Arts & Entertainment
Deck the halls
Gifts for the home make lasting, tangible treasures


Gifts for the home make lasting, tangible treasures. (Photo by Bigstock)
Gay-ownedĀ Mitchell Gold & Bob WilliamsĀ (1526 14th St. N.W.) specializes in furniture, but the store also has an array of eye-catching accent pieces for your home, including a set of mercury glass jars. The jars come in assorted styles and range in price from $75-108. For a more affordable option, consider the decorative glass balls in various styles and sizes, ranging in value from $25-120.

HomeMade Gin Kit
Hillās KitchenĀ (713 D St. N.E.) has the perfect gift for anyone who appreciates a fine spirit. The HomeMade Gin Kit ($50) has everything you need to make gin out of your favorite vodka. It includes instructions, spices and all necessary tools. Refills of the spices can be ordered at any time atĀ homemadegin.com. Now through December, take advantage of the limited edition Christmas botanical blend, which includes cinnamon and other seasonal spices. The kit is the product of a small business based in Arlington. Complement the Gin Kit with a few D.C.-themed cocktail glasses ($9.95-10.95 each) from Hillās Kitchen, and round out your order with a sphere ice mold for $11.50.

Miss Pixie’s (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
For vintage home furnishings and accessories, look no further thanĀ Miss PixieāsĀ (1626 14th St. N.W.). The store has everything from chairs and tables to rotary phones, but art lovers should consider one of the many paintings, ranging anywhere from $150-700. OnĀ Dec. 5Ā fromĀ 6-8 p.m., Miss Pixieās is hosting a customer appreciation event, which includes a 10 percent discount throughout the store. Miss Pixieās also offers a delivery service for $35 within most of the D.C. metro area or $45 outside of D.C.
Salvage ModernĀ is an increasingly popular source for mid-century modern and vintage furniture and accessories in the greater Baltimore/D.C. area. Check out the ever-changing inventory through online store fronts, or contact the owners for an appointment. Looking for something specific? Let them know and they will source it for you. Salvage Modern offers incredibly low prices and multiple item discounts, as well as limited curb-side delivery to the metro area. They also offer some refinishing and painting services. Mention the Blade Gift Guide and get 10 percent off select items. More info is atetsy.com/shop/salvagemodern,Ā krrb.com/salvagemodernĀ orĀ facebook.com/salvageforthesoul
For a simpler, more affordable gift option, visitĀ Millennium Decorative ArtsĀ (1528 U St. N.W.). Their assorted Blenko glass paperweights come in a variety of shapes and colors and will make a lovely addition to a home office ($35 each). For someone unafraid of bold colors, consider the tri-colored laminate cubes ($110 each). They can be stacked and rearranged to fit in with the design theme of the room and make for great additional surfaces.
iPhone users may enjoy the iPhone Wood Stand fromĀ Appalachian SpringĀ (1415 Wisconsin Ave. N.W.). The product is handcrafted in the U.S. and comes in a variety of designs. Rest your phone on it overnight on your bedside table when using it as an alarm clock or as a tidy spot to place your phone when charging. The wood stand is valued at $26.
For Virginia residents,Ā Merrifield Garden CenterĀ is a great place to stop by when shopping for holiday supplies. With locations in Fairfax (12101 Lee Highway), Merrifield (8132 Lee Highway) and Gainesville (6895 Wellington Road), itās a convenient resource for anything from silk and dried flower arrangements to collectible ornaments and decorations. Merrifield Garden Center also sells fresh cut and everlasting Christmas trees as well as custom wreaths and centerpieces.
D.C. residents can get their fill of holiday decorations atĀ World MarketĀ (5335 Wisconsin Ave. N.W.). The store offers a range of options from nutcrackers and ornaments to themed kitchenware, like this four-piece Victorian Christmas Plates set for $24.99. Some nice gift ideas from World Market include the Painted Wood Desk Box, on sale for $19.99 or the beautiful wood and glass Chemex 8-cup Coffeemaker for $39.99.
Logan Home RuleĀ (1807 14th St. N.W.) has several noteworthy gift options. Corkcicles can be frozen, inserted into bottles to chill wine and reused. At $24.99, it would be a welcome addition to any kitchen. They also carry models for beer bottles designed to let you drink as it chills your beverage. For something a little more personal, coffee drinkers will appreciate a horoscope mug ($12.99 each).

