Arts & Entertainment
Ready to blow the roof off
Signature brings legendary ‘Dreamgirls’ show to region
‘Dreamgirls’
Signature Theatre
4200 Campbell Ave.
Arlington, VA
Through Jan. 6
(Pride Night Dec. 7)
Tickets: start at $40
703-573-SEAT
Nova Y. Payton as Effie in Signature Theatre’s ‘Dreamgirls.’ Jennifer Holliday originated the role on Broadway. (Photo by Chris Mueller; courtesy of Signature Theatre)
Arlington’s Signature Theatre is about to tackle one of the biggest shows in Broadway and Hollywood history: “Dreamgirls.”
Director and choreographer Matt Gardiner had one word to describe his initial reaction: “daunting.” For actress Nova Payton, who will be starring as Effie White, the word was “demanding.” For costume designer Frank Labovitz, the word was “huge.”
“Dreamgirls” is a show that is often tagged with the word “legendary.” It was the last major show of legendary Broadway director and choreographer Michael Bennett. It was legendary for the backstage fights during workshops, rehearsals and previews, for the 20-minute show-stopping ovation during Act I on opening night, and for the long run on Broadway, along with numerous national and international tours. It was also legendary for the staging that featured set designer Robin Wagner’s rotating towers and for Theoni’s V. Aldredge’s dazzling costumes (both of which were featured on the show’s iconic posters).
And it was legendary for the new sounds that composer Henry Krieger brought to Broadway and for the smooth cinematic way that lyricist and bookwriter Tom Eyen wove the music and dialogue together. It became legendary for a movie adaptation that won an Academy Award for “American Idol” runner-up Jennifer Hudson in her movie debut.
“Dreamgirls” tells the story of the Dreamettes, a girl group from Chicago that rises to international fame. The plot is loosely based on the saga of Diana Ross and the Supremes and other Motown-era figures. After losing a talent competition at the famous Apollo Theatre in New York, the Dreamettes are hired as back-up singers for James Thunder Early. Spurred on by their ambitious manager Curtis Taylor, Jr., the girls break away from Jimmy and begin performing as “the Dreams.” Effie White (a character somewhat based on Supremes’ founder Florence Ballard) sings lead and her friends Deena Jones (the Diana Ross figure) and Lorrell Robinson sing back-up.
Although he is having an affair with Effie, Curtis moves Deena to the front of the group. She has a smoother sound and a slicker look that he thinks will be more appealing to white audiences, enabling the group to cross over and sell more records. Although the group does become increasingly popular, Effie is not happy singing back-up and begins to suspect that Curtis is having an affair with Deena. Her suspicions are confirmed when Curtis dumps her personally and professionally.
That’s the cue for the show’s most famous number, “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going,” which original Effie Jennifer Holliday performed twice last year in D.C. — at Pride and with the Gay Men’s Chorus.
As Act II opens and the story moves from the 1960s to the 1970s, Curtis marries Deena, who becomes an international superstar, although she yearns to be seen as a serious actress. Jimmy falls on hard times when he rejects Curtis’ advice on how to appeal to broader audiences. Effie has a child and struggles to rebuild her career. The Dreams help usher in the disco era, and the rest is music — and musical theater — history.
Faced with this challenging material and famous predecessors, Gardiner and his collaborators have developed a fresh and exciting approach to the show.
“I spent a lot of time with our design team trying to come up with a way to do it that honored Michael Bennett’s original intention but made it our own,” he says. “At Signature, we would never be able recreate Bennett’s staging, so we are trying to find our own way into it that is more Signature.”
For example, the openly gay Gardiner notes, “Bennett and the writers really played with the idea of perspective, the change between backstage and onstage. In that original production he had the use of these beautiful towers that became iconic in the way the show is remembered. From the onset, we knew that we weren’t going to do it that way. We asked how do we play with the idea of perspective, both onstage and offstage, and the whole idea of the glamorous sparkle and what’s underneath it.” To answer that, they’ve created a more intimate approach to the musical that uses a smaller ensemble and focuses more clearly on the Dreams and their leading men.
One of the things that will give Signature Theatre’s production of “Dreamgirls” a distinctive feel is Nova Y. Payton’s highly anticipated performance as Effie White. Gardiner freely admits, “It is no secret that Signature chose the piece for her and I don’t think anyone’s going to be let down.”
