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14 ADULT FOCUS
A Kid Like Jake has an interesting conceit:
Its titular youth is seldom seen on-screen.
By André Hereford
By Rhuaridh Marr
Metro Weekly 1775 I St. NW, Suite 1150 Washington, DC 20006 202-638-6830
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Ideal Home
I
T’S A STRANGE MOVIE STRUCTURALLY,” SAYS DIREC- unafraid. They were not hesitant in any way. The relationship in
tor Andrew Fleming. “The characters are the plot.” He’s that movie is not that hot and bothered beginning of a relation-
discussing his new comedy, Ideal Home, which stars Steve ship where it’s all sexy and everybody is seducing everybody.
Coogan and Paul Rudd as a couple whose already strained rela- It’s when things run aground. So there wasn’t really that much
tionship is put to a further test when Coogan’s young grandson sexuality. But,” he laughs, “there is some butt fucking.”
shows up after the boy’s father is jailed. The film is based in part Early drafts of the script contained “a bit of preachiness,”
on Fleming’s own experiences helping to raise the son of a man but Fleming ultimately removed the film’s political overtones.
with whom he’d had a 23-year relationship. “Why do we need to try to make a point? If you’ve made it
“I wasn’t a parent, do you know what I mean?” says Fleming, through the movie, you’re already on the right side.” Still,
known for Hamlet 2, The Craft, and Threesome, a 1994 romantic when the film was completed, he created a touching end cred-
comedy that featured a gay central character. “I went into it say- its sequence designed to drive the comedy’s greater point of
ing, ‘I’m not going to be your father, I’m not going to be a parent, same-sex parenthood home.
I’m just like, the person living in the house. But I realized over “I feel like the idea of the gay family, it’s always looked on
time that I helped raise him, that I was parental in some way. as, ‘Well, isn’t that admirable?’” he says. “There’s this kind of
“The big lessons are just being around, and being yourself, patronizing attitude towards gay families.... But maybe it’s pos-
and imparting whatever you can, in whatever way you can, with sible that those kids are the absolute luckiest kids in the world,
a good heart. They learn by seeing what you do. I was also a that it’s the best possible place for them to be, in that home.
really good cook, and he learned how to cook. He learned to be Because my partner’s son is just like a masterpiece of a kid. He’s
a food snob.” the least neurotic person I know. He’s really smart. He’s really
Fleming has nothing but praise for his two stars, who play happy and well-adjusted. And he was brought up by two gay
off each other magnificently throughout. “As actors, they are men.” —Randy Shulman
Ideal Home screens Friday, June 22, at 7 p.m. at the Human Rights Campaign, 1640 Rhode Island Ave. NW,
as part of the Reel Affirmations Xtra series. Tickets are $12, or $25 for VIP seating, which also includes one complimentary
cocktail, beer, or wine, and movie candy or popcorn. Visit thedccenter.org/events/idealhome.
HARRY STYLES
AND KACEY MUSGRAVES
The former One Directioner offers an in-the-round stage
setup on an international stadium tour supporting his sur-
prising and strong self-titled solo debut, which conjures
the Beatles, old-school, high-quality folk-rock, even a little
Beck — and nary a trace of manufactured boy-band pop. As
an added incentive, North American dates feature Kacey
Musgraves, country’s coolest and classiest star-on-the-rise.
With her early CMA-winning LGBTQ-affirming hit “Follow
Your Arrow,” the progressive Millennial had queer fans from
the get-go, yet still more are joining the fold on account of
her stellar third album Golden Hour and the discofied singles
“Strange Cowboy” and especially “High Horse.” Sunday,
June 24, at 8 p.m. Capital One Arena, 601 F St. NW. Call 202-
628-3200 or visit capitalonearena.com.
SARAH MCLACHLAN
A year after stopping at Merriweather
Post Pavilion on tour with Paul Simon,
the founder of Lilith Fair returns
for a summer gig in Maryland. The
Canadian crooner will fill Strathmore’s
acoustically rich Music Center with
the sounds of her quiet-storm bal-
lads, performed as part of a solo piano
show. Friday, June 29, at 8 p.m. 5301
Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda.
Tickets are $66 to $146. Call 301-581-
5100 or visit strathmore.org.
REBOLLARDANCE:
VARIATIONS
Powerhouse local choreographer Erica
Rebollar celebrates her company’s 10th
anniversary in D.C. by premiering a new
work meditating on the artistic method of
“theme and variation.” Driving the work
are four main themes — a “walking” theme,
an algorithmic duet, a “gesture” theme, and
solos revisited in a final climactic group
phrase. Saturday, June 23, at 8 p.m., and
Sunday, June 24, at 7 p.m. Dance Place, 3225
8th St. NE. Tickets are $30. Call 202-269-
1600 or visit danceplace.org.
