Arts & Entertainment
Calendar: Through March 7
Parties, concerts, volunteer opportunities, events and more
‘Red and Glue Abstract’ is one of many pieces by Sarah Alexander that will be exhibited in her show “Bits and Pieces” at Foundry Gallery. The opening reception is tonight at 6 p.m. (Image courtesy Foundry)
Friday, March 1
Adodi-D.C. Black Same Gender Loving Men’s social group hosts a potluck at the Metropolitan Community Church (474 Ridge St., NW) this evening at 7 p.m. The night will include a discussion about internal and external homophobia in the black same-gender loving community. Attendees are asked to bring food to share with others. For more information, visit mccdc.com.
Foundry Gallery (1314 18th St., NW) hosts the opening reception for the show “Bits and Pieces,” photographs on canvas by Sarah Alexander starting at 6 p.m. For more information, visit foundrygallery.org.
Town (2009 8th St., N.W.) hosts Bear Happy Hour tonight from 6-11 p.m. This event is for people 21 and older. There is no cover charge. Later in the evening, the club will be hosting “So, you think you’re a drag queen?” to find the newest drag talent in the area. Contestants will be judged on performance ability, outfits, attitude and the ability to navigate a contest that requires them to do “ridiculous feats of drag-agility!” This will be a monthly contest. In order to participate, sign up during the drag show a month before the contest. The club will take the first six contestants to sign up monthly. Winners will receive $200 and the title of the month’s winner. All winners are eligible for a final competition at the end of the year. For attendants of the show, the cover is $5 before 11 p.m. and $10 after for anyone 21 and older. For 18-20 year olds, cover is $10. For details, visit towndc.com.
Saturday, March 2
Unity Fellowship Church D.C., a mostly black LGBT church, holds its annual Prayer Breakfast and Women’s Health Conference at Metropolitan Community Church (474 Ridge St., NW) today from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The keynote speaker is Mandy Carter. Registration is $50 per person. For more information, visit ufcdc.com.
The annual Rainbow Families dance takes place tonight from 6:30-9 p.m. at the Washington Ethical Society (7750 16th St., NW). The party is especially good for those who are older than 4, but there is a quiet room for younger children. There will be a family friendly DJ, games, pizza dinner and desserts. Tickets for adult members is $10, non-members is $13, children 5 and up are $5 and children 4 and under are free. For more information, visit rainbowfamiliesdc.org.
Burgundy Crescent volunteers this morning at Food and Friends (219 Riggs Rd., NE) at 8 a.m. Volunteers will help with food preparation and packing groceries. The shifts are limited to 10 per shift. Burgundy Crescent also volunteers today for the Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation at Falls Church PetSmart (6100 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church, Va.) starting at 11:45 a.m. For more information, visit burgundycrescent.org.
Singer/songwriter Suzanne Vega returns to Sixth and I Historic Synagogue (600 I St., NW) tonight at 8 p.m. She began writing poetry and music as a young girl and she attended the New York High School of the Performing Arts. Tickets are $35. For more information, visit sixthandi.org.
Honey Mahogany from “RuPaul’s Drag Race” comes to Town (2009 8th St., N.W.) tonight at 10 p.m. In 2011, Mahogany was voted San Francisco Weekly’s Readers’ Poll “Best Drag Queen 2011,” was on San Francisco Bay Guardian’s Hot Pink List of “queers to watch” and was the cover girl for the Guardian’s 2011 Queer Issue. Her hit single, a cover of Adele’s “Hometown Glory,” was chosen one of the best cover songs of the year by Limelight. Cover is $8 before 11 p.m. and $12 after. For more information, visit towndc.com.
Sunday, March 3
Metropolitan Community Church (474 Ridge St., NW) holds its weekly 9 and 11 a.m. worship services. The church is the region’s largest mostly LGBT church. For more information, visit mccdc.com.
National Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS starts today at noon and ends March 9. Congregations from around the nation will be participating in the promotional campaign by incorporating lessons about HIV and showing compassion toward those with the virus. For more information about the week or to see how your congregation can get involved, visit nationalweekofprayerforthehealingsofaids.org.
