must close april 22

ALL SEVEN HARRY POTTER BOOKS

IN SEVENTY HILARIOUS MINUTES!
“CASTS THE
“HAD US ROARING
PERFECT SPELL OVER
WITH LAUGHTER!”
Washington Post
THE AUDIENCE!”
The New York Times

now playing
www.ShakeSpeareTheaTre.org 202.547.1122
 CO-PRESENTED BY

Orchestras in Motion!
April 9–15, 2018
Four adventurous orchestras.
$25 concerts at the Kennedy Center.
Plus exciting FREE performances
and other events around the city!
Learn more at SHIFTfestival.org.
This year’s orchestras:

Albany Symphony (New York) Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (Texas)

Music exploring water’s role in building NY community Literary inspirations plus ballet choreography

Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (Indiana) National Symphony Orchestra (D.C.)

All-Polish program with superstar cellist Alisa Weilerstein A program of Russian and Italian inspirations

Plus local participating orchestras, ensembles, and artists!

Tickets and info at (202) 467-4600 or SHIFTfestival.org

For all other ticket-related customer service inquiries, call the Advance Sales Box Office at (202) 416-8540.

Presented in cooperation with the League of American Orchestras

Generous support of the SHIFT Festival is provided through a matching grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; by the D.C. Commission on the Arts & Humanities,
which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts; by Dr. Gary Mather and Ms. Christina Co Mather; and by Michael F. and Noémi K. Neidorff and The Centene Charitable Foundation.
This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, Abramson Family Foundation, Betsy and Robert Feinberg, and Morton and Norma Lee Funger.
 CONTENTS
APRIL 5, 2018 Volume 24 Issue 47

9 VEGAS, BABY
Frankie Moreno and the Baltimore Symphony
Orchestra bring Vegas showmanship to Strathmore.

By Randy Shulman

LIFE OF THAI
Ralph Brabham and Drew Porterfield’s life took a
new direction when they dove into the restaurant
business with Beau Thai.

Interview by Doug Rule

Photography by Todd Franson
28
41 SOUNDS OF SILENCE
A family clings to survival in the intense
monsters-in-the-dark thriller A Quiet Place.

By André Hereford

SPOTLIGHT: VEGAS, BABY p.9 OUT ON THE TOWN p.13

COMMUNITY: CHAMPIONSHIP HONORS p.21 SCENE: AWESOME CON p.24
COVER STORY: LIFE OF THAI p.28 DINING OUT FOR LIFE: COMPLETE GUIDE p.37
FILM: A QUIET PLACE p.40 STAGE: ALABAMA STORY p.41
MUSIC: MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER / KACEY MUSGRAVES p.43 NIGHTLIFE p.45
SCENE: GAG BALL p.45 SCENE: JR.’S EASTER BONNET CONTEST p.53
LAST WORD p.54
Real LGBTQ News and Entertainment since 1994
Editorial Editor-in-Chief Randy Shulman Art Director Todd Franson Managing Editor Rhuaridh Marr Senior Editor John Riley Contributing Editor Doug Rule
Senior Photographers Ward Morrison, Julian Vankim Contributing Illustrator Scott G. Brooks Contributing Writers André Hereford,
Sean Maunier, Troy Petenbrink, Kate Wingfield Webmaster David Uy Production Assistant Julian Vankim
Sales & Marketing Publisher Randy Shulman National Advertising Representative Rivendell Media Co. 212-242-6863 Distribution Manager Dennis Havrilla
Patron Saint Prince Kraisorn 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.
© 2017 Jansi LLC.

4 APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

Dine out!
On April 12th, restaurants throughout the DC area will donate
25-110% of sales to Food & Friends. Your meal will help provide
thousands of meals a day to adults and children battling HIV/
AIDS, cancer and other life-challenging illnesses.

Thursday,
District of Columbia
ADAMS MORGAN FOGGY BOTTOM
18th & U Duplex Diner Tonic at Quigley’s Restaurant ❤
Mintwood Place
FRIENDSHIP HEIGHTS
Perry’s Restaurant Le Chat Noir 35%
Pop’s SeaBar ❤
GLOVER PARK
BROOKLAND Rocklands Barbeque & Grilling
Brookland’s Finest ❤ 50% Company ❤

Dining Out CAPITOL HILL

Café Berlin ❤
Hank’s Oyster Bar On The Hill
H STREET
Le Grenier 35%
LOGAN CIRCLE

for CHEVY CHASE

Blue 44 Restaurant & Bar DC
Comet Ping Pong 50%
Commissary ❤
Le Diplomate
Logan Tavern ❤
CHINATOWN Nage Bistro
Free State 35% Pearl Dive Oyster Palace 50%
The Bird ❤
CLEVELAND PARK
Cactus Cantina ❤ The Pig

DUPONT CIRCLE MT. PLEASANT

Benefiting Annie’s Paramount Steak Beau Thai ❤
House 100% Purple Patch
Dupont Italian Kitchen
Grillfish ❤
Hank’s Oyster Bar & Lounge
Lauriol Plaza ❤
Tabard Inn Restaurant
Urbana

Unless noted, all participating restaurants will contribute 25% of dinner sales to Food & Friends.

View the full list of participating restaurant

SPONSORED BY
 ibutor
ibutor 100% Contr
110% Contr

April 12th
Maryland Virginia
PENN QUARTER BETHESDA CLARENDON
Proof Trattoria Sorrento Delhi Club 50%
Ristorante Tosca
KENSINGTON CRYSTAL CITY
PETWORTH Frankly…Pizza! ❤ Freddie’s Beach Bar &
Hank’s Cocktail Bar Restaurant 110%
POTOMAC
Taqueria Del Barrio DEL RAY
Amici Miei
SHAW Bombay Curry Company ❤ 35%
ROCKVILLE
Beau Thai ❤ FALLS CHURCH
Il Pizzico 35%
BKK Cookshop ❤ Argia’s ❤
Mosaic Bistro and Bar
Dino’s Grotto Clare & Don’s Beach Shack 35%
HalfSmoke SILVER SPRING
Shaw’s Tavern All Set Restaurant & Bar 75% OLD TOWN ALEXANDRIA
Chadwicks
U STREET TAKOMA
Hank’s Oyster Bar Old Town ❤
Compass Rose Mark’s Kitchen ❤
Hank’s Pasta Bar
Republic 50%
WATERFRONT PINECREST
Hank’s Oyster Bar – The Wharf Foxfire Grill
VAN NESS TYSONS CORNER
Bread Furst ❤ Phoenicia Resto and Lounge

Kickoff!
Dining Out for Life
ipotle on April 5th, Make your reservation today on
Dine at any D.C. Ch ur
nds, and 50% of yo OpenTable and a donation will be
mention Food & Frie ! made to Food & Friends.
t Dining Out for Life
purchase will suppor

❤ Participating for both lunch and dinner

ts at www.foodandfriends.org/DiningOut.
 Spotlight
JOHN KNOPF

Vegas, Baby
F
RANKIE MORENO ISN’T YOUR TYPICAL VEGAS
headliner. Not content with playing the expected
variety of pop standards, the energetic 40-year-old
brings a fair share of originals to the mix.
“I grew up being a songwriter, so playing other peoples’
music was always strange to me,” says Moreno, a three-time
Vegas Headliner of the Year winner. “I’m not gonna sing an
Elvis song better than Elvis Presley did or Bobby Darin song
better than Bobby Darin, so why try? Why not do my own?”
Still, Moreno, who has had his own PBS special and
has appeared on Dancing with the Stars, recognizes that
audiences want to hear a smattering of hits. So, when he
performs with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra next
weekend, he’ll trot out a few crowd pleasers, including “Roll
Over, Beethoven,” “Stand By Me,” “Bridge Over Troubled
Water,” and “Eleanor Rigby,” which he originally recorded
with his friend, virtuoso violinist Joshua Bell.
Don’t expect Moreno to get on a political soapbox
between numbers. “When you’re paying to see my show,
you don’t need to hear my opinions,” he says. “You don’t
need to hear my thoughts on Donald Trump or the Pope
or even food choices. My job is to make you forget all your
problems.”
Aiding him in that quest will be his 10-piece show band,
giving the evening extra zing. “It’s a big, powerful sound,”
he says. “When the band and the orchestra are focused and
playing together, there’s nothing really better musically.”
And expect the show — “Vegas Nights” — to live up to its
name. “We’re Vegas, so we definitely dress Vegas,” he says.
“Everyone’s sparkly.” —Randy Shulman

“Vegas Nights with Frankie Moreno” is Thursday, April 12, at 8 p.m. Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda. Also
Friday, April 13 and Saturday, April 14, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, April 15, at 3 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
in Baltimore. Tickets are $35 to $99. Call 410-783-8000 or visit bsomusic.org.

APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 9

 Spotlight
THE SHINING
Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 psychological horror mas-
terpiece continues to influence the horror genre.
Based on Stephen King’s bestselling novel, Kubrick’s
creepy, stylized film stars Jack Nicholson as aspir-
ing writer Jack Torrance, who is done in by all of
the deranged, venge-seeking supernatural forc-
es haunting the cavernous, empty, isolated hotel
where he serves as winter caretaker. Wednesday,
April 11, at 7:30 p.m. Angelika Pop-Up at Union
Market, 550 Penn St. NE. Call 800-680-9095 or
visit angelikapopup.com. Also at the Angelika Film
Center Mosaic, 2911 District Ave., Fairfax, Va. Call
571-512-3301 or visit angelikafilmcenter.com.

THE BOSTON POPS

ESPLANADE ORCHESTRA
The very first orchestra created with a mission
to play light classical and pop repertoire, the
Boston Pops, established in 1885, also holds
the distinction of selling more commercial
recordings than any other orchestra in the
world — achieved during the mid-20th-cen-
tury tenure of its legendary conductor Arthur
Fiedler. For the past 20 years, Keith Lockhart
has led the orchestra and will do so in two
local performances featuring classics it has
become known for, including Gershwin’s
Rhapsody in Blue, Bernstein’s Overture to
Candide, Schindler’s List by John Williams
(who led the orchestra in the 1980s), ABBA’s
“Dancing Queen,” Queen’s “Bohemian
Rhapsody,” and a “Cinematic Sing-Along.”
Sunday, April 8, at 2 and 7 p.m. Music Center
at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North
Bethesda. Tickets are $35 to $125. Call 301-

STU ROSNER
581-5100 or visit strathmore.org.

THE RAPE OF RECY TAYLOR

In 1944 in rural Alabama, six white men abducted and raped
24-year-old Recy Taylor, who, at great personal risk, decided
to speak out and publicly identify her rapists. With help from
a young investigator named Rosa Parks, sent by the NAACP
to work on the case, Taylor rallied support and triggered
an unprecedented outcry for justice that paved the way for
the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and the movements that
followed. And she lived to see it all, having died last year at
the age of 97. The Aha! Moment and DC Rape Crisis Center
co-present a special screening of the 2017 documentary,
directed by Nancy Buirski, which will be followed by a dis-
cussion in recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
Monday, April 9, at 7:15 p.m. AFI Silver Theatre, 8633
Colesville Road, Silver Spring. Tickets are $10 to $13 general
admission. Call 301-495-6720 or visit afi.com/Silver.

10 APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

 Spotlight
GMCW: SMALL ENSEMBLES
EXTRAVAGANZA
All four of the select adult groups of the chorus —
Potomac Fever, Rock Creek Singers, Seasons of Love, and
17th Street Dance — take the stage together for the first
time for a concert of amazing music and dance in Wolf
Trap’s intimate, acoustically rich confines. But like any
Gay Men’s Chorus production, expect a mix of every-
thing from gospel and pop to Broadway and Fosse — “I
Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys to “Waving
Through A Window” from Dear Evan Hansen,” to cite
but two examples. Saturday, April 14, at 4 and 8 p.m. The
Barns at Wolf Trap, 1635 Trap Road, Vienna. Tickets are
$40 to $45. Call 877-WOLFTRAP or visit wolftrap.org.

TAYLOR TOMLINSON
A Top 10 finalist on Season 9 of NBC’s
Last Comic Standing, Tomlinson is
currently developing a sitcom for
ABC based on her religious upbring-
ing and efforts to reconcile what
she was taught with what she now
believes — also the basis for much of
her stand-up. Particularly trenchant
is her chiding of her conservative
father and his anti-gay sentiments
despite having worked for many
years teaching school choir: “Don’t
bite the jazz hand that feeds you.”
Cerrome Russell and Josh Kuderna
open. Thursday, April 5, at 7:30 p.m.,
Friday, April 6, and Saturday, April
7, at 7:30 and 9:45 p.m., and Sunday,
April 8, at 7:30 p.m. DC Improv,
1140 Connecticut Ave. NW. Tickets
are $17 to $20, plus a two-item min-
imum. Call 202-296-7008 or visit
dcimprov.com.

THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD:

SYMPHONIC METAL VERSION
Quirky Landless Theatre is testing “its mettle and
metal” approach with Rupert Holmes’ The Mystery
of Edwin Drood. The 1986 choose-your-own-ending
musical is a dark tale of deception, based on the
unfinished novel by Charles Dickens. Landless brings
together artists from the theater and music worlds
to help give the show the power and punch of a rock
concert. Melissa Baughman directs Lily Hoy in the
title role. With Steve Wannall, Melissa LaMartina,
and Andrew Lloyd Baughman. To April 29. Trinidad
Theatre in the Logan Fringe Art Space, 1358 Florida
Ave. NE. Tickets are $25. Call 202-737-7230 or visit
landlesstheatre.com.

APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 11

DEAN ALEXANDER
Out On The Town

THE WASHINGTON BALLET: MIXED MASTERS

The company closes out its second season under Julie Kent with a Kennedy Center program of three masterwork ballets
that remain inspiring and relevant, all performed with live musical accompaniment by the Washington Ballet Orchestra.
There’s Serenade, the first ballet that George Balanchine choreographed in America, a milestone in the history of dance
and set to Tchaikovsky; Symphonic Variations, Frederick Ashton’s abstract celebration of movement and physicality, set to
Franck and heralded by the New York Times as “one of the purest pure-dance classics ever made”; and The Concert (or, The
Perils of Everybody), Jerome Robbins’s timeless and humorous one-act charade, set to Chopin, depicting with satirical glee
the thoughts and fantasies of a concert audience. Opens Wednesday, April 11, at 8 p.m. Runs to April 15. Kennedy Center
Eisenhower Theater. Tickets are $25 to $140. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

Compiled by Doug Rule
FILM
ITZHAK
Filmmaker Alison Chernick offers a
revealing and highly personal look
into the life of the man hailed as the
world’s greatest living violinist. A
childhood victim of polio and young
violin prodigy — debuting at age 13
on The Ed Sullivan Show — Itzhak
Perlman is seen rehearsing with fel-
low musicians Evgeny Kissin and
Mischa Maisky, trading stories in
his kitchen with longtime friend
Alan Alda, teaching classes with
eager youngsters, and sharing a lov-
ing marriage with Toby in a close-
knit household steeped in Jewish
traditions. Opens Friday, April 6.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema, 555
11th St. NW. Call 202-452-7672 or
visit landmarktheatres.com.
KING: A FILMED RECORD...
MONTGOMERY TO MEMPHIS
AFI concludes its month-long
“MLK’s Legacy on Screen” series
with a free documentary, one it also
screens annually on the national
holiday commemorating the slain
Civil Rights leader. King: A Filmed
Record...Montgomery to Memphis
includes his stirring “I Have
A Dream” speech at the Lincoln
Memorial, and also features narra-
tion and commentary from Sidney
Poitier, James Earl Jones, Paul
Newman, Charlton Heston, Harry
Belafonte, and Ruby Dee, among
others. Sidney Lumet and Joseph
L. Mankiewicz co-directed and pro-
duced this 1970 film. Saturday, April
7, at 11 a.m. AFI Silver Theatre,
8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring.
Tickets are free, available at the box
office starting at 10:30 a.m. day-of.
Call 301-495-6720 or visit afi.com/
Silver.
THE ROCKY HORROR
PICTURE SHOW
Landmark’s E Street Cinema pres-
ents its monthly run of Richard
O’Brien’s camp classic, billed as the
longest-running midnight movie in
history. Landmark’s showings come
with a live shadow cast from the
Sonic Transducers, meaning it’s
even more interactive than usual.
Friday, April 13, and Saturday,
April 14, at midnight. Landmark’s E
Street Cinema, 555 11th St. NW. Call
202-452-7672 or visit landmarkthe-
atres.com.
STAGE
CHICAGO
HHH AND ONE HALF
Somewhere inside Roxie Hart’s first
number, “Funny Honey,” during
which the brazen, fame-craving
floozy introduces her sorry sap
of a husband Amos, it dawns that
this Roxie is bananas. Portrayed
by Maria Rizzo with a bold mix
of moxie and murderous rage,
she’s Roxie unhinged. And she is
amazing. Matched with Michael
Innocenti’s portrayal of Amos,
who’s a perfectly pathetic patsy, and
Kurt Boehm’s solid take on fast-
talking flim-flammer Billy Flynn,
this Roxie revitalizes the familiar
tale of celebrity and corruption.
Extended to April 14. Keegan
Theatre, 1742 Church St. NW.
Tickets are $45 to $55. Call 202-
265-3767, or visit KeeganTheatre.
com. (Andre Hereford)
LET IT BE: A CELEBRATION OF
THE MUSIC OF THE BEATLES
What if the Fab Four had reunited a
decade after their break-up? That’s
the premise behind this theatrical
romp through the Beatles’ reper-
toire, from the seminal performance
of “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” on
The Ed Sullivan Show to hits from
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club
Band and Abbey Road. The second
half is styled as a Beatles reunion
performance, where the crowd
goes wild — as it did in previous
runs on Broadway and London’s
West End. Saturday, April 14, at 3
and 8 p.m. National Theatre, 1321
Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Tickets are
$45 to $85. Call 202-628-6161 or
visit thenationaldc.org.
PAPER DOLLS
Five gay Filipino guest workers
care for elderly Orthodox men in
Israel by day and headline a drag

APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 13


BRINGING UP BABY
Howard Hawks’ American screwball comedy was such a commercial flop upon release
in 1938, its star Katharine Hepburn was considered box-office poison for a while. Now, it
ranks No. 88 on the American Film Institute’s “100 Years...100 Movies” list. Cary Grant
co-stars with Hepburn the superbly outlandish classic. Fun fact: production was repeade-
ly delayed due to frequent, uncontrollable outburts of laughter between the two stars.
Part of Landmark’s excellent Capital Classics series at the West End Cinema, 2301 M St.
NW. Wednesday, April 11, at 1:30, 4:30, and 7:30 p.m., 2301 M St. NW. Happy hour from
4 to 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 to $12.50. Call 202-534-1907 or visit landmarktheatres.com.
show by night. Philip Himberg’s
“karaoke musical,” based on
Tomer Heymann’s uplifting and
thought-provoking 2006 doc-
umentary, makes its American
premiere kicking off Mosaic
Theater Company’s 2018 Voices
From A Changing Middle East
Festival. Mark Brokaw (Rodgers
& Hammerstein’s Cinderella)
directs a production with chore-
ography by Jeff Michael Rebudal
and a cast including Ariel Felix,
Kevin L. Shen, Evan D’Angeles,
Rafael Sebastian, Jon Norman
Schneider, John Bambery, Chris
Bloch, Lise Bruneau, Elan Zafir,
Brice Guerriere, Chris Daileader,
and Dallas Milholland. Extended
to April 29. Atlas Performing Arts
Center, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets are
$20 to $65. Call 202-399-7993 or
visit mosaictheater.org.
ROZ AND RAY
A gripping medical drama about
a doctor at the onset of the AIDS
crisis in the 1980s, as Dr. Roz Kagan
offers a new miracle drug to save
Ray Leon’s hemophiliac twins.
Theater J’s Adam Immerwahr
directs the East Coast premiere of
Karen Hartman’s play exploring
the complex issues surrounding
14 APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY
biomedical ethics and starring two
of D.C.’s greatest contemporary
actors, Susan Rome and Tom Story.
To April 29. Theater J, 1529 16th
St. NW. Tickets are $39 to $69. Call
202-777-3210 or visit theaterj.org.
THE PAVILION
Fairfax’s Helen Hayes Award-
winning Hub Theatre celebrates
10 years by reprising its inaugural
production, Craig Wright’s modern
twist on Our Town. Kelsey Mesa
directs Nora Achrati, Matt Bassett,
and Helen R. Murray in a work,
by turns metaphysical and comic,
romantic and philosophical, that
follows a man returning home for
his 20th high school reunion in
hopes of rekindling things with his
childhood sweetheart. To April 15.
The John Swayze Theatre in the
New School of Northern Virginia,
9431 Silver King Court, Fairfax.
Tickets are $22 to $32. Visit the-
hubtheatre.org.
TOP AND BOTTOM
Five years after its formation, the
LGBTQ-focused Rainbow Theatre
Project’s strong work is not going
unnoticed — and as evidenced by
being nominated as an Outstanding
Emerging Theatre Company at this
year’s Helen Hayes Awards. The
company closes out its current sea-
son with a recent hit at the New
York Fringe Festival exploring inti-
macy and identity in a gay world
of labels and stereotypes. A com-
edy by Kevin Michael West (The
DOMA Diaries), Top and Bottom
focuses on an encounter between
two guys who want to explore
their sexual bondage fantasies, but
they’re a bit klutzy, a bit nerdy,
and a bit unsure of what they’re
doing, and as a result everything
goes a bit awry. Dimitri Gann and
Ryan Townsend star. Production
contains full male nudity. Opens
in previews Thursday, April 5. To
April 29. District of Columbia Arts
Center (DCAC), 2438 18th St. NW.
Tickets are $35. Call 202-462-7833
or visit dcartscenter.org.
TRANSLATIONS
British army engineers arrive in
19th-century rural Ireland to draw
new borders and translate local
place names into the King’s English
in a work dating to 1980 from cele-
brated Irish playwright Brian Friel
(Dancing at Lughnasa). “Born out of
a contested cultural moment,” says
Studio’s David Muse, “Friel’s classic
about language and all of its limits
will have particular resonance in this
town at this time.” Directed by the
company’s Belfast-born Associate
Artistic Director Matt Torney and
starring Caroline Dubberly, Megan
Graves, Martin Giles, Molly Carden,
Matthew Aldwin McGee, Jeff
Keogh, and Joe Mallon. To April 22.
Metheny Theatre, 14th & P Streets
NW. Call 202-332-3300 or visit stu-
diotheatre.org.
COMMUNITY
STAGE
I LOVE YOU, YOU’RE PERFECT,
NOW CHANGE
A celebration of the mating game
from gay Tony-winning scribe and
lyricist Joe DiPietro (Memphis)
and composer Jimmy Roberts, this
musical comedy revue takes on the
truths and myths behind modern
love and relationships, as presented
in the form of a series of vignettes.
Touted as the second-longest run-
ning musical Off Broadway (after
The Fantasticks), I Love You...
sees a Baltimore community ver-
sion directed by Fuzz Roark, with
Mandee Ferrier Roberts as musical
director and a cast of six taking on
over 30 characters, all in search
of love. To April 22. Spotlighters
Theatre, 817 St. Paul St., Baltimore.
Tickets are $18 to $22. Call 410-752-
1225 or visit spotlighters.org.
MOON OVER BUFFALO
Ken Ludwig’s fast-paced screwball
comedy circa 1995, a throwback
farce, is a valentine to the stage,
featuring characters with larger-
than-life personalities. Set in 1953
in Buffalo, Charlotte and George
Hay are the stars of a floundering
touring theater company current-
ly staging repertory productions of
Noel Coward’s Private Lives and
a “revised, one nostril version” of
Cyrano de Bergerac. The Maryland
community theater Laurel Mill
Playhouse offers a production
directed by Larry Simmons. To
April 15. 508 Main St., Laurel, Md.
Tickets are $$15 to $20. Call 301-
617-9906 or visit laurelmillplay-
house.org.
MUSIC
CONGRESSIONAL CHORUS:
LET US ENTERTAIN YOU!
Subtitled “Children on Stage &
Screen,” the latest program from the
vocal group features its American
Youth Chorus, comprised of sing-
ers aged 8 to 14, accompanied by
the Congressional Chorus Chamber
Ensemble. It’s an all-ages concert in
every sense, however, as the cho-
rus’ NorthEast Senior Singers is also
featured. Saturday, April 14, at 7:30
p.m. The Lutheran Church of the
Reformation, 212 East Capitol St.
NE. Tickets are $17. Call 202-629-
 ident company the Aeolus Quartet
performing Antonín Dvořák’s
String Quartet No. 12, nicknamed
the “American Quartet.” And that’s
the kickoff to a program of three
works celebrating the sounds of
America, at least early America, as
it was heard by two towering com-
posers from the last two centuries:
Dvořák and George Gershwin. In
a new arrangement for chamber
orchestra, Iain Farrington puts a
modern twist on one of the most
iconic American folk operas with
his Fantasy on Gershwin’s Porgy
and Bess. Finally, a second Dvořák
work — heard via another new
arrangement by Farrington — is
the centerpiece of the program,
Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9. One of
the most popular of all symphonies,
the Czech composer’s work, known
as the “New World Symphony,” is
notable for incorporating American
folk elements, such as melodies
drawn from African-American
spirituals and rhythms and har-
monies evoking Native-American
HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF music. Sunday, April 15, at 5 p.m.
Singer-songwriter and banjo player Alynda Lee Segarra,
a New York native of Puerto Rican descent, leads this
National Presbyterian Church, 4101
Nebraska Ave. NW. Tickets are $15
to $30. Call 240-745-6587 or visit
tender, bluegrass-inspired indie-folk collective, based neworchestraofwashington.org.
in New Orleans. Telling NPR it’s “a very queer band”
PATTI LABELLE
in 2014, Segarra identified herself as queer and as “a
Mary J. Blige, Alicia Keys, and
longtime ally of queer causes.” Currently performing Christina Aguilera are just who cite
as a trio with Caitlin Gray and Jordan Hyde, Hurray as a key influence this Grammy-
for the Riff Raff returns for a female-forward folk dou- winning soul artist, also billed by
Rolling Stone as one of the “Greatest
ble-bill concert with Waxahatchee, Katie Crutchfield’s
Singers of All Time.” Two years
indie-folk/rock project, and presented by All Good. after a stop at Strathmore, the lead
Bedouine, the alias of Armenian folk singer-songwriter Bluebelle returns to the area for
another show of her hits — from
Azniv Korkejian, opens. Sunday, April 15. Doors at 7 p.m.
“Lady Marmalade” to “The Right
9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW. Tickets are $25. Call 202-265- Kind of Lover” to “New Attitude”
0930 or visit 930.com. — presented in concert by the
Birchmere. Saturday, April 7, at 8
p.m. at The Warner Theatre, 513
13th St. NW. Call 202-783-4000 or
3140 or visit congressionalchorus. share of ups and downs. The ups visit warnertheatredc.com.
org. came rather quickly, including col-
laborating on one of the 90’s biggest PRESSENDA CHAMBER PLAYERS
LISA HILTON QUARTET pop hits, that dueling duet with Six outstanding members of this
JAZZ PERFORMANCE Brandy “The Boy Is Mine.” With ensemble present an evening of
Composer/pianist Lisa K. Hilton’s her appealing smooth alto and works for six strings by the great
20th album Escapism features new sharp, stylish music, the Grammy- romantic composers Johannes
compositions inspired by Miles winning singer nearly always dis- Brahms and Pyotr Tchaikovsky:
Davis, Count Basie, and Horace plays composure and class, as well Brahms’ Sextet in G Major and
Silver, among other great American as a level of maturity that belies Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence.
composers who straddled the her still-young age. She headlines Presented by the Washington
divides between jazz and classical. a concert dubbed an “All Black Conservatory of Music, the concert
That’s also the focus of a concert Extravaganza” with a neo-soul features Aaron Berofsky, Kathryn
with Hilton and her eponymous artist who was born Bryan James Votapek, violins; Amadi Azikiwe,
quartet including Rudy Royson on Sledge, plus an opening set by the Gregory Luce, violas; Jan Müller-
drums, Luques Curtis on bass, and band named after the late godfa- Szeraws and Tobias Werner cel-
JD Allen on tenor sax. Thursday, ther of go-go, D.C.’s homegrown los. Saturday, April 7, at 8 p.m.
April 12, at 6 p.m. Smithsonian style of music. Saturday, April 7. Westmoreland Congregational
American Art Museum’s McEvoy Doors at 6:30 p.m. The Anthem, 901 Church, 1 Westmoreland Circle.
Auditorium, Lower Level, 8th and Wharf St. SW. Tickets are $55 to Bethesda. Tickets are free, donations
F Streets NW. Free. Call 202-633- $117.50. Call 202-888-0020 or visit welcome. Call 301-320-2770 or visit
1000 or visit americanart.si.edu. theanthemdc.com. washingtonconservatory.org.
MONICA NEW ORCHESTRA URBANARIAS: FLORIDA
Monica Denise Arnold burst onto OF WASHINGTON Based in part on real events, Florida
the pop scene on a first-name-only The small chamber ensemble, led by is a darkly comic contemporary
basis more than half the 37-year- the husband-and-wife team of artis- opera by Randall Eng, with libretto
old’s life ago, with the hit “Don’t tic director Alejandro Hernandez- by Donna Di Novelli, and presented
Take It Personal (Just One of Dem Valdez and executive director and by the local company founded by
Days).” Since then, she’s had her pianist Grace Cho, presents its res-
16 APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY
Robert Wood dedicated to short,
contemporary operas. Focused
on a teenage girl falsely accused
of matricide, the chamber piece
presents a highly stylized version
of suburbia, complete with creepy
neighbors, and set to a jazz-inflect-
ed score. Kevin Newbury directs
Sharin Apostolou in the epony-
mous role as the girl who discovers
herself through a maze of gossip,
desire, justice, and lipstick, in a
work that also brings to light socie-
tal problems, from the complexities
and corruption of our legal system
to our culture’s reflexive suspi-
cion of teenage girls and sexuality
Nancy Allen Lundy, Daniel Rowan,
Ethan Greene, Hannah Hagerty,
Ian McEuen, and Katherine Riddle
round out the cast. Saturday, April
7, at 8 p.m., Sunday, April 8, at 2
p.m., Friday, April 13, and Saturday,
April 8, at 8 p.m. The Sprenger
Theatre in the Atlas Performing
Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets
are $39 to $42. Call 202-399-7993 or
visit atlasarts.org.
DANCE
SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS
Based in New York, this group seeks
to breathe new life into tradition-
al Chinese culture, with a particu-
lar focus on classical Chinese dance,
one of the world’s oldest art forms.
Blending beauty, energy, and grace,
dancers in dazzling costumes move
in seamless, flowing patterns, while a
live orchestra and thunderous drums
shake the stage against stunning,
otherworldly backdrops. Shen Yun
returns to the Kennedy Center for
a 2018 edition of its epic production
focused on “reviving 5,000 years of
civilization,” presented by the Falun
Dafa Association of Washington, D.C.
Opens Tuesday, April 10, at 7:30 p.m.
To April 15. Kennedy Center Opera
House. Tickets are $80 to $250. Call
202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-cen-
ter.org.
UPROOTED DANCE’S
CIRCLING THE LINE
Printmaker Susan Goldman’s art-
works become the muse for move-
ment invention in this series of poi-
gnant vignettes fusing 2D design
with 3D movement. As directed by
Keira Hart-Mendoza, UpRooted’s
dancers offer movement ideas to
create original choreography in a
collaborative laboratory, punc-
tuated by whimsical, surrealist
hand-printed costumes and imag-
inative set pieces. The result is a
work containing adult content
including partial nudity. Saturday,
April 7, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, April
8, at 7 p.m. Dance Place, 3225 8th St.
NE. Tickets are $25 in advance, or
$30 at the door. Call 202-269-1600
or visit danceplace.org.
 the
SUBDUDES
W/ DAVID KITCHEN
UPCOMING PERFORMANCES
THURSDAY APR 5
SAT, APR 14
RED MOLLY
W/ MARC DOUGLAS BERARDO
THURS, APR 19
STEEP CANYON RANGERS
FRI, APR 20
AN EVENING WITH VOICEPLAY
WILLIE
SUN, APR 22
NILE
FRIDAY APR 6
ALAN DOYLE W/ FORTUNATE ONES
TUE, APR 24
A BENEFIT FOR CIVIL RIGHTS
CORPS AND ESSIE JUSTICE GROUP
JUSTICEAID
FEAT. CECILE McLORIN SALVANT,
PAULA COLE & DOM FLEMONS,
MARSHALL CRENSHAW, AND KANDACE SPRINGS
MIPSO
W/ TOM BROSSEAU
WED, APR 25 SATURDAY APR 7
HAYLEY ORRANTIA
W/ BRENNLEY BROWN
THURS, APR 26
ROBERTO FONSECA
SAT, APR 28
THE HILLBENDERS PRESENT
DWEEZIL ZAPPA THE WHO’S
THE CHOICE CUTS TOUR
TOMMY
A BLUEGRASS OPRY
FRI, MAY 4
AN EVENING WITH W/ ELLIS DYSON & THE SHAMBLES
THURDAY APR 12
WHITE FORD BRONCO
SAT, MAY 5
THE CALIFORNIA
HONEYDROPS
W/ CHARLIE HUNTER
ALL GOOD PRESENTS
SUN, MAY 6 An evening with
GOGO PENGUIN
KELLER
WED, MAY 9
ROBBEN FORD
WILLIAMS
FRIDAY APR 13
FREE LATE-NIGHT MUSIC IN THE LOFT EVERY FRI & SAT
 COMEDY policymakers could help reverse
course. Monday, April 9, at 6:30
p.m. Langston Room of Busboys &
DAVID SEDARIS
Poets, 2021 14th St. NW. Call 202-
The prolific, gay, modern-day
387-POET or visit busboysandpo-
humorist returns to offer a sneak
ets.com.
preview of his newest book. Due
out the day after Memorial Day by
TODD S. PURDUM: RODGERS
publisher Little, Brown, Calypso is a
AND HAMMERSTEIN’S
collection of 21 essays offering still
BROADWAY REVOLUTION
more mordant observations about
Naturally, the book’s chief title
his family and various relations, yet
draws from a show tune, a glorious
the focus this time around is even
one at that: Something Wonderful,
more inward and personal, touch-
from The King and I. That ground-
ing on the inescapable reality of
breaking hit musical was just one
middle age and advancing mortali-
in a string of successes that Richard
ty. Sedaris is expected to read from
Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein
new and unpublished material in his
II scored. And yet, none of it might
engagement at the Kennedy Center,
have come to pass if the duo had
and he will also sign advanced cop-
given up in their efforts to turn the
ies of the book at the entrance to the
play Green Grow The Lilacs into
Concert Hall. Meanwhile, his friend
a musical. They were rebuffed by
John Thorson will open the show.
everyone else and had no support
Monday, April 9, at 8 p.m. Tickets
but each other, which of course
are $39 to $79. Call 202-467-4600
was all that they needed to make
or visit kennedy-center.org.
musical theater history starting
with Oklahoma! Purdum, a contrib-
READINGS uting editor at Vanity Fair and a
senior writer at Politico, offers a
BARBARA EHRENREICH: glowing dual biography of the rev-
NATURAL CAUSES olutionary team and their creative
In her latest book, the esteemed process, paying particular attention
liberal thinker argues with as much to the challenges they faced with
passion as she did in her 2001 classic each successive show and noting
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting that even with all their contin-
MARY KONG DEVITO

