Arts & Entertainment
FanCon’s sudden postponement baffles attendees, vendors
the community has joined together to organize alternative events
Universal FanCon, described as the “first multi-fandom Con dedicated to inclusion, highlighting women, LGBTQ, the disabled and persons of color,” left ticketholders, panelists and vendors baffled after the event was postponed just days before kick off.
The three-day event, which was scheduled for April 27-29 at the Baltimore Convention Center and raised more than $50,000 through a Kickstarter campaign, promised exhibitors, panels, a screening of “Avengers: Infinity War,” among other scheduled events.
On Friday, April 20 Universal FanCon put everyone’s plans to a halt with a statement announcing the event was “postponed” in an email.
Well, there’s the bomb. #UniversalFanCon pic.twitter.com/Az2h9Txjcz
— Sarah (@seh) April 20, 2018
A statement, including a FAQ, was eventually posted to the Universal FanCon website.
“Based on an evaluation of all the information available, it was decided that it would be irresponsible to move forward with our plans. Although we worked diligently to preserve the vision of an event that fosters true inclusion, diversity, and safety for all of our guests, exhibitors, and attendees; despite working tirelessly for close to two years, we fell short in delivering the event we envisioned,” the statement reads.
A lack of funding is cited as the main issue for the con’s postponement as the statement admits, “costs started to grow exponentially. Unfortunately, the support we were anticipating in terms of ticket sales and sponsorships did not materialize.”
The statement appeared to be altered a few times since its release with one version of the statement inviting traveling guests to join the Universal FanCon team to watch “Avengers: Infinity War.”
Participants who had invested time and money into the event, including flights and hotels, shared their frustrations on Twitter which brought together a community of hurt con lovers.
So I was going to leave this Universal Fan Con mess alone. But if you had cash flow problems as an event why were you giving so much away? Groupon has pulled the event but they sold tickets there. They gave hotel rooms & flights away like candy. None of this makes any sense.
— Mikki Kendall (@Karnythia) April 24, 2018
This was another red flag.
I kept up with everything through social media and the website, and I wondered how they planned to make or keep any money if they were so hellbent on giving so much away for free or at a discount. But then the sponsorship pleas came… pic.twitter.com/uQuFWSUZlU— DeLaDoll (@TheDeLaDoll) April 24, 2018
This statement is bewildering. I cannot believe you would put this up. To tell people who have bought non refundable tickets that the organizers did too… is flippant, at best. And to offer no refunds… wow.
— roxane gay (@rgay) April 21, 2018
#UniversalFancon is editing this document in real time. I…I can’t believe this is happening. Don’t they have PR? pic.twitter.com/HvGEnl9uye
— V. Vza Complex (@ValerieComplex) April 21, 2018
They really invited everyone to still come see Infinity War tho. Like…really put that out there. “Yeah. Fancon is canceled. You aren’t getting a dime back. But drive for 8 hours to come see a movie with us. Lol.”
??People have cause to slap the taste out your mouth for this.
— Ed @ WICOMICON (@itsedwilliams) April 21, 2018
I am sorry for being so frank but this explanation is absolutely unacceptable. You can’t do this. You can’t decide to just not run a con because it might not be up to your standards. A bad first year con can grow and improve.
— Tans @ Challenge Day (@Tansuru) April 21, 2018
In a tweet apology, Jamie Broadnax, editor-in-chief of Black Girl Nerds, denied her involvement as a co-founder of the con and insisted she was an “unpaid volunteer.”
Hey everyone. Poking my head out here to tell you that I deeply apologize for what transpired to everyone that has been impacted by Universal Fan Con. This includes Kickstarter backers, exhibitors, guests, registered ticket holders and the affiliates associated with the event
— Jamie Broadnax (@JamieBroadnax) April 23, 2018
My responsibilities within the organization did not include financial matters. I have learned the hard way that if my name is associated with something, I need to ask hard questions about financials even if it isn’t my job…
— Jamie Broadnax (@JamieBroadnax) April 24, 2018
However, I am responsible for so many of you in the Blerd community and other marginalized communities being participants of this event. It is because of me and the brand of BGN that you had faith and trust in this convention and shared the vision of being in a safe space…
— Jamie Broadnax (@JamieBroadnax) April 24, 2018
with people of color, LGBTQ, women and people with disabilities. Because of what has happened, so many of you are now displaced, out of funds, and mistrust not only me but the ideas of communities such as this offering crowdfunding ideas like fan conventions…
— Jamie Broadnax (@JamieBroadnax) April 24, 2018
I, just like you am frustrated about what has taken place and the fact that I did not consider how much of an impact and damage this would bring the writers and women affiliated with BGN as well as the affiliates of FanCon and their respective communities…
— Jamie Broadnax (@JamieBroadnax) April 24, 2018
I was an unpaid volunteer, not an officer of the company that organized Universal Fan Con. I’ve decided to step down until further notice as EIC of Black Girl Nerds. There will be over the next few days a new managing editor running the publication in my place….
— Jamie Broadnax (@JamieBroadnax) April 24, 2018
Her statement confused FanCon followers who posted screenshots of Broadnax’s Twitter bio that included “co-founder of FanCon.”
