Arts & Entertainment
Rehoboth Beach summer events roundup
Stop by local drag shows, musical performances, Pride celebrations
The summer is almost upon us, and the Blade has compiled a list of Rehoboth Beach-area events you won’t want to miss. Stop by these local bars, restaurants, and community centers to keep the season packed with good memories and fun.
MAY
May 4-31: 30 Years in 30 Photos CAMP Rehoboth Visual Arts Exhibition. Visit the collection of more than 300 photographs of community-defining events curated from the local LGBTQ community center at 37 Baltimore Ave. and participate in an auction for your favorite pieces.
May 20: 15th Annual Blade Foundation Summer Kick Off Party. Join The Blade as it celebrates the start of the summer, featuring a special appearance from Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester. Festivities will begin at 5 p.m. at The Pines, 56 Baltimore Ave.
May 20: Kings & Queens of Comedy Variety Show. Come and watch a variety show hosted by The Pines, filled with skits and stand-up from comedians Kristina Kelly, Gray West, Anthony Brone, Alejandro Morales and Rob Stant. Doors open at 7 p.m.
May 20 to 22: Clear Space Theatre Company presents “The Lightning Thief.” Bring your kids to see this musical production of the beloved Percy Jackson book at 20 Baltimore Avenue.
Fridays beginning May 20: Piano Bar with Doug Repetti. Stop by The Pines each Friday from 6-8 p.m. to sing along to Repetti’s show, which features today’s pop hits, 80’s rock, 90’s pop and more.
Second Friday of each month, beginning May 20: CAMP Rehoboth Community Center Monthly Youth Social. LGBTQ youth are welcome to hang out and play games with other community members through the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center at 6:30 p.m. on the second Friday of each month.
May 21: Cocktails and Candles: Happy Hour. Have a drink at The Pines while enjoying artwork from The Lion’s Den Candle Company, a Rehoboth Beach small business. Held from 6-8 p.m.
Saturdays beginning May 21: A Night of DIVA’s, hosted by Mona Lotts and Kristina Kelly. Share tapas and drinks at The Pines in a night of comedy and fun hosted by local queens. Doors open at 8:45 p.m. each week.
Sundays beginning May 22: Drag Brunch with Mona Lotts and Kristina Kelly. Wake up with a laugh at The Pines at this weekly drag brunch and comedy performance. Doors open at 11:15 a.m., and the show concludes around 2 p.m. each week.
Sundays beginning May 22: Blaqueout Trivia. Bring your friends to compete and win prizes in a night of hilarious trivia hosted by Rebecca Blaqueout and Jerry B at The Pines. Happy Hour begins at 5 p.m., and trivia starts at 5 p.m each week.
Mondays beginning May 23: Flaming Pianos Steak & Show. For just $29, you can pair an 8oz filet with a glass of wine while listening to—and even participating in—the music and storytelling of dynamic duo John Flynn and Matthew Kenworthy at The Pines. Doors open at 6 p.m. each week.
Every other Monday beginning May 23: Flaming Knitters. Open to those of all levels of experience, come practice or learn knitting at the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center at 6:30 p.m.
May 25: The Vocal Diva Marcella Peters: One Night Only! Listen to the musical stylings of singer and Baltimore native Marcella Peters at The Pines. Doors open at 6 p.m.
May 26 to 30: Memorial Day Weekend Salute. Enjoy a weekend of music and performances at Diego’s Bar & Nightclub, located at 37298 Rehoboth Ave. Doors open at 4 p.m., and music begins at 9:30 p.m.
May 27: Memorial Day Kickoff Drag Show. Come enjoy a night of comedy and fashion at The Pines hosted by Kristina Kelly. Doors open at 8 p.m.
May 30: Memorial Day Drag Brunch. Celebrate the long weekend at The Pines enjoying comedy, food and fun with local queens. Doors open at 11:00 a.m., and the show concludes around 2 p.m.
