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Pink Martini’s Lauderdale on life, music and his V Day show at the Kennedy Center

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Thomas Lauderdale, Pink Martini, gay news, Washington Blade
Thomas Lauderdale, Pink Martini, gay news, Washington Blade

Thomas Lauderdale, founder and frontman for Pink Martini. (Photo by Autumn de Wilde)

Pink Martini
Thursday
8 p.m.
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
$30-$90
wpas.org
202-785-9727

Thomas Lauderdale, the gay founder and band director of Pink Martini, called just a few minutes after waking up one day last week from his home in Portland, where he lives in a house he says is haunted with his partner of eight years, Philip Iosca. Pink Martini returns to Washington next week for a Washington Performing Arts Society concert on Valentine’s Day at the Kennedy Center. Comments edited for length — Lauderdale is a big talker.

BLADE: Is it a good morning in Portland?

LAUDERDALE: Yes, I love it here. It’s sort of like the Pittsburgh of the west. And the guys are really cute here, more so than the girls. It seems like most cities either have cuter guys or cuter girls. Here it’s the guys.

BLADE: Pink Martini has performed with so many orchestras all over the world, yet your music is not straight-up classical at all. Are the players ever snobby about it or do they mostly just have fun with it?

LAUDERDALE: They’re really game for it. I think classical musicians who were snobby are becoming less so all the time. They have to be. Nobody’s going to hear them. Their audiences are dwindling all across America. … Most young people are watching “American Idol.” It’s just not a viable option to just play the traditional repertoire. … Orchestras all over the country are in the quandary of how to generate new audiences.

BLADE: So are the lines blurring between pop/rock and classical?

LAUDERDALE: Yes, they have to. … That was one of the reasons behind creating the band — I wanted to appeal to people outside their traditional dividing lines so it would connect with people who are really conservative, really liberal and everybody in between. This international styl with kind of an old fashioned pop feel, I felt it would be inspiriting and fun and a place where people could find commonality. And that’s kind of come true.

BLADE: Whatever happened to the Del Rubio Triplets (the group Pink Martini was formed to open for in 1994)? Surely they must be dead by now?

LAUDERDALE: Yes, sadly they are all dead. I think Millie, the oldest one by a few minutes, died about two summers ago. They were complicated — very Catholic, very anti-immigrant, yet so pro-gay and really Southern California. It was dizzying.

BLADE: Your stuff has this pre-classic rock era feel. Do you watch “Mad Men”?

LAUDERDALE: No. I don’t have a TV.

BLADE: You must feel some sense of identity with the pre-Vietnam era. Your music isn’t just that, but there’s kind of a Steve and Eydie vibe to some of it, right?

LAUDERDALE: Yeah, that sort of era between World War II and up to about 1964. It seems one of the goals of that era was building things that were beautiful and were built to last. You find refrigerators built in the ‘50s that are still working just fine. Later we saw, I think, a darker side to capitalism but I think it would have been nice if some of those trappings of that era had survived into the political liberation post-’64.

BLADE: On paper, it sounds so unlikely that a band like Pink Martini would make it. Do you feel you stumbled on something missing in the zeitgeist that there was a hunger for or does the cream always manage to rise with the truly talented in the end?

LAUDERDALE: Well, I don’t know. I think working on that first album, we were just trying to figure out a way to make it fun and accessible and not negative. It definitely helped that we were all from Oregon. This band would not have made it if we’d all lived in New York or San Francisco where everything is just so expensive and you have to be in five bands or something crazy just to make the rent. Here you can get by on very little, so you actually have time to think and just be.

BLADE: How many are in the band currently?

LAUDERDALE? Anywhere from eight to 14 depending. We’ll probably have about 10 in D.C. And we’ll maybe hire a string section.

BLADE: Can you tell us anything about the show?

LAUDERDALE: I haven’t thought that far ahead. It’s for Valentine’s Day so we might do something kind of romantic-ish.

BLADE: How gay is the band besides you?

LAUDERDALE: Well Ari Shapiro has been doing stuff with us and we’re both totally gay. And Timothy (Nishimoto). There are a few others who might be gay for pay. I think they could be tricked into it.

BLADE: You grew up in church. Were you aware at all of a mid-century trend where even the Lawrence Welk-era stuff was starting to be reflected in the gospel music of the time? There’d be stuff in the hymnals that even had waltz accompaniments.