Maryland native Gardiner is full of praise for his star. “She’s a wonderful person first and foremost and then on top of that she has the most killer voice. She’s a spectacular actress and a spectacular singer and we’re waiting for her to blow the roof off Signature.”
D.C. native Payton returns the praise to Gardiner. “I love Matt!” she says. “This will be second show I’ve done with him. (Their first collaboration was last season’s “Zanadu.”) Matt is brilliant. His vision of the show is very clear. In rehearsal, he’s very precise about what he’s looking for but at the same time allowing us as actors to bring what we may see. We are a team trying to put this production together and he trusts us.”
Payton also has great praise for the work of costume designer Frank Labovitz, although she won’t reveal much about the fabulous costumes she will be wearing.
“I don’t want to give away too much,” she says, “because when you think about “Dreamgirls” you think about the beautiful costumes.”
But she does praise Labovitz for his innovative design. “What excited me about Frank’s renderings was how different they were from what I’ve seen before. It’s fresh and a very new feel, but it stays true to the period. And of course there are lots of sequins and bright colors and beautiful shoes and wonderful hair and makeup. You can definitely look forward to that.”
Labovitz estimates that there are about 200 costumes in the show. The Dreams alone have 11 sets of three matching dresses, plus their individual costumes with day looks and eveningwear “It’s a constant parade of costumes,” the designer says. “If an actor isn’t onstage, he’s offstage changing clothes.” Labovitz says the costumes are almost like another character in the play. They help to tell the story, detailing the changing circumstances of the characters and capturing the feel of the rapidly changing world around them. “It’s rare that you get to work on a show where the costumes are so central to telling the story.”
The costume designer is also a big fan of Hollywood’s version of “Dreamgirls.”
“One of the things that was great about the movie was how faithful they were to the original,” he says. “The movie version really maintains the character of the show.” But he adds, there’s nothing like seeing the show in a theater. “There is something magical about watching it live. Some of the moments in the show are unbelievable, like when someone does a costume change onstage in front of you and you don’t see it happen because of tricks with lights and costumes. Those moments onstage seem to defy reality.” Like when the Dreams exit in one costume and appear onstage six seconds later in a different outfit.
The opening of “Dreamgirls” at Signature Theatre will also have a special resonance for D.C.’s LGBT community. While the show is a favorite for gay and lesbian audiences, the show’s signature song, “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” has long been a special favorite for drag queens in the nation’s capital and around the world. Many of D.C.’s leading ladies of drag will no doubt be rotating the song back into their act. And that’s fine with Nova Payton, who says, “I love seeing the ladies do what they do.”
Frank Labovitz also offers some advice about tackling the song: “It’s all about the attitude. It’s about owning it, about being as fiercely tenacious as you can be. It’s larger than life and it’s expressing an emotion we’re all familiar with, the idea that we’re not ready to move on yet.”
In the meantime, Matt Gardiner says theatergoers can expect one of the largest productions that Signature has ever done.
“It will blow people away,” he says.
Movies
Few openly queer nominees land Oscar nominations
‘Sinners’ and ‘One Battle After Another’ lead the pack
This year’s Oscar nominees feature very few openly queer actors or creatives, with “KPop Demon Hunters,” “Come See Me in the Good Light,” and “Elio” bringing some much-needed representation to the field.
“KPop Demon Hunters,” which quickly became a worldwide sensation after releasing on Netflix last June, was nominated for best animated feature film and best original song for “Golden,” the chart-topping hit co-written by openly queer songwriter Mark Sonnenblick. “Come See Me in the Good Light,” a film following the late Andrea Gibson and their wife, Megan Falley, was nominated in the best documentary feature category. Finally, Pixar’s “Elio” (co-directed by openly queer filmmaker Adrian Molina) was nominated for best animated feature film alongside “Zootopia 2,” “Arco,” and “Little Amélie or the Character of Rain.”
Ethan Hawke did manage to land a best actor nomination for his work in Richard Linklater’s “Blue Moon,” a biopic that follows a fatal night in Lorenz Hart’s life as he reckons with losing his creative partner, Richard Rodgers. Robert Kaplow was also nominated for best original screenplay for penning the script. Amy Madigan, as expected, was recognized in the best supporting actress category for her work in “Weapons,” bringing celebrated gay icon Aunt Gladys to the Oscar stage.