DC SHORTS: LAUGHS
Two different programs of comedic shorts, standouts from past festivals, in between live stand-up routines from local
comedians. Show A, on Friday, June 22, at 8 p.m., and Saturday, June 23, at 10 p.m., features Ryan Neser, Kandace Saunders,
and Andy Kline, plus the screening of Ruby Full of Shit, Curse Words, Sans Response (Without Answers), The Importance of
Sex Education, Next Is The One, and Fanny Pack. Show B, on Friday, June 22, at 10 p.m., and Saturday, June 23, at 8 p.m.
features Natalie McGill, Eddie Morrison, and Denise Taylor, plus the shorts Rufus, I Love New, Eulogilia, Ticket Like a Man,
and The Final Show. The Miracle Theatre, 535 8th St. SE. Tickets are $20 for one show, or $30 for two. Call 202-400-3210
or visit laughs.dcshorts.com.
Compiled by Doug Rule out 42 Top 10 hits, including 14 CAMELOT PRTT of New York, Dancing In
No. 1’s. Des McAnuff (Jersey Alan Paul, Shakespeare Theatre My Cockroach Killers is a rollicking
FILM Boys) directs and Sergio Trujillo Company’s resident musical direc- show with characters inspired by
(Memphis the Musical) choreo- tor, takes on Lerner and Loewe’s family, friends, and Latino icons as
MCKELLEN: PLAYING THE PART graphs a production featuring clas- classic about the powerful love tri- varied as Lolita Lebrón, Joe Cuba,
The story of legendary and knighted sics everyone knows — from “My angle in King Arthur’s court. Ken and Iris Chacón. To July 1. Tivoli
actor Sir Ian McKellen, who came Girl” to “Papa Was A Rolling Stone” Clark plays the King, while Nick Square, 3333 14th St. NW. Tickets
out a remarkable 30 years ago this to “Just My Imagination.” To July Fitzer is Lancelot du Lac, both in are $30 to $45. Call 202-234-7174 or
year. Joe A. Stephenson’s documen- 22. Eisenhower Theater. Tickets are love with Queen Guinevere, played visit galatheatre.org.
tary traces his journey from West $59 to $159. Call 202-467-4600 or by Broadway star Alexandra Silber.
End theater star to Hollywood’s visit kennedy-center.org. Legends Ted van Griethuysen NOBODY DIES ON FRIDAY
Magneto and Gandalf. Stephenson and Floyd King are also featured The D.C. premiere of an ironic and
was granted access to private photo BOTTICELLI IN THE FIRE in a show with choreography by rueful play by Robert Brustein,
albums, never-before-seen archive While painting “The Birth of Michele Lynch, who won a Helen founding Dean of the Yale School
material, exclusive behind-the- Venus,” the famed artist Sandro Hayes Award for her work on STC’s of Drama. Nobody Dies on Friday
scenes footage, and the 79-year-old Botticelli is put to the test by the Kiss Me, Kate. Extended to July focuses on the relationship between
himself, who regaled the director arrival of a conservative priest lead- 8. Sidney Harman Hall, Harman Marilyn Monroe and the Strasberg
with details and reflections on his ing a populist revolution in Lorenzo Center for the Arts, 610 F St. NW. family, headed up by her acting
life during a reported 14-hour inter- de’ Medici’s Florence. Heralded by Call 202-547-1122 or visit shake- coach Lee Strasberg, the longtime
view. Saturday, June 23, at 5 p.m. at the Montreal Gazette as “the hottest spearetheatre.org. Actors Studio director considered
the Folger Theatre, 201 East Capitol name in Canadian theater,” Jordan the father of “method acting.”
St. SE. Tickets are $20. Call 202- Tannahill offers an ambitious, mod- DANCING IN MY Brustein’s examination into the
544-7077 or visit folger.edu. ern story that sounds custom-made COCKROACH KILLERS unhealthy obsession with Monroe
for Woolly Mammoth Theatre GALA Theatre closes its 42nd sea- and Hollywood in mid-20th century
STAGE
Company. Marti Lyons directs a son with the D.C. premiere of play- America draws upon biographies of
production with company members wright Magdalena Gómez’s sassy Monroe and Strasberg as well as the
Cody Nickell, Jon Hudson Odom, bilingual musical featuring music playwright’s own recollections as a
AIN’T TOO PROUD and Dawn Ursula. To June 24. 641 and musical direction by Desmar rising New York theater critic at the
The Kennedy Center pres- D St. NW. Call 202-393-3939 or visit Guevara. Conceived and directed by time. Mollie Goff portrays Monroe
ents this new musical about The woollymammoth.net. Rosalba Rolón and a co-production in a cast including Bill Hurlbutt,
Temptations, a group that churned with Rolón’s Pregones Theater/ Susan Schulman, Emily Sucher, and
ON THE TOWN
Three sailors romp around New
York in 1944. Olney Theatre
Company revives this early musical
that features an exuberant score
by Leonard Bernstein. The origi-
nal show grew out of a ballet that
Jerome Robbins had worked on
with Bernstein, further developed
by the writing and lyricist team of
Betty Comden and Adolph Green.
Olney’s cast includes Evan Casey,
Rhett Guter, Sam Ludwig, Donna
Migliaccio, Tracy Lynn Olivera,
Bobby Smith, and Rachel Zampelli,
with Robbins-inspired choreogra-
phy by Tara Jeanne Vallee. Jason
Loewith directs. Opens Saturday,
June 23. To July 20. Mainstage,
2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road,
Olney, Md. Call 301-924-3400 or
visit olneytheatre.org.
