Metro Weekly - 09-29-16 - Angels in America

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016
17
CONTENTS
CLINTON TOPS TRUMP

Clinton dominated and Trump fell short, as LGBT
Democrats and Republicans react to
Mondays momentous debate
By John Riley
WINGS OF FURY
Olney and Round House join forces for an Angels in

America that speaks as much to the present
as it does to the past
Photography by Todd Franson
Feature by Randy Shulman
36
Volume 23 Issue 21
24
TIME WARP
In Cloud 9, Caryl Churchill toys with gender, class,

and time to spectacular effect
By Doug Rule
SPOTLIGHT: MISS PEREGRINE p.7 OUT ON THE TOWN p.11

ON POINTE: WASHINGTON BALLETS 40TH p.12 PERSONAL CHEF: ALTON BROWN p.14
THE FEED: CLINTON TOPS TRUMP p.17 COMMUNITY: RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR p.20
SCENE: NMAAHC HRC EVENT p.23 COVER STORY: WINGS OF FURY p.24
GALLERY: NO MANS LAND p.35 STAGE: CLOUD 9 p.36 STAGE: ROMEO AND JULIET p.38
OPERA: THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO p.40 NIGHTLIFE p.43 COVERBOY: DAVID p.43 LISTINGS p.45
SCENE: BHTS PRIDE NIGHT AT KINGS DOMINION p.51 LAST WORD p.54
The bitches who make this shit... #masthead
Editorial Editor-in-Chief Randy Shulman Art Director Todd Franson Managing Editor Rhuaridh Marr Senior Editor John Riley Contributing Editor Doug Rule
Senior Photographers Ward Morrison, Julian Vankim Contributing Illustrator Scott G. Brooks Contributing Writers Gordon Ashenhurst,
Sean Bugg, Frank Carber, Fallon Forbush, Sean Maunier, Troy Petenbrink, Kate Wingfield Webmaster David Uy Production Assistant Julian Vankim
Sales & Marketing Publisher Randy Shulman National Advertising Representative Rivendell Media Co. 212-242-6863 Distribution Manager Dennis Havrilla
Patron Saint Edward Albee Cover Photography Todd Franson
Metro Weekly 1775 I St. NW, Suite 1150 Washington, DC 20006 202-638-6830
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SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 METROWEEKLY
TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION
Spotlight
Unpeculiar
Y
OU CAN SEE WHY TIM BURTON WAS DRAWN

to Miss Peregrines School for Peculiar Children. A
sort of anti-Harry Potter, the material, adapted
from a popular teenage novel by Ransom Riggs, doesnt
attempt to skirt the edges of strange and creepy. Instead,
it leaps over the cliff. Burtons film trades in morbidity and moroseness, but also manages to offer enough
uplift and hope to make it palatable for younger minds.
Its nowhere near as good as Burtons foray into similar-minded material, such as 1990s masterful Edward
Scissorhands, but then nothing Burton has made in
recent years has been much to write home about. Miss
Peregrine (
) merely goes through the motions
of being strange, without bothering to fully invest our
interest. Unlike Harry Potter, it lacks a soulful connection with the audience. Its like a remote, distant parent.
A huge part of the problem is Asa Butterfield as Jake,
who discovers a time loop to a group of peculiar children with genetic mutations that allow them special
abilities: control air, house a hive of bees in their stom-
ach, animate inert objects, manipulate vegetation and so

forth. They are under the protection of an Ymbryne, a
being who can manipulate time and take the form of a
bird, Eva Green or Judi Dench. Butterfield is flat, vacant,
unappealing, with less energy that a sloth during its
morning nap. He murders the film with every blandly
spoken utterance.
Fortunately, a white-haired, white-eyed, pointytoothed Samuel L. Jackson shows up late in the story
to spark things up with a crazed portrayal of a monster
who, along with a group of cohorts, feasts on the eyes of
peculiars in order to maintain human form. The movie
takes a headlong approach to the slaughter of children,
and this gives it a bit of gravity that is wholly disturbing.
Burton pays homage to Scissorhands and, in one
glorious stop-motion scene, the great skeleton battle of
Ray Harryhausens Jason and the Argonauts. But for all
its forced quirks and deliberate weirdnesses, the movie,
grey and desaturated, stays mired in its own loop of lethargy. Its not peculiar enough. Randy Shulman
Miss Peregrines School for Peculiar Children opens Friday, Sept. 30, at area theaters. Dont bother with the 3D
upcharge, it adds nothing. Visit Fandango.com.
Spotlight
ALL THINGS GO FALL CLASSIC
For its third annual festival, the popular blog and

event company moves from Union Market to the
trendy redeveloped Yards Park area near where
Nation, Tracks and the original Secrets used to
be. Empire of the Sun (lpictured) and Passion Pit
headline, with Sylvan Esso taking third billing. The
real draws this year come earlier in the day, with
sharp, bilingual, synth-pop French act Christine
and the Queens, sludgy, pop-rock, Scottish singer-songwriter Bishop Briggs, and Brooklyn-based
house duo Sofi Tukker. Also on tap are Pop Etc
and rapper Ace Cosgrove. Saturday, Oct. 8, from
11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Yards Park at the Capitol
Riverfront, M Street and New Jersey Avenue SE.
Tickets are $75 in advance or $99 day-of show,
$150 for VIP. Visit allthingsgofallclassic.com.
THE GULF
Rachel Zampelli and Maria Rizzo

play lesbians in a tumultuous
relationship in this world premiere comedy by D.C. playwright
Audrey Cefaly. Joe Calarco
directs a Signature Theatre production, as a languid summer
day on the Alabama Delta turns
into a nightmare when the motor
on their boat breaks down. To
Nov. 6. Signatures Ark Theatre,
4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington.
Call 703-820-9771 or visit signature-theatre.org.
FOLGER CONSORT WITH DEREK JACOBI,

RICHARD CLIFFORD
The early music ensemble Folger Consort managed to enlist the

British power couple of Sir Derek Jacobi and Richard Clifford
to kick off its 30th anniversary season in grand, dramatic fashion and at the Kennedy Center, no less. The ravishing music of
Henry Purcells Dido and Aeneas is paired with timeless passages
from Shakespeares Measure for Measure in a theatrical concert
with orchestra and chorus, featuring soloists Peter Becker, Emily
Noel and Molly Quinn. Saturday, Oct. 1, at 8 p.m. Kennedy Center
Eisenhower Theater. Tickets are $79 to $119. Call 202-467-4600
or visit kennedy-center.org.
Out On The Town
LAZY EYE
Lucas Near-Verbrugghe plays a man whose world is upended when a long-lost ex-boyfriend (Aaron Costa Ganis) decides
to reconnect by spending an emotionally complicated weekend in the desert. Old wounds and previously unknown secrets
are exposed as part of the couples assessment of their future together. Two weeks before its revived annual film festival,
Reel Affirmations presents the latest film by writer/director Tim Kirkman (Dear Jesse, The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me)
co-starring Michaela Watkins (Wet Hot American Summer) as part of its Xtra monthly series. Friday, Sept. 30, at 7 p.m. HRC
Equality Center, 1640 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Tickets are $12 and come with a complimentary glass of champagne, or $25 to
include another complimentary alcoholic beverage and VIP seating. Call 800-777-4723 or visit reelaffirmations.org.
Compiled by Doug Rule
FILM
DEEPWATER HORIZON
It was only a matter of time before

Hollywood cashed in on the
Deepwater Horizon explosion and
subsequent oil spill in the Gulf of
Mexico. Reviews suggest Peter Berg
has crafted a tense thriller, with
Mark Wahlberg starring as an engineer who fights to help get others
to safety during the initial carnage.
BP is apparently (and rightfully)
crucified in the film for chasing
profits over safety, so if theres any
BP execs reading this, you might
want to catch Miss Peregrine
instead. Opens Friday, Sept. 30.
Area theaters. Visit fandango.com.
(Rhuaridh Marr)
DENIAL
Oscar-bait alert! Rachel Weisz is

Deborah E. Lipstadt, an American
historian sued for libel in 1996 by
British writer David Irving for
characterizing him as a Holocaust
denier. British law required that
Lipstadt prove the Holocaust actu-
ally happened. She prevailed, Irving

was shamed, Lipstadt wrote a book,
it became this film. The Academy
Award submission is likely already
sitting somewhere, waiting to
be sent. Opens Friday, Sept. 30.
Landmarks Bethesda Row Cinema,
7235 Woodmont Ave. Call 301-6527273 or visit landmarktheatres.com.
(RM)
HOCUS POCUS
The Capital Pride Alliance offers an

early Halloween treat with a free
screening of the 1993 comedy starring gay favorites Bette Midler, Sarah
Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy.
Part of the Fall Outdoor Movie Night
series. A costume contest precedes
the screening. Monday, Oct. 3. Gates
open at 7:30 p.m., followed by the
contest and screening at 8 p.m. Shaw
Recreation Center, Rhode Island
Avenue and 10th Street NW. Visit
capitalpride.org.
HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE
Lauren Bacall, Betty Grable and

Marilyn Monroe plot to trap rich,
eligible bachelors til death do
they part in Jean Negulescos classic comedy. Preceding Millionaire
are two short films Negulesco made

at the start of his directing career
with Warner Brothers, At the Stroke
of Twelve and Jan Garber and His
Orchestra. The Library of Congress
presents a free screening on its picturesque Virginia campus, which
houses the worlds largest collection of films, broadcast and audio
recordings. Friday, Sept. 30, at 7:30
p.m. Packard Campus Theater,
19053 Mount Pony Rd. Culpeper,
Va. Free, first-come, first served.
Call 202-707-9994 or visit loc.gov/
avconservation.
MASTERMINDS
A comedic retelling of the hillbilly heist, the 1997 Loomis Fargo

Robbery. Zach Galifianakis, Kristen
Wiig, and Owen Wilson are the hapless robbers who steal $17 million,
with Kate McKinnon as a clueless
spouse and Leslie Jones as the FBI
agent tasked with bringing them to
justice. If anything, its going to be
brutal viewing for the original culprits theyre portrayed as criminally incompetent. Opens Friday,
Sept. 30. Area theaters. Visit fandango.com. (RM)
STAGE
AN ILIAD
It sounds so daunting when somebody hears Homer or they hear The

Iliad, Denis OHare (True Blood,
American Horror Story) told Metro
Weekly about his contemporary
adaptation with Lisa Peterson
of Homers classic war poem.
Audiences dont need to know anything before going in: We tell the
entire story, we fill them in. Its
actually funnier than people would
expect...The Iliad is one of the great
stories of all time. Taffety Punk
Theater Company, whose tagline is We Will Rock You and
which styles itself as a theatrical
rock band, takes on Peterson and
OHares version of the tale, featuring actress Esther Williamson and
musicians Erin McCarley and Beck
Levy of punk band Hand Grenade
Job, performing live accompaniment. Opens in a pay-what-you-can
preview Saturday, Oct. 1, at 8 p.m.
Runs to Oct. 22. Capitol Hill Arts
Workshop, 545 7th St. SE. Tickets
are $15. Call 202-547-6839 or visit
chaw.org.
11
COME FROM AWAY
DEAN ALEXANDER
HHHHH
ON POINTE
Julie Kent will toast The Washington Ballets legacy and future this Friday
at the Kennedy Center
HE 40TH ANNIVERSARY WILL REALLY BE TELLING THE STORY OF THE

company from the beginning to where we are now and where we want to go, says
Julie Kent. Kent is the Washington Ballets new artistic director and though she
now helms the local institution, she is most closely associated with New Yorks American
Ballet Theatre, where she danced for three decades (People magazine once touted her as its
new leading lady.) However, taking on the stewardship of the Washington Ballet returns
the Bethesda-born Kent to her roots and to a connection with The Washington Ballets
founder, Mary Day.
My whole ballet background started on another branch of the tree that Mary Day planted
in Washington, Kent says of her affiliation as a child with the Maryland Youth Ballet, which
Day had encouraged Hortensia Fonseca to start. Days legacy will be honored this Friday,
Sept. 30, with a special celebration of the Washington Ballet at the Kennedy Center.
Kents predecessor Septime Webre, will also be honored, and she acknowledges the great
work he accomplished, especially in nurturing and developing new dancers and audiences
through community engagement efforts at THEARC in Southeast D.C. Kent intends to build
on Webres work with her husband Victor Barbee, hired to be her assistant artistic director,
but her focus is on increasing the companys dance repertoire to include more internationally
renowned masterworks, as well as funding for live musical accompaniment.
As for fans of Webres Washington-specific adaptation of The Nutcracker, Kent has no
plans to change the annual tradition. Indeed, Webre will even return to mount this years
production. Absolutely no, no changes to that, she says. I think the city feels very much in
ownership of that production. Kent also has no plans to join her dancers on stage anytime
soon Ill always miss it, but Im not looking...to make a comeback nor is she planning
to add choreographer to her resume.
I love to choreograph in ballet class, I like to make steps, but thats a whole different
thing than conceiving a piece, and all the components, she says. I love the mystery of how
that creative process happens, and I think, unless you really feel that from a really emphatic
part of you, theres enough sort of not-very-good choreography in the world. I dont think I
need to add to it. Doug Rule
The Washington Ballets 40th Anniversary Celebration is Friday, Sept. 30, at 8 p.m., at the
Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater. Tickets are $40 to $175. Call 202-467-4600 or
visit kennedy-center.org.
12
Maybe you heard about the small