May 31: Can’t Fool The Blues Band. Experience a musical mixture of rock, blues and R&B in this Rehoboth-based band’s performance at The Pines. Doors open at 7 p.m.
Every Wednesday: Drag Bingo. Play a fun game of bingo hosted by local queen Ophelia Bottoms at Freddie’s Beach Bar & Restaurant, located at 3 S 1st St. Event begins at 8 p.m. each Wednesday.
Every Thursday: Karaoke Night. Sing your heart out at karaoke nights at Freddie’s Beach Bar & Restaurant. Event begins at 8 p.m. each Thursday.
Every Friday: Follies at the Beach Drag Show. Witness spectacular drag performances with special guests each week at Freddie’s Beach Bar & Restaurant. Show begins at 9 p.m. each Friday.
JUNE
June 3: The Return of Varla Jean Merman. Comedy queen Varla Jean Merman makes her return to The Pines in this night of comedy and fun. Two shows will be held, with doors opening at 6 and 9 p.m.
June 3: Royal T Dance featuring Austin Armacost. Come dance on the patio at Diego’s Bar & Nightclub in a fun night out, with music provided by DJ Riddle.
June 3 to 5: Clear Space Theatre Company presents “The Submission.” Come watch this impactful one-weekend performance which looks into race, gender and ignored prejudices.
June 5. The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee featuring Austin Armacost. Enjoy a night out at Diego’s Bar & Nightclub in its Jubilee Party, which begins at 8 p.m.
June 6: Lady Bunny brings her irreverent comedy to the Blue Moon, 35 Baltimore Ave., 9:30-11 p.m.
June 8: Milton PRIDE Pre-Party & Art Show. Take a quick drive away from the coast and enjoy this Pride Month and Celebration and art show in Milton, Del., hosted by Inn the Dog House Tiki Bar at 428 Chestnut St. from 6-9 p.m.
First Friday of each month, beginning June 3: FURst Friday Happy Hour with the Rehoboth Beach Bears. Enjoy beers and dishes at The Pines in this monthly happy hour from 6-8 p.m.
June 10: Magnolia Applebottom Drag Show. Watch a drag show at the Milton Theatre at 110 Union St. in Milton, and enjoy drinks and snacks while you’re at it.
June 10: Whitney! The Music Of Whitney Houston. In this stroll down memory lane, The Pines is bringing Sheree Marcelle to perform musical renditions of Whitney Houston’s classic hits in a show written and produced by Mike Flanagan. Doors open at 8 p.m.
June 11: Queer Queens of Comedy. Witness the outrageous hilarity of three comedic powerhouses at the Milton Theatre. Doors open at 8 p.m.
June 12: Philadelphia Freedom: Tribute to Elton John Matinee. Reminisce with this captivating rendition of Elton John’s works at the Milton Theatre.
June 12: 2022 Tonys Party. Celebrate the Tony Awards this year with Clear Space Theatre Company, enjoying cocktails, dinner and entertainment at The Children’s Beach House, located at 1800 Bay Front Avenue in Lewes, Del. Festivities will be held 5-9 p.m.
June 13: Beloved disco and soul singer Linda Clifford plays the Blue Moon 9:30-11 p.m.
June 17: Betti and Bruce: Lost in Rehoboth. Have a night of songs and fun in this musical show at The Pines featuring Betti Blumenthal and Bruce Delmonico. Doors open at 8 p.m.
June 20-Sept. 1: Acclaimed NYC pianist Nate Buccieri plays the Blue Moon, Mondays-Thursdays, 6-8:30 p.m. Reservations recommended.
June 24: Have A Gay Old Laugh! Pride Stand-Up Comedy Show. Drive over to the Milton Theatre for a night of laughter. Doors open at 8 p.m.
June 24 and 25: Top of the Pines Welcomes Antonio Edwards. Witness the wonderful vocals of this singer and entertainer at The Pines in a show on Friday, June 24 from 8-10 p.m. or Saturday, June 25 from 6-8 p.m.
