www.ExpressGayNews.com • May 6, 2002 Q1

CYMK By Ian Drew that I’m a woman. My character is not even a “My act is basically sketch comedy. I upstate farm as some of the It’s Mother’s Day at the Voodoo Lounge, woman—she is a drag queen. Everybody’s always try to do something different so they happiest days of his life. He spent much of and the joint looks tamer than usual. different, and I give respect to people who wonder what I’m going to do next,” says the that time developing his talents in the arts, The Fort Lauderdale nightspot is want to be a woman and don’t like to be called diva. “As far as emceeing, I was awful when especially drama. usually packed to the rafters every Sunday drag queens. But that’s not me.” I first started. It took awhile to get the hang After graduation, Kenny returned to night for its popular drag revue, hosted by of it, but now it’s like going to group therapy. South Florida to be closer to his mother. one Daisy Deadpetals. The One and Only Daisy D. I get out all of my frustrations and laugh While working in a retail job at the Crowds usually break down the door to Daisy Deadpetals is not just any drag about them.” Sawgrass Mills Mall, he met a man who get in, but it is less than an hour before queen. started teaching him dance in a private showtime and the space is at only half the Besides her constant media presence in studio. That led to an audition for Miami’s usual capacity. magazines, television commercials and radio “This is just my job, prestigious New World School of the Arts, Slowly, though, it starts filling up as a ads, Daisy has established her name and and while it’s not a where he was quickly accepted to begin magnetic figure hurries through the status with an alarmingly innovative studying dance full-time. developing throng. It is not Daisy herself, repertoire that is seen at such local hotspots problem for me Kenny didn’t stay focused on school but it is someone with the same immediate as Kashmir, Coliseum, Ozone and the for long, though. He dropped out when a rush of intense charisma. Boardwalk. juggling Daisy and few experimental nights-on-the-town as It is only as the figure gets closer that Mixing together sounds and styles from Daisy, whom he named after a rare Tori Amos the outlined face of Daisy appears, tucked a wild cacophony of retro and current cultural myself, it is a problem B-side, started paying off. underneath a blue baseball hat. The man influences, she blends it together nightly in Kenny has worked full-time as Daisy for behind the makeup speaks quickly, introduces her rarely repeated conceptualized pieces. for other people” almost a decade. He sees Daisy as an ultimate himself as Kenny and hurries me back into a This is true performance art, and while Kenny career and a natural outlet for his endless dressing room. is just a boy masquerading as a drag queen Searching for a Real Love creativity. Kenny is beating the clock to transform “I spend all week getting ready and to make a dollar, Daisy is a talented artist Back in the dressing room, the suitcase himself into his alter ego, but the differences preparing for each act that I do,” says Kenny. trading on image for self-expression. Kenny has in tow pops open and traces of between the two are obvious. While Daisy “With my job, I am a makeup artist, dancer, Over her performances, Deadpetals Daisy start to come together. On tonight’s has a reputation for being warm, gregarious stand-up comedian, fashion stylist and writer. speaks—and brilliantly, at that. Her acerbic menu is Daisy’s Mother’s Day salute, an act and witty, Kenny is all of that with a more I get to do it all, and I have ideas in my head wit and likeable persona set her apart from she has prepared with fellow Voodoo sister, apparent sensitivity and realness. for months. I constantly watch movies and the pack with her endlessly engaging stage Glitz Glamour. It is this duality that Kenny is constantly listen to music to see what I banter. As the emcee of Voodoo’s show, the The piece is a twisted fighting to reinforce. can use. I am always trying to crowd hangs on her every word. version of Mommie Dearest, “Kenny is a person trying to create make my show better and take Deadpetals defines her act and the mixing the infamous wire hanger things—that is me and my creativity,” he says. it to the next level.” hosting gig simply enough, staying true to scene from the flick with “Daisy is something I created, but it is not Daisy’s career is going her reputation for telling it like it is. Deadpetals’ signature mélange of even higher now as her budding pop music excerpts to intensify acting career is starting to and outright morph the original explode. She just finished drama into her own warped shooting a new movie called fantasy. Hittin’ It, and she hopes to In reality, Kenny has a good eventually bust into the world relationship with his own mother, of stand-up comedy. who lives in West Palm Beach. Mom often helps him out with ideas for his shows, and he has More Than plans to celebrate the holiday with Mascara her the following night. After the swirl Most of the relationships in of getting ready is over, Kenny’s life have to work around Daisy is glued together and his high-profile job. While his gets in some last minute mother accepts both him and Kenny at age 6 rehearsal time before taking Daisy now, it has been harder to the stage. pull that unconditional love into other Once onstage, Deadpetals wins over relationships. the crowd again, coming off with as much “People can’t get past the fact that I do theatrical bravado as her idols Madonna, drag,” says Kenny. “A lot of people hear it Carol Burnett and Tracey Ullman. and stop right there. If I am going to date Throughout the night, however, it is somebody, they don’t think of me as just a hard for Daisy to keep Kenny completely boy they could date. This is just my job, and hidden. Equal shades of counselor, friend while it’s not a problem for me juggling Daisy and confidante come through, whether it and myself, it is a problem for other people. A is Daisy jumping behind the bar to make lot of performers don’t separate it and don’t sure her friends have drinks or counseling feel the need to, but I want people to know and offering a place to stay to a distraught the real me. I don’t want to have relationships woman who has an altercation with her unless they are real relationships.” husband. At one point, Kenny even appears Not in Upstate with Daisy on stage. In order to keep the New York Anymore show moving during a technical glitch, Kenny Calabria, the man who would one Deadpetals jumps onstage without her wig day rise up as Daisy, was born in Syracuse, to work the crowd until the number is ready. New York. Kenny’s golden blonde locks are seen by Though he lived for a short time in South all, but she doesn’t miss a beat. Florida during his childhood, he remembers It is a long way from the farm, but it is Daisy Deadpetals works the crowd at Voodoo Lounge his high school years growing up on a serene clear that Daisy Deadpetals is home. Q2 www.ExpressGayNews.com • May 6, 2002

