Arts & Entertainment

D.C. arts briefs: May 11

Blade hosts Rehoboth kick-off party, Mr./Miss Capital Pride contest and more

Published

14 years ago

May 10, 2012

Mr. and Miss Capital Pride this weekend

The Mr. and Miss Capital Pride event is Saturday night at Town (2009 8th Street, NW) starting at 6 p.m. There’s a $10 cover and proceeds from the event go to Capital Pride. The deadline to enter has passed but those wishing to watch the contest are welcome to attend. More information on this event and all Capital Pride festivities is here.

Blade summer kick-off in Rehoboth

Washington Blade will host its sixth annual summer kick-off party in Rehoboth Beach, Del., on May 18.

The party takes place from 5-7 p.m. at the Blue Moon, 35 Baltimore Ave. It’s open to the public and there’s no cover charge. Visitors who sign up for the Blade’s e-mail newsletter on-site receive two free drinks.

“We have many Delaware readers and D.C. readers who vacation in Rehoboth,” says Brian Pitts, Blade sales executive and co-owner. “It’s always a fun way to meet advertisers and readers and to kick off the summer season.”

Gay group has family events next weekend

Family Equality Council is hosting a Family Weekend in D.C. starting Thursday.

Zach Wahls, who spoke before the Iowa Legislature in 2011, will serve as honorary family ambassador, joining the Council and families for Families on the Hill, the Congressional lobbying visits that are part of the weekend events.

Families on the Hill will begin at 8:30 a.m. with training for kids and adults. The lobby visits will focus on three issues: adoption and foster care, repeal of DOMA and safe schools.

On May 18, families will have various tour options including the White House, Museum of Natural History, the National Zoo and more.

The events for May 19 include tours of the Capitol.

For more information, including how to register and a complete schedule, visit familyequality.org.

Bethesda Fine Arts Festival gathers wide-ranging talent

‘Red Light, Grace Street’ by Joseph Craig English, will be on display at the Bethesda Fine Arts Festival this weekend. (Image courtesy the Festival)

Artists representing 25 states and Canada will be showcasing their work at the ninth annual Bethesda Fine Arts Festival in downtown Bethesda’s Woodmont Triangle this weekend.

The event will also feature live entertainment, children’s activities and restaurants including Haagen Dazs, BlackFinn American Saloon and more.

Some of the artists featured include Doug Blum, Kate Beck, Ivan Radojicic Tom Mcquaid, Lisa Stewart, Giampictro Filippetti and more.

The festival is open Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free.

Cooper to spin at Cobalt Saturday night

DJ Seth Cooper is coming to Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W.) for Just Circuit on Saturday from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m.

In 2006, Gay Internet Radio Live asked Cooper to join its online radio network, putting his sets next to other big names like randy Bettie Lydia Prim and more. In 2009, Just Circuit named Cooper Best Up and Coming DJ, as well as nominated him for Best After Hours Party.

He’s headlined at Splash Days in Austin, Gay Days in Orlando, Pacha in Brazil and more in clubs across the U.S., Canada, Brazil and China.

The night will also include DJ Sean Morris will be in 30degreees, free vodka from 10 to 11 p.m. and a laser light show by Sound Sign.

Capital Pride Art Fair seeking submissions

Capital Pride is now accepting submissions from all LGBT artists in the D.C. area for the first Capital Pride Art Fair at the festival on June 10 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The fair will present 12 to 14 artists showing their work in one tent in the Arts Stage area.

To submit work, artists must fill out the form at capitalpride.kintera.org/artfair, providing price range, number of available pieces, samples via jpegs or website and contact information.

The fee for commercial arts is $50 for eight feet of display space. There are a limited number of spaces available for non-commercial artists

Artists may also be interested in donating work to the silent auction held at the Heroes Gala and Silent Auction on May 30.

For more information, contact Capital Pride at [email protected]. Submissions must be received by May 20.

