CONTENTS

DECEMBER 21, 2017 Volume 24 Issue 33

21
THE YEAR IN REVIEW:
THE HIGHS AND (MANY)
LOWS OF 2017
From Trump’s rise to power to battles on every front,
the LGBTQ community spent the year fighting
back attempts to deny equality.

32
By John Riley

SCENE STEALERS
The Year in Smiles. (Because after a year of Trump,
god knows we need it.)

Photography by Ward Morrison

49 BRAVURA PERFORMANCES
From dazzling musicals to gripping dramas, here’s the
best D.C.-area productions of 2017, as chosen by our critics

SPOTLIGHT: TRIXIE MATTEL p.7 OUT ON THE TOWN p.11

By André Hereford and Kate Wingfield

VIRTUAL HOLIDAY: ARTECHOUSE GALLERY p.13 NYE 2018: YOUR ULTIMATE GUIDE p.17
THE FEED: YEAR IN REVIEW p.21 SCENE: DUPLEX JANKY SWEATER PARTY p.28
COMMUNITY: PEER SUPPORT p.29 COVER STORY: SCENE STEALERS p.32
SCREEN GEMS: TEN BEST FILMS p.47
BRAVURA PERFORMANCES: TEN BEST STAGE PRODUCTIONS p.49
MUSIC: TEN BEST ALBUMS p.51 NIGHTLIFE p.53
MORE YEAR IN SCENE p.53 LISTINGS p.54 LAST KISS p.62

Real LGBTQ 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 André Hereford,
Sean Maunier, Troy Petenbrink, Kate Wingfield Webmaster David Uy Production Assistant Julian Vankim
Sales & Marketing Publisher Randy Shulman National Advertising Representative Rivendell Media Co. 212-242-6863 Distribution Manager Dennis Havrilla
Patron Saint Jim Graham Cover Photography Ward Morrison

Metro Weekly 1775 I St. NW, Suite 1150 Washington, DC 20006 202-638-6830
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© 2017 Jansi LLC.

4 DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY

 Spotlight
DAVID AYLLON

New Year’s Trixie

RuPaul’s Drag Race All Star Trixie Mattel will help usher in the new year at Town Danceboutique.

M
Y NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION WAS TO FIND SOME
balance in my life,” says Trixie Mattel, “but now I’m
already booked the first 60 days of the year in a row.
So I don’t see that happening.”
So what’s her fallback? Same as every other uncommon mor-
tal being: Lose weight. “When I left RuPaul’s All Stars, I was at a
weight of 183 pounds because I was so emotionally traumatized.
I would like to get down to that again.”
Mattel, who will appear in a special New Year’s Eve drag
show at Town, will also star on season 3 of RuPaul’s Drag Race:
All Stars, premiering January 25 — and she was honored to be
asked back.
“It’s my favorite show,” she says. “It’s a lot of people’s favorite
show.... I think RuPaul actually brings us all there because he
truly thinks we could all each win. It’s up to us to just do a good
job.” She concedes the competition can be grueling. “I don’t wish
it on anybody. Drag Race is so hard.”
Season 3 was filmed over the summer, but Mattel is contrac-
tually obligated not to breathe a word about its secrets. “If I said
anything, a laser would appear on my forehead,” she says.
Mattel is thrilled to be appearing at Town’s final New Year’s
Eve party, but is genuinely sad over the news of the club’s closing.
“The entire industry, everybody in the country, every drag
queen, we all know that club,” she says. “Every Drag Race queen
remembers that club by name. I’ve seen every gay club in the
world and that club is extremely nice. Big, spacious, clean, well-
staffed. They treat us so good. Its closing is a bummer. It’s like
your favorite band is breaking up.” —Randy Shulman

Trixie Mattel appears in a special New Year’s Eve Drag Show on Sunday, Dec. 31, at Town, 2009 8th St. NW. Doors open at 9 p.m.
and the show starts at 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $35. The club will open to the public at 11 p.m. Admission is $25.
Visit TownDC.com to purchase advance tickets or for more details.

DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY 7

 Spotlight
AN IRISH CAROL
For the sixth year in a row, Keegan
Theatre offers company member Matthew
Keenan’s homage to Dickens, albeit with
biting Irish humor and incisive candor.
Mark A. Rhea directs a cast featuring
himself plus Kevin Adams, Josh Sticklin,
Timothy Lynch, Mike Kozemchak,
Christian Montgomery, Caroline Dubberly,
and Daniel Lyons. Closes Sunday, Dec. 31.
Keegan Theatre, 1742 Church St. NW.
Tickets are $35 to $45. Call 202-265-3768
or visit keegantheatre.com.

A HANK WILLIAMS TRIBUTE

The Birchmere offers the 21st annual tribute to
one of the most heralded and influential country
singers of all time, this year including performances
by Robin & Linda Williams, Robbie Fulks, Patrick
McAvinue, and Mark Schatz, in addition to the
Grammy-winning lesbian couple Cathy Fink and
Marcy Marxer (pictured). Saturday, Dec. 30, at
7:30 p.m. The Birchmere, 3701 Mount Vernon Ave.,
Alexandria. Tickets are $29.50. Call 703-549-7500
or visit birchmere.com.

CASABLANCA
What is billed as the most popular and
enduring screen romance of all time
closes out the year as part of Landmark’s
West End Cinema Capital Classics. The
1943 Oscar-winning drama, directed by
Michael Curtiz (Mildred Pierce) and set
in the throes of World War II, stars
Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.
Screenings are Wednesday, Dec. 27, at
1:30, 4:30, and 7:30 p.m., 2301 M St. NW.
Happy hour from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Tickets
are $12.50. Call 202-534-1907 or visit
landmarktheatres.com.

8 DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY

 Spotlight

LES MISERABLES
The National Theatre plays host to
a touring production of Alain Boublil
and Claude-Michel Schönberg’s Tony-
winning musical phenomenon, featur-
ing new staging and reimagined scen-
ery inspired by the paintings of Victor
Hugo. Now to Jan. 7. National Theatre,
1321 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Call 202-
628-6161 or visit thenationaldc.org.

BROADWAY, HOSTED BY
FRANQI FRENCH
In its black box space, D.C.’s Drafthouse
Comedy presents a new variety show
featuring stand-up comedy, music and
sketches by a diverse group of local
female, minority and LGBTQ perform-
ers — and all hosted by a comedian who
has shared the stage with DL Hughley,
Todd Glass, Fortune Feimster, and
Judy Gold, among others. Wednesday,
Dec. 27. Doors at 8:15 p.m. Drafthouse
Comedy, 1100 13th St. NW. Tickets are
$5. Call 202-750-6411 or visit draft-
housecomedy.com.

THE STRAUSS SYMPHONY

OF AMERICA’S NEW YEAR’S
CONCERT
Bernhard Schneider conducts the Strauss orchestra
with soloists soprano Micaela Oeste and tenor Zoltan
Nyari, plus dancers from the Kiev-Aniko Ballet of
Ukraine and the International Champion Ballroom
Dancers in the annual “Salute to Vienna,” inspired
by the Austrian capital’s famed Neujahrskonzert
and offering Strauss waltzes, polkas and operetta
excerpts. Attila Glatz Concerts presents the 17th
annual concert, this year offered a day before New
Year’s. Saturday, Dec. 30, at 3 p.m. Music Center at
Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda.
Remaining tickets are $49 to $125. Call 301-581-5100
or visit strathmore.org.

DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY 9

AMY MEADOW

Out On The Town

Judy Chicago addresses a gathering of volunteers in the Dinner Party studio circa1978

JUDY CHICAGO: VISUAL ARCHIVE, THE DINNER PARTY EXHIBITION

As part of its 30th anniversary celebration, the National Museum of Women in the Arts honors the iconic artist through estab-
lishment of a new archive and opening of a new exhibition. The archive, in the Boyd Dettre Library and Research Center,
documents the artist’s work through photographs, slides, negatives, and printed ephemera spanning the 1960s through the
present. As such, it captures fleeting performance pieces such as her pyrotechnics and dry ice works as well as exhibitions
of drawings, paintings, sculpture and installations, including The Dinner Party. Meanwhile, the creation of that monumental
and radical installation is the focus of a temporary exhibition. Closes Friday, Jan. 5. 1250 New York Ave NW. Admission is
$10. Call 202-783-5000 or visit nmwa.org.

Compiled by Doug Rule
FILM
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME
Oliver (Armie Hammer) is an aca-
demic who comes to stay at a fam-
ily’s villa in 1980s Italy. There, he
strikes up a bond with 17-year-old
Elio (Timothée Chalamet), one
that changes both men’s lives as
their desire for one another takes
over. Luca Guadagnino directs the
coming-of-age tale, based on the
book by André Aciman, and critics
are falling head-over-heels for its
intellectual eroticism. Could it be
this year’s Moonlight? Now playing.
Area theaters. Visit fandaango.com.
(Rhuaridh Marr)
DOWNSIZING
The solution to humanity’s over-
population problem? Shrink people
down to just five inches tall. That’s
the life husband and wife Matt
Damon and Kristen Wiig choose
in a comedy drama from Oscar-
winner Alexander Payne (Sideways,
The Descendants), opting to live in
an idyllic miniaturized community.
Obviously, not everything is per-
fect, and critics are somewhat split
over whether the ensuing dilemmas
and realizations are worth watch-
ing. Opens Friday, Dec. 22. Area
theaters. Visit fandango.com. (RM)
MIRACLE ON 8TH STREET:
CHRISTMAS CLASSICS
The recently renovated Miracle
Theatre in the Barracks Row sec-
tion of Capitol Hill ends its run
of holiday-themed favorites with a
lineup including: Robert Zemeckis’
animated The Polar Express starring
Tom Hanks on Friday, Dec. 22, at
3:30 p.m.; an early Christmas clas-
sic, White Christmas starring Bing
Crosby, Danny Kaye, and Rosemary
Clooney, on Friday, Dec. 22, at 6
p.m.; Will Ferrell’s popular turn
in the 2003 comedy Elf on Friday,
Dec. 22, at 8:45 p.m.; and the James
Stewart signature It’s A Wonderful
Life on Saturday, Dec. 23, at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $6 to $8. 535 8th St. SE.
Call 202-400-3210 or visit themira-
cletheatre.com.
PITCH PERFECT 3
Much as Pitch Perfect 2 wasn’t as
good as Pitch Perfect, expect this
second sequel to have even less of
the original’s wit and charm. Still, it
should make for good holiday fun,
as Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson,
and Brittany Snow return for more
a capella fun. Opens Friday, Dec.
22. Area theaters. Visit fandango.
com. (RM)
THE GREATEST SHOWMAN
P.T. Barnum gave the world what
would become the Ringling Bros.
and Barnum & Bailey Circus, dubbed
“The Greatest Show on Earth.” This
musical drama puts Hugh Jackman
in the title role as Barnum, por-
traying him as a visionary show-
man who launched a revolutionary
touring circus. Surrounded by Zac
Efron, Michelle Williams, Zendaya,
Rebecca Ferguson, and oodles of
razzle-dazzle and period style, it’ll
be easy to forget that those same
circuses also ushered in a century of
animal rights issues, forcing tigers,
elephants and more to perform
unnatural tricks across America.
Perhaps just stay in and watch
something on Netflix instead. Now
playing. Area theaters. Visit fandan-
go.com. (RM)
STAGE
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
Craig Wallace returns as the miser-
ly Ebenezer Scrooge in Ford’s
Theatre’s production of Dickens’
Yuletide classic. The music-infused
adaptation was originally conceived
by Michael Baron. Closes Sunday,
Dec. 31. Ford’s Theatre, 511 10th
St. NW. Call 800-982-2787 or visit
fordstheatre.org.
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS
The Kennedy Center presents the
four-time Tony-winning musical
from 2015 based on the classic film,
directed by Christopher Wheeldon
and featuring a magical George and
Ira Gershwin score and a book by
Craig Lucas. To Jan. 7. Kennedy
Center Opera House. Tickets are

DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY 11


PHOTO CREDIT
NELLIE’S HOLIDAY DRAG BRUNCHES
Shi-Queeta Lee will host even more festive brunch
buffets over the holidays at everyone’s favorite gay
sports bar. Expect a “special holiday performance,”
and on Christmas Eve, the first mimosa or bloody
mary is on Nellie’s. Sunday, Dec. 24, and Dec. 31, at
10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Also, Monday, Jan. 1, at 1 p.m.
Nellie’s Sports Bar, 900 U St. NW. Tickets are $20.
Call 202-332-NELL or visit nelliessportsbar.com.
$59 to $175. Call 202-467-4600 or
visit kennedy-center.org.
ANNIE
The sun’ll come out tomorrow and
every day this holiday season at
Olney Theatre Center. Forty years
after composer Charles Strouse,
lyricist Martin Charnin, and book
writer Thomas Meehan teamed
up for the feel-good musical about
a determinedly optimistic little
orphan girl, countless other, real-
life kids have been inspired by
the popular work to become the-
ater performers (or at least the-
ater queens) in their own right.
The latest is Noelle Robinson, who
heads a cast of 32, including Rachel
Zampelli as Miss Hannigan, Kevin
McAllister as Daddy Warbucks, and
Wilson Jermaine Heredia as Rooster
Hannigan. Extended to Sunday, Jan.
7. Mainstage, Olney-Sandy Spring
Road, Olney, Md. Call 301-924-3400
or visit olneytheatre.org.
LOOKINGGLASS ALICE
Go down the rabbit hole with the
whole family in David Catlin’s con-
temporary retelling putting a fresh,
12 DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY
modern twist on the Lewis Carroll
classic tale. Jeremy B. Cohen
directs. Closes Sunday, Dec. 31.
Baltimore Center Stage, 700 North
Calvert St., Baltimore. Call 410-332-
0033 or visit centerstage.org.
THE LAST NIGHT OF BALLYHOO
Set amid the Atlanta Jewish com-
munity in 1939, Theater J pres-
ents the beautiful, comedic, and
enthralling romance by Alfred
Uhry, the writer of Driving Miss
Daisy. A handsome Eastern
European bachelor from Brooklyn
throws the Freitag family asunder
as they confront their own preju-
dices, desires, and beliefs. Closes
Sunday, Dec. 31. The Aaron and
Cecile Goldman Theater, Edlavitch
DCJCC, 1529 16th St. NW. Call 202-
777-3210 or visit theaterj.org.
THE PAJAMA GAME
In an unusual twist, artistic direc-
tor Molly Smith turns over direct-
ing reins for this season’s Golden
Age Musical to Alan Paul, who has
proven his mettle with musicals
at Shakespeare Theatre Company.
Choreographer Parker Esse joins to
try to rouse interest in this classic
battle-of-the-sexes. Closes Sunday,
Dec. 24. Mead Center for American
Theater, 1101 6th St. SW. Call 202-
488-3300 or visit arenastage.org.
THE SANTALAND DIARIES
An “unseasonably cynical” offer-
ing, The SantaLand Diaries is a
solo show adapted by Joe Montello
from humorist David Sedaris’ essay
about his time working in Macy’s
“Santaland.” Cameron Folmar stars
as a gay, out-of-work writer who
dons the costumes and proceeds to
spill the beans about what goes on
behind closed doors. Lynn Sharp
Spears directs. Closes Saturday,
Dec. 23. Drafthouse Comedy
Theater, 1100 13th Street NW.
Tickets are $20. Call 202-750-6411
or visit drafthousecomedy.com.
MUSIC
ALL-STAR CHRISTMAS DAY
JAZZ JAM
Among the many jazzy jingle balls on
offer this season, it’d be hard to beat
the Kennedy Center’s free Christmas
Day treat, the All-Star Christmas Day
Jazz Jam. The 19th annual event fea-
tures host/vibraphonist Chuck Redd,
drummer Lenny Robinson, trumpe-
teers Robert Redd and Tom Williams,
bassist James King, and vocalist
Delores Williams. Sunday, Dec. 25, at
6 p.m. Kennedy Center Millennium
Stage. Free. Call 202-467-4600 or
visit kennedy-center.org.
CATHERINE RUSSELL
& JOHN PIZZARELLI
“A Salute to Billie Holiday & Frank
Sinatra” is the focus of a concert
by two leading contemporary jazz
stars, teaming up for the first time.
The daughter of swing jazz veteran
Carline Ray and Louis Armstrong’s
music director Luis Russell,
Catherine Russell is a Grammy-
winning vocalist who toured with
David Bowie before going solo.
She’ll transport audiences to the
glory days of the genre with jazz
guitarist, vocalist and bandleader
John Pizzarelli, who has worked
with everyone from the Boston
Pops to Paul McCartney. Friday,
Jan. 5, at 8 p.m. Music Center at
Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane,
North Bethesda. Tickets are $40
to $95. Call 301-581-5100 or visit
strathmore.org.
ELLE VARNER
It’s been five years since we had
the pleasure of the charming debut
Perfectly Imperfect from the R&B
starlet, with her songs about getting
drunk but still being responsible
(“Refill,” “Oh What A Night”) and
loving oneself (“So Fly”). We’re still
waiting for her sophomore release,
with the tentative title 4 Letter Word
and preceded by the intriguingly
high vs. low-spirited R&B burner “F
It All.” Expect a sneak peek and an
update on the forthcoming release
when the 28-year-old chanteuse
stops by for a post-Christmas treat.
Thursday, Dec. 28. Doors at 7 p.m.
The Howard Theatre, 620 T St.
NW. Tickets are $32.50 to $70, plus
$10 minimum per person for all
tables. Call 202-588-5595 or visit
thehowardtheatre.com.
GOOD FOR THE JEWS
Rob Tannenbaum insists his musi-
cal comedy rock band is good for
the Jews — and not just in name.
“What we’re trying to present is an
evolved ideal, or an evolved repre-
sentation of what Jews are about,”
says Tannenbaum. Out are ancient
Hebrew melodies and stereotypi-
cal songs about dreidels. Instead,
there’s original songs evocative of
many of the 20th Century’s best
folk and pop songs, all written by
Jewish Americans, from Bob Dylan
to Paul Simon to Irving Berlin.
Tannenbaum and bandmate David
Fagin return to Jammin Java for a
popular annual show. Sunday, Dec.
24, at 7 p.m. Jammin’ Java, 227
Maple Ave. E. Vienna. Call 703-255-
3747 or visit jamminjava.com.
THE FOLGER CONSORT:
SEASONAL EARLY MUSIC OF
GERMANY
The lute/organ/viol consort
Arcadia Viols and vocal ensemble
Cathedra joins the Consort and
its viol/violin-playing co-founder
Robert Eisenstein for a holiday pro-
gram of music from the 15th to 17th
centuries, titled Lo How a Rose E’er
Blooming. Remaining performanc-
es Thursday, Dec. 21, at 7:30 p.m.,
and Friday, Dec. 22, at 8 p.m., and
Saturday, Dec. 23, at 4 and 8 p.m.
Folger Theatre, 201 East Capitol St.
SE. Tickets are $50. Call 202-544-
7077 or visit folger.edu.
THE ROOTS
What the Philadelphia hip-hop
ensemble The Roots lacks in main-
stream popular recognition they
more than make up for in influence.
Combining jazz and soul elements,
their live shows are frequently tout-
ed as among the best in the busi-
ness — and they’re also the house
band for Late Night with Jimmy
Fallon. Talk about a hard-working
band. They return for a post-holi-
day show. Thursday, Dec. 28. Show
at 8 p.m. Fillmore Silver Spring,
8656 Colesville Road, Silver Spring.
General admission tickets are
$69.50. Call 301-960-9999 or visit
fillmoresilverspring.com.
THE WASHINGTON CHORUS:
A CANDLELIGHT CHRISTMAS
New Artistic Director Christopher
Bell directs the annual “A
Candlelight Christmas,” featuring
the 200-voice chorus singing famil-
iar carols and holiday songs, plus
audience sing-alongs and a can-
dlelight processional. The Eleanor
Roosevelt High School Chamber
Choir and D.C. al Fine will join
the chorus. Thursday, Dec. 21, and
Friday, Dec. 22, at 7 p.m. Kennedy
Center Concert Hall. $18 to $72.
Call 202-342-6221 or visit thewash-
ingtonchorus.org.

WICKED JEZABEL
Pauline Anson-Dross’ popular les-
bian all-covers party-rock band
Wicked Jezabel has been rocking —
as well as raising money for various
good causes — all over the region
for a decade now. Next up is a con-
cert to ring in 2018, along with DJ
Sharon. Sunday, Dec. 31, at 9 p.m.
JV’s Restaurant, 6666 Arlington
Blvd. in Falls Church. Tickets are
$50 and include hors d’oeuvres,
party favors and midnight cham-
pagne toast. Call 703-241-9504 or
visit jvsrestaurant.com.

DANCE

HASNAIN BHATTI
STEP AFRIKA!: MAGICAL
MUSICAL HOLIDAY STEP SHOW
The local percussive dance com-
pany dedicated to the tradition of
stepping presents its annual holiday
step show. The focus is on getting

VIRTUAL HOLIDAY
North Pole animals — polar bears,
penguins — to step. And all to music
by “Frosty the Snowman,” putting
the needle on the record as spe-
cial guest DJ. To Dec. 30. Sprenger
Theatre in Atlas Performing Arts At the ArTecHouse Gallery, what you see, do,
Center, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets are
$18 to $40. Call 202-399-7993 or
and even drink is digitally enhanced.
visit atlasarts.org.

THE MOSCOW BALLET:
GREAT RUSSIAN NUTCRACKER
Dubbed the “Great Russian
Nutcracker,” this version of the hol-
iday ballet staple pays tribute to
Marius Petipa, who developed the
Nutcracker choreography — and, for
good measure, that of Swan Lake —
and is credited as “The Father of
Russian Ballet.” The Moscow Ballet
has been touring its Nutcracker in
the United States for 25 years now,
with an annual run at Strathmore.
Friday, Dec. 22, at 8 p.m., and
Saturday, Dec. 23, at 2 and 7 p.m.
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301
Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda.
Tickets are $48 to $88. Call 301-581-
5100 or visit strathmore.org.
COMEDY
THE SECOND CITY: NOTHING TO
LOSE (BUT OUR CHAINS)
Woolly Mammoth hosts perform-
er Felonious Munk and a cast of
Chicago’s sharpest comedians tell-
ing a hilarious and harrowing story
of how one African-American man
went from six years in a state pris-
on to a six-figure job in corporate
America to a new life as an activ-
ist and satirist. Anthony LeBlanc
directs this new show from the cre-
ators of last year’s hit Black Side of
the Moon... that combines sketch,
stand-up, and music. To Dec. 31. 641
D St. NW. Call 202-393-3939 or visit
woollymammoth.net.
A
S A KID, I ALWAYS WONDERED WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE IF YOU WERE
in the world of the Nutcracker, not just watching the performance of the ballet
from seats in a theater.” Now as an adult, Tati Pastukhova, who goes by her first
name, is making her “childhood imagination” a (virtual) reality at ArTecHouse, the art
gallery she co-founded with her partner Sandro.
“Visitors are really able to explore all the magic that is happening around the story,”
she says, describing the Imaginary World of the Nutcracker. Developed in collaboration
with digital art collectives Sila Sveta and Noirflux, the interactive, immersive exhibit is a
marvel of digital projection and movement, with “augmented reality” enhancements only
visible on a mobile device — from the namesake toy that appears to walk around you, to a
Christmas tree with a stockpile of presents. In addition to the Victorian-era parlor room
digitally filling the the gallery’s main hall via your phone, the exhibit also features a side
room with a dining table, featuring food that becomes a figment of your smartphone’s
imagination when you aim the camera in just the right spots. “I love the whole dining
experience,” says Tati. “The calorie-free table full of candies and pancakes.”
The Nutcracker is ArTecHouse’s fourth exhibit to build on the kind of art-fo-
cused events Tati and Sandro have produced for years through their Art Soiree brand.
ArTecHouse is the only full-time technology-centered art gallery anywhere in the world
that Tati knows of. “We’re really excited at the opportunities and the platforms that we’re
creating for a new generation of artists,” she says. “We’re no longer just passive viewers in
the audience, or looking at a painting from afar. The technology allows us to be a partici-
pator and a creator of our unique experience and connection with the artwork.”
That’s true even at ArTecHouse’s “Augmented Reality bar,” the first of its kind in the
states. “We have five cocktails that are augmented reality-activated,” Tati says, conceding
that each drink loses its digitally enhanced luster as soon as you take a sip. “It’s an ephem-
eral experience.” —Doug Rule
Imaginary World of the Nutcracker runs to Jan. 7 at ArTecHouse, 1238 Maryland Ave.
SW. Tickets for timed-entry sessions are $15, not including drinks. Visit artechouse.com.

DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY 13


CYRUS CHESTNUT TRIO
“The best jazz pianist of his generation,” Time music critic Josh Tyrangiel wrote earlier
this year about Baltimore’s versatile virtuoso Cyrus Chestnut, who 20 years ago portrayed
a Count Basie-inspired pianist in Robert Altman’s film Kansas City. He returns to D.C.’s
leading jazz venue for a weeklong run of shows with a bassist and drummer, culminating
in New Year’s Eve performances, both offering a three-course meal — with a midnight
glass of champagne at second seating — and featuring vocalist-led Integriti Reeves Band.
Tuesday, Dec. 26, through Saturday, Dec. 30, at 8 and 10 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 31, at 6:30
and 10 p.m. Blues Alley, 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW. Tickets are $36 to $41, or $116 to $166
for New Year’s Eve dinner/show packages, plus $12 minimum purchase. Call 202-337-4141
or visit bluesalley.com.
THE SECOND CITY:
TWIST YOUR DICKENS
The Kennedy Center offers another
run of the comedy troupe’s irrev-
erent and interactive parody twist
on A Christmas Carol. The largely
improvised tale is based on Dickens
but adapted by former The Colbert
Report writers Peter Gwinn and
Bobby Mort. To Dec. 31. Kennedy
Center Theater Lab. Tickets are $49
to $75. Call 202-467-4600 or visit
kennedy-center.org.
WASHINGTON IMPROV
THEATER: SEASONAL DISORDER
Washington Improv Theater’s
annual holiday extravaganza fea-
tures shows based on audience sug-
gestions, showing you the good, the
bad and the ugly of the season — all
laughs to get you through. Each
show is different, but all offer a grab
bag of spontaneous comedy and
long-form improv. This year’s show
also includes Citizens’ Watch, an
original production based on the TV
series Broadchurch and featuring
members from various WIT ensem-
bles as well as new faces to the
WIT stage, as well as performanc-
es by Chicago duo GIRLish and a
special New Year’s Eve spectacu-
lar. Weekends to Dec. 31. Source
14 DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY
Theater, 1835 14th St. NW. Tickets
are $12 in advance, $15 at the door,
or $30 for reserved, front-row seats.
Call 202-204-7770 or visit washing-
tonimprovtheater.com.
EXHIBITS
BOSCH TO BLOEMAERT: EARLY
NETHERLANDISH DRAWINGS
A collection of the finest drawings
by Netherlandish artists born before
1585 are now on display at the
National Gallery of Art. Drawn from
Rotterdam’s Museum Boijmans
Van Beuningen, works on display
include: Studies from the circle of
Rogier van der Weyden, two sheets
by Hieronymus Bosch, six drawings
by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, and
a selection of works by Abraham
Bloemaert Now to Jan. 7. National
Gallery of Art’s West Building, 6th
Street and Constitution Avenue
NW. Free. Call or visit nga.gov.
GREGORY FERRAND:
IT IS YOU (AND ME TOO)
You’ve likely seen striking work
by this artist before, particularly if
you’re a regular local theatergoer.
Mosaic Theater Company, GALA
Hispanic Theatre, and Theater J
have all commissioned Ferrand for
illustrations capturing key charac-
ters in key scenes used to promote
specific productions. In his first solo
show at Maryland’s contemporary
Adah Rose Gallery, the focus is on
stylized paintings portraying sub-
jects who feel isolated, alienated or
alone — even if surrounded by those
they love, and despite the ever-con-
nected state of modern-day life.
Opening reception with live music
by the band Terraplane is Saturday,
Nov. 18, from 6 to 8 p.m. Closes
Friday, Jan. 5. 3766 Howard Ave.
Kensington, Md. Call 301-922-0162
or visit adahrosegallery.com.
HOLIDAY STARKILLERS
STRIKE BACK
Two years ago, local painter and
mixed-media artist Andrew
Wodzianski curated an exhibition
of playful works from fellow Star
Wars-inspired artists and pegged to
the release of The Force Awakens.
Now that the sci-fi juggernaut is
back in theaters with The Last
Jedi, Wodzianski has once again
assembled another related “futur-
istic grandeur” show of paintings,
photographs, and mixed-media
sculptures by artists including
Metro Weekly contributor Scott G.
Brooks, Gregory Ferrand Artist,
Chris Bishop, Jared Davis, J.D.
Deardourff, and Steve Strawn.
All artwork is for sale, as are
hand-painted ornaments displayed
on a Christmas tree with an X-wing
Starfighter topper. Now to Jan. 20.
Anacostia Arts Center, 1231 Good
Hope Road SE. Call 202-631-6291 or
visit anacostiaartscenter.com.
IMAGING FREEDOM:
REFLECTIONS OF RESISTANCE
AND JOY
A Black Artists of D.C. exhibition
featuring 2D and 3D images by 12
artists declaring freedom through
resistance, collected experience and
past reflection. Daniel Brooking,
James Brown, Jr., Summer
Brown, Abiodun Eniyandunni,
T.H. Gomillion, Francine Haskins,
Esther Iverem, Magruder Murray,
Alanzo Robles-Gordon, Russell
Simmons, James Terrell, and
Zsudayka Nzinga Terrell are all rep-
resented in the exhibition, curated
by Rhea Beckett. Now to Jan. 14.
District of Columbia Arts Center
(DCAC), 2438 18th St. NW. Call
202-462-7833 or visit dcartscenter.
org.
LUMIA: THOMAS WILFRED AND
THE ART OF LIGHT
The Smithsonian American Art
Museum presents a groundbreak-
ing exhibition of 15 spellbinding,
image-projecting light sculptures
created nearly a century ago. This
was a time, of course, well before
technology made Thomas Wilfred’s
colorful moving light creations an
easy feat, and his contemporaries,
including Jackson Pollock, László
Moholy-Nagy and Katherine Dreier,
recognized the Danish-American
artist as an innovator. Yet the dif-
ficulty to maintain his sculptures
is why, after faddish mid-20th cen-
tury popularity, they’ve long been
relegated to the storage archives of
modern art museums, all-but for-
gotten along with the artist himself.
With works shown together for the
first time in nearly 50 years, Lumia,
organized by Keely Orgeman of the
Yale University Art Gallery, is help-
ing to restore Wilfred’s works and
reputation as a modern art pioneer.
Closes Sunday, Jan. 7. Smithsonian
American Art Museum, 8th and F
Streets NW. Call 202-633-1000 or
visit americanart.si.edu.
MAGGIE GOURLAY:
ADAPTATION/MIGRATION IN
THE ANTHROPOCENE
The National Zoo plays host to
CulturalDC’s Space4: Mobile Art
Gallery and the latest exhibition
presented in a former 40-foot ship-
ping container, running in tandem
with ZooLights (see separate entry).
In creating the immersive multime-
dia installation, local artist Maggie
Gourlay was inspired by the exotic
insect species that have migrated
to the U.S. via commercial shipping
containers and have become con-
 THE ARTIST’S PROCESS:
LANDSCAPE PAINTERS
Sketches and studies created by
members of the Washington Society
of Landscape Painters will be on
display in an exhibition focused on
the process of painting in the field
and trying to capture the essence
and important aspects of what
might be included in the final work.
A number of the final pieces will
be exhibited alongside the rough
and quick sketches. Through Jan.
7. The Athenaeum, 201 Prince St.,
Alexandria. Call 703-548-0035 or
visit nvfaa.org.
FOOD & DRINK
BIER BARON’S 1ST ANNUAL
CASK FESTIVAL
To mark its 7th anniversary, the
subterranean beer hall has opted
to launch an annual cask compe-
tition among roughly two dozen
craft breweries from across the
country. Attendees will receive
a keepsake glass and the abili-
ty to taste and vote on the best
cask, with the winning brewery
earning the plaque “The Best in
NICHOLAS RODRIGUEZ Cask.” Participating area breweries
include 3 Stars, Atlas, DC Brau, and
Now that his work portraying Captain von Trapp in the Right Proper from D.C., Denizens
national touring production of The Sound of Music is a from Maryland, and Crooked Run
wrap, the New York-based performer ventures down Brewing, Heritage, Mad Fox, and
to Richmond for a New Year’s Eve cabaret. The focus RedBeard Brewing from Virginia.
Saturday, Jan. 6, from 2 to 10 p.m.
is The First Time — also the name of his 2016 solo debut Bier Baron Tavern, 1523 22nd St.
— and includes everything from a gospel jazz version NW. Tickets are $27.37, or $69.57
of “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning” to a sexy cover of for VIP including a food voucher
for $20, a complimentary ticket to
Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.” Sunday, Dec. 31, at 8 and 10:30 a future beer event or dinner and
p.m. Richmond Triangle Players, 1300 Altamont Ave. other swag. Call 202-293-1887 or
Richmond. Tickets are $45 to $65. Call 804-346-8113 or search “cask festival” at eventbrite.
visit rtriangle.org. com.
HANK’S PASTA BAR: SEASONAL
SEVEN FISHES DISH
servation threats. Closes Monday, SPECTACULAR GEMS FROM Chef Jamie Leeds puts her own spin
Jan. 1. Outside the Visitor’s Center, THE MERRIWEATHER POST on the celebratory Feast of the Seven
3001 Connecticut Ave. NW. Call COLLECTION Fishes, offering a country-style
202-633-4800 or visit nationalzoo. Marjorie Merriweather Post had version of bouillabaisse, a bowl of
si.edu. one of the most remarkable collec- white wine, herbs, thick tomato
tions of jewelry of the 20th century. sauce and overflowing with seven
PORTRAITS OF THE WORLD: For its latest exhibition, her former types of seafood in one place: lump
SWITZERLAND estate displays and shares stories crabmeat, catfish, squid, shrimp,
Once a year, the Smithsonian’s about more than 50 exquisite acces- mussels, clams, and octopus. The
National Portrait Gallery plans sories from the late cereal heiress stew is served with housemade lin-
to showcase one portrait created and the historic gems that went into guine and available throughout the
by a foreign artist in an exhibi- making them. Leading designers entire month of December. Located
tion designed around that work, Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Harry at 600 Montgomery St., Alexandria.
via a series intended to highlight Winston and Verdura are represent- Price is $34. Call 571-312-4117 or
the global context of American ed in the collection, which includes visit hankspastabar.com.
portraiture. The inaugural exhibi- pieces on loan from other muse-
tion focuses on “Femme en Extase ums and private collections. Closes
(Woman in Ecstasy),” a portrait of
Italian dancer Giulia Leonardi by
Sunday, Jan. 7. Hillwood Estate,
4155 Linnean Ave. NW. Suggested
ABOVE
Swiss painter Ferdinand Hodler,
complemented by a selection of
donation is $18. Call 202-686-5807
or visit HillwoodMuseum.org.
AND BEYOND
works from the gallery’s collec-
tion featuring American dancers, GEORGETOWN GLOW
Now in its fourth year, this light
notably Isadora Duncan, Martha
art exhibition presented by the
Graham, Doris Humphrey, Ted
Georgetown Business Improvement
Shawn, and Ruth St. Denis. Now
District features eight displays by
to Nov. 12, 2018. 8th and F Streets.
multidisciplinary artists. Billed
NW. Call 202-633-8300 or visit npg.
si.edu. as a way to “re-imagine the sea-
son of light,” the works, curated
16 DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY
by Deirdre Ehlen MacWilliams
and many presented in collabora-
tion with Light Art Collection and
the Amsterdam Light Festival,
include: Aqueous by Jen Lewin of
New York, an interactive, walkable
landscape of meandering pathways
in Georgetown Waterfront Park;
Horizontal Interference by Joachim
Sługocki and Katarzyna Malejka
from Poland, a colorful cord struc-
ture connecting trees and light
poles in Washington Harbour; Open
Lounge by Géraud Périole, with 20
handcrafted chandeliers made of
acrylic, plastic and rope hanging in
Cady’s Alley; Glow Structural Remix
by Robin Bell of D.C., a 15-minute
looped video of historic imagery
with holiday colors and shapes har-
kening the activities of the once
bustling Old Georgetown Theater;
and The Neighbors by OmbréLumen
- Arthur Gallice & Herve Orgeas,
four figures made of LED bent
wires to create a clan of glowing
people along Wisconsin Avenue.
Additionally, Philips Color Kinetics
has lit the smokestack at the Ritz-
Carlton Georgetown and the C&O
Canal bridge at Georgetown Park,
and MHF Productions has strung
white lights on nearly all the build-
ings radiating out from the main
intersection of Wisconsin Avenue
and M Street NW. Now through
Jan. 7, every night from 5 to 10 p.m.
Visit GeorgetownGlowDC.com for
more information, including a free
Curator’s Audio Tour set to music.
LIGHTS ON THE BAY
More than 70 animated and sta-
tionary displays depicting region-
al and holiday themes factor into
the annual holiday show, featuring
a two-mile scenic drive along the
shores of the Chesapeake Bay. A
North Pole Village & Enchanted
Fairy Tales is a new edition at this
year’s event, a benefit for the SPCA
of Anne Arundel County. On dis-
play every evening from 5 to 10
p.m. through Jan. 1. Sandy Point
State Park, 1100 E. College Parkway,
Annapolis. Admission is $15 per car,
or $30 to $50 for larger vans and
buses. Visit lightsonthebay.org.
NATIONAL ZOO’S ZOOLIGHTS
More than 500,000 colorful
Christmas lights illuminate life-
sized animal silhouettes, dancing
trees, buildings, and walkways,
plus a light show set to music,
during this annual holiday event
at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo.
All that, plus select animal houses
will be open and displaying noc-
turnal creatures, including the
Small Mammal House, the Great
Ape House and Reptile Discovery
Center. Every night except Dec. 24
and 25 until Jan. 1. National Zoo,
3001 Connecticut Ave. NW. Free,
courtesy of Pepco. Call 202-633-
4800 or visit nationalzoo.si.edu. l
New Year’s Eve 2018:
Your Ultimate Guide
There are an abundance of options to ring in 2018 at area restaurants, concert
venues, gay bars and clubs. By Doug Rule
C
HANCES ARE, YOU’RE
as eager to end 2017
as the next gay.
Yet it’s worth taking a lit-
tle extra time to determine
how — and where — you
want to ring in 2018.
A festive yet temperate
approach would be to grab
a sensible dinner and coast
with bubbly until midnight.
You can do just that at the
BEACON BAR & GRILL (202-
872-1126, bbgwdc.com),
which starts New Year’s
Eve with four courses and
then keeps going, with
dancing to crowd-pleas-
ing tunes by DJ John and
unlimited champagne all
night ($67.50). Petworth’s
TAQUERIA DEL BARRIO (202-
723-0200, taqueriadelbar-
rio.com) offers an especially
affordable pre-game dining
option: from 4 to 7:30 p.m.,
you can savor a prix fixe
menu along with a bottle
of sparkling white or rose
wine ($75 for two).
Penn Quarter’s CUBA
LIBRE (202-408-1600, cub-
alibrerestaurant.com) also
starts the evening early,
with tapas served at 4:30
p.m. Yet for those who pre-
fer to dine and dance in the
same spot, wait until after 9
p.m. and make a reservation
for a five-course Cuban meal
and a reserved spot as edible
salsa makes way for danc-
ing salsa ($119). For a more
French affair, LE DESALES
(202-506-6856, ledesales.
com), down the alley from
the Mayflower Hotel, offers
three- and four-course
prix fixe menus from chef
Raphael Francois (New
York’s Le Cirque). Better
still, diners can indulge in
an additional course: com-
plimentary entry to the
swanky Eighteenth Street
Lounge nearby ($60 to $75).
Across the river, you’ll
find reasonably priced
French fare prepared by a
classically trained French
chef, this time in a resort
setting. At BRABO (703-894-
3440, braborestaurant.com)
in Old Town’s Kimpton
Lorien Hotel, Sebastien
Rondier whips up a five-
course indulgence, ending
with a midnight champagne
toast, mais oui ($95).
If, by this time, you’re
ready to gay it up, GREEN
LANTERN (202-347-4533,
greenlanterndc.com) offers
a party hosted by 495
Bears and featuring DJ
Jeff Eletto, plus a “stuffed
bear drop” at midnight ($5
cover). A few blocks up 14th
Street, DJs Aaron Riggins
and Kris Sutton will spin
a New Queer’s Eve party
at TRADE (202-986-1094,
tradebardc.com, no cover).
A block up and over from
there, NUMBER NINE (202-
986-0999, numberninedc.
com) serves its usual 2-for-1
happy hour prices from 5 to
9 p.m. and DJ Chord spins
in the new year (no cover).
On 17th Street, you can have
your shot at winning cash or
drink tickets with the tradi-
tional midnight balloon drop
at JR.’S (202-328-0900, jrs-
bar-dc.com, no cover). Or
dance the night away with
the “Yassss Queen!!” party
at COBALT (202-232-4416,
cobaltdc.com) with DJs
Drew G and Letrero ($10, or
$50 for “Prime Ministered”
with call open bar, or $100
for the “Royal Treatment”
top shelf open bar).
Over to Shaw, the DIRTY
GOOSE (202-629-1462, the-
dirtygoose.com) will start
the day with a Bottomless
Party Brunch with DJ
Farrah Flosscett from 1 to
4 p.m. — but stick around
and drink half-priced cham-
pagne until close ($35 for
the brunch, no cover in the
evening). Across the street
NELLIE’S (202-332-6355,
nelliessportsbar.com) has
its queens doing brunch for
days — both Sunday and
Monday — but in between,
the colorful corner spot
presents its popular DJs,
Lemz and Vodkatrina,
tag-teaming the turntables
as the calendar turns to 2018
(no cover). Across the river
in Crystal City, FREDDIE’S
BEACH BAR (703-685-0555,
freddiesbeachbar.com) also
has its drag queens book-
ending the holiday with
Champagne Brunches, but
the centerpiece is a New
Year’s Eve Extravaganza
with drag show and karaoke
throughout the night ($35
cover).
There’s still more drag at
TOWN (202-234-8696, town-
dc.com) which will usher
DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY
in its final year with Trixie
Mattel joining the Ladies
of Town in an early eve-
ning drag show at 9:30 p.m..
That’s followed by danc-
ing to DJ Wess downstairs
and Ed Bailey and gay club
sensation Joe Gauthreaux
upstairs ($35 for admission
with drag show, $25 for
post-drag show at 11 p.m.).
A few blocks away, UPROAR
(202-462-4464, facebook.
com/uproarloungedc) pres-
ents its popular DJs Mike
Babbitt and Matt Pierce
pairing up for an especially
woofy way to ring in the
new year (no cover)
To make an easy excur-
sion out of town, the
BALTIMORE EAGLE (410-
200-9858, thebaltimoreea-
gle.com) will celebrate
its high-flying revival by
staying open for 38 hours
“straight,” starting at noon
on Saturday, Dec. 31, with
Queens Who Brunch,
and including two nights
of dancing until sunrise
with DJs Kuhmeleon,
Ryan Doubleyou, Vince
Christopher, and Scott
Howard. Oh, and a perfor-
mance by singer Charvoni
and ’90s-era hitmakers
Black Box (“Everybody,
Everybody,” “Ride On
Time”) ($30 including an
Appetizer Buffet at 2 a.m.,
or $100 for VIP seating,
Open Bar from 9 to 11 p.m.,
and a Grand Buffet).
At the other area fetish
preserve named after the
national bird, the DC EAGLE
(202-347-6025, dceagle.
com) hosts the popular
DistrktC party with veteran
star club DJ Tony Moran
ushering in 2018’s first sun-
rise.($50 to $75). Also on
the eastern edge of town,
D.C.’s reigning drag queen
Ella Fitzgerald is the chief
draw at ZIEGFELD’S (202-
863-0607, ziegfelds.com),
though, of course, the huge
venue has a full roster of
“Ladies of Illusion” working
starting at 10:30 p.m., with
17
DJ Don T spinning. Upstairs
comes the Gentlemen of
No Illusion, aka the Men
of SECRETS, shaking to the
sounds of DJ tim e’ starting
at 9 p.m.
Other non-LGBTQ-spe-
cific options around town:
U STREET MUSIC HALL
(202-588-1880, ustreetmu-
sichall.com) moves into
2018 with the homegrown
“Moombahton” grooves of
Nadastrom ($12); the BLACK
CAT (202-667-4490, black-
catdc.com) offers its popu-
lar New Year’s Eve Ball with
performances by Peaches
O’Dell and her Orchestra
and Tony Anthony and his
Malvivants upstairs and
DJ Dredd spinning hip-
hop, pop, and soul on the
Backstage($30); HAMILTON
LIVE (202-787-1000, the-
hamiltondc.com) presents
two shows, with a perfor-
mance in the intimate Loft
Bar by the local 19th Street
Band ($35), and Bonerama
18 DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY
and New Orleans Suspects
on its main stage ($43.50 to
$58.50); and the THEATER
AT MGM NATIONAL HARBOR
(844-346-4664, mgmna-
tionalharbor.com) presents
the Deloreans performing
party jams from decades
ago with “New Year’s
Eve Rewind: A Very ’80s
Celebration” including an
open bar ($175).
If you’d like to stray from
the gay with a guarantee of
a good time, the legend-
ary jazz club BLUES ALLEY
(202-337-4141, bluesalley.
com) presents the return
of renowned multi-genre
pianist Cyrus Chestnut and
his trio, with assist from
singer Integriti Reeves and
her band, plus all the par-
ty-favor fixins and a three-
course meal starting at 10
p.m. ($160). In a similar
