CONTENTS

FEBRUARY 2, 2017 Volume 23 Issue 37

15 CHRONICLING AN EPIDEMIC
David Frances How to Survive a Plague documents the activism
of the unheralded heroes in the fight against HIV and AIDS

By John Riley

MIND FRAK
On his hidden camera show, magician Michael Carbonaro
messes with peoples heads. Its what he lives for.

Interview by Randy Shulman

24
32 HOWLING WOLVES
Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf is another showcase
for Holly Twyfords amazing talent

By Kate Wingfield

SPOTLIGHT: JOSHUA BELL p.7

OUT ON THE TOWN p.13 CHRONICLING AN EPIDEMIC: DAVID FRANCE p.15
ELECTROPOPPED: BOOK OF LOVE p.17 COMMUNITY: ONLINE OVERHAUL p.21
COVER STORY: MIND FRAK p.24 GALLERY: CHARLIE GAYNOR p.31
STAGE: VIRGINIA WOOLF p.32 STAGE: HOODED, OR BEING BLACK FOR DUMMIES p.34
NIGHTLIFE p.37 SCENE: NUMBER NINE p.38 LAST WORD p.46

Real LGBT News and Entertainment since 1994

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 Andr Hereford,
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FEBRUARY 2, 2017 METROWEEKLY 5

 Spotlight
PHIL KNOTT

Joshua Bell
T
HE VIRTUOSO CLASSICAL VIOLINIST PERFORMS TWO PUBLIC CONCERTS AS PART OF A
week-long residency at the Kennedy Center. First up is an off-site performance with the National
Symphony Orchestra, accompanied by food and drink courtesy of Kapnos/Graffiato chef Mike
Isabella as part of the annual Gourmet Symphony program. John Devlin conducts works by Manuel Ponce,
Eric Nathan, Respighi, Nigel Hess, Johannes Brahms, and Ravel.
It all takes place Wednesday, Feb. 8, at 7 p.m. in the Atrium of the Ronald Reagan Building and
International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Tickets are $300.
Two nights later, Bell performs a Washington Performing Arts recital with pianist Sam Haywood. The
evening pays homage to John F. Kennedys 100th birthday with actor John Lithgow reading Robert Frosts
poem Dedication written for JFKs inauguration and set to Air by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer
Aaron Jay Kernis. The evening also includes violin classics by Beethoven, Brahms and Rachmaninoff. l

Friday, Feb. 10, at 8 p.m. Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Tickets are $50 to $125.
For both events, call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

FEBRUARY 2, 2017 METROWEEKLY 7

 Spotlight

WICKED JEZABEL
Pauline Anson-Dross pop-
ular lesbian all-covers par-
ty-rock band Wicked Jezabel
has been rocking as well
as raising money for various
good causes all over the
region for a decade now, orig-
inally under the name The
Outskirts of Town. Next up, is
a Be My Wicked Valentine
show. Friday, Feb. 10, at 9:30
p.m. JVs Restaurant, 6666
Arlington Blvd., Falls Church.
Tickets are $12 to $15. Call
703-241-9504 or visit jvs-
restaurant.com.

VIRGINIA OPERA:
DER FREISCHUTZ
Drawing from German folk leg-
end, Carl Maria Von Webers
compelling and emotional piece
is the first of the countrys great
Romantic operas. A supernatural
tale of young love and the strug-
gle between good and evil, the
Virginia Opera offers a produc-
tion performed in English with
supertitles. Saturday, Feb. 4, at 8
p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 5, at 2 p.m.
George Mason University Center
for the Arts, 4373 Mason Pond
Drive, Fairfax. Tickets are $54 to
$110. Call 888-945-2468 or visit
gmu.edu/cfa.

UPRIGHT CITIZENS BRIGADE

Like the funniest extroverts at the party, the improv troupe Upright Citizens
Brigade, which hails from New York and Los Angeles, riffs on D.C. and audi-
ence-members alike. The brigade has many famous alumni, including Amy
Poehler and Ed Helms. Sunday, Feb. 12, at 7 p.m. Sixth & I Historic Synagogue.
600 I St. NW. Tickets are $20 in advance, or $25 day-of show. Call 202-408-
3100 or visit sixthandi.org.

8 FEBRUARY 2, 2017 METROWEEKLY

 Spotlight
UTE LEMPER
The popular post-war German cabaret artist has made
honoring Jewish composers a central focus of her work
for 30 years, after leading a Decca series focused on
composers whose music was banned by the Nazis. Two
years ago, Lemper performed at the 70th anniversary
of the liberation of Auschwitz, and last year debuted
Songs for Eternity in Mantova, Italy, in recognition of
the Holocaust of Rome. Lemper reprises the concert
in cooperation with the German Embassy. Wednesday,
Feb. 8, at 7:30 p.m. Sixth & I Historic Synagogue. 600 I
St. NW. Tickets are $25 in advance, or $30 day-of show.
Call 202-408-3100 or visit sixthandi.org.

CAROLINE, OR CHANGE
The largest musical in Round Houses history is part of a season
celebrating playwright Tony Kushner. The Tony-nominated
musical concerns an African-American maid who works for a
Jewish family in Louisiana during the height of the Civil Rights
Movement. The 17-person cast includes Nova Y. Payton, Will
Gartshore, Felicia Curry, Naomi Jacobson, Dorea Schmidt, and
Kara-Tameika Watkins. Matthew Gardner directs. To Feb. 26.
Round House Theatre, 4545 East-West Highway, Bethesda. Call
240-644-1100 or visit roundhousetheatre.org.

TRAYVON MARTINS PARENTS

Rest in Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin
is a new memoir timed with the fifth anniversary of
the murder of an unarmed black teenager by George
Zimmerman in the gated community of Sanford,
Florida. The shooting became a catalyst for a growing
nationwide campaign for justice. Sybrina Fulton and
Tracy Martin offer the inside story of their sons life,
struggles and death as well as their tireless campaign
for justice even as Zimmerman walked free. Thursday,
Feb. 9, at 7 p.m. Sixth & I Historic Synagogue. 600 I St.
NW. Tickets are $15, or $35 with one book, $45 with
two tickets and one book. Call 202-408-3100 or visit
sixthandi.org.

FEBRUARY 2, 2017 METROWEEKLY 9

PAUL KOLNIK
Out On The Town

ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER

The celebrated dance company returns to the Kennedy Center for its annual week of performances. This years program
features a new work by company member Hope Boykin, whose r-Evolution, Dream is a large ensemble work inspired by
Martin Luther King, Jr., with music by Ali Jackson and narration recorded by Tony winner Leslie Odom, Jr. (Hamilton).
Kyle Abrahams Untitled America is a haunting three-part work shining a light on the impact of the prison system on
African-American families. Ailey Artistic Director Robert Battle, Rennie Harris, Ronald K. Brown, Christopher Wheeldon,
Mauro Bigonzetti, Johan Inger and Billy Wilson are also represented in the seven mixed-repertory programs, all of which
conclude with Revelations, the masterpiece by Ailey, who died of AIDS-related complications in 1989. Tuesday, Feb. 7, to
Sunday, Feb. 12. Kennedy Center Opera House. Tickets are $39 to $125. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

Compiled by Doug Rule the one film to give Hollywood a

FILM
MOONLIGHT
HHHHH
One of those rare and extraordinary
cinematic experiences that pulls
you deeply into its narrative, the
Golden Globe-winning Moonlight
artfully guides viewers towards
an emotional payoff without once
feeling manipulative or artificial.
It is an extraordinary achievement
in this cut-and-paste era of cinema,
a time when movies fail to ignite
so much as a spark of genuine,
earned emotion. The 80s-set story
of a young boy who comes to terms
with his identity and sexuality in a
harsh South Florida neighborhood
refuses to lazily cleave to its genre.
There isnt an off performance in
the film, which employs a sole-
ly African-American cast come
Oscar time, Moonlight could be
credible reason to break its too-
white image without resorting to
tokenism. Now playing. Area the-
aters. Visit fandango.com. (Randy
Shulman)
ROGUE ONE:
A STAR WARS STORY
HHHHH
Disney has solemnly sworn to
release a Star Wars film every year
from now to eternity and Rogue
One: A Star Wars Story is good
but not great. Apart from a mag-
nificently orchestrated 30 minute
climactic battle that pulls out all
the stops, its nowhere near as fun
or engaging as last years Force
Awakens. Narratively, it fills a few
gaps, and fully and finally explains
one key plot point from A New
Hope that has plagued super-fans
for decades. We now know why,
how and who. Now playing. Area
theaters. Visit fandango.com. (RS)
SINGIN IN THE RAIN
STAGE
A rollicking satire of 1920s
AS YOU LIKE IT
Hollywood, the 1952 classic is
always worth seeing even more
Rosalind, banished to the Forest of
Arden, disguises herself as a rustic
so in light of the recent death of
shepherd and discovers Orlando
Debbie Reynolds. The Library of
Congress offers a chance to see
in one of Shakespeares best com-
edies. Gaye Taylor Upchurch
Reynold on the big screen in the
directs a production starring
role that made her a star, as she
Lindsay Alexandra Carter, Lorenzo
more than holds her own along
Roberts, Dani Stoller, Michael
Gene Kelly and Donald OConnor.
Glenn, and Tom Story. To March
Saturday, Feb. 4, at 7:30 p.m.
5. Folger Theatre, 201 East Capitol
Packard Campus Theater, 19053
St. SE. Tickets are $35 to $75. Call
Mount Pony Rd. Culpeper, Va.
202-544-7077 or visit folger.edu.
Free. Call 202-707-9994 or visit
loc.gov/avconservation.
GIN GAME
Roz White and Doug Brown take
THE COMEDIAN
on D.L. Coburns play, which the
Robert De Niro plays an aging
New York Times called a thor-
insult comic who serves out a sen-
oughly entertaining lesson in
tence doing community service
the fine art of theatrical finesse.
after accosting an audience mem-
Thomas W. Jones II directs. In
ber. With Leslie Mann, Edie Falco
previews, with opening Saturday,
and Danny DeVito. Opens Friday,
Feb. 3. Area theaters. Visit fandan-
go.com.