CYMK Em refused to take responsibility for his its release and gave the gay rights movement cemented her status as the ultimate gay Music has always had a leg up on other anti-gay licks, throwing it to the fact that he a boost it most needed before AIDS. diva. art forms by being a unisensory experience. used the other F-word in a context that was Ross admits that the song was an homage The centerpiece of the concept , Film, theater, television and other artistic already defined by society at large. to her gay fans, and other album tracks also the pumping instant classic “Vogue,” and entertainment mediums confine us by The protests culminated around the hip- became eternal gay dance club staples and captured underground gay subculture and demanding more than one of our senses and hop homophobe’s duet with Elton John at drag queen lip sync favorites, including its most beloved screen icons in one our undivided attention while we are the 43 Annual Grammy Awards where, “Upside Down” and “My Old Piano.” glamorous exhale. engaged. despite the uproar, he walked away with all The songs would become even more The rest of the ditties served as a Meanwhile, music only takes up one, of the major rap trophies. culturally significant when they were sampled stylized salute to all things gays have thus allowing itself to be ingrained in our in numerous hip-hop hits 20 years later. stereotypically worshipped: glamour, consciousness as the soundtrack to both revenge, excess, camp and even spanking. other art forms and our everyday lives. While Madonna was always a gay Music underscores, accompanies and favorite, I’m Breathless gave shade with accents every living action and reaction that full-throttle excess and torch song styles we press ‘play’ to. Through this, its power has that appeased banji boys and theater become indelibly woven into the of our queens alike. history. It has bonded us together and caused us to separate while always engaging us in life on a deeper level. Throughout gay history, music has given The Village People rise to the greatest divas and heroes, voiced The Very Best of the Village People Melissa Etheridge both loud and unspoken outcries for emotional 3This collection features all the standard Yes I Am and social recognition, and represented the songs from the group that made gay culture 6The title said it all. most telling expressions of love, celebration, a hit by blatantly rubbing it in everybody’s On her fourth release, Etheridge came remorse and release. face. out of the closet and made the boldest artistic Whether the sounds and words have The group was originally assembled by statement of her career. The album was a been produced from within or simply resonated a French to pander directly strong declaration of her independence, both in gay hearts, a select group of have to gay disco fans. To everyone’s as a lesbian and a woman in love, and its Rufus Wainwright been the most significant soundtracks to the astonishment, straight America rabidly sheer force astounded audiences. Rufus Wainwright American homosexual experience. While the embraced the explicitly gay presentation and Etheridge stayed firmly tied to her rock 9The openly gay son of Loudon diversity of taste is as vast as music allows, lyrics, turning the Leatherman and company roots while producing such radio hits as “I’m Wainwright III set a precedent when he these 10 albums have articulated and into the most enduring act of the disco era. the Only One” and “Come to My Window,” released his debut album in 1998. challenged the widest cross-section of feelings, They still haven’t gotten the joke. Nearly worshipped by both frat boys and For the first time, an artist’s declared longings and needs, often more clearly than 25 years after the Village People were created, housewives. homosexuality was no big deal and, even could be expressed any other way. straight folks continue to rally around the While folksy strummers like Ani better, it didn’t overshadow his artistic hedonism of “YMCA,” “Macho Man,” “Fire DeFranco and the Indigo Girls gloriously credibility from the outset. Island” and “San Francisco” without brought the ladies together in their concert Wainwright was named Rolling knowing it at football games, weddings and experiences, this is female power on record Stone’s Best New Artist of the Year, and bar mitzvahs. at its strongest and most breathtaking. the self-titled album received unanimous praise from critics and music aficionados. Besides all of that, Rufus Wainwright was an extraordinary piece of musicianship, mixing vaudevillian Judy Garland instrumentation and lyrics based on a failed love affair with an ex-boyfriend. Judy1 at Carnegie Hall For Generation X and Y gays, it Back in the day, Garland concerts were hosted the renderings of a new generation, the closest thing the world had to gay pride George Michael putting forth a needed voice of their own. celebrations. Gay men gathered at the events Older Elton John en masse to listen to their own loneliness Before he was outed in a bathroom sex Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and heartache reflected in Garland’s scandal,4 Michael released an album filled with When this double album was released stumbling shtick and vibrato. 7 the most poignant, yet understated in 1973, gay life had never been presented so This album, recorded live in 1961, representations of gay life ever recorded. forthrightly in American popular music. perfectly captures the experience, and her After the first listen, you knew it all even if Besides John’s under-the-boa conspirators can be heard urging her on he wouldn’t come right out and say it. appearance on the cover and the title nod to through such interpretations of their The throbbing “Fast Love” was an Garland, “All the Young Girls Love Alice” experience as The “Man That Got Away” and astute lyrical depiction of every gay displayed a frank account of a small-town the definitive “Over the Rainbow.” bachelor’s night on the town, while other lesbian’s troubled ways. Meanwhile, “Candle It became Garland’s best-selling record songs found the pop star opening up his in the Wind” emotionally set the iconography Barbra Streisand and the essential LP in every gay man’s veins about the loss of his lover from AIDS. of Marilyn Monroe to music, echoing the Funny Girl: Original Motion Picture record collection. Just eight years later, Older posts up one gay man’s journey feelings of little gay boys in the twenty- Soundtrack Garland’s death would be the catalyst for the to overcome the plights shared by so many. second row everywhere. 10Madonna aside, no diva has ever been explosion of the gay rights movement. If Michael’s post-closet work can remain this Although it would be a matter of years as obsessively hero-worshipped as La compelling, he will have proven so much before John would officially declare his own Streisand. more. homosexuality, the music and imagery on Although the soundtrack to the Road made it the gay version of Songs in the Broadway show of the same name Key of Life. spawned equivocal ripples, this collection offered the better produced versions of tunes from the film that captured gay hearts everywhere. Streisand’s voice was at its most clarion, and the lyrics sparked more gay Eminem quips and one-liners than all of Bette The 2Marshall Mathers LP Davis’s movies put together. The real Slim Shady was a little too Diana Ross “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” “My lyrically abrasive for some on his successful diana Madonna Man” and the undying “People,” all culled sophomore release. Gay activists and their Widely hailed as her best solo album to I’m Breathless (Music From and Inspired from the Ugly Duckling storyline, supporters blasted the album’s blatantly date,5 this 1980 opus officially transmitted by the Film Dick Tracy) represented the complexes and underdog homophobic lyrics, which were part of 8 Ross as a gay icon. Though fans often consider it situations of gay people just before numerous sound bites of the white rapper diana gave birth to “I’m Coming Out,” Madonna’s worst album and a staple of Stonewall exploded and their own voices biting hard into anyone who had pissed him which became the gay national anthem upon bargain bins everywhere, this camp gem were set free. off. www.ExpressGayNews.com • May 6, 2002 Q3

CYMK Pumping It Up with By Ian Drew Maximum Volume New Album Releases Lauryn Hill Unplugged 2.0 (Columbia) 18 (V2) I recall the day when I knew that the revolution What techno music always needed was a little would certainly not be televised. true soul. As a young record industry upstart in 1998, I Moby figured this out on his last effort, Play, sat in a Sony Music conference room one day when mixing his honed brand of beats with sampled the sounds of Lauryn Hill’s “Every Ghetto, Every blues tunes to give the form the startlingly City” blared out of an A&R man’s adjacent office. From that moment on, I knew music would be forever emotional element that it had always lacked. changed. The experimental mixer capitalizes on the The solo Fugee’s debut effort, The Miseducation success of that formula with his latest effort, 18. of Lauryn Hill, would go on to become the most The album again finds Moby sampling important album of the last twenty years. Now, she wailing tracks of black singers over ethereal beats, adding in some sparse instrumental has just released the most important album of the next twenty. numbers and quite a few with the bald vegetarian himself speaking the bars. “Fantasy is what people want, but reality is what they need,” advises Hill at the He also uses the album’s liner notes to again rattle off the beliefs he holds most beginning of her long awaited second effort. “And I have just retired from the fantasy part.” dear, from veganism to divine spirituality to how he mixed this album (like the last The singer then spends the next two CDs shedding glorious light on where she has been, one) all by himself in his home studio. and proving that her kind of reality is exactly what we both want and need. Just as she flipped the music world on its ass with her explosive melange of rap, reggae, The most affecting tracks are still the ones where he maintains the Play momentum rock and soul on Miseducation, the heavyweight now returns with a powerful indication of of using soulful voices to move the songs into heart rendering territory. The wailing where music is going again. of Jennifer Price on “In This World” and Dianne McCaulley on “One of these Folk message music seems to be the recipe that current events are setting the stage for, Mornings” intensify the effect with a massive gospel injection, while the neo-soul but Hill does not forsake her mentor Bob Marley or her hip-hop roots to go completely Bob swing of Angie Stone and MC Lyte serve as a nod to old school hip-hop collaborations Dylan on us. in “Jam for the Ladies.” This live set was recorded last summer before 9/11 (and was never shown on MTV due Moby has perhaps proven here that he has mastered the age-old adage that to a contractual mess-up), but the messages seem even more vital now lest we forget. Every only works occasionally in producing hit-making music: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. song on the collection is a complex and beautiful outpouring of Hill’s mind, heart and soul, He sticks with his award-winning formula another time around to keep the same brew treading on waters that her contemporaries are too afraid to swim through and taking us deeper than she has ever gone before. simmering at a rising level. Every second of the album is filled with so much profundity that it is impossible to single out any one song. One summarizing anthem, though, is “Gotta Have Peace of Mind.” In a world filled to the brim with love songs, this track spills over with a tear-inducing Various Artists account of the memories and remaining hopes for a fallen relationship. At the end, Hill breaks Now That’s What I Call Music! 9 down in tears thanking God just for the experience. (Universal/EMI Group/Zomba/Sony) The disc is full of technical reality, as well, with Hill missing chords, endlessly preaching The latest hit parade in this series of pop her new gospel between songs, flubbing words and apologizing for her breaking voice while music collections starts out with an untraditional she strums it all away on her acoustic guitar. “It’s okay though,” she keeps reminding us. remix, an indication of what’s to follow. The “It’s reality.” massive success of these sets cannot be I would like to say that this album isn’t for the weak of heart because of its near cryptic underplayed, and the songs are usually anything content, but that is exactly who could learn the most from it. but, but the latest version features some not-so- Prince once said that Hill is the only artist who came into the music industry and stayed there exactly as the person she always was. Hill is quick to dispute that on Unplugged, subtle changes to the typical radio playlist. saying that we never really knew the real her, but it only leaves us feeling that we just have While the generic versions of such FM to know more. fodder as Britney Spears’s “I’m A Slave 4 U,” Mary J. Blige’s “Family Affair” and Shakira’s “Whenever, Wherever” are rightly included, the album skips out of the starting gate with a retro take on Pink’s “Get the Party Started.” Instead of the familiar party anthem, this remix includes a guest rap from Redman and a backing beat based on the Eurythmics’s “Sweet Dreams.” Other surprises come in the rock picks that close the album, mostly because the songs were never really mainstream hits. Although Incubus’s “Wish You Were Here” stomped on speakers everywhere, since when did Adema’s “Giving In” and Aerosmith’s half-baked attempt at coming back to rap in “Just Push Play” rattle any doors? As usual, this product is a gross conglomerate of the corporate machine, which is why the less notable work of major artists like The Backstreet Boys and U2 made it in. Still, the collection mirrors the current swingback in music, which is to say that different genres can exist happily together under one roof. One just hopes that the demagogues can be a little more discriminating when defining what makes a hit in the future.

