Arts & Entertainment
The new adventures of Lynda Carter
Singer/actress returns to Kennedy Center for latest show

Lynda Carter
āBody & Soul Tourā
March 30
7:30 p.m.
90 mins.
Kennedy Center
Terrace Theater
$30-65

Actress/singer Lynda Carter returns to the Kennedy Center next weekend. (Photo by Karl Simone; courtesy JS2 Communications)
Lynda Carter has been singing her whole life, but her audiences havenāt always been so receptive.
Carter, who returns to the Kennedy Center next week with her āBody & Soulā show (her most recent album āCrazy Little Thingsā dropped last spring), says she āof course,ā sang to her two children when they were babies. It didnāt last long, though.
āMy daughter, as soon as she was old enough to sing herself, sheād put her hand over my mouth,ā she says. āShe didnāt want to hear me.ā
Carter is most famous, of course, for āWonder Woman,ā the ā70s TV show that despite a relatively short run (three seasons), linked her indelibly with the character ā āas lovely as Aphrodite, as wise as Athena!ā Last time we talked to Carter when she did the AIDS Walk Washington event for Whitman-Walker Health, we hammered her with āWonder Womanā questions (it’s hereĀ if you missed it), so this time we focused solely on the music. āCrazy Little Things,ā a mostly covers album, is her third release. āPortraitā came out in 1978; she returned from a long hiatus with āAt Last,ā another standards-heavy release that made the Billboard jazz chart in 2009.
āIt sounds kind of silly but I remember our little record players and the one new single was all you could afford,ā Carter, 60, says between coughs (sheās battling a cold the day we talk). āNow weāve kinda gone back to that in some ways with all the digital downloads. But we listened to whatever was on the radio. My mom had a lot of blues, old juke joint things. We listened to music all the time.ā
Carter was a little too young for the Motown heyday but remembers loving the Beatles and the Stones like everyone else in the later ā60s.
āWhen I started singing professionally, I wanted to sound like Linda Ronstadt, Grace Slick, people like that,ā she says. āThen on the other side of Linda Ronstadt, you had the Stone Poneys. So you had, well, it kind of shifted away from that ā50s sound, with Paul Anka and that kind of thing. So even though we listened to that, I kinda missed it a little bit. It wasnāt as much in my mind anyway. It wasnāt as full an experience for me as, you know, the Doors and the Animals. That was my teenybopper era. ⦠And then I was still a young adult when the ā80s came around, so you end up falling in love with all that too. Itās all that.ā

Actress/singer Lynda Carter at the 2010 AIDS Walk Washington, a Whitman-Walker benefit. The Potomac, Md., resident returns to D.C. next weekend for a Kennedy Center performance. (Blade file photo by Michael Key)
Carter, who cut her last album in Nashville for her own imprint Potomac Productions, says she enjoys recording and performing live. Itās still work ā she likens making an album to climbing a hill or facing a blank sheet of paper ā but says the payoff is rich. She especially enjoys playing the Kennedy Center and says, āitās really the nationās stage.ā
The longtime Potomac, Md., resident says she and her family āhave been going there for years.ā
āI sometimes am envious of the people who live in town. Itās such an easy cab ride over to there and they have all kinds of stuff going on all the time ⦠itās a really special place and there are only a couple rooms like that, like the Jazz at Lincoln Center, that have that kind of prestige in the whole country.ā
Carter will perform with six musicians and three singers. She has a horn section, a percussionist and some players who shift instrumentation depending on the song at hand. Most of them also played on the album and are veteran Nashville session players. The album was recorded over the course of about a year off and on. Carter, who co-produced, credits Kyle Lehning with helping her find fresh interpretations on classics like Al Greenās āLetās Stay Together,ā Queenās āCrazy Little Thing Called Love,ā Martha and the Vandellaās āHeat Wave,ā the Carole King/Gerry Goffin classic āLocomotionā and others.
Carter says she works hard to make her stage presence connect with audience members. For years, sheās acknowledged and embraced her strong LGBT fan base.
āWe seem to be pulling standing ovations every time we play, knock on wood,ā she says, pausing for another cough. āI really try to work for the audience. I think a lot of performers kind of put a veil between themselves and itās like theyāre just jamming along with the band and it makes you feel almost like a voyeur and other shows you see itās like the veil is lifted and the people are really with you. I like to see when people perform and really reach out and itās really cool. The champion of that, of course, is Mick Jagger. Heās got the all-time stage presence.ā
Theater
Timely comedy āFake Itā focuses on Native American themes
Arena Stage production features two out actors

