Arts & Entertainment
‘He can really energize a dancefloor’
DJ Joe starts new monthly residency Friday at Cobalt
Joe Gauthreaux (Photo courtesy of Project Publicity)
The first song DJ Joe Gauthreaux remembers hearing on the radio was “Material Girl.” He was 5, it came on the car radio and made an indelible impression.
“It’s the first song I ever remember listening to as a child,” he says during a phone chat from Ft. Lauderdale. “My dad was like, ‘Ugh, that’s that Madonna,’ and … of course because they hated it so much, that made me love it all the more.”
He also feels kinship with Madonna because they share the same birthday — Aug. 16.
Gauthreaux — pronounced GO-troh — has gradually made a name for himself in the gay club scene over the last decade or so. Named “hottest DJ of the year” by Out Magazine in 2005, he’s remixed tracks for Kristine W., Jeanie Tracy and Tony Moran. Working with Joey Arbagey, an A&R rep at Universal, he’s broken into the major label world doing remixes for NeYo, The Wanted and Melanie Amaro. Three of his remixes are on the official maxi for teen idol Justin Bieber’s No. 2 (Hot 100) hit “Boyfriend.”
Now living again in New York after five years in Los Angeles, Gauthreaux is closer to D.C. He’s DJ’ed at Cobalt about four times in the last couple years and has now accepted a residency there that commences Friday from 10 p.m.-3 a.m.. It won’t always be the last Friday of the month — the next two installments are slated for Feb. 15 and March 15 — but Gauthreaux (djjoeg.com) will be there monthly. Cover is $10 and includes free vodka drinks from 11 to midnight. Keenan Orr spins downstairs (cobaltdc.com).
“After I moved back to New York, I talked to (Cobalt manager) Mark (Rutstein) about the idea of starting my own party. I really like the idea of playing somewhere regularly. On one hand, you don’t want to get too exposed, but the flip side is you can really build on it and go somewhere with the crowd over time.”
Rutstein says Gauthreaux’s move back to the East Coast makes it easier to get him down here.
“It’s a lot easier, we don’t have to fly him in from L.A. each time,” Rutstein says. “It’s really super exciting to have Joe here all the time. He has a strong following in D.C. and always packs the house.”
Rutstein also says Gauthreaux is one of the most accommodating DJs he’s worked with.
“Everyone is really different,” he says. “Joe and I just text each other and say, ‘Hey, you wanna spin?’ Drew G is the same thing. Others, like, say Junior Vasquez, take several several several e-mails and calls. Then there are others, like Peter Rauhofer, who has never once even returned my calls, so it just depends.”
Gauthreaux is established enough, he says, that crowds are willing to go where he takes them musically — within reason.
“I’ve been around awhile, so there’s a sense of trust there I think,” he says. “I’ve done my fair share of events so people know, ‘Oh, we’re gonna go hear Joe,’ they almost expect me, I think … they almost expect something a little different. Of course, I’ll play Rihanna, Madonna, but it’ll usually be a different mix they haven’t heard. You don’t want to do a whole hour of stuff they don’t know, even a really adventuresome crowd has a limit, but there’s definitely a happy medium you find. I’d feel guilty if I didn’t throw in at least a few things everybody knows. You tend to think, ‘Oh, the crowd just wants to hear the hits,’ but there’s always 10 people there who want to hear something new, so you have to find that balance.”
Erik Lars Evans, a local DJ who’s followed the gay club scene for years and considers himself a Gauthreaux fan, says Gauthreaux’s willingness to adapt has worked to his advantage.
“He’s very good at what he does and can really energize a dance floor,” Evans says. “I’ve been going to hear him spin as far back as 2002 … and he does exactly what a good DJ is supposed to do — he’s adapted. I’d say his current style is more a mix of progressive beats, house classics and circuit energy and I’d say that’s what makes him stand out in his own way and keeps fans coming to hear him.”
Evans says one of the most noticeable differences in dance music over, say, the last decade is a gradual increase of pop infiltration in gay clubs and not as much the niche artists one traditionally heard on gay dancefloors but nowhere else.
“In modern times, we’ve seen the breakdown of that barrier and you’ve seen mainstream music take over,” Evans says. “You still hear niche artists, but it’s not like it used to be.”
In some ways — and though they share the same Billboard chart — the explosion of dance music in straight culture with Deadmau5 showing up on the Grammys and on the cover of Rolling Stone with a strong rise in popularity for DJs like Skrillex, Swedish House Mafia, Avicii and Tiesto, is its own phenomenon, happening apart of gay DJs.
“I think the separation is just more apparent now because their scene has gotten so big,” Gauthreaux, who’s gay, says. “Dance for straight people was pretty much non-existent 10 years ago. I don’t want to pigeonhole them, but a lot of them were just so into hip-hop, which nowadays has gone more underground, but dance music is on the radio. I mean if you listen to Rihanna’s new album, half the songs are already club ready. Before that would never have been the case and you had to remix everything. It’s just a natural thing with the way music changes. In five years from now, it could be totally different, I’m not sure.”