FEBRUARY 2, 2017 METROWEEKLY 13


AWKWARD SEX...AND THE CITY
Comedians from New York relive their most awkward
sex/dating/relationship moments on stage at this raun-
chy storytelling event, which returns to D.C. at the
Black Cat. Gay comedian and Towleroad columnist
Bobby Hankinson will add his awkward gay tales on
an otherwise Nasty Women Tour featuring Jen Keefe,
Anita Flores and Karolena Theresa, with host Natalie
Wall. Friday, Feb. 10. Doors at 8 p.m. Black Cat, 1811
14th St. NW. Tickets are $15. Call 202-667-4490 or visit
blackcatdc.com.
Feb. 4, at 8 p.m. To March 12.
MetroStage, 1201 North Royal St.,
Alexandria. Tickets are $55 to $60.
Call 800-494-8497 or visit metro-
stage.org.
HOODED, OR BEING
BLACK FOR DUMMIES
Tearrance Arvelle Chisholms
irreverent play follows a book-
smart prep-schooler and a
street-savvy drop-out from inner-
city Baltimore, as the two spend
the night in a holding cell. Serge
Seiden directs a world-premiere
Mosaic Theater production of the
final play in the three-part series
Clamorous Encounters: Coming of
Age in America, billed as likely
the most urgent and pressing play
in Season Two. To Feb. 19. Atlas
Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St.
NE. Tickets are $20 to $60. Call
202-399-7993 or visit mosaicthe-
ater.org.
I TOO SPEAK OF THE ROSE
Written by gay Mexican playwright
Emilio Carballido, Yo Tambin
Hablo de la Rosa is set in Mexico
City in the 1960s and focuses on
teenagers Toa and Polo, who acci-
dentally derail a train while playing
hooky from school. Hugo Medrano
directs this searing look at pov-
erty and societys response to it.
Performed in Spanish with English
surtitles. Opens Saturday, Feb. 4,
at 8 p.m. Now to Feb. 26. GALA
Theatre at Tivoli Square, 3333 14th
14 FEBRUARY 2, 2017 METROWEEKLY
murder that shows how little agen-
cy women had in Bordens time.
Closes Sunday, Feb. 5. Anacostia
Playhouse, 2020 Shannon Place
SE. Tickets are $35. Call 202-241-
2539 or visit pinkyswear-produc-
tions.com.
MACK, BETH
Helen Hayes-nominated play-
wright Chris Stezin offers a spin
on Shakespeares ultimate power
couple, retooled for the cyber age.
Matt Ripa directs this modern
twist on the classic tale of greed
and unbridled ambition. Featuring
Jennifer J. Hopkins and Andrew
Kelleras as a high-achieving cou-
ple in a present-day tech business.
To Feb. 11. Keegan Theatre, 1742
Church St. NW. Tickets are $45
to $45. Call 202-265-3768 or visit
keegantheatre.com.
RATTLESNAKE
The Castleton, a Northern Virginia
estate founded by Lorin Maazel,
presents a one-man show written
by and starring John Hardy that
relates the devastating story of a
West Texas man who goes to great
lengths to achieve fatherhood. Katy
Brown directs. Saturday, Feb. 11, at
4 p.m. Castleton Theatre House,
664 Castleton View Rd. Tickets are
$20 to $40. Call 703-489-8704 or
visit castletonfestival.org.
ROE
Originally commissioned by the
St. NW. Call 202-234-7174 or visit
Oregon Shakespeare Festival,
galatheatre.org.
playwright Lisa Loomers drama
focuses on the two women at the
I WANNA F*CKING
heart of the landmark 1973 case
TEAR YOU APART
that legalized abortion: Sarah
A fat girl and gay guy against
Weddington, the young, brilliant
the world have their friendship
attorney who argued the case, and
tested by a new friend. Nicole
Norma McCorvey, the complex,
Spiezio, Tommy Heleringer and
single woman seeking an end to an
Anna ODonoghue star in Morgan
unwanted pregnancy. Bill Rauch
Goulds world premiere drama. In
directs a large cast including Jim
previews. Opens Sunday, Feb. 5. To
Abele, Sarah Jane Agnew, Kenya
Feb. 19. Studio Theatre, 14th & P
Alexander, Mark Bedard, Zoe
Streets NW. Call 202-332-3300 or
Bishop, Sara Bruner, Catherine
visit studiotheatre.org.
Castellanos, Gina Daniels, Pamela
Dunlap, Richard Elmore, Susan
LAST TRAIN TO NIBROC
Lynskey, and Amy Newman. To
Arlene Huttons charming World
Feb. 19. Kreeger Theater, 1101 6th
War II-era play focuses on a fated
St. SW. Call 202-488-3300 or visit
couple who meet on a train car-
arenastage.org.
rying F. Scott Fitzgeralds coffin
across the country. To Feb. 19.
SOMEONE IS GOING TO COME
Produced by the Washington
Scena Theatre presents an emo-
Stage Guild. Undercroft Theatre of
tionally powerful drama fea-
Mount Vernon United Methodist
turing two-time Helen Hayes
Church, 900 Massachusetts Ave.
Award winner Nanna Ingvarsson,
NW. Call 240-582-0050 or visit
David Bryan Jackson, and Joseph
stageguild.org.
Carlson. Robert McNamara directs
Jon Fosses poetic play about pas-
LIZZIE THE MUSICAL
sion, paranoia and jealousy, as a
Yes, that Lizzie, the little Borden
strange couple moves into an iso-
girl who was tried for brutally mur-
lated, run-down house to be left
dering her parents with an axe
alone, never fully believing theyll
in Massachusetts in 1892 though
get their wish. Closes Sunday, Feb.
later acquitted. Pinky Swear
5. Atlas Performing Arts Center,
Productions revives the tale in a
1333 H St. NE. Tickets are $20 to
riot grrrl-steeped show created
$35, or $10 in previews. Call 202-
by Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer, Tim
399-7993 or visit atlasarts.org.
Maner, and Alan Stevens Hewitt.
A feminist tale of sex, rage and
SWEENEY TODD
The brilliant E. Faye Butler plays
Mrs. Lovett and David Benoit takes
on the role of the Demon Barber in
Olney Theatres production of the
chilling Sondheim classic. He slits
their throats, she makes meat pies
out of them. Jason Loewith directs.
In previews. Opens Saturday, Feb.
4. To March 5. Olney Theatre
Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring
Road, Olney, Md. Call 301-924-
3400 or visit olneytheatre.org.
WATCH ON THE RHINE
Marsha Mason (The Goodbye Girl)
stars in Lillian Hellmans thrill-
er about a man deeply involved
in anti-fascist movements prior to
WWII. Jackie Maxwell directs.
Now in previews. To March 5.
Fichandler Stage in the Mead
Center for American Theater, 1101
6th St. SW. Call 202-488-3300 or
visit arenastage.org.
MUSIC
ALYSON CAMBRIDGE
After a decade of performances on
many leading opera and concert
stages, the sultry, sophisticated
jazz/cabaret artist makes her debut
at the Barns. The Washington Post
touted Cambridge, now touring in
support of the 2016 set of cov-
ers Until Now, as radiant, vocally
assured, dramatically subtle and
compelling and artistically imagi-
native. Saturday, Feb. 11, at 8 p.m.
The Barns at Wolf Trap, 1635 Trap
Road, Vienna. Tickets are $25 to
$35. Call 877-WOLFTRAP or visit
wolftrap.org.
ESCORT
Escort is a full-fledged disco
orchestra in which up to 17 musi-
cians and singers perform origi-
nal, funky, old-school dance
music, co-written and produced by
Eugene Cho and Dan Balis. A lot
of the house records were sampling
old disco records, Cho says. We
started to think, Why dont we
make our own records that are in
that spirit? Parisian-born Adeline
Michele eventually signed on as
the bands lead singer, carrying
out the strong disco tradition of
the diva. Adeline is definitely up
there as an amazing diva. Both
live and on record especially on
the bands most recent set, 2015s
Animal Nature Michele has the
voice and the charisma to play the
role. Friday, Feb. 3. Doors at 7 p.m.
U Street Music Hall, 1115A U St.
NW. Tickets are $20. Call 202-588-
1880 or visit ustreetmusichall.com.
FAIRFAX SYMPHONY
ORCHESTRA
Christopher Zimmerman helps the
FSO kick off the new year and the
beginning of its 60th anniversary
celebration with a concert focused
on Beethovens Triple Concerto,
featuring National Symphony

Orchestra Concertmaster Nurit
Bar-Josef, cellist Amit Peled, and
pianist Alon Goldstein. Also on
the bill for this season concert is
Coriglianos Elegy for Orchestra
and Vaughan Williams Symphony
No. 5. Saturday, Feb. 11, at 8 p.m.
George Mason University Center
for the Arts, 4373 Mason Pond
Drive, Fairfax. Tickets are $39 to
$65. Call 888-945-2468 or visit
fairfaxsymphony.org.
GMCWS GENOUT CHORUS
Youth Invasion is the aptly
named first full-fledged concert
featuring the Gay Mens Chorus
of Washingtons youth chorus,
joined by the Arlington Childrens
Chorus. Affirmative songs on the
program include I Am What I
Am, Beautiful, Be Like the made writing the book much tougher than anticipated.
Bird, and Shut Up and Dance.
Saturday, Feb. 11, at 8 p.m. Lang
Theatre in the Atlas Performing
Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets
are $20 to $35. Call 202-399-7993
or visit gmcw.org.
JAZZMEIA HORN
Originally from Dallas, the jazz
vocalist is quickly emerging as
one of the genres best new tal-
ents, winning prestigious titles in
the process, including the 2013
Sarah Vaughan International
Jazz Vocal Competition and the
2015 Thelonious Monk Institute
International Jazz Competition.
The Kennedy Center welcomes
back Horn to headline a concert in
the KC Jazz Club, after which she
will sign CDs in the States Gallery.
Friday, Feb. 10, at 7 and 9 p.m.
Kennedy Center Terrace Gallery.
Tickets are $35. Call 202-467-4600
or visit kennedy-center.org.
NICHOLAS RODRIGUEZ
The star of Arena Stages Carousel
heads to Signature Theatre for
a one-man revue as part of their
popular annual Cabaret Series.
A triple-threat performer who,
among other plaudits, has earned
a GLAAD Media Award (for a
recurring role on ABCs One Life
to Live) and a Helen Hayes Award
(Oklahoma!), Rodriguez will share
his love of 70s music, from disco to
folk and Bossa Nova to Broadway.
Tickets remain only for the perfor-
mance Saturday, Feb. 4, at 2 p.m.
Ark Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave.,
Arlington. Tickets $35 to $350.
Call 703-820-9771 or visit signa-
ture-theatre.org.
RHETT MILLER
The frontman and main songwrit-
er beyond the alt-country quartet
the Old 97s stops for a show in
support of his latest solo album,
his seventh, 2015s The Traveler.
Joe Purdy opens. Friday, Feb. 3.
Doors at 6:30 p.m. The Hamilton,
600 14th St. NW. Tickets are $20 to
$39.75. Call 202-787-1000 or visit
thehamiltondc.com.
CHRONICLING AN EPIDEMIC
David Frances How to Survive a Plague documents the activism
of the unheralded heroes in the fight against HIV and AIDS
M
y youth, and my entire adult life, has been under the cloud of AIDS,
says David France. France moved to New York in June 1981, just one
month prior to a New York Times report about 41 cases of gay can-
cer later known as Kaposis sarcoma. He then spent the subsequent years
covering the epidemic, in particular activist groups like ACT UP and their
response to a disease that has claimed nearly 40 million lives.
Unlike his 2012 documentary of the same name, Frances book How to
Survive a Plague tackles the AIDS epidemic with a clear central voice. Readers
view the early years of the epidemic from his perspective, as both a journalist
and as someone whose partner eventually died of the disease something that
It was devastating, and very dif-
ficult, he says. It sent me into
therapy. Im in my mid-50s, Id
never been to therapy in my life.
In the book, France details
how ACT UP utilized what he
calls an inside-outside strategy
to combat the spread of HIV and
find medications to treat AIDS.
Combining public protests such
as die-ins and traffic block-
ades, they were able to attract
media attention to their cause. At
the same time, activists worked
behind the scenes with scien-
tists, politicians and policymak-
ers to push for greater research
into medications to fight the
disease. It is those unrecognized
but essential contributions that
France seeks to honor in his book.
The story that I tell in How
to Survive a Plague is really a
story, that, at least in HIV disease, cant
happen again. Because we have medications, we know how
to treat it, he says.
I dont believe that the virus is, after all these years, going to find a way to
stage an end-run around the pharmacopeia that has been developed, he adds.
[But] I do wonder whether we might see something like that with Zika. The
announcement in Congress that Zika funding is on the chopping block, in part
to move that funding over to this ridiculous wall building, is just another exam-
ple of political agendas trumping science and common sense and potentially
creating the same sort of disasters.
Although there is not the same sense of urgency around combating HIV/
AIDS as there was in the early days of the epidemic, France thinks that his book
can provide lessons that modern-day activists can take to heart.
Self-empowerment is possible, even for the most disenfranchised people,
even at the most dire of historical moments, he says. The book seeks to lay
out a blueprint for how that can be done, and how anything can be survived.
John Riley
David France, author of How to Survive a Plague, will be appearing at Kramer
Books & Afterwords, at 1517 Connecticut Ave. NW, on Monday, Feb. 13 at 6:30
p.m. For more information, visit davidfrance.com.
FEBRUARY 2, 2017 METROWEEKLY 15
 PRESSENDA CHAMBER PLAYERS
The Washington Conservatorys Ensemble-in-Residence perform celebrated chamber works by Johannes Brahms
(the Piano Quintet in F Minor) and Joseph Haydn (String Quartet in C Major). Pressenda features Aaron Berofsky and
Kathy Judd on violin, Amadi Azikiwe on viola, Tobias Werner on cello and Victor Asuncion on piano. Saturday, Feb.
4, at 8 p.m. Congregational Church, 1 Westmoreland Circle. Bethesda. Tickets are free, donations welcome. Call 301-
320-2770 or visit washingtonconservatory.org.