ADULT FOCUS
A Kid Like Jake has an interesting conceit: Its titular youth
OTHER LIFE FORMS
D.C. playwright Brandon McCoy
wrote this romantic comedy about
two very different roommates
and their attempts at finding love
is seldom seen on-screen. online. Starring John Loughney,
Josh Sticklin, Aidan Quartana,
A
Brianna Letourneau, and Shanta
SENSITIVE DRAMA ABOUT A GENDER-NONCONFORMING NEW YORK CITY KID, Parasuraman. To July 7. 1742
A Kid Like Jake features Claire Danes and Jim Parsons as the well-meaning but over- Church St. NW. Tickets are $35
to $45. Call 202-265-3768 or visit
whelmed parents of “gender-expansive” 4-year-old. Like Daniel Pearle’s Off-Broadway keegantheatre.com.
play, Silas Howard’s film focuses on the adults’ response to raising their child. Hence, Jake appears
mostly in the background, beyond the glare of audience (mis)perceptions. It was a decision star SWIMMING WITH WHALES
Parsons had a hand in making. Owen, an urban 14-year-old, clash-
es with his fisherman father while
“Jim Parsons, with his husband, producer Todd [Spiewak], and producer Eric Norsoph, visiting the family’s secluded cot-
optioned the play and did the first adaptation,” says Howard. “They toyed with different ways of tage on the Outer Banks of North
seeing or not seeing Jake. I knew that would be a very strong decision in terms of frustrating peo- Carolina. Cue a beached whale
to help save the relationship and
ple. I wanted them to be frustrated because I felt like, especially at age four, to have that kid bear awaken Owen’s sense of wonder
the weight of that scrutiny — Are they this? Are they that? — I just felt like that’s not the point.” and connection with the sea. Bob
Instead, A Kid Like Jake, which also features Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer as the caring (and Bartlett’s drama gets a world pre-
lesbian) director of Jake’s preschool, hones in on the strain placed on the marriage of two seem- miere in a production directed by
Alex Levy. To June 24. 1st Stage,
ingly liberal, Brooklynite parents, who struggle to reconcile a plan of action for addressing Jake’s 1524 Spring Hill Rd. Tysons, Va.
unique identity. Tickets are $15 to $33. Call 703-854-
“What we’re trying to do is show that it can be very difficult just to support and allow kids to be 1856 or visit 1ststage.org.
themselves,” says Howard, who identifies as transgender. “It felt very human to [show], we can all THE NIGHT
talk a good talk, but it’s hard to actually put that into your everyday practice.” MICHAEL JACKSON DIED
No stranger to directing challenging or queer narratives, Howard has established an adventur- Set at a club in Miami’s Little
ous career that’s seen him helm award-winning indie features like Sunset Stories, episodes of This Havana on the fateful night of June
25, 2009, Kymone Freeman’s play
Is Us and Transparent, and even a pair of club kid-fabulous videos for underground dance music focuses on five strangers who bond
artist AB Soto. over music. Five actors present a
Having moved on from what he calls the “painful” experience of the harassment scandal that staged reading of the show a year
before a full production is expect-
rocked the cast and crew of Amazon’s Transparent — “I know Trace Lysette and Van Barnes, ed to run at the Atlas Performing
they’re very near and dear to my heart. I support them wholeheartedly.” — he’s excited about his Arts Center. DJ Lance Reynolds
role as a co-executive producer on Ryan Murphy’s FX musical drama Pose, which boasts landmark from WPFW 89.3 FM will enhance
levels of trans representation for a cable or network series. the reading with classics from
Jackson’s hit repertoire. Monday,
“To see it at this level, at this budget, with this talent is phenomenal,” he says. “With Janet Mock June 25, at 7:30 p.m. The Hamilton,
and Steven Canals, and those voices in the writers’ room, it definitely feels like a historic moment.” 600 14th St. NW. Tickets are $15 to
—André Hereford $39.75. Call 202-787-1000 or visit
thehamiltondc.com.
A Kid Like Jake is not rated, and is playing at the Angelika Pop-Up
at Union Market, 550 E. Penn St. NE. Visit fandango.com.
STAN BAROUH
Music Hall, 1115A U St. NW ($15).
