Recently by Randy Shulman

Man Made: A Stupid Quest for Masculinity explores the absurdities of modern masculinity from Time columnist Joel Stein. The funny and poignant book was provoked by Stein's original faulty notion that he needed to acquire more manly skills and habits to pass on to his newborn son. Tuesday, May 22, at 7 p.m. Sixth & I Historic Synagogue. 600 I St. NW. Tickets are $10, or $27 for two tickets and a copy of the book. Call 202-408-3100 or visit sixthandi.org.

Read Stein's recent Time column I Had a Gay Old Time. Why I'll never spend the night in a straight hotel again.

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Now in its 13th year, the Washington Jewish Music Festival winds down with at least one concert of definite LGBT appeal tomorrow, Sunday, May 20, when Schmekel, a transgender Jewish "schtick-rock" band combining bawdy humor and critical awareness, takes the stage at Chief Ike's Mambo Room in Adams Morgan. The festival then concludes on Monday, May 21, with a screening at the DC JCC of the 1918 silent film The Yellow Ticket featuring original live music composed and performed for the festival by Alicia Svigals. For tickets and more information, visit wjmf.org.

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The Theatre Lab School of the Dramatic Arts reprises last year's popular Dramathon tomorrow, Friday, May 18. The Dramathon features eight 10-minute plays, written in just 24 hours by some of the area's leading playwrights, including Ari Roth, Norman Allen, Renee Calarco and Jennifer Nelson. And some of the area's best professional actors, including Rick Foucheux, Kimberly Gilbert, Nancy Robinette, Michael Russotto and Kim Schraf, have signed on to perform. All have donated their time for the cause, which is to help cover costs for the twnety-year-old organization's summer theater camp for local disadvantaged kids. Friday, May 18, at 10:30 p.m., at Theatre J, 1529 16th St. NW. Tickets, benefiting the camp fund, are $15. Call 202-824-0449 or visit theatrelab.org.

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Artists who are part of the Mid City Artists collaborative open their studios for the public to meet, learn, enjoy and buy art as part of this bi-annual event. The 26 artists represented offer a range of work, from drawings to sculptures to photographs to mixed media, and include many of note to the LGBT community, among them occasional Metro Weekly cover art contributor Scott G. Brooks, Michael Crossett, Gary Fisher, Glenn Fry, Brian Petro and Colin Winterbottom. Saturday, May 19, and Sunday, May 20, from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Mid City corridor, from Dupont to Logan Circles and north to Florida Ave NW. Free. Call 202-506-3056 or visit midcityartists.com.

Pictured: ""Party at Pooh Corner" by Scott G. Brooks. Oil on Canvas, 30" x 40"

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Gay-popular singing sensation Deborah Cox will close this year's Capital Pride festivities as headline performer on Sunday, June 10. The festival Main Stage lineup also includes the return of Pride regular dance singers Crystal Waters ("100 Percent Pure Love") and Pepper Mashay ("Dive In The Pool"). Before the dance divas, Main Stage mainstays the DC Cowboys will offer one last choreographed routine before hanging up their hats for good. And as usual, the Gay Men's Chorus and several popular local drag acts -- among them the Ladies of Town, E-Cleff and that loudmouth from the South(west), Ziegfeld's Ella Fitzgerald -- will also perform, as will a number of up-and-coming queer or queer-friendly artists, this year including Billy Winn, Crys Matthews and Mzery Loves Company.

Cox last performed at Capital Pride seven years ago, but last year she generated headlines after an electrifying headlining performance at Baltimore Pride. These days she's best known for a string of R&B and dance hits over the past 15 years ("Nobody's Supposed To Be Here," "Things Just Ain't The Same," "Absolutely Not"), and is gearing up for a return to musical theater, following a stint nearly a decade ago in Aida on Broadway. She'll star in a revival of the 1997 musical Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde alongside Constantine Maroulis and Shirley MacLaine.

The festival is Sunday, June 10, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. 3rd Street at Pennsylvania Ave NW. Visit capitalpride.org for more information.

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The Theater Alliance presents the world premiere of Nicholas Wardigo's Hum, an allegory of Orwellian proportions following a couple's journey to discover what life is like when the safety net is pulled down. The Alliance's Colin Hovde and Nathaniel Mendez direct the piece, which is also said to challenge expectations of storytelling. Opens this Monday, May 14, at 8 p.m. Runs through June 2. Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets are $20 to $35. Call 202-399-7993 or visit atlasarts.org.

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Recently transplanted to D.C., this gay singer-songwriter offers a soulful blend of pop and folk that has been featured on many TV shows, including Dawson's Creek, Party of Five and Ghost Whisperer. So it's that kind of music. (Not that there's anything wrong with that kind of music.) He's previously opened for Shawn Colvin, Sheryl Crow and Ani Difranco. Next week at Busboys & Poets he'll be joined by special guest Rene Moffatt, another D.C.-based singer-songwriter whose style echoes Jack Johnson and Jackson Browne. So it's that kind of music. Monday, May 14, at 7 p.m. Busboys & Poets, 2021 14th St. NW. Free. Call 202-387-POET or visit busboysandpoets.com.

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Arena Stage's Molly Smith picks up where she left off with last year's stunning revamp of Oklahoma!, this time reviving Meredith Wilson and Franklin Lacey's musical classic The Music Man, featuring such timeless tunes as "76 Trombones" and "Ya Got Trouble" and "Shipoopi." Burke Moses (Broadway's Beauty and the Beast) stars as smooth-talking "professor" Harold Hill, out to swindle the citizens of River City. Kate Baldwin (Finian's Rainbow) stars as Marian the Librarian. (She's sweet, but she doesn't hold a stake to demon-fighting librarian Giles.) In previews. Runs through July 22. Arena Stage -- Mead Center for American Theater, 1101 6th St. SW. Tickets are $51 to $66. Call 202-488-3300 or visit arenastage.org.

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"Masculine Impressions," the current titillating exhibit to come to Vitruvian Gallery, the gallery devoted to male figurative art, closes tomorrow, so if you've wanted to see it, better hurry. Gary Fisher's latest series of artworks, mostly oil paintings and charcoal drawings, grows from the command "take off your clothes and make yourself comfortable." Fisher's strokes capture models doing exactly that, stretching, flexing and relaxing in a sensual display of masculinity. Closes this Sunday, May 13. Vitruvian Fine Arts Gallery, 734 7th St. SE, 2nd Floor. Visit vitruviangallery.com.

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Following on its insanely popular brunch house party La Boum every Saturday and the annual Bastille Day French Maid Relay Race, L'Enfant Cafe and Bar offers this social dining event on select Sundays each month. Speak Easy transforms the space into a Prohibition Era venue -- complete with back door entrance, dim lighting and drawn shades -- serving drinks, a three-course dinner and a live show that's very of this century, with singing drag queens, comedians and DJs spinning dance tunes. New York singing drag artist legend Joey Arias co-produces the show, and returns to lead the shenanigans after his show Arias With A Twist ended at Woolly Mammoth. Most late shows end in a DJ dance party. This Sunday, May 13. L'Enfant Cafe and Bar, 2000 18th St. NW. Reservations are required; cost is $50 for the 7 p.m. dinner show, or $10 plus a two-drink minimum for the 10:30 p.m. late show. Call 202-319-1800 or visit lenfantcafe.com.

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