Arts & Entertainment
Baltimore arts briefs through Dec. 13
Highlights from this week’s arts Baltimore calendar
Hunks model trunks for Center benefit
The Red Maple (930 North Charles St.) hosts Holiday Hunks in Trunks All-Male Swim Suit Charity Auction to benefit Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Baltimore Wednesday night at 8 pm.
The even includes an all-male swimsuit fashion show and auction. There will be 10 models this year, and when the show is over some of the swimsuits will be auctioned right off their bodies.
Tickets are $19.50 to $253.50. For more information, visit hunksintrunks.org.

Gay filmmaker John Waters returns to the Birchmere again this year. (Photo by Greg Gorman; courtesy of Waters)
Baltimore legend returns with holiday show
The Birchmere (3701 Mount Vernon Ave.) hosts “A John Waters Christmas!” on Monday night at 7:30.
Waters’ show explores the gay and sexual passion of the holiday season. His love for Christmas has inspired the one-man show to come back every year.
Tickets are $49.50. For more information, visit birchmere.com.
Crows present holiday show
Iron Crow Theatre Company presents “Christmas with the Crows” on Saturday night at 8 at the University of Baltimore Student Center (21 W. Mount Royal Ave.).
The show includes special guests Bruce Nelson and Rober Hitz as they fill the evening with holiday songs and readings.
Tickets are $25. For more information, visit ironcrowtheatre.com.
Another week for gay Bingo
Club Hippo (1 W. Eager St.) has its weekly Gay Bingo night on Wednesday at 8:30 to benefit the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Baltimore.
The night includes progressive jackpots and drinks specials all night. The Center promotes equality and understanding of Baltimore’s LGBT community while also providing them with services such as support groups and different events.
There are $3 drink specials all night. For more information, visit clubhippo.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.