Piggy Cutting Board (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
tabletopĀ (1608 20th St. N.W.) offers several gift options great for anyone who knows their way around a kitchen. The Copenhagen carafes come in a variety of sizes, and their simple design will complement almost any serving set at a dinner party ($34-40). One of their more popular products, however, is their piggy cutting board, which is only $24. Spice up your dinner prep work by having a cute piggy to look at as you chop.
AnthropologieĀ (950 F St. N.W.) has a set of Cholet hollow vases in the shape of a goose, a doe and a hare. The individual vases sell for $24-38 and make a quirky gift perfect for anyone with a casual design sense.
WhileĀ Design Within ReachĀ (3306 M St. N.W.) sells many high-end products, they also offer affordable, practical gifts Consider the Kaleido Trays, which sell for $16. The multi-colored trays come in a variety of sizes and abstract shapes and are perfect for organizing anything from keys and mail to jewelry.

The Miss Glamour Girl 2023 Pageant was held at McAvoy’s in Parkville, Md. on Sunday, Oct. 1. Miss Shantay was crowned the winner and qualified to compete in the Miss Gay Maryland Pageant in November.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)



























Covering Miss Glamour Girl 2023 in Parkville, Md. for @WashBlade . #drag pic.twitter.com/8alFC23UX9
— Michael Patrick Key (@MichaelKeyWB) October 1, 2023
Books
New book explores why we categorize sports according to gender
You can lead a homophobic horse to water but you can’t make it think

āFair Play: How Sports Shape the Gender Debatesā
By Katie Barnes
c.2023, St. Martin’s Press
$29/304 pages
The jump shot happened so quickly, so perfectly.
Your favorite player was in the air in a heartbeat, basketball in hand, wrist cocked. One flick and it was allĀ swish, three points, just like that, and your team was ahead. So are you watching men’s basketball or women’s basketball? Or, as in the new book,Ā “Fair Play” by Katie Barnes,Ā should it really matter?

For sports fans, this may come as a surprise: we categorize sports according to gender.
Football, baseball, wresting: male sports. Gymnastics, volleyball: women’s sports. And yet, one weekend spent cruising around television shows you that those sports are enjoyed by both men and women ā but we question the sexuality of athletes who dare (gasp!) to cross invisible lines for a sport they love.
How did sports “become a flash point for a broader conversation?”
Barnes takes readers back first to 1967, when Kathrine Switzer and Bobbi Gibb both ran in the Boston Marathon. It was the first time women had audaciously done so and while both finished the race, their efforts didn’t sit well with the men who made the rules.
“Thirty-seven words” changed the country in 1972 when Title IX was signed, which guaranteed there’d be no discrimination in extracurricular events, as long as “federal financial assistance” was taken. It guaranteed availability for sports participation for millions of girls in schools and colleges. It also “enshrine[d] protections for queer and transgender youth to access school sports.”
So why the debate about competition across gender lines?
First, says Barnes, we can’t change biology, or human bodies that contain both testosterone and estrogen, or that some athletes naturally have more of one or the other ā all of which factor into the debate. We shouldn’t forget that women can and do compete with men in some sports, and they sometimes win. We shouldn’t ignore the presence of transgender men in sports.
What we should do, Barnes says, is to “write a new story. One that works better.”
Here are two facts: Nobody likes change. And everybody has an opinion.
Keep those two statements in mind when you read “Fair Play.” They’ll keep you calm in this debate, as will author Katie Barnes’ lack of flame fanning.
As a sports fan, an athlete, and someone who’s binary, Barnes makes things relatively even-keel in this book, which is a breath of fresh air in what’s generally ferociously contentious. There’s a good balance of science and social commentary here, and the many, many stories that Barnes shares are entertaining and informative, as well as illustrative. Readers will come away with a good understanding of where the debate lies.
But will this book make a difference?
Maybe. Much will depend on who reads and absorbs it. Barnes offers plenty to ponder but alas, you can lead a homophobic horse to water but you can’t make it think. Still, if you’ve got skin in this particular bunch of games, find “Fair Play” and jump on it.
The Blade may receive commissions from qualifying purchases made via this post.
Theater
An exciting revival of āEvitaā at Shakespeare Theatre
Out actor Caesar Samayoa on portraying iconic role of President Perón