UNCERTAIN OUTCOMES
5:30, 6:15, and 7 p.m. at the National
Cathedral; a screening and panel
discussion of the documentary
Becoming Free about post-pris-
on reintegration on Thursday, June
21, at 6 p.m., at the Miracle Theatre, Mona Mansour’s The Vagrant Trilogy explores
535 8th St. SE; the public art-mak- how our choices impact the rest of our lives.
ing event Crochet Jam led by San
I
Francisco-based artist RAMEKON
O’ARWISTERS and presented N MONA MANSOUR’S THE VAGRANT TRILOGY, A PROMISING
by the gallery TRANSFORMER, 23-year old Palestinian grad student must choose whether to return
Friday, June 22, at 11 a.m., in
Farragut Square Park; performanc-
to his family in a war zone — or leap into a more secure life alone
es as part of an installation from as a refugee. An impressive undertaking for director Mark Wing-Davey
queer Argentinian/American art- and his six-person cast at Mosaic Theater Company, the haunting odys-
ist ESTEFANI MERCEDES every sey ponders home and family through the lens of a forced migration.
day at the Smithsonian’s Arts &
Industries Building, 900 Jefferson Comprised of three one-hour plays that have been performed individually
Dr. SW; a pop-up performance by but never before as a unit, the evening offers up two alternate outcomes
the WASHINGTON PERFORMING for the lead character.
ARTS MEN, WOMEN AND
CHILDREN OF THE GOSPEL
“It’s been described as a conditional trilogy,” says Mansour, raised
CHOIR on Sunday, June 24, at 12 in southern California by an American mother and Lebanese immigrant
p.m., at Union Market; and pop- father. “It’s not so much this is the first part of his life, this is the middle
ups throughout the festival by the part of his life, and this is the later part of his life. It’s really like, here’s this
DUPONT BRASS.
moment — he might go one way or another, and you’re going to see both.”
DAVID BLAINE The play’s central character, Adham, speaks of finding a place, for him-
The cute death-defying magician self and his family “where we are wanted.”
is taking his stunts on the road in a
36-date North American tour spon-
Mansour recalls that the house she grew up in became just such a place
sored by Live Nation and including for refugees in her own family during the Lebanese civil war, which began
a stop at Maryland’s MGM resort. in 1975 and ended fifteen years later. “A lot of our cousins — particularly
Sunday, June 24, at 8 p.m. Theater the male ones — started to come live with us,” she says. “When my mother
at MGM National Harbor, 7100
Harborview Ave., Oxon Hill, Md., passed away last February, one of the cousins said — it was very beautiful
Oxon Hill, Md. Call 844-346-4664 — ‘I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for her.’”
Or visit mgmnationalharbor.com. Mansour discovered just how accepting her mother was when she
GNO:
came out to her. “I was on the way to San Francisco with this woman,
GAY NIGHT OUT VARIETY SHOW and I told my mom. She’s like, ‘Wait, are you going with a boyfriend?’ I
A night of local tendsetting LGBTQ was like, ‘No, mom, it’s a woman.’ Literally, in the blink of an eye she was
musicians and performers is on tap like, ‘Whatever you do, I love you.’ That’s who she was.” —André Hereford
at this new show kicking off during
Pride month. Drag performer Jane
Saw (Gay/Bash, Sleaze) will host
performances the first go-round by The Vagrant Trilogy runs through July 1 at Atlas Performing Arts Center,
show creator Bryce Sulecki (Capital
Fringe’s Hydrogen Blonde), known
1333 H St. NE. Tickets are $20 to $65. Call 202-399-7993, ext. 2 or visit
MosaicTheater.org.
SMITHSONIAN SUMMER
SOLSTICE CELEBRATION
This Saturday, June 23, you can
spend the evening at your favorite
Smithsonian museum, as most of
them will stay open until midnight.
The occasion is an institution-wide,
all-day celebration of the summer
solstice, in association with the
inaugural By The People Festival.
It will certainly be the longest day
of the year at the various muse-
ums, whose cafes and gift shops
will also stay open well into the
evening hours. Among the only-on-
the-solstice daytime offerings, an
obvious highlight is Dolcezza’s out-
door pop-up shop at the Hirshhorn,
where samples of new summer
gelato flavor Orange Sunshine, a
blend of alishan oolong tea with
pixie tangerine juice, will be avail-
able while supplies last, starting at
10 a.m.
PUNK CELEBRATION
of Americana. The festivities start
at 5:30 p.m. with an art and history
happy hour at the National Museum
of American History (14th Street
Sasha Lord is helping to celebrate D.C.’s connection to punk and Constitution Avenue NW). At
7:30 p.m., things move — via “pedi-
with a showcase in this year’s By The People festival. cab procession” — to the complex at
I
8th and F Streets NW that houses
both the Smithsonian American Art
T’S IN MY BLOOD TO BE AN IMPRESARIO,” SAYS SASHA LORD, THE LOCAL LIVE
Museum and the National Portrait
music producer. Her maternal grandfather was an opera singer and her grandmother a well- Gallery. There, you’ll first encoun-
known radio personality in their native Russia. “Essentially, music saved their lives, because ter the outdoor Community Block
that’s how they were able to escape the war. They came to this country [in the 1930s] due to an Party with food trucks, lawn games,
and craft-making stations featuring
invitation letter for him to be in the Don Cossack Choir.” local artists in collaboration with
Lord’s latest endeavor is “Punk Latitudes,” part of the By the People Festival, produced by Made in DC — plus representatives
Septime Weber, the former Artistic Director of the Washington Ballet. The event features local from the Downtown BID, the nearby
Woolly Mammoth and Shakespeare
punk musicians along with screenings of music videos from L.A.-based director Bradley Friedman,
theatre companies, and the Fresh
“including never-been-seen-before footage of the Sex Pistols and the Ramones.” Farm Farmers Market. Once inside,
“The lineup is diverse and all ages,” she says. “and the artists are emerging to legendary.” check out the boutique-designed
They include D.C. bands Sneaks, Loud Boyz, and the Messthetics (featuring former members of Beer Garden that will be set up in
the covered Kogod Courtyard con-
Fugazi), plus a DJ set from local punk veteran Alec MacKaye. There will also be a panel discussion necting the two institutions, where
about punk-inspired art featuring Friedman and fellow visual artists Cynthia Connolly and Lely a Washington-based caricature
Constantinople. artist will be offering portraits of
patrons, who can also peruse the
“I’ve found that my best role is being a promoter and supporter of bands, in creating oppor-
exhibitions open throughout the
tunities for artists,” Lord says. She happily plays the role of de facto ambassador for her home- complex’s first floor. At 9:30 p.m.
