Arts & Entertainment
Calendar: Feb. 28-Mar. 6
Concerts, exhibits, support groups and more through March 6


A scene from ‘Spring Awakening,’ on the boards through March 8 at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland at College Park. (Photo courtesy CSPAC)
Gay events calendar in D.C. for the week ahead.
Friday, Feb. 28
Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center (3800 Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, College Park, Md.,) presents Tony-winning Broadway musical “Spring Awakening” tonight at 7:30 p.m. through March 8. The rock musical, based on the controversial 1891 play by German playwright Frank Wedekind, explores homosexuality, rape, child abuse and suicide. Tickets are $30. For more information, visit claricesmithcenter.umd.edu.
Green Lantern (1335 Green Ct., N.W.) hosts a Mardi Gras celebration tonight from 10:30 p.m.-1:30 a.m. There is a $1 suggested donation. Proceeds benefit Reign II charities including ROSMY, SMYAL and PetsDC. For details, visit greenlanterndc.com.
Women in Their 20s, a social discussion group for LBT and queer women, meets today at the D.C. Center (2000 14th St., N.W.) from 8-9:30 p.m. All welcome to join. For details, visit thedccenter.org.
Bachelor’s Mill (1104 8th St., S.E.) holds a happy hour from 5-7:30 p.m. tonight with all drinks half price. Hit music begins at 11 p.m. Enjoy pool, video games and cards. Admission is $5 after 9 p.m. Must be 21 and over. For more details, visit bachelorsmill.com.
Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W.) hosts free vodka Friday tonight from 9 p.m.-3 a.m. Free rail vodka 11 p.m.-midnight. Two DJs on two floors. Cover is $10. Admission is limited to guests 21 and over. For more information, visit cobaltdc.com.
Saturday, March 1
“That Party,” a new monthly event, starts tonight. Local gay DJ Shea Van Horn will team with D.C. artists Christopher Cunetto and Pussy Noir to create “a night that mixes the surreal, seductive and dramatic” at DC9 Nightclub (1940 9th St., N.W.). Admission is $5. For 21 and older. Two-for-one entry before midnight if both wearing masks, which Van Horn says are “highly encouraged.”
DancEthos and alight dance theater give a performance tonight which includes “Rick’s Dream,” a dance interpretation of REM Sleep, at Kogod Cradle at the Mead Center for American Theater (1101 6th St., S.W.) tonight at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $25. For details, visit dancethos.org.
Town (2009 8th St., N.W.) hosts “Electric Mardi Gras” with dj Kidd Madonny tonight at 10 p.m. There will be glowing gogo boys and a dance performance by the Firm. Cover is $8 from 10-11 p.m. and $12 after 11 p.m. Drinks are $3 before 11 p.m. The drag show starts at 10:30 p.m. Admission is limited to guests 21 and over. For more information, visit towndc.com.
D.C. Scandals, a local LGBT rugby team, hosts a “Scandalous Mardi Gras Recruitment Party” at Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W.) tonight from 6:30-9:30 p.m. For more details, visit dcscandals.wordpress.com.
Code Redux presents “CODE All Colors,” a BDSM party, at the Crucible (16 M St., N.E.) from 10 p.m.-3 a.m. Fetish dress code required. This is a membership-only event. Walk-ins will not be accepted. Online membership is available. For more information and to join, visit the-crucible.com.
Sunday, March 2
Soprano Julia Bullock makes her Kennedy Center debut at the Terrace Theater (2700 F St., N.W.) today at 2 p.m. The program is a mix of Italian and French songs. Tickets are $35. For more details, visit wpas.org.
Burgundy Crescent, a gay volunteer organization, volunteers for Food and Friends (219 Riggs Rd., N.E.) today from 8-10 a.m. Volunteers will chop vegetables and pack groceries. To volunteer, email [email protected]. For more details, visit burgundycrescent.org.
The Academy of Washington presents “Miss Spring Bonnet and Mr. Derby,” a drag show, at Black Fox Lounge (1723 Connecticut Ave., N.W.) today from 3-6 p.m. For more information, visit blackfoxlounge.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 more details, visit perrysadamsmorgan.com.