āEvitaā
Through Oct. 15
Shakespeare Theatre Company
Harman Hall
610 F St., N.W.
$35ā$134
Shakespearetheatre.org
When Eva Perón died of cancer at 33 in 1952, the peopleās reaction was so intense that Argentina literally ran out of cut flowers. Mourners were forced to fly in stems from neighboring countries, explains out actor Caesar Samayoa.
For Samayoa, playing President Perón to Shireen Pimentalās First Lady Eva in director Sammi Cannoldās exciting revival of Andrew Lloyd Webberās āEvitaā at Shakespeare Theatre Company is a dream fulfilled.
As a Guatemalan-American kid, he had a foot in two worlds. Samayoa lived and went to school in suburban Emerson, N.J. But he spent evenings working at his parentsā botanica in Spanish Harlem.
During the drives back and forth in the family station wagon, he remembers listening to āEvitaā on his cassette player: āItās the first cast album I remember really hearing and understanding. I longed to be in the show.ā
As an undergrad, he transferred from Bucknell University where he studied Japanese international relations to a drama major at Ithica College. His first professional gig was in 1997 playing Juliet in Joe Calarcoās off-Broadway āShakespeareās R&J.ā Lots of Broadway work followed including āSister Act,ā āThe Pee-Wee Herman Show,ā and most significantly, Samayoa says, āCome From Away,ā a musical telling of the true story of airline passengers stranded in Gander, Newfoundland during 9/11. He played Kevin J. (one half of a gay couple) and Ali, a Muslim chef.
He adds āEvitaā has proved a powerful experience too: āWeāre portraying a populist power couple that changed the trajectory of a country in a way most Americans canāt fully understand. And doing it in Washington surrounded by government and politics is extra exciting.ā
WASHINGTON BLADE: How do you tap into a real-life character like Perón?
CAESAR SAMAYOA: Fortunately, Sammi [Connald] and I work similarly. With real persons and situations, I immerse myself into history, almost to a ridiculous extent.
First day in the rehearsal room, we were inundated with artifacts. Sammi has been to Argentina several times and interviewed heavily with people involved in Eva and Peronās lives. Throughout the process weād sit and talk about the real history that happened. We went down the rabbit hole.
Sammiās interviews included time with Evaās nurse who was at her bedside when she died. We watched videos of those interviews. Theyāve been an integral part of our production.
BLADE: Were you surprised by anything you learned?
SAMAYOA: Usually, Eva and Perónās relationship is portrayed as purely transactional. They wrote love letters and I had access to those. At their country home, theyād be in pajamas and walk on the beach; that part of their life was playful and informal. They were a political couple but they were deeply in love too. I latched on to that.
BLADE: And anything about the man specifically?
SAMAYOA: Perónās charisma was brought to the forefront. In shows Iāve done, some big names have attended. Obama. Clinton. Justin Trudeau came to āCome From Away.ā Within seconds, the charisma makes you give into that person. Iāve tried to use that.
BLADE: And the part?
SAMAYOA: Perón is said to be underwritten. But I love his power and the songs he sings [āThe Art of the Possible,ā āShe is a Diamond,ā etc.]. Iām fully a baritone and to find that kind of role in a modern musical is nearly impossible. And in this rock opera, I can use it to the full extent and feel great about it.
BLADE: āEvitaā is a co-production with A.R.T. Has it changed since premiering in Boston?
SAMAYOA: Yes, it has. In fact, 48 hours before opening night in Washington, we made some changes and theyāve really landed. Without giving too much away, we gave it more gravity in reality of time as well as Evaās sickness and the rapid deterioration. Itās given our second act a huge kind of engine that it didnāt have.
BLADE: Youāre married to talent agent Christopher Freer and youāre very open. Was it always that way for you?
SAMAYOA: When I started acting professionally, it was a very different industry. We were encouraged to stay in the closet or it will cast only in a certain part. There was truth in that. There still is some truth in that, but I refuse to go down that road. I canāt reach what I need to reach unless Iām my most honest self. I canāt do it any other way.
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