While “Wicked: For Good” was significantly underperforming throughout the season, with Cynthia Erivo missing key nominations and the film falling squarely out of the best picture race early on, most pundits expected the film to still receive some recognition in craft categories. But in perhaps the biggest shock of Oscar nomination morning, “For Good” received zero nominations — not even for costume design or production design, the two categories in which the first film won just last year. Clearly, there was “Wicked” fatigue across the board.
There was also reasonable hope that Eva Victor’s acclaimed directorial debut, “Sorry, Baby,” would land a best original screenplay nod, especially after Julia Roberts shouted out Victor during the recent Golden Globes (which aired the day before Oscar voting started). A24, the studio that distributed “Sorry, Baby” in the U.S., clearly prioritized campaigns for “Marty Supreme” (to much success) and Rose Byrne in “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” leaving “Sorry, Baby” the indie darling that couldn’t quite crack the Oscar race.
However, with the Film Independent Spirit Awards taking place on Feb. 15, queer films like “Sorry, Baby,” “Peter Hujar’s Day,” and “Twinless” will finally get their time to shine. Maybe these films were just underseen, or not given a big enough PR push, but regardless, it’s unfortunate that the Academy couldn’t make room for just one of these when “Emilia Pérez” managed 13 nominations last year.
a&e features
MISTR’s Tristan Schukraft on evolution of HIV prevention
From ACT UP to apps, embracing stigma-free care
It was not too long ago that an HIV diagnosis was read as a death sentence. In its earlier decades, the HIV/AIDS crisis was synonymous with fear and loss, steeped in stigma. Over recent years, open conversation and science have come together to combat this stigma while proactively paving the way for life-saving treatments and preventive measures like PrEP. Now, in 2026, with discreet and modern platforms that meet people where they’re at in their lives, HIV prevention has evolved from hushed words of warning into something far more sex-positive and accessible. Game-changing services like MISTR are a testament to this shift, showing our community that healthcare doesn’t have to feel clinical or shaming to work. It can be empowering and, dare I say, celebratory.
Few people embody this evolution quite like Tristan Schukraft, founder of MISTR. With one hand in healthcare and the other high-fiving through queer nightlife, Schukraft gets that, from the bar to the bedroom and beyond, prevention happens in person and in real life. His approach has helped turn PrEP, DoxyPEP, and testing into normalized parts of our daily queer life, reaching hundreds of thousands of people across the US.
In our conversation, Schukraft shares candidly about stigma, policy, and why the future of sexual health depends on keeping it real.
BLADE: You have one hand in healthcare and the other in nightlife and queer spaces. Can you share with us how these two spheres impact and inform each other? How do they impact and inform you?
SCHUKRAFT: Honestly, for me, they’ve never been separate. Nightlife and queer spaces are where people meet, date, hook up, fall in love, and make friends. That’s real life. Being in queer spaces all the time keeps me grounded and reminds me who we’re building MISTR for.
BLADE: MISTR markets sexual health in a sex-positive, stigma-free fashion. Can you share with us how you measure the impact of this approach?
SCHUKRAFT: This year, we held the first-ever National PrEP Day. Dua Lipa performed, and Cardi B was there. After the event, Cardi B went on her Instagram live to encourage people to sign up for PrEP.
When you make sexual health stigma-free and sex positive, people talk about it. We see it in how people use the platform. When 700,000 people are willing to sign up, get tested, start PrEP, and add things like DoxyPEP, that tells us we’ve made it feel safe and normal instead of scary or awkward. And then we see it in the results. Since we expanded DoxyPEP, STI positivity among our patients dropped by half.
BLADE: How have you seen the conversation of sexual health in our LGBTQ+ community change in mainstream culture in recent years?
SCHUKRAFT: Ten years ago, nobody was casually talking about PrEP, and if they did, it likely referenced one being a Truvada whore. Now it’s part of the culture. Popstars like Troye Sivan post pictures of their daily PrEP pill on social media. Cardi B goes on Instagram Live telling people to get on PrEP.
