Arts & Entertainment

Calendar: Nov. 15

Parties, concerts, social group meetings and more through Nov. 21

Published

13 years ago

November 14, 2013

Transgender Day of Remembrance, Jessica Xavier, Metropolitan Community Church of D.C., MCC-DC, gay news, Washington Blade, events

D.C.’s Transgender Day of Remembrance is slated for Wednesday night at MCC. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Friday, Nov. 15

Howard Community College’s Rep Stage (10901 Little Patuxent Prkwy., Columbia, Md.) presents “I Am My Own Wife,” a one-man show performed by Michael Stebbins, tonight at 8 p.m. The play tells the true story of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a German transvestite who survived the Nazi and East German Communist regimes. Tickets range from $33-40. For details, visit repstage.org or call 443-518-1500.

Lisa Marie Presley performs at Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Rd., Vienna, Va.) tonight at 8 p.m. She performs songs from her latest album “Storm and Grace” and older hits. Tickets range from $35-$40. To purchase tickets and for more information, visit wolftrap.org.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NcHogHRE7Y

Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W.) hosts free vodka Friday tonight from 9 p.m.-3 a.m. Free rail vodka 11 p.m.-midnight. Two DJs on two floors. Cover is $10. Admission is limited to guests 21 and over. For more information, visit cobaltdc.com.

Saturday, Nov. 16

The Latino Queer Bilingual Writing Group hosts its monthly workshop today at the D.C. Center (2000 14th St., N.W.) today from 12:30-2:30 p.m. Open to writers of any genre and levels of experience to share creative work in Spanish or English. Workshop is free and no prior experience is necessary. For details, call 202-682-2245 or email [email protected].

Burgundy Crescent, a gay volunteer organization, volunteers for Casey Trees to help plant 50 shade trees at the Armed Forces Retirement Home (199 Rock Creek Church Rd., N.W.) from 9 a.m.-noon today. Wear appropriate clothing such as closed toe shoes. Bring photo ID. To volunteer, email [email protected]. For more details, visit burgundycrescent.org.

The Smithsonian hosts 12 contemporary poets for a public reading of their work in “Lines in Long Array: A Civil War Commemoration: Poems and Photographs, Past and Present” at the National Portrait Gallery (8th and F streets, N.W.) in the Tucker McEvoy Auditorium today at 2 p.m. Afterward, there will be a round table discussion and book signing. It is the first time the Smithsonian has commissioned works of poetry. Cost is free. For details, visit npg.si.edu.

Town (2009 8th St., N.W.) hosts “Gagarama” to celebrate Lady Gaga’s new album “ARTPOP” tonight at 10 p.m. Lady Gaga music will play upstairs and downstairs will be a Gaga-free playlist. The cover is $8 from 10-11 p.m. and $12 after 11 p.m. There will be $3 drinks before 11 p.m. The drag show starts at 10:30 p.m. Admission is limited to guests 21 and over. For more information, visit towndc.com.

Sunday, Nov. 17

A benefit for Rehoboth Beach, Del.,-based singer Viki Dee — a popular lesbian entertainer there who lost her home and pets in an October house fire — has been rescheduled to occur today from 2-7 p.m. at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center (229 Rehoboth Ave.). The benefit will feature 15 local entertainers, silent and live auctions and a spaghetti dinner. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at Maggio Shields Real Estate (70 Rehoboth Ave., No. 101), Sign-a-Rama or CAMP Rehoboth (37 Baltimore Ave.).

Dignity Washington, an LGBT Catholic group, hosts “Love Lost in Translation: Homosexuality and the Bible,” a PowerPoint presentation, today at 3 p.m. at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church (1830 Connecticut Ave.). Danish linguist and theologian K. Renato Lings will give the presentation. Visit dignitywashington.org for details.

Perry’s (1811 Columbia Rd., N.W.) hosts its weekly “Sunday Drag Brunch” today from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. The cost is $24.95 for an all-you-can-eat buffet. For more details, visit perrysadamsmorgan.com.