Monday, March 4
Bears do Yoga takes place this evening 6:30 p.m. as part of a series at the Green Lantern (1335 Green Court, NW). This is part of a basic yoga series that takes place every Monday and is open to people of varying body types and experience. There is no charge. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.
The D.C. Lambda Squares holds its dance series tonight at 7:30 p.m. at National City Christian Church (5 Thomas Circle, NW). The only square dance club located in Washington, the mostly LGBT group invites everybody to learn square dancing in just 16 Mondays. No special outfits, partner or prior dance experience is needed. The cost is $100. For more information or to register, visit dclambdasquares.org.
Tuesday, March 5
Green Lantern (1335 Green Court, N.W.) hosts its Safer Sex Kit-packing program tonight from 7-10:30. The packing program is looking for more volunteers to help produce the kits because they say they are barely keeping up with demand. Admission is free and volunteers can just show up. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.
Wednesday, March 6
The D.C. Center and Gallaudet University hold a special lecture titled “Sexuality and HIV/AIDS: Special Challenges for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Adolescents” by Joan Garrity of Garrity Health Consulting and Training starting at noon today at Gallaudet University’s Merrill Learning Center (800 Florida Ave., NE). Attendees are asked to RSVP to [email protected]. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.
Thursday, March 7
Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W) is hosting its weekly Best Package Contest tonight at 9 p.m. There is a $3 cover and there are $2 vodka drinks. Participants in the contest can win $200 in cash prizes. The event is hosted by Lena Lett and music by DJ Chord, DJ Madscience, and DJ Sean Morris. For details, visit cobaltdc.com.
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.
‘La Lucci’
By Susan Lucci with Laura Morton
c.2026, Blackstone Publishing
$29.99/196 pages
They’re among the world’s greatest love stories.
You know them well: Marc Antony and Cleopatra. Abelard and Heloise. Phoebe and Langley. Cliff and Nina. Jesse and Angie, Opal and Palmer, Palmer and Daisy, Tad and Dixie. Now read “La Lucci” by Susan Lucci, with Laura Morton, and you might also think of Susan and Helmut.
When she was a very small girl, Susan Lucci loved to perform. Also when she was young, she learned that words have power. She vowed to use them for good for the rest of her life.
Her parents, she says, were supportive and her family, loving. Because of her Italian heritage, she was “ethnic looking” but Lucci’s mother was careful to point out dark-haired beauties on TV and elsewhere, giving Lucci a foundation of confidence.
That’s just one of the things for which Lucci says she’s grateful. In fact, she says, “Prayers of gratitude are how I begin and end each day.”
She is particularly grateful for becoming a mother to her two adult children, and to the doctors who saved her son’s life when he was a newborn.
Lucci writes about gratitude for her long career. She was a keystone character on TV’s “All My Children,” and she learned a lot from older actors on the show, and from Agnes Nixon, the creator of it. She says she still keeps in touch with many of her former costars.
She is thankful for her mother’s caretakers, who stepped in when dementia struck. Grateful for more doctors, who did heart-saving work when Lucci had a clogged artery. Grateful for friends, opportunities, life, grandchildren, and a career that continues.
And she’s grateful for the love she shared with her husband, Helmut Huber, who died nearly four years ago. Grateful for the chance to grieve, to heal, and to continue.
And yet, she says of her husband: “He was never timid, but I know he was afraid at the end, and that kills me down to my soul.”
“It’s been 15 years since Erica Kane and I parted ways,” says author Susan Lucci (with Laura Morton), and she says that people still approach her to confirm or deny rumors of the show’s resurrection. There’s still no answer to that here (sorry, fans), but what you’ll find inside “La Lucci” is still exceptionally generous.
If this book were just filled with stories, you’d like it just fine. If it was only about Lucci’s faith and her gratitude – words that happen to appear very frequently here – you’d still like reading it. But Lucci tells her stories of family, children and “All My Children,” while also offering help to couples who’ve endured miscarriage, women who’ve had heart problems, and widow(ers) who are spinning and need the kindness of someone who’s lived loss, too.
These are the other things you’ll find in “La Lucci,” in a voice you’ll hear in your head, if you spent your lunch hours glued to the TV back in the day. It’s a comfortable, fun read for fans. It’s a story you’ll love.
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