Arts & Entertainment
Calendar: Oct. 26-Nov. 1, 2018
The High Heel Race, dance parties, group discussions and more in the week to come
The cast of ‘Little Shop of Horrors.’ (Photo courtesy Kennedy Center)
Friday, Oct. 26
The D.C Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.E.) hosts Woof: Happy Hour and Porn Star Bingo this evening from 5-11 p.m. Beaux Banks hosts Porn Star Bingo which will have prizes. There will be free pizza for the crowd at 7:30 p.m. Drink specials run until 11 p.m. No cover before 9:30 p.m. For more details, visit dceagle.com.
JR.’s Bar (1519 17th St., N.W.) hosts Divas, a night dedicated to the music of divas, tonight from 9 p.m.-1 a.m. DJ Darryl Strickland will play the music of Cher, Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey and more. Drink specials are from 9 p.m.-midnight. For more information, visit facebook.com/jrsbardc.
D.C. Bear Crue hosts Bear Happy Hour at Uproar Lounge & Restaurant (639 Florida Ave., N.W.) this evening from 5-10 p.m. Drink specials run until 10 p.m. and include $5 rail cocktails and $5 draft pitchers. Free appetizers will be handed out throughout the night. For more details, visit facebook.com/bearhappyhour.
The D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.E.) presents Birds of Prey, a drag show, tonight at 10:30 p.m. Various local drag queens will perform. DJ C Dubz will play music. For more information, visit facebook.com/dcbridsofprey.
The Latino GLBT History Project hosts a screening and discussion of the film “Chavela” at Human Rights Campaign (1649 Rhode Island Ave., N.W.) tonight at 7 p.m. The film tells the story of singer Chavela Vargas. For more details, visit latinoglbthistory.com.
Stonewall Kickball team Down to Field hosts Down to Float Drag Cruise leaving from D.C. Cruises (3100 K St., N.W.) to sail the Potomac tonight from 9:30-11:45 p.m. There will be drag performances from Desiree Dik, Bombalicious Eklaver and Bellatrix Fox. Tickets are $55 and includes an open bar. Proceeds will benefit the D.C. Center. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.
Advocates for Youth (1325 G St., N.W.) presents “Intersex 101: Our Shared Liberation,” a workshop on the basics of being intersex, tonight from 6-8 p.m. Dinner will be provided. For details, visit facebook.com/advocates4youth.
Broadway Center Stage presents “Little Shop of Horrors” at the Kennedy Center (2700 F St., N.W.) today with shows at 2 and 8 p.m. The musical stars Megan Hilty and Josh Radnor. For more information, visit kennedy-center.org.
Saturday, Oct. 27
Miss Adams Morgan 31: SHEroes and Villains is at the Washington Hilton (1919 Connecticut Ave., N.W.) tonight at 6 p.m. Queen Eva and the Dupont Social Club host the event. Tickets are $85. Search “Miss Adams Morgan 31: SHEroes & Villains” on Facebook for more information.
The Bentzen Ball Comedy Fest presents comedians Cameron Esposito, Rhea Butcher, Naomi Ekgeperin and more at the Lincoln Theatre (1215 U St., N.W.) tonight at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $20. For more details, visit bentzenball.com.
The Halloween Hip Hop Bar Crawl is today in the U Street neighborhood from 3-11 p.m. A DJ at each bar will spin a different genre of old school hip hop music from the ‘80s, ‘90s and ‘00s. Costumes are encouraged. There will also be drink specials and giveaways. Participating bars include Vivid Lounge, Clock & Dagger, Amsterdam and Pure Lounge. The grand finale afterparty will be at Provision 14 from 8-11 p.m. Tickets are $20. For more information, visit facebook.com/1920dc.
The gay-led Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company will perform “Silhouettes” based on American culture in the National Portrait Gallery at the gallery in the Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium this evening at 6:30 p.m. and Tuesday, Oct. 30 (same time). Details at dtsbdc.org.