town of Gander in Newfoundland,
Canada, where nearly 7,000 stranded passengers from around the world
were welcomed with open arms
on 9/11 fifteen years ago? Penned
by Irene Sankoff and David Hein,
and directed by Broadway veteran
Christopher Ashley, Come From
Away is an ensemble show through
and through, with a dozen actors
taking on multiple roles, alternating between Ganders citizens and
visitors. Despite its heavy premise,
the shows lasting spotlight is on the
culture and music of Newfoundland.
Celtic folk and rock runs through
the blood of these descendants of
English, Irish and Scottish immigrants as it does through Sankoff
and Heins score. The music is
joyous and vibrant, and you look
forward to the evenings big group
sing-alongs. It never sinks to the
level of schmaltz, instead breaking
your heart with tales of loss among
its dozen characters in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. Come From
Away never gets graphic in rehashing what actually transpired, making
it all the more emotionally resonant.
The musicals future is promising.
Its more likely to be the next Once
than Hamilton, yet youd be remiss
not to visit while its in our backyard.
Extended to Oct. 16. Fords Theatre,
511 10th St. NW. Tickets are $20 to
$73. Call 800-982-2787 or visit fordstheatre.org. (DR)
DANTES INFERNO
Synetic Theatre opens its season

with Dantes journey through the
nine circles of hell, in a revitalized
adaptation of a previous Synetic production. Irina Tsikurishvili directs a
whirlwind of stunning visuals, vivid
original music and powerful physicality in lieu of words. Now in
previews. Opens Saturday, Oct. 1,
at 8 p.m. Runs to Oct. 30. Theater
at Crystal City, 1800 South Bell St.,
Arlington. Tickets are $35 to $55.
Call 800-494-8497 or visit synetictheater.org.
MOTHERSTRUCK
Staceyann Chins personal journey

to motherhood as a single woman,
lesbian and activist who does not
have health insurance or a serious, stable financial set-up kicks
off the season in Studio Theatres
experimental and innovative-focused Studio X. Matt Torney directs
this one-woman show starring the
powerhouse performer, who was a
co-writer and original performer in
the Tony-winning Russell Simmons
Def Poetry Jam. Opens Thursday,
Sept. 29, at 7:30 p.m. Runs to Oct.
23. Studios Milton Theatre, 14th &
P Streets NW. Call 202-332-3300 or
visit studiotheatre.org.
SENSE & SENSIBILITY
ALTON BROWN
HHHHH
PERSONAL CHEF
Alton Brown serves up what he loves to eat in his latest cookbook
N THIS DAY AND AGE, WERE NOT ONE CULTURE, WERE NOT ONE COMMUNITY
anymore, says Alton Brown. We dont have a lot that holds us in common anymore.
Thats most certainly evident in our current political landscape. But you know what? We
all eat. Were all held together by food. Food acts like a switchboard that connects everybody.
Because of that, because it is a primal, common element between us, it continues to serve as a
platform for entertainment.
Its easy to get Brown the mad-scientist host of Food Networks enjoyably, rampantly
insane culinary game show Cutthroat Kitchen (and before that, 14 vastly entertaining and
informative seasons of Good Eats) on a roll. Its even easier to sit back and relish his encyclopedic waxings about the food industry, recipe development and rise of the cooking show
as full-blown entertainment.
Its literally a new way of entertaining people, he says, adding that while a lot of these
shows get, at least for my own personal viewing pleasure, a little too far afield, food remains a
very, very fertile chunk of land for growing entertainment.
The Georgia-raised 54-year-old, who appears at Politics & Prose this Friday, admits even
Cutthroat Kitchen, in which chefs are asked to prepare dishes under seemingly impossible
conditions, goes too far. I sometimes argue, Hey, this is getting kind of out of hand, but fans
seem to like it. And people generally get something on the plate. You have to remember that,
in truth, some of that foods not real good. Lets just put it that way.
As for his freshly minted EveryDayCook (Ballantine, $35), Brown notes the handsome,
hardbound volume doesnt look like any cookbook that you probably have. Unlike his other
works, which generally rely on storytelling as a foundation, Brown purposely avoided narrative arcs and instead allowed beautifully composed photographs, taken from above with an
iPhone, to tell the story of the food he loves most.
I took basically 100 recipes, none of which were really written down except on little
notes in my kitchen, food I cook every day, food that I actually live on, and decided to risk just
putting it out there, he says. Recipes such as My Big Fat Greek Chicken Salad, Seedy Date
Bar and Lacquered Bacon (which feeds 4 to 6, or maybe just 1) convey Browns familiar
playfulness. He calls his personal approach to cooking fun and funky, admitting that in real
life he does some pretty weird things.
Yes, I do pasta for breakfast and yes, I plate on hubcaps. This book is the way I look at food
visually, the ingredients that I use, the tools I use, and the food I live on. This is not a presentational book of me trying to teach. Its a self-portrait. This is me in a book. Randy Shulman
Alton Brown appears Friday, Sept. 30, at 7 p.m. at Politics & Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave.
NW. Visit politics-prose.com or call 202-364-1919. For more on EveryDayCook, follow Alton
Brown on Twitter @altonbrown or visit altonbrown.com.
14
There is something deliciously

subversive in the Folger Theatre.
Tucked behind the impenetrable
faade of its namesake library, it
keeps delivering all manner of gloriously innovative theater magic. The
latest piece of brilliance is director
Eric Tuckers joyfully raucous Sense
and Sensibility, adapted with verve
by Kate Hamill from Jane Austens
classic novel. It is fast, funny, witty
and ridiculous, but it is also incredibly adept at breathing hot and
feverish life into an early 19th century tale of landed (and unlanded)
gentry and their loves and losses.
Originally developed and premiered
by New Yorks Bedlam theater company, the production stays true to
the novel while playing with all of
its parts, real and emotional. Sets
run around on casters, chairs move
with their occupants, emotional
revelations become surreal lightshows and the fourth wall is more of
a trampled hedge. It is high entertainment, with Austens wit, wisdom and observations of the human
heart at its core. Like last seasons A
Midsummers Night Dream, given a
chance this play will win hearts and
minds. Its the kind of intelligent
silliness that creates theatergoers
for life among the uninitiated and
brings back the faith for everybody
else. It just doesnt get much better.
To Oct. 30. Folger Theatre, 201 East
Capitol St. SE. Tickets are $30 to
$75. Call 202-544-7077 or visit folger.edu. (KW)
THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK
Olney Theatre offers an intimate

staging of the well-known story
by Frances Goodrich and Albert
Hackett of a Jewish girl hiding
with her family in Amsterdam
during World War II. Carolyn Faye
Kramer stars as Anne in Wendy
Kesselmans stage adaptation, here
directed by Derek Goldman. The
cast includes many of D.C.s most
notable actors, among them Paul
Morella, Michael Russotto, Eric
Hissom, Susan Rome, and Kimberly
Schraf. To Oct. 22. Olney Theatre
Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring
Road, Olney, Md. Call 301-9243400 or visit olneytheatre.org.
THE LAST QUIXOTE
Cervantes is dead and a drunk man

insists the person who killed him
is renowned poet Lope de Vega, in
this world-premiere play by Jordi
Casanovas. Director Jos Luis
Arellano won the 2016 Helen Hayes
Award for his last production at
GALA, Yerma, so expect great things.
In Spanish with English surtitles.
Closes Sunday, Oct. 2. GALA Theatre
at Tivoli Square, 3333 14th St. NW.
Tickets are $40 to $45. Call 202-2347174 or visit galatheatre.org.
THE LITTLE FOXES
Arena Stage kicks off its Lillian

Hellman Festival with a brutal,
THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD

- SYMPHONIC METAL VERSION
Stephen Sondheim gave the quirky,

upstart Landless Theatre Company
permission to amp up his most
famous tale for its twice-staged,
Helen Hayes Award-nominated
Sweeney Todd-Prog Metal Version.
Now, its author and composer
Rupert Holmess turn, challenging Landless to test its mettle and
metal with The Mystery of Edwin
Drood. The choose-your-own-ending musical from 1986 is a dark tale
of deception, based on the unfinished novel by Charles Dickens.
Closes Sunday, Oct. 2. Gaithersburg
Arts Barn, 311 Kent Square Road,
Gaithersburg. Tickets are $25. Call
301-258-6394 or visit landlesstheatre.com.
MUSIC
ESPERANZA SPALDING
The first jazz artist to win Best

New Artist at the Grammys she
kept Justin Bieber from the title
Esperanza Spalding continues
to push against standard notions
of genre boundaries. The singing bassists latest release, Emilys
D+Evolution, co-produced by David
Bowies right-hand man Tony
Visconti, may be rooted in jazz, particularly of the avant-garde kind,
but it draws from folk-rock, classical, hip-hop and especially funk to
weave a wild Prince-esque display of
musical eccentricity and dexterity.
Spalding brings the set to life in concert by incorporating an unprecedented level of stagecraft, movement
and acting, with assistance from
stage director and playwright Will
Wiegler. Sunday, Oct. 9, at 8 p.m.
Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts,
801 Chase St. Annapolis. Tickets are
$45 to $65. Call 410-263-1906 or visit
liveartsmaryland.org.
JUDITH HILL
If you saw either the 2009 Michael

Jackson tour documentary This Is
It or the 2013 film 20 Feet From
Stardom, youll no doubt recall
powerhouse vocalist Judith Hill
either as Jacksons backup vocalist and moving duet partner on I
Just Cant Stop Loving You, or
as an unheralded background singer who has worked with the likes
of John Legend, Stevie Wonder,
Elton John and Ringo Starr. The
L.A. native was also a contestant
on the fourth season of The Voice
in 2013. Hill headlines a tour in
support of last years debut solo
album Back in Time, co-produced
by Prince. Friday, Sept. 30, at 8 p.m.

Rams Head On Stage, 33 West St.,
Annapolis. Tickets are $39.50. Call
410-268-4545 or visit ramsheadonstage.com.
NATIONAL PHILHARMONIC
WITH CHEE-YUN
Music Director Piotr Gajewski

leads Strathmores resident orchestra and a budding South Korean
violinist in a concert featuring both
Vivaldi and Piazzollas Argentine
tango-style rendering, Four Seasons
of Buenos Aires. Saturday, Oct. 8, at
8 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 9, at 3 p.m.
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301
Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda.
Tickets are $34 to $88. Call 301-5815100 or visit strathmore.org.
NATIONAL SYMPHONY
ORCHESTRA
Edward Gardner makes his NSO

debut conducting three works
inspired by the Bard as the kickoff to a three-part Shakespeare at
the Symphony series, including
Edward Elgars symphonic poem
Falstaff and William Waltons
Suite from the 1944 film version of
Henry V. The centerpiece is Pyotr
Tchaikovskys Romeo and Juliet,
given extra oomph with the Alan
Paul-led reenactment of the famous
balcony scene by three actors
Matthew Rauch, William Vaughan
and Audrey Bertaux from the
Shakespeare Theatres current
production. Thursday, Sept. 29, at
7 p.m., and Friday, Sept. 30, and
Saturday, Oct. 1, at 8 p.m. Kennedy
Center Concert Hall. Tickets are
$15 to $89. Call 202-467-4600 or
PHILIP GLASS AT NATIONAL

GALLERY RE-OPENING
The celebrated modern American

composer appears as part of festivities celebrating the renovation of
the National Gallery of Arts East
Building. As part of the 75th season
of free concerts at the museum,
Glass will perform and discuss the
creative process of collaborating
with visual artists, among other
topics, in a program moderated
by musicologist William Robin of
the University of Maryland. The
day before, the New Orchestra of
Washington and the 18th Street
Singers perform Yves Kleins
Symphonie
Monotone-Silence,
an eccentric work that calls for a
32-piece orchestra and a 40-voice
choir sustaining a D-major chord
for 20 minutes and then another 20 minutes of the performers
frozen in silence. Sunday, Oct. 2, at
2 p.m. East Building Auditorium,
National Gallery of Art, 3rd Street
at Constitution Avenue NW. Free
first come, first seated. Call 202842-6941 or visit nga.gov.
SARA WATKINS
A founding member and fiddler in

progressive bluegrass band Nickel
Creek, Sara Watkins tours in sup-
PHOTO COURTESY BSO
unforgiving play about sibling

rivalry and a family who will stop
at nothing to acquire wealth and
power. Marg Helgenberger (CSI)
stars as Regina in a production
directed by Kyle Donnelly. Now to
Oct. 30. Kreeger Theater, 1101 6th
St. SW. Call 202-488-3300 or visit
arenastage.org.
Remke
BALTIMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Four Broadway veterans take the stage with Jake Everly

and the BSO to perform classic showstoppers, mostly
featuring male leads, written by Andrew Lloyd Webber,
Stephen Sondheim and Rodgers and Hammerstein,
among others. Ron Remke, Ted Keegan, Ben Crawford,
and Kathy Voytko are the vocalists for this BSO
SuperPops concert. Thursday, Oct. 6, at 8 p.m. Music
Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North
Bethesda. Also Friday, Oct. 7, and Saturday, Oct. 8, at
8 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 9, at 3 p.m. Joseph Meyerhoff
Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral St., Baltimore. Tickets
are $33 to $99. Call 410-783-8000 or visit bsomusic.org.
port of new solo set Young in All the

Wrong Ways. Featuring 10 soul-baring songs reflecting on recent transformative years in Watkins life, the
album follows her two previous solo
records in revealing her folk-rocker
heart. Thursday, Oct. 6, at 7:30 p.m.
The Hamilton, 600 14th St. NW.
Tickets are $15 to $30. Call 202-7871000 or visit thehamiltondc.com.
THE FAINT, GANG OF FOUR
The Nebraska electronic act The

Faint, which helped set the pace
for the now-common dance-rock
sound, hasnt registered much
attention in the dozen years since
its dancefloor-ready album Danse
Macabre though theyre still
out and about performing, now
on a tour with the U.K.s definitive punk-funk/post-punk band.
Gang of Four returns 35 years after
storming the airwaves and inspiring
everyone from R.E.M. to Red Hot
Chili Peppers to Franz Ferdinand.
Saturday, Oct. 8. Doors at 6 p.m.