Joi is correct about that poor statement. It dodges culpability.https://t.co/WDAQaMTDv2#FanCon pic.twitter.com/443KmAO65x
— Clarkisha Kent: Dragger of Scammers @ WICOMICON ✈️ (@IWriteAllDay_) April 21, 2018
Universal FanCon executive director Robert Butler also released a series of tweets blaming hotel management for the cancellation.
In the interest of clarity and transparency (and suspecting that tweets would be deleted) I saved the tweets from the #UniversalFanCon co-founder from yesterday. I’m not trying to sling mud at people, but I do think it’s important if they’re just catching up. #FanCon pic.twitter.com/B3NOO2n4W8
— therese ??♀️ (@bamfpire) April 21, 2018
FanCon stated that an effort to refund ticketholders would be made although details were not clarified. According to some Twitter users, refunds have slowly trickled in.
So it looks like refunds for regular ticket holders are going out, one of my friends used my email when she bought her ticket and I just got this. I’m hearing refunds for the Infinity War screening are going out too. #FanCon #UniversalFanCon pic.twitter.com/Ehqv3kslno
— Danyi (@SinEater_Danyi) April 24, 2018
In response to the many disappointed participants, the community banned together to recover time, money and potential exposure.
WICOMICON 2018, a pop-up convention at 1100 Wicomico St., Baltimore, Md. is on Saturday, April 28 from 10 a.m.-7 p.m.
Tickets are $10 and $5 for FanCon ticketholders. Kids 12 and under are free. The event will feature exhibitors, panels, cosplay contests and appearances from members of the cast of ‘The Magicians” and “Killjoys.”
The pop-up con was a last minute group effort by Nerds of Color, Black Heroes Matter, The New Release Wednesday Show’s Patrick Michael Strange, theblerdgurl, Syfy Wire’s contributing editor Karama Horne, Carbon-Fibre Media’s André Robinson and Be A Boss app CEO Elijah Kelley.
Amazing what we can do as a community when faced with a challenge. ? Honored to be affiliated with a group of partners who pulled this event together in record time. BigUps @MSHINDOKUUMBA who blessed us with the epic art!!! INFO: https://t.co/0MA22r7V4Z pic.twitter.com/T1PHbHYmBs
— Black Heroes Matter® (@BHMatter) April 23, 2018
DJ Meagan “Ducky Dynamo” Buster has also organized Universal FanCon Redemption Function, a dance party where artists, vendors and guests are invited to dance and sell their merchandise at The Depot (1728 N Charles St., Baltimore, Md.) on Monday, April from 7-11 p.m.
Theater
Round House explores serious issues related to privilege
‘A Jumping-Off Point’ is absorbing, timely, and funny
‘A Jumping-Off Point’
Through May 5
Round House Theatre
4545 East-West Highway, Bethesda, Md.
$46-$83
Roundhousetheatre.org
In Inda Craig-Galván’s new play “A Jumping-Off Point,” protagonist Leslie Wallace, a rising Black dramatist, believes strongly in writing about what you know. Clearly, Craig-Galván, a real-life successful Black playwright and television writer, adheres to the same maxim. Whether further details from the play are drawn from her life, is up for speculation.
Absorbing, timely, and often funny, the current Round House Theatre offering explores some serious issues surrounding privilege and who gets to write about what. Nimbly staged and acted by a pitch perfect cast, the play moves swiftly across what feels like familiar territory without being the least bit predictable.
After a tense wait, Leslie (Nikkole Salter) learns she’s been hired to be showrunner and head writer for a new HBO MAX prestige series. What ought to be a heady time for the ambitious young woman quickly goes sour when a white man bearing accusations shows up at her door.
The uninvited visitor is Andrew (Danny Gavigan), a fellow student from Leslie’s graduate playwriting program. The pair were never friends. In fact, he pressed all of her buttons without even trying. She views him as a lazy, advantaged guy destined to fail up, and finds his choosing to dramatize the African American Mississippi Delta experience especially annoying.
Since grad school, Leslie has had a play successfully produced in New York and now she’s on the cusp of making it big in Los Angeles while Andrew is bagging groceries at Ralph’s. (In fact, we’ll discover that he’s a held a series of wide-ranging temporary jobs, picking up a lot of information from each, a habit that will serve him later on, but I digress.)
Their conversation is awkward as Andrew’s demeanor shifts back and forth from stiltedly polite to borderline threatening. Eventually, he makes his point: Andrew claims that Leslie’s current success is entirely built on her having plagiarized his script.
This increasingly uncomfortable set-to is interrupted by Leslie’s wisecracking best friend and roommate Miriam who has a knack for making things worse before making them better. Deliciously played by Cristina Pitter (whose program bio describes them as “a queer multi-spirit Afro-indigenous artist, abolitionist, and alchemist”), Miriam is the perfect third character in Craig-Galván’s deftly balanced three-hander.
Cast members’ performances are layered. Salter’s Leslie is all charm, practicality, and controlled ambition, and Gavigan’s Andrew is an organic amalgam of vulnerable, goofy, and menacing. He’s terrific.