Washington Concert Opera performs Opera Outside today at 11 a.m. at Merdian Hill/Malcolm X Park near the Joan of Arc statue on the top field. Children and dogs welcome. It’s free and open to the public. Selections will include works from the current season. Details at concertopera.org/outside.
Sunday, Oct. 28
The Bentzen Ball Comedy Fest and Lyft presents Belly Laughs, a charity brunch featuring “Queer Eye” star Antoni Porowski and friends, at Eaton D.C. (1201 K St., N.W.) at 11 a.m. Doors open at 10:30 p.m. Total proceeds will benefit Whitman-Walker Health. Tickets can’t be bought but Lyft users can use the code “AVOCADO” for a chance to win. For more information, visit bentzenball.com.
Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W.) hosts Sunday Mass, a monthly house/techno music event, tonight from 6 p.m.-midnight. DJ Billy Lace will play music. Cover is $5. For more details, visit cobaltdc.com.
Monday, Oct. 29
The D.C. Center (2000 14th St., N.W.) hosts coffee drop-in hours for the senior LGBT community this morning from 10 a.m.-noon. Older LGBT adults can come and enjoy complimentary coffee and conversation with other community members. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.
Tuesday, Oct. 30
Mayor Muriel Bowser presents the 32nd annual 17th Street High Heel Race on 17th Street between R and P Streets tonight at 7 p.m. The pre-race happy hour kicks off at Level One/Cobalt patio (1639 R St., N.W.) at 5 p.m. The parade is at 7 p.m. followed by the race at 9 p.m. For details, visit facebook.com/
Wednesday, Oct. 31
Nellies’s Sports Bar (900 U St., N.W.) hosts “A Rocky Horror Halloween” tonight from 8 p.m.-midnight. From 8-10 p.m. there will be a screening of “Rocky Horror Picture Show.” “Absolutely Snatched,” a drag show and costume contest, will be from 10 p.m.-midnight. $1 from the night’s speciality cocktail will benefit the National Black Justice Coalition. For more information, visit nelliessportsbar.com.
Union Stage (740 Water St., N.W.) hosts a Harry Potter dance party tonight at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $25-$60. For more details, visit unionstage.com.
The Lambda Bridge Club meets tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Dignity Center (721 8th St., S.E.) for duplicate bridge. No reservations are needed and newcomers are welcome. Call 202-841-0279 if you need a partner.
Thursday, Nov. 1
Slide It in presents Seven Deadly Sins at Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W.) tonight from 8-10 p.m. All proceeds will benefit the Trevor Project. For more details, search “Slide It In Presents: Seven Deadly Sins” on Facebook.
Celebrity News
Silky Nutmeg Ganache talks sex and dating, gender, politics, weight loss journey
‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars’ semifinalist grew up in Bible Belt
Uncloseted Media published this interview on July 7.
By SPENCER MACNAUGHTON, ISABEL STOKES, and BELLA SAYEGH | After appearing on the 11th season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” the first season of “Canada’s Drag Race: Canada vs. the World,” the sixth season of “RuPaul’s All Stars” and now the 11th season of “All Stars,” Silky Nutmeg Ganache, known by many as the Reverend, is undoubtedly a legend.
Born and raised in Moss Point, Miss., Ganache bears all in this episode of “UNCLOSETED with Spencer Macnaughton.” She speaks about her relationship with gender, her 100-pound weight loss, what it’s like living as a queer person of color in a red state and why she’s calling on allies to stand up for the trans community.
Patrons enjoyed a night out at the popular LGBTQ venue Crush Dance Bar on Friday, July 3.
(Washington Blade photos by Landon Shackelford)
Theater
‘My Favorite Sociopath’ debuts at Shepherdstown’s CATF
Gay playwright Aurin Squire’s take on D.C. journalism in the ‘90s
‘My Favorite Sociopath’
Contemporary American Theater Festival
July 10-Aug. 2
Shepherdstown, W.Va.