Nightclub 9:30, 815 V St. NW.
Tickets are $25. Call 202-265-0930
or visit 930.com.
DANCE
DORRANCE DANCE WITH TOSHI
REAGON
MacArthur Genius tap dancer/

choreographer and renowned lesbian musician bring their energetic
ensembles together for The Blues
Project. Described by the Boston
Globe as a pleasure-filled work
[of] group choreography featuring
a simple but effective use of patterning, the work features namesake Michelle Dorrance, Derick
Grant and Dormeshia SumbryEdwards performing to original
music composed and performed
by husky-voiced singer/guitarist
Reagon and her band BigLovely.
Wednesday, Oct. 5, and Thursday,
15
QUEER INTERIORS
SHAWN SHORT
Through an initiative commissioning installations and public programs

related to its broad Imagining Home
exhibit, the Baltimore Museum of
Art brought together video and film
artist Rahne Alexander and interdisciplinary artist/organizer Jaimes
Mayhew with Chase Brexton Health
Cares LGBT Health Resource
Center. Queer Interiors features a
larger-than-life bed and furnishings,
personal artifacts and a multimedia
wall display known as the Baltimore
LGBTQI+ Home Movie Quilt, which
pays homage to Baltimore album
quilts and the AIDS Memorial Quilt
by presenting a growing, crowdsourced portrait of the citys queer
communities. Through Aug. 31, 2017.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, 10
Art Museum Dr. Baltimore. Call 443573-1700 or visit artbma.org.
ABOVE & BEYOND
DISSONANCE DANCE THEATRE
Having made a name for itself through its Black to Silver: A Black LGBT Experience festival,
the local contemporary ballet company kicks off its 10th season with a mixed-evening program by founder and producing artistic director Shawn Short. As part of a reception on the
Georgetown waterfront, Short will lead his company dancers in performances built around
dark, dramatic classical scores. Sunday, Oct. 2, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Malmaison, 3401
Water St. NW. Tickets are $20 to $50. Visit ngoma-center-for-dance.org.
Oct. 6, at 8 p.m. Kennedy Center
Eisenhower Theater. Tickets are
$25 to $75. Call 202-467-4600 or
STEP AFRIKA!
Washington Performing Arts

launches its 50th anniversary
season with a new and expanded production of the step dance
companys signature work, The
Migration: Reflections on Jacob
Lawrence. Step Afrika! blends body
percussion, dance and spoken word
into a multimedia work also featuring members of the WPA Men
and Women of the Gospel Choir.
Meanwhile, images from American
painter Jacob Lawrences iconic
series telling the story of the
African-American migration to
the North a century ago will be
projected beyond the performers.
Friday, Sept. 30, and Saturday, Oct.
1, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 2, at 4
p.m. UDC Theater of the Arts, 4200
Connecticut Ave. NW. Tickets are
$45. Call 202-833-9800 washingtonperformingarts.org.
best known as a writer for Richard

Pryor, for frequent appearances
on Chappelles Show, and for helping to discover Robin Williams
and Sandra Bernhard, among others. Saturday, Oct. 1, at 8 p.m. The
Howard Theatre, 620 T St. NW.
Tickets are $49.50 to $89.50. Call
202-588-5595 or visit thehowardtheatre.com.
MIKE BIRBIGLIA
COMEDY
A graduate of Georgetown
University and one of the most
famous alumni from its Georgetown
Players Improv Troupe, Mike
Birbiglia has increasingly been making his name in scripted film and
TV work. In addition to writing and
directing 2012s Sleepwalk With Me
and this years Dont Think Twice,
Birbiglia has acted in supporting
roles in everything from Trainwreck
to Orange Is the New Black. The
comedian returns to D.C. to offer
the final show in his stand-up series
Thank God for Jokes. Friday,
Oct. 7, at 8 p.m. Music Center at
Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane,
North Bethesda. Tickets are $20
to $60. Call 301-581-5100 or visit
strathmore.org.
DICK GREGORY, PAUL MOONEY
TREVOR NOAH
Eighty-second on Comedy Centrals

list of 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of
all time, Dick Gregory was on the
frontlines in the Civil Rights Era
and one of the first black comedians
to gain popularity with predominantly white audiences. Gregory
performs on a co-headlining bill
with the provocative Paul Mooney,
16
As part of its Comedy Select Series

and recent efforts to feature more
comedy among its performing arts
offerings, the Kennedy Center welcomes Jon Stewarts successor at
The Daily Show. The South African
natives stand-up is largely driven by
insightful observations about cultural and racial differences. Friday, Oct.
7, at 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Kennedy

Center Concert Hall. Tickets are $55
to $125. Call 202-467-4600 or visit
kennedy-center.org.
EXHIBITS
FOUR SEASONS BY PHILIP HAAS
Four larger-than-life, three-dimensional portrait busts become the

first ever art installations in the
Hillwood gardens. Contemporary
American artist Philip Haas
offers sculptural interpretations
of the celebrated botanical paintings by Italian master Giuseppe
Arcimboldo. The 15-foot fiberglass
works will weather seasonal changes in climate. Opens Saturday, Oct.
1. On exhibit through March 31.
Hillwood Estate, 4155 Linnean
Ave. NW. Suggested donation
is $12. Call 202-686-5807 or visit
HillwoodMuseum.org.
OUT OF THE ASHES
Subtitled New Library for Congress

and the Nation, this exhibition
marks the 200th anniversary of the
acquisition of Jeffersons library
of books, the foundation of the
modern Library of Congress. The
Jeffersonian concept of a universal
library covering all subjects is the
basis of the librarys comprehensive collecting policies. Through
Nov. 12. Second Floor of the Library
of Congresss Thomas Jefferson
Building, 10 First St. SE. Call 202707-8000 or visit loc.gov.
ADAMS MORGAN PORCHFEST
Two weeks after Adams Morgan

Day comes a smaller festival showcasing the eclectic rhythms that
make the multicultural neighborhood move. Launched in 2013 by
the Adams Morgan Partnership
BID, PorchFest features dozens of
local musicians and musical acts.
Its a mix of ages and expertise, performing a mix of styles from brass
to R&B, folk to rock, and Latin to
reggae, in pop-up venues on porches and patios of historic homes
and local businesses throughout
the neighborhoods leafy residential streets. Saturday, Oct. 1, from 2
p.m. to 6 p.m. Starting point is 18th
Street and Columbia Road NW. Call
202-997-0783 or visit adamsmorganonline.org.
HIRSHHORN: DONUTS WITH THE

BRUTALIST DONUT
The Hirshhorn Museum and

Sculpture Garden celebrates World
Architecture Day with a nod to its
Gordon Bunshaft-designed building, dubbed the Brutalist donut.
The museum will offer free donuts
from Zombie Coffee and Donuts
and architectural tours of the
unique circular building, one of the
most celebrated examples of the
Brutalist style one led by architecture critic Kriston Capps of The
Atlantic and Washington City Paper
and another by Architect magazine
associate editor Deane Madsen, in
addition to guided tours through
the galleries. Monday, Oct. 3, starting at 10 a.m., but donuts will be
available only until supplies last.
Hirshhorn Museum, Independence
Avenue and Seventh Street SW. Call
202-633-1000 or visit hirshhorn.
si.edu. l
theFeed
CLINTON TOPS TRUMP
Clinton dominated and Trump fell short, as LGBT Democrats

and Republicans react to Mondays momentous debate
By John Riley Illustration by Scott G. Brooks
S A DIEHARD DEMOCRAT, CHARLES BRIGHT WAS ECSTATIC WHEN FORMER

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took a commanding lead in the polls over business
mogul Donald Trump. But as summer and the Democratic National Convention
faded from sight, the polls began to tighten, and suddenly Bright found himself actually considering the possibility that Trump might become the next Commander in Chief. It was a feeling
that stayed with him well into Monday afternoon, just hours before the first presidential debate
at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. I was dreading this debate, because I didnt real-
ly know what to expect,

says the gay, 30-year-old
entertainment blogger
from Falls Church, Va.
And the closing of the
gap in polling has really
been unnerving.
But by the time the
candidates left the stage,
Brights
dread
was
replaced with relief and
elation. True to form,
Clinton delivered a
strong, commanding performance during one of
the biggest, most-touted
political events for a generation.
I definitely think she
came out on top, says
Bright. But regardless of
that, Trump was just disastrous. He couldnt even
form a coherent sentence,
especially when talking
about foreign policy.
Bright is not alone in
that sentiment. Almost
immediately after the
debate, pundits on most
cable TV channels were
hailing Clintons victory.
Their assessments were
soon bolstered by polls
that began to trickle in
as midnight approached.
A CNN snap poll showed
a decisive majority of
debate viewers picked
Clinton over Trump, by
a 62-27 margin. A CNN
focus group of undecided Florida voters favored
Clinton by a 90-10 margin. And over 70-percent
of undecided voters in a
Pennsylvania focus group
run by GOP-leaning consultant and pollster Frank
Luntz thought Clinton
had come out on top.
The
much-hyped
debate showcased two
candidates with dramatically different profiles.
The first woman presidential candidate of
a major party, a former
First Lady, junior senator from New York, and
Secretary of State, facing a
17
theFeed
billionaire businessman, hotel magnate and reality TV star. raised in future debates, and not just questions focusing on
But it also gave TV viewers a glimpse of their contrasting marriage equality. Hed prefer questions about transgender
styles.
issues, nondiscrimination legislation, and ways of guaranClinton delivered a calm, powerful performance that teeing LGBT people equal access to housing or health care.
demonstrated a wealth of knowledge on various topics.
Though it was only glancingly covered during the debate,
Trump, on the other hand, distilled his policies into catch- Clinton helped herself by conceding she made a mistake by
ier sound bites, lobbing strong attacks calling into question using a private email server when she was Secretary of State.
Clintons honesty, highlighting her
By admitting to the mistake, Bright
insider status, and accusing her of
believes Clinton helped neutralize
flip-flopping on certain issues for the
attacks on her trustworthiness. By
Debate Tweets from
sake of political expediency.
comparison, Trump refused to apoloMetro Weekly
I think Trump got the most jabs
gize for his role in stoking the racialin, but just numerically. In terms of
ly-tinged Birther conspiracy moveTrump: Its all words. Its all
effectiveness, Clinton came out ahead
ment, whose adherents continue to
soundbites. Attacking Clinton,
on that, says Bright. Clinton was
question President Barack Obamas
but once again describing
very focused on when she hit him,
citizenship. In fact, Trump bragged
himself.
and what she hit him on. Especially
about his role in the movement, and
in her closing, when she got him on
deflected from Clintons charges that
his derogatory statements on women,
his continued questioning of Obamas
Trump loves telling AfricanI thought that was beautifully executcitizenship exemplified racism.
Americans how awful their lives
ed, from a political standpoint, not
As the debate pivoted towards
are. He would know, he used to
even a partisan standpoint.
race and, subsequently, law and
deny them housing.
Every time he would go on a rant,
order Clinton again showed a
she would come back with a zinger,
strong command of the issues, parClinton vows to take out ISIS
says Martin Diego Garcia, a 30-yearticularly when dealing with the hot
leadership. According to Trump,
old gay D.C. resident and the vice
button issue of police violence.
that would be President Obama.
president of legislative and political
She got as close to an honest
affairs for the LGBT Gertrude Stein
and authentic statement about where
You treated [Obama] with
Democratic Club. I think it came off
the conversation should go than any
terrible disrespect. Trump,
as him making a fool of himself, and
other candidate that Ive seen recenttrying to avoid the fact that
Hillary holding her own, presenting
ly, says Angela Peoples, a 30-yearClinton correctly called him
herself as somebody who has the
old queer activist and organizer and
temperament and understanding of
registered Democrat from D.C. And
racist.
policy to be the president.
her naming that the problem is not
Garcia felt Trump showed his
only around police violence and bias,
Trump: Weve lost control over
temper and a lack of discipline during
but implicit bias in all of us. Thats
things we used to have control
the debate, and seemed caught off
very much the direction we need
over. Such as reality TV stars
guard by some of Clintons attacks
to go if were actually going to have
with aspirations of grandeur.
on him. Clinton was also strong in
a conversation that implements the
her response to moderator Lester
idea that black lives matter in this
Holts questions on racial justice,
country.
I did not support the war in
where she gave a nuanced response,
After the debate, Peoples remains
Iraq, says Iraq war-supporting
while Trump painted the majority of
concerned that Clinton and Trump
Donald Trump.
African-Americans and Hispanics as
appeared to be trying to disqualiliving in inner cities or low-income,
fy each other, instead of getting to
Your president. Trump doesnt
crime-ridden communities.
the heart of the problems facing the
consider President Obama to be
The deep contrast between
country. But she credits Clinton for
his president. That says it all,
the pair became apparent later in
offering more specific ideas for some
folks.
the debate, when Trumps energy
problems than shes seen most canseemed to flag and he became even
didates offer in the past. Peoples also
more incoherent, at one point accussays there are many more issues that
ing Clinton of having fought ISIS
need to be addressed in at least one, if
which did not exist before the early 2000s, even by the most not both, of the two remaining presidential debates.
generous definition for her entire life.
I think that neither candidate really gave solutions for
Neither candidate was asked questions about LGBT issues that are galvanizing young people of color today, parrights during the debate. Bright would have liked to hear ticularly LGBTQ people, she says. I think theres a lot more
about the Supreme Court, but he also understands that rais- to discuss, and Im looking forward to hearing that in future
ing that issue might be counterproductive for Democrats. debates.
The potential liberalizing of the court remains a potentially
But while Democrats (and most media outlets) touted
galvanizing issue, one that could drive conservative voters CLinton as the nights victor, across the aisle the most hardto support Trump. Garcia would love to see LGBT issues core Trump partisans declared victory for their candidate.
18
theFeed
Joseph R. Murray, II, the founder of LGBTrump, the largest
Rick Oettinger, a 32-year-old gay financial analyst and
LGBT pro-Trump Facebook page, called Clintons debate Republican from D.C., felt the debate failed to live up to the
performance robotic to the point of being a mini-Rubio.
hype that preceded it, since he feels neither candidate dealt
Hillary Clinton spent days preparing for this debate a serious blow to their opponent.
and just like all the money she is wasting on negative ads
Hillary seemed to be well-rehearsed, says Oettinger.
she wasted her time, Murray said in a statement. At the She obviously kept that smile glued to her face the entire
end of the day, she did not stop Trumps momentum. That evening, so she wouldnt look like she had a scowl, so I
was her only job. Just like the jobs
would say Hillary was more polished.
she has held before, she failed.
I thought that Trumps perforBut other Republicans, particmance was okay, but the bar was
Notable Quotes
ularly those who have never been
set relatively low for him. But hes
enamored with Trump, were left
still wrong on the important prinYouve gotta ask yourself, why
despondent and frustrated following
ciples that I think have defined the
wont he release his tax returns?
Monday nights debate.
Republican Party in the last 40 years:
... It must be something terrible
I thought I was going to make it
economics, national security, he
hes trying to hide.
through the election until about an
adds. And I dont think he really
Hillary Clinton
hour and 45 minutes ago, but now
demonstrated any leadership abilities
I dont think Im going to make it,
in his performance tonight.
I will release my tax returns
Anthony Rek LeCounte, a 27-yearIts a feeling shared by some
against my lawyers wishes
old gay Republican from Triangle,
self-described Trump supporters,
when she releases her 33,000
Va., said immediately following the
like Andrew Dresser, who felt the
emails
that have been deleted.
debate.
Republican nominee came up short
Donald Trump
Watching the two of them togethin Mondays debate.
er really drove home the point, says
Donald did not come as prepared
This is a man who has called
LeCounte, a member of the D.C.
as I thought he would this time, says
women pigs, slobs and dogs.
chapter of the LGBT conservative
Dresser, a gay 27-year-old political
Someone who has said pregnancy
group Log Cabin Republicans. Two
consultant from D.C. [Clinton] was
hundred years of American growth,
more fluent in terms of foreign and
is an inconvenience to employers,
power, exceptionalism, and promise,
domestic policy. I think she had a
women dont deserve equal pay
and this is what its come to.
couple of good one-liners. I think he
unless they do as good a job as
LeCounte doesnt believe either
did, too. They had a couple of good
men. Hillary Clinton
candidate gained a significant edge,
jabs at each other, but in terms of
though he acknowledges it may
substance, I think Hillary won the
I think my strongest asset by far
depend on the amount of time viewdebate.
is my temperament. I have a winers spent watching the debate.
In future debates, Dresser wants
ning temperament.
If you sat through the whole
Trump to give more detailed answers
Donald Trump
thing, Hillary Clinton probably had
about how he aims to implement his
an edge. If you only sat through the
proposed policies, and needs to conDonald just criticized me for
first 30 minutes, probably Donald
nect more with his intended audipreparing for this debate. And,
Trump, he says. Hillary took lonence, particularly voters who are
yes, I did. You know what else I
ger to hit her stride. And part of that
not traditional Republicans. Some
prepared for? I prepared to be
was the expectations for him were
of Trumps off-the-cuff retorts to
president. Hillary Clinton
so low.
Clinton such as saying that not
As a Republican, LeCounte likes
paying federal income taxes makes
I sure hope you will get out
some of Trumps rhetoric on cutting
him smart, or that it would have
and vote as though your future
red tape and bureaucracy, and on
been a wise business decision to take
depended on it, because I think it
cutting taxes. But he is highly conadvantage of the housing downturn
does. Hillary Clinton
cerned about other issues where the
during the most recent recession
GOP nominee strays from traditionwould not be well-received by those
al Republican orthodoxy. LeCounte
voters, Dresser says.
calls Trumps protectionist rhetoric
He also recommends that Trump
on trade headache-inducing and
continue to emphasize his outsider
was disappointed when Trump, during an exchange on gun status as a non-politician, which is potentially one of his
restrictions, agreed with Clinton on preventing people on strongest assets when courting voters unhappy with the
the no-fly list from being able to purchase firearms. Thats current administrations policies.
why LeCounte is leaning towards voting for Libertarian
Overall, Id say I came away disappointed in Trumps
candidate Gary Johnson, a former conservative Republican performance, says Dresser. But we have two more debates,
governor of New Mexico.
and a vice presidential debate, so Ill have to see how they
[Trump] definitely did not do himself any favors for perform. I had been leaning towards Trump over the past
me, says LeCounte. It just sort of drove home to me that couple of weeks. Coming into the debate, I was leaning
he is unacceptable.
towards him, and now I have some doubts. l
19
TOMERTU
Community
RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR

Bet Mishpachah brings together LGBT people and allies
to celebrate the Jewish holidays
HATS UNIQUE ABOUT BET MISH IS THAT YOU HAVE SUCH A WARM
and welcoming environment for all, you dont feel like an outsider, says Brian
Parks, vice president of programming for the LGBT-affirming Jewish congregation Bet Mishpachah. Its a great place for all facets of the LGBT community and their allies
to come together in a safe space.
And come together they shall on the Jewish High Holy days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom
Kippur. The former ushers in the Jewish New Year, Sunday evening at 8 p.m., followed by
morning services and Torah reading on Monday at 10 a.m. Where Rosh Hashanah carries
a celebratory tone with the exultant blowing of a rams horn, or shofar Yom Kippur
is more introspective, with a day spent fasting and offering atonement for ones sins. Kol
Nidrei, considered the holiest of all the Jewish holidays, begins at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct.
11, and is followed by a full day of prayer, again starting at 10 a.m. Afterward, participants
are invited to break the fast with a dinner at the Washington Plaza Hotel, though space must
be reserved in advance.
We generally get about 150 people at the dinner, says Parks. We really have a really
great ruach, which is a term for great spirit. Its a great time to celebrate the conclusion of
the High Holy Day services, and for family and friends to come together. John Riley
Bet Mishpachahs services for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are Oct. 2-3 and Oct. 11-12 at Luther Place Memorial
Church, 1226 Vermont Avenue NW. The post-Yom Kippur Break-the-Fast supper is Wednesday, Oct. 12, at 7 p.m. at
the Washington Plaza Hotel, 10 Thomas Circle NW. Reservations are required, and tickets for non-members cost $52.
For a full schedule of services, visit betmish.org.
THURSDAY, September 29
Weekly Events
DC AQUATICS CLUB (DCAC)
practice session at Takoma
Aquatic Center, 300 Van Buren St.
NW. 7:30-9 p.m. swimdcac.org.
20
DC LAMBDA SQUARES gay
and lesbian square-dancing

group features mainstream
through advanced square
dancing at the National City
Christian Church, 5 Thomas
Circle NW, 7-9:30 p.m. Casual
dress. 301-257-0517, dclambdasquares.org.
The DULLES TRIANGLES

Northern Virginia social
group meets for happy hour
at Sheraton in Reston, 11810
Sunrise Valley Drive, second-floor bar, 7-9 p.m. All welcome. dullestriangles.com.
SMYAL offers free HIV Testing,

3-5 p.m., by appointment and
walk-in, for youth 21 and
younger. 202-567-3155 or testing@smyal.org.
US HELPING US hosts a
Narcotics Anonymous Meeting,

6:30-7:30 p.m., 3636 Georgia
Ave. NW. The group is independent of UHU. 202-4461100.
WOMENS LEADERSHIP
INSTITUTE for young LBTQ
women, 13-21, interested in

leadership development. 5-6:30
p.m. SMYAL Youth Center, 410
7th St. SE. 202-567-3163, catherine.chu@smyal.org.
FRIDAY, September 30
LGB PSYCHOTHERAPY
GROUP for adults in
Montgomery County offers a

safe space to explore coming
out and issues of identity.
10-11:30 a.m. 16220 S. Frederick
Rd., Suite 512, Gaithersburg,
Md. For more information, visit
thedccenter.org.
Weekly Events
ANDROMEDA
TRANSCULTURAL HEALTH
offers free HIV testing, 9-5 p.m.,

and HIV services (by appointment). 202-291-4707, andromedatransculturalhealth.org.
practice session at Hains Point,

927 Ohio Dr. SW. 6:30-8 p.m.
Visit swimdcac.org.
HIV TESTING at Whitman-Walker

Health. At the Elizabeth Taylor
Medical Center, 1701 14th St. NW,
9 a.m.-5 p.m. At the Max Robinson
Center, 2301 MLK Jr. Ave. SE, 9
a.m.-4:30 p.m. For an appointment
call 202-745-7000. Visit whitman-walker.org.
METROHEALTH CENTER
offers free, rapid HIV testing.

Appointment needed. 1012 14th St.
NW, Suite 700. 202-638-0750.
PROJECT STRIPES hosts LGBT-
DC SENTINELS basketball
team meets at Turkey Thicket

Recreation Center, 1100 Michigan
Ave. NE, 2-4 p.m. For players of all
levels, gay or straight. teamdcbasketball.org.
DIGNITYUSA sponsors Mass for
LGBT community, family and

friends. 6:30 p.m., Immanuel
Church-on-the-Hill, 3606 Seminary
Road, Alexandria. All welcome. For
more info, visit dignitynova.org.
affirming social group for ages

11-24. 4-6 p.m. 1419 Columbia Road
NW. Contact Tamara, 202-3190422, layc-dc.org.
GAY LANGUAGE CLUB discusses

critical languages and foreign languages. 7 p.m. Nellies, 900 U St.
NW. RSVP preferred. brendandarcy@gmail.com.
SMYALS REC NIGHT provides a

social atmosphere for GLBT and
questioning youth, featuring dance
parties, vogue nights, movies and
games. More info, catherine.chu@
smyal.org.
IDENTITY offers free and confidential HIV testing in Takoma

Park, 7676 New Hampshire Ave.,
Suite 411. Walk-ins 12-3 p.m. For
appointments other hours, call 301422-2398.
SMYAL offers free HIV Testing, 3-6
SUNDAY, October 2
p.m., by appointment and walk-in,

for youth 21 and younger. Youth
Center, 410 7th St. SE. 202-5673155, testing@smyal.org.
SATURDAY, October 1
CENTER GLOBAL, a group focusing on LGBT rights abroad and
working with LGBT asylum seekers, hosts its monthly meeting at
The DC Center. 12-2 p.m. 2000
14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more
information, visit thedccenter.org.
The DC Center for the LGBT
Community holds a VOLUNTEER
ORIENTATION for those interested in becoming involved with the
Centers programs serving the local
LGBT community. 2-4 p.m. 2000
14th St. NW, Suite 105. More info,
email javier@thedcenter.org.
Weekly Events
BET MISHPACHAH, founded by
members of the LGBT community,

holds Saturday morning Shabbat
services, 10 a.m., followed by
Kiddush luncheon. Services in
DCJCC Community Room, 1529
16th St. NW. betmish.org.
BRAZILIAN GLBT GROUP, includ-
ing others interested in Brazilian culture, meets. For location/time, email

braziliangaygroup@yahoo.com.
practice session at Hains Point, 972

Ohio Dr., SW. 8:30-10 a.m. Visit
swimdcac.org.
DC FRONT RUNNERS running/
walking/social club welcomes all

levels for exercise in a fun and supportive environment, socializing
afterward. Meet 9:30 a.m., 23rd &
P Streets NW, for a walk; or 10 a.m.
for fun run. dcfrontrunners.org.
LUTHERAN CHURCH OF
REFORMATION invites all to
Sunday worship at 8:30 or 11 a.m.

Childcare is available at both services. Welcoming LGBT people for
25 years. 212 East Capitol St. NE.
reformationdc.org.
METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY
CHURCH OF WASHINGTON, D.C.
services at 9 a.m. (ASL interpreted) and 11 a.m. Childrens Sunday

School at 11 a.m. 474 Ridge St. NW.
202-638-7373, mccdc.com.
RIVERSIDE BAPTIST CHURCH,
a Christ-centered, interracial,
welcoming-and-affirming church,
offers service at 10 a.m. 680 I St.
SW. 202-554-4330, riversidedc.org.
UNITARIAN CHURCH OF
ARLINGTON, an LGBTQ welcom-
ing-and-affirming congregation,
offers services at 10 a.m. Virginia
Rainbow UU Ministry. 4444
Arlington Blvd. uucava.org.
UNIVERSALIST NATIONAL
MEMORIAL CHURCH, a welcom-
METROHEALTH CENTER offers

free, rapid HIV testing. No
appointment needed. 11 a.m.-7 p.m.
1012 14th St. NW, Suite 700. 202638-0750.
NOVASALUD offers free HIV test-
ing. 5-7 p.m. 2049 N. 15th St., Suite

200, Arlington. Appointments: 703789-4467.

