Arts & Entertainment
Pride march brings gayborhood boom years back to Chelsea
‘We will continue what began 50 years ago, to bring us closer to equality’
From long lines to get into gay bars to crowded sex shop aisles to sidewalks dense with drag queens, daddies, dykes, twinks, tweakers, and wide-eyed tourists, Manhattan’s onetime ground zero of gayness had a déjà vu moment that lasted all day long, and well into the next, when Chelsea served as the end point of June 30’s NYC Pride March.
Cheered on by an estimated four million spectators, the March proceeded down Fifth Avenue from its East 26th Street kick-off, went past the Stonewall Inn during its Greenwich Village phase, then made its way up Seventh Avenue, concluding in the heart of Chelsea.
Twelve hours and 32 minutes after its noon start time, over 150,000 marchers had crossed the West 23rd Street finish line, from which point many remained in the area to congregate on stoops, hold impromptu dance-offs, and scoop up Stonewall 50 T-shirts hawked by vendors who turned side streets closed to vehicular traffic into open-air markets.
Some strolled, many strutted, down Eighth Avenue, between West 14th and 23rd Streets—which, at the height of Chelsea’s gay glory, housed dozens of queer-centric businesses, including gay lifestyle retail mecca Rainbows & Triangles, and The Big Cup—a java joint that served the community as, depending on your pop culture touchstone, the “Cheers” bar, Central Perk, Starbucks, or a brick and mortar Grindr, where hookup prospects were never more than 20 feet away.
By dawn, the streets were clean, and little evidence of the previous day’s record-setting revelry remained, save for the Pride-hued confetti that promises to linger, like Christmas tree needles, as a reminder of the season that came and went.
For longtime locals, the Pride March recalled an era when Chelsea was the reigning queen of NYC gay nightlife, retail, and residency.
“I consider the heyday of the Chelsea gay vibe to be when I moved here [in 1996] to until around 2005,” says 49-year-old Stephen Charles Lincoln, creator/proprietor of The Protein Bakery, a neighborhood fixture since 1999.
WorldPride, Lincoln notes, “was a fantastic reminder” of the heyday, “with the streets filled with gay people of every race, age, and sexual preference.”
While the onetime group fitness director at the predominantly gay David Barton Gym strongly disavows the notion that Chelsea is “over” as a gay neighborhood (“I’m still here,” he quips), Lincoln concedes it “has definitely diluted over the past 10 years.”
Unlike Splash, Rawhide, and View, not every gay bar from Chelsea’s golden age has been consigned to history.
Sixty-year-old Derek Danton, “an out business owner for 40 years, 20 with the Eagle NYC,” says there is “really nothing in my history to compare to the events of the last two weeks. Locals and visitors alike were just happy to be alive, happy to be free to express themselves, unconditionally.”
Located at West 28th Street and 11th Avenue since 2001, and one of the only Manhattan gay bars with a roof deck, the Eagle is set to mark its 50th anniversary next year.
“In its storied history,” Danton notes, “the size of the crowds at the Eagle, because of WorldPride, is unprecedented… It is astonishing to realize that so many thousands of visitors from all around the world know and love the Eagle, and that tradition is still valued.”
Andrew Rai, 38, a lifelong resident of Chelsea, talks of vanishing tradition, noting he feels the March “retains some of the rapidly fading cultural authenticity” of his neighborhood.
“Chelsea,” Rai says, “was very gay when I was growing up, was very vibrant, in terms of the variety of personalities, genders, and thoughts. Now, it’s becoming very homogenized. But this really harkened me back to when Chelsea was truly diverse. It makes me feel that there’s still some element of it, somewhere, that lives.”
Fifty-one-year-old Craig M. de Thomas, a partner in the Midtown-based commercial and residential title insurance company, Insignia National Title Agency, recalls “telling my grandmother I was gay when I was 25 years of age,” and often traveling “from upstate New York, to indulge in the gay life that is offered here. I have fond memories of going to the many Chelsea clubs, bars, and restaurants, truly enjoying life and always feeling safe and accepted. Seeing men openly sharing affection and being their authentic selves in public was incredible to me. I wanted to be part of that, which is why I moved here 11 years ago.”
Over the last few years, de Thomas observes, “We have seen Chelsea shift, as many gay business owners and residents have moved north [to Hell’s Kitchen].” This year’s Pride celebration, he says, “brought with it a much-needed injection of gayness to Chelsea. It was lovely to walk around over the weekend, both day and evening, and feel the gay energy again, to see restaurants, bars, and shops filled with life and happiness. It was a vibe that is reminiscent of days gone by.”