Adventuring, an LGBT outdoors group, holds an 11.4-mile hike along the Potomac Heritage Trail between the Capital Beltway and Theodore Roosevelt Island starting at 9:15 a.m. The hike takes seven hours. Bring beverages, lunch, boots and a $2 trip fee with a few dollars for carpool drivers. Meet at the Theodore Roosevelt parking lot (Lincoln Memorial Cir. N.W.) at 9:15 a.m. For more information, visit adventuring.org.
Monday, March 3
The D.C. Center (2000 14th 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.
Us Helping Us (3636 Georgia Ave., N.W.) holds a support group for gay black men to discuss topics that affect them today, share perspectives and have meaningful conversations. For details, visit uhupil.org.
Tuesday, March 4
Green Lantern (1335 Green Ct., N.W.) hosts its weekly ”FUK!T Packing Party” from 7-9 p.m. tonight. For more details, visit thedccenter.org or greenlanterndc.com.
Whitman Walker provides free and confidential HIV testing at Crew Club (1321 14th St., N.W.) today from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. For details, visit whitman-walker.org.
Wednesday, March 5
MOVA Lounge (2204 14th St., N.W.) hosts “Hump Day Treat with the V D.C.” tonight from 6 p.m.-midnight. This happy hour includes music, dancing, open mic sessions spoken word, burlesque performances and more. There is no cover charge. For more information, visit movalounge.com.
The Tom Davoren Social Bridge Club meets tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Dignity Center (721 8th St., S.E.) for social bridge. No partner needed. For more information, call 301-345-1571.
Bookmen D.C., an informal men’s gay literature group, discusses “Too Much Flesh and Jabez” by Coleman Dowell at the Tenleytown Library (4450 Wisconsin Ave., N.W.) tonight at 7:30 p.m. All are welcome. For details, visit bookmendc.blogspot.com.
Thursday, March 6
Nellie’s Sports Bar (900 U St., N.W.) hosts its weekly “Beat the Clock Happy Hour” tonight from 5-8 p.m. Drink specials start at $2 and increase by a dollar each hour. For more information, visit nelliessportsbar.com.
Rude Boi Entertainment hosts “Tempted 2 Touch,” a ladies dance party, at the Fab Lounge (2022 Florida Ave., N.W.) tonight. Doors open at 10 p.m. Drink specials $5 and vodka shots $3 all night. No cover charge. Admission limited to guests 21 and over. For more details, visit rudeboientertainment.wordpress.com.
SMYAL (410 7th St., S.E.) hosts “Café SMYAL,” a fun event to get out of the cold, today from 4-5 p.m. Drink hot cocoa, play board games and make new friends. For more information, visit smyal.org.
Theater
Mike Millan prepares to co-host Helen Hayes Awards
Accomplished actor has background in standup and improv

2025 Helen Hayes Awards
May 19
For tickets go to theatrewashington.org
It helps to have “an amalgamation of tricks, some more useful than others,” to host the Helen Hayes Awards. With a background in standup and improv and experience hosting children’s dance competitions and basement comedy clubs, out actor Mike Millan fits the ticket.
And if he has any misgivings, Millan isn’t showing them. He’s mostly looking forward to co-hosting with Felicia Curry, a Helen Hayes Award-winning local actor who’s successfully hosted the event more than once.
Based in both L.A. and New York, Millan is an accomplished actor whose connection to the DMV involves two productions at Arlington’s Signature Theatre, “Which Way to the Stage” (2022) and Sondheim’s zany romp “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” (2024).
This year, “Forum” has nabbed seven Helen Hayes nominations including Outstanding Ensemble in a Musical, Hayes, and Outstanding Lead Performer in a Musical, Hayes, for Erin Weaver who plays the central character Pseudolus, a cunning slave usually played by a man.
While Millan hasn’t been singled out for his memorable turn as Hysterium, a nervous gay slave in “Forum,” he enjoyed the part, and teasingly adds, “If they don’t nominate you, they will make you work for the event, so here we are.”
