Arts & Entertainment

Sounds from the stage

LaBelle, Warwick spice up season along with local queer favorites

Published

14 years ago

March 1, 2012

For overall star power it would be hard to beat 2011, but there are still many highlights slated for the coming months on the D.C. concert scene. Just don’t forget to save some money for your night out with Madonna — tickets are on sale now for her September shows; Sunday night is sold out — and a rumored Cher tour.

Tonight (Friday), out singer Tom Goss performs with Potomac Fever, an a cappella pop ensemble from the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, at the Atlas Performing Arts Center (1333 H Street N.E.). This performance is part of the Intersections Arts Festival. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at intersectionsdc.org. The Intersections New American Arts Festival runs through March 11 with a wide variety of performances.

Young the Giant, whose powerful song “Cough Syrup” was just featured on “Glee” will be performing at the 9:30 Club on March 11 at 7 p.m. The 9:30 Club (815 V Street N.W.) has tickets available online and at the onsite box office.

The Gay Men’s Chorus presents an all male version of the infamous and untamed musical “Rocky Horror Show” March 16-17 at 8 p.m. and March 18 at 3 p.m. All performances are at the Lisner Auditorium (730 21^st Street N.W.). Tickets start at $20 and can be purchased at gmcw.org.

Out singer/actor Will Gartshore brings his show “All The King’s Men: Broken Ballads with a Stiff Upper Lip” to the Round House Theatre Silver Spring (8641 Colesville Road in Silver Spring) March 19 and 26. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at roundhousetheatre.org.

For the club music lovers, legendary DJ Junior Vasquez returns to Washington after a long absence on March 24 to spin at Cobalt at the Official Queer Prom After party. Gay DJ Alyson Calagna, pioneer of the “Omtronica” sound, will also be spinning at Cobalt April 14. Cobalt is at 1639 R Street N.W.

Girlyman, who most recently has been co-writing songs for Margaret Cho’s upcoming CD, will be back in the area again on April 28 at 7:30 p.m. at the Birchmere Music Hall (3701 Mount Vernon Ave, Alexandria Va). Tickets are $33.70 and are available at ticketmaster.com.

Patti LaBelle (Image courtesy Strathmore)

Grammy-winning legend Patti LaBelle once again takes the Strathmore stage (10701 Rockville Pike, North Bethesda, Md.) March 30-31 at 8. Tickets are available at strathmore.org.

D.C. Different Drummers, an organization for local LGBT musicians, has its spring concert March 31 at the CHEC Auditorium (3101 16^th Street N.W.). For tickets and more information, visit dcdd.org.

Special Agent Galactica (aka Jeffrey Johnson) starts a twice-monthly engagement at Black Fox Lounge (1723 Conn. Ave. N.W.) March 23 and will perform from 6 to 9 p.m. on the second and fourth Fridays of each month thereafter. The pink-haired one is mixing live singing with lip syncing these days. Details are at pinkhairedone.com. Admission is free.

Joan Osborne brings her “Bring It On Home Tour” with Lera Lynn at The Birchmere Music Hall (3701 Mount Vernon Avenue, Alexandria, Va.) April 4 at 7:30. Tickets are available for $35 at birchmere.com. Look for Osborne’s new blues album of the same name out March 27.

Out singer Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls will be making two appearances with Kaia Wilson in the area this spring as she promotes her new solo album, “Lung of Love.” On April 11, she plays Ram’s Head on Stage in Annapolis (33 West Street, Annapolis, Md.) and on April 13, she’s at IOTA Club and Café (2032 Wilson Blvd., Arlington).

Out singer Anthony Rapp, best know for playing Mark Cohen in the musical “Rent,” will sing with his “Rent” co-star Adam Pascal at the Birchmere Music Hall (3701 Mount Vernon Ave, Alexandria Va.) on April 15 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $39.50 and available at birchmere.com.