āFake It Until You Make Itā
Through May 4
Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth St., S.W.
Tickets start at $59
Arenastage.org
A farce requires teamwork. And Larissa FastHorseās āFake It Until You Make Itā now at Arena Stage is no exception.Ā
The timely comedy focuses on Native American nonprofits fractiously housed in a shared space. Friction rises when rivals River (Amy Brenneman), a white woman operating in the Indigenous world, goes up against the more authentic Wynona (Shyla Lefner) to win a lucrative Native-funded grant.
While Brenneman (best known for TVās Judging Amy) is undeniably a big draw, it takes a group collaboration to hit marks, land jokes, and pull off the well-executed physical comedy including all those carefully timed door slams.
As members of the six-person āFake Itā cast, Brandon Delsid and Eric Stanton Betts, both out actors of partly indigenous ancestry, contribute to the mayhem. Respectively, Delsid and Betts play Krys and Mark, a pair of two-spirited Native Americans who meet farcically cute and enjoy one of the playās more satisfying arcs.
For Krys, every attractive man is a potential next fling, but when Mark, handsome and relatively reserved, arrives on the scene, itās something entirely different.
Both onstage and sometimes off, Betts plays the straight man to Delsidās waggishness. But when it comes down to real life business, the friends are on the same page: not only are the L.A.-based, up-and-coming actors intensely serious about their film and stage careers, but theyāre also particularly engaged in the themes of Indigenous People found in āFake It.ā
On a recent Wednesday following a matinee and an audience talkback, they were ready for a phone interview.
In establishing whose voice was whose, Delsid clarified with āIām the one who sounds a little like a Valley girl.ā
WASHINGTON BLADE: Brandon, youāve been with the show since its early work-shopping days in 2022 and through its debut in Los Angeles and now Washington. Have things evolved?
BRANDON DELSID: Definitely. Iāve grown up in the last couple of years and so has my character; itās hard to know where I end and Kry begins. Thereās been a real melding.
Eric and I are both queer, and to get to play these roles that are so human, imperfect, sexy, and interesting is really joyful.
As queer artists you donāt always get the chance to do work like this. So many stories are queer trauma, which is incredibly important, but itās liberating to feel joy and ride it off into the sunset, which, without revealing too much, is kind of what we get to do.
BLADE: Thereās some race shifting in āFake Itā particularly with regard to āpretendianā (a pejorative term describing a person who has falsely claimed Indigenous status).
ERIC STANTON BETTS: The last few years Iāve been on a journey with my cultural identity and place in the world. Iām a mixed BIPOC artist, my dad is Black and Native American by way of the Cherokee tribe and my mom is white.
Since 2020, Iāve tried to figure out where I belong in this cultural history that I havenāt had a tie to throughout my life; itās gratifying to find my way back to my indigeneity and be welcomed.
In the play, race shifting is introduced through farce. But itās never in a disrespectful way; itās never mocked or done in a way to take away from others. The playwright parallels race shifting with gender fluidity.
DELSID: But in life, there are people posing as Indigenous, actively taking grants, and the play goes there, we donāt hold back. Larissa, our playwright, has made it clear that sheās not trying to figure it out for us. With that in mind, we hope people leave the theater interested and curious to learn more.
BLADE: Mark arrives kind of the middle of some crazy drama, bringing along a jolt of romance.
BETTS: Yeah, when I show up, weāre all sort of shot out of a cannon, struggling to keep up with the initial lie.
DESLID: A very gay cannon.
BLADE: Whatās up next for you two?
BETTS: Both Brandon and I are up for the same part in a TV pilot, so one of us may be getting some very good news. I also have a Tyler Perry film coming out soon [he plays a model, not an unfamiliar gig for Betts].
DELSID: Coming up, I have a recurring part on HBOās āThe Rehearsal,ā and a supporting part in āJune and John,ā a John Besson film. But doing āFake It Until You Make Itā in L.A. and now D.C. has been a special time in our lives. Itās 23/7 togetherness. Thereās that hour for sleep.