DJ Escape ultimate afterhours with dj escape Volume 2 (Groovelicious) This album sticks to the title, bringing forth what could be the perfect afterhours experience on record. 24-year-old New York DJ Escape has become a rising star in the international gay party scene, and he shows here that he knows how to keep the boys frolicking into the wee hours. On this follow-up release, he steers an early morning’s worth of music through a variety of syncopations and tempos under a deep tribal tent. The disc opens with Andrea Brown’s simmering take on Jill Scott’s neo-soul gem “It’s Love (Trippin),” but it then speeds itself into the album’s highlight, iio’s “Rapture.” Several recognizable singles are mixed into his rotating ease-on-down-the-road vibe, including Kim English’s “Everyday,” whose lyrics reflect the more message- filled direction dance music has taken as of late. The album speeds up to a rapid pace with DJ Disciple’s “Caught Up” featuring Mia Cox before dropping the partiers off at the door with the eighties-accented “Flawless” by The Ones. This is the perfect soundtrack to any end of the night - or beginning of the next day - depending on how you hear it. www.expressgaynews.com

Q4 www.ExpressGayNews.com • May 6, 2002

CYMK In Review West End Boys The Spirit of is Pet Shop Boys Glide Through Miami Beach Alive and Well in Wilton By Ian Drew Original New York Cast Pays Tribute in Our Sinatra Old-school fave The Pet Shop Boys Review By Mary Damiano James doesn’t look like he could do justice to Ol’ seamlessly rocked the house at their recent If you’re not already a Frankie fan, Our Man River, but he nails it. concert in Miami Beach. Sinatra can turn you into one. The songs themselves are interspersed with The boys set up shop at the Jackie The show, playing at the 26th Street Theatre the cast member’s own stories and memories of Gleason Theater on May 14 to bring out their through June 23, is an elegant tribute to Old Blue Sinatra, and what he’s meant to them personally perfectly executed bag of tricks, leaning Eyes. The original New York cast covers 65 of the and how he influenced their careers. Wells talks heavily on the classics that have kept them legend’s legendary songs and do each number about how her parents used Sinatra records to comfortably under the mainstream spotlight with panache. lull her to sleep. Hotsford speaks of avoiding since 1986. While 65 songs barely scratches the surface Sinatra songs early in his career so people would It was a sold-out group of the gaygeoisie of Sinatra’s career, many favorites are here: “Come judge him by that standard. And James tells how and straight tastemakers when the boys took Rain or Come Shine,” “All the Way,” “In the Wee Tina Sinatra hand-picked him to star in a Canadian the stage under minimal stage décor and Small Hours of the Morning,” “Nice ’n Easy,” production of Sinatra...Remembered. strong backlighting, putting the focus more “Where or When” and “One For My Baby.” In the second act, a piano bar is the setting on the music and less on band members Neil Every detail oozes class. The set is simple— for a collection of songs about lost love and Tennant and Chris Lowe and their backup a plain stage with a stepped riser and a grand loneliness The cast also joins together in a playful musicians. piano. Large framed, lighted photographs of medley, in which they cover 32 songs in 15 Tennants voice was in perfect form, and Sinatra in different stages of his career hang behind minutes. the band didn’t miss a beat as it easily brought the performers. The acoustics are clear and Our Sinatra is all about the singer and the the crowd through their signature brand of showcase the singers’ rich voices. The costumes song, just like Sinatra’s own career was, and it’s British synth-pop in its many phases. Mixed into a romping beat. are sleek and classic. The lighting bathes the hard to resist such wonderful songs and such throughout was material off of their new album, A brilliantly humorous moment came with backdrop in different colors to complement each fabulous performers. Old Blue Eyes would be Release. another new track, “The Night I Fell in Love.” song, while keeping the spotlight always on the proud. The group started parading out their hits Tennant introduced the song by asking singer. Our Sinatra runs through June 23 at the from the first number with their new the audience to imagine him as a 17-year-old And what fabulous singers they are. Wayne 26th Street Theatre, in Wilton Manors. For tickets single,”Home and Dry.” Tennant casually rap fan as he suggestively grabbed his crotch. Hotsford, who also plays piano throughout the and more information, call 954-344-7765. strummed his guitar all the while, while Loew He then launched into the song, a hysterical show, is the type of guy who feels every note and huddled behind his synth tower throughout first-person narrative about a young male rap word he sings. Laurie Wells, the token girl singer the show. fan who has a secret tryst with rapping of the group, can belt with the best of them. Although all of their different periods were homophobe Eminem after a concert. Whether she’s wearing a sparkling evening gown present, the continuity in the boys long career Other standouts were their rippling hit or a black suit and fedora to salute Sinatra’s was apparent, as was the woeful pleading in “ Boy,” a version of U2’s “Where swinging bachelor phase, she’s lovely to look at the lyrics of such songs as “All I Want” and “I the Streets Have No Name,” “You Are Always and to listen to. Get Along.” On My Mind” and the monstrous eighties The real revelation is Adam James. He barely The latter, a romping, guitar-driven hit-in- smash “West End Girls.” looks old enough to be attending his senior prom, the-making from their new album, plays on Billie The show drew consistent cheers and yet he’s up on stage singing songs that were Holiday’s classic “I Get Along Without You applause from die-hard fans, and the band probably written before his parents were born. Very Well,” lifting the hook and throwing it proved it is one of the few that performs exactly like it does on record.