Center, 410 7th St. SE. 202-5673155 or testing@smyal.org.
The DC Center hosts COFFEE
DROP-IN FOR THE SENIOR LGBT

COMMUNITY. 10 a.m.-noon. 2000
14th St. NW. 202-682-2245, thedccenter.org.
US HELPING US hosts a black gay

mens evening affinity group. 3636
Georgia Ave. NW. 202-446-1100.
WASHINGTON WETSKINS
WATER POLO TEAM practices 7-9
ing and inclusive church. GLBT

Interweave social/service group
meets monthly. Services at 11 a.m.,
Romanesque sanctuary. 1810 16th St.
NW. 202-387-3411, universalist.org.
p.m. Takoma Aquatic Center, 300

Van Buren St. NW. Newcomers
with at least basic swimming ability
always welcome. Tom, 703-2990504, secretary@wetskins.org,
wetskins.org.
MONDAY, October 3
WHITMAN-WALKER HEALTH
TUESDAY, October 4

972 Ohio Dr., SW. 9:30-11 a.m. Visit
swimdcac.org.
The DC Center hosts a

VOLUNTEER NIGHT for community members to lend a hand with
various duties, including cleaning,
keeping safe-sex kit inventory, and
sorting through book donations.
Pizza provided. 6:30-8:30 p.m.
2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For
more information, visit thedccenter.org.
DIGNITYUSA offers Roman
Weekly Events
Weekly Events
LGBT-inclusive ALL SOULS
MEMORIAL EPISCOPAL CHURCH
celebrates Low Mass at 8:30

a.m., High Mass at 11 a.m. 2300
Cathedral Ave. NW. 202-232-4244,
allsoulsdc.org.
BETHEL CHURCH-DC progressive
and radically inclusive church

holds services at 11:30 a.m. 2217
Minnesota Ave. SE. 202-248-1895,
betheldc.org.
Catholic Mass for the LGBT

community. 6 p.m., St. Margarets
Church, 1820 Connecticut Ave. NW.
All welcome. Sign interpreted. For
more info, visit dignitynova.org.
FRIENDS MEETING OF
WASHINGTON meets for worship,
10:30 a.m., 2111 Florida Ave. NW,

Quaker House Living Room (next
to Meeting House on Decatur
Place), 2nd floor. Special welcome
to lesbians and gays. Handicapped
accessible from Phelps Place gate.
Hearing assistance. quakersdc.org.
HSV-2 SOCIAL AND SUPPORT

GROUP for gay men living in the
DC metro area. This group will be

meeting once a month. For information on location and time, visit
H2gether.com.
INSTITUTE FOR SPIRITUAL

DEVELOPMENT, God-centered
new age church & learning center.

Sunday Services and Workshops
event. 5419 Sherier Place NW. isddc.org.

927 Ohio Dr. SW. 7-8:30 p.m. Visit
swimdcac.org.
DC SCANDALS RUGBY holds
HIV/AIDS Support Group for

newly diagnosed individuals,
meets 7 p.m. Registration required.
202-939-7671, hivsupport@whitman-walker.org.
THE HIV WORKING GROUP of

THE DC CENTER hosts a Packing
Party, where volunteers assemble

safe-sex kits of condoms and lube.
7-9 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite
105. For more information, visit
thedccenter.org.
Weekly Events
ANDROMEDA TRANSCULTURAL
HEALTH offers free HIV testing,
practice, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Garrison

Elementary, 1200 S St. NW. dcscandals.wordpress.com.
9-5 p.m., and HIV services (by

appointment). 202-291-4707,
andromedatransculturalhealth.org.
GETEQUAL meets 6:30-8 p.m. at

Quaker House, 2111 Florida Ave.
NW. getequal.wdc@gmail.com.
ASIANS AND FRIENDS weekly
HIV Testing at WHITMANWALKER HEALTH. At the

Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center,
1701 14th St. NW, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. At
the Max Robinson Center, 2301
MLK Jr. Ave. SE, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
For an appointment call 202-7457000. Visit whitman-walker.org.
KARING WITH INDIVIDUALITY

(K.I.) SERVICES, 3333 Duke St.,
Alexandria, offers free rapid HIV

testing and counseling, 9 a.m.-4
p.m. 703-823-4401.
dinner in Dupont/Logan Circle

area, 6:30 p.m. afwash@aol.com,
afwashington.net.
practice session at Takoma Aquatic

Center, 300 Van Buren St. NW.
7:30-9 p.m. swimdcac.org.
DC FRONT RUNNERS running/
walking/social club serving greater D.C.s LGBT community and

allies hosts an evening run/walk.
dcfrontrunners.org.
THE GAY MENS HEALTH

COLLABORATIVE offers free
21
HIV testing and STI screening

and treatment every Tuesday.
5-6:30 p.m. Rainbow Tuesday
LGBT Clinic, Alexandria Health
Department, 4480 King St. 703746-4986 or text 571-214-9617.
james.leslie@inova.org.
HIV TESTING at Whitman-Walker

Health. At the Elizabeth Taylor
Medical Center, 1701 14th St. NW,
9 a.m.-5 p.m. At the Max Robinson
Center, 2301 MLK Jr. Ave. SE, 9
a.m.-4:30 p.m. For an appointment
call 202-745-7000. Visit whitman-walker.org.
KARING WITH INDIVIDUALITY
(K.I.) SERVICES, at 3333 Duke St.,
Alexandria, offers free rapid HIV

testing and counseling, 9 a.m.-4
p.m. 703-823-4401.
METROHEALTH CENTER
offers free, rapid HIV testing.

Appointment needed. 1012 14th St.
NW, Suite 700. 202-638-0750.
OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS
LGBT focused meeting every

Tuesday, 7 p.m. St. Georges
Episcopal Church, 915 Oakland
Ave., Arlington, just steps from
Virginia Square Metro. For
more info. call Dick, 703-5211999. Handicapped accessible.
Newcomers welcome. liveandletliveoa@gmail.com.

Center, 410 7th St. SE. 202-5673155, testing@smyal.org.
SUPPORT GROUP FOR LGBTQ

YOUTH ages 13-21 meets at
SMYAL, 410 7th St. SE, 5-6:30 p.m.

Cathy Chu, 202-567-3163, catherine.chu@smyal.org.
US HELPING US hosts a support
group for black gay men 40 and

older. 7-9 p.m., 3636 Georgia Ave.
NW. 202-446-1100.
Whitman-Walker Healths GAY

MENS HEALTH AND WELLNESS/
STD CLINIC opens at 6 p.m., 1701
14th St. NW. Patients are seen on

walk-in basis. No-cost screening
for HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea and
chlamydia. Hepatitis and herpes
testing available for fee. whitman-walker.org.
WEDNESDAY, October 5
BOOKMEN DC, an informal mens
gay-literature group, discusses The
Best-Kept Boy in the World, Arthur
Vanderbilts biography of Denny
Fouts. 7:30 p.m. Tenleytown Library,
4450 Wisconsin Ave NW. All welcome. bookmendc.blogspot.com.
The DC Center hosts a meeting
of KHUSH DC, a support group
for LGBTQ South Asians. Oct. 5 is
the groups Craft Night. 7-9 p.m.
22

more information, email board@
khushdc.org.
THE TOM DAVOREN SOCIAL

BRIDGE CLUB will meet for Social
Bridge. 7:30 p.m. Dignity Center
721 8th St., S.E. (across from
Marine Barracks). No reservation
and partner needed. Call 301-3451571 for more information.
Weekly Events
AD LIB, a group for freestyle con-
versation, meets about 6:30-6 p.m.,

Steam, 17th and R NW. All welcome. For more information, call
Fausto Fernandez, 703-732-5174.

927 Ohio Dr. SW. 7-8:30 p.m. Visit
swimdcac.org.
DC SCANDALS RUGBY holds
practice, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Garrison

Elementary, 1200 S St. NW. dcscandals.wordpress.com.
FREEDOM FROM SMOKING, a

group for LGBT people looking
to quit cigarettes and tobacco use,
holds a weekly support meeting at
The DC Center. 7-8 p.m. 2000 14th
St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.
HISTORIC CHRIST CHURCH
offers Wednesday worship 7:15 a.m.

and 12:05 p.m. All welcome. 118 N.
Washington St., Alexandria. 703549-1450, historicchristchurch.org.
IDENTITY offers free and confidential HIV testing in Gaithersburg,

414 East Diamond Ave. Walk-ins
2-7 p.m. For appointments other
hours, call Gaithersburg at 301300-9978.
JOB CLUB, a weekly support program for job entrants and seekers,
meets at The DC Center. 6-7:30 p.m.
more info, www.centercareers.org.
METROHEALTH CENTER offers
free, rapid HIV testing. No

appointment needed. 11 a.m.-7 p.m.
1012 14th St. NW, Suite 700. 202638-0750.
NOVASALUD offers free HIV

testing. 11 a.m.-2 p.m. 2049 N.
15th St., Suite 200, Arlington.
Appointments: 703-789-4467.
PRIME TIMERS OF DC, social club
for mature gay men, hosts weekly
happy hour/dinner. 6:30 p.m.,
Windows Bar above Dupont Italian
Kitchen, 1637 17th St. NW. Carl,
703-573-8316.
Submit your community event for
consideration at least 10 days prior
to the Thursday publication you
would like it to appear. Email to calendar@metroweekly.com. l
Scene
Our Lives, Our History, Our Museum. A LGBTQ Celebration of the

Opening of the National Museum of African American History and
Culture at HRC - Wednesday, Sept. 21 - Photography by Ward Morrison
See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene
23
Wings
of Fury
Olney and Round House join forces for an Angels in America
that speaks as much to the present as it does to the past
Photography by Todd Franson

Feature by Randy Shulman
IGHTEEN MONTHS AGO, RYAN RILETTE AND JASON LOEWITH HAD

lunch at Kantutas, a Bolivian restaurant in Wheaton. Both were the newest
artistic directors at two of Montgomery Countys most prominent theater companies Rilette with Bethesdas Round House, Loewith with Olney and were
looking to expand their audience base, trying, as Loewith puts it, to program
aspirationally to the audiences that we wanted, not necessarily the audiences we
had. They had worked together years before at the National New Play Network and were friends,
comfortable with sharing ideas, goals, dreams for their respective companies.
They wanted to collaborate.
What if we did a play together? Is there a way we can do a play? What would be the big difficult
play that we would want to do together that would be something that we couldnt do on our own?
Both said, simultaneously, Angels in America.
And with that, Loewith and Rilette set Round House and Olney on a path to create a no holds
barred production of Tony Kushners majestic, sprawling, two-part dramatic upheaval about the
onset of AIDS, gay life in the 80s, and the politics of shame, silence, bigotry and corruption.
At first, the directors thought they might stage Part 1: Millennium Approaches at Round House
and Part 2: Perestroika at Olney. But the idea proved unfeasible. Trying to use the same cast and
the same designers at two different theatres just wasnt going to work, says Rilette, during a
break from rehearsing Perestroika, which opens this weekend (Millennium has been playing for a
month). Round House was chosen as the spot for Angels to land, with an agreement that the following season, the theaters would work on an equally ambitious, as yet unnamed project, at Olney.
Loewith undertook directing duties for Millennium, and Rilette helms part two.
That decision happened quite easily, says Loewith. I tend to be very drawn to strong narrative as a director, and Ryan is drawn to things that scare the shit out of him. That very easily meant
that, Oh, Ill take part one, and hell take part two. It wasnt even a conversation.
Part one is really just one long descent until the angel arrives and says, Lets go, Loewith
explains. Everything moves to that moment. Her arrival throws the world into disarray.
25
Perestroika is very purposely much more sprawling, much more

theatrical. The dreams and hallucinations that begin to tear the
fabric of reality in Millennium rip it wide open in Perestroika and
seem to take over. The cosmology that Kushner created about
who this angel is, what her job is, and why shes come to Prior,
gets explained. The entire second act is pretty much Priors
retelling to Belize of what his meeting with the angel was, and
how bizarre and crazy it all was. Its very different in structure
and extremely intense.
Wait until you see Perestroika, says Rilette. Ive produced
over a hundred plays at this point in my career, and Ive never
seen anything like what were doing with this.
Pooling resources helped them achieve the Broadway quality epicness that the play asks for, Rilette says. How could you
possibly do that on a normal regional theater budget? Judging
from Millennium Approaches, theyve more than achieved their
goal, with a handsome, expansive setting by James Kronzer,
lush, evocative lighting by York Kennedy, and chilling, subtly
unnerving projections by Clint Allen. The first time he put the
projections up, everybody in the theater and I mean all these
people who do this all day long, every day went, What the
hell is going on? says Rilette. I said, I hope nobody shows up
to this show tripping, because theyre going to really have a bad
trip if they come into this.
It is, ultimately, the cast who provide the soul of any dramatic production, and Loewith and Rilette have assembled one
of the strongest in recent history. Many are familiar to regular
theatergoers as the best in the business, including Tom Story,
who all but steamrolls ones emotions in Millennium with a
funny, gripping, heartbreaking portrayal of Prior Walter, a man
afflicted by a strange new gay disease that, as the evening progresses, covers his body in horrific, purple, cancerous lesions.
Jon Hudson Odom brings the perfect amount of snap, sarcasm
and charm to the scene-stealing role of Belize, Mitchell Hbert
is a vicious, self-serving Roy Cohn, and as Louis and Joe, Thomas
Keegan and Jonathan Bock play out their own personal torments
in craven, selfish ways, inevitably confronting demons that, in
Perestroika, turn their worlds inside out. Sarah Marshall deploys
a disarmingly impish but fully malevolent gaze and stops the
show as the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg, and Kimberly Gilbert
brings full-throttle anguish to Harper, a Mormon woman whose
shaken beliefs lead her down a well of madness. Finally, there is
The Angel. We only get a glimpse of the elegant Dawn Ursula,
suspended high above the stage, in Millennium, her expression
filled with anger and grave portent, but theres more to come in
Perestroika. Much more.
Were really lucky we got kind of the dream cast, says
Rilette. This is one of those projects thats on everybodys bucket list. Everybody wants to have a shot at it at some point, and we
were able to find the ideal people to play these roles.
For those who might dismiss Angels in America as an out-ofdate AIDS play, Loewith and Rilette offer thoughtful insights.
I like to think that The Normal Heart is the greatest AIDS
play ever written, says Loewith. I like to think that Angels
in America is one of the greatest American plays ever written.
Kushner calls it a gay fantasia on national themes, and thats why
it is extremely relevant now. As somebody who came of age as a
gay man during the AIDS crisis, Im extremely familiar with the
history and the terror and the sense of AIDS as a death sentence.
Our young assistant director was like, Oh, yeah, my group of
friends think of AIDS as just any other STD. You just go to the
doctor and get the drug. Which is just shocking to hear for anybody who lived through it.
26
The AIDS crisis and this play as a marker in the AIDS