town — which is not always an easy sell. “Especially during some [presidential] administrations comes a closing concert featuring
— including the current administration — some bands don’t even want to come to D.C. Sometimes Atlanta’s neo-soul group Ruby Velle
and the Soulphonics and D.C.’s ris-
you have to take a band under your wing, to book them and show them just how great it is.... It’s ing rap star Oddisee, plus additional
such a warm community.” —Doug Rule tunes spun by DJ Ayes Cold. Free.
Visit si.edu/SolsticeSaturday. l
Punk Latitudes is Sunday, June 24, at 5:30 p.m., at Dock 5 in Union Market, 1309 5th St. NE.
Tickets are $35. Call 800-680-9095 or visit halcyonhouse.org/punk-latitudes.
TEST DRIVE
visit bit.ly/dczines.
For more information, visit
The DC Center holds a meet- dullestriangles.com.
ing of its POLY DISCUSSION
GROUP, for people interested HIV TESTING at Whitman-
in polyamory, non-monogamy Alexandria is experimenting with creative ways Walker Health. 9 a.m.-12:30
or other non-traditional rela- p.m. and from 2-5 p.m. at 1525
tionships. 7-8 p.m. 2000 14th
to encourage people to get tested for HIV. 14th St. NW, and 9 a.m-12
St. NW, Suite 105. Visit thedc- p.m. and 2-5 p.m. at the Max
I
center.org. Robinson Center, 2301 MLK Jr.
T’S HARD TO GET PEOPLE TO COME OUT TO Ave. SE. For an appointment
The Residences at Thomas call 202-745-7000 or visit whit-
a serious event about HIV/AIDS,” says Nechelle
Circle invites you to a man-walker.org.
ROOFTOP PRIDE PARTY
Terrell, an HIV/AIDS prevention coordinator for
for LGBTQ older adults. the Alexandria Health Department. “So what I try to IDENTITY offers free and
Socialize with others from the do is have a fun event, and throw some information on confidential HIV testing at
LGBTQ community, and talk two separate locations. Walk-
HIV/AIDS into it. It’s a way to get people to come who ins accepted from 2-6 p.m.,
with volunteers from Center
Aging about The DC Center’s wouldn’t normally come out.” by appointment for all other
offerings. 5:30-9 p.m. 1330 In past years, those events — which commemorates hours. 414 East Diamond Ave.,
Massachusetts Ave. NW. For Gaithersburg, Md. or 7676
National HIV Testing Day on June 27 — took the form
more information and to RSVP, New Hampshire Ave., Suite
call 202-628-3844.
of basketball tournaments. This year, Terrell has man- 411, Takoma Park, Md. To set
aged to get local comedian Schewitz Whichard to per- up an appointment or for more
Weekly Events form at Alexandria’s Alley Cat Restaurant. Whichard, information, call Gaithersburg,
301-300-9978, or Takoma Park,
in turn, has promised to recruit some of his fellow 301-422-2398.
ANDROMEDA
TRANSCULTURAL HEALTH
comedians to perform their own routines as well.
offers free HIV testing and HIV The next day, the Health Department will hold METROHEALTH CENTER
offers free, rapid HIV testing.
services (by appointment). 9 “Sketch and Play” at the Parc Meridian at Eisenhower,
a.m.-5 p.m. Decatur Center, Appointment needed. 1012 14th
featuring half-naked or shirtless models for the public St. NW, Suite 700. To arrange
1400 Decatur St. NW. To
arrange an appointment, call to draw. Art supplies will be provided, and instructors an appointment, call 202-638-
202-291-4707, or visit androm- will offer tips to participants. Both the comedy show 0750.
edatransculturalhealth.org. and the Sketch and Play event will have health pro- SMYAL offers free HIV Testing,
DC AQUATICS CLUB practice
fessionals on hand offering HIV testing free of charge. 3-5 p.m., by appointment and
session at Takoma Aquatic “We’ll have free food, music, it’s a rooftop loca- walk-in, for youth 21 and
younger. Youth Center, 410 7th
Center. 7:30-9 p.m. 300 Van tion,” says Raashi Rastogi, communications officer for
Buren St. NW. For more infor- St. SE. 202-567-3155 or test-
the Department, of Sketch and Play. “We’re hoping ing@smyal.org.
