Arts & Entertainment

Helming ‘Chorus’

Broadway vet directing current Olney production

Published

12 years ago

August 1, 2013

Theater veteran Stephen Nachamie says A Chorus Line calls on ‘great dancers to really act.’ (Photo courtesy of Olney Theatre)

‘A Chorus Line’
Through Sept. 1
Olney Theatre Center
2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney, MD
$32.50-$65
301-924-3400
olneytheatre.org

Director and choreographer Stephen Nachamie’s connection to the groundbreaking musical “A Chorus Line” is long and heartfelt. Not only has he played several of the characters in tours and regional productions over the years, but he’s also staged a couple versions too.

So when Olney Theatre Center’s Artistic Director Jason Loewith called last December asking him to helm their own peek into the joys and struggles of Broadway’s “gypsies,” Nachamie had to give the offer some extra consideration before accepting.

In past Olney seasons, the New York-based Nachamie, who is gay, has had successes with musicals “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” “Camelot” and “1776,” but to direct “A Chorus Line,” he says he felt an obligation to set the bar extra high.

“To do this right I knew that I needed strong dancers, daring actors and singers who could convincingly move from speech to song. I’d heard D.C. might not have the skill set, but we found a lot of well-trained hardworking honest actors here. We brought some people from New York like Nancy Lemenager and Bryan Knowlton, but three-fourths of the cast are local [including Parker Drown and Sam Edgerly]. ‘A Chorus Line’ calls on great dancers to really act. This is an amazing opportunity for them to show what they can do.”

Crafted from a series of recorded informal talks among working Broadway dancers, “A Chorus Line” tells the story of 17 dancers auditioning for limited spots in a new musical. Standing on a bare stage, the anxious aspirants are asked by an unseen director to talk about themselves. Their compelling stories — told in words by librettists James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante and song from Marvin Hamlish and Edward Kleban’s Tony Award-winning score — range from amusingly raw to wistfully poignant.

Originally directed and choreographed by the brilliant Michael Bennett, the multiple Tony-winning musical opened on Broadway in the summer of 1975, proving a huge success with critics and theatergoers alike and later won the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Drama (not a common feat for a musical).

Nachamie, a native New Yorker who grew up seeing a lot of Broadway musicals (his first was “Grease” at age 4), recalls his introduction to “A Chorus Line”: “I remember first seeing it with my brother and sister. I think I was 12. There were these characters on stage who matter-of-factly said they were gay. It was simply part of their stories. They didn’t slink offstage in shame. I’d never seen anything like that before. It made a big impression.

“With this show, I really want to tell the story of a dancers’ life,” he says. “I’m inspired by Michael Bennett [who died from AIDS-related lymphoma in 1987 at just 44]. His work focused on the characters. The original ‘A Chorus Line’ was all about the actors. The set was a black box with a mirror. Bennett’s original ‘Dreamgirls’ was a black box with some light towers.”

This production is set in 1975. Somehow a saucy dancer singing about how her career blossomed after the scalpel-wielding “wizard on Park and 73^rd” inflated her breasts and booty doesn’t pack the same wallop in cosmetic surgery-jaded 2013, but it’s still a cute number.

Nachamie, 40, looks back on his career to date. As an actor from late adolescence and now a director and writer, he describes the New York theater world as a place where he found acceptance. It’s where he comfortably came out and came of age surrounded by positive role models.

“Some pretty great things and some not so great things are happening for the LGBT community today,” Nachamie says. “It’s important to take stock of where we’ve been and where we’re going. ‘A Chorus Line’ is about people staking a claim for a dream and putting their hearts and soul on the line for what they want. It reminds us that we’re owed nothing. We have to work for it.”

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FUND LGBTQ JOURNALISM

Books

Celebrate Pride month by reading these books

History, pop culture, and more

Published

19 hours ago

June 14, 2025

Terri Schlichenmeyer

(Photo courtesy of Terri Schlichenmeyer)

You’ve done your share of marching.

You’re determined to wring every rainbow-hued thing out of this month. The last of the parties hasn’t arrived yet, neither have the biggest celebrations and you’re primed but – OK, you need a minute. So pull up a chair, take a deep breath, and read these great books on gay history, movies, and more.

You probably don’t need to be told that harassment and discrimination was a daily occurrence for gay people in the past (as now!), but “American Scare: Florida’s Hidden Cold War on Black and Queer Lives” by Robert W. Fieseler (Dutton, $34) tells a story that runs deeper than you may know. Here, you’ll read a historical expose with documented, newly released evidence of a systemic effort to ruin the lives of two groups of people that were perceived as a threat to a legislature full of white men.

Prepared to be shocked, that’s all you need to know.

You’ll also want to read the story inside “The Many Passions of Michael Hardwick: Sex and the Supreme Court in the Age of AIDS” by Martin Padgett (W.W. Norton & Company, $31.99), which sounds like a novel, but it’s not. It’s the story of one man’s fight for a basic right as the AIDS crisis swirls in and out of American gay life and law. Hint: this book isn’t just old history, and it’s not just for gay men.

Maybe you’re ready for some fun and who doesn’t like a movie? You know you do, so you’ll want “Sick and Dirty: Hollywood’s Gay Golden Age and the Making of Modern Queerness” by Michael Koresky (Bloomsbury, $29.99). It’s a great look at the Hays Code and what it allowed audiences to see, but it’s also about the classics that sneaked beneath the code. There are actors, of course, in here, but also directors, writers, and other Hollywood characters you may recognize. Grab the popcorn and settle in.