By In America, which helped ued successes, they had recurrent

stoke the push for a living wage.
In Natural Causes: An Epidemic of
Wellness, the Certainty of Dying,
and Killing Ourselves to Live Longer,
Ehrenreich draws on her doctorate
in cellular immunology to throw
doubts about their work and their
partnership. Wednesday, April 11,
at 7 p.m. Politics and Prose, 5015
Connecticut Ave. NW. Call 202-
364-1919 or visit politics-prose.com.

EQUINOX: SUNDAY VEGAN BRUNCH

Rarely do you see a recurring event explicitly geared to
vegans offered at a fine-dining venue. But the 19-year-
old Equinox from James Beard-winning celebrity chef
Todd Gray with his wife and fellow chef Ellen Kassoff
is doing just that. The buffet style brunch is every
Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and features the best
seasonal, sustainable, and regionally sourced ingredi-
ents. Menu items include a French Style Onion Soup
with oak barrel stout and sourdough croutons (hold
the cheese, please), Arugula and Winter Citrus Salad
with candied pecans, shaved radish, and sherry mus-
tard vinaigrette, Sesame Glazed Japanese Eggplant
with soba noodles, maple sherry gastrique, and green
onion, Stuffed Whole Grain French Toast with north-
ern neck blackberry jam and maple syrup, plus a
made-to-order Tofu Scramble Station and an Artisan
Bread Station with various jams, tapenade, exotic
spices, and infused olive oils. Alcohol concoctions,
priced at a reasonable $11 apiece, include an Equinox
Bloody Mary with vodka and house vegan mix, a
Cucumber Collins, a Strawberry Fields Have Burned
with mezcal, strawberry puree, lime juice, and basil
syrup, or Cantaloupe Kir with sparkling wine, can-
taloupe water, and Peychaud bitters. Located at 818
Connecticut Ave. NW. $35 per person before taxes,
gratuity, and beverages, and $15 for children under
12. Call 202-331-8118 or visit equinoxrestaurant.com.
cold water on our tendency toward
a “medicalized life,” asserting that
FOOD & DINING
“against the cells’ natural tendency
D.C.’S TASTE OF THE NATION
to break down, medications, yoga,
and kale are so much magical think-
FOR NO KID HUNGRY
Chefs, restaurateurs, bakers, mixol-
ing.” She shows that few of the
ogists, and sommeliers representing
regular preventive-care screenings,
more than 80 area establishments
mindfulness practices, or dietary
are participating in Share Our
fads promoted as solutions to aging
have done much to extend either
Strength’s annual fundraiser for its
No Kid Hungry campaign, focused
the quality or quantity of life. She
on providing access to healthy food
argues that we’d all be happier and
for all American children. The line-
live healthier by freeing ourselves
from society’s obsession with well-
up includes bites and sips from,
among other venues, All-Purpose,
ness and longevity and instead relax
Art & Soul, Brabo Restaurant,
into a more philosophical accep-
Buffalo and Bergen, Buttercream
tance of the inevitable. Wednesday,
Bakeshop, Cava Mezze, Charlie
April 11, at 7 p.m. Politics and Prose
at the Wharf, 70 District Square
Palmer Steak DC, Charm City Cakes,
Centrolina, Compass Rose, District
SW. Call 202-488-3867 or visit poli-
Doughnut, Dolcezza, Georgetown
tics-prose.com.
Cupcake, Hank’s Oyster Bar, Ice
ELISABETH ROSENTHAL:
Cream Jubilee, Medium Rare,
Oyamel, Rappahannock Oyster
AN AMERICAN SICKNESS
Company, Rare, Red Hen, Shake
Subtitled How Healthcare Became
Shack, and Toki Underground.
Big Business and How You Can Take
Also at this year’s event is an out-
It Back, the book comes from a
woman who had a front-row seat
door-themed bar space with a rosé
garden and drink stations, as well
to the businessification of medi-
as a speed tasting with Kith and Kin
cine, having spent 22 years cover-
chef Kwame Onwuachi. Monday,
ing health care for the New York
Times. Also a Harvard-trained
April 9, from 7 to 9 p.m. National
Building Museum, 401 F St. NW.
medical doctor, Rosenthal provides
Tickets are $100, or $150 for VIP
an in-depth analysis of how our
offering admission at 6 p.m. Call
system has become less focused
202-272-2448 or visit events.nokid-
on the patient and more on rev-
enue, and offers ideas about how
hungry.org.

18 APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

ABOVE
AND BEYOND
NATIONAL
CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL
Thanks to the seasonally abnor-
mal cold weather last month, peak
bloom for the Tidal Basin’s cherry
trees is only now upon us, half-
way through the official four-week
pretty-in-pink festival — touted as
“the nation’s greatest springtime
celebration.” This weekend offers
one of the celebration’s Signature
Events, PETALPALOOZA, the awk-
ward new name for the Southwest
Waterfront Fireworks Festival,
with interactive art installations,
a roller rink, a beer garden, and
live music on three outdoor stages

culminating in the grand fireworks
display. Saturday, April 7, from 1 to
9:30 p.m. The Wharf, 1100 Maine
Ave. SW. Visit nationalcherryblos-
somfestival.org. A week later comes
the CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL
PARADE, a star-studded proces-
sional of giant balloons, elaborate
floats, marching bands, and celeb-
rity entertainers this year led by
Grand Marshal Carla Hall of ABC’s
The Chew, ‘90s hip-hop group
Arrested Development, hunky pop/
classical string quartet Well Strung,
gay The Voice Season 11 contestant
Billy Gilman, The Voice Season 8
contestant Sarah Potenza, country
singer Ty Herndon, and extreme
pogo stunt team XPOGO. Saturday,
April 14, from 10 a.m. to noon.
Constitution Avenue between 7th
and 17th Streets NW.
Other affiliated events to come over
the next week, all free unless noted:
the UMETSUGU INOUE FILM
SERIES of classics by the prolif-
ic Japanese filmmaker known as
“Japan’s Music Man,” presented at
select times Friday, April 6, through
Sunday, April 22. Meyer Auditorium
in Freer Gallery of Art. Visit freer-
sackler.si.edu for full schedule; a
KIMONO SALE FUNDRAISER AND
EXHIBIT with expert and author
Paul McLardy discussing and dis-
playing a diverse assortment of the
quintessential Japanese garment.
Saturday, April 7, through Monday,
April 9. Pepco Edison Place Gallery,
702 8th St. NW; the annual ROSÉ
ROMP with fine French rosé wine
varietals, spring-inspired cuisine,
and live music. Saturday, April 7,
from 1 to 4 p.m. Terrace at the
Willard InterContinental Hotel,
1401 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. All-
You-Can-Eat-and-Drink Tickets
are $89. Call 202-637-7411 or visit
washington.intercontinental.com;
NEWSEUM NIGHTS: IN BLOOM, an
evening of Japanese sights, sounds,
and tastes from Wolfgang Puck’s
The Source, plus all-night open beer
and wine bar, and access to current
exhibitions. Friday, April 13, from 8
to 10:30 p.m. 555 Pennsylvania Ave.
NW. Tickets are $50 to $60. Call
DXB PHOTOGRAPHY
D.C.’S DIFFERENT DRUMMERS
“Music inspired by Dance” is the theme of the annual concert featuring the LGBTQ musical
umbrella organization’s Capitol Pride Symphonic Band. In his fourth season as conductor,
Anthony Oakley leads a program featuring Robert Russell Bennett’s A Suite of Old American
Dances — from the Cake Walk to Western One-Step to the Rag — Bernstein’s “Danzon”
from Fancy Free, Britten’s Courtly Dances, Marquez’s Danzon No. 2, and the Richard
Rodgers tune that gives the concert its title. The band will also perform Julie Giroux’s
Hymn for the Innocent to honor 2016’s Pulse Nightclub massacre as well as other victims
of gun violence. Saturday, April 7, at 7 p.m. Church of the Epiphany, 1317 G St. NW. Tickets
are $20. Then, on Monday, April 9, DCDD will meet with those curious in becoming mem-
bers of its Summer 2018 Marching Band and Color Guard at a shared Open House that will
also feature representatives from TeamDC and Cheer DC looking for recruits. Anyone is
welcome to join any DCDD band — the organization’s ensembles are “non-audition-based”
— and can expect to play alongside both full-time musicians and music teachers. Monday,
April 9, at 7 p.m. at Shaw’s Tavern, 520 Florida Ave. NW. Visit dcdd.org.
888-NEWSEUM or visit newseum. ($61.90 at lunch, $73.90 at brunch, Chocolate Cherry beer launch with
org; the 26th Annual NATIONAL or $109.90 at dinner, not includ- chocolate pairing tasting. Non-
JAPAN BOWL - CHAMPIONSHIP ing taxes and fees) and SPIRIT food attractions include an out-
ROUNDS, an academic competi- CRUISES ($51.90 at lunch, $91.90 door spring gardening market from
tion for U.S. high school students at dinner non-inclusive). Nalls Produce, a pop-up bookshop
studying Japanese language as well from Politics & Prose, a pop-up by
as history, culture, and society. UNION MARKET trendy local “athleisure” retailer s3
Friday, April 13, from 2 to 5 p.m. STREET FESTIVAL Active in Dock5, a warehouse sale
National 4-H Youth Conference The Union Market District will from upscale men’s clothier Hugh
Center, 7100 Connecticut Ave., usher in spring this Saturday, April & Crye, a curated Brief Assembly
Chevy Chase, Md; TAMAGAWA 7, through a day-long festival that pop-up with beauty and fashion
UNIVERSITY TAIKO DRUMMING more importantly highlights the products, several free 60-minute
AND DANCE TROUPE, thundering expanding neighborhood and cele- fitness sessions throughout the
taiko drumming meets traditional brates its newest merchants. Most day in Dock5, including a morning
Japanese dance in this special per- notable among them is the brand- boot camp class by DC Cut Seven, a
formance. Friday, April 13, at noon. new Trader Joe’s, which will set post-lunch class by Flybarre, and an
National Gallery of Art, 4th Street up an outdoor flower market and afternoon Yoga with Nya class with
and Constitution Avenue NW; and recipe-sampling station to mark Nya Alemayhu, and a DC United
YOGA IN THE TEMPLE, a free, the occasion. Among other food meet-and-greet with players. There
all-levels-welcome, BYOM session highlights at the festival: Michelin- will also be live music throughout
in artist David Best’s room-sized starred chef Nick Stefanelli will the day along with food trucks on
installation, part of the exhibition serve breakfast sandwiches on Neal Place. Saturday, April 7, from 9
No Spectators: The Art of Burning Masseria’s patio, Cotton & Reed a.m. to 4 p.m. Between 4th and 6th
Man. Saturday, April 14, at 9 a.m. distillery, in partnership with Adam Streets NE, bordered by New York
Renwick Gallery, Pennsylvania Greenberg’s forthcoming beachy Avenue to the north and Florida
Avenue at 17th Street NW. Finally, joint Coconut Club, will throw a Avenue to the south. Visit union-
you can also dine and see the blos- Pig Roast Party, and the Market’s marketdc.com. l
soms up close and comfortable from recently opened craft-beer ven-
boats run by ODYSSEY CRUISES dor The Bruery will offer a White

APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 19


THURSDAY, April 5
The DC Center holds a meet-
ing of its ASIAN PACIFIC
ISLANDER QUEER SUPPORT
GROUP. 7-8 p.m. 2000 14th St.
NW, Suite 105. For more infor-
mation, visit thedccenter.org.
WARD MORRISON
Weekly Events
ANDROMEDA
TRANSCULTURAL HEALTH
offers free HIV testing and HIV
services (by appointment). 9
a.m.-5 p.m. Decatur Center,
1400 Decatur St. NW. To
arrange an appointment, call
202-291-4707, or visit androm-
edatransculturalhealth.org.
DC AQUATICS CLUB practice
session at Takoma Aquatic
Center. 7:30-9 p.m. 300 Van
Buren St. NW. For more infor-
mation, visit swimdcac.org.
DC FRONT RUNNERS run-
ning/walking/social club
welcomes runners of all ability
levels for exercise in a fun and
supportive environment, with
socializing afterward. Route
distance is 3-6 miles. Meet at
7 p.m. at 23rd & P Streets NW.
For more information, visit
dcfrontrunners.org.
DC LAMBDA SQUARES, D.C.’s
gay and lesbian square-dancing
group, features mainstream
through advanced square
dancing at the National City
Christian Church. Please dress
casually. 7-9:30 p.m. 5 Thomas
Circle NW. 202-930-1058,
dclambdasquares.org.
DC SCANDALS RUGBY holds
practice. The team is always
looking for new members. All
welcome. 7:30-9:30 p.m. King
Greenleaf Recreation Center,
201 N St. SW. For more infor-
mation, visit scandalsrfc.org or
dcscandals@gmail.com.
THE DULLES TRIANGLES
Northern Virginia social
group meets for happy hour at
Sheraton in Reston. All wel-
come. 7-9 p.m. 11810 Sunrise
Valley Drive, second-floor bar.
For more information, visit
dullestriangles.com.
HIV TESTING at Whitman-
Walker Health. 9 a.m.-12:30
p.m. and from 2-5 p.m. at 1525
14th St. NW, and 9 a.m-12
p.m. and 2-5 p.m. at the Max
Robinson Center, 2301 MLK Jr.
Ave. SE. For an appointment
call 202-745-7000 or visit whit-
man-walker.org.
Community
IDENTITY offers free and
confidential HIV testing at
two separate locations. Walk-
ins accepted from 2-6 p.m.,
by appointment for all other
hours. 414 East Diamond Ave.,
Gaithersburg, Md. or 7676
New Hampshire Ave., Suite
411, Takoma Park, Md. To set
up an appointment or for more
information, call Gaithersburg,
301-300-9978, or Takoma Park,
301-422-2398.
METROHEALTH CENTER
Minor (center) offers free, rapid HIV testing.
CHAMPIONSHIP
Appointment needed. 1012 14th
St. NW, Suite 700. To arrange
an appointment, call
202-638-0750.
HONORS
SMYAL offers free HIV Testing,
3-5 p.m., by appointment and
walk-in, for youth 21 and
younger. Youth Center, 410 7th
Team DC presents local awards and college St. SE. 202-567-3155 or test-
ing@smyal.org.
scholarships at its upcoming
Night of Champions. STI TESTING at Whitman-
Walker Health. 10 a.m.-12:30
J
p.m. and 2-3 p.m. at both 1525
UST AS WE SAW YOUNG PEOPLE TAKE CONTROL 14th St. NW and the Max
at the national gun control rally, we have some amaz- Robinson Center, 2301 Martin
ing young people who will be receiving Team DC Luther King, Jr. Ave. SE.
Testing is intended for those
Scholarships,” says Brent Minor, executive director of Team without symptoms. For an
DC, the umbrella organization for area LGBTQ sports teams. appointment call 202-745-7000
Awarded annually, the scholarships honor openly LGBTQ or visit whitman-walker.org.
student-athletes from the greater D.C. area who wish to com-
US HELPING US hosts a
pete at a college level. Since the program started a decade ago, Narcotics Anonymous Meeting.
Team DC has awarded 59 scholarships totaling $68,000. This The group is independent of
year, six students will be honored at the organization’s annual UHU. 6:30-7:30 p.m., 3636
“Night of Champions” gala on Saturday, April 14. Georgia Ave. NW. For more
information, call 202-446-1100.
“The Night of Champions is a three-course seated dinner,”
says Minor. “It’s $100 a ticket, which for D.C. is a bargain, with WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP
cocktails and a silent auction beforehand. Two of the students INSTITUTE for young LBTQ
will speak at the dinner. It’s very empowering to hear them, women, 13-21, interested in
leadership development. 5-6:30
and solidifies why you’re helping support Team DC.”
p.m. SMYAL Youth Center, 410
The gala will also recognize the achievements of several 7th St. SE. For more informa-
leaders in the sports community, with Jesse Anderson of tion, call 202-567-3163, or email
the DC Pride Gay Volleyball League and Sharifa Love of the catherine.chu@smyal.org.
Washington Furies Women’s Rugby Team earning the MVP
Award for their work promoting their leagues and teams. Bud FRIDAY, April 6
Rorison, of the Capital Tennis Association, and Les Johnson, GAY DISTRICT, a group for
of the Capital Area Rainbowlers Association, will be honored GBTQQI men between the ages
with the Trailblazer Award. of 18-35, meets on the first and
Balance Gym will receive the Community Support Award, third Fridays of each month.
8:30-9:30 p.m. 2000 14th St.
and Mayor Muriel Bowser, who will deliver opening remarks NW, Suite 105. For more infor-
at the dinner, will receive the Champion Award for her advo- mation, visit gaydistrict.org.
cacy on behalf of D.C.’s bid to host the Gay Games XI in 2022.
“It’s amazing to see how our community has grown,” says Join LGBTQ people from all
over the D.C. Metro area for an
Minor. “I continue to say that one of the strengths of our com-
LGBTQ HAPPY HOUR SOCIAL
munity in D.C. is our sports teams. They serve as a real anchor at Pinzimimi Lounge in the
for our lives, keep people rooted in the community, and make Westin Arlington Gateway.
them feel welcome, involved and engaged.” —John Riley Everyone welcome. No cover.
Metro is two blocks away.
6:30-8:30 p.m. 801 N. Glebe Rd.,
Team DC’s “Night of Champions” is Saturday, April 14 from Arlington, Va. Visit gogaydc.org.
6-10 p.m. at the Washington Hilton, 1919 Connecticut Ave.
NW. Tickets are $100 per person and can be purchased at The DC Center’s TRANS
teamdc.org. SUPPORT GROUP provides a
APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 21
 space to talk for transgender people
and those who identify outside of
the gender binary. 7-8:30 p.m. 2000
14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more
information, visit thedccenter.org.
Weekly Events
BET MISHPACHAH, founded by
members of the LGBT community,
holds Friday evening Shabbat ser-
vices in the DC Jewish Community
Center’s Community Room. 8 p.m.
1529 16th St. NW. For more infor-
mation, visit betmish.org.
DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a prac-
tice session at Howard University.
6:30-8 p.m. Burr Gymnasium, 2400
6th St. NW. For more information,
visit swimdcac.org.
PROJECT STRIPES hosts LGBT-
affirming social group for ages
11-24. 4-6 p.m. 1419 Columbia Road
NW. Contact Tamara, 202-319-
0422, layc-dc.org.
SMYAL’S REC NIGHT provides a
social atmosphere for LGBT and
questioning youth, featuring dance
parties, vogue nights, movies and
games. For more info, email cather-
ine.chu@smyal.org.
SATURDAY, April 7
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. 12-1:30
p.m. The DC Center, 2000 14th St.
NW, Suite 105. For more informa-
tion, visit thedccenter.org.
CHRYSALIS arts & culture group
travels to Lancaster, Pa., to see
Wheatland, the home of pro-slav-
ery Democratic President James
Buchanan, and sites associated with
his archenemy, radical Republican
Congressman Thaddeus Stevens,
the father of the 14th Amendment.
$15 admission for adults, $13 for
seniors, plus $12 for transportation
and whatever you want to spend
for lunch. Carpool at 9 a.m. from
the Kiss & Ride Lot of Forest Glen
Metro Station. Return by nightfall.
For more information, contact
Craig, 202-462-0535 or craighow-
ell1@verizon.net.
Weekly Events
DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a prac-
tice session at Montgomery College
Aquatics Club. 8:30-10 a.m. 7600
Takoma Ave., Takoma, Md. For more
information, visit swimdcac.org.
DC FRONT RUNNERS running/
walking/social club welcomes run-
ners of all ability levels for exercise
in a fun and supportive environ-
ment, with socializing afterward.
Route distance will be 3-6 miles.
Walker meet at 9:30 a.m. and run-
22 APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY
ners at 10 a.m. at 23rd & P Streets
NW. For more information, visit
dcfrontrunners.org.
DIGNITYUSA sponsors Mass for
LGBT community, family and
friends. 6:30 p.m., Immanuel
Church-on-the-Hill, 3606 Seminary
Road, Alexandria. All welcome. For
more info, visit dignitynova.org.
SUNDAY, April 8
Weekly Events
BETHEL CHURCH-DC progressive
and radically inclusive church
holds services at 11:30 a.m. 2217
Minnesota Ave. SE. 202-248-1895,
betheldc.org.
DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a
practice session at Wilson Aquatic
Center. 9:30-11 a.m. 4551 Fort Dr.
NW. For more information, visit
swimdcac.org.
DC FRONT RUNNERS running/
walking/social club welcomes run-
ners of all ability levels for exercise
in a fun and supportive environ-
ment, with socializing afterward.
Route will be a distance run of 8, 10
or 12 miles. Meet at 9 a.m. at 23rd
& P Streets NW. For more informa-
tion, visit dcfrontrunners.org.
FAIRLINGTON UNITED
METHODIST CHURCH is an open,
inclusive church. All welcome,
including the LGBTQ commu-
nity. Member of the Reconciling
Ministries Network. Services at
9:30 and 11:00 a.m. 3900 King
Street, Alexandria, Va. 703-671-
8557. For more info, visit fairling-
tonumc.org.
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.
HSV-2 SOCIAL AND SUPPORT
GROUP for gay men living in the
DC metro area. This group will be
meeting once a month. For infor-
mation on location and time, visit
H2gether.com.
INSTITUTE FOR SPIRITUAL
DEVELOPMENT, God-centered
new age church & learning center.
Sunday Services and Workshops
event. 5419 Sherier Place NW. isd-
dc.org.
LUTHERAN CHURCH OF
REFORMATION invites all to
Sunday worship at 8:30 or 11 a.m.
Childcare is available at both ser-
vices. Welcoming LGBT people for
25 years. 212 East Capitol St. NE.
reformationdc.org.
METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY
CHURCH OF WASHINGTON, D.C.
services at 9 a.m. (ASL interpret-
ed) and 11 a.m. Children’s Sunday
School at 11 a.m. 474 Ridge St. NW.
202-638-7373, mccdc.com.
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.
UNITARIAN CHURCH OF
ARLINGTON, an LGBTQ welcom-
ing-and-affirming congregation,
offers services at 10 a.m. Virginia
Rainbow UU Ministry. 4444
Arlington Blvd. uucava.org.
UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST
CHURCH OF SILVER SPRING
invites LGBTQ families and indi-
viduals of all creeds and cultures to
join the church. Services 9:15 and
11:15 a.m. 10309 New Hampshire
Ave. uucss.org.
UNIVERSALIST NATIONAL
MEMORIAL CHURCH, a welcom-
ing and inclusive church. GLBT
Interweave social/service group
meets monthly. Services at 11 a.m.,
Romanesque sanctuary. 1810 16th St.
NW. 202-387-3411, universalist.org.
MONDAY, April 9
The YOUTH WORKING GROUP
of The DC Center holds a monthly
meeting to discuss upcoming pro-
gramming options. Light snacks
will be provided. 6-7:30 p.m. 2000
14th St. NW, Suite 105. Visit thed-
ccenter.org.
Weekly Events
DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a
practice session at Dunbar Aquatic
Center. 7:30-9 p.m. 101 N St. NW.
For more information, visit swim-
dcac.org.
GETEQUAL meets 6:30-8 p.m. at
Quaker House, 2111 Florida Ave.
NW. For more information, email
getequal.wdc@gmail.com.
NOVASALUD offers free HIV test-
ing. 5-7 p.m. 2049 N. 15th St., Suite
200, Arlington. Appointments: 703-
789-4467.
STI TESTING at Whitman-Walker
Health. 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at both 1525
14th St. NW and the Max Robinson
Center, 2301 Martin Luther King,
Jr. Ave. SE. Testing is intended for
those without symptoms. For an
appointment call 202-745-7000 or
visit whitman-walker.org.
The DC Center hosts COFFEE
DROP-IN FOR THE SENIOR LGBT
COMMUNITY. 10 a.m.-noon. 2000
14th St. NW. For more information,
call 202-682-2245 or visit thedc-
center.org.
US HELPING US hosts a black gay
men’s evening affinity group for
GBT black men. Light refreshments
provided. 7-9 p.m. 3636 Georgia
Ave. NW. 202-446-1100.
WASHINGTON WETSKINS
WATER POLO TEAM practices 7-9
p.m. Newcomers with at least basic
swimming ability always welcome.
Takoma Aquatic Center, 300 Van
Buren St. NW. For more informa-
tion, contact Tom, 703-299-0504
or secretary@wetskins.org, or visit
wetskins.org.
WHITMAN-WALKER HEALTH
HIV/AIDS SUPPORT GROUP
for newly diagnosed individuals,
meets 7 p.m. Registration required.
202-939-7671, hivsupport@whit-
man-walker.org.
TUESDAY, April 10
Queer-identifying women who
have survived violent or traumatic
experiences and are looking for
support are invited to take part
in a bi-weekly QUEER WOMEN
WORKING THROUGH TRAUMA
GROUP at The DC Center.
Participants are encouraged to
do an intake assessment with
moderator and social worker Sam
Goodwin. 6-7 p.m. 2000 14th St.
NW, Suite 105. For more infor-
mation, email Sam at samantha@
thedccenter.org.
The DC Center holds a monthly
meeting of its COMING OUT
DISCUSSION GROUP for those
navigating issues associated with
coming out and personal identity.
7-8:30 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite
105. For more information, visit
thedccenter.org.
The DC Center’s TRANS
SUPPORT GROUP provides a
space to talk for transgender people
and those who identify outside of
the gender binary. 7-8:30 p.m. 2000
14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more
information, visit thedccenter.org.
Weekly Events
DC AQUATICS CLUB practice
session at Takoma Aquatic Center.
7:30-9 p.m. 300 Van Buren St. NW.
For more information, visit swim-
dcac.org.
DC FRONT RUNNERS running/
walking/social club welcomes run-
ners of all ability levels for exercise
in a fun and supportive environment,
with socializing afterward. Route
distance is 3-6 miles. Meet at 7 p.m.
at Union Station. For more informa-
tion, visit dcfrontrunners.org.
DC SCANDALS RUGBY holds prac-
tice. The team is always looking for
new members. All welcome. 7:30-
9:30 p.m. King Greenleaf Recreation
Center, 201 N St. SW. For more
information, visit scandalsrfc.org or
dcscandals@gmail.com.
THE GAY MEN’S HEALTH
COLLABORATIVE offers free
HIV testing and STI screening
and treatment every Tuesday.
5-6:30 p.m. Rainbow Tuesday
LGBT Clinic, Alexandria Health
Department, 4480 King St. 703-
746-4986 or text 571-214-9617.
james.leslie@inova.org.
OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS
holds an LGBT-focused meet-
ing every Tuesday, 7 p.m. at St.
George’s Episcopal Church, 915
Oakland Ave., Arlington, just steps
from Virginia Square Metro. For
more info. call Dick, 703-521-
1999. Handicapped accessible.
Newcomers welcome. liveandletli-
veoa@gmail.com.
Support group for LGBTQ youth
ages 13-21 meets at SMYAL. 5-6:30
p.m. 410 7th St. SE. For more
information, contact Cathy Chu,
202-567-3163, or catherine.chu@
smyal.org.
US HELPING US hosts a support
group for black gay men 40 and
older. 7-9 p.m., 3636 Georgia Ave.
NW. 202-446-1100.
Whitman-Walker Health holds its
weekly GAY MEN’S HEALTH AND
WELLNESS/STD CLINIC. Patients
are seen on walk-in basis. No-cost
screening for HIV, syphilis, gon-
orrhea and chlamydia. Hepatitis
and herpes testing available for fee.
Testing starts at 6 p.m, but should
arrive early to ensure a spot. 1525
14th St. NW. For more information,
visit whitman-walker.org.
WEDNESDAY, April 11
BIG GAY BOOK GROUP meets
at Trio Bistro to discuss Smash
Cut: A Memoir of Howard & Art &
the ‘70s and the ‘80s. Newcomers
are always welcome. 7 p.m., Trio
Bistro, 1537 17th St. NW, at the
corner of 17th and Q Streets, just a
few blocks from the Dupont Circle
Metro Station. For more informa-
tion and to RSVP, email biggay-
bookgroup@hotmail.com.
The LAMBDA BRIDGE CLUB meets
at the Dignity Center, across from
the Marine Barracks, for Duplicate
Bridge. No reservations needed.
Newcomers welcome. 7:30 p.m. 721
8th St. SE. Call 202-841-0279 if you
need a partner.
Weekly Events
AD LIB, a group for freestyle con-
versation, meets about 6-6:30 p.m.,
Steam, 17th and R NW. All wel-
come. For more information, call
Fausto Fernandez, 703-732-5174.
DC AQUATICS CLUB (DCAC)
holds a practice session at Dunbar
Aquatic Center. 7:30-9 p.m. 101 N
St. NW. For more information, visit
swimdcac.org.
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 infor-
mation, visit thedccenter.org.
HISTORIC CHRIST CHURCH
offers Wednesday worship 7:15 a.m.
and 12:05 p.m. All welcome. 118 N.
Washington St., Alexandria. 703-
549-1450, historicchristchurch.org.
HIV TESTING at Whitman-Walker
Health. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. at 1525 14th
St. NW, and 9 a.m-12 p.m. and 1-5
p.m. at the Max Robinson Center,
2301 MLK Jr. Ave. SE. For an
appointment call 202-745-7000 or
visit whitman-walker.org.
IDENTITY offers free and confiden-
tial HIV testing at its Gaithersburg
location. Walk-ins accepted from
2-7 p.m., by appointment for all
other hours. 414 East Diamond
Ave., Gaithersburg, Md. To set up
an appointment or for more infor-
mation, call 301-300-9978.
JOB CLUB, a weekly support pro-
gram for job entrants and seekers,
meets at The DC Center. 6-7:30
p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105.
For more info, centercareers.org.
METROHEALTH CENTER offers
free, rapid HIV testing. No appoint-
ment needed. 11 a.m.-7 p.m. 1012
14th St. NW, Suite 700. For more
information, call 202-638-0750.
NOVASALUD offers free HIV
testing. 11 a.m.-2 p.m. 2049 N.
15th St., Suite 200, Arlington.
Appointments: 703-789-4467.
STI TESTING at Whitman-Walker
Health. 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at both 1525
14th St. NW and the Max Robinson
Center, 2301 Martin Luther King,
Jr. Ave. SE. Testing is intended for
those without symptoms. For an
appointment call 202-745-7000 or
visit whitman-walker.org.
WASHINGTON WETSKINS
WATER POLO TEAM practices 7-9
p.m. Newcomers with at least basic
swimming ability always welcome.
Takoma Aquatic Center, 300 Van
Buren St. NW. For more informa-
tion, contact Tom, 703-299-0504
or secretary@wetskins.org, or visit
wetskins.org. l
APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 23
 Scene
Awesome Con - Satuday & Sunday, March 31 & April 1
Photography by Randy Shulman and Ward Morrison
See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene

24 APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 25
26 APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY
28 APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY
 Thai
Life of
Ralph Brabham and Drew Porterfield’s life took a new direction
when they dove into the restaurant business with Beau Thai.
Interview by Doug Rule
A
Photography by Todd Franson
SCHARA VIGSITTABOOT HAD
a dream. “When I first came here,
I worked as a server at Rice,” says
the native of southern Thailand.
“And during that time, I learned
a lot of things in the kitchen, and
felt like, ‘I can do that.’ I love cooking.” Her brother-
in-law, Pranote Thongpanchong, was a co-founder
of Rice, the small, sleek, sophisticated Thai restau-
rant that helped pave the way for today’s restaurant
boom on 14th Street. But Vigsittaboot was con-
vinced she could do better. A chance encounter led
to meeting a couple — Ralph Brabham and Drew
Porterfield — who she recruited to form her dream
team just in time for the launch of the first Beau
Thai in 2010.
Beau Thai’s two locations have since become
a favorite among locals in Shaw and Mt. Pleasant.
It’s even spawned a more informal, everyday Thai
offshoot, BKK Cookshop, named after Bangkok’s
international airport code and situated in the origi-
nal location of the first Beau Thai. Pranote’s daugh-
ter, Nicha, runs the restaurant. “She is asserting a
more youthful, vibrant Thai flair in all aspects of
BKK,” Brabham says of the young chef, who went
to culinary school in Thailand before becoming
Vigsittaboot’s apprentice.
“It’s very enjoyable, it’s exciting, we get along
very well,” Vigsittaboot says about her relationship
with Brabham and Porterfield. “It’s just almost like
family. When I want or need something, they are
always helping me. Not just with work, everything.”
Styling herself as a kind of Thai culinary ambas-
sador, Vigsittaboot sees room for improvement in
both the average person’s perception of Thai food,
as well as in her well-considered presentation of her
native cuisine.
“When everything gets in place, you feel like you
should do something else,” she says. “Thai food has
still got a long way to go. I want to try to improve
(L-R) Brabham, Porterfield and Vigsittaboot at Beau Thai - Shaw
On the Cover - BKK Cookshop: Spaghetti Drunken Noodles with Thai sausage
what I have right now. I want to get on another
level...I have a lot to do.”
In fact, all three partners in the restaurant family
have plenty more they want to do and achieve —
they’re just not quite ready to talk about it yet.
“Ultimately, our goal is to open another Beau
Thai,” Brabham teases. “We’re just working on the
pieces to make it happen.”
Might there be a Southern-styled venture on
the horizon? The model would be Dot’s Spot, the
pop-up from last summer on the BKK Cookshop
patio, where Brabham and Porterfield served up
some of the hearty, heavy Southern breakfast sta-
ples they were raised on. “We definitely have goals
and dreams to continue doing things in hospitality,”
Porterfield says. “Things that aren’t necessarily
Thai or Beau Thai.”
Whatever develops, you can expect a united
front from Brabham, Porterfield, and Vigsittaboot.
“If we open a Southern restaurant, I don’t think
Aschara’s going to be cooking,” says Porterfield.
“But in the same way she invited us to be a part of
Beau Thai, we would invite her and want her to be a
part of anything else that we do for sure.
“We’re two boys from North Carolina that didn’t
know a lot about Pad Thai,” he says. “Thanks to
Aschara, we’ve learned a lot, but we could not have
made it before we started doing this.”
For the time being, the focus is on Food &
Friends. This year, Beau Thai and BKK Cookshop
will donate 25 percent of proceeds from lunch and
dinner sales to the organization’s annual benefit,
Dining Out for Life.
“This will be our fifth year participating,” says
Brabham, settling in for an hour-long interview
with Metro Weekly alongside his husband. “Pretty
much since day one we wanted to be a restaurant
that is part of the community and gives back and is
more than just a place to grab a meal.”
t
APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 29
METRO WEEKLY: Let’s start with Dining Out for Life. rants. He’s the “wine snob” among the three of us.
RALPH BRABHAM: Dining Out for Life is just one of many fund- PORTERFIELD: Wow! Okay.
raisers that we do at the restaurant to support causes that we MW: That’s the technical term for it.
hold dear. This year we’re expanding — we had never done it at BRABHAM: We actually have a section at Beau Thai called
BKK before, and we’re also doing it at both lunch and dinner at “Drew’s Obsessions,” and generally speaking, it is one or two
all three places. Additionally, the Tuesday night before Dining wines that no one in the restaurant buys, but Drew enjoys.
Out for Life, we’re doing another fundraiser here at BKK for PORTERFIELD: It’s the most selfish thing in the world. I go to
Food & Friends as a kickoff for their volunteers and in anticipa- restaurants and have wine, and whenever I find something I
tion of a busy night on Thursday. Every week we do what we call fall in love with, I try and find out who sells it. It doesn’t always
Terrific Tuesdays, where we donate 10 percent of dine-in dinner work out, but most of the time we can find a distributor, and I
sales that day to a different put it on our menu — we’ve
nonprofit — such as Horton’s had reds and whites and

“We had never

Kids or the ALS Association. rosés, and also ciders. It’s a
The week of Dining out For chance for our customers to
Life, it’ll be Food & Friends. get great wine at an amazing

used fish sauce at

MW: How did you get into the value that you would never
restaurant business? be able to find at that price
BRABHAM: I’m a recovering point anywhere else. But

our house, much

lawyer. I started off in D.C. also, when I’m at dinner and
working for a big firm, Arent I want a glass of wine, it’s
Fox. Aschara signed the there for me.
lease for the first Beau Thai
at New Jersey and R and
needed some legal help, and
less had a bottle MW: Do you guys like to cook?
PORTERFIELD: We both
enjoy cooking at home.
asked me to do some of the
work for her. So I brought
her in as a client at the firm.
of it. NOW IT’S AN Although I cook more often
than Ralph.
BRABHAM: Yeah, fair. I’m
Then once the legal stuff was
settled, she invited Drew and
me to be investors in the first
INTEGRAL PART OF a recipe follower. I like
the security of following
instructions, and Drew has
restaurant. We painted the
walls, we assembled furni-
ture, and we were just very
EVERYTHING WE that innate ability to say,
“Oh, this will go together
well.” And so he can be a lot
vested in her success, ulti-
mately, because we were COOK.” —Rob Brabham
more creative and he enjoys
experimenting, whereas I
small-time partners in it. like to know exactly what
And then I found myself the result will be.
every Saturday going to the wholesale market with her to buy MW: Did getting into the industry change what or how you cook?
groceries, and bartending occasionally on weekends. And then BRABHAM: Before we had never used fish sauce at our house,
one thing kind of led to another, and I wanted out of the law much less had a bottle of it. Now it’s an integral part of every-
business. We figured if we opened another restaurant, it would thing we cook.
be a viable outlet for me to do this full-time. Once we opened PORTERFIELD: We also have the benefit of having Aschara as a
Beau Thai Mount Pleasant in February of 2013, it kind of steam- best friend and family member.
rolled from there. BRABHAM: Aschara is that dinner guest who will say, “Let me
After Mount Pleasant, we were at a juncture with the original make this for you next time.”
spot — we had kind of outgrown it. The lease was coming up, and PORTERFIELD: She always thinks she can do it better, even if
so we started shopping for new real estate. In 2014, we moved it’s an Italian tomato sauce. She’ll say, “Next time I’ll make you
to 7th & P. But we didn’t want to give up this space — we knew tomato sauce.”
our neighbors and we just loved it. So we decided we would sign MW: It sounds like you’ve both developed a great friendship with
a new lease and re-vamp it and do something a little more fun her.
than the traditional menu of Beau Thai. We opened it as BKK BRABHAM: Yeah, she’s part of our family. She comes home and
Cookshop in the summer of 2015. spends holidays with us. Aschara joined us with some of Drew’s
MW: How does the restaurant business compare to being a lawyer? family for Easter Brunch. We all went to Rappahannock Oyster
BRABHAM: I love it. It definitely presents different challenges Bar at Union Market and reserved the big table for 14.
than working for a law firm, but I’ve found it very rewarding. I MW: I understand you also travel to Thailand with her.
love all aspects of small business ownership and the creativity BRABHAM: Yes. We go every other year.
that affords, and just hospitality in general. I’m a people-pleaser. PORTERFIELD: She still has a bunch of family back there, so we
MW: Drew, you work full-time at Long View Gallery. How does go to hang out with her family and travel around. It’s an amazing
that impact your time at the restaurant? place.
DREW PORTERFIELD: Yes, I’m the director at Long View. I come Also, related to the restaurants, one of the things we always
to the restaurants after work and do a lot of bar-sitting, and used to pick on Aschara for, some Thai dishes that she would
food-tasting, and drink-trying. want to put on the menu, we would say, “There’s no way that’s
BRABHAM: His voice is most heard on the wine lists at the restau- Thai.” Like empanadas. “Aschara, that’s clearly not Thai.” And

