Arts & Entertainment
Calendar through April 25
D.C. LGBT events, parties, concerts, meetings and more
‘CHAWbaret 10: Take a Chance on Me,’ a musical show dedicated to risk taking and gambling, runs on Saturday evening. Most of the cast members are LGBT. (Photo courtesy Megan Cheek)
Friday, April 19
The D.C. Center (1318 U St., NW) hosts a “silent lunch” in honor of Day of Silence today at noon. Day of Silence brings attention to anti-LGBT harassment in schools and those who participate in the day take their vow of silence in hopes that their comrades will address the problem. The lunch provides a space for those who are participating and need a silent place for lunch. The Center will also be putting together a “Wall of Silence,” made of different quotes and pictures sent in from the community. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.
The Capital Area Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce honors exceptional business leaders in the area at the Mayflower Renaissance (1127 Connecticut Ave., NW) this evening at 6:30 p.m. The awards dinner was created to showcase the impact of LGBT business and community leaders in the Washington region. Tickets range from $175-$465. Visit caglcc.org for more information.
The Northern Virginia Jewish Film Festival screens the film “Life In Stills” by Tamar Tal tonight at 7:15 p.m. at the Angelika Film Center and Café (2911 District Avenue, Fairfax, Va.). The film tells the story of Miriam Weissenstein and her grandson Ben Peter as they try to defend their family’s Tel Aviv photo studio from demolition. Weissenstein’s late husband was the unofficial photographer for Israel and documented the country’s political and daily life from the 1930s until he died in 1992. Tickets for this particular screening is $11. Attendees can also buy a festival pass for $60. Visit jccnv.org for more information
Life In Stills trailer
The noon-time pipe organ series “Magical, Mystical, Musical Machine” resumes today at National City Christian Church after going on hiatus in November. The church had to provide restoration to its sanctuary and famed pipe organ as a result of the August 2011 earthquake. This concert will feature organist Kristine Adamaite and saxophonist Artis Semanis from Latvia. This performance is free. For more information, visit nationalcitycc.org.
Saturday, April 20
Burgundy Crescent, a gay volunteer organization, volunteers today at 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.
The AFI Silver Silent Cinema Showcase (8633 Colesville Rd., Silver Spring, Md.) begins today at 2 p.m. and features silent film actors Mary Pickford, Harold Lloyd, Janet Gaynor, Charlie Chaplin and Laurel & Hardy. Tonight’s showcase is “Sparrows,” with Pickford starring as the oldest girl of a group of orphans held as slaves in a “child farm” in a Southern swamp. Tickets for this screening are $7-$11.50. For more screenings and their tickets, visit afi.com.
Trailer for Mary Pickford in Sparrows
The Capitol Hill Arts Workshop presents “CHAWbaret 10: Take a Chance on Me,” an evening performance featuring pop songs, standards and show tunes that celebrate gambling, taking chances and the risks we face tonight at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 5 and 8 p.m. at CHAW (545 7th St., SE). The performance features members of the D.C. Cabaret Network, including Amy Conley, Tim Gavagan, Maris Wicker and Dean Reichard. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Visit chaw.org for more information.
Filmfest D.C. continues this evening with the screening of the “The Parade” at the Avalon Theatre (5612 Connecticut Ave., NW) at 4:30 p.m. The film follows a gay rights march organizer and the prejudiced former soldier he hires to provide security for one of the events. The film recently won the Panorama Audience Award at the Berlin International Film Festival. Tickets for this individual screening are $12. Following it is a screening of “Laurence Anyways” at Landmark E Street Cinema (555 11th St., NW) at 6 p.m. The film follows Laurence after he tells his girlfriend he wants to become a woman. Tickets are $12. Attendees of the festival can buy individual tickets at each location’s box office or may purchase the director’s package, which is 10 tickets for $95, or the weekday package, which is four tickets for $39. For show times, locations and more information about the films, visit filmfestdc.org.
Laurence Anyways trailer
Sunday, April 21
Special Agent Galactica hosts her show “Across the River!” at Freddie’s Beach Bar (555 S. 23rd St., Crystal City) from 7-9:30 p.m. tonight. The show begins in the era of gin and juke joints, Vaudeville and Sinatra, and ends with rock and pop acts. Admission is free. For more information, visit pinkharedone.com.
Monday, April 22
The D.C. Center (1318 U St., NW) holds coffee drop-in for the senior LGBT community today at 10 a.m.-noon. The Center will provide complimentary coffee and a community to chat with. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.
Bears do Yoga is 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.
Tuesday, April 23
Capital Pride and the D.C. Center host “A Toast to Pride Happy Hour” at Lost Society (2001 14th St., NW) this evening at 6 p.m. The venue evokes an underground, Victorian atmosphere. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.
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, April 24
Whitman-Walker Health (1701 14th St., NW) holds its HIV+ Newly Diagnosed Support Group tonight at 7. It’s a confidential support group for anyone recently diagnosed with HIV and the group welcomes all genders and sexual orientations. Registration is required and attendees must call 202-797-3580 or email [email protected]. For details, visit whitman-walker.org.
Thursday, April 25
Eight-time Grammy winner Gladys Knight brings her rich soulful voice to the Strathmore (5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, Md) tonight at 8 p.m. Tickets are $58-$128. For details, visit strathmore.org.
Gladys Knight – Love Overboard
Martha Stewart gives a lecture on learning, teaching and inspiring others to do what they love and enjoy at the Smithsonian Craft Show today at 11 a.m. at the National Building Museum (401 F St., NW). This particular event is $50 to attend and has limited seating. The festival continues until Sunday at 5 p.m. General admission is $15, a two-day pass is $20 and special group rates are $10. For more information, visit smithsoniancraftshow.org.
Photos
PHOTOS: Capital Stonewall Democrats 50th anniversary
D.C. LGBTQ political group celebrates milestone at Pepco Edison Place Gallery
The Capital Stonewall Democrats held a 50th anniversary celebration at Pepco Edison Place Gallery on Friday. Rayceen Pendarvis served as the emcee.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
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.
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