Both he and Curry will have their moments to shine: “It’s not my Netflix special; it’s not all about me. Granted that’s a twist for me, but I’ll do my best to share the spotlight” he promises.
The 41st Helen Hayes Awards celebration will be held on Monday, May 19, at The Anthem on the District Wharf in D.C. Named for Helen Hayes, the legendary first lady of Broadway, the lengthy program is comprised of an awards presentation, a leisurely intermission, all followed by an after-party with dancing.
Recognizing work from 165 eligible productions presented in the 2024 calendar year, nominations were made in 41 categories and grouped in “Helen” or “Hayes” cohorts, depending on the number of Equity members involved in the production with Hayes counting more.
The nods are the result of 51 carefully vetted judges considering 2,188 individual pieces of work, such as design, direction, choreography, performances, and more. Productions under consideration in 2024 included 57 musicals, 108 plays, and 37 world premieres.
Out sound designer Madeline ‘Mo’ Oslejsek is up for Outstanding Sound Design, Helen, for Flying V Theatre’s production of Natsu Onoda Power’s “Astro Boy and the God of Comics,” a retro-sci-fi piece. Oslejsek, 29, brings queerness to her work, both professionally and personally.
She describes “Astro Boy,” as a multimedia love letter: “We wanted it to be nostalgic, cartoonish when it was meant to be, and reality too.”
Based in Baltimore, Oslesjek who identifies alternately as queer and lesbian, says “my work is deeply tied to being queer. The reason I describe myself as a queer multidisciplinary artist is because I think it’s important for that word to be used and heartily embraced.
“I came out at 21 just before immersing myself in the study of sound design,” she says. “A big part of that allowed me to be serious about the work that I do. Also, part of coming out was to be unabashedly ambitious and unafraid to ask for what I want when it comes to art.
Director, playwright, and actor Nick Olcott is no stranger to the Helen Hayes Awards. Currently celebrating his 45th year in Washington theater, Olcott has received multiple Helen Hayes Awards nominations, and received the Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play; he’s also directed the ceremony several times.
This year he’s nominated for Outstanding Director for a Play, Helen, for 1st Stage’s production of “The Nance,” Douglas Carter Beane’s story of burlesque performers during the 1930s.
“It’s funny the way things have changed, says Olcott, who’s gay. “It used to be The Washington Post would review something and you knew whether it was a hit or not. Well, the Post never came to ‘The Nance’ so I never knew if the show generated any interest. Naturally, I was staggered to learn that we received 11 nominations including nods for Outstanding Ensemble, Helen, Outstanding Production – Play, Helen, and Outstanding Lead Performer in a Play, Helen, for out actor Michael Russotto as Chauncey, the camp stock character.”
Olcott and Russotto go back to 1983 when both acted in a production of Agatha Christie’s “Mouse Trap” at Petrucci’s Dinner Theatre in Laurel, Md., and have worked together on and off ever since.
Four years in the making, “The Nance” was slated to open in May 2020, but the pandemic shut it down. Rather heroically, 1st Stage’s artistic doctor Alex Levy stuck with the production along with most of the cast and design team.
“In 2020, questions of gender and sexuality weren’t looming as heavily on the American political scene,” says Olcott, “but by the time we brought the play back those topics had become increasingly important. That’s something that rarely happens.
“The characters at the burlesque house were a family, bonded together to stand up to the outside world. It’s a fun milieu and slice of history that not many of us know about, and didn’t realize how relevant it would become.”
Other queer Helen Hayes nominees include Jon Hudson Odom for Outstanding Lead Performer in a Play, Hayes, in Folger Theatre’s “Metamorphoses.” And for Outstanding Lead Performer in a Musical, Hayes, are Johnny Link in Signature’s “Private Jones” and Brandon Uranowitz in “tick, tick… BOOM!” at the Kennedy Center. Beanie Feldstein is up for Outstanding Supporting Performer in a Musical, Hayes, in “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” also at the Kennedy Center.
A full list of award recipients will be available at theatrewashington.org on Tuesday, May 20.
