Metro Weekly - 12-01-16 - Ron Simmons

DECEMBER 01, 2016
18
CONTENTS
HOLLY JOLLY
Our annual round-up of adventurous,

inspiring holiday concerts.
By Doug Rule
THE CALLING
Ron Simmons has led Us Helping Us for a quarter

of a century. Now hes handing the keys to the next
generation. On World AIDS Day, he reflects on a
lifetime of activism during an epidemic, and raising up
the black, gay community.
40
Volume 23 Issue 29
Interview by John Riley

Photography by Todd Franson
28
SECOND CHANCE
Watch Dogs 2 is fun, vibrant and packed with

interesting characters -- everything the original wasnt.
By Rhuaridh Marr
SPOTLIGHT: METROCOOKING DC p.7 OUT ON THE TOWN p.14

THEATRICAL GREETINGS p.16 HOLLY JOLLY p.18 COMMUNITY CALENDAR p.25
FILLING A VOID p.25 VOLUNTEER SPIRIT p.26 COVER STORY: THE CALLING p.28
GALLERY: FREDERICK NUNLEY p.35 MUSIC: HOLIDAY ALBUMS p.36
STAGE: THE SECRET GARDEN p.38 GAMES: WATCH DOGS 2 p.40
NIGHTLIFE p.43 LISTINGS p.45 SCENE: MR. DC EAGLE CONTEST p.45
SCENE: BEARLESQUE AT TOWN p.52 LAST WORD p.54
The bitches who make this shit... #masthead
Editorial Editor-in-Chief Randy Shulman Art Director Todd Franson Managing Editor Rhuaridh Marr Senior Editor John Riley Contributing Editor Doug Rule
Senior Photographers Ward Morrison, Julian Vankim Contributing Illustrator Scott G. Brooks Contributing Writers Gordon Ashenhurst,
Sean Bugg, Frank Carber, Fallon Forbush, Sean Maunier, Troy Petenbrink, Kate Wingfield Webmaster David Uy Production Assistant Julian Vankim
Sales & Marketing Publisher Randy Shulman National Advertising Representative Rivendell Media Co. 212-242-6863 Distribution Manager Dennis Havrilla
Patron Saint Essex Hemphill Cover Photography Todd Franson
Metro Weekly 1775 I St. NW, Suite 1150 Washington, DC 20006 202-638-6830
All material appearing in Metro Weekly is protected by federal copyright law and may not be reproduced in whole or part without the permission of the publishers. Metro Weekly assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials submitted for publication. All such submissions are subject to
editing and will not be returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Metro Weekly is supported by many fine advertisers, but we cannot accept responsibility for claims made by advertisers, nor can we accept responsibility for materials provided by advertisers or their
agents. Publication of the name or photograph of any person or organization in articles or advertising in Metro Weekly is not to be construed as any indication of the sexual orientation of such person or organization.
2016 Jansi LLC.
DECEMBER 01, 2016 METROWEEKLY
Holiday Gift Guide
Visit the Holiday Gift Guide Online at metroweekly.com/giftguide
PHOTOS COURTESY OF METROCOOKING DC
Spotlight
MetroCooking DC
Food Show
OTH A HOLIDAY TREAT AND A SHOPPING PRESERVE,

The Ultimate Food Lovers Weekend is the areas biggest specialty food and culinary event. And the lineup of
star chefs who will cook and chat at the 2016 MetroCooking DC
is impressive: Tom Colicchio, Jacques Pepin, Carla Hall, Duff
Goldman, David Guas, Richard Sandoval, Peter Chang, Scott
Drewno, Tim Ma, Erik Bruner-Yang and Victor Albisu.
In addition to hundreds of specialty food vendors exhibiting their wares, theres a whole smorgasbord of activities on
tap, including a RAMW Grand Tasting Pavilion with samples
from local restaurants, a separate area offering beer, wine and
spirits samplings, a BBQ Bash culinary classes by chefs from
LAcademie de Cuisine, entertaining workshops and book
signings.
Saturday, Dec. 3, and Sunday, Dec. 4, starting at 10 a.m. each day. Walter E. Washington Convention Center,
801 Mt. Vernon Place NW. Tickets are $21.50 to $200. Call 202-249-3000 or visit metrocookingdc.com.
Spotlight
ARLINGTON DRAFTHOUSE
CHRISTMAS MOVIE FESTIVAL
Though its become a lot less focused on cinema

recently, this Arlington venue is still one of the best
places to see movies, since they screen while servers offer food and alcohol tableside. Next up is the
Drafthouses annual Christmas movie marathon,
where you can come and go throughout the day
and see up to six classic movies. How The Grinch
Stole Christmas and A Charlie Brown Christmas
screen a couple of times during the day, along with
Elf at 1 p.m., A Christmas Story at 3 p.m., Scrooged
at 5:15 p.m., and National Lampoons Christmas
Vacation at 7:20 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 11, starting
at noon. Arlington Cinema N Drafthouse, 2903
Columbia Pike, Arlington. Tickets are $8. Call 703486-2345 or visit arlingtondrafthouse.com.
SILVER BELLES
Talk about a starry cast: D.C. leading ladies Donna

Migliaccio, Nova Y. Payton, Ilona Dulaski, Naomi
Jacobson and Sandy Bainum help ensure this new
holiday musical becomes a must-see affair, particularly
for a certain segment of the theatergoing community.
Married musical writing duo and local stage actors
Matt Conner and Stephen Gregory Smith developed
lyrics set to Conners score, with a book by fellow D.C.
playwright Allyson Currin. Billed as Golden Girls meets
Designing Women, Silver Belles, directed by Signatures
Eric Schaeffer, focuses on a small town in Tennessee
struggling to keep a beloved holiday pageant alive after
the sudden death of its longtime director. Through Dec.
31. Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington.
Call 703-820-9771 or visit signature-theatre.org.
EMMYLOU HARRIS
The Country Music Hall of Fame inductee comes to town

for a concert billed as An Intimate Performance Benefiting
Bonapartes Retreat, the dog rescue organization the card-carrying PETA member founded in Nashville. A Washington Post
critic has described Harris as the silken-voiced muse of a summer night, but trust that her eloquent, expressive country-folk
is welcome even in the dead of fall, especially when in service
to a good cause. Sunday, Dec. 4. Doors at 6 p.m. The Hamilton,
600 14th St. NW. Tickets are $90 to $250. Call 202-787-1000 or
visit thehamiltondc.com.
Spotlight
DIANA ROSS WITH NSO POPS
One week after being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom,

the Supreme diva takes to the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. The
National Symphony, led by Emil de Cou, will accompany her
through her hit Motown-era and disco songbook. Thursday, Dec.
1, at 7 p.mm., Friday, Dec. 2, at 8 p.m., and Saturday, Dec. 3, at 8
p.m. Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Tickets are $59 to $179. Call
202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.
FOUR SEASONS BY PHILIP HAAS
Four larger-than-life, three-dimensional portrait

busts become the first ever art installations in the
Hillwood gardens. Contemporary American artist Philip Haas offers sculptural interpretations of
the celebrated botanical paintings by Italian master
Giuseppe Arcimboldo. The 15-foot fiberglass works
will weather seasonal changes in climate. Through
March 31. Hillwood Estate, 4155 Linnean Ave. NW.
Suggested donation is $12. Call 202-686-5807 or visit
HillwoodMuseum.org.
TAME.
WSC Avant Bard presents Jonelle Walkers LGBT spin on The

Taming of the Shrew, told from the point of view of the woman
being tamed or more specifically, rid of her homosexuality. In
the heart of Eisenhower America, a free-spirited young poet leaves
Smith College heartbroken over her lovers suicide, returning to her
homophobic conservative family and hyper-heteronormative Texas
hometown. Angela Kay Pirko directs this tale starring Jill Tighe as
Cat, a rebel with claws. To Dec. 11. Gunston Arts Center, Theater
Two, 2700 South Lang St. Arlington. Tickets are $30 to $35. Call 703418-4808 or visit avantbard.org.
Out On The Town
PUSHING DEAD
As part of its monthly Xtra film series, Reel Affirmations presents Tom E. Browns Pushing Dead, starring Danny Glover
and James Roday. It offers a modern-day look at health struggles for those living with HIV. Hosted by Rayceen Pendarvis
of the Ask Rayceen Show, the event includes a post-show catered cocktail reception as well as a discussion with the director
moderated by Metro Weekly editor Randy Shulman. Friday, Dec. 2, at 7 p.m. HRC Equality Center, 1640 Rhode Island Ave.
NW. Tickets are $12, or $25 for VIP seating as well as the post-show reception with open bar and light fare. Call 800-7774723 or visit reelaffirmations.org.
Compiled by Doug Rule
FILM
CHAPLINS THE KID
Composer/performer Andrew Earle

Simpson performs his new piano
score to Charlie Chaplins first feature-length film as a director, the
second offering in the Atlass new
Silent Film Series. Dating to 1921,
The Kid is an imaginative and affecting Chaplin comedy, widely considered one of the greatest films of the
silent era, and featured as Chaplins
co-star then-child actor Jackie
Coogan, best known as Uncle Fester
from The Addams Family. Sunday,
Dec. 11, at 4 p.m. Atlas Performing
Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets
are $20. Call 202-399-7993 or visit
atlasarts.org.
HOLIDAY INN
Over the next few weeks, the

American Film Institute offers 11
Christmas flicks, both classic and
curious, from The Muppet Christmas
Carol and White Christmas to Die
Hard and Gremlins, both of which
we consider to be a bit of a stretch.
But the Holiday Classic screening
this weekend is the 1942 Irving
Berlin-composed musical Holiday
14
Inn, directed by Mark Sandrich

and starring Bing Crosby and
Fred Astaire. One song from the
score, White Christmas, became
so successful, it begat a musical to
call its own a dozen years later, a
loose reimagining of this one, set in
snowy Connecticut. Friday, Dec. 2,
at 12:30 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 3, at 11
a.m., and Sunday, Dec. 4, at 11 a.m.
AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville
Road, Silver Spring. Tickets are $10.
Call 301-495-6720 or visit afi.com/
Silver.
PANDAS: THE JOURNEY HOME
National Geographic captures

on film the giant pandas living in
Wolong National Nature Reserve
in China. One of the rarest species on the planet, the ever-elusive,
gentle creature is also on the brink
of extinction due to centuries of
human expansion and destruction
of their habitat. Nicholas Browns
40-minute natural history film educates viewers on the life and habits
of pandas as well as scientific efforts
to increase breeding. In 3D. Now
to Dec. 31. National Geographic
Museum, 1145 17th St. NW. Tickets
ngmuseum.org.
STAGE
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
Craig Wallace takes over from

Edward Gero as the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge in Fords
Theatres 35th anniversary production of Dickens Yuletide classic.
The music-infused adaptation was
originally conceived by Michael
Baron. To Dec. 31. Fords Theatre,
511 10th St. NW. Call 800-982-2787
or visit fordstheatre.org.
A CHRISTMAS CAROL: A GHOST

STORY OF CHRISTMAS
Olney Theatre Center presents

another seasonal run of the oneman portrayal of the Dickens classic by Paul Morella, who bases his
adaptation on Dickens original
novella and reading tour. To Dec.
31. The Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre
Lab, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring
Road, Olney, Md. Call 301-9243400 or visit olneytheatre.org.
A CHRISTMAS CAROL MEMORY
Creative Cauldrons Laura Connors

Hull conceived of and directs
a world premiere of yet another twist on Charles Dickens. A
young girl reawakens memories
and spurs on renewal of a longlost tradition in her bah-humbug
family a tradition of reenacting
A Christmas Carol with puppets.

Jennifer Clements wrote the book
and Margie Jervis designed the sets,
costumes and puppets for this show
featuring a 12-member cast led by
David Schmidt, Kathy Halenda and
5th grader Madeline Aldana portraying little girl Charlotte. Opens
Thursday, Dec. 1, at 7:30 p.m. Dec.
20. ArtSpace Falls Church, 410
South Maple Ave. Falls Church.
Tickets are $30. Call 703-436-9948
or visit creativecauldron.org.
A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE
Originally staged at Londons

Young Vic, the Kennedy Center
presents Belgian director Ivo van
Hoves take on the Arthur Miller
classic, which won two Tony
Awards for Best Director and Best
Revival of a Play. A dark and passionate tale of family, love and
duplicity, A View from the Bridge
is set in a small Italian-American
Brooklyn neighborhood in the 50s.
Frederick Weller, Catherine Combs
and Thomas Jay Ryan star. To Dec.
3. Kennedy Center Eisenhower
Theater. Tickets are $45 to $149.
Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.
AMERICAN HERO
Three unlikely allies try to keep

a sandwich shop afloat when its
THEATRICAL
GREETINGS
Area theaters have taken holiday themes and

tweaked them to bring even more joy to the world
owner mysteriously disappears in

Bess Wohls dark comedy about
life, liberty and the pursuit of sandwiches. Columbias Rep Stage presents the regional premiere, directed
by Suzanne Beal. A post-recession
look at class issues in todays economy presents what New York Times
calls a wry, compassionate attitude
toward American workers barely
clinging to the bottom runs of the
economic ladder. To Dec. 3. The
Horowitz Centers Studio Theatre
at Howard Community College,
10901 Little Patuxent Parkway,
16
Columbia, Md. Tickets are $35 to