RINDE ECKERT
As part of her Voices recital
series, Renee Fleming presents
the Kennedy Center debut of a
Grammy-winning, boundary
pushing singer. Inspired by the
jongleur minstrel tradition,
RIN: Tales from the Life of a
Troubadour finds Eckert accom-
panying himself in song and story
using a whole slew of instruments,
including piano, guitar, accordion,
ukulele, banjo, even flute, chime,
and all manner of percussion.
Friday, Feb. 3, at 7 p.m. Kennedy
Center Family Theater. Tickets
are $29. Call 202-467-4600 or visit
kennedy-center.org.
TROMBONE CONCERTO
Soloist Craig Mulcahy, the NSO
Principal Trombone, offers the
orchestras first performances of
Christopher Rouses Trombone
Concerto, which won the 1993
Pulitzer Prize for Music. NSO
Music Director Christoph
Eschenbach leads a program also
featuring Beethovens lighthearted
Symphony No. 8 in F Major and
Tchaikovskys moving Serenade
for Strings in C Major. Thursday,
Feb. 2, at 7 p.m., and Saturday,
Feb. 4, at 8 p.m. Kennedy Center
Concert Hall. Tickets are $15 to
$99. Call 202-467-4600 or visit
kennedy-center.org.
DANCE
MARIINSKY BALLET
Alexei Ratmanskys charming,
contemporary take on the clas-
sic Russian fairy tale The Little
Humpbacked Horse, set to a mod-
ernist score by Rodion Shchedrin,
is a showcase of personality, humor
and creativity. Remaining perfor-
mances Thursday, Feb. 2, through
Saturday, Feb. 4, at 7:30 p.m. Also
Saturday, Feb. 4, and Sunday, Feb.
5, at 1:30 p.m. Opera House. Tickets
are $49 to $150. Call 202-467-4600
or visit kennedy-center.org.
COMEDY
WASHINGTON IMPROV
THEATER: ROAD SHOW!
D.C.s leading company for long-
form improv offers a Wintry
Mix, a series of vignettes featur-
ing different ensembles, with each
plot developed on-the-fly, spurred
by a single audience suggestion.
Weekends to Feb. 26. District of
Columbia Arts Center (DCAC),
2438 18th St. NW. Tickets are $12
in advance, or $15 at the door. Call
202-462-7833 or visit witdc.org.

16 FEBRUARY 2, 2017 METROWEEKLY

READINGS
SPILL: A QUEER READING AND
PERFORMANCE
Veteran local producer Danielle
Evennou (Mothertongue) co-hosts
this showcase of fellow queer word
artists with Temim Fruchter and
Gowri Koneswaran and featur-
ing Fatimah Asghar, Oliver Baez
Bendorf, Wo Chan, Franny Choi,
Alain Ginsberg, Taylor Johnson,
Rachel McKibbens, Cameron
Awkward-Rich, Michelle Tea,
Tyler Vile, and Kathi Wolfe.
Thursday, Feb. 9. Doors at 7:30
p.m. Black Cat Backstage, 1811 14th
St. NW. Free. Call 202-667-4490 or
visit blackcatdc.com.

STORY DISTRICT:
SUCKER FOR LOVE

PHOTO COURTESY OF I.M.P.

Local storytelling organization
formerly known as SpeakEasyDC
offers its ninth LGBT-inclusive
Valentines Day-themed event
with true tales about loves
found, lost and imagined. Unlike
other storytelling organizations,
Story District is focused on con-
genial camaraderie not competi-

ELECTROPOPPED
tion no judged Story Slams
here. Those presenting this year
are Scott Hollingsworth, Sakina
Zaidi, Adrian Villalobos, Knecole
Blake, Matt Johnson, Ritija Gupta,
Tony Dahlman, and Amy Hoang Book of Love aims to reconnect with its over the top D.C. fans

Wrona. Laura Feiveson and Nupe
Mehta co-host a show co-direct-
ed by Mike Baireuther and Story
Districts Director of Education
Stephanie Garibaldi. Saturday,
Feb. 11, at 8 p.m. Lincoln Theatre,
1215 U St. NW. Tickets are $25.
Call 202-328-6000 or visit storyd-
istrict.com.
EXHIBITS
BOEING MILESTONES
OF FLIGHT HALL
The National Air and Space
Museums central exhibition
space reopened July 1 after a
major two-year renovation spon-
sored by Boeing, or the museums
40th anniversary to the day. John
Glenns Mercury Friendship 7,
Charles Lindberghs Spirit of St.
Louis, the Gemini IV capsule,
and SpaceShipOne are among the
museums most iconic artifacts
that are once again on view, but
in a new streamlined way along
with digital enhancements meant
to give a deeper understanding of
how spaceflight and aviation have
affected all Americans lives. New
to the hall is the Apollo Lunar
Module and the studio model of the
Starship Enterprise from the origi-
nal Star Trek series, among other
additions. Now open. National Air
and Space Museum, Independence
Ave at 6th St. SW. Call 202-633-
2214 or visit airandspace.si.edu.
O
N SEVERAL FRONTS, ELECTROPOP BAND BOOK OF LOVE HAS BEEN
ahead of its time. Just consider modern electropop. You dont even call music
electropop because all of it is electronic pop, says co-founder and principal
songwriter Ted Ottaviano. Even the stuff that sounds acoustically live is all basically
somehow painted in a studio with a computer.
But we were using MIDI at that time. And we were making classic, almost 60s-style
pop records with this new 80s technology.
Book of Love also helped pioneer a style of dance music that went beyond mere
expressions of joy and celebratory party music to explore more challenging, fraught
themes, such as disillusion and dysphoria over gender (Boy) and AIDS and sex (Pretty
Boys and Pretty Girls).
Theres always been this weird juxtaposition of things, says Ottaviano. Lets talk
about this very important, serious subject and put a go-go bell behind it.... They used to
call it thinking mans pop. It was okay to contemplate and think through the music as
well as feel it and physically move to it.
Book of Love got its start as a live act opening for another band making similar think-
ing mans pop: Depeche Mode. We didnt realize it was a watershed moment while it
was happening, Ottaviano says about suddenly playing stadium-sized crowds. Theres
nothing like fear and 10,000 people staring at you to help motivate...a group to get their
act together.
Ottaviano is looking forward to returning to D.C. and hoping to rekindle some
fond memories from the original 9:30 Club. Those shows used to be over the top, he
says. The bands return comes in support of last years MMXVI: The 30th Anniversary
Collection, featuring remastered hits and two new tracks. One of those, All Girl Band,
is a nod to the post-punk groups who inspired Book of Love, from the Slits to LiliPUT
to the Go-Gos.
I always saw Book of Love as an all-girl band, says Ottaviano, who is gay and the
groups only male member. Its always been about sensibility. And as long as youve got
the right sensibility, gender is thrown out the window. Doug Rule
Book of Love performs Saturday, Feb. 11, after 7 p.m. at U Street Music Hall, 1115A U St.
NW. Tickets are $25 to $50. Call 202-588-1880 or visit ustreetmusichall.com.

FEBRUARY 2, 2017 METROWEEKLY 17

 $26. Call 467-4600 or visit kenne-
dy-center.org.

LILLIAN HELLMAN FESTIVAL

FREE PROGRAMMING
Leading up to its production of
Watch on the Rhine, Arena Stage
offers free programming designed
to explore and celebrate iconic play-
wright, author and political activist
Lillian Hellman. Still to come: a
one-night-only staging directed by
Amelia Powell of Another Part of
the Forest, a biting prequel to The
Little Foxes, on Friday, Feb. 3, at 8
p.m.; a community-wide reading of
Pentimento, in which members of
the public are invited to read any-
where from a few sentences to a few
pages from Hellmans 1973 memoir,
PHOTO COURTESY OF SIMONEINK

on Saturday, Feb. 4, from 1 to 4 p.m.;

and a panel discussion, Hellman:
The Radical, on Sunday, Feb. 5, at 5
p.m. The Kogod Cradle in the Mead
Center for American Theater, 1101
6th St. SW. Free but reservations
are required. Call 202-488-3300 or
visit arenastage.org.

PRETTY BOI DRAG BRUNCH

Reviving the art of drag kings in
BAYOU BAKERY POP-UP SHOP IN UNION MARKET D.C., Pretty Boi Drag, co-founded
by former DC King Pretty Rik E,
In addition to his two permanent restaurants in D.C.s Hill Center and Arlington, celeb- now offers a monthly all-inclusive
rity chef David Guas offers a Mardi Gras-themed pop-up in Union Market now until Fat brunch experience with live music
Tuesday. The focus, naturally, is on BB King Cake, the classic ring-shaped brioche-style from hip-hop DJ Tezrah, in addi-
cake piped with signature Creole Cream Cheese filling. Bayou Bakery serves the cakes in a tion to drag performances. Sunday,
Feb. 5, from noon to 3 p.m. Acre
gift box with carnival beads, a traditional plastic baby hidden inside, and a postcard shar- 121, 1400 Irving St. NW. Tickets,
ing the treats history. Also on offer are Graslines, a buttery sugar praline cookie topped including an entree and bottomless
with purple, green and gold sugar-flecked sprinkles, and GrasNola, gluten-free crunchy mimosas, are $40. Call 202-431-
4704 or visit prettyboidrag.com.
oats sweetened with honey and tossed in burnt-brown butter. Now through Feb. 28. Bayou
Bakery, Coffee Bar & Eatery Opens Pop-Up Shop in Union Market, 1309 5th St. NE. Call VENUS DEMARS
800-680-9095 or visit unionmarketdc.com. Billed as An Evening with
Trans Icon Venus DeMars, the
GallAerie, an intimate, indepen-
dent art gallery/performance space
in Mount Pleasant, presents a con-
JEFF SHENG:
FEARLESS PROJECT
works by interdisciplinary art-
ists Eames Armstrong and John
FOOD cert of music and poetry headlined
by an acoustic set from a trans
An exhibition and photography Moletress. Closes Saturday, Feb. 4. pioneer known for her work with
DC RESTAURANT WEEK
series focused on over 200 LGBT Mead Theatre Lab at Flashpoint, All The Pretty Horses. Recently,
D.C.s Winter Restaurant Week is
student athletes in the U.S. and 916 G St. NW. Tickets are $15 to she also supported Against Me!
now in full swing until Sunday,
Canada taken over the last decade $30. Call 202-733-6321 or visit cul- and that bands trans lead singer
Feb. 5, when 250 restaurants offer
by American artist Jeff Sheng. turaldc.org. Laura Jane Grace. DeMars wife,
at least three courses for $22
Fearless Project is presented in at lunch or $35 at dinner. Visit Lynette Reini-Grandell, and spo-
conjunction with the Washington THE ENIGMATIC EDGAR A. POE ken-word artist friends Rachel
rwdmv.com for a full list of par-
National Opera and its upcoming IN BALTIMORE & BEYOND Simon and Jane Ormerod will also
ticipating restaurants, to book
production of Champion. Opening Selections from the Susan Jaffe read from their works. Thursday,
reservations, and enter for prizes
Talk with the artist is Tuesday, Tane Collection offers rare materi- Feb. 9, at 8 p.m. The GallAerie,
including tickets, gift cards and
Feb. 7, at 6 p.m., in the Israeli als from what is arguably the finest 1644 Newton St. NW. Tickets
cookbooks.
Lounge. Exhibition is on view private Poe collection in the world, are free but required due to lim-
through March 18 in the Kennedy giving viewers a chance to see ited space. Visit facebook.com/
Center Hall of Nations. Call 202- him at work and up close. See The ABOVE & BEYOND events/659664364205807. l
467-4600 or visit kennedy-cen- Raven in Poes own handwriting
ter.org. and first editions of his writings in JASON MORAN, JOAN JONAS
books, newspapers and magazines As part of the innovative, cross-dis-
PERVERSION THERAPY from the 1800s. Closes Sunday, cipline series Jason +, the pop-
Through paintings, performance Feb. 5. George Peabody Library, ular pianist and Kennedy Center
objects and multimedia installa- 17 E. Mt. Vernon Place, Baltimore. jazz adviser collaborates with
tions, Perversion Therapy is intend- Call 410-234-4943 or visit peabod- performance and video artist
ed as a celebration of queer bliss yevents.library.jhu.edu. Joan Jonas for Reanimation, a
and domestic deviance in direct multimedia piece inspired by the
response to the anti-LGBT histo- 1968 novel Under The Glacier by
ry and attitudes espoused by the Icelandic author Halldor Laxness.
president-elect and members of Saturday, Feb. 4, at 7 p.m. Kennedy
his cabinet specifically, conver- Center Family Theater. Tickets are
sion therapy. The exhibit features

18 FEBRUARY 2, 2017 METROWEEKLY

 Community
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, dclamb-
dasquares.org.