30 APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

 Beau Thai: Pad Se Ew

APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 31

 she said, “Just wait until you go to
Thailand.” Sure enough, there was a
strip of stalls on the side of the road, in
the middle of nowhere, with 30 Thai
women folding and frying empanadas
in a wok. She said, “See, I told you.”
BRABHAM: That particular dish is actu-
ally global — Thai people will often
call them curry puffs, but the concept
is the same.
Analogously, sometimes we’ll say,
“Aschara, we’ve got to put this on the
menu somehow.” Take brunch, which
is not really a meal, per se, in Thailand.
We wanted to offer a brunch menu
at Beau Thai. And so we had Aschara
pull together dishes that made sense
at brunch. We call it Bangkok Street
Brunch — some sweet, some savory
dishes that kind of feel more breakfasty
Beau Thai: Duck Roll to us, as Americans, than other Thai
dishes. So that’s kind of a way in which
we influence the food menu without
being in the kitchen.
MW: Did the two of you meet in D.C.?
BRABHAM: No, we met in Greensboro,
North Carolina. It was a stage in life
where we both happened to be in
North Carolina. I clerked for a federal
judge after law school for a year. Drew
was teaching at the time.
PORTERFIELD: I was a high school math
teacher for a while. Then Ralph moved
to D.C., I moved to New York and went
to Parsons for my photography degree,
and then I ultimately moved to D.C. I
was a struggling artist, he was a lawyer.
New York was too big for me. This is
closer to North Carolina, it just seemed
like a better fit.
MW: Are you both from North Carolina?
BKK Cookshop: Thai Gyoza BRABHAM: Yes, we actually grew up 30
minutes apart from each other, door
to door. But we did not meet each
other until we were adults. I grew
up in Greensboro. Drew grew up in
Burlington.
PORTERFIELD: Also, Ralph is a lot
older than me. So we weren’t in high
school at the same time, or maybe we
would’ve met.
BRABHAM: I am five years older than
Drew.
PORTERFIELD: I’m 36.
BRABHAM: I’m 41. He’s almost 37.
PORTERFIELD: You’re closer to 42, also.
MW: Was coming out a struggle for
either of you?
PORTERFIELD: It was as hard for me, I
think, as for anyone. But my family was
super-supportive from the beginning.
It was hard to say it, and then as soon
Beau Thai: Papaya Salad as I said it, I had a ton of support and it

32 APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

was a non-issue after that. years.
MW: Burlington is a small town, PORTERFIELD: It felt like for
right?
PORTERFIELD: Super-small,
“[Aschara] always Ralph’s family, coming to our
wedding was somewhat of a
yeah. My mother and my step-
father were both public school thinks she can do transformative experience.
Ralph’s father was very sick
teachers. I don’t know why they at the time we got married, my
were so okay with it. There
were no hang-ups for them, or
it better, even if it’s mother was very sick at the
time we got married, but they
for my father and stepmother,
or my sisters. I do have an older
step-brother who had come out
an Italian tomato both lived long enough to be at
the wedding, and for whatever
reason, it felt like when the
before me, so maybe he kind of
greased the wheels, if you will.
sauce. SHE’LL SAY, wedding happened, everyone
was, “Oh, I got it, this is not just

‘NEXT TIME I’LL

BRABHAM: It was a struggle for
me. I come from a very con-
servative family. They didn’t
really have anything or anyone
to relate it to, other than right-
a thing you’re talking about.
This is a real thing.”
MW: Where did the wedding take
MAKE YOU TOMATO place?
BRABHAM: At Long View, actu-

SAUCE.’”
wing portrayals of what gays ally. It was secular. One of our
can be. And it was also some- —Drew Porterfield best friends, Guy Cecil, mar-
what of a self-imposed struggle, ried us.
because I knew I was gay with PORTERFIELD: It was a really
my first sexual feeling in fifth fun party.
or sixth grade. But I also perceived that it was not okay to be MW: What is it like working at Long View, Drew?
gay. So toward the end of college, to deal with it, I went off the PORTERFIELD: I think it’s the coolest place to be in D.C. I love
super-conservative Christian exit ramp of the Highway of Life. working there, I like the work that we show. It’s an amazing
[Laughs.] event venue. I started at Long View soon after it opened, when
MW: As in conversion therapy? it was in a different location than it is now — a 600-square-foot
BRABHAM: Yeah, I went to Exodus International events. It never space a block up 9th Street. We had floor-to-ceiling art, a frame
really worked, but I did seek counseling for a solid two or three shop, candles, cards, it was a whole thing.

APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 33

 BRABHAM: Originally May, now it’s looking
like June or July. At least July. We bought
the house in ’06. It’s a great house. We just
have lived in it long enough to realize some
ways it could be better and more us.
PORTERFIELD: Part of the emphasis in reno-
vating it is to make it a little bit more usable
as an entertaining space. It was a perfectly
wonderful house, we could have lived in it
forever the way it was. But after living there
for over 10 years, and talking about all the
things we would like to be different, it was
just, “Let’s do it, let’s make it the house we
want it to be.” Also, in full disclosure, looking
around our neighborhood, if we wanted to
buy another house, we wouldn’t be able to
afford it — in Shaw, anyway. The only way to
get that is to stay in the house that we bought
way back when and make it something closer
to something that we want. Everything in
this neighborhood is way too expensive.
MW: What would you say is the key to your
success as a couple after 13 years together?
BRABHAM: We always say complete, bru-
tal honesty. Just yesterday a friend of ours
asked me, “If I tell you a secret, will you not
tell Drew?” And I was like, “No, of course
I’m going to tell Drew!”
PORTERFIELD: I think it’s kind of a cop-out
answer, but it is the truth. “Say what you
want, say what you don’t want, and be okay
with maybe hearing something you don’t
want to hear, and then realize you have to
talk through it afterwards.” But you have to
say things, that’s what I think has made us
work for this long. Also, he’s so cute.
BRABHAM: [Laughs.] Go on.
MW: What does the rest of the year hold for
Beau Thai and BKK?
BRABHAM: We’re planning another charity
(L-R) Brabham and Porterfield at BKK Cookshop
event for this summer that we’re calling
War of the Rosés. Our goal is to have 10 to 12
When Long View moved into the big space in 2009, we had to figure out some- restaurants — we want it to be kind of a small
thing to do to make our business successful and profitable. The idea of combining a list — and every restaurant participating
fine art gallery and an event space, I feel like that had not been done, definitely not selects a charity of their choice and agrees to
in D.C. It was a risk on our part. We were renting a 10,000-square foot space hoping give 10 percent of their rosé sales in July to
that people would want it to host private events and to buy art, in a neighborhood charity: 5 percent to their charity, and 5 per-
that no one was living in or going to at the time. But the combination of the business- cent to the restaurant that sells the most rosé
es has been extremely successful. We host, on average, two to three events a week. that month. So one charity is going to get a
That’s 1,000-plus people a week who have to look at my artists’ work on the walls, big windfall from a restaurant. The goal is for
because we don’t allow anyone to take art down during an event. it to be a lot of fun and for every restaurant to
We have a team at the gallery who takes care of the events stuff, because it stresses kind of go all out in terms of their menus and
me out. There are so many people and things in there so close to the art. But what offerings. So at Beau Thai, our bars are both
people can do with lighting and décor and all of that stuff, it’s amazing to see how it going to have an explosion of pink roses. We
can be transformed. hope people will really get into it.
MW: You’ve certainly established roots in D.C. Do you like being a part of this community? MW: How did you come up with the idea?
PORTERFIELD: I can’t imagine living anywhere else. Especially once the house is fin- BRABHAM: Like all good ideas, it came up
ished and we can get back in. while we were drinking rosé. One of the dis-
BRABHAM: We are renovating. tributors hosted a rosé tasting event and had
MW: Oh, you’re homeless renovators right now? a bunch of producers come in.
PORTERFIELD: We are currently living in a friend’s basement while we are watching BRABHAM: We all liked it a lot. And I think
a very slow renovation of our house. it was Melissa Smith, the bar manager at
MW: When is the renovation supposed to be completed? Rappahannock, who said, “I bet we can sell

34 APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

 more of this than you.”
PORTERFIELD: Ralph has a very deep-running competitive
streak, so if you say something like that, he will take it and
run with it.
BRABHAM: Initially it was going to be a competition over
this one rosé between Beau Thai and Rappahannock, and
then as more rosés were consumed, it grew to a bigger idea.
MW: What’s the name of the rosé that started the war?
BRABHAM: It’s called Natura.
PORTERFIELD: Yeah, it’s from Chile. It shouldn’t be good
— if you read the label and look at it, I don’t know that you
would ever buy it. But for the price point, it is the greatest
rosé I’ve ever had in my life.
MW: Rosé has exploded in popularity recently. How long have
you been a fan?
BRABHAM: Yeah right, I wasn’t drinking it 10 years ago.
PORTERFIELD: We’re with all of the Beckys who love rosé
now. [Laughs.] It’s part of what we do for fun: We like to
go out with friends, sit in the sunshine and drink rosé. And
eat good food. l

Beau Thai is located at 1550 7th St. NW. Call 202-535-5636.

Also at 3162 Mount Pleasant St. NW. Call 202-450-5317 or
visit beauthaidc.com.

BKK Cookshop is at 1700 New Jersey Ave. NW. Call 202-791-

0592 or visit bkkcookshop.com.

For more information on all the restaurants participating

in Dining Out for Life on Thursday, April 12, please turn to
LCN_postcard 11/03/07 11:21 Page BKK
1 Cookshop: Pumpkin EmpanadasLeGrenier_7th
page 37. 4/10/13 15:35 Page 1

Your French Neighborhood Restaurant in Friendship Heights

a space to enjoy French cuisine

with a great wine selection
& craft cocktails in a vintage attic
decor, a cosy atmosphere
with intimate ambiance
on the vibrant H street corridor
4907 Wisconsin Ave,NW
Washington,DC 20016

202.244.2044 OPEN
TUESDAY
BRUNCH
502 H STREET NE | WASHINGTON, DC 20002 SATURDAY
&
www.lechatnoirrestaurant.com
THRU

SUNDAY 202.544.5999 | www.legrenierdc.com SUNDAY

APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 35

 WHITMAN-WALKER.ORG | 202.745.7000

LIFE can be whatever you want it

to be. But most important, always
Love You for You.
If there’s something you want to do, do it. If there’s
something you wish to change, change it. Always

FEEL CONFIDENT in who you are,

we can help.
LASER HAIR REMOVAL
VEIN TREATMENTS
OUR AESTHETIC SERVICES SKIN RESURFACING
ARE NOW AVAILABLE DERMAL FILLERS
to anyone who walks through our
doors. All are welcome. Our caring TEETH WHITENING
staff looks forward to seeing how BOTOX®
You Define Your
World.
 A COMPLETE GUIDE TO

DINING
A complete guide to all
participating restaurants
as of press time, by
neighborhood, including
meals and what
percentage of each bill
will be donated to Food
& Friends. This year’s
Dining Out for Life takes

OUT FOR
place on Thursday, April
12th. Please note that

LIFE
RESERVATIONS ARE
SUGGESTED at most
restaurants. Please call
ahead or book online.
When you book through
the event’s dedicated
OpenTable portal, an
additional donation will
be made to Food &
Friends. For an up-to-
date list of restaurants
visit foodandfriends.org/
diningout.

Washington, D.C.

ADAMS MORGAN

18th & U Duplex Diner

2004 18th St. NW
202-265-7828

THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 2018 Dinner, 25%

Mintwood Place
1813 Columbia Rd. NW
202-234-6732
Dinner, 25%

Perry’s
1811 Columbia Rd. NW
202-234-6218
Dinner, 25%

Pop’s SeaBar
1817 Columbia Rd. NW
202-534-3933
Lunch & Dinner, 25%

BROOKLAND

Brookland’s Finest
Bar & Kitchen
3126 12th St. NE
TODD FRANSON / FILE PHOTO

202-636-0050
Lunch & Dinner, 50%
t

Freddie’s Beach Bar

APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 37

 CAPITOL HILL Lauriol Plaza Logan Tavern Taqueria Del Barrio
1835 18th St. NW 1423 P St. NW 821 Upshur St. NW
Café Berlin 202-387-0035 202-332-3710 202-723-0200
322 Massachusetts Ave. Lunch & Dinner, 25% Lunch & Dinner, 25% Dinner, 25%
NE
202-543-7656 Tabard Inn Restaurant Nage Bistro SHAW
Lunch & Dinner, 25% 1739 N St. NW 1608 Rhode Island Ave.
202-785-1277 NW Beau Thai
Hank’s Oyster Bar on Dinner, 25% 202-448-8005 1550 7th St. NW
the Hill Dinner, 25% 205-536-5636
633 Pennsylvania Ave. SE Urbana Lunch & Dinner, 25%
202-733-1971 2121 P St. NW (Kimpton Pearl Dive Oyster Palace
Dinner, 25% Hotel Palomar DC) 1612 14th St. NW BKK Cookshop
202-956-6650 202-319-1612 1700 New Jersey Ave.
CHEVY CHASE Dinner, 25% Dinner, 50% NW
202-791-0592
Blue 44 DC FOGGY BOTTOM The Bird Lunch & Dinner, 25%
5507 Connecticut Ave. 1337 11th St. NW
NW Tonic at Quigley’s 202-518-3609 Dino’s Grotto
202-362-2583 Restaurant Dinner, 25% 1914 9th St. NW
Dinner 25% 2036 G St. NW 202-686-2966
202-296-0211 The Pig Dinner, 25%
Comet Ping Pong Lunch & Dinner, 25% 1320 14th St. NW
5037 Connecticut Ave. 202-290-2821 HalfSmoke
NW FRIENDSHIP Dinner, 25% 651 Florida Ave. NW
202-364-0404 HEIGHTS 202-986-2079
Dinner, 50% MOUNT PLEASANT Dinner, 25%
Le Chat Noir
CLEVELAND PARK 4907 Wisconsin Ave. NW Beau Thai Shaw’s Tavern
202-244-2044 3162 Mount Pleasant St. 520 Florida Ave. NW
Cactus Cantina Dinner, 35% NW 202-518-4092
3300 Wisconsin Ave. NW 202-450-5317 Dinner, 25%
202-362-0776 GLOVER PARK Lunch & Dinner, 25%
Lunch & Dinner, 25% U ST.
Rockland’s Barbeque & Purple Patch
DUPONT CIRCLE Grilling 3155 Mt Pleasant St. NW Compass Rose
2418 Wisconsin Ave. NW 202-299-0022 1346 T St. NW
Annie’s Paramount 202-333-2558 Dinner, 25% 202-506-4765
Steakhouse Lunch & Dinner, 25% Dinner, 25%
1609 17th St. NW PENN QUARTER
202-667-9148 H STREET VAN NESS
Dinner, 100% Free State Bar
Le Grenier 501b G St. NW Bread Furst
Dupont Italian Kitchen 502 H St. NE 202-601-7216 4434 Connecticut Ave.
1637 17th St. NW 202-544-4999 Dinner, 25% NW
202-328-3222 Dinner, 35% 202-765-1200
Dinner, 25% Proof Lunch & Dinner, 25%
775 G St. NW
LOGAN CIRCLE
Grillfish 202-737-7663 WATERFRONT
1200 New Hampshire Dinner, 50%
Commissary
Ave. NW 1443 P St. NW Hank’s Oyster Bar - the
202-331-7310 Ristorante Tosca Wharf
202-299-0018
Lunch & Dinner, 25% 1112 F St. NW 701 Wharf St. SW
Lunch & Dinner, 25%
202-367-1990 202-817-3055
Hank’s Oyster Bar Dinner, 25% Dinner, 25%
Le Diplomate
1624 Q St. NW 1601 14th St. NW
202-462-4265 202-332-3333 PETWORTH
Dinner, 25% Dinner 25%
Hank’s Cocktail Bar
819 Upshur St. NW
202-290-1808
Dinner, 25%

