Arts & Entertainment
Calendar through June 27
Events, parties, concerts and more for the end of Pride month
Local gay singer/songwriter Tom Goss is shooting a video for his song “Bears” on Thursday night at 7 p.m. at Town (2009 8th Street NW). Everyone who doesn’t mind being filmed is invited to attend. (Photo by Michael Key; courtesy Tom Goss Music)
Friday, June 21
Town (2009 8th St., N.W.) hosts Bear Happy Hour tonight from 6-11 p.m. There is no cover charge and admission is limited to guests 21 and over. For details, visit towndc.com.
Aaron Meyers and the Black Fox Lounge Jazz Ensemble perform tonight at the Black Fox Lounge (1723 Connecticut Ave., N.W.) from 9 p.m.-2 a.m. The event is a fundraiser to benefit the Lupus Foundation of America. Cover is $10. For more information, visit blackfoxlounge.com.
The Silver Spring Library (8901 Colesville Rd., Silver Spring, Md.) hosts a Latino LGBT Pride exhibit presented by the Latino GLBT History Project today from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. The exhibit chronicles 20 years of Latino LGBT activism and will run through June 30. Visit latinoglbthistory.org for more information.
The Savoy Suites Hotel (2505 Wisconsin Ave., N.W.) hosts a Brazilian live music show tonight from 7:30-9:30 p.m. Local singer and lyricist Cissa Paz will perform tracks from her debut album. For more details, visit cissapaz.com.
Saturday, June 22
DJ Brett Henrichsen spins tonight at Town (2009 8th St., N.W.). In his first five years, Henrichsen has become an international sensation who headlines major circuit events from Ibiza to Sao Paolo. Doors open at 10 p.m., with $3 drinks served until 11. Admission is limited to guests 21 and over, and is $8 from 10-11 and $12 after 11. For details, visit towndc.com.
Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W.) hosts “Bearracuda,” the highest attended bear dance party in the U.S., tonight from 9 p.m.-3 a.m. “Bearracuda” is held in 37 countries worldwide, with regular parties in San Francisco, Seattle and Portland, and frequent events in Sydney and Amsterdam. Admission is $7 before 10 p.m. and $10 for the rest of the night. For more information, visit cobaltdc.com.
Phase 1 (525 8th St. S.E.) hosts a “Stop Light Party” tonight at 9 p.m. Guests will be given bracelets at the door, with red meaning they are “taken,” yellow meaning they are “down for whatever” and green meaning they are “single.” Admission is $5 and limited to guests 21 and over. Visit phase1dc.com for more details.
Thirty local artists will display their work at the Easels in Frederick Grand Exhibition today from 1-6 p.m. at the Talley Recreation Center (121 North Bentz St., Frederick, Md.). Each artist’s work captures the beauty of Frederick County’s charming towns and mountainous landscapes. Admission is free. For more information, visit easelsinfrederick.org.
Sunday, June 23
The Bachelor’s Mill (1104 8th St., S.E.) hosts karaoke tonight from 9 p.m.-midnight. Cover is $3, and there will also be pool, video gaming systems and cards. For more information, visit bachelorsmill.com.
Perry’s (1811 Columbia Rd., N.W.) hosts its weekly Sunday Drag Brunch today from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. The cost is $24.95 for an all-you-can-eat buffet. For details, visit perrysadamsmorgan.com.
Special Agent Galactica performs tonight at Freddie’s Beach Bar (555 23 St., Arlington, V.A.) at 7 p.m. Cover is $5. For more information, visit pinkhairedone.com.
Monday, June 24
Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W.) hosts its weekly “Monday’s a Total Drag [Show]” party tonight from 9 p.m.-2 a.m. An episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race screens at 9, and then a live drag show will be featured. Admission is 18+ and free. For details, visit cobaltdc.com.
The D.C. Center (1318 U St., N.W.) hosts coffee drop-in hours this morning from 10 a.m.-noon for the senior LGBT community. Older LGBT adults can come and enjoy complimentary coffee and conversation with other community members. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.
Tuesday, June 25
Paolo’s Restaurant (1303 Wisconsin Ave., N.W.) hosts an opening reception with local artists Leslie Nolan and Linda Bankerd for their exhibit, “Bravissimo,” from 6-8 p.m. tonight. Both artists have innovative, abstract styles that heavily use bold colors. For more information, visit leslienolan.com.