crisis heralded an incredible civil rights movement that has
culminated in the Supreme Court making gay marriage the law
of the land. [But] the play insistently talks about race relations,
and why that civil rights struggle has not moved forward at
nearly the same pace or with the same success. The parts of the
play that resonate most to me are the conversations that Belize
has with Louis, one in Millennium, and one in Perestroika, about
race relations in America. Theyre stunning in their prescience,
and they take everybody to task.
I think Tony Kushner is our greatest living political playwright, and Angels in America is the best play ever written about
American political life, adds Rilette. The beautiful thing about
Angels is that, yes it is a play about a very specific time and about
a very rough time in American life, a time where hundreds of
thousands of gay men were infected with HIV, tens of thousands
had already died of AIDS, and yet the president had not even
yet said the word AIDS. You had the [White House] press room
making fun of reporters who were trying to ask questions about
it. Its a horrible period in American history.
AIDS is the lens through which Kushner examines our life
in America, he continues. While we often think of it as an
AIDS play, it is so much more than that. It is a play about our
national discourse, and the ways in which we can become polarized. Ultimately, it is a very hopeful play because this is a play
where all of the characters start off in their own little Balkanized
worlds, where Republicans are with Republicans, where gays
are with gays, where Mormons are with Mormons. By the end of
Perestroika you have a world in which everyone has...recognized
each others humanity. That is the ultimate message in Angels
of America a message that is deeply, sorely needed in our
American political discourse right now.
There are parts to this play that ring more true today than
they ever have before certainly with Trumps nomination as
the Republican candidate and with the Republican party passing
the most anti-LGBTQ platform ever in the history of a political
party. Reminding ourselves about our history, reminding ourselves that there was a time where we as a government, as
a country were silent as hundreds of thousands of people
hundreds of thousands of our citizens were dying, is extremely important. Because if we forget that history, were going to
repeat it again. Sadly, it seems like were on a dangerous path
right now, and at a more fraught time in our political life than we
have been in many many years.
So, to me, this play is urgent, Rilette concludes. Its not
even a question of why revive it, or is it worth reviving? Yes, of
course its worth reviving its a classic play. But more than
that, at this point in time, this play speaks volumes as to who we
are as a country. l
Angels In America: Millennium Approaches and Perestroika
run in rep through Oct. 23 and 30, respectively, at Round House
Theatre, 4545 East-West Highway, Bethesda, Md. Tickets are $55
to $75. For a full schedule of remaining performances, including
days on which both parts play, call 240-644-1100 or visit roundhousetheatre.org.
The cast of Angels in America was photographed at the Round
House Theatre on Friday, September 23. Costume Design: Ivania
Stack. Set Design: James Kronzer. Lighting Design: York Kennedy.
Production Stage Manager: Marne Anderson. Associate Producer:
Danisha Crosby. Wardrobe Crew: Mackenzie Bunch. Special
thanks: Bryan J. Lee and Sarah Pressler Randall.
PRIOR WALTER (TOM STORY), BELIZE (JON HUDSON ODOM), AND LOUIS IRONSON (JONATHAN BOCK)
27
HARPER PITT (KIMBERLY GILBERT) AND JOE PITT (THOMAS KEEGAN)
28
ROY COHN (MITCHELL HBERT)
29
BELIZE (JON HUDSON ODOM) AND LOUIS IRONSON (JONATHAN BOCK)
30
ETHEL ROSENBERG (SARAH MARSHALL)
31
PRIOR WALTER (TOM STORY)
32
THE ANGEL (DAWN URSULA)
33
Gallery
Mickalene Thomas, Whatever You Want, 2004; Acrylic, rhinestone, and enamel on panel; 48 x 36 in.
NO MANS LAND: Women Artists from the Rubell Family Collection

National Museum of Women in the Arts
September 30, 2016January 8, 2017
nmwa.org
35
AMY HORAN
Stage
Time Warp
In Cloud 9, Caryl Churchill toys with gender, class, and time to

spectacular effect By Doug Rule
T TRANSPIRES THAT EVERYONE OR ALMOST EVERYONE, ANYWAY

wants to fuck British explorer Harry Bagley (Christian Pedersen). Hes welcomed
with open arms into the family at the heart of Cloud 9 (HHHHH), Caryl Churchills
mischeviously provocative comedy. Bagley is the type of swashbuckling hero ripped
straight out of folklore, yet he comes accessorized with a few Harlequin romance
twists: This Victorian-era, unbounded explorer is always up for an adventure, regardless of gender.
Shall we go into the barns and fuck? he point-blank asks the familys servant,
Joshua. He accepts without skipping a beat.
As is the case with much of Churchills work, Cloud 9 is deliberately confounding,
but its bolstered by a remarkable production at Studio Theatre. Directed with assuredness by Michael Kahn, the 1979 comedy is viewed in a prescient light on matters of gender identity and sexual orientation. Churchills tale is lighter and more warm-hearted
and certainly more gay-friendly and sex-positive than many satires from its era,
and on par with the most enlightened comedies today.
Youre likely to struggle to keep things straight in every sense of the term. From a
rather dry and droll start as a comedy of manners, Cloud 9 reveals itself to be more than a
straightforward satire of Victorian-era traditions and mores, or even that of race relations
and patriarchal attitudes in the British Empire. Focusing on a British family, it scrambles
details in intriguing mix-ups of gender, race, sexuality, age, even time. Centuries separate
the first and second acts. The first is set in a British colony in Africa, the second in 1979
London, yet only 25 years have lapsed in the lives of the characters who carry over from
36
the two acts: Siblings Edward and Victoria

and their mother Betty, who by Act II is
separated from her opressive husband, family patriarch Clive. All three grow and look
dramatically different from act to act, played
by a different actor in each.
Wyatt Fenner portrays, without a
sense of irony or high camp, the demure,
nearly neutered Betty in Africa, who then
morphs into an image of a modern-day,
middle-aged woman (Holly Twyford).
Fenner takes on a new role, playing the
hyper-masculine, promiscuously gay
Gerry, Edwards lover. And while Edward
is first seen as a petulant, doll-loving boy
(Laura C. Harris), he grows up to be a
sensitive, questioning male adult (John
Scherer, who in Act I plays Clive). Harris,
meanwhile, swings from playing Edward
to the adult Victoria a living, thinking,
bisexual instead of the lifeless, expressionless Victoria we meet in Act I.
Throughout, we see the characters in
different sexual situations and in combinations of gender at times its as if
everyone is fucking someone else. Their
rampant sexual tendencies become a problem mostly in the repressive era of Act I,
revolving around moments when characters get caught straying from heteronormative behavior.
AMY HORAN
The shows star is Holly Twyford, and not just because of her
top standing in D.C.s theater community. Twyford assumes the
roles of three separate characters, one more than anyone else,
with each a nice contrast to the last. In Act I, she rotates, with
impressively quick costume changes, between the dutifully obedient governess Ellen, a lesbian at heart, and the colonys widow
Mrs. Saunders, who becomes a dominatrix right out of Clives
power play dream.

Later, as Betty in Act II, Twyford portrays a woman freed
after decades of opression and repression with a mix of bewilderment and bemusement, happy and at ease. Shes beginning
to accept the complications and confusion of living in an
open-minded, open-ended way. Its a message more timely now
than ever. l
Cloud 9 runs to Oct. 16 in the Metheny Theatre, 14th & P Streets NW. Tickets are $44 to $88. Call 202-332-3300
or visit studiotheatre.org.
37
SCOTT SUCHMAN
Stage
Workman and Veenstra
Puppy Love
The Shakespeare Theatres Romeo and Juliet is more high school field
trip than grown-up fare By Kate Wingfield
ute but flawed, the Shakespeare Theatre Companys Romeo and Juliet (HHHHH)
is more school field trip than grown-up fare. However, thats still very much a
compliment. Updated to the here and now, this is mad teenage love envisioned
in neo-Renaissance McMansions, rich-kid dance parties, and earbuds. It is played
young, fun, accessible.
Carrying the vibe is Andrew Veenstras alpha Romeo, an extrovert raised on pop
culture, and Ayana Workmans Juliet, a super-rich, super-thin, super-sweet girl who
surely gets the lead in every play. But if their personas are loud, irrepressible and
super-accessible, there is a price to pay: depth.
For starters, if you come expecting to shed a tear for the doomed lovers, you will
likely be disappointed. Although death stalks the couple in their free fall of passion,
in the violent hatred between their clans, in Romeos impulsive murder of Tybalt the
38
shadows are lost in their showy exuberance. They are adorably charismatic and
very dramatic, but there is far too little
space to suggest that quieter place: the
dark whirlpool of the young and volatile
soul and its pathos.
And there is much to be suggested
in such a contemporary production.
Teen suicide is a major and growing
problem. These tragedies dont come
from nowhere and they dont happen
to other peoples kids. Romeo is a
young man utterly consumed with love,
but he is also so passionate that he is
capable of murder. Is killing so far from
suicide? Not according to much of the
days news. Although Veenstra at times
gives Romeo a convincing, hollow-eyed
despair, these countervailing poles
needed to be developed. We require
more glimpses into his subterranean world, one which so

rapidly allows a descent into suicide.
Similarly, although Workman is charming and her dancers
training reveals itself in her moves (and there is no doubt that
this Juliet would have had dance classes), a real person must
at some point emerge. Again, it is the balancing act of accessibility versus depth. Although Workman has a convincing
affect of anxious agitation, she is portrayed as highly sensible
and often full of joy. How can we believe that this otherwise
happy soul can so readily descend into the arms of death?
We needed more of her inner life, a sense of the demons that
must be waiting to pounce. And they are very much there.
As Juliets mother, Lady Capulet, Judith Lightfoot Clarke is
tentative, removed the McLean housewife surfing alternate waves of booze and valium. She is at great remove from
her vibrant, lively daughter. How could Juliet not have been
damaged by such a remote mother? So much more could have
been suggested of this inadequate bond.
Not helping matters is further unevenness in the ensemble.
As Nurse, Juliets lifelong nanny, Inga Ballard has plenty of
presence, but never quite decides who this woman is. Is she
canny and knowing? Loving, but not that bright? Troublemaker
or victim? Its all-of-the-above and in a role this big, it becomes
a distraction, as does a delivery that moves between smooth and
mechanical. As Friar Laurence, Ron Menzel is intriguing with
his urban vibe, but his emotional roller-coaster as he confronts
and then consoles Romeo is confusing. Similarly, as Juliets
father Capulet, Keith Hamilton Cobb is a spectacular presence,
but it is very hard to reconcile the gorgeous, lovey father at the

mansion party with the completely villainous, uncompromising
father who later demands that his baggage of a daughter marry
Paris.
There are two performances that do make the night: Jimmie
J.J. Jeters Benvolio is utterly convincing as Romeos warm
and funny young friend. Jeter is a natural understated and
utterly at home with the language. The other star turn arrives in
the extraordinary performance of Jeffrey Carlson as the cynical,
silver-tongued Mercutio. In 2007, Carlson brought a young and
rather self-indulgent Hamlet to STC, but time has served him
well. His quirk-filled, slightly menacing Mercutio is the only
character to capture the darkness in these rich, young people. He
would have made an interesting Romeo.
Thus a mixture of weak and strong. But then again, the real
question here is whether a high school or college kid would
care. Likely not. In an age in which everyone is a selfie star and
a moment on YouTube can lead to celebrity, the larger-than-life
personas will resonate clearly and exuberantly with the online
generation. More importantly, those who have been forced to
read the play will be amazed to see how immediate and relevant
its interpretation on a stage can be. And those who have yet to
read it will be buoyed through the pages by the memory of this
lively rendering.
As for grownups? Even if you like your Shakespeare in metaphorical tights and a ruffle, there is something to be said for this
gel-cap style. Whatever its ultimate impact, it is, without doubt,
easy-to-swallow. l
Romeo and Juliet runs to Nov. 6 at the Lansburgh Theatre, 450 7th St. NW. Tickets are $44 to $118. Call 202-547-1122 or
visit shakespearetheatre.org.
39
SCOTT SUCHMAN
Opera
Figaros Follies
Rocking no boats, The Marriage of Figaro is all about the music,

the voices and the traditional By Kate Wingfield
CHEERFUL, MIDDLE-OF-THE-ROAD PRODUCTION, THE WASHINGTON