38 APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

 MARYLAND
MARYLAND Mosaic Bistro and Bar CRYSTAL CITY OLD TOWN
186 Halpine Rd. ALEXANDRIA
301-468-0682 Freddie’s Beach Bar
BETHESDA Dinner, 25% 555 23rd St. S. Chadwicks
703-685-0555 203 The Strand
Trattoria Sorrento SILVER SPRING Dinner, 110% 703-836-4442
4930 Cordell Ave. Dinner, 25%
301-718-0344 All Set Restaurant & Bar DEL RAY
Dinner, 25% 8630 Fenton St. Hank’s Oyster Bar Old
301-495-8800 Bombay Curry Company Town
KENSINGTON Dinner, 75% 2607 Mt Vernon Ave. 1026 King St.
703-836-6363 703-739-4265
Frankly...Pizza! TAKOMA PARK Lunch & Dinner, 35% Lunch & Dinner, 25%
10417 Armory Ave.
301-832-1065 Mark’s Kitchen FALLS CHURCH Hank’s Pasta Bar
Lunch & Dinner , 25% 7006 Carroll Ave. 600 Montgomery St.
301-270-1884 Argia’s 571-312-4117
POTOMAC Lunch & Dinner, 25% 124 N. Washington St. Dinner, 25%
703-534-1033
Amici Miei Republic Lunch & Dinner, 25% PINECREST
6 N Washington St. 6939 Laurel Ave.
301-545-0966 301-270-3000 Clare and Don’s Beach Foxfire Grill
Dinner, 25% Dinner, 50% Shack 6550 Little River Tnpk.
130 N. Washington St. 703-914-9280
ROCKVILLE VIRGINIA
VIRGINIA 703-532-9283 Dinner, 25%
Lunch & Dinner, 35%
Il Pizzico TYSONS CORNER
15209 Frederick Rd. CLARENDON
301-309-0610 Phoenicia Resto and
Dinner, 35% Delhi Club Lounge
1135 N Highland St. 2236 Gallows Rd.
703-527-5666 703-204-9555
Dinner, 50% Dinner, 25% l
TODD FRANSON / FILE PHOTO

Annie’s Paramount Steak House

APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 39

PARAMOUNT PICTURES
Movies

family endures. The Abbotts might be any

Sounds of Silence
family or faction, and their tormentors
stand-ins for whatever boogeyman scares
us, too. Enveloped in the silence with
them, every sudden noise is chilling. Even
A family clings to survival in the intense monsters-in-the-dark thriller more excruciating are the hazards you can
A Quiet Place. By André Hereford see coming as time ticks slowly towards
some noisy reckoning, as someone steps

S
closer and closer to a nail jutting up from
TAY SILENT, STAY ALIVE,” PROCLAIMS AN ALARMING NEWSPAPER the stairs.
front page, posted on a farmhouse wall. Leading a silent, post-digital exis- Several jump scares hit, and some miss,
tence in that farmhouse, the Abbott family — Evelyn and Lee (Emily Blunt and but that immersive feeling of anticipation
John Krasinski), and their children, Marcus, Regan, and Beau (Noah Jupe, Millicent and dread holds from beginning to end.
Simmonds, and Cade Woodward) — have grown accustomed to heeding the warning. The film is more taut than frightening,
They communicate in sign language, move around only in their bare feet, and mark all although Krasinski deploys a judicious
the creaky floorboards on the stairs. amount of visual effects-assisted blood
They’re the only humans stirring about their small town following some apocalyptic and brutality to elicit a few gross-out
event, so they’re doing something right. Yet, whatever monsters lurk in the surround- scares, hitting all the horror bases.
ing woods can’t be held at bay forever by silence. Someone at some point will make a Still, A Quiet Place achieves a certain
sound. Whatever’s out there will hear it. And death might strike. grace through its sound design and cine-
It’s a hyper-paranoid existence, tiptoeing through life fearful of triggering your own matography in adopting the various family
demise just by speaking up, or laughing out loud, or dropping practically anything. In members’ perspectives on silence, particu-
John Krasinski’s riveting horror thriller A Quiet Place (HHHHH), that burden falls larly that of daughter Regan, who happens
heavily on the children, who naturally want to make noise in the world. Also, poignant- to be deaf and is portrayed by Simmonds,
ly, it weighs a special burden on the parents who feel responsible for protecting their who is deaf. Simmonds might be a stand-
offspring from harm in their present hellscape. out in the tight ensemble, were it not
Krasinski turns in an impressive feature filmmaking debut — more Get Out than It the case that all the Abbott performances
Comes at Night (and that’s a very good thing). While potently enigmatic, the script isn’t wrest attention and pull hard in opposing
precious about withholding details, such as what exactly is out there hunting down emotional directions.
humanity. Their survivalist lifestyle, holed up in
The film sustains an air of tension by immersing the audience in the same quiet the continues on page 43

40 APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

TERESA WOOD
Stage

So, the monster chasing down those

Bunnies vs. Bigots

“race-mixing rabbits” remains a vague
abstraction opposing Reed, who, alongside
her eager assistant Thomas (Christopher
Herring), persists in promoting books,
Alabama Story delivers a compelling civics lesson with its streamlined reading, and the free flow of information.
old-fashioned drama. By André Hereford Racism rears its ugly head more pow-
erfully, and yet subtly, in the parallel fic-

O
tion Jones weaves into his retelling of
FFERING A WARMLY PALATABLE DRAMATIZATION OF CIVIL RIGHTS- The Rabbits’ Wedding brouhaha. At a bus
era American history, Washington Stage Guild’s Alabama Story (HHHHH) stop near the library in Montgomery, two
explores thorny racial issues with smarts and sensitivity. However, the play childhood friends, Lily (Jenny Donovan)
could use an infusion of nerve, as it safely avoids language or insinuations that might and Joshua (Gerrad Alex Taylor), bump
prove too discomforting. Rarely does the genteel drama bare the nastiness underpin- into each other and become reacquainted.
ning the actual events upon which it is based. However, she’s a nice, married white lady,
In 1959, the White Citizens Council of Montgomery, with the help of a segregation- and he’s a black Korean War vet, also mar-
ist state senator, mounted a campaign to force the local public library to remove The ried, and this is 1959 Alabama. Their inno-
Rabbits’ Wedding from its shelves. A children’s picture book about the forest wedding cent interaction could potentially trigger
of a black rabbit and a white rabbit, the 32-page tale of bunny love written and illustrat- hostile, even harmful, reaction from some
ed by Garth Williams (Nigel Reed), was vilified by racists as propaganda for a pro-mis- random passerby.
cegenation agenda, a charge vehemently denied by Williams. Director Kasi Campbell applies a
Playwright Kenneth Jones focuses less on the book and its creator than on a version sure hand, weaving between Lily and
of real-life librarian Emily Reed (Julie-Ann Elliott), the steadfast forward-thinker who Joshua delicately mapping the strict bor-
resisted censorship and the powerful White Citizens Council. That the blatantly racist ders of their friendship and Emily Reed
council has been replaced as villain in this depiction by a more innocuous-sounding and Thomas standing up to the bullying
newspaper called The Montgomery Home News is a hint that Alabama Story wants to Senator Higgins. Marianne Meadows’
tidy up the welcome mat for folks of all sensibilities. adroit lighting helps keep the pace and
No character from the newspaper makes an appearance, keeping the specter of bigot- adds dimension to Kirk Kristlibas and
ry more or less offstage. A fictionalized state senator, the cigar-chomping E.W. Higgins Jingwei Dai’s fairly plain set design,
(Steven Carpenter), is characterized less as a bigot than as a craven opportunist chasing while Stacey Thomann Hamilton’s cos-
votes by supporting segregationists. tumes contribute keenly to defining peri-

APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 41

 formance achieves a balance
that serves the quiet crusader’s
story. A modern woman then
and now, the endearing outsid-
er under siege in the Jim Crow
South bridges the historical
divide between 21st-century
activism and the narrow-mind-
ed socio-politics governing Lily
and Joshua’s everyday lives.
While not every pivotal
moment between Joshua and
Lily resonates, Taylor and
Donovan produce a tender duet
of cautious affection. Only a
hardened segregationist might
feel implicated in the drama’s
main storyline, but there are
elements in Joshua and Lily’s
story to challenge many the-
TERESA WOOD

atergoers’ comfortable notions

of social colorblindness.
Alabama Story also poses
a benevolent challenge to to
od and character. lift up libraries and librarians,
Of those characters, it’s Elliott’s take on Reed that feels most champions of the invaluable freedom to read. As Miss Reed
fully realized. Portraying reserved yet unabashedly liberal can passionately reminds Thomas, books hold the keys to solving
be a too daunting challenge for some, but Elliott’s poised per- mysteries, satisfying curiosities, and realizing dreams. l

To April 15, at Washington Stage Guild, 900 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Tickets are $25 to $50.
Call 240-582-0050 or visit stageguild.org.

swooping down soon as

Mary Poppins in a new
Disney reboot, can make
believers out of most.
She and Krasinski
share soulful onscreen
chemistry, no guarantee
for a married couple, and
make a formidable good
cop/bad cop parenting
team. They also freely
express how much they
love and depend on each
other.
But no matter how
hard Evelyn and Lee try,
their message of unity
might one day not get
through to one of their
kids, causing a disconnect
PARAMOUNT PICTURES

that could lead to tragic

consequences for every-
body. Ultimately, A Quiet
Place is the survival story
continued from page 41
of a family, not any num-
the farmhouse, sometimes in the bunker-like basement, is a rich ber of individuals. They survive in constant fear, yet find ways to
drama unto itself. Blunt’s Evelyn might be written as possessed resist, hoping with every new day they might see an end to their
of almost superhuman resolve and courage, but the actress, living nightmare — but only if they stick together. l

A Quiet Place is rated PG-13, and opens in theaters nationwide on Friday, March 23. Visit fandango.com.

42 APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

 Music

Carpenter

ten specifically for the album. Crafting a

simple yet strong melody line and repeat-

Country Girls
edly returning to it, the song speaks to
what is perhaps her greatest strength as
a songwriter. The song is both luxurious
and dreamy, with an addictive hook, and
Mary Chapin Carpenter revisits a long career, while Kacey Musgraves a layering of instruments that deepen with
makes a case for her own staying power. By Sean Maunier every pass. It’s unlikely she’ll have to ever
revisit it on a future album — she got it just

A
right the first time around.
FTER THREE DECADES OF TOPPING FOLK AND COUNTRY CHARTS,
Mary Chapin Carpenter has a lot to look back on. Shrinking back from the
orchestral arrangements that virtually overwhelmed her last album, her latest KACEY MUSGRAVES IS A BIT of an odd-
work returns to a stripped back, crisply acoustic sound far more suited to both her style ball in country music, sitting very much
and her voice. Nearly every track on Sometimes Just the Sky (HHHHH) is a reworked within its tradition but constantly play-
version of a previously released song, making it conceptually similar to 2016’s The ing with its expectations, exaggerating its
Things That We Are Made Of, although her approach is strikingly different. imagery, and subverting its tropes — all
Despite featuring material from most of her albums going back to the ’80s, it would from a place of love, of course. For the
not quite feel right to call Sometimes Just the Sky a retrospective. For an album that most part, Golden Hour (HHHHH) is a
mostly consists of reconstituted material, it sounds remarkably like a unified whole. more pensive and reflective effort than
Carpenter breathes new life into her songs, bringing a new tone and perspective to her previous work, evoking the time of day
several. It’s also worth noting that rather than revisiting what might be considered her from which it takes its name, but slowing
greatest hits, she’s instead chosen to feature slightly more obscure songs that might not down the pace hasn’t dampened her sense
have gotten the exposure they deserved the first time around. As a result, Sometimes of humor or the sharpness of her song-
Just the Sky sounds almost like an album of new material. writing.
The opening track, “Heroes and Heroines,” has a more layered, expansive and Musgraves has always found ways to
brighter sound than the sparse 1987 piano and guitar ballad. “I Have a Need for defy expectations, and is not about to quit
Solitude,” on the other hand, has been made more roomy and haunting. Even recent on her third studio album. The title of
songs like her 2016 single “What Does It Mean to Travel” are reworked in ways that “Space Cowboy,” for example, gives the
put them in a new light. impression we’re in for a fun song. Surely,
Carpenter closes out Sometimes Just The Sky with its title track, the only song writ- we might think, a song about a space cow-

APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 43

 note of derision — we might expect
a country singer calling someone
a cowboy to be a compliment, but
then again, maybe this one is just a
poser driving a Silverado.
Musgraves’ ability to turn a
phrase is on full display through-
out the album. “High Horse” skew-
ers John Wayne in a similar vein,
turning a cliched compliment into
a dig by drawing a comparison
between an icon of old Hollywood
masculinity and the nameless sub-
ject of the song who doesn’t realize
he is “classic in the wrong way.”
In between the many subtle
callouts and subversions, however,
we also get genuinely sweet and
touching moments like “Mother,”
a song inspired by a mid-acid trip
Musgraves text from Musgraves’ mother that
sent her emotions into a tailspin.
boy will be exactly the kind of campy romp that we’ve come to Naturally, there are moments of unabashed kitsch as well, none
expect from the artist. Then out of nowhere, she blindsides with more so than “Velvet Elvis,” a lighthearted tribute to that perfect
a heartrending country ballad about accepting the flow of time symbol of the height of 1970s tackiness. An example of Kacey
and letting love go. It’s the kind of bait-and-switch that would Musgraves at her best, Golden Hour is not only her strongest
sting if it weren’t so good. “You can have your space, cowboy,” album yet, it’s a strong early contender for the best country
she sings, leaving us to wonder if that last word is meant with a album of the year. l

Golden Hour and Sometimes Just the Sky are available to purchase from Amazon.com and iTunes,
and are available on streaming services.

