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| Vocalists Thelma Houston (above), Ce Ce Peniston and Kimberley Locke will get the crowd roaring at Capital Pride. |
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Main Stage Entertainment
11:40 a.m., Mesmers
12 p.m. - 2:30 p.m., Emcee Paul J. Williams
12 p.m. - 3:30 p.m., DJ Jason Royce
12:15 p.m., Odd Girl Out
12:50 p.m., Queer Minion of Kwid
1 p.m., Edward Daniels Productions
1:10 p.m., Grand Illusions
1:20 p.m., X-Faction Dance Company
1:30 p.m., Steff Mahan
2:05 p.m., Celia Kipp and the Last Ditch
2:40 p.m. - 4:30 p.m., Emcee Christopher Peterson
2:45 p.m., D.C. Drag Kings
3:05 p.m., Amy & Freddy
3:30 p.m.- 7:30 p.m., DJ Chris Wren
3:45 p.m., Freddie’s Follies
4 p.m., Ella Fitzgerald
4:10 p.m., Capital Pride Royalty
4:30 p.m. - 7 p.m., Emcees Derek & Romaine
4:35 p.m., D.C. Cowboys
4:55 p.m., Rachel Panay
5:25 p.m., CeCe Peniston
5:50 p.m., Kimberly Locke
6:20 p.m., Thelma Houston
Arts Consortium Stage
12 p.m., Tidbits
1 p.m., EdHead Productions
1:30 p.m., Bread & Roses Feminist Singers
1:50 p.m., Ties Optional
2:10 p.m., D.C. Swing!
2:40 p.m., D.C. Lambda Squares
3 p.m., D.C.’s Different Drummers
3:20 p.m., Lesbian & Gay Chorus of Washington, D.C.
3:40 p.m., Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington
4 p.m., Wicked Jezebel
5 p.m., Outskirts of Town
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HOME > ENTERTAINMENT > FEATURE
By: GREG MARZULLO COMMENTS
 
Pride weekend always involves sensory overload. With all the wigs, sequins, muscles, bare-breasted women, pamphlets and fliers, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by all there is to see and do.
So make sure to take a break from all the businesses and politicians seeking the pink dollar and watch a fierce lineup of local and international divas on the main stage of the street festival, on Sunday, June 11.
Toward the end of the main stage set, which begins at 11:40 a.m. and ends at 7 p.m., the headliners are set to arrive. CeCe Peniston, Thelma Houston, Kimberly Locke and Rachel Panay, who are all straight, will take the stage, located at the far end of Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, near 4th Street, giving their fans a healthy dose of dance anthems.
Thelma Houston’s singing career has spanned 40 years, and she says she’s been performing at Gay Pride celebrations since they began.
“I have been supported by the gay community,” Houston says. “For me, it’s a big fan base.”
Among Houston’s long list of achievements is the Grammy for Best R&B Female Vocal Performance for her 1976 hit “Don’t Leave Me This Way.”
“‘Don’t Leave Me This Way’ would not have been as big a hit as it was had it not been for the gay community,” Houston says, adding that her gay fan base also partially arises from her work on gay civil rights and AIDS causes.
Kimberly Locke, one of the three finalists on Fox’s “American Idol” in 2003, sees gay men’s fascination with vocal divas a little differently.
“My manager is gay,” Locke says. “He said, ‘We like strong women.’ I can deal with that. I don’t question it. I go with the flow.”
Locke has worked with Houston at other Pride events, which isn’t surprising considering the senior diva’s extensive Pride tour history.
“The biggest I’ve done is Washington, New York, Sydney, San Francisco, Long Beach, Texas, Arizona, Rhode Island and Louisiana,” says Houston. “I have not done Pride in any Asian country. That’s what I have to hit.”
Traveling the Pride circuit is not uncommon for performers who are well loved by gay men and lesbians. Locke started performing in Los Angeles, San Francisco and, in 2005, Columbus, Ohio. Two of the day’s emcees, Derek Hartley and Romaine Patterson of the Sirius OutQ satellite radio Derek & Romaine show, have 12 cities on their tour this summer.
Four emcees will host the stage events throughout the day. Dallas-based comic Paul J. Williams is on the first shift. Drag performer and celebrity impersonator Christopher Peterson takes the mid-afternoon slot, and Hartley and Patterson are the day’s final hosts. Their daily radio program, airing from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., covers a variety of topics and includes guest interviews with celebrities — gay and otherwise.
“Derek and I go to more Pride events than anyone in the country,” says Patterson. “Because we’re on satellite radio, our listeners are all across the U.S. It’s allowing us to go out and meet the listeners.”
Before beginning the daily show in April of 2003, Hartley worked as a syndicated columnist, and his writings have appeared in the New York Times, Instinct, Out and on PlanetOut.com.
Patterson first made headlines after the shocking murder of Matthew Shepherd in 1998. She faced down protesters at Shepherd’s funeral while wearing an angel costume, and the image became a ubiquitous one in the gay and mainstream media.
The pair returns to Capital Pride after emceeing the event in 2005.
“I think D.C. is definitely more serious in nature,” says Patterson, 28. “You get a lot more of a political vibe.”
Hartley shares a view similar to that of his costar.
“D.C. is a town of lawyers,” says Hartley, 36. “Abercrombie baseball hats and a polo shirt is cutting loose.”
WHILE MANY OF this year’s top entertainers are from anywhere but D.C., there is one up-and-comer who is a native: Rachel Panay.
“This is my first [Pride] in my town,” Panay says.
Born in Washington State and raised in D.C., the singer went to D.C.’s Duke Ellington School of the Arts, where she studied vocal music, dance and musical theater throughout high school before attending the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Mass. She moved to New York this past winter to pursue her career, which includes a love of musical theater.
“That’s what I trained to do as a kid and a teenager,” says Panay. “It’s a bigger, broader market [in New York.]”
Panay’s performances have been seen at the White Party, Mr. Miami International and at D.C.’s mega-club, ...
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