the script with collaborators.
“I like to do what I call a visual dramaturgy, to read the script and take it in aiming to arrive at a sort of truth, not necessarily historically accurate.
“Without being period, I get to what their world was like in some way. And because the play’s conversation is contemporary, I’m inspired by both old and new lines and fabrics. It’s speaking to us now but set in a different time.”
Born and raised in New York, Vergara learned to sew at the side of his Panamanian grandmother. “Growing up I was enthralled. She had an amazing Singer machine that could sew through steel. But it was always a covert thing. Boys shouldn’t be sewing.”
He put his skills to use at Valparaiso University in Indiana where while majoring in music he found a well-paying and flexible job in the costume shop. After graduation he returned to New York and entered a Juilliard apprentice program concentrating on a costume track and a busy career has ensued. His vast résumé includes Broadway shows like “Here Lies Love” and the revival of “The Color Purple”among numerous others; he was associate designer for a production of “Ben-Hur” in Rome that featured a cast of more than 200 with 1,000 costumes.
Vergara is enjoying his introduction to CATF. “Initially I was feeling a little apprehensive. I’d never been to West Virginia before, but when I saw all the Pride flags lining the main street in Shepherdstown, any misgivings were dispelled,” he says.

CATF also presents “Happy Fall: A Queer Stunt Spectacular” by Lisa Sanaye Dring with Rogue Artists Ensemble. Based on true life events, it’s the story of queer Hollywood stuntmen navigating the dangers of exposing their love. Living up to the “spectacular” bit in the title, the guys’ story is told through video, puppetry, illusions, and live stunts.
The playwright says “I’m queer so I’m interested in queerness, and I’ve also been interested in masculinity for some time. I lived in LA for 10 years so the play is a love letter to Hollywood and the weirdness of the industry.”
Also, of interest to Sanaye Dring is the interracial and intergenerational relationship at the play’s center: Clay is a white man in his late 40s and Felix is mid-20s and Asian (played Aubrey Deeker and Glenn Morizio, respectively).
Her transition from actor (including commercials and some TV) to playwright can be traced back to her one-woman show titled “Death Play,” a work spurred by the passing of her parents and grandmother. “It wasn’t easy. I hadn’t anticipated just how emotionally difficult that five-week run would be. It was after that when people started asking me to write plays and direct.”
CATF Artistic Director Peggy McKowen describes this year’s festival as being “about understanding the things that make us unique, but also the things that make us similar,” adding that it also explores “questioning who are as people and how we fit into our community.”
Here are the other new works in the festival’s exciting lineup.
West Virginia-born playwright Cody LeRoy Wilson’s “Did My Grandfather Kill My Grandfather?”It recounts the unlikely journey of his blended family from Vietnam to Plum Run, W. Va.
In “Kevin Kling: Unraveled” NPR commentator Kevin Kling tells the story of finding his way as a disabled artist. With humor, he reflects the life challenges he has surmounted, including a congenital birth disorder and partial paralysis from a near-fatal motorcycle accident.
And finally, playwright Lisa Loomer’s “Side Effects May Include…,” a work that takes audiences on a frightening and complex trip into the world of psychiatry as a mother tries to help her son on his journey to wellness.
CATF runs through Aug. 3 in three varied venues on the Shepherd University campus: Frank Center, Marinoff Theater, and Studio 112.
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