44 APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

NightLife Photography by
Randy Shulman

APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 45


DrinksDragDJsEtc...
Thursday,
April 5
9 1/2
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any
drink, 5-9pm • Multiple
TVs showing movies,
shows, sports • Expanded
craft beer selection •
Music videos featuring
DJ Wess
BALTIMORE EAGLE
Happy Hour, 3-9pm, all
liquors, beers and wines up
to 50% off • $5 Pitchers
of Miller Lite all night long
• $3 Well Drinks in Nest
until 11pm, $3 in Tavern all
day • RuPaul’s Drag Race
Season 10 Viewing, hosted
by Washington Heights
and featuring Whimsy
Thrift and Anita Minute,
8-10pm in the Nest • $5
Cover for ages 18-20, Free
46 APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY
Scene
GAG Ball at The Livingroom - Saturday, March 31
Photography by Randy Shulman
See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene
12-12:30am • DJs 5-10pm • Beer and wine Burlesque in the Nest, $4 (7-8pm) • Buckets of
BacK2bACk only $4 • RuPaul’s Drag 10:30pm • Cover is $10 in Beer $15
Race Season 10 viewing advance, $12.50 at door •
NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR party Elyx Vodka and Any Red NUMBER NINE
for 21 and up • Underwear
Night, 9pm-2am • For
Beat the Clock Happy Hour Bull Flavor for $7 all day Open 5pm • Happy Hour:
men in underwear, all well
— $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm),
$4 (7-8pm) • Buckets of
ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS
All male, nude dancers •
long • thebaltimoreeagle.
com
2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm
• No Cover • Friday Night
drinks $2, 9pm-12am •
Beer $15 • All Leagues DJ • 9pm • Cover 21+ Piano with Chris, 7:30pm
Best Underwear Contest at
Night FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR
Midnight • Code enforced
Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • SHAW’S TAVERN
in Code Bar after 9pm •
NUMBER NINE Karaoke, 9pm Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3
College Night Thursdays,
9pm-2am • EDM Dance
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any
drink, 5-9pm • No Cover
Friday, GREEN LANTERN
Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon,
$5 House Wines, $5 Rail
Party, 10pm-2am • Free
admission to the Tavern •
April 6 Happy Hour, 4-9pm • Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas
SHAW’S TAVERN $5 Svedka, all flavors and Select Appetizers •
Admission to the Nest is
Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 9 1/2 all night long • Davon Luke James Shaffer sing-
free until 10:30pm • After
Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, Open at 5pm • Happy Hamilton presents Spring ing, 9pm
10:30pm, $5 Cover for
$5 House Wines, $5 Rail Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, Fling Underwear Party,
21 and up, $10 Cover for
Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas 5-9pm • Friday Night 10pm-close • Music by TOWN
18-20 • thebaltimoreea-
and Select Appetizers • All Videos, 9:30pm • Rotating DJ Tryfe • Featuring Patio open 6pm • DC Bear
gle.com
You Can Eat Ribs, 5-10pm, DJs • Expanded craft beer special appearances by Crue Happy Hour, 6-11pm
$24.95 • $4 Corona and selection • No Cover Beaux Banks and Brian • $3 Rail, $3 Draft, $3 Bud
FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR
Heineken all night Nieh • Andrew Christian Bottles • Free Pizza, 7pm
Crazy Hour, 4-8pm •
BALTIMORE EAGLE Underwear Giveaways • • No cover before 9:30pm
Karaoke, 9pm
TRADE Baltimore Bear Happy $10 Cover • 21+ • Drag Show starts
Doors open 5pm • Huge Hour, 3-9pm, all liquors, at 10:30pm • Hosted by
GREEN LANTERN
Happy Hour: Any drink beers and wines up to NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Lena Lett and featuring
Happy Hour, 4-9pm
normally served in a cock- 50% off • Bad Bears After Open 3pm • Guest DJs • Miss Tatianna, Shi-
• Shirtless Thursday,
tail glass served in a huge Dark in the Code Bar, 9pm Beat the Clock Happy Hour Queeta-Lee, Riley Knoxx
10-11pm • Men in
glass for the same price, • $5 Cover • Grindhouse: — $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), and Ba’Naka • DJ Wess
Underwear Drink Free,
upstairs, DJs BacK2bACk
downstairs following the
show • GoGo Boys after
11pm • Doors open at
10pm • For those 21 and
over, $12 • For those
18-20, $15 • Club: 18+ •
Patio: 21+
TRADE
Doors open 5pm • Huge
Happy Hour: Any drink
normally served in a cock-
tail glass served in a huge
glass for the same price,
5-10pm • Beer and wine
only $4
ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS
Men of Secrets, 9pm •
Guest dancers • Rotating
DJs • Ladies of Illusion
Drag Show • Doors at
9pm, Shows at 11:30pm
and 1:30am • DJ Don T. in
Ziegfeld’s • Cover 21+
Saturday,
April 7
9 1/2
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any
drink, 2-9pm • $5 Absolut
and $5 Bulleit Bourbon,
9pm-close • Expanded
craft beer selection •
No Cover
BALTIMORE EAGLE
Happy Hour, 3-9pm
• Leather and Fetish
Saturdays, Code Bar,
8pm-2am • Code enforced
after 9pm in the Code Bar
• HybridNine presents
Pomp Bombs Neon Party,
9pm-2am • Music by
DJ Ryan Doubleyou •
Backspin: Retro Saturdays
Dance Party in the Nest,
9:30pm-2am • Featuring
DJ Vince Christopher •
$5 Cover • Drink Specials
in the Nest • Long Island
Leather Saturdays — $5
APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 47
Long Islands all day • the-
baltimoreeagle.com
FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR
Saturday Breakfast Buffet,
10am-3pm • $14.99 with
one glass of champagne
or coffee, soda or juice •
Additional champagne $2
per glass • World Tavern
Poker Tournament, 1-3pm
• Crazy Hour, 4-8pm •
Freddie’s Follies Drag
Show, hosted by Miss
Destiny B. Childs, 8-10pm
• Karaoke, 10pm-close
GREEN LANTERN
Happy Hour, 4-9pm • $5
Bacardi, all flavors, all
night long • REWIND:
Request Line, an ’80s
and ’90s Dance Party,
9pm-close • Featuring
DJ Darryl Strickland •
No Cover
48 APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY
NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR
Drag Brunch, hosted
by Chanel Devereaux,
10:30am-12:30pm and
1-3pm • House Rail Drinks,
Zing Zang Bloody Marys,
Nellie Beer and Mimosas,
$4, 11am-close • Buckets
of Beer, $15 • Guest DJs
NUMBER NINE
Doors open 2pm • Happy
Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink,
2-9pm • $5 Absolut and $5
Bulleit Bourbon, 9pm-close
• Time Machine and
Power Hour, with DJ Jack
Rayburn, 9:30pm
SHAW’S TAVERN
$15 Bottomless Mimosas,
10am-3pm • Happy Hour,
5-7pm • $3 Miller Lite,
$4 Blue Moon, $5 House
Wines, $5 Rail Drinks •
Half-Priced Pizzas and
Select Appetizers
TOWN
DC Rawhides host Town
& Country: Two-Step, Line
Dancing, Waltz and West
Coast Swing, $5 Cover to
stay all night • Doors open
6:30pm, Lessons 7-8pm,
Open dance 8-10:30pm •
General admission doors
open 10pm • Upstairs:
KYLIE: A Celebration of
All Things Kylie Minogue,
11pm-close • Featuring
DJs Aaron Riggins, Jeff
Prior, and Ed Bailey •
Music and video by DJ
Wess downstairs •
Special Kylie Performances
by Pu$$y Noir and Summer
Camp • Drag Show starts
at 10:30pm • Hosted by
Lena Lett and featuring
Tatianna, Shi-Queeta-Lee,
Riley Knoxx and Ba’Naka •
$15 Cover from 10pm-mid-
night, $12 after • 21+
TRADE
Doors open 2pm • Huge
Happy Hour: Any drink
normally served in a cock-
tail glass served in a huge
glass for the same price,
2-10pm • Beer and wine
only $4
ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS
Men of Secrets, 9pm-4am
• Guest dancers • Ladies
of Illusion Drag Show
with host Ella Fitzgerald
• Doors at 9pm, Shows
at 11:30pm and 1:30am
• DJ Don T. in Ziegfeld’s
• DJ Steve Henderson in
Secrets • Cover 21+
Sunday,
April 8
9 1/2
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any
drink, 2-9pm • $5 Absolut
and $5 Bulleit Bourbon,
9pm-close • Multiple TVs
showing movies, shows,
sports • Expanded craft
beer selection • No Cover
BALTIMORE EAGLE
Lizzie Beaumont and
Betty Whitecastle present
Queens Who Brunch,
12-2pm • $34 per person
includes All You Can
Eat • Free pitcher of
Mimosas per 4 admissions
• Reservations highly
suggested and can be
made online beforehand
• Sunday Fun-Day, 4-9pm
• From 2-8pm, buy a cup
for $5 and fill it with any
Absolut Flavor and Mixer
for $3 each time(excluding
energy drink mixers) •
thebaltimoreeagle.com
FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR
Champagne Brunch Buffet,
10am-3pm • $24.99 with
four glasses of champagne
or mimosas, 1 Bloody
Mary, or coffee, soda or
juice • Crazy Hour, 4-8pm
• Karaoke, 9pm-close
GREEN LANTERN
Happy Hour, 4-9pm •
Karaoke with Kevin down-
stairs, 9:30pm-close
NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR
Drag Brunch, hosted
by Chanel Devereaux,
10:30am-12:30pm and
1-3pm • House Rail Drinks,
Zing Zang Bloody Marys,
Nellie Beer and Mimosas,
$4, 11am-close • Buckets
of Beer, $15
NUMBER NINE
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on
any drink, 2-9pm • $5
Absolut and $5 Bulleit
Bourbon, 9pm-close • Pop
Goes the World with Wes
Della Volla at 9:30pm •
No Cover
SHAW’S TAVERN
Happy Hour, 5-7pm • $3
Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon,
$5 House Wines, $5 Rail
Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas
and Select Appetizers
• Dinner-n-Drag, with
Miss Kristina Kelly, 7pm
• For reservations, email
shawsdinnerdragshow@
gmail.com
TRADE
Doors open 2pm • Huge
Happy Hour: Any drink
normally served in a cock-
tail glass served in a huge
glass for the same price,
2-10pm • Beer and wine
only $4
Monday,
April 9
9 1/2
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any
drink, 5-9pm • Multiple
TVs showing movies,
shows, sports • Expanded
craft beer selection •
No Cover
BALTIMORE EAGLE
Happy Hour, 3-9pm, all
liquors, beers and wines up
to 50% off • Micro Brew
Draft/Bottle Mondays —
$4 all day • SIN: Service
50 APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY
Industry Night, 11pm-2am
• First Well Drink or
Domestic Beer Free • 10%
off your Food Order all day
• thebaltimoreeagle.com
FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR
Crazy Hour, 4-8pm •
Singles Night • Half-Priced
Pasta Dishes • Poker Night
— 7pm and 9pm games •
Karaoke, 9pm
GREEN LANTERN
Happy Hour, 4-9pm •
$3 rail cocktails and
domestic beers all night
long • Singing with the
Sisters: Open Mic Karaoke
Night with the Sisters
of Perpetual Indulgence,
9:30pm-close
NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR
Beat the Clock Happy Hour
— $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm),
$4 (7-8pm) • Buckets of
Beer $15 • Texas Hold’em
Poker, 8pm • Dart Boards
• Paint Nite, 7pm • Two
Ping-Pong Tables
NUMBER NINE
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any
drink, 5-9pm • No Cover
SHAW’S TAVERN
Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3
Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon,
$5 House Wines, $5 Rail
Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas
and Select Appetizers
• Shaw Nuff Trivia,
with Jeremy, 7:30pm •
DC Different Drummers
Marching Band Open
House, Second Floor, 7pm
TRADE
Doors open 5pm • Huge
Happy Hour: Any drink
normally served in a cock-
tail glass served in a huge
glass for the same price,
5-10pm • Beer and wine
only $4
Tuesday,
April 10
9 1/2
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any
drink, 5-9pm • Multiple
TVs showing movies,
shows, sports • Expanded
craft beer selection •
No Cover
BALTIMORE EAGLE
Happy Hour, 3-9pm, all
liquors, beers and wines
up to 50% off • Fibbage
Tuesdays, 8pm — How
good are you at fibbing?
• Free to play with your
smartphone • $6 Any
Flavor Martinis and $7
Manhattans (call liquors) •
thebaltimoreeagle.com
FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR
Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Taco
Tuesday • Poker Night —
7pm and 9pm games •
Karaoke, 9pm
GREEN LANTERN
Happy Hour, 4pm-9pm
• $3 rail cocktails and
domestic beers all night
long
NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR
Beat the Clock Happy Hour
— $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm),
$4 (7-8pm) • Buckets of
Beer $15 • Karaoke and
Drag Bingo
NUMBER NINE
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any
drink, 5-9pm • No Cover
SHAW’S TAVERN
Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3
Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon,
$5 House Wines, $5 Rail
Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas
and Select Appetizers •
Half-Priced Burgers and
Pizzas all night with $5
House Wines and Sam
Adams
TRADE
Doors open 5pm • Huge
Happy Hour: Any drink
normally served in a cock-
tail glass served in a huge
glass for the same price,
5-10pm • Beer and wine
only $4
Wednesday,
April 11
9 1/2
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any
drink, 5-9pm • Multiple
TVs showing movies,
shows, sports • Expanded
craft beer selection •
No Cover
BALTIMORE EAGLE
Happy Hour, 3-9pm,
all liquors, beers and
wines up to 50% off •
Domestic Bottles are
$3 all day • Fetlife: The
Next Generation Happy
Hour, 8pm • Team Trivia,
8-10pm • thebaltimoreea-
gle.com
FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR
Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • $6
Burgers • Beach Blanket
Drag Bingo Night, hosted
by Ms. Regina Jozet
Adams, 8pm • Bingo prizes
• Karaoke, 10pm-1am
GREEN LANTERN
Happy Hour, 4pm-9pm •
Bear Yoga with Greg Leo,
6:30-7:30pm • $10 per
class • Upstairs opens
9pm • Lantern GoGo
Dancers, 10pm-2am • $3
rail cocktails and domestic
beers all night long
NELLIE’S 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 • Snatched Drag
Show, hosted by Brooklyn
Heights, 9pm
NUMBER NINE
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any
drink, 5-9pm • No Cover
SHAW’S TAVERN
Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3
Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon,
$5 House Wines, $5 Rail
Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas
and Select Appetizers •
Piano Bar with Jill, 8pm
TRADE
Doors open 5pm • Huge
Happy Hour: Any drink
normally served in a cock-
tail glass served in a huge
glass for the same price,
5-10pm • Beer and wine
only $4 l
APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 51
 Scene
JR.’s Easter Bonnet Contest - Sunday, April 1
Photography by Ward Morrison
See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene

52 APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

 LastWord.
People say the queerest things

“Information about sexual orientation and health status...has to be treated with great care.
In our opinion, Grindr fails to do so.”
— FINN MYRSTAD, director of digital services at the Norwegian Consumer Council. The Scandinavian country is pursuing action
against Grindr for sharing users’ HIV status and other personal data with two outside companies, something NCC called
“very disconcerting” and a possible violation of European privacy laws.

“It shows that I believe in transparency and

I’m not afraid to express myself.”
— ERIC JON SCHMIDT, a candidate for West Hollywood City Council, explaining to WEHOville why he decided to release his nude
photos and videos to the public. Schmidt describes himself as “an average, down-to-earth, guy-next-door type,” and a “perfor-
mance exhibitionist.” “I do not think it will hurt my campaign any more than it would a candidate’s ‘
stamp collecting hobby,” he said.

“I cried because I was so happy

for her that she was free.
”
— JAY Z, speaking to David Letterman on My Next Guest Needs No Introduction about his mother coming out to him as lesbian last
year. “For my mother, to have to live as someone that she wasn’t and hide and protect her kids for all this time,
and for her to sit in front of me and tell me, ‘I think I love someone’ — I really cried,” he said.

“The likelihood of a fag catching HIV is 1000% more likely then [sic] any straight person...
fags are disgusting.”
— JUSTIN JONES, Libertarian candidate for the Arkansas House of Representatives, responding on Facebook to a post about gay
blood donations. Jones has been heavily criticized for his comments by LGBTQ groups and the local Libertarian Party,
which asked him to abandon his campaign.

“I wouldn’t put my son into dance class because I think

dance class might help make your son gay.”
— PEREZ HILTON, who is gay, in a YouTube video explaining that he won’t let his son take dance classes in case it makes him gay.
“I would say a good amount — maybe like 50 percent or more — of little boys who take dance class
end up being gay,” he continued.

54 APRIL 5, 2018 • METROWEEKLY