Arts and Leisure: Metro Weekly / MW Magazine - Weekly schedule of gay Washington DC entertainment - films, movies, theater, dining, and music.

Music: Lube Job

The Gay Men's Chorus of Washington presents turns Grease into a gay high school musical fantasy

Published on March 10, 2010, 11:51pm

''Grease has something to say about the family we choose,'' says Jeff Buhrman. ''GLBT people understand that concept about choosing our family, defending each other. It's all in this musical -- you've just never seen it that way before.'' Certainly you've never seen Grease the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington's way -- a new all-male production based on the original 1972 Broadway version. ''Over the years Grease has been sanitized,'' says Buhrman, GMCW's artistic director, noting that the original ''is ...[more]

Film: Son Dance

The documentary Prodigal Sons is not what you expect and not always easy to watch, but it's well worth your time

Published on March 10, 2010, 11:43pm

Sometimes things don't turn out the way you expect. Sometimes the high school quarterback grows up and transitions into a woman. Sometimes an orphan discovers that he's the grandson of movie stars. And sometimes a story of a high school reunion morphs into a touching tale of a family struggling to remain a family. Kimberly Reed, a filmmaker from New York, grew up as Paul McKerrow in Helena, Montana, star of the football team and voted most likely to succeed. ...[more]

Film: Small Wonder

Tim Burton's take on the Alice tale has a few smatterings of visual splendor, but lacks compelling performances

Published on March 4, 2010, 2:50am

Once upon a time there was a young director named Tim Burton, and he created wonderfully bizarre and macabre worlds populated by a boy with scissors for hands and jack-o-lanterns that masquerade as Santa Claus. Then Tim met a girl named Alice, and all the wonder died. Okay, maybe it didn't die, but it certainly went away on a hiatus that lasted 109 minutes. A recent visit to the Tim Burton exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art' made a ...[more]

Film: Easy Pickings

The 2010 Academy Awards will feature a parade of already-anointed winners and a bloated Best Picture category

Published on March 4, 2010, 2:47am

Most of the Oscar winners this year are sure-things. There, I did it. All of my Oscar picks for the year are cursed and I'm leaving myself wide open to ridicule and derision by declaring that the competition is over (if it really ever started). But seriously, the only drama surrounding the Oscars will fall to just one or two categories. The real suspense will be whether Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin can pull off the co-host thing (was Neil ...[more]

Art: Jewish Soupçon

The late, gay painter serves as inspiration for a comedic monologue about Jewish identity now at Theater J.

Published on March 4, 2010, 2:44am

''I think if one were to ask Andy Warhol about the impact he's had on Josh Kornbluth in finding his Jewish identity, he would be both flummoxed and bemused,'' says David Dower. ''It wasn't the point.'' The late, gay Warhol, raised Catholic, had other intentions for his art. For starters, he was determined to live in infamy, well beyond ''famous for 15 minutes,'' the ubiquitous phrase he coined. In fact, Warhol serves as inspiration for Kornbluth's latest comedic monologue -- ...[more]

Events: Soap Opera Expressionism

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

Published on February 27, 2010, 10:44pm

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

Film: Mystery Man

Adapted from a novel by Robert Harris, Roman Polanski's The Ghost Writer is a political thriller of the highest order

Published on February 24, 2010, 11:20pm

There are so many mysteries on the island that it feels like you're never going to get any answers. Is there a safe way off? Can the others be trusted? And are dead people really trying to speak to the living? Just when your head starts to spin, you remember that Ewan McGregor is a writer, not a detective, and you're watching The Ghost Writer, not Shutter Island. Or Lost. Yes, another island-based mystery. This time, instead of a trippy ...[more]

Music: Tattooed Troubadour

Matt Morris mixes musical forms in a skillful, measured way -- never sloppy, never cluttered, never just for effect

Published on February 24, 2010, 11:17pm

Egos were checked at the January ''Hope for Haiti'' concert telethon, with none of the performers identified by name. It was a small gesture of humility for the superstar performers, in a time of so much nameless suffering. But what about those you couldn't identify on your own? For instance, just who was that guy singing with Justin Timberlake? Turns out it's J.T.'s gay bff Matt Morris. You probably haven't heard of Morris. He was in the '90s-era ''All New ...[more]

Stage: Crowning Achivement

The Shakespeare Theatre's Richard II and Henry V are powerful, memorable, and provocative on myriad levels

Published on February 24, 2010, 11:14pm

There are a litany of reasons to see both Richard II and Henry V, currently in rep at the Shakespeare Theatre. Among them, the joy of immersion in Shakespeare's deeply contemplative and poetic study of two of England's ancient kings, the chance to compare and contrast leadership in this juxtaposition of two very different men, and the unique theatrical experience of seeing each play rendered by a different director with one actor carrying both title roles. But perhaps the best ...[more]

Stage: Nirvana

High Fidelity is a musical with serious cult potential making it perfect for the Landless Theatre Company

Published on February 24, 2010, 11:10pm

Here are the top five reasons to make your way to the DC Arts Center in Adams Morgan to check out Landless Theatre Co.'s production of High Fidelity: A Musical. 1. You get to see a set that includes actual, honest-to-goodness vinyl albums. Or, at least, covers that used to hold actual, honest-to-goodness vinyl albums. (If you're particularly lucky you may actually catch a glimpse of André Previn and John Williams' soundtrack for Valley of the Dolls.) 2. It's an ...[more]

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