Arts & Entertainment
D.C. arts briefs: Sept. 21
17th Street Festival Saturday, Madonna plays two nights at Verizon Center and more
17th Street Festival Saturday
The third annual 17th Street Festival is Saturday from noon to 6 p.m. on the 17th Street N.W. corridor. The event is produced by the Urban Neighborhood Alliance and the Historic Dupont Circle Main Streets.
The event is designed as a community-building event showcasing the region’s shops, schools, restaurants, clubs, parks, art and residents. Streets will be closed from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Look for booths, exhibits, games, entertainment and more.
Details are at 17thstreetfestival.org.
Dana Tai Soon Burgess and Company cap 20th season
Dana Tai Soon Burgess premieres his new work “Caverns” tonight at 8 at the George Washington University Dorothy Betts Marvin Theatre (800 21st St. NW). Tickets for students are $15, $22 for artists and $25 for general admission.
“Caverns” explores the topic of memory and shows a journey of a woman remembering certain moments in a relationship. It will be performed by dancers Katia Chupashko Norri, Felipe Oyarun and Connie Fink. The performance will also include other works from the Company and followed by a panel discussion with Burgess, who’s gay, and the dancers. For details, visit vendini.com.
Madonna brings ‘MDNA Tour’ to D.C.
Madonna at her show in Philly last month. (Photo by Brian Walmer)
Madonna is back at the Verizon Center (601 F. St. NW) for her first D.C. shows since her 2004 “Re-Invention Tour” this weekend. Both shows begin at 8 p.m. on Sunday and Monday. The Sunday night show is sold out but tickets may still be available for Monday.
Before the concert Town (2009 8th St. NW) is celebrating all things Madonna, including her music, her videos and live performances by Tha Dance Camp. They call it MadonnaRama. Doors open Saturday night at 10. The cover costs $8 from 10-11 p.m. and $12 after 11. All drinks are $3 before 11 and you must be 21 and older to enter. For details on MadonnaRama information, visit towndc.com.
Black Fox Lounge hosts gay-themed ‘Spill’
Thursday night at 8, the Black Fox Lounge (1723 Connecticut Ave. NW) is hosting “Spill — True Stories of Queer Sex, Desire and Romance,” a new monthly performance hosted by Jefferson. Every performance includes storytellers, comedians, sex educators and many others sharing their sexual experiences.
The host, Jefferson, is a sex educator and writer, who’s known for his blog, “One Life, Take Two.” It goes in depth of his life as a parent and his own sexual experiences. The bi New York resident also hosts a monthly series called “Bare! True Stories of Queer Sex, Desire and Romance.”
For more information on Spill, visit spillstories.wordpress.com.
Celebrity News
Madonna announces release date for new album
‘Confessions II’ marks return to the dance floor
Pop icon Madonna on Wednesday announced that her 15th studio album will be released on July 3.
Titled “Confessions II,” the new album is a sequel to 2005’s “Confessions on a Dance Floor,” an Abba and disco-infused hit.
The new album reunites Madonna with producer Stuart Price, who also helmed the original “Confessions” album. It’s her first album of new material since 2019’s “Madame X.”
“We must dance, celebrate, and pray with our bodies,” Madonna said in a press release. “These are things that we’ve been doing for thousands of years — they really are spiritual practices. After all, the dance floor is a ritualistic space. It’s a place where you connect — with your wounds, with your fragility. To rave is an art. It’s about pushing your limits and connecting to a community of like-minded people,” continued the statement. “Sound, light, and vibration reshape our perceptions. Pulling us into a trance-like state. The repetition of the bass, we don’t just hear it but we feel it. Altering our consciousness and dissolving ego and time.”
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’
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.
Gay D.C. police lieutenant arrested on child porn charges
Demonstrators disrupt OMB director hearing over PEPFAR
HIV/AIDS group NMAC is ‘destabilized’ and in financial crisis: sources
Madonna announces release date for new album
Senegalese court issues first conviction under new anti-LGBTQ law
An effort to increase the number of psychiatrists of color
Comings & Goings
Trump budget targets ‘gender extremism’
Minimal version of ‘Streetcar Named Desire’ heading to Dupont Underground