vein, the KENNEDY CENTER
(202-467-4600, kenne-
dy-center.org) offers its
annual Grand Foyer Party
with performances by the
jazzy soul bands Vintage#18
and Mark G. Meadows &
the Movement for free —
provided you pony up for
another show or dine at the
Roof Terrace that evening
in the arts edifice.
But to ring in 2018 in a
way you absolutely couldn’t
have done just one year ago,
head down to Southwest’s
new Wharf. There you’ll
find the ANTHEM (202-265-
0930, theanthemdc.com)
and a concert with D.C.’s
internationally renowned
downtempo collective
Thievery Corporation,
international gypsy-punk
group Gogol Bordello, and
hometown go-go heroes
Trouble Funk ($75 to $125).
Yet if that two-month-old
venue’s just not new enough
for you, venture two blocks
down to UNION STAGE
(877-987-6487, unionstage.
com), which will officially
open a few days before New
Year’s. On the eve of 2018,
the owners of Virginia’s
Jammin’ Java will be trum-
peting their newest venue
with an all-ages “Emo Night
Brooklyn” party featuring
Ryan Key, former lead sing-
er of emo band Yellowcard,
who will DJ a night of mil-
lennium-turning tunes ($25
to $50).
Lastly, if you plan it
properly, you could opt
for a third day of brunch-
ing on Monday, Jan. 1. And
your third just might be the
charm at the Hotel Monaco
in Penn Quarter, with its
second-annual Fortune
Teller’s Brunch at the DIRTY
HABIT (202-449-7095, dirt-
yhabitdc.com). In addition
to a full brunch menu, din-
ers receive fortune cook-
ies with prizes inside and
on-site tarot card and “lip-
sology” readings. In other
words, pucker up for a
brighter future, or at least a
better year. l
 theFeed
THE YEAR IN REVIEW:
THE HIGHS AND (MANY) LOWS OF 2017
From Trump’s rise to power to battles on every front, the LGBTQ community
spent the year fighting back attempts to deny equality. By John Riley
I
T’S AN UNDERSTATEMENT TO SAY THAT THE
LGBTQ community was sent reeling from Donald
Trump’s election in 2016, a year dubbed the “worst in
history” because of the negative atmosphere that surround-
ed many of the year’s major developments. Unfortunately,
2017 seemed to be shaping up to be just as dreadful.
Soon after the president took office, each new day brought
a deluge of hostile or harmful actions by the White House
and its political allies. As a result, LGBTQ people spent the
first part of the year careening from one crisis to another,
from “bathroom bills” to threats to cut critical health care
programs to an offensive and impractical ban on transgender
military members.
We were under constant attack, it seemed — from 1600
Pennsylvania Avenue to Congress to state legislatures to the
courts. As a result, LGBTQ advocates, relatively comfortable
under the Obama administration, have found themselves on
defense for the first time in a while.
By the end of the year, the roles had somewhat reversed,
as the LGBTQ community churned out victories in the
courts and at the ballot box, culminating in a mini-”blue
wave” that saw LGBTQ candidates and allies elected to local
offices throughout the country. The resistance, it seems, has
finally learned how to fight back.
JANUARY
In the waning days of the Obama administration, former
Secretary of State JOHN KERRY apologized for the State
Department’s role in discriminating against and purging
LGBTQ people during the “Lavender Scare” of the 1950s.
And, in a controversial decision, President Obama commuted
the sentence of CHELSEA MANNING, the transgender soldier
who was jailed for leaking sensitive military information to
Wikileaks. Manning was released from prison in May.
As Inauguration Day moved closer, the LGBTQ com-
munity prepared for the worst. The impact was immediate:
After Trump was sworn in, the White House erased a page
dealing with LGBTQ issues (as well as climate change and
women’s rights), a clear message that Trump would not
support them. In a bit of poetic justice, however, Trump’s
inauguration accidentally contributed to LGBTQ rights:
D.C.’s BUTTERCREAM BAKESHOP donated proceeds from his
inauguration cake to the Human Rights Campaign.
The day after the inauguration, the crowds that had
turned out for the President were dwarfed by the number of
people who participated in the WOMEN’S MARCH. A symbol
of the resistance against the Trump administration, it drew
more than half a million protesters to Washington, D.C. and
almost 3 million more at hundreds of “sister marches” across
the world. Those marches set the tone for the rest of the
year: with the government pushing Trump’s divisive agenda,
2017 would be a year of resistance.
FEBRUARY
Transgender youth had a rare occasion to celebrate as
February kicked off, when the BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA
lifted a ban on transgender boys. Later in the year, the group
announced it would allow girls to become scouts as well.
Nationally, LGBTQ activists debated whether they were
overreacting to the Trump administration. At one point, the
Log Cabin Republicans suggested that the LGBTQ left were
“conjuring demons where there are none.” Unfortunately,
that blew up in their faces just days later when the Trump
administration rescinded Obama-era protections for trans-
gender students. The move, by Education Secretary BETSY
DEVOS and Attorney General JEFF SESSIONS, was taken in
spite of the fact that a coalition of parents of transgender
youth lobbied to keep the guidance in place.
Meanwhile, the Oscars provided some late-month sus-
pense when MOONLIGHT, a coming-of-age drama about a gay
black man, won Best Picture — after La La Land was initially
and incorrectly announced. It makes Moonlight the first
LGBTQ movie to win Hollywood’s highest honor.
MARCH
March was a rough month for the D.C. community. First,
it was rocked by news that the number of bias crimes in
2016 had increased since 2015, with most of those comit-
ted against the LGBTQ community. Shortly after, LGBTQ
community center CASA RUBY had a rock thrown through
its glass front door after a man entered and began harassing
some of the center’s transgender clients. And across town
at the U.S. Capitol, a man stomped on Congressman ALAN
LOWENTHAL’s Pride flag, taking offense at its placement next
to the American flag.
In a moment of gross hypocrisy, anti-gay Oklahoma
Republican State Sen. RALPH SHORTEY was charged with
soliciting sex from a 17-year-old boy after they were discov-
ered by police in a motel room. Shortey later pleaded guilty
to child sex trafficking to avoid charges of child pornography
and soliciting a minor.
In Virginia, Gov. Terry McAuliffe vetoed a bill that
would have allowed people to discriminate against LGBTQ
DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY 21
 theFeed
individuals, while Kentucky Gov. MATT BEVIN signed an
almost identical measure into law. But McAuliffe may have
the last laugh: Former North Carolina Gov. PAT MCCRORY
complained that he was having trouble finding a job, after
supporting the anti-trans HB 2 “bathroom bill.”
APRIL
Speaking of HB 2, North Carolina Gov. ROY COOPER and
Republican leaders agreed to “repeal” it, while keeping
some of its anti-LGBTQ provisions in place. As a result, the
NCAA returned sports championships to North Carolina
and the business community stopped penalizing the state.
Unfortunately, localities are barred from passing their own
pro-LGBTQ ordinances until December 2020, and bathroom
restrictions for transgender people will remain in place for
the foreseeable future. Hardly a resounding victory.
A huge win came after the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals agreed to hear lesbian professor KIM HIVELY’s law-
suit against IVY TECH COMMUNITY COLLEGE. They ruled the
college had discriminated against her because of her sexual
orientation, marking the first time a federal court has found
LGBTQ people should be protected at work under Title VII
of the Civil Rights Act.
The Virginia Supreme Court threw out a lawsuit
attempting to overturn the Fairfax County School Board’s
pro-LGBTQ nondiscrimination policy, and GAVIN GRIMM,
the trans student who sued his Virginia school board over
its anti-LGBTQ attitudes, was named one of Time’s “Most
Influential People of 2017.”
Perhaps the biggest political story of April was the
confirmation of Supreme Court Justice NEIL GORSUCH.
After Democrats tried to block, Republicans exercised the
“nuclear option” and killed Senate filibusters, and Gorsuch,
who has an anti-LGBTQ record, was ultimately confirmed.
It swung the nation’s highest court back into conservative
hands.
Globally, human rights advocates highlighted the impris-
onment, torture, and killing of men and women suspected
of being LGBTQ in the Russian republic of Chechnya. As
the death toll rose, and a number of first-hand reports from
victims came to light, U.S. politicians began speaking out
against the abuses. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
NIKKI HALEY condemned the anti-LGBTQ persecution, as
did Florida Sen. MARCO RUBIO and the State Department
(though not Secretary of State REX TILLERSON directly).
LGBTQ groups, including GLAAD, began demanding that
the Trump White House acknowledge the crisis. Amid
Trump’s silence, former Vice President JOE BIDEN and
former Secretary of State HILLARY CLINTON spoke out, with
Clinton echoing her famous line that “gay rights are human
rights.”
The rest of April wasn’t much better. Republican Sen.
MIKE ENZI apologized after suggesting that violence against
gender-nonconforming people was acceptable, saying that
a man who gets beat up for wearing a tutu “is asking for
it.” Millions watched as a SURVIVOR contestant was pub-
licly outed as transgender by a disgruntled castmate. BILL
O’REILLY, who spent years seeding anti-LGBTQ stories on
FOX News, was fired for sexual harassment. And, closer to
home, an executive producer of CAPITAL PRIDE was forced
22 DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY
to resign after activists uncovered a blog post criticizing
Democrats’ reliance on social issues, including transgender
restroom use, in the 2016 election.
MAY
In May, activists prepared for a “religious freedom” execu-
tive order that would legalize anti-LGBTQ discrimination,
but it failed to materialize. Instead, Trump directed the IRS
to be more lenient on churches that inject themselves into
the political arena, fueling speculation that First Daughter
IVANKA TRUMP had helped scuttle a much more harmful
order.
As Trump remained silent, world leaders continued
to speak out on the alleged persecution of LGBTQ people
in Chechnya, including British Prime Minister THERESA
MAY, German Chancellor ANGELA MERKEL, and French
President EMMANUEL MACRON. The Chechen government
was accused of encouraging families to carry out “honor
killings” of LGBTQ relatives — in one instance, a gay teen
was reportedly thrown from a building after his family dis-
covered he was gay. And Chechen leader RAMZAN KADYROV
continued to deny not only that any persecution was going
on, but that there were even any gay people in Chechnya.
JUNE
June brought Pride Month and a host of celebrations for
the LGBTQ community. In a show of support for Pride,
D.C. installed temporary rainbow crosswalks and perma-
nent rainbow signpost banners on 17th Street NW. On the
morning of the CAPITAL PRIDE FESTIVAL, thousands took to
the streets for the MARCH FOR LGBTQ EQUALITY, a national
event to protest the Trump administration’s targeted attacks
on the community. Saturday evening’s celebratory Capital
Pride Parade, however, was cut short when No Justice, No
Pride, a group of grassroots activist urging, among other
things, Pride cut its ties with corporate sponsor Wells Fargo,
successfully disrupted the route, and forced several sponta-
neous reroutings.
Sadly, on Pride weekend, longtime D.C. Councilmember
and former head of the Whitman-Walker Clinic JIM GRAHAM
passed away. And in another blow to the local community,
TOWN DANCEBOUTIQUE, a longtime staple in the D.C. night-
life scene, announced that it would close on July 1, 2018.
And, continuing his trend of erasure, President Trump’s
White House broke with tradition and failed to issue a proc-
lamation recognizing June as LGBTQ Pride Month.
JULY
In July, Republicans failed to repeal the AFFORDABLE CARE
ACT, a relief to LGBTQ advocates who had held rallies
and sit-ins at congressional offices to protest the repeal.
Similarly, House Republicans failed to insert an anti-trans-
gender amendment into the annual defense bill, which
would have banned the military from paying for transi-
tion-related healthcare for transgender troops. However,
any celebration ended just days later.
President Trump shocked the world when he tweeted
that transgender individuals would be banned from serving
 theFeed
openly in the U.S. military. Trump justified the ban by cit-
ing the costs of transgender health care — which he falsely
claimed were exorbitant — and alleging problems associated
with accommodating transgender individuals.
Some good news in July came from the scientific com-
munity, after a study of serodiscordant couples found that
being “undetectable” — or, regularly taking antiretroviral
medicine to suppress the HIV virus — “effectively prevents”
transmission to an HIV-negative partner. It represented a
landmark moment in the fight against HIV.
AUGUST
August brought disturbing news about the mental health of
LGBTQ young people, with statistics showing spikes in calls
to suicide hotlines following the Trump administration’s
anti-LGBTQ actions. One in four D.C. teens has attempted
suicide, highlighting the urgent need for interventions and
support services.
Anti-LGBTQ forces, emboldened under Trump, sued the
SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER for calling homophobic
conservative organizations “hate groups.” MAT STAVER, head
of the conservative legal firm LIBERTY COUNSEL, claimed
that right-wing groups are under attack, and, incredibly,
compared their plight to Jews who lived in Nazi Germany.
Locally, one of the men involved in the slaying of trans-
gender woman Keyonna Blakeney in a Rockville hotel room
was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Meanwhile, KAREN
KEYS-GAMARRA, a pro-LGBTQ candidate, won an open seat
on the Fairfax County School Board, replacing JEANETTE
HOUGH, who had won the seat by campaigning against the
district’s pro-LGBTQ nondiscrimination policy.
SEPTEMBER
In a surprising move, President Trump nominated RICHARD
GRENELL, an openly gay man, to be U.S. ambassador to
Germany. Unfortunately, Grenell’s nomination was over-
shadowed by the Department of Justice supporting busi-
ness owners who want to discriminate against gay people
and same-sex weddings, such as JACK PHILLIPS, a baker at
Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colo., who violated
Colorado law when he refused to bake a cake for a gay cou-
ple’s wedding in 2012.
The LGBTQ community nationwide mourned the death
of longtime LGBTQ rights activist EDIE WINDSOR, who was
at the center of the landmark Supreme Court case that found
part of the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional. In an
unplanned yet fitting tribute to Windsor’s efforts, more than
100 corporations expressed their support for the EQUALITY
ACT, a bill that would amend the Civil Rights Act to include
LGBTQ people.
September also brought a rush of fall TV premieres and
a loud declaration from talk show host ELLEN DEGENERES,
who called President Trump “dangerous” and said she
would not allow him to appear on her show. Elsewhere
on NBC, landmark gay sitcom WILL & GRACE returned to
the air after eleven years, picking up two Golden Globe
nominations and a renewal through the 2018-19 season.
Meanwhile, new ground was broken when STAR TREK:
DISCOVERY actors ANTHONY RAPP and WILSON CRUZ became
24 DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY
the first on-screen gay couple in a Trek franchise.
OCTOBER
This was the month that rocked the entertainment world,
as Hollywood mogul HARVEY WEINSTEIN was brought down
by a string of sexual harassment and assault allegations. The
#METOO social media campaign highlighted the widespread
nature of the problem, and the nation watched as sexual
misconduct allegations were brought against politicians,
directors, actors, and other celebrities. The LGBTQ commu-
nity was not immune: Star Trek’s ANTHONY RAPP accused
House of Cards star KEVIN SPACEY of sexually harassing him
when he was fourteen. Spacey apologized, saying he did not
remember the incident, and attempted to deflect by coming
out as gay, which outraged LGBTQ people, who accused
him of playing into stereotypes of gay men as predators and
pedophiles. Soon, other stories of harassment and assault
emerged against the actor, and NETFLIX ultimately sacked
Spacey and refocused the show’s sixth and final season on
ROBIN WRIGHT.
Undeterred by sexual assault scandals and a national
tragedy, President Trump continued to court anti-LGBTQ
groups, becoming the first sitting president to attend the
right-wing VALUES VOTERS SUMMIT. The White House also
came under fire when The New Yorker claimed Trump had
joked about Vice President MIKE PENCE wanting to “hang”
every gay person. The White House denied it.
NOVEMBER
November began with yet another Trump scandal, as SAM
CLOVIS, Trump’s nominee for head scientist at the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, withdrew after comments he
made arguing that homosexuality is a choice and equating
gay marriage to endorsing pedophilia. Elsewhere in the city,
gun reform group GAYS AGAINST GUNS held a “die-in” at the
U.S. Capitol building, calling on Congress to take action in
the wake of a deadly church shooting in Texas. Eight mem-
bers of the group were arrested by Capitol Police.
The month also marked a high point for the LGBTQ
community, as pro-LGBTQ Democrats, including several
transgender candidates, won elections across the country.
In Seattle, JENNY DURKAN became the country’s second
lesbian mayor of a major U.S. city. In Minneapolis, voters
elected transgender candidates PHILLIPE CUNNINGHAM and
ANDREA JENKINS to the City Council.
In Virginia, DANICA ROEM unseated Virginia’s self-titled
“chief homophobe” Bob Marshall. Roem’s victory came
amid a wave of Democratic victories over a number of
anti-LGBTQ Republicans in the state. And the victories of
RALPH NORTHAM, JUSTIN FAIRFAX, and MARK HERRING for
the state’s top three offices means that, for the next few
years, Virginians will be represented by an administration
supportive of LGBTQ rights — the perfect cherry on top of
the proverbial political sundae.
In AUSTRALIA, voters chose overwhelmingly to approve
gay marriage in a nationwide postal survey, prompting law-
makers to officially legalize same-sex unions the following
month.
The nation’s attention turned to Alabama this fall, as
Republican Senate candidate, former Alabama Supreme Court
Justice, and notorious racist and homophobe ROY MOORE was
accused of molesting a 14-year-old girl while in his 30s. The
revelations caused a political firestorm, with Republicans first
abandoning Moore, then returning to support him after Trump
threw his support behind him. However, the accusations proved
insurmountable, and he (and Trump) ultimately lost in a stun-
ning, nail-biting upset to pro-LGBTQ Democrat DOUG JONES,
whose son publicly came out as gay following the win.
Further hypocrisy from the “family values” Republican
party came when anti-LGBTQ Ohio State Rep. WES GOODMAN
resigned after being caught having sex with a man in his
office. After his resignation, he was accused of sexual harass-
ment by dozens of men who claimed he tried to seduce them.
Allegations of sexual harassment and sexual miscon-
duct also continued to make headlines in Hollywood, with
JEFFREY TAMBOR, star of Amazon’s Transparent, quitting the
show after being accused of sexually harassing two transgen-
der actresses on set.
Even adult entertainment wasn’t safe from controversy.
Gay performer HUGH HUNTER declined nominations for three
GayVN awards, calling out the industry for its “racism and
bigotry” after the awards segregated actors of color into their
own category. In what could possibly be the best illustration
of Hunter’s point, a JUSTICE LEAGUE gay porn parody came
under fire for replacing Cyborg, a black character, with the
Green Lantern, played by a white actor who is a fervent
Trump supporter.