$40. Call 443-518-1500 or visit repstage.org.
BLACK NATIVITY
Theater Alliance offers a production of Langston Hughess retelling

of the Biblical Christmas story from
an Afrocentric perspective, incorporating gospel, blues, funk, jazz
and dance, with griot-style storytelling from an ensemble cast. Black
Nativity was one of the first plays
written by an African American to
appear on Broadway over 50 years
PHOTO CREDIT
IGHT ABOUT NOW, MANY AREA THEATERS ARE

betting that you really need to laugh. And that you crave
a lot of Charles Dickens in your life. In fact, you can even
laugh at Dickens through two separate loosely scripted, mostly
improvised satires. TWIST YOUR DICKENS is A Christmas Carol
parody presented by Second City at the Kennedy Center (12/931), while BAH, HUMBUG! AN IMPROVISED CHRISTMAS CAROL is a
presentation by the Baltimore Improv Group in partnership with
the two Drafthouse comedy venues (12/9-10, 12/16-17, Drafthouse
Comedy; 12/22-23, Arlington Drafthouse). And theres plenty
more where that came from, with at least five local variations
on the classic holiday ghost story, including the Fords Theatre
standard-bearer, which, in Craig Wallace, has a new Ebenezer
Scrooge in its 35th year. Other productions have adapted the
short story as a one-man show Paul Morellas A CHRISTMAS
CAROL: A GHOST STORY OF CHRISTMAS at Olney Theatre Center
(Now-12/31) and Laura Connors Hulls A CHRISTMAS CAROL
MEMORY at Creative Cauldron, which uses puppets (to 12/20).
Theres even Dickens influence in the classic Whoville saga, DR.
SEUSS HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS! THE MUSICAL. The
heartwarming show about that mean one returns to D.C. and the
National Theatre for a special holiday run (12/13-31).
In addition to the seasonal satire NUT-CRACKING HOLIDAY
REVUE returning for another run at the Arlington Drafthouse
(12/9-10, 12/16-18), the famed Chicago-based company Second
City offers an even more provocative show at Woolly Mammoth.
BLACK SIDE OF THE MOON features an all-African-American cast
examining what it means to be black in a post-Obama Trump
era (to 1/1). More satirical laughter as medicine is on offer at the
Edlavitch DCJCC, with the return of the Kinsey Sicks and its
seasonal sendup, OY VEY IN A MANGER (12/20-28).
Other companies are going with more serious, reason-forthe-season fare, including Folgers THE SECOND SHEPHERDS
PLAY, a retelling of the Nativity story with medieval English
tunes performed live by the celebrated Folger Consort (to
12/21). And Theater Alliance presents its third annual production of the Helen Hayes Award-winning BLACK NATIVITY,
Langston Hughess Afrocentric spin on the Biblical Christmas
tale (to 12/31, Anacostia Playhouse). Meanwhile, Washington

Stage Guild revives its adaptation of another holiday warhorse,
ITS A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY (to 12/18, Undercroft
Theatre of Mount Vernon United Methodist Church).
Round House presents one of two new, intriguing shows this
season, MISS BENNET: CHRISTMAS AT PEMBERLEY, set two years
after Pride and Prejudice, imagining what might have transpired
among Jane Austens fictional characters, chiefly middle daughter Mary Bennet (to 12/18). And then theres Signature Theatres
gift of SILVER BELLES (to 12/31). After all, what could be more
gay-appealing than a musical centered around a handful of powerhouse female vocalists, including Donna Migliaccio and Nova
Y. Payton? Doug Rule
ago. The winner of three Helen
Hayes Awards last year, the Theater
Alliance production is directed
and choreographed by Princess
Mhoon with music director eMarcus Harper-Short. Tony Thomas
as Joseph and Danielle Glover as
Mary lead a 12-member cast. To
Dec. 31. Anacostia Playhouse, 2020
Shannon Place SE. Tickets are $40
to $50. Call 202-241-2539 or visit
theateralliance.com.
INTO THE WOODS
Fiasco Theaters streamlined

reinvention of one of Stephen
Sondheims most popular musicals,
with a cast playing instruments on
stage, was a surprise hit last year in
New York. Now the fairy tale borne
out of five classic Grimms fairy
tales ventures down to our neck
of the woods for a month-long run
over the holidays. In previews starting Tuesday, Dec. 6. Runs through
Jan. 8. Kennedy Center Eisenhower
Theater. Tickets are $45 to $175.

Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.
ITS A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE

RADIO PLAY
The Washington Stage Guild

revives Joe Landrys adaptation
of the classic film tale as a radio
play after a successful run last year.
Joe Brack portrays the lead character, here named Jake Laurents,
in this production directed by
Laura Giannarelli also featuring
Vincent Clark, Jennifer Donovan,
Julie-Ann Elliott and Nick Depinto.
Steven Carpenter returns as the
shows Helen Hayes-nominated
sound engineer, operating in full
view of the audience. Now to Dec.
6. Undercroft Theatre of Mount
Vernon United Methodist Church,
900 Massachusetts Ave. NW.
Tickets are $40 to $50. Call 240582-0050 or visit stageguild.org.
LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES
Two French aristocrats challenge each other to seduce unsuspecting innocents in Christopher
Hamptons bracing drama of control and betrayal drawn from the
novel by Choderlos de Laclos. Hana
S. Sharif directs a production starring Suzzanne Douglas and Brent
Harris that offers a sneak peek into
Center Stages Pearlstone Theatre,
in the final stages of a year-long
renovation. In previews starting
Saturday, Nov. 26. Runs to Dec. 23.
700 North Calvert St., Baltimore.
Tickets are $20 to $64. Call 410332-0033 or visit centerstage.org.
MISS BENNET: CHRISTMAS AT

PEMBERLEY
Lauren Gunderson and Margot

Melcons holiday play is set two
years after Pride and Prejudice, with
the focus (unsurprisingly) on Mary
Bennet. Eleanor Holdridge directs
favorite characters as they gather at Pemberley, the home of Mr.
and Mrs. Darcy, played by Danny
Gavigan and Erin Weaver. Katie
Kleiger is Miss Bennet. Now in
previews. Runs to Dec. 18. Round
House Theatre, 4545 East-West
Highway, Bethesda. Tickets are $55
to $70. Call 240-644-1100 or visit
roundhousetheatre.org.
STRAIGHT WHITE MEN
A razor-sharp comedy confronting the

complexities of identity and hypocrisies of privilege from adventurous
New York playwright Young Jean
Lee, focusing on a Christmas gathering between three brothers and their
father. To Dec. 18. Studio Theatre,
14th & P Streets NW. Call 202-3323300 or visit studiotheatre.org.
THE CHRISTIANS
Set in a large, contemporary

Christian church, Lucas Hnaths
The Christians offers an unflinching
look at faith and its power to unite
or divide. Gregg Henry directs a
production featuring Caroline Clay,
Annie Grier, Michael Russotto,

Justin Weaks and Michael Willis.
A different local choir from area
churches performs each night of
the shows run. To Dec. 11. The
Aaron and Cecile Goldman Theater,
Edlavitch DCJCC, 1529 16th St.
NW. Tickets are $37 to $57. Call
202-777-3210 or visit theaterj.org.
THE SECOND CITYS BLACK SIDE

OF THE MOON
An all-African American troupe of

sketch and stand-up artists satirize
what it means to be black in our soonto-be post-Obama era. The shows
Second City ensemble consists of
Angela Alise, Sonia Denis, Dave
Helem, Torian Miller, Felonious
Munk and Dewayne Perkins. To Jan.
1. At Woolly Mammoth, 641 D St.
NW. Tickets range from $20 to $59.
Call 202-393-3939 or visit woollymammoth.net.
THE SECOND SHEPHERDS PLAY
Mary Hall Surface directs a magical retelling of the Nativity story

combining the moving tale with
beautiful music festive medieval
English tunes performed by early
music ensemble the Folger Consort.
The cast features Tonya Beckman,
Louis E. Davis, Megan Graves,
Emily Noel, Lilian Oben, Malinda
Kathleen Reese, Ryan Sellers and
Matthew R. Wilson. To Dec. 21.
Folger Theatre, 201 East Capitol St.
SE. Tickets are $25 to $60. Call 202544-7077 or visit folger.edu.
THE ZERO HOUR
Iron Crow Theatre presents

Madeline Georges play about the
struggles of a lesbian Brooklynite
to be be open and honest about
her identity and relationship with
her butch girlfriend. Rena Marie
and Rebecca Tucker star in what
is billed as a tour-de-force for
two actors taking on eight roles.
Performances are Friday, Dec. 2, at
8 p.m, Saturday, Dec. 3, at 2 and 8
p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 4, at 2 and 7
p.m. Baltimore Theatre Project, 45
West Preston St. Baltimore. Tickets
theatreproject.org.
MUSIC
BALTIMORE SYMPHONY
ORCHESTRA
Edward Polochick conducts and

plays harpsichord in the BSOs
annual complete performance of
Handels majestic Messiah. The
production also features soloists
and concert artists of Baltimore
Symphonic Chorale. Friday, Dec. 2,
at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 4, at
3 p.m. Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony
Hall, 1212 Cathedral St., Baltimore.
Also Saturday, Dec. 3, at 7:30 p.m.
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301
Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda.
Tickets are $25 to $99. Call 410783-8000 or visit bsomusic.org.
17
HOLLY JOLLY
Musgraves
Our annual round-up of adventurous, inspiring holiday concerts
ANDELS MESSIAH, SING-ALONGS OF SLEIGH BELLS AND SILENT

Night, The Nutcracker whether the Tchaikovsky classic or the Duke
Ellington-inspired modern variations are never too much of a good
thing. So heres a look at some of the more unusual, adventurous, potentially inspiring, concert offerings this year.
The GAY MENS CHORUS OF WASHINGTON is a prime offering for any alt-entertainment list, with its annual holiday grab-bag show, Naughty and Nice. (12/10,
12/17-18, Lincoln Theatre). This years Holiday Pops concert of carols and classics
by the BSO features STORM LARGE, the Pink Martini vocalist (12/17-18, Meyerhoff).
And for its Holiday Pops concert, the NSO presents LAURA OSNES and SANTINO
FONTANA (12/9-10, Kennedy Center). A more intimate, insightful cabaret is on tap
at McLeans Alden Theatre, with noted jazz pianist and musicologist JOHN EATONs
Holiday Songbook (12/17).
Year in, year out, D.C.s leading jazz venue Blues Alley serves as a hotspot for
getting into the holiday spirit. Our pick this year is Christmas with JANE MONHEIT
(12/22-23). The jazz highlight of the season, however, is a concert by the SHERRIE
MARICLE & THE DIVA ORCHESTRA, who will sing from Ella Fitzgeralds classic
Christmas songbook (12/16-17, Kennedy Center). The Howard Theatre is home
BALTIMORE SYMPHONY
ORCHESTRA, STEP AFRIKA!
Jazz composer Paul Murtha has

created an entire, two-act Swingin
Nutcracker riffing off of Duke
Ellingtons reimagining of the
classic story. Nicholas Hersh conducts a semi-staged production of
a world premiere featuring vibrant
and percussive choreography by
dancers with Washingtons Step
Afrika! Thursday, Dec. 8, at 8 p.m.
Also Friday, Dec. 9, at 7:30 p.m.,
Saturday, Dec. 10, at 2 and 7:30
p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 11, at 2
18
p.m. Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony

Hall, 1212 Cathedral St., Baltimore.
Tickets are $12.50 to $60. Call 410783-8000 or visit bsomusic.org.
BOSTON BRASS
Christmas Bells Are Swinging! is

the focus of this holiday concert by
the 30-year-old organization, presented as part of the Barns Chamber
Music Series. Sunday, Dec. 4, at 7:30
p.m. The Barns at Wolf Trap, 1635
Trap Road, Vienna. Tickets are $38.
Call 877-WOLFTRAP or visit wolftrap.org.
CECILY
base for holiday soul/R&B music, kicked off

by D.C. native RAHEEM DEVAUGHN and his
Annual Holiday Charity Concert with friends
including Chrisette Michele, Kelly Price
and V Bozeman, the female voice of Empire
(12/20). The most diverse slate this year can
be found at The Hamilton, veering from jazz
to roots/bluegrass to rock, plus a Chicano
rock/Tex-Mex blended holiday-themed show
performed by the La Bamba Latino legends
LOS LOBOS (12/20).
Country star KACEY MUSGRAVES, best
known for her pro-LGBT hit Follow Your
Arrow, points hers to the North Pole this
year with A Very Kacey Christmas (12/10,
National Theatre). For modern American folk,
the 9:30 Club presents the OH HELLOS, the
silly, sweet-singing siblings Tyler and Maggie
Heath who will crack jokes and perform songs
from their Family Christmas Album (12/13).
The Andrews Sisters-inspired doo-wop/pop
trio BANDANA SPLITS with original holiday
tunes and original spins on Christmas classics
(12/11, Strathmore).
Meanwhile, the WASHINGTON NATIONAL
OPERA presents two opera-focused productions, including a night of arias and holiday classics from Bizet, Puccini, Britten and
Tchaikovsky performed by singers from its
Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists program
(12/7, Strathmore). TRIO SEFARDI offers a rare
Hanukkah treat this year, performing the
Sephardic music of Jews from Spain and
other parts of the Ottoman Empire (12/6,
Kennedy Center).
Nordic winter traditions are the focus of
this years run of Christmas concerts at the
GW Lisner by the 75-member WASHINGTON
REVELS (12/10-18). Wolf Trap ends the year
with a holiday bang, including a performance
in the Barns of Yule Songs by eclectic seven-piece a cappella group THE SWINGLES
(12/2). Finally, one free highlight every year is
the holiday concert featuring the Capitol Pride
Symphonic Band and other small ensembles
of the DC DIFFERENT DRUMMERS, a benefit for
Food for Friends (12/11, Lutheran Church of
the Reformation). Doug Rule
Increasingly known by mononym,

young soprano and D.C. native Cecil
Bumbrays sound is rooted in a deep
appreciation for mid-century soul
and jazz, 90s-era R&B and contemporary folk. More specifically, its
rooted in influences from Chocolate
City forebears, from Duke Ellington
to Gil Scott-Heron to Roberta Flack.
Cecily Salutes DC is Saturday,
Dec. 3, at 7 and 9 p.m. Lab Theatre
II at Atlas Performing Arts Center,
1333 H St. NE. Tickets are $25. Call
202-399-7993 or visit atlasarts.org.
DAR WILLIAMS
On the 20th anniversary of its

release, Dar Williams performs
Return to Mortal City in its entirety, along with other favorites,
with a special reading each night:
author Beth Macy on Friday, Dec.
1, and Barry Lynn Saturday, Dec.
2. Concert starts at 7:30 p.m. The
Birchmere, 3701 Mount Vernon
Ave., Alexandria. Tickets are $35.
Call 703-549-7500 or visit birchmere.com.
DARK STAR ORCHESTRA
All Good presents the annual return

to the 9:30 Club of the Chicago-
based tribute band to the Grateful

Dead, which obsessively recreates
a set list from a particular performance, with the goal of raising the
Dead for Deadheads. Even original
members of the Dead themselves
have sung the orchestras praises
when not singing their own in
Dead & Company. Friday, Dec. 2.,
and Saturday, Dec. 3. Doors at 7
p.m. Nightclub 9:30, 815 V St. NW.
Tickets are $29. Call 202-265-0930
or visit 930.com.
DAVE KOZ CHRISTMAS

