Arts & Entertainment

Arts news in brief: Oct. 5

Events in both D.C. and Baltimore for the coming week

Published

14 years ago

October 4, 2012

Erin Durkin

Perfume Genius plays the Hamilton next week. (Photo courtesy of Billions)

Musical ‘Genius’ to play the Hamilton

Perfume Genius, the performance outfit of openly gay Seattle-based singer/songwriter Mike Hadreas, plays the Hamilton at 14th and F (the old Border’s site at 600 14th Street N.W.) on Oct. 12. Dusted opens the 8:30 p.m. show.

Hadreas earned kudos for his jarring 2010 debut album “Learning,” which Drowned in Sound called “an album of rare redemptive beauty … one of the most uniquely endearing and quietly forceful debut albums of recent years.” Of new album “Put Your Back N 2 It,” he says, “Everyone has stuff. Staying healthy can be more depressing and confusing than being fucked up, but I want to make music that’s honest and hopeful.”

Tickets are $17. Visit thehamiltondc.com for details.

Interpretations by LuPone

Legendary Broadway singer/actress Patti LuPone comes to the Music Center at Strathmore (5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda) tonight and Saturday at 8.

Patti LuPone, gay news, Washington Blade

Patti LuPone (Photo by Ethan Hill)

In her show “Matters of the Heart,” she explores love songs by several different composers such as Stephen Sondheim, Cyndi Lauper and Joni Mitchell. She comes to the Strathmore right before she returns to Broadway in the David Mamet play “The Anarchist.”

LuPone is known for her performances in “Evita,” “Gypsy,” as well as “Les Miserables.” She has earned two Tony Awards along with Drama Desk Awards and the Society of London Theatre’s Olivier Award.

Tickets range from $45-$85. For more information, visit Strathmore.org.

Shi-Queeta’s back for more at the Howard

Howard Theatre (620 T St., N.W.) hosts the female impersonation show “Salute to the Divas” Wednesday at 8 p.m.

The show features celebrity female impersonator Shi-Queeta-Lee and other celebrity impersonators as they bring divas such as Tina Turner, Cher, Beyonce and Diana Ross to the stage. The cast also takes the audience to the likes of Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Lee and company are returning after a successful debut at the Howard in August.

Shi-Queeta-Lee is a D.C. based female impersonator who has been featured in many big named shows and festivals such as Black Pride.

The doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 day of the show. For more information, visit thehowardtheatre.com.

Center event next Friday night

The D.C. Center hosts its annual Fall Reception at the Sofitel (806 15^th St. NW) on Oct. 12 at 7 p.m.

The reception is a benefit event for the Center and an opportunity to reflect on the work and contributions of several individuals in the LGBT community.

Tickets range from $45-$200. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

Queen tribute band comes to Falls Church

“Almost Queen,” a tribute band to Queen, performs at State Theatre Virginia (220 North Washington St., Falls Church) at 7 p.m. tonight.

The tribute group is head by Joseph Russo, a previous Broadway performer, as he belts out the memorable lyrics made legendary by late gay singer Freddie Mercury. The band has previously sold out shows in New York and San Diego.

Tickets are $15. For more information, visit thestatetheatre.com.

Latin American gender/sexuality-themed film at Towson

Towson University’s film series “Gender, Sexuality and Desire in Recent Films from Spain and Latin America” presents “La Yuma,” Thursday evening at 6:30 in the College of Liberal Arts Room 3110 (8000 York Road).

“La Yuma” is the first full-length fiction film from Nicaragua in 20 years. It presents Yuma, a rebellious young woman who dreams of being a boxer and escaping the barrios of Managua. She falls in love with a journalism student from the other side of the city as they both try to attain their dreams.

This event is free. For more information, visit events.towson.edu.

Baltimore Black Pride events in full swing

Baltimore Black Pride events continue today through Thursday with several performances and parties in the Baltimore area.

Today begins with Ladies Happy Hour at Ziascoz (1313 E. Pratt St.) at 5 p.m. Later, DJ David Robertson takes over the party. Cover is $5 for both events. At the same time Station North Arts Café (1816 N. Charles St.) hosts “Meet-n-Greet Casual Affair of Art, Music and Fun” at 7. There is no cover for this event.

On Saturday, the Cultural Affair and Icons We Love Awards 10th Annual Gala and Fundraiser takes place at Eubie Blake National Jazz Institute Cultural Center (847 N. Howard St.) at 7. Individual tickets are $50 and a couple is $85.

Black Pride is hosting numerous spiritual services around the city at a number of participating spiritual centers. In the afternoon there is a Ravens Ladies Tailgate Party at 1313 E. Pratt St. at 2. Cover is $2. Later in the night, Paradox (1310 Russell St.) hosts the Finale: Legacy Global Village and Music Fest starting at 10. Cover is $8 before midnight and $12 after.

The official weekend may be over, but the celebration continues with a party for National Coming Out Day at Ziascoz (1313 E. Pratt St.) on Thursday at 5 p.m. There is no cover for this event.

For more information about Baltimore Black Pride, visit blackpridebaltimore.org.

‘Midsummer Night’ at Glass Mind

Glass Mind Theatre presents “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” at the Autograph Playhouse (9 W. 25^th St.) tonight at 8.

The production of Shakespeare’s “most lamentable comedy” features four lovers seeking solace in the woods when they are caught in the twisted plot of a fairy realm.

Regular tickets are $12, but discounted tickets for $8 are available to seniors, students and artists. For more information, visit glassmindtheatre.com.

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Photos

PHOTOS: Denali at Pitchers

‘Drag Race’ alum performs at Thirst Trap

Published

8 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

1 day 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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