Adventuring, an LGBT outdoors group, hosts a circuit hike through Old Rag early this morning at 1:15 a.m. Meet at 1:15 a.m at the East Falls Church Kiss and Ride (2001 N. Sycamore St., Arlington, Va.). Hike time starts at 3:30 a.m. After the hike there will be a wait at the peak to watch the sun rise after 7 a.m. There is an optional breakfast at the Northside 29 Restaurant (5037 Lee Hwy., Warrenton, Va.) after the hike. For advanced hikers only. Bring plenty of snacks and drinks. Wear sturdy boots and bring a head lamp. Cost is $25. For more information, visit adventuring.org.

Monday, Nov. 18

The D.C. Center (1318 U St., N.W.) hosts coffee drop-in hours this morning from 10 a.m.-noon for the senior LGBT community. Older LGBT adults can come and enjoy complimentary coffee and conversation with other community members. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

The D.C. Center (2000 14th St., N.W.) hosts Adoption Information Night tonight from 6-8 p.m. Learn about the D.C. child welfare system and the need for host/foster families in the District. Foster and host parents will speak as well as representatives of the Latin American Youth Center’s Child Placement programs. A question-and-answer session will follow. The event is free. For more details, visit thedccenter.org.

Tuesday, Nov. 19

Green Lantern (1335 Green Ct., N.W.) hosts its weekly ”FUK!T Packing Party” from 7-10:30 p.m. tonight. For more details, visit thedccenter.org or greenlanterndc.com.

Whitman-Walker hosts free HIV testing at Panam Supermarker (3552 14th St., N.W.) tonight from 7-9 p.m. For details, visir Whitman-walker.org.

University of Maryland (College Park, Md.) hosts “Queering the Body: Performing the Self” tonight from 6:30-8:30 p.m. in the Stamp Student Union. Kris Grey, a gender queer artist, gives a performance lecture about exposing the permeability and constructed nature of the male/female binary. Admission is free. For details, visit umd.edu.

Wednesday, Nov. 20

Bookmen D.C., an informal men’s gay literature group, discusses “The Practical Heart” by Allan Gurganus, a tale about inhabitants in a North Carolina town including a young man dying of AIDS, at 2101 E St., N.W.at 7:30 p.m. All are welcome. For details, visit bookmendc.blogspot.com.

The Tom Davoren Social Bridge Club meets tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Dignity Center (721 8th St., S.E.) for social bridge. No partner needed. For more information, call 301-345-1571.

The Metropolitan Community Church of Washington (474 Ridge St., N.W.) hosts the D.C. observance of the Transgender Day of Remembrance today at 6 p.m. The vigil remembers the transgender people whose lives have been lost. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

Thursday, Nov. 21

Burgundy Crescent, a gay volunteer organization, volunteers for the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce for its 11th annual National Dinner Gala at the NGLCC office (729 15th St., N.W) and the National Building Musem (401 F St., N.W.) today at various times. Volunteers will assist with facilitating the dinner in registration, greeting guests, crowd management and more. There is a possibility volunteers can enjoy the dinner. To volunteer, email [email protected]. For more details on exact volunteer times and locations, visit burgundycrescent.org.

The D.C. Center hosts “Beaujolais Nouveau,” a wine tasting and networking event, tonight from 7-9 p.m. Beaujolais Nouveua is a red wine produced in the Beaujolais region in France. Every year after weeks of fermentation it is released for sale on the third Thursday of November. The party is hosted by Ebone Bell, founder and managing editor of bi-monthly lesbian publication Tagg, and Laura V Steiner, the owner and CEO of Meliora Pet Care and active LGBT community member. Tickets are $20. To purchase tickets visit thedccenter.org.

The D.C. Center (1318 U St., N.W.) hosts its monthly Poly Discussion Group at 7 p.m. People of all different stages are invited to discuss polyamory and other consensual non-monogamous relationships. This event is for new comers, established polyamorous relationships and open to all sexual orientations. For details, visit thedccenter.org.

Nellie’s Sports Bar (900 U St., N.W.) hosts the “2013 NCA Queer No Host Party” tonight from 9 p.m.-midnight. Bring your friends and colleagues for fun and queer solidarity to celebrate the third Queer No Host. For more information, visit nelliessportsbar.com.