DECEMBER

Dec. 1 marked WORLD AIDS DAY, and, true to form, the Trump
omitted LGBTQ people from his World AIDS Day proclama-
tion. LGBTQ advocates accused the White House of erasing
the unique impact the disease has on the LGBTQ community,
but the LOG CABIN REPUBLICANS defended it, claiming it sep-
arated HIV detection and treatment from identity politics.
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the
MASTERPIECE CAKESHOP case over whether anti-gay discrim-
ination is allowed for those who engage in so-called “cre-
ative” fields, like custom-cake designers. Supporters of JACK
PHILLIPS, the Colorado baker at the center of the case, and
supporters of CHARLIE CRAIG and DAVE MULLINS, the couple
he turned away, held dueling rallies on the steps of the court
while lawyers argued the case inside.
Critically acclaimed gay romance CALL ME BY YOUR NAME
scored three Golden Globe nominations for Best Drama, Best
Actor, and Best Supporting Actor, and its extraordinary young
star, Timothée Chalamet was nominated for a Screen Actor’s
Guild award.
And that, in a nutshell, sums up 2017. A constant back and
forth between Donald Trump and the Republicans, who are
hellbent on taking us back to a straight, white, male-focused
vision of America, and the LGBTQ advocates desperate to
cling onto and maybe advance what rights we currently have.
But with a string of late-season wins and the Mueller inves-
tigation working its way into Trump’s inner circle, perhaps
2018 will be the year we, as a community, claw our way back
from the brink. It can’t be any worse than 2017. Can it? l

Rhuaridh Marr contributed to this report.

DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY 25

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28 DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY


THURSDAY, DEC. 21
The DC Center holds a meet-
ing of its POLY DISCUSSION
GROUP, for people interested
in polyamory, non-monogamy
or other non-traditional rela-
tionships. 7-8 p.m. 2000 14th
St. NW, Suite 105. 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 practice
session at Takoma Aquatic
Center. 7:30-9 p.m. 300 Van
Buren St. NW. For more infor-
mation, visit swimdcac.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.
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.
HIV TESTING at Whitman-
Walker Health. 9 a.m.-12:30
p.m. and from 2-5 p.m. at 1525
14th St. NW, and 9 a.m-12
p.m. and 2-5 p.m. at the Max
Robinson Center, 2301 MLK Jr.
Ave. SE. For an appointment
call 202-745-7000 or visit whit-
man-walker.org.
Community
PEER SUPPORT
The DC Center’s new API Queer Support Group
hopes to start conversations around mental
health and other taboo topics
F
OR PEOPLE WHO LIVE AT THE INTER-
section of being queer and Asian, the prev-
alence of mental health issues is wide-
spread,” says Mai Tran. “But it’s not talked about
openly. It’s almost taboo to do it.
Tran, one of the co-facilitators of the newly
launched API Queer Support Group at The DC
Center, says the idea behind the group’s founding
was sparked by someone who came to her asking
for resources because of friends who had com-
mitted suicide. She notes that suicidal ideation
is prevalent among members of the queer Asian-
Pacific Islander community.
Tran and others affiliated with AQUA and
APQIS, two organizations for queer Asian-Pacific
Islanders, approached David Mariner, the cen-
ter’s executive director, to help them establish a
support group. Members from both groups will
serve as co-facilitators and foster discussions
to help participants unburden themselves and
address whatever issues are affecting them.
“I’ve been out for a long time, and even if
you’re a queer Asian, and your family accepts you,
and you’re happily in a relationship, it doesn’t
mean you’re safe from having mental health
issues,” she says. “This will let people talk about
issues that they can’t talk about with others in a
culturally competent space with people who can
empathize with you.
“We’ve never had that kind of a support group
for our community. So I think it’s about time.”
—John Riley
The DC Center’s API Queer Support Group meets
on the first Thursday of every month at 7 p.m. at
The DC Center, on the first floor of the Reeves
Center, 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. The first
meeting is scheduled for Jan. 4, 2018.
Visit thedccenter.org.
DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY
IDENTITY offers free and
confidential HIV testing at
two separate locations. Walk-
ins accepted from 2-6 p.m.,
by appointment for all other
hours. 414 East Diamond Ave.,
Gaithersburg, Md. or 7676
New Hampshire Ave., Suite
411, Takoma Park, Md. To set
up an appointment or for more
information, call Gaithersburg,
301-300-9978, or Takoma Park,
301-422-2398.
METROHEALTH CENTER
offers free, rapid HIV testing.
Appointment needed. 1012 14th
St. NW, Suite 700. To arrange
an appointment, call 202-638-
0750.
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 test-
ing@smyal.org.
STI TESTING at Whitman-
Walker Health. 10 a.m.-12:30
p.m. and 2-3 p.m. at both 1525
14th St. NW and the Max
Robinson Center, 2301 Martin
Luther King, Jr. Ave. SE.
Testing is intended for those
without symptoms. For an
appointment call 202-745-7000
or visit whitman-walker.org.
US HELPING US hosts a
Narcotics Anonymous Meeting.
The group is independent of
UHU. 6:30-7:30 p.m., 3636
Georgia Ave. NW. For more
information, call 202-446-1100.
WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP
INSTITUTE for young LBTQ
women, 13-21, interested in
leadership development. 5-6:30
p.m. SMYAL Youth Center, 410
7th St. SE. For more informa-
tion, call 202-567-3163, or email
catherine.chu@smyal.org.
FRIDAY, DEC. 22
GAMMA is a confidential,
voluntary peer-support group
for men who are gay, bisexual,
questioning and who are now
or who have been in a relation-
ship with a woman. 7:30-9:30
p.m. Luther Place Memorial
Church, 1226 Vermont Ave
NW. GAMMA meetings are
also held in Vienna, Va., and in
Frederick, Md. For more infor-
mation, visit gammaindc.org.
The DC Center holds its
CENTER AGING MONTHLY
LUNCH social for members of
D.C.’s senior community. 12-2
p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite
105. For more information, visit
thedccenter.org or call 202-
682-2245.
29
WOMEN IN THEIR TWENTIES
(AND THIRTIES), a social discus-
sion and activity group for queer
women, meets at The DC Center
on the second and fourth Friday of
each month. Group social activity
to follow the meeting. 8-9:30 p.m.
2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For
more information, visit thedccen-
ter.org.
SATURDAY, DEC. 23
Join The DC Center as it vol-
unteers for FOOD & FRIENDS,
packing meals and groceries for
people living with serious ailments.
10 a.m.-noon. 219 Riggs Rd. NE.
Near the Fort Totten Metro. For a
ride from the Metro, call the Food
& Friends shuttle at 202-669-6437.
For more information, visit thedc-
center.org or foodandfriends.org.
CHRISTMAS EVE
SUNDAY, DEC. 24
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 holds a
practice session at Wilson Aquatic
Center. 9:30-11 a.m. 4551 Fort Dr.
NW. For more information, 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. Margaret’s
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.
30 DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY
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. Children’s
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. Children’s 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 wor-
ship, 8:30 a.m., and traditional wor-
ship, 11 a.m. 5 Thomas Circle NW.
202-232-0323, nationalcitycc.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.
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, universalist.org.
MONDAY, DEC. 25
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
TUESDAY, DEC. 26
The DC Center’s GENDERQUEER
DC support and discussion group,
for people who identify outside the
gender binary, meets on the fourth
Tuesday of every month. 7-8:30
p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105.
For more information, visit thedc-
center.org.
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 27
The DC Center hosts a monthly
meeting of its HIV PREVENTION
WORKING GROUP. 6-8 p.m. 2000
14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more
information, visit thedccenter.org.
The LAMBDA BRIDGE CLUB meets
at the Dignity Center, across from
the Marine Barracks, for Duplicate
Bridge. No reservations needed.
Newcomers welcome. 7:30 p.m. 721
8th St. SE. Call 202-841-0279 if you
need a partner.
THURSDAY, DEC. 28
The DC ANTI-VIOLENCE
PROJECT, a group dedicated to
combating anti-LGBT hate crimes,
holds its monthly meeting at The
DC Center. 7-8:30 p.m. 2000 14th
St. NW, Suite 105. For more infor-
mation, visit thedccenter.org.
FRIDAY, DEC. 29
Weekly Events
BET MISHPACHAH, founded by
members of the LGBT community,
holds Friday evening Shabbat ser-
vices in the DC Jewish Community
Center’s Community Room. 8 p.m.
1529 16th St. NW. For more infor-
mation, visit betmish.org.
DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a prac-
tice 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.
SATURDAY, DEC. 30
Weekly Events
DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a prac-
tice session at Montgomery College
Aquatics Club. 8:30-10 a.m. 7600
Takoma Ave., Takoma, Md. For more
information, 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.
NEW YEAR’S EVE
SUNDAY, DEC. 31
Weekly Events
BETHEL CHURCH-DC progressive
and radically inclusive church
holds services at 11:30 a.m. 2217
Minnesota Ave. SE. 202-248-1895,
betheldc.org.
DIGNITYUSA offers Roman
Catholic Mass for the LGBT
community. All welcome. Sign
interpreted. 6 p.m. St. Margaret’s
Church, 1820 Connecticut Ave.
NW. For more info, visit dignity-
washington.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. Children’s
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. Children’s 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, nationalcitycc.
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, universalist.org.
NEW YEAR’S DAY
MONDAY, January 1
Weekly Events
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 is 3-6 miles. Meet
at 12 p.m. at 23rd and P Streets
NW. For more information, visit
dcfrontrunners.org.
TUESDAY, January 2
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. Visit thedccenter.org.
WEDNESDAY, January 3
The TOM DAVOREN SOCIAL
BRIDGE CLUB meets for Social
Bridge at the Dignity Center, across
from the Marine Barracks. No
partner needed. 7:30 p.m. 721 8th
St. SE. Call 301-345-1571 for more
information. l
DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY 31
 See You
In
2018!
MetroWeekly.com
34 DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY
 Scene Stealers 2017
The Year in Smiles
Because after a year of Trump, god knows we need it.

Photographs from the 17th Street High Heel Race, Bare,

Baltimore Pride Weekend, Black Pride Weekend, Capital Pride Festival
and Parade, CAGLCC Mega Networking, Cobalt, DC Eagle,
DC Front Runners Pride Run, DistrktC, Duplex Diner, Equality March,
Fireplace, Freddie’s Beach Bar, GMCW’s Ropeburn, Gallaudet’s ColorFest,
Gay Bash, Gay Games Rally, Green Lantern, HRC National Dinner,
Helen Hayes Awards, Imperial Court, Impulse, JR.’s, King’s Dominion,
Larry’s Lounge, Log Cabin Republicans Dinner, Mid-Atlantic Leather,
Monday Night Skating, NGLCC National Dinner, NOVA Pride, Nellie’s
Sports Bar, Night Out with the Nationals, Number Nine, Otter Crossing,
Peach Pit, SMYAL’s Fall Brunch, Sax, Sleaze, Stonewall Kickball,
Team DC Fashion Show, The Baltimore Eagle, The Dirty Goose,
Trade, Trans Day of Remembrance, Town Danceboutique, Uproar,
Victory Fund National Dinner, Youth Pride Day, Ziegfelds/Secrets.

