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Sunday, June 23rd, 2-7 pm A DALLAS TAVERN GUILD EVENT CARNIVAL la.lf., ifI·]: f1·];1 =J" :[4 :111.)"" =Jf., =J;':I it it;J GAMES • FOOD • FREE BEER A DALLAS TAVERN GUILD RAFFLE Color TVNCR Combination DRAWING WILL BE HELD AT 6:30 ON SUNDAY, JUNE 23. PRESENCE NOT REQUIRED WITH COMPLETED TICKET STUB. PROCEEDS BENEFIT THE ALAN ROSS TEXAS FREEDOM PARADE ON SEPTEMBER 29,1996. TICKETS AVAILABLE AT ALL DTG BARS AND AT THE CARNIVAL ENTRANCE. lJJ3JJJJ~lL~~J3 4117 MAPLE AVE. DALLAS BENEFITING THE 1996 ALAN ROSS TEXAS FREEDOM PARADE PAGE 6 CONTENTS VOLUME 22, NUMBER 15 JUNE 14-20, 1996 12 THEATRE Nicky Silver's The Food Chain at the Alley in Houston Reviewed by Gary Laird 16 ON OUR COVER Razzle Dazzle Dallas Street Party This Weekend 28 FRESHBEATS Tori Amos, Nicole and Francis Dunnery by Jimmy Smith 37 CURRENT EVENTS 47 BACKSTAGE San Antonio's Josephine Theatre Presents Just Dancing in Harlem 49 HISTORY Dallas' Oak Lawn: The Gay Part of Town, Part 1 by Phil Johnson 55 STARSCOPE The Mercury/Mars Conjunction Shakes Up the Zodiac 67 SPORTS MSL's "Jocks 'n' Dresses" Revue Brings in over $1,800 for Charities 68 TEXAS NEWS Lesbian/Gay Pride '96 Kicks off in Houston 73 TEXAS TEA Miss Gay Texas USofA at Large Tonight at Rich's in Houston 82 CLASSIFIEDS 92 OBITUARIES 95 GUIDE TWT(This Week in Texas) is published by Texas Weekly Times Newspaper Co.. at 3300 Reagan Street In Dallas, Texas 75219 and 811 Westhelmer In Houston, Texas 770CJ6.Opinions expressed by columnists are not necessarily those of TWTor 01 its staff. Publication of the name or photograph of any person or organization in articles or advertising In TWTIsnot to be construed as any indication of the sex- ual orientation of said person or organization. Subscription rates: 579 per year, S40 per half year. Back Issues available at 52 each. Payment must accompany all orders. Copyright © 1996 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 ALAN GELLMAN HOUSTON OFFICE 3300 Reagan Street EDITOR 811 Westheimer, Suite III Dallas, Texas 75219 RICHARD HEBERT Houston. Texas 77006 Dallas Fax (214) 520-TWIT COMPTROLLER Houston Fax (713) 527-8948 (214) 521-0622 STEVEMILES (713) 527-9111 ART DIRECTORRichard Bang • GRAPHIC ARTISTSSteve Pardue. B.J.Smith CONTRIBUTINGWRITERSDon Baker. Chris Gray. Aaron Howard, Phil Johnson, Gary Laird, C. Lichtenstein. Susan McDonald. Jimmy Smith. Bruce Williams STAFFPHOTOGRAPHERSDavid Brown. James Franklin:Robert Miller, Ilo. 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. Austin - Bruce Williams (512) 473-7180 • Dallas / Fori Worlh - Steve Miles (214) 521-0622 Houston / Galveston - Steve Nally (713) 527-9111 • San Antonio / Corpus Christi - Mack Anthony (210) 754-5837 CLASSIFIEDADVERTISING • Dallas Chris Gray. Houston Brian Keever/David Parnell I i TWT© 1996 Texas Weekly Times Newspaper Company SHANE RUFFPRE, SIDENT/ CEO / DIRECTOR ROY KLAUS/ CO-DIRECTOR Represented Nationally by Rivendell Marketing, Inc. ..••.• IIOOD ..•~ ..~ A~ ~~ do, but instantly think better of it. "You have no idea who I am, have you?" It was more a statement than a question. He told us. REVIEWED BY GARY LAIRD We were off. hen the Alley called with the news The Other Scribe present, my fellow-·' W that Nicky Silver was in Houston and traveler on this ride, seemed bent on a available for an interview, my first response straight - pardon the expression - inter- was, "Who the hell is Nicky Silver?," but I view, and proceeded to tread fearlessly. kept that to myself. Instead, I appeared at "Why do you write plays?" the appointed hour, freshly scrubbed and "Because someone told me that if I wrote notepad in hand. "We don't know where he plays, young actors would sleep with me. is," reported the vaguely flustered PR rep. Especially if I wrote parts for young blond "He's running amuck somewhere in the Swedish boys - Hans Brinker types." theatre, but we can't keep up with him. {Sighs} "But it hasn't happened." He's been here since 9 a.m., and I'm "What is your play about?" exhausted." "Sex, food and obsession." It was now 11. We were escorted up to "Is it autobiographical?" Artistic Director Gregory Boyd's office, and "God, no. But the characters are rooted in a trace was put out for Mr. Silver, who my own perversions." {Aside to this review- arrived minutes later, somewhat out of er} "That'll sell some tickets." breath. He is the kind of person who, when "But surely you write from your own _., he