Arts & Entertainment
Cher and Cher alike
‘Believe’ legend isn’t only one with that name coming to town
Cher Lloyd (Photo courtesy Rams Head Live)
The D.C. spring concert season is every bit as gay and musically eclectic as one might expect.
Coming right up on Sunday evening is Washington Concert Opera which will perform a full-length concert version of the rare Verdi gem “Il Corsaro” with tenor Michael Fabiano and soprano Nicole Cabell. They will perform at 6 p.m. at the Lisner Auditorium (730 21st St. N.W.) at George Washington University. Go to concertopera.org for ticket information.
Pop legends Sting and Paul Simon will perform a benefit concert for the Duke Ellington School of the Arts’ 40th anniversary on March 12 at 8 p.m. at the Strathmore (5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, Md). Tickets start at $250 and go up to $750.
Lesbian folk duo Indigo Girls come to the Birchmere (3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria, Va.) April 22. The folk/rock duo went from playing together in high school to becoming Grammy winners in 1990 with their hit single “Closer to Fine.” The sold-out show opens with Shirlette Ammons, a lesbian hip-hop artist from North Carolina. Visit birchmere.org for more information.
It’s unofficially lesbian rocker night April 19 at Jammin Java. disappear fear, featuring lesbian front-woman SONIA, plays the venue (227 Maple Ave., Vienna, Va.) at 7 p.m. The band, which formed in Baltimore, has toured the world and been an advocate for LGBT rights. Tickets are $18 in advance and $20 day of show. Antigone Rising, an all-lesbian alt-country band, opens with a 6 p.m. set. The band has performed alongside Joan Jett, the Rolling Stones and Aerosmith. Tickets are $15 in advance and $18 day of show. Doors open at 6 p.m. For more details, visit jamminjava.com.
Art-rock band My Darling Fury plays the Tree House Lounge (1006 Florida Ave., N.E.) on March 20th at 9 p.m. Danny Reyes, who is gay, is the lead singer of the Richmond, Va.,-based band. For details, visit treehouselounge.com.
“American Idol” season six runner-up Crystal Bowersox comes to Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Rd., Vienna, Va.) March 26. The singer, known for her soulful voice, has been cast as Pasty Cline in the upcoming Broadway production “Always … Patsy Cline.” This show is sold out. For more information, visit wolftrap.org.
Folk singer Cheryl Wheeler gives a performance at the Birchmere (3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria, Va.) March 29 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $35. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit birchmere.com.
D.C. Different Drummers’s Capitol Pride Symphonic Band presents its spring concert “Dances!” at Columbia Heights Education Campus Auditorium March 29 at 7:30 p.m. This is the last performance for the ensemble’s conductor Joey Bello before his retirement. Tickets are $10. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit dcdd.org.
British pop songstress Cher Lloyd comes to Rams Head Live (20 Market Pl., Baltimore) April 3 at 8 p.m. Lloyd gained attention as one of Simon Cowell’s favorite contestants on “X Factor U.K.” Since the show Lloyd has found success in the U.S. with her hit single “Want U Back.” Lloyd also performed at Capital Pride last summer. Tickets are $22 in advance and $25 day of show. For more details, visit ramsheadlive.com.
Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington has several performances this spring. First they put on a performance of “Von Trapped,” a parody of “The Sound of Music,” at Lisner Auditorium (730 21st St., N.W.) March 14-16. Tickets are $29-54. Next, Potomac Fever and Rock Creek Singers perform “Forte” at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church (1313 New York Ave., N.W.) April 11 at 8 p.m. and at The Mead Center for American Theater (1101 6th St., S.W.) on April 19 at 5 p.m. Tickets are $39-44. Then, “A Gay Man’s Guide to Broadway, a performance of Broadway hits including “Book of Mormon” and “Kinky Boots,” comes to the Kennedy Center (2700 F St., N.W.) May 18 at 4 p.m. Tickets range from $25-$78. Full details at gmcw.org.
Cher comes back to the District for her “Dressed to Kill” tour at the Verizon Center April 4 at 8 p.m. Pop/rocker Pat Benatar and Benatar’s husband guitarist Neil Giraldo join Cher. Tickets range from $40.05-$180.50.
Rufus Wainwright (Photo courtesy Lincoln Theatre)
Singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright, who is gay, performs at the Lincoln Theatre (1110 Vermont Ave., N.W.) Apr. 16 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $45. For more details and to purchase tickets, visit thelincolndc.com.
The sold-out Sweet Life Festival brings some popular acts in the indie music scene to Merriweather Post Pavilion (10475 Little Patuxent Pkwy., Columbia, Md.) on May 10. Artists performing include Lana Del Rey, Foster the People, 2 Chainz and many more. For a complete list of performances and more information, visit sweetlifefestival.com.