The Green Lantern (1335 Green Ct., N.W.) hosts its weekly FUK!T Packing Party tonight from 7-9 p.m. For more details, visit thedccenter.org or greenlanterndc.com.
D.C. Eagle (639 New York Ave., N.W.) hosts “$2 Tuesday” tonight from 4 p.m.-midnight this evening for the leather community. All domestic beer and rail drinks are $2. For details, visit dceagle.com.
Wednesday, June 26
Heist (1802 Jefferson Pl., N.W.) hosts its weekly open bar party tonight from 10-11 p.m. There is no cover charge and admission is limited to guests 21 and over. For details, visit heistdc.com or the Heist DC Facebook page.
The Bachelor’s Mill (1104 8th St., S.E.) hosts drag bingo during happy hour tonight from 5-7:30 p.m. All drinks are half price, and there will also be pool, video gaming systems and cards. Admission is free. For details, visit bachelorsmill.com.
The Connecting Rainbows Initiative provides an “LGBTQA Youth in Care Summit” today at the Washington Convention Center (801 Mt. Vernon Pl., N.W.). Activities include workshops for LGBT youth, families and professionals. Registration begins at 9 a.m. and the summit ends at 5 p.m. Breakfast, lunch and snacks will be provided. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.
The Lambda Bridge Club meets tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Dignity Center (721 8th St., S.E.) for duplicate bridge. Newcomers are welcome and reservations are not necessary. Call 703-407-6540 for more details.
Thursday, June 27
MOVA Lounge (2204 14th St., N.W.) hosts “GLBT College Night” this evening, with a vodka open bar for guests who have a college ID from 9-10 p.m. Admission is free and 18 and up. Visit movalounge.com for more details.
The D.C. Black Theatre Festival is tonight from 7-9:30 p.m. at the Star Arts Center (1700 Kalorama Rd., N.W.). This year, the Brave Soul Collective presents, “Subject to Change,” a series of theatrical pieces that tackle issues of sex, work, relationships and family in the black community. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.
Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence (GLOV) meet tonight from 7-8:30 p.m. at the D.C. Center (1318 U St., N.W.). The organization works to reduce violence toward LGBT people through community outreach, education and monitoring legal cases to ensure the dignity of LGBT victims. For more details, visit thedccenter.org.
The Lambda Sci-Fi Book Group meets tonight at 7 p.m. at 1425 S St., N.W. to discuss “Among Others,” by Jo Walton. Guests are encouraged to bring a snack and non-alcoholic drink to share. For more information, call 202-483-6369 or visit lambdascifi.org.
Whitman Walker Health provides four hours of free HIV testing today for National HIV Testing Day at Walgreens (1217 22nd St., N.W.) from 3-7 p.m. Visit whitman-walker.org for more details.
Local gay singer/songwriter Tom Goss is shooting a video for his song “Bears” tonight at 7 p.m. at Town (2009 8th Street NW). Local bears who don’t mind being filmed are invited to attend.
Movies
‘Hedda’ brings queer visibility to Golden Globes
Tessa Thompson up for Best Actress for new take on Ibsen classic
The 83rd annual Golden Globes awards are set for Sunday (CBS, 8 p.m. EST). One of the many bright spots this awards season is “Hedda,” a unique LGBTQ version of the classic Henrik Ibsen story, “Hedda Gabler,” starring powerhouses Nina Hoss, Tessa Thompson and Imogen Poots. A modern reinterpretation of a timeless story, the film and its cast have already received several nominations this awards season, including a Globes nod for Best Actress for Thompson.
Writer/director Nia DaCosta was fascinated by Ibsen’s play and the enigmatic character of the deeply complex Hedda, who in the original, is stuck in a marriage she doesn’t want, and still is drawn to her former lover, Eilert.
But in DaCosta’s adaptation, there’s a fundamental difference: Eilert is being played by Hoss, and is now named Eileen.
“That name change adds this element of queerness to the story as well,” said DaCosta at a recent Golden Globes press event. “And although some people read the original play as Hedda being queer, which I find interesting, which I didn’t necessarily…it was a side effect in my movie that everyone was queer once I changed Eilert to a woman.”
She added: “But it still, for me, stayed true to the original because I was staying true to all the themes and the feelings and the sort of muckiness that I love so much about the original work.”
