By 
Photo Courtesy of Don Michael Mendoza
She/He Loves DC is a series highlighting the people who love this city just as much as we do.
Don Michael Mendoza is charismatic. By day Mendoza works with VIDA Fitness flexing the communications skills he obtained at DC’s American University. By night he’s an actor who performs all over the greater-DC area while working with a wide array of theater companies including brief stints in New York for various creative projects.
He’s also been able to channel that charisma into creating something he believes DC had been lacking – a musical theater cabaret and spoken word series. Mendoza co-founded and now co-hosts the award-winning weekly series La-Ti-Do at Black Fox Lounge in Dupont Circle with friend Regie Cabico. The pair established the idea in the fall of 2011 before launching the series in its official capacity in January 2012. Ever since then, the show’s audience continues to grow and the night-of talent is of the highest caliber available.
Mendoza takes immense pride in being able to provide this type of creative outlet for both audience members and performers alike. So if you find yourself at a La-Ti-Do performance, just know that what you’re seeing is most certainly a labor of love.
What is it about DC that makes it home to you?
DC was where I was born and lived before my family moved to Pittsburgh when I was 4. However, we always made trips here often because we have a lot of family friends here, so it’s really an extension of my hometown. I officially made my return here in 2006 when I attended American University where I was able to get my own feet planted here and staying here after graduation was the natural choice for me.