Photography by Ward Morrison

Additional Photography by Free Akins, Tom Donohue, Todd Franson,

Randy Shulman, and Julian Vankim

DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY 35

36 DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY
 Scene Stealers 2017

DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY 37

38 DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY
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40 DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY
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42 DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY
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DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY 43

44 DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY
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DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY 45

 Movies

Let It Fall: L.A. 1982-1992

Screen Gems
From gods to monsters to a family of cannibals, our critic recounts
the ten best films of 2017. By André Hereford
cool allow a closer view of the violently
complicated relationship between sisters
Justine (Garance Marillier) and Alex (Ella
Rumpf). The veterinary school classmates
develop a taste for the same stud, Adrian
(Rabah Nait Oufella), who happens to be
gay. They also share an appetite for flesh,

N
which gets in the way of sisters just look-
O FRANCHISE ACTION HERO OR MOVIE STAR WAS AS PROMINENT ing out for each other in this rare enjoy-
throughout the year as the theme of nuclear families in danger of destroying able cannibal horror flick.
each other. Sons killed fathers, fathers killed sons — and those are mostly the
comedies. Could it be that artists are in a mood? 9. SUBURBICON — This pitch-black com-
Or maybe it’s the crowd. It wasn’t really a banner year at the box office for big-time edy was virtually ignored by the autumn
comedy, with Girls Trip the only live-action hit to clear the $100-million mark for ticket moviegoing crowd, despite A-list stars,
sales. The superhero parade continued, and the heroes shouldered some of the laughs director George Clooney, and a script
that movies have been missing, as did a stellar class of indie and foreign films. Most by the Coen brothers, who are a brand
surprising, filmmakers around the world seemed to invest boundless hope in old-fash- unto themselves. The film also took a
ioned romance, from The Big Sick to God’s Own Country. licking from critics, who complained that
Love stories are great, and not much was truly terrible (with the exception of that Clooney weighed down what should have
lurid sins-of-the-father thriller The Snowman, starring Michael Fassbender). But even been a murderous romp with too-obvious
that was the kind of bad that Bad-Movie lovers live for, just as the year’s most divisive messaging about red-vs-blue politics and
film, Darren Aronofsky’s lunatic Mother!, offered the undeniable pleasure of J-Law’s racial tension. How could the filmmakers
plugged-in performance in the midst of utter narrative chaos. That pleasure was, of have known when they shot the film’s
course, emphatically deniable to some — hence, this entirely subjective list of the year’s ’50s-set race rallies that real-life Nazis and
ten best films. the Klan would be marching on a Virginia
college campus just weeks before the
10. RAW — Morbid and sexy, writer-director Julia Ducournau’s feminist horror film movie opened? If Suburbicon’s message is
is just unhinged enough to avoid being as sadistically disturbing as one of its clear that standing with your neighbors against
antecedents, Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom. That’s fine, since the humor and curated bigotry is a more worthwhile pursuit than

DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY 47

whacking your wife, then at least its macabre heart is in the right
place. Also, Matt Damon and child actor Noah Jupe have a great
thing going as father and son turned from adoring to adversarial.
8. CALL ME BY YOUR NAME — Director Luca Guadagnino’s sump-
tuous Italy-set love story would be exceptional just for the
electric connection that star Timothée Chalamet establishes
onscreen in tandem with every member of the cast he meets,
particularly his love interest, played by Armie Hammer. What
really sets the film apart is the design, care, and craft employed
to create a world so fertile with hope and knowledge that an
audience can trust that even pain will bear the fruit of wisdom.
It’s a beautiful trip to a lazy ’80s summer of long afternoon
lunches and hot evening swims, where mom and dad encourage
a kid to seize the day. Chalamet absolutely seizes his moment at
the head of this year’s class of breakout acts.
7. THOR: RAGNAROK — Light on backstory and paved with almost
all fresh road, at least for the casual comic book moviegoer,
Thor: Ragnarok should be the film future generations watch to
understand this 21st century explosion of superhero cinema, if
they still give a damn what we thought about anything. While
this spring’s Logan had gravitas and the panache of an old school
Western, and summer’s Wonder Woman had urgency and the
charismatic Gal Gadot, Thor managed to shove all that enter-
tainment, plus the Hulk and Cate Blanchett and her enormous
CGI antlers, under one roof. Not even Spidey’s triumphant solo
return in Spider-Man: Homecoming could match such a feat of
exuberant escape. Godspeed, Avenger.
6. A FANTASTIC WOMAN — One can readily imagine the b.s. and
bureaucracy any woman might face navigating the unfortunate
logistics of wrapping up a deceased lover’s final affairs. But for a
woman to have to confront the loved one’s doctors and business
associates and exes and family, without the benefit of a marriage
certificate or a will or any legal standing for her relationship to
the deceased other than her word for it, is a nightmare not even
Kafka could imagine. In the funny, suspenseful, intense, and
truthful A Fantastic Woman, unassuming waitress Marina finds
herself in this predicament, one made exponentially harder by
the fact that she’s transgender. As portrayed by the magnetic
trans actress Daniela Vega, Marina must fight as much for her
right to exist, as for her right to the life she shared with her dead
lover, Orlando (Francisco Reyes). The film builds organically to a
catharsis of anger and honesty that will have audiences cheering
for Marina.
5. GET OUT — Frightening and funny, and somehow even more
frightening for being so funny, Jordan Peele’s hit horror film
wasn’t like peering through the looking glass of racial unrest in
America. It was like crashing through the looking glass, landing
in the sunken place of understanding, and finding yourself stuck
there, screaming to get out. Peele wasn’t so unlikely a source for
a zeitgeist-riding hit with racial undertones, given the clever sat-
ire of his and partner Keegan Michael Key’s former sketch show
Key and Peele. But it still marks an astounding debut, at the box
office and for a horror movie of cultural relevance, featuring an
ensemble full of fine actors. The cast was led by another young
star enjoying a breakout year, Daniel Kaluuya, whose brilliant
performance totally captured the WTF scariness of all of 2017.
André Hereford covers film for Metro Weekly. Read his reviews at metroweekly.com.
48 DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY
4. I, TONYA — There are as many villains as there are victims in
the brutal comedy I, Tonya, the Fargo of figure skating. A story
told from many perspectives, director Craig Gillespie’s film glee-
fully breaks the fourth wall and all sorts of other rules, driven
by Steven Rogers’ razor-sharp script and a trio of wonderful
performances. Margot Robbie is shattering as the erstwhile
U.S. champion Harding, Allison Janney is savage as Harding’s
vicious mom, LaVona, and Sebastian Stan has never been better
as Harding’s dopey, abusive husband, Jeff Gillooly, who orches-
trated the bumbling conspiracy that effectively ended Harding’s
skating career. That last detail might have seemed like just the
period at the end of a national joke to everybody else, but losing
the chance to skate meant the world to Tonya Harding. It ends
up meaning the world in this riveting biopic-meets-procedur-
al orchestrated by Gillespie, whose unnecessary Fright Night
remake nevertheless turned out not bad. That movie was a mere
double loop jump compared to this triple-axel film achievement.
3. MUDBOUND — Earthy, warm, and real, like the Mississippi
farmers and sharecroppers it depicts, filmmaker Dee Rees’ peri-
od drama Mudbound gets under the skin. Tracking all the ways
this land has changed, while remaining in some of the worst
ways the same, this story of two struggling families presents
haunting visions of ugliness, but never forgets to revel in beauty.
A shower in the yard at sunset, a bite of chocolate enjoyed at the
end of a hard day, a quick dance around the room with a beloved
spouse — for every facet of doom revealed in Mudbound’s Delta,
Rees and her superb cast highlight some beautiful aspect of life
that binds these families to each other, to the land, and to the
nation’s collective past.
2. DUNKIRK — A handsomely funded experimental filmmaker,
Christopher Nolan invents new ways to visualize being sub-
merged inside a sinking ship in this harrowing wartime adven-
ture. Nolan depicts the massive, and massively complicated,
evacuation of hundreds of thousands of Allied troops off with
magnificent clarity and spontaneity. What mind-blowing plan-
ning it must require for any moment in a movie the size of a
battleship to seem spontaneous. On several planes of story, the
movie conveys the human toll of war, in lives and fear, in heroic
last stands or desperate acts of self-preservation. Those men
made it out, the film seems to say, and may no soldier ever have
to return.
1. LET IT FALL: L.A. 1982-1992 — At the risk of repeating an earlier
argument, Let It Fall is the documentary that might help future
generations truly understand what happened to cause all hell to
break loose one spring in America’s second-largest city. Directed
by Oscar-winner John Ridley (12 Years a Slave), this fast-paced,
comprehensive look at the L.A. riots, or, in the film’s parlance,
the L.A. Uprising, produces pointed testimony — via fresh
interviews, stock footage, and well-edited news clips — from
witnesses to every side of the events and those that precipitated
the chaos. From cops at the scene of the Rodney King beating,
to saviors and violent aggressors amidst the storm of looting
and lawlessness that overtook the city when those cops were
acquitted, everyone who knows anything gets a word in here.
And yet, the film as a whole speaks one opinion clearly: it was
all avoidable. l
 Stage

A Raisin in the Sun

Bravura
1. THE FATHER, STUDIO — Florian Zeller’s
devastating drama about the effects of age
on André and his family echoes the effects

Performances
that man’s generation had on the world.
In an unforgettable performance D.C.
favorite Ted van Griethuysen switched
the character’s light on for all to see. So
From dazzling musicals to gripping dramas, indelible was van Griethysen in David
Muse’s powerful production, that André
here’s the best D.C.-area productions of 2017.
might still be wandering Studio’s halls,
By André Hereford and Kate Wingfield searching for lost time.

André’s 5 Best Productions Kate’s 5 Best Productions

5. M. BUTTERFLY, EVERYMAN THEATRE — This graceful yet biting take on David Henry 5. TWELFTH NIGHT — SHAKESPEARE
Hwang’s Tony-winner benefited from lush visuals and sensitive direction, which THEATRE COMPANY
unfolded layer upon layer of the enigmatic tale of a French diplomat’s affair with a For sheer originality, director Ethan
cross-dressing Chinese opera singer, Song Liling. The show’s other ace was Bruce McSweeny’s take on Shakespeare’s
Randolph Nelson as compromised attaché Rene Gallimard, who both learns and teach- Twelfth Night, with it’s fabulous opening
es how to love. airport scene — and the haunting idea that
the tale is perhaps the (final) imagining of
4. THE PAJAMA GAME, ARENA STAGE — Fresh design and well-plied choreography lent Viola — was a daring idea that truly paid
this lean, sizzling production of the ’50s classic the sheen of a modern workplace musi- off. It was also a wonderfully inventive
cal comedy that might have been written yesterday. Boasting a stacked cast, including solution to what is, in truth, an absurdly
lovable leads Tim Rogan and Britney Coleman, alongside fabulous singing hoofers like fanciful plot of mistaken identities, love
Eddie Korbich, Blakely Slaybaugh, and Donna McKechnie, director Alan Paul made at first sight and mischievous servants.
each of Richard Adler and Jerry Ross’ memorable songs count for more than just anoth- Another of Shakespeare’s 17th centu-
er spin of the jukebox. ry versions of a romcom, there is farce,
absurdity, and plenty of his signature
3. WIG OUT!, STUDIO THEATRE — Director Kent Gash’s production of Tarell Alvin undercurrents of melancholic angst. With
McRaney’s incredible Wig Out! brought the ball to its audience. It was not necessarily a large cast and a big, largely unstructured
profound, just profoundly, one-hundred percent on its own planet of loveliness in por- space, the challenge was cohesion, but the
traying the community and struggles of house ball kids. And peeking out from between large ensemble nailed it with enormous
the margins of its old-fashioned Sparkle and Dreamgirls-in-drag melodrama was the energy, intensity and superbly-timed com-
light of history, the legacy of many and all kinds of tightknit families that were decimat- edy, from the witty to the wacky. Add
ed by HIV/AIDS, and some very fierce runway. interludes of evocative live music and the
effect was as entertaining as it was, in its
2. JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, SIGNATURE THEATRE — A hothouse tent revival of the final moments, reflective.
rockin’ gospel musical, Joseph Calarco’s staging bound the audience and the cast as one
joyous congregation, and it was electric. Along with the joy came artfully rendered bib- 4. HIR, WOOLLY MAMMOTH — In the over-
lical suffering, and a trenchant call to question politicians who preach, and preachers flowing haystack of contemporary plays
who proselytize politics. Starring Nicholas Edwards as a passionately expressive Jesus, crammed with “edgy” topics, the needle is
and Ari McKay Wilford as a thoroughly nuanced Judas, this Superstar sang eloquently Taylor Mac’s Hir. A tragicomic study of an
of truth and religion. increasingly beleaguered family through a

DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY 49

Walmart lens, this is sub-prime America in crisis. Mired in the
kind of socioeconomic pressures that kill education, ambition
and futures, the but-for-the-grace-of-God pathos here is that
these people know what they are missing and the difference it
would make. If Mac checks a few of the usual PC boxes (gender
identity, military PTSD, domestic abuse), she does it with the
kind of unhinged honesty — and flights of surreal fancy — that
kicks it onto a whole new level. The stellar ensemble truly deliv-
ered. Every character carved out their own traumatized space
and every trajectory of despair or hope came through, while
always suggesting and evoking the ambivalent ties that bind.
3. THE SCHOOL FOR LIES, SHAKESPEARE THEATRE COMPANY —
There are some things the Internet will never replace. Take
the fun, frilly, and decidedly cheeky David Ives adaptation of
Moliere’s Le Misanthrope into The School for Lies. A romcom for
wordsmiths and seventeenth-century wig-lovers, Ives delivered
his updated satire with such unstoppable couplets and irrev-
erent references it feels like rap for the literati. Spinning the
production like a top, director Michael Kahn captured the subtle
and the ridiculous in pitch-perfect measure. There is simply no
screen in the world that can deliver the cozy joy of seeing a tal-
ented ensemble do it live: whip-fast repartee, bone-dry wit, and
crazed physical comedy — all without missing a beat.
2. THE LOVER AND THE COLLECTION, SHAKESPEARE THEATRE
COMPANY — Staging Pinter’s absurdist plays for a mainstream
audience is a risky business at the best of times, but in this age
André Hereford and Kate Wingfield are Metro Weekly’s theater critics. Read their reviews at metroweekly.com.
50 DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY
of entertainments that would make the crowds of the Roman
Coliseum blush, Michael Kahn’s choice to stage two back-to-
back — The Lover and The Collection — was an act of supreme
affirmation. Pinter done well is a unique and subtly mind-blow-
ing trip into the unsolvable puzzles of adult relationships — the
needs, the insecurities and the subterranean power plays — and
in the right hands it creates consummate theater. With exqui-
site sensibility, Kahn captured each play with immense clarity,
delivering the bristling tensions and humor in Pinter’s ruthless
contemplations of adult connection. The casts were stellar, find-
ing the poetry and music in the wry language and savoring his
every pregnant, poignant pause. This was Pinter delivered with
orchestral passion.
1. A RAISIN IN THE SUN, ARENA STAGE — Arena knocked it out of
the park this season with an extraordinary rendering of Lorraine
Hansberry’s enduring classic. The story of a poor, hardworking
1950s African-American family grappling with the dreams and
disappointments of an unexpected windfall, the show was dense
with beautifully drawn themes: the demoralizing grind of urban
life, the legacy of slavery, and the perennial constraints for both
men and women of traditional gender roles. There is no fanfare
or gimmick here — it is all about digging deep with nuance and
suggestion. With a restrained yet uncompromising vision, direc-
tor Tazewell Thompson and a phenomenal ensemble brought
the very heart and soul in the play. Every performance came
from a place of seamless authenticity, every moment lived with
nerve-tingling intensity. Truly a magical theatrical experience. l
 Music

Perfume Genius

7. LORDE, MELODRAMA — Lorde could have

Vinyl Countdown
gone on turning out frosty, world-weary
singles for the rest of her career and done
just fine for herself, but fortunately for us,
she decided to have some fun. With help
From the xx to Kendrick Lamar to Björk, our music critic counts down from Jack Antonoff, she brings a warm
the ten best albums of 2017. By Sean Maunier pop shimmer to Melodrama, and the result
is a more ambitious, winkingly self-ref-

D
erential, and thoroughly enjoyable set of
EPENDING ON WHO YOU ASK, THE PAST YEAR HAS FELT MORE LIKE songs, hopefully a sign of things to come.
two, or three, or seven. If 2017 was the year the previously unimaginable
became reality on a near-daily basis, it should be no surprise that it also saw so 6. KENDRICK LAMAR, DAMN. — Cerebral yet
many artists release their most challenging, anxious, transformative records yet. Others raw, accessible yet challenging, the cultur-
just provided welcome distraction from the many ongoing dumpster fires. In manifes- al dominance and near-universal acclaim
tos, confessionals, and pure escapist pop, the past year in music has been an impressive for DAMN. was overwhelming. Kendrick
one, offering plenty of standouts. Lamar’s lyrics are heavy with spiritual and
moral soul-searching and seamlessly bring
10. THE XX, I SEE YOU — The blaring horn intro that announced the xx’s third album said together the personal and political. His
it all: famously perfectionist introverts were ready to open themselves up to a brighter fourth studio album is a steely-eyed, deep-
and more energetic sound. Intense and intimate at the same time, I See You is also nota- ly personal work of its time and place, a
ble for bringing Romy Madley Croft’s vocals into the foreground, a welcome innovation career-defining, confrontational, prescient
that does much for the trio’s sound. work that pulls absolutely no punches.