LAUDERDALE: Well we had the red hymnal and the blue songbook where you had the newer stuff. That’s where you found the artsier, ‘70s stuff. You know, my Dad was the first openly gay minister in the Brethren church. He tends to like these cheesy inclusive modern hymns which I think are just cheesy and awful. When I go back to visit, I’m always pulling out these gloom and doom hymns — you know, we’re all going to burn — from, like, the 1880s. The melodies are just better, more beautiful. And I always win because I’m at the piano.

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PHOTOS: Helen Hayes Awards

Gay Men’s Chorus, local drag artists have featured performance at ceremony

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Members of the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington as well as local drag artists joined hosts Mike Millan and Felicia Curry with other performers for a WorldPride dance number at the Helen Hayes Awards on Monday. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The 41st Helen Hayes Awards were held at The Anthem on Monday, May 19. Felicia Curry and Mike Millan served as the hosts.

A performance featuring members of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington and local drag artists was held at the end of the first act of the program to celebrate WorldPride 2025.

The annual awards ceremony honors achievement in D.C.-area theater productions and is produced by Theatre Washington.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

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PHOTOS: D.C. Trans Pride

Schuyler Bailar gives keynote address

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D.C. Trans Pride 2025 was held at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library on May 17. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

2025 D.C. Trans Pride was held at Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library on Saturday, May 17. The day was filled with panel discussions, art, social events, speakers, a resource fair and the Engendered Spirit Awards. Awardees included Lyra McMillan, Pip Baitinger, Steph Niaupari and Hayden Gise. The keynote address was delivered by athlete and advocate Schuyler Bailar.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

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Looking back at 50 years of Pride in D.C

Washington Blade’s unique archives chronicle highs, lows of our movement

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Gay Pride Day 1976 (Washington Blade archive photo)

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of LGBTQ Pride in Washington, D.C., the Washington Blade team combed our archives and put together a glossy magazine showcasing five decades of celebrations in the city. Below is a sampling of images from the magazine but be sure to find a print copy starting this week.

D.C.’s Different Drummers march in the 2006 Capital Pride Parade. (Washington Blade archive photo by Adam Cuthbert)

The magazine is being distributed now and is complimentary. You can find copies at LGBTQ bars and restaurants across the city. Or visit the Blade booth at the Pride festival on June 7 and 8 where we will distribute copies. 

Thank you to our advertisers and sponsors, whose support has enabled us to distribute the magazine free of charge. And thanks to our dedicated team at the Blade, especially Photo Editor Michael Key, who spent many hours searching the archives for the best images, many of which are unique to the Blade and cannot be found elsewhere. And thanks to our dynamic production team of Meaghan Juba, who designed the magazine, and Phil Rockstroh who managed the process. Stephen Rutgers and Brian Pitts handled sales and marketing and staff writers Lou Chibbaro Jr., Christopher Kane, Michael K. Lavers, Joe Reberkenny along with freelancer and former Blade staffer Joey DiGuglielmo wrote the essays. 

The 1995 Lesbian and Gay Freedom Festival was held on Freedom Plaza on June 18. (Washington Blade archive photo by Clint Steib)

The magazine represents more than 50 years of hard work by countless reporters, editors, advertising sales reps, photographers, and other media professionals who have brought you the Washington Blade since 1969.

We hope you enjoy the magazine and keep it as a reminder of all the many ups and downs our local LGBTQ community has experienced over the past 50 years.

I hope you will consider supporting our vital mission by becoming a Blade member today. At a time when reliable, accurate LGBTQ news is more essential than ever, your contribution helps make it possible. With a monthly gift starting at just $7, you’ll ensure that the Blade remains a trusted, free resource for the community — now and for years to come. Click here to help fund LGBTQ journalism.

The D.C. Black Gay Men & Women’s Community Conference table at Gay Pride Day in 1978. (Washington Blade archive photo by Jim Marks)
A scene from 1985 Gay and Lesbian Pride Day. (Washington Blade archive photo by Doug Hinckle)
A scene from the 1988 Gay and Lesbian Pride Day. (Washington Blade archive photo by Doug Hinckle)
A scene from the Capital Pride Block Party in 2018. (Washington Blade photo by Daniel Truitt)
Keke Palmer performs at the 2024 Capital Pride Festival. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
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