Point Foundation will host its annual āTaste of Point Receptionā on Wednesday, May 7 at 6:30 p.m. at Room & Board.Ā
The popular event will take place on the top floor and outdoor terrace at Room & Board, featuring small plates from area restaurants, hand-crafted cocktails from local mixologists, and a speaking portion where guests will hear directly from Point Foundation scholars. This year, Point is supporting a record-breaking class of 755 scholars and guestsā support will allow Point to continue its mission. Point Foundation is the nationās largest scholarship-granting organization for LGBTQ students of merit.
Tickets are tax deductible and can be purchased at Pointās website.Ā

Friday, April 25
Trans Discussion Group will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This group is intended to provide an emotionally and physically safe space for trans* people and those who may be questioning their gender identity/expression to join together in community and learn from one another. For more details, email [email protected].Ā
Go Gay DC will host āLGBTQ+ Community Happy Hourā at 7 p.m. at Uproar Lounge and Restaurant. This event is ideal for making new friends, professional networking, idea-sharing, and community building. This event is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.Ā
Saturday, April 26
Go Gay DC will host āLGBTQ+ Community Brunchā at 11 a.m. at Freddieās Beach Bar & Restaurant. This fun weekly event brings the DMV area LGBTQ+ community, including Allies, together for delicious food and conversation. Attendance is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.
Black Lesbian Support Group will be at 11 a.m. on Zoom. This is a peer-led support group devoted to the joys and challenges of being a Black lesbian. You do not need to be a member of the Beta Kappa Chapter or the Beta Phi Omega Sorority in order to join, but they do ask that you either identify as a lesbian or are questioning that aspect of your identity. For more details, email [email protected].Ā
Sunday, April 27
āTrans Open Mic and Author Talk with Jeanne Thorntonā will be at 5 p.m. at Busboys and Poets 14th & V. Itās a difficult time for trans people in the USA, and Jeanne would like to extend the opportunity to local trans fiction writers to build community by coming on stage and sharing their work as part of an opening āopen micā to this event. There are spaces for up to 6-8 readers to share work of up to five minutes each. If you are interested in reading, please select the āOpen Mic Ticketā and find Jeanne before the show at 4:30 p.m. The reading will be arranged on a first come, first served basis on the night of the event. For more details, visit Eventbrite.
Monday, April 28
āCenter Aging Monday Coffee & Conversationā will be at 10 a.m. on Zoom. This is a social hour for older LGBTQ+ adults. Guests are encouraged to bring a beverage of choice. For more details, email [email protected].Ā
Queer Book Club will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This monthās reading is āAll Systems Red and Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries Book 1 & 2)ā by Martha Wells. For more details, email [email protected].Ā
Tuesday, April 29
āOutPro Meaningful LGBTQ Networkingā will be at 6 p.m. at Number Nine. Out Pro creates an environment that is welcoming to the full diversity of the LGBTQ community, as well as supportive allies. Guests are encouraged to embrace purposeful networking with the goal of helping connect people with opportunities. If you’re hiring, please come and meet motivated, aspiring LGBTQ professionals. As always, our events warmly welcome community allies. For more details, visit Eventbrite.Ā
Wednesday, April 30
Job Club will be at 6 p.m. on Zoom. This is a weekly job support program to help job entrants and seekers, including the long-term unemployed, improve self-confidence, motivation, resilience and productivity for effective job searches and networking ā allowing participants to move away from being merely āapplicantsā toward being ācandidates.ā For more information, email [email protected] or visit thedccenter.org/careers.
Thursday, May 1
API Queer Support Group will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This is a support group for the Asian and Pacific Islander queer community. For more information, email [email protected].Ā
Virtual Yoga with Charles M. will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This is a free weekly class focusing on yoga, breath work, and meditation. For more details, visit the DC Center for the LGBT Communityās website.
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