Arts & Entertainment
Calendar through August 8
Concerts, parties, support groups, gallery openings and more
‘Geometrics’ by Paul McCutchen, on display this summer at Touchstone Gallery. (Image courtesy Touchstone)
Friday, Aug. 2
The D.C. Center (1318 U St., N.W.) hosts a trans support group this evening from 7-8:15 p.m. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.
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.
Gay District, a community-based organization that builds understanding of gay culture and personal identity, meets from 8:30-9:30 p.m. at the D.C. Center (1318 U St., N.W.). The group specifically promotes awareness of community events and civil rights for LGBT men ages 18-35. For more information, visit thedccenter.org or gaydistrict.org.
Town (2009 8th St., N.W.) hosts its monthly “So, You Think You’re a Drag Queen?” contest tonight to find the region’s newest drag talent. Doors open at 10 p.m., and the competition starts at 10:30. Cover is $5 from 10-11 and $10 after 11 for guests 21 and over, and $10 all night for guests 18-20. For details, visit towndc.com.
Delta Elite (10 St., N.E.) hosts ladies night tonight from 10 p.m.-3 a.m. For more details, visit deltaelite.net.
Studio Theatre (1501 14th St., N.W.) presents “The Rocky Horror Show,” directed by Keith Alan Baker and Alan Paul, at 8 p.m. tonight. The production has been extended through Aug. 11 and will include shows at 8 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Admission ranges from $40-45. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit studiotheatre.org.
Saturday, Aug. 3
Phase 1 of Dupont (1415 22nd St., N.W.) hosts its weekly “Booty Beach Ladies Dance Party.” The winner of the party’s bikini and board shorts contest will receive cash and prizes. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. and admission is $5. Visit phase1dc.com for more information.
Burgundy Crescent Volunteers, a gay volunteer organization, volunteers today at Chesapeake Pride (4150 Honeysuckle Dr.) near Annapolis from noon-6 p.m. Volunteers will help at the front gate, sell wine and beer and help direct traffic into the parking lot. Visit burgundycrescent.org for more information.
Sunday, Aug. 4
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.
Nellie’s Sports Bar (900 U St., N.W.) hosts its weekly Drag Brunch with Shi-Queeta Lee today at 11 a.m. The buffet is $24, including one free mimosa. For more information, visit nelliessportsbar.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.
Monday, Aug. 5
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.
Nellie’s Sports Bar (900 U St., N.W.) hosts its weekly “Golden Girls Watch Party” tonight from 5 p.m.-midnight featuring $5 drink specials inspired by the Golden Girls characters. Visit nelliessportsbar.com for details.
The Fort Reno Summer Music Series continue tonight at Fort Reno Park (Chesapeake St. and Nebraska Ave., N.W.) from 7:15-9:30 p.m. Tonight’s local bands include Mary Christ and Sunwolf. The concert is free and open to the public. For more information, visit fortreno.com.
A sampling of Sunwolf
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 older and free. For details, visit cobaltdc.com.
Tuesday, Aug. 6
Us Helping Us (3636 Georgia Ave., N.W.) hosts a focus group for gay black men, organized by the D.C. HIV Prevention Planning Group, from 5:30-8 p.m. this evening. Visit thedccenter.org or uhupil.org for more details.
MOVA Lounge (2204 14th St., N.W.) screens “Will & Grace” reruns tonight from 5 p.m.-3 a.m. Half-priced “Karen Walker Martinis” and “Just Jack Cocktails” will be served. There is no cover. For more information, visit movalounge.com.
A little Karen & Jack
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vDHKxAK9Ds
Wednesday, Aug. 7
Lambda Bridge Club meets at 7:30 p.m. tonight at the Dignity Center (721 8th St., S.E.) for social bridge. Newcomers are welcome and a partner is not needed. For more information, call 301-345-1571.
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 Smithsonian National Zoo (3001 Connecticut Ave., N.W.) features “Gorilla Day” from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. today in the Great Ape House. The event is family friendly and free and includes animal demonstrations and talks with zookeepers. At 11:15 and 1:15, there will be “knuckle-walking races” kids can compete in. For more information, visit nationalzoo.si.edu.
Thursday, Aug. 8
Burgundy Crescent, a gay volunteer organization, volunteers this evening for Food & Friends (219 Riggs Rd., N.E.), which helps to feed about 1,100 living with AIDS in D.C. Burgundy Crescent members will pack groceries and chop vegetables. For more information, visit burgundycrescent.org.
The Fort Reno Summer Music Series continue tonight at Fort Reno Park (Chesapeake St. and Nebraska Ave., N.W.) from 7:15-9:30 p.m. Tonight’s local bands include Paint Branch and Quiverd. The concert is free and open to the public. For more information, visit fortreno.com.
Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W.) hosts its weekly “Ripped Hot Body Contest” tonight from 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Lena Lett hosts the event and contestants can win up to $200 in prizes. $2 rail drinks will be served from 9-11 p.m. Admission is 18 and older and free. For details, visit cobaltdc.com.