www.ExpressGayNews.com • May 6, 2002 Q5

CYMCKYMK Q Interview Pounding Nails in Our Heads Pioneering Cultural Force Eric Bogosian Talks about the State of American Theater and Ending His Touring Career in Fort Lauderdale By Ian Drew York City. His latest multi-character play, When one of the most protean Humpty Dumpty, is now playing there, and a commentators on the American cultural new play, Red Angel, will be produced there landscape announces that he is giving up this summer. touring, one might think it is just another He is also busy working on a new novel, statement. which will follow the success of his debut We have heard this before from over- book, Mall, and he co-stars in the upcoming touted rock bands and self-indulged divas, Atom Egoyan film, Aratat. but it is always a matter of time until they turn up again with the same act and higher Ian Drew: After shaking up the theater ticket prices. world over and over again for so long, why Eric Bogosian isn’t kidding, though, and, did you decide to give up on the road now? with typical candor, he says the public is just Eric Bogosian: It is a combination of going to just have to deal with it from now the road itself having too many difficulties on. and that touring interrupted my writing here The famed one-man-show-wonder is in New York. To be honest, though, the other wrapping up his solo performance touring part of it is that the audiences really aren’t career with two upcoming shows at the the same outside of New York. I like getting Broward Center for the Performing Arts on in front of an audience and really hooking up May 25. with them. There are always some people I South Florida is the last stop on his The have that feeling about on the road, but I Worst of Eric Bogosian tour, where the Obie think my material is different than what people award-winning actor and playwright outside of New York are used to partly unleashes some of the greatest monologues because theater itself is really skewed and characters from his solo performance towards an older, squarer demographic. There canon. is really only one kind of theater in the United Bogosian has amazed and offended States today and its pretty much for 60-year- audiences for years with his apposite and old suburbanites. Frankly, I would rather be biting commentaries on American life and its performing for people for whom the things I most subversive characters. He brought such talk about are more present in their lives. I compelling works as Talk Radio, Sex, Drugs, make material about things that I care about Rock & Roll and subUrbia to both stage and often what’s happening is I am in front and screen, and he has worked with every of an audience and it’s like some sort of notable provocateur from Woody Allen to archaeological dig. Some of the people in the Frank Zappa. audience relate, but the ticket prices are high Bogosian says that although he is giving and the whole subscription/suburban thing expressive stuff. Every movie or television and they don’t want that. It is a period we are up touring to concentrate more on writing, works against any kind of natural feel like script you see now is just a composite of the going through. We might be entering the mass he is not turning his back on theater in New you have in New York. It is not that I don’t corporate environment. That spreads out dark ages where ideas are suppressed to a level love performing. I have never gone into a gig over the whole world of the arts and affects where people just aren’t thinking straight and not made it the most important thing in Commonly* Held everything. Ultimately, I think it is because anymore. Democracy doesn’t work if people my life for those 90 minutes that I am on stage. Misconceptions About Eric the corporations are hand-in-hand with the are stupid and get all of their ideas from I just don’t get the right audiences anymore. Bogosian and His Work government in suppressing our ideas. television. ID: But hasn’t the theatrical climate 1) He is a comedian ID: And that dumbing down leads us to ID: Your work has documented much of even in New York changed so much that it is He is not a comedian. He never performed elect officials who aren’t operating in our the absurdity that has developed from this in comedy clubs, never did stand-up, did not hard to present challenging work? best interest. cultural turn. Do you think that your hang out with comedians. He likes comedians, EB: Yes. I can’t even go to see shows EB: Exactly. Today, this country feels critiquing of it has come back to bite you on though. that I want to see anymore because they are that it is much more important to spend the ass? 2) He is a performance artist too expensive. There are those people who untold billions of dollars on war and no EB: It has nothing to do with that. People He is not a performance artist. can afford it, but for those people it’s more of money at all on the arts. If we simply spent are crazier than ever. I am not as popular now Performance art is performance made by visual a dilettantish experience. They are people artists. He is a writer and actor who spent just a little bit of money on the arts, we because I am not in the mass media at all so with a lot of money who are endlessly looking time around the art scene and performed at would see a flourishing of all kinds of people are not familiar with what I do. I exist for entertainment. For me, the arts are not places like The Kitchen, known for theater and wonderful things. We almost solely in theater world at this point, entertainment. Entertainment is something performance art, but he is not a performance wouldn’t have to import theater from and it doesn’t have the set up to deliver an artist. where you sit back and it kind of happens, England where non-profit theaters support audience to me. If I did my stuff on Saturday 3) Talk Radio was originally an on-stage and art is something you have to be engaged the new writers and new points of view. It Night Live, than people would come and see solo with. You can feel a difference with an is the new points of view that our me from that, but that would also change Talk Radio was always a multi-character audience that comes and just pulls out their government doesn’t want to hear from. what it is. In the world of the arts now, some play. He wrote it and co-created it with the credit cards, buys expensive tickets, kicks Dissenting points of view will always rise up kind of massive contradiction is happening. artist Tad Savinar. back and says, “Okay, entertain me.” That is 4) Oliver Stone wrote the screenplay of from grassroots arts projects like real theater People are supporting very synthetic and why we have so many shows now that are the film, Talk Radio. mannered work, and I don’t have sort of like vaudeville. There is The screenplay was almost entirely any feeling for it. There may not be nothing wrong with them, but based on the play and some biographical any room for me in the expressive they are not really asking Bogosian at work information about Alan Berg, a talk show host world into the next decade. There in Denver who was murdered in 1984 by white anything of the audience. was clearly a time when I was a high supremacists. Bogosian wrote the screenplay ID: Do you think that flyer because very expressive work with help from Oliver Stone. theater still has a valid place in was being supported, but right now 5) Bogosian wrote solos before he wrote American life? that isn’t the case. I am not a plays. EB: There will always be Between 1977 and 1982, he wrote a craftsman. I am a guy that shoots theatre, but it will show up in dozen multi-character and ensemble from the hip. different forms. It might be performances and plays, including The New The Worst of Eric Bogosian will Marilyn Manson, but whatever World, Scenes from the New World, Sheer be performed for the last time at the it is, it has to be something live Heaven and Men in Dark Times. He began Broward Center for the Performing performing the solos because he was broke. with a live audience. I think Arts’ Amaturo Theater on May 25 at 7 6) Bogosian is related to other people theater now is part of the bigger and 10 pm. Ticket prices are $32, and with the same or similar last names. issue of the corporate invasion $20 for students and groups of 20 or Not generally. of our public thought process. more. For tickets, call the Broward 7) Bogosian is on drugs. Anything that is real art is a He takes a shot of Viagra before shows. Center’s AutoNation Box Office at dialogue that happens publicly Otherwise, he’s clean. 954.462.0222 or visit where people throw in how they *Not that common. We figure about .25 www.browardcenter.org. honestly feel about things. percent or one in four hundred Americans are For more information on the work When the corporations control aware of this truly underground Armenian- of Eric Bogosian, visit American phenomenon. all of our entertainment, those www.ericbogosian.com. Reprinted courtesy of ericbogosian.com forms are simply not the most