June 24-Aug. 27: Clear Space Theatre Company presents “9 to 5.” Watch the local theater recreate this hilarious office satire.
June 25: Pride Day at the Brandywine Zoo. Stop by the Brandywine Zoo, located at 1001 N Park Drive in Wilmington, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for a scavenger hunt, crafts, educational opportunities and all-around fun.
June 27: Miss Richfield 1981 performs her new show “Cancel Cultured Pearls” at the Blue Moon, 9:30-11 p.m.
June 28 to Aug. 23: Clear Space Theatre Company presents “Grease.” Enjoy this beloved musical as recreated by local performers.
JULY
July 1: Del Shores: The Tea is Spilled. Texas storyteller Del Shores is stopping by The Pines to bring you a night of entertainment and drama. Two shows will be held, with doors opening at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m.
July 1 to Aug. 25: Clear Space Theatre Company presents “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” Watch as the local theater takes on a new rendition of this beloved musical comedy.
July 2 to Aug. 20: Saturday Morning Children’s Theatre 2022. Bring your children to another Clear Space Theatre Company show including classics like Sleeping Beauty and Peter Pan. All shows held at 11 a.m.
July 4: Lady Bunny returns to the Blue Moon, 9:30-11 p.m.
July 8: Friday Fever Show: The Boys of Summer. Watch special performances and enjoy drinks at The Pines. Doors open at 8 p.m.
July 15: The Dozen Divas Show. Appreciate the amazing costumes and exciting performances of America’s Got Talent Finalist Dorothy Bishop. Show runs from 8 to 11 p.m.
July 16: Hair and Heels Dance Party. Come to The Pines in your favorite wig and pair of heels and dance to the stylings of DJ Chord. Doors open at 9 p.m.
July 17: Hair and Heels Drag Brunch. Wake up with a laugh by heading to brunch at The Pines. Doors open at 11 a.m.
July 17: Hair and Heels Closing Party. Bring your wig and best heels to the dance floor at The Pines. Doors open at 8 p.m.
July 18: Sherry Vine brings her latest show “Potty Mouth” to the Blue Moon, 9:30-11 p.m.
July 22: Big Red Miss Meghan Murphy. Listen to this musical performance covering styles from pop parodies to jazz at The Pines. Seating begins at 7 p.m.
July 27: The Boy Band Project. Allow this musical performance hosted by The Pines to transport you to the era of boy band craze. Seating begins at 7 p.m.
July 29: A Golden Girls Musical Adventure. Come watch this hilarious revamp of The Golden Girls hosted by The Pines. Doors open at 7 p.m. and show begins at 8 p.m.
AUGUST
Aug. 25: Coco Peru: Bitter, Bothered, and Beyond. Listen to Miss Coco Peru’s take on the world in an evening performance at The Pines. Doors open at 8 p.m.
Aug. 27: The White Party with Chord Bezerra. Dress up in white and stay out late having fun at Diego’s Bar & Nightclub. Music begins at 9:30 p.m.
SEPTEMBER
September 2: Hunks: The All Male Review. Stop by The Pines for a personal and intimate male dance show incorporating lights, choreography, costumes and music. Doors open at 7 p.m.
Celebrity News
Outright International honors Cyndi Lauper at annual NYC gala
Singer, long-time ally spoke with Blade on red carpet
NEW YORK — Cyndi Lauper on Monday said LGBTQ Americans and their allies cannot give up in the fight for equality.
“We need to band together. We need to stand together, and we need to speak out, and we need to help each other,” she told the Washington Blade during an interview after she arrived at Outright International’s Celebration of Courage gala that took place at Pier 60 in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. “Otherwise, we’re dead.”
Outright International honored the singer and long-time ally at the gala that raised nearly $1.5 million for the global LGBTQ and intersex advocacy group. Levi Strauss and VoteLGBT, a group that seeks to increase LGBTQ representation in Brazilian politics, also received awards at the event that Laverne Cox emceed.
