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THE FORUM invites you to join us for our ... IWb"~mber 21-23rd FIJI-saturdaY/Sunday .,...~. DAYNOVEM~ER.Q1i; dbQ'bibu~2-1~b.fih .....;afv Buffet g"gpm e Dancers6--9pm :IPUS Drink SP§f:ials ;:::::~i? Gu~i~ ,;;""pm:11pm wi $5 buy-in Male Dancers spm ~{ i{ SUNDAY NOVEMBER 23 TH.EWHITE& Dallas DanceClub Award winner :1997 =='LDPARTY .Fteech~mp99J1e Buffet ..)~~i:~~~~~sj.~~~a~ ~lIqQ!1F.Dr()p with Prizes, ,•v. ', ,.. ~ .ii·j·( •.,.··•• •• 1MI .,./",.4th and concress- (512) 479-2900 3911 Cedar Springs, Dallas 214.559.0650 [email protected] Daily zorn-zam . 21+ .•. "Where the Men Are" VOLUME 23, NUMBER 38 NOVEMBER 21 - 27, 1997 14 THEATRE Cakewalk and Good Housekeeping Hit the Stage in Houston Reviewed by Gary Laird 19 BOOKS Allan Gurganus' Plays Well with Others Reviewed by Mark Deaton 26 FRESH BEATS Italian Pop Star Alexia Is Ready for America by Jimmy Smith 39 CURRENT EVENTS 49 BACKSTAGE A Tuna Christmas Brings Small-Town Yuletide Madness to Dallas and Galveston 55 STARSCOPE The Sun's Move into Sagittarius Heralds a Dramatic Turn of Events 67 TEXAS SPORTS 68 TEXAS NEWS 72 ON OUR COVER Texas National Titleholders 77 TEXAS TEA 87 CLASSIFIEDS 94 GUIDE TWT (This Week In Texas) 15published by Texas Weekly Times Newspaper Co., at 3300 Reagan Street In Dallas, Texas 75219 and 811 Westhelmer In Houston, Texas 77006. Opinions expressed by columnists are not necessarily those of TWTor of Its stoff. Publication of the name or photograph of any person or organization In articles or advertising In TWTIs not to be construed as any Indication of the sex- ual orientation of said person or organization. Subscription rates: $79 per year, $40 per halt year. Back Issues available at S2 each. Payment must accompany all orders. Copyright © 1997 by Texas Weekly Times Newspaper Co, All rights reserved. Partial or complete reproduction of any advertisement, news, article or feature, copy or photograph from TWTIsspecifically prohibited by federal statute, THIS WEEK IN TEXAS MAGAZINE Texas' Leading Gay & Lesbian Publication Since 1975 • Weekly Circulation: 20,000 ~ ~ ~ - PUBLISHER DALLAS OFFICE HOUSTON OFFICE 3300 Reagan Street ALAN GELLMAN 811 Westhelmer, Suite 111 Dallas, Texas 75219 EDITOR Houston, Texas 77006 Dallas Fax (214) 520-8948 RICHARD HEBERT Houston Fax (713) 527-8948 (214) 521-0622 COMPTROLLER (713) 527-9111 !-mall: [email protected]:! STEVEMILES E-mail: [email protected] ARTDEPARTMENTRichard Bang, Rick Smith, David Parnell CONTRIBUTINGWRITERSDonnie Angelle, Don Baker, Elizabeth Birch, Robert Bois, Mark Deaton, Chris Gray, Phil Johnson, Gary Laird, C. Lichtenstein, Steven Lindsey, Jimmy Smith, Cody Young STAFFPHOTOGRAPHERSJohn Bartiromo, Roy James, Robert Miller, Shawn Northcutt, Jerry Stevens, Tlo. Albert Tovar NATIONAL SALESDIRECTOR. Steve Miles. (214)521-0622 • FAX 520-TWIT Advertising rates are available on request from the salesperson In your nearest city. Austln- James Frank (512) 441-9452 - Houston / Galveston - Steve Nally (713) 527-9111 All other Texas cltles- Steve Miles (214) 521-0622 CLASSIFIEDADVERTISING • Dallas-Chase Gutierrez. Houston-Brian Keever I TWT© 1997 Texas Weekly Times Newspaper Company I SHANE RUFF,PRESIDENT/ CEO I DIRECTOR ROY KLAUSI CO-DIRECTOR • c:: ~ zg ~ 8z;~ •••• a:8 .... zcoR i J:;.I~ •••6 • uun- .•••...." REVIEWED BY GARY LAIRD OU know how sometimes you have Q ,Q Y experiences that seem, on the surface, Q to be similar, but when you think about ...:l them, they aren't? Well, gentle readers, that's what happened to me last weekend. I went to see a play on Friday night, and another one Saturday evening. And that is where the similarity ends. The two works friends, then lovers. Hellman suffered nei- have virtually nothing in common, and yet ther friends nor lovers gladly, and the rela- each is ultimately very satisfying in its own tionship was rocky from the start. way. On Friday I went to see Cakewalk at Theater LaB Houston. Cakewalk is about the last years in the life of Lillian Hellman, one of our premier twentieth-century play- wrights (The Children's Hour, The Little Foxes). It was written by Peter Feibleman, a lover of Hellman's who was 20 years her junior and who remained with her, more or less, until her death in 1984. Cakewalk is about the "more" and the "less." Hellman's life was never a cakewalk. Famous, or infamous, for saying exactly what she thought, Hellman charged through one cri- sis after another. She was born of Jewish parents in New Orleans in 1905, and at 20 she married the playwright Arthur Kober. Seven years later, she divorced him and began a long relationship with the writer Dashiell Hammett, who was probably the one great love of her life, but not the only one. During this period, the political witch hunts