Q6 www.ExpressGayNews.com • May 6, 2002

CYMK DVDs in Review A Tasty Morsel Worth Biting Into Review by Mary Damiano Salmonberries is a film about finding your future through searching for the past. The movie stars k.d.lang as an Eskimo named Kotzebue, a young woman who was abandoned as a baby and left with only cryptic clues about the family she never knew. She seeks help in her search from the local librarian, an older, German widow, Roswitha. The two initially clash because of Kotzebue’s rough-hewn ways, but eventually befriend each other. They develop a connection and the intensely private Roswitha confides in Kotzebue about her husband and her life before she came to Alaska. As Kotzebue helps Roswitha face the past she can’t forget, Roswitha helps her new friend find the past she never knew. Salmonberries is a beautiful movie, in which the setting, the Alaskan wilderness plays a starring role. Everything seems to be a matter of life and death, even the Alaskan equivalent of getting stuck with car trouble. The pristine scenery also gives the film a mystical quality, as if the snow hides many secrets. There’s also plenty of sexual tension between Kotzebue and Roswitha, and the film keeps the audience in suspense about whether Roswitha give in to her young admirer’s subtle advances. Adding to the movie’s mood is a haunting love song, Barefoot, sung by k.d. It’s as easy to get lost in her voice as it is to disappear into the Alaskan tundra. One of the best things about Salmonberries is that it invites its audience inside a different culture. While the pacing is a bit slow, it’s appropriate for the tone of the film and the world in which it takes place. The film, which features k.d.’s film acting debut, was released in 1991, and Wolfe Video has just released a collector’s edition DVD. The DVD features some nifty bonus stuff, including a photo gallery, an interview with k.d. lang reminiscing about making the film, as well as her video of the theme song, Barefoot. Salmonberries is a deeply affecting film, the kind that stays with a viewer long after they’ve finished watching it. Defying Gravity Review by J. Canepa College years are supposed to be the best years of your life. You are independent, you party all night and you can have any girl on campus. For Pete Bradly (Don Handfield), he wants only one person, his best friend, John “Griff” Griffith (Daniel Chilson). Little does Pete know, Griff considers their midnight encounters just some harmless “fooling around.” Pete wants more time alone with Griff, away from his testosterone raging dorm buddies, and is upset Griff has to run home before morning so his frat brothers won’t be suspicious. After Pete admits his feelings to closet case Griff, they meet at a little gay coffee house to talk things through. After accusing Pete of trying to change him into something he’s not, Griff can’t take his sweaty palms any longer and the two go for a long walk, which leads to further arguing. Pete storms off into the dark alleys of a bad neighborhood. Griff is unsure of his friend’s safety as he watches Pete walk off, but ignores his instincts. Pete becomes a victim of a brutal gay-bash and Griff is overcome with guilt. When a detective is signed to the case, Griff has to lie in order not to rouse the suspicion of his other friend, Todd (Niklaus Lange), while Pete lie barely alive after the vicious hate crime. Griff aimlessly drifts about his day, struggling with accepting himself for who he is, while trying to keep it all a secret. Todd realized the call for help and has a heart to heart with Griff about his relationship with Pete. Much to Griff’s surprise and relief, Todd fully supports both his friends and, along with the advice of Pete’s father, Griff finally opens his eyes to the feelings he had been fighting to deny. In his first film appearance, Daniel Chilson is able to pull of acting both sides of the fence very well. He has his character going from straight to gay in less than six seconds. His nervousness may not be intentional, but at times, works wit his character. The score though, and over all look of the film, is reminiscent of an after school special, and there are times when you do want to pause for a commercial break. A teasing scene of the “real” relationship Griff and Pete have makes you want more. Not to actually see a torrid a sex scene, but to get an emotional attachment to the main characters. Pete is MIA for the bulk of the film, and Griff’s baby-face might have been the vehicle they used to keep the audience interested. And a potentially interesting friendship that could have existed between Griff and a black lesbian (Linna Carter) remains nothing more than an, “I’ll keep your secret if you keep mine” pact. Filmed on a tight budget, John Keitel’s Defying Gravity was able to deliver a strong message that would have been stronger, should we have gotten to spend more time with it’s focus characters. Chutney Popcorn Delivers Review by Mary Damiano Chutney Popcorn is a delightful movie about a lesbian who decides to become a surrogate mother for her sister, a decision that throws everyone in her life into a tizzy. The film was directed and co-written by Canadian filmmaker Nisha Ganatra, who also stars as Reena, a young New Yorker of Indian descent. Reena straddles two cultures, her mother’s ultra-traditional Indian background and her life with her girlfriend, Lisa. Everything in Reena’s life is divided along those lines, even her professional life. She is an aspiring photographer, but makes her living at a salon adorning clients with traditional mendi tattoos. When Reena discovers that her newly married sister cannot have children, she volunteers to be her surrogate. It takes a while for Lisa to get comfortable with the idea, but pretty soon she’s on board, turkey baster in hand. Things take an unexpected turn when Reena does get pregnant, and her sister decides she doesn’t want the baby. Jill Hennessey, the delicious star of TV’s Crossing Jordan, plays Lisa, a young woman who never expected to have an expectant mom as a girlfriend. Madhur Jaffrey is wonderful as Reena’s mother, a woman tied to tradition and trying to deal with her two modern daughters. One of the most interesting characters in Chutney Popcorn is Reena’s sister, Sarita, played by Sakina Jaffrey. Sarita resents the fact that her lesbian sister can have the baby she desperately wants, and grapples with figuring out what to do with her life if she can’t have children. Out of all the characters, Sarita undergoes the biggest change in the film. Chutney Popcorn is a beautifully made film, funny, insightful and very original. The characters are fully drawn real people, not cardboard caricatures. Usually a film is doing pretty good if the main character is allowed to grow and change; in Chutney Popcorn, all of the principle characters experience change and growth. Indian traditions are treated with respect and lovingly portrayed, but the idea of making space for a modern family within those traditions is also explored. This is also a sensuous film, and will probably make women want to run out and find someone to draw mendi on their bodies. Chutney Popcorn is a great opportunity to have a ‘girl’s night in’ movie party. And if you get the DVD, you’ll get some Indian recipes to feed your friends as you enjoy the film.

All titles available at www.WolfeVideo.com

www.ExpressGayNews.com • May 6, 2002 Q7

CYMK Heard It Through the Gayvine Queers, Quotes and Quips of Interest ‘Queer As Folk’ star Randy Harrison Hits the Stage Talk Soup Spills Out the Final Broth On his swift road to Talk Soup, E! Entertainment Television’s long-running celebrity, Randy Harrison hit that roasted clips of daily talk shows for over a decade, spent only the briefest time has lifted its final spoon. in the traditional The Emmy-winning show, which hilariously highlighted employment of actors spots from such TV talk shows as Jerry Springer, The Montel everywhere: waiting tables. Williams Show and Late Night with Conan O’Brien, has closed Fate apparently down production after its eleventh season, according to Mark Sonnenberg, E! Networks considered that insufficient. executive vice president of entertainment. These days, you can The show, which was last hosted by actress Aisha Tyler, was a launching pad for find Harrison, one of the straight actors that went on to play notable gay characters. stars of Showtime’s hit Original host Greg Kinnear launched the show in 1991, later leaving to pursue a series “Queer As Folk,” lucrative film career. One of his most notable roles was playing a gay character in the hit again clad in an apron and 1997 Jack Nicholson film, As Good as it Gets. The role earned him an Oscar nomination tie ferrying dishes out from for best supporting actor. the kitchen - albeit this time Under his reign, the show won an Emmy in 1995 for Outstanding Special Class on stage. Program, the first of four eventual nods. “It’s a little ironic,” the Also hosting the program for over a year was Queer as Folk star Hal Sparks, who 24-year-old acknowledges left the show to take the role of Michael on the groundbreaking Showtime series. over cappuccino and Several celebrity guest stars also hosted talk Soup over the years, including croissant. “I’m trying to do Roseanne, Ellen DeGeneres, Suzanne Somers, Tori Spelling and Andy Dick. my time as a struggling actor The cancellation comes at a time when the popularity of talk shows is on the wane. by playing a waiter.” Rosie O’Donnell and Sally Jessy Raphael bowed out of the race this season, and Oprah Harrison makes his Winfrey has announced she will leave her show in 2006. New York stage debut in “A Decent Exposure Letter From Ethel Kennedy,” Aussie underwear model Travis “the Anaconda” a touching Off-Broadway Fimmel has been cleared of demeaning the male of the play by Christopher Gorman species in his underwear campaign for Calvin Klein. about a dying playwright Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority had received reconciling with his parents. a complaint that the giant billboards promoting Calvin’s The play gives Harrison, who was raised and trained in the theater, a chance to tighty whities were indecent. But the Solomons, charged return to the stage following the success and controversy of his TV show, a sort of a with protecting British public morals ,ruled that the images gay “Sex and the City.” were within the bounds of taste and relevant to the product “It’s not like riding a bike,” Harrison says of the theater. “It’s amazing how quickly being advertised (penis pumps?). Perhaps the it all goes away. It’s a totally different kind of energy; it’s a totally different process.” complainants should have taken action under the truth “I want to challenge myself as an actor which means being able to be really in advertising clause: the New York Post reports Fimmel’s versatile and play completely different kinds of parts and ideally that would involve old roommate claiming his bulge was assisted by a rolled- characters who are not gay,” he says. up sock. That’s funny, we’d have thought Calvin would have checked that very carefully. The ads will continue to run without complaint in gay magazines across the country. Reprinted courtesy of www.hintmag.com. Cities Lure Gay Tourists As reported in the last issue, the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association has planned their annual convention for the sunny shores of Fort Lauderdale the weekend of June 21. And more and more cities are promoting gay tourism, with different themes. The budget in Atlanta is $55,000 and they read “We’re out to show you a good time.” The ads can be seen in the Southern Voice. In Minneapolis, gays have spent upwards of $30,000 in local gay papers to invite tourists to their locale by hyping “the coolest place on Earth.” Our erstwhile publisher agrees. When he visited his college buddy, Norm Coleman, now the Mayor of St. Paul, and the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senatorial seat in Minnesota, the temperature was ten below zero. Our favorite ads, of course, come from right here at home, where local guest houses are promoted in magazines like Advocate and Out, as “rolling out the rainbow carpet.” They have spent up to $200,000 promoting Lauderdale in other venues. You can find their ads on page...umm, umm, ummmmmmmmmm......

