Arts & Entertainment

Calendar: Sept. 9

Parties, meetings, performances and more through Sept. 15

Published

15 years ago

September 8, 2011

Juliette Ebner

An ABBA tribute concert plays Wolf Trap Sunday. (Photo courtesy of Wolf Trap)

TODAY (Friday)

Women in Their Twenties, a social discussion and dinner group, meets tonight from 8 to 9:30 p.m. at the D.C. Center (1318 U St., N.W.).

Busboys & Poets presents “The 11th Hour” poetry slam hosted by “2Deep” the Poetess, tonight at 11 p.m. in the Langston room at its 14th and V streets location (2021 14th St., N.W.). There is a $5 admission at the door starting at 10:30 p.m.

So Addictive Lounge (733 Elden St.) in Herndon presents “T.Gay.I.F.” tonight with music, dancing and more from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.

The Lodge (21614 National Pike) in Boonsboro is hosting “Miss Gay America or Bust,” a benefit show to help Maryland drag queens go to Miss Gay America featuring Miss Gay Maryland 2011 Chi Chi Ray Colby and Araya Sparxx, first alternate to MGM, tonight starting at 9 p.m. There will also be performances by Ashley Bannks, Brooke Lane, Miss D Meaner, Chanel Van Cartier Couture, Nicole James, Butch Kelly and more from 10 to 11:30 p.m. The cover is $5 before 11 and $3 afterward.

Town (2009 8th St., N.W.) is having its weekly Bear Happy Hour tonight starting at 6 p.m. There is no cover for this 21 and older event.

Saturday, Sept. 10

Mixtape is celebrating its third anniversary tonight at Town (2009 8th St., N.W.) from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. Mixtape is a dance party for queer music lovers and their pals that features DJs Shea Van Horn and Matt Bailer playing an eclectic mix of electro, alt-pop, indie rock, house, disco, new wave and anything else danceable. There is a $8 cover from 10 to 11 p.m. that goes up to $12 for this 21-and-older event.

The D.C. Center (1318 U St., N.W.) will be having an introduction to Adobe Photoshop today from 2 to 4 p.m. There will also be free HIV testing at the center from 4 to 7 p.m.

Kings Dominion is having its annual gay and lesbian night benefitting Brother, Help Thyself, tonight from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Attendees will be able to enjoy the rides throughout the night and at 11 p.m. DJ Steve Henderson will be spinning at the dance party on International Street. Tickets are $33 in advance and $36 at the gate. Visit kingsdominion.com/shop/shopping_corporate_partners.cfm and enter “gaynight” as the company ID to get the special price.

Blowoff, a dance party featuring gay DJs Bob Mould and Richard Morel, will be at 9:30 club (815 V St., N.W.) tonight. Doors open at 11:30 p.m. Attendees must be 21 or older. Tickets are $12 and can be purchased at 930.com.

S.h.e. productions presents Rehab at Grand Central Disco and Sapphos (1001 N. Charles St.) in Baltimore featuring the power hour and a half with $2.50 domestic and rail drinks until 10:30 p.m. Doors open at 9 p.m. and there is a $5 cover for this 21 and older event.

Just Circuit will be at Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W.) tonight featuring DJs Sean Morris and Mike Reimer with DJ Kuhmeleon at 10 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 11

Nellie’s (900 U St., N.W.) has its weekly drag brunch hosted by Shi-Queeta Lee today starting at 11 a.m. The brunch buffet is $20 and includes a free mimosa. Also at Nellie’s is the “Guil-Tea Dance” with DJ Shea Van Horn at 3 p.m.

Burgundy Crescent Volunteers will be helping fight hunger in the D.C. area today from 9 a.m. to noon, with D.C. Central Kitchen. Volunteers will help cook, working along chefs who have graduated from DCCK’s job training program. No experience is required, just an interest of cooking. DCCK provides job skills by using rescued and donated ingredients to teach unemployed and homeless individuals how to cook, then turns this food into free meal services. E-mail [email protected] for more information.

Lambda Sci-Fi, an LGBT science fiction, fantasy and horror group, is having its monthly meeting and social today starting at 1:30 p.m. at 1414 17th St., N.W. Participants are asked to bring a snack or a non-alcoholic drink to share. For more information, call James at 202-232-3141, e-mail to [email protected], or visit the group’s website lambdascifi.org.

ABBA — The Concert will be performed at the Filene Center at Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Rd.) in Vienna, tonight at 8 p.m. Tickets are $38 for in-house and $25 for the lawn. For more information and to purchase tickets online, visit wolftrap.org.

Monday, Sept. 12

There will be a Youth Working Group meeting today at the D.C. Center (1318 U St., N.W.) at 6:30 p.m. This is a group of people who are committed to impacting the lives of D.C. area youth.

The D.C. Lambda Squares are holding an open house/ice cream social today from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in Scott Hall at the National City Christian Church (5 Thomas Circle, N.W.). No previous experience is necessary.

Busboys & Poets is hosting “10 Years Later: 9-11 — Lessons Learned,” a discussion with Ralph Nader, Mike German and Bruce Fein, at 12:30 p.m. at its 14th and V location (2021 14th St., N.W.) to mark the anniversary of the attacks.