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Large crowds attend annual LGBTQ march in Washington, D.C.

Published

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June 21, 2026

Washington Blade photography department

David Archuleta is one of the Grand Marshals of the 2026 Capital Pride Parade. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

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Theater

‘Feeling Afraid’ explores life of a neurotic stand-up comic

Navigating sex, work, and possibly love in London

Published

1 day ago

June 20, 2026

Patrick Folliard

Steven Webb in ‘Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going To Happen’ (Photo by DJ Corey)

‘Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going to Happen’
Through July 12
Studio Theatre
1501 14th St., N.W.
$55-$102
Studiotheatre.org

Wordily yet rightly titled, solo show “Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going To Happen” dives deeply into the world of a neurotic stand-up comic as he navigates sex, work, and possibly love in London.

Busy arranging hookups and dates on “The App,” the 36-year-old gay funnyman juggles a full dance card; still he’s never been in a romantic relationship. While he’s willing to give love a shot, he’s not pressed about it. As he says, he harbors no fear of dying alone.

Currently making its American premiere at Studio Theatre, this darkly humorous Edinburgh Fringe import features terrific out English actor Steven Webb as The Comedian who’s about to explore what it means to spend all his time with one man.

At Studio’s intimate Mead Theatre, Kat Heath’s minimal set says standard comedy club (fluorescent tube lighting, the mic with a long cord, a single stool backed by a rose-colored curtain), but gay playwright Marcelo Dos Santos has conjured something much more than a live comedy set.

Yes, The Comedian bounces onstage in his red Converse high tops, jeans, and pink shirt with a huge mouth emblazoned on the back, but he delivers more than jokes. At times hilariously self-deprecating, then dark, and occasionally a lesson on what makes standup work, this is a layered, well-acted piece.

With Webb (a keen caricaturist of types and voices) playing all the parts while conducting The Comedian’s hilariously frenetic interior monologue, “Feeling Afraid” takes us through a summer of love. It seems after six chaste dates with The American, our nervous hero has found Mr. Right. The American is earnest, smart, hesitant to initiate sex. He’s also well built with a beautiful smile. And strangely, he’s been medically advised not to laugh aloud.

The Comedian delights in the joys of new love: dates, first kisses, sex, and then suddenly spending all of his time with the adored. Visits to art galleries become fun. Eating home cooked meals followed by grim documentaries is a thing. The Comedian is beguiled as his own boyish figure fills out, but something isn’t right. He can’t entirely relax.

Along the way we meet the Aussie doctor, our protagonist’s longtime hookup; a young runner with some exceptional body parts; the random third in a failed threesome; grumpy working comics, male and female; and an ineffectual counselor.

Webb gives a lightning-fast performance that boggles the mind (in terms velocity and virtuosity). He can be impish, very impish. He’s nervous energy incarnate, flashing jazz hands, grimacing but handsome when still. He’s likeable, a necessity when delivering a hilariously rude joke just feet away from two stone-faced audience members. (Perhaps they were laughing on the inside? At any rate, they stayed through the end the show.)

Produced by the team behind Fringe hits “Fleabag” and “Baby Reindeer,” small stage works that were developed into major TV screen successes, “Feeling Afraid” is funny for sure, and it’s also highly confessional, sexually explicit, and raw.

Written by Dos Santos during COVID lockdown, the piece was a smash hit in the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe before finding further success in London. Its depiction of a youngish queer guy navigating the big city rings entirely true. Like so much Fringe stuff, the one-man show is delightfully lewd and standup inspired.

One little moan: the show closes cleverly but too abruptly with its star dashing offstage without sufficiently basking in the admiration and applause of his thoroughly chuffed audience.

They say third time’s a charm, and regarding “Feeling Afraid,” I’d agree. After two performance cancellations (first for laryngitis and the second involving faulty air conditioning on an especially muggy June evening), I made my third trek to Studio where I found both the actor and AC in very fine fettle. And truly, Webb’s work was more than worth the wait.