Q8 www.ExpressGayNews.com • May 6, 2002

CYMK Circuit Noise By Ian Drew Aviance Corners the Market Again Dance Diva Speaks Out After Rousing Success of His Latest Single Kevin Aviance has just given birth to who was managing me and some guy needed his latest single, “Alive,” from his vocals on a song. I did “Cunty,” and then forthcoming CD, and it has shot directly to “Din Da Da” went to number one. People #1 on the Billboard dance charts. wonder how I got there or whose ass I am It was released several weeks ago and kissing, but it is a lot of hard work. Hopefully, Aviance, who shot to fame with a series of I am helping young gay kids to get through similarly successful and innovative dance what they’re going through. singles, is touring the country promoting it. ID: What are you working on next? Aviance will next appear in Orlando to KA: I am working on a one-man show in promote the single at Parliament House on the fall about my life, where I have been and May 25. what I have learned. I also play a psychic in The single takes on a new musical direction for Aviance, who became a cultural icon with his unique cross- dressing appearance. He sat down with The Express recently to chat about its success. Ian Drew: Why is this song different from your other tracks? Kevin Aviance: I just needed a change and to do something different. I am singing more and saying a lot more. The song is still me, though it is not as dark. Everyone should change in their lives. ID: I saw you performing in New York recently with a live band and backup singers. Is this a new you in the live experience? KA: It is a personal thing. I always wanted to be with a band and do a full show. I am doing it for most of my gigs, but it depends on the venue. ID: You grew up idolizing such groundbreaking acts as Boy George, Grace Jones and David Bowie. Did you ever know that you would be in those ranks? KA: As a kid, I always wanted to Urban Mascara, an upcoming black hip-hop perform. I didn’t know it would be in heels horror movie. and with makeup, but with David Bowie and ID: Where is dance music going? Grace Jones wearing them it was inevitable. I KA: The new thing is the electro-pop first became known in the drag scene and scene coming out of Williamsburg, . club scene as more of a personality. I had no As far as the music, the new stuff is more idea where it was going to go, but I was in lyrical and filled with more meaning now after the right place at the right time. I knew a girl 9/11. Rising Circuit DJ to Play Gay Disney 24-Year-Old DJ Escape Flies South for Annual Event Reigning circuit party musicmeister DJ on dance music and now plays for strictly Escape has signed on to play Gay Disney’s gay crowds. Fortune Park event on June 2. “About 90 percent of my gigs are for The 24-year-old dynamic DJ has just gay crowds and I love it,” says Escape. “The released his latest mix album, and he has straight boys are looking for a piece of ass. I already gained a big presence as a DJ at such love playing for the gay boys since they go events as the Black and Blue Party, Wet and out and know the music.” Wild, and the White Party Palm Springs. He has garnered a reputation for playing He started out spinning hip-hop and a lot of unreleased music and tracks with reggae in his native Queens, New York at the hard-to-find accapella mixes. tender age of 13. Escape says his biggest break was After first hearing Junior Vasquez at a Liquid in Miami, and he has also worked at Manhattan club appearance, he was hooked Salvation and booked similar hotspots in Montreal, Toronto and Los Angeles. Besides touring the country, he holds down a day job as an A&R man for New York-based dance label Groovelivcious Records. Escape says he works hard to keep his music unique. “I play a lot of cutting-edge stuff that is tribal, yet bass driven,” says Escape. “You might not hear song in way you want to hear it, but I am big accapella collector and try to recreate the songs I am playing. I often throw some of the vocals that the crowd are accustomed to hearing over course of the night. Wherever music shifts, I go with it.” For more information, visit www.strictly.com. For more information on Gay Disney, visit www.gaydays.com

www.ExpressGayNews.com • May 6, 2002 Q9

CYMK Naked Curiosity Expressions Making Up for Lost Time By Dennis Scott-Bush

All I wanted was to get out of the house A couple days later, I had a conversation lifestyle.” it was better to keep his then-teenage kids as and away from my computer for a little while. with an acquaintance who mentioned that Which meant, of course, to be an far away as possible from their horny dad’s I was going to sip my cranberry juice he was involved with a man who had been unbridled slut. steady stream of sex partners. and soda, watch the two guys playing darts married and had teenage He couldn’t get enough. What Ed regretted was that he hadn’t and, then, be on . Instead, the man children. He was in constant pursuit of his explained the situation to them a little better. who planted his ass to my left decided that I “He moved out of his next carnal caper. That left him He had just pulled away without telling them was going to be the one to hear his life story. house on a Wednesday little time for any kind of why. He’d begun to correct the damage that I attract the woebegone. And, before I and we met that ongoing relationship with his the estrangement had caused his children could say, “Whoa, be gone,” my next-stool Friday night,” ex-wife or children. “This is my and they seemed receptive to his efforts. neighbor began pouring out his heart to me. Terrence related. time and I’m making up for lost My friend, John, took an even healthier He complained about his kids and called “He moved in time,” he was fond of saying. approach to his late-in-life coming out. He his wife a bitch. When he put his hand on with me the next Ed, the other fence- was honest with his wife and son. They my thigh to emphasize a point, I figured he afternoon.” jumping gentleman, was participated in counseling and turned what was the standard-issue closeted married guy All was not introduced to me at could have been an embittering experience looking to pick up a trick to discretely take instant bliss, into a workable transition. There have been the edge off his horniness before returning though, for challenges, through the years, but John home to his domestic discord. Terrence and his maintains a good friendship with his ex-wife Turns out, he was divorced. He’d come new man. Within and close ties to his son. out to his wife and four children a couple three days of their It might have been easier to be selfish. years ago. His assumptions about the wild hasty cohabitation, It might have been more fun to just make up sex life that awaited him, when he was no the hound on the for lost time. longer encumbered by familial trappings, had rebound was already out I don’t envy anyone who’s struggled been misguided. on the prowl. with coming to terms with his “I got laid more often — and the sex “He told me about it,” homosexuality while in a was hotter — when I was sneaking around,” Terrence reported. “So it’s heterosexual marriage. It can he confessed. “And it was easier for different from when he screwed be a hellacious journey. everyone concerned.” He believed that an around during his marriage and kept Here’s to the often-absent spouse and father was easier it a secret.” one’s who haven’t lost for his wife and kids to deal with than a gay It may not be a secret but is it really sight of what’s really ex-husband and dick-loving dad. different? a party hosted by my friend, important, while they’re According to the former family man, the In my twenties, I had brief associations Todd. Ed had been divorced for five making up for lost time. only contact he had with his children, now, with two men who had previously been or six years and was working hard to was when they called to ask for money. His supposedly straight and married to women. reestablish a connection to his grown wife occasionally phoned to blame him for I met the first one about a week after he’d left children.. During his promiscuous phase, Dennis Scott-Bush’s work appears how her life had turned out. his family on Long Island and moved into immediately after his divorce, he’d distanced in publications throughout the “They can kiss my ass,” he grumbled. Manhattan to, as he said, “live the gay himself from his family. At the time, he thought country. E-mail may be directed to him at [email protected]