Pop star Katy Perry brings her “The Prismatic World Tour” to the Verizon Center June 24 at 7 p.m. Perry’s latest album “Prism” featured hit singles including “Roar” and “Dark Horse.” Her previous album “Teenage Dream” received multiple platinum and gold certifications. Tickets range from $41.10-$153.50. For more details and to purchase tickets, visit verizoncenter.monumentalnetwork.com.
Motown legend Diana Ross comes to Modell Performing Arts Center at the Lyric (140 W Mt. Royal Ave., Baltimore) June 28 at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $70.60-$190.40.
Blog #1: I was excited about my trip even though Gate 1 Travel notified me there was a change in the itinerary. France decided to close the Burgundy canal for long overdue repairs, so we would be traveling on the C. du Rhone au Rhin. I boarded my Air France flight arriving in Paris on time. Contrary to what I was told to expect, customs went really smoothly.
Day 1: Because customs went quickly, I waited 45 minutes for my pre-arranged driver, to take me to the Gare de Lyon, where I boarded my fast-train to Lyon. A two-hour trip. In Lyon it was a long walk to the hotel, The Radisson Blu, but only because I exited the station on the wrong side. Finally got there, checked into a room on the 36th floor with a spectacular view of Lyon. Then took a stroll around the area, a short nap, and finally it was time for dinner and to meet the rest of the traveling party. There would only be 13 of us in the group. Five of us from D.C./Rehoboth, and eight others. I met our guide Patricia, who is from Portugal, and spoke fluent French and English. She is charming, and clearly very knowledgeable. She worked with Gate 1 for many years. We stayed at the hotel for our welcome dinner. It was a great meal, and over drinks, each of us was asked to introduce ourselves to the group. Aside from the five of us, there were three women traveling alone, one gentleman alone, and two couples. They were from New Jersey, New York, Florida, Houston, and Nebraska. I was sitting across from the woman from Nebraska. Conversation at dinner was pleasant but I quickly realized one person was apparently a MAGA. Wonder if you can guess where she was from, lol. But we also found if we didn’t talk politics, which we agreed not to do, things were fine. After dinner we all headed to our rooms for a good night’s sleep.
DAY 2: We woke to beautiful weather. I headed to the included breakfast at the hotel, which was really very good. After breakfast we boarded a bus for a tour of Lyon. We had a full-size bus for just the 13 of us. Our guide for the half day tour, was Vincent, and he is charming and young, and told us his fiancé lives in Lyon. He was incredibly knowledgeable. We began at the Basilica, which is being repaired on the outside, but the inside is, wow! Incredible stained glass, and there was a service going on in one of the smaller side chapels which I l listened to for a bit. The Basilica is high on the hill and the views of Lyon are spectacular from there. Then we headed to the old city and walked around for an hour, ending up at the smaller cathedral. Directly in front of it they had set up a great market, mostly food, which would be there for a week. Lyon is a foodie paradise, with, we were told, a restaurant, or at least coffee shop, for every 250 people. We then had a choice of staying in town, or going back to the hotel on the bus, which I did. The afternoon and evening were free time to do as we pleased. I headed to the Les Halles du Lyon Paul Bocuse, named after the famous chef, to take a look around. It is a large market with small restaurants connected to most of the stalls. It was charming. I then headed to the huge three-story mall across from our hotel and walked around for an hour. Then caught up on some emails, and writing, and met my friends, Paul and Martin, John and Dan, for dinner at 6. We went to a really nice Bistro, which John had found, two tram stops away from the hotel, and enjoyed some drinks and a relaxed dinner. The owner of the place found us a waitress who spoke great English, which made ordering really easy. After a two-hour great meal, we headed back to the hotel. Riding a tram in Lyon is easy, you just need to use your credit card. It is an honor system. Back at the hotel I headed to my room and packed, our luggage had to be outside the door by 8:00 am the next morning. I set my alarm for 6:30 so I had time to eat at the buffet breakfast. Then it was on the bus to head to our barge.
Baltimore
This John Waters interview has been edited for readability — but perhaps not human decency
Pope of Trash dishes on Trump, plane etiquette, last meal, and more
By WESLEY CASE | At 80 years old, John Waters is still the ideal dinner guest — incisively sharp, quick-witted and funny as hell.
The chic Baltimore native proved it again and again in a recent Zoom interview, calling from his summer home in Provincetown, Mass.
The occasion was the Blu-ray releases of two of his movies — the 1977 dark comedy “Desperate Living” and his enduring 1988 musical “Hairspray” — on June 23 by the Criterion Collection, which publishes restorations of films it deems culturally important. The Criterion stamp of approval has become the gold standard among cinephiles.
“It’s like getting an award,” said Waters, who wrote and directed both films.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
The Washington Blade held the seventh annual Pride on the Pier at The Wharf DC on Saturday, June 13.
(Washington Blade photos by Landon Shackelford)
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