For many sexually active gay men, taking PrEP is simply part of the gay experience. For people in more remote areas, it might not be as talked about. Particularly in rural or more conservative places, MISTR can be a life-changing option. No awkward visits to the family doctor or the local pharmacy where everybody knows your business. It’s all done discreetly online and shipped straight to your door.
BLADE: You have publicly argued that cuts to government HIV prevention funding are of high risk. Would you please elaborate for us on what those budget decisions mean on an individual level?
SCHUKRAFT: It means real people fall through the cracks. Someone doesn’t get tested. Someone waits too long to start PrEP. Someone finds out they’re HIV-positive later than they should have. Community clinics will be the hardest hit, especially those in underserved communities. The good news is that MISTR is ready to help people who might lose their access to care. All you need to do is sign up at mistr.com, and it’s totally free with or without insurance.
BLADE: From your (and MISTR’s) perspective, how do these funding cuts threaten ongoing efforts to end the HIV epidemic?
SCHUKRAFT: For the first time, we have all the tools to end HIV. If everybody who is HIV negative is taking PrEP and everyone HIV+ is virally suppressed, we can end all new HIV transmissions in the United States. We have everything we need today. All we need is to get more people on PrEP. Cutting funding risks losing that momentum. Ending HIV requires scale and consistency. Every time funding gets cut, you lose momentum, trust, and infrastructure, and rebuilding that takes years.
HIV transmissions don’t pause because budgets change.
BLADE: In our current climate of decreased federal investment, what role do you feel private healthcare and business should play in sexual health?
SCHUKRAFT: With reports that the current administration is considering cuts to HIV and prevention funding, we face a moment of reckoning. At the same time, some employers are seeking to exclude PrEP and HIV prevention from their coverage on religious freedom grounds. If these challenges succeed, and if federal funding is slashed, the consequences for public health will be devastating. But this is where the private sector must step up to fill the gap, bridge divides, and deliver results.
Businesses have the power and platform to normalize HIV prevention and drive measurable outcomes. At MISTR, we see firsthand what’s possible: since introducing DoxyPEP, STI positivity rates among our patients have been cut in half. But it’s not just about medication. It’s about messaging.
Our sex-positive, stigma-free marketing speaks directly to our community, making sexual health part of everyday life. No awkward doctor visits, no needles, no paperwork — just free online PrEP and STI testing, prescribed by real physicians and delivered to your door. That kind of impact could grow exponentially if more employers embraced this approach and made HIV prevention part of their employee wellness programs.
Employers, this is your call to action. Start by making sure your health plans cover PrEP and DoxyPEP. Partner with platforms like MISTR to give employees private, stigma-free access to care. Offer on-site testing. Talk openly about sexual health, not just during Pride, but every day of the year. This is not political — this is about protecting lives, strengthening communities, and building a healthier, more productive workforce. Because healthy employees aren’t just good for public health — they’re good for business.
When the private sector steps up, outcomes improve. And when businesses align with platforms like MISTR, scaling impact isn’t just possible — it’s happening.
BLADE: Has MISTR experienced any direct effects from these recent shifts in public health funding?
SCHUKRAFT: MISTR’s unique model is totally free for patients with or without insurance, and we don’t cost the government or taxpayers a penny. We are scaling up our efforts to reach people who might be losing their access or care.
BLADE: What would be your message to policymakers who are considering further cuts to HIV/AIDS programs?
SCHUKRAFT: During his first term, President Donald Trump committed unprecedented resources to the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative here at home. Bipartisan support has shown what’s possible when bold leadership meets smart strategy. To policymakers: I urge you to reconsider any cuts to HIV prevention funding. This is not the time to pull back. It’s the time to push forward. Ending HIV is within reach — but only if government, private industry, and community organizations stand together.
BLADE: What is one perhaps overlooked win from last year that impacted you on a personal level?
SCHUKRAFT: Seeing our STI positivity rate drop by half after expanding DoxyPEP.
BLADE: Looking at the year ahead, what are MISTR’s most significant priorities for sexual health in 2026?
SCHUKRAFT: Expanding access, especially in the South and in communities that still get left out. Rolling out injectable PrEP. And just continuing to make sexual healthcare easier and more normal.
The 2026 Mr. Mid-Atlantic Leather competition was held at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill on Sunday. Seven contestants vied for the title and Gage Ryder was named the winner.
(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
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