It may come as a shock, but Dionne Warwick balks at the idea of playing massive venues.
“I’ve basically refused to perform in arenas and coliseums,” says the 76-year-old legend. “Those things are for basketball and hockey and soccer. And I am a singer.” She prefers intimate rooms where she can connect with her audience, rooms like Bethesda Blues & Jazz, where she’ll appear next week to help the venue celebrate its 4th Anniversary.
Over the course of two nights, she’ll be performing from a seemingly inexhaustible supply of hits, in particular those from her extraordinary collaboration with composer Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David, songs that have become so iconic, it’s hard to imagine anyone else singing them, including “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?” and “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again.” Warwick’s success extended beyond her Bacharach collaborations and songs like the soaring, Barry Manilow-produced “I’ll Never Love This Way Again” and the Bee Gees-penned “Heartbreaker.” Among her most cherished achievements was performing alongside Elton John, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder on “That’s What Friends Are For.” The song shot to #1 on the R&B, Adult Contemporary and Billboard Hot 100 charts and raised nearly $3 million for the American Foundation for AIDS Research.
Warwick felt a deep obligation to be a part of the project. “We were losing so many people [to AIDS], in my industry particularly,” she says, adding, “My grandfather, who was a minister, taught me at a very tender age that we’re all put on this earth to be of service to each other, and that we all need healthy people around us. And if there’s anything we can do to ensure that…it’s part of what we’re supposed to do.”
Inevitably, as with almost any conversation these days, talk turns to Donald Trump. Warwick gets audibly riled up when speaking of the new President with a penchant for childish Tweets.
“We can’t sit around and twiddle our thumbs, you know?
We need to take the initiative to be the actual citizens of these United States of America and demand the things that we know we’re entitled to and how they ought to be done,” she insists. “He has no choice but to listen. He’s not our boss. We’re his boss. He’s got to listen to us.”
Dionne Warwick appears Tuesday, Feb. 28 and Wednesday, March 1 at Bethesda Blues & Jazz, 7719 Wisconsin Ave., in Bethesda. Doors at 6 p.m., show at 8 p.m. Tickets are $115 to $150. Call 240-330-4500 or visit bethesdabluesjazz.com.
The Food and Drug Administration has set its sights on "poppers," also known as amyl nitrite, an inhalant frequently used by gay men, particularly during sex.
Poppers are sold as video head cleaners, room fresheners, or nail polish removers. When inhaled, they relax the muscles and blood vessels in the body, producing a brief, intense euphoric rush. They also relax the anal sphincter muscle, which makes penetrative sex more pleasurable for receptive partners.
For years, the use of poppers has been a legal gray area.
Federal law prohibits the sale or distribution for recreational use, with some states seeking to punish recreational consumption.
The Trump administration canceled at least 68 grants to 46 institutions, totaling about $40 million, that had been awarded to study issues related to LGBTQ health.
Some of the grant money was already spent, but at least $1.36 million -- and likely more -- in future support has been pulled as part of the Trump administration's efforts to target what it calls "ideologically-driven" science.
That is part of a larger effort to purge the federal government of -- and to pressure the private sector to eliminate -- diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and programs, including anything that acknowledges the existence of transgender identity.
A federal judge blocked Texas A&M University from banning a drag show from being held on any of the university's 11 campuses. The temporary preliminary injunction was issued on March 24 by Judge Lee Rosenthal of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
As a result, "Draggieland," a student-produced drag event, will go on as planned at the Rudder Theatre on the university's College Station campus this Thursday, March 27.
The pageant -- which has sold out the 750-seat Rudder Theatre every year since 2020 -- features contestants who wear clothing or makeup that often, but does not always, run counter to their gender identity. The contestants also dance and answer questions about what drag and LGBTQ culture means to them.
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