enters a room, immediately uses up all experience." the oxygen. He's dressed in a dark three- "Not really. For one thing, the characters in piece suit and tie, in Houston, in May, and this play have sex, and I don't. I've been appears not to be aware of any incongruity. celibate since the age of 21. That's 13 or "Who minds if I smoke?," he begins, light- 14 years." ing up almost simultaneously with the [Probing, sensing a Big Dealj"And why question. I flirt with the idea of saying that I is that? What are you afraid of?" "Not what you think. Not that at all. Actually, it's more a fear of getting undressed than anything. I lost my virginity at Studio 54 at the age of 17. The play is about a relation- ship of one week's duration, which is seven days longer than any of mine." [Treading waterj"So what is the central message of The Food Chain?" "I'm not sure there is one. I wrote it to amuse myself. I write plays to find the answer, not to know the answer." It was about here that I began to lose the thread. My colleague continued gamely for some minutes, rather rashly touching on the subject of critics. Mr. Silver's outlook: "I don't take hostility grace- fully." I made a mental note. The Food Chain, currently held over at the Alley's Arena theatre through June 23, is an 80-minute, no-intermission, no-quar- [L-r] Ford (Gregory C. Watt), Amanda (Melissa Bowen), t~r comedy that will have you humming the Serge (Joe Kirkendall) and Otto (Jeffrey Bean, on the floor) lines as you leave the theatre. From the are al/ part of Nicky Silver's wild farce The Food Chain. first minute a character steps onto the stage - all of them are poster children fo neurosis - the theatre rocks. The man agement should have provided seat belts Unless you've been in a cave for the las three weeks, you probably know th premise: Amanda (Melissa Bowen), a poe by profession, frantically calls a crisis ho line in search of her filmmaker husband of1 three weeks, who's been missing for two. Amanda carries within her the angst of her entire sex - according to her, the single most crippling blow dealt to women was the invention of the handbag. She is coun- seled by Bea (Marjorie Carroll), the Jewish mother, who after "a grueling six-hour training session" is stoically providing a safety net to New York's emotionally needy. Switch to the apartment of Serge (Joe Kirkendall), the runway model ex-lover of Otto (Jeffrey Bean), and the current lover of Ford (Gregory C. Watt), the runaway husband of Amanda - are you still there? - and the plot thickens. Actually, the plot -- hemorrhages. The playwright was being somewhat disingenuous in his interview. The charac- ters are not merely rooted in his perver- sions - they are his perversions. The dia- ••• logue is virtually nonstop, line piled upon line, until the audience almost longs for-- relief, but there is none. The Food Chain is a virtuoso display of comedic talent, and requires a cast of actors that can stand up -- to it. And this production doesn't let you down. Jeffrey Bean, considerably heavier, is quite simply superb. The stamina alone required for this role would stop a lesser actor; Bean thrives on it. Melissa Bowen delivers Amanda's lines as though they were occurring to her as she speaks, and Marjorie Carroll is Bea. Joe Kirkendall's runway model Serge (He's not good-look- ing enough for print work) is a blank can- vas upon which Kirkendall paints with broad, blank strokes. He is frighteningly convincing as a blond. Which leaves us with Ford. The playwright comments that the part could quite easily "be played by a bookend." Gregory C. Watt gives us more by doing less. Gregory Boyd's direction was seamless, and he deserves an additional vote of thanks for bringing The Food Chain to brighten up our summer. The Food Chain is playing at the Alley's Neuhaus Arena through June 23. For more information, call (713)228-8421. ••• Razzle Dazzle Dallas' 1996 street party, Out in the Street, is scheduled for this Saturday night. Last year's event was such a success that the organization is once again "taking it to the streets," with the fun starting at 9 p.m. on a closed-off Cedar Springs in the 3900 and 4000 blocks. The crowd is expected to number over 10,000 revelers. Tickets are on sale at the ROD booth in front of Crossroads Market on Cedar Springs and Throckmorton, and they can also be purchased at the gate the night of the party.

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