Connect with us

Arts & Entertainment

Calendar: Feb. 28-Mar. 6

Concerts, exhibits, support groups and more through March 6

Published

on

Spring Awakening, calendar, gay news, Washington Blade
Spring Awakening, calendar, gay news, Washington Blade

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.

Advertisement
FUND LGBTQ JOURNALISM
SIGN UP FOR E-BLAST

Photos

PHOTOS: Denali at Pitchers

‘Drag Race’ alum performs at Thirst Trap

Published

on

Denali performs at the Thirst Trap Thursday drag show at Pitchers DC on April 9. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Denali (@denalifoxx) of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” performed at Pitchers DC on April 9 for the Thirst Trap Thursday drag show. Other performers included Cake Pop!, Brooke N Hymen, Stacy Monique-Max and Silver Ware Sidora.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

Continue Reading

Arts & Entertainment

In an act of artistic defiance, Baltimore Center Stage stays focused on DEI

‘Maybe it’s a triple-down’

Published

on

Last year, Baltimore Center Stage refused to give up its DEI focus in the face of losing federal funding. They've tripled down. (Photo by Ulysses Muñoz of the Baltimore Banner)

By LESLIE GRAY STREETER | I’m always tickled when people complain about artists “going political.” The inherent nature of art, of creation and free expression, is political. This becomes obvious when entire governments try to threaten it out of existence, like in 2025, when the brand-new presidential administration demanded organizations halt so-called diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programming or risk federal funding.

Baltimore Center Stage’s response? A resounding and hearty “Nah.” A year later, they’re still doubling down on diversity.

“Maybe it’s a triple-down,” said Ken-Matt Martin, the theater’s producing director, chuckling.

The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

Continue Reading

Books

Susan Lucci on love, loss, and ‘All My Children’

New book chronicles life of iconic soap star

Published

on

(Book cover image courtesy of Blackstone Publishing)

‘La Lucci’
By Susan Lucci with Laura Morton
c.2026, Blackstone Publishing
$29.99/196 pages

They’re among the world’s greatest love stories.

You know them well: Marc Antony and Cleopatra. Abelard and Heloise. Phoebe and Langley. Cliff and Nina. Jesse and Angie, Opal and Palmer, Palmer and Daisy, Tad and Dixie. Now read “La Lucci” by Susan Lucci, with Laura Morton, and you might also think of Susan and Helmut.

When she was a very small girl, Susan Lucci loved to perform. Also when she was young, she learned that words have power. She vowed to use them for good for the rest of her life.

Her parents, she says, were supportive and her family, loving. Because of her Italian heritage, she was “ethnic looking” but Lucci’s mother was careful to point out dark-haired beauties on TV and elsewhere, giving Lucci a foundation of confidence.

That’s just one of the things for which Lucci says she’s grateful. In fact, she says, “Prayers of gratitude are how I begin and end each day.”

She is particularly grateful for becoming a mother to her two adult children, and to the doctors who saved her son’s life when he was a newborn.

Lucci writes about gratitude for her long career. She was a keystone character on TV’s “All My Children,” and she learned a lot from older actors on the show, and from Agnes Nixon, the creator of it. She says she still keeps in touch with many of her former costars.

She is thankful for her mother’s caretakers, who stepped in when dementia struck. Grateful for more doctors, who did heart-saving work when Lucci had a clogged artery. Grateful for friends, opportunities, life, grandchildren, and a career that continues.

And she’s grateful for the love she shared with her husband, Helmut Huber, who died nearly four years ago. Grateful for the chance to grieve, to heal, and to continue.

And yet, she says of her husband: “He was never timid, but I know he was afraid at the end, and that kills me down to my soul.”

“It’s been 15 years since Erica Kane and I parted ways,” says author Susan Lucci (with Laura Morton), and she says that people still approach her to confirm or deny rumors of the show’s resurrection. There’s still no answer to that here (sorry, fans), but what you’ll find inside “La Lucci” is still exceptionally generous.

If this book were just filled with stories, you’d like it just fine. If it was only about Lucci’s faith and her gratitude – words that happen to appear very frequently here – you’d still like reading it. But Lucci tells her stories of family, children and “All My Children,” while also offering help to couples who’ve endured miscarriage, women who’ve had heart problems, and widow(ers) who are spinning and need the kindness of someone who’s lived loss, too.

These are the other things you’ll find in “La Lucci,” in a voice you’ll hear in your head, if you spent your lunch hours glued to the TV back in the day. It’s a comfortable, fun read for fans. It’s a story you’ll love.

The Blade may receive commissions from qualifying purchases made via this post.

Continue Reading

Popular