TOUR 2015
So what if hes Jewish? Saxophonist

Dave Koz loves Christmas songs
and has had a hit with this annual
Christmas show. Saturday, Dec. 3,
at 8 p.m. National Theatre, 1321
Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Tickets are
$68 to $98, or $198 for a VIP seat
also including a pre-concert Meet &
Greet with autographed laminated
photo and collectible gift. Call 202628-6161 or visit thenationaldc.org.
DC DIFFERENT DRUMMERS
The Capitol Pride Symphonic

Band and other small ensembles
from this LGBT music organization
will perform concert versions of
holiday tunes, from Sleigh Bells
to Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
by John Lennon, at the free annual holiday concert that also doubles as a food drive for Food and
Friends. Sunday, Dec. 11, at 3
p.m. The Lutheran Church of the
Reformation, 212 East Capitol St.
NE. Free, with request for food
drive donations. Call 202-269-4868
or visit dcdd.org.
DRAGONETTE
The hip Canadian indie-dance band

takes a spin through its repertoire,
focusing on its just-released album,
Royal Blues, packed with dance-pop
tunes in the giddy and spirited style
that has become the bands signature sound. Friday, Dec. 9, at 7 p.m.
U Street Music Hall, 1115A U St.
NW. Tickets are $20. Call 202-5881880 or visit ustreetmusichall.com.
GLORIA REUBEN
Still probably best known as Jeanie

Boulet, the HIV-positive nurse on
NBCs 90s-era hit show E.R. that
helped inspire her to become an
activist on the issue, Gloria Reuben
has also portrayed Elizabeth
Keckley in the film Lincoln and currently has recurring roles on USA
Networks Mr. Robot and Bounce
TVs Saints & Sinners, among other
acting work in Hollywood. Yet
Reuben has also long had a side
career in music including serving
as a backup singer and dancer on
Tina Turners 2000 tour. Ive had
some nerve-wracking auditions,
Reuben put it to Metro Weekly two
years ago when recalling getting
that particular gig. Reuben returns
to Blues Alley on a tour in support
of Perchance to Dream, a collection
of jazz favorites with a few origi-
nals. Tuesday, Dec. 6, at 8 and 10

p.m. Blues Alley, 1073 Wisconsin
Ave. NW. Tickets are $25, plus $12
minimum purchase. Call 202-3374141 or visit bluesalley.com.
MEGAN HILTY
Over the past decade, actress Megan

Hilty has played Glinda in Wicked,
Doralee Rhodes in 9 to 5: The Musical
and Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer
Blondes, but shes most widely
known as the ambitious Ivy Lynn
on Smash, the NBC television series
about the making of a new musical.
In recent years Hilty has turned to
a recording career, including her
debut pop set It Happens All The
Time, and especially to performing
cabarets. She returns to the Kennedy
Center for an intimate Christmas
concert, part of Renee Flemings
Voices series. Thursday, Dec. 8,
at 7 p.m., and Friday, Dec. 9, at 7
and 9 p.m. Kennedy Center Family
Theater. Tickets are $85 to $99. Call
202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.
PAPERHAUS
Popular D.C. four-piece, founded by Alex Tebeleff and Eduardo

Rivera, makes rhythmically oriented, psychedelic pop with a mournful
edge, recalling everything from Joy
Division and the Doors to contemporaries Deerhunter and Lower Dens.
Georgetowns Gypsy Sally presents a
concert in an unlikely but not uncommon venue, the functioning hotel
off South Capitol Street in the Navy
Yard. Wednesday, Dec. 7. Doors at
7 p.m. Capitol Skyline Hotel, 10 I St.
SW. Tickets are $10 in advance or $12
day of show. Call 202-488-7500 or
visit gypsysallys.com.
TURKUAS & THE NEW

MASTERSOUNDS
Referred to as the musical love

child of Sly & the Family Stone
and Talking Heads, Turkuas is a
nine-piece funk army from
Brooklyn. Digitonium, the bands
latest longplayer emphasis on
long evokes 80s dance music,
and will be brought to life on stage
through signature colorful costumes and choreographed dance
moves. Turkuas will share the stage
at a double-bill concert with British
four-piece jazz fusion/funk band
the New Mastersounds, touring in
support of its 10th studio set Made
for Pleasure, inspired by and recorded in New Orleans. Friday, Dec. 9.
Doors at 8 p.m. 9:30 Club, 815 V St.
NW. Tickets are $22. Call 202-2650930 or visit 930.com.
VERONNEAU
D.C.-based acoustic quartet, led

by its namesake French-Canadian
vocalist, offers jazz from around the
world, from swing to samba to gypsy.
Also featuring two guitarists Lynn
Veronneaus husband Ken Avis
and David Rosenblatt the group
increasingly travels the world performing its accessible spin on glob-
19
CONNECTIONS:
CONTEMPORARY CRAFT AT THE
RENWICK
New acquisitions made during the

Renwick Gallerys renovation are
now on display along with iconic
favorites in the permanent collection. More than 80 objects are featured as part of a dynamic presentation celebrating craft as a discipline
and an approach to living differently in the modern world. Ongoing.
Renwick Gallery, Pennsylvania
Avenue at 17th Street NW. Fr. Call
202-633-1000 or visit renwick.
americanart.si.edu.
YUMMM!
THE
HISTORY,
FANTASY AND FUTURE OF FOOD
CHAISE LOUNGE
The D.C.-based band has been a staple at hip bars around the area, along with more
august venues such as the Kennedy Center. After performing with Natalie Cole and Dizzy
Gillespie, Chaise Lounge, featuring vocalist Marilyn Older, performs swing standards as
well as original tunes all on a Swinging Holiday theme. Wednesday, Dec. 7, at 8 p.m.
and 10 p.m. Blues Alley, 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW. Tickets are $22.50, plus $10 minimum
purchase. Call 202-337-4141 or visit bluesalley.com.
al grooves. Next stop, another free
Millennium Stage concert. Sunday,
Dec. 4, at 6 p.m. Kennedy Center
Theater Lab. Free. Call 202-4674600 or visit kennedy-center.org.
WNOS DOMINGO-CAFRITZ
YOUNG ARTISTS
Singers from the Washington

National Operas training program, accompanied by the WNO
Childrens Chorus and Orchestra,
perform a program of both opera
arias as well as general classical
standards that have become associated with the end-of-year holiday season. Expect selections by
Bizet, Puccini, Britten, Strauss
and Tchaikovskys Nutcracker.
Wednesday, Dec. 7, at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $25 to $75. Call 301-5815100 or visit strathmore.org.
DANCE
THE WASHINGTON BALLET:
THE NUTCRACKER
Every year for the past 12 years,

Washington Ballets artistic director Septime Webre has offered
his own twist on the family favorite, setting it in D.C.s historic
Georgetown neighborhood with
George Washington as the titular
figure and King George III as the
20
Rat King. After two weekends in

the intimate THEARC space in
Southeast D.C. as part of the companys efforts to spread and diversify its audience, the production sets
up shop for nearly all of December
at downtowns Warner Theatre.
Opens in a preview Thursday, Dec.
3, at 7 p.m. Runs to Dec. 27. Warner
Theatre, 513 13th St. NW. Tickets
are $35 to $126. Call 202-889-5901
or visit washingtonballet.org.
READINGS AND
LECTURES
KEVIN FEDARKO, PETE MCBRIDE
Between River and Rim: Hiking the

Grand Canyon is a discussion by a
writer and photographer/filmmaker team about their audacious and
demanding adventure, transecting
the length of the canyon on foot.
It expands on Are We Losing the
Grand Canyon? from the September
National Geographic. Thursday, Dec.
8, at 7:30 p.m. National Geographic
Societys Gilbert H. Grosvenor
Auditorium, 1600 M St. NW. Tickets
nglive.org or events.nationalgeographic.com.
THE DOMA DIARIES
The Rainbow Theatre Project

offers a staged reading of Kevin
Michael Wests Capital Fringe hit
examining the Defense of Marriage
Act and the effects it has had on

the lives of three LGBT couples.
West helms the reading with a cast
including Renae Erichsen-Teal,
Joy Gerst, Nell Quinn-Gibney,
Garrett Matthews, Christian Rohde
and Steven Wolf. Sunday, Dec. 11,
and Monday, Dec. 12, at 7:30 p.m.
Source, 1835 14th St. NW. Tickets
rainbowtheatreproject.org.
EXHIBITS
CNN POLITICS CAMPAIGN 2016:
LIKE, SHARE, ELECT
The Newseum has partnered

with CNN as well as Facebook,
Instagram, Zignal Labs and Pivit
to offer an interactive exhibit telling
the story of the 2016 presidential
campaign in real time, which, lets
face it, is even more fantastical than
the story of Alice jumping down the
rabbit hole. The exhibit explores the
ways digital and social media have
transformed how candidates campaign, how journalists cover elections and how the public participates
in the political process. Through Jan.
22. Newseum, 555 Pennsylvania Ave.
NW. Tickets are $22.95 for general
admission. Call 888-NEWSEUM or
visit newseum.org.
One of the quirkiest museums

around celebrates its 21st birthday
with a playful visual feast featuring works by 34 artists focused
on humankinds relationship with
food. Food-centric paintings, sculptures, embroideries, installations,
and films are part of this exploration of the serious creative vision
needed to reinvent how a planet
of an estimated 9.6 billion people
will eat in the year 2050. Runs to
Sept. 3, 2017. American Visionary
Art Museum, 800 Key Highway.
Baltimore. Tickets are $15.95. Call
410-244-1900 or visit avam.org.
ABOVE & BEYOND

NATIONAL ZOOS ZOOLIGHTS
Every year the Smithsonians

National Zoo presents ZooLights,
in which more than 500,000 colorful Christmas lights illuminate
life-sized animal silhouettes, dancing trees, buildings, and walkways,
plus a light show set to music. All
that, plus select animal houses
will be open and displaying nocturnal 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 202-6334800 or visit nationalzoo.si.edu.
TORPEDO FACTORYS 2016

HOLIDAY FESTIVAL
Before and after Alexandrias

Holiday Boat Parade of Lights on
the Potomac, the Torpedo Factory
Art Center offers a magical winter wonderland where shoppers
can buy locally made art from
more than 150 artists and 80 studios. Handmade jewelry, ceramics,
photography, paintings and other
original works will be available, and
the evening will feature a childrens
scavenger hunt, live music, snacks
and a visit from Santa. Saturday,
Dec. 3, from 2 to 9 p.m. Torpedo
Factory Art Center, 105 North
Union St. Alexandria. Free. Call
703-838-4565 or visit torpedofactory.org. l
Community
COMMUNITY WORLD AIDS
DAY OBSERVATION to com-
memorate those lost to HIV

and honor those still living
with the virus. Light breakfast
will be served. HIV testing on
site. 8:45-10:30 a.m. 1225 W St.
SE. For more information, visit
uniontemple.com.
The DC ANTI-VIOLENCE
PROJECT (DC AVP), the group
dedicated to combating antiLGBT hate crimes, holds its

monthly meeting at The DC
Center. 7-8:30 p.m. 2000 14th St.
NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.
TODD FRANSON / FILE PHOTO
The Latin American Youth

Center (LYC) hosts a WORLD
AIDS DAY COMMUNITY

HEALTH FAIR. The event will
Budd
FILLING A VOID
A new nonprofit hopes to provide much needed services

for the trans community.
ARLINE BUDD IS NO STRANGER TO SETBACKS. AND SHES A CHAMPION AT TACKLING

them head on. The longtime activist and advocate, whose name has been synonymous with providing direct services to the Districts transgender community, was crushed when the organization she founded, Transgender Health Empowerment, closed in 2013 due to financial mismanagement. I
just couldnt bear to lose the organization and not start something up to fill what we had lost, she says.
What particularly disturbed Budd was the loss of THEs drop-in center and its ability to provide
housing for clients. Budd began talking with people to re-establish a similar center that would offer direct
services such as housing navigation, health care coordination, and substance abuse programs.
While theres still much work to be done before Empowering the Transgender Community, her new
non-profit, can officially open its doors, Budd remains hopeful. As the board searches for a permanent
home for the organization, ETC will rent space from The DC Center. ETC has also obtained grant money
from the Diversity Fund to help with setup costs. In the meantime, direct services can be accessed
through HIPS, where Budd currently works.
Ultimately, ETC will be a housing provider in the District for transgender people, says Budd, who
will serve as the organizations executive director. We plan to have a multifaceted program where we
will be providing mental health, substance abuse, workforce development and case management all in
one building. Its going to take us a minute to get the funding and get the building. We dont know the
time frame. We are going to get it done. John Riley
If youre seeking housing or other direct services, contact Earline Budd at 202-210-3629
or email earline_budd@yahoo.com. For more information on Empowering the Trans Community,
or to donate, visit empowertransdc.org.
THURSDAY, December 1
WORLD AIDS DAY
AIDS Healthcare Foundation
and Black, Gifted and Whole
present #POZART: A WORLD
AIDS DAY UNIFICATION
bringing together HIV-negative

and HIV-positive artists to
share their work, build bridges
and commemorate World AIDS
Day. 6-9 p.m. Busboys & Poets

Brookland, 625 Monroe St.
NE. For more information, visit
pozart.eventbrite.com.
Join Covenant Baptist Church,
Impulse Group DC, and the
OASIS Dance Company for
REQUIEM FOR A DREAM IV:

WORLD AIDS DAY PRAISE
NIGHT. Candlelight prayer vigil
will be accompanied by sing-
ing, dancing and spoken word

performances commemorating
those lost to HIV/AIDS and
the survivors of the epidemic.
7 p.m. 3845 S. Capitol St. SW.
For more information, visit
covenant.org.
Join Union Temple Baptist
Church and WhitmanWalker Health for a WORLD
AIDS DAY GATHERING: A
feature a panel discussion with

a question-and-answer session.
First 50 people to arrive will
receive a $10 gift card. 4-7 p.m.
LYC, 1419 Columbia Rd. NW.
For more information, call
Nicole Conner, 202-319-2259 or
email nicolec@layc-dc.org.
The University of the District
of Columbia (UDC) hosts IT
TAKES A VILLAGE TO END

HIV/AIDS, a health fair com-
memorating World AIDS Day.