“These people have courage — you have the courage to stand up,” said Lauper in her acceptance speech, specifically referring to VoteLGBT and its work in Brazil.
‘I just saw a lot of things that weren’t right’
Lauper’s LGBTQ advocacy spans decades.
She co-founded True Colors United, which seeks to end homelessness among LGBTQ youth, in 2008. Gregory Lewis, who co-founded True Colors United alongside Lauper, introduced her at the Outright International gala.
Lauper in 2010 created the “Give a Damn” campaign through True Colors United that specifically encouraged straight people to support LGBTQ rights. She raised funds for True Colors United and the Stonewall Community Foundation when she was a contestant on President Donald Trump’s “The Celebrity Apprentice” the same year.
Lauper headlined the WorldPride 2019 opening ceremony in New York. She received the first U.N. High Note Global Prize for her LGBTQ rights advocacy later that year.
Lauper in 2022 performed at the White House ceremony during at which then-President Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act, which codified marriage rights for same-sex couples into federal law. Lauper last year was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Lauper in her Outright International speech talked about her decision to support LGBTQ rights.
“I just saw a lot of things that weren’t right,” she said.
“Because I’m friend and family, I thought it would be important to show up here and be with you guys,” added Lauper.
She told gala attendees and honorees that they inspire her.
“Tonight was a big inspiration for me because I was feeling kind of down about how things are going,” said Lauper. “I know that we need to stand together in any civil rights movement — and that’s what it fucking is!”
Lauper reiterated that message when she spoke with the Blade. She also criticized those who “weaponize religion” in their opposition to LGBTQ rights in the U.S. and around the world.
“That’s very sad,” said Lauper. “Religion is supposed to be about humanity and love and understanding each other.”
Lauper urged gala attendees to vote and to encourage their families and friends to do the same. She also told them not to “give up.”
“We can never give up,” said Lauper. “Even though it might look like we’re not going anywhere, you guys made me see that we are.”
“That inspires people,” she added. “You make ripples and you change right before your eyes. It don’t look like much, but it is and it gets bigger and bigger and bigger.”
Celebrity News
Why Michelle Visage needs you to get ‘PrEP Wise’
‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ judge speaks about new ViiV Healthcare campaign
If you ask an LGBTQ person what Michelle Visage is known for, you’re likely to get a few similar answers. Most people will say that they know her as the co-judge on “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” with the woman serving looks (and scathing critiques) for more than a decade on this seminal program. Others may bring up her time awing audiences on the West End, or her initial star turn in the hit girl group Seduction. There are a few answers you may get when asking about Michelle Visage, but there’s one part of the performer’s career that not enough people bring up today: her advocacy.
Before the record deals and hit TV shows, Michelle Visage was a tough teenager from New Jersey. A girl who knew she was meant for fame but was still figuring out how to get there. Eventually, the search for stardom brought her to 1980s New York, a thriving home of queer nightlife that taught Visage how her voice could be used to fight against hatred. And while she flexes that skill every day as a fierce advocate, she’s excited to be louder than ever through ViiV Healthcare’s new ‘PrEP Wisdom Campaign.’
Michelle Visage sat down with the Los Angeles Blade to discuss this campaign and how it feels to speak up about this important issue. But before we could get to the present, she stressed that if people wanted to know about her current work, they first had to understand how it all began.
Visage detailed her youth in New Jersey, her no-nonsense parents, and the many times she snuck into nightclubs hoping to be ‘discovered.’ It was in these clubs that she found the thriving ballroom scene of 1980s New York, saying, “I felt like Dorothy [from the ‘Wizard of Oz’] when she clicked her heels! [Except] Dorothy clicked her heels three times, and she ended up in Kansas — I ended up on Christopher Street with 30 or 40 of the weirdest, craziest looking misfits I’d ever seen in my life.” Michelle smiled widely as she remembered those early moments. “I was like, ‘Oh my god … I think I found my people.”