DC SCANDALS RUGBY holds

practice. The team is always
looking for new members. All
welcome. 7:30-9:30 p.m. King
Greenleaf Recreation Center,
201 N St. SW. For more infor-
mation, visit scandalsrfc.org or
dcscandals@gmail.com.

The DULLES TRIANGLES

Northern Virginia social
group meets for happy hour at
Sheraton in Reston. All wel-
come. 7-9 p.m. 11810 Sunrise
Valley Drive, second-floor bar.
For more information, visit
dullestriangles.com.

ONLINE OVERHAUL
HIV TESTING at Whitman-
Walker Health. 8 a.m.-8 p.m. at
1525 14th St. NW, 8 a.m.-6 p.m.
at the Elizabeth Taylor Medical
Center, 1701 14th St. NW, and 8
The DC Centers new website will make accessing services easier and faster a.m-5 p.m. at the Max Robinson
Center, 2301 MLK Jr. Ave.

W
SE. For an appointment call
EVE HAD THE SAME WEBSITE FOR AT LEAST THE PAST EIGHT YEARS 202-745-7000 or visit whit-
or so, says David Mariner, executive director of The DC Center. In that time, a man-walker.org.
lot of things have changed. A lot more folks, some of the younger folks, are access-
IDENTITY offers free and
ing the site on mobile phones and tablets. And the number of events we do at the Center has confidential HIV testing at
increased every single year. So were doing a complete overhaul, designed around our most two separate locations. Walk-
popular pages. ins accepted from 2-6 p.m.,
by appointment for all other
As part of the website redesign, The DC Center is pushing its most frequently visited
hours. 414 East Diamond Ave.,
pages to the sites homepage, including listings of upcoming events, the business directory, Gaithersburg, Md. or 7676
the LGBTQ organization guide, and the Speakers Bureau. The redesign also sees the simpli- New Hampshire Ave., Suite
fication and consolidation of various domain names, such as Reel Affirmations Film Festival, 411, Takoma Park, Md. To set
up an appointment or for more
a Center-sponsored event, previously hosted on its own website, that will now be incorpo- information, call Gaithersburg,
rated into the larger DC Center site. 301-300-9978, or Takoma Park,
The site is Word Press-based, so community members and staffers can update their 301-422-2398.
sections more easily, says Mariner. Its going to make it simpler, cleaner, easier to navigate
METROHEALTH CENTER
and much more accessible. John Riley offers free, rapid HIV testing.
Appointment needed. 1012 14th
Access the new DC Center website at thedccenter.org. St. NW, Suite 700. To arrange
an appointment, call 202-638-
0750.

SMYAL offers free HIV Testing,

THURSDAY, February 2
The OUTWRITE LGBT BOOK
FESTIVAL is seeking addi-
tional participants for various
subcommittees. The planning
committee will hold a meeting
at The DC Center for those
interested. 7 p.m. 2000 14th
Street NW, Suite 105. For
more information, visit thedc-
center.org.
Weekly Events
ANDROMEDA
TRANSCULTURAL HEALTH
offers free HIV testing and HIV
services (by appointment). 9
a.m.-5 p.m. Decatur Center,
1400 Decatur St. NW. To
arrange an appointment, call
202-291-4707, or visit androm-
edatransculturalhealth.org.
DC AQUATICS CLUB (DCAC)
practice session at Takoma
Aquatic Center. 7:30-9 p.m.
300 Van Buren St. NW. For
more information, visit swim-
dcac.org.
DC FRONT RUNNERS run-
ning/walking/social club
welcomes runners of all ability
levels for exercise in a fun and
supportive environment, with
socializing afterward. Route
distance is 3-6 miles. Meet at
7 p.m. at 23rd & P Streets NW.
For more information, visit
dcfrontrunners.org.
3-5 p.m., by appointment and
walk-in, for youth 21 and
younger. Youth Center, 410 7th
St. SE. 202-567-3155 or test-
ing@smyal.org.
Us Helping Us hosts a
NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS
MEETING. The group is inde-
pendent of UHU. 6:30-7:30
p.m., 3636 Georgia Ave. NW.
For more information, call 202-
446-1100.