Featuring HIV and Hepatitis C
testing, courtesy of Us Helping
Us, People Into Living, and
blood pressure, diabetes, liver
and other health screenings.
Lunch provided. 1-4 p.m.
UDC, Student Center Grand
Ballroom, 4200 Connecticut
Ave. NW. For more information, contact Chereen Leid,
chereen.leid @udc.edu.
The Womens Collective hosts
a WORLD AIDS DAY FASHION
SHOW: SHADES OF BLUE

2.0. 6:30 p.m. Busboys & Poets,
235 Carroll St. NW. For more

information, visit womenscollective.org.
Visit the new DC HEALTH
AND WELLNESS CENTER for

its grand opening on Dec. 1.
HIV and STD/STI information
and testing available, as well
as free condoms, courtesy of
HAHSTA. 77 P St. NE. For
more information, call 202-7417692 or visit doh.dc.gov.
FRIDAY, December 2
GAY DISTRICT, a group for
GBTQQI men between the ages

of 18-35, meets on the first and
third Fridays of each month.
8:30-9:30 p.m. 2000 14th St.
NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit gaydistrict.org.
25
PHOTO COURTESY ADAM DAHL
The DC Center hosts a meeting

of its TRANS SUPPORT GROUP
focusing on issues important to
transgender people and those
who identify outside of the gender
binary. 7-9 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW,
Suite 105. For more information,
visit thedccenter.org.
SATURDAY, December 3
ADVENTURING outdoors group
Dahl (R) with fellow volunteers at the Annual Rock Creek Extreme Clean-up
VOLUNTEER SPIRIT
Burgundy Crescent Volunteers may have disbanded,

but its former members have found ways to
continue their work
.C. IS SUCH A BIG CITY, AND THE SERVICES

arent there to do litter pickups thats what started
my volunteer work, says Adam Dahl, former organizer for Burgundy Crescent Volunteers BurGREENdy initiative
focusing on environmental volunteer projects. I like the idea of
making the city a cleaner place.
Since 2008, Dahl has picked up litter in Anacostia, planted
trees, worked with the National Park Service on recycling activities around the Tidal Basin, and removed invasive plants from
the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens.
In September, BCV announced it would be disbanding, ending a 15-year tenure as D.C.s most prominent LGBT-run volunteer organization. Dahl refused to call it quits and sought out
partners to work on local environmental improvement projects.
I try to do at least one event per month, he says. I reach
out to friends and see whos interested in helping out. I keep in
touch with people from BCV and try to keep them in the loop.
Dahl isnt the only former BCV member to continue the
organizations work with local soup kitchens, animal shelters
and nonprofits. Those interested in working on hunger issues
may reach out directly to food-related nonprofits, such as the
DC Central Kitchen and Food & Friends. Animal lovers, meanwhile, have continued to maintain a working relationship with
organizations like Lost Dog & Cat Rescue.
Im a longtime animal owner and lover, says volunteer
Cary Jasgur. In almost every city Ive lived in Ive gotten
involved with some rescue organization.
Jasgurs volunteerism involves assisting with pet adoption
days, at local PetsMart stores and hes always looking for others
to assist. I coordinate eight slots for volunteers on the first and
third Saturdays of each month at the PetsMart in Seven Corners,
he says. You dont necessarily have to be an outgoing individual,
because a lot of times, the pets will sell themselves. You just have
to be confident and comfortable answering questions.
For more information on green volunteer activities and cleanup opportunities, contact Adam Dahl, facebook.com/adam.c.dahl.
To volunteer with Food & Friends, email Beth Stewart at
estewart@foodandfriends.org. For more information on
same-day pet adoptions with Lost Dog & Cat Rescue, email
Cary Jasgur at cjasgur@gmail.com.
26
hikes 7 miles on guided walking

tour of Fredericksburg (Va.)
Battlefield. Bring beverages, about
$10 for fees, and money for lunch
in downtown restaurant. Carpool
at 9 a.m. from King Street Metro
Station. For more information,
contact Craig at 202-462-0535.
Adventuring.org.
CENTER GLOBAL, a group that

fights against anti-LGBTI laws
and cultures in 80 countries, holds
its monthly meeting on the first
Saturday of every month. 12-2 p.m.
The DC Center, 2000 14th St. NW,
Suite 105. For more information,
visit thedccenter.org.
St. Stephen and the Incarnation
hosts a WORLD AIDS DAY PRAYER
BRUNCH. Confidential HIV testing
offered on site, with a candlelight
prayer service and featuring guest
speakers. 11 a.m.-2 p.m. 1525
Newton St. NW. For more information, call 202-232-0900 or visit
saintstephensdc.org.
DC AQUATICS CLUB (DCAC)
practice session at Hains Point,

972 Ohio Dr., SW. 9:30-11 a.m. Visit
swimdcac.org.
DIGNITYUSA offers Roman
Catholic Mass for the LGBT

community. 6 p.m., St. Margarets
Church, 1820 Connecticut Ave. NW.
All welcome. Sign interpreted. For
more info, visit dignitynova.org.
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 community 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 information on location and time, visit
H2gether.com.
Volunteers sought to help with

same-day adoptions for LOST
DOG & CAT RESCUE at the Seven
Corners PetsMart. 12-3 p.m. 6100
Arlington Blvd., Falls Church, Va.
Space is limited to 8 volunteers.
For more information and to
reserve a spot, email Cary Jasgur,
cjasgur@gmail.com.
INSTITUTE FOR SPIRITUAL

DEVELOPMENT, God-centered
SUNDAY, December 4
an inclusive, loving and progressive

faith community every Sunday. 11
a.m. 1701 11th Street NW, near R in
Shaw/Logan neighborhood. lincolntemple.org.
CHRYSALIS arts & culture group
visits Old Patent Office Building

to see exhibits on Portrait
Competition Winners, Washington
colorist Gene Davis, and others.
Free. Lunch follows. Meet at noon
in lobby near 8th & G Streets, NW,
near the Gallery Place Metro. For
more information, contact Craig,
202-462-0535. craighowell1@verizon.net.
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.
new age church & learning center.

Sunday Services and Workshops
event. 5419 Sherier Place NW. isddc.org.
Join LINCOLN
CONGREGATIONAL TEMPLE
UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST for
LUTHERAN CHURCH OF
REFORMATION invites all to
Sunday worship at 8:30 or 11 a.m.

Childcare is available at both services. Welcoming LGBT people for
25 years. 212 East Capitol St. NE.
reformationdc.org.
METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY
CHURCH OF NORTHERN
VIRGINIA services at 11 a.m., led
by Rev. Emma Chattin. Childrens

Sunday School, 11 a.m. 10383
Democracy Lane, Fairfax. 703-6910930, mccnova.com.
METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY
CHURCH OF WASHINGTON, D.C.
services at 9 a.m. (ASL interpreted) and 11 a.m. Childrens Sunday

School at 11 a.m. 474 Ridge St. NW.
202-638-7373, mccdc.com.
NATIONAL CITY CHRISTIAN

CHURCH, inclusive church with
WEDNESDAY, December 7
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.
BOOKMEN DC, an informal

mens gay-literature group, discusses Vincent Woodwards
The Delectable Negro: Human
Consumption and Homoeroticism
within U.S. Slave Culture. 7:30
p.m. Tenleytown Library, 4450
Wisconsin Ave NW. All welcome.
For more information, visit bookmendc.blogspot.com.
ST. STEPHEN AND THE

INCARNATION, an interra-
THE TOM DAVOREN SOCIAL

BRIDGE CLUB meet for Social
GLBT fellowship, offers gospel worship, 8:30 a.m., and traditional worship, 11 a.m. 5 Thomas Circle NW.
202-232-0323, nationalcitycc.org.
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, saintstephensdc.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 individuals 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.
MONDAY, December 5
The DC Center hosts a
VOLUNTEER NIGHT for community members to lend a hand with
various duties, including cleaning,
keeping safe-sex kit inventory, and
sorting through book donations.
Pizza provided. 6:30-8:30 p.m.
2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For
more information, visit thedccenter.org.
TUESDAY, December 6
THE HIV WORKING GROUP of
THE DC CENTER hosts a Packing
Party, where volunteers assemble

safe-sex kits of condoms and lube.
7-9 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite
105. For more information, visit
thedccenter.org.
VOCAL ARTS DC is seeking volun-
teers to serve as guides for its Dec. 6

concert. Dress warmly and arrive by
6:30 p.m. for training. Theatre of the
Arts, UDC, 4200 Connecticut Ave.
NW. Contact Gregory Stuart at 917621-6005 or gregorystuart@vocalartsdc.org, or Peter Russell at 202-6691463 or info@vocalartsdc.org.
Bridge. 7:30 p.m. Dignity Center,

721 8th St, SE across from Marine
Barracks. No partner needed. For
more information, contact 301345-1571.
Weekly Events
AD LIB, a group for freestyle con-
versation, meets about 6-6:30 p.m.,

Steam, 17th and R NW. All welcome. For more information, call
Fausto Fernandez, 703-732-5174.
ANDROMEDA TRANSCULTURAL
HEALTH offers free HIV testing,
9-5 p.m., and HIV services (by

appointment). 202-291-4707,
andromedatransculturalhealth.org.
DC SCANDALS RUGBY holds
practice, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Garrison

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

group for LGBT people looking
to quit cigarettes and tobacco use,
holds a weekly support meeting at
The DC Center. 7-8 p.m. 2000 14th
St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.
HIV TESTING at Whitman-Walker
Health. At the Elizabeth Taylor
Medical Center, 1701 14th St. NW,
9 a.m.-5 p.m. At the Max Robinson
Center, 2301 MLK Jr. Ave. SE, 9
a.m.-4:30 p.m. For an appointment
call 202-745-7000. Visit whitman-walker.org.
METROHEALTH CENTER offers
free, rapid HIV testing. No
appointment needed. 11 a.m.-7 p.m.
1012 14th St. NW, Suite 700. 202638-0750.
NOVASALUD offers free HIV
testing. 11 a.m.-2 p.m. 2049 N.
15th St., Suite 200, Arlington.
Appointments: 703-789-4467.
PRIME TIMERS OF DC, social club
for mature gay men, hosts weekly
happy hour/dinner. 6:30 p.m.,
Windows Bar above Dupont Italian
Kitchen, 1637 17th St. NW. Carl,
703-573-8316. l
Submit your community event for
consideration at least 10 days prior
to the Thursday publication you
would like it to appear. Email to calendar@metroweekly.com.
27
The Calling
Ron Simmons has led Us Helping Us for a quarter of a century. Now hes handing the keys
to the next generation. On World AIDS Day, he reflects on a lifetime of activism during
an epidemic, and raising up the black, gay community.
Interview by John Riley Photography by Todd Franson
CALL IT FATE. CALL IT CIRCUMSTANCE.
But whatever led Ron Simmons to become executive director

of Us Helping Us, People Into Living, its the community that
ultimately benefited.
For nearly two-and-a-half decades, Simmons worked at the
nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing HIV rates among
black gay and bi men and pursuing a holistic approach to treating
those who are HIV-positive. It was that attitude toward health
that attracted Simmons, first as a client, then as a moderator for
a support group, and finally into the post of executive director.
It was an outcome that was far from guaranteed for the young
Simmons, who, as a youth contemplated suicide because of
severe isolation and his struggle with his sexual orientation. As
puberty hit, the other boys in the neighborhood began pursuing
girls, something Simmons knew he had no interest in.
I didnt know what the hell was going on, he says. By the
time I was thirteen, I was really a mess. I had no friends, I didnt
want to go outside. I was the sissy on the block. I was planning
to kill myself, to the point that I actually told my parents what
I planned to do, not because I wanted them to freak out, but
because I wanted to explain to them so that when I did it, they
wouldnt be surprised.
Simmons parents took him to a professional to deal with his
suicidal thoughts. When the doctor asked him what was wrong,
and Simmons admitted his feelings of same-sex attraction, the
response was, Dont do that. Youll get in trouble.
Simmons decided to kill himself by stepping into speeding
traffic. As he prepared to die, he suddenly heard a voice saying,
Dont do it. Wait until you get older, things will be different.
It was the first time that Simmons had heard the voice. But it
wouldnt be the last.
Around 83, when I finished my classwork, AIDS and HIV
are beginning to happen. So the question was, Why should I be
a PhD? he says of his doctorate at Howard University. Because
if I have the disease, I may only have six months to live, so maybe
I should drop out of school, get a job, buy a car and enjoy my last
days on earth. Not that I knew I was positive, but I figured I was
going to be.
In 1986, Simmons was riding a bicycle when he was hit by a
car. He was knocked unconscious and woke up in D.C. General
Hospital, where the doctor told him he was lucky to be alive.
Left alone to wonder what had just happened, Simmons heard
the voice again.
It said, Ive got work for you to do, and you need a PhD to
do it. Dont worry about a slow, lingering death, because if I want
you, Ill take your life, see. I was like Whoa! The accident was
in October, and by that next May I was defending [my dissertation] because when...God tells you to do something, youve got to
listen. So I got the PhD.
Simmons started teaching at Howard University, and while
he enjoyed his post at the university, the voice told him, This is
28
not the work. Five years after the accident and one year after
testing positive for HIV, at the time considered a death sentence
Simmons heard about a meditation support group for black
gay men who were HIV-positive. Though initially resistant, he
attended the meeting and fell in love with Us Helping Us focus
on holistic health for HIV-positive people and its various support groups.
What made Us Helping Us unique was that we told people
you could live with HIV, and we were the only black group doing
it, he says.
Simmons dove into Us Helping Us programs, even becoming
moderator of a support group. In 1992, he was approached by the
organizations founder, who asked him to become the executive
director. It was a job he would hold for 24 years, until announcing his retirement earlier in 2016.
Through grants, Simmons has managed to obtain funding for
Us Helping Us operational and programming needs, continuing
to work even while he was battling pneumocystis pneumonia
and tuberculosis on two separate occasions. His commitment to
the organization has been unwavering. On the brink of departing
an organization hes steered for almost a quarter of a century,
Simmons reflects on the changing landscape of HIV/AIDS
activism, and the adaptations necessary for nonprofits to stay
relevant.
The bigger problem is that the media is now saying AIDS is
over, HIV is over, says Simmons. They know that AIDS doesnt
kill you because they can see on the streets that people are not
dying. In the old days, you could see people walking around with
Karposis lesions. You knew people who were in wheelchairs but
were walking last week. You dont see that anymore. Now, they
take their pill, they go to the gym, they get just as buff, just as
gorgeous as always.
You feared HIV because theres no treatment, its going
to kill you. Once they have a treatment for it, then it becomes
a whole different thing. Because theyve got a pill for it now.
One pill a day if youre positive, one pill a day if youre negative.
Theyre working on injectables, where they give you an injection
and you stay negative for three months. So why do we need support groups? Why do we need all of this AIDS infrastructure if
thats where were going?
METRO WEEKLY: Where did you grow up?
RON SIMMONS: I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, in
housing projects called the Van Dyke Houses. We first lived on