Out & About
Documentary about Blade reporter to premiere this month
Panel discussion to follow ‘Lou’s Legacy’ screening

“Lou’s Legacy: A Reporter’s Life at the ‘Washington Blade’” will premiere on Thursday, May 29 at 6:30 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library.
This new documentary from Emmy-nominated D.C. filmmaker Patrick Sammon tells the story of the legendary Blade news reporter, Lou Chibbaro Jr., as he works on an article about the return of drag icon Donnell Robinson – also known as Ella Fitzgerald — to the Capital Pride stage.
The documentary follows Chibbaro as he works on a story about Ella’s triumphant return to the Pride stage after three years away because of COVID. Donnell and Chibbaro reflect on their careers and discuss the ongoing backlash against the LGBTQ community, including laws targeting drag performers.
After the screening, there will be a panel discussion moderated by D.C. journalist Rebekah Robinson and featuring Blade Publisher Lynne Brown. This event is free and more details are available at the DC Public Library website.

Friday, May 16
“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. NW. This is a social hour for older LGBTQ+ adults. Guests are encouraged to bring a beverage of choice. For more details, email [email protected].
Go Gay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Community Social in the City” at 7 p.m. at Hotel Zena. 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.
Trans Genderqueer Game Night will be at 6 p.m. at the DC Center for the LGBT Community. This will be a relaxing, laid-back evening of games and fun. All are welcome and there’ll be card and board games on hand. Feel free to bring your own games to share. For more details, visit the DC Center’s website.
Saturday, May 17
Go Gay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Community 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.
LGBTQ People of Color Support Group will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This peer support group is an outlet for LGBTQ People of Color to come together and talk about anything affecting them in a space that strives to be safe and judgement free. There are all sorts of activities like watching movies, poetry events, storytelling, and just hanging out with others. For more information and events for LGBTQ People of Color, visit thedccenter.org/poc or facebook.com/centerpoc.
Sunday, May 18
Go Gay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Pride Kickoff FunDay Social” at 4 p.m. at Moxy. This event is ideal for making meaningful new connections and informal community building. Or just to unwind and enjoy the group happy hour. Fabulous people from all over the world are expected and nametags will be provided. This event is free to attend and more details are available on Eventbrite.
Art with Tosca will host “Queer Icons & Trailblazers: An Art Tour for World Pride DC 2025” at 2:00p.m. at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. This will be an unforgettable exploration of LGBTQ+ history, identity, and artistic expression at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery. Celebrate the vibrant history and culture of the LGBTQ+ community through compelling portraits and groundbreaking works that highlight the power of queer artistry. Tickets cost $48 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.
Monday, May 19
“Center Aging Monday Coffee & Conversation” 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].
“Pickets, Protests and Parades Exhibit Tour” will be at 7 p.m. at Freedom Plaza. This exhibition honors the courage, resistance, and resilience of D.C.’s LGBTQ+ community. Tickets start at $10 and are available on Eventbrite.
Tuesday, May 20
Center Bi+ Roundtable 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. For more details, visit Facebook or Meetup.
Wednesday, May 21
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.
Center Aging Women’s Social and Discussion Group will be at 6 p.m. on Zoom. This group is a place where older LGBTQ+ women can meet and socialize with one another. We will have discussion, activities, and a chance for you to share what you want future events to include. For more details, email [email protected].
Thursday, May 22
The DC Center’s Fresh Produce Program will be held all day at the DC Center for the LGBT Community. People will be informed on Wednesday at 5 p.m. if they are picked to receive a produce box. No proof of residency or income is required. For more information, email [email protected] or call 202-682-2245.
Virtual Yoga with Sarah M. will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This is a free weekly class focusing on yoga, breathwork, and meditation. For more details, visit the DC Center for the LGBT Community’s website.
DC Anti-Violence Project Open Meeting will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. These are open meetings, and we would love to see anyone who is interested in learning more and getting involved in lessening violence both within and directed towards the LGBT communities. For more details, visit Facebook and Twitter.
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