The 90-minute dramedy isn’t without some improbable narrative turns, but fortunately they lead to some interesting places where provoking questions are representation, entitlement, what constitutes plagiarism, etc. It’s all discussion-worthy topics, here pleasingly tempered with humor.
New York-based director Jade King Carroll skillfully helms the production. Scenes transition smoothly in large part due to a top-notch design team. Scenic designer Meghan Raham’s revolving set seamlessly goes from Leslie’s attractive apartment to smart cafes to an HBO writers’ room with the requisite long table and essential white board. Adding to the graceful storytelling are sound and lighting design by Michael Keck and Amith Chandrashaker, respectively.
The passage of time and circumstances are perceptively reflected in costume designer Moyenda Kulemeka’s sartorial choices: heels rise higher, baseball caps are doffed and jackets donned.
“A Jumping-Off Point” is the centerpiece of the third National Capital New Play Festival, an annual event celebrating new work by some of the country’s leading playwrights and newer voices.
Nightlife
Ed Bailey brings Secret Garden to Project GLOW festival
An LGBTQ-inclusive dance space at RFK this weekend
When does a garden GLOW? When it’s run by famed local gay DJ Ed Bailey.
This weekend, music festival Project GLOW at RFK Festival Grounds will feature Bailey’s brainchild the Secret Garden, a unique space just for the LGBTQ community that he launched in 2023.
While Project GLOW, running April 27-28, is a stage for massive electronic DJ sets in a large outdoor space, Secret Garden is more intimate, though no less adrenaline-forward. He’s bringing the nightclub to the festival. The garden is a dance area that complements the larger stages, but also stands on its own as a draw for festival-goers. Its focus is on DJs that have a presence and following in the LGBTQ audience world.
“The Secret Garden is a showcase for what LGBTQ nightlife, and nightclubs in general, are all about,” he says. “True club DJs playing club music for people that want to dance in a fun environment that is high energy and low stress. It’s the cool party inside the bigger party.”
Project GLOW launched in 2022. Bailey connected with the operators after the first event, and they discussed Bailey curating his own space for 2023. “They were very clear that they wanted me to lean into the vibrant LGBTQ nightlife of D.C. and allow that community to be very visibly a part of this area.”
Last year, club icon Kevin Aviance headlined the Secret Garden. The GLOW festival organizers loved the its energy from last year, and so asked Bailey to bring it back again, with an entire year to plan.
This year, Bailey says, he is “bringing in more D.C. nightlife legends.” Among those are DJ Sedrick, “a DJ and entertainer legend. He was a pivotal part of Tracks nightclub and is such a dynamic force of entertainment,” says Bailey. “I am excited for a whole new audience to be able to experience his very special brand of DJing!”
Also, this year brings in Illustrious Blacks, a worldwide DJ duo with roots in D.C.; and “house music legends” DJs Derrick Carter and DJ Spen.
Bailey is focusing on D.C.’s local talent, with a lineup including Diyanna Monet, Strikestone!, Dvonne, Baronhawk Poitier, THABLACKGOD, Get Face, Franxx, Baby Weight, and Flower Factory DJs KS, Joann Fabrixx, and PWRPUFF.
Secret Garden also brings in performers who meld music with dance, theater, and audience interactions for a multi-sensory experience.
Bailey is an owner of Trade and Number Nine, and was previously an owner of Town Danceboutique. Over the last 35 years, Bailey owned and operated more than 10 bars and clubs in D.C. He has an impressive resume, too. Since starting in 1987, he’s DJ’d across the world for parties and nightclubs large and intimate. He says that he opened “in concert for Kylie Minogue, DJed with Junior Vasquez, played giant 10,000-person events, and small underground parties.” He’s also held residencies at clubs in Atlanta, Miami, and here in D.C. at Tracks, Nation, and Town.
With Secret Garden, Bailey and GLOW aim to bring queer performers into the space not just for LGBTQ audiences, but for the entire music community to meet, learn about, and enjoy. While they might enjoy fandom among queer nightlife, this Garden is a platform for them to meet the entirety of GLOW festival goers.
Weekend-long Project GLOW brings in headliners and artists from EDM and electronic music, with big names like ILLENIUM, Zedd, and Rezz. In all, more than 50 artists will take the three stages at the third edition of Project GLOW, presented by Insomniac (Electric Daisy Carnival) and Club Glow (Echostage, Soundcheck).
Out & About
Washington Improv Theatre hosts ‘The Queeries’
Event to celebrate queer DMV talent and pop culture camp
The Washington Improv Theatre, along with the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs and the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington DC, will team up to host “The Queeries!” on Friday, April 26 at 9:30 p.m. at Studio Theatre.
The event will celebrate Queer DMV talent and pop culture camp. With a mixture of audience-submitted nominations and blatantly undemocratically declared winners, “The Queeries!” mimics LGBTQ life itself: unfair, but far more fun than the alternative.
The event will be co-hosted by Birdie and Butchie, who have invited some of their favorite bent winos, D.C. “D-listers,” former Senate staffers, and other stars to sashay down the lavender carpet for the selfie-strewn party of the year.
Tickets are just $15 and can be purchased on WITV’s website.
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