the fifth floor, and then, when my younger brother was born, we
got a three-bedroom apartment in the next building. I have an
older sister, who was here for the event with her children. Then
I have a younger sister and a younger brother. Theyre all up in
New York.
MW: What was your family like?
SIMMONS: Very attached. I lived with my father and mother. My
29
father had converted to Sunni Islam before I was born, so I was

raised in Sunni Islamic fashion. So no drinking, no hanging out
late at night.
MW: Are you still practicing?
SIMMONS: No, I stopped in high school.
MW: Where did you first attend college?
SIMMONS: State University of New York. I went there from 68
to 72. It had a profound effect on me. One, I came out. Two, I
was involved in the student strike of 1970, and that profoundly
changed my life. It was when Nixon started secretly bombing
Cambodia and word got out. Thats the time that Kent State
happened, when the military shot people on campuses. We
shut down the campus and then we opened it the next day, so
basically the faculty senate agreed to end the semester and gave
everyone a pass/fail. We opened the campus the next day to our
liberation classes, so we had classes about the war, classes
about civil rights, classes about the Black Panthers. We offered
childcare so that women in the neighborhood could attend the
classes, so that was one wing. The second wing of students, I
think we did like three publications, like weekly newspapers.
The third arm, which I was part of, was progressive faculty
would invite us to their homes for dinner, and they would invite
their friends over, and we would talk about why we were on
strike and about the war and about student life and that kind of
stuff. Wed go maybe 50 miles out up in Leyden, in upstate New
York, where people probably hadnt seen many black people. It
was advised that I should probably get my doctorate if Im going

to do that, so I worked for a year to save up the money to come
to D.C.
MW: What was your first impression of Washington?
SIMMONS: D.C. had such an intact, friendly black gay and lesbian
community. The gays and lesbians partied together in D.C. That
was one thing that the city was known for. They would have
these house parties and there was just no other place like it.
In my free time, I was working with Sidney Brinkley at
Blacklight, the first black gay magazine. I was his photographer and I did the layout. Because I was his photographer, and
because he had the only black, gay magazine in the country, we
got invited to all of the A-list black, gay social events. It was a lot
of great house parties at fabulous houses.
I was seeing a part of black, gay social life that most people
may not be aware of. At that time, D.C. was known to be very
cliquish. If you were not in that clique, you really were not part
of the whole social scene. There would be social networks of
men, friends who knew friends and maybe theyd decide to have
an Independence Day event at someones lovely suburban home
in Maryland. You could have maybe 1,500 guys, black, gay men,
educated professionals show up.
MW: How did you get started in HIV/AIDS activism?
SIMMONS: I got my doctorate in 87. The deal I made with God
was that if he would help me finish my dissertation, I would do
AIDS work. So in 1988, I started being a buddy through WhitmanWalker and their buddy program.
Basically, at the time, there
was no treatment, so if you got
AIDS, at some point you would
just decline to a point where you
had to have someone help you get
your food, cook for you, clean for
you, clean you, and thats what the
buddy would do. Even just keep
you company, because you were
not on the social A-list. No one
was talking to you, so youd have
someone come by once a week or
call you who you could talk to.
In 1989, I resigned from the program. Its interesting, because
we would do a monthly group meeting at this townhouse in
Capitol Hill, a little bit by Eastern Market over by the Navy Yard.
There would be like maybe twenty people, all buddies, not that
many black people. We would talk about our buddy experience
and then plans for whatever. I announced to them that I was
going to resign as a buddy because I was really getting burnt out.
While I was at the meeting I said, What Id really like to do is
I would like to set up an organization about holistic health for
people living with HIV. I hadnt even heard of Us Helping Us
at the time.
I had this buddy who was dying of HIV. He was a young black
kid, maybe twenty-one. At that time, if you were positive, you got
all kinds of perks, because you were dying. And I was trying to get
him to approach his disease holistically. Of course, he is opposing
it, because hes suddenly getting perks. His mother knows hes
dying, and Whitman-Walkers giving her a place to stay free and
hes getting free movie tickets and hes getting food and whatnot.
He wants to enjoy the remainder of his life, which is understandable, because hes going to be dead in a matter of months.
And my mind said, Such an injustice. This society, these
institutions, would not have given this kid a dime or even cared
about his very existence if it wasnt for him having AIDS. That
It was almost unheard of to have HIV positive,

black, gay men a population marginalized because
of their race, their sexuality and their disease
actually BUILD AN INSTITUTION, WHERE YOU GOT A
STAFF, YOU GOT RESOURCES, AND PEOPLE
LOOK TO YOU.
would be me and maybe 20 students there and they would have
dinner, then afterwards wed all sit around and debate about the
war and other issues. I remember, one time, I was confronted by
a Catholic priest about welfare queens and this, that. You had to
know your stuff, of course. Thats when I became an activist and
became serious about my education.
MW: What brought you to D.C.?
SIMMONS: I came to D.C. in August of 1980 to pursue a doctorate
at Howard University. It was a tossup between D.C. and Atlanta,
but D.C. was much more progressive.
I knew I didnt want to move back to New York or live in
New York, because I didnt like the contradiction of extremes
between the rich and the poor. You could see it. You could walk
past a place like a multi-million dollar condo high rise and have
a homeless man sleeping right there in front of it. So I moved to
New Jersey, got my first job working for the New Jersey Board
of Education as a PR man and photographer. I lived at home and
commuted for a year, then I got a car. Then the following year
I found an apartment, and that was the last time I lived in New
York City.
From there, I went back to Albany to get my Master of Arts
in African history and a Master of Science in educational communications. My goal was to go to Africa to teach. However, I
30
bothered me. Then I realized that okay, if Im not careful, I will

look forward to him dying, because that way hell be off my
hands. Im just waiting until he dies.
MW: When did you first become aware of AIDS?
SIMMONS: You know the book For Colored Boys Who Have
Considered Suicide? Ive got a piece in there called The Voice.
Basically, it was early 80s, I had a friend in fact, a former
roommate a black, gay guy who had moved to New York City.
He was the first one to tell me about this gay cancer. My friends
in New York said, Hey, you heard about this gay cancer? and
then in 83, my first friend died. So-and-so died is what youd
hear, because it was usually PCP [pneumocystis pneumonia]. I
knew something was out there before
the CDC came out with its announcement in 1981.
MW: What was it like living through the
HIV/AIDS epidemic?
SIMMONS: It was a hell that was almost
surreal, in that your friends were literally dying. It started out slow,
but by the mid-nineties, my friends
were dying. Wed be losing guys like
maybe once a week. At the time, I was
involved in Us Helping Us, so we were
providing HIV services for positive
people. I knew a lot of them.
In the early 80s, AIDS was this gay disease, and everyone
was afraid. Doctors wouldnt treat you. The food would not be
brought into the hospital room, just total madness, because no
one knew what the hell was going on, and everyone was afraid.
If you were gay, it was really impacting you because these
were you and your people, your friends, who were dying, but you
really couldnt talk about it. One, because a lot of people werent
really out as being gay, so unless you were in a place like New
York City or San Francisco where you were surrounded by a gay
community, most people didnt know what the hell you were
going through, the fear you were facing. They were just reading
about it in the newspapers and seeing on TV, but didnt know
that it was affecting you, that you might be gay, that you might
be infected, that you knew friends who were dying and it wasnt
the time to tell them you were gay.
Then on top of that, the ministers began to say, Well its
Gods punishment because youre being gay so youre going to
hell anyway, so people really couldnt talk about it.
MW: Did being closeted exacerbate the epidemic?
SIMMONS: Well, it didnt exacerbate AIDS. AIDS exacerbated it.
MW: I just wondered if being in the closet made it harder to seek
treatment.
SIMMONS: There was no treatment. There were no palliative
measures. Remember now, were talking about the early 80s.
Treatment that was working didnt come until 96. AZT was
killing people, and thats why I refused to take it, despite doctors
saying to take it, and despite friends calling from California saying take it. I was like, Hell no.
Again, I am educated. I read the book Poison by Prescription:
The AZT Story. If you know the history of that drug, it made no
sense to take that if you were suffering from HIV. Basically, it
was a drug designed for cancer and the way it was supposed to
work was it stopped the bodys cells from reproducing. Thats
why they stopped using it, because it was killing people, because
youve got to reproduce cells. The question is: why would you
prescribe a drug like that to a person whose body is not producing T cells? It makes no sense, so I didnt take it. Then they
came up with T4T and these other drugs and they werent really
working. Nothing was really working until protease inhibitors
came out in 96.
MW: When were you finally diagnosed as HIV-positive?
SIMMONS: 1990.
MW: How did it feel to learn you were positive?
SIMMONS: By then, it was a decade into this disease. I knew my
friends who had died, we knew by then it was sexually transmitted, and I knew that I came of age in New York after Stonewall.
I did it all. I went to the orgies, I cruised the pads of Christopher
Street, I went to the bath houses, I went to the Continental Bath
House. Frankly, I wasnt surprised that I was positive. Because,
I did it all. I went to the orgies, I cruised the

pads of Christopher Street, I went to the bath
houses, I went to the Continental Bath House.
FRANKLY, I WASNT SURPRISED THAT
I WAS POSITIVE.
again, by then I had friends who had died and I had friends who
were infected and I knew we were all there at the same club at
the same orgies doing the same things together.
MW: How did you get involved with Us Helping Us?
SIMMONS: Someone mentioned it to me that its a meditation
support group for black, gay men who are HIV positive starting
on March 2. It was a Saturday, and thats my birthday. Then
I saw a flyer about maybe a week later about this meditation
group, but I wasnt going because, again, it was my birthday. I
was like 41 years old.
The day of my birthday, Im laying in bed thinking, What am
I going to do today? The phone rings and its a friend, they said,
Hey, you heard about this group meeting at three oclock? I
said, Yeah, I did but its my birthday, Im not going to be in the
damn group. I hung up, and Im laying in bed and Im thinking
of synchronicity. I mean the very moment when Im saying to
myself, What are you going to do today, the phone rings.
Basically, I said, Okay Allah, its obvious you want me to go
to the meeting, so Ill go to the meeting, and thats how I went.
It was a very spiritual kind of thing because I wasnt coming, but
clearly the spirit said, No, you need to go to this. From that first
session it was like mind-blowing.
MW: What were the support groups like?
SIMMONS: The groups were at Rainey Cheeks house, and would
go for three months. Each week we received something different
about holistic health. Body, mind and spirit. Body, about eternal
cleansing, about nutrition, vitamins, minerals, herbs, the importance of water. The mind, stress management, mind/body dialog,
how to meditate, how to visualize.
We told them there were three questions that you have to
answer. One is: Are you afraid of death? Because if you are, then
death will take you, too, because everybodys going to die, so
by being afraid youll just make your time that youre here less
enjoyable.
The second thing we would ask them is: Why do you want
to live? Because your body knows that death is natural, so your
having HIV and dying, thats thats the natural course of things,
31
thy, but he brings up this conversation we had three months ago,