Thompson, who is bisexual, enjoyed playing this new version of Hedda, noting that the queer love storyline gave the film “a whole lot of knockoff effects.”
“But I think more than that, I think fundamentally something that it does is give Hedda a real foil. Another woman who’s in the world who’s making very different choices. And I think this is a film that wants to explore that piece more than Ibsen’s.”
DaCosta making it a queer story “made that kind of jump off the page and get under my skin in a way that felt really immediate,” Thompson acknowledged.
“It wants to explore sort of pathways to personhood and gaining sort of agency over one’s life. In the original piece, you have Hedda saying, ‘for once, I want to be in control of a man’s destiny,’” said Thompson.
“And I think in our piece, you see a woman struggling with trying to be in control of her own. And I thought that sort of mind, what is in the original material, but made it just, for me, make sense as a modern woman now.”
It is because of Hedda’s jealousy and envy of Eileen and her new girlfriend (Poots) that we see the character make impulsive moves.
“I think to a modern sensibility, the idea of a woman being quite jealous of another woman and acting out on that is really something that there’s not a lot of patience or grace for that in the world that we live in now,” said Thompson.
“Which I appreciate. But I do think there is something really generative. What I discovered with playing Hedda is, if it’s not left unchecked, there’s something very generative about feelings like envy and jealousy, because they point us in the direction of self. They help us understand the kind of lives that we want to live.”
Hoss actually played Hedda on stage in Berlin for several years previously.
“When I read the script, I was so surprised and mesmerized by what this decision did that there’s an Eileen instead of an Ejlert Lovborg,” said Hoss. “I was so drawn to this woman immediately.”
The deep love that is still there between Hedda and Eileen was immediately evident, as soon as the characters meet onscreen.
“If she is able to have this emotion with Eileen’s eyes, I think she isn’t yet because she doesn’t want to be vulnerable,” said Hoss. “So she doesn’t allow herself to feel that because then she could get hurt. And that’s something Eileen never got through to. So that’s the deep sadness within Eileen that she couldn’t make her feel the love, but at least these two when they meet, you feel like, ‘Oh my God, it’s not yet done with those two.’’’
Onscreen and offscreen, Thompson and Hoss loved working with each other.
“She did such great, strong choices…I looked at her transforming, which was somewhat mesmerizing, and she was really dangerous,” Hoss enthused. “It’s like when she was Hedda, I was a little bit like, but on the other hand, of course, fascinated. And that’s the thing that these humans have that are slightly dangerous. They’re also very fascinating.”
Hoss said that’s what drew Eileen to Hedda.
“I think both women want to change each other, but actually how they are is what attracts them to each other. And they’re very complimentary in that sense. So they would make up a great couple, I would believe. But the way they are right now, they’re just not good for each other. So in a way, that’s what we were talking about. I think we thought, ‘well, the background story must have been something like a chaotic, wonderful, just exploring for the first time, being in love, being out of society, doing something slightly dangerous, hidden, and then not so hidden because they would enter the Bohemian world where it was kind of okay to be queer and to celebrate yourself and to explore it.’”
But up to a certain point, because Eileen started working and was really after, ‘This is what I want to do. I want to publish, I want to become someone in the academic world,’” noted Hoss.
Poots has had her hands full playing Eileen’s love interest as she also starred in the complicated drama, “The Chronology of Water” (based on the memoir by Lydia Yuknavitch and directed by queer actress Kristen Stewart).
“Because the character in ‘Hedda’ is the only person in that triptych of women who’s acting on her impulses, despite the fact she’s incredibly, seemingly fragile, she’s the only one who has the ability to move through cowardice,” Poots acknowledged. “And that’s an interesting thing.”
Arts & Entertainment
2026 Most Eligible LGBTQ Singles nominations
We are looking for the most eligible LGBTQ singles in the Washington, D.C. region.
Are you or a friend looking to find a little love in 2026? We are looking for the most eligible LGBTQ singles in the Washington, D.C. region. Nominate you or your friends until January 23rd using the form below or by clicking HERE.
Our most eligible singles will be announced online in February. View our 2025 singles HERE.
The Freddie’s Follies drag show was held at Freddie’s Beach Bar in Arlington, Va. on Saturday, Jan. 3. Performers included Monet Dupree, Michelle Livigne, Shirley Naytch, Gigi Paris Couture and Shenandoah.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
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