Connect with us

Arts & Entertainment

Calendar: Oct. 12-18, 2018

Concerts, parties, support groups and more for the week ahead

Published

on

DC gay events fall 2018, gay news, Washington Blade

The annual SMYAL Fall Brunch is Sunday morning. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Friday, Oct. 12

SMYAL hosts its  National Coming Out Day Dance at Eastern Market North Hall (225 7th St., S.E.) tonight from 7-10 p.m. Youth ages 13-24 are invited for dancing, music by DJ Honey, food, performances and more. 

Bang Salon and VIDA Fitness host “Runway to Recovery” a fashion show benefitting N Street Village, at Penthouse Pool Club (1612 U St., N.W.) tonight from 6:30-9 p.m. Ba’Naka Devereaux will host the show. DJ Alex Mavro will play music. All proceeds will benefit homeless and low-income women. Tickets are $30 and includes one glass of sparkling wine. For more information, visit nstreetvillage.org.

Gamma D.C. a support group for men in mixed-orientation relationships, meets at Luther Place Memorial Church (1226 Vermont Ave., N.W.) tonight from 7:30-9:30 p.m. The group is for men who are attracted to men but are currently, or were at one point, in relationships with women. For more information about the group and location, visit gammaindc.org

Go Gay D.C. hosts its LGBTQ Community Social at the Embassy Row Hotel (2015 Massachusetts Ave., N.W.) tonight from 6-9 p.m. TJ Flavell will be on site to greet guests. All are welcome. There will be a cash bar and an appetizer and dinner menu available. Name tags will be provided. Dress code is casual attire. No cover. For more details, visit gogaydc.org.

Saturday, Oct. 13

VIDA Fitness hosts its fourth annual 5K Run/Walk at Hains Point in East Potomac Park (Ohio Dr., S.W.) today. Warm-up and stretch starts at 7:30 a.m. followed by the National Anthem at 7:55 a.m. The race kicks off at 8 a.m. 

Bethesda Row Arts Festival is at 4841 Bethesda Ave., Bethesda, Md., today from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. 190 artists will showcase and sell their work. There will also be live musical entertainment and performance art. For more details, visit facebook.com/bethesdaartsfestival.

Distrkt C: Dungeon, a gay dance party, is at the D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.E.) tonight from 10 p.m.-6 a.m. DJ Kirk and DJ Joe Ross will play music. Tickets are $25. 

Team D.C. hosts its Fall Casino Night at Buffalo Billiards (1330 19th St., N.W.) tonight from 8 p.m.-midnight. Attendees can play poker, blackjack and craps with their favorite teams. There will also be raffle prizes. 

The Mighty Tucks hosts Rainbow Race Fundraiser, an “Amazing Race” style fundraiser, at Francis Field (2500 N St., N.W.) from noon-5 p.m. Teams of two will travel to Cobalt and Nellie’s Sports Bar and compete in games. Competitions will include finding hidden clues, trivia duels, navigating your partner through a maze and tightrope walking. The winning team will receive $200. There will also be prizes for best team name and best team outfit. Registration is $30 per team. All proceeds will be donated to Strength in Our Voices, a D.C.-based, LGBT-led non-profit that works toward defeating stigmas about mental health  

Sunday, Oct. 14

SMYAL hosts its 2018 Fall Brunch at the Marriott Marquis (901 Massachusetts Ave., N.W.) today from 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. There will be an open bar cocktail reception with a silent auction and a three-course brunch. Guests will also hear from community leaders and SMYAL youth. 

Red Derby (3718 14th St., N.W.) hosts LGBTQ Prison Letter Writing Workshop today from 2:30-5:30 p.m. Attendees will write letters to an inmate pen pal. Stamps, envelopes and other materials will be provided. The event is free. For more information, visit facebook.com/redderby.

Silver Spring Record Fair is at Denizens Brewing Co. (1115 East-West Hwy., Silver Spring, Md.) today from 1-6 p.m. More than 20 vendors will sell records and local DJs will play music throughout the night. Nocturnal Wax, Marcello Bentine, Kenny M and Wade Hammes and Elliott Sloan will perform. For more details, visit facebook.com/citizensbrewco.

Monday, Oct. 15

Trixie Mattel brings her “Now With Moving Parts Tour” to Rams Head Live (20 Market Pl., Baltimore) tonight at 8 p.m. The “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 3” winner will bring a mix of live music, comedy and drag. 

Tuesday, Oct. 16

The D.C. Center (2000 14th St., N.W.) hosts its Packing Party from 7-9 p.m. tonight. Volunteers will assemble safer sex kits to distribute to the LGBT community. For more details, visit thedccenter.org.

Wednesday, Oct. 17

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 the poetry collection “Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror” by John Ashbery at the D.C. Center (2000 14th St., N.W.) tonight at 7:30 p.m. All are welcome. For details, visit bookmendc.blogspot.com.

Thursday, Oct. 18

Rainbow History Project Foundation hosts Cops and Queers: The History of the Police and the LGBTQ+ Community in D.C. at Thurgood Marshall Center for Service & Heritage (1816 12th St., N.W.) tonight from 6:30-9 p.m. Rayceen Pendarvis moderates the panel discussion featuring Earline Budd, Craig Howell, Mindy Daniels, Dee Curry and Brett Parson. The discussion will focus on the intersection between the LGBTQ community and the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department. Admission is free but RSVP is required. 

BloominGays, a group for LGBT residents of Bloomingdale, LeDroit Park, Shaw and Eckington, hosts its fall kickoff happy hour at Tyber Creek Wine Bar & Kitchen (84 T St., N.W.) tonight from 9 p.m.-midnight. There will be happy hour drink specials and small bites. For more information, visit bloomingays.com.