9. JLIN, BLACK ORIGAMI — Indiana producer Jlin’s high-concept sophomore album 5. BJÖRK, UTOPIA — Leave it to Björk
Black Origami is overwhelming in all the right ways. On first listen it is bewildering to find new ways to embrace the weird
and chaotic, defying its listeners to understand it in linear terms. Jlin rushes from one and hallucinatory. Utopia unfolds like a
concept to the next, mobilizing collaborators to lend distinct character to each of the 12 personal, guided tour of the sprawling
tracks. Dramatic, complex and endlessly surprising, Black Origami easily stands as the psychedelic paradise that exists within
best electronic album of the year. the Icelandic singer’s imagination. “I don’t
have enough clothes for all the people I
8. FEVER RAY, PLUNGE — Karen Dreijer’s second album as Fever Ray is a masterclass become when you’re kissing me,” she sings
in proud, in-your-face queercore, a defiant mission statement that brings together on “Blissing Me,” just one of many lines
charged club beats and stripped down electronic elements. On Plunge, Dreijer paints that lands like a bucket of cold water amid
herself strange and dangerous and a little bit damaged, an artist who faces a broken the harps and spacey synths. After the raw
and often hostile world with anger and cynicism, but brashly refuses to be held still or catharsis of Vulnicura, Björk seems more
silenced by any of it. than ready to revisit love, a feeling she

DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY 51

elevates to a transcendent, almost
metaphysical level on Utopia.
4. PERFUME GENIUS, NO SHAPE —
The meticulously crafted moments
of dissonance in No Shape echo
an idea running throughout Mike
Hadreas’ work as Perfume Genius,
that beautiful things should have
teeth. Otherwise, they risk fading
into the background or disappear-
ing entirely unless they also contain
something just a little off, or jarring,
or, if you like, queer. No Shape is
fittingly one of the most beautiful
albums of the year, an achingly hon-
est self-reflection on what it means to
inhabit a vulnerable and ostensibly flawed body, and the strange
sense of wonder and reverence at the reality of finding that body
in a relationship with another.
3. KELELA, TAKE ME APART — Kelela’s debut EP was well worth
the wait. Clearly bored by basic love songs, Kelela reserves much
of her attention for the fraught liminal states on the edges of
love, from the tense expectation of single life to the angst-ridden
fraying edges of a relationship to the cautiously-felt elation of
a new love. Take Me Apart is a mature and sober reflection on
modern relationships carried by an impressive vocal range and
Sean Maunier covers recorded music for Metro Weekly. Read his reviews at metroweekly.com.
52 DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY
hypermodern arrangements that probe
and tug at the boundaries of pop and
R&B.
2. ST. VINCENT, MASSEDUCTION — “I
don’t turn off what turns me on,” sings
Annie Clark on the title track of her
wry, thoughtful and career-defining fifth
album as St. Vincent. This turns out to
be an understatement. Far from burying
her turn-ons, Masseduction turns them
up all the way up to an ecstatic ode to
the pursuit of desire. Throughout the
masterfully produced album, Clark revels
in the reckless pursuit of decadence, yet
stops short of outright celebrating it, pre-
ferring to give the self-destructive side of
hedonism its due as well.
1. SUFJAN STEVENS, BRYCE DESSNER, JAMES MCALISTER, NICO
MUHLY, PLANETARIUM — Rich, sprawling, and dense with lay-
ers of meaning, this collaboration between Stevens, Muhly and
Dressner embraces both the humanity and the divine inscrutabil-
ity of the Olympian gods and projects them on a cosmic scale onto
our solar system. From the tense and manic “Saturn,” to the mel-
ancholic “Pluto,” to the exultant 8-minute “Earth,” Planetarium
is an ambitiously imagined and magnificently realized ode to the
universe, and a meditation on our place within it. l
NightLife
Photography by
Ward Morrison

DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY 53

 Scene
On the Cover: Otter Crossing at The Green Lantern
Photographs from Cherry, Cobalt, DC9, DC Eagle, DIK Bar, DistrktC, Freddie’s Beach Bar, JR.’s,
Larry’s Lounge, Green Lantern, MAL, Mixtape, National Building Museum, Nellie’s Sports Bar,
Number Nine, Sleaze, Trade, Town Danceboutique, Uproar, and Ziegfelds/Secrets.
Photography by Ward Morrison

DrinksDragDJsEtc...
Thursday,
December 21
9 1/2
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any
drink, 5-9pm • Multiple
TVs showing movies,
shows, sports • Expanded
craft beer selection •
Music videos featuring
DJ Wess
BALTIMORE EAGLE
Happy Hour, 5-9pm, all
liquors, beers and wines
up to 50% off • $3 Well
Drinks All Night • Thrifty
Thursdays Drag Show,
hosted by Whimsey
Thrift and Shaunda Leer,
8-9:30pm in the Nest —
First well or domestic drink
is on us! • $5 Cover at
door • Underwear Night,
9pm-2am • For men in
underwear, all well drinks
$2, 9pm-12am • Best
Underwear Contest at
Midnight • Code enforced
in Code Bar after 9pm •
thebaltimoreeagle.com
FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR
Crazy Hour, 4-8pm •
Karaoke, 9pm
GREEN LANTERN
Happy Hour, 4-9pm
• Shirtless Thursday,
10-11pm • Men in
Underwear Drink Free,
12-12:30am • DJs
BacK2bACk
NELLIE’S 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
SHAW’S TAVERN
Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3
Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon,
$5 Rails and House Wines
& Half-Priced Pizzas
TRADE
Doors open 5pm • Huge
Happy Hour: Any drink
normally served in a cock-
tail glass served in a huge
glass for the same price,
5-10pm • Beer and wine
only $4
ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS
All male, nude dancers •
DJ • 9pm • Cover 21+
Friday,
December 22
9 1/2
Open at 5pm • Happy
Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink,
5-9pm • Friday Night
Videos, 9:30pm • Rotating
DJs • Expanded craft beer NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR
selection • No Cover DJ Matt Bailer • Videos,
Dancing • Beat the Clock
BALTIMORE EAGLE Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm),
Baltimore Bear Happy $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) •
Hour, 5-9pm, all liquors,
beers and wines up to 50%
Buckets of Beer $15
off • Bad Bears After Dark NUMBER NINE
in the Code Bar, 9pm • $5 Open 5pm • Happy Hour:
Cover • Summer Knight’s 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm
XXX Cabaret, in the Nest, • No Cover • Friday Night
10:30pm • Cover is $10 in Piano with Chris, 7:30pm
advance, $12.50 at door •
Elyx Vodka and Any Red SHAW’S TAVERN
Bull Flavor for $7 all day Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3
long • thebaltimoreeagle. Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon,
com $5 Rails and House Wines
& Half-Priced Pizzas •
FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Meredith Rounsley singing
Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • live, 9pm
Karaoke, 9pm
GREEN LANTERN
TOWN
Patio open 6pm • DC Bear
Happy Hour, 4-9pm • Crue Happy Hour, 6-11pm
$5 Smirnoff, all flavors, • $3 Rail, $3 Draft, $3 Bud
all night long • Ugly Bottles • Free Pizza, 7pm
Christmas Sweater and • No cover before 9:30pm
Ugly Christmas Underwear • 21+ • Drag Show starts
Party, 9pm • Cash Prizes at 10:30pm • Hosted by
Lena Lett and featuring
Miss Tatianna, Shi-
Queeta-Lee, Riley Knoxx
and Ba’Naka • DJ Wess
upstairs, DJs BacK2bACk
downstairs following the
show • GoGo Boys after
11pm • Doors open at
10pm • For those 21 and
over, $12 • For those
18-20, $15 • Club: 18+ •
Patio: 21+
TRADE
Doors open 5pm • Huge
Happy Hour: Any drink
normally served in a cock-
tail glass served in a huge
glass for the same price,
5-10pm • Beer and wine
only $4
ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS
Men of Secrets, 9pm •
Guest dancers • Rotating
DJs • Ladies of Illusion
Drag Show • Doors at
9pm, Shows at 11:30pm
and 1:30am • DJ Don T. in
Ziegfeld’s • Cover 21+

54 DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY

Saturday, 4-8pm • Freddie’s Follies
Drag Show, hosted by Miss
December 23 Destiny B. Childs, 8-10 pm
• Karaoke, 10pm-close
9 1/2
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any GREEN LANTERN
drink, 2-9pm • $5 Absolut Happy Hour, 4-9pm • $5
and $5 Bulleit Bourbon, Bacardi, all flavors, all
9pm-close • Expanded night long • JOX: The
craft beer selection • GL Underwear Party,
No Cover 9pm-close • Featuring DJ
David Merrill • $5 Cover
BALTIMORE EAGLE (includes clothes check)
$5 Drinks all day • Ravens
Game, 4:30-8:30pm NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR
• Leather and Fetish Guest DJs • Zing Zang
Saturdays, Code Bar, Bloody Marys, Nellie Beer,
8pm-2am • Code enforced House Rail Drinks and
after 9pm in the Code Bar Mimosas, $4, 11am-5pm •
• Dance Party in the Nest, Buckets of Beer, $15
9:30pm-close • thebalti-
moreeagle.com NUMBER NINE
Doors open 2pm • Happy
FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink,
Saturday Breakfast Buffet, 2-9pm • $5 Absolut and $5
10am-3pm • $14.99 with Bulleit Bourbon, 9pm-close
one glass of champagne • Jawbreaker, with DJs
or coffee, soda or juice • BacK2bACk, 9:30pm
Additional champagne $2
per glass • Crazy Hour,

DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY 55

SHAW’S TAVERN
Brunch with Bottomless
Mimosas, 10am-3pm •
Happy Hour, 5-7pm • $3
Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon,
$5 Rails and House Wines
& Half-Priced Pizzas
TOWN
Ho Ho Ho Party,
10pm-close • Music
and video by DJ Wess •
Christmas-themed Drag
Show starts at 10:30pm •
Hosted by Lena Lett and
featuring Tatianna, Shi-
Queeta-Lee, Riley Knoxx
and Ba’Naka • Doors open
10pm • $15 Cover from
10pm-12am • $12 after
midnight • 21+
TRADE
Doors open 2pm • Huge
Happy Hour: Any drink
normally served in a cock-
tail glass served in a huge
glass for the same price,
2-10pm • Beer and wine
only $4
56 DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY
ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS
Men of Secrets, 9pm-4am
• Guest dancers • Ladies
of Illusion Drag Show
with host Ella Fitzgerald
• Doors at 9pm, Shows
at 11:30pm and 1:30am
• DJ Don T. in Ziegfeld’s
• DJ Steve Henderson in
Secrets • Cover 21+
CHRISTMAS EVE
Sunday,
December 24
9 1/2
Closed for Christmas Eve
BALTIMORE EAGLE
Open 12pm-8pm •
T-Dance Sundays, 4-8pm
• Buy a cup for $5 and fill
it with any Absolut Flavor
and Mixer for $3 each time
(excluding energy drink
mixers) • thebaltimoreea-
NUMBER NINE
Closed for Christmas Eve
BALTIMORE EAGLE
Closed for Christmas Day
Tuesday,
gle.com December 26
SHAW’S TAVERN FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR
FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Brunch with Bottomless Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • 9 1/2
Champagne Brunch Buffet, Mimosas, 10am-3pm • Singles Night • Half-Priced Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any
10am-3pm • $24.99 with Closed at 4pm Pasta Dishes • Karaoke, drink, 5-9pm • Multiple
four glasses of champagne 9pm TVs showing movies,
or mimosas, 1 Bloody TRADE shows, sports • Expanded
Mary, or coffee, soda or Doors open 2pm • Huge GREEN LANTERN craft beer selection •
juice • Crazy Hour, 4-8pm Happy Hour: Any drink Open 9pm • Happy Hour No Cover
• Karaoke, 9pm-1am normally served in a cock- all night long
tail glass served in a huge BALTIMORE EAGLE
GREEN LANTERN glass for the same price, NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Open 12pm • Happy Hour,
Happy Hour, 4-9pm • 2-10pm • Beer and wine Closed for Christmas Day 5-9pm, all liquors, beers
Open Mic Night Karaoke only $4 and wines up to 50% off
with Kevin downstairs, NUMBER NINE • Well Bomb Shots $4
all Day • Tavern Tally
9:30pm-close Closed for Christmas Day
presents Family Feud Game
NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR SHAW’S TAVERN Show Night, 8pm • thebal-
CHRISTMAS DAY timoreeagle.com
Drag Brunch, hosted Closed for Christmas Day
by Shi-Queeta-Lee,
10:30am-12:30pm and Monday, TRADE FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR
1-3pm • $20 Brunch Buffet Doors open 5pm • Huge Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Taco
• House Rail Drinks, Zing December 25 Happy Hour: Any drink Tuesday • Karaoke, 9pm
Zang Bloody Marys, Nellie normally served in a cock-
9 1/2 GREEN LANTERN
Beer and Mimosas, $4, tail glass served in a huge
Closed for Christmas Day Happy Hour all night long,
11am-close • Buckets of glass for the same price,
4pm-close
Beer, $15 5-10pm • Beer and wine
only $4
NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR
Beat the Clock Happy Hour
— $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm),
$4 (7-8pm) • Buckets of
Beer $15 • Karaoke and
Drag Bingo
NUMBER NINE
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any
drink, 5-9pm • No Cover
SHAW’S TAVERN
Half-Priced Burgers and
Pizzas, 5-10pm • $5 House
Wines and $5 Sam Adams
TRADE
Doors open 5pm • Huge
Happy Hour: Any drink
normally served in a cock-
tail glass served in a huge
glass for the same price,
5-10pm • Beer and wine
only $4
Wednesday, GREEN LANTERN
Happy Hour all night
TRADE
Doors open 5pm • Huge
Thursdays Drag Show,
hosted by Whimsey
NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR
Beat the Clock Happy Hour
December 27 long, 4pm-close • Bear Happy Hour: Any drink Thrift and Shaunda Leer, — $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm),
Yoga with Greg Leo, 6:30- normally served in a cock- 8-9:30pm in the Nest — $4 (7-8pm) • Buckets of
9 1/2 7:30pm • $10 per class • tail glass served in a huge First well or domestic drink Beer $15 • Drag Bingo
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any Lantern Dancers, 9pm-2am glass for the same price, is on us! • $5 Cover at
drink, 5-9pm • Multiple • Upstairs opens 9pm • 5-10pm • Beer and wine door • Underwear Night, NUMBER NINE
TVs showing movies, GoGo Boys at 10pm only $4 9pm-2am • For men in Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any
shows, sports • Expanded underwear, all well drinks drink, 5-9pm • No Cover
craft beer selection • NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR $2, 9pm-12am • Best
No Cover SmartAss Trivia Night, 8pm Underwear Contest at SHAW’S TAVERN
BALTIMORE EAGLE
and 9pm • Prizes include
bar tabs and tickets to
Thursday, Midnight • Code enforced
in Code Bar after 9pm •
Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3
Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon,
Happy Hour, 5-9pm, shows at the 9:30 Club • December 28 thebaltimoreeagle.com $5 Rails and House Wines
all liquors, beers and $15 Buckets of Beer for & Half-Priced Pizzas
wines up to 50% off • SmartAss Teams only • 9 1/2 FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR
Domestic Bottles are Bring a new team member Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • TRADE
$3 all day • Fetlife: The and each get a free $10 drink, 5-9pm • Multiple Karaoke, 9pm Doors open 5pm • Huge
Next Generation Happy Dinner TVs showing movies, Happy Hour: Any drink
Hour, 8pm • Team Trivia, shows, sports • Expanded GREEN LANTERN normally served in a cock-
8-10pm • thebaltimoreea- NUMBER NINE craft beer selection • Happy Hour, 4-9pm tail glass served in a huge
gle.com Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any Music videos featuring • Shirtless Thursday, glass for the same price,
drink, 5-9pm • No Cover DJ Wess 10-11pm • Men in 5-10pm • Beer and wine
FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Underwear Drink Free, only $4
Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • $6 SHAW’S TAVERN BALTIMORE EAGLE 12-12:30am • DJs
Burgers • Drag Bingo Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Happy Hour, 5-9pm, all BacK2bACk ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS
Night, hosted by Ms. Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, liquors, beers and wines All male, nude dancers •
Regina Jozet Adams, 8pm $5 Rails and House Wines up to 50% off • $3 Well DJ • 9pm • Cover 21+
• Bingo prizes • Karaoke, and Half-Priced Pizzas Drinks All Night • Thrifty
10pm-1am
DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY 57
Friday,
December 29
9 1/2
Open at 5pm • Happy
Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink,
5-9pm • Friday Night
Videos, 9:30pm • Rotating
DJs • Expanded craft beer
selection • No Cover
BALTIMORE EAGLE
Baltimore Bear Happy
Hour, 5-9pm, all liquors,
beers and wines up to 50%
off • Bad Bears After Dark
in the Code Bar, 9pm • $5
Cover • thebaltimoreea-
gle.com
FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR
Crazy Hour, 4-8pm •
Karaoke, 9pm
GREEN LANTERN
Happy Hour, 4-9pm •
$5 Smirnoff, all flavors,
all night long • ONYX
Mid-Atlantic celebrates
Rod McCoy, American
Leatherman, 10pm • $5
Cover
NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR
DJ Matt Bailer • Videos,
Dancing • Beat the Clock
Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm),
$3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) •
Buckets of Beer $15
NUMBER NINE
Open 5pm • Happy Hour:
2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm
• No Cover • Friday Night
Piano with Chris, 7:30pm
58 DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY
SHAW’S TAVERN
Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3
Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon,
$5 Rails and House Wines
& Half-Priced Pizzas
TOWN
Patio open 6pm • DC Bear
Crue Happy Hour, 6-11pm
• $3 Rail, $3 Draft, $3 Bud
Bottles • Free Pizza, 7pm
• No cover before 9:30pm
• 21+ • Drag Show starts
at 10:30pm • Hosted by
Lena Lett and featuring
Miss Tatianna, Shi-
Queeta-Lee, Riley Knoxx
and Ba’Naka • DJ Wess
upstairs, DJs BacK2bACk
downstairs following the
show • GoGo Boys after
11pm • Doors open at
10pm • For those 21 and
over, $12 • For those
18-20, $15 • Club: 18+ •
Patio: 21+
TRADE
Doors open 5pm • Huge
Happy Hour: Any drink
normally served in a cock-
tail glass served in a huge
glass for the same price,
5-10pm • Beer and wine
only $4
ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS
Men of Secrets, 9pm •
Guest dancers • Rotating
DJs • Ladies of Illusion
Drag Show • Doors at
9pm, Shows at 11:30pm
and 1:30am • DJ Don T. in
Ziegfeld’s • Cover 21+
Saturday,
December 30
9 1/2
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any
drink, 2-9pm • $5 Absolut
and $5 Bulleit Bourbon,
9pm-close • Expanded
craft beer selection •
No Cover
BALTIMORE EAGLE
$5 Drinks all day • Leather
and Fetish Saturdays, Code
Bar, 8pm-2am • Code
enforced after 9pm in the
Code Bar • Dance Party in
the Nest, 9:30pm-close •
thebaltimoreeagle.com
FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR
Saturday Breakfast Buffet,
10am-3pm • $14.99 with
one glass of champagne
or coffee, soda or juice •
Additional champagne $2
per glass • Crazy Hour,
4-8pm • Freddie’s Follies
Drag Show, hosted by Miss
Destiny B. Childs, 8-10 pm
• Karaoke, 10pm-close
GREEN LANTERN
Happy Hour, 4-9pm • $5
Bacardi, all flavors, all
night long • Saturday Star
Search with Kristina Kelly,
11:30pm-close • $100
Cash Prize to winner •
$5 Cover
NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR
Guest DJs • Zing Zang
Bloody Marys, Nellie Beer,
House Rail Drinks and
Mimosas, $4, 11am-5pm •
Buckets of Beer, $15
NUMBER NINE
Doors open 2pm • Happy
Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink,
2-9pm • $5 Absolut and $5
Bulleit Bourbon, 9pm-close
• Rotating DJs
SHAW’S TAVERN
Brunch with Bottomless
Mimosas, 10am-3pm •
Happy Hour, 5-7pm • $3
Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon,
$5 Rails and House Wines
& Half-Priced Pizzas
TOWN
DC Rawhides host Town
& Country: Two-Step, Line
Dancing, Waltz and West
Coast Swing, $5 Cover to
stay all night • Doors open
6:30pm, Lessons 7-8pm,
Open dance 8-10:30pm
• Upstairs: CTRL DC:
Sleigh Kween, 11pm-close
• Featuring DJs Adam
Koussari-Amin, Devon
Trotter, and Jeff Prior •
Downstairs: Music and
video by DJ Wess • Drag
Show starts at 10:30pm •
Hosted by Lena Lett and
featuring Tatianna, Shi-
Queeta-Lee, Riley Knoxx
and Ba’Naka • Doors open
10pm • $15 Cover from
10pm-12am • $12 after
midnight • 21+
TRADE
Doors open 2pm • Huge
Happy Hour: Any drink
normally served in a cock-
tail glass served in a huge
glass for the same price,
2-10pm • Beer and wine
only $4
ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS
Men of Secrets, 9pm-4am
• Guest dancers • Ladies
of Illusion Drag Show
with host Ella Fitzgerald
• Doors at 9pm, Shows
at 11:30pm and 1:30am
• DJ Don T. in Ziegfeld’s
• DJ Steve Henderson in
Secrets • Cover 21+
NEW YEAR’S EVE
Sunday,
December 31
9 1/2
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any
drink, 2-9pm • $5 Absolut
and $5 Bulleit Bourbon,
9pm-close • Multiple TVs
showing movies, shows,
sports • Expanded craft
beer selection • No Cover
BALTIMORE EAGLE
Open 24 Hours • Lizzie
Beaumont and Betty
Whitecastle present
Queens Who Brunch,
12-2pm • $34 per person
includes All You Can
Eat • Free pitcher of
Mimosas per 4 admissions
• Reservations highly
suggested and can be
made online beforehand
• Ravens Game, 1-5pm •
T-Dance Sundays, 4-9pm
• Buy a cup for $5 and fill
it with any Absolut Flavor
and Mixer for $3 each time
(excluding energy drink
mixers) • New Year’s Eve
Blow Out: NY Explosion •
$25 admission in advance,
$30 at door • DJs Ryan
Doubleyou, Kuhmeleon,
Vince Christopher, and
Scott Howard spin-
ning until 6am • Free
Champagne Toast and
Party Favors at midnight •
VIP Show at midnight, fea-
turing Charvoni of Blackbox
— $100 admission •
thebaltimoreeagle.com
FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR
Champagne Brunch Buffet,
10am-3pm • $24.99 with
four glasses of champagne
or mimosas, 1 Bloody
Mary, or coffee, soda
or juice • New Year’s
Eve Party, 8pm-close •
Drag Show and Karaoke
throughout the night •
Complimentary Champagne
Toast, Noisemakers, Party
Hats, and Favors • $25
Cover
GREEN LANTERN
Happy Hour, 4-9pm •
Green Lantern New Year’s
Eve Party, hosted by 495
Bears • $5 Cover includes
party favors, champagne
toast, and donuts at 1am
NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR
Drag Brunch, hosted
by Shi-Queeta-Lee,
10:30am-12:30pm and
1-3pm • $20 Brunch Buffet
• House Rail Drinks, Zing
Zang Bloody Marys, Nellie
Beer and Mimosas, $4,
11am-close • Buckets of
DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY 59
Beer, $15 • $6 Absolut TOWN NEW YEAR’S DAY NUMBER NINE GREEN LANTERN FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR
Cocktails, 8pm-close • DJ New Year’s Eve Party Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any Happy Hour all night long, Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • $6
Tag Team with DJs LEMZ
and Vodkatrina, 8pm-close
• Doors open 9pm for
Special Drag Show • $35 Monday, drink, 5-9pm • No Cover 4pm-close Burgers • Drag Bingo
Night, hosted by Ms.
• Complimentary cham- Cover (Tickets purchased January 1 SHAW’S TAVERN NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Regina Jozet Adams, 8pm
pagne toast at midnight, via Flavorus.com) • Drag New Year’s Day Brunch Beat the Clock Happy Hour • Bingo prizes • Karaoke,
with party favors and Show starts at 9:30pm • 9 1/2 with Bottomless Mimosas, — $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), 10pm-1am
noisemakers Hosted by Lena Lett and Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any 10am-3pm • Live Music $4 (7-8pm) • Buckets of
featuring Tatianna, Shi- drink, 5-9pm • Multiple by Meredith Rounsley • Beer $15 • Karaoke and GREEN LANTERN
NUMBER NINE Queeta-Lee, Riley Knoxx TVs showing movies, Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Drag Bingo Happy Hour all night
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any and Ba’Naka • Special shows, sports • Expanded Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, long, 4pm-close • Bear
drink, 2-9pm • $5 Absolut Star Guest Trixie Mattel craft beer selection • $5 Rails and House Wines NUMBER NINE Yoga with Greg Leo, 6:30-
and $5 Bulleit Bourbon, performs in the Drag Show No Cover and Half-Priced Pizzas Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any 7:30pm • $10 per class •
9pm-close • New Year’s • Doors open to general drink, 5-9pm • No Cover Lantern Dancers, 9pm-2am
Eve Party with DJ Chord public, 11pm • DJs Ed BALTIMORE EAGLE TRADE • Upstairs opens 9pm •
Bezerra • Free Champagne Bailey and Joe Gauthreaux Happy Hour, 5-9pm, all Doors open 2pm • Huge SHAW’S TAVERN GoGo Boys at 10pm
Toast at midnight with spin upstairs • Music liquors, beers and wines up Happy Hour: Any drink Half-Priced Burgers and
noisemakers and party Video Countdown with to 50% off • Micro Brew normally served in a cock- Pizzas, 5-10pm • $5 House NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR
favors • No Cover DJ Wess downstairs • Draft/Bottle Mondays — tail glass served in a huge Wines and $5 Sam Adams SmartAss Trivia Night, 8pm
$25 Cover $4 all day • SIN: Service glass for the same price, and 9pm • Prizes include
SHAW’S TAVERN Industry Night, 11pm-2am 5-10pm • Beer and wine TRADE bar tabs and tickets to
Brunch with Bottomless TRADE • First Well Drink or only $4 • Eye Opener: Doors open 5pm • Huge shows at the 9:30 Club •
Mimosas, 10am-3pm • • Doors open 2pm • Huge Domestic Beer Free • 10% New Year’s Day Party, Happy Hour: Any drink $15 Buckets of Beer for
Happy Hour, 5-7pm • $3 Happy Hour: Any drink off your Food Order all day 2pm-close normally served in a cock- SmartAss Teams only •
Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, normally served in a cock- • thebaltimoreeagle.com tail glass served in a huge Bring a new team member
$5 Rails and House Wines tail glass served in a huge glass for the same price, and each get a free $10
& Half-Priced Pizzas • glass for the same price, FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR 5-10pm • Beer and wine Dinner
New Year’s Eve Bash •
$50 Open Bar, 10pm-1am
2-10pm • Beer and wine
only $4 • New Queers Eve
New Year’s Day Brunch,
10am-3pm • Crazy Hour,
Tuesday, only $4
NUMBER NINE
— limited availability, Party featuring DJs Aaron 4-8pm • Singles Night • January 2 Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any
buy at shawstavern.com • Riggins and Kris Sutton Half-Priced Pasta Dishes • drink, 5-9pm • No Cover
House DJ • Champagne
toast and noisemakers at
with multiple countdowns
throughout the night •
Karaoke, 9pm 9 1/2
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any
Wednesday, SHAW’S TAVERN
midnight Balloon Drop and Prizes, GREEN LANTERN drink, 5-9pm • Multiple January 3 Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3
Noisemakers and Party Happy Hour all night TVs showing movies, Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon,
THE HAMILTON LIVE Favors • No Cover long • Singing with the shows, sports • Expanded 9 1/2 $5 Rails and House Wines
The 19th Street Band Sisters: Open Mic Karaoke craft beer selection • Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any and Half-Priced Pizzas •
upstairs in The Loft Bar • Night with the Sisters No Cover drink, 5-9pm • Multiple Piano Bar with Jill, 8pm
$35 Cover • Downstairs: of Perpetual Indulgence, TVs showing movies,
Bonerama and New 9:30pm-close BALTIMORE EAGLE shows, sports • Expanded TRADE
Orleans Suspects • Happy Hour, 5-9pm, all craft beer selection • Doors open 5pm • Huge
$43.50-$58.50 Cover, NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR liquors, beers and wines up No Cover Happy Hour: Any drink
including complimentary Drag Brunch, hosted by to 50% off • Well Bomb normally served in a cock-
midnight champagne toast Shi-Queeta-Lee, 1-3pm Shots $4 all Day • Tavern BALTIMORE EAGLE tail glass served in a huge
• $20 Brunch Buffet • Tally presents Family Feud Happy Hour, 5-9pm, all glass for the same price,
House Rail Drinks, Zing Game Show Night, 8pm • liquors, beers and wines 5-10pm • Beer and wine
Zang Bloody Marys, Nellie thebaltimoreeagle.com up to 50% off • Domestic only $4 l
Beer and Mimosas, $4, Bottles are $3 all day •
11am-close • Buckets of FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Team Trivia, 8-10pm •
Beer, $15 • Bowl Games Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Taco thebaltimoreeagle.com
on TVs all day Tuesday • Karaoke, 9pm

60 DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY

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62 DECEMBER 21, 2017 • METROWEEKLY