you know what I mean? Anyway, I agreed to do it. I said, Ill do
it for a year until I get my unemployment and if we dont figure
out what were going to do by then, Ive got to leave. That was
24 years ago.
MW: What are you most proud of from your time at Us Helping Us?
SIMMONS: Developing what could be an institution to further the
health and well-being of black, gay men, which is what our mission is. The fact that that support group in Raineys living room
is now an institution, its an organization, an agency funded with
its own building that it owns, its own programs.
MW: Was there ever a grant or program you didnt get, or really
had to fight for?
SIMMONS: Well, I think out of all the grants
Ive written, maybe I think theres only one
fellow grant we didnt get, the very first one
My mind said, These institutions would not have
we went for we didnt get. I think at one
given this kid a dime or even cared about his very
point we had, what, two or three grants from
the CDC and we actually turned back one
existence if it wasnt for him having AIDS. That
of them, told them it was just too much. To
bothered me. THEN I REALIZED THAT IF IM NOT
answer your question, it would probably be
the grant for our youth program. It was a
CAREFUL, I WILL LOOK FORWARD TO HIM DYING,
CDC grant, and it was for youth. The CDC
put out an RFA, but it said you have to have
BECAUSE THAT WAY HELL BE OFF MY HANDS.
at least five years of experience working with
youth 18 to 24, and we didnt have that, but
SMYAL did.
So Bruce Weiss was there at SMYAL as the executive direcbecame a Buddhist, she went to Paris, he went to jail.
tor. I called Bruce, I said, Hey Bruce, Im looking at a grant
MW: How did you become a leader in Us Helping Us?
SIMMONS: Rainey wound up getting burnt out after doing this thats got your name on it, okay? Its from 18 to 29. You only
stuff for a few years, so we told him, Hey, this is too good to let handle kids, well 18 to 24, you handle kids up to 22, 14 to 22,
go. Teach some of us how to do it. I think there were maybe six right? Why dont you go for this grant. You take the kids 18 to 22
of us, we went through two weeks of training, and then we co-fa- and well take them 22 and up okay? SMYAL wrote up the grant
cilitated with them through a 12-week group. Then we were able proposal and they subcontracted us to work with people 22 and
up. We did that for like five years, and when the grant came up
to have our own group at our own house.
In about a year it got to the point where we had maybe three to be renewed, I had the years of experience, so we went for it
groups going on in different houses, in different apartments. It ourselves and we got it. That was strategic thinking.
was only for three months, so some of these houses had like a MW: Whats something that you wish you had been able to accomsecond and third group, so we had people that we were produc- plish?
ing, eight to twelve people. To keep them all connected we would SIMMONS: The negative side of having this big, brand-new buildhave a potluck dinner once a month for all the groups to come to. ing is that we are much too heavily grant driven. In fact, 85 to 90
Since people are into holistic health, you had to bring a vegetarian percent of our $2.4 million budget comes from grants. Thats bad
dish because we didnt like meat eating, so it forced a guy to learn news, because that is a shift in money. You need to have almost
how to make a broccoli casserole, or those kind of things.
an equal amount of [non-grant] money to really pay people the
So all of this is going on, and Im teaching at Howard. Rainey kind of salaries they deserve, to do the other kind of things you
comes to me, and asks would I consider volunteering as execu- need to do to keep your agency up and running. Im not good at
tive director of Us Helping Us? I said, No, youve got to be kid- the whole build a base, asking people for money, having fundding. Im Dr. Simmons. Im at Howard University. Im making raising events.
money. You have no money, come on. And Rainey says, Ill MW: Do you think that should be a priority for your successor?
pray on it.
SIMMONS: I would say yeah, we do need that. I think we need
And Im thinking, Pray all you want, the answers still no. a person who can do the other part of the equation, to come up
Well, about three months later, my chairman calls me into his with unrestricted money.
office and tells me that the universitys not going to renew my MW: What qualities would you like to see in a successor?
contract. Now Ive been there twelve years, seven full-time. I SIMMONS: Well, definitely the quality about the unrestricted
thought it was because I was gay and I didnt have tenure, but at fundraising. Thats a definite, but I think the other thing I look
the same time, it took me by surprise.
for is that I would want the person, if I was talking to them Im
I called Rainey because I had to cry on his shoulder and he not involved in the selection to have a vision. I would hope
was my closest friend. I said, Rainey, you wont believe what that theyre not taking this job simply to maintain Us Helping
happened. They just fired me. I dont know what the hell Im Us, but that you have a vision of going beyond where we are now.
I tell people that one of the reasons that made me want to
going to do. He says, Oh, thats horrible. Maybe now you can
be the executive director of Us Helping Us.
retire is that HIV prevention is simply not fun. Not fun, ha-ha,
I literally took the phone from my head and looked at it, hee-hee, amusing, but the challenge of building a community, of
because I was being set up. Not only is he not giving me sympa- dealing with any disease thats killing your friends and maybe
the body dies, so why do you want to live? It cannot be because
youre afraid of dying. Because thats not going to work. We used
the example of the grandmother whos told that shes got cancer, shes terminal, shes all about, I want to see my grandbaby
graduate from high school. The grandbabys like seven. Okay.
So the grandma does it. So your mental attitude, your mind, can
control your body.
The third question was: Does your spiritual belief system
aid in your healing process? If it does not, change it, because
there are others to choose from. There are all kinds of religions,
Christians, Pentecostals, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists. Then we
used the example of Tina Turner. The whole time she was a
Christian, Ike was beating her upside the head. Then girlfriend
32
killing you. It was exhausting looking back at it, but it was fulfilling to wake up in the morning. Because its like, Yes, I know
yesterday I didnt feel well, but Ill be damned, Im going to do
this thing today. You had the motivation.
Again, it was almost unheard of to have HIV positive, black,
gay men a population that was so marginalized and stigmatized because of their race, their sexuality and their disease
actually build an institution, where you got a staff, you got
resources, and people look to you. I mean, thats the fun part. I
would hope that the new person also looks at it that way. Dont
just come to maintain, but to take it further.
MW: Do you expect the incoming presidential administration to cut
back on HIV funding?
SIMMONS: I really dont know what the next administration
is going to do. I wouldnt be surprised if they did, but then I
wouldnt be surprised if they didnt, because I think theres a difference between Donald Trump versus the people he put around
him. The people hes putting around him will probably want to
cut it. Im not sure Donald Trump cares either way.
MW: If federal funding for HIV/AIDS prevention and research
does get cut, where does that put nonprofits like Us Helping Us?
SIMMONS: In a very challenging position. Some of them, to be
honest, probably will not make it through. The challenge will
have to be, and weve been doing this at Us Helping Us, is theyve
got to move away from HIV funding, because its drying up.
MW: If people cant afford their drugs, do you expect to see a resurgence in AIDS like we saw during the Reagan era?
SIMMONS: I do not think the country will allow that to happen.
Because basically, I dont think that the people will allow him to
get rid of Obamacare. In fact, if you listen to him now hes talking
about, Well, [were] possibly going to keep... I think they may
find out having to keep more of it than they realize.
MW: When we talk about HIV as a chronic condition because its
treatable, do you ever worry that it is giving people a false sense

of security?
SIMMONS: See, this is the thing. We have to be relative about
this. HIV is just a small part of a persons life. If theyre dealing
with insecurity, its not because of HIV. Its because they cant
pay their damn rent and theyre facing lien holders. I mean thats
real. Even for black, gay men, particularly those who live in D.C.
with gentrification the way it is.
Its also relative, like, yeah, HIV is there and thats threatening, and that can be dangerous. But in terms of my life as a black,
gay man, that is really small. In terms of my insecurities, thats
really small. Stop and frisk is more insecure. Ive got so many
other economic, social, criminal justice issues, those are insecurities. Thats how I look at it, and I think thats how for a young
kid, hes looking at it, too. Its like, this HIV thing, I got my test,
Im negative. Maybe if Im lucky, Ill go and get tested twice a
year, but thats really not my main issue.
The main issue is, How am I going to get a job? How am I
going to get a place to live? I mean its all of that. Not to mention
what my family may be going through. As gay sons we tend to be
the mediators, the ones that the cousins go through to borrow
money, the ones that the mother says, I cant count on the other
kids, but I can count on you. You have to deal with all that, too?
So, yeah, HIV is such a small part of your world. For that kid,
I would probably say removing HIV money is the least of his
worries. Because now that Trumps in power, everythings going
to change. l
To learn more about Us Helping Us, visit uhupil.org.
33
Gallery
Frederick Nunley
Handmade Quilts
orangeexplainsitall.blogspot.com
35
MAGNUS HASTINGS
Music
Merry Melodies
Old holiday staples return, emerging artists try their
hand at the Christmas album, and drag queens
spread seasonal cheer By Sean Maunier
OVE IT OR HATE IT, THE HOLIDAY ALBUM IS AN INSTITUTION.

Nearly every mainstream artist will attempt one at some point, in a festive rite
of passage that spans genres, tastes and the boundaries of acceptability (look no
further than 2008s We Wish You A Metal Xmas).
Though a handful of records enter the seasonal canon each year, most are quickly forgotten once the presents are opened and the eggnog consumed. Still, a holiday
albums transitory nature is part of its kitsch appeal, and while most people eventually
return to the holiday staples, the novelty of a new set of songs is sometimes exactly what
we need to break up the monotony after the fiftieth playthrough of White Christmas.
Country is well-represented this season by both the iconic Loretta Lynn and rising
pop-country star Kacey Musgraves. Lynns second holiday release, White Christmas
Blue, comes 50 years after her first seasonal collection, A Country Christmas. Part
love letter to her fans, part reflection on her six-decade career, Lynn includes classic material as well as reimaginings of songs that appeared on A Country Christmas.
Where Lynn grounds her album in a sense of nostalgia, Kacey Musgraves gives classic
songs a pop-country update. A Very Kacey Christmas is full of the jaunty, unabashedly
energetic sound that has characterized her music since she began to turn heads as a
solo artist in 2014. The eight traditional songs and four originals are fun, sincere, and
animated, and her cover of I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas is worth the price
of admission alone.
Less conventional offerings in 2016 include releases from Pentatonix, The Killers
and R. Kelly. A Pentatonix Christmas is what one would expect a capella covers
36
Alaska
of a diverse selection of songs, ranging

from Up on the Housetop to Coventry
Carol. Given their first holiday album
went double platinum, a follow-up was
inevitable. The Killers Dont Waste Your
Wishes might seem like a less obvious
choice, but the alt-rock band has been
releasing Christmas music for years.
Anyone remember 2009s Dont Shoot
Me Santa? Their latest effort repackages several of the bands holiday-themed
songs, with appearances by Elton John
and Jimmy Kimmel and all profits going
to Bonos AIDS charity (RED). R. Kellys
12 Nights of Christmas is without a doubt
the most unconventional holiday album
on offer this year. Its hard to imagine who
exactly was clamoring to hear the R&B
legend croon about making holiday love
to Mrs. Santa Claus, but here we are. Its
definitely not your grandmas Christmas
album, but whether you happen to be an
R. Kelly fan or not, 12 Nights of Christmas
deserves a listen, even if only to hear lyrics like Im just a snowman looking for
a snowgirl/someone who can share my
snow world sung without a hint of irony.
Following the success of last years
Christmas Queens and the incredibly
successful All Stars season 2, the girls
from Rupauls Drag Race have

returned with an hour-long celebration of camped up holiday
cheer. Aside from ensemble renditions of Deck the Halls and
Auld Lang Syne, and Michelle
Visages cover of O Holy
Night, Christmas Queens 2 features all original holiday material, tailored to the personalities
and styles of the various queens.
Even the less festively-inclined
among us may enjoy reigning
all-star Alaskas Chr!stm@$
$Ux, or Season 5 winner Jinkx
Monsoons Passive Aggressive
Christmas. While Drag Race
alumni have become somewhat
infamous for putting out albums
that might have been better
off not seeing the light of day,
Christmas Queens 2 reminds us
that when a group of talented queens comes together with
veteran producers (and World of Wonders budget), the
results can be magical. Its a sprawling, indulgent, and
incredibly campy ode to Drag Race, full of references to
iconic moments from the show and the fandoms many inside
jokes. Its enough to be exhausting, but might also be exactly
whats needed to get us through the off-season.
If the cozy intimacy of a classic holiday album is more
your speed, 2016 still offers worthwhile options. Leslie Odom
Jr. brings the energy of his Tonywinning performance as Aaron

Burr in Hamilton to Simply
Christmas by all accounts a
standard soul-jazz holiday album.
Sarah McLachlan offers a similar approach to her second holiday release, Wonderland, which
features eleven versions of holiday classics, including a hauntingly beautiful rendition of the
Canadian holiday staple Huron
Carol. As usual, McLachlans
voice glides over minimal instrumentation, making this one a perfect album to unwind with after
braving an hours-long commute
home. Neil Diamonds Acoustic
Christmas rounds out this years
traditional albums, with a more
stripped-down, folky departure
from his previous holiday releases.
There are few surprises on any of these releases, but their familiarity and timelessness are definitely strengths.
After the litany of horrors that 2016 has been so far, it seems
almost cruel to think we still have to endure one whole month
more of it. With their familiarity, festiveness, and occasional
silliness, holiday albums are a welcome distraction while we
countdown the remaining weeks. Whether you prefer your
holidays cozy or festive, soulful or campy, this years offerings
provide plenty to choose from. l
37
TERESA WOOD
Stage
Withering Garden
Shakespeare Theatre offers an uneven revival of The Secret Garden,
which is still unequivocally Daisy Eagans show By Doug Rule
ROM THE BEGINNING, MARSHA NORMAN AND LUCY SIMON WERE

convinced their musical, The Secret Garden, would live or die based on one
factor: the caliber of the actress cast as young Mary. This, despite an original
Broadway cast that included the estimable Mandy Patinkin, the luminously voiced
Rebecca Luker, and a sensational newcomer by the name of John Cameron Mitchell.
Twenty-five years later, The Secret Garden (
) remains Daisy Eagans
show. The youngest-ever female Tony Award-winner for her work as Mary, Eagan
has returned in a revival or an active reworking, as the Shakespeare Theatre
Companys Michael Kahn puts it at Sidney Harman Hall, in a co-production with
Seattles 5th Avenue Theatre directed by David Armstrong. Eagan assumes the role of
young chambermaid Martha, a motherly supporting character and the first to show any
kindness to the quite-contrary Mary (Anya Rothman), described early on as the most
disagreeable-looking child ever seen.
Eagans Martha is also the first to strike a chord in an otherwise uneven production,
whose first few numbers are a hurried, confusing jumble of overlapping characters,
quick-change scenes and minimal exposition to explain whats going on. Were quickly whisked along with Mary to Yorkshire, after her parents die of a cholera outbreak
in colonial India. Back in her native England, she is raised by an uncle shes never
38
met, Archibald Craven (Michael Xavier), a

grief-stricken widower who lives with his
brother Neville Craven (Josh Young) in a
manor house full of spirits.
The first such ghostly encountered
is Cravens late wife Lily, portrayed by
the fine-voiced Lizzie Klemperer. Mary
proceeds to duet with Lily, but Rothman
strains and struggles to vocally keep up
with her posthumous elder. Rothman
grows into the role as the show goes on,
and presumably will gain strength with
subsequent performances. And she mostly hits the right notes in a portrayal of a
prickly, lonely girl who discovers her heart
and humanity once she sets out to find
Lilys walled sanctuary, meeting kindred
spirits along the way.
The Secret Garden is held in special,
almost cult-like regard by those who grew
up with Frances Hodgson Burnetts childrens book, as well as those who fell under
the musicals spell in 1991. If youre not in
either camp, you might wonder what all
the adoration is about. Marsha Norman
won a Tony Award for a book about a pre-
SCOTT SUCHMAN
cocious girl that remarkably doesnt

pander to either children or adults.
And yet, it also doesnt provoke or veer
from predictability enough to register
more than passing interest. Simons
rather plain, tender, tempered score is
also not particularly noteworthy, save
for some subtle Indian flourishes to
give it a bit of exotic oomph.
Indian mystique fuels an entrancing
bit of choreography from Armstrong,
when the Indian spirit Fakir (Vishal
Vaidya) leads a group dance in Come
Spirit, Come Charm. Other than that,
though, serious choreographed movement is mostly limited to the ghosts
weaving in and out of a maze of giant
sculpted garden hedges which are
additionally spun around in synchronized turns. Its not as hokey as it
sounds.
The Secret Garden is a far cry from
the first musical the Shakespeare
mounted, Candide, which gloriously
trumpeted what has become an annual affair in the Harman. If you had
the good fortune of catching Mary
Zimmermans stupendous, definitive
production of that Bernstein musical/operetta six years ago, youll

no doubt feel wistful about it upon
seeing Secret Garden. Armstrong
and scenic designer Anna Louizos
are as modest and streamlined in
their approach as Zimmerman was
breathtakingly baroque, with elaborate, architectural sets that made
full, dramatic use of the Harmans
deep and flexible stage. In fact, some
of Louizos set pieces appear not just
streamlined but subpar at a recent
performance, a chest of drawers
wobbled precariously when shut,
and actors repeatedly struggled to
enter the titular preserve through
a narrow, shifty passageway cut out
of a hedge on wheels. There is, however, a saving grace. (Two, if you
count designer Ann Hould-Wards
elegant, vibrant Victorian-era costuming.) As you no doubt expect,
The Secret Garden ends with a garden. But not just hedges on wheels
and other easily portable basic bushes and things of that ilk. Rather, it
ends in a blooming bang. l
The Secret Garden runs to Dec. 31 at Sidney Harman Hall, Harman Center for the Arts, 610 F St. NW.
Tickets are $44 to $123. Call 202-547-1122 or visit shakespearetheatre.org.
39
Games
Second Chance
Watch Dogs 2 is fun, vibrant and packed with interesting characters

everything the original wasnt. By Rhuaridh Marr
HERES SOMETHING TO BE SAID FOR SECOND CHANCES. TWO YEARS

ago, Ubisoft Montreal gave the world Watch Dogs, a much hyped, highly anticipated open world game that offered players extensive hacking capabilities and
the promise that they could be used to manipulate the world around them. Reality, as it
often is, was very different. Watch Dogs was by no means a bad game, but it was hampered by a number of issues, chief among them an utterly horrendous lead character
mired in a bland, uninspired story.
Its understandable, then, that some gamers might be wary of Watch Dogs 2.
Fortunately, the new game dispels numerous concerns in its opening moments. While
Watch Dogs started with a bang and then faded into a grey, miserable whimper, Watch
Dogs 2 (HHHHH) eschews initial grandstanding, immediately leading players into a
vastly better game.
This time around, Watch Dogs Aiden Pearce is nowhere to be found. A victim of
gruff-voiced, bland white guy syndrome (one that afflicts far too many games), his
backstory was convoluted, his quest for vengeance was never fully delivered by the
story, and he was given some terrible dialogue to chew his way through as he navigated the streets of the seemingly always rainy Chicago. In his place we have Marcus
Holloway, a young, African American millennial and gifted hacker, who is eager to join
Dedsec Watch Dogs version of Anonymous, but with higher production values. In
Chicagos place we have the sun-drenched streets of San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area. From the outset, this is a wholly different experience.
Marcus isnt given a laboriously tragic backstory. Instead, players are handed instant
40
control and tasked with breaking into a