Gauthreaux says the genres are distinct because gays and straights party differently.
“At the end of the day, there’s a certain comfort at walking into a club and knowing 99 percent of the people there are people you could go up and buy a drink for,” he says. “Nobody wants to be guessing, ‘Is this guy straight?,’ ‘Is this guy gay?’ It’s just a different clubbing culture altogether. Gay people go out and party. They’re not into VIP booths and champagne bottles and buttoned up shirts and girls in high heels. It’s also more violent, typically, at the straight clubs. In the gay clubs, you don’t have to worry about fights breaking out. We don’t care about champagne service. We want a DJ box and we want to get down. I think there’s a long way to go before it’s all intertwined.”
The ‘treau triv
Joe Gauthreaux (Photo courtesy of Project Publicity)
Current relationship status: Single
Any tattoos? Yes, one. My sign — Leo.
Do you follow astrology? I don’t follow every sign, but I certainly know my sign and I’m so 100 percent my sign, it’s not even funny. I also know the compatible signs for Leos.
But just for fun or seriously? Let’s say this — if I meet somebody and they’re not one of the compatible signs for me, I’m a LOT more cautious. I know that sounds ridiculous, but there’s an aspect to it that I very much believe.
How much of your set is live? “I’ve never not played live. That would just be so weird. It’s not like I’m remixing everything live right there on the spot, of course. If you want to do a mash-up or something, of course, you do that ahead of time on the computer, but that’s just one track. It’s such a creative art form, you have to feed off the crowd and you can’t do that at home by yourself.”
How long do you typically spin? “Usually four to five hours. Sometimes less if there are other DJs on the bill. But you have to take time to get a good grove going.”
Theater
‘Inherit the Wind’ isn’t about science vs. religion, but the right to think
Holly Twyford on new role and importance of listening to different opinions
‘Inherit the Wind’
Through April 5
Arena Stage
1101 Sixth St., S.W.
Tickets start at $73
Arenastage.org
When “Inherit the Wind” premiered on Broadway in 1955 with a cast of 50, its fictional setting of Hillsboro, an obscure country town described as the buckle on the Bible Belt, was filled with townspeople. And now at Arena Stage, director Ryan Guzzo Purcell has somehow crowded Arena’s large Fichandler space with just 10 actors, five principals and a delightful ensemble of five playing multiple roles.
Inspired by the real-life Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925, Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee’s fictionalized work pits intellectual freedom against McCarthyism via the imagined trial of Bertram Cates (Noah Plomgren), a Tennessee educator charged with teaching evolution. Drawn into the fracas are big shot lawyers, defense attorney Henry Drummond (Billy Eugene Jones), and conservative prosecutor, Matthew Harrison Brady (Dakin Matthew). On hand to cover the closely watched story is wisecracking city slicker and Baltimore reporter E.K. Horneck (played by nonbinary actor Alyssa Keegan).
Out actor Holly Twyford, a four-time Helen Hayes Award winner who has appeared in more than 80 Washington area plays, is part of the ensemble. In jeans and boots, she memorably plays Meeker, the bailiff at the Hillsboro courthouse and the jailer responsible for holding Cates in the days leading to his trial.
Twyford also plays Sillers, a slack jawed earnest employee at the local feed store who’s called to serve on the jury. And more importantly she plays Brady’s quietly strong wife Sarah whom he affectionately calls “Mother.”
When Twyford makes her memorable first entrance as Meeker, she’s wiping shaving cream from her face with a hand towel. With shades of Mayberry R.F.D., the jail is run casually. Meeker says Cates isn’t the criminal type, and he’s not.
“There’s a joke among actors,” says Twyford. “When an actor gets his shoes, they know who their character is. And it’s sort of true. When you put on boots, heels, or flip flops, there’s a different feeling, and you walk differently.”
Similarly, shares Twyford, it goes for clothes too: “When Mother slips a pink coat dress over her cowboy boots, dons a little hat and ties her scarf, or Meeker puts on his work shirt, I know where I am. And all of that is thanks to a remarkable wardrobe crew.
“Additionally, some of the ensemble characters are played broadly which is helpful to the actors and super identifying for the audience too.”
During intermission, an audience member loudly described the production as “a proper play” filled with beautifully written passages. And it’s true. Twyford agrees, adding “That’s all true, and it’s also been was fun for us to be a part of the Arena legacy as well. Arena took ‘Inherit the Wind’ to the Soviet Union in the early ‘70s when the respective governments did a cultural exchange. At the time, the iron curtain was very much in place, and they traveled with a play about a man with his own thoughts.”