FEBRUARY 2, 2017 METROWEEKLY 21

 WOMENS LEADERSHIP
INSTITUTE for young LBTQ
women, 13-21, interested in lead-
ership development. 5-6:30 p.m.
SMYAL Youth Center, 410 7th St.
SE. For more information, call 202-
567-3163, or email catherine.chu@
smyal.org.
FRIDAY, February 3
GAY DISTRICT, a group for
GBTQQI men between the ages of
18-35, meets on the first and third
Fridays of each month. 8:30-9:30
p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105.
For more information, visit gaydis-
trict.org.
The DC Center hosts a meeting
of its TRANS SUPPORT GROUP,
focusing on issues important to
transgender people and those
who identify outside of the gender
binary. 7-9 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW,
Suite 105. For more information,
visit thedccenter.org.
Weekly Events
DC AQUATICS CLUB (DCAC)
holds a practice session at
Howard University. 6:30-8 p.m.
Burr Gymnasium, 2400 6th St.
NW. For more information, visit
swimdcac.org.
METROHEALTH CENTER
offers free, rapid HIV testing.
Appointment needed. 1012 14th
St. NW, Suite 700. To arrange an
appointment, call 202-638-0750.
PROJECT STRIPES hosts LGBT-
affirming social group for ages
11-24. 4-6 p.m. 1419 Columbia Road
NW. Contact Tamara, 202-319-
0422, layc-dc.org.
SMYALS REC NIGHT provides a
social atmosphere for LGBT and
questioning youth, featuring dance
parties, vogue nights, movies and
games. For more info, email cather-
ine.chu@smyal.org.
SATURDAY, February 4
ADVENTURING outdoors group
hikes 9 moderately strenuous miles
in a trail circuit along the Potomac.
Bring beverages, lunch and $2 trip
fee. Wear winter-worthy boots
and dress in layers. Meet at 10 a.m.
inside the Rosslyn Metro Station by
the station attendants kiosk. For
more info, contact Jerry, 703-920-
6871. adventuring.org.
CENTER GLOBAL, a group that
fights against anti-LGBTI laws
and cultures in 80 countries, holds
its monthly meeting on the first
Saturday of every month. 12-2 p.m.
The DC Center, 2000 14th St. NW,
Suite 105. For more information,
visit thedccenter.org.
22 FEBRUARY 2, 2017 METROWEEKLY
CHRYSALIS arts & culture group
visits the historic Sewall-Belmont
House to see a museum dedicated
to the history of the womens suf-
frage movement. Free admission;
refreshments in the neighborhood
follow. Meet at 1 p.m. by the station
attendants kiosk on the south side
inside Union Station Metro. For
more info, contact Craig, 202-462-
0535, craighowell1@verizon.net.
Weekly Events
BET MISHPACHAH, founded
by members of the LGBT com-
munity, holds Saturday morning
Shabbat services in the DC Jewish
Community Centers Community
Room, followed by Kiddush lun-
cheon. 10 a.m. 1529 16th St. NW.
For more information, visit bet-
mish.org.
BRAZILIAN GLBT GROUP, includ-
ing others interested in Brazilian
culture, meets. For location/time,
email braziliangaygroup@yahoo.
com.
DC AQUATICS CLUB (DCAC)
holds a practice session at
Montgomery College Aquatics
Club. 8:30-10 a.m. 7600 Takoma
Ave., Takoma, Md. For more infor-
mation, visit swimdcac.org.
DC FRONT RUNNERS running/
walking/social club welcomes run-
ners of all ability levels for exercise
in a fun and supportive environ-
ment, with socializing afterward.
Route distance will be 3-6 miles.
Walker meet at 9:30 a.m. and run-
ners at 10 a.m. at 23rd & P Streets
NW. For more information, visit
dcfrontrunners.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.
GAY LANGUAGE CLUB discusses
critical languages and foreign lan-
guages. 7 p.m. Nellies, 900 U St.
NW. RSVP preferred. Email bren-
dandarcy@gmail.com.
SUNDAY, February 5
ADVENTURING outdoors group
takes an easy one-way hike along
Florida Avenue/Boundary Street
from Dupont Circle to trendy
Union Market near Gallaudet
University. Return from nearby
NOMA/Gallaudet Metro Station.
Bring beverages, a snack, $2 trip
fee and money for lunch in one of
Union Markets numerous eating
establishments. For more info, con-
tact Craig, 202-462-0535. adven-
turing.org.
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.
DC AQUATICS CLUB (DCAC)
holds a practice session at Wilson
Aquatic Center. 9:30-11 a.m. 4551
Fort Dr. NW. For more informa-
tion, visit swimdcac.org.
DC FRONT RUNNERS running/
walking/social club welcomes run-
ners of all ability levels for exercise
in a fun and supportive environ-
ment, with socializing afterward.
Route will be a distance run of 8, 10
or 12 miles. Meet at 9 a.m. at 23rd
& P Streets NW. For more informa-
tion, visit dcfrontrunners.org.
DIGNITYUSA offers Roman
Catholic Mass for the LGBT
community. All welcome. Sign
interpreted. 6 p.m. St. Margarets
Church, 1820 Connecticut Ave.
NW. For more info, visit dignity-
washington.org.
FAIRLINGTON UNITED
METHODIST CHURCH is an open,
inclusive church. All welcome,
including the LGBTQ commu-
nity. Member of the Reconciling
Ministries Network. Services at
9:30 and 11:00 a.m. 3900 King
Street, Alexandria, Va. 703-671-
8557. For more info, visit fairling-
tonumc.org.
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL
UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
welcomes all to 10:30 a.m. service,
945 G St. NW. firstuccdc.org or
202-628-4317.
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.
HOPE UNITED CHURCH OF
CHRIST welcomes GLBT commu-
nity for worship. 10:30 a.m., 6130
Old Telegraph Road, Alexandria.
hopeucc.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 infor-
mation 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. isd-
dc.org.
Join LINCOLN
CONGREGATIONAL TEMPLE
UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST for
an inclusive, loving and progressive
faith community every Sunday. 11
a.m. 1701 11th Street NW, near R in
Shaw/Logan neighborhood. lincol-
ntemple.org.
LUTHERAN CHURCH OF
REFORMATION invites all to
Sunday worship at 8:30 or 11 a.m.
Childcare is available at both ser-
vices. Welcoming LGBT people for
25 years. 212 East Capitol St. NE.
reformationdc.org.
METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY
CHURCH OF NORTHERN
VIRGINIA services at 11 a.m., led
by Rev. Emma Chattin. Childrens
Sunday School, 11 a.m. 10383
Democracy Lane, Fairfax. 703-691-
0930, mccnova.com.
METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY
CHURCH OF WASHINGTON, D.C.
services at 9 a.m. (ASL interpret-
ed) and 11 a.m. Childrens Sunday
School at 11 a.m. 474 Ridge St. NW.
202-638-7373, mccdc.com.
NATIONAL CITY CHRISTIAN
CHURCH, inclusive church with
GLBT fellowship, offers gospel
worship, 8:30 a.m., and traditional
worship, 11 a.m. 5 Thomas Circle
NW. 202-232-0323, nationalci-
tycc.org.
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.
ST. STEPHEN AND THE
INCARNATION, an interra-
cial, multi-ethnic Christian
Community offers services in
English, 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., and
in Spanish at 5:15 p.m. 1525 Newton
St. NW. 202-232-0900, saintste-
phensdc.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.
UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST
CHURCH OF SILVER SPRING
invites LGBTQ families and indi-
viduals of all creeds and cultures to
join the church. Services 9:15 and
11:15 a.m. 10309 New Hampshire
Ave. uucss.org.
UNIVERSALIST NATIONAL
MEMORIAL CHURCH, a welcom-
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, uni-
versalist.org.
MONDAY, February 6
The DC Center hosts a
VOLUNTEER NIGHT for commu-
nity 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 thedccen-
ter.org.
Weekly Events
DC AQUATICS CLUB (DCAC)
holds a practice session at Dunbar
Aquatic Center. 7:30-9 p.m. 101 N
St. NW. For more information, visit
swimdcac.org.
GETEQUAL meets 6:30-8 p.m. at
Quaker House, 2111 Florida Ave.
NW. For more information, email
getequal.wdc@gmail.com.
NOVASALUD offers free HIV test-
ing. 5-7 p.m. 2049 N. 15th St., Suite
200, Arlington. Appointments: 703-
789-4467.
SMYAL offers free HIV Testing, 3-5
p.m., by appointment and walk-in,
for youth 21 and younger. Youth
Center, 410 7th St. SE. 202-567-
3155 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, thedc-
center.org.
US HELPING US hosts a black gay
mens evening affinity group for
GBT black men. Light refreshments
provided. 7-9 p.m. 3636 Georgia
Ave. NW. 202-446-1100.
WASHINGTON WETSKINS
WATER POLO TEAM practices 7-9
p.m. Newcomers with at least basic
swimming ability always welcome.
Takoma Aquatic Center, 300 Van
Buren St. NW. For more informa-
tion, contact Tom, 703-299-0504
or secretary@wetskins.org, or visit
wetskins.org.
WHITMAN-WALKER HEALTH
HIV/AIDS Support Group for
newly diagnosed individuals,
meets 7 p.m. Registration required.
202-939-7671, hivsupport@whit-
man-walker.org.
TUESDAY, February 7
Queer-identifying women who
have survived violent or traumatic
experiences and are looking for
support are invited to take part
in a bi-weekly QUEER WOMEN
WORKING THROUGH TRAUMA
GROUP at The DC Center.
Participants are encouraged to
do an intake assessment with
moderator and social worker Sam
Goodwin. 6-7 p.m. 2000 14th St.
NW, Suite 105. For more infor-
mation, email Sam at samantha@
thedccenter.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
ASIANS AND FRIENDS weekly
dinner in Dupont/Logan Circle
area, 6:30 p.m. For more informa-
tion, email afwash@aol.com, or
visit afwashington.net.
DC AQUATICS CLUB (DCAC)
practice session at Takoma Aquatic
Center. 7:30-9 p.m. 300 Van Buren
St. NW. For more information, visit
swimdcac.org.
DC FRONT RUNNERS running/
walking/social club welcomes
runners of all ability levels for
exercise in a fun and supportive
environment, with socializing
afterward. Route distance is 3-6
miles. Meet at 7 p.m. at Union
Station. For more information,
visit dcfrontrunners.org.
DC SCANDALS RUGBY holds prac-
tice. The team is always looking
for new members. All welcome.
7:30-9:30 p.m. King Greenleaf
Recreation Center, 201 N St. SW.
For more information, visit scan-
dalsrfc.org or dcscandals@gmail.
com.
THE GAY MENS HEALTH
COLLABORATIVE offers free
HIV testing and STI screening
and treatment every Tuesday.
5-6:30 p.m. Rainbow Tuesday
LGBT Clinic, Alexandria Health
Department, 4480 King St. 703-
746-4986 or text 571-214-9617.
james.leslie@inova.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.
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, 703-521-
1999. Handicapped accessible.
Newcomers welcome. liveandletli-
veoa@gmail.com.
SMYAL offers free HIV Testing, 3-5
p.m., by appointment and walk-in,
for youth 21 and younger. Youth
Center, 410 7th St. SE. 202-567-
3155 or testing@smyal.org.
SUPPORT GROUP FOR LGBTQ
YOUTH ages 13-21 meets at
SMYAL. 5-6:30 p.m. 410 7th St.
SE. For more information, contact
Cathy Chu, 202-567-3163, or cath-
erine.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 Health holds its
weekly GAY MENS HEALTH AND
WELLNESS/STD CLINIC. Patients
are seen on walk-in basis. No-cost
screening for HIV, syphilis, gon-
orrhea and chlamydia. Hepatitis
and herpes testing available for fee.
Testing starts at 6 p.m, but should
arrive early to ensure a spot. 1701
14th St. NW. For more information,
visit whitman-walker.org.
WEDNESDAY, February 9
BIG GAY BOOK GROUP meets to
discuss February House: The Story
of W. H. Auden, Carson McCullers,
Jane and Paul Bowles, Benjamin
Britten, and Gypsy Rose Lee, Under
One Roof in Brooklyn by Sherill
Tippins. 7 p.m. Trio Restaurant,
1537 17th Street NW. All welcome.
To RSVP, email biggaybookgroup@
hotmail.com.
THE LAMBDA BRIDGE CLUB
meets for Duplicate Bridge. 7:30
p.m. Dignity Center, 721 8th St., SE
(across from Marine Barracks). No
reservations needed, all welcome.
Call 202-841-0279 if you need a
partner.
Weekly Events
AD LIB, a group for freestyle con-
versation, meets about 6-6:30 p.m.,
Steam, 17th and R NW. All wel-
come. For more information, call
Fausto Fernandez, 703-732-5174.
ANDROMEDA TRANSCULTURAL
HEALTH offers free HIV testing
and HIV services (by appointment).
9 a.m.-5 p.m. Decatur Center, 1400
Decatur St. NW. To arrange an
appointment, call 202-291-4707,
or visit andromedatranscultural-
health.org.
FEBRUARY 2, 2017 METROWEEKLY
DC AQUATICS CLUB (DCAC)
holds a practice session at Dunbar
Aquatic Center. 7:30-9 p.m. 101 N
St. NW. For more information, visit
swimdcac.org.
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 infor-
mation, 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. 703-
549-1450, historicchristchurch.org.
HIV TESTING at Whitman-Walker
Health. 8 a.m.-8 p.m. at 1525
14th St. NW, 8 a.m.-6 p.m. at the
Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center,
1701 14th St. NW, and 8 a.m-5 p.m.
at the Max Robinson Center, 2301
MLK Jr. Ave. SE. For an appoint-
ment call 202-745-7000 or visit
whitman-walker.org.
IDENTITY offers free and confiden-
tial HIV testing at its Gaithersburg
location. Walk-ins accepted from
2-7 p.m., by appointment for all
other hours. 414 East Diamond
Ave., Gaithersburg, Md. To set up
an appointment or for more infor-
mation, call 301-300-9978.
JOB CLUB, a weekly support pro-
gram for job entrants and seekers,
meets at The DC Center. 6-7:30
p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105.
For more info, www.centercareers.
org.
METROHEALTH CENTER offers
free, rapid HIV testing. No appoint-
ment needed. 11 a.m.-7 p.m. 1012
14th St. NW, Suite 700. For more
information, call 202-638-0750.
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. More
info, contact Carl, 703-573-8316.
WASHINGTON WETSKINS
WATER POLO TEAM practices 7-9
p.m. Newcomers with at least basic
swimming ability always welcome.
Takoma Aquatic Center, 300 Van
Buren St. NW. For more informa-
tion, contact Tom, 703-299-0504
or secretary@wetskins.org, or visit
wetskins.org. l
Submit your community event for
consideration at least 10 days prior
to the Thursday publication you
would like it to appear. Email to cal-
endar@metroweekly.com.
23
 M
F
24 FEBRUARY 2, 2017 METROWEEKLY
MIND
FRAK
On his hidden camera show, magician Michael Carbonaro messes with peoples heads.
Its what he lives for. Interview by Randy Shulman
I
THINK WHAT PEOPLE LIKE TO SEE BECAUSE I
certainly know I do is to see somebody have this little
private moment where they see something happen, says
Michael Carbonaro. And you literally watch the gears
going, watching somebody trying to process an impossible
moment where something solid penetrates through something
else. And theyre sitting there and their eyes are going, What?
You watch those gears going and you watch the person wrestle
between reality and fantasy.
In illusions both large and small, the 42-year-old constantly
throws unsuspecting subjects into moments of mental turmoil
on hidden camera magic TV show The Carbonaro Effect, enter-
ing its third season on cable network truTV. Its an immensely
entertaining and incredibly addictive twist to the hidden
camera shenanigans of Candid Camera, pioneered by television
legend Alan Funt in the late 1940s. Unlike most hidden camera
shows, which simply prank the viewer, the addition of an actual
magical illusion the impossible, the improbable, the brazen
to the formula adds a layer of unexpected psychological depth,
STUART PETTICAN / TRUTV
as Carbonaro Effect often detours into the cause and effect of
human behavior.
Witness, for example, a segment from the season premiere, in
which an increasingly shell-shocked woman is made to believe
shes on the wrong side of a train platform. Its a mind-blowing
illusion for both her and us. Where it gets interesting, however,
is in her reaction. Feeling she is in error, she crosses over to
what she believes to be the correct platform only to find shes
still on the wrong side. So, she takes a breath and crosses back.
When its revealed by a deviously grinning Carbonaro that shes
been had, her elation at realizing that shes not barking mad is
immensely cathartic.
The show wouldnt work as well as it does if it werent for its
host. In addition to being a skilled illusionist, Carbonaro, like all
the best magicians, is a congenial, affable con artist. Hes got a
face and a handsome one at that people trust.
That handsome face was on display in one of the biggest gay
comedies of the mid-2000s: Another Gay Movie, a balls-out par-
ody of the straight comedy American Pie. In AGM, Carbonaro,
himself an out gay man, starred as Andy, a ceaselessly horny gay
teenager who takes a liking to fruits and vegetables.
I remember thinking to myself [that taking this role] might
put me down a direction Ill never be able to back out of, he says
of the decade old comedy. I wont ever get to be on the Disney
Channel or Ill never get to do a family-oriented show because
this is going to be too.... He trails off. You know, I was scared,
he says, finally.
Carbonaro overcame that fear at the urging of his agent. It
turned out to be a good move, career-wise.
FEBRUARY 2, 2017 METROWEEKLY 25
 I think that I probably wouldnt have this TV show if I
wasnt that guy that decided to move forward with those kinds
of daring, scary projects, he says, because what Im doing right
now is no less scary and in the world of the unknown than that
was.
As with all conversations nowadays, talk eventually turns to
the political rip-tide that is defining the new Trump administra-
tion. Carbonaros response is hardly surprising.
Im very judicious with the way I edit the show. You have to
cut from one camera to another so you can see the guys face and
you can see the trick and you can see me. Its a very complicated
equation because at any given time, seven cameras are rolling
and six of them might be exposing the trick. With magic, you
have to be a master of perspective.Im terrified. Im appalled.
Im nervous for all of us, he says. But Im overjoyed and feel Los Angeles at the Magic Castle and through the Academy of
a lot of hope when I see the marches and people standing up.
When you look at the numbers and you know whats really going
on, theres an amount of positivity to know that the human spirit
is still glowing strong from both sides. Im frightened, but ready
to stand up and fight along with my people.
Asked if, as a magician, he could help the cause by making
Trump just vanish not in a bad way, maybe just be incon-
veniently transported to the Arctic, or the moon Carbonaro
chuckles.
Im not at liberty to disclose that information at this time.
METRO WEEKLY: Lets start with the magic. What led you to
becoming a magician?
MICHAEL CARBONARO: As a child, I wanted to become a special
effects artist. That was really my first passion. I loved Halloween
and monsters and special effects and horror movies because,
you know, special effects are kind of like magic. As a 13-year-old
kid growing up in Long Island, New York, I used to buy makeup
supplies at a local magic shop. Its funny that special effects and
magic are in the same store special effects, magic, costumes,
pranks, jokes, gags, masquerades, all that stuff. When shopping
for makeup I was suddenly going, Wow, those guys behind the
counter are doing some really cool tricks, and I started loving it
and wanting to perform them myself.
There was a love of performance in magic that I found. I like
talking to people and I like making people laugh and I like put-
ting the coin in their hand and having it disappear and watching
their face. I like having that experience, that interaction with
someone. I found my way into being an entertainer through
magic. I really saw myself as a performer through magic.
MW: Do you remember the first trick you ever performed?
CARBONARO: Yes. I was watching, with my family, [David]
Copperfield on television. I think it was the night he was going
to walk through the Great Wall of China. It was a huge, epic
event that we were all like, Is this man really doing that? He
had a real mystery to it and I really got hooked on his TV show,
because hes just the master perfectionist. Everything is so clean
and perfectly executed and smart and tight and fun.
So I remember that night when we watched that show as a
family, I went up to my room and grabbed some of my art stuff.
I came downstairs, took a piece of paper and scribbled all over
it in front of my mom and dad. I tore up the paper and folded it
up and then unfolded it and the paper was back together. I made
up how to do it and a version of that trick is still in my live
show. But I just remembered their faces. They were completely
fooled. There was an electricity like, How did you do that? I
was hooked.
MW: You dont rely on old magic standards on The Carbonaro
26 FEBRUARY 2, 2017 METROWEEKLY
Effect, though there are sometimes variations. Do you consider
yourself an inventor of sorts?
CARBONARO: Yeah, theres a hands-on kind of inventors men-
tality to magic. But do I have an inventors mind? I think thats
where the special effects artist in me is engaged. Im very artistic.
I can sculpt really well. I can paint really well. I can make things.
Sometimes, in magic, a lot of things that look normal are highly
engineered and have some trickery to them. Sometimes you
have to make a pencil look like a pencil when there might have
something else going on. Just being able to create those things
artistically and magically is under that umbrella of effects.
Ive got an incredible team of magicians who work on The
Carbonaro Effect friends of mine, some that Ive known since
I was a kid at Tannens Magic Camp, and some who Ive met in
Magical Arts. Really great friends. Some magicians like perform-
ing, and some magicians dont, but they love inventing. They
have this engineers mind for coming up with gimmicks and
methods. I think I playfully rest somewhere in the middle, prob-
ably more on the performance side, which is good for what I do.
I have David Regal. I have Michael Webber and Derek
DelGaudio, Darren Berger, Matt Schick, Chad Sanborn. Ive got
friends in the business. Copperfield has really taken a liking to
the work Im doing and Ive gotten to know him. Penn & Teller
are my friends. Johnny Thompson and Tom Redino, who are
inventors and magicians in Las Vegas who create elaborate illu-
sions for Penn & Teller and the likes, have created some illusions
together [for us]. Johnny Thompson is kind of the godfather of
magic. Hes the guy that knows where everything comes from
and who made it up first and how you can combine this method
with that. Johnny Thompson is one of those guys that I would
call up and say, Hey, do you know how to make an elephant
disappear.
I wanted to do a trick in the show where a security guard is
watching over a car and the car is completely surrounded by vel-
vet ropes and it cant go anywhere and while the guards looking
over it, I come over with a winning ticket, but before he knows
it, the car that were both talking about suddenly vanishes. Im
like, I want to make a car vanish from inside of the dealership.
How do I do that? And Johnny Thompson says, Well, you
dont. I was like, Oh. Hes like, What you can do is make the
car vanish from a tent enclosure, completely surrounded and we
could even do it outside on solid pavement.
MW: Ive never understood how magicians do that kind of trick.
There are some things that defy explanation.
CARBONARO: As they should. Magic is a perspective art. Its
funny because when you watch the show, you see this lone man
standing by himself engaging usually with one or a couple of
people. But weve got a crew of thirty people hiding behind the
screens and stuff, with the cameras behind two-way mirrors.
Theres a truck outside with monitors, with crew watching over
it, making sure we can hear everything on our hidden micro-
phones and making sure we can see everything. Its elaborate. As
most things are, its a complicated road to simple.
Every person that comes in there and is fooled on The
Carbonaro Effect is an unsuspecting person, not an actor. They
do not know they are going to be fooled and they are really
fooled by real methods of magic. Im very judicious with the way
I edit the show. You have to cut from one camera to another so
you can see the guys face and you can see the trick and you can
see me. Its a very complicated equation because at any given
time, seven cameras are rolling and six of them might be expos-
ing the trick. With magic, you have to be a master of perspective.