Finn and Porter (900 10th St., N.W.) hosts speed dating for women in their 30s and 40s from 7-9 p.m. tonight. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.
JR.’s Bar and Grill (1519 17th St., N.W.) hosts an “All-U-Care-2-Drink” happy hour for $15 from 4-8 p.m. this evening. For details, visit jrsbardc.com.
Star of “Pose” Dominique Jackson was the special guest at the vogue party “Kunty” on Saturday, Oct. 5 at Bunker. DJ Mascari provided the music.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Theater
‘Acting their asses off’ in ‘Exception to the Rule’
Studio production takes place during after-school detention
‘Exception to the Rule’
Through Sunday, October 27
Studio Theatre
1501 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.
$40-$95
Studiotheatre.org
After-school detention is a bore, but it’s especially tiresome on the last day of classes before a holiday.
In Dave Harris’s provocative new play “Exception to the Rule” (now at Studio Theatre) that’s just the case.
It’s Friday, and the usual suspects are reporting to room 111 for detention before enjoying the long MLK weekend. First on the scene are blaring “bad girl” Mikayla (Khalia Muhammad) and nerdy stoner Tommy (Stephen Taylor Jr.), followed by mercurial player Dayrin (Jacques Jean-Mary), kind Dasani (Shana Lee Hill), and unreadable Abdul (Khouri St.Surin).
The familiar is jaw-droppingly altered by the entrance of “College Bound Erika” (Sabrina Lynne Sawyer), a detention first timer whose bookworm presence elicits jokes from the others: What happened? You fail a test?
Dasani (who’s teased for being named for designer water) dubs Erika “Sweet Pea” and welcomes her to the rule-breaking fold. Together the regulars explain how detention works: The moderator, Mr. Bernie, shows up, signs their slips, and then they go. But today the teacher is tardy.
As they wait, the kids pass the time laughing, trash talking, flirting, and yelling. When not bouncing around the classroom, Dayrin is grooming his hair, while Dasani endlessly reapplies blush and lip gloss. At one point two boys almost come to blows, nearly repeating the cafeteria brawl that landed them in detention in the first place.
It’s loud. It’s confrontational. And it’s funny.
Erika is naively perplexed: “I thought detention was quiet. A place where everyone remembers the mistakes that got them here and then learns how to not make the same mistakes again.”
For room 111, the only connection to the outside world is an increasingly glitchy and creepy intercom system. Announcements (bus passes, the school’s dismal ranking, the impending weekend lockdown, etc.) are spoken by the unseen but unmistakably stentorian-voiced Craig Wallace.
Dave Harris first conceived “Exception to the Rule” in 2014 during his junior year at Yale University. In the program notes, the Black playwright describes “Exception to the Rule” as “a single set / six actors on a stage, just acting their asses off.” It’s true, and they do it well.
Miranda Haymon is reprising their role as director (they finely helmed the play’s 2022 off-Broadway debut at Roundabout Theatre Company in New York). Haymon orchestrates a natural feel to movement in the classroom, and without entirely stilling the action on stage (makeup applying, scribbling, etc.), the out director gives each member of the terrific cast their revelatory moment. In a busy room, we learn that Tommy’s goofiness belies trauma, that Mikayla is admirably resourceful, and most startling, why Erika, the school’s top student, is in detention.
Mr. Bernie is clearly a no-show. And despite his absence, the regulars are bizarrely loath to leave the confines of 111 for fear of catching yet another detention. Of course, it’s emblematic of something bigger. Still, things happen within the room.
While initially treated as a sort of mascot, awkwardly quiet Erika becomes rather direct in her questions and observations. Suddenly, she’s rather stiffly doling out unsolicited advice.
It’s as if an entirely new person has been thrown into the mix.
Not all of her guidance goes unheeded. Take fighting for instance. At Erika’s suggestion, St.Surin’s Abdul refrains from kicking Dayrin’s ass. (Just feet from the audience gathered for a recent matinee in Studio’s intimate Mead Theatre, Abdul’s frustration resulting from anger while yearning for a world of principled order is palpable as evidenced when a single tear rolled down the actor’s right cheek)
Set designer Tony Cisek renders a no-frills classroom with cinder block walls, a high and horizontal row of frosted fixed windows that become eerily prison like when overhead fluorescent lighting is threateningly dimmed.
Still, no matter how dark, beyond the classroom door, a light remains aglow, encouraging the kids to ponder an exit plan.
The Washington Commanders are proud to welcome the LGBTQ community for the fourth annual “Pride Night Out!” on Sunday, Oct. 6 at 1 p.m. at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Md.
This will be a matchup against the Cleveland Browns. The Pregame Pride Party Pass and Club level game ticket includes premier party location and club level ticket all-you-can-eat buffet, beer and wine, an exclusive Commanders Pride T-shirt, pregame entertainment and a postgame photo on the field.
More ticket options are available and $5 of every ticket goes back to Team DC. For more information visit the Commanders’ website.
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