Calling the Pride March the “culmination of seeds sown decades ago, many of which were planted here in Chelsea by residents who still reside here,” de Thomas sees the neighborhood’s gay liberation greenhouse role as an ongoing one, noting, “We are the fruits” of those seeds and, as such, “will continue what began 50 years ago, to bring us closer to equality” while celebrating “the beauty and power of diversity.”
That Chelsea diversity has legs—four of them, in the form of many locals for whom Sunday’s Parade March intersected with the daily duties of dog ownership.
Chicago-to-NYC transplant Abbey Stolle spoke with the Blade while walking her Shih Tzu, Donna, in close proximity to their residence at 21st Street and Seventh Avenue, where one of the event’s green-shirted volunteers held a sign letting March participants know they were two blocks from the route’s end.
“People want to feel joy. They want to feel love,” she says, of the neighborhood’s sudden population explosion. “I’ve been out here all day. No one I know living here has ever complained [about the crowds brought by the March], and I have a mixed bag in my building—young, old, gay, straight, trans.”
Detroit-born Stolle, 37, spoke with this 52-year-old reporter about his having grown up during the height of the AIDS crisis, and put her own experience within the context of “my era, Matthew Shepard, that fear of coming out in the ’90s. I was a raver for 15 years. Gay men took me under their wing.”
As “a straight white woman,” Stolle notes, “I guess I feel a bit inferior on a day like today. This is a weighted year. These are people,” Stolle said, of the Stonewall-era faces in the March and on the streets, “who’ve lived through so much, who are still living here.”
Clarifying her use of that charged word, Stolle says she did not invoke inferiority “in a negative way. It’s just, it’s not my day. What are my woes compared to some of the strife these people are going through? But I’m a woman, so I get that taste, that sprinkle.”
Having watched the day’s events from a table outside Cafe Champignon (Seventh Avenue between West 21st and 22nd Streets), de Thomas recalls, “I stated to my darling friends, gay and straight, as we were sitting in the midst of millions of celebrants, ‘I absolutely love that this is our normal. Isn’t it fantastic?’ ”
Theater
‘The Inheritance’ is most-nominated at this year’s Helen Hayes Awards
42nd annual celebration of excellence in local theater set for May 18
Helen Hayes Awards 2026
May 18, 2026
For tickets go to theatrewashington.org
Last year, when out director Tom Story took on the daunting task of directing Round House Theatre’s production of “The Inheritance, Parts One and Two,” he knew that casting would be important, maybe even paramount, to the endeavor’s success. So, Story didn’t mess around.
Penned by queer playwright Matthew López, “The Inheritance” (inspired by E.M. Forster’s 1910 novel “Howards End”) is based on gay culture in the wake of the AIDS crisis.
Story looked at actors he knew, and some he didn’t. He wanted low drama and maybe players who could relate to the LGBTQ experience. In the end, the production’s 13-person cast was entirely queer except for brilliant local favorite Nancy Robinette as Margaret, the wise housekeeper.
Clearly, Story’s vision resonated with audiences. Round House’s production of “The Inheritance” is the most-nominated work of this year’s Helen Hayes Awards, earning 14 nominations. It’s also one of Round House’s highest grossing popular successes ever.
The queer cast members whose ages ranged from about 22 to 60, worked hard and enjoyed the process, and along the way garnered an Outstanding Ensemble in a Play (Hayes) nomination for their efforts.
The ensemble included Jamar Jones as Tristan, a brilliant doctor who leaves New York for Canada after deciding there’s no place for a gay, HIV-positive Black man in America. For the experienced actor, being part of “The Inheritance” was profound: “I think it was a divinely orchestrated production.”
He adds “I really feel that it’s so rare that you get to work on a show of that magnitude…size, time, where virtual strangers genuinely fell into rhythm. We became a cohort. I never felt a sense of unease, or reluctance to try things. I could be as big or bold as I wanted to be; or I could be small. Fail, mess up, try again. I didn’t feel judged.”
Jones considers Richmond his home, but says “I’m based where the work is.” Currently, he’s back at Round House rehearsing “Sally & Tom” (May 27-June28), a play within a play/meta exploration of the relationship between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings by Suzan-Lori Parks.
Jones plays both a contemporary violinist and an enslaved fiddler, parts that have required him to learn to “air fiddle.” He’s all over it: “I want to represent the art and to be as precise as possible. Taught by an instructor, I’ve made strides with movement of the bow; next up is finger placement.”
Will he leave the play a violinist? “I’ll report back on closing night. Maybe I will have added something to the special skills list on my resume.”
For about a decade, Jones worked in living history, interpreting, performing, and writing pieces about the enslaved people of Colonial Virginia. Among the many historical characters he portrayed was Jupiter (Thomas Jefferson’s longtime enslaved manservant), an experience that’s proved a connection and preparation for his current role.