Out comedian Wanda Sykes brings her show back to the U.S. from Australia and will open the newly renovated Howard Theatre as part of the grand reopening weekend for the theatre April 12-15. Tickets are not yet available. For more information, visit wandasykes.com or howardtheatre.org.

The legendary Dionne Warwick will be the headliner for the 2012 Spring Gala at the Strathmore (1701 Rockville Pike, North Bethesda Md.) on April 21 at 9 p.m. A 2012 Spring Gala Package begins at $500 per person and includes a tax-deductible contribution to the organization, the gala dinner, concert and after party. Contact the Sorelle Group at 202-248-1930 for information on how to reserve gala ticket packages.

Merriweather Post Pavilion (10475 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia Md.) has its first show of the season on May 11, at 4:30 p.m. with the fourth annual M3 Rock Festival Official Kix off party featuring local favorite band Kix. The festival then continues the next day with Enuff Z’nuff, In the Pink and Let There Be Rock! If you’re ready to party like its 1989, then get your ticket (starting at $45) at ticketfly.com.

Gay favorite Robyn opens for Coldplay at the Verizon Center (601 F Street NW) July 8-9. Tickets are at ticketmaster.com.

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Television loses a legend, longtime ‘Will & Grace’ director James Burrows

Iconic hitmaker leaves behind a legacy of telling LGBTQ stories

Published

8 hours ago

June 23, 2026

Christian Cintron

James Burrows (Photo by kathclick/Bigstock)

You don’t have to be a pretentious film major to name 10 movie directors. But naming television directors is not that simple. They’re the unsung heroes of your favorite shows, and the late James Burrows was the television director. He passed on June 19, but his DNA runs through television history.

He directed over 1200 episodes of television and over 50 pilots. He co-created “Cheers” and directed many episodes of long-running series like “Friends,” “Taxi,” “Frasier,” “The Big Bang Theory,” and “Two and a Half Men.” You also may remember him from playing a heightened version of himself on the Lisa Kudrow comedy “The Comeback.”

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He has left an indelible mark on the LGBTQ community. As recently as last year, he directed the series run of “Mid-Century Modern” starring Nathan Lane, Matt Bomer, and Linda Lavin. He was also a longtime director of “Will & Grace” and directed every episode of the series revival. He even directed the unaired “Absolutely Fabulous” pilot with Kathryn Hahn, Kristen Johnston, and Zosia Mamet.

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Not to mention he’s worked with queer icons throughout history, including Betty White and Stockard Channing on their single-season series, and Jennifer Coolidge in “2 Broke Girls.”

He started his career on shows like “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “Rhoda,” “Laverne & Shirley,” and the first four seasons of “Taxi.”

He continued to work steadily and directed successful pilots that went to series for “Roc,” “3rd Rock From the Sun,” “Dharma & Greg,” and “Wings.” He directed multiple episodes of “Friends,” “Caroline in the City,” and “Frasier.”

This magic continued into the 2000s with him directing the pilots for “Two and a Half Men,” “The Big Bang Theory,” and multiple episodes of “Mike & Molly,” and the entire return series of “Will & Grace.”

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What was the secret to his success? He’d enact the “fun clause” in his contract. In his words, “Life is too short to deal with obnoxious leads,” he shared. “So as long as the writing is good and the cast is fun, I’m going to enjoy the experience.”

He had the magic touch, having multiple pilots turned into long-running series. He was nominated for an Emmy 24 times in 26 years and worked consistently until a year before his death.

The secret was the way he brought the cast together. He describes, “it was my job to mold them into an ensemble, and they did round into a group of people who loved each other.”

This earned him 11 Emmy Awards and five Directors Guild of America Awards, including being awarded the inaugural DGA’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Television Direction.

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In a 2003 interview by the Television Academy, he was asked how he wants to be remembered, and he said, “That every night forever you can tune in somewhere, and there’ll be a show I did.”

He’s survived by his wife, Debbie, four daughters, seven grandchildren, and the countless people whose careers he launched and the countless viewers he inspired with his television legacy.