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FALL ARTS PREVIEW 2017: HRC dinner, High Heel Race, Youth Pride among upcoming events

AIDS Walk, Trans Day of Remembrance, High Heel Race and more on fall slate

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9 years ago

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events, gay news, Washington Blade
DC gay events, gay news, Washington Blade

High Heel Race (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Some events don’t fit in our other fall arts categories. Here are a few to note. If no URL is given, search for the event on Facebook for details.

Washington Improv Theater’s “Rise Up!” event opened this week and continues through Sunday, Oct. 1 at the D.C. Arts Center (2438 18th St., N.W.) in Adams Morgan. Several LGBT performers are involved. Details at witdc.org.

The sixth annual Chefs for Equality event will be held Tuesday, Sept. 19 at 5:30 p.m. at Dock5 at Union Market. Tickets are $200. Details at hrc.org.

The Latino GLBT History Project has its 12th annual Hispanic LGBT Heritage Awards on Friday, Sept. 22 at 6 p.m. at HRC Headquarters (1640 Rhode Island Ave., N.W.). Admission is free but donations will be accepted. Details on Facebook or at latinoglbthistory.org.

The 10th annual Downtown Hyattsville Arts Festival returns to its usual three-block site in Hyattsville, Md., on Saturday, Sept. 23 from noon-6 p.m. Details at hycdc.org.

Story District is celebrating its 20th anniversary season with several events including “I Did It For the Story: a Tribute to 20 Years of Storytelling” (Sept. 23) at Lincoln Theatre; “Best of Real to Reel” (Oct. 4) at Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse; a monthly storytelling event held the second Tuesday of each month at Town and more. Story District plans a bilingual, LGBT event on National Coming Out Day on Tuesday, Oct. 10. Full details at storydistrict.org.

Comedian and author Jen Kirkman plays the Howard Theatre (620 T St., N.W.) on Sunday, Sept. 24 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $22.50-40. Details at thehowardtheatre.com.

“The Ask Rayceen Show” has its usual fall events. Rayceen’s Reading Room will be at the Shaw Neighborhood Library (1630 7th St., N.W.) on Monday, Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. to kick off D.C. Public Library’s Banned Books Week. Admission is free. Upcoming shows are Wednesday, Oct. 4 (talent competition) and Wednesday, Nov. 8 (season finale). The show is held at the Human Rights Campaign Equality Center (1640 Rhode Island Ave., N.W.). Doors open at 6 p.m. It’s free. Details at askrayceen.altervista.org.

Pride Outside offers “The LGBT Community and the Outdoors” event on Wednesday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. at Patagonia Store (1048 Wisconsin Ave., N.W.) to “shine a light on the LGBT community and the outdoors.”

The Northern Virginia Pride Festival 2017 is dubbed “Declare Yourself” and is Sunday, Oct. 1 from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. at Bull Run Special Events Center in Centreville, Va. Details at novapride.org.

Baltimore Black Pride week is Oct. 2-9 but events are planned all month.

The Capitol Hill Arts Workshop (CHAW) has several events for fall including Capitol Jazz Foundation Conference (Oct. 5), “She Rode Horses Like the Stock Exchange” (Oct. 5-14), We Happy Few Presents “Dracula” (Oct. 30) and more. Full details at chaw.org.

Youth Pride Day was bumped this year from its usual May date. It will be held on Saturday, Oct. 7 from noon-5 p.m. in Dupont Circle.

A discussion about LGBT suicide prevention is part of the “One Love for a City” event at Hillcrest Children and Family Center that runs Oct. 8-15. Details at hillcrest-dc.org.

Real-life lesbian married couple Cameron Esposito and Rhea Butcher bring their “Back to Back” stand-up show to the 9:30 Club on Saturday, Oct. 7 at 8 p.m. They’re known as the first gay married couple to co-create and star in their own TV show (“Take My Wife”). Look for the event on ticketfly or at 930.com for details.

The 50th annual Dupont Circle House Tour is Sunday, Oct. 15 at noon.

No information yet, but the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club will likely hold its 41st annual Leadership Awards in mid-to-late October.

The OutServe-SLDN sixth annual LGBT Military Community Conference is Oct. 19-21 at Dupont Circle Hotel.

The Blade will hold its 16th annual Best of Gay D.C. Awards on Thursday, Oct. 19. Details pending.

The Maryland Renaissance Festival continues through Oct. 22 in Annapolis. Details at rennfest.com.

The 31st annual High Heel Race will be Tuesday, Oct. 24 on 17th Street.

The National LGBTQ Task Force has its October planning meeting for the Creating Change conference on Wednesday, Oct. 25 at 6 p.m. at National City Christian Church (5 Thomas Circle, N.W.).

The 21st annual HRC National Dinner is Saturday, Oct. 28 at the Washington Convention Center (801 Mt. Vernon Pl., N.W.). Tickets are $400. Details at hrcnatinoaldinner.org.