When the ensemble was cast, actors didn’t know which tracts exactly they were going to play. “What came together was a cast, diverse in different ways. Some directors, including myself when I direct, are interested in assembling a cast that’s a good group. No time for egos. It’s more about who will make the best group to help me tell this story.”
At one point during rehearsal, ensemble members began to help one another with minor onstage costume changes, like jackets and hats: “We just started doing it and Ryan [Guzzo Purcell] picked up on it, saying things really began to come alive when we helped each other, so we went with that.”
“For me, it was reminiscent of ‘The Laramie Project’ [Ford’s Theatre in 2013] when we played five different parts and we’d help each other with a vest or jacket in a similar way. It worked so well then too,” says Twyford.
“Inherit the Wind” isn’t about science versus religion. It’s about the right to think, playwright Jerome Lawrrence has been quoted as saying. And it’s a quote that makes the play that much more relevant today.
Twford remembers a chat in a hair salon: “I was getting my hair cut and the woman next to me shared that she was tired of message plays. Understandably there are theater makers who believe that message plays are the point, while others think it’s all about entertainment. I feel like ‘Inherit the Wind’ sits in a nice place in the middle.”
She adds “the work is a creative way of showing different opinions and that, I think, is what we should be paying attention to right now. Clearly, it’s not right or wrong to express what you think.”
Out & About
‘How We Survived’ panel set for March 25
‘Living History’ discussion to be held at Spark Social
Friends of Dorothy Cafe will host “Part One, Living History: How We Survived,” will take place on Wednesday, March 25 at 7:30 p.m. at Spark Social House.
This event will be moderated by Abby Stuckrath, host of the “Queering the District” podcast. Panelists include: Earline Budd, activist, trans rights advocate; TJ Flavell of Go Gay DC; DC LGBTQ+ Center Board Member David Bissette; and Alexa Rodriguez, founder and executive director, Trans-Latinx DMV.
This event is part of a four-part storytelling series called “Living History,” which centers LGBTQ elders, activists, artists, and icons sharing their lived experiences and reflections with younger generations. The conversations explore themes like resilience, community organizing, chosen family, and the lessons earlier generations hope today’s LGBTQ+ and ally communities will carry forward.
Saturday, March 21
Go Gay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Community Brunch” at 11 a.m. at Freddie’s Beach Bar & Restaurant. This fun weekly event brings the DMV area LGBTQ+ community, including allies, together for delicious food and conversation. Attendance is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.
The DC Center for the LGBT Community will host “Sunday Supper on Saturday” at 2 p.m. It’s more than just an event; it’s an opportunity to step away from the busyness of life and invest in something meaningful, and enjoy delicious food, genuine laughter, and conversations that spark connection and inspiration. For more details, visit the Center’s website.
Sunday, March 22
LGBTQ+ Community Coffee and Conversation will be at 12 p.m. at As You Are. This event is for people looking to make more friends and meaningful connections in the LGBTQ community. Attendance is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.
Monday, March 23
Center Aging: Monday Coffee Klatch” will be at 10 a.m. on Zoom. This is a social hour for older LGBTQ+ adults. Guests are encouraged to bring a beverage of choice. For more information, contact Adam ([email protected]).
Queer Book Club will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. The Queer Book Club meets on the fourth Monday of the month to discuss queer books by queer authors. For more details, visit the DC Center’s website.
Tuesday, March 24
Coming Out Discussion Group will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This is a safe space to share experiences about coming out and discuss topics as it relates to doing so — by sharing struggles and victories the group allows those newly coming out and who have been out for a while to learn from others. For more details, visit the group’s Facebook.
Genderqueer DC will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This is a support group for people who identify outside of the gender binary, whether you’re bigender, agender, genderfluid, or just know that you’re not 100% cis. For more details, visit www.genderqueerdc.org or Facebook.
Wednesday, March 25
Job Club will be at 6 p.m. on Zoom upon request. This is a weekly job support program to help job entrants and seekers, including the long-term unemployed, improve self-confidence, motivation, resilience and productivity for effective job searches and networking — allowing participants to move away from being merely “applicants” toward being “candidates.” For more information, email [email protected] or visit www.thedccenter.org/careers.
Thursday, March 26
The DC Center’s Fresh Produce Program will be held all day at the DC Center for the LGBT Community. People will be informed on Wednesday at 5 p.m. if they are picked to receive a produce box. No proof of residency or income is required. For more information, email [email protected] or call 202-682-2245.
Virtual Yoga Class will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This free weekly class is a combination of yoga, breath work and meditation that allows LGBTQ+ community members to continue their healing journey with somatic and mindfulness practices. For more details, visit the DC Center’s website.
Small is beautiful: subcompact SUVs
‘Inherit the Wind’ isn’t about science vs. religion, but the right to think
‘How We Survived’ panel set for March 25
Calendar: March 21-26
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