National Operas The Marriage of Figaro (HHHHH) is good timing for D.C.s
opera-going base. Artistic director Francesca Zambello may have an interest
in contemporary American operas such as Appomattox and this seasons Dead Man
Walking and she may have made WNO history with last seasons mind-blowingly
original Ring but some will be glad to see that the traditional repertoire still has a
seat at the table.
Thus, Figaro rocks no boats and is fully content to deliver an amusing evening of Mozart
and his story of would-be lovers. There are no references to global warming, Americas
troubled race relations or even a hint of a leather duster. With Benoit Dugardyns simple,
almost austere sets, Myung Hee Chos colorfully-costumed singers, and the determinedly
quaint shenanigans, this is all about the music, the voices and the traditional.
Of course, traditional interpretations are necessary and wonderful to the genre.
But if youre going to deliver it straight, then its time for flourish and flare. And quite
simply, there isnt a whole lot of that here. Its a production in need of a bit more imagination, a bit more humor, and even a tad more of the ribald. Put simply, it needs the
kind of goosing Count Almaviva saves for his favorite servant girl.
Not looking particularly enamored with one another, Ryan McKinny and Lisette
40
Oropesa seem more co-conspirators than

lovers in the roles of Figaro and Susanna.
McKinny livens up his manservant with a
fair bit of silliness and jumping about and
also gives him some leading-man gravitas
with his luxuriant bass-baritone. But what
is he fighting for? Oropesa certainly looks
the part, but she projects her Susanna as a
servant who has seen it all and disdains a
lot of it. Its a portrayal that dampens her
chemistry with Figaro and undermines her
motives in helping the Countess Almaviva
win back her husband. What sweetness
there is arrives with her attractive soprano, but there is never quite enough in tone
or expression to suggest any real sugar in
the soul.
Drawing much of Susannas ire (and a
fair amount of rather too genuine-looking
flirtation) is the Count Almaviva. A good
old-fashioned cad, the Count is all about
reinstituting the tradition of droit de seigneur (co-opting village brides on their
wedding nights) in time to get his hands
on Susanna. Thoroughly savoring the role,
Joshua Hopkins arrives like an 18th cen-
tury Fabio, complete with flowing locks and a semi-bared, hairy

chest. Though he is a tad under the orchestra at times, he offers
an able baritone and much is mitigated by his charisma and
comic timing.
For the smaller roles of Marcellina and Dr. Bartolo, both
in search of late-life marriages, director Peter Kazaras misses
another opportunity for colorful fun. Instead of letting Elizabeth
Bishop and Valeriano Lanchas play it up, they are relegated more
or less to irritated hovering. As Don Basilio, Keith Jameson has
presence and vocal clarity, while Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist
Ariana Wehr offers a fulsome soprano and brings memorable
energy to her young woman Barbarina. In the trouser role of
the young man Cherubino, Aleksandra Romano captures well
the scampering lovesick adolescent, but her rich mezzo-soprano
feels encumbered by the vibrato.
But as skillful as the ensemble may be, nothing moves the
needle until the arrival of the statuesque Amanda Majeskis
Countess. Alone and melancholy, she sings mournfully of the
faithless Almaviva with the crystalline beauty of a sorrowful
Snow Queen. Its a rare moment of magic in a long and largely
pedestrian evening. l
The Marriage of Figaro offers remaining performances on Friday,
Sept. 30, at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 1, at 7 p.m., and Sunday, Oct.
2, at 2 p.m. Kennedy Center Opera House. Tickets are $25 to $315.
Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.
41
NightLife
Photography by
Julian Vankim
43
CoverboyConfidential
Interview by Randy Shulman Photography by Julian Vankim
M THE WRETCHED CLAIMS ADJUSTER, SAYS DAVID. THATS ME. THOUGH HES PLAYfully self-deprecating a trait that continues throughout an hour-long talk he genuinely loves
his job in the insurance industry. Still, he says, society views me as the bad guy. The relationship is very adversarial when dealing with insurance. Its a contract of what we said we would cover.
Then youre dealing with an open market contractor who is working within a different profit margin.
Theres a lot of miscommunication. It can get confusing.
The 29-year-old, who in a former life was a bartender at a Columbus, Ohio bar called The Exile,
is also Pagan. Its an earth-based religion, he explains. We revere the earth and the cycles and
everything like that. We dont believe in the concept of Satan. Paganism provides David, who came
out when he was 12 (I was pretty self aware. I was a little shit), a feeling of inner-solace.
Its helped me deal with the inevitable cycle of life in all senses, he says. You will get old.
You will get feeble. You will not get compliments one day. You could die tomorrow. And it will start
over. Im constantly aware of that.
Whats on your night stand?
A book The Sea Priestess by
Dion Fortune and condoms.
Condoms on the nightstand?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Its more like
an old antique chest. My beds
on the ground. Very feng shui.
DrinksDragDJsEtc...
Thursday
September 29
9 1/2
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any
drink, 5-9pm Multiple
TVs showing movies,
shows, sports Expanded
craft beer selection
Music videos featuring
DJ Wess
COBALT/30 DEGREES
Happy Hour: Tops Down $6
Top Shelf, Bottoms Up $3
Rail, $3 Bud Light, 4-9pm
$3 Rail Drinks, 10pm-midnight, $5 Red Bull and
Frozen Virgin Drinks
Locker Room Thursday
Nights DJs Sean Morris
and MadScience Best
Package Contest at midnight, hosted by BaNaka &
Kristina Kelly $200 Cash

Prize Doors open 10pm,
21+ $5 Cover or free
with college ID
DC EAGLE
Doors open at 8pm
Happy Hour, 8-10pm $2
off everything DJ Theo
Storm spinning in the
main bar, 9pm-1am
Throwback Thursdays: The
Exile opens with DCs new
MegaParty, 10pm-2am
$10 Cover 21+
FREDDIES BEACH BAR
Crazy Hour, 4-7pm
Karaoke, 8pm
GREEN LANTERN
Happy Hour, 4-9pm
Ladies Drink Free Power
Hour, 4-5pm Shirtless
Thursday, 10-11pm DJs
BacK2bACk
Whats the last thing you

bought before the donuts you
brought to this interview?
I bought fast food late night because I
smashed it. Im gross. I will slingshot
into morbid obesity once my metabolism kicks because I eat all the time.
NELLIES SPORTS BAR

Beat the Clock Happy Hour
$2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm),
$4 (7-8pm) Buckets of
Beer $15 Drag Bingo
NUMBER NINE
drink, 5-9pm No Cover
SHAWS TAVERN
Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon,
$5 Rails and House Wines
& Half-Priced Pizzas $4
Corona and $4 Heineken
all night Football Food
Specials, 7-11am
SOMEPLACE ELSE BAR
& GRILL
1637 R St. NW
PBR, $2 Yuengling, $3 Rail,
$5 Appetizers Extended
Happy Hour, 7-9pm, with
only $1 increase in price
TRADE
1410 14th St. NW
Doors open 5pm Huge
Happy Hour: Any drink
normally served in a cocktail glass served in a huge
glass for the same price,
5-10pm Beer and wine
only $4
ZIEGFELDS/SECRETS
All male, nude dancers
Shirtless Thursday DJ
9pm Cover 21+
Friday
September 30
9 1/2
Open at 5pm Happy
Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink,
5-9pm Friday Night
Videos with resident DJ
Shea Van Horn VJ
Expanded craft beer selection No Cover
COBALT/30 DEGREES
All You Can Drink Happy
Hour $15 Rail and
Domestic, $21 Call &
Imports, 6-9pm Guys
Night Out Free Belvedere
Vodka, 11pm-Midnight, $6
Belvedere Vodka Drinks all
night DJ MadScience
upstairs DJ Keenan Orr
downstairs $10 cover
10pm-1am, $5 after 1am
21+
DC EAGLE
Doors open at 8pm
off everything Fetish
Friday SigMa DC
ravages the DC Eagle with
Demos No Cover 21+
FREDDIES BEACH BAR
Crazy Hour, 4-7pm
Karaoke, 8pm
GREEN LANTERN
Smirnoff, all flavors, all
night long
NELLIES SPORTS BAR
DJ Matt Bailer Videos,
Dancing Beat the Clock
Happy Hour $2 (5-6pm),
$3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm)
Buckets of Beer $15
NUMBER NINE
Open 5pm Happy Hour:
2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm
No Cover Friday Night
Piano with Chris, 7:30pm
Friday Night Videos with
Chord, 9:30pm
SHAWS TAVERN
& Half-Priced Pizzas
Magic! 8-10pm Luke
Shaffer Singing Live, 8pm
Coverboy of the Month Contest
Welcome to the All-New Nightlife Coverboy Contest! At the close of each month, well have a mini-Coverboy Contest at MetroWeekly.com
to select a finalist who will then go on to compete in the Coverboy of the Year competition in November. Junes finalist will receive a miniprize package from this months sponsors. Join our e-mail list and be alerted as soon as the contest goes live online, as well as get the full
coverboy interview and more photos delivered directly to your inbox! Sign up now at MetroWeekly.com/join.
Septemberss Prize Package
Septembers Coverboy is Sponsored By
Avenue Jack - $50 Gift Certificate

Bite the Fruit - $50 Gift Certificate
Freddies Beach Bar & Restaurant - $50
Sunday Brunch Certificate.
Town - Free admission to Town for
regularly priced events for 3 months
Shaws Tavern - $100 Gift Certificate
45
If you could have any superpower,

what would it be?
Telekinesis or mind control. A Jean Grey,
if Im really being honest.
Who was your first celebrity crush?
Its embarrassing to say, but it was Mr. Clean.
Hes hot. Hes all muscled. Hes ready
to do the job.
Hes drawn.
Yes, but seeing him was probably the first time
I understood myself.
Name three musical artists youre
currently listening to.
Diane Cluck, Magnolia Electric Company, and
Work from Home by Fifth Harmony. That
song. That awful song.
SOMEPLACE ELSE BAR

& GRILL
1637 R St. NW
TOWN
Patio open 6pm DC Bear
Crue Happy Hour, 6-11pm
$3 Rail, $3 Draft, $3 Bud
Bottles Free Pizza, 7pm
No cover before 9:30pm
21+ Drag Show starts
at 10:30pm Hosted by
Lena Lett and featuring
Miss Tatianna, ShiQueeta-Lee, Riley Knoxx
and BaNaka DJ Wess
upstairs, DJs BacK2bACk
downstairs following the
show GoGo Boys after
11pm Doors open at
10pm For those 21 and
over, $12 For those
18-20, $15 Club: 18+
Patio: 21+
TRADE
Doors open 5pm Huge
normally served in a
cocktail glass served in a
huge glass for the same
price, 5-10pm Beer and
wine only $4 DJ Jeff
Prior, 10pm
46
ZIEGFELDS/SECRETS
All male, nude dancers,
hosted by LaTroya Nicole,
9pm Dance floors open
9pm Ladies of Ziegfelds
Drag Show, 11:30pm and
1:30am Rotating Hosts
DJ Don T. in Secrets
Cover 21+
Saturday
October 1
9 1/2
drink, 3-9pm $5 Absolut
& Titos, $3 Miller Lite
after 9pm Expanded craft
beer selection No Cover
various DJs
COBALT/30 DEGREES
Drag Yourself to Brunch at
Level One, 11am-2pm and
2-4pm Featuring Kristina
Kelly and the Ladies of
Illusion Bottomless
Mimosas and Bloody
Marys Happy Hour:
Tops Down $6 Top Shelf,
Bottoms Up $3 Rail, $3 Bud
Light, 4-9pm Latin Night,
10pm Doors open 10pm
$5 Cover 21+
What are your three favorite night spots?

I love Larrys. Its such a hole in the wall, and
its perfect, and everyones nice. Uproar I
like their rooftop patio. Freddies, because its
near where I live and they serve food.
What animal would you be?

A raccoon. Theyre cute but crafty.
What makes an hour happy?

Not being the drunkest person there. Literally
seeing someone sadder than myself there is
the kind of happy hour I want to be in.
Grindr, Scruff or in person?

In person, then Scruff.
Whats your drink of choice?

Bourbon, rocks.
Pick three people living or dead youd like
to have bourbon on the rocks with.
Tan Mom, from The Howard Stern Show. Elliot
Smith, who was a folk singer who passed
away. And my great grandmother, Noni. It
would be such a shit show.
DC EAGLE
Doors open at 8pm
off everything Mr. DC
Eagle on Club Bar $2
Draughts and Jello
Shooters 21+
SHAWS TAVERN
Bottomless Mimosas,
10am-3pm Happy Hour,
5-7pm $3 Miller Lite, $4
Blue Moon, $5 Rails and
House Wines & Half-Priced
Pizzas
FREDDIES BEACH BAR

Drag Queen Broadway
Brunch, 10am-3pm
Starring Freddies
Broadway Babes Crazy
Hour, 4-7pm Freddies
Follies Drag Show, 8-10pm,
hosted by Miss Destiny B.
Childs No Cover
SOMEPLACE ELSE BAR

& GRILL
1637 R St. NW
GREEN LANTERN
Bacardi, all flavors, all
night long REWIND:
Request Line, an 80s
and 90s Dance Party,
9pm-close Featuring
DJ Darryl Strickland
No Cover
NELLIES SPORTS BAR
Guest DJs Zing Zang
Bloody Marys, Nellie Beer,
House Rail Drinks and
Mimosas, $4, 11am-5pm
Buckets of Beer, $15
NUMBER NINE
Doors open 2pm Happy
Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink,
3-9pm $5 Absolut and $5
Bulleit Bourbon
TOWN
Patio open 2pm
Funkytown: Music of
the 70s, 80s and 90s,
10pm-close Music and
video by DJ Wess downstairs Drag Show starts
at 10:30pm Hosted by
Lena Lett and featuring
Miss Tatianna, ShiQueeta-Lee, Riley Knoxx
and BaNaka DJ Wess
upstairs, DJs BacK2bACk
downstairs following the
show GoGo Boys after
11pm Doors open 10pm
$12 Cover 21+
TRADE
Doors open 2pm Huge
normally served in a cock-
Boxers, briefs, or other?