JEREMY FREEMAN / TRUTV
I think The Carbonaro Effect would be just as entertaining
or entertaining in a different way, but just as entertaining if
I exposed all the tricks. If the home viewer saw how the tricks
were done, it would still be really fun to watch the person go
through that experience. But thats just not the show that Im
doing. I like the viewer to be in this weird zone where theyre
on my team because they know that we together are fooling this
unsuspecting person, but then they also get to go, How is he
doing that?
MW: These are live tricks? Live people, live reactions, live tricks.
Theres no artifice in terms of doing clever editing in which you
might stop the camera at any point to rig the trick?
CARBONARO: Absolutely not. Never, no way. No way. We dont
do that. Thats immoral.
Im on a live tour right now with 40 dates in different cit-
ies across the nation and these diehard fans of the show are
coming. They have that question in their minds, just like you
said. Theyre like, If Im sitting right here in the front row and
Michael Carbonaro comes out on stage, is he going to be able
to make something appear out of nowhere? And the answer is
yes. Its really exciting for them to come to the live show and see
that happen.
MW: One trick that really blew me out of the water is in the third
season premiere, the one with the girl on the train platform.
CARBONARO: Oh good, you saw that one.
MW: Oh, my God. Her reaction was priceless. If that had happened
to me, Id probably be in tears.
CARBONARO: What we did on the train platform was really
incredible, because a lot of times on the TV show, Ill teleport.
People are always asking, Do you have a twin, because weve
I read something
once where they were
describing the show
and said, Michael
Carbonaro is an openly
gay magician who
tricks unsuspecting
people in public. But
thats not the show.
THE SHOWS ABOUT
A MAGICIAN WHOS
PRETENDING NOT TO
BE A MAGICIAN.
done a lot of effects on the show where Ill be locked inside of a
car and then suddenly Im inside a hotel room or Ill climb up a
ladder and then suddenly the person turns around and Im right
behind them again. But with the train platform, an unsuspect-
ing person has suddenly teleported themselves and theyre not
where they thought they were. I cant believe we pulled that
off. I think youre right I would probably be in tears if that
happened to me, too.
MW: Im surprised she didnt have a nervous breakdown.
CARBONARO: You really just watch her short circuit there.
Youre messing with somebody. Youre stepping in and throw-
ing a wrench into somebodys reality. But people really like it.
Theres a good heartedness behind it that kind of reminds me
of, say, Bugs Bunny. Im almost a Bugs Bunny character that
walks up to somebody, messes with reality for a second, and just
watches the outcome.
MW: In the same episode, theres a great trick utilizing a statue of
Abe Lincoln. There was one bit with the statues hat that I was able
to half figure out. I say half because, I still couldnt figure out how
you actually achieved it.
CARBONARO: The recipe for the best kind of an illusion is to have
layers like that. You have to stack it. It cant be one secret. Its
got to be like five secrets so that youre lost. Five little secrets
will make a much more powerful illusion than one good secret.
MW: Lets talk a bit about your life as a gay man.
CARBONARO: I always knew I was gay growing up. It was never
like a discovery. I knew what gay was but I didnt think I was gay
because I had learned that the word gay was a bad word. Its
like gay was a bad person or a perverted person or theyre dirty
and gross and weird and bizarre and freakish. Im like, Well Im
FEBRUARY 2, 2017 METROWEEKLY 27
 Im very judicious with
the way I edit the show.
Its a very complicated
equation because at
any given time, seven
cameras are rolling
and six of them might
be exposing the trick.
WITH MAGIC, YOU HAVE
TO BE A MASTER OF
PERSPECTIVE.

STUART PETTICAN / TRUTV

not that. So I knew I wasnt that, but I knew I liked other guys.
I always did.
When I nostalgically look back on it, thinking to myself, I
was instinctively learning that the world does not work the
way everyone says it does. Theres this American Dream get
married, have kids thats how the world works and thats how
it goes. But Im thinking, Uh, thats not exactly what I think is
going on here. I had this vision outside of things a little bit. The
world is bigger and different than everybodys saying it is, or Ive
got to find my own path. That informed a lot of the kind of work
that I do as an artist.
MW: Do you think your audience is aware, by and large, that youre
a gay man?
CARBONARO: I think so. But do I think anybody goes, Have you
seen that gay magician who does the hidden camera thing? I
dont think that thats a part of the equation. I think its, Did
you see that funny show? So I dont know if its in their con-
sciousness completely. But I do want them to be aware of it.
I read something once where they were describing the show
and they literally said, In his show, Michael Carbonaro is an
openly gay magician who tricks unsuspecting people in public.
When you hear that sentence, its like Wait, what is it? Hes an
openly gay magician who tricks unsuspecting people in public?
It sounds like some sort of bizarre kidnapping situation. I dont
know whats happening there, but Im not watching that show.
But thats not the show. The shows about a magician whos pre-
tending not to be a magician.
MW: In that sense, youre a closeted magician.
CARBONARO: [Laughs.] Exactly. Youre exactly right. Openly gay,
yet closeted as a magician.
MW: How is LGBTQ acceptance within the magic industry?
CARBONARO: Good question. Id say its somewhere in the mid-
dle of theater and television. Its not exactly as accepting and
open as theater, but its I dont know. Were magicians. Were
used to secrets. l
The Carbonaro Effect airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. Eastern, 9 p.m.
Central on truTV. Check your local cable listings or visit truTV.com.

28 FEBRUARY 2, 2017 METROWEEKLY

 Gallery

Charlie Gaynor
Digital photo-archival pigment prints, clockwise from top left: Coming Out - 20x30, BE - 20x30,
Stairway to... - 20x30, Havana 407A - 8x12

charliegaynor.com

FEBRUARY 2, 2017 METROWEEKLY 31

 Stage
SCOTT SUCHMAN

allowing this free radical of a performance

Howling Wolves
to do its thing, without destroying the
larger dynamic.
This dynamic specifically the people
in it are Marthas flashpoints. And you
Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf is another showcase for can see where Posner wants go: A fast and
Holly Twyfords amazing talent By Kate Wingfield furious battle of emotional, psychological
and verbal poetry. But although Gregory

W
Liningtons George does eventually deliver
HEN IT COMES TO EDWARD ALBEES WHOS AFRAID OF VIRGINIA the goods, not everything here sings. This
Woolf, his brilliantly ruthless dissection of a diseased marriage, many a is a snide George, a man who has learned
minds eye will be drawn inexorably to visions of the glamorously loud and to savor and harness his bitterness, to
louche Martha delivered by Elizabeth Taylor in the 1966 film version. draw it out like some kind of dark and
But one of the hallmarks of amazing acting is the ability to take a role previously deadly taffy pull. But Liningtons pacing
owned and tagged by a luminary even one as iconic as Taylor and shake it free of is uneven. His zombie-like behavior at
the audiences associations and expectations. the start of the evening feels unaccount-
And in Fords Theatres production of Woolf (HHHHH), the ever-stellar Holly able and there are times when he gilds
Twyford does just that. the professors lily with a tad too much
An entirely new and fully sentient Martha, this woman is so urgent and credible, its actorly affectation, which distracts and
hard to believe she isnt still drinking and carrying on in some manse in McLean long dampens. His scenes with Nick, the young
after the curtain falls. A careening, alcohol-fueled socialite commando, she lives to lob male visitor-cum-sexual rival, never quite
grenades at friend and foe alike, often with no other purpose than to see the blood fly. jibe, due in part to this uneven pacing and
And what Twyford gets so right is that this Martha cant stop the music, even when delivery. Still, George can shoot a perfectly
the results shock or bewilder her. She is addicted to her acts of marital and social van- timed zinger and, at times, his battles with
dalism. Martha generate some real and ruinous
But this interpretation gains in power because it also ably bridges the decades chemistry. Linington also manages one of
between when the play was written and the here and now. Martha may use the affected the great challenges of George: he reveals
speech of the 60s, but her crass and crushing style speaks to a very twenty-first cen- at the end and with subtlety the deep-
tury kind of woman: a better-bred, more psychologically powerful version of the Real est architecture of the marriage dynamic.
Housewives currently entertaining and influencing the over-waxed masses. Carrying off a role that could easi-
Its a potent, memorable concoction and director Aaron Posner does a superb job of ly turn stock, Maggie Wilder is a very