“I met Willie Ninja and Caesar Ninja Valentino, and they took me in as one of their own and started teaching me how to vogue. And that’s how life began for me in the ballroom!” She began to walk as a member of the House of Valentino — specifically Face, Body, and Femme Vogue — and found a second home amidst this thriving subculture of marginalized artists. “When I didn’t have anybody or a group or a clique to speak of, the queer scene in New York City took me in as one of theirs — and I became ‘Michelle Magnifique.’”
Through this community, Visage got to see the birth of our modern LGBTQ rights movement — as well as just how much the AIDS crisis would come to terrorize these people she’d begun to call her family.
“Because I was so deep in this scene, I was affected greatly by the AIDS crisis and the lack of any kind of support from anything around us,“ said Michelle, speaking candidly about her many days spent at the bedsides of those suffering from this disease, acting as a source of comfort for folks whose blood family had abandoned them long ago. “I was standing by their side and holding their hand and being with them … I didn’t know what I was doing. But I knew that I needed to show up, and I knew that I needed to be there.”
Even when her career took Michelle from New York, she always carried those memories of standing by community members when nobody else would. This, when paired with her massive singing and acting talents, is what made her one of pop culture’s staunchest advocates for LGBTQ rights in the 90s and early 2000s. This earned her a massive queer following, and today, it’s what makes her the perfect partner for ViiV’s new PrEP Wisdom Campaign.
“Viiv Healthcare is the only pharmaceutical company solely focused on preventing, treating, and ultimately curing HIV,” Michelle explained. “Their goal is to help end the HIV epidemic for all — and that, to me, is music to my ears.”
It’s a goal that’s only become more important since the company was founded back in 2009. The only large-scale pharmaceutical company focused on ending the HIV epidemic, ViiV, not only fights cultural stigma but also saves thousands of lives daily by connecting folks to the treatment and prevention resources they need. Especially as we’re seeing numerous states — including California — begin to slash HIV funding, their work through campaigns like this one is becoming more important than ever.
“The PrEP Wisdom Campaign, first and foremost, is intended to encourage conversations between people who could benefit from PrEP, and [why they should] talk to their doctors to help determine which injectable PrEP might be right for them,” said Visage. She discussed how the campaign is information-oriented, with ViiV developing easy-to-understand pathways for folks to become more aware of injectable PrEP services as well as general HIV/AIDS-related resources.
“More than 2 million Americans could benefit from PrEP to help prevent HIV [according to the] CDC — yet only 25 percent of them are currently using it!” She understands that there were many things holding people back from getting PrEP, ranging from cultural stigma to discriminatory doctors to a lack of awareness that these resources even exist. But she emphasizes that people cannot let social judgment hold them back from their health and safety! “If you’re not clicking with your health care provider, please find a new one. You don’t have to settle … there are plenty of people to choose from. Plenty of healthcare providers, plenty of doctors who want to work with you, who want to give you the information about PrEP, who want you to be on PrEP so you are protected.”
“Listen, we have come a long way since I started [back in] 1986], and we’ve got so much further to go,” Visage said, reflecting on her lifelong role as an HIV advocate, first as a teenager, and now as an acclaimed performer. But while she may have grown since then, she still carries the commitment to fighting against injustice that the queer community of 80s New York instilled in her. “I will fight forever on this platform. [Discrimination hasn’t] changed, so I don’t plan on changing.”
Michelle Visage knows that change doesn’t happen by being silent — it happens by staying informed and keeping yourself healthy so that you can speak out for what you know is right. In honor of the many lives she fought for in 1980s New York, Visage wants to help as many people as she can today get the PrEP resources they need. And through her new PrEP Wisdom campaign with ViiV, she’s excited to do exactly that.
Hagerstown Hopes held the Hagerstown Pride Festival outside Hub City Brewery on Saturday, May 30.
(Washington Blade photos by Landon Shackelford)
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