Blume compound and removing all digital
traces of Marcus from the organizations
servers. Blume operates ctOS, a surveillance program so extensive and pervasive
that it must cause wet dreams among NSA
hierarchy. Your task is simple: use Marcus
hacking abilities to get inside, get past the
guards, erase your history and then join
Dedsec.
Initially, Watch Dogs 2 is a more complex, more confusing experience. Its contextual actions are more involved than
the original, often requiring an additional
button press a simple fuse box, for
instance, can be used as a distraction or as
an improvised explosion, but youll have to
remember which face button corresponds
to which action after youve targeted said
fusebox and pressed a different button. It
allows for greater flexibility when navigating the games various environments and
locales, but it can be a pretty steep initial
learning curve.
That first mission also throws up a persistent problem with the series: the incredibly varied intelligence of the games AI. If
anything, its more extreme than ever,
with guards either possessing supernatural abilities in their detection of Marcus, or
being utterly befuddled as to how or why one of their colleagues

is lying in a crumpled heap next to a hacked laptop. Must have
been the wind, might as well carry on with my route, said guard
presumably thought.
Niggles aside, once you leave that opening mission, join
Dedsec, and start the game proper, Watch Dogs 2 quickly showcases its strengths. It helps that the game is infinitely brighter
than the first, in both its environment and its writing. San
Francisco is vibrant, beautiful and wide open crossing the
Golden Gate bridge, driving through its leafy approximation
of Oakland, cresting the citys infamous hills, blasting through
downtown, or hanging out on the countless piers that dot the
coastline, it all makes for a more engaging, exciting experience
than Chicago. Sure, the Loop was beautifully recreated, but
everything else felt a little staid and uninviting. Thats not the
case here.
However, what really elevates the sequel is the writing.
Ubisoft hasnt had the greatest track record in characterization
and conversation there was the highs of Assassins Creed 2,
and the incredible lows of pretty much all of Watch Dogs but
for the most part, Marcus and his Dedsec cohorts are witty,
engaging and brimming with cultural references. Marcus himself is intelligent, ruthlessly efficient at infiltration, and surprisingly moralistic for someone who steals money from others at
the press of a button. Sitara is Dedsecs leader and in charge of
their promotion and design. Wrench, who wears an emoticon
mask and spits out pop culture references like a confetti cannon,
handles the groups mechanical needs, creating weapons and
infrastructure. Josh is high-functioning autistic and the groups
hacking brains, a veritable genius who also often lends some
emotional warmth to proceedings. Together, theyre one of the
most likable groups of protagonists in recent gaming history.
Certainly, theyre a damn sight better than Aiden Pearce and his
cohorts.
Dedsecs main goal is to take down Blume, and to do so they
must amass followers, who lend processing power on their
smartphones to Dedsecs computational efforts essentially,
building a networked grid that can take down ctOS. Marcus is
sent out into San Francisco to hack as many influential people
as possible: rogue corporations and amoral billionaires, for
instance. Indeed, in the games opening couple of hours youll
take down a Martin Shkreli-esque pharmaceutical billionaire,
swindling millions from him and donating it to charitable means.
Marcus gradually works his way through the citys institutions
and organizations, exposing the depth of the ctOS data collection, and amassing those much needed followers as Dedsec touts
his exploits. Unlike the original game, the main story doesnt
feel like a tedious exercise. Watch Dogs 2s snappy writing and
more open gameplay style keeps things fresh, even if theres a
lot of repetition in the actual mission structure (go here, hack
this, steal that).
It helps that Marcus has two excellent new toys at his disposal. Aiden made do with just a smartphone and baton. Marcus has
a laptop, a ball on a chain (surprisingly devastating), a taser, and
new additions the RC Jumper and a drone. The Jumper is an RC
car that can enter buildings, maneuver through vents, bounce
over obstacles and hack into systems, letting Marcus stay safely
out of sight as it zips around. The drone does exactly what youd
expect: give players an aerial view of a combat zone, letting them
hack people, objects and manipulate the world or, just follow
random pedestrians as they go about their day (whatever takes
your fancy, really). If you want to hover over some stop lights
and cause car crashes all day long, Watch Dogs 2 is totally okay
with that. More to the point, it endears such an irreverent sense

of fun that you no longer feel guilty for doing that.
The original game was quick to remind you that a little
girl died and you must absolutely get revenge right now, so
stop messing around. Here, theres no faux heartstrings being
tugged. As such, the variety of side missions and distractions
feel more naturally placed and thus more inviting. You can
go shopping, complete optional operations, take part in races,
visit landmarks, become an Uber driver (known as Driver SF, a
reference to another Ubisoft game), and a host of other things
in San Francisco. Whats more, you can also drop into a friends
game and do a series of co-op specific operations. Multiplayer
online hacking also returns from the previous game (it was deactivated before launch, but is now live), and allows for the same
tension-filled intrusions into another gamers digital world, in
which you hunt someone down and kill them or hack them without being discovered.
Watch Dogs 2 isnt perfect. Marcus morals are too grey
on far too many occasions he wants to rid the city of ctOS,
but if players choose a violent style of play they will rack up
quite the body count on their way. And the AI, particularly in
earlier stages of the game, actively discourages against being
stealthy unless youre occasionally prepared to just sprint
towards an exit and trigger a cutscene in order to advance
without drawing a gun.
The AI needs a lot of work if Ubisoft decide on a third game.
Not only are enemies far too extreme in their intelligence
either dumb as a rock or omniscient but pedestrians are as
well. Sometimes they wont bat an eyelid as you steal a car, other
times theyll call seemingly the entire SFPD to chase you down.
And while youre trying to flee, youll be reminded that, while
much improved, the game still struggles to make driving feel
like something you want to do, rather than something youre
forced to engage with in order to get around. There are also
performance issues it wouldnt be an Ubisoft open world game
without them. The Xbox One gets arguably the worst port of
the game, with 900p resolution and reduced filtering, but it still
struggles to remain locked at 30fps in heavier moments of action
or fast driving. The PS4 fares better and the PS4 Pro even more
so (PC is king and its a much more stable port than the original),
but while San Francisco is big and beautiful, its clear theres still
some optimizing to be done.
None of that detracts from what is ultimately one of this
years biggest surprises. Watch Dogs 2 is finally something close
to the game we all wanted it to be when the original was first
teased back in 2013. No, you still dont have god-like control
over every aspect of the city with just a smartphone app, but
Watch Dogs 2 is a much better game than its original iteration.
Its more fun, more enjoyable, easier to spend more time with.
I finished the originals story and then had a profound sense of
now what? There was no reason to remain in Aiden Pearces
dreary, miserable world, but theres every reason to stay with
Marcus and the gang.
Driving through San Francisco, chuckling at the various pop
culture references and memes plastered on walls and sprayed
in graffiti, listening to random NPC dialogue, hacking into cell
phones and eavesdropping on conversations, rescuing people
from random crimes, working through side missions and gathering collectibles is something youll want to keep doing and
few could say that of the original. As second chances go, Watch
Dogs 2 is worth every penny. l
Watch Dogs 2 is available now on PC, PS4 and Xbox One.
41
NightLife
Photography by
Ward Morrison
43
Scene
DrinksDragDJsEtc...
Thursday,
December 1
9 1/2
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any
drink, 5-9pm Multiple
TVs showing movies,
shows, sports Expanded
craft beer selection
Music videos featuring
DJ Wess
COBALT/30 DEGREES
Happy Hour: Tops Down $6
Top Shelf, Bottoms Up $3
Rail, $3 Bud Light, 4-9pm
Locker Room Thursday
Nights $3 Rail Drinks,
10pm-midnight, $5 Red
Bull and Frozen Virgin
Drinks DJs Sean Morris
and MadScience Best
Package Contest at midnight, hosted by BaNaka &
Kristina Kelly $200 Cash
Prize Doors open 10pm,
21+ $5 Cover or free

with college ID
DC EAGLE
Doors open at 8pm Strip
Down Thursdays Happy
Hour Shirtless guys
drink $2 off all drinks,
8-10pm Jock or underwear gets $2 off all drinks,
10pm-midnight No Cover
21+
FREDDIES BEACH BAR
Crazy Hour, 4-7pm
Karaoke, 8pm
GREEN LANTERN
Happy Hour, 4-9pm
Ladies Drink Free Power
Hour, 4-5pm Shirtless
Thursday, 10-11pm DJs
BacK2bACk
NELLIES SPORTS BAR
Beat the Clock Happy Hour
$2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm),
Mr. DC Eagle Contest - Saturday, November 19

Photography by Ward Morrison
See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene
$4 (7-8pm) Buckets of
Beer $15 Drag Bingo
NUMBER NINE
drink, 5-9pm No Cover
SHAWS TAVERN
Happy Hour, 4-7pm $3
Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon,
$5 Rails and House Wines
& Half-Priced Pizzas $4
Corona and $4 Heineken,
5pm-close
SOMEPLACE ELSE BAR
& GRILL
1637 R St. NW
PBR, $2 Yuengling, $3 Rail,
$5 Appetizers Extended
Happy Hour, 7-9pm, with
only $1 increase in price
TRADE
1410 14th St. NW
Doors open 5pm Huge
Happy Hour: Any drink
normally served in a cocktail glass served in a huge
glass for the same price,

5-10pm Beer and wine
only $4
ZIEGFELDS/SECRETS
All male, nude dancers
Shirtless Thursday DJ
9pm Cover 21+
Friday,
December 2
9 1/2
Open at 5pm Happy
Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink,
5-9pm Friday Night
Videos with Sean, 9:30pm
Expanded craft beer
selection No Cover
COBALT/30 DEGREES
All You Can Drink Happy
Hour $15 Rail and
Domestic, $21 Call &
Imports, 6-9pm Guys
Night Out $6 Grey Goose
all night Two 30-minute open bars featuring
Grey Goose, 11-11:30pm

and 1-1:30am DJ
MadScience upstairs
DJ Keenan Orr downstairs
$10 cover 10pm-close
21+
DC EAGLE
Doors open at 8pm
off everything First
Fridays Reloaded, 10:30p4am Main Bar and Exile
$10 Cover 21+
FREDDIES BEACH BAR
Crazy Hour, 4-7pm
Karaoke, 8pm
$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
SHAWS TAVERN
& Half-Priced Pizzas Luke
James Shaffer singing live,
8pm Live Magic! 8-10pm
GREEN LANTERN
Smirnoff, all flavors, all
night long Otter Den DC
presents Otter Crossing,
9pm-close $5 after 10pm
SOMEPLACE ELSE BAR

& GRILL
1637 R St. NW
NELLIES SPORTS BAR

DJ Matt Bailer Videos,
Dancing Beat the Clock
Happy Hour $2 (5-6pm),
TOWN
Patio open 6pm DC Bear
Crue Happy Hour, 6-11pm
$3 Rail, $3 Draft, $3 Bud
45
Bottles Free Pizza, 7pm

No cover before 9:30pm
21+ Drag Show starts
at 10:30pm Hosted by
Lena Lett and featuring
Miss Tatianna, ShiQueeta-Lee, Riley Knoxx
and BaNaka DJ Wess
upstairs, DJs BacK2bACk
downstairs following the
show GoGo Boys after
11pm Doors open at
10pm For those 21 and
over, $12 For those
18-20, $15 Club: 18+
Patio: 21+
TRADE
Doors open 5pm Huge
normally served in a
cocktail glass served in a
huge glass for the same
price, 5-10pm Beer and
wine only $4 DJ Jeff
Prior, 10pm
ZIEGFELDS/SECRETS
Men of Secrets, 9pm
Guest dancers Ladies
of Illusion Drag Show
with host Ella Fitzgerald
Doors at 9pm, Shows
at 11:30pm and 1:30am
DJ Don T. in Secrets
Cover 21+
46
Saturday,
December 3
9 1/2
drink, 3-9pm $5 Absolut
& Titos, $3 Miller Lite
after 9pm Expanded craft
beer selection No Cover
various DJs
COBALT/30 DEGREES
Drag Yourself to Brunch at
Level One, 11am-2pm and
2-4pm Featuring Kristina
Kelly and the Ladies of
Illusion Bottomless
Mimosas and Bloody
Marys Happy Hour:
Tops Down $6 Top Shelf,
Bottoms Up $3 Rail, $3
Bud Light, 4-9pm Rumba
Latina: Latin Night Dance
Party, 10pm-close Doors
open 10pm $5 Cover
21+
DC EAGLE
Doors open at 8pm
Happy Hour, 8-10pm
$2 off everything DC
Leather Pride presents
Winter Solstice, 8-10pm on
Club Bar Joe Whitaker
presents FuKR where
men and music play,
9pm-3am PrePare to
be aMAZEd L.E.N.G. &

