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Arts news in brief: Oct. 5

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

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Mike Hadreas, Perfume Genius, gay news, Washington Blade
Mike Hadreas, Perfume Genius, gay news, Washington Blade

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 15th 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. 25th 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: Vitamin C at JR.’s

Live drag show follows ‘Drag Race All Stars’ viewing party

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Brooke N Hymen performs at JR.'s at the Vitamin C drag show on Friday. (Washington Blade photo by Landon Shackelford)

JR.’s Bar held a “RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars” watch party followed by a live drag show on Friday, July 17. The Vitamin C weekly drag show was hosted by Citrine with performers Brooke N Hyman and Rosie Beret.

(Washington Blade photos by Landon Shackelford)

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Photos

PHOTOS: Rehoboth Beach Pride Festival

LGBTQ celebration held at convention center

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A scene from the 2026 Rehoboth Beach Pride Festival. (Washington Blade photo by Daniel Truitt)

The 2026 Rehoboth Beach Pride Festival was held at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center on Saturday, July 18.

(Washington Blade photos by Daniel Truitt)

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Books

Liza’s book a tale that’s better than most celebrity memoirs

‘Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!’ dishes on marriages, heartbreak

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(Book cover image courtesy of Grand Central)

‘Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! My Memoir’
By Liza Minnelli, as told to Michael Feinstein
c.2026, Grand Central
$36/ 421 pages

Twenty feet In front of you, and you can’t see a thing.

Even the closest faces are in shadow – lit, but not quite enough for you to see for sure what the people there are thinking. Still, you can hear them, their gasps, their laughter, and applause. Such is life, on-stage. Now read “Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! My Memoir” by Liza Minnelli, as told to Michael Feinstein, and read about it beyond the spotlight.

Almost from the moment she was born, Liza Minnelli was famous.

It was inevitable: her mother was Judy Garland. Her father was director Vincente Minnelli. Her godparents were Hollywood glitterati, her neighbors were famous, her playmates would be famous someday, too.

But her life wasn’t all starlight and happiness.

She made her stage debut as a toddler. She became her “mother’s caretaker” at age 13.

At 16, she had a growing career of her own – one that her mother tried to stop. But, she says, “In her own way, Mama was wonderful to me. Try understanding – she was my mother, not a movie star…. I knew her as the person who loved me and always would.”

At 19, Minnelli was working, happy, and madly in love with the man who’d become her first husband, and life was wonderful – until she came home one day to find him in their bed with another man. Before they were divorced, she lost her beloved mother, and became “engaged” to two other men simultaneously, neither of which made it to the altar with her.

She married her second husband, the son of one of her mother’s former co-stars, in 1974 but her love affairs and addictions led to a second divorce.

Her third husband was a stage manager.

She doesn’t have much good to say about her fourth, and last, husband.

Overall, she says, “You gotta play the comedy for all it’s worth and leave ‘em laughing. Even when your heart is breaking.”

Are you expecting bluntness, sass, or attitude here? Good, because that’s what you get inside “Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!” It’s strong on honesty and don’t-give-a-flip. It’s wonderfully edited, so it moves fast. It’s eye-opening and funny and a pleasant surprise for a first, and only (so far), memoir.

Even better, author Liza Minnelli (with best friend, Michael Feinstein) is really quite candid and nicely gossipy, starting from the beginning. There are some Hollywood folks, in fact, who are feeling edgy because of what’s inside this book and the secrets spilled. Minnelli and Feinstein seemed to have fun telling her story, and they comfortably lure readers in.

That’s not to say that it’s all a cabaret. Minnelli tells about her addictions and recoveries, her marriages and why she wed two gay men, and the losses she endured, including miscarriages, deaths, and broken relationships. The bad balances well with the good for a tale that’s several notches above most celebrity memoirs. “Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!” is, in fact, a real joy to read, a genuine bright spot.

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