mation, visit swimdcac.org.
it’s just a relaxing event, and maybe an opportunity for
DC FRONT RUNNERS run- someone to do something they’ve never done before, STI TESTING at Whitman-
ning/walking/social club Walker Health. 10 a.m.-12:30
meet new people, and get tested.” —John Riley p.m. and 2-3 p.m. at both 1525
welcomes runners of all ability
levels for exercise in a fun and 14th St. NW and the Max
supportive environment, with The Alexandria Health Department’s “Comedy Robinson Center, 2301 Martin
Luther King, Jr. Ave. SE.
socializing afterward. Route Explosion,” featuring comedian Schewitz Whichard,
distance is 3-6 miles. Meet at Testing is intended for those
is Wednesday, June 27, from 7-9 p.m. at Alley Cat without symptoms. For an
7 p.m. at 23rd & P Streets NW.
For more information, visit Restaurant, 2 South Whiting St., Alexandria, Va. appointment call 202-745-7000
dcfrontrunners.org. or visit whitman-walker.org.
“Sketch and Play” is Thursday, June 28, from 6:30-9:30 US HELPING US hosts a
DC LAMBDA SQUARES, D.C.’s
gay and lesbian square-dancing
p.m. at the Parc Meridian at Eisenhower, 750 Port St., Narcotics Anonymous Meeting.
group, features mainstream Alexandria, Va. To RSVP, or for more information, The group is independent of
UHU. 6:30-7:30 p.m., 3636
through advanced square visit alexandriava.gov/health.
dancing at the National City Georgia Ave. NW. For more
Christian Church. Please dress information, call 202-446-1100.
METRO WEEKLY: You were raised in the heart of the midwest. How talking to my mother until I was about 25, but then after that, it
did growing up in Kansas shape the person that you are now? was fine. I was out. I was definitely a very out person in every
MELISSA ETHERIDGE: So much of what I am on the inside comes way, except to the public. By the time I came out to the public,
from that Midwestern sensibility. I grew up in a comfortable when I was 33, I’d been out to my friends and family for over
home. It was lower middle class, and it was comfortable enough. ten years.
Both my parents worked. I grew up in a place where you didn’t MW: What is it like to be a public figure, but to keep such a major
much talk about your emotions. Even though there might be part of your life a secret?
things going on, big things brewing underneath, you just didn’t ETHERIDGE: Well, it was from ’88 to ’93, so it was five years.
talk about them. You worked hard and played fair, and that was When my first album came out in ’88, I was unknown. It did
how you got along. well in the rock and roll world, I sold a million records, and I
It enabled me to have huge dreams. It enabled me to real- was fine. I had an underground following. I had a huge lesbian
ly look at the television and the radio and think about music following — that was known — and a female following. There
and that entertainment world that was all sparkly and glowy was very much of a don’t ask, don’t tell [vibe] over my career. I
somewhere out there in New York or California. It enabled me thought for sure after my third album, someone would ask me,
to dream, and dream really large dreams. I’ve always taken the and I would be able to move forward with it. By the time I was
sense of “Okay, we work hard and play fair” with me. The part making my fourth album, I knew I wanted to come out, because
where there was no emotion — I put all that emotion into my my songs were personal. My fame was growing and I didn’t want
music, and made that my craft. to have this weird thing about me that I felt I was keeping secret.
MW: So many people stay rooted in the midwest and never leave. And I didn’t like secrets at all.
Was knowing you were gay a deciding factor for leaving? MW: Many of your early songs can be perceived as gender non-
ETHERIDGE: I think that became a lot of fuel for what I wanted to specific. But often, when I listen to your work now, I feel a deeper
do and where I wanted to go. I think knowing that I couldn’t be personal connection because I feel they speak directly from a same-
free, who I wanted to be, or even knowing that there was more sex point of view.
for me. Of course, I was the only gay person in my town. Then, ETHERIDGE: I think every listener has the capacity of making a
there was just the fire of wanting more, wanting the excitement song what they want. I do know that my overall story definite-
of the big city and just of life. Some people make where they are ly gets transposed onto that, because it does come from that.
the place they want to be. But my drive was definitely to get to a My hope is that a person can make that story somehow reflect
big city and to discover everything I could. their own story, so it can be universal. A song like “Come to My
MW: You came out publicly in 1993, but did you come out prior to Window” reaches a universal desire in all of us, even though you
that to your parents? know specifically who I’m singing about.
ETHERIDGE: Yes. When I was about 20 or 21 and was finally MW: So many musicians never achieve the level of fame that you
moving out to California. I came out to my father. I wasn’t quite achieved. Were you surprised by your success?
Bone Tired
but it’s hard not to marvel at the spectacle
as the island turns to liquid fire and dino-
saurs rampage in a desperate, and sadly
futile, bid to save themselves from pyro-
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom trades theme park thrills clastic flow. There’s even a pretty power-
for gothic chills, but it’s still not enough. By Rhuaridh Marr ful emotional coda, as the ship sails away.