Classical Trax presents
TSVI & Vujan Allure in the
Annex 21+
FREDDIES BEACH BAR
Drag Queen Broadway
Brunch, 10am-3pm
Starring Freddies
Broadway Babes Crazy
Hour, 4-7pm Freddies
Follies Drag Show, 8-10pm,
hosted by Miss Destiny B.
Childs No Cover
GREEN LANTERN
Bacardi, all flavors, all
night long REWIND:
Request Line, an 80s
and 90s Dance Party,
with DJ Darryl Strickland,
9pm-close No Cover
NELLIES SPORTS BAR
Guest DJs Zing Zang
Bloody Marys, Nellie Beer,
House Rail Drinks and
Mimosas, $4, 11am-5pm
Buckets of Beer, $15
NUMBER NINE
Doors open 2pm Happy
Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink,
3-9pm $5 Absolut and
$5 Bulleit Bourbon
Jawbreaker, with Chord
Bezerra, 9:30pm $ Deep
Eddy and $2 Shot Specials,
11pm-12am
SHAWS TAVERN
Bottomless Mimosas,
10am-3pm Happy Hour,
5-7pm $3 Miller Lite, $4
Blue Moon, $5 Rails and
House Wines & Half-Priced
Pizzas
SOMEPLACE ELSE BAR
& GRILL
1637 R St. NW
TOWN
Patio open 2pm 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
Britneys Birthday,
11pm-close Featuring
DJ Wess spinning and
Britney performances from
BaNaka and The Firm
Drag Show starts at
10:30pm Hosted by Lena
Lett and featuring Miss
Tatianna, Shi-Queeta-Lee,
Riley Knoxx and BaNaka
GoGo Boys after 11pm
Doors open 10pm $12
Cover 21+
TRADE
Doors open 2pm Huge
only $4
ZIEGFELDS/SECRETS
Men of Secrets, 9pm
Guest dancers Ladies
of Illusion Drag Show
with host Ella Fitzgerald
Doors at 9pm, Shows
at 11:30pm and 1:30am
DJ Don T. in Secrets
Cover 21+
Sunday,
December 4
9 1/2
TVs showing movies,
No Cover
COBALT/30 DEGREES
Homowood Karaoke,
hosted by Robert Bise,
10pm-close 21+
DC EAGLE
Doors open at 12pm
off everything $2 Bud
and Bud Lite Draughts all
day and all night DC
Eagle Pizza Party free
slice of pizza with each
drink while supplies last
No Cover 21+
FREDDIES BEACH BAR
Champagne Brunch Buffet,
10am-3pm Crazy Hour,
4-7pm Freddies Zodiac
Monthly Contest, hosted by
Regina Jozet Adams, 8pm
Karaoke, 10pm-1am
GREEN LANTERN
Happy Hour, 4-9pm
Bears Can Party, featuring
DJ Jeff Eletto, upstairs,
6-10pm No Cover
Mamas Trailer Park
Karaoke downstairs,
9:30pm-close
NELLIES SPORTS BAR
Drag Brunch, hosted by
Shi-Queeta-Lee, 11am-3pm
$20 Brunch Buffet
House Rail Drinks, Zing
Zang Bloody Marys, Nellie
Beer and Mimosas, $4,
11am-close Buckets of
Beer, $15
NUMBER NINE
Pop Goes the World with
Wes Della Volla at 9:30pm
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on
any drink, 3-9pm No
Cover
SHAWS TAVERN
Happy Hour, 5-7pm
$3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue
Moon, $5 Rails and House
Wines & Half-Priced
Pizzas Football Specials,
1pm-close
SOMEPLACE ELSE BAR
& GRILL
1637 R St. NW
TRADE
Doors open 2pm Huge
only $4
ZIEGFELDS/SECRETS
Decades of Dance DJ
Tim-e in Secrets Doors
9pm Cover 21+
Monday,
December 5
9 1/2
TVs showing movies,
No Cover
COBALT/30 DEGREES
Monday Nights A Drag,
hosted by Kristina Kelly
Doors open at 10pm
Showtime at 11:30pm
$3 Skyy Cocktails, $8 Skyy
and Red Bull $8 Long
Islands No Cover, 18+
DC EAGLE
Doors open at 8pm
off everything Endless
Happy Hour prices to anyone in a DC Eagle T-Shirt
Free Ballin Mondays: Free
Pool All Night and Day
$1 Bud and Bud Light
Draughts all night No
Cover 21+
47
FREDDIES BEACH BAR

Crazy Hour, 4-7pm
Singles Night Karaoke,
8pm
GREEN LANTERN
Happy Hour all night long
Open Mic Night Karaoke,
9:30pm-close
NELLIES SPORTS BAR
$2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm),
Beer $15 Texas Holdem
Poker, 8pm Dart Boards
NUMBER NINE
SHAWS TAVERN
and Half-Priced Pizzas
Trivia with Jeremy, 7:30pm
SOMEPLACE ELSE BAR
& GRILL
1637 R St. NW
48
TRADE
Doors open 5pm Huge
only $4
Tuesday,
December 6
9 1/2
TVs showing movies,
No Cover
COBALT/30 DEGREES
DJ Honey Happy Hour:
Tops Down $6 Top Shelf,
Bottoms Up $3 Rail, $3 Bud
Light, 4-9pm SIN Service
Industry Night, 10pm-close
$1 Rail Drinks all night
FREDDIES BEACH BAR
Crazy Hour, 4-7pm
Karaoke, 8pm
GREEN LANTERN
Happy Hour all night long,
4pm-close
NELLIES SPORTS BAR

$2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm),
Beer $15 Karaoke and
Drag Bingo
NUMBER NINE
After 9pm, $3 Absolut,
Bulleit & Stella
SHAWS TAVERN
Half Priced Burgers &
Pizzas, 5pm-close $5
House Wines & Sam
Adams Drafts, 5pm-close
SOMEPLACE ELSE BAR
& GRILL
1637 R St. NW
TRADE
Doors open 5pm Huge
only $4
Wednesday,
December 7
9 1/2
TVs showing movies,
No Cover
COBALT/30 DEGREES
$4 Stoli and Stoli Flavors
and Miller Lite all night
No Cover 21+
FREDDIES BEACH BAR
Crazy Hour, 4-7pm $6
Burgers Drag Bingo
Night, hosted by Ms.
Regina Jozet Adams, 8pm
Bingo prizes Karaoke,
10pm-1am
GREEN LANTERN
Happy Hour all night long,
4pm-close
NELLIES SPORTS BAR
SmartAss Trivia Night, 8pm
and 9pm Prizes include
bar tabs and tickets to
shows at the 9:30 Club
$15 Buckets of Beer for
SmartAss Teams only

Bring a new team member
and each get a free $10
Dinner
NUMBER NINE
Hairspray Live! Viewing
Party with BaNaka, 8pm
SHAWS TAVERN
and Half-Priced Pizzas
Hairspray Live! Viewing
Party with Piano Bar before
and after, starting at 7pm
SOMEPLACE ELSE BAR
& GRILL
1637 R St. NW
TRADE
Doors open 5pm Huge
only $4
ZIEGFELDS/SECRETS
Shirtless Night, 10-11pm,
12-12:30am Military
Night, no cover with
military ID DJ Don
T. in Secrets 9pm
Cover 21+
Thursday,
December 8
9 1/2
TVs showing movies,
DJ Wess
COBALT/30 DEGREES
Locker Room Thursday
Nights $3 Rail Drinks,
10pm-midnight, $5 Red
Bull and Frozen Virgin
Drinks DJs Sean Morris
and MadScience Best
Package Contest at midnight, hosted by BaNaka &
Kristina Kelly $200 Cash
Prize Doors open 10pm,
21+ $5 Cover or free
with college ID
49
DC EAGLE
Doors open at 8pm
Strip Down Thursdays
Happy Hour Shirtless
guys drink $2 off all
drinks, 8-10pm Jock or
underwear gets $2 off all
drinks, 10pm-midnight
Highwaymen TNT hosts
Hot Jock Contest, 11:30pm
Prizes include cash and
tickets totaling over $250
No Cover 21+
FREDDIES BEACH BAR
Crazy Hour, 4-7pm
Karaoke, 8pm
GREEN LANTERN
Happy Hour, 4-9pm
Ladies Drink Free Power
Hour, 4-5pm Shirtless
Thursday, 10-11pm DJs
BacK2bACk
NELLIES SPORTS BAR
Open at 5pm Beat the
Clock Happy Hour $2
(5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), $4
(7-8pm) Buckets of Beer
$15 Drag Bingo
50
NUMBER NINE
SHAWS TAVERN
& Half-Priced Pizzas $
Heineken and Coronas,
5pm-close
TRADE
1410 14th St. NW
Doors open 5pm Huge
only $4
ZIEGFELDS/SECRETS
Shirtless Thursday DJ
9pm Cover 21+ l
Scene
52
Bearlesque at Towns Bear Happy Hour- Friday, November 18

Photography by Ward Morrison
See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene
53
LastWord.
People say the queerest things
a priest out of my home parish that I have always

This was coming from afeltman,
very loved and welcomed in.
All of a sudden I felt very ostracized.
CONNER HAKES, of Decatur, Indiana, who was told he could not sing at his grandmothers funeral after the priest at St.
Marys of the Assumption Catholic Church expressed concerns that Hakes was living as an out gay man. According to
WDTN, the priest told Hakes that if he sang at the funeral, it would scandalize the church and the congregation.
when we knew Hillary was gonna win and she didnt because some of us just
Its sort of like the electiondropped
all thought about having her as president.
Its like if we dropped our thoughts and care
about the AIDS epidemic, then more lives will
leave this planet.
Singer PATTI LABELLE, speaking with The Huffington Post about the importance of keeping focused on the issue of
HIV/AIDS and working to eradicate the virus. To raise awareness of the disease, LaBelle is performing in the
AIDS Healthcare Foundations Keep the Promise concert.
character and for me as an actor, it was very challenging. But I feel I have
In my first play, I played a gay arrived
to a very special place as an actor.
I didnt have any inhibitions about it.
Actor PRATEIK BABBAR, telling the Indo-Asian News Service about his experience playing a gay character on stage.
Babbar says hed love to play a gay character in a film, so long as the script was well-written.
Maybe someone needs to tell you to treat people like

a fucking human being.
Ohioan JAIOWYN ROBINSON, a transgender woman, responding to the Warren County Board of Commissioners who asked
UnitedHealthcare to stop covering treatments for gender dysphoria under the countys health plan. The Cincinnati Enquirer
reports that the commissioners have argued that gender confirmation surgery is a choice
and should not be covered as medically necessary care.
This isnt the most urgent concern of mine.

If it creates a situation like North Carolina went through, my enthusiasm would not be high for that.
Texas House Speaker JOE STRAUS (R-San Antonio), telling the Austin American-Statesman that a bill restricting transgender peoples ability to access restrooms matching their gender identity is not high on his priority list. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick,
who presides over the state Senate, has already said that passing such a bill is one of his
top concerns for the 2017 legislative session.
54

Metro Weekly - 12-01-16 - Ron Simmons

Загружено:

Сведения о документе

Авторское право

Доступные форматы

Поделиться этим документом

Поделиться или встроить документ

Параметры публикации

Этот документ был вам полезен?

Это неприемлемый материал?

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

Metro Weekly - 12-01-16 - Ron Simmons

Загружено:

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

DECEMBER 01, 2016

Our annual round-up of adventurous,

Ron Simmons has led Us Helping Us for a quarter

Interview by John Riley

Watch Dogs 2 is fun, vibrant and packed with

SPOTLIGHT: METROCOOKING DC p.7 OUT ON THE TOWN p.14

2016 Jansi LLC.

DECEMBER 01, 2016 METROWEEKLY

Holiday Gift Guide

Visit the Holiday Gift Guide Online at metroweekly.com/giftguide

PHOTOS COURTESY OF METROCOOKING DC

OTH A HOLIDAY TREAT AND A SHOPPING PRESERVE,

Though its become a lot less focused on cinema

Talk about a starry cast: D.C. leading ladies Donna

The Country Music Hall of Fame inductee comes to town

DECEMBER 01, 2016 METROWEEKLY

One week after being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom,

FOUR SEASONS BY PHILIP HAAS

Four larger-than-life, three-dimensional portrait

WSC Avant Bard presents Jonelle Walkers LGBT spin on The

Out On The Town

Compiled by Doug Rule

Composer/performer Andrew Earle

Over the next few weeks, the

Inn, directed by Mark Sandrich

PANDAS: THE JOURNEY HOME

National Geographic captures

DECEMBER 01, 2016 METROWEEKLY

Craig Wallace takes over from

A CHRISTMAS CAROL: A GHOST

Olney Theatre Center presents

A CHRISTMAS CAROL MEMORY

Creative Cauldrons Laura Connors

A Christmas Carol with puppets.

A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE

Originally staged at Londons

Three unlikely allies try to keep

Area theaters have taken holiday themes and

owner mysteriously disappears in

Columbia, Md. Tickets are $35 to

Theater Alliance offers a production of Langston Hughess retelling

DECEMBER 01, 2016 METROWEEKLY

IGHT ABOUT NOW, MANY AREA THEATERS ARE

tale (to 12/31, Anacostia Playhouse). Meanwhile, Washington

INTO THE WOODS

Fiasco Theaters streamlined

Theater. Tickets are $45 to $175.

ITS A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE

The Washington Stage Guild

LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES

MISS BENNET: CHRISTMAS AT

Lauren Gunderson and Margot

STRAIGHT WHITE MEN

A razor-sharp comedy confronting the

Set in a large, contemporary

Annie Grier, Michael Russotto,

THE SECOND CITYS BLACK SIDE

An all-African American troupe of

THE SECOND SHEPHERDS PLAY

Mary Hall Surface directs a magical retelling of the Nativity story

THE ZERO HOUR

Iron Crow Theatre presents

Edward Polochick conducts and

DECEMBER 01, 2016 METROWEEKLY