Q10 www.ExpressGayNews.com • May 6, 2002

CYMK Gay Toons

www.ExpressGayNews.com • May 6, 2002 Q11

CYMK CYMK Live Theater • Dance Music • Art Exhibitions QCultural Events Radio • Television Events Sunday, June 2: Jazz Brunch - Enjoy Through June 16: “Cat’s Paw” – Presented Sunday, June 2: Chicago - Get ready for an gourmet brunch and entertainment showcasing by Sol Theater Project, 1140 NE Flagler Dr., Fort evening with one of America’s most beloved bands Thursday, May 23: Play Reading – The South Florida’s finest jazz musicians on five stages Lauderdale. Tickets are $15. For information and Chicago. Topping the charts with classic tunes like Florida Playwrights Workshop sponsors this reading at the Riverwalk in Downtown Fort Lauderdale. tickets call 954.525.6555. “Hard Habit to Break,” “You’re the Inspiration,” of Robert Krakow’s “The False Witness” from 7 – 11a.m. – 2 p.m. Free. For more information call Through June 23: “Victor/Victoria” – “Hard to Say I’m Sorry,” and “I Don’t Wanna Live 8:30 p.m. at the North Regional Library, 1100 the Jazz Brunch Hotline 954.828.5985 Matinees are Wed, Thurs, Sat & Sun at 2 p.m. Evening Without Your Love,” Chicago comes to the Au- Coconut Creek Blvd in Coconut Creek. For more June 7 – 9: 28th Annual National performances are Thurs, Fri & Sat at 8 p.m. and Sun Rene Theater for a one night only stop on their information call (954) 969-2600. Women’s Music Festival – This festival is a three- at 7 p.m. Tickets are $27. To order contact the “Feelin’ Stronger Everyday” 35th Anniversary Tour. Thursday, May 23: “Sugar and Spice and day musical and cultural extravaganza to be held at Stage Door Theatre at 954.344.7765. The Coral 7 p.m. at the Broward Center’s Au-Rene Theater, Everything Nice” – Chef, restaurateur and local Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana (about one Springs Stage Door Theatre is located at 8036 W. 201 Southwest Fifth Avenue. For information and author Veda Nugent will entice you with some of hour northeast of Indianapolis). Featured events Sample Rd. tickets call 954.462.0222 or 1.800.564.9539. the most requested Jamacian dishes. 7:30 p.m. at are workshops, concerts, theatre presentations, Saturday, May 25: America at War – This www.curtainup.org Barnes & Noble, 2051 N. Federal Hwy, in Fort dances, a shopping mall, a live auction, newly is a performance and discussion with Betty Jean June 15th and 16: “Those Good Old Lauderdale. For more information call (954) 561- released films and videos, a fine arts exhibit, open Steinshouer. She portrays Willa Cather, Marjorie Days”- The June Pride Concert, “Those Good Old 3732. mic sessions, and a spectacular line-up of performers Rawlings and Gertrude Stein as they share their Days,” will be a 50/50 concert. The first half will be Thursday, May 23: Coffee Talk With Skip that you won’t want to miss! For tickets and experiences of World War II, three very different primarily classical with works by Mozart, Ron – Skip leads a discussion of Anne Tayler’s “Back information visit www/wiaonline.org/nwmf, or angles on a world-shaking period of history. Nelson, Morely, and others. The second half will be When We Were Grownups” form 11:30 – 12:30 call 317.927.9355 or 317.585.9448. Participants are encouraged to share memories and a USO show with music from the 40’s accompanied p.m. This is an informal discussion group at the Wednesday, June 12: “Rhyme and Reason” insights as Steinshouer raises issues about the most by a dance band, featuring the music of Duke Imperial Point Branch Library, 5985 N. Federal - Lyricist Bernie Spiro reads from his book “Rhyme popular war ever fought. This performance will be Ellington, Harold Arlen and their contemporaries. Hwy, and coffee is provided. For more information and Reason” and holds discussion with members of held at the Fort Lauderdale Branch Library, 1300 Something for everyone! For information and call (954) 492-1881. the audience. This event is free and open to the E. Sunrise Blvd. Reservations are required, please tickets call 954.565.2620 or visit Saturday, May 25: “Come Over The public and begins at 7 p.m. at the Stonewall Library call 954.357.7401. www.lambdachorale.com. Rainbow” – GLOaRY Inc. presents its first annual and Archives, 1717 N. Andrews Ave., Ft. Lauderdale Saturday, May 25: The Worst of Eric Prom, “Come Over The Rainbow” from 8 p.m. - (in the front lobby entrance of the GLCC complex). Bogosian – This acclaimed playwright-actor has 12 midnight at the GLCC, 1717 N. Andrews Ave., Art Exhibitions For further information call the Library’s info-line: compiled an evening of favorite rants and Ft. Lauderdale, (954) 463-9005. THere will be Through July 28: Maria Martinez-Canas: 954.763.8565. monologues from his three Obie-Award winning dinner, entertainment, music and dancing. Formal A Retrospective - This retrospective of Cuban- June and July: French Classes – The solos. This performance contains adult language attire is requested and photos will be available. For born, Miami resident photographer, Maria Martinez- Alliance Francaise de Fort Lauderdale is a non and themes. 7 & 10 p.m. at the Broward Center’s more information email [email protected]. Canas, will feature many of her most notable profit organization promoting French language and Au-Rene Theater, 201 Southwest Fifth Avenue. For Tickets are $15 per person /$25 per couple and all photographs, as well as recent work. Ms. Martinez- culture. Summer classes are forming and dates are information and tickets call (954) 462-0222 or 1- proceeds go directly to GLOaRY Inc. Canas has been widely exhibited nationally and TBA. For information call 954.523.9052. 800 564-9539. http://www.curtainup.org/ Saturday, May 25: Moonlight Movie – internationally; however, this will be the artist’s “Good Morning Vietnam” is playing from 8 – 10 p.m. at Bubier Park at the corner of Las Olas Boulevard and Andrews Avenue. Through June 23: “Our Sinatra” – Refreshments are available for purchase or This is a musical celebration of and tribute to Ol’ bring your own lawn chairs, blankets and Blue Eyes. Performances are Wed, Sat, Sun at 2 picnic. Presented by the Fort Lauderdale p.m. and Thurs, Fri, Sat at 8 p.m. Tickets are International Film Festival. For $27. Stage Door’s 26th St. Theatre, 1444 NE information call (954) 760-9898. Free to 26th St. in Wilton Manors. For tickets and the public. In case of inclement weather, information call 954.344.7765. please see stage for information regarding presentation at Cinema Pardiso. Sunday, May 26: T-Dance - GLOaRY Inc. is presenting its first T-Dance fundraiser at Cathode Ray. Come and join us after a day at the beach and eat, dance and have fun while you support this non- profit youth organization dedicated to glbt youth. Admission is $10 at the door and includes 1/2 price drinks, buffet and great music. Join us from 4 to 8 p.m. and come dance the day away! For more information email [email protected]. Sunday, May 26 & June 2: GLBT Meditation- Experience B.L.I.S.S. (Buddies & Lesbians in Sacred Session), a GLBT meditation class offering spiritual living techniques and study of the great masters. No charge. Sundays at 2 p.m. in N. Dade. Call Frank (954) 391-3103, or William (305) 947-9115. Wednesday, May 29: “Natural Highs” – Leading UK nutritionist and author, Patrick Holford, discusses his latest book which represents nutritional supplements, herbs and simple mind/body therapies that will help increase energy and sharpen the mind. 7:30 p.m. at Barnes & Noble, 2051 N. Federal Hwy, in Fort Lauderdale. For more information call (954) 561- 3732. May 30 to June 2: Girls In Saturday, May 25: Don Pasquale – In this Wonderland - Join girls and boys from all over first solo show in South Florida. This exhibition is enchanting La Scala production of the cherished comedy, the country as they spend a magical weekend Live Theatre and Dance at the Museum of Art, 1 East Las Olas Boulevard. Donato di Stefano, in his Florida Grand Opera debut, is with Mickey Mouse and the whole gang. This Through Sunday, May 26: “Rodgers & For information call 954.525.5500. the aging, wealthy bachelor Don Pasquale who longs to year we will be hosting three Official Women’s Hart, A Musical Celebration” – From their first Ongoing: Jazz Memories- Works by marry a sweet, young Norina, played by Elizabeth Vidal. Events. A night of comedy with a duo of hilarious hit song in 1925 through their final show-stopper Herman Leonard features photos of jazz greats such Donizetti’s most popular opera, this comedy has been a female comedians, a cocktail reception and a in 1943, Rodgers & Hart continually redefined the as Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, , runaway success since it’s opening more than 150 years magical dance party. Proceeds benefit the musical theatre with their wit, freshness and Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker and many many more. ago. From tender arias and enchanting moonlit duets to National Center for Lesbian Rights. For more intelligence. This show features their songs and a 12 noon – 7 p.m. at the Barbara Gillman Gallery, comical rapid patter, you’ll delight in every moment of information visit brief narration highlights their success. 5582 NE 4th Court #5, Miami. For information the performance. This Florida Grand Opera www.girlsinwonderland.com or call Performances are at The Broward Stage Door call 305.759.9155. presentation begins at 8 p.m. at the Broward Center’s 954.424.0070. Theatre, 8036 W. Sample Rd., Coral Springs in The Espanola Way FESTIVART- Every Au-Rene Theater, 201 Southwest Fifth Avenue. For Thursday, May 30: Sister Speak- Writers theatre #2. Tickets are $27. For performance times Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m.- midnight at Washington information and tickets call 954.462.0222 or and performers of all levels and styles are invited to and tickets call 954.344.7765. Ave. and Espanola Way, Miami Beach. Live music. 1.800.564.9539. www.curtainup.org. perform at this spoken-word open-mic. This is a Through Sunday, May 26: “Murderer” For more information call 305.673.4166. Friday – Sunday, May 31 – June 2: Toys in fun, relaxed atmosphere. Last Thursday of the – “The plot leaves you breathless by the audacity New Permanent Exhibit: The Glackens the Attic – The Curtain Call Playhouse performs month at FREEZ, 909 E. Cypress Creek Rd. The of its hair-raising twists and turns” - London Collection - Works on paper by the celebrated at the Main Library, 100 S. Andrews Avenue, Fort doors open at 8 p.m. and performances start at Evening Standard. Presented by Actors’ Playhouse American Impressionist compliment dazzling Lauderdale. This powerful and revealing drama builds 8:30 p.m. Admission is $5, and $3 for performers. at the Miracle Theatre, 280 Miracle Mile, Coral paintings displayed in MOA’s new Glackens’ wing. steadily in tension as it probes into the intrigue and All proceeds benefit a women’s charity. For more Gables. For information and tickets call These drawings and watercolors will increase deceit, which lie beneath the outwardly calm surface information please call (954) 772-0324 or visit 305.444.9293 understanding of the scope of artistry practiced by of a southern town. Love, jealously, manipulation, www.sisterspeak.org. Through May 27: “Art Metrano’s Glackens. Museum of Art, 1 East Las Olas Boulevard. hope all lead to paying a far greater price than Thursday, May 30: Miami SOL vs. Los Accidental Comedy” – This play is a hilarious and For information call 954.525.5500. expected. Performances are Friday and Saturday at Angeles Sparks – The game starts at 7 p.m. at moving evening chronicling the life of actor/comedian 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. For information and the American Airlines Arena. For information or Art Metrano. Metrano was a familiar and frequent tickets call 954.784.0768. Radio to purchase tickets call (786) 777-4765 or visit guest on television shows such as the Johnny Carson Fridays: “Separate Checks”- This Comedy The Alternative Radio Show - The only www.miami-sol.com. Show, Laugh-In and The Jonathan Winters Show. He Improv Troupe performs every Friday night at 9:30 GLBT Talk and Entertainment radio program in Thursday, May 30: Brazilian Film Festival has numerous other T.V. credits and has appeared in p.m. at the Hollywood Playhouse, 2640 Washington South Florida, the Keys and the Bahamas. Live every – Brazilian films will be featured from 6 – 9 p.m. at many films, but is perhaps best remembered for his St., 954.922.0404. Thursday evening at 9 p.m. on WAXY 790 AM and the Main Library, 100 S. Andrews Avenue, Fort role as Lt. Mauser in the Police Academy movies. worldwide on the Internet at Lauderdale. For more information call 954.357.7444. Performances are at the Hollywood Playhouse, 2640 www.radioalternative.com. Saturday, June 1: GLCCSF Flea Market Washington St. in Hollywood. Music – The GLCCSF is the place to be this Saturday for Tickets are $25. Performances are Wednesday Through June 23: “Our Sinatra” – This is antiques, bric-a-brac, food, clothing, jewelry, plants through Saturday at 8 p.m., Sundays at 7p.m. and a musical celebration of and tribute to Ol’ Blue Eyes. Television and yard sale items. Vendors are welcome to call Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m.. Call Performances are Wed, Sat, Sun at 2 p.m. and Thurs, SoFla Q TV- Television for the alternative Kobi at 954.565.7752. The Flea Market is from 8 the box office at 954.922.0404 or visit Fri, Sat at 8 p.m. Tickets are $27. Stage Door’s 26th lifestyle. For information call 305.534.3975 or visit a.m. – 2 p.m. and the GLCC is located at 1717 N. www.hollywoodplayhouse.com to purchase St. Theatre, 1444 NE 26th St. in Wilton Manors. www.soflaqtv.com. Andrews Ave., Ft. Lauderdale, 954.463.9005. tickets. For tickets and information call 954.344.7765. Q12 www.ExpressGayNews.com • May 6, 2002