If you have kids in your life, they’ll want to know more about Pride and you’ll want to look for “Pride: Celebrations & Festivals” by Eric Huang, illustrated by Amy Phelps (Quarto, $14.99), a story of inclusion that ends in a nice fat section of history and explanation, great for kids ages seven-to-fourteen. Also find “Are You a Friend of Dorothy? The True Story of an Imaginary Woman and the Real People She Helped Shape” by Kyle Lukoff, illustrated by Levi Hastings (Simon & Schuster, $19.99), a lively book about a not-often-told secret for kids ages six-to-ten; and “Papa’s Coming Home” by Chasten Buttigieg, illustrated by Dan Taylor (Philomel, $19.99), a sweet family tale for kids ages three-to-five.

Finally, here’s a tween book that you can enjoy, too: “Queer Heroes” by Arabelle Sicardi, illustrated by Sarah Tanat-Jones (Wide Eyed, $14.99), a series of quick-to-read biographies of people you should know about.

Want more Pride books? Then ask your favorite bookseller or librarian for more, because there are so many more things to read. Really, the possibilities are almost endless, so march on in.

Music & Concerts

Indigo Girls coming to Capital One Hall

Stars take center stage alongside Fairfax Symphony

Published

3 days ago

June 12, 2025

Tinashe Chingarande

The Indigo Girls are back in the area next week. (Photo courtesy of Vanguard Records)

Capital One Center will host “The Indigo Girls with the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra” on Thursday, June 19 and Friday, June 20 at 8 p.m. at Capital One Hall.

The Grammy Award-winning folk and pop stars will take center stage alongside the Fairfax Symphony, conducted by Jason Seber. The concerts feature orchestrations of iconic hits such as “Power of Two,” “Get Out The Map,” “Least Complicated,” “Ghost,” “Kid Fears,” “Galileo,” “Closer to Fine,” and many more.

Tickets are available on Ticketmaster or in person at Capital One Hall the nights of the concerts.

Calendar

Calendar: June 13-19

LGBTQ events in the days to come

Published

3 days ago

June 12, 2025

Tinashe Chingarande

Friday, June 13

“Center Aging Friday Tea Time” will be at 2 p.m. in person at the DC Center for the LGBT Community’s new location at 1827 Wiltberger St., N.W. This is a social hour for older LGBTQ adults. Guests are encouraged to bring a beverage of choice. For more details, email [email protected].

Women in Their Twenties and Thirties will be at 8 p.m. at Wundergarten. An update will be posted the night of the event on where to find WiTT’s table. There’ll be a Pride flag to help people find the group. For more details, join WiTT’s closed Facebook group.

Go Gay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Community Pride Month Happy Hour” at 7 p.m. at Freddie’s Beach bar and Restaurant. This event is ideal for making new friends, professional networking, idea-sharing, and community building. This event is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

Saturday, June 14

Go Gay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Community Pride Month Brunch” at 11 a.m. at Freddie’s Beach Bar & Restaurant. This fun weekly event brings the DMV area LGBTQ+ community, including Allies, together for delicious food and conversation. Attendance is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

Rainbow History Project will host “Behind the Scenes With the Senior Curator of ‘Pickets, Protests and Parades’” at 7:30p.m. at Freedom Plaza. This behind-the-scenes experience offers a rare glimpse into the creative process behind this groundbreaking showcase of DC’s LGBTQ+ history. Learn about the bold design decisions that shaped the Quote Wall and Hero Cubes and the powerful stories that almost made the cut. Tickets cost $82 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.

Monday, June 16

“Center Aging Monday Coffee Klatch” will be at 10 a.m. on Zoom. This is a social hour for older LGBTQ+ adults. Guests are encouraged to bring a beverage of choice. For more details, email [email protected].

Genderqueer DC will be at 7 p.m. in person at the DC Center for the LGBT Community. This is a support group for people who identify outside of the gender binary. Whether you’re bigender, agender, genderfluid, or just know that you’re not 100% cis. For more information, visit their website at www.genderqueerdc.org or check us out on Facebook.

Tuesday, June 17

Bi+ Roundtable and Discussion will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This is an opportunity for people to gather in order to discuss issues related to bisexuality or as Bi individuals in a private setting. Check out Facebook or Meetup for more information.

Wednesday, June 18

Job Club will be at 6 p.m. on Zoom. This is a weekly job support program to help job entrants and seekers, including the long-term unemployed, improve self-confidence, motivation, resilience and productivity for effective job searches and networking — allowing participants to move away from being merely “applicants” toward being “candidates.” For more information, email [email protected] or visit thedccenter.org/careers.

“Legends Live Loud: A Queer Karaoke Experience” will be at 7 p.m. at the DC Center for the LGBT Community. This will be a dynamic, Center-wide karaoke event celebrating the brilliance and cultural impact of some of our most colorful queer icons. The Center will honor legends through music, pop culture, dance, and inextinguishable liberation. For more details and to sign up, visit the DC Center’s website.

Thursday, June 19

Go Gay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Book Club” at 7:30 p.m. at Federico Ristorante Italiano. This book club is co-hosted by EQUALITY NoVa and is another opportunity to engage in a fun and rewarding activity. The group doesn’t discriminate when it comes to genres it reads – from classic literature to best selling novels to biographies to histories to gay fiction. For more details, visit Eventbrite.

Cultivating Change Foundation will host “Cultivating Pride Happy Hour” at 5:30 p.m. at Dacha Beer Garden. This Pride month, the organization is inviting LGBTQ+ people and allies in food and agriculture to come together in communities nationwide. These informal gatherings are a chance to connect, celebrate, and build community, whether it’s over coffee, a cocktail, or a conversation. Attendance is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.