Photos

PHOTOS: Vitamin C at JR.’s

Live drag show follows ‘Drag Race All Stars’ viewing party

Published

11 hours ago

July 19, 2026

Landon Shackelford

Brooke N Hymen performs at JR.'s at the Vitamin C drag show on Friday. (Washington Blade photo by Landon Shackelford)

JR.’s Bar held a “RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars” watch party followed by a live drag show on Friday, July 17. The Vitamin C weekly drag show was hosted by Citrine with performers Brooke N Hyman and Rosie Beret.

(Washington Blade photos by Landon Shackelford)

Photos

PHOTOS: Rehoboth Beach Pride Festival

LGBTQ celebration held at convention center

Published

14 hours ago

July 19, 2026

Daniel Truitt

A scene from the 2026 Rehoboth Beach Pride Festival. (Washington Blade photo by Daniel Truitt)

The 2026 Rehoboth Beach Pride Festival was held at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center on Saturday, July 18.

(Washington Blade photos by Daniel Truitt)

Books

Liza’s book a tale that’s better than most celebrity memoirs

‘Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!’ dishes on marriages, heartbreak

Published

15 hours ago

July 19, 2026

Terri Schlichenmeyer

(Book cover image courtesy of Grand Central)

‘Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! My Memoir’
By Liza Minnelli, as told to Michael Feinstein
c.2026, Grand Central
$36/ 421 pages

Twenty feet In front of you, and you can’t see a thing.

Even the closest faces are in shadow – lit, but not quite enough for you to see for sure what the people there are thinking. Still, you can hear them, their gasps, their laughter, and applause. Such is life, on-stage. Now read “Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! My Memoir” by Liza Minnelli, as told to Michael Feinstein, and read about it beyond the spotlight.

Almost from the moment she was born, Liza Minnelli was famous.

It was inevitable: her mother was Judy Garland. Her father was director Vincente Minnelli. Her godparents were Hollywood glitterati, her neighbors were famous, her playmates would be famous someday, too.

But her life wasn’t all starlight and happiness.

She made her stage debut as a toddler. She became her “mother’s caretaker” at age 13.

At 16, she had a growing career of her own – one that her mother tried to stop. But, she says, “In her own way, Mama was wonderful to me. Try understanding – she was my mother, not a movie star…. I knew her as the person who loved me and always would.”

At 19, Minnelli was working, happy, and madly in love with the man who’d become her first husband, and life was wonderful – until she came home one day to find him in their bed with another man. Before they were divorced, she lost her beloved mother, and became “engaged” to two other men simultaneously, neither of which made it to the altar with her.

She married her second husband, the son of one of her mother’s former co-stars, in 1974 but her love affairs and addictions led to a second divorce.

Her third husband was a stage manager.

She doesn’t have much good to say about her fourth, and last, husband.

Overall, she says, “You gotta play the comedy for all it’s worth and leave ‘em laughing. Even when your heart is breaking.”

Are you expecting bluntness, sass, or attitude here? Good, because that’s what you get inside “Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!” It’s strong on honesty and don’t-give-a-flip. It’s wonderfully edited, so it moves fast. It’s eye-opening and funny and a pleasant surprise for a first, and only (so far), memoir.

Even better, author Liza Minnelli (with best friend, Michael Feinstein) is really quite candid and nicely gossipy, starting from the beginning. There are some Hollywood folks, in fact, who are feeling edgy because of what’s inside this book and the secrets spilled. Minnelli and Feinstein seemed to have fun telling her story, and they comfortably lure readers in.

That’s not to say that it’s all a cabaret. Minnelli tells about her addictions and recoveries, her marriages and why she wed two gay men, and the losses she endured, including miscarriages, deaths, and broken relationships. The bad balances well with the good for a tale that’s several notches above most celebrity memoirs. “Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!” is, in fact, a real joy to read, a genuine bright spot.

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