conducted by Sen. Joseph Mc- Sylvia Froman is the playwright Lillian Hellman and Mark J. Carthy raged in Hollywood, and Hellman Roberts is her young lover in Theater LaB Houston's pro- was accused, subpoenaed and black- duction 01Cakewalk. listed. She was perfectly willing to discuss her own activities, but refused to name This is the premise of Cakewalk, which names. It was against her principles, she is told by Feibleman from his point of view. said, and she closed with her famous re- The writing is sharp, contemporary and mark, "I will not cut my conscience to fit brutally honest. It's also bitingly funny, pep- this year's fashions." pered liberally with Hellman's to-the-point Hellman first met Feibleman when he zingers. This is the story of a love-hate was a child of ten, the son of friends. When romance, and Sylvia Froman as Lilly and he was 28, having written a successful Mark J. Roberts as Cuff (Hellman's pet novel, they met again, and became first name for Feibleman) give us both the PAGE 14 TWT NOVEMBER 21 - NOVEMBER 271997 upfront conflicts and the nuance~. of affec- principally men - and Joel Stark and tion that made up such a pairing. The Todd Greenfield are perfect boyfriend effect of these two on stage is stunning types. Their entrances always get a gig- and exhilarating. Christian DeVries directs gle, and Greenfield is particularly charm- with a deft hand, and the production is top- ing as the hapless Nat. notch. Kim Sevier, playing several support- Directed by Steve Garfinkel, Good ing characters, contributes ably. Housekeeping is a gentle comedy that Now for the other experience. On Satur- entertains. There's nothing cutting-edge day I attended Main Street Theater's here, although if you look really hard you production of William McCleery's Good may see the faint stirrings of women's lib- Housekeeping. This gentle family comedy eration. But really, it's a snapshot in a fam- was first produced in 1949, and is pre- ily album. It's fun to look at and it makes sented by Main Street in period. The years you feel good. immediately following WWII in America were a strange and unsettled time, blurred somewhat by nostalgia. This was the pe- riod that gave us film noir, the Cold War and the House Un-American Activities Committee. It was a period of transition, and although we now look back on the time with a "good old days" sigh, things were not always what they seemed. Actually, they never are. Good Housekeeping is the story of an American family, headed by father and uni- versity president Charles Burnett, played by Kent Johnson. His quiet life is disturbed by his wife Marian, portrayed by Theo Lane Moffet, and his teenage daughters, Christine and Katy, played by Stefanie Paige Friedman and Sara Macaluso, re- spectively. Marian is the central character, and while she is still drawn as the "help- mate," she has a touch of Lucy in her. The girls are grown, a maid runs the house and Marian has nothing to do. Instead of set- tling for a quiet decline into her twilight years, she searches for something to do to make a contribution, lighting upon the idea Stefanle Paige Friedman (too], Thea Lane Moffet {bottom, of running Charles for governor. She is IJ and Kent Johnson are Christine, Marian and Charles aided in this by Christine's fiance Eddie, a Burnett in Main Street Theater's production of William cub newspaper reporter, and daughter McCleery's Good Housekeeping. Katy's shutterbug boyfriend Nat. Good So there you have it - two very differ- Housekeeping is a series of comic devel- ent pieces of theatre. It all depends on opments in the style of what used to be what you're in the mood for. If you want a called "drawing room." good stiff shot of tequila, go see Cake- The ensemble makes it work. Moffet walk. If you're in a mellower mood, go for runs the show, a combination of Lucille Ovaltine and Good Housekeeping. Either Ball and Billie Burke, as she dithers and way, you won't be disappointed. And then, dabbles her way through a predicament of of course, you can always do what I did. her own making. As the long-suffering Go see them both. Theatre is diversity. Charles, Johnson blusters lovingly as Father-knows-best. Melinda deKay is a de- Cakewalk runs through Dec. 13 at Thea- light as Mrs. Benson, the maid, whose only ter LaB Houston, 1706 Alamo. Call (713) requirement is total domination. (Marian is 868-7516 for tickets and more information. always adjusting something. She has even Good Housekeeping runs through Dec. gone so far as to make her own bed.) 14 at Main Street Theater's location at Friedman and Macaluso make good as the 2540 Times Blvd. Call (713)524-6706 for daughters with troubles of their own - tickets and more information.

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