Arts & Entertainment
Holly Woodlawn dies at 69
Warhol superstar passes away
Transgender actress Holly Woodlawn died on Sunday after battling cancer. She was 69.
Woodlawn was famously one of Andy Warhol’s many “superstars.” Woodlawn, born HaroldoĀ Danhakl in Puerto Rico, hitchhiked to New York City at 15. There, she met Warhol and starred in Paul Morrissey’s 1970 film “Trash.” She also appeared alongside fellow trans icons Candy Darling and Jackie Curtis in Warhol and Morrissey’s 1971 film “Women in Revolt.”
Woodlawn’s origin story also inspired Lou Reed’s classic song “Walk on the Wild Side.”
“Holly came from Miami, F.L.A. Hitchhiked her way across the USA. Plucked her eyebrows on the way. Shaved her legs and then he was a she. She says, ‘Hey, babe, take a walk on the wild side,” Reed sings.
In the ’90s Woodlawn went on to write her memoir “A Low Life in High Heels.” She also appeared in independent films such as “Night Owl” and “Billy’s Big Hollywood Kiss.”
One of her latest projects was in the role Vivian on the first season of “Transparent.”
Her “Trash” co-star Joe Dallesandro, who frequently appeared in Warhol’s films, tweeted about Woodlawn’s passing.
“Holly Woodlawn was in Room 306 when I arrived to see her today. At 3:06pm LA time, she passed away,” Dallesandro tweeted.
Books
Mother wages fight for trans daughter in new book
āBeautiful Womanā seethes with resentment, rattles bars of injustice
āOne Day I’ll Grow Up and Be a Beautiful Womanā
By Abi Maxwell
c.2024, Knopf
$28/307 pages
“How many times have I told you that…?”
How many times have you heard that? Probably so often that, well, you stopped listening. From your mother, when you were very small. From your teachers in school. From your supervisor, significant other, or best friend. As in the new memoir “One Day I’ll Grow Up and Be a Beautiful Woman” by Abi Maxwell, it came from a daughter.
When she was pregnant, Abi Maxwell took long walks in the New Hampshire woods near her home, rubbing her belly and talking to her unborn baby. She was sure she was going to have a girl but when the sonogram technician said otherwise, that was OK. Maxwell and her husband would have a son.
But almost from birth, their child was angry, fierce, and unhappy. Just getting dressed each morning was a trial. Going outside was often impossible. Autism was a possible diagnosis but more importantly, Maxwell wasn’t listening, and she admits it with some shame.
Her child had been saying, in so many ways, that she was a girl.
Once Maxwell realized it and acted accordingly, her daughter changed almost overnight, from an angry child to a calm one ā though she still, understandably, had outbursts from the bullying behavior of her peers and some adults at school. Nearly every day, Greta (her new name) said she was teased, called by her former name, and told that she was a boy.
Maxwell had fought for special education for Greta, once autism was confirmed. Now she fought for Greta’s rights at school, and sometimes within her own family. The ACLU got involved. State laws were broken. Maxwell reminded anyone who’d listen that the suicide rate for trans kids was frighteningly high. Few in her town seemed to care.
Throughout her life, Maxwell had been in many other states and lived in other cities. New Hampshire used to feel as comforting as a warm blanket but suddenly, she knew they had to get away from it. Her “town that would not protect us.”
When you hold “One Day I’ll Grow Up and Be a Beautiful Woman,” you’ve got more than a memoir in your hands. You’ve also got a white-hot story that seethes with anger and rightful resentment, that wails for a hurt child, and rattles the bars of injustice. And yet, it coos over love of place, but in a confused manner, as if these things don’t belong together.
Author Abi Maxwell is honest with readers, taking full responsibility for not listening to what her preschooler was saying-not-saying, and she lets you see her emotions and her worst points. In the midst of her community-wide fight, she reveals how the discrimination Greta endured affected Maxwell’s marriage and her health ā all of which give a reader the sense that they’re not being sold a tall tale. Read this book, and outrage becomes familiar enough that it’s yours, too. Read “One Day I’ll Grow Up and Be a Beautiful Woman,” and share it. This is a book you’ll tell others about.
The Blade may receive commissions from qualifying purchases made via this post.