Catf.org
Discernment. It’s a thing some people have, explains playwright Aurin Squire, especially when you’re gay or Black in America (Squire is both).
“You instinctively know when the mob is teaming up for the best interests of the powers that be. You can feel it in the air.”
In his sharp new satire “My Favorite Sociopath,” Squire writes about life experiences but set in a different time and place: It’s the 1990s, early days of the 24-hour news cycle, and three ambitious journalism students are pursuing success in D.C.
And now, Squire’s play, along with other new works, are making their world premieres at the annual Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF) at Shepherd University in historic, queer-friendly Shepherdstown, W.Va. (just a 90-minute drive from D.C.).
“All of my plays are queer in some way,” says Squire, 46. “This one touches on harmless and dangerous lies. The characters are on the spectrum sexually, and it’s interesting how all that falls out.”
And he’s given it a lot of thought.
“Already as a kid, it seemed to me that the rage against rap music and sex was coming from closeted people resisting their own urges and temptations. For me, it was interesting to see a witch hunt led by witches. Queer people can always call out a lie.”
Since September, Squire has also been working with a TV show about the tech industry set in Silicon Valley. He says, “It seems the general flow of the tech industry is that humanity and civilization is finished and it’s just about accumulating as many goods as possible before everything collapses. In fact, those who are profiting actually agree. But for those who disagree, they believe the solution is to build bigger gates, but activists believe we can stop this”
Yet, he’s learned from folks associated with the show. “Many say the quickest way to divorce yourself from any responsibility or regulations — smash and grab. Otherwise, you have to stop and think and regulate your desires for greed and power”
Squire possesses a penchant for pithy titles. He laughs, explaining the first thing he wrote as a student at Juilliard was “Obama-ology,” the comedy with contemporary message. While a lot of people liked the name, it didn’t necessarily vibe with the author. He concedes that he chooses names based on “easy to remember” and titles that won’t be easy to lose as a file.
Another is “Defacing Michael Jackson,” a coming-of-age dramedy set in rural Florida in 1984, specifically Squire’s native town Opa-locka, Miami, a fantastical place famed for its fanciful Moorish revival architecture.
Living in the shadow of exotic structures, he wasn’t particularly fazed. Squire says “It wasn’t until returning to visit after my freshman year at Northwestern University in Chicago that I realized how weird it was: When you grow up in a place, you take surroundings for granted no matter how over the top.”
Now based in New York (where for two happy years, 2017-2019, he shared digs with drag king Murry Hill), Squire returns frequently to Miami to be with family, but this summer has been filled with both work and travel.
Currently, he’s in Shepherdstown with CATF shaping up “My Favorite Sociopath.” Later this summer he will travel to South Africa for research, followed by a silent writing retreat in Santa Fe, N.M.
Much of Squire’s work reflects the Latino, African, Caribbean, African-American, and Jewish cultures he grew up around in South Florida.
When asked if today’s winds of anti-multiculturalism worry him, he replies, “No, because that’s going to pass. Most people don’t like, people are seeing the negative results of it, and the young people coming up despise it. White male gamers were tricked momentarily through the algorithms into voting against their own interests and they’re now seeing how it’s not working out for them.
“Conservatives always try to stop progress and eventually they always lose. It’s just a question of where we’ll be in the middle of the end of civilization before that happens. I’d like to hope we can turn the ship around before then.”
In addition to “My Favorite Sociopath,” CATF summer season features three other world premieres (Lisa D’Amour’s comedy “The Smoker,” “Refugee Rhapsody” by Yussef El Guindi, “Best Line Wins: A Play Inspired by the Improvised Lives of Elaine May & Mike Nichols” by Beth Kander) and “¡VOS!” by Christina Pumariega.
CATF runs from July 10-Aug. 2 in three venues on the Shepherd University campus: Frank Center, Marinoff Theater, and Studio 112.
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