CYMK www.ExpressGayNews.com • May 6, 2002 Q13

CYMK By Charlene Lichtenstein For the week of 5/20/02 Ready to rumble? This week stern Saturn and sassy retro Pluto make an exact opposition, finishing a long term tango that was last felt around Sept 11th. Thems that deserves gets this time as chickens come home to roost. Start the barbeque, cousins, but be sure to stand away from the flame. Ouch!

ARIES (MARCH 21 - APRIL 20) Aching to bleat the news, rainbow Ram? You say one more thing one more time. Is your message ready for the front page or the comics? My advice: Contemplate your naval for the next two weeks. Better still, contemplate someone else’s naval. ‘Nuf said! TAURUS (APRIL 21 - MAY 21) How bullish was your equity last summer, queer Bull? This week, you find the rest of the moths in your pockets. Patch the holes and feel more assured that what glitters is actually gold and not imitation. Hmm, find any mothballs in that pocket? GEMINI (MAY 22 - JUNE 21) Are you willing to work towards harmony, pink Twin? Those independent souls who hear the call of the wilde will skip bail and go on the lam. Those who hanker for connection will cooperate with the planetary authorities. But the jury is still Out! CANCER (JUNE 22 - JULY 23) There are times when gay Crabs feel an almost spiritual connection to the community. The planets now suggest that you find a happy balance between the ascetic life and the athlete life. You never know where your Outreach will actually reach. LEO (JULY 24 - AUGUST 23) Party hearty proud Lions can’t believe their good luck as one grand fete piles upon another now. Pals try to rein you in but the proud beast cannot be caged. Give them their due before you find yourself talking to the mirror and sipping flat champagne. VIRGO (AUGUST 24 - SEPTEMBER 23) Saturn opposite Pluto and creates an opportunity to close a chapter in an intractable professional situation. Queer Virgos feel like they can reach the pinnacle of power. But what good is it if you come home to frozen dinners and reruns of Party Talk? LIBRA (SEPTEMBER 24 - OCTOBER 23) Proud Libras sure know a thing or two. Small ideas germinate into international proportions. Local actions become global reactions. This is not a bad thing if you are interested in making a big splash. Just don’t forget to wear your rubbers, compadre.... SCORPIO (OCTOBER 24 - NOVEMBER 22) Whether its a cruise through a Milky Way or a loop around Uranus, you cannot be brought back to earth for the time being. Looking to orbit in a certain gravitational pull for a while? Is it a trip to the moon on gossamer wings or just one of those things? SAGITTARIUS (NOVEMBER 23 - DECEMBER 22) Saturn opposite Pluto encourages you to change your approach to relationships. Queer Archers are not the marrying kind. This transit will either hitch and brand you or set you loose to wander the plains. Sounds good? Imagine the first cold night without a fire. CAPRICORN (DECEMBER 23 - JANUARY 20) Pink Caps are among the hardest working souls of the zodiac. But now, the urge to purge those paperclips simmers to a full boil. You crave to rave. Rather than howl from your cubicle, channel all this oomph into worthy gay charitable causes. AQUARIUS (JANUARY 21 - FEBRUARY 19) This transit encourages you to ignore all speed restrictions and detours. Aqueerians are happy hurricanes of activity, ready for a friendly smile and any and all invitations. Be discerning and appoint a designated driver. The sign sez Slippery When Wet. PISCES (FEBRUARY 20 - MARCH 20) No sooner do you plan a delightful home activity than the planets energize important professional issues. Guppies try to balance their scales this week but some tough decisions will have to be made. Through it all remember to be true to yourself.

© 2002 MADAM LICHTENSTEIN, LLC., All Rights Reserved.For Entertainment Purposes Only. Check out her site www.AccessNewAge.com/Stargayzer for egreetings, horoscopes and Pride jewelry. Her book “HerScopes; A Guide To Astrology For Lesbians” from Simon & Schuster is available at bookstores and major booksites.

Q14 www.ExpressGayNews.com • May 6, 2002

CYMK www.ExpressGayNews.com

www.ExpressGayNews.com • May 6, 2002 Q15

CYMK Q16 www.ExpressGayNews.com • May 6, 2002

CYMK