Advertisement
FUND LGBTQ JOURNALISM
SIGN UP FOR E-BLAST

Theater

A hilarious ‘Twelfth Night’ at Folger full of ‘elegant kink’

Nonbinary actor Alyssa Keegan stars as Duke Orsino

Published

on

Alyssa Keegan (Photo courtesy Folger Theatre)

‘Twelfth Night’
Through June 22
Folger Theatre
201 East Capitol St., S.E.
$20-$84
Folger.edu

Nonbinary actor Alyssa Keegan (they/them)loves tapping into the multitudes within. 

Currently Keegan plays the melancholic Duke Orsino in Folger Theatre’s production of Shakespeare’s romantic comedy “Twelfth Night.” Director Mei Ann Teo describes the production as “sexy, hilarious, and devastating” and full of “elegant kink.” 

Washington-based, Keegan enjoys a busy and celebrated career. Her vast biography includes Come From Away at Ford’s Theatre; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Helen Hayes Award, Best Actress) and Paula Vogel’s How I Learned to Drive, both at Round House Theatre; Diana Son’s Stop Kiss directedby Holly Twyford for No Rules Theatre Company; and Contractions at Studio Theatre, to name just a few. 

In addition to acting, Keegan works as a polyamory and ethical non-monogamy life and relationship coach, an area of interest that grew out of personal exploration. For them, coaching seems to work hand in hand with acting. 

WASHINGTON BLADE: You’re playing the lovesick Orsino in Twelfth Night. How did that come about? 

ALYSSA KEEGAN: The director was looking to cast a group of actors with diverse identities; throughout auditions, there were no constraints regarding anyone’s assigned sex at birth. It was really a free for all. 

BLADE: What’s your approach to the fetching, cod-piece clad nobleman?

KEEGAN: Offstage I identify as completely nonbinary; I love riding in this neutral middle space. But I also love cosplay. The ability to do that in the play gives me permission to dive completely into maleness. 

So, when I made that decision to play Orsino as a bio male, suddenly the part really cracked open for me. I began looking for clues about his thoughts and opinions about things like his past relationships and his decision not to date older women.

Underneath his mask of bravura and sexuality, and his firmness of feelings, he’s quite lonely and has never really felt loved. It makes sense to me why his love for Olivia is so misguided and why he might fall in love with the Cesario/Viola character.

BLADE: As an actor, do you ever risk taking on the feelings of your characters? 

KEEGAN: Prior to my mental health education, yes, and that could be toxic for me. I’ve since learned that the nervous system can’t tell the difference between real emotional distress and a that of a fully embodied character. 

So, I created and share the Empowered Performer Project. [a holistic approach to performance that emphasizes the mental and emotional well-being of performing artists]. It utilizes somatic tools that help enormously when stepping into a character. 

BLADE: Has changing the way you work affected your performances?

KEEGAN: I think I’m much better now. I used to have nearly debilitating stage fright. I’d spend all day dreading going onstage. I thought that was just part of the job. Now, I’ve learned to talk to my body. Prior to a performance, I can now spend my offstage time calmly gardening, working with my mental health clients, or playing with my kid. I’m just present in my life in a different way. 

BLADE: Is Orsino your first time playing a male role?

KEEGAN: No. In fact, the very first time I played a male role was at the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Va. I played Hipolito in Thomas Middleton’s The Revenger’s Tragedy. 

As Hipolito, I felt utterly male in the moment, so much so that I had audience members see me later after the show and they were surprised that I was female. They thought I was a young guy in the role. There’s something very powerful in that.

BLADE: Do you have a favorite part? Male or female? 

KEEGAN: That’s tough but I think it’s Maggie the Cat. I played the hyper-female Maggie in Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at Round House. In the first act she didn’t stop talking for 51 minutes opposite Gregory Wooddell as Brick who barely had to speak. That lift was probably the heaviest I’ve ever been asked to do in acting. 

BLADE: What about Folger’s Twelfth Night might be especially appealing to queer audiences?

KEEGAN: First and foremost is presentation. 99% of the cast identify as queer in some way. 

The approach to Shakespeare’s text is one of the most bold and playful that I have ever seen.  It’s unabashedly queer. The actors are here to celebrate and be loud and colorful and to advocate. It’s a powerful production, especially to do so close to the Capitol building, and that’s not lost on any of us.

Continue Reading

Photos

PHOTOS: WorldPride Boat Parade

Blade’s inaugural event held at The Wharf

Published

on

The WorldPride 2025 Boat Parade (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The Washington Blade hosted the inaugural WorldPride Boat Parade at The Wharf DC on Friday, June 6. NBC4’s Tommy McFly served as the emcee.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

Continue Reading

Photos

PHOTOS: Capital Pride Honors

Annual awards ceremony held at National Building Museum

Published

on

From left, Raven-Symoné presents Kriston Pumphrey with the Capital Pride Breaking Barriers Award at the 2025 Capital Pride Honors on Thursday, June 5. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The 2025 Capital Pride Honors awards ceremony and gala reception was held at the National Building Museum on Thursday, June 5. Honorees included Cathy Renna, Jerry St. Louis, Ernest Hopkins, Lamar Braithwaite, Rev. Dr. Donna Claycomb Sokol, Kriston Pumphrey, Gia Martinez, Kraig Williams and SMYAL. Presenters and speakers included U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Amber Ruffin, Raven-Symoné and Paul Wharton.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

Continue Reading

Popular