Tuesday, Sept. 13

D.C. Bi Women will have its monthly dinner at Dupont Italian Kitchen (1637 17th St., N.W.) tonight from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.

Remington’s (639 Pennslyvania Ave., S.E.) is hosting D.C. Drag Idol tonight from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. hosted by Raquel Savage Black. Admission is $5.

Wednesday, Sept. 14

Rainbow Response is holding its monthly meeting tonight at the D.C. Center (1318 U St., N.W.) from 7 to 8 p.m.

Green Lantern (1331 Green Court, N.W.) will host the weekly Poz D.C. happy hour upstairs from 8 p.m. to midnight.

Thursday, Sept. 15

“Shear Madness,” a comedy whodunit, will be performed tonight at the Kennedy Center Theater Lab (2700 F St., N.W.) at 8 p.m. “Madness” takes place in present-day Georgetown, in the Shear Madness Hair Styling Salon. Tickets are $42. Visit kennedy-center.org for more information and to purchase tickets.

Photos

PHOTOS: Denali at Pitchers

‘Drag Race’ alum performs at Thirst Trap

Published

14 hours ago

April 14, 2026

Michael Key

Denali performs at the Thirst Trap Thursday drag show at Pitchers DC on April 9. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Denali (@denalifoxx) of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” performed at Pitchers DC on April 9 for the Thirst Trap Thursday drag show. Other performers included Cake Pop!, Brooke N Hymen, Stacy Monique-Max and Silver Ware Sidora.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

Arts & Entertainment

In an act of artistic defiance, Baltimore Center Stage stays focused on DEI

‘Maybe it’s a triple-down’

Published

2 days ago

April 13, 2026

Baltimore Banner

Last year, Baltimore Center Stage refused to give up its DEI focus in the face of losing federal funding. They've tripled down. (Photo by Ulysses Muñoz of the Baltimore Banner)

By LESLIE GRAY STREETER | I’m always tickled when people complain about artists “going political.” The inherent nature of art, of creation and free expression, is political. This becomes obvious when entire governments try to threaten it out of existence, like in 2025, when the brand-new presidential administration demanded organizations halt so-called diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programming or risk federal funding.

Baltimore Center Stage’s response? A resounding and hearty “Nah.” A year later, they’re still doubling down on diversity.

“Maybe it’s a triple-down,” said Ken-Matt Martin, the theater’s producing director, chuckling.

The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

Books

Susan Lucci on love, loss, and ‘All My Children’

New book chronicles life of iconic soap star

Published

2 days ago

April 13, 2026

Terri Schlichenmeyer

(Book cover image courtesy of Blackstone Publishing)

‘La Lucci’
By Susan Lucci with Laura Morton
c.2026, Blackstone Publishing
$29.99/196 pages

They’re among the world’s greatest love stories.

You know them well: Marc Antony and Cleopatra. Abelard and Heloise. Phoebe and Langley. Cliff and Nina. Jesse and Angie, Opal and Palmer, Palmer and Daisy, Tad and Dixie. Now read “La Lucci” by Susan Lucci, with Laura Morton, and you might also think of Susan and Helmut.

When she was a very small girl, Susan Lucci loved to perform. Also when she was young, she learned that words have power. She vowed to use them for good for the rest of her life.

Her parents, she says, were supportive and her family, loving. Because of her Italian heritage, she was “ethnic looking” but Lucci’s mother was careful to point out dark-haired beauties on TV and elsewhere, giving Lucci a foundation of confidence.

That’s just one of the things for which Lucci says she’s grateful. In fact, she says, “Prayers of gratitude are how I begin and end each day.”

She is particularly grateful for becoming a mother to her two adult children, and to the doctors who saved her son’s life when he was a newborn.

Lucci writes about gratitude for her long career. She was a keystone character on TV’s “All My Children,” and she learned a lot from older actors on the show, and from Agnes Nixon, the creator of it. She says she still keeps in touch with many of her former costars.

She is thankful for her mother’s caretakers, who stepped in when dementia struck. Grateful for more doctors, who did heart-saving work when Lucci had a clogged artery. Grateful for friends, opportunities, life, grandchildren, and a career that continues.

And she’s grateful for the love she shared with her husband, Helmut Huber, who died nearly four years ago. Grateful for the chance to grieve, to heal, and to continue.

And yet, she says of her husband: “He was never timid, but I know he was afraid at the end, and that kills me down to my soul.”

“It’s been 15 years since Erica Kane and I parted ways,” says author Susan Lucci (with Laura Morton), and she says that people still approach her to confirm or deny rumors of the show’s resurrection. There’s still no answer to that here (sorry, fans), but what you’ll find inside “La Lucci” is still exceptionally generous.

If this book were just filled with stories, you’d like it just fine. If it was only about Lucci’s faith and her gratitude – words that happen to appear very frequently here – you’d still like reading it. But Lucci tells her stories of family, children and “All My Children,” while also offering help to couples who’ve endured miscarriage, women who’ve had heart problems, and widow(ers) who are spinning and need the kindness of someone who’s lived loss, too.

These are the other things you’ll find in “La Lucci,” in a voice you’ll hear in your head, if you spent your lunch hours glued to the TV back in the day. It’s a comfortable, fun read for fans. It’s a story you’ll love.

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