I like boxers. I need a flow.
How many dates have you had this year

with guys youve met on an app?
A lot. Wait define date. Whats a date? Are
you saying we go out and have coffee? If so,
honestly, still a reasonable amount. Maybe 20.
Some were completely platonic.
Describe your dream guy.
Hes confident, hes hyper-intelligent, hes
quiet. But when it matters he tells me no, tells
me to shut up. I need that kind of person.
tail glass served in a huge

only $4
ZIEGFELDS/SECRETS
Men of Secrets, 9pm
Guest dancers Ladies
of Illusion Drag Show
with host Ella Fitzgerald
Doors at 9pm, Shows
at 11:30pm and 1:30am
DJ Don T. in Secrets
Cover 21+
Sunday
October 2
9 1/2
TVs showing movies,
No Cover
COBALT/30 DEGREES
Homowood Karaoke,
hosted by Robert Bise,
10pm-close 21+
DC EAGLE
Doors open at 12pm
Given your Mr. Clean thing, he probably also

needs to be good with a mop.
Yeah, I envision my perfect guy as a plumber
who owns his own company. Im not joking.
Thats what I view. A man who starts his own
business and builds it up I have a lot of respect
for. Thats a ballsy guy.
Define good in bed.
Self-secure, with a condom.
Whats the most unusual place
youve had sex?
When I was younger, my ex-boyfriend and I
went skeet shooting on his grandfathers property. We made love next to the bay on a blanket
with our shotguns around us. Ill never forget
it because the calla lilies were up, and I was
thinking, Man, if anyone catches us, were both
armed, so I guess I dont really care.
off everything $2 Bud

and Bud Light Draughts all
day and night The DC
Eagle hosts Sunday BBQ,
2-7pm, only $10 No
Cover 21+
NUMBER NINE
Pop Goes the World with
Wes Della Volla at 9:30pm
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on
any drink, 3-9pm No
Cover
ZIEGFELDS/SECRETS
Decades of Dance DJ
Tim-e in Secrets Doors
9pm Cover 21+
FREDDIES BEACH BAR

Champagne Brunch Buffet,
10am-3pm Crazy Hour,
4-7pm Freddies Zodiac
Monthly Contest, 8pm
Karaoke, 10pm-1am
SHAWS TAVERN
Brunch with Bottomless
Mimosas, 10am-3pm
& Half-Priced Pizzas
Monday
October 3
GREEN LANTERN
Happy Hour, 4-9pm
Bears Can Party upstairs,
6-10pm Featuring DJ
Jeff Eletto No Cover
Mamas Trailer Park
Karaoke downstairs,
9:30pm-close
JR.S
Sunday Funday Liquid
Brunch Doors open at
1pm $2 Coors Lights and
$3 Skyy (all flavors), all day
and night
NELLIES SPORTS BAR
Drag Brunch, hosted by
Shi-Queeta-Lee, 11am-3pm
$20 Brunch Buffet
House Rail Drinks, Zing
Zang Bloody Marys, Nellie
Beer and Mimosas, $4,
11am-close Buckets of
Beer, $15
SOMEPLACE ELSE BAR

& GRILL
1637 R St. NW
TOWN PATIO
Open 2pm Cornhole,
Giant Jenga, and Flip-cup
inside Town
TRADE
Doors open 2pm Huge
only $4
9 1/2
TVs showing movies,
No Cover
COBALT/30 DEGREES
Monday Nights A Drag,
hosted by Kristina Kelly
Doors open at 10pm
Showtime at 11:30pm
$3 Skyy Cocktails, $8 Skyy
and Red Bull $8 Long
Islands No Cover, 18+
DC EAGLE
Doors open at 8pm
off everything Endless
Happy Hour prices to anyone in a DC Eagle T-Shirt
Free Ballin Mondays: Free
Pool All Night and Day
Pop
Rocks?
Review Popular Music for

Metro Weekly
Apply at
metroweekly.com/write
47
Whats the most memorable pickup line

youve ever heard?
I never get a legitimate pickup line. I get really
bad ones. On apps, I get a super sad, creepy
old man saying something filthy, knowing its
not going to work, but hes just casting a wide
net. Its always gross, its never lovely. When
I was a bartender, theyd say what a nice tight
little white ass I had, or Im real hungry, come
sit on me. Stuff so vulgar, I just erased it from
my memory.
Clinton or Trump?
Clinton. Im so over talking about it.
Can he win?
His name is on the ballot. He can win.
$1 Bud and Bud Light

Draughts all night No
Cover 21+
FREDDIES BEACH BAR
Crazy Hour, 4-7pm
Singles Night Karaoke,
8pm
GREEN LANTERN
Happy Hour all night long
Open Mic Night Karaoke,
9:30pm-close
JR.S
Happy Hour: 2-for-1, 4-9pm
Showtunes Songs &
Singalongs, 9pm-close
DJ James $3 Draft Pints,
8pm-midnight
NELLIES SPORTS BAR
$2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm),
Beer $15 Texas Holdem
Poker, 8pm Dart Boards
NUMBER NINE
SHAWS TAVERN
and Half-Priced Pizzas
Trivia with Jeremy, 7:30pm
SOMEPLACE ELSE BAR

& GRILL
1637 R St. NW
TRADE
Doors open 5pm Huge
only $4
Tuesday
October 4
9 1/2
TVs showing movies,
No Cover
COBALT/30 DEGREES
DJ Honey Happy Hour:
Tops Down $6 Top Shelf,
Bottoms Up $3 Rail, $3 Bud
Light, 4-9pm SIN Service
Industry Night, 10pm-close
$1 Rail Drinks all night
What happens if he wins?

Honestly, I think he would quit. I dont even
know why he wants the job.
Which of these daddies do you want to get
a spanking from?
Hugh Jackman, Tom Selleck, or Idris Elba?
Hugh Jackman, even though Elba is a close
second. I want them both. They could just
meld together it would be perfect.
Does size really matter?
Yes, in the sense that too small and too big are
an issue. When we say, Does size matter?
we think of someone being too small. But I
think you also have the question of someone
being too big. Its sometimes physically
not feasible.
FREDDIES BEACH BAR

Crazy Hour, 4-7pm
Karaoke, 8pm
GREEN LANTERN
Happy Hour all night long,
4pm-close
NELLIES SPORTS BAR
$2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm),
Beer $15 Karaoke and
Drag Bingo
NUMBER NINE
After 9pm, $3 Absolut,
Bulleit & Stella
SHAWS TAVERN
Half Priced Burgers &
Pizzas, 5pm-close $5
House Wines & Sam
Adams Drafts, 5pm-close
Vice Presidential Debate
Watch Party
SOMEPLACE ELSE BAR
& GRILL
1637 R St. NW
Film
Buff?
Review Movies for

Metro Weekly
Apply at
metroweekly.com/write
48
TRADE
Doors open 5pm Huge
only $4
Wednesday
October 5
9 1/2
TVs showing movies,
No Cover
COBALT/30 DEGREES
$4 Stoli and Stoli Flavors
and Miller Lite all night
No Cover 21+
FREDDIES BEACH BAR
Crazy Hour, 4-7pm $6
Burgers Drag Bingo
Night, hosted by Ms.
Regina Jozet Adams, 8pm
Bingo prizes Karaoke,
10pm-1am
Have you ever faked it?

Yeah, Ive faked it. Sometimes its just over
or theyre finished and youre not going to get
there, so its just the polite thing to do. They
never realize you faked it.
If your home were burning, whats the first
thing youd grab while leaving?
A handmade dreamcatcher made by my best
friend. Theres no glue or adhesives its all
animal hide and a branch from her apple tree
that she whittled into a circle. Its with feathers
that she found from birds from around where
she lives. Its pretty awesome.
GREEN LANTERN
Happy Hour all night long,
4pm-close
NELLIES SPORTS BAR
SmartAss Trivia Night, 8pm
and 9pm Prizes include
bar tabs and tickets to
shows at the 9:30 Club
$15 Buckets of Beer for
SmartAss Teams only
Bring a new team member
and each get a free $10
Dinner
NUMBER NINE
SHAWS TAVERN
Piano Bar, Second Floor,
8pm-close
SOMEPLACE ELSE BAR
& GRILL
1637 R St. NW
TRADE
Doors open 5pm Huge

only $4
ZIEGFELDS/SECRETS
Shirtless Night, 10-11pm,
12-12:30am Military
Night, no cover with
military ID DJ Don
T. in Secrets 9pm
Cover 21+
Thursday
October 6
9 1/2
TVs showing movies,
DJ Wess
COBALT/30 DEGREES
Happy Hour: $6 Call
Martini, $3 Miller Lite, $4
Rail, $5 Call, 4-9pm $3
Rail Drinks, 10pm-midnight, $5 Red Bull and
Frozen Virgin Drinks
Locker Room Thursday
Would you rather live longer or wealthier?

Id say live longer, but that doesnt technically
mean better, so thats a hard question. So, Id
live wealthier, because you can buy health.
That would be my devils gamble.
Finally, what is your philosophy of life?
There are some things you cant change and
you just have to let them go, because
youll be a lot happier. l
Read an expanded version of this interview
at metroweekly.com/coverboy, or get the
full interview and bonus photos delivered
to your inbox. Sign up for Coverboy Extra at
metroweekly.com/join.
Nights DJs Sean Morris

and MadScience Best
Package Contest at midnight, hosted by BaNaka &
Kristina Kelly $200 Cash
Prize Doors open 10pm,
21+ $5 Cover or free
with college ID
DC EAGLE
Doors open at 8pm
off everything DJ Theo
Storm spinning in the main
bar, 9pm-1am No Cover
21+
FREDDIES BEACH BAR
Crazy Hour, 4-7pm
Karaoke, 8pm
GREEN LANTERN
Happy Hour, 4-9pm
Ladies Drink Free Power
Hour, 4-5pm Shirtless
Thursday, 10-11pm DJs
BacK2bACk
JR.S
All You Can Drink for $15,
5-8pm $3 Rail Vodka
Highballs, $2 JR.s drafts,
8pm-close Flashback:
Music videos from 19752005 with DJ Jason Royce,
8pm-12am
NELLIES SPORTS BAR
$2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm),
Beer $15 Drag Bingo
NUMBER NINE
SHAWS TAVERN
Happy Hour 4-7pm $3
$4 Corona and Heineken
all night Football Food
Specials, 7-11pm
SOMEPLACE ELSE BAR
& GRILL
1637 R St. NW
TRADE
Doors open 5pm Huge
only $4
ZIEGFELDS/SECRETS
Shirtless Thursday DJ
9pm Cover 21+ l
49
Scene
BHTs Pride Night at Kings Dominion - Saturday, September 24
Photography by Ward Morrison
See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene
51
52
LastWord.
People say the queerest things
The very mean-spirited, wrong-headed decision by your legislature and governor to pass and sign
House Bill 2 has hurt this state.
HILLARY CLINTON, during a campaign stop in Raleigh, North Carolina. Clinton blasted the anti-LGBT law, which among other
things prevents trans people from using a public bathroom that matches their gender identity. But more than that, its hurt
people, she continued. It has sent a message to so many people. You know, youre not really wanted.
Youre not really part of us. I think the American dream is big enough for everybody.
My name is Brian Anderson, Im a professional skateboarder, and

we are here to talk about that fact that Im gay.
Professional skateboarder BRIAN ANDERSON, in a video feature for VICE. Anderson has come out at 40, despite knowing he was
gay since he was three or four. Hearing faggot all the time made me feel at a really young age that it was dangerous to talk
about it, he said. I used skateboarding to not think about that. I knew I couldnt go and meet some dude....
I was terrified of somebody seeing me doing that.
Weve got work to do.

Vice Presidential candidate TIM KAINE, speaking as he visited the memorial at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, where 49 people
were killed and dozens injured in June, ABC News reports. Fighting back tears, Kaine said that he had hoped that the Virginia
Tech [shooting] would be the worst one ever. As bad as that was, I hoped that nothing would eclipse it, but such is life.
He ran after me with a belt

and beat me.
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, in an interview with Xposure, revealing that his father would beat him because he thought the actor
and bodybuilder was gay, after he covered his bedroom walls with photos of bodybuilders. His mother was so confused that she
asked their doctor, Can you help me? I dont know if theres something wrong with my son
because his wall is full of naked men.
It was a lot
harder for me to come out of the closet as a gay
conservative
than it was to come out as a gay man.
CHRISTOPHER ROEHRS, a corporate lawyer from New York and Donald Trump supporter, speaking with Britains Telegraph.
Socially, its the kiss of death, he said. If I run into openly gay folks and say Im a Trump supporter, Ill get nothing
but disdain. The first thing theyre going to think is Im uneducated and if they realise I am educated,
they probably just assume Im mentally unstable.
54

Metro Weekly - 09-29-16 - Angels in America

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SEPTEMBER 29, 2016

CLINTON TOPS TRUMP

Olney and Round House join forces for an Angels in

In Cloud 9, Caryl Churchill toys with gender, class,

SPOTLIGHT: MISS PEREGRINE p.7 OUT ON THE TOWN p.11

2016 Jansi LLC.

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 METROWEEKLY

TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION

OU CAN SEE WHY TIM BURTON WAS DRAWN

ach, animate inert objects, manipulate vegetation and so

For its third annual festival, the popular blog and

Rachel Zampelli and Maria Rizzo

FOLGER CONSORT WITH DEREK JACOBI,

The early music ensemble Folger Consort managed to enlist the

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 METROWEEKLY

Out On The Town

It was only a matter of time before

Oscar-bait alert! Rachel Weisz is

ally happened. She prevailed, Irving

The Capital Pride Alliance offers an

HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE

Lauren Bacall, Betty Grable and

are two short films Negulesco made

A comedic retelling of the hillbilly heist, the 1997 Loomis Fargo

It sounds so daunting when somebody hears Homer or they hear The

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 METROWEEKLY

COME FROM AWAY

HE 40TH ANNIVERSARY WILL REALLY BE TELLING THE STORY OF THE

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 METROWEEKLY

Maybe you heard about the small

Synetic Theatre opens its season

Staceyann Chins personal journey

SENSE & SENSIBILITY

Alton Brown serves up what he loves to eat in his latest cookbook

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 METROWEEKLY

There is something deliciously

THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK

Olney Theatre offers an intimate

THE LAST QUIXOTE

Cervantes is dead and a drunk man

THE LITTLE FOXES

Arena Stage kicks off its Lillian

THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD

Stephen Sondheim gave the quirky,

The first jazz artist to win Best

If you saw either the 2009 Michael

by Prince. Friday, Sept. 30, at 8 p.m.

Music Director Piotr Gajewski

Edward Gardner makes his NSO

PHILIP GLASS AT NATIONAL

The celebrated modern American

A founding member and fiddler in

PHOTO COURTESY BSO

unforgiving play about sibling

BALTIMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Four Broadway veterans take the stage with Jake Everly

port of new solo set Young in All the

THE FAINT, GANG OF FOUR

The Nebraska electronic act The

Saturday, Oct. 8. Doors at 6 p.m.

MacArthur Genius tap dancer/

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 METROWEEKLY

Through an initiative commissioning installations and public programs

ABOVE & BEYOND