32 FEBRUARY 2, 2017 METROWEEKLY

strong Honey, the nave wife of
the canny Nick. Gullible, sickly
and a perennial pleaser, Honey
isnt a particularly sympathetic
character, but Albee uses her to
suggest the cracks in the young
union and as a contrast to other
scheming adults. The challenge
here is to deliver Honeys period-
ic gaucheries without sounding
overly stagey and Wilder does
a great job in channeling some
authenticity. Honeys comments
sound forced, because they are
forced its all this woman
knows how to do.
As Nick, a new and ambi-
tious academic on campus and
Honeys less-than-thrilled hus-

band, Danny Gavigan certainly
looks the part. But, like Linington,
there is a certain unevenness to
his younger man that thwarts the
alchemy needed between this striver and George. As Nick calcu-
lates how to handle the challenging couple he must schmooze,
not enough of his internal dialogue makes it to the surface and
his changes in mood sometimes seem to come out of nowhere.
On the flip side, there are times when he almost overreacts. That
SCOTT SUCHMAN
said, Gavigan is a big, charismatic presence and he is wholly
believable as a target worth Marthas while.
Thus, this is less a powerhouse production and more a vehi-
cle for the amazing powers of Twyford but so be it. This is one
Martha you want elbowing her way into your Albee. l

Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf runs to Feb. 19 at Fords Theatre, 511 10th St, NW. Tickets are $15 to $62.
Call 888-616-0270 or visit fords.org.

FEBRUARY 2, 2017 METROWEEKLY 33

 Stage
STAN BAROUH

modular, moveable set.

Young, Black and The looping storytelling is a crafty for-

mal conceit that adds layers of exposition
if not any discernibly urgent meaning

Complicated
to Trus verdict, which comes swiftly. The
way he sees it, preppy poindexter Marquis
might be black, but he has no idea how it
feels to have no prospects, no network and
Hooded, Or Being Black for Dummies is a no net worth. As far as Tru is concerned,
deft examination of two young black teens from vastly these are deficits synonymous with being
different circumstances By Andr Hereford black, so Marquis has no idea how it feels
to be black. Strangely enough, adopted

H
mom Debra agrees with Tru, whom she
OODED, OR BEING BLACK FOR DUMMIES ( ) DOESNT HAVE invites to come live with them in their
time to dismantle every single stereotype characterizing or demonizing young cushy suburb. According to Debra, whats
African-American males in America, but it makes its bones deftly tweaking, Tru got to lose?
deconstructing and subverting a few. Depicted as a genuinely loving moth-
Stereotypes are what teens Tru (Jeremy Keith Hunter) and Marquis (Keith L. Royal er, Debra recognizes that the privileged
Smith) first see in one another, after meeting in a holding cell in a Baltimore city jail. upbringing she and her husband have
Likewise, the play leans heavily on stereotype to gain a few (too many) easy laughs at afforded Marquis might have cost him
the expense of Marquis adopted mother Debra (Jennifer Mendenhall), a well-connect- a vital understanding of how the world
ed, white, suburban liberal, who races to rescue her black son from lockup and from the at large will perceive him. Yet, despite
clutches of shady Officer Borzoi (Frederick Strother). granting her that insight, Hooded still
Before she arrives, Tru, a slang-slinging dropout from inner-city Baltimore, and portrays Debra as the sort of well-mean-
Marquis, a blazer-clad, prep school goody-two-shoes caught trespassing, have a chance ing but blinkered do-gooder who can
to delve beneath easy surface assessments. The play employs a tricky rewind and repeat cause as much harm as good by clinging
device, restating and reframing information as Tru and Marquis circle each other over to her own narrowly conceived, mostly
and over inside their cramped cell part of scenic designer Ethan Sinnotts inventively untested notions of what it means to be

34 FEBRUARY 2, 2017 METROWEEKLY

black or white, rich or poor.
In director Serge Seidens smart, funny
staging, it comes as a bit of a surprise to see
Jennifer Mendenhall daffy but warm as
Debra also playing Prairie, one of a trio
of selfie-loving girls who attend school
with Marquis and his impressionable bud-
dies, Hunter (Dylan Morrison Myers) and
Fielder (Josh Adams). The double-casting
pays off with two inspired performances
from Mendenhall, whos joined by Myers
and Strother in delivering wide-ranging
turns, from brilliantly comic to grimly
no-nonsense, each in multiple roles. As
Marquis, Smith brings heart and wit to his
and Trus quickly-formed and deeply felt
brotherly bond.
The engine that keeps the show hum-
ming along, however, is Jeremy Keith

Hunter. Fine in a relatively smaller role
in Mosaics recent production of Milk Like
Sugar, Hunter is dazzlingly fun to watch
here as the fast-on-his-feet and fairly wise Tru, especially deliv-
ering the tenets of Trus guidebook Being Black for Dummies,
the primer he writes to educate sheltered Marquis.
Its no fault of Hunters that Tru comes close, perhaps inten-
tionally, to Magical Negro territory, too ready with answers for
whatever challenges Marquis might face. And in the late going,
STAN BAROUH
as the new friends worlds collide, the play starts to slide per-
functorily towards a conclusion that feels all but preordained
in a story about a black kid in a hoodie. It might end with more
of a whimper than a bang, but not before playwright Tearrance
Arvelle Chisholms voice, authentic and original, has most clear-
ly had its say. l

Hooded runs until Feb. 19 at Atlas Performing Arts Center, Sprenger Theatre, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets are $15 to $60.
Call 202-399-7993, ext. 2 or visit MosaicTheater.org.

FEBRUARY 2, 2017 METROWEEKLY 35

NightLife Photography by
Ward Morrison

FEBRUARY 2, 2017 METROWEEKLY 37

 Scene
Number Nine - Saturday, January 28
Photography by Ward Morrison
See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene

DrinksDragDJsEtc... GREEN LANTERN TRADE COBALT/30 DEGREES GREEN LANTERN

Happy Hour, 4-9pm Doors open 5pm Huge All You Can Drink Happy Happy Hour, 4-9pm $5
Ladies Drink Free Power Happy Hour: Any drink Hour $15 Rail and Smirnoff, all flavors, all
Hour, 4-5pm Shirtless normally served in a cock- Domestic, $21 Call & night long Otter Den DC
Thursday, Package Contest at mid-
night, hosted by BaNaka &
Thursday, 10-11pm DJs tail glass served in a huge Imports, 6-9pm Freaky presents Otter Crossing,
February 2 Kristina Kelly $200 Cash
BacK2bACk glass for the same price,
5-10pm Beer and wine
Fridays, 10pm $6 Grey
Goose all night Two
9pm-close $5 Cover
after 10pm
Prize Doors open 10pm,
NELLIES SPORTS BAR only $4 30-minute open bars
9 1/2 21+ $5 Cover or free
Beat the Clock Happy Hour featuring Grey Goose, NELLIES SPORTS BAR
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any with college ID
$2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), ZIEGFELDS/SECRETS 11-11:30pm and 1-1:30am DJ Matt Bailer Videos,
drink, 5-9pm Multiple
$4 (7-8pm) Buckets of All male, nude dancers DJ MadScience Dancing Beat the Clock
TVs showing movies, DC EAGLE
Beer $15 Drag Bingo DJ 9pm Cover 21+ upstairs DJ Keenan Orr Happy Hour $2 (5-6pm),
shows, sports Expanded Doors open at 8pm Strip
downstairs $10 cover $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm)
craft beer selection Down Thursdays Happy
NUMBER NINE 10pm-close 21+ Buckets of Beer $15
Music videos featuring Hour Shirtless guys
DJ Wess drink $2 off all drinks,
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any
drink, 5-9pm No Cover
Friday, DC EAGLE NUMBER NINE
8-10pm Jock or under-
COBALT/30 DEGREES wear gets $2 off all drinks,
February 3 Doors open at 8pm Open 5pm Happy Hour:
SHAWS TAVERN Happy Hour, 8-10pm $2 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm
Happy Hour: Tops Down $6 10pm-2am Free Shot of
Happy Hour, 4-7pm $3 9 1/2 off everything Daryl No Cover Friday Night
Top Shelf, Bottoms Up $3 Captain Morgan Cannon
Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, Open at 5pm Happy Wilson Promotions pres- Piano with Chris, 7:30pm
Rail, $3 Bud Light, 4-9pm Blast at 10pm No Cover
$5 Rails and House Wines Hour: 2 for 1 on any ents First Fridays Reloaded
Stonewall Darts After- 21+
& Half-Priced Pizzas $4 drink, 5-9pm Friday in the Exile, 10:30pm-4am SHAWS TAVERN
Party, 6-10pm Locker
Heineken and Coronas, Night Videos with DJ $10 Cover 21+ Happy Hour, 4-7pm $3
Room Thursday Nights, FREDDIES BEACH BAR
5pm-close Justin Morse, 9:30pm Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon,
10pm-close $3 Rail Crazy Hour, 4-7pm
Expanded craft beer selec- FREDDIES BEACH BAR $5 Rails and House Wines
Drinks, 10pm-midnight, $5 Karaoke, 8pm
tion No Cover Crazy Hour, 4-7pm & Half-Priced Pizzas
Red Bull and Frozen Virgin
Karaoke, 8pm Tableside Magic, 8pm
Drinks DJs Sean Morris
and MadScience Best

FEBRUARY 2, 2017 METROWEEKLY 39

 TOWN
Patio open 6pm DC Bear
Saturday,
Crue Happy Hour, 6-11pm February 4
$3 Rail, $3 Draft, $3 Bud
Bottles Free Pizza, 7pm 9 1/2
No cover before 9:30pm Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any
21+ Drag Show starts drink, 2-9pm $5 Absolut
at 10:30pm Hosted by & Titos, $3 Miller Lite
Lena Lett and featuring after 9pm Expanded craft
Tatianna, Shi-Queeta-Lee, beer selection No Cover
Riley Knoxx and BaNaka Music videos featuring
DJ Wess upstairs, DJs various DJs
BacK2bACk downstairs fol-
lowing the show GoGo COBALT/30 DEGREES
Boys after 11pm Doors Drag Yourself to Brunch at
open at 10pm For those Level One, 11am-2pm and
21 and over, $12 For 2-4pm Featuring Kristina
those 18-20, $15 Club: Kelly and the Ladies of
18+ Patio: 21+ Illusion Bottomless
Mimosas and Bloody
TRADE Marys Happy Hour:
Doors open 5pm Huge Tops Down $6 Top Shelf,
Happy Hour: Any drink Bottoms Up $3 Rail, $3
normally served in a cock- Bud Light, 4-9pm Latin
tail glass served in a huge Night Dance Party, 10pm
glass for the same price, Doors open 10pm $5
5-10pm Beer and wine Cover 21+
only $4
DC EAGLE
ZIEGFELDS/SECRETS Doors open at 8pm
Men of Secrets, 9pm Happy Hour, 8-10pm $2
Guest dancers Ladies off all drinks Mr. DC
of Illusion Drag Show Eagle 2017 Grey Owl
Doors at 9pm, Shows at hosts Club Bar Cigar
11:30pm and 1:30am Social sponsored by The
DJ Don T. in Secrets DC Eagle, Joe Whitaker,
Cover 21+ and HotCigarMen.com,