The 42nd Helen Hayes Awards celebration recognizing excellence in professional theater in the DMV will be held on Monday, May 18, 2026 at The Anthem on the District Wharf in Washington, D.C. Named for Helen Hayes, the legendary first lady of Broadway, the program consists of the awards presentation hosted by Felicia Curry, Awa Sal Secka, and Derrick Truby, followed by an after-party at nearby Whitlow’s.
With works selected from 149 eligible productions presented in the 2025 calendar year, nominations were made in 41 categories and grouped as either “Helen” (non-Equity/small Equity presence) or “Hayes” (Equity-heavy).
The many nominations are the result of 49 vetted judges considering 1,997 pieces of work, such as design, direction, choreography, performances, and more. The productions under consideration included 42 musicals, 107 plays, and 33 world premieres.
The following are more of this year’s queer nominees.
A past Helen Hayes Award recipient and nominee, Fran Tapia is competing against herself this year in the Outstanding Lead Performer in a Musical (Helen) category. Nominated for her memorable turn as the diva barkeep in GALA Theatre’s “Columbia Heights Bolero Bar,” an immersive musical centered on songs of longing and immigration set in a diverse neighborhood on the eve of a divisive presidential election
“It was a challenging time, because a lot of what was happening in the show was happening in the neighborhood,” says Tapia who lives in Columbia Heights just eight minutes from GALA.
Based in D.C. since 2019, Tapia says “Being recognized in a country that is not my homeland but where I’m building my artistic home, is deeply meaningful. And the variety of roles I have been able to play speaks to the richness of DC theater and the collaborators who trusted me with these roles.”
Her other individual nomination is for the title role in Spooky Action Theater’s “Professor Woland’s Black Magic Rock Show,” a passionately comedic political satire. She approached the mysterious central character as nonbinary.
Tapia (“Chilean, Latina, queer and proud immigrant”) says while very different, both performances involved particularly strong characters. She’s grateful audiences responded positively to her work.
Stanley Bahorek, who moved to D.C. with his husband four years ago, is best known as an accomplished actor with a long list of Broadway and regional credits (including playing Carl, the gay son in Studio Theatre’s recent production of “The Mother Play”). Now, he is nominated for Outstanding Music Direction (Helen) for his work on “A Strange Loop,” a production of D.C.’s Visionaries of the Creative Arts (VOCA) in collaboration with Deaf Austin Theatre. He shares this nomination with Walter “Bobby” McCoy.
Michael R. Jackson’s Tony and Pulitzer wining play “A Strange Loop,” is the story of Usher, a Black, queer theater usher trying to write a musical. VOCA’s take on the work is seen through a deaf BIPOC lens with a deaf Usher played by a deaf actor (out actor Gabriel Silva). Invited by director and longtime friend Alexandria Wailes (who is deaf), Bahorek (who is hearing) joined the creative team as a sort of hybrid associate director/ music supervisor.
“I’m fluent in conversational American Sign Language (ASL),” he says. “I sort of functioned as a sherpa between the hearing and deaf and hard-of-hearing creatives. It’s been a great thrill to be a part of VOCA’s biggest production to date.”
If he and McCoy take home the prize, who makes the acceptance speech? Bahorek takes a beat before replying “That’s something we still need to talk about. And soon.”
A full list of award recipients will be available at theatrewashington.org on Tuesday, May 19, 2026.
Anthony Oakes will host “DC Black Pride Comedy Show” on Thursday, May 21 at 7 p.m.
Oakes will workshop his new hour about addiction, incarceration, recovery, and redemption with special guests.
This event will be hosted by the hilarious Apple Brown Betty with TJ So Silly, Howl Cooper, and featuring Patrice Deveaux. DJ Art.is will be spinning on the 1’s & 2’s. Libations will be provided by Drink Alchy. Images by RGF ENT. Tickets are $28.52 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.
Out & About
United Night Out set for Saturday
Team DC hosts evening of soccer, Pride, music, drag and community
On Saturday, May 16, Team DC is taking over Audi Field for United Night OUT as D.C. United faces St. Louis SC.
Come out for an evening of soccer, Pride, music, drag, and community. The night kicks off with pre-game fun featuring DC Different Drummers, DJ Heat, and a Pride Night OUT Party at the Heineken Rooftop. Then get ready for a 7:30 p.m. match, including the National Anthem sung by Dana Nearing and a halftime drag performance.
After the match, the celebration continues at the Post-Game Rooftop Party with DJ Heat and the After Party at Dacha Navy Yard. Game tickets and after party tickets are available now through Zeffy. After party tickets are $20 and include one drink.
‘The Inheritance’ is most-nominated at this year’s Helen Hayes Awards
HIV Vaccine Awareness Day set for May 18
DC Black Pride is around the corner
United Night Out set for Saturday
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