What’s perhaps more surprising is
I
that, after offering big scale thrills, Fallen
T’S QUITE A THING TO SIT IN A CINEMA AND WATCH A FILM WORK Kingdom pivots into tense, tight horror,
through its own identity crisis. That’s perhaps the best way to describe the 128 bringing the cast and their dinosaurs to
minutes of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (HHHHH), a film that wants to be all Lockwood’s gothic mansion. Here, it holds
things to all people without ever really knowing what to settle on. It’s a sequel to 2015’s closer to the original Jurassic Park films,
billion-dollar theme park romp, an homage to the 1993 Steven Spielberg original, a putting the dinosaurs into tight focus, mak-
serious film about ethics, a lighthearted action comedy, and a tense thriller. And if that ing the peril more immediate, and turning
wasn’t enough, it needs to lay the groundwork for another sequel, set to hit theatres in the whole thing into one giant slaugh-
June 2021. It’s a tall order for any film to meet. terhouse as various species run rampant
What’s surprising about Fallen Kingdom is that, despite its many disparate elements, — none more so than this film’s version
it manages to be more enjoyable than the scattered and gratuitous film that came before of Indominus rex, a genetically modified
it. And that’s despite turning the dino-meddling up to eleven. In this new iteration, con- monster that wrecked the last film’s theme
fidently directed by J. A. Bayona (A Monster Calls), the former Jurassic World theme park. Indoraptor, as it’s known, is tougher,
park on Isla Nublar is facing imminent destruction, as the island’s long dormant volca- smarter, more trainable. It will viciously
no suddenly reawakens. Humanity is thus faced with an interesting dilemma: invest the hunt its prey until they are safely tucked
funds to rescue the remaining dinosaurs that roam the remnants of the park, or leave inside its stomach. The plan, we learn, is to
the animals to return to their former extinction. sell it to the highest bidders as a weapon.
In the three years since their former place of work was overrun by a Tyrannosaurus, The problem is that, while Indoraptor
Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) has started an activist group dedicated to saving the makes for a fearsome enemy, the film falls
dinos and Owen (Chris Pratt) has retreated into the woods. When Claire is contacted into the exact same pitfall that brought
by Benjamin Lockwood (James Cromwell) — former partner of the original films’ John down the theme park in the first film.
Hammond, who developed the cloning technology — and his assistant Eli (Rafe Spall) There, Indominus was created to satiate
to retrieve some of the dinosaurs for a new sanctuary, it’s back to the island we go, with an audience’s desire for bigger, badder
Owen tagging along to find Blue, the trained Velociraptor from the first film. dinosaurs. Here, Indoraptor serves the
Naturally, everything quickly goes to hell — something that will come as no surprise same purpose, but in fourth-wall breaking
to anyone who has seen the movie’s trailer. Isla Nublar quickly turns volcanic and, fashion. When a dinosaur all but winks to
shock of shocks, the people Owen and Claire are working for aren’t really the good the camera before killing someone, some-
guys. What follows is Fallen Kingdom’s most bombastic, and arguably most gripping thing’s not quite right. Watching what is
set piece, as everyone runs for the boat to escape imminent death. It’s no surprise that being billed as the second most intelli-
Bayona maintains tight control over this sequence, given he handled the incredible gent creature on the planet (after humans,
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is rated PG-13 and opens Friday, June 22, in area theatres. Visit fandango.com.
Making History
Of course, though the show captures
voices of history, it famously does not
recreate the likeness of many of these fig-
ures. The casting of predominantly non-
The Kennedy Center plays host to a brilliant, breathtaking tour of white actors to portray the colonial pow-
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s groundbreaking Hamilton. By André Hereford dered-wig figures diverts Hamilton from
the staid track of period reenactment into
T
a sharper trajectory of vital commentary
HE NATION’S FOUNDING FATHERS HAVE RETURNED VICTORIOUS TO on communities of resistance, both then
the capital in Hamilton (HHHHH). And the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical’s and now.
own founding father was in the Opera House to witness the long-awaited Depicting the boldness and courage of
Kennedy Center debut of this phenomenal Broadway production that’s made history rebels seizing their independence sets a
of its own. pretty high standard of commitment, yet
Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote Hamilton’s book, music, and lyrics, appeared to the production locates a common thread
be first to his feet to lead the standing ovation following an electrifying opening night between that revolutionary spirit and the
performance. It was high praise duly earned by the cast and production of a touring tenacity of these performers. In the signa-
company that seemed perfectly at home, and perfectly in sync. ture song “My Shot,” Hamilton, Lafayette,
Led by Austin Scott’s commanding but corruptible Alexander Hamilton and and their comrades sing of a new nation
Nicholas Christopher’s silken interpretation of Aaron Burr, the man who killed that’s “young, scrappy, and hungry” —
Hamilton in a duel, the show raps and rhymes American history with an uncanny flair much like the cast themselves. Bruce is a
for mining gold from the tremendous life story of one “bastard orphan.” leaping light as Lafayette, the Revolution’s
Inspired by Ron Chernow’s 2005 best-selling book Alexander Hamilton, Miranda’s “hard rock like Lancelot,” and he’s no less
musical infuses emotion and insight throughout a score that’s as efficient in delivering amusing as Thomas Jefferson, breaking
story as it is a delight to hear sung and played live. Director Thomas Kail has construct- open the second act with the fabulous
ed a smartly executed succession of set-pieces that showcases each song for individual “What’d I Miss?”