The Walk & 5k to End HIV, the 31st anniversary of AIDS Walk Washington, will be held earlier this year on Oct. 28-29. The walk/run is on Saturday in Freedom Plaza; a brunch will be held on Sunday. Details at walktoendhiv.org.

The 20th annual SMYAL Fall Brunch is Sunday, Nov. 5 at the Marriott Marquis (901 Massachusetts Ave., N.W.) at 10:30 a.m. Details at smyal.org/brunch.

The annual wreath laying for LGBT veterans is Saturday, Nov. 11 at noon at Congressional Cemetary.

Local drag legend Shi-Queeta-Lee celebrates her 53rd birthday with “Decades of a Queen” at Town on Sunday, Nov. 12 from 6-10 p.m.

Trans Breast Cancer Awareness is Saturday, Nov. 18 at the D.C. Center.

Trans Day of Remembrance is Monday, Nov. 20 at Metropolitan Community Church of Washington at 5:30 p.m. (474 Ridge St., N.W.). Details at thedccenter.org or on Facebook.

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Photos

PHOTOS: Vitamin C at JR.’s

Live drag show follows ‘Drag Race All Stars’ viewing party

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9 hours ago

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July 19, 2026

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Brooke N Hymen performs at JR.'s at the Vitamin C drag show on Friday. (Washington Blade photo by Landon Shackelford)

JR.’s Bar held a “RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars” watch party followed by a live drag show on Friday, July 17. The Vitamin C weekly drag show was hosted by Citrine with performers Brooke N Hyman and Rosie Beret.

(Washington Blade photos by Landon Shackelford)

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Photos

PHOTOS: Rehoboth Beach Pride Festival

LGBTQ celebration held at convention center

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12 hours ago

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July 19, 2026

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A scene from the 2026 Rehoboth Beach Pride Festival. (Washington Blade photo by Daniel Truitt)

The 2026 Rehoboth Beach Pride Festival was held at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center on Saturday, July 18.

(Washington Blade photos by Daniel Truitt)

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Books

Liza’s book a tale that’s better than most celebrity memoirs

‘Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!’ dishes on marriages, heartbreak

Published

13 hours ago

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July 19, 2026

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(Book cover image courtesy of Grand Central)

‘Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! My Memoir’
By Liza Minnelli, as told to Michael Feinstein
c.2026, Grand Central
$36/ 421 pages

Twenty feet In front of you, and you can’t see a thing.

Even the closest faces are in shadow – lit, but not quite enough for you to see for sure what the people there are thinking. Still, you can hear them, their gasps, their laughter, and applause. Such is life, on-stage. Now read “Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! My Memoir” by Liza Minnelli, as told to Michael Feinstein, and read about it beyond the spotlight.

Almost from the moment she was born, Liza Minnelli was famous.

It was inevitable: her mother was Judy Garland. Her father was director Vincente Minnelli. Her godparents were Hollywood glitterati, her neighbors were famous, her playmates would be famous someday, too.

But her life wasn’t all starlight and happiness.

She made her stage debut as a toddler. She became her “mother’s caretaker” at age 13.

At 16, she had a growing career of her own – one that her mother tried to stop. But, she says, “In her own way, Mama was wonderful to me. Try understanding – she was my mother, not a movie star…. I knew her as the person who loved me and always would.”

At 19, Minnelli was working, happy, and madly in love with the man who’d become her first husband, and life was wonderful – until she came home one day to find him in their bed with another man. Before they were divorced, she lost her beloved mother, and became “engaged” to two other men simultaneously, neither of which made it to the altar with her.

She married her second husband, the son of one of her mother’s former co-stars, in 1974 but her love affairs and addictions led to a second divorce.

Her third husband was a stage manager.

She doesn’t have much good to say about her fourth, and last, husband.

Overall, she says, “You gotta play the comedy for all it’s worth and leave ‘em laughing. Even when your heart is breaking.”

Are you expecting bluntness, sass, or attitude here? Good, because that’s what you get inside “Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!” It’s strong on honesty and don’t-give-a-flip. It’s wonderfully edited, so it moves fast. It’s eye-opening and funny and a pleasant surprise for a first, and only (so far), memoir.

Even better, author Liza Minnelli (with best friend, Michael Feinstein) is really quite candid and nicely gossipy, starting from the beginning. There are some Hollywood folks, in fact, who are feeling edgy because of what’s inside this book and the secrets spilled. Minnelli and Feinstein seemed to have fun telling her story, and they comfortably lure readers in.

That’s not to say that it’s all a cabaret. Minnelli tells about her addictions and recoveries, her marriages and why she wed two gay men, and the losses she endured, including miscarriages, deaths, and broken relationships. The bad balances well with the good for a tale that’s several notches above most celebrity memoirs. “Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!” is, in fact, a real joy to read, a genuine bright spot.

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