Out & About
Come unleash your inner artist at the DC Center
Watercolor painting class held on Thursday
āWatercolor Painting with Center Agingā will be on Thursday, Dec. 12 at 12 p.m. at the DC Center for the LGBT Community.
In this winter-themed painting class for seniors led by local artist Laya Monarez, guests will learn about watercoloring techniques, be given a demonstration, and allowed to create their own watercolor pieces. There will also be a break for lunch and plenty of snacks throughout. For more details, visit the DC Centerās website.
Theater
āFinnā a heartwarming theater debut for acclaimed TV producer
Chris Neeās joyful musical highlights a sharkās coming-of-age story
āFinnā
Through Dec. 22
The Kennedy Center
2700 F St. N.W., Washington, DC 20566
Tickets starting at $22
Kennedy-center.org
Acclaimed childrenās television screenwriter and producer Chris Nee is currently making her theater debut at the Kennedy Center with āFinn,ā her heartwarming musical about a young shark who dreams of following in his familyās footsteps by joining the prestigious Shark Guard and the challenges and moments of self-discovery he faces along the way.
Los Angeles-based Nee, who is gay, is best known for being the creator of the hugely popular Disney animated series āDoc McStuffinsā (the first Disney show to air an episode featuring an interracial lesbian couple) as well as other kidsā shows āRidley Jonesā and āVampirina.ā
For āFinn,ā Nee (playwright/lyrics) has collaborated with stage and screen songwriters Michael Kooman (music) and Christopher Dimond (playwright/lyrics) who have scored her animated TV shows for seven years.
WASHINGTON BLADE: Whatās special about āFinnā?
CHRIS NEE: āFinnā is a total joy bomb and we can all use that right now. Itās deeply important to me that what I do works both for kids as well as a lot of layers for adults.
The musical started as a bold show before everything thatās happening in the world right now, and now itās even more bold.
In the show, we tell the story of a shark who has a very different way of being himself but is also very good at being a shark. Itās very important for us to not predetermine who our kids are and we need to let them find the things that will ultimately bring them joy.
BLADE: And itās a story youāve wanted to tell?
NEE: Yes.Itās a coming-of-age story thatās also infused with spectacle. Itās about the beauty of life under the sea, and the beauty of a character who has a wonderful drag sensibility and knows what it is to express himself. The show and the world are really about self-expression and not being afraid to let your inner sparkles out if thatās what feels right to you.
It relates to anyone in the audience whether theyāre an adult who remembers what it was like to hide something, or a young a person who feels that way. I think it gives them the courage to say who they are and live unapologetically.
BLADE: Has this work felt a lot different from TV?
NEE: Making āFinnāwith Kooman and Dimond hasbeen agreat collaborative process. Working with them on TV, I was very much the one in control, Iād tell them what we needed a song to be. But in theater, theyāve had more experience in the process. Together weāve made something that is premiering very quickly in terms of musical theater. We got very lucky.
BLADE: Youāre a big name at Disney.How does working at the Kennedy Center compare to L.A.?
NEE: The Kennedy Center has been wonderful!They commissioned the work in the beginning and have been supporting us throughout. To be honest, there arenāt that many places left that are commissioning new works especially for young audiences, and the Kennedy Center does that.
BLADE: Your son is grown now. Has being a parent affected your work?
NEE: I spent years in the world making children programming long before I had a child. I had a belief that you donāt have to have kids to be funny. Great writers for kids remember their own childhoods and write for an imagined audience. Once you have a kid, your brain goes into different place.
Since he was little, Iād play songs for him. Iād tell him stories that were going to be episodes. I have video recordings of him seeing the character designs for the first time, and my getting his reaction to new work.
BLADE: Did his humor influence you?
NEE: I like to think my sense of humor shaped him.
BLADE: Was it a longtime dream to do a live musical?
NEE: I worked in theater for a couple years after graduating from college. I never thought Iād leave theater and New York. But a job on āSesame Streetā led to an unexpected journey to Los Angeles and childrenās television.
Kooman and Dimond knew I wanted to find my way back into the theater. I mean, who doesnāt want to write a musical? But I didnāt have the hubris to think I could just jump into that space. But two years ago, they asked me to write a musical with them. I replied āabsolutely!ā And here I am.
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