impact, and it adds up to an impactful epic. Harriman, her dulcet voice alternately
On their own, the songs are singable, danceable, and memorable. Together, how- soaring and subdued, presents an Eliza
ever, they capture with profound clarity and humor the disparate voices of Hamilton, who loves Alexander utterly but doesn’t
Burr, Hamilton’s wife Eliza (Julia K. Harriman) and her sister Angelica (Sabrina Sloan), sacrifice herself to his failings. Cascading
George Washington (Carvens Lissaint), King George (Peter Matthew Smith), Marquis through the joyful girl-group harmonies
Hamilton runs through September 16, at Kennedy Center Opera House. Tickets are $99 to $625. Tickets are being released daily for
upcoming performances. There is a four-ticket limit per household. Standing room may be available on a performance by performance
basis, beginning two hours prior to curtain. When available, standing room may only be purchased in person at the Kennedy Center
Box Office. Tickets are $49 each, limit 2 per person. Call 202-467-4600, or visit kennedy-center.org.
Semi-Intelligent Life
Ben and Molly’s date, despite being the
most disastrous, or rather because it is,
proves to be the most fun for the audience.
The two, who met online, quickly reveal to
Like a randy, late-night cable rom-com offering, Keegan’s Other Life one another their skepticism about online
Forms amuses mildly. By André Hereford dating, and from there escalate to a con-
trived misunderstanding about sex that
B
Sticklin and Parasuraman nevertheless
Randon McCoy’s Other Life Forms ( ) is a small-scale comedy with build into a winning set-piece.
large ambitions of tackling conundrums like sex, love, and human relationship. Parasuraman, a delight in Studio’s
It’s staking its shot in Keegan Theatre’s world premiere production, directed recent hit The Wolves, has the makings of
by Shirley Serotsky, and unfortunately lands off the bullseye. The prevailing sense is a fine screwball comedienne. Her Molly
that the paint’s still fresh on this one, although the vibrant cast is headed in the right could have carried more of this story, but
direction. alas does not. The spinning restaurant
First among them, John Loughney has a tight handle on the role of sociologist Jeff, booth instead serves up Jeff and Leslie
one of two bachelor roommates whose hapless dating lives will intersect in what are skipping past first-date weirdness to third-
intended to be hilarious and illuminating ways. Josh Sticklin’s performance as journal- date familiarity. They hit a roadblock,
ist Ben, the other half of this odd couple, registers as less defined. though, trying to navigate around fifth-
But Jeff and Ben, and Loughney and Sticklin, do have chemistry that’s abetted by date intimacy — and likewise, Loughney
their yin-yang appearance and energy, one unflappable, the other much more excitable. and Letourneau don’t float these scenes
Working in different styles, and in separate space for most of the first act, they’re intro- too far off the ground.
duced as Jeff and Ben both go on dates, on the same night, at different restaurants. They Then comes the story’s twist, and with
pair up for laughs and a few surprises with respective partners Brianna Letourneau as that, Other Life Forms diverts from its
Leslie, and Shanta Parasuraman as Molly. lighthearted path of awkward dates and
Matthew J. Keenan’s purple-toned slabs of wall, and checkerboard floor disguise examining the mores of modern court-
a rotating set designed to accommodate swift switches between the two dates. When ship, to pondering deeper questions about
the actors, and sound and stage crew nail these transitions, they work like quick cuts how humans connect, and why some con-
in a movie to fuel comedy and tweak meaning. However, the timing doesn’t always nections click and others fail.
serve the script. And worse, Paul Callahan’s lighting design casts a daunting hue over An extraterrestrial might be involved,
the entire set. It appears these dates are going down in bad restaurants, which might but the drama never takes on the tone of
Other Life Forms runs through April 7 at The Keegan Theatre, 1742 Church St. NW.
Tickets are $35 to $45. Call 202-265-3767, or visit keegantheatre.com.
“I just want to say to every kid: You can live your dreams and wear dresses. You can live your dreams and
kiss the one that you love
no matter what gender they are.”
— KEIYNAN LONSDALE, in a speech accepting the Best Kiss award at the MTV Movie Awards for a kissing scene
between him and Nick Robinson in gay rom-com Love, Simon.
— An organizer for DIVERSITY HOUSE, an initiative that aimed to provide a “safe space” for LGBTQ and ethnic-minority soccer fans
in Russia for the 2018 World Cup, speaking with BBC News after they were evicted from their St Petersburg premises prior to the
start of the tournament. Football Against Racism in Europe, which created the initiative, said it was a “political attack”
by “powerful conservative political forces in Russia.” A new space has since been opened.