40 FEBRUARY 2, 2017 METROWEEKLY

8-10pm Joe Whitaker NUMBER NINE
and ManUPP present DILF Doors open 2pm Happy
Gear Edition, 10pm-3am Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink,
21+ 2-9pm $5 Absolut and
$5 Bulleit Bourbon Time
FREDDIES BEACH BAR Machine with DJ Jack
Drag Queen Broadway Rayburn, 9:30pm
Brunch, 10am-3pm
Starring Freddies SHAWS TAVERN
Broadway Babes Crazy Brunch with Bottomless
Hour, 4-7pm Freddies Mimosas, 10am-3pm Men of Secrets, 9pm-4am
Follies Drag Show, hosted Happy Hour, 5-7pm $3
by Miss Destiny B. Childs, Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon,
8-10pm Karaoke, $5 Rails and House Wines
10pm-close & Half-Priced Pizzas
GREEN LANTERN TOWN
Happy Hour, 4-9pm $5 DC Rawhides host Town
Bacardi, all flavors, all & Country: Two-Step, Line
night long REWIND: Dancing, Waltz and West
Request Line, an 80s Coast Swing, $5 Cover to
and 90s Dance Party,
9pm-close Featuring
stay all night Doors open
6:30pm, Lessons 7-8pm,
DJ Darryl Strickland $5 Open dance 8-10:30pm
Cover (includes clothes Discoteca 3000, featuring
check) DJ Kidd Madonny Music
and video by DJ Wess
NELLIES SPORTS BAR downstairs Drag Show
Guest DJs Zing Zang starts at 10:30pm Hosted
Bloody Marys, Nellie Beer, by Lena Lett and featuring
House Rail Drinks and Tatianna, Shi-Queeta-Lee,
Mimosas, $4, 11am-5pm Riley Knoxx and BaNaka No Cover
Buckets of Beer, $15 Cover $12 21+
TRADE COBALT/30 DEGREES NELLIES SPORTS BAR ZIEGFELDS/SECRETS
Doors open 2pm Huge Happy Hour: Tops Down $6 Drag Brunch, hosted by All male, nude dancers
Happy Hour: Any drink Top Shelf, Bottoms Up $3 Shi-Queeta-Lee, 11am-3pm Decades of Dance DJ
normally served in a cock- Rail, $3 Bud Light, 4-9pm $20 Brunch Buffet Tim-e in Secrets Doors
tail glass served in a huge No H8 Photo Shoot House Rail Drinks, Zing 9pm Cover 21+
glass for the same price, Homowood Karaoke, Zang Bloody Marys, Nellie
2-10pm Beer and wine hosted by Robert Bise, Beer and Mimosas, $4,
only $4 10pm-close 21+ 11am-close Buckets of
Beer, $15
Monday,
ZIEGFELDS/SECRETS DC EAGLE February 6
Doors open at noon NUMBER NINE
Guest dancers Ladies Happy Hour, 12-6pm $2 Pop Goes the World with 9 1/2
of Illusion Drag Show off everything $2 Bud Wes Della Volla at 9:30pm Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any
with host Ella Fitzgerald and Bud Light Draughts Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on drink, 5-9pm Multiple
Doors at 9pm, Shows all day and night The any drink, 2-9pm No TVs showing movies,
at 11:30pm and 1:30am DC Eagle Pizza Party (no Cover shows, sports Expanded
DJ Don T. in Ziegfelds bananas) Free slice of craft beer selection
DJ Steve Henderson in pizza with each drink while SHAWS TAVERN No Cover
Secrets Cover 21+ supplies last No Cover Brunch with Bottomless
21+ Mimosas, 10am-3pm COBALT/30 DEGREES
Happy Hour, 5-7pm $3 Happy Hour: Tops Down $6
Sunday, FREDDIES BEACH BAR
Champagne Brunch Buffet,
Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon,
$5 Rails and House Wines
Top Shelf, Bottoms Up $3
Rail, $3 Bud Light, 4-9pm
February 5 10am-3pm Crazy Hour, & Half-Priced Pizzas Monday Nights A Drag,
4-7pm Freddies Zodiac featuring Kristina Kelly
9 1/2 Monthly Contest, hosted TRADE Doors open at 10pm
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any by Regina Jozet Adams, Doors open 2pm Huge Showtime at 11:30pm
drink, 2-9pm Multiple 8-10pm Karaoke, Happy Hour: Any drink $3 Skyy Cocktails, $8 Skyy
TVs showing movies, 10pm-1am normally served in a cock- and Red Bull $8 Long
shows, sports Expanded tail glass served in a huge Islands No Cover, 18+
craft beer selection GREEN LANTERN glass for the same price,
Happy Hour, 4-9pm 2-10pm Beer and wine
Bears Can Party upstairs, only $4
featuring DJ Jeff Eletto,
6-10pm Mamas Trailer
Park Karaoke downstairs,
9:30pm-close
FEBRUARY 2, 2017 METROWEEKLY 41
 DC EAGLE NUMBER NINE COBALT/30 DEGREES TRADE FREDDIES BEACH BAR TRADE
Doors open at 8pm Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any DJ Honey Happy Hour: Doors open 5pm Huge Crazy Hour, 4-7pm $6 Doors open 5pm Huge
Happy Hour, 8-10pm $2 drink, 5-9pm No Cover Tops Down $6 Top Shelf, Happy Hour: Any drink Burgers Drag Bingo Happy Hour: Any drink
off everything Endless Bottoms Up $3 Rail, $3 Bud normally served in a cock- Night, hosted by Ms. normally served in a cock-
Happy Hour prices to any- SHAWS TAVERN Light, 4-9pm SIN Service tail glass served in a huge Regina Jozet Adams, 8pm tail glass served in a huge
one in a DC Eagle T-Shirt Happy Hour, 4-7pm $3 Industry Night, 10pm-close glass for the same price, Bingo prizes Karaoke, glass for the same price,
Monday Madness: Free Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $1 Rail Drinks all night 5-10pm Beer and wine 10pm-1am 5-10pm Beer and wine
Pool All Night and Day $5 Rails and House Wines only $4 only $4
$1 Bud and Bud Light and Half-Priced Pizzas FREDDIES BEACH BAR GREEN LANTERN
Draughts all night No Trivia with Jeremy, 7:30pm Crazy Hour, 4-7pm Happy Hour all night long, ZIEGFELDS/SECRETS
Cover 21+
TRADE
Karaoke, 8pm
Wednesday, 4pm-close All male, nude dancers
DJ Don T. in Secrets
FREDDIES BEACH BAR Doors open 5pm Huge GREEN LANTERN February 8 NELLIES SPORTS BAR 9pm Cover 21+
Crazy Hour, 4-7pm Happy Hour: Any drink Happy Hour all night long, SmartAss Trivia Night, 8pm
Singles Night Karaoke, normally served in a cock- 4pm-close 9 1/2 and 9pm Prizes include
8pm tail glass served in a huge
glass for the same price, NELLIES SPORTS BAR
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any
drink, 5-9pm Multiple
bar tabs and tickets to
shows at the 9:30 Club
Thursday,
GREEN LANTERN 5-10pm Beer and wine Beat the Clock Happy Hour TVs showing movies, $15 Buckets of Beer for February 9
Happy Hour all night long only $4 $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), shows, sports Expanded SmartAss Teams only
Open Mic Night Karaoke $4 (7-8pm) Buckets of craft beer selection Bring a new team member 9 1/2
with Kevin, 9:30pm-close Beer $15 Karaoke and No Cover and each get a free $10 Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any

JR.S
Tuesday, Drag Bingo
COBALT/30 DEGREES
Dinner drink, 5-9pm Multiple
TVs showing movies,
Showtunes Songs & February 7 NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: Tops Down $6 NUMBER NINE shows, sports Expanded
Singalongs, 9pm-close Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any Top Shelf, Bottoms Up $3 Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any craft beer selection
DJ James $3 Draft Pints, 9 1/2 drink, 5-9pm No Cover Rail, $3 Bud Light, 4-9pm drink, 5-9pm No Cover Music videos featuring
8pm-midnight Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any After 9pm, $3 Absolut, $4 Stoli and Stoli Flavors DJ Wess
drink, 5-9pm Multiple Bulleit & Stella and Miller Lite all night SHAWS TAVERN
NELLIES SPORTS BAR TVs showing movies, Gay Mens Chorus Open Happy Hour, 4-7pm $3 COBALT/30 DEGREES
Beat the Clock Happy Hour shows, sports Expanded SHAWS TAVERN Mic Night, hosted by India Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, Happy Hour: Tops Down $6
$2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), craft beer selection Half Priced Burgers & Larelle Houston, 10pm $5 Rails and House Wines Top Shelf, Bottoms Up $3
$4 (7-8pm) Buckets of No Cover Pizzas, 5pm-close $5 No Cover 21+ and Half-Priced Pizzas Rail, $3 Bud Light, 4-9pm
Beer $15 Texas Holdem House Wines & Sam Piano Bar with Jill, down- Stonewall Darts After-
Poker, 8pm Dart Boards Adams Drafts, 5pm-close stairs, 8pm Party, 6-10pm Locker
Room Thursday Nights,
10pm-close $3 Rail
Drinks, 10pm-midnight, $5

42 FEBRUARY 2, 2017 METROWEEKLY

FEBRUARY 2, 2017 METROWEEKLY 43
 Red Bull and Frozen Virgin
Drinks DJs Sean Morris
and MadScience Best
Package Contest at mid-
night, 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 Strip
Down Thursdays Happy
Hour Shirtless guys
drink $2 off all drinks,
8-10pm Jock or under-
wear gets $2 off all drinks,
10pm-2am Highwaymen
TNT hosts Hot Jock
Contest at 11:30pm
Prizes valued at over $250
No Cover 21+ Happy Hour: Any drink
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
44 FEBRUARY 2, 2017 METROWEEKLY
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
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any
drink, 5-9pm No Cover
SHAWS TAVERN
Happy Hour, 4-7pm $3
Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon,
$5 Rails and House Wines
& Half-Priced Pizzas $4
Heineken and Coronas,
5pm-close
TRADE
1410 14th St. NW
Doors open 5pm Huge
normally served in a cock-
tail glass served in a huge
glass for the same price,
5-10pm Beer and wine
only $4
ZIEGFELDS/SECRETS
All male, nude dancers
DJ 9pm Cover 21+ l
 LastWord.
People say the queerest things

Judge Gorsuchs judicial record is hostile toward

LGBT people
and his nomination to the US Supreme Court is unacceptable we oppose.

Lambda Legal CEO RACHEL B. TIVEN, in a statement denouncing President Donald Trumps nominee to fill the vacant
Supreme Court seat. Tiven said Judge Neil Gorsuch has promoted a vision of a society where some religions prevail over others,
and are invited to flout the law.

President Trump continues to be respectful and

supportive of LGBTQ rights,
just as he was throughout the election.

A statement from the White House, announcing that President Trump will retain workplace protections currently in place for
LGBTQ federal employees. The statement came after rumors that the president was preparing to sign an anti-LGBTQ
religious freedom executive order, something the White House has not yet denied.

Thats what you do when you see someone in need.

You help them.
ELLEN DEGENERES, speaking on her daytime talk show. After learning that Trump had watched Finding Dory in the White House,
DeGeneres gave an explanation of the films plot that in turn was also a condemnation of Trumps executive order banning immi-
grants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority nations. But the other animals help Dory animals that dont even need her,
animals that dont even have anything in common with her. They help her even though theyre
completely different colors, DeGeneres said.

This is a truly momentous day.

We can never undo the hurt caused, but we have apologized and taken action to right these wrongs.

British Justice Minister SAM GYIMAH, in a statement celebrating the passing of Turings Law, a law that pardons thousands
of gay British men convicted of gay sex crimes when such acts were illegal. The law applies posthumously to anyone who died
with such crimes on their record, while those still alive with can apply to have their record cleared. I am immensely proud that
Turings Law has become a reality under this government, Gyimah added.

We have an idiot for president

of the United States and I do not stand behind this idiot.

Orange Is the New Black star LEA DELARIA, speaking on the red carpet at Sundays Screen Actors Guild Awards. DeLaria also had
a message for First Lady Melania Trump: I just want to say Melania, honest, as a feminist Im worried about you.
Just give me a sign if you need me to rescue you.

46 FEBRUARY 2, 2017 METROWEEKLY