Recent Events Articles

Soap Opera Expressionism

Gay soap opera star Thom Bierdz's personal tragedy helped him develop a greater sense of compassion

Published on February 27, 2010, 10:44pm

''Sometimes the resentment still comes up,'' says Thom Bierdz. ''But I believe in life after death, so I believe that mom's okay, just somewhere else.'' A star of CBS's The Young and the Restless, Bierdz had to deal with significant family tragedy over the past two decades. Specifically, he lost his mother 21 years ago in a horrific, personal way that would test the mettle of the strongest of souls. ''My brother killed our mother in 1989 with a baseball ...[more]

House party

Logan Circle House tour features modern and historical homes

Published on December 3, 2009, 12:06am

What once started as a Victorian Christmas Home Tour in Logan Circle more than 30 years ago has evolved to become the Logan Circle House Tour, now including both historical and modern homes. This year's event, on Sunday, Dec. 6, features 11 properties. ''We're a strong No. 3 after Dupont Circle and Georgetown's tours,'' says Tim Christensen, chair of the Logan Circle Community Association's tour committee. ''We're distinguished from both because we consider ourselves to be a little more edgy ...[more]

Open Your Art

Whitman-Walker Clinic's Art for Life benefit is now in its 16th year

Published on November 12, 2009, 12:00am

The 16th Annual Art for Life art auction and exhibit benefiting Whitman-Walker Clinic marks the fifth time local gay artist Bill Mould is participating in the show. Work by JoAnn Clayton ''I like to use ceramic and kind of fool the eye,'' says Mould, one of more than 100 artists featured this year. ''A lot of my pieces look like leather or wood, or parchment, and yet they're all ceramic,'' says Mould. Keeping with that theme, Mould's featured piece is ...[more]

Earned Wings

Forum Theatre ambitiously tackles an AIDS epic

Published on October 29, 2009, 12:00am

''The sort of plays we produce,'' says Forum Theatre artistic director Michael Dove, ''are incredibly theatrical. [They're] plays that ask really big questions, that tackle political and social issues.'' Angels in America Nothing fills the bill better, perhaps, than Tony Kushner's epic, sprawling Angels in America. Forum has kicked off its sixth season, and first as the resident company at the Round House Theatre-Silver Spring, with both Tony Award-winning parts of Kushner's work. Part I: Millennium Approaches has been playing ...[more]

Sky Queen

Pam Ann lands at Lincoln Theatre

Published on October 22, 2009, 12:00am

She's global. She's glam. She's Pam Ann. And while her comedic Pam Ann persona is sky-bound, you're more likely to have encountered Caroline Reid on the high seas. After all, her trolley-pushing, passenger-abusing shtick has been part of the lineup on about 30 Atlantis cruises. Pam Ann It's impossible, however, that you ever saw Pam Ann in Washington. Her Oct. 26 landing at the Lincoln Theatre marks her D.C. debut -- and she couldn't be more thrilled. ''I've never been. ...[more]

Dancing with Vasudevan

Dakshina's annual Indian Dance Festival includes a special guest

Published on October 15, 2009, 12:00am

Like most Indian dance pieces, the Bharata Natyam tells a story. Aniruddhan Vasudevan, who is gay and one of the dancers performing the classical Indian piece during Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh Dance Company's 6th Annual Fall Festival of Indian Dance at the Lincoln Theatre next weekend, says it's a special part of the show because of its history. Aniruddhan Vasudevan (Photo by Lunge Alapadma) ''Bharata Natyam is the 20th century reinventing of a really old dance style that was practiced in ...[more]

Leading Man

Hair's Gavin Creel aims to usher in a new age of activism using the power of Broadway

Published on October 8, 2009, 12:00am

''I love the play. I love what it says. I love the fact that it's sort-of perfectly tied into what's going on in my personal life right now,'' says Gavin Creel, star of the Broadway revival of Hair. ''Our tribe is 100-percent dedicated to making a loud, joyful noise for equality.'' Gavin Creel (Photo by Joan Marcus) This weekend, Creel will be in D.C. to perform Saturday at the HRC National Dinner – and to participate in Sunday's National Equality ...[more]

Phase Set to Stun

PhaseFest returns for a third year, bigger, better and ''Clickier''

Published on September 24, 2009, 12:00am

''One of my biggest fears is that this year we're going to have to turn people away,'' says Angela Lombardi, lead organizer of PhaseFest. The third annual queer music showcase once again takes place at Phase 1 -- max cap 350 -- and the lineup is bigger than ever, with the nationally known Canadian band The Cliks headlining Saturday night. ''We're gonna be kind of like the try out for the future lineup for the band,'' says Lombardi, referring to ...[more]

Scare Tactics

Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa breathes some new life in Wilde's classic tale

Published on September 24, 2009, 12:00am

''The philosophy behind Dorian Gray is that Dorian lives in a time when no one can be shocked, and he's trying to rebel against that,'' says Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. The playwright's stage adaptation of Oscar Wilde's classic novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, is now in its world premiere at Bethesda's Round House Theatre. The Picture of Dorian Gray (Photo by Danisha Crosby) Aguirre-Sacasa sets his adaptation in modern times -- '90s-era London -- and uses modern-day vernacular in place of ...[more]

Busch Garden

The gay theatre icon helps Ganymede kick off its festival

Published on September 17, 2009, 12:00am

For Charles Busch, Washington is akin to a first love. The long-ago memory has all the elements: joy, discovery and resonance -- even as some of the details have faded. Charles Busch ''It was the first time that I was performing a full two-act evening solo,'' Busch recalls of the affair begun in 1980 at Source Theatre on 14th Street NW, with Charles Busch Alone With a Cast of Thousands. ''I got absolutely rave reviews across the board. It was ...[more]

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